Looking Up/Heads Up ~ 30 Jan 2009


With all this Aquarian energy out there and more to come in the near future, it’s time to be looking up.


Last Saturday it was time to enjoy the adventure of heading up to Kitt Peak Observatory (next week I'll post a comprehensive article on the adventure). Funny how it goes. While we as astrologers know stuff on paper, we oft forget to apply it to the physical reality of the sky. When it was time to check out the visitor’s center, a docent sported Venus to all who would want a look through a rather nifty personal telescope. Someone muttered a comment about seeing Venus without the scope. Of course, then I remembered. With Venus close to her maximum angular separation from the Sun, she is visible to the naked eye in the middle of the afternoon. Sure enough. There she was (And she can still be seen in the afternoon). We know these sorts of things as we see them in charts, but to actually witness them is an entirely different and fabulous matter. While pleased with seeing Venus in all her shining glory, it was just as good to have a look at her through the telescope and witness her phasal relationship.


Yep, it’s time for a heads up. Sure Mars still dredges the last of Capricorn and with it follows a touch of lethargy, largely attributable to economic concern. Soon, as in next Wednesday (February 4th), Mars makes his way into Aquarius, heading toward a potent rendezvous. As February 17th rolls around we’re going to enjoy an alignment of Jupiter, the lunar node and Mars all in Aquarius. If that’s not a mission statement, what is?


Two hugely important factors apply here. First, it would be great to have a sense of invigorated dharma or a reinvigoration of previously established and still applicable visions of destiny good to go for this celestial window of highly energized opportunity. Second, it is important to notice the distinctions between the current Jupiter leading Mars era contrasted with the Mars leading Jupiter era.


With Jupiter leading Mars, it appears that forward thinking, contemplation, and out loud speculation intentionally or unintentionally come up with great ideas that can be put into play. Then when Mars triggers the degree where Jupiter stood when an idea came through, the cosmic clock chimes, alerting one to the fact that it’s now the time to initiate and get on with it. The liability of this interval comes from the need to make huge plans with grandiose goals. There are no bite size chunks in such planning. Should Mars become overwhelmed (more of a mental thing) or overloaded (a physical thing), fuses blow in the early stages of putting plans in place that may shunt great plans into oblivion. That’s why Mars must self-prescribe his own load limits.


After the 17th Mars takes the lead, wading a third of the way through the waters of Aquarius. His edge and enthusiasm seek out new paths to forge. Impatient to the max, he might just head off without a fully developed plan or any idea of what he’s up to... at least that would be Jupiter’s point of view of his impetus, impulsive self. Sometimes, especially in a sign like Aquarius, Mars might stumble on some noteworthy objective, and hopefully when such occurrences happen, the light bulb goes on and a “Eureka!” moment results.


This latter phenomenon emphasizes the importance of consciously applying the Jupiter-Node-Mars alignment. Whether a plan is in place or not, having a sense of purpose, destiny, mission or dharmic profile leads to a sensorial registration of significant realizations, plans or causes of action at the time they happen.


Presently Venus, phase still a blaze, squares off against a potent source of inspiration originating in the core of our galaxy. This signals a short burst of unprecedented “imagination” which may actually be the result of personal antennae aligned with the channel-like broadcast frequencies spewing from the Galactic Center. (How wildly ironic that legislators in the United States delayed the conversion from analog signals to digital signals scheduled for the time frame of Jupiter, Mars, Node) Anyway, the point is, great ideas will pour into the minds of those pondering what lies immediately ahead. The fretful Piscean themes of “Ah, no one can get behind that,” or “they’ll just think I’m Looney Tunes,” get in the way of applying truly brilliant innovation. I can tell you for a fact that Looney Tunes, if grounded and complying with the natural order, can work wonders. So say the resident road runner, pack of coyotes led by my good friend, Twilight the coyote, and the neighborhood bobcat. It’s a cartoon out there. So get animated. As the mythology of cartoon coyotes point out, there is no “crash and burn” option. The dynamic is one of “have a bump, take notes and get back up.” How utterly transformational!


Also in the spirit of looking up and slightly ahead, note that the lovely Venus soon shall slow in her motion relative to us, swivel her hips smartly and take a turn about. Given that Venus is the least likely planet to be retrograde - only slightly more than seven per cent of the time - this is a big deal. Just short of bumping up against the goddess of discord, Eris, Venus retrogrades on March 6th and remains taking backward ecliptical steps until April 17th.


Now, this does not inherently suggest the economy worsens. It does imply that a review of previous financial protocols shall yield realizations of which methods and strategies to abandon. Certainly this pattern does not bode well for financial magnates under scrutiny for brazen displays of greed. As much as flawed or failing methods must be dropped, fresh and inspired ways of sparking and rekindling the economy can appear in this interval. Specifically, look to March 27th. That’s when Venus and the Sun align and include the Earth in a three-body conjunction. Things can either slip through the cracks or get grabbed for application at the last second.


These next few days Venus reaches the shadow degree of her upcoming retrograde era (this is when she crosses the degree at which she shall resume direct motion after retrograding). Suggestively, this is a Venus heads up interval. In the U. S. the timing is quite clear. She resumes direct motion two days after taxes are due. Globally, the shadow speaks in foreshadowing verse. As the old radio serial promised, “The Shadow Knows!”


Regardless of how one decides to spin it, the patterns ahead strongly suggest, encourage and perhaps even compel all of us to look ahead. It is time to conjure viable plans, create resource assessments regarding those plans and to know that the seeds are sown for inspired folks to lead the way through these “uncertain” times. What is certain is that we know about the upcoming alignment of the Mars, Node and Jupiter. We know that Venus now signals what it’s going to be all about when she goes retrograde. With a little looking up, we all might be able to go further along than we could have imagined a short while ago.