Well, I’m back from the Flagstaff Film Festival and surprisingly more conference-lagged than is typical for an astrological gathering. Regardless, I’m back at it and working with a frenzy intended to dignify the current transits. First, though, I want to mention a very cool film that was shown at the Flagstaff Film Festival. The film, Mars, aired as Venus approached Mars in the skies (within a degree). This is a captivating love story wrapped around a space mission to Mars. The film uses animation over live action, a riveting sound track and a great story to keep you enthralled the entire time. Check out your local film festivals - even those international ones as they will be in London and other European venues in the not so distant future. It is certainly worth watching! If you’d like to watch a trailer, www.swervepictures.com. Anyway, enough of that, other than my script, Kate, was second runner up in the festival, inched out by scripts on spiders and the abduction of Willie Nelson.
Now back to more relevant matters at hand. In three days Mercury begins a retrograde stint in Virgo. Though this will no doubt bear the typical Mercury retrograde signatures we have all learned to dread. However, Virgo is a friendly sign for Mercury. If the standard recommendations for Mercury retrograde are applied with precision, order and attention, this might be a very favorable interval. Start with remembering details, especially those that may have been derailed by life situations that demanded your attention during the last blast of Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Pluto. With Uranus and Jupiter retracing recent steps, go back to changes you wanted to install, aspirations you wanted to seek and review the blueprints originally designed to construct such sweeping life alternations.
If you’ve been like most folks and overwhelmed with the collective holding of breath used to endure the patterns just past, let out a breath, shake your head, and look around to survey the terrain. After checking your immediate environment, take a look down the road a good piece. Where was it you wanted to go? Has there ever been a better time than now? What notations did you make about things that needed doing in some sort of sequence to produce positive results in life? Locate those items that managed to drop through the cracks. Reset the big picture plans. Reconnect with individuals who may fit into those plans and rekindle the spark of inspiration.
Note that September third is the virtual midpoint of Mercury retrograde as defined by the conjunction of Mercury with the Earth. This day stands out as particularly strong for course correction, rebooting of major plans, installing retrofits to blueprints, concepts and whatever whathaveyou that you call the Holy Grail of your plan. Take note. Get ready. Use it well.
That covered, it’s time to install a new concept, or at least reinvoke a concept surfaced by many and completely disregarded recently. With all the doom and gloom forecasts of late, I’m worn out fighting them off and working to serve as a voice of calm and reason. So, let’s get back to NFF: No-Fret Forecasting.
No-Fret Forecasting is not easy even though Saturn is no longer in Virgo. Our conditioning in life and as astrologers urges caution, reminding us to always keep more than a wary eye on conditions at hand. That’s great and makes sense, but if one adds negative expectation, worst case thinking, doubt and self diminishment to the mix, looking down the road offers up images of the kinds of silly roadblocks like the kind you can find in watching an unending blitz of cartoons - which we did at the film festival. This idea came home to roost when watching the film festival’s outstanding feature movie, Pickin’ and Grinnin.’ The last song of the film: “I Wouldn’t Go Outside if I Were You,” so often the attitude applied to transits (the singers also mentioned Scorpio in one of their songs). Stop sitting in the bathroom, reading the ephemeris while on the stool and forecasting personal doom.
In the interest of NFF, let’s look ahead without animated negativity. Presently we enjoy Mars, Venus and Saturn in Libra. What a cool reset reminder.
Mars reminds us to be in balanced stature before practicing our martial arts. Block no blow that is not coming at you. Stay cool. Ditch personal reactions first, then deal with life. A baseball player might think being placed on waivers and traded is personal; it’s not. It’s just business. Deal with the business at hand and use present circumstances to get where you want to go.
Venus in Libra demands that one remain clear on the merit’s of one’s personal value. Life’s reaction is often subjective and in that subjectivity, it may appear to be unfair or rejecting, when the bottom line matter might be that of the personal taste of those reacting. Thus, a “no” may not be a statement made about your talent, effort applied or personal attributes.
Saturn reminds us all to play fair and nice in the sandbox. Since we all believe in that “goes around, comes around” thing, the “be cool to others and they’ll be cool to you” agenda applies.
These Libran planets shine brightly in the evening sky so that we’ll all pay attention. It is time to
recreate personal balance and equilibrium while establishing cooperative agendas. Get this sorted now, as things are fixing to intensify.
Intensify, not teeter on the precipice of disaster. Looking ahead in near future, take notice that Venus enters Scorpio on September 8th (GMT), followed by Mars on September 14th. Venus and Mars both snuggle with the Galactic Center/Super-Galactic Center midpoint in early October, then Venus swivels her hips and turns retrograde on October 8th.
Several qualifiers appear in the above. The Galactic/Super-Galactic midpoint thingie stands out as a point of alchemy, magic and the official manifestator of what your subconscious believes to be true (see why the personal attribute reset of Venus in Libra is a biggie?). This point can be the fulfiller of dreams and the maker of dharma. Next, Venus retrograde is the most rare retrograde planet effect, being backward only 7.2 % of the time; Mars is next in that category, retrograde 9.4% of the time. The Venus retrograde era inspires a necessary and important review of assets - personal and financial; the reset of one’s personal values as contrasted with social standards - an action sanctioned by Eris; distinguishing the difference between needs and wants - and choosing your favorite; and shaking off the standards to which one no longer wishes to aspire.
Of course these upcoming transits of Venus and Mars occur in Scorpio: deep, dark, unnecessarily dreaded Scorpio. Like Mercury in Virgo, Mars is friendly in Scorpio. While not intending to tell Venus what she wants, Mars will lead the charge for Venus in the upcoming weeks if a person agrees to fantasize about what deeply rooted fears should be uprooted. These are the kinds of fears that keep a person from aspiring for something better. Examine what behaviors and attitudes you might aspire to change so you can flip over the wild cards of life and turn up Aces. More likely than not, this does not imply that you need to change what you’re doing. Here, the energies imply that you might only need to change the energy with which you do those things.
Do not fear the passion and intensity of Scorpio. While listening to the writer/director of Mars talk about how many times he wanted to quit while making the movie, I thought of the natural surges that run through Scorpio. When a letter of rejection comes in on a project you know is good, you might yell and scream, jumping about in little circles, threatening to quit. You might swear and spit and do something else that rhymes with spit. Is it destructive to have such episodes? According to some, yes. According to Scorpio, it’s just the relief valve on the tea kettle letting you know it’s time to steep with your passions and prepare to taste the delicate flavors of the carefully cultivated tea leaves of your life. Scorpio resets after melting down. Passion restores creative vision and forces the spirit to rise again in proverbial Scorpionic metaphors.
At the festival I was reminded of what I love about people in the film business that sets them aside from other people. There exists a passion, a commitment that continues through and beyond all setbacks and is strengthened by each adversity life throws onto the path. There is the “there is no other option” attitude that steers a person toward the ultimate aspirations of life. During the upcoming time of Venus and Mars in Scorpio, everyone feels this type of uncontrollable inner surging of spirit.
This brings ups back to now. Reset, balance, reprioritize and recreate a personal vision of the ultimate aspiration of life. Is there a choice? There is, but it does not fit the “there is no other option” mindset. So as you prepare to fire retro rockets for reentry into a short review cycle courtesy of Mercury, get those feet properly planted and sink good roots. Open the waterways of the dam holding passion in check so that the dam does not burst.