Strangers on a Train
Dates and times are given for U.S. Pacific Time zone.
Strangers on a Train
Anyone who has commuted to a job knows what the First Quarter Moon in Aquarius (Oct. 31, 2022, 11:37 pm PDT) feels like. If the New Moon is like the feeling of waking up in the morning, the First Quarter is what it’s like after we’ve showered, bolted a cup of coffee, and headed out the door. And in Aquarius, the First Quarter is like navigating a throng of people, all busy, all moving in the same general direction but with different destinations.
If you ride the same train or bus at the same time every day, you’ll generally see the same fellow commuters; you may eventually begin acknowledging each other with a slight smile or nod. On the freeway, your car is one of thousands jockeying for position, fighting to merge into another lane or make your exit. And with the First Quarter Moon and Sun both within wide aspect of Saturn, this is far from a smooth process.
You’re all going somewhere, more or less together, yet each of you is alone. And yet…if disaster should strike, or someone should faint on the train, or a nasty collision occur in the number four lane, prepare to observe humanity at its best. When the chips are down, strangers usually leap instinctively to one another’s aid, with no political, racial, or gender litmus test.
At the Moon’s First Quarter phase, we’re hell bent on getting somewhere. (Where? This First Quarter continues the work we began at the Jan. 31, 2022 Aquarius New Moon; look there for a clue.) But we’re navigating Saturnine roadblocks along the way and figuring out how to pursue our own goals while sharing the road with others.
Useful Stuff
My husband just got back from an estate sale down the block that he described as being unlike anything he’d ever seen. Unassuming from the outside, the 3500-square-foot house was packed, floor to rafter, with stuff of every description. Building materials and tools lay cheek-to-jowl with furniture, clothing, and housewares. Fascinated by the sheer breadth of offerings, he browsed for nearly an hour before coming home empty-handed. “It all seemed useful, but I couldn’t use it,” he said.
That sounds a lot like the Moon’s South Node. The South Node symbolizes a storehouse of helpful skills and knowledge that we’ve mastered, but which are only really useful if we use them to pursue the North Node path to growth.
When planets transit over this point, there’s an opportunity for those planets to stock up on some of that wealth. This week, Venus (Nov. 2, 2022, 5:34 pm PDT), the Sun (Nov. 5, 2022, 1:25 pm PDT), and Mercury (Nov. 6, 2022, 2:21 pm PST) connect with the transiting South Node on the Sabian symbol 14 Scorpio: Telephone linemen at work, a symbol of connection.
The Scorpio South Node is fully stocked with penetrating insights and intuition which, left unused, have a tendency to turn into suspicion and paranoia. But as the Sun, Mercury, and Venus dock with the South Node, they can access all those secret documents and dossiers to help us connect with others in more meaningful ways – and to know, value, and understand ourselves a lot better, as well.
The Genie’s Bottle
I’ve picked out my dream house. It’s a tiny, dowdy cottage on a desirable stretch of California’s central coast.
Let’s imagine the gods suddenly saw fit to grant my wish and give me this house. All is ecstatic solitude and windswept beaches. But let’s further imagine that one wintry, rain-soaked morning, a gigantic mudslide closes down the main highway through town, essentially trapping me in the situation I’d wished for. Well, it’s one thing to choose solitude, and quite another to have it foist upon us!
This, in a nutshell, is Venus in magical Scorpio opposed Uranus (the unexpected) in down-to-earth Taurus (Nov. 5, 2022, 3:22 pm PDT). The desires we’re intent on manifesting could possibly end up cutting us off from connections with important others and with the world at large. We may wish for a change in our current circumstances which, if granted, could open a genie’s bottle of dramatic complications.
The ultimate objective of this opposition is something in-between – a dream that satisfies our desires while keeping us from becoming trapped by them. As Venus in Scorpio opposes Uranus this week, it will find a way to demonstrate that we might be powerful enough to attract what we want, but even more powerful forces will show us whether it’s what we need.
Writing and collages © 2017-2022 April Elliott Kent
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