seeing blue*

the february 2005 forecast

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saturn is retrograde.

venus conjoins chiron	28°19' capricorn	february 1
jupiter reverses direction (stationary retrograde)	18°51' libra	february 1
imbolc (candlemas)	--	february 2
venus enters aquarius	0°00' aquarius	february 2
true imbolc (aquarius cross-quarter)	15°00' aquarius	february 3
sun conjoins neptune	15°04' aquarius	february 3
mars enters capricorn	0°00' capricorn	february 6
new moon	20°16' aquarius	february 8
mercury conjoins neptune	15°15' aquarius	february 8
mercury trines jupiter	18°44' aquarius/libra	february 10
mercury conjoins sun	25°49' aquarius	february 14
venus conjoins neptune	15°30' aquarius	february 14
mars sextiles uranus	6°12' capricorn/pisces	february 15
mercury enters pisces	0°00' pisces	february 19
venus trines jupiter	18°28 aquarius/libra	february 17
sun enters pisces	0°00' pisces	february 19
mercury conjoins uranus	6°28' pisces	february 20
chiron enters aquarius	0°00' aquarius	february 21
venus sextiles pluto	24°13' aquarius/sagittarius	february 21
venus sextiles lunar north node	25°31' aquarius/aries	february 22
full moon	5°41' pisces/virgo	february 23
sun conjoins uranus	6°45' pisces	february 24
venus enters pisces	0°00' pisces	february 26
mercury trines saturn	20°51' pisces/cancer	february 27

all dates are based on pacific time.

if you’re seeing lots of blue in the grid this month, it’s because the planets are being kind to us at least part of the time. to be sure, there is plenty of excitement, but some soft aspects ease the situation and suggest resolution of difficulties. in general terms, this month we’ll see more beginnings than endings, but some past situations will move toward clarity, to be resolved in march and completed in the spring.

sometimes the fast-moving planets — moon, sun, mercury, venus, mars — seem to egg on the difficulties, adding insult to injury. in february, they will mitigate them, smoothing the way to resolution. what’s more, two planets, venus and mars, move into dignity (signs that they do well in). although they are not in contact with each other this month, their placements suggest a good outcome, or at least a better outcome, for events timed by them.

what do venus and mars say?

mars moves into capricorn on the 6^th. this is its exaltation, because it is a controlled, structured place for mars to operate. mars, which humans have difficulty with because it governs impulse control, is easier to manage here. it suggests that mars-type events, which tend to be aggressive or violent, will be softened. world peace efforts may move forward with a plan. and it’s a good time to put forth a plan in any initiative.

venus enters its exaltation, pisces, on the 26^th. although this will color march more than it does february, it’s worth taking note of now. venus is exalted in pisces because it spiritualizes what it touches. in its domain, love and money (what we value), the spiritual energy of compassion and a sense of oneness with everything leads us to act wisely.

airy harmonies

with jupiter in libra, planets in air signs receive auspicious contacts, and there are plenty of those. neptune continues its course through aquarius, where it has been since 1998. chiron enters aquarius on the 21^st. although it backs out on july 31^st, returning to capricorn until december 5, we get a taste of its new placement. this is an important event, because chiron travels relatively slowly. it has been in capricorn since december 2001. it will remain in aquarius until march 2011, as it reaches the slow part of its 51-year orbit. chiron in capricorn has brought out the “wound” in government systems around the world. from the challenges to the checks and balances in the us to the corruption and disorganization that contributed to the disaster associated with the south asia tsunami, we can see the flaws that need correcting.

in aquarius, social weaknesses will be revealed. flawed, ego-driven group dynamics will no longer fly below the radar. around the world, we will be thinking about what it takes for humanity to survive (and, extending the paradigm, other species and the planet as well). anything that divides us imperils the delicate balance on our planet. aquarius directs us to find the balance between group harmony and membership, and individuality. its egalitarianism and freedom-seeking will come in handy now, when these qualities seem to be at a low ebb in a terrorism-filled world. it will factor into the actions and motives of people for the next six years, completing its opposition to saturn next year and passing neptune in 2010 just before it leaves the sign. these contacts will bring the issues of group interactions and ideals to a head.

renewal in government and society

the saturn-chiron contact, which has been happening since september 2003, is pointing up the lack of responsiveness of institutions and bureaucracy to the needs of those they are meant to serve. before this interaction is done, the focus will shift to the results of this failure at the top in the social systems around us. currently, there are several cornerstones of social support under attack, from social security to various privacy rights. (see my december and january forecasts for more on saturn in leo.)

neptune in aquarius operates on a deeper level, and it could be called the “sleeper” energy that underlies the ways that people are dealing with group and social dynamics in the world today. since it went into aquarius in 1998, old systems have been dissolved away so that new (or old) ideas can be (re)tried. just what has been happening will be fully raised to consciousness when chiron reaches it.

one way that this will surely be experienced is an increase in awareness that something has to be done to end the great divides that have developed between groups based on extreme ideologies. psychological dynamics, which are strong enough in individuals or dyads (two-person interactions) run wild in groups. on a hidden level, members of a group are sensitive to the loyalties and dominance structures that exist between each other. even if they don’t know consciously, unconsciously they know when there is conflict. if a rift is beginning to occur in the group, it is common for the group to look for an external enemy to focus its turmoil on. then the group members can be united against the common enemy. of course, the members of the group have to buy into the vilification process.

