All Times Pacific: Astrology Report May 28-June 4
Friends we have before us a relatively quiet week, but Saturn is stepping up to take center stage. With thirteen mostly lunar inconjunctions this week it’s a good time to pay attention to our health. Not a good time to push too hard, ignore good habits, or overindulge in bad ones. We only have about two weeks left of Pluto retrograde in Aquarius. Pluto first entered Aquarius on March 23. As promised we’ve seen fear about the future based on the potential of AI, breakthroughs in medicine such as the implants that allowed a man to walk again, and a robotic arm is now advertised on television for those with arm problems. The transparency of our world was made obvious again by video, text and other often automatically produced and preserved data points that make it more difficult to get away with fraud and lying. We also saw a fake AI photo of an explosion at the Pentagon that for a moment tanked the stock market. All these are hints and glimpses of the twenty years of Pluto in Aquarius that begins in 2024.
But the rest of 2023 (after June 11) belongs to Pluto in Capricorn, which began with the financial crisis of 2008. Will there be another? So far we have avoided catastrophic probabilities but there’s still lots of time in the game. So many world changing trends are in action at once it’s hard to predict outcomes: the efficiencies of AI and robotics, the miracles of medical discoveries, the war in Ukraine, the rise of the right in many countries causing greater divisiveness in politics and culture, and the recovery of the world from the stagnation of the pandemic. Millions have returned to a changed world, many with refined ideas and new visions about what they want to accomplish.
The Grand Cross between Mars, Jupiter, Pluto and the South Node remains in effect through the first week of June. The T-square between Jupiter, Pluto and the South Node lingers until June 11. The Grand Cross could be described as a celestial crossroads, in this case involving the repair and reform of the courts, of business, of politics, an ongoing process, but things that are happening now will, as we look back, appear to have been pivotal moments that catalyze necessary changes in the future. The anger, ambition, and libido of Mars can become amplified by this aspect in ways that can lead to increased violence and the expansion of war. So far here too we’ve avoided worst scenarios. As Annie Besant wrote: “Liberty is a great celestial Goddess, strong, beneficent, and austere, and she can never descend upon a nation by the shouting of crowds, nor by arguments of unbridled passion, nor by the hatred of class against class.”
The T-square is also powerful, requiring an uneasy balance that can be frustrating and conflict provoking. The temptation to hold hostage, to use force to gain advantage, a certain ruthlessness that with the North Node here infects us all on one level or another. Perhaps it originates in the pent up energy of the pandemic years seeking expression in uncertain and sometimes treacherous terrain.
Sunday May 28 sun square Saturn is exact a couple of hours before dawn. This can be a depressed, exhausted time, a time of facing limits, but also a good time for getting extra rest, getting organized, simplifying, learning, practicing, and benefiting from mentorship. If you’re feeling discouraged rather than resigning yourself to defeat look at weaknesses or failures as areas that can be improved by being understood. Don’t waste this aspect on criticizing others, it could be symbolized by the famous Simpsons meme “Old Man Yells at Cloud.”
Monday May 29, Tuesday May 30, and Wednesday May 31 only lunar aspects are exact. As Anaïs Nin wrote: “Had I not created my whole world, I would certainly have died in other people’s.” In the Unobstructed Universe teachings Betty talked about bringing our own world into the room with us. We are all co-creators, but most of us are co-opted by the various established patterns of our time. Some flourish within them, but others feel they have no place. Rather than assuming that we are lost, we can bring into the world what is uniquely ours. By finding ourselves we help the world find itself.
Thu June 1 Mars inconjunct Saturn is exact, it can indicate health problems caused by exhaustion, depression, but also repressed anger, ambition and libido. This is an irritable aspect, indicating a time when we are more easily angered by our responsibilities and limitations. The key with inconjunctions is to respect both sides of the aspect. So take time to consider Mars in your life. Do you have healthy ambitions? Can you express anger where necessary to defend yourself and those you love? Are you allowing libido full expression or did the pandemic years cause stagnation that is overdue for reform? For those who are strongly focused on these Mars issues be sure to make time for Saturn. Get rest. Start good habits, lose bad ones. Learn and practice to make weaknesses into strengths. Allow Saturn to set limits on Mars, so as to avoid trouble with authority figures.
Friday Venus trine Neptune is exact. This powerful trine can bring inspiration, imagination and mystical vision to romance, art, fashion. A lovely aspect for holidays around water. Experiencing beauty can help us awaken a more soulful relationship with life. Nature, galleries, museums, theater, musical performances, great films, and other Venus and Neptune related themes, including intoxication for pleasure, can help us to offset the intensifying Saturn influence.
Saturday June 3 the full moon in mid Sagittarius is exact at 8:42 PM, a gregarious full moon that would probably enjoy being outdoors with friends. As Thoreau wrote: “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”
Sunday June 4 Mercury conjunct Uranus is exact bringing flashes of enlightenment, a feeling of urgency, news that travels around the world in the blink of an eye. For some this can be a nervous aspect. The mind can run away with us, fooling us into thinking that time isn’t moving fast enough, or that we aren’t doing enough. Great for writing, for conversations and communications that liberate. But be careful not to blurt something that disrupts your status quo.
The following Monday Venus enters Leo then opposes Pluto. Venus in Cancer has been focused on home and family, patriotism, security, and the comforts of everyday life. Venus in Leo wants to be admired, to have fun, to get out into the sun. But with Pluto reentering Capricorn on June 11, followed by a Saturn station June 17, one way or another, summer is likely to reflect that cliche: June gloom. Venus opposition Pluto asks us to reflect on what we’ve experienced since March 23. What have we learned about love, about art, about the power of beauty to improve our lives. We are asked to let go of the grief and frustration of 2020 and 2021 that put us all into PTSD.
Take care not to use force in matters of romance and creativity. Catharsis can help us let go of the lingering effects of trauma but there won’t be instant cures. We’re all learning how to operate in an emerging world that is strange to us. We may well welcome Pluto in Capricorn with its familiarity and relative stability, but it’s good to remember that very soon Pluto in Aquarius will be back. So let’s apply the lessons we’ve learned in the spring of 2023. As Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote: “Build therefore your own world.”
