Over the last week I have been deeply under the influence of Chiron. I was offered an opportunity to give a presentation on the Wounded Healer archetype as understood through the lens of Western archetypal astrology which put me face-to-face with the influence of Chiron in my own life and birth chart. Placed in my Sixth House of service, routine, work, analysis and organization, I have found myself focused on the wounds that can make me try too hard by chasing perfection and neglecting my own needs in favor of a self-sacrificing workaholism. Maybe it is the fact that Chiron has been retrograde in Taurus (my 10th house of profession and vocation), that has put the brakes on my output, while I ponder the challenging dynamics involved in accepting and letting go of the wounds that retrograde Chiron brings to one’s attention.

Most likely Chiron is playing with you a little bit as well. The Wounded Healer turned retrograde in Taurus on August 3rd and will move backward into Aries on September 17 for a total retrograde period of 151 days, turning direct again in Aries on January 7, 2027. This is a time for reflection, self-care, acceptance and healing.

A general interpretation of Chiron in Taurus focuses us on values - specifically self-worth. This is a time to promote a sense of groundedness in your life, calm your nervous system and strengthen your body, and pay attention to your fundamental needs and closest relationships. When Chiron enters Aries again, the wounds raise issues with identity - how we show up, initiate activities, or step into leadership roles.

During this period we, as world citizens, will undoubtedly also be grappling with external challenges, which underscore the focus on self-care, and calming and centering practices.

On September 10th, there is a New Moon in Virgo that is accompanied by three other major planetary movements: Mercury enters Libra, Venus enters Scorpio and Uranus turns retrograde in Gemini. Let’s look at these one-by-one.

Mercury in Libra focuses the mind and communications on peace, justice, harmony and balance, particularly in the context of committed partnerships and social dynamics. This tees up the potential of Venus in Scorpio to motivate deep analysis of our relationship dynamics, and where we may need to lift the cover on darker and more unsavory issues. This combination of alignments coming a few hours prior to a New Moon in the sign of healing, may be a good omen, particularly for thorny relationship challenges.

That said, Venus will oppose retrograde Chiron just after noon Central Time on September 10th, about an hour before Uranus turns retrograde. Venus’s alignment with Chiron may expand our awareness of wounds sustained in the context of relationships and how they are triggered, and where and whether we may need a reframe to accomplish a healing resolution. Rudhyar’s interpretation of the New Moon’s Sabian symbol suggests that the best way through relationship issues at this time is to see the goal as a shared one and to work together toward healing.

When Uranus is direct, it brings change, insight and revolution, often in the outside world, and in ways that affect the houses where the transit occurs in our natal chart. When Uranus turns retrograde the effect of the transit turns within and may cause us to question some of what we think we know, and whether our insights and direction of change are on track, correct, or deluded. It prepares us to adjust our trajectory when Uranus turns direct again. Uranus will return to direct motion again on February 7, 2027. The best advice at this time is to open your mind, be flexible and experiment, but think carefully before making an impulsive decision.

New Moon at 10:26 PM CDT, at 18°25’ of Virgo

Sun & Moon

(VIRGO 19°): A SWIMMING RACE.

KEYNOTE: The stimulation that comes from a group effort toward a spiritual goal.

When man has become an expert swimmer he has symbolically learned how to operate in a new element. This element, water, represents the ever-flowing stream of psychic energy, and, in a sense at least, the “astral” world. In a still deeper sense man is now able, mystically speaking, to cross the river and reach “the other shore” — or to swim back toward the source. Whether or not the symbol should suggest the competitive spirit at work is questionable. At the biological level a host of spermatozoa are swimming toward the ovum, and each presses on toward the goal, the act of impregnation. A seeker after spiritual rebirth actually does not strive alone. It is Man who, acting through the most advanced individuals of the race, is taking a step toward “rebirth,” or toward a new mutation. The personal ego-centered ambition to succeed and to be “first” is indeed a sign of expectable spiritual failure.

At this fourth stage we are confronted with a problem of interpretation. Is not ambition a subtle form of deviation under the pressure of ancient karma, and the competitive spirit so valued by our civilization a sign of failure to understand the deeper reality of existence? What is needed is EMULATION, not competition.

Dane Rudhyar, An Astrological Mandala

As we move through the month of September, the personal planets continue to align with the powerful outer-planetary archetypes featured in the Barbault’s Basket alignment of June and July, as the Sabian symbols for the lunations sustain the focus on a collective shift in human consciousness. On September 12th and 13th Mercury in Libra will first trine Pluto and oppose Neptune before trining Uranus. Perhaps, as the Sabian symbol for the recent New Moon suggests, we will begin to conceive of a spiritual goal that involves each individual’s efforts and lifts all boats…

When the Sun moves into Libra on September 22nd to signal the start of Libra season, there is potential for the focus of this collective relational energy to build on the power of the outer planetary alignments toward a new level of consciousness. Soon after its ingress into Libra, beginning on the 25th the Sun will in turn oppose Neptune, trine Pluto, and then trine Uranus on the 28th. In the middle of all of this, We will have a Full Moon in Aries on September 26.

Full Moon, September 26, 11:48 am, CDT, at 3°37’ of Aries

Moon

(ARIES 4°): TWO LOVERS STROLLING ON A SECLUDED WALK.

KEYNOTE: The progressive polarization of energies needed for fulfilling one’s life function.

In order to respond fully to the potentialities released by a sense of identification with a greater Whole, the human being should be himself whole. An interplay of bipolar energies is needed to provide a sustained and dynamic “resonance” to any superior and encompassing form of life. This may imply a temporary withdrawal from routine activity, i.e. a “secluded” process. It is not, however, a closed process. The positive and negative polarities do not meet in a closed circuit, reconstituting a neutral state of potentiality. They operate in dynamic, open, unresolved togetherness in contact with the surrounding energies of nature.

This symbol characterizes the fourth stage of the first five-fold sequence of phases: the stage of dynamic and unresolved POLARIZATION. It introduces the basic means - one might say, the technique - to establish consciousness in the world of duality.

Sun

(LIBRA 4°): AROUND A CAMPFIRE A GROUP OF YOUNG PEOPLE SIT IN SPIRITUAL COMMUNION.

KEYNOTE: The necessity to unite with kindred spirits as one enters unbeaten paths illumined by the still-insecure light of a dawning intuition of new values.

As one partially visionary leader said a few years ago: “Beaten paths are for beaten men.” The urge to create a new society and respond to new values leads the pioneer to the wilds, which represent the state of planetary possibility — i.e. the as-yet-uncultured, the virgin forest. Around the fire of a common dedication (or at least a common hope!) minds and bodies can commune, forming a “chalice” or Grail for the reception of creative inspiration.

At this fourth stage of this five-fold sequence of phases of development we find, as usual, a hint of technique. If a new society is to be built, those who yearn for it, or perhaps who have envisioned its outlines, should commune. But communion is useless where no central “fire” burns, IN-SPIRITING the group.

Dane Rudhyar, An Astrological Mandala

Once again I beat an old drum… or, rather, the cosmos does! These symbols tie together the complex energies of the Aquarian vision: personal, individual integration and expression, and collective spiritual alignment.

In yet another expression, the symbols help us hold together the images of duality (even within ourselves) as an engine of dynamic evolutionary growth, and the potential for new forms of spiritual community that can (and hopefully will) emerge out of the division, confusion, and conflict that currently exist in our world. These symbols point to the promise of gathering with others who hope to cultivate this communion that embraces difference and lifts every unique human soul through shared aspiration.

We are all wounded. We all crave acceptance, healing, love and expression.

May it be so.

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See you then!

Marcia

It will undoubtedly be four years (a Pluto transit is a minimum of five years), for the impact of this extraordinary alignment to be even marginally within our intellectual and experiential grasp. My teacher, Richard Tarnas (of Passion of the Western Mind and Psyche and Cosmos fame), taught us that the impact of powerful outer-planetary alignments may technically be beyond the accepted 5 or so degrees from exact connection, and that their influence on the shaping of events does not end there. The provoking events of the 1960s, for example, continued to reverberate with social and cultural impact well into the 1970s. So we should expect nothing less of this alignment, which may prove even more significant in terms of long-term influence than the Pluto/Uranus conjunction in Virgo of the 1960s.

On July 21st Jupiter wrapped up the planetary aspects to the “big three” outer planets - Pluto, Neptune and Uranus - that kept the action in the social or transpersonal realm. This began to change when the Sun moved into Leo on July 22 and began triggering Pluto, Neptune and Uranus all on July 27th. As a result, as we move into August, the large impact of Barbault’s Basket will be felt in more personal ways.

First, Venus will make contact with the three transpersonal planets on August 10th and 11th, highlighting our values, our relationships, financial and material security, and our creativity. The New Moon total Solar Eclipse takes place on August 12th at 12:36 p.m. at 20°01’ of Leo. Eclipses are known as times of change. In the case of a Solar Eclipse (which happens at a New Moon), we might expect beginnings and fresh starts. With the New Moon in the sign of Leo on August 12th, 2026, the message resonates with the newly positioned Lunar Nodes, in Leo and Aquarius since July 26th.

After 18 months of the Nodal axis in Pisces (North Node) and Virgo (South Node), we are now exploring a collective destiny that points us toward Aquarius at the North Node and Leo at the South. Here, we are encouraged to apply our individual creative efforts towards what uplifts, benefits, and empowers all of humanity. Values like liberty, individual uniqueness, breakthrough ideas and inventions, and embracing the wild, unknown, and unimaginable future are all highlighted. At this New Moon, the best use of our imagination is found in exploring our creative gifts and stepping boldly into sharing them in the interest of humans everywhere. But the Sabian Symbol appearing at this early stage of the new Nodal alignment suggests that we might have a little more spiritual work to do before we are successful.

The Moon and Sun

(LEO 21°): INTOXICATED CHICKENS DIZZILY FLAP THEIR WINGS TRYING TO FLY.

KEYNOTE: The often-negative and at times ludicrous first experience with spiritual teachings.

In Near Eastern symbolism wine, intoxication, and vineyards always refer to ecstatic experiences and to the contact with mystical or occult schools. “Chickens” here suggest that we are dealing with human beings who are the standardized products of their culture, and more or less undifferentiated specimens of a social norm. Brought accidentally or prematurely to mystical or occult experiences, they usually react to them in a highly confused and “dizzy” manner. What reacts in them is the ego, and the ego can never “fly” (i.e. experience spiritually transcendental realities in an effectual manner).

This… symbol… presents to us a picture of the unsatisfactory way many people today — especially young people — approach what purports to be spiritual reality. The “food” may be intoxicating, consciousness-expanding, but the inner openings lack depth and constructiveness, whether or not they produce what appears to be wonderful feelings. One may speak here of the danger of PREMATURE EXPANSION OF CONSCIOUSNESS.

