Jim Eshelman wrote:Venus_Daily wrote:Okay, the 2009 SSR features a partile opposition between Saturn and the SSR Moon, and an eventual close conjunction of the SSR Moon and Uranus, the Sun is Cadant, Venus is making a partile trine to the Descendant, Mars and Mercury are making a partile square within 5 degrees from the Superior angles. Is this my imagination or does this not look good for my upcoming Solar Year.
Yes, there is some rough stuff this year. It may not be all that bad, though, in terms of objective events. A lot has to do with how you routinely express your natal Venus-Jupiter-Neptune trio.
You're a Leo-Sagittarius - imperial, commanding, eyes to the highest, with one of your greatest vulnerabilities probably being (given your very high values) that you secretly think you're "not good enough." (Your standards can be pretty tough to live up to!) You have a partile and moderately strong Mars-Uranus conjunction in Scorpio, so you're assertive, bold, willing to push the envelope despite Leo-Sag's sense of the traditional. But in the midst of all of this you have a fairly strong aspect complex in a not-particularly-strong part of the chart: Venus in Virgo square a Jupiter-Neptune conjunction in Sagittarius.
I could see the latter manifesting in a verity of ways. Of course it is social, charming, able to be indulgent, probably philiosophically idyllic. It could also be a real vulnerability because (1) the idealism and desire for beauty it brings can be easily deflated by disillusionment; and (2) its weak placement in the chart means it works more behind the scenes in your psyche, and it's somewhat at odds with the "tough cookie" edge of your Leo + Mars-Uranus etc. That is, depending on how your life has gone, you could have come to "manage" this aspect in a variety of ways. We all benefit from watching return charts over a period of time to see how our natal aspects tend to
routinely work out when they come to the angles. (And we each tend to have a routine pattern for these.)
So... the transiting planets in the SSR (the return planets themselves) aren't gentle. Mars is a bit rough, and the Mercury-Mars square (in Mercury signs) can be conflictual. On the other hand, this can be a very spirited aspect that "raises the bar" on your level of dialectic with others. It could work to your advantage if you are in school, or if you were just accepting a job that required this kind of trait. It's going to be tense for sure - the day that Mercury-Mars square in Gemini-Virgo was exact, almost everybody I know was complaining how seriously stressed they were - but that can be "make my nerves raw" or "kick me into gear" type of stress, depending on your context and what you bring to it.
And what you bring to it is your Venus-Jupiter-Neptune. When this is up, does it routinely make you mellow? Do you groove in the serenity of your space? Or does it lay your doubts and other vulnerabilities on the line, especially exposing anxieties about whether people like you and whether you will be included and accepted where you need to be and want to be? Either would be an "accurate" working out of those aspects. Which way do you take them normally?
And yes, of course, the Moon-Saturn being that close will lay a downer on the year regardless. Emotional survival needs are emphasized. Frustration tolerance is low. Security needs are greater. Others can appear appear harsh, cold, nonsupportive, unsympathetic, unresponsive, unaccepting. There can be emotional loss or feelings of estrangement. Or, fearing this, you can become more cautious with your emotions, holding yourself back from others. On the positive side (practicality winning out over emotions), it's good for hard work, furious self-drive, etc.
And the Moon-Saturn is part of the greater Saturn-Uranus opposition everone is feeling - a further aspect of significant tension, especially between the old and the new, change vs. security, feeling pulled between competing points of view, etc. In some ways, this increases tension; in others, it may be an antidote for other things in the chart, keeping you from getting stuck because it is open to breaking old patterns. (See the SSR Moon interpretations elsewhere on this forum.)
So... it's more likely going to feel like life is rolling over you if you take it passively. But if you decide to play with your blood-pressure pumped a bit and riding close to the edge, to turn tension into motivation, to combine realism with ingenuity, this
might be a pretty creative year.
The question, though, keeps coming back to: With your Venus-Jupiter-Neptune foreground, what are you bringing of yourself to respond to these circumstances?
There are some key aspects to examine in the interlocking of these patterns. For example - just for some fun! - that transiting Mars is closely square your Venus in the foreground, so it's likely to be a pretty sexy year: Visceral, stalking; emotions and passions inflamed; potentially very sexual (though hunger may be inflamed with gratification out of reach for a while). Mercury conjoins your Venus, so there's room for intellectual connection and pleasing (though probably challenging!) conversation along with the rest.
Mecury and Mars are also aspecting your Jupiter - quite close enough to count when in the foreground of a return chart. Mars-to-Jupiter, by itself, means high spirits, joy of life, being more permissive with yourself, pursing leisure activities liberally (even aggressively); and that money burns a hole in your pocket (or is otherwise hastened in its departure). Mercury to Jupiter usually signifies that your ideas work to your benefit. (Though it also normally means that business matters tend to go favorably, you have to watch the cash flow - and keep it from flowing so fast! - when Mars is added to the picture, as in this chart.)
You're just coming off the time of Pluto's exact conjunction to your Neptune. You've probably had two years of very significant philosophical restructuring. If you've used this to increase your self-knowledge, then you are probably well-equipped to make the best of the challenges and opportunities of this particular (admittedly stressful) Solar Return.