Sun meets Jupiter during Sober Period of Lunar Cycle

Whenever I feel good during the Moon’s line-up with Saturn and Pluto I study the charts to find the culprit.  The period when Moon is lined up with Saturn is serious business for the soul.  No fooling around.  These years, as Saturn draws closer and closer to Pluto the meetings get heavier as we go.  One day we’re faced with sobering realities that take a back seat for the rest of the month, and then a few days later we’re faced with an awareness of what it’s like to live on the edge of a bustling community of planets, humans or other life forms.  I’m talking about when the Moon is lined up with Pluto; every time that happens, every month, we are made aware of a tiny distant body tracing out an exceedingly long and eccentric cycle.

So when I felt hopeful, recognized, and engaged this weekend during the monthly sobering passage I wondered….

A Tangent about Jupiter in the last Quarter of its Cycle with Saturn

Well this morning it came to me.  I was fiddling with the cycle of Jupiter and Saturn.  Jupiter is just entering Saturn’s 10^th house this month.  We’re talking about the 10^th step in a 20 year cycle between the planet of limits (slow Saturn) and the planet of opportunity (fast Jupiter).  So even though Jupiter is now passing from Leo to Virgo, two fairly inexperienced signs, it is in a position of authority with the planet of limits.  Every day Jupiter is already high in the sky when Saturn is coming up in the East.  While Saturn is taking action to set or impose a limit, Jupiter is already up and waving its inspiring flag of  “if at first you don’t succeed try, try again.”   Try another door, push a different button, ask a different person for help.  Ask the same person, maybe they are in a better mood.  Try, try again.  Jupiter.  Since  Ms. Try Try again is now  in Virgo maybe the appeal is for information or help fixing some piece of techno gadgetry.   Take a Shot, What Have You Got to Lose!  is on the midheaven when Wait a Minute, Let’s See what Kind of Pitfalls Could be Hidden that Might Cause Trouble if we Rush into Action is just making its appearance from around the ‘far side’ of the Earth. 

Every day, Jupiter (faith) is on the midheaven when Saturn (limits) is rising.  They will continue in this stage of their relationship for many months.  Remember, the cycle between these two planets is 20 years.  Jupiter will not begin succumbing to the limits of Saturn until 2019, when it is in the last house while Saturn is rising.  We’ll talk more about that as their 20 year reunion approaches.

Why these 4 Days of Moon Lined up with Saturn and Pluto Don’t Suck 

Ok, that’s some background stuff about Jupiter and Saturn, now I can get to why this 4 day period when the Moon is near Saturn and Pluto does not feel as sobering as usual.  This week the Sun is in its yearly meeting with Jupiter.  The Sun is right near the planet of faith.  Sun is spirit.  It is the flame.  The Sun lined up with Jupiter is translated as the spirit lined up with the risk taker. 

Figure 1

So, this past weekend, today and tomorrow, while the Moon goes through the sobering part of its monthly cycle, the Sun is in the hopeful part of its yearly cycle.  

I was going to stop here, but let me elaborate just a wee bit.  The spirit can take a lot.  It just goes and goes, no matter how good or bad the going gets.  Sometimes the spirit gets so used to trudging through existence that it forgets how much faith it takes to keep on going.  Well, in the case of humans in bodies pinned to revolving Earth, there are a few days when Jupiter, invisible mind you, is lined up like a biggg fuzzy friend on the other side of a see saw from the creatures crawling around and flying through Earth’s atmosphere.  The Sun, also known as spirit, is the fulcrum in the middle, and Earth is directly across from Giant Jupiter. 

Figure 2  Check out Luna lined up with Pluto!

 

In the astrology chart (fig 1) we see the Sun right beside Jupiter.  We're supposed to know Earth is in the middle in astrology charts.  In the sky Jupiter is invisible because the Sun’s light is so bright.  Although it is invisible this is the period of fulfillment between Earth and Jupiter, the few days when faith perfectly balances our position in our journey around the Sun.  

One last little note.  Saturn looks like it is in the beginning of Scorpio in theplanetstoday.com screenshot (fig 2) but it is actually almost in Sagittarius.  In order to make it appear more accurately among the other planets you have to zoom way out and then they won't all fit on the screen at the same time.  You have to zoom way out and then wander around looking for it like a solar system scout traveling from planet to planet in the vast void of inky darkness.

That’s all folks!  I’m off for more playtime with Stellarium.

