Back to current Premium Home


Jump directly to:

January '12
Premium
Edition
Home

Archive—
Past
Premium
Issues

Daykeeper
Home

by Boots Hart

Continuing to unseat non-viable means, methods and assumptions... our calendric New Year’s Day is marked with Vesta conjunct Fomalhaut.

Fomalhaut is one of the four "axis" stars dating from astrology’s most ancient days. Over thousands of years it has been connected to promises of "success" in any given endeavor, hope, effort, situation or relationship—but ONLY when and where our aims are not corrupt, corruptive or corrupted.

Currently positioned at 4 Pisces (yes, fixed stars do move, if very slowly) Fomalhaut’s current focus is on:

• Our willingness to feel reality and to really feel our feelings—and
• Our philosophical willingness not merely to confront truths, but to stand for them.

So! With that now in mind, on New Year’s day Fomalhaut will be conjuncted by Vesta—an astrological symbol of "sacred service." This underscores the need for responsibility and for some degree of "sober" thought. Not exactly a New Year’s Day forté...but then, whoever said astrology was there to just underscore the stuff we like?

(Not me. I so don’t do that "candy coated" thing!)

Fortunately, this is just a one day "in passing" sort of thing. However....for those with important placements between 29 Aquarius and 9 Pisces—positions which are conjunct 4 Pisces—for you, as for those who are currently (for other reasons) under the cosmic gun, this would be a pretty darn good time to be minding the p’s and q’s!

Moving on to January 3, we have the double feature of Venus catching up with Pallas and Hybris at 15 Aquarius—and I’m afraid you’ll have to bring your own popcorn.

Hybris is an asteroid which tends to indicate "emotional entitlement." So when we have Hybris in conjunction with Pallas (a symbol of unemotional, intellectual "knowing"), best bets and positive uses would center on recognizing where and how we are emotionally entitled or where we are trying to "get away with it"—whatever "it" is, in whatever way we are trying to escape the reality of the emotional facts involved. We may be trying not to feel (we’re entitled to ignore it?) ...we may be trying not to face how our actions impact others (who, me, feel guilty?). And since Hybris is at 15 Aquarius, there is a wee bit of the "balance point" quality thrown into the mix, so think interactive.

More likely than not, the "Hybris issue of the moment" concerns not just you. It could be about some group you belong to, or some social function you serve or how you function in the course of "earning" your rewards in life, whether that’s monetary or calculated as respect, regard, acceptance—any of that stuff.

Into this comes Venus, the "effect" side of life’s "cause/effect" equation. The Venus premise tells us that results are opposite and equal reactions (if you will pardon the science class quote!) to that which we do, or present ourselves as. In this case, the "presentation" is Pallas/Hybris—meaning we are adding "a knowing" (Pallas) to the Hybris "emotional entitlement" issue.

Put it all together and this spells "a moment" or "a learning" about something. Whether you’re therefore on the receiving end or the recognizing and saying "think again…" to someone else, that’s the theme de jour here.

Interestingly, the very next day (January 5) has Pluto exiting the shadow of its 2011 retrograde—that having been a tidy little period which began around mid-April 2011 and which ended in mid-September 2011. If you are able to recognize any "theme" which seemed pervasive during that time, particularly one where life’s "structural" qualities were under the gun, being transformed or otherwise beginning to shift (inclusive of the feelings you felt in connection with those shifts or issues)...you’ll be maybe happy to know that particular part of your life process is now over and done with.

Or maybe not so happy, depending.

Be that as it may, over the next week to ten days you may well notice something akin to a weight or shadow which is lifting...or for those who felt free during that time, which is now settling in yet again. Planets exiting their shadows are mostly "big picture" timers, but some do like to know when they occur, hence these notes. So if you’re into it, there ya go...from here forward, Pluto’s movement through "new" (un-retrograded) degrees will time out new "evolutionary" questions....some relational, some financial, some sexual, some concerning your power or lack of same.

And in every case, the question will be how you approach the problem. Those who aim at "getting mine" will do less well than those looking to build a meaningful structure but hey...we all have our blind spots.

As January 8 dawns (in the UT/+0 time zone), Mercury enters Capricorn (at 6:35am). With the Sun already in Capricorn, this indicates a "gathering of focus" which proceeds to become more obvious over the next few weeks. However! Since this year we have Mars slowing down to take a Virgo direct-to-retrograde station (later this month), stakes are likely to "feel" higher. Are they? Maybe yes, maybe no, but they sure will feel that way! For some this will open the door to several weeks which are particularly contentious or "choice driven" when that "how you go about doing what you do" question takes center stage.

The goal is known. But how exactly to get there? That remains to be worked out.

Then we come to a Full Moon at 18 Cancer on January 9 (at 7:31am UT/+0). This may be a marker about what doesn’t work....or what really needs doing. It rather depends upon whether you come into this time in motion, or in a holding pattern as pertains to the subject at hand. That means you could be busy as all get-out at work or at home (or both!) but there might be something which you’re afraid to tackle. The "fear factor" applies here because this Full Moon truly emphasizes our ability to face our feelings about being "our own person," regardless of whatever we’ve been told we "should" be or "need" to do.

