Evolutionary Sparks: The Astrology of November 2018 and Onward

Hello everyone! 

November is a very big month of planetary movements.  My working life has been quite busy lately with teaching and some new projects underway, so I have not been able to write as often.  However, this month is so eventful with many significant shifts that I wanted make the time to share a bit about them and their longer-term impact.

Here is a short list of important astrological events in November:

November 6 - Uranus Rx returns to Aries
November 6 – The Nodes of Fate move into Cancer/Capricorn (precisely square Uranus for the past few weeks, and at the time of ingress)
November 7 – New Moon in Scorpio
November 8 – Jupiter Enters Sagittarius
November 15 – Mars enters Pisces (after many months retrograding in Aquarius/Capricorn)
November 16 – Venus goes Direct (Libra/Scorpio, Rx since October 5)
November 16 – Mercury goes Retrograde (Sagittarius)
November 23 – Full Moon in Gemini
November 24 – Neptune goes Direct

And here are a few notes, elaborations and explanations of the above events, what they mean, and how they influence the energetic currents of this month and the coming months…

Long Term Influences: 

• Uranus Returns to Aries:  Uranus moved into Taurus for the first time in 84 years back in May and will return to this sign in March.  This brief dip back into Aries (now through March) triggers resurgence in the Aries-Uranus issues (2011-2018) and reignites a spark of inspiration and revolutionary zeal around issues of individuality, self expression and independence.  Identity, human rights, and the sovereignty of the individual voice were all major themes of the Uranus-Aries transit.  We have a chance to revisit what might have been left undone in this area and become re-motivated as to the deeper purpose of the Uranus-Taurus projects/ideas that have come up in the collective consciousness over the course of the last few months.  Now that we’ve had a chance to experience Uranus in its new sign, we can assimilate more of what the experience of Uranus in Aries was for, and bring it more deeply into the foundation-breaking / awakening embodiment of Uranus-Taurus energy.   (For a full analysis of the Uranus-Taurus transit, please check out my article here: Breaking Ground:  Uranus in Taurus)

• The North Node moves into Cancer for 18 months, and crosses this threshold precisely square to Uranus.  For the past several weeks the planet of Uranus has been traveling in precise square to the axis of fate, known as the North & South nodes – a very intense aspect implicating important choices and sudden shifts in the direction of the collective soul.  To have these two travel together through a sign change is quite unusual and powerful.  The chart at the moment of a planetary ingress (sign change) describes the essence of how the transit will play out – and so aspects to the planet/point in question are particularly important.  In this case with the nodes of Cancer & Capricorn square to Uranus the awakener/revolutionary, who is changing signs simultaneously, suggests immense change, instability, and breaking from tradition on many levels over the course of the next 18 months.  Uranus still was in the sign of Taurus during the nodes’ precise ingress, emphasizing that the nature of this change is foundation shaking at the soul level.  It feels as if there is a strong sense of cause & effect at play… Because of the embodiment process suggested by Uranus in Taurus (people becoming more aware of their bodies, health, the earth’s health, feminine roles/health, spiritual engagement with the body, etc), it forces us to fundamentally review, re-envision, and remake the pillars of family (Cancer) and Societal/Governmental Structure (Capricorn).  At the same time the outmoded ideas held by the Cancer/Capricorn archetypes can be experienced as limitations, triggering an even more profound desire to break free from them.  We can expect this to be a big source of inner & outer conflict as comfort zones are severely tested and questioned. 

• The Nodes in Cancer/Capricorn also means that the points of fate will be involved in a significant configuration of Capricorn planets from now through 2020.  The South Node traveling through the sign of Capricorn means that it will be joining Saturn and Pluto over the course of the next few years.  By 2020, the South Node, Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto will all be together in the sign of Capricorn where Saturn/Pluto & Jupiter will make a grand conjunction.  This is an extremely significant and rare configuration that marks tremendous instability, change, and revolution.  In addition this alignment is occurring in the lead up to the USA Pluto return (an event that happens once every 248 years) making it significant to US politics and government especially.  The South Node traveling through this configuration is sure to bring up the immense shadow side of government systems (Capricorn), institutions and the way power and authority play out in our lives in general (personal & world).   This is a force to be reckoned with and through this energetic alignment the world is guaranteed to go through a huge metamorphosis.
  
