Lance: Chart Discussion

[Avshalom Binyamin]

Last spring I did a magical ritual to try to get money to go to a week-long tango workshop. As part of the ritual, I worked myself up into near-frenzied desire for this outcome, and then prayed that if that outcome wasn't right for me to take it away from me.

I'm in love. I desire her. But if the experience is not meant for me, it will be snatched away without a thought for my feelings, and I pray for that as much I desire.

That mindset feels so powerful. Because it is.

[Lance]

Thank you both for your input.

It helped me achieve a marked reduction in anxiety today that has lasted the rest of the day.

[Lance]

Okay, so I've entered the seconds pass of my t. Saturn semisquare r. Neptune.

Again, this is regularly a very difficult transit for me. I feel the energy of it very pointedly.

It's like a high-pitched anxiety that I feel in my body that my worst nightmares are going to come true. It's got maybe a sort of PTSD, hyper-vigilance kind of vibe to it. These are times that I absolutely lean on my psychiatric medication.

My thoughts return frequently to my worst case scenarios for my life. Betrayal of friends and lovers is a prominent theme as well as the theme of my "sins finding me out."

There is also usually the death of a preciously guarded illusion.

There also seems to be a outwardly forced limitation on my addictive habits, primarily any form of substance abuse I may be leaning on but also just creature-comforts like sex.

But there is also usually a point where my good dreams for myself become a more concrete reality. This last one is the prize that comes in the midst of the storm.

But generally speaking, all of this - in the midst of the divorce as well - is requiring me to play at the absolute top of my game - psychologically, spiritually, and philosophically. I don't know why I feel this one so acutely, but it is always very, very difficult for me.

[Jim Eshelman]

This time, you have some unique advantages. For the first time in years, you have much more ownership of your future. Additionally, you have greater centered strength than you did last time you went through this sort of thing unpartnered.

[Lance]

t. Saturn semi r. Neptune, 0*22’.

We’ll see what happens when it gets within 10 minutes, but so far... I don’t know. I’ve already lost the thing that I most feared losing.

I literally just knocked on wood after saying that though.

Superstition? Humility before the gods?

You tell me.

[Lance]

Wrapping up the previous post... Seems like there was a long-term fantasy in my life, which was my relationship with my wife. Every time Saturn transited Neptune, that illusion would take a hit. I found it very stressful. Now that we're broken up, the t. Saturn aspecting r. Neptune doesn't hit so hard. I've noticed it, but it was nothing like it has been. Of course, these have been octiles recently, but even this seems lighter.

----

Now, on to the present.

Current Day - Calculated for 12:35 CST, when t. Mars - r. Neptune is precise. That's the one I'm watching, but now I notice t. Mars - r. Uranus as well..

t. Sun sq. r. Uranus, 0°57'
t. Mars oct. r. Uranus, 0°36'

t. Sun oct. r. Neptune, 0°20'
t. Mercury oct. r. Neptune, 0°52'
t. Mars oct. r. Neptune, 0°0'

t. Uranus oct. r. Venus, 0°37'


The t. Mars - r. Uranus and t. Mars - r. Neptune feel like the most relevant. As soon as I woke up, my nerves felt raw. My body wanted coffee, smoke, drink... something.

We settled on coffee. We wants it, Precious. We needs it.

Feeling better now, but it's in the background, and I'm trying to be very conscious of my sensitivity and frustration at work. It's strong enough that I knew that something was going on even yesterday without looking at my transits. Upon looking up my transits, I found them to be very accurate.

I'm not sure how to cooperate with both t. Mars - r. Uranus and t. Mars - r. Neptune.

Suggestions welcome.

[SteveS]

Lance wrote:

I'm not sure how to cooperate with both t. Mars - r. Uranus and t. Mars - r. Neptune. Suggestions welcome.

Be very conscious of your immediate environment for negative Mars situations, although I would not expect it to be serious unless these transits of Mars appeared angular in your SLR or DSLR. With Mars-Uranus avoid/delay high risk task situations increasing chances for freaky accidents.

[Jim Eshelman]

Lance, this is an awesome realization about how Saturn-Neptune works! "Inauthenticity hurts," etc. - symbolism is perfect. (It's kinda sorta like I thought of it before but never with that exact twist.)

Congratulations on emerging into a more authentic (and healthier and happier) life!

[SteveS]

Jim wrote:

Lance, this is an awesome realization about how Saturn-Neptune works!

This reminds me in the late 70s when I astrologically came to the "realization" my partile mundo Saturn-Pluto cnj was symbolizing my father as a heavy life burden who was constantly bringing me down. Actually, we were both bringing each other down. I astrologically made the decision to separate myself from him which at the time troubled/hurt me. But after about a year of separation, I realized I had made the right decision with much improved outlooks for my individual life.

[Veronica]

Lance wrote:

I'm not sure how to cooperate with both t. Mars - r. Uranus and t. Mars - r. Neptune. Suggestions welcome.

Be very conscious of your immediate environment for negative Mars situations, although I would not expect it to be serious unless these transits of Mars appeared angular in your SLR or DSLR. With Mars-Uranus avoid/delay high risk task situations increasing chances for freaky accidents.

Lance
I agree with what Steve wrote.....mars transits on thier own dont last for very long so unless its a SSR or SLR it will probably find vent in something like butting heads at the bookstore with a fundementalist hell bent on proving your book choice is wrong.

I recently spent some time looking through all the SSRs of my life and noting all the years where Mars was angular (quite a few) and squaring my Pluto (1988 chart had mars uranus and saturn conjunct my dec square my pluto).

1988 was a year I remember quite well.

I think that when we are in the here and now looking at where we are, things seem new and unusual or strange or powerful but if we can pause and reflect that we have gone through similiar things in the past and gotten through them then we can own our own personal power and get through the event again, this time with the wisdom of the past expierence under our belt to help us allow the natural currents to flow and give opportunity for them to manifest in ways that facilitate our empowerment and growth.

