 We have a busy weekend ahead of us with three major astrological influences occurring simultaneously that must be fused and synthesized, even if they provide us with contradictory messages. On Friday, June 3 Mercury turns direct at 26° Taurus and will now retrace its steps forward up to 5° Gemini where she started her retrograde on May 10. Those with planets between 28° of the fixed signs and 5° of the mutables will notice that certain topics that have been in review since late April will now start to clear up and move forward after a long period of challenge.
On Saturday, June 4 Saturn turns retrograde at 25° Aquarius and starts a 5 month retreat back to 18° Aquarius. Saturn will urge a review and restructuring in those areas of life that need further fixing, building and fortifying one last time in order to bring that area of life into full functioning in the material world. The combination of these two planets will have an effect on each other. While Mercury wants to start to pick up speed this weekend, Saturn is moving extremely slowly for the next month as he acclimates to his retrograde. Therefore, Saturn will have a very strong effect this weekend in whatever you’re doing. It will keep things in a continued slow down process. There shouldn’t be a total stall, but the energy will promote continued caution regarding the recent month’s events as exacerbated by the Mercury retrograde in conjunction with May’s eclipses. So while eclipse energy is winding down, the combination of Mercury turning direct together with retrograde Saturn will continue to make the first half of June feel slightly slower as if the eclipses are still highly sensitized. For instance, my Mom became ill and was hospitalized in late April. She has been in rehab for four weeks and will be released to come home over this weekend. It will continue to be a slow process of rehabilitation to get her up and walking and independent. A new set of problems will now present itself as the retrograde Saturn will signify a return home and 5 months of in-house rehab. If she does the work required over the next five months then we shall see where she stands by late October on the next set of eclipses and the direct station of Saturn on October 23. This kind of energy will be happening to most everyone in some area of life. For some, the slow down can bring forth great production through steady building, while for other there may be more oppressive types of forces at large. Saturn retrograde will help you to fortify your life from within. Work on your infrastructure until October 23. We are smack in the middle of eclipse season. This one covers the sign polarity of Taurus/Scorpio. Whatever houses have those two signs on the cusp will be areas of life where you will have a more powerful and disruptive energy than usual and where you may have more fated types of life events surrounding beginnings and endings. In general, a Solar Eclipse plants seeds for new beginnings that will grow over the next 6 months and the lunar eclipse culminates recent events bringing them to some sort of conclusion or next stage. These eclipses have an extra special type of potency due to other concurrent planetary movements. Let’s just outline the basic facts: The Solar Eclipse occurred on April 30, 2022, at 10° Taurus 28’ within a 3° orb of conjunction to transiting Uranus. The Lunar Eclipse will occur on May 16, 2022, at 25° Scorpio 18’ in very tight square to transiting Saturn. Even though transiting Saturn and Uranus are no longer in a tight square they are still in square signs and this eclipse will reemphasize and exacerbate all the meaning of the Saturn/Uranus recent exact squares of 2/17/21, 6/14/21 and 12/24/21. The ever-evolving story between the struggle to learn and incorporate lessons of balancing the old with the new will continue. Your personal life lessons, as well as those in the collective zeitgeist, that started at the top of 2020 will ratchet up to the next evolutionary level. Continue to observe unstable world events, social movements and revolutionary energy pile up since the perfections of those squares. The other major planetary influences during this eclipse season is a Mercury retrograde from May 10 through June 3 that starts at 5° Gemini and retrogrades back to 26° Taurus and Jupiter’s ingress into Aries on May 10. Nothing happens in a vacuum in life or in astrology. It’s all about synthesis of conflicting energies and when you live long enough you come to understand that many things are happening all at once that need to be fused. Life is about connecting the dots. While a solar eclipse in tandem with Jupiter entering Aries, the first sign of the zodiac, suggests new beginnings, start-ups and leaping into action like a ram battering through a wall, Mercury retrograde adds more complexity to the situation. Jupiter in Aries gives the confidence and vision in some area of life to move forward towards a new adventure and journey of understating and self-discovery that revitalizes our spirit. The trickster says there’s a three week period of reviewing, re-analyzing, reconsidering and double checking our plans to make sure everything is in order. Mercury says let’s not move that fast because in our haste we may overlook some important information that can trip us up if we’re not careful. There is further research, information and fact finding before moving full speed ahead. If we are not careful we will miss some heretofore hidden invaluable piece of the puzzle that must reach our ears in order to move forward with something that adds even greater substance, security and value to our lives. A practical example of this would be that you’re all set to launch a new website - it’s designed, ready, looks good and you want to get your product out there and start making money. All things being equal, my advice would be to have the web designer review the site with you and pick through it with a fine-toothed comb to make any last minute tweaks and modifications because you’ll catch something that will improve the website and benefit you in the long run. The awareness of a Scorpio lunar eclipse squaring Saturn forces us to face the deeper evolutionary power of the cycle of time and foreshadows death of some kind. This can show up physically, emotionally, mentally or psychologically. There is an illumination that something must come to an end in a very final and concrete way. The transition will eventually lead to a rebirth but not before some screaming, yelling, pain and suffering. Some folks deal with this type of energy better than others. Much of that depends on natal planetary configurations along with how current transits and progressions align with the natal chart. The Taurus/Scorpio polarity is about what makes life richer, deeper, more valuable and enriching. It is the substance that lies beneath the surface, hidden talents, hidden powers. It deals issues of intimacy, trust, exchanges of money, power, ownership, privacy, taboos and all things sexual. What does sex mean to you? What negotiations and exchanges do you make to acquire sexual and emotional intimacy? Do you pay for sex like a John for a prostitute? We all do in one form or another, but society finds some forms of exchange more socially acceptable than others. What do you bring to the table vs. your partner? How much are you willing to pay for emotional and sexual intimacy? And when the tables turn and the sex, love and intimacy dies how much are you willing to give back in restitution and retribution? What is that old life worth in order to extricate yourself from attachments that no longer hold the same value? That is what divorce is all about whether you divorce yourself from a spouse, cherished friend, loved one, job or company. You see it very clearly in marital splits when the settlement must be made in terms of cash, property, assets and possessions. It also happens when there’s the death of a job, career or loved one. This eclipse season also has the potential to force people to deal with all types of addictions, jealousies and obsessions. Those things that we hold on to for dear life because they are habitual and feel good even if they are killing us! Reconsider things very deeply and with more psychological awareness this eclipse season before making those new beginnings. The snake is still in the process of shedding its skin.  |