The Gas and the Brake
Jupiter’s sextile to Saturn this week (June 19, 2023, 8:53 am PDT) is their first major aspect since the 2020 Winter Solstice conjunction at 0º Aquarius. Aspects between these planetary opposites forge an uneasy alliance between expansiveness and restraint. When they come together in a conjunction, it’s like having one foot on the gas and the other on the brake: it’s hard to move forward at all. But the sextile suggests a more cooperative, better coordinated blending of the planets’ strengths.
For the first time in this current Jupiter-Saturn cycle, the light is beginning to dawn on the full potential of the combination, and how these two planets working together can help move society forward. When two planets are together in a conjunction, it’s hard to get a grasp of the road ahead; it’s not until the opening sextile forms that we begin to understand the landscape a little bit better.
There was such powerful promise in that Jupiter-Saturn conjunction. It was so beautiful in the night sky, and its placement in Aquarius felt so exciting after a long, Capricorn-heavy year. Maybe, we thought, this heralded a new age of coming together to do great work. But as Pluto entered Aquarius in late March 2023 and spent a couple of months parked at that magical 0 degree, we began to glimpse the potential downside of the Aquarian vision.
But this sextile offers an invitation to work together more cooperatively than society has shown in recent years and to make some pretty serious changes. Under this Jupiter- Saturn influence, we are driving with one foot on the gas and then the other foot on the brake – which offers a much better chance of getting somewhere!
Midyear Evaluation
Midway through the calendar year, my planner is looking a bit tattered, with corners curling up and untidy pencil smudges and scrawls. Let’s call it a metaphor for the way our New Year’s plans begin to look a little more chaotic by the time June rolls around. At the Capricorn Solstice in late December, filled with determination and hope, we draft bold resolutions for a year of success and prosperity. Then, the Cancer Solstice (June 21, 2023, 7:58 am PDT) marks the year’s midway reevaluation point. Even if we’ve been underachievers in the first half of the year, there may still be time to reach our goals.
But we can’t speed our way through this transition. Just as the Sun at the summer solstice appears to stand still in its relentless climb to midday heights, then pauses for a moment before it moves the other way, that is our job at midyear: to stand still for a moment, look around, and take stock of where we are. It’s usually too late in the year to start from scratch in an entirely new direction and hope to achieve anything by year’s end. But if we take the time to look back over our shoulders and reevaluate our progress, we can then refine our goals to fit the six months that are left, reviewing our plans and filling in the missing gaps.
Use Your Words
When she was very young, a tiny relative of mine was prone to the occasional temper tantrum, especially when she was overtired. As little kids are apt to do in such situations, she’d yell and stamp her feet, until her mother firmly insisted, “Use your words.”
Mars is moving through dramatic, passionate Leo now. Mostly, this transit – which focuses our high-energy Mars function on self-expression and play – can be a lot of fun. But just like a little kid who gets tired, frustrated, or hangry from too much playing and running around, our tempers might get the better of us from time to time.
That’s when it’s time to “use your words.” As rational Mercury sextiles Mars (June 21, 2023, 8:23 am PDT), call for a time out. Grab a juice box or a snack, find a cool spot, and try to engage your brain to think or talk through whatever has set you off – instead of stomping your feet and yelling.
Into the Storm
On June 23rd at 8:55 am PDT, the Sun makes a sextile to the North Node of the Moon at 1°56’ Cancer and Taurus. The Sabian symbol for the Sun at this sextile is 2 Cancer, A man on a magic carpet hovers over a large area of land. It reminds me of being on an airplane beginning its descent just outside an urban area, over plots of land arranged in a neat grid, like a quilt. It really does feel a bit like being on a magic carpet.
With the Sun fresh into its Cancer season, it’s a good time to sit still and review the year so far. But the Sabian symbol for the North Node is 2 Taurus, An electrical storm. Something is definitely going to shake up this languid, Sun in Cancer season.
Where I grew up in the Midwest, exciting lightning storms and even tornadoes regularly shook us out of our summer somnambulance. One minute, you were hovering high above and gazing peacefully at the world below, and the next, you were awakened and brought down to earth by a bristling, unexpected storm.
A sextile aspect represents an opportunity, an invitation, or a thought that comes to mind. But its potential benefits require us to accept the invitation or act on the idea. If we don’t, nothing terrible happens; but in this case especially, as the Sun connects with the North Node, a symbol of growth, declining the invitation can make it harder to move forward in a positive direction.
Writing and images © 2017-23 by April Elliott Kent
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