Fall 2021 Astrology
Fall Equinox 2021
On September 22 at 3:38 pm EDT the fall equinox occurred in the Northern Hemisphere with the passage of the Sun into 0 degrees of Tropical Libra. Persephone has left the Upper World and returned to the Underworld, bringing spring to the Southern Hemisphere. Inanna has traded places with Dumuzi, joining her sister Ereshkigal in the Underworld, as was their bargain for Inanna’s release from the Underworld as exemplified by the Venus retrograde cycle in the ancient story The Descent of Inanna. Now we in the Northern Hemisphere move into the cold season, and as the leaves change and fall, the darkness will increase and the cold will return. I have noted all year that the fall quarter of 2021 contains the most difficult astrology of 2021. Unlike 2020, this year has seen some good astrological transits, mixed with difficult transits, but little in the way of neutral transits. Here now, throughout the fall quarter, the slow boil of 2021 comes to a head and the climax of the year’s overarching aspect, the Saturn/Uranus square, draws toward its completion.
It has been my view that the astrology of fall 2021 is difficult, as much as I may dislike saying that. We need to face that though, in order to get through it. Throughout 2021 we have seen the effects of the two squares of Saturn and Uranus that we have experienced so far, and each time we have also had a heavy presence of planets in the fixed signs. This has coincided with each of the Saturn/Uranus squares and thus intensified that transit. The last one was active from June through August and saw all the faster planets transiting the Tropical sign of Leo, setting off an opposition to Saturn and a square to Uranus. This also saw Mars and the other inner planets move from an inferior series of aspects with Saturn to the superior position. Think back to your summer to get some idea of what those aspects meant for you. I liked to jokingly call it the ‘thief of joy’ series. Of course, while those transits brought many difficulties and delays to the world and to many people, they didn’t act negatively for everyone, as all depends on your natal chart.
Now, as we move forward into fall, we already have Venus in Tropical Scorpio, having just finished up a superior square to Saturn and applying to the opposition to Uranus. It is at the opposition that a planet moves from the inferior position to the superior position, and so at this time, from Tropical Scorpio, any planet gains the superior position over Uranus. While the Venus transit of this sign may not be the most difficult, and may actually bring some good things - perhaps bringing surprising and hidden truths to the surface, or activating creative and aesthetic energies that are darkly beautiful (Venus works and plays well with the other planets), the transit of Mars through Tropical Scorpio later in the fall may not be so pleasant.
When I cast the chart for the Fall Equinox, using Washington, D.C. as the location, the chart is interesting and revealing. I look at this chart in both Placidus and Whole Sign house systems to get a broader view of the action for fall 2021. In the Placidus chart we see the Sun applying to conjunction with Mars, both in Tropical Libra and within the 8th house. This tells us where the action of fall will be found. However, Venus falls on the Midheaven and in the 10th house, indicating empowerment of women and their playing a prominent role, while it also suggests the potential for a transformation toward beauty, order, female empowerment and female autonomy. Mercury in the 9th, in the same sign as Sun and Mars and preparing to turn retrograde in a few days, suggests a period of questioning beliefs and institutions, of going over what we know about subjects political, religious, and ideological in nature. Ascendant in Capricorn and Midheaven in Scorpio gives us chart rulers Saturn and Mars, who have been at loggerheads since early 2020. This suggests to me that the themes of the last two years are not finished and will continue to play out through the fall as Mars moves to make his opposition to Uranus and square to Saturn in superior position to both planets. Mars will also square Jupiter from Tropical Scorpio in the fall quadrant. Pluto sits on the ascendant in this chart for D.C., so we can expect breakdown, breakthrough and hidden matters of power to come to light. I would also expect, as Pluto has played such an outsized role in the health crisis of the last two years, that this will continue to be a major theme throughout the fall. Saturn and Jupiter also fall in the 1st house with Pluto, and have been major players in the themes starting from 2019. Neptune falls into the second, suggesting the potential for both inspiration and delusion concerning our values.
Moon falls into the third in Aries, ruled by Mars and applying to a conjunction with Eris by three degrees. This means our emotions are likely to be inflamed and potentially chaotic, pushing us to transformation, but that transformation may come through death, breakdown or revelations of hidden information about power and its use and abuse. Women’s issues and rights, as well as feminine rage, may be quite prominent. Pluto is in superior square to Moon and Eris. Chiron, also in Tropical Aries, falling in the second house and enclosed between Uranus and Moon/Eris, suggests to me that there is immense healing available in areas of wounding - personally and collectively - with the potential for redress or to enflame the suppressed and oppressed to actions leading to empowerment. I would say that Chiron may be a major saving grace in this chart. The Nodes fall in the 4th/10th axis, and will give us two eclipses in the fall quadrant. North Node is in the 4th, so the shake-ups may occur where we live, so to speak, while the past we must transform is from the 10th house and would suggest things of a public nature dealing with power, power structures and those who wield it. Uranus in the 4th with the North Node suggests the potential for surprises in relation to our self-image, collectively and personally, and an unexpected examination of our roots and our origin stories. Uranus is in almost exact opposition to Venus in this chart, and so Venus is now moving to the superior position with both Saturn and Uranus. This may actually serve as a saving grace, for Venus seeks order. Finally, the Part of Fortune is in square to Uranus and Venus, and in opposition to Saturn, creating a T-square configuration that suggests obstacles and conflicts that force resolution. It is also interesting to note that Sun/Mars, Saturn and North Node make a wide Grand Trine at the Fall Equinox, suggesting that the fall quadrant brings positive outcomes that may take time to manifest and move us further toward our destiny.