Venus Going and Coming while the Solar Court Faces Pluto

Tues Aug 4 Venus will meet Jupiter again in the last duad  (12^th) of Leo.  The last section of Leo is Cancer, meaning by the time we get to the end of Leo we are in a very tender place.  Imagine performers at the end of a high energy production, or the audience leaving the theater.  It is strange to make the transition from bombastic exaggerations dramatizing life, to the real thing.  We pass through the still darkened theater to the lobby and then the light of day, or streets lit by passing car lights and lamp posts.  This return to reality follows an intense hour or more of raised or amplified voices, high powered lights capable of melting a candy bar in seconds, and a repetitive order that would take years to emerge from the everyday chaos of events swirling around us.  The last 10 minutes of the scripted production are an emotional coming together designed to foster communal healing.  That last 10 minutes where what was inevitable comes to pass, and the survivors hold hands under the lights and bow in deep breathing sweat soaked appreciation to the audience filling the darkness with the sound of applause, is the Cancer 12^th of Leo.  Then the Virgo review; from the perspective of life outside the theater, considering works by the same actors, authors or directors, other productions of the same plays, comparing and finding similarities and differences, begins.

Venus going back to meet Jupiter is like the little baby benific going back to ask another question from the young adult benific.  Everybody loves them both, but one is blind, Venus.  Venus is blind in the same way Mars is, but even more so.  Mars at least gets to stray from Sun’s side and be seen on the dark side of Earth every couple of years.  Venus, bright and beautiful as it is, never gets more than a couple of hours to reflect the Sun’s light without being overpowered by the source.  Jupiter gets to do it for months at a time, every year.  Jupiter is not just big and stormy, and popular with the Moons, but the first planet as we travel from the Sun that gets to shine all night long for several months of every year.  That brightness is unmistakable.  It is brighter than any celestial object other than the Sun whose light it is reflecting, or the Moon.

By the way a week or so ago I said blessed be Jupiter and I should know better than that.  This week has been pretty awful, not for everyone of course, but certainly for me, and it’s got me down on my knees paying homage to Mars.  Venus, the planet of acceptance, standing still makes me appreciate the planet of will.  I would be hopelessly addicted to this life if it weren’t for the pain and suffering that comes with it.  Some people are wise and don’t need suffering to turn their attention away from material gain and success.  They already understand the futility of these Earthly endeavors.  I am one of those who need a good dose of failure, fear and hopelessness to be reminded that this is no more than a ride through the body of Nature who is ultimately at the controls.  If I bless the benific I have to do the same with the malefic.  It’s not my place to curse parts of nature’s body.

Back to Venus, the little benific that could.  It is now retro, approaching not just Big J the Party Master, but also Mercury, then Sun and yes, all the way back to Mars, the one bearing responsibility for the troubles we have endured in the last month.  Let’s talk a bit about this last month.

Mon July 6^th the Sun passed into Pluto’s 7^th house.  The few days leading up to that would be considered the beginning of opposition between the Spirit and the Exile. Using houses to visualize a precise border crossing we see that the few days leading up to July 6, Sun was in the end of Pluto’s 6^th house of apprenticeship.  The Spirit was completing its period of studying under the exile for this year.  On the 6^th they were once again on equal terms beginning the mature phase of their relationship.  Then, as Earth proceeded to swing between Sun and Pluto, and Mercury and Mars followed their course on the far side of Sun, we had a parade of invisible lesser luminaries wrapping up their apprenticeship with Pluto and moving into partnership.  The healing Moon came through Wed July 15^th just as Mars was stepping over the line, the last debutante out on the dance floor, face to face with the Cinderella of the solar system. 

Such a strange partnership, the Moon and Mars seen together, but after all it happens every month.  There was the Moon in Cancer, as wise and powerful as it ever gets, it was old, invisible, but in that leaky sign of energy slipping away, give, give, giving.

Except for Venus, not yet retro, the Sun was leading the Cancer pack.  Mercury was gathering speed, not quite ready for the incredible Solar pass it executes like a miraculous race horse every 4 months.  We would think the Sun is strong in Cancer as it shines on summer fun, but Cancer marks the spot in the yearly cycle where the time a planet is above the horizon begins decreasing.  The change is only seconds/per day, but it is the difference between the last trickle of water topping off a bucket, and the dripping leak from a widening crack near the bottom. 

 

The Sun doesn’t rule until it gets to Leo and we see the widening leak, the increasing loss, stemmed.  Leo is where the giving is brought under control and generosity is managed.  The Sun’s cycle with Earth is our most predictable cycle; it does not weave and bob above and below the ecliptic, as the Moon does.  It doesn’t stop and go back to look for something forgotten, as the other planets.  It is the baton carrying leader at the front of the parade, who gets passed once in a while, as the reflecting lights flow around with complete respect.  The Sun in Leo is the planet whose ability to give never dies in the sign where loss of energy is first seen coming under control.  That’s where the Sun is now, Leo, but it was in Cancer when it first balanced the see-saw with Pluto July 6^th.

