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by Boots Hart

With Ixion having just gone direct, the Lunar Nodes having just changed signs…with Mars in Scorpio and the Sun in Virgo, life asks what our goals are and how we’re going about our lives. Will we make the same bad choice (Ixion) yet again? Will we forge new alliances or are we able to (Sun) work it all out so we get what we want or need while (Mars) earning respect and solidifying our (Nodal) relationships with others?

As the month begins with Mercury entering Virgo on September 1 (at 2:33 in the morning UT/+0 time), its opposition to Neptune evokes visions of anything between confusion and dishonesty. This is a combination which will work well in a situation where "reality" is supposed to be suspended—say, while on vacation or at an amusement park. But given that the Lunar Nodes are at 29 Scorpio and Taurus and therefore in an out-of-sign square to this Mercury-Neptune opposition, the choice would seem to be between focusing on where you’re going and how you propose to get there (and if it’s really worth your trouble) and recognizing that the "reality rules of the road" are for the moment suspended.

One thing about this moment however…with Mercury conjunct fixed star Regulus, it’s important for the important and "responsible" (honorable) bases to be covered. It’s that bill you put off paying before you left home for Disneyworld which is going to trip you up…that question you didn’t ask of the doctor which is going to end up costing you a mint (physically or financially).

Once Venus moves into Leo on September 6 (at 2:49 in the afternoon UT/+0), the combination of Mercury and Leo in adjacent signs represents those little tests of patience and personal organization. Can you get the shopping done, the kids to their soccer practice and dance lessons and dinner on the table at the appointed time?

The essence of this Mercury/Venus pairing is purely personal and represents situations which aren’t generally much about "grand troubles"—but they can be a bit trying. Or frustrating. The Venus in Leo drive is to have fun and cut loose. It will tend to present us with fun we’d like to have and things we’d like to have or do. Against this, Mercury in Virgo is that little voice of reason, responsibility and pragmatic priority which says "have you thought about…"

So beyond the scheduling and trying to find time for everything, there is that little "why CAN’T this be easier?" niggle.

Masterminding our own lives becomes the point of things between September 9–12. The symbolism being Juno’s transiting conjunction with the North Node at 28 Scorpio, the emphasis is on finding ways to appeal to everyone so that all sides are satisfied. This being a highly public and political year around the world, it will be an interesting time to listen to the leaders of your nation, maybe your local community—or even a religious group. You’ll either hear their efforts to touch on everybody’s concerns, or recognize that they’re putting a lot of people off by bulldozing a path based only on what they want, never mind other concerns.

Juno is a point I’ve been watching in many charts now for several years. Though it’s not a planet, it seems to represent the need to be self-aware and willing to self-discipline ourselves so our concerns get balanced out against those of others. The mythic Juno—also known as Hera—is the wife of Zeus (Jupiter) and thus the queen of Olympus, leading to the asteroids (Juno and Hera) often being taken as "protector/maintainer of hearth and home" objects.

In practice, Juno seems to be the emotional side of this, where Hera seems to be a more practical/physical side of this question—call Hera the homemaker and Juno that quotient which says we must nurture our inner child while making sure to also "act our age"—and you’re just about there.

Conjunct the North Node in late Scorpio, the venue is plainly (Scorpio) interactive, with the "lateness" of the degree indicating input from others and feedback on what we’re doing or who we’re being. Juno’s presence therefore tells us what others are reacting to …or what will be called out through interactions with others.

Sounds like fun, right?

If you’re in the UT/+0 time zone, as we reach September 16 a New Moon at 23 Virgo starts the day (at 2:12 a.m.) and Mercury shifting from Virgo into Libra ends the day at 11:23 in the evening.

Granting that the largest black hole science knows of (an object known as M87) sits at 1 Libra, this Mercury/New Moon combination will like as not manifest as "seeing things in a new light." Or the need to. The New Moon side of this duet finds life—and others in this life—letting us know that we need to either learn how to do something or learn better about something, depending. With Venus still in Leo, some of us will feel insulted (those ego bruises hurt, don’t they?) and some of us will look at this as an opportunity to increase our functionality and downstream potentials.

It’s pretty much all in how you look at it—literally. And this may (among other things) be the point. Mercury/M87 is emblematic of "an alternate way of seeing things" which in Libra may mean your seeing someone else’s side of things (or the need to)…or your seeing another way of doing something so that you get the desired (Libra) response.

Whatever happens, this is the beginning of a nearly month-long lunation cycle, so don’t take anything "in the moment" to be the last word on things. For those willing to "work at it," this is only a starting point which can enhance life or be enhanced upon, depending on how you apply it.