On its own, 18 Cancer is a degree known for a lack of discipline, so some will now experience the results of lack of their discipline. Then again, some will be tempted to "lose" their discipline now. The good news—either way—is that this is a Full Moon: a “moment” in time...a “high tide” of sorts, but not a finality or wholesale disaster. Should you be someone to whom success comes now, take it as credit to your efforts and an extra gold star for determination.

And that goes double if what you’re doing is "rescuing" some situation which involves “victims” of "lack of discipline" in any sense.

This is also the fourth successive Full Moon at 18 degrees. Ever since October, we’ve been having Full Moons at 18 degrees—and since they’ve been falling in successive signs there is a definite "growth" theme going on. With 18 degrees of any sign being highly emotional and Cancer being a watery (emotional) sign to begin with, this is us having our feelings tested by testy tests. People may be anything from snippy to stubborn, forlorn to fired with gloating....or so happy-go-lucky they just seem to live on some other planet.

Yeah, we all know people like that, don’t we?

Fortunately a Full Moon is only—and literally—a passing phase. So in the wake of this "high emotional water" mark, with Venus in higher degrees of Aquarius and a Virgo Mars still slowing in anticipation of its station...with Sun and Mercury both in Capricorn, we can expect a little reconnoitering.

It’s a time for a little reconsidering of directions and priorities.

Those who get into the "try, try again" mode will soon find themselves hitting their stride again. Those who are less enthralled by the thrill of it all will realize they have to do something despite all.

And so the days pass until around January 13 when Mercury conjuncts Pluto at 7 Capricorn and Venus conjuncts Neptune at 29 Aquarius.

For most of us, this signals a time when we have to decide whether to file a claim with the celestial "lost and found" (hi, I lost my motivation…have you seen it?) or when we get just the boost to make our day! Which you get is something of a cosmic "vote" on recent actions.

Ask yourself: how do you feel about karmic report cards?

Then again, this is just "a moment." As January 14 arrives and Venus enters Pisces at 5:48am UT/+0, we get a better sense of things—a “hit” of who we are. This is one of those "ah, I get what I’ve been doing wrong with me!" sorts of moments—the Self in reflection. Over the course of the next few days (January 14, 15 and 16, the latter being when Venus conjuncts Chiron at 2 Pisces) we will all encounter opportunities to not merely recognize our errors, but to connect with why we have gone in directions which—in the end—may not make us proud of ourselves. Or even provide us with what we need on a daily basis.

The question is whether we are disingenuous with ourselves. And from January 16 to January 18 (when Jupiter semi-sextiles Uranus from 1 Taurus to 1 Aries) ...situations, interactions and moments in our mind will serve us by driving us deep into our consciousness—to where we will finally get a grasp on whatever it is which is holding us back.

Or maybe it’ll be what’s really making us angry, despite the fact we’ve blamed everyone and everything but the actual source of our anger.

Anger, you say? Why anger? And what’s with all the "deep inside consciousness" stuff?

Listen to me…Mars is in Virgo. It’s about to go retrograde. Taurus (Jupiter’s position) represents satisfaction...and here it’s in an uncomfy semi-sextile with Uranus in Aries—the essence of consciousness and innovation/renovation/discovery of Self. Put them together and you have a recipe for ego-bruising moments which make us aware of not just our basic values, but our basis for the values we have.

Against this we have Mars in Virgo. Virgo is the sign of health, work, service (service meaning responsibility or service meaning morality). Mars—a symbol of ego-driven desirous will—is taking station in the latter part of Virgo. It will be doing this now within a couple of days. These next couple of months of Mars-Virgo-retrograde will serve to dig out improprieties or incompetent functionality or incomplete methods particularly as originated through mental means or at the mental level.

Put that in your mental hopper and grind it!

So as the Sun enters Aquarius at 4:11pm (UT/+0) on January 21, we all are becoming more aware of the "bad ideas" or "faulty presumptions," particularly as concerns me or us versus "them."

As a sign, Aquarius is systemic unity: how it works or how we fit into the "working process." (Or how we don’t fit or it doesn’t work.) Aquarius does promote differences in approach and operational perspective—thus comes the Aquarian reputation for "originality," "discovery," "innovation," "invention" and "quirkiness." Yet in the end Aquarius is a "unity." So everything has to work together...or the "whole thing" doesn’t—at some point—work at all.

For the whole of this past year—while Neptune was finishing its traverse of Aquarius—the entire concept of "have’"s and "have not’s" has been exacerbated, exposed, promoted and reviled. There have been waves of wanting to "stand apart" and wanting to be "part of the group." With Neptune now passing through 29 Aquarius again (which it did last year as a whole list of countries experienced revolts against "elitist regimes") we will see more of the same—and more of those who want elitism (mental, elemental, financial, societal) to remain their way of life.