[Lance]

It was a brief influence, but I was getting cranky and gripy at work, which I can’t afford to do. Just becoming conscious of it helped a lot.

Funny thing.. My supervisor asked me what was going on astrologically because she could tell something was off. I looked, and she had that same t. Mars oct. r. Uranus. She was very satisfied with the description. She asked if she could vent, and I let her gripe for a while, smiling to myself. She appreciated it. Lol

[SteveS]

Lance wrote:

Just becoming conscious of it helped a lot.

This is the Key, imo! This "conscious (astrological awareness)" is what offers us more choices--with our astrological malefic or benefic cycles. I know no better branch of astrology than Sidereal Astrology which allows our conscious mind to understand the astrological cycles ("timing is everything") which naturally occur in our lives as well as the mundane world.

[Lance]

Would anyone be willing to check my charts? I’m kind of going through a little thing, but I can’t see anything significant in my transits, progressions, SSR, or SLR.

I feel like I must be missing something that I’d like to name and understand.

Thanks for any help.

[Jim Eshelman]

Would anyone be willing to check my charts? I’m kind of going through a little thing, but I can’t see anything significant in my transits, progressions, SSR, or SLR.

I feel like I must be missing something that I’d like to name and understand.

If it's only a psychological shift with a sense of "something in my subconscious that I'm not getting," transiting Neptune is trine natal Mercury - not enough to make an event happen but, in a sensitive person, perhaps enough to make obscure things from subconsciousness register. (*I mention this first only because it's the first thing I saw in checking transits, not because I think it's the most important thing.)

Saturn is not quite square your Ascendant within a degree, but might be noticeable. Sun is crossing your IC today, which is flitting - a couple of days - but is a clean hit for the transits. The other clean transit hit for the day is Venus square your Neptune, which also falls on your quotidian (SNQ) angles for today.

Your progressed Moon just entered Sagittarius (three days ago) - that might feel like a shift.

Your SLR is primarily a Venus chart or, rather, transiting Venus square natal Mercury, both closely angular. (I didn't do a full break-out of the chart, but that's what pops at a glance.)

I would have expected to see something in your Demi-SLR which occurred yesterday. It starts off much the same, with Venus square MC being the main angular planet. Again, the Venus transit to your Neptune is the main feature (as in today's transits and on your SNQ angle), since the Demi-SLR has natal Neptune at MC. Natal Mercury squares Asc.

So my main take-away is that Venus transiting your Neptune today is the biggest thing happening today - emphasized in several ways, already operating strongly for the last two days and the next (almost) two weeks. Along with that are several things that draw you inward, sensitize you to shifting (or shadowy) subconscious content, all anchored by Sun crossing your IC. If what you are looking for is a "shift in symbolism," a different archetypal theme flowing across, then three days ago your progressed Moon left Scorpio (where it has been for a couple of years) and entered Sagittarius.

[Jim Eshelman]

I could also treat your post as a horary. At the moment you posted, Neptune was exactly on Eastpoint (and had just slipped out of partile square to MC) in Beaumont, so "I'm confused" (or variants) seem like the tone - validating the chart as reflective of your question.

From a pure astrology perspective, Mars had been square Ascendant for the 20-30 minutes prior to your post. This planet combination usually gives a sense of threat or need to express something as drama. Venus is only 3° past Asc and was rising about when Mars squared Asc, so one would expect emotions, especially concerning love and relationship, to be tied into the psychological mass.

OK, back to horary: On a question of, "What's gong on with me?" the chart shows a state of confusion, disorientation, or uncertainty - that confirms the question is linked to the moment.

Moon is in 7th house. The main focus would probably be about relationship, others. Moon is separated several degrees from square Jupiter and immediately applying to no aspects, so this would be about something in the past, something that has faded. (Feeling of esteem, inclusion, rank? Other Jupiter theme?) This may simply be "in the past" or more specifically referring to an incident four units of time ago (4° separation), e.g., four days ago or four weeks ago.

The question is about yourself and the 1st house (self) indications are quite clear with that Neptune. Trying not to be vague (but to do that thing I do with horary where I mention themes and somehow my words sometimes describe exactly what's going on), this looks like a displaced sense of self due to a displaced sense of how one is (perceived, received) in relation to others. (Venus conjunct Ascendant would carry the same message.)

These "others" seem to be a collective others - a group, a particular cluster like a social group or co-workers as a whole - since the 11th house is packed with four planets of mixed good-bad-emphasis type.

Partile aspects - what's happening right now include Venus sextile Uranus (49') and Saturn conjunct Pluto (20'). Fitting this into the above, it's like, "Stuff just changed. What is it now?" It portrays your relationship to others as simply different - no good or bad, just different - while having the component that something is now gone that is gone for good and isn't coming back. (That's not intrinsically a bad thing either, but still has a separation, "irrevocable loss" thing about it.)

Recent past (separating aspects) also includes Sun conjunct Saturn-Pluto - about 3° past, so, like your transits, saying something happened about three or four days ago that is in the past.

Near future (applying aspects) also include Mercury square Uranus (applying 3°) and Venus square Mars (5.5°): Revelation, clarification in three units of time (three hours or three days, for example).


Remember, I don't swear this approach works, only that it's sometimes useful to look at a chart for the moment a question is asked.

[Lance]

Hmm. I bet it’s the Neptune themes. Thank you so much.

Somebody said something to me yesterday by text that was the perfect, throat-cutting putdown. And it was just so vicious that it seemed non-sequitur and out of character. I couldn’t imagine any other way to take what they said, but I’ve been down this hole before, and I knew they just couldn’t have meant it that way. It took me a long time to be able to conceive of some other possible way of understanding what they said, but I finally did, and I let it go without saying anything defensive or stupid.

