Sun Into Capricorn 2012-13: The Valley of the Shadow

    The Sun and Santa Claus may be coming to town, but you better watch out, as the old song says, for Pluto.  This year’s solar trip through sober, provocative Capricorn will see the planet ruling power, death and the subconscious make direct connections with most of astrology’s personal planets.  Closely allied with staunch Saturn in transformational Scorpio, the cycle is set to help us confront blocks and fears. to clear our paths of psychic debris and to lay more ascension groundwork.  But before we can plant the seeds of change, we have to locate our seeds of self-destruction.

    I once was lost
    But now I’m found
    Was blind
    But now I see
            - John Newton


    The Sun will move into determined Capricorn at 3:12 A.M. PST on December 21st and by the 30th it will be conjunct (at the same degree as) Pluto.  Ambitious and assiduous, Capricorn sets its intention and achieves its aims.  In traditional astrology, this Cardinal earth sign is associated with career and industry, and in our heavily materialistic culture they are in turn primarily associated with monetary reward.  In the new paradigm, life purpose may be the more appropriate and helpful term when defining our work, and satisfaction and happiness are equally important indicators of the worth of our endeavors.  Under Pluto’s waxing influence, stated business ethics will increasingly have to match industry practices.  So when the Sun contacts honest, purifying Pluto these days, evolved interpretations of success will apply to our professional lives and surviving institutions.  When Pluto connects with Mercury on January 6th, we may be forced to examine inconsistencies.  Are they based on fearing or trusting life?  When Pluto aligns with Venus on the 16th, we may have to look at our relationships and values.  What have we been sweeping under the rug for the false sake of peace?  What changes are we ready to make?  Plutonium is after all a key component of nuclear power.  We can think of these Pluto connections like coming into contact with internal nuclear energy.  Anything less than our complete authenticity and a commitment to carefully disposing of our accumulated toxins would be like ignoring proper maintenance at a nuclear power plant.  Body work such as massage and acupuncture may be especially helpful at this time.  As Saturn continues its transit of Pluto-ruled Scorpio, the pressure to clean up our acts, systems and planet will only increase.

    On December 26th Pluto will form a sextile to Capricorn’s ruling planet Saturn.  This structuring planet is just getting settled into the shamanic sign of death and rebirth, and this is only the first of the exact sextiles it will form with Pluto over the next three years.  Fortunately for us, the influence of a sextile is astrology’s kinder and gentler cleaning mode.  Still, these forces are intent on fully exposing flaws and falsehoods and washing away blockages and distortions.  Scorpio’s candor will help us see the issues clearly.  It will sextile Mercury on January 6th, under a Scorpio moon, and it will sextile Venus on January 17th.  Conversations shift from image to substance, and substance determines consequences.

    All of the self-exploration and clearing are in preparation for the new Capricorn moon of January 11th.  On that day five of astrology’s ten planets will be in forging, security-conscious Capricorn.  This first new noon of 2013 will make connections with Pluto and the Sun and will receive propulsion from Innovative Uranus in activating Aries.  Capricorn can lay a solid foundation for growth, and its work toward principled goals builds enduring systems and legacies.  Looking ahead, 2013’s full Capricorn moon will take place on June 23rd, when the Sun will be in the Cardinal water sign of nurturing Cancer.  This reference point comes only weeks ahead of one of the year‘s most influential events, a grand water trine.  Exact on July 17th this trine will see Neptune, Jupiter and Saturn merge from each of the three water signs, Pisces, Cancer and Scorpio. 

    The enormous wave of heart wisdom they create is beginning to form now.  This is where and when feelings, language and spirituality begin playing a greater role in determining reality.  This wave will envelop all three of the year’s Mercury retrogrades which will take place under the water signs.  Capricorn is the domain of astrology’s ancient sea goat, so now is when can begin to master navigating between the material world and the watery home of heartfelt intelligence.  Pluto’s transit through Cap lasts until 2023 and Neptune’s voyage through Pisces until 2025.  It is into this larger context that the Sun enters competent, capable Capricorn.  Evolutionary Pluto stands in its path, poised to purge us of impediments to our progress.  Are we ready to face the music and to sing a new song?


When you've seen beyond yourself
then you may find peace of mind is waiting there
And the time will come when you see
we're all one
and life flows on within you and without you

               - George Harrison

Sun Into Scorpio 2012: Eliminate To Generate

“Come to the edge,” he said.
They said, “We are afraid.”
They came.
He pushed them....
They flew.
- Guillaume Apollinaire

    Emotional, fixed Scorpio thrives on intensity and change, and the Sun will dive into its purifying waters at 5:14 P.M. PST on October 22nd.  Material matters will surface courtesy of a full Taurus moon on the 29th and a total solar eclipse conjunct the lunar nodes on November 13th.  A provocative full Cardinal cross will precede the Mercury retrograde that begins on Election Day in the U.S.  Saturn and Pluto will begin strengthening 2013’s evolutionary Uranus Pluto squares.  And, Neptune and Chiron, turning direct in reflective Pisces, will connect us more directly with our intrinsic truths.  In the grand scheme of things, new dimensions and higher levels of awareness are opening up to us.  To access them, we must journey through solemn Scorpio’s passageway.

