by Robert Wilkinson
And also the Vernal Equinox down under!! The Autumnal Equinox occurs Sept 22 at 7:22 am PDT, 10:22 am EDT, and 3:22 pm BST. This marks the end of Summer and the beginning of Autumn in the Northern Hemisphere. It is said that a chart done for this point in time offers a snapshot of the cosmic and literal weather for the next 3 months.
Today is the last day of Summer in the Northern Hemisphere, the last day of Winter in the Southern. If you’re wondering how I reconcile the seemingly opposing energies between the hemispheres, when you’re done here please take a look at The Mirroring of the Northern and Southern Hemisphere Year Cycles in Astrology. It may help readers “down under” see how the important points of seasonal change, though opposite in physical manifestation, actually have similar challenges at each point of shift. And yes, I'm already thinking of doing a small book on the subject, stripping the signs of their usual attributes and taking a more universal approach to the subject of the changes of the seasons.
There is an old tradition that offers us two times when "the year begins," one at the Vernal Equinox, the other at the Autumnal. Perhaps that tradition came from explorers who saw the seasons flip between the Northern and Southern, going from the beginning of warm to the beginning of cold as they moved up and down the latitudes.
This is an excellent time for looking at what has ended and what is emerging. We up North have done our Summer labor, and are reaping the harvest of what we've done and not done. In the Southern latitudes, they're beginning to plant the seeds that will grow over the next 180 days.
So if you're "down under," it's the beginning of Spring and beautiful weather. Just remember to have a little compassion for us up here when December 21-22, the Winter Solstice, rolls around and we're freezing while you're enjoying the beach!
Whether North or South, keep following through on the new roles, new initiatives, new feelings, new flow, and new ways of relating to others on more refined levels you’ve already begun to experience since Spring, since the season to come is the time to transfigure our future into more perfect forms. Regardless of where we live, what follows explores elements we all can expect to experience over the next 13 weeks.
The charts for the Solstices and Equinoxes provide guideposts for what we can expect the following 90 days in the way of weather, both actual and symbolic. The Autumn Equinox chart shows 2 planets in the first decan of their signs, 5 in the second decan of their signs, and 3 in the third decan. This indicates a three month period of activity involving a lot of emotional, social, and cultural focus, with more individual-mental focus than actional, physical, and material focus.
The nights will now begin to be longer than the days for 6 months to come in the Northern Hemisphere, with lengthening days in the Southern. The Sun is now in Libra, promising enhanced and expanded relationships and social interactions. We can find new ideals, new ways of measuring and evaluating the balance in things, and new perspectives that offer us a well-rounded understanding.
Aspect Configurations and Other Important Factors in the Season to Come
The outstanding quality of this Equinox chart is the Sun conjunct Jupiter at 4 Libra, with 4 major septile-series aspects in play involving the Moon, Mercury, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Pluto. That means destiny is in motion for all who are affected these next 3 months, and this Equinox marks the beginning of the next Sun conjunct Jupiter cycle, lasting until the Sun conjuncts Jupiter this time next year in Scorpio.
Other aspects of importance include the Moon opposed Mars, biseptile Jupiter, sextile Uranus, and barely separating triseptile Pluto; Mercury exactly semisquare Venus, biseptile Mars, vigintile Jupiter, biquintile Uranus and trine Pluto; Venus semisextile the Sun, novile Saturn, quadraelftile Neptune, and quintile Pluto; and the Sun quadranovile both Uranus and Neptune and biseptile Pluto.
Outer planet aspects include Mars square Jupiter (out of sign) and quintile Neptune, and Jupiter quadranovile Uranus, triseptile Neptune, and biseptile Pluto. As both Neptune and Pluto have septile-series aspects made by Jupiter, and Pluto by the Moon, that makes 4 points of a 7-pointed Star, or Great Septile, highly activated! If you have a planet or Ascendant near the current Grand Irrationality zones of 2-6 Libra, 23-27 Scorpio, 15-19 Capricorn, 7-11 Pisces, 28 Aries-2 Taurus, 19-23 Gemini, or 11-15 Leo, your life is on the move these next 90 days!
