The Limbo, the Lair, and Fierce Women
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How low can you go?
I recently listened to a podcast about the Limbo, a popular party game with unexpected origins in the funeral customs of Trinidad and Tobego. In the limbo, one bends backward to cross under a pole without touching it. The podcast described an amazing video of Shemika Campbell, the Queen of Limbo, walking backward under a car carrying a tray with cups of water. She didn’t spill a drop.
Libra can bend over backwards without spilling a drop and make it look easy. But at some point, it must correct course by bending back the other way. The challenge faced by the Sun in Libra as it squares Saturn (Oct. 7, 12:07 pm PDT) in Capricorn is that the latter is more of a black-and-white, either-or placement. It forces Libra to choose a side, take a stand (or direction)…and then stick with it. The finality and commitment demanded by Saturn makes it hard for Libra to thrive, because Libra is keenly aware that there is no one way, no one side, no one truth.
Shemika Campbell set the world’s record for women’s limbo dancing by clearing a bar set at only 8.5 inches – and then, she got to stand back up. But Saturn in Capricorn proposes to set the Limbo bar permanently; so if you make important decisions as the Sun squares Saturn, be very, very careful about setting the bar too low.
Fierce Women
This week, Venus enters Scorpio (Oct. 8, 10:06 am) through Halloween. Venus in Scorpio dislikes artifice and resists all efforts to control her. She asks us to find beauty in what we are and what we’re authentically drawn to.
I grew up in a family of formidable women. We’re not dainty; we’re fat and fierce and loud, and when we’re together we laugh so hard that we can’t breathe. Each of us married long-suffering men who had spent at least one major holiday with the family and knew exactly what they were getting into.
On October 14, 1988, with transiting Pluto parked precisely on her Scorpio Sun, comedian Rosanne Barr premiered a sitcom featuring a TV family that remains, to this day, the only one I’ve seen that really resembled my own. (The exterior of the Conners home was literally photographed in my home town.)
Forget the real-life Roseanne and the baggage and controversy that come with her; I loved Roseanne Conner, her funny, sassy, bossy, opinionated, and irreverent creation. I recognized that woman, her daughters, her husband, her sofa. It wasn’t a pretty show, but it looked real to me. I liked that Roseanne wasn’t defined by her size. I liked that she never apologized for taking up too much space in the world.
As Venus transits Scorpio for the next few weeks, remember that your life is not a democracy – it’s a wild, uncensored, technicolor garden. Grow what you like there, and love who you are.
The Lair
Last year, as Venus made its long retrograde through Scorpio, it opposed Uranus three times (Sep. 12, Oct. 31, and Nov. 30, 2018). Some relationships didn’t survive those oppositions; Uranus made it all seem sudden, but in fact it simply revealed problems that had been festering for some time.
This year, Venus opposes Uranus only once (Oct. 12, 3:07 pm PDT). It’s a quick transit, strongest between Oct. 8 (when Venus enters Scorpio) and, say, Oct. 13. But this time when we go deep into Scorpio’s lair, we might actually find that we welcome the Uranian surprises we encounter there. After all, a full year of Saturn and Pluto’s dance has forced us to reckon with the limitations of our power and authority and acknowledge what’s true about us. If we’ve managed to surrender the desperate desire to hold on to the status quo, Uranus’ surprises might be just what we’ve been waiting for.
Entering the Ring
T he degree of the Aries Full Moon (Oct. 13, 2:08 pm PDT, at 20.14 Aries) falls on the Sabian Symbol, A pugilist enters the ring – so even before looking at the Full Moon chart, we know the coming two weeks will be marked by conflict, competition, and courage.
But looking at the Full Moon chart paints a full, stark portrait, with the Sun and Moon at 20.14 Libra and Aries, both square Pluto at 20.39 Capricorn. The collective social fabric – the Sun in Libra – is strained to tearing by the emerging needs of individuals (Moon in Aries); it’s time for a frank evaluation of what we’ve built together and whether it can survive.
But the Sun in Libra makes an exact sextile – an opportunity aspect – to powerful Jupiter in Sagittarius (Oct. 13, 11:01 am PDT) just a few hours before the Full Moon. If the desire to collaborate is strong enough, partnerships can hold together precisely by honoring individual needs – even if it initially seems unlikely.
© 2019 by April Elliott Kent
