The sky is rich with stories, myths and mysteries. It is a deeply, moving tapestry unrivaled by anything we can create and fully embedded within our lineage. From time immemorial, when we see the vastness of the blue sky and the jewels of the night sky, our minds project an order on to it, seeing the patterning in relation to the seasons and in our own lives. But the knowledge of the mind and soul can only understand a small fraction of the totality of the infinity above and within us.
As we feel and observe and touch, we begin to know what is taking place and through recognition over time, we do begin to understand the knowledge that is born from the stellar and planetary alignments. We are in another window of time where intensities of these alignments are felt by all, consciously or otherwise. The recent days past and upcoming days highlight the need to further understand these alignments and patterning.
As an astrologer, I am passionate about understanding the whats and whys and whens of who we are as humans and what we are experiencing in relation to the stellar alignments, inclusive of the stars, planets, Moon and other stellar objects as it relates to our experience on Earth. True to my Sagittarian archetype restlessness within, I am a seeker of expansion, truth and new visions. A large part of that journey has been my education and work in the fields of astrology, astronomy, mythology, psychology and cosmology. They are all intimately related and to separate one from any other is an exercise of struggle.
Greater awareness and understanding can come from nearly anywhere, but recently the human collective has been experiencing certain alignments / transits and timings that have prompted more questions to me about “what is going on?”. The planet Mars is part of much of the recent activity as outlined below.
There are several planetary alignments taking place now:
- Aquarius Mars Retrograde / Mars-Sun Opposition / Mars at its brightest and closest since 2003
- Mars having 3 successive conjunctions with the Lunar South Node in Aquarius
- Mars and Uranus (in Taurus) in Square (90-degree aspect) 3 times
- Mercury Retrograde (began July 26th)
- Saturn in Capricorn (near Galactic Center) square Chiron in Aries
- July 27th Total Lunar Eclipse (conjunction with Mars) visible in Asia, Europe, Africa, Australia and Antarctica
. . . with Mars at the Center . . .
At a glance it appears to be a lot to take in at once. But upon a deeper look, we see that Mars is part of most of what is going on. If you’ve been outside after sunset in recent days, you have likely seen the very bright planet Mars, which was below the Moon when it was full. Mars gets close to Earth (and vice versa) about every 25-26 months, but the pattern of brightness changes over long periods of time and we are in a pattern where it will get very bright again and even brighter in 2035.
Mars Retrograde, Mars-Sun Opposition and the brightness of Mars are always part of each other when it comes to the orbital dynamics and relationship between Mars, Earth and the Sun. In this case, it happened to coincide with the lunar eclipse window, squaring of Uranus and conjunction with the South Lunar Node (tied to the Full Moon Lunar Eclipse season).
It is plainly seen that this is a concentration of actional, change-agent influence upon the globe with a focus upon the evolving role of the masculine in the collective. In previous articles, I’ve written about the beginning of the collapse of the patriarchal forces propped up by the illusion surrounding the masculine that is blind its changing nature and the re-balancing with the feminine. Aquarius is revolutionary in nature (through its ideas, novelties and eccentricities) and the archetype is peering into the past of what was and can’t be again.
Aquarius-Taurus
Aquarius, science and technology are all intimately related as well with the inventiveness of Aquarius. Looking back, as the Aquarius masculine is doing through its conjunction with the South Lunar Node (representing our origin) is experiencing an assemblage point shift due to the square with Uranus in Taurus.
Taurus is an archetype that is all about being a receiver to the bounties of the Earth, the pleasures and intimacies of life and the aesthetical beauty in all that is in living. Taurus has more of a physical, sensation-function and intimate connection to the Earth whereas Aquarius perceives it more from a mental, detached, experimental place.
On paper, this may seem to clash in the qualities of these archetypes but in reality, it is an alchemy can take place between the mind and the body in what they want. Technology, inventions, ideas can be applied to bring about greater awareness of Mother Earth, its beauty and the pleasures we can experience rather than two archetypes at odds with each other going down separate roads.
With the lunar eclipse in Aquarius magnifying our shadow (the Earth shadow plus the effect of seeing all of the sunsets and sunrises projected upon the Moon) and the border of light and dark in relation to the closeness of Mars, this also adds to shadow and responsible use of our ideas, inventions and breakthroughs. These bring up ethical concerns and perceiving the masculine and feminine as equals rather than through the masculine’s fear of the power of the feminine.
Saturn-Chiron (Capricorn / Aries)
There is also the Saturn-Chiron alignment that covers the wounding of the decaying structure we’ve built in the political and social-economic and educational laws, rules and policies. The peeling away of old ways, traditions and idealism of progress, manifest destiny and age of rationalism is being shown to be necessary, albeit uncomfortable, for us to evolve beyond the corruption and capital that continues to hold the illusion of power. Money itself (and the bottom line) has been unofficially worshipped in the US, but the structure/system itself is fractured from outliving its time and this alignment can show a need for planting the seeds for a new sustainable structure/system for the communities, cultures and government.
We may not realize that we no longer have to defend what doesn’t work anymore, but to turn the energy and champion a cause worthy of our souls. We can see that we do need to create time to grieve for our wounding from many decades of forgetting our intimacy with the Earth, the stars and planets and the harmony that we know we can create but don’t. Chiron / Saturn provides us with the knowledge that we can responsibly build upon some of the ideas, organizations and knowledge that is already within ourselves and around us that is in more harmony with the environment.
After all, Aries is the defender of the cosmic realm Mother Earth. When will she show up? From my perspective, she is already here. And Capricorn is the archetype of the grandmother wisdom that conserved, but is supported and shared the ancient knowledge for future generations. She is also here if we choose to listen to her wisdom.
Mercury Retrograde (Rx) in Leo
Lastly, Mercury stationed retrograde in Leo again on July 26th, as it does 3-4 times per year in various signs. It is always a throwback and vulnerability we face as we rely so much on the digital-ness of our current lives. While things may not work the way we may want and we project blame onto Mercury for doing what it has done since the formation of the planets billions of years ago. We are so very reliant on the mind in its rationality that we sometimes forget to create time for creation itself. In this incarnation of Mercury Rx in Leo, it is about tapping into our own love, the creative forces within and without and dancing around the fire. Where is our youthful spirit to enjoy imagination for its own sake?
Thoughts of the Stars
More and more of us live in places where the stars and planets are hidden in the glare of the city lights. Year by year, most places get brighter and brighter. Our relationship to the stars and planets does, in part, depend upon a visual connection with our human eyes beyond the software and telescopes. It is not only our stories and myths imprinted upon the sky, but also ourselves. Are we missing part of who we are by not taking in the intimate connection with the natural rhythms of the Earth and Sky?
In my view, experiencing the totality of who we are includes that sky of wonder and mystery. It includes the depth of our experience above and below, within and without to know thyselves and in turn we can begin to know each other and beyond.
-Erik