Saturn: Struggle between the Old and the New

Saturn, the Great Teacher, has been dancing (some would say stomping) back and forth over the last degrees of Libra before it enters Scorpio in early October (the 5th). For the couple of years, Saturn has been tromping through my own 12th house. It left the 12th house briefly, giving me a brief respite, and then reentered. As most of us do with Saturn, we often think we have to suffer through. However, Saturn's archetypal struggle is better dealt with when we try to understand the underlying stories the Saturn represents. 

Saturn's story has to do with the archetypal struggle between what has traditionally been called the Old King and the Young King. In our times, these images translate to our own struggle for wholeness (not an end goal, but a series of life-long struggles and passages). In our lives in general, the struggle may be found in our relationships with others and with our life goals and purpose.  For example, when we are young adults, we train, seek education, begin choosing careers, begin our lives of independence, as we begin creating and living out our life journeys.  

What we envision and plan often turns out other than what we expect or hope for.  Sometimes our plans turn out perfectly. In any event, Saturn teaches us that whatever lessons we have to learn on our journey, must be faced, experienced, and acted upon.  Many of us know about Saturn Returns. A Saturn Return occurs when Saturn moves one entire cycle from where it was when you were born (your Natal Saturn) and back again. This happens every 28-30 years.  Saturn Returns affect us for several years before and after. 

We are called upon to decide how we are to face our weaknesses, the undeveloped, or challenging areas of our personality and behavior, and what we must release in order to move forward in our development. Whatever we need to learn to improve our lives, must be faced at that time for when we move into our next cycle, whatever we have not resolved, moves along with us, often hindering us subconsciously if not obviously with some recurring issues.  Most of us are aware when these big times in life occur. The best way to determine what area of your life this occurs in, is to check to see which house (part of life) your Natal Saturn is in. This is not the only part of your life affected, but it represents the area where change and growth is triggered and the manner in which we are likely to find the most discomfort. 

For example, if you Natal Saturn was in your 9th house (higher education, foreign travel and cultures, philosophy/religions and higher thinking, institutions connected with these areas) you are likely to find change occurring, being affected or influenced by people, ideas, and events related to this house.  This may refer to your attitudes about these areas, or it may have to do with your own involvement in this area. This might be a time when your beliefs, values, and intentions require reexamination or a time when new ideas, travel or people from other cultures enter and affect your thinking and lifestyle. There is no one manifestation for everyone. For one person, it may result in lots of travel; for another it may mean a deep interest in new ideas or an area of research and study. 

It your Natal Saturn is in another house, that house will give you clues to what areas of life your greatest life challenges and your gifts for positive transformation lie. Saturn's challenges call us to our higher good and development.  Your natal chart always provides the baseline for your entire life journey. However, as we grow and age, as we live, and change, and as we release the past and make new choices, we are constantly in the process of changing and moving toward a fuller form of our incarnation.

Part of the story of Saturn has to do with the major returns and the placement of your natal Saturn.  For those of us who believe we have a life purpose (10th house-Soul Journey), Saturn is an essential task master.  Saturn is always active in everyone's chart. When we look to see where planets, the moon, and the Sun are in our charts, we are looking for their current transits.  All that is in the Universe and including our Solar System, is constantly in motion, rotating as the Earth, on the planetary axis and swirling and orbiting through space. We now know that our solar system is revolving, along with thousands of others, around the Gallactic Center.  While that may seem beyond our ability to envision, we nevertheless are affected by motion, movement, change, and the dynamic nature of life.  How do we get grounded in such dynamic setting?


We do this by focusing on where we are now. Being present is one of Saturn's messages to us.  It calls us to pay attention to our inner struggles, callings, and desires.  It calls us to examine what about our choices, ourselves, our lives needs to be released, changed, or improved.  