When we look at the whole sign chart, also set for D.C., we see some surprising shifts. As Aquarius and Leo are intercepted in the Placidus chart, this means that we see a significant shift in regard to house placements for several planets, as well as for the Midheaven and Nadir. With this shift Sun and Mars move to the 10th house, with Sun sitting exactly conjunct the cusp. Midheaven has moved to the 11th house, as has Venus. Mercury is with Sun and Mars in the 10th. Pluto is still in the first house, but now Saturn and Jupiter have moved to the second. Neptune is now third house, and Chiron and Moon are in the 4th. Uranus and the Nadir are now in the 5th, while the Nodal axis falls from the 6th to the 12th. As I see the Placidus chart as showing the psychological and publicly observable energies, and the whole sign as offering insight into destiny or fate, I would suggest that the energies and events of the fall quadrant are going to look worse on their surface than they turn out to be in the long run.
With the Sun and Mars in the 10th, we can expect the action to be about visible power, and we will reconsider what that means through the Mercury retrograde. Venus and Midheaven in the 11th suggest a focus on groups and the masses in general, and so Venus will have a calming effect here. Saturn and Jupiter in the second suggest the potential for restrictions, but also benefit, in terms of our values and material resources. Neptune in the 3rd to me suggests a lot of sound a fury signifying nothing. Be careful what you are listening to and believing this fall (including your own thoughts)! Rather, let yourself be inspired to creativity and beauty, as Venus is applying to a trine to Neptune in the chart. Chiron and Moon with Eris in the 4th squaring Pluto suggests a breakthrough in regard to self-image, our roots, our origin story (and with the 2022 US Pluto return swiftly approaching, this is essential). Uranus falls in the 5th and suggests surprises in terms of creativity and that there may be some joy and pleasure we didn’t expect to experience. The nodal axis falling between 12th and 6th is difficult, and implies seeing hard truths about the past that force us to work hard and diligently on our futures. It also suggests the continuation and perhaps intensification of the current health issues facing the world. The eclipses here will deeply highlight this, and I suspect are harbinger of the upcoming US Pluto return. Finally, the Part of Fortune falls into the 8th and is still in square to Venus and Uranus (the aspects don’t really change between any of the zodiac or house systems), and I would suggest that the difficulties of the fall quadrant may well force an opening through which we can begin to crawl out of the cul-de-sac we have been in for the last few years. As the Sun and Mars fall in the 8th in Placidus, and the PoF falls in the 8th whole sign, I would suggest that the 8th house issues we encounter this fall end up bringing longterm benefits and positive advancement, which might be quite surprising and beautiful, even if a bit dark and scary in the process.
In addition to the messages of the Fall Equinox chart, fall of 2021 has a plethora of major aspects. I will only touch on the ones that really stand out to me in this post. Of course, the biggest of these are the manifold squares and oppositions that will occur from the faster, inner planets to Uranus and Saturn throughout the fall, culminating in the transit of Tropical Scorpio by Mars starting on October 31st and lasting into mid December, followed almost immediately by the third and final Saturn/Uranus square on December 23/24. The majority of the outer planets will turn direct through the fall quadrant, and only Uranus will still be retrograde by the start of winter in the Northern Hemisphere. I expect the period of the transit of Tropical Scorpio by Mars, all of November and through the first two weeks of December, to be the most difficult period of the fall quadrant, so take care during this time. Of course, we will also see two eclipses in this period (November 18-19 Lunar, and December 4 Solar). Finally, Venus enters shadow at 11 degrees of Tropical Capricorn and prepares for her retrograde cycle on November 16th, turning retrograde on December 19th, at the very end of the Fall quadrant, in Tropical Capricorn conjunct Pluto and in square to Eris. We will spend the winter reconsidering the events and revelations of the fall quadrant, finding new meaning, creativity and aesthetic boundaries in relation to this period. Venus in Tropical Capricorn will be ruled and disposited by Saturn, and as has been the case for the last few years, this will remain Saturn’s show. Venus and Saturn are very well-disposed to each other, and so we can expect these two planets to work together to create new realities, new boundaries and offer us the gift of lasting results when we acknowledge the restrictions they will be highlighting.
Finally, I want to offer a bit of advice for the fall season. Just be patient. You will be chomping at the bit to take action. You will feel you HAVE to do something. I would recommend turning that anxiety and high strung energy toward inner pursuits, creativity and reorganizing your life and activities based upon the dictates of the last two years. Those who don’t may find precipitous action curtailed by Saturn, and that can be a harsh lesson. What I do think will be supported is inner work on self, and through that, transformation of the outer world. Creativity will be highlighted, and if you have been working on new projects over the last couple of years, just keep plugging away. Nothing comes quickly with Saturn, but when it does come, it lasts. My deepest wish for you this fall is that you are still with us come spring to emerge from your rest and show your transformed self to the entire world. May your fall be blessed, may you be protected from all harm, and may your creativity be intensified - transformed and transformative. May the odds be ever in your favor!
