Planet Weather for the Week of October 8, 2006                                                                                                                        

SkyWatch – Moon phase of the week: 10/13 -- The Moon enters her Last Quarter phase (also called Third Quarter) at 8:26 PM EDT at 20 degrees of Cancer, riding high through this, the sign of her own rulership to finish this cycle next week with a flourish in Libra. Skywatching events of the week: All week -- Jupiter and Saturn remain the only planets readily visible in the night sky, with Jupiter being an "evening star" and setting soon after sunset in the West, while Saturn is a "morning star," rising in the East well after midnight. 10/10 -- The waning Moon passes less than a degree from the Pleiades star cluster about 2 AM EDT, a sight visible from most of the continental U.S. The Pleiades or so-called "Seven Sisters" are the brightest stars of a group of thousands of stars called a star cluster, a kind of mini-galaxy that orbits the Milky Way galaxy. Space news of the week: Mars is in high focus again -- literally. In a week of one amazing astronomical discovery after another that includes over a dozen new planets (and even a new type of planet) spotted moving across the faces of distant stars by the Hubble Space Telescope and a Nobel Prize awarded to American black-hole researchers, the Mars rover Opportunity is back in action too. This time, Opportunity is returning spectacular photographs from the edge of Victoria crater, a large, previously unexamined formation. (Well, SkyWatch regards ALL photographs returned from the surfaces of other worlds as being spectacular anyway, even of just sand and rocks!) And to top that, the Mars Orbiter is returning photographs of Opportunity.  Go out! Look up!

This week Monday, Wednesday, and Friday are the most active and possibly the most productive energy days. The longest Void-of-Course (VOC) Moon time during the day is on Monday @ 1:07PM until 2:06AM next day, and Saturday, from 2:27AM to 2:38PM. VOC is best for less outcome-oriented activity, since VOC often means detours, distractions, or delays. If you want specific outcomes, or if timeliness is critical, choose another day. VOC is best for processing, imagining, and open-ended activities. Even though there is a VOC Moon on Monday (daytime), the last Moon aspect is a square to Saturn, which can pressure you to attend to your responsibilities and keep you more focused.

The Sun in cardinal, air Libra trines (120deg.) Neptune in fixed, air Aquarius @ 17deg. on Tuesday, October 10, 2006 @ 10:05AM EDT. Consciousness gets a boost from Neptune and we have the opportunity to see through the veils of illusion and receive (possibly) the consequence of illumination. This annual transit (since 1999 in these signs) brings yearnings for ideal and balanced relationships and world harmony. If things could only be the way we imagine they could be – perfect for us, without conflict – truthful, honest, and authentic. Perhaps the truer we are to the ideals we yearn for; the more likely it will be that we find them outside ourselves.  It’s always worth striving for perfection, or at least improvement, in all areas of our lives. The pursuit of the ideal keeps us alert and alive to what is possible.

** Mercury Retrograde Alert! Mercury is in fixed, water Scorpio from 10/2/06 until 12/7/06. Mercury turns Rx @ 25 Scorpio on 10/28/06. Are you feeling yourself entering the underworld of your psyche yet? Mercury in Scorpio demands that we come to terms with the unconscious parts of ourselves so that we can have a better grip on the events and relationships of our lives – without passing the blame or projecting our “stuff” onto others. Scorpio is about possessiveness and also about ownership – of proceeding along the path of life knowing who we are and who and what we are not.

Mercury/Scorpio trines (120deg.) Uranus in Mutable, Water Pisces @ 11deg. on Tuesday October 10, 2006 @ 7:07PM EDT. The truth strikes in the most unexpected ways. The hyper-vigilance of this combination can bring an almost unreasonable amount of awareness via the electricity of Uranus and shock us right out of our rigid mind-sets. Conversations with others can be enlightening during this time and bring us gifts we could not otherwise have expected. Out vulnerability is sure to be engaged because some information or communication touches the core of truth. Will you not only accept it but integrate it for your self-betterment?

Mars/Libra sextile (60deg.) Saturn in fixed, fire Leo @ 22deg. on Thursday, October 12, 2006 @ 6:39AM EDT. Mars meeting Saturn means you have options to organize yourself, discipline your actions and also set some necessary boundaries for yourself – particularly if you’ve been catering too much to the demands of others. This aspect can also be the willingness to make a commitment or a promise based on affection and feelings of harmony.

Venus in cardinal, air Libra trine (120deg.) Neptune/Aquarius @ 17deg. on Friday, October 13, 2006 @ 10:36PM EDT. This dreamy aspect may ask for time out to daydream, ponder the possibilities, and, in general, have some integral down-time. Pay attention to serendipity, coincidence, inspirational events, ideas, and messages, because they are more readily available with this pattern. Artists of all kinds will treasure this fluid time to wander between the worlds and contact sources of inspiration and various muses for creative expression and development.

NewsBits: Representative Mark Foley Scandal! Who knew what and when did they know it? – is the question of the day regarding Foley’s inappropriate emails to congressional pages throughout many years of his tenure in Congress. Dennis Hassert, speaker of the House, is on the hot seat, since he apparently knew years ago of Foley’s problematic predilection. The House Ethics Committee is investigating and Foley’s resignation appears to be another indication that the mid-term elections will be favorable for Democrats. Looking at Foley’s chart (9/8/54, Newton, MA, time unknown), we can see the transits that brought this scandal to the surface. The immediate trigger transit was Mars/Libra conjuncting Foley’s Mercury @ 0deg. Libra, which had already been sensitized by the solar eclipse of 9/22/06 @ 29 Virgo (just one degree away!) Mars/Libra continued and continues to stimulate Foley’s chart soon to reach Neptune/Libra at the apex of a T-square (planets in opposition -180deg. - squared -90deg. - by other planet(s) at either end of the opposition) and squaring Mars, N.Node, Moon in Capricorn opposite Jupiter conjunct Uranus/Cancer. Mars, however, transits Libra approximately every two years in Foley’s chart – the stronger and more lasting transit influence was the Uranus station @ 14 Pisces opposite Foley’s Sun @ 15 Virgo. This planetary station degree was exacerbated and re-stimulated by the eclipse of 9/7/06 @ 15 Pisces which was exactly opposite Foley’s Sun. Uranus, being the truth and the awakening influence, insisted that something hidden (Pisces) be revealed in Foley’s life – and that is exactly what has happened.

Famous First Words! In 1969, NASA reported Neil Armstrong’s first words as the first man to ever set foot on the Moon. The words we have come to know were “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” Now with ever more sophisticated sound editing technology, an Aussie computer programmer discovered that Armstrong’s actual sentence was, “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” The grammatically correct second sentence contained the missing “a” that Armstrong always said he uttered and that cringing grammar-hounds always wished he had said. Now it seems – Neil Armstrong’s grammar has been vindicated and history, in this case, will have to be rewritten. This story is one of the smaller and more benign influences of a Saturn opposite Neptune and Uranus/Pisces influence – corrections to misinterpretations and hidden nuances emerging into consciousness.