Sometimeswhen I look at the astrology for the month ahead I can’t help but say, “Oh. Fuck”. August was one of those months.
I was specifically wary of the conjunction between Mars and Saturn In Scorpio which happens just hours after the new moon in Virgo on Monday, August 25th. I’ve been watching this date for weeks. It’s not enough on its own to cause major havoc but it’s woven in and around some other larger factors that make it significant enough to keep one’s eye on. But it’s not just this conjunction on the same day as the Virgo new moon (a very dark time that is potent and yet a little bewildering as there is no light to see by yet); it’s also the fact that Venus will square both Saturn and then Mars the two days following the new moon.
So I wondered, as we astrologers do, what will this mix bring?
But then Gaza. But then Michael Brown. But then the shit storm of racist remarks on the Facebook feeds. But then the Third Reich-like police force that took to the streets of Ferguson to scare us all back into our air-conditioned homes stocked full of organic coconut ice-cream and alkalized water dispensers. I didn’t see it coming but when it arrived it made unfortunate sense.
Mars is martial. Mars is the warrior. Mars is a sword. Mars, as Robert Hand has said, is meant to serve and protect. But whom is it serving and how is it protecting the whom it is serving? Saturn is cold, disappointing, dower, fearful and self-doubting. Saturn can be overly concerned with maintaining control, cultural norms and the status quo. Mars goes while Saturn halts. The combination can be combustable. The combination can also be brute force that is used to terrorize. Because it is in the secretive sign of Scorpio we can bet our bottom dollar that this is just the beginning of the plans for those tanks and that tear gas.
All we need to do is scratch the surface of civilization to see what is festering underneath it.
And we need to see it. We need to see it and then we need to deal with it, if we don’t want to keep living out the same history over and over and over. Or living out a more brutal rendition of the past, if that’s even possible.
The problem is…oh, the problem is that there are so many problems and they all need their own individual answers. We need to break this down. Problem by problem. Person by person. Comment by comment.
But the problems are also systemic. The problems are institutionalized. The problems are generational. The problems are born in part from the trauma and re-traumatization that violence creates. The problem is that we literally can’t think our way to solutions using the same mind that got us into the problem. We can’t see the killing of Michael Brown as an isolated incident. Because it is not. If we don’t fold in the long and winding complex histories of each issue that arises we miss the point entirely. And miss the point we must not.
Virgo is on point. Stays up all night until it gets to the point. Drives itself to the point of exhaustion in order to make sure it has the correct point. Virgo studies, investigates and analyzes. Virgo works. Hard. Virgo gets it right. Virgo doesn’t want to get off easy. Virgo wants the satisfaction of knowing it has done a good job. Virgo likes to sweat and hustle but it seeks no praise or public approval for its performance. In fact Virgo can have a certain amount of disdain for personalities that do.
Virgo initiates us into the wisdom of nature. Nature needs no crowd-sourcing to come up with the cash to fund a forest. Nature is the source of abundant healing that we humans so often forget about. Perhaps this is why Virgo loves to be ritualistic about its business. Some may call this compulsive. Some may even call this obsessive but when done consciously, habits become rituals that soothe the savage beast in us all. Rituals can be a gateway for the natural world to enter. Virgo trusts this natural order and knows that if we rely on it more often than not everything sorts itself out. And Virgo loves to sort. Virgo loves to synchronize itself with the cycles around it so that it feels sorted by something larger than itself.
We need ritual both on the personal and collective levels. Political organizing can be a ritual. Prayer can be a ritual. Taking food to someone who needs it can be a ritual. Making love to your partner should be a ritual. Community gardening can be a ritual. Protesting can be a ritual response to oppression and outrage and stopping to smell the flowers can also be a ritualistic way to step out of corporate greed and back into human skin.
Ritual is making magic. It’s calling different elements into the cauldron to see what concoction will be created. It’s being active in the change we wish to see in our relationships, our lives, our towns, our cities and our world. Virgo knows that magic is a natural occurrence and when it isn’t present the spirit is depressed. When magic and miracles are no longer part of our everyday we have lost our way.
Saturn and Mars are here to tell us that this isn’t a wish yourself well kind of a time. Lasting transformation takes actual work. It takes getting real with ourselves and real with our histories.
The deal with these days ahead of us is to make definitive moves with minimal malice. Saturn and Mars might not be friendly but they are firm, foundational and fierce allies to work with. If there are things in your life that you need to conquer, create or come through, this energy can give you the chutzpah to do so. The addition of Venus into this mix is that it’s important not to take things too personally this week. It won’t get us very far. Sometime we are only supposed to witness our pain but we have to be more strategic about what to do with it. This would be one of those times.
Happy new moon,
Chani