by Robert Wilkinson
This article covers significant aspects, degree symbols, and other important factors in this Cancer Eclipse chart. This Lunation falls in the thick of the inner planet oppositions to the outer planets, bringing many things to the surface. Be willing to let go of things you no longer need to bear, since more important focuses are on the way this month!
This month puts the focus on the sign Cancer, though we still have very powerful Gemini and Leo energies in play. This is the third Lunation outside the outer planet occupied zone, and Mars continues to “lay down tracks” for future Lunations. As noted yesterday, we’ve now left the Bundle of everything being in a very narrow span of just a few weeks ago, with the inner planets occupying late Gemini through early Leo. That creates a “Locomotive” Jones pattern, opened by Jupiter in Sag and closed by Mercury and Mars in Leo.
As you understand by now, different months bring us different Jones Patterns, depending on the position of the Moon and the inner planets relative to the outer planets. These patterns operate their own independent influence, regardless of which planet is in which sign.
Currently, the outer planet occupied span begins with Jupiter in mid-Sagittarius, and proceeds through outer planets in Capricorn, Pisces, and early Taurus. This is a fairly narrow distribution, with all the outer planets in about a third of the signs (excluding TransPluto, since Jones didn’t use it in defining his patterns). That means the Jones pattern in the sky is primarily influenced by the position of the inner planets, shifting the pattern every so often.
These shifts began with the Mars opposition to Jupiter, which initiated the Mars oppositions to come over the next 5 months! That was the first non-Lunar oppositions for over a year, and as Mars is the “nozzle” through which the outer planets can express their transformational evolutionary energies, those with “surgical skills” or “athletic precision” will be able to use Mars to achieve a lot in a fairly short time. This Lunation is widely opposed to Saturn and Pluto, and will vitalize all that was initiated by Mars opposed Saturn and Pluto.
Applying this to your chart, oppositions are great for producing integrated greater awareness and the ability to use that energy to achieve what we need to in our own planetary matrix. Each of these oppositions makes many aspects to your chart; the sextiles and trines to your planets will help you understand and stabilize those energies, and the quintile and related specializing aspects show unique processes which can be used according to your need through planets which square them.
Because Mars is at the far side of the occupied outer planet span, it will be a major player in all Jones patterns created in 2019 before it again disappears in the occupied span in 2020. At this time, all the planets are spread out in 6 signs within a 226+ degree span, making a wide “Locomotive” Jones pattern. This shows how the energies are to be approached, and how the sequence of any activity unfolds from beginning to end.
So What is a “Locomotive Pattern” and how does it work?
This type of spread, with all the planets occupying 2/3 of the signs with an empty third, creates an imbalance that leads to power if we can find the compensatory “weight” to make things move forward smoothly rather than rock side to side creating friction. Target what is needed, and provide compensatory energies accordingly.
As Marc Jones put it, “this type of horoscope reveals a balance of this sort in the life. A third part of things… consisting of a free span in experience, is set against a two-thirds part, embracing a related but limited span in experience…. The basis of the dynamic is found in the native’s resulting strong sense of a lack or a need, of a problem to be solved, a task to be achieved in the social and intellectual world around him.”
Dr. Jones states “The temperament reveals a self-driving individuality, an executive eccentricity that is not … unbalance but rather is power. It exhibits a dynamic and exceptionally practical capacity which is neither the broad universality of the Splash pattern, nor the special obsession with some particularly narrowed aspect of experience characteristic of the Bundle people.
He goes on to state “The Locomotive classification is … moved more by external factors in the environment than by aspects of its own character. The point of application for the powers of the self is shown … by the “leading planet,” or the one of the two in the empty trine which forms its aspect clockwise in the zodiac, irrespective of any distinction as “applying” or “separating.”
Jupiter is the leading planet and Mercury/Mars are the closing planets in the Locomotive. Find appropriate social-spiritual Sagittarian initiative to embrace experience with an eye to new truths, new understanding, and the freedom to “break on through to the other side.” Because the leading edge is in Fire, and the closing edge of the Locomotive is also in Fire, open through inspiration, move through the experience, and at the end come out with a greater spontaneity, love, or creativity.