  We experienced the energy of the South Node transiting an outer planet (South Node in Pisces conjunct Neptune) back in 2016, and the results in that case were quite chaotic, however it did trigger a deeper collective impulse towards clarity, participation, and tangible truth/practical solutions (Virgo North Node) in light of the intangible, emotional and confusing illusions & deceptions brought out by Pisces (easy example being the way social media algorithms influenced public division during the 2016 election – this was an insidious & hidden thing which affected the subconscious, very Pisces).  I feel that we can expect some similar “Wake Up” moments over the course of these next few years as the nodes cross Pluto, Saturn & Jupiter in Capricorn.  The echo effects will be far reaching, but significant progress can emerge from these as collective lessons are assimilated and understood.
  
  The North Node traveling opposed to these giant planetary influences in the sign of Governments and Institutions suggest that despite all of the trouble coming from this area of life, the answers we need stem from something more direct and basic. Family values, loving acceptance, protection of those we care about, nurturance of people in need, improvements to the home environment, tackling the domestic/local/internal issues first, basic necessities as priority — These are the priorities of the Cancer archetype and these are all things that the higher governing structures and other controlling bodies (such as media, etc) have totally lost touch with. So the collective soul lesson of this time is about recognizing the importance of reconnecting and repairing the intimacy of home, family and community, and using that as the rooted place from which we make changes in the outer world.  As a society we have placed so much importance on ambition, fame, “the hustle” etc that we have come to neglect and even shun the fundamentals of life in favor of money or power. This next 18 months will likely bring some major reality checks to this area, to remind us that at the end of the day if we don’t value the real and tangible connections we have with others, we lose out on what truly nourishes us as beings.  When false ambition, power, and ego fail us, what is left?  Did we care for others – or did we only care about ourselves?
  
  We can expect considerable stripping away of what we currently hold true regarding the dynamic of Work & Family (Cap/Cancer), reflections on what has evolved over time with regards to these two basic realms of life, and where to go next.  The image that comes to mind for this transit is a beautiful home (Capricorn) on a weak foundation (Cancer).  Remembering our humanness and returning to our roots, we can progress further with less effort.  This is a secret that we’ve forgotten.

• Jupiter moves into Sagittarius only a few days after the Node/Uranus transition, amplifying its energy.  As I mentioned earlier, the planetary configurations at the time of a planetary ingress describe a lot about how the transit as a whole will play out.  Now, think about all I have discussed this far and add Jupiter, the planet of expansion to the mix.  A big energy grows even larger!  However, there is a bright side: In Sagittarius, Jupiter is quite a bit more optimistic than in Scorpio – so it gives a buoyant, more hopeful influence that allows us to see the positive side of change.  Jupiter in Scorpio, where we spent the last 12 months, is a difficult energy because wherever Jupiter travels, it increases the energy and asks us to expand our perspective in order to see MORE.   Scorpio is a dimension of reality that contains many things that most people find unpleasant – sexuality issues, power issues, trust issues, money dramas, abuse, death – so when Jupiter transits here it brings up a lot in the collective consciousness that is highly charged and emotional.  After a very challenging year around these issues (the most prominent Jupiter-Scorpio topic being the “Me Too” movement), Jupiter moving into Sagittarius will help us take action, achieve justice, and see with greater vision what has occurred, what is coming, and how we can influence the issues toward positive growth.  This also amplifies the sense of exploration and discovery that is essential to arriving at unique solutions to collective issues.  Jupiter in Sag will also expand and carry forward the energy of breaking tradition/social norms as it occurs the day after a new moon (always a symbol of a new path/uncharted territory) and with the Uranus/Node aspect strong in the chart.

Short Term Influences:

• The New Moon in Scorpio occurs in close relationship to the above planetary movements is a particularly potent one occurring amidst so much change.  The changes and alignments echo each other… suggesting mystery, transformation, and deep discovery in the years coming.  This is a time to embrace that walk into darkness, as winter approaches, and as the cycles unfold.  The collective shifts of this time are not comparable to the past… they are distinct, and in a way, unpredictable.  So I feel this is a call to be in the present moment with everything, in the moment it is occurring.  As that is the nature of the dark moon, of Scorpio, and of the time in general.

• Echoing this, Mars’ exceptionally long transit in Aquarius this year comes to an end on November 15, bringing us into a space of the unknown – Pisces.  Coinciding with all I just mentioned plus Venus & Mercury Retrograde – from now until the end of the year Mars will transit Pisces.  After we spent the summer in a doozy of a Mars Retrograde that was accompanied & aligned with 3 eclipses and 5 other retrograding planets, Mars’ shift into Pisces is a fascinating end to an elaborated reevaluation of our use of will and considerations of the collective direction. The transition reads to me like a period of integration, as well as an opportunity to practice intentional openness with the sea change we are about to dive more deeply into.  Mars is the principle of action and in Pisces, its direction is vague.  In this moment, the directions feel most appropriately guided towards listening inwardly to the new ways of being that are waiting to be discovered.