Dane Rudhyar, An Astrological Mandala

Marc Edmund Jones says that this symbol refers to human disappointment in reaching the heights of spiritual attainment and recognition - as he puts it, “dependence on physical agency for spiritual results” is the problem. Perhaps, given the other energies of this moment, before we create the tangible, we would do well to align (to the degree we can) with the intangible. In fact, according to Jones, the symbol’s true meaning has to do with cultivating the potential for creative self-mastery, a notion that rings true if one looks at the potential negative attributes of the South Node in Leo, that which we would leave behind, which is all show and no substance.

At this early stage in the Leo/Aquarius Nodal dynamic, we are called to make a connection between our own creative offerings and the transpersonal call of humanity to change, liberate, and embrace individual differences all while recognizing our interconnection and interdependence. Perhaps the New Moon’s Sabian Symbol is a reminder that no matter how advanced we think humanity or our civilizations may be, we are still in spiritual infancy when one considers how high a calling it is to actualize the Age of Aquarius.

Starting on the 11th, just before the New Moon, Mercury will first oppose Pluto in Aquarius, adding fuel to the fire of our minds and words as we grapple with this dynamic tension between the individual and the collective that is struggling to evolve. It then trines Neptune on the same day, preparing us for the need to make the crucial mental distinction between the unbounded oneness represented by Neptune and the differentiated network that is represented by Aquarius. Mercury will sextile Uranus, a few hours after the New Moon, which may help us understand this differentiation more clearly.

As we move through the month toward the powerful Partial Lunar Eclipse on August 27th, most of the world transits involve the personal planets making aspects to Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. As a result, it appears August is the month to integrate what is occurring in the transpersonal realms into our individual human awareness. If history is any guide, the alignments we have witnessed in the last month are a signal of a massive reorientation of human consciousness. Toward what or in what ways are open questions. Some of it is for each of us to determine, one-by-one.

The Sun will enter Virgo on August 22 and Mercury will follow on the 25th, fully triggering our entrance into Virgo season.

There is a Partial Lunar Eclipse Full Moon August 27th, 11:18 PM, at 04°54’ of Pisces. Lunar eclipses, unlike Solar eclipses, are also portals of change, but they are understood as completions and endings. Perhaps, as the Sabian Symbols seem to suggest, our moment is one of deeply considering how we define what is sacred - how fully (or not) we can experience or appreciate the spiritual in the everyday… and in creation itself. The development of these capacities, including letting go of any tendency to see any aspect of life or our neighbors as outside the community of the sacred, may hold a clue to the initiation we are undergoing as a species, what we need to embrace, and what needs to be let go at this time.

Moon

(PISCES 5°): A CHURCH BAZAAR.

KEYNOTE: The value of giving a spiritual or transcendent sanction to even the most commonplace interchanges between social persons and individual minds.

This is the last of five symbols emphasizing the interaction between people constituting a social group, small or large. It brings in the element of religious sanctions. The purpose of any organized religion is primarily to meet the need of giving a more permanent significance to interpersonal relationships within the framework of a particular way of life and culture. It helps to keep the society “whole” by making it “holy”— at least in principle and ideal. It justifies human behavior by blessing it with a divine Revelation of what is good and valuable. It idealizes biological and social needs by ritualizing them.

This ends the sixty-seventh five-fold sequence on a note of RITUALlZED BENEFICENCE. It stresses the possibility of the “Presence of God” in even the most material human activities.

Dane Rudhyar, An Astrological Mandala

Sun

(VIRGO 5°): A MAN BECOMING AWARE OF NATURE SPIRITS AND NORMALLY UNSEEN SPIRITUAL AGENCIES.

KEYNOTE: The opening of new levels of consciousness.

In the first of this sequence of five symbols we saw the individual seeking to bring out of everyday contacts a consciousness of significant form and meaning. Now, as the sequence ends, a further stage of realization is shown in its initial and relatively primitive character. The consciousness is gradually reaching beyond physical characteristics and becoming aware of energy processes, i.e. of the dynamism of forces which externalize themselves as life forms.

This is the last stage of the thirty-first five-fold sequence of phases of the cyclic process of consciousness. The mind in its objectivizing and analytical character always tends to give “name and form” (nama and rupa in Sanskrit) to that which it contacts as energy process. It “images forth” energy or feeling, relating it to more or less familiar sense experience. We call this IMAGINATION.

Dane Rudhyar, An Astrological Mandala

As we move beyond this compressed time period of enormous and potent astrological alignments, what they may mean and how they may shape us as humans and our future as a species is with considering. Are we open to an expanded consciousness? Are we willing to let go of our limiting beliefs and open our minds to ways of perceiving that have previously eluded us? The key to avoiding fear of the transformative powers of these times is answering yes to these questions.

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Hope to see you there!

Marcia

On July 4th, Mars will first conjoin Uranus just an hour after midnight Central Daylight Time. This transit can be like a surprising impact on forward movement that, in Gemini, engages both ideas and words. Mars can be unilateral, forceful and even a bit confrontational or aggressive. When it is partnered with Uranus, its force can be deployed in erratic, eccentric, alarming, and unexpected ways. It has the crackle of fireworks and may have us feeling a little anxious as we start our day.

By dinner time, Mars has moved into position to sextile Neptune, which can motivate dreaming, encourage spiritual growth, or bring a sense of vision and transcendence to our actions, whether well-founded or not. The possibility for confusion or misunderstandings concerning motives as well as actions, cannot be ruled out. Minds already unsure where they stand on things may be defensive when Mars is in Gemini, but that is no reason not to forcefully defend one’s deeply felt position.

These two alignments will be something like the starting flag being waved before the beginning of the race.

The next morning as we awaken, Mars trines Pluto, perhaps introducing us to the transformative potential of the aspects of the day before. This is a flowing aspect between the God of War and the God of the Underworld - of death and rebirth. Mars rules any forward movement that requires courage, strength and individual resolve, whether it be actual war or a challenge that we take on, the outcome of which has consequences for our pride. In Gemini, that can be our ideas and our words. And Pluto guarantees that something must be let go of in order to experience the transformative rebirth on the other side. In Aquarius, letting go is more about embracing humanity writ large. Its darker side, however, is loss of individual sovereignty to the will of the mob. As we move deeper and deeper into the Pluto in Aquarius period, the energy is disruptive, unstable and chaotic, while carrying potentially liberating genius in its DNA. Mars will lend its forward push to get this revolutionary process going.

On July 14th there is a New Moon at 21°59’ of Cancer. The Sabian symbol for the Sun and Moon is a poignant one. It may suggest, as we look at it in advance, that the alignments earlier in the month, coming all around the nation’s 250th birthday celebration, may bring into stark relief the unfortunate and apparent misalignments between our founding promise and the reality we inhabit in 2026.

Pluto moments, such as the Pluto return of the US that began in roughly 2019 and is still unfolding its lessons today (with about 3 years to go, at least), force us to face what is not aligned with our purpose and our promise. It shows what has gone rotten at the core (remember, Pluto rules the Underworld), and what is undermining our progress. We may find ourselves at this July 2026 New Moon deeply engaged in moving through the crux of our Pluto return, which involves asking the hard questions about how and whether we can get back on track. With Pluto as our guide, we can be sure there are big things in the collective psyche, personality, and structure of our country that need to be over - let go and renounced - in order for true transformation to occur.

Sabian Symbol for the Moon and Sun in Cancer

(CANCER 22°): A YOUNG WOMAN AWAITING A SAILBOAT.

KEYNOTE: The longing for transcendent happiness in the soul opened to great dreams.

Here the symbol pictures the imaginative youthful person who basically cannot be satisfied with what his or her ordinary social environment offers, and who instead is longing for the unknown visitation of which he or she has dreamed. From the unconscious beyond, the concretization of a spiritual image — spiritual because impelled by the “wind” (pneuma, spirit) — is hoped for and expected. The Beloved may come — not in a glittering opera house, but in the silence of the inner sea of consciousness.

At this second stage of this five-fold sequence the contrast with the first is strongly marked. Will the great dream become concrete? Will the emotion ready to well up in response to the Advent have its chance? Will the EXPECTANCY of the Eternal Feminine be rewarded with reality?

Dane Rudhyar, An Astrological Mandala

As we move beyond this New Moon moment, we enter what many are pointing to as the astrological crescendo of the year, as well as a monumental astrological harkening back to the powerful alignments of the Axial Age, which brought an enormous shift in human consciousness, giving us the world’s religions, philosophies, and the first human considerations of the cosmos as a source of wisdom. This period, which encompasses the era from 800-300 BCE, includes the remarkable triple conjunction of the transpersonal outer planets, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto in 577 BCE.

This time around, we will see these three powerhouses of transpersonal consciousness align with one another at 4° of their respective signs, one-by-one. During this month, they will also each be aspected by Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, which is known for its expansive and enlarging qualities.

The first 10 degrees of a sign are strong, in the sense that they signal beginnings. The 3rd, 4th and 5th degrees of every sign are considered “critical degrees” focusing the energy of the sign they occupy, and the planet in question, on themes of communication (3rd degree), nurture (4th degree), and creative self-expression (5th degree). In July, the focus of this energy will be on domestic safety and a connection to one’s roots.

On July 15th Uranus in Gemini will sextile Neptune in Aries energizing our visionary nature with startling new ideas. There is also a good chance that acting on those ideas might be better saved until one has had an opportunity to reflect, and even test, the road-worthiness of one’s dreams.

July 17th Uranus will trine Pluto. Those alive through the 1960s recall the explosively liberating and destabilizing influence of Uranus conjunct Pluto in Virgo. All of the accepted categories were upended. Virgo’s tendency to order and respectability was smashed to bits and rearranged in radical new ways.

Now, as we find ourselves at the trine of Uranus to Pluto, the best possibility is that we will begin to see our way toward an enlightened revolution built on some of the highest aspirations of those times. Conversely, the potential is also here to easily push a transformation fueled by the most eccentric and irresponsible behaviors and notions currently swirling around us.

When July 20th arrives, it brings Jupiter into the mix. On the 20th, Jupiter will first trine Neptune and then oppose Pluto. The good news is that Jupiter is generally understood to be a beneficial and positive energy, improving with its elevated disposition the tendencies of any other planet it touches. However, it can also expand and enlarge the worst or most ego-manaical tendencies.

The Jupiter trine to Neptune is likely to to both elevate the spiritual propensities of some, while it simultaneously accentuates and expands the spiritual arrogance of others.

Likewise, the opposition of Jupiter to Pluto can have two (broadly defined) outcomes. Jupiter could bring an anointed feeling to some aspect of, or path toward, re-invigorating our commitment to the nations’ promise at the Founding. Jupiter could also amplify the forces that would burn everything to the ground in hopes of a Phoenix-like resurrection.

The next day, July 21, Jupiter will sextile Uranus, and augment change, potentially expanding destabilization, or possibly elevating the ability to find genius-level solutions to many of our challenges.

Finally, on July 25th, to cap the major alignments with the outer planets, Pluto will sextile Neptune, in the best case, transforming our dreams. In the worst, instigating more lies from the halls of power.

