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Planet Weather for the Week of November 19, 2006
SkyWatch – Moon phase of the week: 11/20 -- The Moon enters a new cycle at 5:18 PM EDT at 28 degrees of Scorpio. Her thin crescent should be visible low in the west at sunset a couple of days later. Skywatching event of the week: 11/25 -- Having transited the Sun on 11/8, Mercury has now swung out to its widest angle ahead of the Sun. Mercury reaches its greatest western elongation at 8:00 AM EDT. Greatest western elongation refers to the fact that Mercury reaches a point in its orbit where it appears in the sky at the greatest angle west of the Sun in the morning. This position heralds one of those relatively rare periods for about two days before and after when Mercury is visible as a "morning star," rising about an hour and a half before the Sun. Look low to the east-southeast just before first light. Space news of the week: Lost in space! The Mars Global Surveyor lost touch with Earth for two days earlier this month. Last week, engineers received a weak signal. Since then, the spacecraft has not confirmed receiving a command to point one of its transmitters to Earth. Late last week, NASA programmed another Mars probe, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, to use its cameras to look for the Global Surveyor. This is just the latest in a series of "lost contacts" with space probes orbiting Mars or entering Mars orbit. Go out! Look up!
This week Sunday, Monday, and Wednesday are the most active and possibly the most productive energy days. The longest Void-of-Course (VOC) Moon time, during the day – there are no major VOC times (EST) during the day – VOC begins after 6-8PM on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The Moon is VOC on Saturday 11/25/06, until 10:41AM EST. 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 time. VOC is best for processing, imagining, and open-ended activities, like parties!
Uranus in mutable, water Pisces turns Stationary Direct @ 10degrees on Monday, November 20, 2006 @ 1:08AM EST until 6/23/07! This potent week’s events begin with Uranus shifting gears and surging forward again. Uranus’ last station was a retrograde, on 6/19/06. A planetary change in direction brings that planet’s energies to the forefront. In the case of Uranus, we can expect explosion, anarchy, discovery, exposure, extremism in some form, poignant human interest stories, and various situations that seek to remind us of what is truth and what it is not – all for the purpose of adjusting ourselves to higher standards and awakening us to situations where we have been blind, including concepts and ideas. Scientific discovery is strong, and in the sign Pisces, also medicine and disease. Just this past week, the news told of a drug company testing the venom of the scorpion for the treatment of cancer. With Uranus, we can easily say that truth is stranger than fiction and that science fiction can easily become reality. As Uranus turns around, we have finished with the first third of Uranus’ transit through Pisces which began in March 2003. Uranus spends approximately 7 years per sign.
Sun in fixed, water Scorpio conjunct (0deg.) Jupiter/Scorpio @ 29deg. on Tuesday, November 21, 2006 @ 6:16PM EST. As the Sun relinquishes its hold on Scorpio, it meets Jupiter at the last degree. Both are poised to move into the next sign but not without some big splash. This could indicate bloodshed but also the hope of expanding and transitioning into a more positive arena, fresh with ideas that can make a difference in those areas of the world that have left their mark on the collective psyche and wounded it. Jupiter always brings hope, and in combination with the Sun, leaders are asked to take up the standard of hope and wisdom, because what we have caused, we can also mend, if there is the will.
Sun enters mutable, fire Sagittarius on Wednesday, November 22, 2006 @ 6:02AM EST until 12/21/06. The Sun’s entry into Sagittarius marks the second planet recently to do so (Venus entered Sagittarius on 11/17/06), and soon we will experience the energies of another stellium (grouping of several planets in one sign), this time in Sagittarius. (Remember the Scorpio stellium and its “dark matter” – intense probing energy?) Fire by nature is enthusiastic and positive, not that it ought to be at all times, but that’s its tendency. To the more serious and sober signs of the Zodiac, Sagittarius can be positively delirious with unrealistic concepts and expectations! Then again, if we never take a risk, we may never soar above the mundane. That is the message of Sagittarius – to live large. Surely, we can tell that attitude can sometimes become a problem. Still, this sign brings the joy and joviality of old St. Nick, and the idea that we can receive gifts, some for no seeming reason at all!
Mercury/Scorpio trine (120deg.) Uranus/Pisces @ 10deg. on Wednesday, November 22, 2006 @ 9:50AM EST. Mercury and Uranus get along famously (Uranus is considered the "higher octave" of Mercury), and this aspect is apt to bring fresh ideas and new notions of what’s workable and what’s not. It brings insight and potential solutions into knotty areas of life and other conundrums of living in today’s world. Make use of this aspect by allowing your natural instinct the space to emerge – create open spaces and quiet times for your thoughts to center and then reveal themselves, You’ll be surprised at the clear wisdom and flashes of intuition that help you resolve some long-standing issues.
Jupiter enters mutable, fire Sagittarius on Thursday, November 23, 2006 @ 11:44PM EST. Jupiter is here to announce your Thanksgiving this year. Most people will spend this Thanksgiving Day with Jupiter @ 29 Scorpio, or already having made its costume change. Jupiter in Sagittarius will be with us for one year, and it serves to bring forth deep yearning of what one wants to reach for or aim for, in life. As mentioned, Jupiter requires that we go beyond ourselves to take a risk to attain what we want most. However, our soaring enthusiasm must be tempered with some measure of reality. Then again, great things have taken place against all odds – which is another facet of Jupiter, and particularly as it enters its home sign, a powerful event taking place only every 12 years. Reach for your dreams, or more accurately – symbolic of Sagittarius – be the archer of your life, take the arrow and bow, and then aim for the bull’s-eye!
Venus/Sagittarius square (90deg.) Uranus/Pisces @ 10deg. on Saturday, November 25, 2006 @ 5:54PM EST. Are you ready for some sudden surprises? This Venus does it in a big way, and unexpected fun and unusual things may happen. Give your special relationships a boost – plan something new, fun, and spontaneous. Your creativity is stimulated and you’re encouraged to try something new and get out of your typical ruts in any number of areas of your life. Expand your horizons, look around, and luxuriate in the cornucopia of life.
NewsBits: OJ Simpson Resurfaces! We thought he might quietly go away, the man whose “dream team” helped him get away with murder. This writer followed the Simpson case obsessively and wrote at length about it, and the personalities involved (“Oja on OJ”)! Could it be that OJ simply cannot stay out of the limelight and wrote this book to confess his burdened soul? Or could it simply be that the infamous Simpson is broke and needs money? Likely, it’s some combination of the above factors. So what astrologically is bringing OJ back into the spotlight? Simpson who was born 7/9/47 8:08AM, SF, CA (AA Data) just went through his Jupiter return @ 17 Scorpio – a once in 12 year event! Jupiter was in the same place at the time Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman were murdered, and Simpson was arrested as the prime suspect in the killings. Jupiter, in this case, brings a recurrence of the theme and an enactment of the crime via Simpson’s tastelessly titled book, “If I Did It.” Saturn is crossing Simpson’s Ascendant and making a station there in December, within 1 degree! Saturn crossing the Ascendant is often linked to starting anew, finishing past karma, making peace with events, habits and patterns of the past, and reformulating one’s character, appearance and/or outlook. As if those transits were not enough,