Moon conjunct Jupiter in Cancer (Aug 31, 2013)

The Moon is lined up with Jupiter this afternoon, which can be associated with a pleasant day.  Hope and promise are in the air. 

This is a good year for Cancer natives because Jupiter is in their sign.  Today is especially sweet because the Moon is drawing attention to the great benific like a soft laser, or halo.  People born July 5, 6 or 7 are especially under Jupiter’s spell right now.  It feels good while the planet of soaring insight is there, but soon he will move on to take his promise elsewhere and all that will remain is the lesson gained from an inspiring experience.

Jupiter is in Cancer, which can be thought of as the 4^th of the twelve equal segments of heaven we call the signs of the zodiac.  Aries is the first section of the sky where the ecliptic crosses above the celestial equator, the next section is Taurus, then Gemini, and the Cancer section of heaven is where the ecliptic turns from a northward direction to a southern direction.  In other words, the heavenly arc of the ecliptic tops out at the beginning of the sign Cancer.  As the arc follows its descending path Cancer is the sign of giving- potential energy that has been stored is being released as kinetic energy, or spent, like water going over a fall.  That is the area of heaven where Jupiter is until July 17, 2014 when it moves into the sign Leo.

The moon will leave Cancer and enter the sign Leo by 8o’clock Sunday night.  But it will come around to Jupiter again many times before Jupiter is finished with its journey through the 4^th sign of Cancer the Crab.  Think of the moon as one of those strobe lights they shine into the sky to advertise a big event in the city center.  While Jupiter stays in the same section of the sky for months at a time, the Moon passes quickly through that same section in 2 ½ days, and is only lined up with Jupiter for several hours.

It is days like these when the Moon is in its sign of rulership (Cancer) and aligned with the planet of surpassing expectations (Jupiter) that existence is so alluring, even though we have Pluto staring the hopeful pair down from the dismally distant far side of the sun.  This pair of the earth’s satellite and the closest gas giant bring balance to our Plutonian awareness of how small we are in the scope of the universe.

Marching through the Meeting of Uranus with Pluto

Here we have Mars almost 5 degrees ahead of Pluto, but notice the little 'r' beside Uranus, Pluto and Mars, indicating that all three planets are going retrograde.  That means earth was passing between those planets and the sun.  See the Sun on the right side of the chart at 17degrees Pisces?  We are in the middle of the chart, turning on our axis, and as we circle the sun it looks like it is going through the zodiac.  There is a very cool optical illusion that happens when we overtake any of the slower outer planets- they appear to go backwards.  Anytime you see the sun on the opposite side of the chart from an outer planet you should also see that little 'r' telling you that it's retrograde.

1965 was an astrologically significant year because that is the year Uranus met Pluto.  You know how 12 o'clock is a significant time of day because the big hand is over the little hand pointing straight up?  Wellll back in the olden days.... when two planets met each other that was considered significant.  When the Moon met the sun that was the beginning of a new month, but the meetings of other planets happened less often and so were more weighty as far as time goes.  

So how often do Uranus and Pluto meet?  The last time before 1965 was 1851- so that's about 114 years.  Talk about the clash of the Titans.  Modern astronomers were not fooling around when they chose names for the outer planets.

Mars takes about two years to go around the zodiac, but when earth passes between Mars and the sun, the god of war loses a bit of ground.  Mars is on the march making its way around the zodiac for 20 months until earth comes around and the militant hero seems to grind to a halt and slip backwards for almost 3 months.  That's what was happening during the marches in Selma, Alabama in 1965.  Mars had passed Uranus and Pluto in early Dec 1964 and, after slowing down in Jan 65, by March was actually going back to visit again with the two outer planets in the middle of their historic meeting.  So Mars had a longer period than usual lined up with Uranus and Pluto in Virgo.

 Here is a link to an article about the Selma Marches with several significant dates.  The chart is for the March 7, 1965 demonstration referred to as Bloody Sunday.

Look where Venus was on that day.