And then the Nodes change signs on July 26th, with the North Node entering Aquarius. Since January 2025, the South Node has been in Virgo, suggesting that we let go of the criticism and judgement that represents Virgo’s dark side. And with the North Node in Pisces, our quest is stepping into our spiritual awareness and experiencing Oneness with all of creation.

Now, with the South Node in Leo, our challenge is to leave behind pride, arrogance, egotism, and self-absorption in order to lean into the wisdom of the North Node in Aquarius - that we are radically interconnected. Life is a web in which every member is crucial in ensuring its continuation - because the nodes within it are all humming with the electricity of consciousness.

On July 27th the Sun will follow Jupiter’s path and oppose Pluto, trine Neptune, and sextile Uranus before day’s end. What has been happening in the wider world will come to sit at our own doorstep. How all of this impacts us individually will begin to dawn as the light of the Sun shines upon it.

And to finish the month, on July 29th the Sun will conjoin Jupiter just before the Full Moon at 6°30’ of Aquarius, expanding our conceptions of the Self, if we will pay attention. The Sabian Symbols for this Full Moon could not be more appropriate to our moment as evolving Beings on an evolving planet.

Today, I will leave the post here. Please sit with these symbols and let them work on your soul and your psyche. How everything turns out depends on each and all of us. We are the agents of the energies that move the heavens - we bring them to life. How we do that shapes the present and the future. Choose wisely.

And may peace be upon us.

Moon

(AQUARIUS 7°): A CHILD IS SEEN BEING BORN OUT OF AN EGG.

KEYNOTE: The emergence of new mutations according to the great rhythms of the cosmos.

The ancient symbolism of the Cosmic Egg (Hiranyagharba in Sanskrit) out of which a new universe is born can be interpreted at several levels. Here we see the appearance of a new type of human being who is not born from “Ancestors” and who therefore is free from the inertia of mankind’s past. He is a new product of evolution, a mutant. He constitutes a fresh projection of the creative Spirit that emanates from the cosmic or planetary Whole, and not from any local culture and racial tradition.

This second stage symbol is in contrast with the preceding one. It can be said to announce the EMERGENCE OF GLOBAL MAN for the New Age. The power of the whole is focused within him in perfect freedom from ancient standards of value based on local conditions.

Dane Rudhyar, An Astrological Mandala

Sun

(LEO 7°): THE CONSTELLATIONS OF STARS SHINE BRILLIANTLY IN THE NIGHT SKY.

KEYNOTE: The power of basic spiritual values which refer to man’s common humanity and to all enduring archetypes.

The experience of the night sky with its multitude of stars, especially brilliant in all the countries from which astrology came, is just as basic and archetypal an experience as that of sunrise, full moon and seasonal changes. Every people on this Earth has developed the concept of constellations, probably because of a need to find order in existence and to personalize everything that could be given a permanent form. Such personalizations can be called “psychic projections,” but the projection concept should be worked out both ways. If man projects his basic human nature upon the star-filled night sky, is it not just as logical to say that the universe projects its own forever-evolving patterns of order upon human nature? In either case we deal with archetypal factors which endure through a long series of generations.

This second stage symbol once more stands in perfect contrast to the preceding one. The nearly unchanging patterns of star groups are opposed to the sequence of ever-changing fashions and social ideals. The Keyword here is PERMANENCE.

Dane Rudhyar, An Astrological Mandala

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Hope to see you then…

Marcia

Although I am not a Chinese astrologer, there are ample resources from within the Western archetypal astrological worldview that align with the Chinese Fire Horse year interpretation above. Uranus in Gemini brings the lightening flash of mental insight, surprise, and the unexpected. This is intellect on steroids, and predicts stunning revelations, inventions, and a complete rewiring of our pre-existing mental constructs. We are being initiated into an entirely new way of understanding our world, influenced in no small part by the expansion of AI and new programs like the one to place a human workstation on the Moon, not to mention “disclosure” - all very apt examples of Uranus in Gemini.

Fortunately for those of us challenged by the fiery character of the year, June comes along to bring a host of Venus transits, along with the ingress of Gemini’s ruler, Mercury, into Cancer on June 1. Mercury will also turn retrograde on June 29th, meaning that it will spend two full months in the sign before moving into Leo on August 10th. This can be a time in which we invest our minds and words (at least) in nurturing ourselves and others, focusing on family relations (whether blood relatives or our chosen tribe), and deepening our connections to loved ones.

While Venus remains in Cancer, she will conjoin Jupiter on June 9th, expanding our capacity for love, creative expression, and emotional connection with others. This is one of those moments not to let pass without expressing your care in some tangible way.

The day before the New Moon, June 12th, Uranus squares the Nodes. At this time the South Node is in Virgo (the past and what we have already integrated and are ready to leave behind) and the North Node is in Pisces (the direction where growth awaits in our collective evolution), Uranus in square to the Nodes suggests the potential for a breakthrough in our collective evolutionary journey. Uranus brings an awakening. Occurring just a day before the New Moon in Gemini, perhaps a radical new way of thinking and speaking about where we are headed as a species is on the horizon…

On June 13th Venus moves into Leo where creativity, beauty, romance, and personal self-expression find their fulfillment through partnership. This month, any time you can gather with others to explore these themes will be enriched by the sharing.

There is a New Moon on June 14th at 9:54 PM CDT at 24°03’ of Gemini.

Sun & Moon

(GEMINI 25°): A GARDENER TRIMMING LARGE PALM TREES.

KEYNOTE: Bringing under control nature’s power of expansion.

The intellect of man is like a tropical plant in that it tends to expand “wildly” in many directions, seeking direct contact with the sun’s rays. Like a palm tree it uses its dead leaves to protect itself against dry heat, the heat of the realm of mind when deprived of the complementary power of the feelings. A culture is characterized by specific “forms” and “prime symbols”; education’s main object, at least in cultural and classical periods, has been to contain the imagination of individuals within these traditional forms. An entirely different approach to education is being attempted in our transitional age.

At this last stage of the seventeenth five-fold sequence we have reached the level of fulfillment of the impulses which began at the first stage (Gemini 21°) in a tumultuous upsurge of self-assertion and protest against the past. Now this upsurge has found its place in the evolution of mankind and society; and - symbolically speaking - “labor” has become not only unionized, but a strong force in the body politic. Yet the energies released seek constant expansion and therefore have to be controlled. There is need for repeated PRUNING.

Dane Rudyhar, An Astrological Mandala

The Sabian symbol for this New Moon seems to be particularly aligned with the reality of the Fire Horse year and its expansive qualities, as well as the Uranus in Gemini energy mentioned above.

The suggested need for “pruning” the wild expansive energies at this time also highlights the position of Mercury in Cancer and the many transits of Venus occurring this month, which seem to call us to consider beauty, the consequences of cultural runaway dynamism to our relationships, and our need for emotional nurture in the heat of the moment.

At the New Moon Venus sextiles Uranus and squares Chiron, again focusing us on the possibilities of radical and electrifying energy in our creative expression and in relationships. With Chiron in the mix, it seems we have the potential to heal long-standing wounds in these areas by considering unconventional approaches. The potential for massive change, breakthroughs, and true regeneration that exist within the realization of our interconnectedness, unity, and transcendent capacities is also supported by Uranus’ sextile to Neptune and Neptune’s sextile to Pluto at this lunation.

The New Moon is seen as the beginning of a month-long period and its aspects provide us with a template for the possibilities. This New Moon suggests an opportunity to move toward re-union, with a twist. We may see important (and inventive!) new developments in our relationships when Venus sextiles Uranus on June 15th, trines Neptune on the 16th, and conjoins Pluto on the 17th. You can think of this trio of alignments as Insight, followed by Union, and sealed by Transformation. And finally, when we get to June 25th, Venus will trine Saturn, bringing maturity, stability and responsibility into our relating.

On June 28th Neptune will reach a sextile to Pluto, aligning oneness, unity and interconnectedness in an energizing relationship with transformative power. This is a moment to celebrate the spiritual evolution taking place within humanity (wherever you may find it), and to open to the radical reformation of human life that it can bring. It may not look like what we thought, but the energy is upon us to make it real.

June 29th brings a Full Moon and the retrograde turn of Mercury.

The Full Moon takes place at 6:56 PM CDT at 08°14’ of Capricorn

Moon

(CANCER 9°): A SMALL, NAKED GIRL BENDS OVER A POND TRYING TO CATCH A FISH.

KEYNOTE: The first naïve quest for knowledge and for an ever-elusive understanding of life.

The “small, naked girl” symbolizes the innocent and spontaneous mind, as yet unclothed in cultural patterns and unrestrained by don’t trying to satisfy its curiosity about what seems mysterious and fleeting. In a sense the pond is the infant’s mind with a very limited scope of consciousness, yet eagerly reaching out to catch the swift and elusive first realizations of the meaning of life.

At this fourth stage we are confronted with the nascent curiosity about knowledge, a curiosity which makes the little mind reach out in spontaneity, rather than merely imitate the elders. Whenever a person is confronted with this symbol he or she should realize that there is much value indeed in simply reaching out with a pure and unconditioned mind to the most elementary experiences which natural life offers to us. The key here is PURITY IN UNDERSTANDING.

Sun

(CAPRICORN 9°): AN ANGEL CARRYING A HARP.

KEYNOTE: The revelation of the spiritual meaning and purpose at the core of any life situation.

This picture simply says that “heaven is within us.” All we have to do is to be open and listen to the total harmony of life, a harmony in which we play a part that is necessary to the completeness and meaning of the whole. In order to do this we have to surrender our separative ego- consciousness and flow with the universal current which, to the religiously minded person, is the Will of God.

This is the fourth symbol of the series. The technique it implies is that of ATTUNEMENT to the rhythm of universal life. Angels are to be considered personalizations of various aspects of this life, and totally subservient to its rhythms and purposes.

Dane Rudhyar, An Astrological Mandala

This Full Moon brings with it a host of alignments in addition to these inspiring Sabian symbols.

• Mercury square Eris empowers us to speak up in support of ourselves and to think about those who have been uninvited or dismissed from our society or community.

• Mars squares the Nodes to urge us to take action to fulfill the promise of the North Node in Pisces, letting go of the judgment and perfectionism in Virgo at the South Node.

• Jupiter squares Chiron, bringing expansive wisdom to our woundedness and allowing for grace.

• Uranus trines Pluto, assuring us that there is an awakening upon us that can transform all.

• The Sun squares Saturn, suggesting that personal maturity and responsibility must be chosen by each of us for what comes next.

• The Sun also squares Neptune, revealing to us the benefits of unity and transcendence.

• And Mercury conjoins Jupiter and squares Chiron, allowing our minds to grasp the need for personal growth and goodwill that we may heal the wounds of the world.

And the final alignment of the month is a powerful Mars sextile to Jupiter - which imbues our will and our actions with magnanimity and optimism for the road ahead.

A lot is going on in June, but I would be remiss to exclude the fact that it is the prelude to a very active, intense, and peak energy period of transits in July. Next month will bring the USA’s 250th birthday and a host of extraordinary alignments. July represents an astrological crescendo in the year.