As the Locomotive keeps things out of balance, Jupiter in Sag is now the front end to finding the way of initiating activity that must be accompanied by a compensatory “weight” to keep things moving forward rather than sideways. The more we work with the imbalances by elevating our view to get a broader perspective and frames of reference, the easier it will be to navigate the imbalances in this pattern and come to a different way of acting on our needs. With Sag leading, show enthusiasm as you reorient; with Leo closing, embrace the adventure with an eye to the fun you could have along the way.
The Outer Planets Anchor the Pattern of Half the Sky
At this time, Jupiter is retrograde, again expanding the occupied span involving Saturn, Pluto, Neptune, and Uranus. As it will still lead the outer planet occupied span through December 2020, Jupiter continues to play a major part in how we enter or focus other planetary energies. It's why sometimes these past few years have seemed like a wild ride, an adventure, a quest, and more!
Long term, as Jupiter closes in on its conjunction with Saturn late this year and next, there will be times when most of the planets will be compressed into very narrow spans centered in Capricorn. Though the outer planets have been expanding out to a wide spread these past 20 years since the last Saturn conjunct Uranus, the outers are now compressing, with Jupiter and Saturn headed to a karmic rendezvous with Pluto and then Neptune over the coming years. Due to the increasing compression, by early 2020 we will begin to see more “Bundle” patterns than we’ve seen in many years, since the planets will all be within a 120 degree span.
Saturn continues to be the second planetary “pulse” of the occupied outer planet span between Sagittarius and Taurus, and trades primary rulership of the other planets with Jupiter depending on where the other planets are. When the inner planets transit Sagittarius and Pisces, Jupiter comes to the front; when the inner planets transit Capricorn and Aquarius, Saturn takes center stage.
In this chart we no longer have only Jupiter and Saturn ruling everything else, and are in the midst of many months of shifting rulerships and dispositors. As I mentioned in part 1, the Lunation is ruled by the Moon, one of four “Final Dispositors” in play this month.
Want to “move the Sun?” Use the Moon. Want to move Mars? Use the Moon-infused Solar energy. Want to move Venus? Use Mercury ruled by the Sun which in turn is ruled by the Moon.
In this New Moon, the most intense occupied span (in this chart the span between Venus and Mercury) is 5 planets in 34+ degrees, making that the major focus. As this is the most intense cluster, there are no adjacent planets we can add to expand the range of an intense focus in that area of the zodiac.
The Sabian Symbol for the New Moon
A New Moon sets the seed forms for what the following month will demonstrate. This Lunation falls at 11 Cancer, and it is said that the second third (decan) of any sign deals with the emotional, social, and cultural levels of life, and being the second decan of Cancer it has a sub-influence of Scorpio. While I've given you a sense of this degree up to now, this is where we go into depth.
The symbol for the 11th degree of Cancer is “A clown making grimaces.” In the original Marc Jones class notes on the symbols published in The Astrology of Personality, Rudhyar says this is a degree of “Sharp discrimination and understanding of human nature,” “the light touch of masterful living,” “self-control,” and “frivolity.”
In the Astrological Mandala, he says this is a degree of "the value of humor in developing objectivity and independence of mind.” He goes on to say that “humor or irony is a powerful tool in assessing the value of sociocultural realities, and thereby in freeing oneself from glamor or prejudice. Laughter deconditions and often pave the way to a realization that we need not be unduly impressed by what our tradition has more or less forced upon our consciousness.”
He continues that we need to laugh, since it’s a trait of human nature, and in this step we “witness the development of true individuality… the first step is a cathartic one – the ability to laugh, which includes the ability to laugh at one’s petty habits and mannerisms.” He says this is a deconditioning step, and offers that this degree falls in the Span of Expansion, Act of Stabilization, and is the initial degree in the Scene of Decision on the Actional level.
Dr. Jones, creator of the Sabian Symbols, says this is a degree of “the continual self-rehearsal by which … we maintain our characteristics,” and indicates which activities we can engage in or reject without penalty. He states “here is an emphasis on the ridiculous as an instructive exaggeration of human nature, or as an exhibition of its inadequacies in a direct stimulation to better self-realizations.”
