Tag Archive for: aries point defined

Astro-logical Forecast for Friday 12/20/2013 & The Weekend: Winter Solstice; the Aries Point & Edward Snowden

Moon roared into playful, dramatic Leo this morning at 1:48AM ET, which along with the rowdy Sagittarius Sun, offers the potential for super-fab holiday cheer on this last weekend before Christmas. Jolly good! Lunar aspects are light, and favor a smooth application of will with innovative flair. Whatever it is, “make it so” — just like Captain Picard says in this way cool holiday Star Trek:TNG mash-up, where the whole crew performs an innovative version of “Let It Snow.” If you’re lucky, the commercial before the song will  be the latest ad from Pantene that everyone is talking about, which ends with the very Moon in Leo tagline, “Be Strong and Shine”. Cue Helen Reddy now, please. Guys, it’s OK if you hum along, too.

On Saturday at 12:11PM ET, we say goodbye to the Sun in Sagittarius and hello to the Sun in Capricorn. Happy Winter Solstice! In the Northern Hemisphere, days will be getting longer and nights will be getting shorter. If you live in South Africa or anywhere else south of the equator, you are celebrating the first day of summer. What’s it like having a serious sign like Capricorn associated with bikini weather, I wonder? Somebody please write and tell me. In any case, with Capricorn, we move from big-picture thinking (Sagittarius) to practical application. What will we build that will materially define our collective philosophy? Think corporations, governments and maybe The Junior League. Think status and ambition.

Here’s what you need to know about the first day of any season  — i.e., equinoxes and solstices — from an astrological point of view. The first days of Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter correspond with the first day (or first degree) of Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn, respectively. Got that? Good. These four signs are called cardinal signs of the zodiac. Cardinal signs initiate. They come up with the idea and put it into action, which leads to necessary change. “Cardinal” suggests (from the Latin root of the word), “that on which something turns or depends.”  So the first day/degree of a Cardinal sign is a turning point. In astrology, the technical term for the first degree of any Cardinal sign is the Aries Point, just to confuse people who are not professional astrologers.

Equinoxes and solstices are also prominent. We make a fuss over them, right? In Japan, the first day of each season is actually a national holiday. How cool is that? Thus, in a horoscope, a planet or angle at the Aries Point needs to be prominent. I’ll give you a detailed example of someone famous who was born around the Aries Point in a minute. Off the top of my head, Meryl Streep (a Cancer) and William Shatner (an Aries) were both born with the Sun at the Aries Point. They’re pretty prominent in everything they do, don’t you think?

In the chart for the Winter Solstice using Washington DC as the location, it is interesting to note that the angles are all at the Aries Point, strongly suggesting that this winter is a turning point for the U.S. The volatility of the DC chart supports what has been posted in prior forecasts about the enormous challenges and disruption of the status quo the U.S. horoscope will likely face in 2014, courtesy of the never-ending Uranus-Pluto square challenging the U.S. Sun and the U.S. Saturn.

The other significant planetary shift on Saturday is Venus turning retrograde at 4:53PM ET — refer to yesterday’s forecast for details. Note that at 5PM ET, the Leo Moon is challenged by Saturn in controlling Scorpio, so we can expect a reach for ambition or a heavy wet blanket to set the tone for the evening. On Sunday, Moon goes void of course at 8:25 AM ET and enters Virgo at 2:19PM ET. That’s when it will be safe to hit the malls or computer to finish your holiday shopping (gorgeous gift certificates for personal astro-logical consultations can be emailed anywhere, in case you were wondering). The Virgo Moon offers excellent energy for making lists, checking them twice and finding out who’s been naughty or nice. I wonder if Santa works for the NSA during the off-season…

Speaking of the NSA and people born with planets at the Aries Point that need to be prominent, Edward Snowden is making headlines again. Here’s an earlier post about his horoscope. Of course we’d expect him to be making news at this time, given that all week the Sagittarius Sun has been opposing his natal Mars-Sun conjunction in Gemini and conjoining his natal Neptune. Snowden’s Sun is at 29 Gemini; his Neptune is at 27 Sagittarius — within range of the exact Aries Point & thus we expect the energy to inform and be informed (Sun in Gemini) and a vision of and/or deception/mystery/dissolution in the service of a righteous higher mindset (Neptune in Sag) to achieve prominence. Well?

Six months after a birthday is when the Sun opposes the natal Sun — this applies to everyone. We expect illumination on whatever what launched around the birthday — a.k.a. solar return. In Edward Snowden’s case, it is fascinating to note that a panel of advisers has advised President Obama to restrict the NSA’s massive surveillance of everyone and their dog — and this is a direct result of Snowden’s actions six months ago. Meanwhile, the illuminations just keep on coming.

No Moon void on Monday means no sleeping in. Get up and get organized — planetary patterns suggest you’ll have more than enough incentive…

A personal astro-logical consultation would make a lovely gift — for yourself or a special someone on your holiday shopping list. I have  festive gift certificates to email or snail mail — here’s the 411.

Gratuities are always welcome, with gratitude (what else?) for your expression of appreciation :)