A Subtle Grand Trine in Earth...
Grasp This Opportunity!
A Subtle Sign/Element-Based Trine for a Month in Late Summer 2020
With the movement of Mercury into Tropical Virgo on August 19th, 2020 we move into a period of a very subtle sign/element-based grand trine in Tropical earth signs. There is much opportunity to be gained from this.
Following the movement of Mercury into Tropical Virgo on the 19th, the Sun will then move into Tropical Virgo on August 22nd, 2020.
This movement of Mercury and Sun into Tropical Virgo will see the two planets make a series of trines, first to Uranus and then to Jupiter, Pluto and Saturn. There are periods when these trines will be exact. There is not one point when Mercury and Sun will be in exact trine with both Uranus and the three planets in Capricorn at the same time, so there is never an obvious, exact grand trine, but by being in the sign/element they make this grand trine active throughout the entire period, with the periods of the exact trines to Uranus and the exact trines to Jupiter, Pluto and Saturn being peak periods during the cycle.
The Sun rules our center, the ego-self and the source of our survival, while Mercury rules our thinking mind and our ability to reason and to receive and share information. Tropical Virgo is ruled by Mercury, is a mutable earth sign and is detail-oriented, able to see the minutia that others may overlook, and so, able to see systems and cause-and-effect that may be subtle and hard to see without Virgo's microscopic lens. Virgo rules the earth, the harvest, agriculture and natural systems. With Sun and Mercury in Virgo, we are given the opportunity to see new details about our center, our deepest self, and about how we think and what we think about both systems and our ability to cultivate growth and harvest within our lives.
Further, Mercury is still 'under the beams' of the Sun (combust), having hit the exact conjunction (cazimi) just a few days before Mercury entered Tropical Virgo on the 17th. And so as Mercury and Sun enter Tropical Virgo, just a few days apart (19th and 22nd), Mercury is still under the influence of the Sun and Mercury will emerge from 'under the beams' within Tropical Virgo to take on its evening star phase in Tropical Virgo. It is often thought that a planet is neutralized when in combustion with the Sun, but a planet in its own sign is less effected and Mercury even less so, making the placement in Virgo very strong and auspicious for Mercury even if combust. To add another layer of interest, the royal star Regulus, heart of the lion, is now found at 0 degrees of Tropical Virgo, due to precession. This precessional placement of Regulus at 0 degrees of Tropical Virgo began in 2011 and will continue for about 72 years (2083), when the Tropical Zodiac will move another degree and Regulus will be found at 1 degrees of Tropical Virgo. With the Sun and Mercury combust as they cross the royal star Regulus and into Tropical Virgo, Mercury-ruled, we can expect this time period, and the trines it will make to the outer planets, to be very auspicious.
Before we look at the possible meanings of these transits and this time period let us get some exact dates.
August
17 - Sun/Mercury Cazimi in Tropical Leo trine Mars
18 - New Moon in Leo trine Mars
19 - Mercury conjunct Regulus and enters Tropical Virgo
22 - Sun conjuncts Regulus and enters Tropical Virgo
22-23 - Mercury begins to exit combustion with the Sun
24 - Mars square Saturn
25 - Mercury trine Uranus
29 - Mercury trine Jupiter
30 - Mercury opposition Neptune
September
01 - Mercury trine Pluto
02 - Sun trine Uranus
03 - Mercury trine Saturn, square North and South Nodes, and 14 degrees away from Sun for first time since entering applying combustion (august 4th, 2020)
04 - Mercury inconjunct Mars
06 - Mercury exists Tropical Virgo, entering Tropical Libra
09 - Sun trines Jupiter, Mars stations to turn retrograde
11 - Mars retrograde begins
12 - Sun opposition Neptune
13 - Jupiter turns direct
14 - Sun trine Pluto
17 - Sun square North and South Nodes
18 - Sun trine Saturn
19-20 - Sun inconjunct Mars
22 - Sun enters Tropical Libra - first day of fall - activation of the equinox point
So now we have our dates and can begin to discuss what this cycle means and we can begin to layer in the True Constellation Sidereal zodiac placements to give a secondary layer of meaning that will be working beneath the surface throughout. So let's now take a look at the True Constellation Sidereal (TCS) zodiac placements. The fact that we can say that "Regulus is now at 0 degrees of Tropical Virgo" tells you that we are dealing with the constellation of Leo, right off the bat, because Regulus is in the 10th degree of the constellation of Leo, and when we say that it is now at "0 degrees of Tropical Virgo" that tells us that the first degree of the seasonal, Tropical zodiac sign of Virgo has precessed to the 10th degree of the constellation of Leo.