But the perceived putdown still wrecked me even though I decided it was unintentional. It rang me like a bell. Triggered all kinds of thoughts.. Ugh. So... something registering in my unconscious sounds dead on.

It was just so perfectly screwed up and powerful. It reminded me of bad mental places.

[Jim Eshelman]

With the multiple expressions of the Venus-Neptune transit, take a look at this boilerplate interpretation for Venus-Neptune angular in a return chart:

Painful social embarrassment, feeling a fool in front of others. Compelling fantasy: surrendering to temptation, come what may (resistance buckles). "Love drunk" romantic thralldom inspires to ecstasy then humiliates. Disillusionment, embarrassment. "Hurt inside" that drives us home alone in self-pity, dazed by an unhappy turn of events. Betrayal by trusted intimates, betrayed alliances, perceived offenses.

[Lance]

With the multiple expressions of the Venus-Neptune transit, take a look at this boilerplate interpretation for Venus-Neptune angular in a return chart:

Painful social embarrassment, feeling a fool in front of others. Compelling fantasy: surrendering to temptation, come what may (resistance buckles). "Love drunk" romantic thralldom inspires to ecstasy then humiliates. Disillusionment, embarrassment. "Hurt inside" that drives us home alone in self-pity, dazed by an unhappy turn of events. Betrayal by trusted intimates, betrayed alliances, perceived offenses.

Man, this is SO perfect. I mean, going into other events that have also occurred would definitely require some over-sharing, but, yes, this. Absolutely. Ecstasy then humiliation. Thank you. I guess I'm glad it's only two weeks. Damn... two weeks, huh? It's not my favorite.

Remember, I don't swear this approach [horary] works, only that it's sometimes useful to look at a chart for the moment a question is asked.

Yeah... Fits. It was my ex's sister, and our relationship has changed. I couldn't believe she would just devastate me like it seemed she did so offhandedly. It has happened before that she has said things unthinkingly that seemed much worse than she intended. It's kind of a foot-in-mouth thing with her... usually anyway.

[SteveS]

Lance, below link is your Solar Arcs (outside wheel) bi-wheeled with your Natal Chart (inside wheel).

Note Solar Arc Neptune partile cnj your North Node. As part of your short term cycles with your lunar return and transits involving Neptune—also expect this Solar Arc Neptune to be a longer influence on your Natal North Node.

Ebertin for the Sociological Correspondence tones of North Node:

Meetings, alliances, societies, contacts, blood ties, kindred and related people.

Also important to note t, Saturn and t. Pluto has been all over this Neptune Solar Arc hit to your North Node. Ain't no way you can expect now peace/harmony you desire with related family matters with this Solar Arc hit of Neptune to your Natal North Node! All you can do is to adapt the best you can with your conscious expecting Neptunian Crap with this Neptune Solar Arc involving your immediate environment with related family matters.

https://imgur.com/uoNzqD8

[Lance]

Main thing it seems...

t. Neptune square r. Saturn, 0*03’, still applying.

And like... man, do I just feel out of it.

It is very difficult to focus on work. I won’t exaggerate. I know what day it is, but I feel like, “Umm... what day is it? What the hell is happening? Virus, protests, work, parents, work, kids, future, money, women... What the hell is all of this? What’s going on again?”

Detached. I feel detached... Not detached from reality. That means something else. But like... being at the dentist on drugs while she works. That kind of detached. Cold medicine kind of detached. Medicine-head.

Drugged. I guess I feel drugged.

I’m afraid I’m gonna miss something or not get something done because my mind just wants to remain out of it.

But another part of me feels fine with not worrying about it - like it will all magically work out. And that worries me, but still. The feeling is there.

I don’t want to do ANYTHING but go see friends. But I’m more of a quarantiner, so I’m not doing that. I only ever go see my (ex) brother-in-law. But I don’t want to wear him out.

I am in a weird combination of moods where I feel like maybe I’m about to freak out, but also I feel kind of detached from that too.

It’s not comfortable.

[Jim Eshelman]

You have my sympathy. The basic thing this transit should do is soften or dissolve anything concrete, defining, hard-edged, sure, etc. (And then the interpretation goes on from there...)

I'm going through the opposite. My SSR has (within minutes) an exact Moon-Neptune conjunction. I knew that the Sun-Mars square over the weekend fell on it - and that was the day I lost my hard contact lens which has me 80% blind for a couple of weeks - but I'd completely missed that transiting Saturn is semi-square my SSR Moon-Neptune. Sun-Mars-Saturn to Moon-Neptune with Saturn being the persisting factor. Life is literally a blur - and this is not only psychologically taxing but physically draining. Then, in the middle, I got some news that (by itself) means nothing, but my brain is wired to take it in the worst possible way. All the physical causes of depression are there - the loss of energy on every level, everything taking more effort, which makes it hard not to go the same path mentally. I'd like to just sleep until the lenses are manufactured and available so that I don't have to look out my eyes in the interim, but that's not very practical since I'm (from home) working full time. But I'm clearly not doing that as well as usual (and glad that we don't have as much to do while the whole firm is WFH).

Sorry, I just made your thread about me, in a sense. I hope you find something worthwhile for yourself in all that.

[TheScales_BothWays]

My heart goes out to you both. I'm very sorry.

Sorry, I just made your thread about me, in a sense.

To me, Jim, it doesn't seem that way. We on this forum don't often hear nor ask (at least on our threads) about how you are doing after all, you who created this lovely forum for us, and I really appreciate your sharing. Those aspects and transits look very awful indeed. I hope you get your contacts as soon as possible. And I hope you both will very soon come to much better places/states than you both are right now.

[Lance]

Sorry, I just made your thread about me, in a sense. I hope you find something worthwhile for yourself in all that.

Yes. Sometimes I imagine that everyone else is happily surfing these waves instead of being beaten around by them.

