Astrology Today • issue 016
Time Nomad newsletter • July 1, 2019
From the editor
The New Moon phase of July 2 comes with a total solar eclipse followed by Saturn on the South Node on July 4. As I have written in previous issue, eclipses happen when the Moon is on one of its nodes — they are special astrological moments that link past and future. And we currently seem to be on one of those junction points indeed. The first two weeks of July have that unmistakable flavour of decisive power presenting each of us an opportunity to gear into the second quarter of the Solar year.
The second quarter of the Solar year begins with the Solstice on June 21 and culminates at the moment of September Equinox on September 23. This is the period for unfoldment and manifestation of our annual impulses and aspirations. The period that leads to the “harvesting” phase later this year.
Close alignment of the New Moon, Solstice and the eclipse brings the flavour of challenge and opportunity. Some of our hidden inner compartments may come to the surface and will require certain scrutiny and, ultimately, acceptance. That’s the power of the South Node, or the Dragon’s Tail that sits tightly conjunct with Saturn, the agent of time and judgement.
A wiser attitude is to accept the luggage of the past and limitations it imposes. This makes even more sense in the light of unfolding “season” of Uranian squares. Each of us is likely to have a history of accumulated emotional debts that sit mostly dormant until the force of “sudden“ knocks the door off its hinges. The period of July–August brings about solid five weeks of Uranus squares — Mars and Mercury, then the Sun and Venus and finally Mercury again.
Did we forget Mercury retrograde?
Retrograde Mercury–Mars conjunction brings much needed inquisitive attitude towards ourselves, helping our minds to see deeper instead of endlessly seeking out, at times in a desperate and inflamed manner. This can become a productive take on Uranus–Mars square unfoldment during the first three weeks of July.
Astrological Commentary and Astrological Weather further down the page provide additional details about this Mercury retrograde period in the crosshair of Uranian influence.
This lunation equally pulls the strings at the world’s spectacle of money, power and politics. There is a combined feeling of lingering hope mixed with brittle caution. The time of fragility due to multitude of loose ends. Can they handle that? We are keeping our fingers crossed that cooler heads will prevail.
Reconfiguring,
Denis
Featured story
Aspect patterns — the building blocks of astrological charts
Identifying aspect formations is the first step towards unlocking the mysteries of an astrological chart.
Geometric nature of aspect patterns is expressive and symbolic, it reveals an underlying framework behind complex interactions between astral energies of planets… continue reading
Discovering sacred geometry
Square – the Mysteries of Matter
What is so magical and yet problematic about such seemingly simple geometric shape as a Square? Where does the Square help and where does it hinder in our life? Let’s explore our relationship with Squares from sacred geometrical symbolism followed by its implication in design, jewellery and our physical existence at large.
Have you ever noticed how heavily our physical world rests on the principle of the Square? Just look around – buildings, doors, windows, tiles, furniture, books… most of objects are predominantly based on a rectangular shape. Perhaps right now you are sitting on something rather squarish, so you get the point… continue reading “Square – the Mysteries of Matter”
Lara Gems,Gemstone Strategist and Founder of Gems In Style Jewellery
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Astrological Commentary
Is the world ready for more events?
Every astrologically minded person is likely to have noticed by now that we live in the world that is morphing at the speed not seen before. Societies and economies are experiencing the period of disruptions and structural changes. As if caught unawares, we don’t quite know what to think about the world of tomorrow apart from the common observation that we are flying along the trajectory that is exiting the post-WWII era of stability and social justice.
The strongest of all economies, the US, is beginning to expose its Achilles’ heel — the financial system that over last two-three decades gradually morphed into a machine exclusively focused on generating short-term profits in the name of shareholders’ return on investment. The shift took us from the era of industrial productivity to the era of wealth redistribution and profit extraction where the economy is growing by the means of ever increasing outsourcing of production to cheaper labour markets.
This kind of economic growth is only sustainable for a certain period of time since resources on Earth are limited. When one chops trees in the forest faster than new trees grow, it doesn’t really matter how big the forest was, such approach has a finite life span.