June is a time to prepare, repair, ground, and calm ourselves.

If you would like to explore some of these themes in community, please join me and Sarah Doll for a restorative and preparatory workshop together on June 20th in Tulsa. We’re calling it Tend the Fire, and we would love to have you join us.

Space is limited. Please visit this link to register: https://www.osagesoul.com/live-events

My apologies! It appears that the link I sent yesterday to register for the Tending the Fire workshop with Sarah Doll and myself was broken.

Here is the correct link: https://www.osagesoul.com/live-events

I appreciate your patience.

Warmly,

Marcia

On June 20th I will be joining Sarah Doll in offering a workshop called Tending the Flame in her new yurt, The NEST in the Osage Hills in Tulsa.

The link to register is below.

Space is limited, so please sign up soon if you’re interested in joining us for a comforting and empowering morning that will include a look at the archetypal and astrological support at our disposal as we traverse this Fire Horse Year, as well as the embodied resources offered by the practice of QiGong. Movement will be simple and suitable to all fitness levels.

Please dress comfortably for gentle movement, and bring a journal if you’d like.

Light snacks will be offered.

Visit this link to see the flier details and to register.

osagesoul.com/live-events

I hope to see you there!

Marcia

The original definition of a Blue Moon was when a 12 month year (by the Gregorian calendar) had a 13th full moon. But over time, and because of a misunderstanding of the term, having two full moons in a month’s time began to take on the same moniker - the second full moon in any one month also became known as a “blue moon.” So we’ll go with it, because, you know… some things only happen once in a Blue Moon.

On May 31, 2026, there will be a Full Moon at 3:44 am CDT, at 9°55’ of Sagittarius.

At the time of the Full Moon, Pluto, at 5°22’ of Aquarius, widely squares the Moon. Uranus in Gemini at 2 degrees forms a weak conjunction with the Sun.

As these two extremely powerful transpersonal planets are involved in the lunation, we can expect this period to be another focal point of uncertainty, change and transformative energy as we dance with continuing electric jolts to our human experience.

In the Sabian symbols we see two differing interpretations from Dane Rudhyar and Marc Edmund Jones. Rudhyar sees in the symbol the cultural use of propaganda and drama to entice individuals to use the force of their drive for growth in ways that serve the machine’s goals.

The Moon

(SAGITTARIUS 10°): A THEATRICAL REPRESENTATION OF A GOLDEN-HAIRED GODDESS OF OPPORTUNITY.

KEYNOTE: Society’s efforts at dramatizing the greatness of what it offers to the ambitious person.

Civilization as a process demands the goading of individuals to spend their vital energies in the pursuit of achievements which, while fulfilling the individual’s ambition and greed, nevertheless generate various forms of what we call “progress.” This sequence of symbols mainly refers to the drive for advancement along “human, all too human” paths of growth.

This is the last symbol of the fiftieth five-fold sequence. We see in it how socio-cultural forces operate by dramatization and propaganda. The result is all too often a process of FORCED GROWTH.

In contrast, Marc Edmund Jones says that “implicit in the symbolism is the principle that Nature always takes care of Her own” and that it suggests “irresistible confidence in the self”.

I wonder if both can be true - especially at this moment.

The Sun

(GEMINI 10°): AN AIRPLANE PERFORMING A NOSE DIVE.

KEYNOTE: A superior ability to challenge nature and play with danger.

Through the controlled use of mental powers man is able to challenge the most basic force in nature: gravitation. He enjoys playing with it as a lion tamer with his violent animals. But what he challenges is within himself as well as outside. Gravitation is the universal binding force of the material world. By challenging it man prepares himself to pierce beyond the physical and to reach higher realms of existence. He may lose the struggle, but that prospect makes the effort more exciting. He might gain “immortality.”

This is the final stage of the fourteenth sequence. The symbol for it has a strong sense of finality. No possibility of half measures exist. Man is committed irrevocably to success or failure — at least as a conscious and self-reliant mind. The alternatives are clear-cut. One may describe it as MIND vs. MATTER, or as Man’s will against the fate that gravitation so aptly symbolizes.

Similarly, with the symbol for the Sun, Marc Edmund Jones sees this symbol as indicating a “crisis” in which one will either put total effort into righting the plane (as synonym for reorienting the self when issues arise) or collapse in defeat without lifting “a finger in decent self-interest.”

With Saturn and Neptune still in Aries (Saturn widely sextile to the Full Moon), at this moment there exists the potential for individual transcendence, maturity and self-responsibility, alongside confusion, deception and top-down control.

The archetypes always offer us two paths - the high and the low; the life-affirming or the life-denying. Perhaps this Full Moon is here to remind us of the choice we each have as to which path we will take.

Pluto always promises regeneration and rebirth, but its price is dissolution and death. Something must pass away before the new can be born. Pluto in Aquarius is a 20 year residency. We are only a little over a year into this momentous transit - one that coincides with the Pluto return of the United States and its 250th birthday.

According to British diplomat Sir John Glubb who wrote a book called “The Fate of Empires and Search For Survival,” the average age of an empire across current recorded history is 250 years. I have a hunch that is the case because of Pluto’s cycles.

None of that means that this is the end of The United States, but it may mean that our journey through this transformative period will reshape our nation and the lives we live within it in ways that we can’t, at the moment, see, understand or predict with any accuracy.

What we can choose is how we respond to what is occurring. Will we take a mature, responsible and empowered approach, or will we shrink from the task of making choices where we can and outsource the results to others?

Saturn and Neptune in Aries says that it is up to each one of us whether our dreams become reality. May this Full Moon shine a light on your potential, your strength and your confidence.

Scorpio, ruled by Pluto in modern times, represents concerns about emotional safety and security. In its highest manifestation, a true transformation of relationship (within and without) is possible when one overcomes the fear of confrontation, looks within to the shadow one is projecting, and stands in the fire of challenge presented by relationships and perceived challenges to our emotional safety.

The Sabian Symbol for this Full Moon reflects the sometimes superficial, but often reassuring, displays of ruling class rituals that reinforce a sense of emotional safety in regards to other nations and their leaders. In this way it is a display of safety, rather than its actual day-to-day concrete reality. We may long for this now, although it is not what we feel in the mundane realities of life. This symbol at this time is also a reminder that this level of perceived stability and civility is often only a surface display that hides deeper tensions.

Moon at 12 degrees Scorpio

(SCORPIO 12°): AN OFFICIAL EMBASSY BALL.

KEYNOTE: Group-consciousness, as it flowers at the highest level in cultural interchanges between representatives of the elite of the ruling class.

At present the largest unit of social organization is the nation. The symbol pictures the ruling class of such national wholes displaying at least the superficial forms of a concern for establishing permanent relationships in peaceful cooperation. What is evoked is the value of meeting other people at the highest possible level of cultural interplay (i.e. in “full dress”), rather than with an everyday type of consciousness and behavior.

In contrast to the natural spontaneity of the rescue operation shown in the preceding symbol, we have here the image of a ritualized DISPLAY of power, prestige and wealth. Relationship has been made hierarchical and is institutionalized. Phase 222 tells us that this too is an essential feature in the development of rhythmic give-and-take in order to achieve global peace.

Dane Rudhyar, An Astrological Mandala

Taurus represents material safety and security. Rudhyar’s key phrase in the Sabian Symbol for the Sun is “*the ego becomes aware of what society has to offer,” and… “he is being molded by what he sees and by prospects for growth in social prestige.” *Emphasis mine.

To my mind, at the present moment this symbol is calling us to recognize what is really indispensable to our physical and material safety and security rather than the material goods society puts in front of us to appease, manipulate, and distract us as individuals. The “stuff” we can buy and own and that can convey some sort of social capital to our image IS NOT the path to true material security. We need shelter, healthy food, clean air and water, trusted relationships, and an absence of violence, to name a few.

Rather than claim “it is a phase of socialization of desires” perhaps it should be a question: what sort, or quality, of material security exists beyond “the socialization of our desires” in the form of possessions?

Sun at 12 degrees Taurus

(TAURUS 12°): A YOUNG COUPLE WINDOW-SHOPPING.

KEYNOTE: The fascination of the youthful ego with the products of its culture.

The woman waters flowers in her garden: this is the inward-turned attention of the mind reveling in its own flowering. But now we have a scene symbolizing the outward longing of the ego, which has polarized itself and become “man-woman.” The “man” aspect is that part of the ego which craves direct participation with society and the world of other egos. Fully to participate requires a special kind of substantiation - and we are still in this third scene, the Keyword of which is “Substantiation.” Clothes, goods of various types, adornment, and working tools are needed. The consciousness surveys possibilities; they are defined by organic nature (personal abilities) and by the ambition to succeed in society.

This second stage is defined in contrast to the first. The ego becomes aware of what society has to offer. Its attention is turned outward. An interplay takes place between the individual and his culture. He is being molded by what he sees and by prospects for growth in social prestige. It is a phase of SOCIALIZATION OF DESIRES.

Dane Rudhyar, An Astrological Mandala

When both images are taken together, the archetypal message seems to be the necessary understanding and reliance on the REAL and immediate needs of our material and emotional selves: healthy and honest relationships, and a fearlessness in the face of personal conflicts; and the real basic needs of our body-minds for sustenance, both material and spiritual.

Pluto also squares this lunation from it’s place in Aquarius, empowering the expectations of community cohesion amid powerful forces of revolution and transformation. Fortunately, the way out is always through - through the middle of this T-square to the release point opposite Aquarius in Leo. This is a cosmic reminder that personal creative self-expression is always an antidote to whatever is locking us up in emotional turmoil. Let what is in you take shape in a creative response - get it out and onto the canvas, the page or the dance floor!

On May the 4th Mars in Aries squares Jupiter in Cancer which can bring good fortune to our activities, and/or could lead to ill-considered and rash actions taken amidst an unexamined over-confidence in an optimistic outcome. Over-strong egos can feel emboldened to impulsively take ill-considered risks. On the brighter side, this is a transit that can bring tests that are a part of the path toward personal growth. The more considered your choices and actions, and the more aligned they are with your personal philosophy, the more likely your success will be at this time.

On May 5th, Mercury will square Pluto just a day before the planet of transformation turns retrograde. There can be a compulsiveness to our thinking, or coercion in our communications with others on this day. Turning the energy inward, toward deep introspection of the hidden psychological forces at work within you, can serve you best, as it brings an opportunity to better understand your own inner workings. It is also a good time to delve deeply into subjects that are currently opaque to you, such as mystical, psychological, hidden or occult aspects of the world.

Pluto turns retrograde on May 6th at 10:34 am CDT. During his retrograde period in Aquarius, which lasts until October 15, 2026, the Lord of the Underworld will pull us back and inward, inviting us to review Pluto’s domain in our individual and collective lives. Both are impacted by power dynamics, one of Pluto’s domains, and are especially strong now with a focus on Aquarius. Here, our networks and the flow (or restriction) of communications, as well as our individual dynamics within communities, are examined not by shining a light on them, but by plumbing the darkness, manipulation, and power struggles within them.

