Two astrological events are occuring this week -- Saturn is ending the retrograde it's been in since late April, and the New Moon in Virgo is in opposition to Neptune. In addition Chiron is two months into its retrograde and has just moved from Aries back into Pisces. As a psychological astrologer, my first interpretation of these events is always concerning the individual, but the striking macro-level impacts just can't be missed. Read on.
SATURN
Saturn is in process of turning direct – that is, coming out of retrograde. As a major personal astro-energy, Saturn going direct can have an impact on our sense of time and structure that can help us now put pressures into perspective. Once again we can feel like we know how to organize our efforts to get everything done by whatever deadlines we have.
Saturn is also the cosmic teacher, especially of karmic and self- knowledge. This planet provides us with lessons that teach us about how we wield our authority and self-discipline (or not) versus how we need to use it to accomplish our goals.
If you’ve had any experiences since July that really tested your use of time, discipline, authority, knowledge, and ability to structure your efforts, that was Saturn demanding your attention like a sports coach or drill sergeant yelling in your ear. With Saturn turning direct that yelling may feel a bit quieter, but will remain in your memory until you complete the lesson.
All this Saturn retrograde action has occurred in the sign of Capricorn, which on the larger societal level represents government and public knowledge. We can see Saturn in action right now with the convergence of the Woodward book, the anonymous NYT op-ed piece about anti-POTUS resistance in the White House, the Kavanaugh SCOTUS hearings, and the looming midterm campaigns. Saturn is working toward revealing more on how government structures, bodies, and officials are incompetent.
NEW MOON IN VIRGO
Simultaneously, the Virgo New Moon on Sunday will bring into focus the mind/body connection, as light shines especially on emotions being filtered through bodily felt discomforts. Those with innate tendencies towards perfectionism could feel an extra boost of needing to get everything just right. Issues of mind / body health can remain a focus throughout this lunar cycle, and it’s a good time to rethink your nutritional and sleep needs.
That New Moon will also be in opposition to Neptune, the Dissolver. While Neptune’s influence is often credited with reception of psychic impressions, and an increase in creative output, it is also a very strong force for removing the blinders from our eyes when it comes to attachments and beliefs about other people, situations and even ourselves. Neptune is the prime disillusionist – its purpose is to help us see truths that have been hidden or ignored, especially regarding allegiances that we haven’t fully vetted.
With this connection occurring at the start of a lunar cycle, this could be a month of being astrologically urged to wrestle with uncomfortable truths that could change some of your loyalties. And again on the more macro, societal scale, this Virgo New Moon opposing Neptune lunar month is likely to spotlight more of our political illusions. Interesting that we often use the phrase the body politic – with this Virgo lunar energy, that body politic is in for feeling quite ill from all the emotions stirred up as more truths come out.
CHIRON
Chiron remains retrograde until Dec 10th and right now is sitting on the Aries/Pisces cusp where it will be until late Sept when it slips into the 29th degree of Pisces. Chiron is often called the Wounded Healer because it heightens memory and consciousness of suffering, especially of the kind experienced in childhood. In retrograde, we can feel more sensitive to these wounds, or be more frequently reminded of them.
When Chiron is not retrograde, its function is to help deepen our empathy and consciousness about others’ suffering so that our own efforts to heal ourselves often extend in various ways towards healing others. That doesn’t mean we all suddenly sign up for naturopathic medical school or reiki training. It means being more aware of how our interactions with others can be comforting or unintentionally confronting and hurtful.
When in positive alignment with Chiron’s energies, we may become more aware of the micro-aggressions we have unconsciously and inadvertently committed against others, often due to our unexamined use of racial and class privilege.
On the larger societal level, those with institutional and historical memory from 45 years ago are experiencing the echoes and worse of Nixon’s Watergate scandal, culminating in his resignation from the presidency. Many of us were in our childhoods when Senator Howard Baker demanded to know what did the president know and when did he know it during a Senate committee’s televised investigation of bringing Nixon to accountability for his high crimes and misdemeanors. It was a uniquely painful period in American history, but one that pales in comparison with the corruption evidenced since 2016 in today’s presidency. This is Chiron suffering currently in search of the as yet to unfold transformational healing.