He offers us the keyword INIMITABILITY, and states when operating positively, this degree is “effective sharpening of an individual’s dominant or everyday impact on others.”
Important Aspects
Remember that in reading a Lunation chart (as well as a horary, inceptional, electional, or any event chart) the forming aspects show things to come, while separating aspects show things already past. Partile separating aspects show what’s been going on in the Now. This section covers only forming and partile separating aspects.
While this Lunation is oriented toward discovery in major ways, the conflict will be in the details. Mars provides a lot of powerful aspects to the transformational energies in motion, heralding the surfacing of major events related to Saturn and Pluto! There are a mixed bag of aspects this month, and Venus activates the Grand Irrationality V.2 by its septile to Uranus and triseptile to Pluto, indicating major forks in the road of destiny in the lives of people and nations these next 4 weeks!
Forming (and closely partile separating) inner planet aspects include the Lunation triseptile Jupiter, opposition Saturn, bielftile Uranus, trine Neptune and opposition Pluto; Mercury is conjunct Mars, sesquisquare Jupiter, and sesquisquare Neptune; Venus is quadranovile Saturn, septile Uranus, and triseptile Pluto; and Mars is sesquisquare Jupiter and Neptune and square Uranus.
Outer planet aspects include Jupiter semisextile Saturn and square Neptune; Saturn sextile Neptune, and Uranus semisquare Neptune biseptile Pluto symbolizes the general friction in the collective atmosphere AND the ramping up of nonrational energies in the near future.
Special Configurations in Evolutionary Astrology
The primary configurations are the two “Hammer of Thor” configurations made by Jupiter square Neptune in a double sesquisquare with Mercury and Mars, and Mercury and Mars square Uranus both double sesquisquare Jupiter! This will make for a tremendous amount of friction which will help us cut through the fogs. Just beware of irritability, impatience, and all the other frictional possibilities associated with this configuration!
Before we go into the Rhombus Diamond as it is related to the Grand Irrationality, we’ll discuss Venus septile Uranus and triseptile Pluto. This configuration primarily affects those with planets and points near 4-8 Taurus, 26-30 Gemini, 17-21 Leo, 8-12 Libra, 30 Scorpio-4 Sag, 22-26 Capricorn, and 13-17 Pisces. If you have anything in these zones, your life and relationships are at a fork in the road of destiny!
As you’ve read in other articles, Uranus is also involved in a “bottom tone” of friction in the collective consciousness because of its long wave semisquare to Neptune, anchoring the octile-driven “Rhombus Diamond” configuration with intense “cutting, grinding, and polishing” energies wherever we have the very early degrees of Taurus and Scorpio, as well as the middle degrees of Pisces and Virgo.
As you know if you’ve been reading this column for any length of time, the waxing Uranus semisquare Neptune marks a crucial point of shift in the opening of their very long wave cycle, and is a major significator of our unsettled times. This very frictional energy has been with us a while and will continue to be with us a LONG time! That aspect anchors a frictional configuration that is kicked into play whenever planets pass through early Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius, and mid-Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces. It is especially powerful when a planet transits mid-Virgo and early Scorpio.
As the planets make various octile aspects to these Uranus and Neptune, those phase shifts generate a LOT of tension in the atmosphere, creating a grind for us where they fall in our chart. This semisquare is indicative or the hard edge all of us are going through as we try to find how our individuality fits into the collective atmosphere, and why there is so much friction between the transpersonal Uranian forces and the transpersonal Neptunian forces at this time.
Last Autumn, this “Rhombus Diamond” octile was created during the transits of the mid-Virgo and late Libra zones. Again, this is a “cutting, grinding, and polishing” type of frictional energy that can lead to awareness via the opposition(s) and the ability to act productively even in impossible conditions.
As I told you in the September 2017 Rhombus Diamond articles, when it’s active we can expect solar flares and plasma eruptions, warping in the electromagnetic field, breakaway impulses, sideways explosions, and all equivalent human behavior symbolized by these octile aspects testing our clarity. It has presented all of us with certain questions. What is your role as you would define it? Reject timidity and uncertainty, and find your place in the larger scheme of things.