     October 29th’s full moon in physical, security-oriented Taurus will be opposed by restricting Saturn and the willful Sun in truthful, transforming Scorpio.  This super moon is connected to 2012’s Venus occultation, 2013’s Uranus Pluto squares and the lunar node placements lasting into early 2014.  It is a call to strike a healthy balance between the our spiritual essence and material needs.  It is also an opportunity to examine and release the financial fears that ironically limit us.  Occurring two days before the Celtic holy day of Samhain, it is a summons to look within, reconcile losses and dedicate ourselves more fully to the spiritual work we came here for.  This meaningful moon will receive a friendly trine from evocative Pluto in industrious Capricorn.  Infused with this lunar wisdom and inspired by practical plans for the future, we enter a Cardinal gateway of Light the first weekend of November.

October 29, 2012

     Abundant Venus has two celestial abodes, and she will be residing in her harmonious Libra lair when the moon comes home to its native Cancer from November 3-5th.  With Pluto and Uranus settled into Capricorn and Aries, the cosmic stage is set for initiation.  If the full moon or Samhain/Halloween purging has worked its magic, then new offers and opportunities will begin materializing in early November.  Discouraging unwisely impulsive decisions, clever Mercury will turn retrograde on November 6th.  Lasting until November 26th, this transit will provide ample time for studying details and carefully reviewing facts and figures before moving ahead.  And with the Messenger traveling all the way back to 18 degrees of probing Scorpio, deceit, abuse and deception will be exposed.  Mercury, Saturn and the Sun are intent on clearing corruption and instituting the honesty and integrity now critical for planetary evolution.  

    Mercury re-enters sacred Scorpio on November 13th, the day of a total solar eclipse.  This new moon eclipse in Scorpio is conjunct the lunar North node.  In general terms, the moon’s South node describes the past and its North points the way forward.  The Taurus Scorpio opposition created here concerns resources and power.  In late August the Nodes shifted into Taurus and Scorpio, where they will be in influence until February 2014.  Here they will intensify the current Scorpio directive to fully integrate our spiritual beliefs with our economic practices and the care we give to our physical bodies. 
 
    The “let go to grow” mantra being sounding now will be booming by the time we reach 2013’s Pluto Uranus squares.  They will take place on May 20th, the final day of the Taurus Sun cycle, and on November 1st, in the midst of next year’s Scorpio solar sojourn.  By then stern, structuring Saturn will be adding more of its considerable weight to the equation.  The ringed-planet is after all Capricorn’s ruler, so it supports Pluto’s presence in the sign of pragmatic progress.  Reciprocally, Pluto respects Saturn’s disciplined prowess in its home sign of destructive Scorpio.  In short, Pluto in Capricorn and Saturn in Scorpio understand and mirror each other.  In these placements, their energies are complementary and mutually fortifying.  Mars will amplify their power when it moves through ambitious Capricorn from November 16th through December 25th.  This is the fuel for setting and ultimately reaching conscious goals.  The Sun’s coming placements in Taurus and Scorpio on the exact days of the next Pluto Uranus squares will reinforce the work we undertake now.

    Scorpion change is often dramatic, turbulent and obvious.  By contrast, fellow water sign Pisces works more like waves upon rocks.  It dissolves so subtly and gently that its influence is usually only recognizable over time.  The planet it rules, Neptune will turn direct on November 10th as will healing asteroid Chiron on the 14th.  Both are in holistic, integrating Pisces, the sign that also completes the zodiac.  Thus the planets in these collaborating water signs are on message: release to regenerate.  The Neptunian element here assures us that even in the midst of great upheaval, peace is always available.  The boundless, artistic planet instructs us to turn inward.  There we can center ourselves.  From the void of a quiet mind, inspiration emerges.  Aligned with its clarity, we know precisely which steps to take next.

“And now I see with eye serene,
the very pulse of the machine
A being breathing thoughtful breath
A traveler between life and death”
William Wordsworth

Sun Into Libra 2012: Dare To Care

    The Sun will shift into harmonizing Libra at 7:49 A.M. PST on September 22nd, but this cycle’s main event will take place on October 5th.  That’s when lesson-baring Saturn will move from graceful Libra, where it has been since October 29, 2009, into passionate, purifying Scorpio.  The transit will last until December 23, 2014 with a retrograde revisit scheduled from June 14th to September 16th of 2015.  Before that celestial changing of the guard, we have some ideal aspects for brainstorming and another Cardinal portal of bright beginnings to travel through.  Also during the upcoming Libra cycle, active Mars will move into adventurous Sagittarius, mental Mercury will delve into intense Scorpio and artistic Venus will beautify service-oriented Virgo.  Joining Jupiter in Gemini and Neptune in Pisces, Mars and Venus will form more Mutable squares and oppositions, further encouraging release and renewal. 

