Planet Weather for the Week of December 30, 2007

SkyWatch – Moon phase of the week: 12/31 -- The Moon enters her Last (aka Third) Quarter phase at 2:51 AM EST, at 9 degrees of Libra. The fact that the current lunar cycle spans the old year (2007) and the new (2008), hopefully helps to make for a smooth transition between the two. 1/4 -- The Moon will make a close pass near Venus. Their point of closest approach will occur around 10 PM EST, when both are well below the horizon. But they should still form a beautiful pair when they rise together an hour or so before local sunrise the following morning. Space news of the week: The launch of the Space Shuttle Atlantis has been further delayed due to electrical problems. The currently scheduled launch was originally slated for early December when fuel-line problems caused a launch postponement until after the holidays. Currently, NASA has not set a new launch date, and NASA spokespeople have even got a bit testy with the media over the use of the phrase "another delay"! Hopefully, all systems will be go sometime before the end of January. 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 12/30/07 – Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday are the most active energetically and potentially most productive days – more Moon or planetary aspects for engagement and/or producing results. On 12/30/07, the Moon is VOC/Virgo from 8:08AM to 8:37AM EST – on 1/1/08, VOC/Libra from 7:33PM to 8:32PM EST – on 1/3/08, VOC/Scorpio from 7:30PM to 9:13AM EST (1/4/08).

 

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.

 

Sun in cardinal, earth Capricorn trine (120deg.) Saturn in mutable, earth Virgo @ 8deg. on 12/30/07 @ 8:23AM EST. On this day, your energies will focus on security matters and those that you consider to be life priorities for you now. Sober, somber, and serious is this expression and a perfect time to plan and organize both your time and your projects, or at least make resolutions to that effect.

 

Venus enters mutable, fire Sagittarius on 12/30/07 @ 1:02AM EST until 1/24/08. Venus in this fire sign brings inspiration, spirit, and a natural desire for joyous adventures in life and in relationships. All this happens amidst planets that focus our attentions on sobering realities, some of which produce their own share of concerns. However, with this Venus position, you can access the opportunities equally available for making your life better.  

 

Mars Rx re-enters mutable, air Gemini on 12/31/07 @ 11:01AM EST until 3/4/08. During this retrograde cycle, Mars appears to move backwards into Gemini, and we may be confused about thought processes that we entertained back in September. Now’s your chance to review those patterns and adjust them to the experiences that followed your thoughts and thinking. One of the issues of this retrograde is to align your logical thinking with your feelings of comfort. What exactly is it that makes you comfortable or uncomfortable and how will you resolve that?

 

Mars/Gemini opposite (180deg.) Pluto in mutable, fire Sagittarius @ 28deg. on 1/2/08 @ 4:28PM EST. This is the last aspect, in these particular signs between these two planets for 248 years! The next time Mars opposes Pluto it will be in Cancer/Capricorn, since Pluto is leaving Sagittarius by the end of 2008, and Mars in Gemini will not meet it again before it leaves. This is a potent aspect that indicates force of will; either applying one’s will upon circumstances or others or using this power potential to effect change. The aspect shows the power-play of opposing and opposite forces facing off, and one will win the fight. On a personal level, it is your own conflicts and cross purposes or desires that cause distress and disruption. As you make peace with your own demons, so will the world be better able to make its peace.

 

 NewsBits: Benazir Bhutto and Pakistan. The assassination of Benazir Bhutto shocked the world, of course – even though death threats trailed Bhutto for years even before she returned to Pakistan from an eight-year exile less than 3 months ago. The Full Moon on 12/23/07 @ 1 Cancer foreshadowed the 1^st station of Pluto in Capricorn by opposing that degree of 1 Capricorn. This was the “open parenthesis” of the slaying of Benazir Bhutto and the “close parenthesis” was the Mars opposite Pluto aspect of 12/30/07. Bhutto’s chart reveals a 29 degree Gemini Sun, currently undergoing a strong opposition from Pluto at exactly 29deg. Sagittarius, also a so-called “critical degree!” Mars retrograde @ 1deg. Cancer also mimicked the powerful first Pluto station to come (4/2/08) and conjoined with her own birth Mars degree of 4 Cancer. Her chart shows the courage of her convictions and the love of her country with a strong Sun conjunct the fighting spirit of Mars and a grouping of planets (4) in Cancer. Jupiter @ 2 Capricorn was also in position opposite her Mars and the three aspects above describe her violent transition out of this life and into the next. In her will, Bhutto named her husband as the next leader of the Pakistan People’s Party. However, her husband transferred leadership to Bhutto’s 19-year old son Bilawal Zardari. The young leader will complete his studies in London, as his mother wished, and an interim leader will take charge in the meantime. Bilwal Zardari said that his mother always claimed that, “Democracy is the best revenge.”

 

Pakistan’s chart (8/14/47, 9:30AM, Karachi) also holds Mars in Cancer, the same as Bhutto’s, along with a Moon in Cancer. Bhutto was Pakistan’s first female Prime Minister and one of just a handful of women to wield this kind of power in the world at large. Pluto @ 29 Sagittarius had just crossed the lower angle of Pakistan’s chart @ 28deg. when Bhutto was killed. Jupiter in Capricorn beginning to oppose the two Cancer planets shows the political and philosophical upheaval that must be negotiated to restore a measure of calm after this devastating blow. Benazir Bhutto was a shining light of inspiration with her Moon conjunct Neptune in Libra. Perhaps her martyrdom will stimulate more energy for positive change starting at the grassroots and honoring the legacy she left behind for Pakistan.