Explaining Harmonics
As this month I don’t have time to tabulate all the minor aspects, I’ll have to post these when I can.
The novile (9th harmonic), septile (7th harmonic) and elftile (11th harmonic) series all feature spiritual aspects. All novile series aspects represent gestative energies that can lead to great spiritual realizations. Septile series aspects represent forks in the road of destiny, while the elftile series aspects represent issues requiring we resolve some sort of duality by making a leap of faith to attain a form of mastery over that type of duality.
The quintile and biquintile (5th harmonic) and related 10th (decile and tredecile), 15th (quindecile), and 20th harmonic (vigintile) aspects are all specialization aspects. You can find more by going to Astrology Class on the Specializing Aspects Pt. 1 – The Quintile and Biquintile, and Astrology Class on the Specializing Aspects Part 2 – The Decile, Tredecile, Quindecile and the Vigintile.
You can find out more about the spiritual aspects (septile, novile, and elftile series) by referencing this brief overview of the Spiritual aspects, complete with glyphs for all of them.
Element Balance and Who’s Leading the Sun
This month we have the 10 traditional planets occupying 7 signs, with a good balance between 3 planets in Earth (practical grounding), 3 in Fire (inspiration and warmth), and 3 in Water (feelings and experiencing), and only 1 in Air (relatedness and communicating). This month we have Sagittarius, Capricorn, Pisces, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, and Leo represented, with no planet in the other signs.
Air and Earth are “cool” elements, while Fire and Water are “hot” elements. With this distribution, things are a bit hotter than cool, and should be a good time for inspired and grounded experiences.
Because the New Moon falls in Cancer, Venus in Gemini is the planet currently leading the Sun. That makes beauty, relatedness, and the simple value of things the gatekeeper of the planetary energy we need to approach the Greater Light. Be open to demonstrating your expertise while warding off overly assertive or aggressive people, and you’ll see clearly what to do and how to be led to the Light.
The current sequence at present of Deciding, Feeling, and Thinking
We’ve been through several different sequences over the past few months. There are six patterns, and each has their strengths and weaknesses. This New Moon brings a new pattern, as Mercury is now out in front of the Sun.
As a process of moving through events, the most effective “firing sequence” for approaching life and experience over the next 4 weeks involves leading with our feelings, then making decisions and acting, followed by the need for new thinking, communicating, envisioning, getting new information and new views.
This pattern leads with feelings, and then makes decisions and acts based in those feelings. While it is tempting to move back into more feeling after the actions, after we make our decisions and/or act, it will be important to get new information to come to a new vision or understanding. Once we get the right view or understanding, then a new feeling-experience will naturally arise that points the way to the next action.
When you are moved by a feeling or experience, it will naturally lead to decisions on the basis of those feeling experiences, which should be followed by a search for new information, new ideas, new interpretations, and new views. We’ll be “feeling our way” into new experiences, then deciding and acting on the basis of those feelings. After a decision or action, then we’ll have to find newer, more up to date information, facts, and understanding so we can get a new vision.
So learn and teach through anecdotes, seeing how others handled things practically, or how you handed things practically in the past. Let your thinking and communicating and envisioning follow your actions, and let your feelings follow a new understanding, a new perception, or a new view.
Go with the flow while opening to deep and vast feeling experiences, since these will lead you to know what decisions and actions to take. When you’ve done what you needed to do, then allow yourself to see a new vision, or a new understanding. When you come to that clear vision or understanding, then the next feeling will naturally arise, showing you the next action to take.
The Sagittarian Promise
2017’s Fire trine between Saturn in Sagittarius and Uranus in Aries stabilized unique forms of heart expression, love, or creativity, and launched the final phase of our “escape from a narrow destiny” begun in the Summer of 2016. We’ve been quickened since Spring 2017, and in 2018 Jupiter taught us to eliminate all that prevents our Spiritual Self from coming forth with ease. Saturn in Capricorn continues to show us “promises to keep, and miles to go before (we) sleep,” to quote the legendary Frost.
