November
Changes—
Nov. 8
Uranus direct
Nov. 23
Ceres retro
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N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 3 R E T R O G R A D E W A T C H  by Maya del Mar A planet changes direction at each of this month’s two eclipses. Uranus, the energy of reform and of independence, turns direct on November 8, and Ceres, the Great Mother, turns retrograde on November 23. Uranus started its eight-year Piscean journey last March, when the U.S. invaded Iraq. Then, In mid-September, Uranus backed up back into Aquarius to finish up its business there. That was when the WTO Cancun Conference ended in failure, and when Ariel Sharon told Israelis to assassinate Yassir Arafat. Now Uranus turns direct at 29 Aquarius, ready to resume its Piscean sojourn. It will re-enter Pisces on New Years Eve, December 31, and will travel in Pisces until March 2011. This autumn is, then, the last of Uranus in Aquarius for another 77 years. And it is traveling freshly direct, which will give it extra impetus. Uranus is the Great Reformer, and in Aquarius it reforms technology and social relations. The entire U.S. government and its social contract have been totally reformed. Instead of government serving all segments of society, government has become a tool for big business profit at the expense of everyone else. The Iraq adventure is a blatant example of this policy. At the same time, it is the last hurrah of a failed policy. Aquarius is also the sign of revolution, and this governmental reform is prompting a social movement against the growing abuse of power. The sign of Aquarius tends to polarize, as it starkly illuminates social dynamics, and we now have the two powers—the U.S. and The People. This polarizing process will continue through the autumn, and then next year, Uranus in Pisces will resume breaking up our conscious plans, and allow the subconscious to seep through during the next seven years. Visionary and inspirational qualities will become much more important. In the meantime, there will be a lot of confusion, as impulses long held in abeyance break through our conscious behavior. (Uranus was last in Pisces during the twenties.) Uranus acts suddenly and unpredictably. It truly finishes up its Aquarian journey with a bang. Not only is there a lunar eclipse, which also leads to change, but at the time Uranus turns—in the morning of November 8—Mars sits right at the bottom of the chart in Washington DC, promoting aggressive activity. Uranus, as it turns, makes a perfect mundane square with Sun, who is in Scorpio (ready to be eclipsed that night) in the twelfth house. Twelfth house planets operate behind the scenes (Bush has a twelfth house sun), and there is obviously something big going on now which we can’t see. We can see Jupiter overhead, continuing its expansion, and we can see Bush’s Mars in Virgo on the world stage, for the midheaven now exactly conjoins that Mars. At the time of the eclipse, about 12 hours later, Mars has traveled to the overhead position, and Uranus, now in the ninth house of foreign lands, makes an exact mundane square to explosive Pluto. This action, which could be a use of armed forces, is out in the public. It will create the backdrop until January 1, when the scene changes. Ceres is the Goddess of the Harvest. She is concerned with every aspect of food, from planting seeds to cultivating, to distributing, and to preparing. All of these things require labor, and labor is another of Ceres’ major concerns. Remember the sickle of the Russian flag? That is Ceres’ symbol. Ceres has been particularly active in the United States this autumn, beginning a new drive to make us aware of pure food and of fair labor. We have seen international food fights, as the U.S. tries to maintain its corporate grip on the world food supply, and as the world fights that power. We have seen strikes erupting in food stores all over the country. Ceres has conjoined Hygeia, the asteroid of health, and we see the health of the planet, and health insurance for workers, as issues. These issues will now leave the public domain, and turn inwards—to our own individual consciousnesses, to corporate boardrooms, and to backroom negotiations—which now include activists around the world learning to organize and to act together. Ceres still conjoins the U.S. Mercury, so we will be thinking about food in relation to national policy. Ceres turns direct again on February 5, 2004, still in Cancer and close to the U.S. Sun. This is a crucial time for all of us to rethink our relationship to food. How valuable is it? Where does it come from? Who profits from it? How do we treat the land and the seas that support it? What changes does it go through on the way to stores? Are the people who get food to us treated fairly? Are we willing to pay for that to happen? We need to learn about, and do some hard thinking about, the entire food chain. RESPECT for every step is the key. And out of that comes self-respect. (For more on Ceres and food issues, see Maya's October feature article—Ed.) Thanksgiving comes just after this retrograde station. It’s a fine time for food consciousness and food gratitude. |