The Moon is in a wide opposition to Mars, but pulls the separating Mars trine Uranus, Venus opposition Uranus, and Venus sextile Mars back into action creating a dynamic Rectangle, promising every opposition and realization will be turned to productive understanding and harmony. Just keep learning how to assimilate and distribute the information you need while staying open to bursts of spiritual energy that show you the way to join with others who share your heart aspiration.
The very harmonious Mercury biquintile Uranus and trine Pluto will give us all insights into the core of things while giving us the resolve to move through the storm building our character to become the best cultural representative we can be. Venus quintile Pluto and Mars quintile Neptune both promise gifts according to where they fall in your chart, and what they rule.
The quadranoviles are very powerful spiritual aspects, indicating all of us will accept some opening for spiritual purposes, while rejecting other possibilities because they are spiritually unsuitable for us. Links to articles elaborating on the quintile and novile series aspects can be found in yesterday’s Mercury stationary direct article.
Again, we have several septile series aspects in play these next 90 days, and because of the planets involved, it will affect all signs except Taurus and Aquarius. All these aspects will put various parts of our lives at critical forks in the road, where we will make important choices shaping our future destiny.
As you can see, the primary influence involves the 4 points mentioned above, which will dominate the next 3 months. You can bet that the transits of the inner planets through the Libra, Scorpio, and Capricorn points over the next weeks will trigger effects via their transits, so stay tuned!
The other critical aspect in this series is Mercury biseptile Mars. Zones most affected involve 13-17 Virgo, 4-8 Scorpio, 25-29 Sagittarius, 17-21 Aquarius, 8-12 Aries, 30 Taurus-4 Gemini, and 21-25 Cancer. If one of these is active in your chart, some things will jumpstart in radical ways so you may express your unique vision or understanding to others.
Jones Pattern, Dispositors, and the Lunar Phase
The planets in this chart are in a Bucket Jones pattern, the latest in an ever-changing series depending on where the Moon is. In this chart, the Moon is the handle/nozzle for the Bucket, or the means by which we focus all the other planetary energies.
This Bucket pattern falls away from the ideal, because the occupied span is far wider than the ideal, which is 180. Still, the Moon is about 56 degrees away from Uranus, and is 85+ degrees away from Mercury, making it a singleton in its own area of the zodiac. As I explained above, with all the planets on one side of the zodiac and Mercury in Virgo far enough away from the nearest planet to become a nozzle for the focus of all the other planetary energies, it becomes the “handle,” or nozzle for focusing the energies of the rest. The handle, or focal determinator, represents the way to greater effectiveness, the cause to be embraced, the lack to be filled, or the way to use the total energies of this time in a focused manner.
Dr. Jones states “the Bucket type indicates a particular and rather uncompromising direction in the life effort.” This pattern gives “interest in a cause,” with executive tendencies that will adapt allegiances to maximize results of the effort. He says “the Bucket type at its best reveals the real instructor and inspirer of others, and at its worst the agitator and malcontent.” This is the larger planetary pattern within which we’re all trying to do what we do.
We are also told this pattern is more about finding an effective release for energy within social settings, but also about the individual imposing their patterns on society rather than adapting to what is there. It’s about focused intention. So all of us can expect some sort of focused attention on the house where we have 20 Gemini.
At this time, Mercury and Venus are the final dispositors for all the other planets except Neptune in its own sign. That makes Mercury and Venus very powerful, as they form the backdrop to various energies of the other planets.
Because these planets are a tight semisquare for many weeks to come, you can expect that whatever fusion of “likes and mind” that began when they conjuncted in early Leo in July has now hit a turning point, where we see what cultural ideals we want to uphold, and will be connecting with others who share that sense of civilizing energy. By the time this season is done, many will confront a world that is utterly different than the one they’re beholding now!