• Venus moves Direct and Mercury goes Retrograde on November 16.  Venus will move forward in Libra and return to Scorpio on December 2 where it remains until January.  Mercury goes Retrograde in Sagittarius.  Both influences are active until the end of the year, adding to the evaluative, reflective, deep nature of this time period.  Venus & Mercury in the realms of Scorpio & Sag also seems to echo the transit of Jupiter across these two signs, showing deeper evaluation of the issues that Jupiter has brought forth in Scorpio and will spark in Sag.  Sex, money, power dynamics, control issues (Scorpio) – dogmas, creeds, philosophies, meaning, and ideals (Sag). Venus will also pass through the space of Uranus and the Nodes at the end of November, triggering the message of change in relationships/finances that has been active throughout this time in a new way, adding another dimension to what we’ve working with since September, because both Uranus and the nodes are in different signs than they were when Venus first crossed them during this retrograde period.

In short, November kicks off a wide array astrological events, while also calling us deeply inward for integration, presence and perspective on a variety of different issues we face in our lives. As I anticipated when reading the chart for the Lunar New Year, 2018 has been very intense, karmic, and evolutionary year. Incredibly challenging, but deeply transformative on so many levels it is truly amazing. It is a change so involving that it calls every part of us to the table, and we cannot ignore it — but yet this is what we are here for. To become present, whole, and healed.

I really hope that these notes are helpful to you in navigating the remainder of the year.  The most essential message that I can distill from ALL that is coming through right now is to not be afraid of change, and to remember that it’s the little things that matter.  Change starts with the individual – with the dreams that call you, with the visions that inspire you, with your way of being in the world, and the people whom you love and attend to.  Harmony within the self, within the family, within the community, within the country, and then within the world.  This is the way we can grow as a collective at this time.

Peace and blessings.

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October 2014 Eclipses, the nature of change, and other considerations...

Emerging from a long silence – I am here! The prevailing internal storms and external frenzies have subsided just long enough for me to share some feelings on the astrological weather of late. My hope is to make a habit of it, as the winter comes in and I have more time to sort through the bits and pieces of writing scattered across journals about this year, 2014. Below are some thoughts on the October eclipses, and overarching themes of the year and the times… Enjoy!

Reflections on the Astrology of the 2000s through the lens of the October Eclipses…

The first thing that immediately strikes me about both eclipse charts is that here on the east coast, they are occurring right at the horizon lines – such that, this morning, as some might have seen, we had the rare event of an eclipse occurring while the moon was setting and as the sun was rising simultaneously. There’s something beautifully symbolic about that – as some large, prevailing emotional current culminates, ends, or finds clarity, the sun rises again for a new day, as if to remind us that the turbulence of the times will pass, that even in moments of confusion and darkness, we have hardly to wait to receive the light of profound transition.

The horizon of a chart, as some may know, is also the realm that refers most immediately to how we interact with the world. And indeed, these eclipses seem to resonate with the idea of profound transition. Swift, immediate, and surprising.

For the past several years we have been going through a time of immense change and turbulence. Since I’ve been learning and practicing astrology, I feel I have been witness to a fascinating, complex and multi-layered process of unfolding occurring across humanity. Since 2008, when Pluto first made its ingress into Capricorn (followed by Uranus into Aries in 2011, and Neptune into Pisces in 2012), the world has begun a marked process of transformation that has effected virtually everything from the most personal and intimate aspects of our lives to the largest institutions under which we operate. In the past several years, I’ve been writing in this blog to “dream the dream!” and telling clients (and myself) to begin to shape their lives and reality around what it is they really deeply believe in and want for the future. As the social constructs that society has built itself upon continue to shift beneath our feet, the dream of the future has an unprecedented opportunity to take root and blossom into something quite beautiful and different from anything we’ve built in the past.

Each year in this process has brought something distinctly different to the table. Pluto’s ingress into Capricorn (2008), for example, shook, eroded, and broke down the very core structure of society as a whole, beginning a 24 year process of destroy, evolve, and rebuild to systems, governments, and other large and powerful societal constructions. Uranus’ ingress into Aries (2011) created an atmosphere of awakening and rebellion against the outdated, the worn down, and the broken, creating demand for new ways of thinking and innovations to greater serve individual rights to freedom. Neptune’s ingress into Pisces (2012) then added an element of spiritual consciousness to the mix, the veil between the seen and unseen becoming quite fluid and malleable, exposing deceptions and other things of that nature more readily… even making humanity more sensitive to pollutants. These influences and subsequent aspect patterns have worked us from the inside-out to evolve our perspectives and clarify for ourselves what the purpose of life here on earth might be and how we want to live it in better alignment to this purpose.