Saturn represents the struggle between the Old King and the New King...both within you and in the world in which you live.  Metaphorically, the King is the Animus or masculine aspect of our personality.  To look at this in less patriarchal terms, the Animus and the Anima (the feminine aspects of our personality) can be understood as the polarities that exist within us and within all of society. Cultures define Masculine and Feminine much differently, so for example in American culture emotion and nurturing may be considered feminine, this is not the case in all cultures. Stereotypical ideas about masculinity and femininity do not automatically work to help us understand  Saturnian concepts of the Old and the New King.  When we think of our Self, the King is that which rules us. This includes  temperment/personality, roles we have taken on,  behavior, beliefs, values, patterns and habits. The struggle that Saturn brings into our lives has to do with releasing the old that is holding us back from what calls us to grow, change, and flourish.  


In the Saturnian story, the Old King represents that which has reached a point where it must change to survive. The choice is either to accept that one's role and life has changed, and to rest in that knowledge allowing for someone else to take over. Now some of this goes on within us in relation to our changing life roles, however, the real struggle we face is in accepting our changing place in life. This happens in relation to our aging process. This is why many cultures have specific assigned roles based on age and gender.  While we may have blurred the boundaries and changed our expectations somewhat, we nevertheless are faced with a Saturnian challenge to accept what has changed about our lives; we either fight to hold onto our power, authority, position, role, or identity, or we accept that change has come, and that we can now let go of whatever roles, beliefs, ideals, relationships, and identity that no longer work for us.  


How do we discover Saturn's challenge for us? There are a number of ways we will notice Saturn's messages.  The better we understand the archetypal nature of not only our dreams and imagination but also the unconscious roles and behavior that we act out in real life.  In our our daily lives, the roles we are in come with their own set of archetypes (expectations). Parenting comes with the archetypes of Mother, Father, children, Grandparents, and a multitude of other related roles (birth order, gender, culture). Our interests provide archetypes: artist, sculptor, musician, manager, leader, teacher, priest/priestess, warrior, builder, guide, writer, reader, protector, healer, Queen Bee and worker bees.  We live out a variety of roles at once: Teacher, Mother, Sister, Daughter, Wife, Friend, Leader, Healer, Writer. Roles are not static, therefore, roles will change over time and experience.  

Because we live in a dynamic universe, this is not only desired (not by all) but also change in every relationship and role is inevitable. To try to hold onto something that is dead or illusionary is one of the blocks that Saturn urges us to face and deal with. An example of changing roles occur, for all of us, in our families. As a woman, I may become a mother. There are a variety of stages of being a mother, and if I freeze at one stage of that role, I cannot experience other dimensions of motherhood or my own personhood.  My relationship with my children is stalled or broken. In order for us to become the fullest expression of who we are, it is necessary to keep moving with awareness.  Look at your relationships and roles, and notice which ones are calling for change or release. Which ones are calling for attention and nourishment? Which ones are in need of repair or movement?  With each career choice I have made, I have noticed change came about as part of my own awareness of inner urges, anxieties, callings, or a sense of unfulfilled desire. Change has also come from a growing sense of ennui, depletion, or completion. I recall being in a class, one I had taught and loved for years. One day I walked into the class, and before the class was half over, I felt like I could not breathe.  This happened twice more, and since there was nothing wrong with my physical health, I knew this was a signal to me that I needed to make some changes.  Sometimes we use our head, our rational mind, to talk ourselves into doing things that are no longer good for us.  This was so with me.  Saturn grounds us in the truth of our experience, and often brings us to our knees before we begin paying attention to what we need to change.  