Current passage of Saturn through the Dragon’s Tail on July 4 and the Sun’s passage through the Dragon’s Head on July 9 mark the beginning of a new phase of this process that will result in further disruptions since the underlying problems haven’t been addressed properly and thoroughly.
Recent news updates from G20 meeting of world leaders gave us some semblance of hope that the spirit of international cooperation will prevail. But we are still far from being certain that forces profiting from destabilisation have been quieted. Approaching squares to Uranus point at possibilities of technological conflicts, both armed and economical that may spring from hot-headed disagreements.
Some recent developments illustrate this point really well:
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The situation with Iran remains extremely fragile and military conflict is still a sad possibility. Recent strikes carried out by Israel against Syria is another pointer at brewing hostilities.
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Hong Kong unrest spins out of reasonable proportions towards an outright “revolutionary” behaviour of hot headed masses. So much of Uranus in that!
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Fire on Russian navy research submersible nuclear vehicle kills all 14 sailors. Yet another symbolic hint at Uranian influence since electric sparks are the usual suspects when it comes to fire inside submarines as well as space stations.
We may witness some mounting circumstances in the months of July and August leading up to the September Equinox. This period provides a precious opportunity for astrological analysis and prediction. Upcoming events are likely to be related to projection of influence if not outright force. The money factor may start emerging closer to the last quarter of the year.
Astrological Weather
July under the rule of Uranus
July lunar cycle promises to be an important period characterised by Uranian flavour alongside with potent energies of the Sun and Mars blasting their way forward:
- Saturn on the South Node, July 4
- the Sun on the North Node, July 9
- Mars square Uranus, July 11
- Mercury retrograde, July 7–31
The New Moon’s chart looks simple and almost symmetrical yet it clearly passes a sense of surprising and unexpected possibilities.
Several planets form a square with Uranus during July, most notably Mars and the Sun. A Sun–Uranus square brings great ideas and introduces revolutionary concepts while Mars–Uranus is often seen as a recipe for blind violence and letting wild forces spin out of control.
The sesquisquare “spike” (or sometimes “yod”) aspect pattern pointing at both Mars and Mercury is another important point of interest. We are discussing this kind of aspect formation in the current featured story “Aspect patterns — the building blocks of astrological charts”.
Jupiter square Neptune
Jupiter–Neptune square is a longer influence that began on April 8 and completes on October 30. The two moments when square becomes exact are:
- June 16 with Jupiter retrograde
- September 21 with Neptune retrograde
Jupiter aspects to Neptune are usually beneficial, both planets welcome bigness and universality. There is a risk though: while dealing with anything really big, one can become utterly out of touch with reality. Having a good degree of Saturnian prudence is always a welcome addition in this configuration!
In previous issues…
The previous issue discussed the The Moon Nodes and the Force of Destiny.
The one before pondered upon Minor astrological aspects and the domain of magic.
Recently we also covered Astrological aspects and sacred geometry.
We explored the role of Fixed Stars in astrology.
We offered our take on the Astrological interpretation of the fire of Notre-Dame de Paris.
We did some research into Equinox, Solstice and the idea of Universal Consciousness.
Linked to that is the story about The Sidereal Zodiac in astrology, its strengths and weaknesses.
The topic of the year still remains the timeline of Saturn – Pluto conjunction of years 2019–2020–2021 and its karmic meaning.
And we didn’t forget the glory of the annual Sun – Neptune conjunction of 2019.
The alchemical nature of the Zodiac was discussed in how the four Elements rule over the Zodiac signs.
We spoke about the planetary cycles in the second part of the series about understanding planetary cycles: applying and separating aspects.
Which was a continuation of the topic about waxing and waning aspects in the context of planetary cycles.
Mars – Pluto squares of 2019 and the politics of nuclear warfare was an interesting foray into the world of big politics.
We touched on a topic of an archetype of love triangle, or why Jupiter and Venus always in love.
We also talked about manifestations of the signs of the Zodiac in the human body.
Long-term events
Saturn–Pluto conjunction is currently separating at 4.5º orb as both Saturn and Pluto are in retrograde until September 18 and October 3 respectively. The date of the exact conjunction is scheduled for Jan 13, 2020. Read the story about this event that happens once in about 38 years and its possible repercussions.