Jupiter is now solidly in Sagittarius, and has already triggered numerous past Sagittarius eclipse, Lunation, and planetary station points. Whatever was “bound up” or “cocooned” when Jupiter was in Scorpio is now blasting off into infinite space as Jupiter moves through Sagittarius!
The North Node was in Sagittarius between March 2011 and August 2012. Whatever was removed by the Eclipses of that period created space that will be filled with new Jupiterian material this next year. Longtime readers will note that June 2011 Solar Eclipse was VERY powerful, and helped us break loose from “ghosts of the past” over the 3.6 years it was in active operation. We also had a Solar Eclipse in early Sag in Nov 2011 and early Gemini in May 2012. All of those voids will open to a new Sagittarian promise.
Summing Up
This Eclipse helps us leave a lot behind with humor and objectivity. We can take whatever is left and weave it into new creative expression. We are still preparing to use power in different ways later this year, and this period will bring us “whispers of wisdom.”
We continue to search for transcendent security while also accepting some things which will yield major rewards in 2020 and beyond. We now have strengthened our character the past month, and have the promise of great happiness if we can integrate the various forces pulling us in diverse directions. We’re moving through a new long term social renewal on the basis of our Spring “dream,” and now have to have faith that if just do our thing, we’ll receive the recognition we deserve.
So we enter a period of moving into greater recognition while moving away from things we no longer need to carry, with the focus on turning points in relationships which will matter in our future. Allow a new love and vision to come forth, since it will be given wings by July-August! The oppositions will bring our Spiritual Power to the surface to the degree we demonstrate Saturn’s virtues, including maturity and patience.
Saturn: Spiritual Master, Spiritual Friend
Saturn in its home sign of Capricorn for the first time since 1991 makes it the final dispositor of all planets transiting Capricorn and Aquarius from now through 2023. It was a major influence in the Jan-Feb and July-August 2018 eclipses, as well as the more recent January 2019 eclipses, continuing its years-long power behind events.
Saturn continues to hold court in its home sign of Capricorn, and will be a major influence during the oppositions to come these next few weeks, which will help some of us turn away from needless conflict and get a better focus on the specifics of what we need to do. As Saturn is training us for group work to come next year and beyond, remember that as you make inner Saturn your friend, you’ll overcome fear and be able to embrace your higher Destiny.
If you’re wondering what that would look like, if you haven’t already, please consider getting a copy of my book Saturn: Spiritual Master, Spiritual Friend. Saturn helps us give form and structure to our quest for Self-realization, and in Capricorn, will help bring an “organized personal structure” to the Uranian energies infused with concentrated doses of spiritual energy that is making our spiritual life come alive.
It was written for both astrologers and non-astrologers, and will help you understand why some things happened when they did. Each time you read any section of this book you will find new insights about your power to steer your personal evolution. You will understand how to throw off all the attitudes which have held you back from finding and living your life and purpose, and fulfill your destiny as an Eternal having human experiences!
Please order your copy today! You can go to the Saturn: Spiritual Master, Spiritual Friend page on Amazon and this should be all you need to order your copy. The ebook is available through Kindle and Nook. And if you would, please write a review on the Amazon site, since the more reviews, the bigger the boost on their site.
© Copyright 2019 Robert Wilkinson
Thanks Robert for the clear explanations.
Blessings be to all
Posted by: Nic | July 02, 2019 at 06:31 AM
"those with “surgical skills” or “athletic precision” will be able to use Mars to achieve a lot in a fairly short time."
But what about those of us with a clumsy, doughy Mars in Taurus?
Also, how narrow is the orb for the Venus septile Uranus? I have my MC at 25 Gemini. I know Uranus is moving on. Did I just miss my ride that the fork in the road of destiny?
Thank you, Robert, for another article with great explanations.
Posted by: bomega | July 02, 2019 at 12:01 PM
Thanks the perfect explanation about Cancer Eclipse.
And also I booked my copy of Saturn : Spiritual master, Spiritual friend.
I wish Good luck to all signs.
Posted by: Srisadhana | July 03, 2019 at 06:25 AM