Before we look at the TCS constellations involved, I want to point out that the layering we see currently, where the Tropical zodiac is about 1 sign ahead of the actual constellations, is simply what we see in our time. Granted, precession is so slow (1 degree per 72 years) that is takes a couple thousand years, give or take (depending up on the actual size of each constellation) for a constellation to precess back across a Tropical sign. So in our time, the true constellations are approximately one sign behind the Tropical zodiac, but that won't the be case in just a few hundred more years, and the precession is ever moving backward so that at any given time in the 26,000 year precessional cycle, every constellation will pass through every Tropical zodiac sign. As each constellation passes through each Tropical zodiac sign, the two layer their meaning, so each Tropical zodiac sign spends a couple thousand years (or so) layered with and experiencing the energies of each constellation. That is the combination of the yearly cycle with the millennia-long precessional cycle, which creates the world ages, and each age layers in its own unique way, depending on the combination of seasonal, Tropical zodiac signs with the true constellations. This cycle is not random, but we will save that discussion for a future post.
So in our time, the Tropical sign is in conjunction with the constellation that is about one sign behind, so as an example, the spring equinox is at 0 degrees of Tropical Aries while the Constellational degree is between 6 - 9 degrees of true constellation Pisces, and the true constellations, because of precession, are moving backwards, so eventually, the last degree of the sign of Aquarius will rise in conjunction with 0 degrees of Tropical Leo. That will the much-touted "dawning of the Age of Aquarius", which is still a few hundred years away. In a couple thousand years or a little more, Aquarius will move off the vernal equinox and Capricorn will join Tropical Aries on the vernal equinox, and so it goes on and on, constantly moving, constantly changing in a 26,000 year cycle of layers of meaning and experience. So the soul grows, and so the Universe gains experience...
Back to our time, when we look at the elemental trines, we see an interesting thing. Let's look at the earth element signs, since they are the foundation of what we are discussing. Each elemental trine makes specific squares. The earth signs receive a superior square from an air sign, and gives the superior square to a fire sign. As well, each earth sign is bookended by a fire sign (just behind it in semi-sextile) and an air sign (just ahead of it in semi-sextile). The other air and fire signs are then inconjunct to the earth sign, according to the cycle. So the earth signs have a complicated relationship to air and fire - semi-sextiles, squares and inconjuncts. This is the case for each element so fire has this set of relationships with water and earth. We have discussed earth. Air has this relationship with earth and water. Water has this relationship with air and fire. So when we consider how the Tropical zodiac layers in our time with the true constellations, we see the semi-sextile relationship (which can also be referred to as 1:2 relationship, i.e., approximately 30 degree separation relationship). With this relationship the Tropical and TCS energies are mildly helpful to each other, much like the mildly beneficial semi-sextile aspect.
So we now have Jupiter, Pluto and Saturn in Tropical earth and in square to Mars in Tropical fire, while also making a sign/element-based trine with Uranus in earth. The addition of Mercury and Sun to a Tropical earth sign at this time creates a sign/element-based square between the three earth signs. We also see the relationship set of the three earth signs to Mars in fire by sign/element - semi-sextile Uranus, square (exact) Jupiter, Pluto and Saturn and inconjunct Mercury and Sun. Further, one other planet to consider is Neptune, currently in Tropical Pisces, and in sign-based sextile to Uranus and Jupiter, Pluto, Saturn, while making an opposition to Mercury and Sun in Tropical Virgo and a semi-sextile to Mars in Tropical Aries. When we flip these planets into the TCS placements, we find all of the Tropical earth placements move backwards by one into fire - Uranus moves from Taurus to Aries, while Jupiter, Pluto and Saturn move back to Sagittarius, and Mercury and Sun are located in Leo. We find that Mars, at the end of Tropical Aries is in the end of TCS Pisces, and Neptune in Tropical Pisces is at the very end of TCS Aquarius.