As we traverse the next few months, our goals, the structure of society and how we navigate those structures - including the role of power dynamics and the possibility of a radical rebirth in our relationships with them - are fertile territory for a deep and fearless interrogation.

As we arrive at the New Moon at 25°57’ of Taurus on May 16th, we may be poised for some statement of independence from the collective - a most Aquarian act.

Although Aquarius represents like-minded community, communication, networking, and the dance of the individual within the community (“out of the many, one” or e pluribus unum, is the essence of this aspect of Aquarius), it also represents the liberation of of the individual from the constraints of acceptable society. Aquarius rules the rebels and eccentrics, after all.

In the Sabian Symbol for the New Moon, however, Rudhyar posits a relatively benign form of individuation found through the distinctive expression of social or collective values. All of these are authentic expressions of the archetypes at play, and we may see examples of each during this time.

(TAURUS 26°): A SPANISH GALLANT SERENADES HIS BELOVED.

KEYNOTE: The ritualization of individual desires.

At this level we see the play of collective values as they affect the individual person and indeed confirm his individuality by giving it a solid basis in a tradition. The individual is still attached to these group-values; he “belongs.” Nevertheless, this state is necessary for a safe and secure sense of differentiation within an enfolding whole. Music and the culturally acceptable rituals of love are cultural products, yet each person can use them for the spontaneous fulfillment of his very own desires.

This is the first symbol in the twelfth five-fold series. It reveals the individual human being making use of his personal status to find fulfillment and a sense of social identity. This is ROLE-PLAYING in its most enjoyable form.

Dane Rudhyar, An Astrological Mandala

The following day Mercury conjoins Uranus in Gemini. The best advice now is to expect the unexpected and don’t be surprised if it comes as a radical change of mind or understanding. This is an excellent transit for quick thinking (and speaking), flashes of mental insight, and messages that blow our minds. So hold onto your seats…

On May 22nd the Sun will conjoin Uranus in Gemini. This is a moment when our individual behavior could be surprising, or others’s actions could surprise us. Things may not go quite as planned, but no matter how the day unfolds, it shouldn’t be boring. With the several potentially explosive world events and issues that are currently cycling through the Zeitgeist, we should expect these last couple of weeks of May to provide new ideas, information, and ways of making sense of our times.

The potential for an escalation of conflict comes at us on May 25th when Mars squares Pluto. This transit can express itself in a couple of ways. Mars can bring a lot of drive and forward movement that has transformative potential. Or, it can trigger power struggles and disagreements. Obviously, these possibilities can also co-exist and may show up in our personal lives as well as on the world stage. In the case of Mars in Taurus squaring Pluto in Aquarius, an image comes to mind of the bull digging in its heels, while a massive tectonic force tries to dislodge it. Something has to give.

Finally, on May 26th the Sun in Gemini trines Pluto in Aquarius at the same degree where Mars made its stand-off the day before. Gemini can see, and can often understand, both sides. Mental and verbal persuasion can move the most adamant opponent. We shall see, but this alignment could be the breakthrough that gets something that has been stalled moving forward again.

May is likely to be a quite surprising and electrifying month. Fortunately, it is also Spring in the Northern Hemisphere, when the earth is alive and full of beauty and hope. Take as much time as you can to be in Nature… and be sure to get your bare feet onto the grass, because the months that lie ahead will require deep roots and unshakeable faith.

If you are in the Tulsa area and able to join us, the Tulsa Full Moon Group will be meeting this coming Tuesday, April 28th, to discuss the upcoming Scorpio Full Moon on May 1, 2026.

This is always a highlight of my month - a time to stop and reflect on the moment we are in, the influence of the archetypes represented by the planetary alignments and, hopefully, to find some support and encouragement during challenging times. I have no doubt that our meeting will love up to my hopes, as it always does.

If you can, please join us at 11:30 am in room 289 at WOMPA, 3306 Charles Page Blvd. Go in the artful slanted door about a third of the way down Building 2, up the stairs, and through the kitchen area to the hallway until you reach room 289.

Hope to see you there!

Marcia

We ask a $10 donation toward our use the space. 🙏🏼

We will be discussing the Full Moon coming up on April 1 and the general astrological weather at this time.

We hope you can join us!

The Sabian symbol for the Moon is “Children Blowing Soap Bubbles,” for which Dane Rudhyar uses the keywords “imaginative play” while Mark Edmund Jones chooses “enchantment”. Rudhyar emphasizes the role of playfulness in adult creations - play is a way of dreaming our reality into being, joyfully imagining our way into a new reality.

Jones writes both “rising above childish things” while still “clinging to childlike ways”, suggesting that the positive expression of the symbol is remaining in touch with the “magic of Being”. Unlike Rudhyar, though, Jones recognizes that a negative expression of the symbol is indolence and immersing oneself in fantasies that lead to nothing concrete - a danger that often accompanies the sensory overload that results from prolonged stress and anxiety.

The Moon

(LIBRA 13°): CHILDREN BLOWING SOAP BUBBLES.

KEYNOTE: The cultural fantasies through which young minds dream of perfect fulfillment.

This seems to refer to the use of the imagination and the value of fantasy in a collective setup. Men dream together as a preparation for acting together. Rituals related to the great aspirations of mankind are both sacred ceremonies and playthings for young minds; so also are court ceremonies and operas for the social elite, or baseball games for the crowds. Some men work hard at acquiring knowledge and providing society with what it needs to enjoy warmth and lighted palaces; others play at imagining themselves perfect spheres of multicolored radiance — soap bubbles so soon proven evanescent!

At this third stage of the thirty-ninth sequence we deal with another aspect of the cultural life made possible, in a sense, by the two just symbolized. It is a symbol of IMAGINATIVE PLAY, which foreshadows the idea of “global man,” the man of plenitude.

Dane Rudhyar, An Astrological Mandala

When coupled with the Sabian Symbol for the Sun, we are homing in on the current Zeitgeist with remarkable clarity. Both men’s Keywords for the Sun’s position point to immaturity and pointless hubris - Rudhyar uses “adolescent frustration” while Jones says “impetuousness.” There is a decidedly negative connotation here regarding the Aries tendency toward action without adequate preparation, as well as unilateral decisions taken without consulting others or properly assessing the situation. This Full Moon may highlight for us all where we are either zoning out rather than learning to calm and balance our nervous-systems in healthy ways, or thoughtlessly acting out our aggressive tendencies and hoping for a positive outcome.

The Sun

(ARIES 13°): AN UNEXPLODED BOMB REVEALS AN UNSUCCESSFUL SOCIAL PROTEST.

KEYNOTE: An immature evaluation of the possibility of transforming suddenly the status quo.

The symbol pictures the result of a particular attempt to resolve the conflict between two concept-feelings of order. Resolution by violence fails because the ego-power at this stage of the process of individualization is far too strong. “The State” thwarts attempts at popular revolution, because these are premature expressions of a consciousness which is not free, but can only react “wildly” to constraint and to a central ruling power. It is thus a symbol of immature refusal to conform, in the name of an over-idealistic desire for harmony and peace.

This is the third stage of the third five-fold sequence. A negative attempt at reconciling the spiritual ideal and the very earthly reality, denying the validity of the latter. It suggests ADOLESCENT FRUSTRATION.

All of that acknowledged, we may continue to be challenged to calm our impetuousness until mid-May when Mars moves into Taurus. From April 9th until May 18th, Mars will be traversing the sign it rules, bringing with it a powerful punch of both initiative and bold creativity, as well as aggression and potentially combative warrior energy. Fortunately, Venus entered Taurus, one of the signs she rules, on March 30, bringing a focus on material security and a concern for stability with her. When she squares Pluto in Aquarius on April 3, the powerful push toward something radically new will run headlong into resistance to change in the name of values, relationships and perhaps financial security. This dynamic interaction between those things we want to protect and hold onto, and the radical changes that are attempting to materialize, will continue through most of the month, likely reaching a crescendo mid-month beginning when Mars conjoins Neptune in Aries on April 13th, continuing to April 19th when the Sun enters Taurus and Mars conjoins Saturn in Aries.

On April 17th at 6:51 AM CDT there is a New Moon at 27°28’ of Aries. The Sabian Symbol for that New Moon points to the one constant during times of stress and confusion - the still, small voice within each of us. To meditate on this symbol is to prepare for a time of upheaval and challenge and to see that cacophony of change as a movement within the symphony of evolution.

(ARIES 29°): THE MUSIC OF THE SPHERES.

KEYNOTE: Attunement to cosmic order.

At the fourth stage of a five-fold sequence a technique is often presented. It is based on the experiences implied in the preceding symbols. In this case, what the individual who has entered into a new realm of possibilities of action should learn is the harmonic principles operating in this realm. The music of the spheres is the celestial embodiment of principles of polyphonic interplay. The individual advancing “on the Path” should seek to understand and realize his place in the vast scheme of mankind’s evolution, in the immense Chord of the harmony of the universe.

The message to the seeker for meaning which is implied in this symbol is TO LISTEN TO THE INNER VOICE; to listen without personalizing this Voice in a glamour-producing manner. It is the Voice of the Whole, of which one begins to realize that one is a tiny little part - yet a significant part, for every note of the universal Chord has its place and its ineradicable meaning.

As many of you may be aware, the month of April is a time of several consequential events in US history, most of them involving violence, including:

• The American Revolution began on April 19th, 1775

• April 12, 1861 is recognized as the start of the U.S. Civil War, which ended on April 9, 1865

• The Bay of Pigs fiasco occurred on April 17, 1961

• April 4, 1968 Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated

• Both the Oklahoma City bombing and the end of the siege of the Branch Davidian complex in Waco occurred on April 19th, 1993 and 1995, respectively.

Without placing too much of the blame on Aries in particular, that is the sign where the US Chiron resides. At this time, the United States is having a Chiron return and during the months of March, April, and May most of the personal planets will cross those degrees as they pass through Aries, with Mars reaching the US Chiron on May 6.

Chiron is the wounded healer archetype represented by the Centaur who was an immortal healer and teacher to the great heroes of antiquity, including Hercules and Achilles. He was accidentally wounded by Hercules in a battle with other members of the tribe. Chiron forever after carried a wound in his thigh that would not heal. To escape the pain of his wound he bargained away his immortality and was allowed to die, ascending to the heavens in the shape of the constellation Sagittarius.

In astrological charts, Chiron represents wounds that we carry which are difficult, if not impossible, to heal. Much could be said about what constitutes the wounds of the United States but, in Aries, one might suggest a wound to one’s very identity, and the way we initiate action in the world - something in the formation of identity and action that continues to wound again and again over time. It seems worth considering what the nature of our cultural wound might be as well as the means to its ultimate healing. My guess is that Pluto now in Aquarius might be a helpful resource as we contemplate the question. More on this in another post…

Uranus is a powerful bringer of change. On April 23rd Venus in Taurus will conjoin Uranus just before both planets move into Gemini. It would be wise to consider the impact of upsets to financial markets at this time. Ones’ values and relationships may also experience unexpected changes during such a transit.