Dreams and imagination are rich sources of archetypal message. Dreams often include images of slogging through mud, climbing on hands and knees up a mountain, running in slow motion and getting nowhere, or not being able to move our legs or hands.  One dream I had recently vividly played out the Saturn Archetypal struggle for me.   One of my primary roles in life has been that of teacher and educator.  It is one I have given up several times, but never quite seem to get completely away from. It's one of those things I do fairly well, love doing, and can do. It's familiar. It's comfortable. I know what I'm doing in the role.  Yet because of my desire to develop as an artist and writer, I have released my need for the role. At least that has been my goal. Two dreams illustrate how Saturn's story reminds us of what is calling for change. The first dream was me walking barefoot up the front steps of the administration building of a university.  On the path before me was snow. I looked down at the path, saw the snow, and knew I was no longer willing to take that path. In the dream, the message came in my own words to myself, as I turned around and walked away. "I'm not doing this anymore."   The next dream was truly Saturnian. In the dream I am supposed to be in charge of a large class.  The class requires a lot of attention, and I would need and have assistance.  There was a young person off to the left waiting to come into the room.  Someone behind me (my shadow...the unspoken, unacknowledge or undeveloped identity within) said you can do it or you don't have to. I could feel body in the dream. I was sitting down, and I thought, I just don't think it's a good idea for me to stand up and do this again. It would take all my energy, and I just don't feel up to it now.  I sat back in the dream, and allowed myself to be somewhere else (you know how dreams are).  Here the dreams shows the clear struggle between the old and the new, the past and the future. In the present, we can look back and hold on, or we can take our lessons from the past, and move onto what awaits us.  


Between now and June 25 when Saturn stations direct for the last time in Libra, watch for the areas where you are called to release, repair, and prepare for moving onto a more in depth experience of life.  Libra has called attention to all the areas in your life where you are struggling to maintain some sense of harmony. Things in one or two areas may be significantly upsetting. The walls may have come crashing down in some respect. It is time to surrender to the call of your soul, and to face whatever threatens to lock you into behavior, relationships, patterns, choices, or thinking that will continue to block you if you ignore or choose not to heed the call to move forward. 


Between September 28 and October 6th, Saturn will be in the Anaretic, the 29th degree of Libra.  This is the point when finality, conclusion, and completion are necessary. Look to that time as the days when you clear things up, prepare yourself for the next major leg of the journey, and be intentional about what you are leaving behind and what you have equipped yourself with for the journey ahead. Watch for messages and signs of completion at that time. 


Right now the Sun is in 11 degrees of Gemini, the Moon is in Libra, Mercury is in 15 degrees of  Gemini (closely conjuncting the Sun-good for communication). Venus continues in her retrograde journey back through Gemini (19 degrees) and Jupiter is in 27 degrees of Taurus. Jupiter too is completing its cycle through the sign of Taurus. On June 11 Jupiter will enter the sign Gemini. Neptune is in her early stage of her 14 year cycle in Pisces, awakening us to our more mystical, intuitive, and deeper realms of both our own unconsciousness and that of our Universe. Pluto, the Great Transformer, continues its plodding journey through Capricorn, further grounding our movements, motivations, energy, and transformative activity.   The North Node is at 5 degrees of Sagitarrius. At that point in your chart, there ought to be some possibility for changes and improvements, openings for the future of whatever that area of your life  signifies. Look to see how the transits affect your natal chart and how transits set off or block other movements.

In my heritage, we believe that the world reflects to us signs and illustrations that we can see as meaningful to our own personal lives. When there is fire on the mountain, for example (a volcanic eruption), we understand that we are all affected by that. We know the oceans and the tides, the rivers and streams, run through our lives and bring us knowledge and understanding, if we seek to understand the messages.  The heavens too have spoken to us for centuries and eons, and we know we are part of a greater Universe than we can either see or understand. However we can feel the energy, and learn to use it to help ourselves and those with whom we relate.  Saturn's slow movement, signals great change when it readies itself for movement. Another sign that illustrated this to me came about a few weeks ago.  I was called downstairs by my neighbor to see a swarm of honey bees who had created this swarm in a tree in our backyard.  When the beekeeper came to gather the bees to take to a new hive, he told us that when the Queen is getting old, the honey bees will create a new Queen and the old Queen will leave the hive with half the bees. Together they swarm until they find a new place to swarm.  I don't know the rest of the journey, but this happened right before my eyes to remind me that everything is created to pass through stages and to do what comes naturally. We with the big and active brains often create such chaos and trouble for ourselves when we fail to balance our rational thought with a healthy doses of intuition, imagination, and a view of ourselves in relation to the greater scheme of things in which we are not the center of the Universe but are part of a greater plan than we can see or imagine.  Sometimes the best things come to us when we simply let go and let life unfold before us.  When we allow ourselves to surrender to the power of the Divine and accept the life we have before us. What are the gifts that are before you now? Dig in.