This year, 2014, I feel, is a climatic point in this overarching process. And these eclipses, a time of major breakthrough and decisiveness in regards to the process. A turning point, if you will.

The thing I find tricky and tenuous about this discussion of the world evolving, is that there are always two sides to the coin – there are those that see only the destructive nature of things, and those that see only the positive, friendly, feel-good parts. Within this process of change there will ALWAYS be both, and change itself can feel like the complete destruction of one’s being – and sometimes, it is. With every overtone of higher evolution represented by planetary energies, there is always an undertone of the deep chaos and confusion also represented by these same energies. There are countless extreme examples in world events of recent years that have a twofold resonance of reflecting the horrific, overwhelming and negative impacts of mismanaged powerful energies – yet, these events have also had the effect of bringing sudden consciousness to issues previously neglected by society at large. The extreme pressure of these events seems to have left no soul unscathed or unchanged. On the micro level of our personal lives, these influences have of course been causing the same disruptions and upheavals in our own natal charts, causing countless people to reassess their careers, their locale, their relationships, and even their very identity.

In my other blog, the very first entry is a quotation I chose from a book called “Ta Chuan, The Great Treatise” by Stephen Karcher that discusses the use of the I-Ching (otherwise known as the Book of Changes). In this quotation Karcher explains that the word Change (Yi, or I in Chinese) is primarily translated as “trouble.” I find this definition relevant to the experience of life in recent years. Change is the one “Unchanging Truth” to use another scholar’s phrase. And when talking about major life evolutions, there are two ways it can happen – either from the outside-in by way of events, obstacles, etc, or from the inside-out by way of observation, allowance and early recognition of patterns/problems, etc. Regardless of how it happens, to me, change is ultimately an inner process – and certainly troublesome as there is no way to avoid it, and often it isn’t easy.

The past few years have been unquestionably intense for people on both an internal and external level – as the “dream” cannot be made real lest we make the necessary internal adjustments and commitments to realize it. These internal adjustments can include but are not limited to: shifts in personal belief structure, overall attitude, and even the letting go of aspects of the identity which do not correlate with the inner yearning. All of this stuff can be super scary, because sometimes it means that you also have to alter outer circumstances that are not in line anymore, but by which we have identified ourselves strongly – such as: ways of being or habits that are no longer healthy (having to set new boundaries, or parameters for your activities), shifting, changing or leaving work/environments/relationships that no longer fit, and in light of all of this -- having the courage to adopt new ways of being that might have seemed out of character or too different in the past. Most people, including myself, have to come to this by suffering losses. However, as we become more conscious of change in our lives, we have the power adjust how we experience change – and life itself! By looking more deeply into ourselves and recognizing incoming shifts and prevailing currents, our outer lives will inevitably be more even keeled, emotionally stable and transitions more fluid and easy.

In 2014, the major aspect pattern has been the cardinal grand cross that was exact this April. This was an interesting contrast to the prior years grand water trine – an expression of healing, fertility and growth. The overall feeling and theme of the grand cardinal cross is a major crisis of action. While we were off dreaming our dreams the year before, in 2014 we were propelled to take definitive action – a type of action that was rife with trials and growing pains as we sought to build a solid foundation for something truly new to us in some way, shape or form. Cardinal energy is the energy of creation, and so that is what this year has largely been about – the initial implementation of the vision we cultivated in the previous year. In the coming years, 2015-2016, what we are starting now will undergo a comprehensive test of authenticity, honesty, and integrity once Saturn moves into Sagittarius and forms a complex T-Square between sobering, logistics-oriented Jupiter in Virgo and disillusioning/spiritualizing Neptune in Pisces. This coming time will be plagued with an initial phase of extremes in thinking and idealism that will ultimately be met with hard realizations about what’s real and what’s not real. It is my intuitive impression and feeling that we are being asked now to align our material perspectives and realities with the higher spiritual ideals we all hold near and dear. All of the fallacies in our approach will become more than evident – which may result in some things falling down like a house of cards. Tricky though it may be, this, to me, feels like a time of reckoning and rebalancing when it comes to world politics and social concerns which are reaching/have already reached a point of critical mass and require profound adjustment.

Now, provided all of that context to what is happening here from my perspective – let’s return to the eclipses of October 2014!