Uranus entering Gemini is a powerful shift from its residence in earth-bound Taurus. Uranus entered Taurus on May 15, 2018, shortly before our bodily security was threatened by COVID, unsettling our fundamental sense of safety and comfort in the world. Now, as Uranus enters Gemini, AI is growing exponentially, we are beginning to learn the reality of things that seem like part of a science fiction novel, and our minds are being challenged to cope with the immensity of change that is occurring in our world.

We are now beginning to see that we are living through a time of unprecedented change, at least in the scope of recorded human history as we know it. This month, as well as the entire year, will continue to drive this point home, as all the planets in the sky will be in direct motion until May 6 when Pluto turns retrograde. Having all the planets in direct motion happens on a somewhat regular basis, but this time, the personal planets, as well as Saturn and Neptune, are all in Aries, bringing the energy of initiation and creativity as well as aggression and conflict to the party in inescapable ways. And while there may be obstacles, we have left the escapist dream world of Pisces… forward movement is the only option now.

On the positive side, this is a time for all of us to get moving on making our dreams reality. With Saturn, the planet of structure, commitment and responsibility, and Neptune, the planet of spirituality and dreams, together in Aries and moving direct, we have an unusual opportunity to set in motion the methods, machinery and scaffolding for a new way forward that puts our spiritual goals in partnership with the emerging reality.

April may prove to be a turning point in our year. It is already evident that old power structures are collapsing, which will lead to a realignment that is unpredictable at the moment. As individuals, this is a time to act locally and build community (a very Aquarian way of living). As world events unfold, we may begin to see signs of both the utopia we yearn for and the dystopia we fear. In order to reinforce movement along the path we desire, our decisions and actions matter now. They are the seeds of the future to come. Choose wisely.

Turning our action and willpower toward Piscean values is supported by the archetypes involved in the Full Moon that follows the next day. In the most literal reading of the Sabian symbols below, Rudhyar may be talking about an individual leader. However, considering the great schism that exists in the US involving our current leadership, applying his reading literally to the present situation is tricky, and a place I’m not interested in going.

That said, it may be important to note that Marc Edmond Jones, who wrote what Rudhyar noted was “the best” exposition on the Sabian symbols up to the time he wrote his own ( https://www.amazon.com/Sabian-Symbols-Astrology-Illustrated-Horoscopes/dp/094335840X ), uses “Power” as the keyword for the Moon’s symbol and “Example” for the keyword for the Sun’s symbol, rather than “Charisma” and “Will Power”, as Rudhyar does. “Power” and “Example”, as keywords, are easier to translate into the average person’s life experience, as not all of us can claim “charisma” as a personal attribute. Many of us, however, hope to be positive “examples” in our life choices and in the use of our personal power. It is within this context that these symbols can be applied to our own lives. In some way, each of us can lead, in this time of political upheaval and disorder, and begin to explore the evolutionary path we are being asked to walk at this time… not only as a nation, but as individuals who comprise the collective.

March 3 Full Moon Total Lunar Eclipse at 12°53’ of Virgo at 5:37 AM CST

Sabian Symbols

Moon

(VIRGO 13°): A POWERFUL STATESMAN OVER-COMES A STATE OF POLITICAL HYSTERIA.

KEYNOTE: The focusing of the collective need for order and structural interdependence into a personage who incarnates the answer to this need.

The husband role of fecundator of nature here takes on a collective social significance. We are at the stage where a powerful realization of the very purpose of the cycle of existence faces the chaotic remains of a dis-structured past. The character of the leader is always delineated by the need, subconscious though it may be, of the unformed agglomeration of entities he is called upon by destiny to lead. In time the leader will be worshiped as the “divine Father” of the society he structured.

At this third stage of the thirty-third sequence we see a new type of characterization of the many-faceted polarization of positive and negative. We have before us a personage endowed with CHARISMA, this elusive and mysterious power that comes from a man’s or woman’s openness to the power of planetary evolution.

Sun

(PISCES 13°): AN ANCIENT SWORD, USED IN MANY BATTLES, IS DISPLAYED IN A MUSEUM.

KEYNOTE: Through the effectual use of his will a consecrated man can become a symbol of courage for all those who follow in his footsteps.

Will power is the ultimate spiritual weapon, and its undeviating use is the certification of individual worth. Wherever found, this symbol emphasizes the imperative need to make use of the will in meeting the basic challenges of the inner life as well as outer adversaries.

With this third symbol of the sixty-ninth sequence we see singled out and strongly emphasized the one power in man which is an assurance of victory in the contests generated by social (or occult) processes in which he has become an active part. The individual must use that WILL POWER, yet it is not really his own once he operates at a spiritual level. It is God’s will operating through his mind which focuses its thrusts. It is, occultly speaking, the power of the Brotherhood — the energy of the Whole operating through the one-pointed individual who has made this Whole aware of the need for its use in a particular situation.

Dane Rudhyar, An Astrological Mandala

Venus enters Aries on March 6 and conjoins the Neptune/Saturn conjunction on March 7th and 8th, bringing our relationships into focus. It may be that the structure of some of our relationships is no longer aligned with our highest vision and needs to be renegotiated. Relationships and partnerships that cannot stand the test of scrutiny may not survive. Our own values could also be the subject of analysis at this time, showing us where our actions do not sync up with our stated beliefs. And, as you will see, the dance of self and other, whether one-to-one or one-to-many, is a core dynamic of the current archetypal zeitgeist.

When Jupiter stations to direct motion on March 10th, the ability and demand to explore our perceptions and beliefs will gain momentum. The search for Truth (big “T” intended) may enjoy a boost, and we may also see some small “t” truths coming to light as well, as the people may demand it. In fact, the voices of the people may grow louder now. As Jupiter expands what it touches in Cancer, feelings are big and may carry dogmatic perspectives along with them. While feelings are not debatable, we would do well to temper them with a dose of logic and humility.

On March 15 Mars conjoins Mercury in Pisces. When Mercury and Mars come together, it is the marriage of thought and action. We can do what we say, and speak what we are willing to make real. It is a time to consider our visions of a loving community and what is required for its concrete realization.

The New Moon comes at 28°29’ Pisces on March 18th at 8:23 PM CST. In the final degree of Pisces, this New Moon represents the completion of the zodiac before moving us into the Aries-ruled time of year ahead. With its Sabian symbol focusing on that mystical turning point between the end of the zodiac and its beginning again, there is an echo of the dissolution into Source at the end of a human life, followed by the emergence of new life out of the soup of creation in Aries.

It reminds us (like the symbol for the previous Full Moon) that collectives, wholes, are made of individual parts. It is the genius (at least in my thinking) of the United States’ founding principles, that this reality is not only acknowledged, but supported and strengthened by Constitutional protections (a truly Aquarian document). We are different (not being a nation founded along bloodlines or tribal kinship), yet united (hopefully, in our vision and on our best days). And, as Rudhyar says in his analysis of the symbol, unity and difference exist in an ever moving search for balance. THIS is the promise of the Aquarian Age - unity will be recognized and celebrated on par with difference and diversity.

Sun & Moon

(PISCES 29°): LIGHT BREAKING INTO MANY COLORS THROUGH A PRISM.

KEYNOTE: The analytical power of the mind necessary for the formulation of life processes in their many aspects.

Cycles of existence begin in unity and end in what I have called “multi-unity.” At the stage of consummation the many individual differences are totaled; they constitute a sum. Within that sum — a unified total — the inevitability of the future process of differentiation is implied, because every cycle leaves a mass of waste products slowly returning to the unconscious state of chemical matter, of “humus.” What the symbol tells us is that unity will always break again into multiplicity. The “prism” is always there. There is no absolute unity; if anything could be called “absolute” it is the relationship between the One and the Many.

This fourth stage symbol of the concluding five-fold sequence of phases points to the fundamental type of operation in all modes of existence. The most beautiful and seemingly everlasting experience of unity will in time be superseded by the need to attend to a multiplicity of details. Existence implies DIFFERENTIATION.

Dane Rudhyar, An Astrological Mandala

Mercury retrograde ends and turns to direct motion on March 20th, just after the Sun enters Aries and the Spring Equinox perfects at 9:46 am. This is the start of the astrological year and also marks the New Year celebration of Persians, known as Nowruz. In the Persian culture, Nowruz has been celebrated for thousands of years as one of the most important dates on the calendar. We can trace its establishment back to the ancient Zoroastrians. It represents the rebirth of Nature and the triumph of Light over Darkness. Spring cleaning rituals and bonfires are two features of the celebration of Nowruz in Persian culture. As these traditions imply, this is the right time for resetting priorities and taking healthy steps to mark the end of what is past and to welcome a new way forward, not only collectively, but individually as well.

Mars in Pisces trines Jupiter in Cancer the next day, March 21, bringing a surge of potential for compassionate, loving, and nurturing action. Marking this astrological moment by tying up loose ends, especially in the area of family and the home environment, is a good step toward entering this new phase of life and activity with a clear mind and heart, and brings blessings of optimism and good will to all of our dreams.

The next few days bring the real turning toward the full-speed-ahead realization of true Aries action. On March 22, the Sun newly in Aries conjoins Neptune and then Saturn 3 days later, on March 25th.

Since Saturn and Neptune conjoined in Aries on February 20th, we have seen some of the collective examples of this alignment. Our collective ideals seem to be questioned at every turn. For many, long-cherished beliefs are subject to disillusionment, and structures that have been reliable in the past seem to dissolve into chaos. Examples of decay, depression, scandal and collapse seem to be in every headline.

Now, as the Sun conjoins this powerful duo on March 22 (and as Mars makes its way to a conjunction), we will begin to turn our gaze inward and experience what all of this collapse this means to us personally. Now, our discomfort may shift to long-held and cherished personal beliefs that no longer describe our reality. Dread, guilt, or remorse may sabotage our equally strong motivations to make a change, or strike out in a new direction.

The strength of this phase of our archetypal journey may be in things such as disciplined acts of compassion, diligently working on making our dreams come true, or summoning the courage and fortitude to walk our own unique spiritual path. This might include focusing on the concrete expression of one’s own spiritual ideals and their ability to restructure our personal and collective realities. “Spiritual ideals becoming manifest through individual action” is my mantra for this period… you are welcome to adopt it as well.

This month, may you feel the upwelling of Life that occurs at this time of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, and find your own way forward in the stream of our ongoing Unfolding. May your wildest and most cherished visions become real.

In the spirit of shining a light on the archetypes of this time, February begins with a Full Moon in Leo, ruled by the Sun and amplifying individual creative self-expression, at 13°03’, with the Sun at the same degree of Aquarius, the sign of humanity writ large (and emphasizing technology and our collective creativity).

With the ingress of Neptune into Aries, and with Saturn moving into Aries on February 13, a week before they join forces at 00°45’ on February 20th, this Full Moon sets the tone for a power-shift from the nameless and formless collective of Neptune in Pisces to the courageous individual hero of Aries striking out into the unknown.