For a consultation by phone or to request a reading or a chart, contact me at 503.298 3069.

Solar Eclipse, New Moon in Gemini Sunday, May 20

Intuitive Readings and Consultations, Sunday May 20th at Lucy's Books

Intuitive Insight Pathways, Dr. Catherine Al-Meten: Solar Eclipse, Gemini: House to house how it works...

Intuitive Insight Pathways, Dr. Catherine Al-Meten: Solar Eclipse, Gemini: House to house how it works...: Eclipse fever has started, particularly on the West Coast and the Southwest of the U.S. where the path of the Solar Eclipse will pass this S...

Solar Eclipse, Gemini: House to house how it works

Eclipse fever has started, particularly on the West Coast and the Southwest of the U.S. where the path of the Solar Eclipse will pass this Sunday late afternoon.  Parties and viewing gatherings are planned, and dire predictions are being made (typical), but what is the astrological significance of the Solar eclipse? This solar eclipse coincides with the New Moon in Gemini, so how might it affect us?

On May 20, 2012, the annual solar eclipse will take place as the  Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun. Because the eclipse occurs when the diameter of the Moon appears to look smaller than the
Sun, the Sun appears to have a ring of fire around it as the Moon blocks it in her passage. While this is not a total eclipse due to the Moon’s close proximity to Earth, it will be a spectacular one. The eclipse will be visible starting from the northern coast of China and spreading south and then eastward across the western coast (Canada and the Pacific Northwest) and southwestern part of the U.S.A., and then continue its path completing its 5 minute 46 second journey shadowing the surface of the Earth before ending over New Mexico.  For more amazing thoughts on the moon, visit thLive Science.


The eclipse will begin at 5:30 PDT. The greatest coverage (that 5 min. 46 sec. shadow and ring of fire time) occurs at approximately 6:30. Remember not to look directly into the sun, but use a solar filter of some kind or look on the ground or at a computer screen showing the eclipse in real time to avoid harming your eyes. Or as KATU meteorologists suggest, “ just stand under that tree. The sight of a thousand ring-shaped sunbeams swaying back and forth on a grassy lawn or sidewalk is unforgettable.”

What significance does astrology give to grand solar eclipses?

Eclipses are wild cards meant to shake us up to move in our personal evolutionary and maturity process. The archetypal energy of an eclipse activates energy for us to move, change, alter, or manifest that which has been building, growing, or seeking release in our lives. There was a time when people expected the passage of the Moon over the surface of the Sun to cause catastrophic events, but the energy of the Moon on the tides of the Earth, and the blocking of the Sun’s electromagnetic field, other than causing higher tides and some interference with electronic communications, have a more long-lasting effect on our lives than the immediate spectacle of the eclipse itself.  Eclipses act like a New Moon or Full Moon on steroids. There is a tendency for events and changes to seem to come on suddenly or in an unexpected manner. Depending where the path of the Solar Eclipse falls in your chart, this solar eclipse will probably unveil some fated types of experiences that will have a dramatic effect on your life. As Mountain Astrologer writer Mary Plumb notes, “Tis the season to be growing!”

Wherever the Solar eclipse hits in our lives, we will become more aware of whatever has been suppressed, hidden, forgotten, left out, or stashed away for safekeeping. Depending which area of our lives is most affected, we will no longer be able to ignore or sweep dreams, desires, and plans aside.

The Solar Eclipse of May 20, 2012 occurs at 0/21 (0 degrees, 21 minutes) of Gemini.  Those affected most significantly are those of us with planets, aspects, and house cusps at 25-30 degrees of Fixed signs--Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius, and those of us with planets, aspects, and house cusps at 0 to 5 degrees of the Mutable signs--Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces. Notice what areas of your life these planets fall in and what aspects the eclipse (for both the Sun and the Moon are hitting that part of your life), as these are the areas where you might expect to be most affected.  For example, if the energy of the eclipse is touching your first house (that aspect of our personality that relates to how we appear in the world, the mask we wear, or the image we project most strongly), we might be paying more attention to our appearance (both how we look and what we are telling the world about who we say we are). Whatever changes are operating in that particular area of our lives, we will probably be spurred on to make changes more rapidly. Events may trigger the need for change, or we may be motivated to act on opportunities with greater speed and intention.

