Planet Weather for the Week of November 26, 2006                                                                                                  

SkyWatch – Moon phase of the week: 11/28 -- The Moon enters her First Quarter phase at 1:29 AM EDT at 5 degrees of Pisces. This phase looks (with a little imagination) like the capital letter "D" well up in the southern sky at sunset. Sky watching event of the week: All week -- the only planet visible above the horizon at night continues to be lone Saturn, rising now around midnight. The other four "classical" planets (those visible to the unaided eye -- Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter) are all bunched together near the Sun in the signs Sagittarius and Scorpio and will remain so for some time to come. Space news of the week: The non-event of the week (as far as SkyWatch is concerned, anyway) was the much-publicized orbital "golf shot" by International Space Station astronauts. In other news, the Mars Global Surveyor, the newest probe orbiting Mars with which NASA has lost contact, has pretty much been given up on. In more positive news, NASA's Cassini space probe has photographed an enormous cloud vortex at Saturn's South Pole, a kind of permanent hurricane resembling, weirdly, the Eye of Sauron (a very Saturnian figure!) in the third movie of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy! Go out! Look up!

This week Tuesday and Thursday are the most active and possibly the most productive energy days. The longest Void-of-Course (VOC) Moon time, during the day are Monday 11/27/06 from 8AM EST to 3:21PM EST, Wednesday 11/29/06 @ 11:29AM until 6:30PM EST and Friday, 11/1/06, 1:40PM to 8:26PM EST. 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!

Mercury in fixed, water Scorpio square (90deg.) Neptune in fixed, air Aquarius @ 17deg. on Tuesday, November 28, 2006 @ 7:54PM EST. You may discover where you’ve been blind or self-deluded, or you may inadvertently or serendipitously discover or uncover things previously hidden. Conversations can be deep and spiritually rewarding, with nuances previously unconsidered. You instincts are strong and answers may come to you unexpectedly in flashes of intuition or in dreamlike states of consciousness. You can experience a memorable and poignant time with profound insights or a deep connection with someone, and it can happen quite spontaneously or unexpectedly. By allowing your mind to wander, fantastic creative ideas may emerge through the ethers of inspiration.

Mars/Scorpio square Saturn in fixed, fire Leo @ 25deg. on Tuesday, November 28, 2006 @ 9:59PM EST. In many ways this is a harsh aspect – it is demanding and insists on a level of accountability, which can be interpreted in a number of ways. This pattern tends toward inflexibility and that is where its learning is – where is it that you are most inflexible? This aspect’s agenda wants timely and immediate progress in getting what it wants at all costs. The fixed signs lean towards rigidity or more kindly, holding firm, or being sure of one’s position. Mars represents the action by which one identifies oneself, and Saturn is the measurement of the worth of something based on the willingness to make a commitment, or to take a stand. Mars is strong in Scorpio (a sign it rules), Saturn is weak in Leo (in detriment – in the opposite sign of the one it rules), increasing indignity, self-involvement, and ego-bruising. This aspect can mean entrenchment in a position based on the fear of change or other negative consequences, as well as the fear of losing face or dignity. Loosening the stranglehold of this pattern means allowing vulnerability and letting go of ego and self-interest.

Venus in mutable, fire Sagittarius sextile (60deg.) Neptune/Aquarius @ 17deg. on Thursday, November 30, 2006 @ 10:22PM.  This aspect is an oasis of compassion in a week of strong squares and the adjustment of Jupiter (ruling Pluto/Sagittarius) changing signs. Venus’s spirited generosity and curiosity to live life fully, combined with Neptune’s softening of hard logic and breaking open the heart of compassion and forgiveness, sends a message of the ideal – of the way things could be – if we had the courage and the will to allow our inner truth to express itself. Artists, musicians and mystics respond well to this type of aspect, and you may be graced with moments of divine intervention if you allow yourself the opportunity and grant yourself the open time to receive magical and mystical energies – perhaps in a meditation.

Sun/Sagittarius square Uranus in mutable, water Pisces @ 10deg. on Saturday, December 2, 2006 @ 11:59PM EST. This aspect refers back to something that was begun last March. If you have planets at or near these degrees, an adjustment needs to be made from that time. This combination speaks of sudden and often surprising or unexpected shifts in one’s life path or goals. A level of boredom can have you wanting something new to refresh and enliven your life. The ways in which you accomplish enlivenment are, of course, dependent on your personality and other circumstantial factors. The heightening and widening qualities in this aspect are meant to broaden your horizons and give you the space for greater freedom and authenticity. In the world, these energies may bring sudden reversals of fortune in the lives of leaders, and changes in environmental influences that impact decisions.

Jupiter entered mutable, fire Sagittarius on Thursday, November 23, 2006 @ 11:44PM EST until 12/18/07. It is during Jupiter-ruled Sagittarius that we celebrate giving and receiving and the two biggest holidays in the US. The first is the thankfulness and gratitude we celebrate as the Thanksgiving holiday, and then the abundant giving, generosity and also thankfulness of the Christmas holiday and Hanukkah. Jupiter rules Pluto’s position in Sagittarius and because of this will surely increase awareness of the Plutonian forces unleashed in the world that we have all been dealing actively with since Pluto entered Sagittarius in 1995. Those issues are one of differences in faith and the clash between spiritual and material values.

NewsBits:  OJ Simpson Book and TV Interview Dumped! And good riddance we say! It was, after all, appalling and in shockingly bad taste – disgusting, really! Simpson was born with a planetary position that I’ve called the “get away with murder aspect” – Jupiter in Scorpio. It bestows great skill in manipulating and in hiding whatever one does not want seen. With Jupiter now in Sagittarius – the “anything goes,” combination – we may yet, unfortunately, see this book surface in some way, in some form. Interestingly, there is a furor in the book business, since the publisher did not tell bookstores the subject matter of the Simpson book and yet insisted booksellers stock it. Bookstores were understandably offended by the trickery.

Middle-East Regrouping! The shift in political power in the US has also caused a shifting in potential alliances and a regrouping of the countries in the Middle-East. Syria is cozying up to Iraq and Iraq is reaching out for help to its neighbors, including Iran. Lebanon, joined at the hip with Syria (they both have the same birthdates – as mentioned in a previous Planet Weather), are struggling with conflicting goals and loyalties. This past week, Industry Minister, Pierre Gemayal was assassinated. He promoted his anti-Syrian sentiments, and the prevailing consensus is that Syrian officials had him silenced. In 2005, Lebanon’s former Prime Minister was assassinated and there are clear links in that murder also to Syria. Both Syria and Lebanon are still under tense aspect from Uranus conjuncting their Moon position @ 14 Pisces. This past Monday, Uranus made its energy more dominant with a station direct @ 10 Pisces, which was followed by the murder of Gemayal. The situation in that region, and particularly those countries, and possibly Israel and Gaza as well, will likely reach another critical elevation as Uranus reaches its 14^th degree again, in the latter half of February 2007. Uranus returns to the same degree it held during the recent conflict between Israel and Hezbollah and the decimation of Beirut