Venus was the only member of the pack in Leo, way out there having reached greatest elongation in June.  Venus has been slowing down ever since reaching the end of her string with the Sun.  She just made it into Virgo, not her favorite sign, and there she turned just as the Sun was rising on the east coast this morn.  So Venus is now out in the lobby or on the street after her period of Leo performance that began June 6^th.  She’s going back into the theater, it is not yet time to read the reviews.  The audience lights that were brought up as people left the theater will be turned down on Aug 1 and she will be on stage under the hot variety of lights, and in the darkness of the theater seats.  The production will begin from the end where everyone held hands and bowed as a team of people who trust in each other.  The sound of applause from the audience will fill the hall.  The drama leading up to the final moment will play out in reverse, not to the curtain opening, but just past the scene where youth reaching blindly for the stars meets a veteran of the spiritual path of love.  The story will look much different than the first time, not because it is in reverse, but because things never stay the same, the planets, every one of them, are always moving, as we are always changing, and we can never return to the exact same moment, even in a scripted play.  Ok.  Cut from the poetics to the mechanics.  During the first passage of Venus past Jupiter (July 1) they were both in the high energy part of Leo, kind of like the part of the play where there is a lot of scary action, and even though most people know the outcome, the performers are running around or raising their voices, or singing all together and maybe even waving swords around and the audience is gripping the armrests of their chairs, the Aries part of Leo, is where Venus met Jupiter on July 1.  How fortunate the blind aspirant of love (Venus) was to find herself beside the party animal of generosity (Jupiter) at such a challenging moment.

This time, as the production is played in reverse, and everything seems different, the generous veteran of celebrations that bring people together and give them hope to carry on, the planet that makes life seem worthwhile (Jupiter) will be going to school!  As they are holding hands for the last bow the Big J will whisper to little one determined to love no matter what, that he has enrolled in a school for what?  Little one determined to love no matter what may not be able to hear the details.  The passage will be quick and there will not be as much time for talk as there was the first time around.  Big J going to school?!  But her hero knows everything there is to know about love and reaching for the sky!  

Then, in the beginning of September, just as our little aspirant of kindness meets Mars in the very sober part of Leo, the place where maybe the cops show up and say to turn the music down, or some earthly law must be recognized above self expression, ugh! She will stop again.  Once again after slowing down to a standstill, right in the middle of the production this time, Venus will turn around.  She’ll make her way through the singing and dancing, the lines with other players in the production, it will be strange to go over the same territory and see everything looking so different.  No one will be the same in relation to each other as they were before.

Venus on Point

Venus is coming to a standstill.  Here are some snippets from the Astrodienst Ephemeris.   

Venus travels only 7 minutes in the zodiac today.

The planet of love and kindness can be easily followed throughout its cycle with Earth and Sun.  

Tracking Venus when it is slowing down is a great meditation. We can consider how it is falling from view in its approach to passage between Earth and Sun.

It helps steady the mind and focus on the solar system, as we approach new spiritual experiences.  Do you feel your ability to extend kindness pulling back or coming into a still focus?  Does seeing Venus slowing down give you any insight into the changes you feel coming in your approach to others? 

The Astrodienst Swiss Ephemeris is free, and accessible to the public.

At conjunction on far side of Sun Venus covered 1 degree 15 minutes in a day.  The last one was in Oct at the beginning of Scorpio.

5 months after superior conjunction in Oct Venus is still flying.

We saw Venus highest in the evening sky in June.  Greatest elongation, when it was seen farthest from Sun, was June 6.

And to keep things interesting, Mercury is now flying at top speed as it rounds the far side of the Sun!  Our minds are very active, commerce and communication are whizzing away.  Then there’s the growing Moon….  But this meditation centers on Venus; the friend slowing down as it passes from the celebratory sign of Leo to the studious sign of Virgo, and then back to the Leo party.   This July our brilliant evening star dipped down below the ecliptic, like a Radio City Music Hall Rockette ducking out near the end of the line as the curtains closed in from the west. 
 

Both Venus and Jupiter set earlier every night as we see the setting Sun’s light every day closer to both of them.  We are losing visibility of our two charming benifics, and have to know without being able to point to them that they are still there. 

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We don’t have to comb through the ephemeris looking for the moment Venus was as far ahead of the Sun as it gets for a cycle, Astrodienst provides another (free!) set of pdf’s that show several highlights of a planet’s cycle.  These are snippets from the pdf for Venus from 1600-2100.  Yes, they cover centuries of cycles!

In this cropped section of Venus cycles I outlined the date for greatest (or maximum) elongation with a blue square.