The Sound Raven

Have you ever wondered why you are not experiencing what you've heard or read in your horoscope. For example, why you didn't seem to feel the rewards or elation from the recent conjunction of Jupiter and Venus? The explanation is simple.

The ancients called the planets "wandering stars." The Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, the traditional planets, and Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, the outer planets, are in constant motion, every single day. The planets are always moving around up above us at their own speeds. The outer planets move slower, planets closer to the Sun move more quickly.

When a transiting planet (moving planet) meets up with another transiting planet or natal planet, this is called an aspect. Aspects can be categorized as conjunctions (blending or mixing with), squares (challenging), oppositions (opposing tensions) sextiles (gentle, helpful influence), or trines (supportive energy.)

Now, here is the important part: When a transiting planet aspects another transiting planet think "weather." This is felt as background influences affecting everyone to some degree and can be felt like we all feel the weather. Depending on the planets, everyone may feel a certain "feel" in the air. For example if you hear that Mars is squaring Saturn, everyone may feel a certain frustration, delay, irritation or blockage in every day life.

BUT, when a transiting planet meets up with a planet in your birth chart, this is what is happening to you individually and the impact is much much stronger. A thunderstorm forecast matters much more if the storm is passing directly over your home!!! These aspects are much more significant because they involve natal chart points. These aspects are more personal to you as opposed to the general weather!

Transit to transit aspects will tell you the overall tone of the day or week but the strongest predictive work will matter most when these transits are compared to your birth chart as in transits to natal planets, transits to natal angles (the ascendant, descendant, midheaven, and IC), outer planet transits to natal planets and repeated activation of the same natal point by several transiting planets at once.

For example, Uranus moving through my 6th house will eventually aspect my natal Sun, Venus, Mercury and Saturn by opposition in the 12th house. This will generally be much more note-worthy than a brief Mars/Saturn square occurring only between two transiting planets which I might not even feel directly.

Your natal chart is your anchor. The transits moving around up there in the sky are constantly forming aspects with each other but most of them pass by like the changing weather! What will usually get our attention and mean something personal to you is when those planets "plug in" to a natal planet, angle or house.

One of the most meaningful planets to track is the Moon. Tracking the Moon will guide you through your day to day emotional tone and timing of events as she travels through the zodiac changing signs every 2 to 2 1/2 days. Since she moves quickly she can reflect shifts in mood, focus and emotional needs.

The Moon also has phases. For example as the moon is waxing (new moon to full moon) that is the time for building, starting and growing something. When she is waning (full moon to new moon) you may find you are finishing, releasing or decluttering things. And when the moon passes over your natal planets, you may become more aware of those parts of yourself. It is also a very valuable piece of information to know what moon phase you were born in.

Our astrological birth chart is very specific to each of us. The chart is a symbol that shows how we interact with patterns and possibilities of our human experience. It represents who we are and who we will become. The chart literally shows the sky above at the moment we take our first breath which is why the birth chart is highly personalized and the planets moving around the sky aspecting our birth charts can tell us so much about what is happening and what may be coming our way.

As I write this today the Moon is in Leo. So the overall "astrological weather" is dramatic with a loyal emotional, playful, performative nature. Today the weather will be playful and childlike with an emotionally cheerful tone. You may notice an enhance need to feel respected and cherished, jubilant and engaged in creative pursuit. This is a great day to honor the psychological need to set free your own inner child!

Tomorrow, May 31st, at approximately 4:43 am EST, the Moon will light up the sky as she sits full and proud in the sign of fun-loving, truth-seeking Sagittarius. This is a particularly special full moon because she is a Blue moon- you've heard the expression "once in a blue moon"- meaning there are rare 2 full moons within the same month. Usually there is one full moon and one new moon in every month.

What makes this such a special full moon is its conjunction with the Royal Star, Antares, the watcher of the west. (I will follow this post with a series on the Royal Stars.)

Antares is red and massive and shines in the constellation Scorpius (more on that in the series.) Because of its size it can be seen by the naked eye. Antares is often described as intense and obsession. He is considered relatable to Mars/Jupiter because he is all about courage, fearlessness, passion, ambition, competition, and leadership particularly in times of crisis. When activated, Antares can bring "great success if integrity is maintained; downfall if consumed by obsession."

Activated by this full moon, the emotional life becomes intense and passionate. This means your courage will come from a deep emotional place, you may experience sharp instinctual levels, intensified empathy and emotional resilience. However, the shadow side of this conjunction might rear its head as emotional extremes, difficulty in letting go of things that just don't serve you and attraction to relationships that are intense.

The conjunction of Antares and the Moon often brings gifts related to psychological insight and comprehension of hidden motivations.

Traditionally, full moons indicate culmination, revelation and release. Being a Blue moon, there is an amplification of these themes bringing issues to a peak that may have been building for a while. Passing through the sign of Sagittarius there is focus on truth, adventure, faith and fun!

Look up at this beautiful Moon tomorrow, look for Antares, release what no longer brings you joy, be grateful for all that you have, and Enjoy!!!!