For those whose 2nd houses are affected, the changes and transformation may come in the area of your personal self image...how you have come to value yourself.  What am I worth personally, and how have I come to understand and accept my worth and value as a person? Many people read this house as personal finance, but it is much more than the house of money. It is the area of our lives that relates to what we have internalized in terms of our own value and worth. Often we are operating on worn out, incorrect, and negative ideas, borne of unhealthy conditioning, and lack of reflection on our true worth.  For many of us, when our 2nd house issues are out of whack, we feel worse about ourselves than at other times, and this is something we must address by getting professional help (hire a CPA, see a lawyer, hire a bookkeeper or get some financial counseling.  Get professional assistance in an area where you are not equipped to handle a situation and where you lack the knowledge and expertise to deal with issues that are blocking you.  If it’s  is no disgrace to hire a professional to hire a dentist to work on our teeth, why do we think we have to be an expert in everything else?  Seeking assistance or viewing a situation that is not working in this area of your life, is vital to making the necessary transformation that opens opportunity and a clearer path.

Third house areas that may be affected by transformative events and issues, pertain to our mode of communication, the life and neighborhood/community we inhabit, our neighbors, sisters and brothers, and our mode of communication.  We may now notice changes or the urge for movement and release in this area. We may find we have a stronger need to improve, enhance, or change this area of life. We may find ourselves desiring different ways of expressing ourselves, or we may find that we can finally create and communicate in ways that had hitherto not been possible. There is a greater need to bring opposites, polarities, and differences together into a coherent whole. If the third house is aspected by the eclipse, expect to receive messages in unexpected, sudden ways, and on different levels of your being (watch dreams, pay attention to intuitive feelings, listen to what your body is telling you, and watch for signs that confirm and affirm you).

The fourth house, being where you feel at home as well as where you dwell, is an area that is strongly affected if the solar eclipse moves across this part of your life.  There may be a strong urge to make major changes. If things need to be fixed, they will manifest in forms that demand your attention.  If you have been considering a move, there may be news on this front now, moving you forward to make whatever changes are necessary for your home/sense of well being to come into harmony.  Old issues may arise that call you to resolve, abandon, release, or otherwise settle any conflicts that have been suppressed.  

The Fifth house represents our capacity for love and pleasure, our children and creative projects. The fifth house is about learning to have fun and remembering how to experience life through our senses. The fifth house is our inner artist who longs to paint, dance, dream, create, and express pleasure and beauty.  For those of us who have had our noses to the grind stone far too much of the time, we will begin to nourish our creative spirit more. Pleasure experienced with our senses also includes our need to create, give birth, seek union, and nourish our souls, minds, and bodies. We experience an awakening  call to  greater sensual urges, creative passions, and the fertile imagination to feed our desires and visions.

Sixth house issues deal with our physical bodies (where we spend our time, where we work, and how we treat our bodies.). Our health is crucial to our living productive, harmonious, balanced, and fulfilling lives. This house often signifies the workplace. Our life work, how we spend our time and energy and creative urges has a significant impact on our physical health and well being. The solar eclipse can provide us with a wake up call to find greater peace, alignment, and meaning in this area of our lives. If we are in balance here, we may find we desire an expansion of our work life, we may accept the challenge to push our physical limits, and expand our awareness, experiences, and boundaries in ways we had only dreamed of in the past. Now is the time to take the leap of faith and take the risk to make changes. If we have not been happy with our work or have been in poor health, we will need to address the underlying issues that keep us from our highest good and excellent health. Movement, stretching beyond limited thinking, and visioning a new future require an awareness of what is not working and how it is affecting our overall livelihood and health.

