Planet Weather for the Week of October 28, 2007

                                                                                                                                  

SkyWatch – Moon phase of the week: 11/1 -- The Moon enters her Last (a.k.a. Third) Quarter phase at 5:18 PM EDT, at 9 degrees of Leo. Skywatching events of the week: 10/28 -- Venus reaches its greatest elongation west in the late morning. When Venus rises before the Sun, it appears as the "morning star" Hesperus, in the eastern sky and on this morning will be the farthest ahead of the Sun it gets, rising several hours earlier. 11/3 -- The waning Third Quarter Moon will pass very close to the bright star Regulus, one of the four astrological "royal stars" of classical antiquity. In fact, the Moon will actually occult Regulus, that is, pass directly in front of the star. Unfortunately, this occultation will occur after sunrise as viewed (or not viewed, actually) from the East Coast, but farther west where it happens before dawn, it should provide for a spectacular sight. The exact time of the occultation will vary according to location but it will begin a bit before 8:30 AM EDT. Space news of the week: The Space Shuttle Discovery successfully rendezvoused with the International Space Station (ISS). An inspection revealed almost no damage to the heat shield from foam debris breaking off the external fuel tank, marking a considerable improvement over previous launches. Discovery's crew is now undertaking several major construction projects on the ISS. And this breaking news: Roaches in space! It's true. A mother cockroach aboard a Russian science satellite recently gave birth to a healthy litter of baby roaches. Mother and babies are doing well while the rest of us are trying hard to restrain ourselves. Mom's name? "Hope," of course. Why doesn't it seem surprising somehow that cockroaches thrive in zero gravity too? Go out! Look up!

 

Knowing when VOC Moons occur is a key to planning your astrological week!

 

The Void-of-course (VOC) Moon is a kind of limbo. As it reaches the end of a sign, the Moon makes no major aspect to another planet before it enters the next sign. VOC is best for less outcome-oriented activity, since VOC often means detours, distractions, drifting, or delays. If you want specific outcomes, or if timeliness is critical, don’t use a VOC Moon phase. VOC is best for processing, imagining, creating, and open-ended activities, like parties, research, or cleaning your desk/closet for instance! It is said that when a new action is initiated during VOC, “nothing will come of it,” or energies go in unplanned directions, which may not necessarily be negative.

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Week of 10/28/07 – Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday are the most active energetically and potentially most productive days (depending on what you’re doing!) On 10/29/07, the Moon is VOC/Gemini  from 3:50PM to 8:49PM EDT – on 10/31/07, VOC/Cancer from 1:13PM to 12:48AM EDT (11/1/07) – on 11/3/07, VOC/Leo from 3:13AM to 8:45AM EDT.

 

PlanetPatterns:

The following planetary energy patterns flavor the day and are felt or experienced often hours before and after their exact culmination. They remain effective, certainly until the next major planetary pattern comes along to shift the energy gears.

 

Venus in mutable, earth Virgo square (90deg.) Jupiter/Sagittarius on Monday, @ 19deg. on October 29, 2007 @ 11:42PM EDT.  A square with Jupiter can indicate excess, overdoing and, often in the case of Venus, over-spending, over-accommodating – as in, codependency. Life can feel in disarray since the principles of Virgo – orderliness and practicality – are thrown to the fiery winds of Jupiter. Perhaps you are over-committed out of a sense of duty. At other times, this aspect can take you away from your chosen tasks and divert you to take a chance and have more fun. You know what they say about all work and no play.

 

Sun in fixed, water Scorpio sextile (60deg.) Saturn in mutable, earth Virgo @ 6deg. on 10/29/07 @ 9:36AM EDT. The message with this aspect is caution and analysis. Draw your pro and con columns and figure out what makes the most sense for your overall security needs. You have the energy to get organized, sort the deeper portion of your desires, and come to conclusions that are emotionally relevant to your life needs. In other words, the goal is to feel good about the decisions or conclusions you reach.

 

Jupiter/Sagittarius sextile Neptune in fixed, air Aquarius @ 19deg. on 10/30/07 @ 12:01AM EDT. Your dreams and your creative self will soar under these energies. You may even feel happy for no apparent reason! Serendipity may tap you on the shoulder and offer you experiences that are mystical and magical, with a strong spiritual component or lesson. If what arrives is confusing, then you have the chance to unravel the mystery and its special meaning for you. Something fortunate may come out of the blue, from where you least expect.

