Closer than They Appear
As a kid, I was puzzled by the message that appeared on our car’s rear-view mirrors: Objects in mirror are closer than they appear. It still takes my brain a moment or two to adjust to what I’m being told, there, which I guess is… things look far but they’re close? I think?
It’s a Mercury-opposed-Jupiter kind of dilemma, this concept of near vs. far, detailed vs. abstract. “You can’t see the forest for the trees,” we might tell a Mercury-oriented person, who focuses exclusively on details and misses the big picture. Like getting too close to a Monet landscape and complaining that it’s a bunch of little paint daubs. Or, “Your optimism is writing checks that your income level can’t cash,” to an incurable optimist who tends to get financially overextended.
Mercury is in Sagittarius as it opposes Jupiter this week (Nov. 18, 2024, 12:55 am PST), the first of three such aspects it will make in the coming weeks (the other two on Dec. 4, when Mercury is Rx, and the other on Dec. 26). Even in enthusiastic Sagittarius, Mercury will have its work cut out for it as it attempts to balance Jupiter. Luckily, they are in mutual reception, meaning each is in a sign that the other rules – and meaning they are more apt to cooperate, and rely on each other’s strength.
Dream a New You
The Sun in Scorpio makes one of two annual trine aspects to Neptune this week (Nov. 18, 2024, 6:08 pm PST). It’s a generally favorable aspect that lends itself to a few pleasant days (one before and one after the exact aspect) of spiritual rejuvenation. Since the Sun represents the ways we create, re-creation – time to simply be and to play – is vital to keeping our creative energy vibrant and healthy.
The Sun is on the Sabian symbol 28 Scorpio, The king of the fairies approaching his domain. The Sun is the symbol of royalty, and this king presides over a fanciful domain. So find a minute or two this week to be at home in your own playful environment. Relax near the water, enjoy music, catch up on sleep, and engage in spiritual retreat. It needn’t be anything formal, fancy, or expensive; just a bit of time set aside for meditation, relaxed pleasure, and re-creation – some time to dream a new you.
Pluto is not a creator
This week brings the epic final shift of Pluto into the sign Aquarius (Nov. 19, 2024, 12:40 pm PST, through March 8, 2043). Aquarius, the sign opposite Leo – sign of individual creativity – represents what we create in concert with others, exploring social connections and conceiving a path forward into the future. Aquarius begins on the Sabian symbol, “An old adobe mission.” It’s a symbol that has its troublesome side; here in California, the missions are beautiful and beloved, but also symbols of cultural and religious colonialism. As Pluto gets its footing in this sign, we have to beware of Aquarius’ fixed air sign tendency to impose strong beliefs onto others.
As it moves more deeply into Aquarius, Pluto will emphasize the profound importance of creating a world, a society, together. But Pluto is NOT a planet of creation; rather, its job is to highlight and eliminate whatever stands in the way of realizing the higher potential of its sign. Expect to see the shadow sides of social media, artificial intelligence, privacy issues, beliefs, and so on, as Pluto does its job of purifying the communal sign of Aquarius.
The Hero’s Journey
It occurred to me, watching “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” for maybe the 50th time, how many of the stories we enjoy revisiting each year during the holiday season – as the Sun moves through Sagittarius (Nov. 21, 2024, 11:56 am PST, through Dec. 21)– are tales of heroic journeys. Rudolph hits the road with his fellow misfit, Hermey the Elf, in search of a place where they fit in. The Biblical magi embark on the ultimate road trip, with only a star to lead them to the newborn savior. George Bailey and Clarence, and Ebeneezer Scrooge and his ghostly tour guides, travel to alternate universes to better grasp the importance of a single human life.
For each of us, Sagittarius represents our own Hero’s Journey, complete with tortuous paths, ordeals and rewards, and the promise of redemption. We recognize ourselves in Rudolph, in George, and even in poor old Scrooge. We understand their dissatisfaction and despair, and the feeling that there’s no better way to reboot our lives than to launch ourselves into the vast unknown. We know the fear of failure and the sadness of feeling like a stranger, and we know that there are times in life when proving that we can overcome that fear and sadness is exactly what we need in order to feel truly alive.
Choices
In a week full of bigger shifts, a sextile between the Sun and Pluto (Nov 21, 2024, 12:49 pm PST) might seem insignificant. But no connection between the Sun and Pluto is unimportant.
The two began a new cycle with their conjunction on January 20, 2024. When these two important symbols are in a conjunction, there’s enormous pressure to change our current form. Often, this pressure comes from those with power over us, like a boss, a parent, or a bank manager.
But at the closing sextile, we’ve gotten a little distance from that power struggle. We can begin to see the choices that are available to us – although whether we’re willing to take them, or whether they will take us where we want to go, is another question.
The rest of this week’s astrology emphasizes new beginnings. But since the Sun and Pluto are at the very beginning of their signs, at 00º02’ Sagittarius and Aquarius, some of the best opportunities will be found in picking up old threads and weaving them into something new.
What We Do For Fun
When I’m asked what I do for fun, I usually reply, “…I work?” I’m not that good at relaxing and enjoying myself, and it seems the minute I adopt a creative hobby, I find a way to turn it into a business.
Come to think of it, I suppose what I really enjoy is business. And yes, I’m lucky to have found a way to make my living doing something I truly love, but I won’t lie – it’s taken a lot of Saturn to make it work.
Venus is the symbol of what we enjoy. As Venus in work-loving Capricorn meets up with Saturn this week in an opportunity-oriented sextile aspect (Nov. 22, 2024, 3:55 am PST), an invitation or idea may come across the transom and lead you to wonder: Could you combine what you love with your occupation? Maybe you’ve got a book inside you that needs only Saturn’s discipline to find its way out. Or perhaps you meet someone who works remotely, on the road in an RV, free to enjoy some of the world’s greatest natural spaces as their office, and you think to yourself, “Well, as a matter of fact…”
Can you make a living doing what you love, where you love to do it? Loving Venus is easy. Much depends on whether or not you can love and embrace Saturn as well.
The Editor
People who enjoy reading but are not themselves writers might imagine that the process of spilling words out onto the page is as effortless and enjoyable as it is to read them. But in fact, most writers write big, messy, awful first drafts that you wouldn’t enjoy reading at all. Sometimes it’s hard to imagine what you want to say at all until you see some version of it on the page (or computer screen), complete with every scrap of inspiration or half-formed idea, every half-finished sentence and mixed metaphor.
Now, you don’t hit “publish” on the blog post or send it to a publisher or agent in that desperate condition. You have to go back and knit together something comprehensive, address the punctuation issues, throw out what doesn’t work, and generally tidy things up.
While the Sun is in Sagittarius, we write a big, messy first draft of our big ideas and adventurous schemes for the new year that’s just around the corner. The sky’s the limit for our Sagittarius imaginations; our quivers are filled with arrows that may or may not hit their target.
Sagittarius season’s Last Quarter Moon in Virgo (Nov. 22, 2024, 5:27 pm PST, 1º14′ Virgo) is when we hand this New Year’s plan over to our inner editor, who breaks it down, decides what’s realistic and essential, excises the excess, and tightens the prose. If you’re a little bit of a Virgo type who is used to playing this role with a Sagittarian type friend, you know the resistance and tension in this process. We don’t want to give up any of our Sagittarian arrows. But our only hope of making any dreams come true is to focus, and to decide which scheme shows the most promise. And in this, Virgo excels.
Writing and images © 2017-24 by April Elliott Kent
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