So in the Tropical zodiac we have all three earth signs activated, with one fire and one water sign activated. In TCS we have all three fire constellations activated, with one water and one air constellation activated. This means that we are looking at a majority of earth and fire, no matter how you cut it. In the Tropical Zodiac, the predominant elements are earth and fire, while in TCS we have a predominance of fire with water. In the Tropical zodiac, water is an accent, and in the TCS zodiac air is an accent (Neptune). Because we see a predominance of earth and fire, that is where we will focus from here on out. As you can see above earth and fire carry a somewhat fraught relationship, with squares as the major aspects and the rest are minor aspects. However, the layering of earth and fire in our time represents the 1:2 semi-sextile relationship, which is mildly helpful. Combined, I believe we see a synthesis that represents mildly helpful energies (semi-sextile) coming through obstacles (squares) that help us to rearrange (inconjunct) our energies (fire) and views of reality (earth). In Chinese elemental theory earth is the child of fire and is fed by fire, as the wood that is burned creates ash which makes earth. Creation and growth through destruction and transformation. Now let us move on to the crux of this month-long period of planetary trines.
The aspects at this time are making specific demands on us. The co-presence of Jupiter, Pluto and Saturn combined with the layering of Tropical Capricorn with TCS Sagittarius is demanding that we bring our beliefs and ideologies into alignment with reality. Uranus found with the layering of Tropical Taurus and TCS Aries is demanding we get in balance about how we apply our energies (especially the more aggressive ones) to the planet earth, how we deal with our sensual selves, our seeking for pleasure and our physicality. Sun and Mercury together in Tropical Virgo and TCS Leo will demand that we see the details of how we harvest what we sow and how we see ourselves. Mars in Tropical Aries/TCS Pisces is in a special combination with Jupiter and the TCS placements of Mars and Jupiter become very important, demanding that we reconsider how we apply our energies to our beliefs and where our beliefs are potentially delusional, over-exaggerated, oriented only toward aggressive expansion and thus, an obstacle to realistic action, ideas and beliefs. Neptune in the mix, with the layering of Tropical Pisces and TCS Aquarius is telling us to upgrade our beliefs. The opposition of Sun and Mercury over the next month will help us to see where our beliefs are out of balance and help to show us the details of how to upgrade those beliefs so that they are not delusionally clinging to the past, but are oriented toward the future. What this means is that you have the opportunity to make significant changes, positive changes, that will help you move forward into the world that is about to unfold.
Because the series of squares between Mars and Jupiter, Pluto and Saturn will carry through the beginning of next year, this window of transformation and restriction will be with us throughout the rest of the year, so just be ready to sit still and work inwardly. Then in early 2021, Jupiter and Saturn, having changed signs into Tropical Aquarius/TCS Capricorn, will make a square to Uranus. This will be a culmination of the low-grade sign/element-based trine between Uranus to Jupiter and Saturn. While this elemental trine is active is the time to do the work, because that square in 2021 will not be forgiving for those who didn't do the work when they had the opportunity. The Universe has conspired to clear your schedule for most of 2020 so you can do this work. Saturn wishes me to tell you that if you only want to sit around and cry about not being able to go to a restaurant or a movie theater, you're really not going to like the squares between Saturn and Uranus in 2021, and there will be three of them spanning the entire year. So get to work while that sign-based trine gives you the opportunity! There is a new world trying to be born, and you are all its midwives! It is birthed by you flushing the toxic mindset of the old world out of your head. It will probably feel a lot like giving birth to a 12 pound baby through your ear, but it could be worse. If you are just about to die because you can't go to a concert, you might try being grateful that you aren't on a respirator dying of Covid 19.
Now I hate to embody Saturn, but since I am basically Mercury, I have to carry messages for the planets, and Saturn has a lot to say. The world is changed. It is changed because the Universe has decided the time was right to change it. It isn't a conspiracy to steal your freedom by making you wear a mask or miss out on social interactions. It isn't a plot by anyone, left or right, or by any country or cabal. Movements of this caliber can only be caused by the Universe, and when they happen, you'd best sit up, take notice and get your work boots on, because there is work to do, and the Universe isn't going to be kind to those who refuse.
So Mercury and Sun through Virgo are going to show you details about where you are being self-important (Leo) and self-involved (Leo). Mercury is going to show you where that old mindset of 'me-me-me!" (Leo) is toxic to the earth (Virgo), and what kind of harvest is gained (Virgo) through that mindset. Uranus is going to help Saturn to show you how fiery violence (Mars/Aries) against the earth (Taurus), combined with self-indulgent self-important belief (Mars/Pisces - Neptune/Pisces - Jupiter/Sag Jupiter/Cap) that we are somehow above the earth is destructive, and not just to the earth, but to us too. With the opposition of Mercury and Sun to Neptune, along with the trine to Uranus, much of what you may find when you enter stillness and accept it, slide down into your personal underworld and examine your unquestioned beliefs in a new light, will likely be a big surprise. We all have a ton of unquestioned, unexamined beliefs, and the first thing we have to start to do, in order to move forward, is to unpack all that subconscious content, take it out into the light and question whether it gives us joy or not, whether it is appropriate and constructive or no longer applicable and destructive, and then throw out what we can't take forward with us. With Saturn as the ringmaster of this show - and in conjunction with Pluto - deaths of all kinds are an absolute reality. For some, that will be literal, but for most of us it will be metaphoric. I have absolute and deep sympathy for those who are physically suffering, for those who have or will die, and for those who are mentally suffering. I don't want to be unsympathetic (even if Saturn and Pluto, generally speaking, are unsympathetic characters), but for those who aren't literally dying, your suffering is a doorway to a new world and a new life. And that is where we will spend the rest of this post...
