Blog — Newsletters

by Steven Forrest

“In like a lion, out like a lamb” is a proverb generally associated with the month of March.  Blame it on global warming, but I think we will see that happy transition occurring a little earlier this year, in February.  And I am not exactly talking about weather reports.  The warming trend I am expecting is in the human heart.  The month begins with an unusual concentration of energies in feisty, often-contrarian Aquarius. By mid-month, we begin to see a mass migration into milder Pisces.

Let’s look at the astrological specifics for starters, then dive into their meaning and purpose.

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I got a worried email from a student of mine this morning. He had a client who had experienced transiting Uranus conjunct her Moon, but “nothing had happened.” He was concerned and embarrassed that his predictions had failed. I offered him a few possible explanations. As I responded to him, I realized that his question would be a fine topic for our newsletter and podcast this month.

The first point I want to make will sound pretty dogmatic, but I do believe it to be true: astrology never fails. I would quickly add that astrologers themselves often fail, but that is a different issue. Astrology is fundamental to how the universe operates. Astrology failing would be like gravity failing.

But astrologers’ predictions sometimes do fail and it behooves us not to be afraid of acknowledging that fact and perhaps learning something from it. There are a lot of potential issues here. Let’s have a look at them. 

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A miracle of nature looms on America’s horizon. On August 21, starting in Oregon, racing in a grand arc across the United States, finally going offshore in South Carolina, a shadow of night will fall in the midst of day. Along the centerline of the solar eclipse’s path, stars will shine at lunchtime.  Birds will go crazy. Some people probably will go crazy too. Eleven states will experience the eerie surreality of Totality, but no state in the contiguous 48 will escape the shadow of our first American total solar eclipse since February 26, 1979 – and that one just touched the Pacific Northwest and was mostly hidden behind their famously gray skies.

Meanwhile, long ago in a galaxy far, far away, Little Green People are drooling over UFO travel brochures, dreaming of visiting Earth on August 21.  Our giraffes and hummingbirds may be cool,  but you can’t beat Earth’s most famous attraction:  a total solar eclipse.  It is just possible we are the only planet in the galaxy where this particular spectacle is available. Think about it – the Sun and the Moon, even though they look very different, are almost exactly the same visual size.  That means that the Moon fits over the Sun almost perfectly.  It’s not so small that it’s nothing at all – but also not so big that it blocks out the magnificent solar corona.  The odds against striking that happy balance are “astronomical.” Hence those UFO travel brochures.

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by Steven Forrest

We are a little late on this one, but don’t worry – we haven’t missed the show! On April 28, 2017, the axis of the mean lunar nodes changed signs. The south node left Pisces, where it had been since October 9, 2015, and simultaneously entered Aquarius. (Remember that the mean nodes are always retrograde). That of course tells us that the other end of the axis – the north node – also changed signs. It left Virgo and crossed into Leo.

As usual, the nodes will remain in their new signs for about a year and a half. On November 15, 2018, they will cross over into Capricorn/Cancer.

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by Tony Howard

This month the declination of Mars gets so high that it is beyond the limit set by the Sun, so we say that Mars is "out of bounds." During this time, Mars will have more freedom than usual to accomplish Marsy types of endeavors. On the high end, this could be a great time for groundbreaking work, pushing forward an innovative agenda at work or in your creative endeavors.

At the low end, when a planet is out of bounds in a natal chart, it can relate to the person being seemingly unable or unwilling to question their own desires. Mars is the planet of "I want." So when transiting Mars is out of bounds, it might be that we are less likely to question what we want, and to take actions we might regret later, when Mars comes back into "normal" range.

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This month we have a special treat. In the video linked above, Steven talks about the Jupiter-Uranus opposition, one of the major transits of 2017. He also shares a few thoughts about Neptune in Pisces. We hope you enjoy the video.

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by Steven Forrest

Everyone seems to know the myth of Persephone where Pluto drags her down to the Underworld “to be his bride.” Her mother, Demeter, expresses her grief at her daughter’s abduction by putting the world into the deep freeze of an endless winter. In the end, the Olympian gods and goddesses broker a deal, both to keep humanity from starving and also to keep the worshipful observances coming. From then on, Persephone spends six months of the year with her mother. The other six months of the year, she is ensconced with Pluto in the Underworld. Demeter is bereft during the months spent without her daughter, and so winter and cold reign over the planet until the two are reunited.

And thus does Spring return every year.

It amazes me how literally astrology expresses itself sometimes.  For the past three years or so, Pluto has been transiting through a conjunction with my natal Sun. I’ve lived the myth.

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by Steven Forrest

If Pluto is a planet - and most astrologers, myself included, still say it is - then, like it or not, distant Eris is a planet too. The two bodies are about the same size. Both orbit in the dark deep-freeze beyond Neptune. We know all about Pluto’s direct impact on our lives. Most of us have scars to prove it. Should we expect anything less of Eris?

The astrological jury may still be out on the power of Makemake, Haumea, Sedna, and the rest of the “trans-Neptunians.” But Eris is way bigger. I believe it is time to say that everyone who claims that the jury is still is out on Eris is just not paying attention. I also believe that its current explosive conjunction with Uranus underlies much of the chaos in the world’s current headlines. Notice how you can hardly post “have a nice day” on Facebook without someone drawing parallels between you and Adolph Hitler? That’s the fingerprint of Eris.

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The big news in the astrology blogosphere this month is the Mars-Saturn conjunction on August 23. Seeing these two so-called malefic planets come together might give you pause, but with Mars moving briskly forward and Saturn at a standstill, this transit will be over before you know it. It might help to think of this as a “trigger” transit – a faster transit that sets off a slower transit. In general, slower transits make a more lasting impression because they have time to “cook.” Faster-moving planets often trigger events that engage with the bigger-picture story told by the slower transits. In this instance, Mars will activate the year-long Saturn-Neptune square that has been in range since last fall.

Here are the technical specs: Mars, at 6° Sagittarius, will apply to the conjunction with Saturn, at 9° Sagittarius, on August 17 within 3° orb. As transits apply within 3° they really start to heat up. As the conjunction forms, Saturn will be at its slowest, since it stations direct at 9° on August 13 and doesn’t move to 10° until August 30. The station emphasizes Saturn’s impact. On August 23 the Mars-Saturn conjunction will be exact. By August 25, Mars will begin separating from the conjunction.

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The devil is in the details. So are the angels sometimes. In my transits and progressions work with clients, the focus is always on the “big picture.” That grand evolutionary perspective emerges most clearly when we reflect on the slow-moving, theme-building planet — basically the transits of everything out beyond Mars, plus the progressions. In the counseling room, it is usually practical to ignore the little “firefly” transits of Mercury and Venus, or the Sun and the Moon. They go by so quickly that they don’t have much time to develop depth and complexity of meaning. But they sure “work!” Let Mercury transit over your Sun, for example, and your phone is ringing like crazy and your email inbox looks like Obama’s.

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