Human looks good on you.

[Lance]

I’m sorry, but us there anything in my chart that would make me really anxious/depressed right now?

I feel like I’m missing something that I can’t see.

[Jim Eshelman]

Easy first impression: There was a Venus-Pluto conjunction in space for the last couple of days that hit a lot of people (notice how many deaths in the news?). I think it was square your Asc (not quite to your IC). If the anxiety is about Venus matters (connections etc.), this could be it.

Nothing else obvious to me just from transits. Progressed Moon isn't doing anything.

Saturn crossed your SSR Asc sometime back - nearly 2° away - I doubt it's that. SQ Moon at 2° doesn't seem to be doing anything.

Your current SLR again seems to emphasize separation issues with Pluto near IC. It's strongest factor, though, is natal Uranus rising. This may be what's going on if the anxiety is sitting atop a need to get out, be free, unleash (vs. something preventing that).

That's all I've got.

PS - How long has this lasted? Is it a day-issue, a (multiple) days-issue, a week...?

[Lance]

Your current SLR again seems to emphasize separation issues with Pluto near IC. It's strongest factor, though, is natal Uranus rising. This may be what's going on if the anxiety is sitting atop a need to get out, be free, unleash (vs. something preventing that).

That's all I've got.

PS - How long has this lasted? Is it a day-issue, a (multiple) days-issue, a week...?

Okay. Yes. That covers it. Thank you so much. It’s got to be the natal Uranus rising. It’s the natal stuff that I tend to miss in the SLR. This experience seals it. I can’t neglect that, and I have to get more comfortable pulling that up.

I had the Pluto part but not the sort of explosive anxiety.

“G— D——-! Leave me alone! I have all this crap in my head to process!”

Thanks so much for taking a look.

[Lance]

As someone who struggles with my own moods, having a timeframe is invaluable.

FYI... CBD gummies are also invaluable.

[Lance]

So, I’m not looking for advice. I’m just recording how I feel for Science, so to speak.

I am withdrawing. I do feel like I need to escape.

I can’t escape what has become of U.S. politics. I can’t escape what that has made my friends into. I can’t escape my job (quickly enough). I can’t escape my financial situation. I can’t stand looking at the news anymore. I can’t stand the nutters in my own religion. I can’t stand the nutters in other religions. And when I say I can’t stand it, I mean it makes me feel physically uncomfortable.

I am uncomfortable a solid percentage of the time. My temper is very short. Work stress makes my chest tight, which feels dangerous.

I cannot stand most human beings right now.

[Jim Eshelman]

The world is going to be crazy for most of the next year - I'm estimating it's until about Labor Day.

Taking my previous looking to the year level: Transiting Pluto will cross your IC over the next year or so, and square your Sun immediately after. The next five years will be a pretty consistent stretch of redefining your life and your experience of yourself more than has ever happened before. At the front end - something I missed mentioning before - is transiting Neptune square your Saturn, which I think (I haven't looked to confirm) won't last past this year. (You get rid of that as I get Neptune starting to conjoin my Moon).

Looking at secondary progressions, progressed Sun exactly squares your Venus in not quite two years, so it will be in orb in less than a year. That should be pretty good - including (probably) a life-changing relationship (since it occurs concurrently with Pluto's transits). That seems to be the main progression.

I'm not as crazy about your solar arcs during this stretch: In about 9 months, directed Neptune will start hitting your angles and Sun in turn. Plan to have a good, positive Neptune expression to occupy your attention for several years. Also, in about a year, directed Mars begins to conjoin natal Neptune, so make sure you pick a really positive Neptune expression!

[Lance]

Thanks for that. Based on current trajectory, I’ll go with some Enochian vision work for that Neptune phase. I guess that’s positive. I know it can be.

I’m starting to think my physical symptoms are related to leftover Covid stuff. It has been diminishing from aches and coldness and seemingly turning to just a general, vague discomfort and irritability. It comes and goes. CBD really helps with that in case anyone else runs into the same.

[Lance]

I have a couple of long transits coming up that concern me. I'm hoping for advice on how to approach them.

I have long t.Neptune conj r.Moon coming, and layered within that is a double pass t.Saturn square r.Venus.

So, I'm going to be over-sensitive and feel like no one likes me for several months. I'm not looking forward to it.

Can anyone suggest a more positive view of it? Or, more importantly, can anyone suggest a strategy to get through that without being just constantly miserable?

I also have a t.Saturn oct r.Sun for three months after that. I just feel ...anxious.

[Jim Eshelman]

Good-morning, Lance. First, I think you have a realistic picture and understand the essential characteristics, which is a big advantage. You also have the biggest advantage astrology brings in these cases: You know that these are temporary conditions created by factors outside of you (in the usually understood sense of "outside of you"); and you know when it will all be over. I think you will find these basic facts helpful: These particular transits are most likely (over several months) to stir feelings that there is something wrong with you - that you're not good enough - perhaps with a feeling of helplessness or lethargic wallowing in it. (Feeling helpless can feel like sinking into a warm bath if it's familiar enough.)

So - telling you in advance, rather than sounding rude later - snap out of it. (You need ways to snap out of it.) I'll have several suggestions to prepare for this and then to get through it (though most of them are mental health commonsense). My biggest piece of preparation advice: I don't know if your meditation practices have taken you very deeply into classic Buddhism, but this is definitely a time (for the next couple of years) to become rigorous in some sort of mindfulness practice (detached witnessing of impressions and especially witnessing, as an outsider, the workings of your mind and emotions) based on the Three Characteristics.

I suspect you know the model: All things we experience have three characteristics. As a Qabbalist understanding how things operate in all Four Worlds, it took me decades to sort out that the Three Characteristics of "all things" applies to only two of those worlds, Assiyah and Y'tzirah; that is, things in the physical world or perceived through your physical senses, and psychological things (intellect, emotion, images). I mention this because it is sooooo easy to get lost thinking this has to apply to B'riyah and Atziyluth too. It doesn't. Don't get stuck looping through that. The whole purpose of the practice is to center you more in B'riyah.