So again, I want to apologize for the Saturnian nature of those above paragraphs. Now softer energies want to tell you the good news. Virgo is the goddess, the great mother, sometimes seen as the Virgin, sometimes as the Mother of the grain and the green earth, and sometimes as the Crone of the harvest. She wants you to grow and live and have joy and embrace the uncomfortable as a part of the whole. She says, "Know that you will die, and therefore, live while you are alive!" Virgo is going to show you details about how to live in a time of pandemic and quarantine. Because she is Demeter and Persephone, she can teach you about both loss and the journey into the underworld. She can also teach you about reunion and how to return from the Underworld. That is all information you need at this time and for the months to come. Sun there in Virgo with Mercury is going to give you the gift of life through understanding these details. Because let me tell you, ladies and gentlemen, if you aren't dead, you are still alive, and if you are still alive, the sun is still rising and you have air to breath, then you still have space to accomplish things, to fulfill your dreams and to actualize your path.
You may have to change some of your beliefs in the light of new information. This is a thing that so many people seem to not understand, and really seem to not understand about science - how to hold to what you know until new information comes along and you then add in the new information, rearrange your beliefs and stories and move forward, always knowing that no knowledge or belief is absolute and that you may encounter new knowledge that again demands readjustment (inconjunct). This is how you balance on the edge of the knife. This is how you live in certainty with uncertainty. You can never know it all. Your beliefs can never be absolute, complete and infallible. You will find you are wrong about things, and you will either change and grow, or stagnate and stop moving. Right now, though, those who have stopped the work of change and inner growth are really suffering, because they are locked in a battle with Saturn and Pluto.
It may feel at this time as if you have been thrown up against a stone wall. You may feel like you have hit an unmovable object and so have stopped dead in the water, but start searching around and you might just find a window or doorway that gives you a new view, or access to a whole new world. New views and new worlds are what is on offer here, if you can take it, but you are going to have to find the access point. No one is going to come along and lead you by the hand to it. We enter the Underworld alone and we can only exit it alone (just ask Inanna). The grand Tropical earth trine offers this hugely positive gift, and it is there for us, but it may not be easy. We too often associate trines with something easy and pleasant, but trines can also present a challenge, of one sort or another, and it is only through meeting the challenge that the reward is given. You can bet that with Saturn as one part of the earth grand trine pattern, it is likely to be that kind of trine. However, that also implies that the benefit to be derived is something lasting and of great value that will unfold over time for you. I can't emphasize how much I feel that the aspects of this year, and especially of this month, are extremely important and have the potential to be extremely positive over time, no matter how they look to you at this moment.
When we flip from the Tropical zodiac to the TCS zodiac, the aspects remain the same, but the signs change and we are looking at the grand trine in fire. This puts Jupiter into great prominence, and so the trine is likely to reveal aspects of how we use our energies, how we see ourselves and what we believe, the ideologies we embrace. When both Tropical and TCS zodiacs are layered, what I see is that we need to look deeply at what we believe and how we implement that through our actions, how our beliefs and actions may be out of alignment with reality, and how we can start aligning our actions with where the Universe seems to be wanting to move. This is about the intersection of belief, action and reality, and how that applies to the earth, how we reap what we sow and how we can plant seeds that lead to better results in the future, literally and metaphorically.
I don't want to go through a litany of the individual dates I listed a few paragraphs above. What I want you to do is to look at that list and take specific note of the particular dates of the trines and the squares. Those are the key dates for the cycle. Mark those dates down on a calendar and pay attention. The trines will allow you to make progress. The squares will present you with challenges, obstacles where you will need to dig deeper to find the false to eliminate, and then see how to move forward and make the progress of the trines carry forward.