Seventh house issues relate to marriage and partnerships.  The Solar eclipse affects those relationships that are in need of transformation or are already in disrepair.  A time of reflection or regaining perspective in whatever partnerships we are involved in will be on the list of things to do. If communication and connections are no longer in line with one’s life, it is time for repairs, redressing major blocks and issues, and remembering what sparked the partnership in the first place. All contracts, sacred or civil, are based on a set of agreements and a system of rewards and consequences, blessings and curses in the Biblical sense.  Our covenant agreements are sacred contacts, and must be adhered to or the partnership moves outside the original intent...to bind two people and their interests, dreams, and needs in a mutually rewarding partnership.  The Solar eclipse will bring to light what is no longer working or where vows have been broken, disregarded, or forgotten. We will seek greater connection now, and be more forthright about the conditions and agreements that we keep.

The Eighth house has to do with how we are valued in the greater society.  What is our role in the world, and how are we regarded in our lives by those in society?  This is also the area of our service to others, other people’s money and resources, and inheritance and goods of the dead.  It’s also an area that rules our sexual/creative energy.  The eighth house is about transforming on a grand scale, so one might expect that issues in this area will be hard to ignore. There may be major announcements, changes, or movement that affect you and your life choices, and how you handle this depends upon your preparedness and willingness to grow and mature. Whatever we have grown comfortable with, may disappear or change form in some way so that we realize what we’ve always known, that change is inevitable. Our perspectives and how we deal with change are the tools which will enable us to build, create, solve, and work with the substance of life that we have been given.

The Ninth house deals with higher education, institutional types of learning, different cultures and ancient wisdom, metaphysical, philosophical, religious, and spiritual development and ritual. Someone or some form of knowledge unfamiliar to us may have a great impact on our lives now.  We may travel long distances (through time or space or both) to discover a part of our identity and destiny that had been hidden. We will learn more about who we are and how we are connected to one another, and there will probably be something of earthshaking proportions that will bring change to help transform the world at large, and our lives in particular.

The Tenth house, the house of your Soul’s call, relates to the inner calling and purpose you have within you. Oftentimes this appears to us through the work we do, and our work is a part of the process that leads us to answer this call. Whatever you are destined to share, express, create, or manifest in some way that transcends your own personal fulfillment, now rises higher into your conscious awareness. Whatever has fallen away (either through a felt loss, lack, or missed opportunity sometime earlier in your life--recent or distant), now reappears as opportunity on the path you are walking. You discover you need go no further...what you seek is before you, and all has led you to this moment of creation.

The Eleventh house is the house of how we relate with one another in groups. This could be your circle of friends, coworkers, community, church, guild of artists, union, or whatever social and institutional groups you belong to. Your identity in this area of your life may either be shaken up quite a bit (before now but now it is evident) or you may find that groups are shifting, changing, evolving, falling apart, or disappearing). Group connections are reflecting the dynamism alive in us individually, and it is only a reflection and consequence of the movement of all people and society in flux and transformative change.  There may be more upset or sudden movement in these areas, and you may find yourself in new territory, trying to determine boundaries, position, and identity for the first time in a long time.  Our roles are changing as our groups and institutions evolve, break apart, or transform themselves to meet growing needs and circumstances.

The Twelfth house represents your subconscious and that which is hidden and mysterious.  This is the part of both ourselves and the world in which we live that is unknown to us on the conscious level. This area has been moving beneath the surface for many of us for quite some time, and now more than every, our dreams, intuition, imagination, inner senses, reasoning, drives, urges, and desires, make themselves known. Whatever is unresolved, unhealed, or in need of your attention now knocks on your cognitive and intuitive doors to spur you to pay attention and act on your own behalf for that which must be addressed for your development and journey ahead. 

There may be more than one area of your life (and of course all areas affect and interact with one another), so look at how the houses where the Eclipse hits and see if you might discern some of the tools, gifts, talents, and memories you have to make the necessary changes that are being accentuated through the energies of change taking place at this time...including the eclipse and the energy it sets into motion for the next few lunar cycles, and also the other major transits that may be triggering or blocking change, awareness, or understanding.

