On February 28th, we have a rare alignment of the Sun, Saturn, and Mercury, who are all gathered at 9° Pisces. When a planet makes an exact conjunction with (aka is in the same place as) the Sun, traditional astrologers view it as a special moment in that planet’s travels. This is called a cazimi (which means “in the heart of”). It’s a time when that planet is thought to go from a dire situation to one that will infuse it with the vitality it needs — similar to being dehydrated and then getting an IV of fluids. It’s also thought that the planet itself is granted special access to the source of all power, light, and life — much like getting a private meeting with a person of great influence, wisdom, and respect. To have two planets align with the Sun at the same time is what is especially rare, and possibly auspicious, about this week’s astrology.
Since Wednesday’s cazimis feature Saturn (the lord of time, structure, commitment, discernment, and delayed gratification) and Mercury (the messenger, scribe, translator, counter, and magician), part of what this meeting could be foretelling is clarity, conviction, and spoken commitments.
This is an oath-making moment.
And because they’re all convening in Pisces — a sign that is known for its vulnerability, imagination, universalism, poetry, kindness, compassion, empathy, and ability to dissolve all boundaries — this astrological event can be thought of as a prayer: an articulation of our commitment to all that we find holy in the world, and beyond.
Pisces tends to the soul of a situation, not the societal demands placed upon it. It dreams boldly and softly of a world where no one is sacrificed, left, or lonely. Mercury is said to be in double-trouble in this sign, as it is the home of both Mercury’s fall and exile. Here, the planet of communication ponders names for worlds we’ve yet to manifest that whisper to us through dreams and insights, paying little mind to the reality at hand. Still, this can be helpful medicine to those of us swamped by fury at the current depravity of the world.
Saturn has been in Pisces since March of 2023 and will be here until May of 2025. The Madame of Boundaries becomes a deep-diving mer-creature in Pisces, giving shape to our devotion (or embodying the shape of devotion itself). Saturn’s time here is an invitation to commit to tending to the soul of our lives and our world. The two together, being purified, fortified, and infused with Sol’s sacred light, is a meditation in a holy space. The holy space of dreaming what is possible.
To be honest, I have felt bereft of religious Jewish spaces since October 7th. I have been heartbroken at the lack of movement that has come from so many institutions that made their name from being Jewishly justice-focused. I am engulfed in rage and disappointment most days at the droves of organized religious Jewish communities who have yet to demand an immediate and permanent ceasefire. To not hear rabbi after rabbi, congregation after congregation lifting their voices against the atrocities of the state of Israel and its massacre of Palestinian people, culture, land, and life leaves a ringing in my ears — a type of psychological tinnitus that threatens my sanity daily.
To not actively engage with the complications of our connection to Israel’s state-sanctioned violence is, to me, blasphemy. To focus only and solely on our own pain is to reduce what is holy to what is convenient. God is so much more complex than our own personal suffering.
When I look in the direction of Liberal Jewish institutions that remain unmoved by the last five months, silent in the face of this defining moment, I see a vortex, a sacrificial altar, a prepared space for more and more violence and death. I see so little that is actually Jewish. But so much that is Zionist.
I cannot sink too deeply into my wrath without being fortified by the uprising of so many the world over who demand that this violence end. People and organizations that are dedicated to the truth of how we got here and why. Folks who know there needs to be an immediate solution to the current crisis and a long-term strategy for a world-restart.
If I search for what is kind and good and moral, I find a lot of it. And that is what I want to commit to with these cazimis. I pray that I will not let this moment diminish my belief in what is possible. I will not let it make me lose faith in us. I will not let my rage consume me, and I will not let it burn the bridge between us. I will remain fortified by the prayers and actions of my fellows. I will remain inspired by all the ways that the human spirit persists and wants to know beauty, love, and freedom. I will remain open to the dream that millions upon millions of us have: the dream of a world where no one is less than, no one’s humanity is reduced, no one’s God is withholding. I will radically commit to the truth that we all deserve to be liberated from systems of supremacy. I promise to let my heart be broken again and again and to still seek the sweetness of a beloved’s embrace. I promise to pray for the courage to act when it is my time. I promise to remain curious. I promise to use what I can, when I can, however I can to center the extreme importance of truth, because that is the only way I know how to tend to the soul of my life and this world.
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