One other thing to mention here about this New Moon and Mercury shift is that it marks the opening of Pluto’s retrograde-to-direct station window. Pluto will go direct at 6 Capricorn on September 18 at 5:06 in the morning (UT/+0). It does so in opposition to fixed star Mirzam (potential versus fulfillment), Charybdis (the need to keep trying) and fixed star Alhena (our Purpose). With oppositions always denoting a moment when we either "face things" or get "confronted" by things (or people), especially with Pluto still conjunct Facies, there’s a lot in play, a lot of factors in any given situation and many are going to throw their hands up and say "I can’t fix this!"

Some will say that now, some will have said that before now. And then there are those who being not of the "that’s not my problem or (Capricorn) responsibility" will have been plugging on, chipping away at this and that ever since Pluto went into retrograde back in early(ish) April. (April 10, to be exact.)

Those who have been working on something will now see their efforts pay off—or at least some movement on life’s "game board." Those who have opted out of the responsibility game will now find life turning against their lack of effort. This isn’t a simple on-off switch, nor should we expect to see everything happen in the Pluto station moment. But if you’ve ever had one of those "oh, I just have that feeling" certainties which pans out…this would be the moment when the feeling will happen or that panning out will begin.

With our feeling natures hardly evoked, provoked or stirred on September 18, Uranus—which is in retrograde motion—will square Pluto while Pluto is still on its station. With Uranus being retrograde in Aries, there is a notable "me" quality in this mix telling us that we may be feeling challenged, threatened, provoked, marginalized, set free—or even inspired by the recognition that the status quo is changing and that we need to change our relationship to and how we act as part of that status quo.

Since Uranus is in retrograde, the indicator is that this isn’t an event but more akin to the process of an internal recognition. And considering that TNO Typhon at 7 Libra is in square to Pluto’s station and in opposition to Uranus' squaring Pluto, emotions being tapped into are pretty primal.

Those who hold onto the idea that life brings us situations and moments which in provoking us are actually catalysts for growth will take what they learn now and, after dealing with the moment, rethink future plans. Those who are highly resistant to personal change or "the need to change who I am" (or how I’m going about being me) will also need to deal with the moment (obviously!) but then they’ll tend to do that thing many call “ostrich-ing.”

For those folks, there’s another round of realizations to come. Maybe several rounds, with the next being this December when Uranus goes direct.

As the Sun enters Libra on September 22 (at 2:50 UT/+0), another change of seasons comes upon us: the northern hemisphere moves into fall as Earth’s southern hemisphere moves into spring. Whichever hemisphere you live in, the Earth as a whole is now moving from its more private-and-personal phase into its more public-and-worldly phase—though as I say this I know there is some discussion about whether Earth’s tilt makes the entire "zodiac-half" theory dependent on where you live. Could it be that Aries-through-Virgo is "private-and-personal" in the northern hemisphere and "worldly-and-public" in the southern hemisphere (with Libra through Pisces being similarly different)?

It’s an intriguing thought, one which our looking at cultures from each hemisphere…painted with the very broadest of brush strokes…may very well hold true. If so, it’s not that the signs themselves change—the Earth still moves along the plane of the same orbit around the Sun no matter which hemisphere you live in.

But there may well be a greater or lesser emphasis or what we might call the prominence of sign attributes depending on which hemisphere you were born in. Just as astrology differentiates between the nativities of those born during the day (i.e., when the Sun is above the horizon) and night (when it’s not) in accordance with an ancient tradition known as the Doctrine of Sect, there would seem to be a reason to take into account how the "growing season" (spring) is Aries-Taurus-Gemini in the northern hemisphere and Libra-Scorpio-Sagittarius in the southern hemisphere.

By sign implication, this would say that people (and institutions) of northern hemisphere origin grow more integrally "on their own" where people, companies, products—whatever—which are native to the southern hemisphere embody an interactive Libra-Scorpio-Sagittarius "springtime of life."

As the last act of the month, the Full Moon of September 30 appears at 3:20 a.m. (UT/+0) focusing us on 7 Aries—reactivating whatever has been raised by the Pluto station and the Uranus-Pluto-Typhon t-square.

Will we see the whole of the situation and work towards a solution and not just the solution we most want? That seems to be the question.

On a personal note, this will be my last month as a regular Daykeeper Journal columnist. So I’d like to thank you from the bottom of my heart. It has been my pleasure and honor to partake in this sacred calling and I hope our paths will cross yet again…maybe here, maybe in our wanderings around the internet—or perhaps as we walk through the wonders of nature and society in our daily world.

Until then, to you and yours I send the very best energy for enlightenment and growth.

Inlakech,
Boots Hart, CAP