These three characteristics, commonly abbreviated in English as sorrow, change, and selflessness, don't exactly mean that. Here's what they mean applied to the physical universe (things perceived through your senses) and your individual psychological content (intellect, emotions, images):

1. Everything and everyone is imperfect. Everything falls short somehow. That's not a tragedy, it's just the way things are. (You're that way, too - always will be - and that's just the way things are.)

2. Everything changes. Nothing stays the same. It's a river, it's passing through its life cycles. This, too, is neither a victory nor a tragedy, it's just the way things are.

3. None of this is you. It's all stuff around you. Whether stuff in the physical universe or your own thoughts, feelings, and images, it's not you. It's all stuff. It's all rotating around you.

That's it: Nothing is perfect, everything is changing always, and none of it is you anyway. - The magick isn't in known these things intellectually - because that also is imperfect, always changing, and not you - it's in actively witnessing that these things are true about everything, especially the things that bother you.

Start now, find a local Buddhist center or someone else teaching a class or willing to mentor you, and get into the habit of looking at things this way. You'll need it for about two years for these transits and, after that, it will be part of your automatic way of experiencing life.

Astrology is a fabulous tool for witnessing this too shall pass, i.e., everything is changing. (Astrology: the science of anikka.)

Before I forget: Feelings are things you literally experience in your body. Every strong emotion and persistent emotional state is something you are feeling in your body. Start very actively noticing this: It's part of gaining some distance on swamping, painful feelings. My best story on this is that I went through a year or two when I kept having waves of feelings periodically that I had always called grief. That is, when I had felt grief, this is what it felt like. What was confusing during this period in the '90s was that there was nothing going wrong, nothing to grieve about, no old unresolved grief coming up from the depths. Everything was going pretty well (in most ways excellent) but I was feeling this stuff that felt exactly like grief had always felt. Then, one day, it clicked: The exact thing I was feeling - a muscular, chemical, electrical cascade of feelings in my body - was the feeling of surrender. It had never been grief. It had always been the climax of grief and surrendering into things. It was relaxation, deeply submerging myself in reality, perhaps release. And that is what had been coming through me and my experience of life in that period in the '90s. To understand this, I just had to recognize that, first, it was stuff I was feeling in my body and then simply feel it and stop attaching earlier labels to it.

You surely will have many opportunities to apply this.

One final thing in this first post: With these transits, I think it will be more important than at any other time in your life to have your best physical and psychological health. If there is ever a time to have your physical (including chemical) health in the best shape possible, and to persistently make the best choices for your psychological health (especially people and environments you choose to be around), this is it! Train for it. Consider this a two-year special course of study, like a class in which you're enrolled (which also gives you a clear sense of coming out the other side). Like it's two years in school, or in seminary, or (heck) in prison. Whatever. You're going in for two years, you have a program of experience and training to complete, and you'll graduate. Time-bound it in your mind.

And remember to register that nothing is perfect (not even you), everything is changing always (including you), and none of this stuff is you (including all the things you normally attach to and think are most specifically you).

[Jim Eshelman]

I am most concerned for the tail end. As you approach "graduation" in your two-year schooling, the universe is planning a whopping big party at the end. The leadup time might be preparation for the climax.

It's not just Saturn to your Venus with Neptune to your Moon. It's Saturn-Neptune to your Moon. From the middle of 2025 until well into 2026, Saturn and Neptune together wander back and forth across your Moon. Their eventual conjunction February 20, 2026 occurs at 5°38' Pisces, not quite within a degree of your Moon thankfully - things may have felt complete long before that - but definitely close enough if they fall on angles of a solar or lunar return.

Neptune first enters a 1° orb of your Moon April 14, 2024 and last leaves February 10, 2026. That's the (not quite) two-year course of Neptune to Moon. Saturn first enters a 1° orb of your Moon May 6, 2025 and last leaves February 17, 2026. The period May '25 to February '26 is the time they overlap.

Saturn and Neptune add subplots during this time (you may be 'taking more than one class at a time' in school) but the main thrust - your "major" - is Neptune to Moon as part of building to Saturn transiting your Moon.

To give you confidence, let me mention that I've just come through Neptune conjunct my Moon (and still get it sometimes in return charts - like the demi that sets up day after tomorrow). A few years ago, my wife had Saturn and Neptune playing on her Moon (and also Sun and Pluto, but it really showed as Moon) for much of a year. Have no illusions: It was hell. And the least you need to know is that we came through. I felt it mostly as what seemed physical and psychological effects of aging except, coming out of the transit, those are mostly all going away (and I didn't get younger overnight). There was a sense of frailty and vulnerability. I felt weakened, more prone to introversion. I'm sure I was being impacted by every impression around me, so minimizing extraneous impressions (and picking exactly the ones I wanted) became increasingly important. There is certainly extreme empathy and all sorts of consequences of that to be managed. It was harder not to see big successes as failures. My marriage and my employment (and probably the Covid-19 pandemic) were the saving graces of those years. (And there were the persistent eye issues and recurring lost-lenses so that I literally spent long patches living in a blur for physical reasons.)

Just above, I wrote "no illusions." That, of course, is a useful slogan during these transits, probably a message it will seem the universe is trying to communicate. But it's not quite the right message. In fact, go ahead and have your illusions - that's how we all organize and navigate reality. Just don't be deluded by your illusions. Use them mindfully. (You don't really believe the images on your GPS app are the actual physical streets, right? And yet, you can use them as if they are, even while you simultaneously see the actual through your windshield. Everything in your organized reality and physical senses is like the GPS app.)

