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The Rape of Proserpina (detail) 1621-22, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Marble, Galleria Borghese, Rome |
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Dear Friend and Reader:
I'm checking in from my new home in Kingston, New York, with a short special edition.
Today is Sun square Pluto. This happens twice a year, but this go-round there are some special factors. One is that Mars in Gemini is working its way toward an opposition with Pluto in Sagittarius. So the Sun is really making a T-square, at the midpoint of Mars opposite Pluto. Today, the Moon sweeps through this setup, at the time of the first-quarter Moon.
We have a turning point, both inner and outer. The squares from the Sun to Mars (earlier in the week) and Sun to Pluto (today) represent a deep inner inquiry. Mars opposing Pluto (exact Friday) represents the resolution of a situation, conflict or impasse that has been developing for a long time -- even up to a year, though as the aspect has gathered, it has also picked up more recent situations for resolution.
The sequence of the squares (Sun to Mars, Sun to Pluto) followed by the potent opposition of Mars and Pluto is interesting. It is saying, to me, that we must do the work of inner reconciliation with ourselves so that we can handle the highly focused decisions that we face, and also handle the inevitabilities that seem to be out of the reach of control.
Remember that Mars is not just opposing Pluto. Pluto is conjunct the Galactic Core. There is something much larger than we can perceive unfolding. Mars in Gemini represents the often aggressive dualism that seems to so frequently rule our lives: divided minds, divided homes, divided relationships, the inner war over the right priorities and divided wills. Most of the honest spiritual traditions say we live in a world that is dominated by dualism, but if that is true, it's difficult for us to know anything else.
Difficult but not impossible. We have all experienced at some point the miracle of unity, accord, harmony and connecting intention with action. The mutable signs are all about reconciling delay with movement; harmonizing opposites; putting thought and action together.
Sun square Pluto is a deeply internal aspect. It represents a crisis point for a lot of people, particularly those unaccustomed to deep inner spaces. The Moon's presence in this aspect structure today (opposing Mars) puts an intense personal or emotional emphasis on the experience of this astrology, acting like a trigger or situation that helps us see and consciously feel what we are experiencing. Moon-Mars can be angry, it can be clarifying, it can be needy -- it can be all of the above. Be nice to women, and if you're a woman, try to be kind to yourself.
Moon, Sun, Mars and Pluto together have the quality of accepting sexual desire and sexual feelings. Moon opposing Mars, for example, can feel like an ambush -- but generally, we leave ourselves open to few other approaches. We may say we like the soft, circumspect approach, but do we recognize that as a form of maleness? Or is it like some alien gender?
Sun square Pluto, for its part, can have overtones of mortality. The Sun is in the last days of Virgo and we are on the verge of the equinox -- in the Northern Hemisphere, the autumn season and the approach to Sahwen (Samhain, or Halloween), the "final harvest." Yet it is in the face of death and its incestuous first cousin, change, that we feel the most alive.
What you are living through now may seem like just another day in the life, but if you look with any care, you will see the ways it is reflected in the astrology; the astrology in turn can give you additional information that you may not have considered.
Looking ahead a little bit, remember that the Sun's last days in a sign (or in this case, a hemicycle) can be difficult, trying and uncomfortable. With the equinox approaching, much that seems unresolved today will unfold in ways that grant us some psychic relief and open up the potential we are feeling. Our moment, however, is one of inner work, enduring pain with awareness, and pushing ourselves to see the greater possibilities indicated by the Sun-Galactic Core conjunction in Sagittarius.
Mars opposite Pluto is like a calling to resolve our inner duality, make some clear decisions based on our highest ideals and values (Sagittarius), and move forward with our lives with a clear conscience.
I'll be back Friday with an article co-written with Kirsti Melto.
Thank you for another week off from horoscopes -- Planet Waves weekly will be back with gusto next week, starting Monday with the October monthly horoscope, then Friday resuming the weekly.
Peace & passion,
CREDITS: Associate Editor: Priya Kale. Webmaster: Anatoly Ryzhenko. Proofreader and Fact Checker: Sara Churchville. Horoscope Editor: Jessica Keet. Business Manager: Chelsea Bottinelli.
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