Enjoy the celebration of the Solar eclipse as this eclipse packs the power of its New Moon in Gemini and then some. As the eclipse is on the New Moon, we are propelled by the intentions we set at this time. We are in a time of reflection and planning, and now is a great time to listen to our inner voice, put our plans in prayer, turn our desire over to the Divine for an alignment with our true nature and in tune with our beliefs. Allow yourself to be brutally honest about what you need to do, be, and create in order to follow your journey to the True North of your soul call and identity. Discover a way to enter into a ritual seeking alignment with the Divine, and asking for support, guidance, and blessings that you will receive the grace of God in whatever you do, whatever you choose, with whatever your circumstances or needs may be. Blessing to all, and embrace the journey and gifts of your life. Be grateful, and release all that distorts or disturbs your heart, mind, and soul from a clear and direct link to that which is in your highest interest and is best for all involved.

Enjoy learning more about the eclipse at lipse-maps.com/Eclipse-Maps/Gallery/Pages/Annular_solar_eclipse_of_2012_May_20.html

Intuitive Insight Pathways, Dr. Catherine Al-Meten: Intuitive Insight Pathways, Dr. Catherine Al-Meten...

Intuitive Insight Pathways, Dr. Catherine Al-Meten: Intuitive Insight Pathways, Dr. Catherine Al-Meten...: Intuitive Insight Pathways, Dr. Catherine Al-Meten: Sun 23/15 Taurus Moon Last degrees of Aquarius mov... : Sun 23/15 Taurus Moon Last degr...

Venus turns retrograde in Gemini...awakening to inner truth

Whenever a planet goes through its retrograde stage, the howls and whining starts. "Mercury is in retrograde...nothing will go right," or "the Moon is opposing my Sun. Woe is me!"  Knowing a little bit of information, but not enough to put it in its proper context, makes for a poor understanding of astrology.  This is one good reason to have your chart done, and then learn something about what aspects, trends and patterns have been and are operating in your life.  Nearly everyone's natal chart (the position of the Sun, Moon, planets, and ascendent at the time of your birth) has aspects that are considered challenging as well as those that are considered beneficial. For example, you may have an opposition (two planets in opposite signs and within 5-7 degrees of one another) or you may have one or more planets in their retrograde phase at the time of your birth. As with any other system that is used as a tool to understand your personality, your developmental patterns, your tendencies, talents, and challenges, astrology attempts to chart out the dominant influences in different areas of your life.  

In Jungian Psychology, the personality temperments include 16 different personality types, each of which has certain traits and behavior patterns. The personality types include four different aspects of personality. One measurement is that of introversion and extroversion, and it helps explain how we are energized. For example, one who is strongly extroverted gains energy and is nourished through through interaction and relationship. One who is introverted, is energized and renewed through time alone and in seclusion.  Both are aspect of each of us, however, we generally tend to favor one over the other. In order to grow and function as a whole human being, we must, however, develop both aspects so that we are better able to function in the world and cope with challenges outside our zone of comfort and familiarity.  Knowing the differences helps us understand not only ourselves but also others.  

The second aspect of one's personalty temperment has to do with how we take in information.  Do we gather information primarily through our physical senses and observations or do we intuit and sense the hidden and unspoken aspects of our environment and in our relationships?  One who primarily functions on the sensate level, may tend to notice details and be able to recall specifics more readily than one who operates primarily on their intuitive senses. The goal to health and wholeness would be to develop both the ability to observe and notice details (remembering people's names, noticing physical details, remembering placement, colors, positions, and other attributes perceived by one's senses) and to pay attention to one's intuitive, inner knowledge and sense of what is unspoken, unseen, and below the surface (for example relying on inner wisdom, intuition, warning signals). To live as a fully functioning human, we need to develop both aspects of ourselves. We may rely and favor our intuition, however we need to learn to pay attention to the details and learn to be keen observers of life as well.

The third aspect of one's temperment had to do with how we process information we have taken in.  Some of us rely heavily on thought and analysis, while others depend on their gut instincts or their emotional truth.  Again, we need to learn to pay attention to what different parts of our bodies and minds tell us, but we also need to trust that we understand how we arrive at our understanding of what is true for us, what makes sense to us, and what we feel/think is the right decision. 

