A Libra on Saturn in Libra

Decided it was time to make another of these videos again now that Saturn in Libra is making a waxing sextile to my natal Venus.

Need to get back in practice - good Saturn word!! :-)

Venus in Libra Kisses

My annual visit to have my hair cut and a partial foil done results. There is a very good reason this Libra with Venus in Sagittarius in the first house chooses a day when Venus is happy. The day I made the appointment this year, Venus was in Libra trine Jupiter. Love it!! :-D

Image: Another "long arm" photo . . . taken outdoors on an overcast, cool fall day.

Scorpio – The Power to Transform

It is Scorpio season once more and there is a bite in the air. The Sun has entered my twelfth house with Mercury to follow on Wednesday and I find myself contemplating Scorpio’s signature ability of transformation in relation to the Neptune/twelfth house problem of addiction and dependency.

Even with all my twelfth house planets, supposedly a sure sign of a weakness for drugs and alcohol, I am not an addictive personality. That is not to say I haven’t been addicted to various things over the years because I have. I smoked cigarettes for over twenty years, a pack-a-day habit right up to the time I quit close to seven years ago - haven’t touched one since. I believe this is due in large part to Mars in Scorpio on the Ascendant gifting me with a desire not to be controlled by anything or anyone without my express consent – particularly when it comes to my body (first house).

After turning this over in my mind for several days, it dawned on me my dislike for getting high had more to do with a profound uneasiness about feeling out of control than anything else. Scorpios and other Pluto ruled types will often choose a rather austere course, avoiding drugs and alcohol as well as remaining celibate for years at a time to avoid letting anyone have something to hold over them.

Scorpio has a reputation for having an intense sexuality but I bet in many cases this has more to do with their willingness to smile, say nothing and leave others to draw their own often erroneous conclusions. Behind the myth, this is a deeply private water sign who prefer quality to quantity in their lovers. If this is not the case, then my guess is they have Scorpio’s co-ruler Mars in adventurous fire or detached air signs.

Another factor for me is when I’m done with something or someone, it’s over. This may have to do with having a preponderance of fixed signs, one of which is Scorpio. I’ve watched those with strongly mutable charts “play” with their addictions, i.e., smoking one or two cigarettes a day to being able to smoke a pack when out partying, and then back to the occasional smoke. If I allowed myself ONE cigarette, I’d be back up to a pack a day within a week. Heh, cardinal types will keep quitting over and over and over . . .

We all have Scorpio somewhere in our charts and during the next few weeks of Scorpio season, we can all get a little more in touch with this transformative sign. Also consider the house Scorpio falls in may be where we are driven to maintain the greatest amount of control.

Mars in Leo, Fun or Annoying?

My very Libra response is it all depends on the rest of your chart, whether or not you have abundant fixed signs or plenty of fire and air. Context is everything for considering how Mars’ extended stay in Leo will affect you. One thing is almost certain and that is the potential for Leonine drama.

Leo is a fixed sign along with Scorpio, Aquarius and Taurus. If you have plenty of planets in these signs, particularly from zero to eighteen degrees, this transit will get your attention. In general, Leo and Aquarius will have an easier time unless they happen to have fixed T-squares and grand crosses, then Mars in Leo can trigger stare downs and standoffs. The key factor is the fixed sign proclivity for taking a position and staying the course ala George W. Bush.

A chart with many planets and Angles in the first half of Taurus and Scorpio could spend the next few months in a state of almost constant irritation because neither of those signs has much patience with loud, dramatic scenes. Reminds me of the scene in Indiana Jones when he faces off with the sword wielding fellow and ends up pulling out his gun and shooting him. So much for all the flashy display with the sword!

However, fire sign dominated charts who have been feeling less than inspired by all the earth and water in the sky for the past couple of years, may find Mars in Leo gives them a real boost. Mars in Leo offers a sustained burn of energy to draw from. Aries and Sagittarius will finally find the support needed to tackle the really big creative projects they had to put on hold after Mars left zippy Aries at the end of May 2009.

Those with Gemini and Libra strongly represented in their charts may find themselves providing fuel for their fire sign compatriots and partners. After all, fire needs air to burn brightly!

Earth and water sign people, especially Taurus and Scorpio as I mentioned above, may be spending much of their time rolling their eyes and wondering what the heck all the fuss is about. The urge to put a damper on the fire and air fun will be overwhelming at times. The best chance of seeing this happening is when Mars is in his retrograde period from December 20, 2009 to March 10, 2010. Be prepared for discussions about affordability, waste of resources and going over budget being initiated by the earth and water contingent.

On the whole, with Saturn in Libra supporting compromise and equitable outcomes, this Mars retrograde may not be as bad as some (remember the Mars in Cancer Rx from November 2007 to end of January 2008). Staying centered and avoiding projecting worst case scenarios is highly recommended – as always.

Image: This dramatic shot of my favorite aspen grove glowing in the morning light has almost enough pizazz for Mars in Leo . . . :-)

Saturday Potpourri

Thankfully my mood has improved quite a bit from earlier this week. Venus is in Libra now and Mars has finally left damp ole Cancer for one of his happy places, Leo. Venus and Mars had been sextile in Virgo and Cancer but that’s a pretty sober combination compared to flirtatious Libra and outgoing Leo!