Venus rules the Sun, and so this Equinox facilitates a more loving approach to all life and relationships. As Venus is at 28 Libra, the backdrop to the Light will be on finding ways to repair or reconstruct our connections with others so we may move forward into a greater, more effective group consciousness.
The Disseminating Moon Lunar phase clearly indicates this season will deal with the distribution of information and energy, with evaluation, assimilating, and innovating in the air. This is about the dissemination of new or vital information, and many things will be weaved together into new understanding. When in doubt, synthesize!
With the element distribution, there should be a huge emphasis on inspiration and interacting with others. Just make sure the information you’re getting is interpreted correctly, and don’t get aggravated at insignificant things and misfire in the wrong direction. At least Mercury trine Pluto should help us all stay grounded, and give us the ability to spot the seeds of things to know what’s coming and what has to be left behind.
Still, because Mercury is just coming out of retrograde and still in its shadow zone, regardless of how things seem, remember to continually update your perceptual files, your understanding of things, and your vision of what you want to see made manifest. Look at things as they are and as they could be, and then make your decisions and act appropriately. Then go deeper into your feeling and experience related to those decisions and actions, and see the cultural ideal you hold and want to make manifest.
So take a look at the vision of a transformed life and world being offered to you as you catch glimpses of a greater sense of community and connectedness. Open to a new archetypal role or vision, let yourself be transformed, and breathe easy as you launch a new life, name a new law, and give flight to ideals previously stuck on the ground. BE your sculptor self, and accept the depth realizations that will lead you to the heights. Buena suerte, and Godspeed!!
Aum and blessings as we stand on the threshold of a new season of life!
A New Look At Mercury Retrograde
Because Mercury is still on its direct station at this Equinox, it will be a big player over the next 90 day season. This lead us to shameless plug number 37! If you haven't already gotten your copy, you may want to buy a copy of the new expanded 2nd edition of my award-winning book A New Look At Mercury Retrograde.
As I’ve mentioned before, it is written for both astrologers and laypeople. I have just about everything you could want to know about Mercury retrograde, including how it works, what it means, celebrities who have it in their charts, historic events that happened during Mercury retrograde, and what signs are involved in future Mercury retrograde periods.
By knowing more about 2014's Mercury retrograde periods in Pisces/Aquarius, Cancer/Gemini, and Scorpio/Libra, or 2015’s Mercury retrograde periods in Aquarius, Gemini, and Libra, as well as 2016’s retrogrades in Capricorn, Taurus, and this latest one in Virgo, you may see patterns in what was going on in your life, what you were taking a new look at and why, and how this "looking back" influenced your choices as you moved through past events. And you can get a heads up by taking a look at the coming Dec 2016 Mercury retrograde period in Capricorn/Sagittarius. It’s all in the book!
Here's the Createspace link to the page where you can purchase a paperback edition of A New Look at Mercury Retrograde, and here’s the link to where you can order your copy of the ebook copy of A New Look at Mercury Retrograde.
ps – It turns out I’ll be hanging out at the coming ISAR conference in Costa Mesa on Thursday and Friday, October 13-14, so if you’re attending, I’ll be doing book signings and look forward to meeting all of you who plan to attend!
© Copyright 2016 Robert Wilkinson
Thanks Robert, interesting times ahead. Let's see how they shape out individually and collectively! The world needs and is changing in huge and deeps ways.
Good luck with you Costa mesa ISAR conference in October.
Blessings be to all.
Posted by: Nic | September 21, 2016 at 09:52 AM
the "new" New Look at Mercury Retrograde [15Aries Rx here] is the definitive tome on the subject and probably one of the finest astrological texts of the modern age; vital reading for anyone that considers themselves interested in astrology.
Posted by: Andrew Adam | September 21, 2016 at 10:30 PM