Venus’s ingress into Aries woke me up very early on Sunday morning with an idea for this blog.
I’ve been thinking about Saturn square Pluto (who hasn’t?), which, along with Saturn opposition Uranus, are forming the underlying archetypal motifs as we move along towards the continuing excitement promised this summer and beyond.
The second of three exact squares of Saturn and Pluto was on January 31; the last will be on August 21, 2010.
Saturn got to 4°39’ Libra on January 13, where it stationed retrograde. Pluto makes it to 5°25’ on April 6, where it stations retrograde.
This month Venus, then Mercury, and then Sun in Aries will form an opposition to Saturn in Libra, followed by a square to Pluto in Capricorn. Venus will be making the exact aspects from March 9th to 11th; Mercury enters Aries on March 17th and makes the t-square between the 18th and 20th; and the Sun’s ingress is on the 20th. The Sun’s opposition to Saturn will perfect on the 21st, and the square to Pluto on March 25th.
So I’m looking at the Aries planets this month as a chance to propitiate the pair and make peace with Saturn and Pluto while I can.
I was with someone a few days ago who usually is of very good cheer and high spirits. She said she was noticing a slight feeling of “dread.” I generally can think and talk and write somewhat abstractly about the meaning of the planets and aspects. But this quiet mention of a feeling of dread caught my attention, and it wasn’t long (the next day, in fact) before I noticed a vague, ill-defined sense of dread myself, somewhere in my body, maybe in my heart.
It has become obvious to me that many are struggling with a pervasive and nearly constant feeling of anxiety or dread these days. It may be only a fleeting moment or quickly passing mood for some, but if it is there, it is hard to deny.
I remembered the feeling in the air around 911, when Saturn and Pluto were most recently in hard aspect to each other. There is a similar emotional resonance now, regardless of our eloquent expectations of transformation and the restructuring of all levels of reality.
Now, my latest thought is to take note of that feeling of dread when it arises and sit with it, facing it directly, with the knowledge that the sense of anxiety looming large in the collective (the planets of death and finality, after all) is also happening inside of me (along, of course, with a very gracious Jupiter, a playful Mercury, etc.).
This month, I’m going to try to be steady and watch for Saturn’s honest feedback on how I’m doing in Venusian, Mercurial, and Solar matters, and not avoid or deny what I see. And, to attempt to relax into Pluto’s relentless press toward annihilating all that is not truly true in my relationships and with money (Venus), in my thinking and perceptions (Mercury), and in whatever aspirations are drawing me forward (the Sun).
My friend, Robert Blaschke, just reminded me that the whole time the Sun is in Aries (March 20th through April 20th), it will be in mutual reception with a newly direct Mars in Leo, so our masculine courage will be strong. Thank you, Robert. Sounds good, and right when we need it!