Deep Field Insight

The Sun crosses the Libra cusp on 22 September.

Libra season is when we weigh and distribute the harvest-- a time to focus on harmony in our relationships, setting social intentions for the winter. Remember that for some of our ancestors, winter was a matter of life and death, and only a community with strong systems of mutual aid would surive year after year.

Though mortal threats now wear different masks, Libra shows an especially challenging face this year. As the Sun enters the sign, it's immediately thrown into a dance with three outer planets: a Grand Trine in Air with Uranus and Pluto, and an opposition with Neptune in Aries completes the kite (an equilateral triangle in a circle with a diameter touching one point-- in this case, the Sun). The Sun here in early Libra is shining a torch on the historical interplay of these long-term outer planet forces, maybe personalizing it.

Libra season is also in trouble because the sign's ruler, Venus, is afflicted by retrograde (closest point to Earth) in Scorpio, a sign whose intensity is perhaps most at odds with Venus' pleasant essence.

Libra's New Moon on 10 October (chart shown here) could hardly be in more trouble: it happens an hour after sunrise, having yielded power to afflicted Venus, who is also in uncomfortable squares to Scorpio's rulers, fiery Mars and dark Pluto. This fall, love and beauty are running a gauntlet. Historically, Venus' Scorpio retrograde has been associated with uncovering of secret alliances and desperate negotiations to avoid the worst.

Could it be that giving up the shift out of Daylight Savings Time for the winter will be part of the extra-challenging adjustment for the fall this year? Those of us in a region dealing with that novelty might find Venus' challenging journey manifests in a longing for her warm embrace, even while we revel in the temptations that darkness can allow.

For all you astrologers, let's meet in advance! --on the day when Venus's retrograde station conjuncts Mercury-- a moment for expressing and thinking through how our enjoyment derives from dark matters, and how threatening our pleasure can be pleasurable in itself, even a source of strength.

Ask me about Astro Cafe on 6 October!

Possible themes may include: Are we really getting what we want from love? Is our own peace and comfort worth the suffering of others? What pleasures do we feel we have to keep a secret from others? What compromises are we willing to make to avoid conflict?

The elements have been the foundation of how we think for centuries, and they remain deeply lodged in our culture, even after science showed them to be ideas rather than substances.

The four concepts come from two opposite pairs, allowing us to explore contrast and investigate balance by sorting symbols and symptoms into their domains. The importance of the two pairs may have originally come from the four directions we use to navigate: forward, backward, left, and right. Apply those polarities to substance, and we find four material experiences with which to name them.

More on Substack:

What are the Four Elements, Really? Let’s get Platonic in here

2nd week of July, we meet again

I think Mercury retrograde has done some good things for us, I really do.

Today I replaced the bottom bracket on my bike. I've been struggling with it for months: cranking the bolt every few rides, unable to push with full power on the pedals, worrying about something snapping irreversibly and stranding me.

Today I paid $30 for a new part and $30 to watch a dude swap it out in front of me. Problem solved. Not *nothing* in terms of expense (and there have been times in the past year when it wouldn't have been an option for me), but a pretty small stitch in time.

I knew I didn't have the tools nor the competence to tackle it on my own (though now that I realize I swap the part, not rebuild it, all I need is that tool). So I've been debugging, replaced the chain, cranked that bolt, and let worry and inconvenience become my new normal.

We think of Mercury retrograde as a time of inconvenience, when things don't go according to plan. Mercury, the planet of best-laid-plans, of travel and communication, well, it's moving backwards in the sky, it just won't cooperate. We should expect trouble.

But that backwards movement is an illusion. It's really the time when we see the true movement of Mercury rather than the relative movement of the Earth around the Sun-- along with its closest companion planet.

It's also when Mercury is at its closest point to Earth, between us and the Sun.

(And all the other other planets, too, even the outer ones moving very differently from Mercury, are retrograde when they're closest to Earth.)

It doesn't have to be a time of inconvenience and trouble. It's a time to pay attention to Mercury, to better understand its motion. And to give some extra attention to the parts of life it rules: how we move around, how we share information, how we negotiate meeting each other, getting on the same page. All that, and the sense of ease we get when plans come together and things go the way we expect.

Mercury retrograde isn't the time for that ease. It's not the time to take the path of least resistance or to take anything for granted. It's the time for setting up the systems that can bring that ease once they're implemented. It's time for paying extra attention and for putting in the work.

♋🦀

The symbol for Cancer (where Mercury is currently retrograde) is the most like a wheel out of all the signs. It's pretty circular, it has a direction of rotation. Cancer is the cardinal water sign. Cardinal, it's about motion and impetus; water, it's about flow and finding the path of least resistance (though water can be heavy, eh). Sounds a lot like a wheel. Moving water rolls.

So check your wheels this month! Put in the work to save yourself trouble. Do something you've been putting off that will make it easier for you to roll.

Don't worry, don't get caught in an emotional whirlpool of shame and hopelessness, but take action!

Of course, the other lesson of a retrograde is the "re-". Re-do, re-evaluate, re-hash.

A solution doesn't always take the first time. Paying extra attention can mean learning a new lesson. So my fingers are still crossed for this one. It sure feels good today, but like a rolling wheel, there can always be another shoe to drop (if the wheel is made of shoes, I guess, imagine it; it works). So let's take this win as an unfolding lesson, maybe a future opportunity, or maybe just the end of a period of frustration, when I finally decided to pay attention to the situation enough to move on.

And if you don't think Mercury retrograde has done good things for us... Tell me in the comments! 💫

Somebody on the team knows about mitigating a Mars-Uranus conjunction

density of water = 1ton/meter^3

density at center of Earth’s core = 13t/m3 (thermal pressure / electromagnetic force preventing collapse)

density at center of the Sun = 150t/m3 (thermal pressure / hydrostatic equilibrium preventing collapse)

density at center of heaviest theoretical white dwarf = 1 000 000 000 t/m3 (electron degeneracy pressure preventing collapse)

density at center of heaviest theoretical neutron star = 1 000 000 000 000 000 t/m3 (neutron degeneracy pressure preventing collapse)

density at singularity of black hole = theories of physics no longer function

This full moon is the last time we'll be able to see the moon and the applying Venus-Jupiter conjunction in the same sky.

Soon enough, the Moon will rise late, once the two planets have set for the night. The conjunction on the 9th is before the new moon, when the crescent will start to appear in the evening again, after the 16th.

This is so esoteric that even my nerdy observational astrologer mind struggles to imagine any significance to it.

The full moon is trine to Saturn in fire signs. Use its energy tonight to develop charisma, performance, or revelation sustainably. Such things will inevitably serve the rising power of individuals over traditions and expectations.

"I believe in the good things coming"

If you look to the western sky after sunset, you'll see two bright lights: Venus and Jupiter. Every day, they get a little closer.

Until 9 June, when they find their closest conjunction.

This is the best aspect of the year. The planet of pleasure and the planet of magnanimity in exact alignment.

Until then, we can feel that powerful blessing building, more and more each day.

Nahko can really bottle up that good energy and turn it into a song. Listen and see if you can feel the song's vibe in the world right now (even in spite of all the difficulties history is heaping on us).

Nahko And Medicine For The People - Black As Night [Official Music Video] Official video for Nahko And Medicine For The People's song "Black As Night"Find new music & tour dates at https://nahko.comFollow Nahko:https://www.nahko.co...