 

**Neptune/Aquarius Stationary Direct @ 19deg. on 10/31/07 @ 4:06PM EDT.  The magic and mysterious theme continues with Neptune making a station, and then turning direct in motion. Events are not what they seem, messages come in non-linear, non-logical form to beguile, entice, and seduce you. You may have high expectations and dwell on dreams and if you’ve calibrated your senses, you may be gifted with a dream come true, or you may be disappointed. In which case, you might check in with your wiser self to ask if what you wanted is really good for you. You may feel a spontaneous urge to be creative, or an inspiration may grab your attention – it’s kind of like an “aha!” The other side of Neptune is deception, lies, and smoke and mirrors. It is up to you to define and refine what’s what. Separate your ideal from reality so as not to be duped but never give up your dreams.

 

**Mercury Stationary Direct @ 23deg. Libra on 11/1/07 @ 6:59PM EDT. Mercury entered fixed, water Scorpio on 9/27/07, and remained until 10/23/07 when it retrograded back into Libra, where it makes it Direct Station. Mercury re-enters Scorpio on 11/11/07, and leaves on 12/1/07. We’ve been wandering the murky, swampy depths of our own deepest desires and motivations. As Mercury turns direct, the wanderings become clearer and we are privileged to gain some new understandings about the workings of our unconscious. Although Mercury/Scorpio retrograde cycles can be more problematic than most because of the fixed and persistent nature of the signs, this placement also yields a greater psychological truth that will free us, perhaps, from some baggage or wounding we’ve been carrying around. The larger message of Scorpio is release, and better yet, knowing what exactly is trash to be released or deleted from our psyche to make room for renewal. Intake and elimination are the equal dynamics of Scorpio. Because this Rx dips back into Scorpio, the nature of our important relationships is also due for some renewal and shedding of skin to reveal a fresh cycle.

 

** Mars Retrograde Alert! Mars entered cardinal, water Cancer on 9/28/07, and will turn retrograde on 11/15/07 in this sign. Mars re-enters Gemini on 12/31/07, and turns direct in Gemini on 1/31/08. Mars re-enters Cancer on 3/5/08, and then remains in Cancer until 5/10/08. We are heading into a lengthy cycle that has us examining the issues and people closest to us (Cancer). We knew this last quarter of 2007, was going to be tricky! Coming just two weeks after Mercury turns direct, we have to deal with Mars slowing and back-tracking. Cancer contains the nostalgic file of our lives – the memories and feeling and sense of belonging to a family, group, tribe, club, country, etc. It has to do with our rituals and habits and feeling secure in our day-to-day life. Expect some disruption and some necessary re-evaluation of your emotional needs and wants. The essence of the cycle is to get back to basics, secure those important values, and reduce the dispersion and dissipation of your life when there are too many directions in which you are pulled.

 

NewsBits: California Burning! Wildfires ignite periodically for many reasons, most of them normal and part of natural cycles. However, further investigation into the numerous and massive Southern California fires has produced evidence that some were deliberate arson. Without even looking at the chart for the state of California, the intense Mercury retrograde in Scorpio certainly is part of this powerful, tragic, transformative event. Among other characteristics, Scorpionic activity is life/death related – meaning that when cycles mature, they die, and simultaneously another cycle begins. This process is indicative of the typical cycle of beginnings and endings that we human beings feel on a small scale, daily, as well as the more commonly understood birth to death cycle, we are all subject to. Scorpio has an element of permanency; in other words, there is no going back to the time before the event – something has irrevocably changed. In Southern California, at least 12 separate fires burned over 506,000 acres and destroyed 1700 homes. There are 14 known deaths, and 4,403 people were evacuated to various shelters. Scorpio is the sign of the deeper mysteries and Halloween takes place during this dark and probing time. It is a strange coincidence that one of the massive fires is called the Witch fire!

 

When we look at the chart of California as a whole the most obvious condition is Mars @ 11 Libra. Mars is the fire-starter, so that’s a good place to begin our search. Currently, Mars is in Cancer and going retrograde in that sign in mid-November. The energies of this retrograde are already expressing themselves – the loss of home, the disruption of basic living and insecurity (Cancer). California has five planets on the axis of Aries/Libra and the long Cancer retrograde cycle, which will not end until May 2008 is squaring, or challenging half of the energy of California! If we look at the largest city in S.California, Los Angeles, its chart has three planets located on the Aries/Libra axis, squared by Uranus in Cancer, which was recently ignited both actually and symbolically by transiting Mars/Cancer! Pluto transiting in late Sagittarius also plays a role, as it trines and makes an easy conflagration of indelible consequence with planets in late fire signs in both charts. Beneath all this, is the dry and contracting trend that is emerging with Pluto entering earthy Capricorn 1/26/08, and Saturn/Virgo and Jupiter/Capricorn, both in Earth signs all of 2008.