September 6th ~ 13th

Most of us think ourselves as standing wearily and helplessly at the center of a circle bristling with tasks, burdens, problems, annoyance, and responsibilities which are rushing in upon us. At every moment we have a dozen different things to do, a dozen problems to solve, a dozen strains to endure. We see ourselves as overdriven, overburdened, overtired. This is a common mental picture and it is totally false. No one of us, however crowded his life, has such an existence. What is the true picture of your life? Imagine that there is an hour glass on your desk. Connecting the bowl at the top with the bowl at the bottom is a tube so thin that only one grain of sand can pass through it at a time. That is the true picture of your life, even on a super busy day, The crowded hours come to you always one moment at a time. That is the only way they can come. The day may bring many tasks, many problems, strains, but invariably they come in single file. You want to gain emotional poise? Remember the, the grains of sand dropping one by one.. ~ James Gordon Gilkey

When Jupiter stationed direct in August it reapplied to its final square to Neptune this year, which will be on September 21st. Shortly after Hurricane Dorian made its way across the Atlantic, expanding its breadth and dimensions to a monstrous Category 5 storm last week: wetter, wilder and potentially more destructive than any ordinary storm. This monster storm is also a metaphor for the vast reach of Jupiter and Neptune which respects no borders, and seeps into the fabric of our everyday existence, flooding our awareness and overwhelming our lives. 

This week, several of the inner, personal planets (Sun, Mercury and Mars) will transit the Jupiter/Neptune square from pragmatic and discriminating Virgo. Virgo strives to create order out of chaos and make sense of the insensible. And with the narrowing Jupiter/Neptune square, we have our work cut out for us. This week could feel as if yet another distraction is added in to our already distracted schedule, and it’s all we can do to keep up any pretense of organization. This could indeed be when things begin to fall apart.

Jupiter has been daring us this year to bring ourselves into alignment with our highest ideals, our most superlative goals and our most outlandish dreams. When Jupiter is square Neptune, however, as it has been this past year, it is the outlandishness that seems to stand out. However, some of the most visionary and inspired people seem to have Jupiter and Neptune in hard aspect. This is due in part to their willingness to stretch beyond their limitations. When Jupiter and Neptune meet, even by hard aspect, there are no bounds to our vision. The danger is that in having our heads in the clouds, we lose sight of what is directly under our feet, which is threatening to trip us up. We see the big picture; but you cannot ignore the details. 

With the hard aspect such as the square, there is some sort of conflict between our ideals and what we want to believe to be true, and what is actually true. And when the clay feet of our idols begin to make themselves evident, or we have overextended ourselves and lost all sense of proportion, we then find ourselves drowning in our own disenchantment, as all that we had previously believed seems to be dissolving before our very eyes. 

Some of the obstacles people have thus been facing with the Jupiter/Neptune square this year:

Disenchantment: Tests of faith. Not knowing who to believe; who to trust. False gods, cults and cultish personalities reveal themselves. Hidden agendas disguised as ideology make themselves known. 

Lack of Reality: Putting our faith in something that has no basis in reality. Gullibility. Falling for get-rich-quick schemes and scams. Putting faith in someone who has no moral substance. Realizing where we have put trust in someone or something that has little basis in reality. Buying into far-fetched ideas. And exaggerating the value of someone or something beyond what they can deliver. 

Propaganda and Big Lies: “If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed.” Subterfuge, glamour, and pulling the wool over people’s eyes. It is hard to discriminate between truth and fantasy, when the truth is severely twisted and repurposed. 

Dissolution: Diasporas. Floods. Tsunamis. Displacement. Diseases or disasters that cross multiple boundaries. Ramifications of the global climate crisis. 

Distraction: Feeling drawn in many directions at once. This is also a consequence of being over-committed and trying to do everything all at once. We might all want to ask ourselves where we have become over-extended and lost sight of our own boundaries and limitations.  

Escapism and Loss: Not wanting to deal with reality and wanting to escape; feeling ungrounded; no place to land; losing a sense of personal identification, as what you previously identified with dissolves. 

The Virgo transits will exasperate much of this, but also allows us to discriminate between the illusion, or the delusions we were cultivating; and reality. But there is also much that we can learn: 

Faith, Spirituality, Religion: At times like this we dare to ask questions. And those questions push us to tests of faith and deeper understanding. Disenchantment can lead to further exploration of what we truly believe in our heart of hearts.

The nature of reality: In order to function and live in the natural world, we need to discriminate and know what our boundaries are. However at the highest level of discrimination, there are no true boundaries. Glimpses of this higher perspective is the basis for altruism and compassion. 

When in Rome: When you find it absolutely impossible to concentrate, sometimes going with the flow may be the best recourse. We can also take it as a cue to welcome distraction, which can open up all sorts of new ideas and perspectives we had not previously considered. 

Bringing ourselves in alignment with our ideals: When boundaries erode, and walls dissolve, we come to understand our interdependence with one another and with all of nature. Divisions are seen as fabrications. Empathy, kindness and compassion thrive when we come to realize that we are all here swimming and struggling together in this great cosmic ocean called life. 

All profound distraction opens certain doors. You have to allow yourself to be distracted when you are unable to concentrate. Julio Cortazar

For next week’s horoscopes, click below:

HOROSCOPES