I was a busy lady yesterday and wrote a new synastry post for a Saturday Extra on Real Astrologers. Just so happens the woman who requested the feedback on her relationship is a Libra Sun and her boyfriend is a Leo Sun. Good timing!

When I checked to see what was new on AstroDispatch, I was very pleased to discover another astrology blogger writing synastry posts. Her blog is called The Inner Wheel and you can find a link in my sidebar. I highly recommend reading her post Synastry Q & A: Saturn Aspects. Maybe I like her ideas so much because they are so close to mine but great minds and all that.

Elsa P has a couple of excellent posts on relationships and Saturn in Libra: Saturn in Libra – defining what you can and cannot stand in relationships; and the Shift in the collective from Virgo to Libra. This will be an ongoing topic both on ElsaElsa and just about everywhere in the astro-blogosphere in the coming weeks.

If you missed Donna Cunningham’s post on The Astrology of Self-justification, please take a moment to go read it. Being right is a huge problem on all levels of the collective and is seriously detrimental to all our relationships.

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Update on 10-17-2009: As I was throwing sacks and boxes of wool that had sat for 15+ years waiting for me to get around to using onto a big burn pile, it dawned on me this was a perfect symbol for both the balsamic phase of the current Moon and my natal Moon.

Saturn in the last few degrees of Virgo, semi-sextile my 29 degree Sun, is demanding I do some serious housecleaning, clearing out the old "shoulds" and guilt trips.

Born under a balsamic Moon, I know this on a deep, intuitive level. How can we make a fresh start without doing that? We can't! Saturn's entry into Libra will be just that - a fresh start.

Image: Finally found a decent angle to photograph this little grove of aspen trees. Their delicate leaves are just starting to turn and I love the subtlety. Please remember to click on the image to view it larger! ;-)

“Bite Me” or Mars transiting the 8th

When Mars is in Cancer it passes through my eighth house and squares all my Libra planets making me more temperamental than usual – especially when it squares my Sun! Plus I end up thinking about typically Scorpio/eighth house stuff like death, inheritances, etc. Not at all my usual upbeat Libra Sun conjunct Jupiter state of mind.

This morning I woke up far too early and couldn’t get back to sleep because I got to thinking about how terrible it would be to have to choose between dying and bankrupting my family, an all too common scenario in this country. Frankly I would choose dying, somewhat to my surprise. I didn’t think I was all that self-sacrificing a person even though I have a bunch of planets in the twelfth house and Moon conjunct Neptune. HAH!

Set out to balance our checkbook this morning (also eighth house – joint finances) and after spending three hours over a task that usually takes me about fifteen minutes, I realized it will take a visit to the bank to figure out what’s going on. I did discover where they had entered the same check number twice. Went online to see if I could access a list of older transactions but what’s available online doesn’t go back far enough. :::::mumble, mumble, mumble:::::

Think I will go eat something before I start working on a client’s report. Don’t want them to suffer because I’m being an old grouch!! LOL

Image: This is the result of a sprinkler going all night when it gets down to 13 degrees F. Kinda pretty . . . :-) Click on the image and you will be able to see it much larger!

An Inside Out September

September turned out to be a rather odd month. It started out with lots of promise and a big cardinal push thanks to a t-square with Mars in Cancer, Pluto in Capricorn and Mercury in Libra. But once Mercury turned retrograde and slid back into Virgo, conjoining Saturn and opposing Uranus, life mired down.

Around here it was minor stuff for the most part – irritating but minor. My connection to the internet was flaky for about a week until I discovered if I just left the darn thing on 24-7, it worked fine. I still need to stop by and exchange my old modem for a new one with a built-in wireless router but decided to wait until Mercury was at least back into Libra before doing that.

Then there was the cell phone thing. My sister and I have been discussing sharing a family plan for months. She and our father had a two line plan and since he left his cell phone sitting on the counter 98% of the time, he ended up giving it to me. Damn thing promptly died because the battery was no longer any good. The next step was getting new phones. My sister signed her new contract just as Mercury was slowing down to station direct.

How did that work out? Her new phone’s battery was being weird but after she let it run completely out and left it on the charger overnight, it seems to have come around. The phone I was given has a bad battery, overheated and wouldn’t hold a charge longer than 48 hours max. A week and a half later, we had the battery in my phone replaced. I’m holding my breath and have my fingers crossed while waiting to see if this one will be OK.

I have become so resigned to my husband’s continually changing work schedule and attendant interruptions to my daily routines (Mercury in the tenth opposing Uranus in the fourth) I don’t even bother trying to get any writing done when he’s working around here. Besides, it is harvest season here and that takes priority. We dug our sweet potatoes, planted garlic, picked pears and apples and our winter squash crop. I still have to individually wrap the pears and apples in newspaper before placing in boxes to increase their storage life. We will really enjoy those later this winter!

I’m inclined to go with those astrologers who believe it was Mercury being strongly influenced by Saturn and Uranus aspects while in Virgo (along with a square to Pluto when in Libra) that gave us a more intense retrograde than usual. The message to take care of the damn details and prepare for “do over’s” was just louder this time around.

With my Sun conjunct Jupiter, my generally optimistic outlook keeps me from getting too down but I’m ready for those ducks to stop nibbling. Anyone else have an interesting September?

Image: This is an older photo but I love the sharp division of the clouds and blue sky. Yeah, I see this as clouds leaving and blue sky on the way! LOL