    The Libra cycles gets off to a lively start when the moon moves into Cardinal Capricorn on September 22nd.  In alliance with powerful Pluto, the moon will square Uranus, the Sun, Mercury and Saturn through the 24th.  These energies are bound to stir us up and spur us into action.  Aligning our thoughts, words and deeds with high frequencies of awareness, the moon will next head into lofty Aquarius.  There, with the Sun, Mercury, Saturn and Jupiter in fellow air signs, it will beam rays of sheer brilliance to us through the 26th.  The last of Saturn’s transit through balanced, deliberating Libra will lend soundness to the ingenuity coming during these days.  October 8th, with its exact Sun Jupiter trine, is another five-star day for bright ideas.  Putting the wind beneath our wings, or lighting the fire under our arses, a full Aries moon is set for September 29th.  Rambunctious, pioneering and ever provocative, Ram’s irrepressible spirit will inform and infuse us until October 1st.  Much more than the mere turning of a calendar page, October 1st marks a turning of the celestial tide.  That week Venus, Mercury, Mars and Saturn will change signs and generous Jupiter will turn retrograde.  The most significant planetary shift is that of Saturn.

    We are in the midst of a fifteen-year Pluto journey through reforming Capricorn and a three-year series of Uranus Pluto squares.  Their propulsion will be strengthened in 2014 when Jupiter traverses Cancer and forms more major planet Cardinal crosses.  And recently, on August 29th, the moon’s nodes shifted to the Taurus Scorpio axis.  It is into this eventful context that Saturn’s transit of Scorpio occurs.  I’ll be writing more about the implications of the lunar node shift in the Sun Into Scorpio edition of the newsletter next month.  For now, understanding more about the Saturn Scorpio transit is what’s important.  Because it has as many implications as it has interpretations, I highly recommend reading the work of many astrologers about this transit. 

    Its icy rings have been visible since 1610, and they’ve reinforced Saturn’s reputation as the planet symbolic of boundaries, discipline and limitations.  Saturn is astrology’s authority figure, and it teaches us to earn life’s rewards.  Scorpio, represented by the scorpion, snake and phoenix, is the sign of metamorphosis.  Amongst its many gifts are honestly, intimacy and death.  This is a call to truthfully examine ourselves, and to change.   For the next three years, each time an emotional button is pushed or a psychological issue is triggered, resolute Saturn will offer Scorpion medicine.  Blocks to intimacy can be revealed and healed.  Mortality is another Scorpion awakener.  In the gifted hands of the planet governing time, respect for death’s inevitability can help us live on purpose.   Sober, abiding Saturn will help us face and overcome the fears preventing us from living our most cherished dreams.  Immensely connected with the Neptune and Chiron transits of Pisces, this is cosmic transformation of the deepest magnitude.  Indifference is not an option.  For the resistant, this transit will be harsh.  Saturn is as inflexible and it is relentless, and in emotional Scorpio it will be intent on getting to the heart of matters.  For the hearts and minds bravely committed to personal and planetary evolution, this transit is alchemist’s gold.  We can release all heart chakra blockages and experience new levels of awareness and intimacy.  Our first treatment is scheduled on Oct 10th when Saturn trines Neptune.  The challenge for us will be to not deny that we care, but to fully acknowledge how dearly and deeply we do.

October 15, 2012 New Moon

    To gently usher in the beginning of this great change, the cleansing energies of the Mutable signs will be in evidence for the reminder of the Libra cycle.  With Jupiter in Gemini, Venus in Virgo, Mars in Sagittarius and Neptune and Chiron in Pisces, each Mutable point of the zodiac’s wheel will be occupied.  Strong messages about what to let go of will be reinforced by Mercury’s presence in detecting Scorpio.  Dates to watch for these invitations to reflect and release include October 7th, 12th, 16th and 17th.  Saturn’s presence is Scorpio will add resonance to the clarity coming through far beyond this Sun cycle. 

    On the whole, the sweeping shift we are all experiencing is unfolding over many years, and the Saturn transit through Scorpio is poised to play a major role in it.  For now, the Sun is entering diplomatic, instigating Libra to initiate us for the life-altering sojourn.  It arrives here each autumn to start the new season and to remind us of our relationships.  Spiritual growth doesn't happen in a vacuum, and Libra shows us where and how we can evolve through the people in our lives.  Often reprinted at this time of year, the Prayer of St. Francis, elegantly expresses the wisdom and grace of this evocative sign.  This prayer also reminds us to get outside of ourselves long enough to support those we are blessed to have in our lives.  Its essence activates a deep internal shift that moves our Light and love outward.  At a point of such tremendous planetary change, its transformational simplicity is well worth practicing.  Happy Birthday Libra!


The prayer of St. Francis

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace 
Where there is hatred, let me sow love
where there is injury, pardon
where there is doubt, faith
where there is despair, hope
where there is darkness, light
where there is sadness, joy

O Divine Master, 
Grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console 

to be understood as to understand

to be loved as to love
For it is in giving that we receive
and 
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned 

and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life