Sun conjunct Mars

The power of Will at the Aries Full Moon

art by Christy Tortland

In lieu of the weekly forecast this week since I’m out of the country, this post on the Full Moon energies pretty much contains all of the energies for the week!

The Aries Full Moon occurs on October 20th, and it’s a potent one.  First of all, it’s in Aries so Mars is the planetary ruler and there is a fiery potency to all things at this time.  Mars, ruler of this Full Moon, is very closely conjunct the Libra Sun and approaching a challenging square to Pluto which will culminate on October 22nd and this challenging aspect is locked into the Full Moon chart.

Many of you know that I am kind of an ambassador for Mars.  Traditionally Mars is considered to be malefic, and even when well placed his attributes are not that attractive: contentious and a lover of warfare are not what you would call the most honorable traits in a planet. And his bad traits are worse: murder, thievery, promoter of sedition, perjurer, etc. etc.  But Mars is the planet of Will – the prime desire that inspires and motivates us to go after what we want, to defend ourselves and others, and fuels us with physical energy and desire.

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Still, when there is an overabundance of Mars energy it can be difficult, especially when there is a challenging square to Pluto involved as there is here.  Mars is in Libra where it can be polite and tactful but not really promote the Martian attributes that are so important for human psychological and physical health.  Power conflicts may arise, and if there is anger in the subconscious it may emerge here […]

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By |2021-10-29T14:53:08-04:00October 18th, 2021|Moon|2 Comments

Astrological forecast for the week of October 4, 2021: Libra New Moon and stationary planets

art by Myles Pinkney

This week we are at peak retrograde, with six planets retrograde including Mercury.  Expect and prepare for communication glitches under the Mercury retrograde which is at its midpoint this week.  Pluto turns direct on October 6th to be followed by Jupiter and Saturn, and all three planets are stationary throughout October. This is not a good time to try to “push the river” as the saying goes – instead we will benefit from finding a point of stillness in which we can hear the inner voice of guidance and from which we can release the stress of unmet expectations and hidden resentments.  That is especially true during the first half of this week with Mercury (mind and communication), still moving slowly after its retrograde turn last week, in a stressful square to Pluto (intensity and power issues).

These energies are all a part of this week’s Libra New Moon on October 6th which also includes a stellium in Libra with Mars and Mercury along with the Sun and Moon.  This New Moon packs a powerful punch with the Libra stellium opposite the Moon and Chiron.  Libra is the sign of relating, but it also is the sign which teaches balance and integration, and encourages us to find harmony at the midpoint of stressors. The planets have chosen two different ways to deliver that message (three stationary planets is the other) and it’s a good one!!


Here’s the forecast for the week. Dates and times are given in EDT, please adjust for your locality. 

Monday October 4.  A harmonious trine from the Libra Sun to Ceres in Gemini helps us to find the mental balance we need in order to achieve the integration this week […]

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By |2021-10-04T08:52:25-04:00October 4th, 2021|Planetary news this week|3 Comments

The astrology of Tulsi Gabbard

Embed from Getty Images

 

This is the latest in a series of profiles of Democratic presidential candidates.  For the others, see the list at the bottom of this article. In this series I am making every attempt to be objective, but sometimes my bias may seep through. 

Tulsi Gabbard is a curious candidate and hard to pin down.  She is economically progressive, supporting Medicare for All, and socially progressive as a fairly recent convert to LGBTQ rights.  She is vegan and a practicing Hindu. She has practiced and taught martial arts and served in the armed services.  She is anti-war, except when it comes to terrorism in which case she is an avowed hawk, blaming Islam for the spread of terrorism around the world which is more of a right-wing position. This has made her a right-wing media darling, praised by Breitbart and Steve Bannon as well as David Duke and Richard Spencer, noted white nationalist leaders. In some ways this is not surprising given her background – there appears to be a natural enmity between Hindus and Muslims which wasn’t helped by the partition of Pakistan. But it does put her to the right of many Democrats in opposition to her more liberal stances on other policies.

It will not surprise astrologers to learn that Ms. Gabbard (born April 12, 1981, time unknown, in American Samoa) was born under the sign of Aries, a sign ruled by Mars and dedicated towards an aggressive assertion of the Self.  Aries individuals tend to be courageous and idealistic, but usually not afraid to back down in a fight.  On top of this, her Sun conjoins Mars, the planetary ruler of Aries, which is also in Aries where it is strongest and most easily able to […]

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By |2019-11-27T12:19:08-05:00November 27th, 2019|Politics|12 Comments

Planetary news this week: Sun, Mercury and Mars

Deviant Art

In traditional astrology, when a planet comes “under the beams” of the Sun, meaning it conjoins the Sun, it is considered to be “combust.”  This means that the energy of the planet under the beams can literally burn up in the fire of the Sun, which is considered a bad thing.  After all, that planet in the sky is rendered invisible by the light of the Sun and is therefore seriously debilitated.

There is often a difference between the philosophy of astrology and the practical observation of the way that certain things work.  Being a practical person, I am more interested in whether an astrological idea has practical application than how old the idea is.  Just because someone came up with it 2000 years ago doesn’t make it a useful tool, in my opinion.  For this reason, I am typically not concerned about this idea that the Mercury and Mars will conjoin in combustion to the Sun.  I have seen where the Sun conjunct Mercury activates the mind in a way that is not normally possible, and a conjunction from the Sun to Mars can open a portal to greater action and enhance motivation.

This week the Sun conjoined Mars (on September 2nd) and then Mercury (on the 3rd).  The presence of Mars, the planet of war and aggression, is often a concern when it is strongly positioned, but in this case the two planets and the Sun are all in the sign of Virgo.  Virgo is a sign of reason and practical thinking, and tends to tone down the aggression of Mars and focus the intelligence of Mercury.  The Sun here tends to amplify the energies of Mars and we did in […]

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