I HAVE TO ADMIT, I’ve been feeling the squeeze. Saturn is returning to forward (direct) motion in
early Virgo (where it contacts my chart), and people have been laying down the law. It seems
like with Saturn we’re held to a higher standard. We get the bad news first, and then we get to
see if we’ve done enough to prevent repercussions. Are our previous actions to prevent difficulty
enough to actually do so?
Saturn’s Story Here’s our Saturn story for this cycle. In early September, we realized that we had to look at
something a little differently. Relying on old ways of doing things wasn’t working. We had to
find some new ways to manage this area of our life. Wisely, we made plans and put them into
motion. Around November 30 we got a chance to see how well these plans might work for us,
and by December 19, we had a well-defined set of tasks to complete by a particular deadline.
This deadline is imminent, around May 2, as Saturn moves into the closing phase of its cycle.
Saturn Rewards Us If We Do the Work. Saturn rewards hard work, but it has to be meaningfully applied — the right work. Now we get
to see if our work has been effective. If the gifts we have created for the world will be well-received, or if we need to make further adjustments.
The reward period is upon us, although how much is determined by where Saturn is in your birth
chart. If you are in a reward period with respect to Saturn’s 30-year cycle through your chart, you
may gain very big rewards indeed. If you are not, the rewards will be palpable, encouraging, but
not the full wagon load you can expect when you reach the right stage.
Grand Trine Glow Still, Saturn’s energy feels like pressure. It is enough to dampen the glow we may otherwise feel
unfettered with the grand trine in the early degrees of the Earth signs involving love-planet
Venus, the aforementioned Saturn, and transformative Pluto. When Saturn returns to forward
motion, it has to stand still, just as a car that has been backing up must stop to change gears and
directions. While this is only a phenomenon of perspective, it is nonetheless real that we
experience Saturn’s energy as concentrated and intense. The contacts it makes with Venus and
Pluto, while generally beneficial, are still powerful; even something beneficial can seem
overwhelming under these circumstances.
My Example of How These Energies Are Working The experiences I had under this planetary pattern include a little more notoriety at Customs
when entering Canada than I would have liked, a wonderful weekend in Winnipeg (north of
Minnesota in Manitoba), and finding out that my home equity line of credit with National City
Bank (one of those in failure mode) has been canceled because of their problems. Inconvenient
but not cataclysmic.
My Saturn direct (what I have been working toward) is UAC (the United Astrology Conference),
which is set to start on May 15. I will have my new wares available there: my new book (Astrology’s Magical Blends), my new Beginning Astrology DVD series, the launch of the Astro-Energetic Healing Program before a large audience, and my new way of marketing the materials I
have already developed. I will have a partial answer to my question of how well I have designed
these materials to meet the needs of others.
Ultimately, Saturn’s return to forward motion gets it out of the front seat of the car. Although it
will still be a backseat driver, we get to focus on other energies now for a change. That means
that we may not have to work quite so hard, and that other areas of our life can be developed
more fully (or neglected less).
Expand With Jupiter! One of those shifts is a greater focus on our efforts to expand beyond our current limitations.
Jupiter, the planet of expansion, education, and enterprise, makes its standstill (station) before
turning retrograde on May 9. This will be a breath of fresh air compared to Saturn, if only
because you’ll be able to get out more. While Saturn often keeps us confined in some way in
order to accomplish our goals (like me stuck in my office editing video footage), Jupiter
frequently requires us to reach out and go beyond previous boundaries. What boundaries must
you breach, what frontiers must you explore to achieve your Jupiterian goals?
Who Says We Can’t Time Travel? On a more sober front, I’m sure you’ve noticed that the world is confronting new realities,
whether it is freaky weather, global food shortages, bank failures, or spiking oil prices. It seems
as if it’s too much too soon. What we’re experiencing is the dire need as a world community to
reach a balance. The food shortage is indirectly caused by the switch to ethanol as an alternative
fuel source. (This only works if you don’t know the facts: It takes more fuel to produce ethanol
than it produces.) Using up the corn for fuel impacts other food sources as people switch to other
grains for agriculture and direct consumption. There’s a ripple effect, and it underscores the fact
that we are all interconnected now.
All of these problems are related to each other, and this will become more apparent as we move
ahead. So why are we getting this big hit right now? It’s Jupiter. Jupiter is tracking over the turf
that Pluto will move over during the coming 16 years. Jupiter and Pluto both entered Capricorn
at the beginning of this year, but Jupiter will be in and out of it in a year, while Pluto moves
much more slowly and transformatively through the sign at about 1½° per year. Jupiter carrying
the energy forward and letting us test the waters of what’s to come. It is contacting planets in our
chart (and those of nations and leaders) that Pluto will contact in the exact same way (only with
more at stake) through 2024.
Jupiter is permitting us to time-travel, to see what we are creating and give us a chance (we hope)
to correct ourselves. This is true in both the global and the personal sense. And we are the
planet’s salvation: Where leaders are stuck in the gridlock of corporate media and massive
corporate control in nearly every area; where fear drives presidents and prime ministers to exceed
their granted powers and to act against even their own best interests — these are signs that the
people are the ones who have the freedom to drive the changes. We need to be off fossil fuels for
personal travel in 5 years, not 30% off by 2025. Home heating and electrical needs can be easily
met with solar power and, with 70 new manufacturing sources starting production in 2008, only
await government subsidy to make this opportunity accessible to everyone. This is only possible
if the power grid is dispersed (locally owned) rather than centrally owned by corporations.
