12 days after Neptune stations direct it makes a square to the Sun as it will on December 14th. This is where we make the adjustment from the retrograde phase to the direct phase of Neptune. Symbolically it can be like waking up from a dream. And then seeing how our real lives stack up against the dream state we just left behind. To read more about this stage of the Neptune cycle, click below.

The Mars opposition occurs in the middle of the Mars retrograde phase, approximately every 26 months. This year, the Mars opposition occurs simultaneously with the Full Moon in Gemini on December 7th or 8th, depending on where you are in the world. At 16º of Gemini, the Full Moon will then temporarily occult Mars, eclipsing it from the night sky. It is at the time of this opposition that Mars is at its closest to the earth in its orbit, and otherwise at its brightest.

Betwixt and between the stations of Jupiter and Neptune, we are being asked to be inspired. Inspired to pursue our dreams, and to recognize ourselves as part of a much larger whole. Meanwhile, the planet Mars, retrograde, out of bounds, and recently besieged by Neptune, is trying to find its footing this week. And so are we.

On November 23rd not only do we have the New Moon in Sagittarius, but we also have the direct station of Jupiter, the ruling planet of Sagittarius. And this, just minutes after the New Moon. Whenever Jupiter stations it does so with a trine to the Sun. This year it makes a trine to the Sun with the New Moon. What expansive dreams are we dreaming? What vast horizons are worth exploring? What hopes for a better tomorrow are brewing?

The Mars/Neptune transit has been permeating our lives since early October. Due to the recent station of Mars on October 30th, the red planet appeared to stall within this small range of degrees that put it so at odds with Neptune, the Lord of Obfuscation and Confabulation, for such a lengthy period of time. Truly we have been navigating these murky waters for all of October and November. And as we veer between truth and confabulation, hope and despair, on the 19th of November it will make its second of 3 exact squares.

On November 8th we have a long anticipated Total Lunar Blood Moon Eclipse. At 16º of Taurus, this can indicate an important turning point in society, and perhaps in our own lives as well. Eclipses can often represent turning points. But this one is all the more intense, due its close alignment with an unpredictable and tense Saturn/Uranus square. This square represents the conflict between the past and the future, between Us and Them. Hold on to your hats everyone, the Lunar Eclipse has arrived.

Betwixt and between the eclipses we have two important events this week: Jupiter returns to Pisces on Friday for some unfinished business, and Mars comes to its station on October 30th, in preparation for its retrograde journey back through the sign of Gemini.

Please forgive any typos and/or word salad. The brain is still trying to adjust to a new normal. And of course it is challenged to do so as we take a detour into Eclipse season. We’re all going to feel the South Node Eclipse drain. Mars slowing for its retrograde at the end of the month does not help. However, what we do have going for us this week, is Saturn’s station for its direct phase. And so the gradual march forward begins. To find out more about the Eclipse and the station of Saturn, click below.

We stand at a threshold. We are entering Eclipse Season, Saturn is appearing to slow for its direct station on the 23rd, Mars is also slowing for its station at the end of the month. And as Mars appears to slow to a standstill it makes a lengthy transit to Neptune which lasts through November. And in the middle of all this change, uncertainty and resolution, we have a new Venus cycle beginning on the 22nd. To see what some of this could all mean, click below.

We are in a state of transition as Pluto comes to station for its direct phase. This is because Pluto is poised to make its way through the final degrees of the sign of Capricorn, and so bring the end of an era. Over the next few years Pluto will be moving between the last degrees of Capricorn and early Aquarius. The Pluto in Capricorn era is giving way to the Pluto in Aquarius era. And in the process a lot of loose ends will be tied up before we move on.