this process is at work in the us at a higher level right now with respect to many factors. one prominent way it is operating is with respect to the iraq war. although there are many other motivations that go into such a complex situation, george w. bush chose an external enemy unconsciously because he was trying to mend the deep rift which existed in the nation after the disputed election of 2000. the events of 9/11 had brought people together, but the union was fraying, and additional fear-based factors led him to lash out at a “safe” enemy. the trouble is, it hasn’t unified the nation (although it nearly did at the beginning). this is because not everyone is buying into the notion of iraq as villain. the vague threat of terrorism, the real threat of osama bin laden, al qa’eda, and its splinter groups are too scary to name because the bush administration doesn’t know what to do about them. (and what they do know is best done through the intelligence community, which if reported loses its effectiveness.) the iraq war also splintered a world that was united behind the us in sympathy and outrage after the 9/11 attacks.

you can see these dynamics occur in any group when there’s an internal conflict, especially those involving factions. factions are especially toxic to the health of a group — and its hard to prevent them from happening. gossip, the tendency to talk about someone rather than to someone, is based on the desire to avoid conflict but actually generates it. it is fear-based behavior, and in large groups such as a nation, fears about groups who are not like you are the norm.

although sweeping changes may be called for in many situations, one of the problems is that we are so inter-dependent in a world where so many things are linked. this means that a change cannot be made without having a powerful impact in many other areas because of this complexity. with both positive and negative effects of any major change, it is hard to take bold decisions that might solve some problems conclusively. people have to be willing to make sacrifices as a group and give each other support for it to happen. the last time this occurred was during the great depression, when the new deal was devised by franklin d. roosevelt.

jupiter sets up our lessons in expansion and over-reaching.

jupiter, the planet of expansion, education, and enterprise, reverses direction on the 1^st. this actually creates a scenario in the heavens called refranation. jupiter refrains from contacting saturn by difficult aspect, preventing problems that seem inevitable from occurring, at least for a few months. this gives us a chance to surmount the difficulties that lie at the heart of the situation and head off others. jupiter and saturn have to do with economic issues and so the economy (and the markets) will probably do well for a while longer. the illusion is that nothing needs to be done to fix problems because their imminence is masked. this could be true in our own lives as well. if we make the mistake of thinking that our problems will disappear on their own because they’ve dissipated in the short run, we lose a valuable opportunity to take care of something that will come back in four months, perhaps in more extreme form.

new cycles begin

neptune’s new cycle starts on the 3^rd when the sun reaches it. lasting a year, we can look at events around this time as mapping out our spiritual lessons and ways of fulfilling our ideals. critical dates for the neptune cycle are on may 7 and 19, august 8, october 26, and november 6. although its energies are subtle, it is good to pay attention, for they are just as strong as any of the outer planets’. this cycle is made more fruitful by a trine (a harmonious contact) from jupiter. the first of these occurred on november 28 last year. this allows the expansion and manifestation of ideals in the world, especially the world of society and wealth. the emphasis is on people and social groups and suggests a reprieve in some areas of hardship for many. it is a good time to start businesses relying on jupiterian (travel, education, publishing, and expansion of consciousness) or neptunian (film and photography, music, spirituality and religion, and help to the underprivileged) principles. this is a major support for the harmonies occurring this month in the air signs, with all the fast-movers going through aquarius. they repeat and reinforce the trine of jupiter to neptune. there are two more times that this contact occurs, on march 13 and august 17, making this year much easier than last year, when jupiter’s primary contact was a square (challenging contact) to pluto. mercury and venus reinforce what the sun initiates on the 8^th and 14^th (making for an especially starry-eyed romanticism on valentine’s day), respectively. when mercury touches off jupiter on the 10^th, and venus on the 17^th, the effect is complete. keeping track of events from the 3^rd through the 17^th can be very helpful in taking advantage this energy of abundance.

uranus’s new cycle begins on the 24^th, which brings startling events — much more noticeable than those of neptune. we’ll be awakened by them and have a year to work through the challenges that arise. this especially affects people who have placements in the mutable signs — gemini, virgo, sagittarius, and pisces. the integrating force moves through these signs, and we must learn to make whole (to heal), complete, and move on. key dates for uranus’s cycle are may 31, june 14, august 31, and november 15 and 28. mercury repeats the trigger to uranus on the 20^th, and venus does so on march 4^th.

more harmonies

the month ends on another upbeat note when mercury trines saturn. this gives us a change to make lemonade out of the lemons of last year. although more challenges await us in march, for now we can experience a moment of peace.

if your chart and life circumstances allow you the opening to take advantage of these harmonies, it’s a good time to experience gratitude for past supports and accomplishments, to take stock, and to enjoy life. if you have something to begin, it’s an exciting time to take the initiative. we can hope that those in positions of world leadership will do the same.

*blue is the color used for harmonious aspects in the astrological chart, and is not meant to refer to the way blue is used in politics at this time, e.g., “blue” states.