This is an argument about "human privilege." And the handwriting on the wall is that one’s riches are only rich when there is a give and take which enriches us and which then can be shared.

As January 23 arrives with Mars on station to go retrograde on January 24, the New Moon at 2 Aquarius (at 7:40am UT/+0), flashes go off. Some will be inspirational, some in the realm of recognition and like as not, some will be somewhat less pleasant. Where we are all most stuck, the most pressure is always brought to bear...and though some dams may hold, some will now be damned, condemned and—as Mars goes retrograde on January 24—brought down.

This Mars turn to retrograde at 23 Virgo (at 0:55am on January 24 UT/+0) can of course, be constructive. If you’re on some "right path" this time will become "the beginning of a process"—but don’t be fooled: your "beginning" will take a couple of months to become a "usable reality.’

Oh—and if you’re not on a "right path"? Then figure on being put into a karmic time-out during which time you will have an opportunity (need?) to reflect on just how you’ve ended up shooting yourself in the foot—if maybe not some more (ahem!) personal part.

Modifiers and meanings here are plentiful, so let’s take a run through the list. We start with Mars, which will be at 23 Virgo. Any degree between 20 and 29 of any sign is always "about" reactions, responses and input. So we know that there’s some "external" force in this mix.

As for 23 Virgo in particular, there’s a restlessness and aptitude for "fixing and healing" which goes with this degree. But there’s also a desire for escape. If you experience the urge to "escape" on a regular basis, or if "escaping" (disappearing, leaving, etc.) is a point of plus or minus right now, figure it’s going to be in big and bold print—and probably ringing in your head.

Against this there are indications that ideas or people who have "escaped" notice or notoriety...or who are out-of-touch, may now be recognized or found. Some unrecognized issue may get revealed—in a very bright light. Something which you’ve thought of as being "in" may now go "out" of style—and vice versa.

It sort of depends where you’re starting from in any given instance and area of your life.

Close beside Mars we have Medea (at 22 Virgo)—the symbol of loving something so much that you undermine or destroy your own cause. In this degree (22 Virgo) Medea is likely to play out as having too much faith....or being "hornswoggled" by someone. As 22 Virgo is known to play out as "susceptibility to flattery," it’s important to be realistic about the motivations and honesty of those you deal with, too. And how you deal with others. This is one of those times when nice guys may well finish last simply because they become the fall guy or patsy.

With Mars going retrograde in conjunction with Medea, try not to "take a stand" about who the "good guys" or "bad guys" really are. Asteroid Hel is standing opposite this formation at 21 Pisces. Other people will be urging you not to be so stubborn or altruistic or thick-headed and even the best of us is likely to resist truth and common sense. We are—quite literally—experiencing a "hell" in terms of having to hold our own, stand for what we believe in or go our own way.

Which is right? Ceres conjunct Uranus and Scheherazade here tells us that in the long run the "standing status quo" is probably in error. With Mars going retrograde in Virgo’s third decanate (degrees 20 through 29) that makes sense, as on one level this would be a primal descriptor of someone trying to help you because you’re refusing to help yourself. Stubbornness has its place…but this may not be one of them. The opposition from Hel will make you think that someone is just trying to make your life harder. And while that may be true, it’s worth considering whether they may actually have a better perspective on that which you are so reluctant to (Mars) deal with.

Think it over.

Come January 27 when Mercury enters Aquarius at 6:13pm (UT/+0) there’s an opening for greater productivity, though some of us will (again) prefer to dive out some escape hatch. Why? Well, when we start thinking about the "why’s" here, Saturn at 29 Libra suggests that relationships and situational dynamics feel tres, tres tense. You may feel like climbing the proverbial walls...but try not to—not because the exercise might not do you good (sometimes climbing like a gecko is darn handy!) …but because climbing walls will waste what is really a good opportunity to find real solutions to that real basket of problems you are really feeling frustrated about.

Yes, this is one of those "short-term/long-term" solution moments. And no, you can’t have a little bit of both—this isn’t pie we’re cutting here! Those who take a deep breath and set about not desperately or hurriedly going through their paces in a thoughtful, determined way will find rewards. Maybe not instantly, but in that moment when you least suspect it, you’ll meet up with the perfect solution.

And one of the reasons you’ll meet up with it is because you’re NOT hurrying. Capiche?

The last note for the moment is Venus conjuncting Vesta at 16 Pisces on January 28. It’s a good time to relax and be with friends…it’s a good time to simply do nothing. It’s also a good time to do something nice or unexpected for someone else. It’s a good time to go that extra mile or to add that little smile or compliment to the moment.

It’s a good time to take a nap, read a book, stare at clouds going by, and to be thankful for what you have instead of being groused about what hasn’t happened yet.

It will, grasshopper. It’s just that life moves at its own pace—and you’re not in charge.

Be happy about that. It’s a big universe with problems which would surely keep you up very late at night. So relax...enjoy your blessings—and where possible, think about sharing.

The door you open to others is the invitation to love, to opportunity, to lightness of heart.

Boots Hart, CAP