The fourth aspect of temperment has to do with how we respond and react to order, organization, and the idea of completion.  Some of us are very comfortable with a wide variety of projects going on at the same time, with an open ended type of schedule or plan, and with not much time urgency related to getting to completion. Others of us require a sense of order, a less flexible, open-ended life style, and a more predictable, sense of organization. Some of us are comfortable with several projects going on at once, and others of us want to do one thing at a time. Some of us celebrate completion; others of us mourn the endings. Some of us are happy with the process alone; others prefer to work toward a specific goal.  Again, we need to be able to operate with the wide spectrum of these skills, but we usually work best when we are operating out of our  primary function.

What does this have to do with astrology? The basic idea of the Jungian personalty temperments is based on archetypes and archetypal ways of behavior and interaction. So too is astrology. 
These models have been developed out of observation of human behavior and personality.  And they each attempt to provide us with ways to deal with those gifts and challenges that make our life journeys more meaningful, less confusing, and more fulfilling.

When you read or hear about some aspect or transit of a planet, the Sun, or the Moon, take some time to consider how a challenging aspect may be operating in your life already. Consider how a beneficient aspect or transit could enrich or support you and your life goals.  Learn something about how your astrological chart helps inform you about what you already know about who you are, what you understand about yourself and your life, and what you know to be true and right for you. 

Avoid letting others frighten or upset you with dire predictions and warnings. You have within you, all you need to understand, communicate, decide, and do what is best for yourself and those you love. If you use astrology, learn how you can benefit from challenging aspects and transits, based on what you already know about how you operate. One thing I find reassuring about astrological information is that it reminds me that we are all living in the world together, and we each have gifts, we each have talents and skills, we each have challenges, and we each learn from our experiences. And if we didn't know it before, we now know that life is always changing, and we are as well. We continue to grow from the moment of our conception to the the end of our lives. 

Today Venus in Gemini, began her retrograde transit, and while some have made dire predictions for this period, it is really quite a special time, a time we are called to revisit those pending decisions, choices, relationships, and projects that are underway.  For some of us, those with our Natal Venus in retrograde, we are entering a special period when unlike much of the time, we are moving with the flow (the retrograde flow) rather that fighting the current or adapting to fit the conventional patterns. 

About 1 in 15 people is born with Venus in retrograde as the Morning Star, and 1 in 30 is born with Venus retrograde as the Night Star.  Those with Venus as the Morning Star were born with Venus moving in retrograde away from their Sun. These people are often devoted to the arts, and dedicate their lives to new ideals. Often drawn to ascetic practices and ideals, these people are often far ahead of their times. Their ideals, practices, and devotional traditions are rooted in ancient traditions. 


Those born with Venus retrograde as the Evening Star were born with the retrograde Venus ahead of their Sun sign. This finds Venus moving towards the Sun during the retrograde phase, making for a very creative and beneficial time.  This is a time when a new set of values, goals, dreams, motivation, and desires is awakened and must be expressed. This signals the threshold of a new phase of a journey that finds you converging on a road that goes well beyond anything you have experienced before. You now see your way to become part of a greater cycle of cycles, and uncharted territory. Whhile remaining grounded in traditional values, fundamental beliefs and ideals, and a strong sense of artistic form and manifestation, your journey now opens to a much more directed and intentional series of goals.  Self expression, for its own sake, is not the goal. You must experience and understand that there is a deeper and more enduring value to anything that you are part of. Though you may appear to be more reserved externally, your soul burns with passion and desire that must be expressed. Hardworking, diligent, self sacrificing, and highly dedicated, they are often artists and push the limits of whatever fields they seek full expression in.  Often involved in the avant garde and/or unconventional, exotic, they often do not fit into the conventional constructs and constraints. 

Wherever Venus is traveling through your chart/life in her retrograde phase, Venus is sending you deeper into yourself, your dreams, your desires, your shadow realms, and into the secret chamber of your soul's desires...calling you to awaken and address anything that is blocking you from embracing Venus' gifts for you.