Also, be sure to journal. But not obsessively. Let it flow naturally as a trace of your process and what you want to feel someone is hearing, but if you find yourself routinely going on for pages and pages, you may want to think through the concise essence of what you really want to say to yourself and limit yourself to a fixed length (e.g., one or two written pages). Or not. I just know it might be easy to start submerging yourself in compulsive writing. Use it as a way to record the journey, document what's flowing in the river, and let your mind unfurl; but it's more important that you be mindful of your thoughts than that you output them.

I think that's what I have right now. Get your physical and mental health (both including chemical health) at their best now, start framing this as a two-year college course or something similar, and remember that nothing is perfect ever, everything is changing always, and none of this is you anyway.

And don't be a stranger. Don't introvert and withdraw. Stay connected. Show up here and keep us posted. Be clear (here and in your life) whether you are asking for help or just wanting to be heard - needing one of these and getting the other can increase a feeling of isolation and not being understood.

[Jim Eshelman]

Plan now for where you will have your next birthday. Your next SSR has a nearly partile Moon-Saturn square. I advice picking strong benefics as precisely angular as possible.

The longitude shared by New Orleans and Memphis has transiting Venus on MC. They both have all the Moon aspects - Moon to natal Venus being closer mundo Moon-Saturn - and mostly focus on foreground Venus to natal Neptune. That makes New Orleans very surrealistic and Memphis very heartfelt (layering in the other aspects). There might be other places. Providence, RI puts transiting Jupiter exactly on an angle instead of Venus, but also has Saturn rising with all of its aspects in the immediate spotlight, so I think the Venus line is definitely advantageous. We can't use natal benefics because of the transits they will be receiving (unless we can find a place with natal Jupiter narrowly angular and everything else fallen away somehow - but that's hard for that part of the zodiac, and it doesn't look like they're close to angles in the U.S.).

In any case, as an investment in your well-being, make sure you have a GREAT location for your next SSR and fuel yourself by making sure it's somewhere fabulous and fun.


For the 2025 SSR (another to pick well), you have a Moon-Jupiter square - a nice touch. Salt Lake City is on the long Uranus rising line (which also highlights the exact Mercury-Mars conjunction and Moon to natal Mars-Uranus - good or bad or indifferent, just be careful of guns <g>). New York City has both Venuses closely angular and, with the Moon-Jupiter square, makes are a strikingly positive, upbeat SSR - open to change and reinvention with Moon mundanely conjunct natal Uranus-Pluto. It does have your natal Venus-Saturn square foreground but the Saturn is weaker and the double Venus angularities plus Moon-Jupiter suggest NYC is the spot for your birthday in 2025.

Save your nickels now

[Lance]

Thank you very much for the insights and recommendations.

[Lance]

Two issues seem two be developing that seem related to my coming stars:

1. My father‘s health in his old age is failing quickly. It has been problem after problem lately. I’m not sure how much longer he has.

2. I’m probably going to cease progress with Freemasonry. I’m not trying to be anyone’s religious scandal. I doubt it would be an issue if I weren’t in Southeast Texas. So, that’s that group of friends I was making that feels lost to me now. I don’t know what I was thinking. I know I’m too weird for them.

Anyway, those are the things on my horizon.

[Lance]

So, if Dad’s current status is any indication, his dementia may have taken a turn for the worse. This Saturn-Venus may be about having to care for him - or losing him.

I’ll probably stick with the Freemasonry. Just kind of need to shake off other people’s doubts.

[Jim Eshelman]

I'm sorry to hear this. It's rough. (I've been there.) Just be real and be understanding.

I have seen people within minutes deteriorate cognitively when others around them treat them as absent or like children - never speaking forthrightly to them, telling them what they think they can handle or what makes them more manageable or less of a problem. I've also seen people perk up and become sharper when someone talks to them forthrightly - simply, kindly, clearly, being real, not trying to 'manage' them for one's own comfort.

BTW, I don't know if you saw an earlier thread today. I'd never thought to say it this way before but, based on experience, I interpreted (one way to say) Saturn to Neptune as "emotionally, things seem worse than the reality," whereas Jupiter to Neptune is "things seem better than the reality." I think this might be useful.

[Lance]

Thank you.

BTW, I don't know if you saw an earlier thread today. I'd never thought to say it this way before but, based on experience, I interpreted (one way to say) Saturn to Neptune as "emotionally, things seem worse than the reality," whereas Jupiter to Neptune is "things seem better than the reality." I think this might be useful.

I like it.

[Lance]

I had t.Mars square r.Sun yesterday. It entered partile yesterday, and, man! i had the worst, most hectic, and bad news day.

Today it is more precise, but today already doesn’t seem as bad. Maybe because I know I don’t have to go to work today.

I’m not used to thinking of tMars square rSun as such a butt kicker, but it’s on my list of stuff to watch for now (if that’s what this was).

Everything was breaking or malfunctioning, which means I had to figure out how to fix everything. Deadlines were due. I came down with Covid. And found out how bad dad’s dementia actually was all in the same day. Bleh.

In the good news column, however, I have transiting Uranus octile natal Jupiter, and two things have happened to really increase my financial situation. First, I received a nice chunk of change from my uncle’s will. Second, my employer did a market study to find out how much others in our position were paid, and then they gave us a raise. I received a significant raise - one that readjusted my whole five-year plan and calmed 100 worries. So there is that.

[SteveS]

for your good news, you damn sure needed some good news.

[Jim Eshelman]

Wow, what a whirlwind day!

On the first part, yes: a good rule of thumb I sorted out when studying Grant Lewi decades ago is that transits of any planet (especially Mars outward) to Sun, Moon, or itself is a big deal. This kind of massive need to expend enormous energy non-stop (and then burning out) has seemed to me the basic characteristic of Mars transits to Sun. In the transit interpretation section, my thumbnail is:

Active, aggressive, strenuous, sexual, competitive. Endurance high; but you tend to “burn both ends,” depleting energy resources. Circumstances demand immediate action; possible crisis. You can be more irritating to others; be tactful!

