This month's column will discuss the powerful Saturn-Pluto square in effect now and its appearance in popular culture. The once-a-year Sun-Neptune conjunction, with its potential for transcendent and mystical experience harmonizes with Venus' move into her exalted status in Pisces, but Valentine's energy can also be intense with the Mercury-Mars opposition. In honor of Valentine's Day, I will briefly mention the complex and important archetype of Juno, the karmic partner, who I will be writing about next month.
Saturn-Pluto and Undercover Boss
After this year's Super Bowl, CBS aired a fascinating show which perfectly captures the Saturn-Pluto square occurring in the sky all year. Here is the premise for the reality series Undercover Boss, from the website:
"Each week a different executive will leave the comfort of their corner office for an undercover mission to examine the inner workings of their company. While working alongside their employees, they will see the effects their decisions have on others, where the problems lie within their organization and get an up-close look at both the good and the bad while discovering the unsung heroes who make their company run."
Until 2012, Saturn travels through Libra, its sign of exaltation. Libra's symbol is the scales of justice. Libra asks us to consider the needs of others first, to harmonize our motivations, action, and energies with the state of those around us. Saturn is exalted in Libra because the symbols of Saturn — employment, social roles, the structures of society — all function much more efficiently and gracefully when an egalitarian approach is used to mediate an appropriate course of action. Ideally, all perspectives are highly valued and considered equally important.
Pluto, in an exact square with Saturn right now, is unveiling the hidden dimensions of the Capricorn archetype — Who are these executives running the world? What drives them? How will their humanity seep through the professional mask? What is truly successful in our management of resources? Pluto in Capricorn asks how do we function most efficiently as a society, as a business, as a collective? Where are the inequalities in the power structures? How does hierarchy often ignore the needs of the average person, the actual laborer?
The tense Saturn-Pluto square can function as our conscience, irritating and frustrating us. We feel that something is wrong and needs to change. We perceive duality quite obviously under this transit, and many people will project their inner demons onto an enemy out there. This is the individual human choice. The executives of these corporations are choosing to lift their self-imposed veil. Perhaps their motivations are only to discover a means to a more efficiently running corporation. I imagine the motivations are more complex than this. In any case, these Saturn-Capricornian executive archetypes are choosing to descend into Pluto's underworld. This is their version of a shamanic experience, dismembering their shielded identity, essentially becoming more human in the process. The potential reconciliation of boss-employee, of the haves and have nots, of first and third world is tremendous under this Saturn-Pluto square. As we all persist through this Saturn-Pluto transit, we are invited to surrender into our own personal underworld, the caverns of the unconscious, and let go of that which no longer serves us. This transit can definitely promote a fear vibration, and we may see more people freaking out in chaotic outbursts. Transmuting this dark shadow, shamanic, cathartic practices that support release and regeneration will help us navigate the inner friction clawing its way to the surface.
Valentine Venus and New Moon Community
The week before and after Valentine's Day, the Sun makes its once a year transit over the conjunction of Chiron and Neptune at 25 degrees. Aquarius, just before he moves into Pisces. But on Saturday night, the Moon goddess saunters in to cozy up with the Sun for the New Moon on this potent quintuple conjunction, also involving Venus. We should be setting our intentions deeply into our Aquarian tribes of kindred souls. We have an opportunity to receive potent visions these next few weeks on what a healing, sustainable community feels like. With this new moon, we should allow this dialogue to circulate as the cosmic energy supports the band of revolutionary mystics seeding earth's new paradigm.
Valentines weekend and the week following Valentine's Day are ideal times for visionary spiritual journeys. Each year, these two weeks amplify our ability to receive spirit's message, to channel, download, and become a conduit for divine love and transcendent art. The artist will awaken in proportion to their capacity to meditate and listen. With Chiron in the mix, the potential for healing vibrations to be channeled is even more pronounced. Sound healing events, art parties, and nurturing, unifying tribal gatherings will be blessed by this transit.
With the veils so thin, we should be giving attention to our dreams and be present to the prophecies and synchronicities bubbling up all around us. What is the cosmic message we are receiving at this time? The only downside is that we may feel foggy during this passage as well, since Neptune dissolves boundaries and blurs realities. With Venus moving into Pisces, the potential for tantric bliss and divine reflection is awakened with our beloveds, but we may lose the ability to discriminate our emotions from another's. Sensitivity and tel-empathy increase in the coming month, so we should be extra direct with our communications to avoid confusion, as well as shield ourselves from negative energies easily absorbed in our environment. Giving ourselves through some kind of service and allowing our ambitions to quiet their grip on us so our spirituality can evolve are the best ways to work with the inflowing energy.
This Valentine's weekend should be one of the most passionate on record as Mercury opposes Mars, compelling us to highly dramatic conversation. We should use our words to inspire positive and motivating communication and be careful of hot tempers. The "hot" factor should get real juicy on Sunday the 14th as the Moon in Pisces dances with the lush combination of the moist planets, Venus and Jupiter in Pisces. The impulse to intoxicate and indulge will be overwhelming, so surround yourself with beloved(s) and channel this conjunction with the blossomed heart chakra. Make sure a hot tub is prepped and get ready for a stream-of-consciousness that could inspire us with visions and increased faith towards this summer's approaching transformational breakthroughs.
Juno — Your Soul Contracts
When it comes to relationships in astrology, we often hear about Venus. She represents the highest version of the feminine. But there is a relationship archetype that I have begun focusing on more in my readings, my research, and the study of my own chart — her name is Juno, and she is what many astrologers refer to as the symbol of the marriage partner. In most of your significant relationships, you can bet that Juno makes a strong appearance, and she has a lot to say! I wish to share my findings on Juno with you all in a special feature next month. And I will be speaking about her and Venus in Denver on the 16th of February. If you would like an audio copy of the lecture, please let me know. They are available on sliding scale. And stay tuned to the voice of the cosmos!
Image by Dominic's pics, courtesy of Creative Commons license.