Next week’s Mars/Uranus/Node conjunction: How bad is it?
artist unknown?
TLDR*: Next week will be a challenge, but don’t expect the end of the world.
Several people have asked me about the upcoming dramatic conjunction of Mars, Uranus and the Nodes. The exact date of this alignment is August 1st, and the Mars/Uranus conjunction will be exact at 7:42 EDT. One client sent me this article from Vedic astrologer Joni Patry who wrote: “this is a very pivotal month of enormous, sudden and explosive events that will trigger tremendous changes. The astrological-historical patterns strongly suggest this could culminate into a modern Civil War not just in America but around the whole world. I know I see much of this occurring in the United States, but it will be replicated all over the world.”
It’s somewhat difficult to comment on Ms. Patry’s article because she uses the Vedic Sidereal system in which the planets are considered in their actual place in the sky. I, and most other modern astrologers, use the Tropical system where the 0 degree point of the cardinal signs occurs at the Solstices and Equinoxes. In her system the triple conjunction is taking place in Aries, the fire sign which is ruled by Mars and therefore can be somewhat explosive. In the Tropical system, the conjunction is in Taurus which is much more placid and while less explosive, the changes that occur under a Mars/Uranus conjunction in Taurus can be slow to develop and long lasting.
The debate between the Sidereal and Tropical systems has been raging for hundreds of years and I have no interest in entering that particular fray today! It has been my experience that in personal readings the Tropical system is more accurate. But nevertheless, I’d like to […]
Over the past week, and throughout November, the planet Uranus and the lunar nodes will be locked in a square (90 degree) formation. The nodes of the Moon are points where the journey of the Moon through the sky crosses the path of the Sun, and these points are associated with the soul’s journey from past to future.
I did a reading for a client the other day who had Saturn, the planet of discipline and challenging life experiences, in a square to the Nodes of the Moon. The Nodes of the Moon represent the pathway of our soul’s evolutionary journey from the past (the South Node) to the future (the North Node). When a planet is in a square (90 degree) aspect to the Nodes of the Moon it is sometimes called a “skipped step” (coined by astrologer Jeffrey Green), meaning that planet plays an important role in our evolution and reflects an energy that requires constant examination and perfection. I have found in client work that the skipped step often shows something that gets in the way of our evolution – a pattern or way of looking at the world that holds us back and keeps us from being able to move forward in our lives. Like so many other ways in which astrological forces that are difficult also serve as the keys to personal growth, that same planet that holds us back is the portal to our own self-discovery. In the reading I mentioned this square of Saturn to the nodes, and the fact that often individuals with this placement come into this life with a sense that life is too hard – the force of Saturn which forces us to work hard and apply great discipline both stands in the way of our finding ease in life, but also represents a key to our progress. After the reading she shared with me that her grandmother had always told her that she was a descendant of a notorious mass murderer, and informed her that she and her family were being punished for 