Under that, I felt I needed (for the site) an elaborative note:

I can't emphasize enough how often "burns the candle at both ends" and "depleted energy resources" is the PRIMARY expression of this aspect, in my day-to-day observation. Either malefic to Sun (or Sun to it) shows for me primarily as "body stuff," and I've seen much the same in others. I don't find many people noticing HAVING extra energy, just that they USE extra energy.

With regard to the second part, congratulations on a double good fortune (hoping, in saying that, that I'm not running roughshod over feelings for your uncle). I'll do a little digging into that.

[Jim Eshelman]

You're in an interesting astrological period right now, Lance, because it involves a factor we know a little bit about but not a LOT - and it lasts for several years, so it's hard to pin it down.

I speak of transiting Eris crossing your Descendant. Yesterday, it was applying by 0°30'. It will be exact (if we take your birthtime as exactly right) around April 7 and is well in orb right now. I don't have anything concrete to tell you (but you might want to read the long Eris thread as things were discerned across many years) but I thought I'd mention it.

There is, as you mention, Uranus octile your Jupiter-Pluto. That surely speaks to life-changing good economic news.

Your solar arcs and progressions include some I'm not crazy about (including directed Neptune closing in on your IC) but also a close applying hit of directed MC conjunct your Venus. Worth acknowledging for a time happiness and ease could be expected.

You had a better-than-usual SSR this year IIRC. Where was it you went? I keep thinking you pulled Jupiter closer to an angle than in Beaumont. (It's foreground in Beaumont, but only in an average way.) You have a Moon-Uranus conjunction wherever you were.

Your last SLR is quite nice, with two Venuses most angular (and aspecting each other). Hmm (take it back a little?) you also have natal Venus-Saturn square on the angles with transiting Venus aspecting both (Venus to natal Saturn 0°06' mundo). I can only guess what this means (e.g., I don't know if you and your uncle were close or whether he passed during this lunar return).

But your current dominant lunar return - meaning, the Demi-SLR - nails it. I was looking for the transiting Jupiter and there it is, in the one chart that (after basic transits) I should have checked first. (Uranus to natal Jupiter means you get to redesign that five-year-plan - get to restructure and change your view of prosperity - but "money coming in from the outside" needs transiting Jupiter.) It's all there with Jupiter-Uranus on the angles and a foreground partile Sun-Jupiter aspect:

t Uranus on WP-a 0°23'
t Sun on Nadir 0°47'
t Jupiter on Dsc 3°47'

t Sun-Jupiter sq 0°53' mundo

[Lance]

Thank you both for commenting.

Mom, Dad, and I all have Covid, which is good news because it means it’s now a known contributing factor instead of something terrifying about to happen.

But I’m pessimistic about Dad. He has these two transiting Saturn conjunct natal midheaven that lineup right with the peaks in my Neptune and Saturn transits.

Dad (Harold)
3-24-1938
Eagle Lake, TX
11:30am (birth cert)

I went outside to sit in the swing in the dark the other night. I was met by a small owl who startled me as he flew off. And I sat with that for a while. The next day, Dad fell and hit his head.

It took a few days for him to become more alert again. And then we realized that he doesn’t remember a lot of things from the past 40 years maybe. He remembers us from a long time ago, basically, but it’s a little more complicated than that. Like he remembers buying the house where we live, but he doesn’t recognize the house when he sits in it. He remembers marrying my mom, but he doesn’t remember that the person sitting in front of him is her. And he remembers me from like high school and younger.

But he also doesn’t remember how depressed he was. He is more alert and talkative again now.

Don’t know if it’s amnesia or if the fall just sent him that far forward in his dementia, which had previously been well treated and prevented by synthetic vitamin B shots. Anyway, sorry, you’re listening to me trying to figure all this out.

I just suspect it’s all related and already begun.

Let’s see.. I spent my last SSR in Houston.

Thank you for your sensitivity about my uncle, but he passed some time ago.

[Jim Eshelman]

Your dad (in addition to his Mercury-Venus conjunction) has a close Mercury-Pluto square. This has some great things about it and, in his mid-80s, some possible other things. This is from a current work in progress on medical astrology:

Mercury-Pluto. Nervous strain (burn-out, mental trauma). Atypical cognitive or nerve responses. Irregular brain formations.

Margaret Millard (Sep 6, 1916, 4:35 PM AST, Kingstown, Saint Vincent). Dr. Millard died of Alzheimer’s disease in 2004. Given her devotion to science, I am certain she would be happy to have her own chart used as a final example.

As I write this, the causes of Alzheimer’s remain unclear. Effective treatment barely exists. Nothing can currently halt or reverse it, though some treatments can ease symptoms or slow its progress. The most effective medical intervention today is to anticipate or catch its symptoms early when its development can still be delayed or reduced. If astrology can assist in anticipating the chance of Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia, it would be a great boon.

Astrological profiles for dementia are tentative, though we may be close to finding a pattern sufficient to give realistic warnings of someone’s increased vulnerability. The cases I have seen nearly always feature a clear affliction to Mercury. This makes sense for a disease group that compromises cognitive abilities like reasoning and remembering.

Dr. Millard’s nativity has several close aspects suggesting possible health concerns, including Moon opposite Pluto (background) and a Venus-Saturn conjunction square Mars (background). With regard to the latter, she said that she had a hyperactive thyroid.

Regarding her Alzheimer’s, the relevant aspect seems to be a close mundane Mercury-Pluto square (1°20') as a variation of the “irregular brain formations” interpretation. Other chart factors may reflect life details (including quality of life).

