Celestial Notebook Overview November 2007
From an astronomical viewpoint we have an orderly solar system. From our earthly perspective planets slow down, speed up, stop and go, change course, reverse themselves – a veritable chaos! Only the Sun and the Moon are immune: the moment we are on the same side of the Sun as another planet it seems to go backwards. We say it’s retrograde.
Planets are channels for the outward expression of signs. When a planet turns retrograde its energy is turned partly inward, deeper into the psyche. Deeply within, this energy is transformed often leading to originality which is invariably expressed as the planet turns direct.
When a planet is about to change direction it slows down and only then becomes stationary. The slower a planet moves, the more its volume is turned up: it becomes a dominant feature.
This month no less than five planets are moving slowly, deepening our experience of our inner and outer environment.
As it is, for most of November the Sun is in Scorpio, the sign of truth and transformation. A steady, indestructible commitment to true experience is our goal during Scorpio time: a perfect alignment between our feelings and our actions is our objective.
Commitment to such a purposeful journey uncovers intense, strong and passionate feelings and speaking our truth in such a way that others can hear us, becomes important.
With Mercury, the planet of communication, turning direct on 1 November at 23 degrees 22 minutes Libra the Universe conspires to make truth-speak possible. Mercury retrograde supports the inward turning of the mind so that we are able to pay attention to the call of our soul. Mercury direct is the time to verbalise our inner shifts.
Neptune, King of the Oceans, turned direct the day before in Aquarius. Neptune dissolves old structures and value systems and fills us with visions of what may be possible – the experiences Neptune represents only come to us through cracks in our ego armour. This planet is intent on weakening the barriers between ego and soul so that we may express what is in our hearts – nothing more and nothing less. Logic is not Neptune’s strong point – the changes we are going through will compel us to increasingly use our intuition. This takes faith and practice.
Mars, the Red Planet and our prime motivator, is slowing down in the sign of Cancer. On 15 November it grinds to a complete halt at 12 degrees 27 minutes Cancer and turns retrograde until 30 January 2008. When a planet turns retrograde it withdraws from further forward motion (symbolising the gaining of new experience) and crosses over previously transited degrees (symbolising past experiences): we go on an inner journey. (Mars turns direct at 24 degrees 4 minutes Gemini.)
Mars turns on its heel within a degree where Mercury turned around in June! It seems as if the Universe has chosen the degrees between 12 Cancer and 24 Gemini to prep us for the new world order we are in for. The Sabian symbols for these degrees are about the power of will in shaping our character (‘A hand with a prominent thumb is held out for study’) and about the removal of all superficialities of existence so that we may reach the essence of our individual being (‘Frost-covered trees against winter skies’). Could the message be clearer than that?
Every two years Mars is perigee – close to the earth - and the 2007-perigee period peaks on 24 December when there is an exact Sun-Mars opposition at 2 degrees 36 minutes Capricorn-Cancer. The entire Mars perigee period is always one of elevated tension and conflict, the kind of atmosphere that cultivates inflamed passions, hot tempers and rash action: feelings that we have suppressed or have not paid attention to will in some way be held up to the truth and any illusions we have ever harboured will be shattered.
At a more impersonal level a Mars perigee period is marked by fires, explosions, accidents, storms and various ‘acts of God’. To be forewarned is forearmed: have candles and matches and a good supply of water and a few tins of food at hand. Be aware.
Uranus, Master of Unpredictability, turns direct on 24 November at 14 degrees 46 minutes Pisces on the same day of the third Super-full-Moon in a row. SuperMoon is a phrase coined by Richard Nolle in 1979, describing a new or full moon which occurs with the Moon at its closest point to the earth. ‘From extreme coastal tides to severe storms to powerful earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, the entire natural world surges and spasms under the sway of the SuperMoon alignment – within three days either way of the exact syzygy, is the rule of thumb.’ Richard Nolle
Consciousness allows us to celebrate whatever we are given. Celebration lets the love in; and love blesses whatever physical, mental or spiritual lessons there are for us to learn. To let go of the disguises and illusions of the external world is to find that, at the heart of it all, it is about joy, love and acceptance. Whenever you can, no matter what – dance the great dance of life!
