Planet Weather for the Week of September 24, 2006
                                                                                     

SkyWatch – Moon phase of the week: The Moon enters her First Quarter phase at 7:04 AM EDT, at 7 degrees of Capricorn. First Quarter Moons are afternoon and evening Moons, rising (often unnoticed) about noon and setting around midnight. Look for this one high in the southern sky at sunset. Skywatching events of the week: Interestingly, none of the inner planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars) is visible at all this week, but Jupiter and Saturn both are. Look for Jupiter low in the southwest in the constellation Libra after sunset, as the King of planets is in the process of setting. Now appearing to move through the constellation Leo, Saturn is a "morning star" that rises 20-30 degrees up into the eastern sky before dawn. Space news of the week: Space Shuttle Atlantis returned to earth this past week after a one-day re-entry delay due to concern about debris observed to be floating past the Shuttle. Shuttle astronauts carried out an extensive examination of the Shuttle's heat-shield tiles to determine that there was no significant damage, allowing them to proceed with the landing. Otherwise, NASA officials pronounced the mission extremely successful in getting construction of the International Space Station (ISS) back on track after a hiatus of over two years. Go out! Look up!

This week Monday, Tuesday 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 Sunday 10:11AM to 9:54PM EDT. 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.

Jupiter in fixed, water Scorpio square (90deg.) Neptune in fixed, air Aquarius @ 17deg. on Sunday, September 24, 2006 @ 4:33PM. Jupiter is enthusiastic, positive and risk-taking. It also tends to exaggerate, embellish, and enlarge situations. When it meets by square with Neptune, it enhances spiritual understanding but not always in the way we wish. There can be disappointment, unfulfilled wishes and desires, or even deception and scandal. Something hidden is revealed, and this aspect also points to dirty politics or certainly questionable manipulation of the truth to control situations. A spiritual insight can be gained and through focus and absorption, mysteries and complexities can be better understood. The idea is to step away from the desire to control outcomes, and, instead, allow situations to unfold and reveal themselves without getting caught up in negative states of expression. (Easier said than done but vastly more fulfilling). If you can’t change it, let it run its course and learn from it. This aspect took place earlier in the year on 1/27/06, and there may be a thread that is carried through to a current situation.

Venus in mutable, earth Virgo square (90deg.) Pluto in mutable, fire Sagittarius @ 24deg. on Monday, September 25, 2006 @ 2:07PM EDT. This aspect stimulates the Pluto station earlier this month @ 24deg. (9/4/06) and focuses on the specifics of our important relationships and the practical everyday reality of our schedule, our work and the skills we are using to achieve meaning in our lives. This aspect can provoke old wounds, and we may feel violated or betrayed in various ways by situations or people important to us. The way to use this aspect is to allow yourself to be vulnerable even when it is hard and most importantly to “own” your own shadow instead of projecting it onto others. Expressing vulnerability can be your greatest strength – you may have to look deeply inside yourself to understand what’s really eating away at you and admit that, instead of blaming others. In the mundane world this latter action can be a power-play or a desire to manipulate and pass the blame without taking responsibility.

Mercury in cardinal, air Libra sextile (60deg.) Saturn in fixed, fire Leo @ 20deg. on Monday, September 25, 2006 @ 4:28PM EDT.  This is the first of Mercury’s two meetings with important planets. Mercury to Saturn means setting up some guidelines and structures or confirming the rules of the game – whatever game you are playing. This lends a serious or sober bent to the mind and situations/relationships and it’s a great aspect for organizing yourself.

Mercury in cardinal, air Libra sextile (60deg.) Pluto/Sagittarius @ 24deg. on Wednesday, September 27, 2006 @ 11:25PM EDT. Mercury to Pluto is the ability to understand your motives in your persuasive conversations with others. What is it you are really trying to get and does getting it take unfair advantage over another? This aspect is great for analysis and strategy and understanding your deeper needs and desires. This probing aspect is excellent for research and development of ideas.

Venus enters cardinal, air Libra on Saturday, September 30, 2006 @ 6:02AM EDT until 10/24/06.  This is one of Venus’ home signs, and it is therefore very comfortable here. The focus will be on balance and fairness, which means that what is unfair and unbalanced, will become glaringly obvious. The desire for harmony can mean concessions and compromises are made, or at least the effort to reach consensus will be a worthy goal during this time. Focus on beauty and pleasures to take the edge off your stress and bring relaxation into your daily life and relationships. This aspect favors cooperation and finding ways to honor individuals within partnerships.

NewsBits: Between Eclipses. Between the Lunar Eclipse of 9/7/06 and the Solar Eclipse of 9/22/06 we saw a coup in Thailand, an uprising in Hungary, and a speech filled with invective from President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, calling GW Bush, “the devil.” We also saw the determination of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in furthering nuclear ambitions and President Bush’s speech to the United Nations.

In Hungary, thousands of protesters gathered against President Gyurcsany, a 45-year old millionaire, claiming that he lied to win his election last April.  A tape was leaked to the media in which Gyurcsany admitted his party had lied. The opposition party leader, Viktor Orban, said that Gyurcsany had broken the law. Hungary’s chart (10/23/89 12PM, Budapest, Hungary) shows the challenges facing the country. The most active indicator of problems was the Uranus station 6/19/06 @ 14 Pisces square Hungary’s Venus @ 16 Sagittarius. This was reignited by the Lunar Eclipse of 9/7/06 @ 15 Pisces. Venus is especially important in the chart of Hungary because it rules that country’s Mercury and Mars positions in Libra. The situation was further inflamed by Mars currently transiting Libra, giving Hungary its Mars return (stimulating initiative and action). And finally, Saturn/Leo is crossing Hungary’s Moon @ 22deg. Leo. Saturn will cross over the Moon two more times in 2007, and so the government and the trust of the people, who feel they have been lied to, will not be settled until those transits are completed.

Thailand was overtaken in a bloodless coup by the military and army commander Sondhi Boonyaratkalin, the first such coup in 15 years. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra (a telecommunications tycoon), won three general elections by popular vote but was accused of undermining democracy. He alienated the middle classes, intellectuals, and pro-democracy activists, particularly by restricting what was once Asia’s freest news media, undermining democratic institutions, and insulting the revered Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej. The chiefs of the army, navy, and air force met with the King this past week to discuss an interim government. The 78-year-old king has helped maintain stability in Thailand and has used his prestige to pressure opposing political parties to compromise during crises. The military claims it will return power to a democratic government. Thaksin was in New York at the UN when the coup was staged. The coup came on the heels of months of protests and accusations of corruption and electoral misconduct and problems with Muslim insurgency. The chart of Thailand (6/24/32, 5AM, Bangkok, Thailand) shows transiting Saturn/Leo conjuncting the Thai Jupiter @ 20 Leo, and Neptune/Aquarius getting ready to oppose Jupiter/Leo. In fact, in 2007, there will be an exact station and opposition of Saturn/Neptune precisely on Thailand’s Jupiter/Leo. The Uranus station of 6/19/06 (often indicating dissent, rebellion or anarchy) again plays a strong part, reignited by the Lunar eclipse of 9/7/06 – in Thailand’s chart; it made a trine to their Mercury/Cancer. This is an easier aspect, and possibly accounted for the “bloodless coup.” We’ll see more action in these two countries when Mars travels through Aquarius and Pisces in March-May 2007.