As the Sabian symbols suggest, “self-actualization,” focus and momentum are the watchwords now.

The Moon

(LEO 14°): A HUMAN SOUL SEEKING OPPORTUNITIES FOR OUTWARD MANIFESTATION.

KEYNOTE: The yearning for self-actualization.

Behind the many rhythms and drives of individual existence, beyond the child, the adult and the old man, stands the soul seeking always to manifest itself through the personality. This is the transpersonal urge of the spirit, expressing itself in many ways during the whole life span. But most avenues are blocked, and the soul waits until it can wait no longer. Then comes the dramatic release, which may mean a joyous carnival or madness.

The fourth stage of this twenty-seventh sequence brings a transcendental clue to the technique of living: Let the soul speak out! Allow the power of the true tone of your being to manifest itself smoothly, easily, unobstructed — or expect a variety of consequences. LET the soul manifest!

Dan Rudhyar, An Astrological Mandala

The Sun

(AQUARIUS 14°): A TRAIN ENTERING A TUNNEL.

KEYNOTE: The ability to short-cut the process of natural evolution by the exercise of will, mental skill and physical self-discipline.

In this symbol we see a condensation of what is implied in the three preceding ones. Man must be inspired by a vision of what is possible for him to achieve; he has to organize a schedule of necessary activities if the work is to be done in terms of successive moves, each requiring a specialized type of skill and strength (i.e. a hierarchy of functions); he has to find a propitious time for beginning the work. The end result is an acceleration of the evolutionary process, whether at the psychobiological level (that of yoga and other similar disciplines) or at the social level, i.e. the level at which, in its external aspect, civilization proceeds.

This fourth stage symbol presents a picture of what can be achieved by a combination of social and cultural, and even personal, techniques. It implies the possibility of shortening the length of time needed for progress by cutting through obstacles and delays. The Keyword is PENETRATION.

Dane Rudhyar, An Astrological Mandala

There is a lot to say about the coming Neptune/Saturn conjunction at the very beginning of Aries. Without trying to say everything, I’ll do my best to express what seems to matter most just now - and that is that 00°45’ Aries is known as the World Axis point. Astrological (archetypal) events that occur at this place in the zodiac have a global effect. So in the astrological sense, we can expect this new cycle of Neptune and Saturn to manifest noticeably around the world. That said, so far as we can tell from looking backward, these two planets have never before in history begun a new cycle at this exact point. As astrologers Steve Levine and Rick Judd have said, this signals “the most concentrated period of change in human history.”

Interestingly, another term, Axis Mundi, also means “the axis of the world”, but has a slightly different connotation. The axis mundi is the bridge between worlds (sky, earth and underworld), and is often symbolized as a tree - The Tree of Life. With both Neptune, which suggests the amorphous and boundless heavens, and Saturn, representing manifest structured reality, coming together at this time, we might also see this moment as a realization of the Anima Mundi’s imagery in deeper or more profound ways - a potential for the coming together of Heaven, Earth and the Deep.

Neptune is not altogether comfortable in Aries… it’s mixing water with fire - steamy. That said, steam rises… and with this placement, the individual has an opportunity to “rise” in mystical and spiritual ways during this period. The most positive expression of Neptune in Aries may be life-force becoming a spiritual principle, individuals empowered to break away from the pack (Neptune in Pisces) and bring a spiritual component into action and identity. Being on an individual mission, or seeing oneself pursuing a hero’s journey are examples.

The downside may involve confusion over identity, as well as experiencing the disadvantages of acting unilaterally, or going it alone.

Saturn in Aries will bring a renewed focus on the individual after some years of attention to the collective. Now, the focused and mature individual will lead the way, cultivating self-control and self-discipline. Again, the dangers here are isolation and martial control. Aries is the God of War, as well as a courageous warrior for any cause. It’s a fine line and we can expect both representations of this archetype to be present.

Uranus also stations direct on February 3, reactivating the spirit of change and forward movement toward our unknown future. Throughout the month, before and after the Neptune/Saturn conjunction on February 20, Uranus transits influence our lives with several transits to personal planets. In each of the transits below, surprises, insights, upsets, breakdowns and breakthroughs are possible. These will be opportunities to cultivate our ability to lean into the massive changes upon us. As Levine and Judd also said of this period, those who cling to the banks of the rushing river (i.e. the past) will suffer… best to go with the flow, be flexible and adaptable. These Uranus transits will help us practice:

• 2/5 - Mercury square Uranus (thoughts and communication)

• 2/8 - Venus square Uranus (relationships, money, values)

• 2/15 - Sun square Uranus (self-assertion, identity, personal power)

• 2/27 - Mars square Uranus (potential danger, accidents, courage and aggression)

On February 17th we have an annular Solar Eclipse New Moon at 28°49’ of Aquarius. Eclipses are notorious for strange happenings and for revealing paradox. This New Moon also squares Uranus and, for interpretative purposes, occurs at the 29th degree of Aquarius, perhaps signaling fatigue from so much change happening so quickly, and/or from so many unexpected jolts to the nervous system in a compact period of time.

But just a few hours before the New Moon, the Sun opposes Pluto, empowering personal transformation. Taking Rudhyar’s unpacking of the New Moon’s symbolism, we have arrived at a turning point in individual human consciousness, and his analysis puts the responsibility (Saturn) for the status of our individual consciousness (Aries) in our hands.

Moon & Sun

(AQUARIUS 29°): A BUTTERFLY EMERGING FROM A CHRYSALIS.

KEYNOTE: The capacity to utterly transform the character of one’s consciousness by radically altering the structural patterns of everyday living and the types of relationships one enters upon.

This is the second time within a very short span of the cycle that the butterfly symbol appears (cf. Aquarius 25°). Here what is emphasized is the process of metamorphosis itself. It is the fourth symbol of a five-fold sequence and it stresses the essential character of the activity required at this stage of the cycle; i.e. nothing short of a complete renewal of all the implications of being alive as a human individual will do. A radical change is needed. At this stage, this change is individual and mental, and it should be seen against the background of humanity as a whole. What is revealed is the potential ability of every human being to participate in a higher realm of evolution AFTER his or her emergence from a critical state of transition.

At this fourth stage of the sixty-fifth subcycle the Keyword is METAMORPHOSIS. In spiritual terms, this implies “Initiation,” i.e. entering a higher realm of conscious existence and there joining a sacred Company.

Dane Rudhyar, An Astrological Mandala

In another ten days (February 27) Mars will square off with Uranus in late Taurus just a degree away from where this New Moon lands (27°42’ Aquarius). Fortunately, frayed nerves and aggressive postures may be tempered by the Venus/Mercury conjunction in Pisces happening later in the day. With that alignment, the heavens are offering us a moment to unite our hearts and minds in a place where visions, hopes and dreams are real, in spite of the sabers that continue to rattle.

This potentially tumultuous month ends the next day with the Moon moving into Leo, the sign of individual creative expression. The Moon will conjoin Uranus and later oppose Pluto on this day, making it an excellent day to consider your emotional responses to change and to death and rebirth transformation (both of which may also be triggered by external events). Change can feel risky, and transformation requires that some well-worn path be left behind and a new and unknown one taken up. Courage is required. Fortunately, the cosmos is supporting our acts of courage now. Perhaps we can use this support to our advantage to imagine and explore the possibilities of an Aquarian Age of harmony, and our individual roles in its coming.

I am happy to let you know that as of February 3, 2026, the Tulsa local in-person meeting of the Full Moon Group will reconvene.

Many of us have all endured a season of challenge and isolation on several fronts. But it is a new year and, dare I say, the dawning of a new era, so it is not only a pleasure, but an act of self-care and celebration for me to reconvene our local group to discuss the Full Moon each month and to explore building community in the process.

Starting on Tuesday, February 3, 2026, we will begin by meeting from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm at WOMPA, 3306 Charles Page Blvd, room 289 in Tulsa. I picked this timeframe because it is similar to the one we had in the past and the space is available. If it does not work for you for any reason, please do let me know by commenting on this post or emailing me at astrologylifecycles@icloud.com. I am definitely open to reconsidering the meeting timeframe.

A couple of notes of clarification about our meetings:

• My goals for holding these meetings again at this time are two-fold:

  1. To bring us together in community in order to strengthen our abilities to rise above the fray of everyday life and consider what is occurring from a deeper, and hopefully, more elevated perspective, and

  2. To enable us to hear and relate beyond our differences, in order to experience our commonalities.

• This group will be focused (as it was in the past) on the archetypal energies and patterns underlying the moment, specifically the Full Moon in question. As most of you who follow me know, I operate from the acknowledgement that every archetype has multiple and diverse manifestations. In other words, the archetypes are not politically or morally monolithic or easily defined by those approaches to apply to events or individuals. As a result I will avoid politicizing or moralizing the topics we may discuss and will encourage attendees to do the same.

• In order to make the gathering welcoming to people of any and all points of view, I hope we can keep the personal reflections we share during these gatherings focused on our inner process of understanding and working with the archetypal level of reality. For example, where and how do we see Pluto, Uranus, or the attributes of Aquarius showing up in our world and in our own lives and behavior? If we are concerned about a given situation in our world, can we identify how these archetypes are showing up “on both/all sides” of the issue, in the actions of individuals that agree with us as well as those who don’t?, etc. So while I may point to a specific situation, event or person during our gatherings, I will be focusing on the archetypal level of the topic and not attempting to make a political or moral argument. I ask those of you who attend to do the same.

• We live in a time in which the information that is publicly and widely available is more and more curated to specific audiences. Depending upon the media we consume, we have very different perceptions of events and individuals. This is to acknowledge that we will most likely never find any common ground by debating these different versions of reality, which is why we will attempt to stay focused on the archetypal perspective.

Thank you for considering joining us for these Full Moon Gatherings once again. It is my wish that they will help us to develop the kinds of strengths and skills that will bring the best hopes for the fulfillment the Aquarian Age in our midst.

Until we meet…

Much Love,

Marcia

Dear friends,

Before we dive into the January-specific overview, a few things bear mentioning. One is that 2026 promises to be a year of great and dynamic change with three outer planets changing signs. We have already seen Pluto, Neptune, and Uranus make brief transitions into new signs, but in 2026, all three will become lodged in their new terrains. Pluto has already taken up residence in Aquarius for the next twenty years, and Neptune and Uranus will soon end their last retrograde journeys to stand firmly in their new signs of Aries and Gemini, respectively. These are pivotal changes that last many years, and because the preceding signs these planets inhabited were so different from the new ones, bringing seismic shifts in our collective experience.

There is much more to be said about the specific archetypal dynamics that will be felt in our world as these major shifts occur. But this is a monthly report. That said, I will offer an annual overview via video or Zoom at some point soon. Watch this space!