As Mars will go retrograde in the midst of this Virgoan grand trine period, the days leading up to the Mars retrograde can be revelatory. We are in the shadow period of the Mars retrograde, so we are previewing now what the retrograde will focus on. Once the retrograde begins we will begin to review the weeks that have come before, and my gut feeling is that this review will be a deep review of how we use our energy, where those energies are based in old, possibly-false or delusional beliefs and how to make changes in our beliefs to come into alignment with reality. We might get smacked with some hard realities in the process. While I don't want to go through all the dates, there are some that I think are especially important, and I do want to touch on them.
On September 6th, Mercury exists Tropical Virgo, entering Tropical Libra. While it seems that this will shift Mercury out of its Virgoan mode, it will actually be moving into TCS Virgo and its position in Tropical Libra will make an sign-based trine to Tropical Gemini, the other sign Mercury rules, and so it will allow the Tropical Virgo lessons to be further integrated into the Mercury mind. Virgo sees the details, Gemini acts on those details. On September 9th, Sun trines Jupiter and Mars stations to turn retrograde. This will be an important window, because this is the moment of truth where Mars stops and at the same time, Sun trine Jupiter, itself stationing to turn direct a few days later. Jupiter is about to be really prominent and active from that point through the rest of the year, and it is the shadow ruler of this whole cycle through its placement in TCS Sagittarius. On September 11th the Mars retrograde begins. On September 12th, Sun makes the opposition to Neptune, which is in sextile with both Jupiter and Pluto. We compromise by seeing through our delusions and delusional beliefs and systems. On September 13th, Jupiter turns direct and on the 14th, Sun trines Pluto. This is the peak period, and of course, things don't really slow down at all, until Sun exits Tropical Virgo on the 22nd, but I feel those dates, 6th - 14th, are extremely important and are target dates to pay particular attention to.
I don't think that I can stress enough that this whole cycle is about honesty, about truths being brought to light, about the individuals getting on the right path for themselves, and about seeing through what isn't real, true, what isn't working - individually and collectively. I also can't stress enough that Mercury and Sun in Tropical Virgo are going to make falsehoods, deception, delusion, and life-denying ideologies stand out and be obvious. No trickster is going to be able to ply their trade easily, as they have in the past. One big thing I see with this cycle is how there is almost an effect of 'instant karma', where unaligned behaviors seem to ricochet back on the perpetrator faster and more obviously than they would have in the past. Accountability is Saturnian. Revealing what is (attempting to be) hidden is Pluto's specialty. Benefit derives from Jupiter, but so does ideological extremism, as Jupiter's shadow. Mars is invested in 'might makes right', but Saturn, Pluto and Jupiter, in the superior square, are going to restrain the martial energies for the rest of this year. During the month-long window that this blog post is about, Sun and Mercury are going to reveal hidden things and details about what is attempting to be hidden (both within ourselves and by others). Uranus will bring helpful surprises, helping to uncovering hidden things and reveal falsehoods (within and without). Combined together, this period bodes change on the social, cultural and universal level. On the inner level, this period offers inner growth, alignment with your deeper truths and your own personal path, and a new understanding of what that path really is. Whether we like it or not, change is here. We adapt. It is what humans have been doing for millennia. We've done it before and survived changing social and ecological situations. We can do it now. Chin up! There have been worse times.
Finally, this cycle is focused on the elements earth and fire. Fire feeds earth. The goddess of the sign Virgo is the flame within the earth, the hidden fire, that which makes the seeds germinate. In ancient times there were many sun goddesses. The warmth shining upon the earth, which provides our food. We have our civilization because of a six inch layer of top soil, and the sun and rain. The planet is the earth trine. That six-inch layer of soil is Taurus. The life growing in that soil is Virgo. The fire above (Sun) and below (core of the earth) is the heat and light that fires the engine. Our current Tropical/TCS zodiacs help each other, not in some big, bold trine way, but through the subtle, slight semi-sextile energies. For those who can grasp those layered energies, get free from the beliefs of an old dying world and help to birth the new one being born, the future is bright. For those who have already worked through their baggage, you can probably run with your creativity at this time. For those who practice any form of magic, this is a wonderful time to plant the seeds of new endeavors, for bringing future prosperity and for uncovering the secret, the hidden and that which others seek to conceal. If you are having discomfort at this time, just remember that your momentary discomfort during the dying/birthing will seem like nothing in time. Your 'lost year' is slight compared to what our ancestors have suffered, even in living memory. Our long, ancient history has carried our ancestors through changing times and world ages. Find your hidden, inner fire and ground into the Mother you stand on. Get excited, because what looks like the end of the world is the birth of the world. To quote one of the great sages of our time...
