Planet Weather for the Week of December 9, 2007

 

SkyWatch – Moon phase of the week: 12/9 -- The Moon enters her New cycle at 12:40 PM EDT, at 17 degrees of Sagittarius. Look for her slender crescent setting in the West just after the Sun a couple of evenings later. Skywatching events of the week: 12/14 -- The Geminid Meteor Shower peaks around noon Eastern time. Since this sometimes spectacular shower, appearing to originate (or "radiate from") the constellation Gemini, peaks during daylight throughout most of North America, weakening its effect. However, Gemini ("the Twins") rises in the East by mid-evening and sets in the West before dawn and so the best conditions for North American observers likely will be from midnight until dawn, a number of hours before the Geminid peak.espite the bad timing, this may be the best meteor shower of 2007, especially since the Crescent Moon will not be providing any competition. Space news of the week: The Space Shuttle Atlantis is due for launch sometime this week (and may even have launched by the time you read this). The Shuttle's mission this time is to deliver the European Space Agency's Columbus Laboratory to the International Space Station. NASA has definitely picked up the pace of its recent Shuttle launches in an attempt to get as much mileage out of the aging fleet as possible before its retirement in a few years. Go out! Look up!

 Knowing when VOC Moons occur is key to planning your successful 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 time. 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 12/9/07 – Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Friday are the most active energetically and potentially most productive days – more Moon aspects for engagement and/or producing results. On 12/10/07, the Moon is VOC/Sagittarius from 10:36AM to 1:51PM EST – on 12/11/07, VOC/Capricorn from 6:57PM to 12:01AM EST (12/13/07, one and a half days!) – on 12/15/07, VOC/Aquarius from 6:51AM to 8:15AM EST.

 

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.

 

Mercury in mutable, fire Sagittarius square (90deg.) Uranus in mutable, water Pisces @ 14deg. on 12/10/07 @ 7:42PM EST. Brainstorms arrive in a flurry with this aspect…so allow yourself to be receptive to something new, something innovative, something exciting, and usually something outside  the box or out of normal bounds. The purpose of Uranus is to trip you up a bit, so that you have the opportunity to act and react from an unplanned state of being. Refreshing nuance may emerge from these energies and the unexpected is always nearby. “Awakening” is the word.

 

Jupiter in mutable, fire Sagittarius conjunct (0deg.) Pluto/Sagittarius @ 27deg. on 12/11/07 @ 2:26PM EST. This is the “Big Hurrah” and marks a time of reckoning. Think about it – Jupiter is expanding the possibilities and the misjudgments (both) of Pluto’s journey through the territory of Sagittarius, the land of opportunity – opportunity for greed and aggrandizement or wisdom and philosophical understanding. There is expansion on many levels. What is expanding in your life? It’s possibly something that has been building for a year since Jupiter entered Sagittarius. Now, it’s bursting out, as it leaves the sign and opens the gates to what has been absorbed, overturned, and transformed by Pluto since 1995. We could call this a political reality check too – we can hope for a sense of wisdom to impregnate the global psyche (Pluto) to right the various exaggerations (Sagittarius) and recognize the fallout from the actions and events of the past 12 years.

 

Venus in fixed, water Scorpio trine (120deg.) Mars Retrograde (Rx) in cardinal, water Cancer @ 7deg. on 12/11/07 @ 6:16PM EST. For all relationships, this aspect will dig deep, perhaps far into the past where you first learned how to negotiate relationships. In any case, expect the past to have some influence, whether in the form of memories or repeated themes. Reflection and evaluation are part of this transit, and relationships benefit from expressing honest emotions and showing some vulnerability.

 

Sun/Sagittarius sextile (60deg.) Neptune in fixed, air Aquarius @ 19deg. on 12/11/07 @ 10:49PM. This aspect offers the opportunity to engage your compassion and generosity in a larger sense. There’s a sense of good-will and options for easing distress through wider perspectives, and finding new elements of truth in the midst of idiosyncratic patterns.

 

Venus in fixed, water Scorpio sextile Saturn in mutable, earth Virgo @ 8deg. on 12/12/07 @ 2:33PM EST. Venus is now in discovery and detective mode in Scorpio. In contact with Saturn in Virgo, Venus may reach some firm conclusions about what it has researched. This is an excellent aspect for analyzing deeper feelings and emotions and sorting them out. If an old pattern of behavior no longer works, then it may be time to toss it out and replace it with something more efficient or effective.

 

Mercury/Sagittarius sextile Neptune/Aquarius @ 19deg. on 12/13/07 @ 10:03PM EST.  Your thinking is gregarious and leaning to largesse. A global perspective serves you well in any conversation, just make sure you’ve got your facts straight and be aware that Sagittarius often tends to exaggerate. Seek both to give and receive inspiration and engage in uplifting events and activity.

 

** Mars turned retrograde on 11/15/07 @ 12deg. Cancer @ 3:24AM EST! Mars entered cardinal, water Cancer on 9/28/07. Mars re-enters the previous sign, Gemini, on 12/31/07, and turns direct @ 24deg. Gemini on 1/31/08. Mars re-enters Cancer on 3/5/08, and then remains in Cancer until 5/10/08.

 

 NewsBits: The Trouble with Iran. Are they or aren’t they developing nuclear weapons? Several years ago, the Bush administration insisted that Iran was a threat because of their developing nuclear capabilities. This week, however, the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) claimed that Iran halted their covert nuclear weapons program about four years ago. Senate Republicans are uneasy about this shift in intelligence and are calling for a congressional commission to investigate the NIE findings. Let’s take another look at the chart of Iran. The accepted chart of the Islamic Republic of Iran is 4/1/79 @ 3PM LT in Tehran, Iran when Ayatollah Khomeini proclaimed it officially. News of the NIE’s amended intelligence comes with Jupiter/Sagittarius squaring Iran’s Mercury/Pisces exactly and during its exact Saturn return to 8 Virgo. Not only that, but Saturn will make its first retrograde station @ 8 Virgo, emphasizing a focus on the nature of Iran’s structure, status and strategy. Iran’s esoteric task is about serving (Virgo/Pisces) and being useful. Saturn rules it’s House 6, which is also about work, workers, health, and the military. Iran’s Venus/Pisces is opposite Saturn imbuing its values with fear, structure, and restrictive or protective qualities. Iran has three planets, including Mars in Pisces, that indicate energies of hiding, covering-up, covert or secretive activities. These energies are also idealistic and often based in strong religious or belief systems. As an Aries Sun-sign country, with the ruler Mars in Pisces, Iran has a certain aggressiveness and is goal-oriented but more often than not initiates or engages those goals quietly or secretly, not revealing all of its intention. Goals are emotionally based and may shift or change with prevailing environmental influences. There is flexibility and maneuverability, although its values are somewhat rigid as indicated by Venus opposite Saturn. The intense focus on Iran’s motives/intentions will reach another crescendo or crisis when Saturn returns to 8 Virgo in August 2008. We are likely to have more answers then.