The future looks bleak only if we are unwilling to change. Yet, we were born to participate in
these changes. Won’t it be wonderful when we can say that we did it?!
Since this event is part of Jupiter’s yearly cycle with the Sun, it helps to know the related dates.
This way, you can find what thread of your life is tied to this and anticipate how to work with it
to maximum advantage. You can expect related events on or around December 22 (2007), April
10, July 9, September 7 and October 6.
Mars Is Finally out of Cancer! After a marathon period in Cancer, Mars is leaving this sign for Leo on May 9. This is worthy of
note because this is the sign of Mars’s fall. Fall is a debility that reminds us that, as hard as Mars
is to use well in human nature, it is even harder when Mars is in Cancer. While many planets do
well in Cancer, Mars is not one of them. This is because Mars’s tendency to be wayward and
selfish is compounded with Cancer’s need for security, resulting in fear-based petulance and
short-sighted actions. (Witness those of National City Bank — canceling all accounts where
home equity has reduced regardless of how much or how well the customer has been paying.)
Some of these actions need to reach the light of day, and this is going to happen once Mars leaves
dark, fertile, gooey Cancer for bright, light, expressive Leo. The tenor of new reports will shift
after 7 months of living like mushrooms. (Note to all Cancers: I LOVE mushrooms!)
An Emphasis on Healing On May 10–20, we’ll be receiving signals about how well we’re building our spiritual bank
account, and how well we’re healing in an area that needs big change. This is when the Sun and
Venus contact Chiron and Neptune (by waxing square). Chiron and Neptune are coming together
this year and next, showing us a big area of woundedness that we must heal in order to thrive.
This is great news, because unless we understand what’s needed, we can’t heal. It is unique to
have this doorway available to us; without it, we would have a much harder time recovering this
part of our nature. Tie-in dates to these occur(red) in early February, mid-August, and late
October. This is the time to observe and learn.
Communications Confused However, this is not all! On May
26, there is a very unusual pattern
establishing itself when Mercury
trines Chiron and Neptune. (See
Chart B.) While Mercury trines
these planets once every year in a
similar configuration, all three
planets are beginning retrograde
(backward) motion. This is highly
unusual and could result in a
significant spiritual or healing
experience.
Communication is important is all
that we do. Under this energy
pattern, we have to look beneath the
surface message to see what’s really
being said. This implies that people
will not be at their best in
communicating clearly. There may
be confusion, mis-speaking, fear-based imagination (e.g., horror in movies) that is featured
prominently in our experiences at this time.
In the world of the public and politics, it’s a good news-bad news day. Someone gets one-up, the
other one-down. While this happens every day, it is likely to bring longer-lasting, more difficult
obstacles to overcome for the loser. This configuration favors victims and underdogs. There is
some indication that Democratic super-delegates John and Elizabeth Edwards may make an
endorsement at this time.
This day gains in impact on the future because Mars is at the degree that will be eclipsed on
August 1 (Barack Obama’s birthday). This suggests that he will receive a sizeable boost in his
standing as the proposed Democratic presidential nominee at the end of May - beginning of June.
Because May 26 marks the beginning of a planetary period rather than a single event, this marks
the start of a new chapter rather than a headline for a day.
Whatever it represents, it will take the coming three weeks to iron the truth and details out.
The Fine Print The fine print on this is that Mercury doesn’t actually reach Neptune (called refranation in horary
astrology), and that it’s close to a square to Uranus, but it refrains from reaching that as well.
Refranation suggests that we think something will happen, but it doesn’t. This can be good news
if a problem is averted, but it can be bad news if we’re waiting for relief of a difficulty and it
persists. This is most likely to play out in the presidential campaign (again) as an increase in
Obama’s favorables in a way that increases pressure on Clinton to drop out of the race, but she
remains in it.
A True Blue Moon Since time immemorial people have been watching the Full Moon. They certainly knew when
there were two Full Moons in one sign. This is the case this month when we get our second Full
Moon in Scorpio on 19th. While two Full Moons in the same secular month is called a Blue
Moon in society, astrologers sit up and take notice when there’s a true blue moon such as there is
now. You’ll find the usual doom-and-gloom predictions related to this, just as you do to every
other planetary event. However, I see this as an opportunity for an added dose of help from the
spirit world. The Taurus-Scorpio Full Moon each year is celebrated as the Wesak, when the
Buddha and other great spiritual teachers descend to Earth in ceremonies held around the globe.
This year we get two Wesak opportunities. What’s not to like about that?!
A Combination for Success If you like taking advantage of opportunities, you’ll love the fact that Jupiter is sextiling Uranus
on the 21st. This is the second of three harmonious contacts that these planets make in 2008. It’s
about ingenuity and innovation meeting expansion and enterprise. Great combination for
success!
An oppressive energy at the beginning of the month gives way to greater hope by its end. We
have work to do in order to create what we want, but that makes the results stronger and longer
lasting. While waves of fear and hopelessness sweep the planet, we can invest our focus and
energy in hope, courage, and a clear intention to be part of a positive change. This is a great time
to affirm it!
Significant Planetary Events
Saturn and Pluto are retrograde. Venus is in rulership. Mars and Jupiter are in fall.
Venus trines Pluto ℞
0°56' Taurus/Capricorn
May 1
Venus trines Saturn Rx
1°41' Taurus/Virgo
May 1
Mercury enters Gemini
(rulership)
0°00' Gemini
May 2
Saturn returns to forward
motion (stationary direct)