However, we cannot limit the emerging profile of dementia to Mercury-Pluto aspects, though dementia does seem to center on an afflicted Mercury. For example, a dear friend had rapid-onset dementia as she approached 90, having had a strong, engaged, curious, and active mind all her life. Her background quadruple conjunction of Moon, Sun, Mercury, and Saturn in Scorpio seems the strongest link to her last major disease.

Singer Glen Campbell had a partile Mercury-Mars conjunction (foreground). Estelle Getty had a partile Mercury-Mars conjunction, as did Peter Falk and (within 2°) Joanne Woodward. Sean Connery and Burgess Meredith had Mercury square Mars.

Ronald Reagan, for any birth time, had Mercury-Neptune closely opposite, as did Barry Goldwater; Aaron Spelling had them square. Tony Bennett had Mercury-Saturn closely square.

All of these people had Alzheimer’s disease. They all share a closely, obviously afflicted Mercury.

Other cases can be found, of course, that do not fit this pattern. They are less common. Not everyone with an afflicted Mercury will develop dementia. However, most who do will have Mercury closely aspecting a malefic or Pluto. This likely is a pointer toward a more sophisticated, reliable astrological profile.

I am, of course, concerned that my only Mercury aspect is a conjunction with Saturn. My best option is to keep using my brain as actively and complexly as I can as an ongoing exercise regimen.

[Jim Eshelman]

Your dad is at his Pluto half-return. That's a pretty amazing accomplishment. He's already made it past Neptune opposite Neptune and, more recently, his Uranus return. I suspect his worst time will be when Saturn crosses his Midheaven and opposes his Neptune, especially since Saturn will simultaneously touch your natal Venus-Saturn.

His progressed Mars, currently 13°45' Gemini, is square his Saturn. One simple interpretation of this (since progressions show natural developments across the life cycle) is "suffering from aging." One would think it has to do with something organic, something calcifying most likely. This might mean that it is medically treatable (reducible); or perhaps it is simply an irreversible consequence of aging. I mention this just to alert that the medical alleviation possibility shouldn't be overlooked.

Speaking of progressions, progressed Moon conjoined his natal Jupiter about 7 months ago and will conjoin progressed Jupiter four months from now (June). Something particularly good and pleasing may have been the centerpiece of last July (approximately) and something good and pleasing may be coming up in June.

Solar arc Saturn is entering partile orb of his Saturn in a couple of months. Within six months of that, whatever it is going to mean in the long run likely will be clear and it will peak in the general vicinity of spring next year. Saturn will have come and gone from his MC-Neptune by then.

[SteveS]

Jim wrote:

Your solar arcs and progressions include some I'm not crazy about (including directed Neptune closing in on your IC)....

Lance, FWIW, when t Neptune was partile cnj my Natal IC, off/on for a couple of years is when my mother developed dementia with a bad fall (hip replacement) and another serious operation. This 2 year period was the most confusing time in my entire life for I was the only one to care for my mother. There were times my mother would completely flip out and do things which blew me away with worry & depression. I had to come-up with a plan to take care of my dear mother who most of the time was out of her mind—toughest situation I had to deal with in my life—so I can relate to your emotions you are dealing with present condition of you dad. I had some good help by knowing some daughters (neighbors) of a mother who had been going through their ordeals with their dementia mother. They helped me a-lot with the dos/don’ts for taking care of a dementia parent. If you know anyone who has solid experience taking care of a dementia parent—I strongly suggest you sit down with them for advice. Good luck with this tough situation.

I will be glad to tell you how I handled my situation with my dementia mother---but it depends on the financial situation---of the situation. I can tell you this—if you are the only one to care for your dad—you will definitely need to do some careful planning---otherwise you will go Neptune crazy with worry.

[Lance]

Could someone help me with my SLR in mundo? I don't have access to my laptop right now.

Birth info:
October 20, 1972
7:11am
Beaumont, TX

April 7th SLR Location:
Most likely Houston.
Beaumont looks worse.
But I can't currently check the angles in mundo.

Thank you,

[Jim Eshelman]

Houston:
r Moon on Asc -6°58'
r Saturn on IC -4°31'
t Mars on Asc -1°08'
r Venus on WP -0°01'
------------------------------
t Saturn on EP-a +1°06'

r Venus-Saturn sq 0°21' M
t Saturn sq r Saturn 1°37'
t Mars-Saturn co 1°45' M
t Saturn op r Venus 1°58' M
r Moon-Venus op 2°06' M
r Moon-Saturn sq 2°27' M
t Mars op r Venus 3°43'

Beaumont:
r Neptune on Asc -9°57'
r Moon on Asc -5°48'
r Saturn on IC -2°40'
t Saturn on Asc -1°51'
t Mars on Asc -0°06'
------------------------------
r Venus on WP-a +1°08'

t Saturn sq r Saturn 0°49' M
r Venus-Saturn sq 1°08'
t Neptune co r Moon 1°15'
t Mars-Saturn co 1°45' M
t Saturn op r Venus 1°56' M
r Moon-Venus op 2°01 M
t Mars sq r Saturn 2°34' M
t Mars op r Venus 3°42' M
t Saturn co r Moon 3°57' M

Houston is definitely kinder than Beaumont. Neither is kind - there is pain in either - but Beaumont has pain dominant and (with a whisper of natal Neptune foreground) a sense of being helpless in front of it. While the Houston chart isn't kind, I think you should not underestimate that Venus 0°01' from an angle, It's "a Venus with issues," and, nonetheless, it's a precisely angular Venus.

[Lance]

Thank you for posting that.

Dad is in a nursing home trying to rehabilitate to the point where he can walk again with a walker, but he’s making so little progress.

I have taken temporary custody of the girls while their mother works on some personal issues. It’s going well for them. They are adjusting to the new school very well. But being a full-time dad again is very expensive and exhausting.

This next SLR is going to be a butt kicker with Mars. Last month it was Saturn. Trying to work with it.

[Knocks on wood.]

Thanks again.