Eclipses are interesting and mysterious events. Though they are cyclic, they often present major changes and shifts in consciousness in reference to ongoing situations. Often, during eclipse cycles, there are happenings that totally change our lives, or our approach to a given situation. Eclipses are fateful, extra potent full and new moons – and with them, they bring clarity, endings and new beginnings. On a spiritual level, I see eclipses as being like points of no return – gateways of time and space where things done can’t be undone and thresholds crossed that can’t be uncrossed. Once you see the truth of the matter, you cannot and will not go back to an old way of being. Perhaps propitious, perhaps ominous -- in either regard, significant and profound.

The October eclipses seem interesting to me for a few reasons. The first, is that this month’s solar eclipse is the final eclipse occurring in Scorpio for some time, giving a sense that there is some final conclusion being made in regard to our Scorpio mission these past few years – which has been especially important as both Saturn (Lord of Karma) and the Nodes of Fate transited this sign simultaneously. The second is the very strong sense of the individual and collective truly breaking out and doing something new and different.

Why, exactly, does this set of eclipses seem to me a tipping point over any other in recent history? From what I’ve observed and experienced previously, I feel as if all events leading up to now have been primarily preparatory. We’ve had to do some work in regards to our personal relationships, we’ve had to develop a vision, we’ve had to do a lot of inner seeing and healing, and we’ve had to make sense of some things – the new things – which we’re fumbling to bring forth. But now, at this time, it seems that the bulk of that work (at least in regards to this particular phase of it) is behind us, and now we are presented with a certain clarity of vision about how to take our lives in the much prepared for new direction.

Today’s eclipse is strongly influenced by inventive, innovative Uranian energy and ruled by an out-of-bounds Mars in Sag, which happens to also be in a grand trine with Jupiter in Leo. Though this combination of energies easily has the potential to become fire burning out control, there is also a very powerful vibe of inspiration, faith, courage, and creative expression that transcends ordinary rules and boundaries. To spite some major pitfalls to such an overabundance of fire, it feels to me interestingly auspicious. Being a lunar eclipse, this can be seen and felt as a culmination of the work we’ve been doing to break ourselves free from the inhibiting circumstances presented by the overarching problems of society. The main warning I sense seems to be reflective of what I see coming in 2015-16 -- we must use this inspiration wisely, and not let our imaginations run rampant with optimism, and be careful to maintain control of our impulses. There is a fundamental sense of new horizons, and greater freedom to do as we choose, if we choose responsibly and intelligently.

The solar eclipse of October 23 seems to carry a similar message as Uranus and Pluto sit firmly on the chart’s Ascendant and Midheaven respectively, implying shocking new approaches and great ambition, power and intensity. This is the final eclipse in Scorpio for some years, and lands on the degree of this month’s influential Mercury Retrograde cycle (giving us the opportunity to really reflect on and feel all that’s happening!) The solar eclipse in Scorpio, to me, is like the final call on our Saturn in Scorpio work of commitments. Though Saturn will continue to dwell in this territory for the remainder of this year and some of next year, we have finally become clear about our Scorpio work – issues surrounding deep intimate relationships with others, and our relationship with power – especially our own power.

Saturn in Scorpio has been an interesting phase. Its commitments seem simple enough on the outset, but in practice seem to probe at the deepest, scariest parts of our being – even when we believe we’d come to terms with these aspects of ourselves. What is curious about it, to me, is that the fears can sometimes be very nuanced and layered. Outwardly we might feel we have no problems committing to our partner, having a child, starting a business, joining the circus if that’s what our soul is calling us to do -- and we absolutely WANT to take on a path in life that is empowering for us… but inwardly there are all of this little hitches and hang-ups that seem to say, ‘Oh you want to do that – well then that means THIS – are you really ready for THIS?’ The THIS is the part of your life that you know will never be the same once you pursue THAT. THIS is us claiming our power and being one with who we are (or aren’t) in the face of potential opposition of others. THIS is the responsibility of our decisions, the narrowing of our focus, the shutting out of one thing to favor the growth of another. THIS is the point of no return – the courage to actually believe in ourselves, our lives, and our path enough to truly align with it.

To me, the energy of “breaking out” and "breaking through" that is described by the aspects seems very much tied up in the conclusions we are making about what it is we are committing to, why we are choosing that path, and then having the courage and the wherewithal to actually manifest this path. It’s like we’re getting the ‘in' – the universe is saying to us – OK, people, it’s cool. Be yourself, express yourself – please! Because it’s through the actions and pursuits of each and every one of us to influence and build a world that we all want to share and be in together. Hopefully, with greater harmony within and without.

OK, so that about covers it.  I have evidently been storing away tons of thoughts for this blog post. I hope you enjoyed it... There’s more to come!

Peace and love, Mela