For now, if you’d like to add these to your calendar, here are the ingress dates for both the social planets (Jupiter and Saturn), as well as the transpersonal planets in 2026:

• Jupiter into Leo- June 30 2026

• Saturn into Aries- February 13, 2026

• Uranus into Gemini- April 25, 2026

• Neptune into Aries - January 26, 2026

January, 2026

January’s first major astrological event is the Cancer Full Moon at 13°01’ on January 3, at 4:02 am, CST, opposite Venus and Mars in Capricorn.

It feels somewhat propitious to me that the Sabian symbols for this Full Moon, the first of 2026, in a year which also welcomes the 250th anniversary of the signing of the US’ Declaration of Independence, marking the birthday of the nation, call us to consider “Permanence in Truth” as well as “Historical Perspective.”

Given the last five years, at least, both the character of our nation and its founding principles, have been called into question. Both have seemed insufficient to the needs and tasks at hand, as well as hopelessly naïve, or ill-conceived. We have seen the unique principles enshrined in the First Amendment to our Constitution, including freedom of speech and the role of the press, called into question to the point of near de-legitimization. Calls for a revision of our Constitution have emerged, alongside equally impassioned pledges of allegiance to “western culture” and its Enlightenment ideals. Our founders’ ideals as well as our perceived way of life for the last 250 years, however incompletely or disingenuously applied, is the focus not only of the United States’ population, but of countries around the world.

In other words, this seems like a proper time for a New Year meditation on both changeless wisdom as well as the vicissitudes of historical reality, and to ask ourselves what counts for us as “changeless wisdom”? Has that metamorphosed over time? Do we still believe in our founding principles?

And what has been the historical record? How do we separate our all-too-human failings from the more “permanent” values and principles we have espoused? Do we still believe in these principles? And what is at risk if we don’t or can’t sustain and share them with our fellow citizens?

Sabian Symbols

The Moon

(CANCER 14°): A VERY OLD MAN FACING A VAST DARK SPACE TO THE NORTHEAST.

KEYNOTE: Fulfillment in transcending and changeless wisdom.

This symbol describes the Wise Old Man, an archetypal figure found in all systems of symbolism. In occult terminology the northeast is the direction from which spiritual-cosmic forces enter the Earth-sphere. This is probably because the polar axis of the Earth is inclined by some 23 degrees away from the exact perpendicular to the plane of its orbit. Thus the actual pole of our globe not only differs from the permanent pole of the Earth’s orbit, but constantly changes its direction, successively pointing to several large “circumpolar” stars during the so-called processional cycle (or “tropical year,” or Great Polar Cycle), which lasts somewhat less than 26,000 years. Because of this inclination of the polar axis, we have the phenomenon of seasonal change. Supposedly during the early Golden Age no such change occurred; a “perpetual spring” reigned. This is the (traditionally) spiritual state. The Wise Old Man faces the Changeless Reality, the true North —- which for us is located in a northeast direction. He faces the great Void, that apparent Darkness which is an intense Light invisible to our senses.

As this is a fourth stage symbol in the five-fold sequence, there is as usual a hint of technique. Implied is that by consistently and for a long time meditating on the changeless and spiritual reality at the very core of all experiences one can attain the supreme and age-old wisdom. We see in the symbol a way beyond appearances and toward PERMANENCE IN TRUTH.

Dane Rudhyar, An Astrological Mandala

The Sun

(CAPRICORN 14): AN ANCIENT BAS-RELIEF CARVED IN GRANITE REMAINS A WITNESS TO A LONG-FORGOTTEN CULTURE.

KEYNOTE: The will to unearth, in our culture as well as in any culture, what has permanent value, and to let go of nonessentials.

At a time when in nearly every land men are questioning and challenging the validity of traditional beliefs and customary attitudes, it becomes necessary to separate permanent values and great principles or symbols from the many individual habits and the socio-political developments which more often than not have perverted or even negated the original ideals of the culture. We must strive to free these ideals from the wild growth of personal and class selfishness, from the greed and ambition so prevalent in human nature, and learn to appreciate the excellence of what is the immortal seed-foundation, as well as the spiritual harvest, of any culture — and by extension of every sustained and complete work produced by a man’s indomitable effort to achieve creative perfection.

In this fourth stage symbol we are shown the procedure which enables us to gain a deep and thorough appreciation of socio-cultural processes in their most enduring forms. What is needed is a penetrating and courageous insight founded upon a valid HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE. This applies to the past of an individual’s life as well as to the history of a nation or a group.

Dane Rudhyar, An Astrological Mandala

On January 9th the Capricorn Sun conjoins Mars. This puts consciousness/Ego (the Sun) in league with assertion and drive and potentially aggression (Mars), in the sign of the “Establishment.” Expect muscles to be flexed, authority to be claimed and extolled, and potentially for those with “weight” to be throwing it around. On the more positive side, for those typically reticent to put their ideas or personalities forward, this alignment may prove just the boost needed to become the authority and command respect.

Until the middle of the month we will be moving through a series of personal planet alignments in opposition to Jupiter, the planet of expansion, principles, and good fortune. In order, Venus will oppose Jupiter on January 9 (a few hours after the Sun and Mars conjoin). This alignment can swell our feelings and impact relationships, particularly in the areas of work and home, or career and family. Significant events involving these areas of life are possible under this connection.

The next day, January 10, both the Sun and Mars will oppose Jupiter, adding a second punch to the Sun/Mars conjunction’s impact from the day before. What may have been subtle on the 9th will gain attention and grow in significance. Bluster of all kinds may abound, but so may good will!

And finally, on January 14 Mercury will oppose Jupiter, yoking our minds and tongues to the philosophical bent of Jupiter. We may find ourselves exploring the meaning of the past week or so and sharing our insights with others. If you have important issues that require a broad, eagle’s perch point of view to be resolved, this might be the day to explore the possibilities.

On January 18 we have the New Moon at Capricorn 28°43’ at 1:51 pm CST, which will be accented by a Mercury/Mars conjunction in Capricorn. Given the Sabian Symbol, it is possible that the interest in the “hidden meanings” of events will continue to be a subject of great interest that reaches something of a crescendo at this time. For those of us with an archetypal/astrological bent, the goal must be to discover and understand the archetypal forces behind human action.

This New Moon will be the second of four New Moons at 28° of their sign, which means we technically have a 29 degree anaretic new moon in December 2025, January 2026, February and March of 2026.

As the anaretic tends toward completion, even verging on fatigue and demand for change, these New Moons, traditionally understood as the beginning of the lunation cycle, show the energy of demand for change just preceding the forward movement of these powerful outer planets mentioned above. An inevitable question is put before us at this time:

How do we learn to see, or cultivate the ability to see both the enduring Truths, as well as the deeper realities at work as we approach this national birthday amid great change? What vision do we hold for the next chapter of America’s life, especially after a chapter that has called so much into question? Can we “free the ideals” that were so prominent in our founding from the impact of our history so that they live again among us? Can we see through the current facts as they are and simultaneously see how they are shaped by and reveal the archetypal realm of reality?

The Sun and Moon

(CAPRICORN 29°): WOMAN READING TEA LEAVES.

KEYNOTE: The ability to see the Signature of hidden meaning in every occurrence drawing one’s attention.

Man has always sought to interpret the meaning of events or situations which baffle him in terms of specific omens or “Signatures.” The reading of tea leaves is only a commonplace modern version of a certain type of procedure used by priests of all ancient religions. The practice is based on a realization of “the relation of everything to everything else” — a definition of astrology given by Marc Jones. Dream interpretation in depth psychology belongs to the same category, as it is based upon the establishment of a close connection between the unconscious and the conscious. But in dream analysis the individual unconscious, at least at first, is mainly referred to, while in omens (or modern fortune-telling at its best) one relies upon the power of occult forces or entities to convey the information that will clarify confusing situations.

This fourth stage symbol can be referred to a specific “technique” of understanding or evaluation. What is implied is the ability not only to perceive the facts of everyday existence, but to see through these facts and discover how they are related to the realm of basic meanings or archetypal processes. This is essentially what is meant by true CLAIRVOYANCE, the capacity to see in everything the Signature of deeper realities.

Dane Rudhyar, An Astrological Mandala

The last two weeks of January bring us five personal planet alignments with Pluto, which, it seems to me, indicates that the evolutionary moment heralded by Pluto’s ingress into Aquarius (seen by many as the fulfillment of prophecies regarding the coming “Age of Aquarius”) has reached the individual level of society. Beginning on January 19 when Venus conjoins Pluto, followed by Mercury, the Sun and Mars conjunct Pluto on the 22nd, 23rd and 27th, respectively, the impact of this era will start to be realized more and more by the average person.

As I have written about before, the Pluto in Aquarius transit is a significant one, historically speaking. Among significant historical occurrences during Pluto in Aquarius eras are:

• Constantine’s conversion to Christianity (305-330 CE)

• Printing was invented in China (1041-1063 CE)

• The Islamic “Golden Era” when algebra and the abacus were introduced (795-819 CE)

• The Protestant Reformation (1532-1553 CE)

• And, of course, our own United States Revolution and the writing of the Constitution (1777-1798 CE)

As innovative technology and science are both Aquarian pursuits, we should expect to see developments in these areas begin to impact our personal lives more directly. Venus conjunct Pluto brings to mind AI relationships, and new sorts of social arrangements, with individual liberty and a break from previous norms as features.

When Mercury conjoins Pluto our thinking and communication will be the focus. New and liberating ideas that question traditional models or revise and revolutionize “authoritative” perspectives should be expected… and espoused if you have an idea just begging to be unleashed. The quirkier, and more authentic and original, the better.

Releasing your own inner weirdo may be unavoidable under the Sun/Pluto conjunction. Just remember that Pluto is a transformative energy - it says that for the new to be born, the old must pass away. There may be a bit of mourning the loss of the past here, and its comforts, but Aquarius believes it’s worth the risk to live a more exciting and inventive life.

And finally we encounter a Mars/Pluto conjunction in Aquarius on the 27th. Mars is drive and Pluto is power, to put it far too simply. So Pluto empowers what Mars brings. Obviously, this can be quite destructive if the aims of Mars are aggressive and ego-centric. But Mars also brings courage, which, when both planets are in Aquarius, can embolden us to try the thing that seems the weirdest, or the most likely to get us labeled a kook or an eccentric. It can also bring the courage to stand up to the bullies in the world - even to outsmart and overpower them. Positively, Mars drives transformation from the traditional toward the futuristic and barely believable.

This is the territory now. And it will be followed, as the months unfold, by new experiences and a transformation in how we see and engage with our world. This is a pivotal moment, as all Pluto in Aquarius eras have been. This one will also demand that we align with our inner authority and trust in our vision and our instincts so that we can rebuild from the Capricornian structures that are now dissolving before our eyes.

Take heart…

As I am away for this month, I am happy to share a link to one of the most insightful, deep and entertaining astrology blogs on this site, astrologer Ang Stoic’s Cosmic Update on today’s Gemini full moon. I hope you enjoy it.

https://substack.com/@angstoic/note/p-180590614?utm_source=notes-share-action&r=37ddq