Planet Weather for the Week of June 11, 2006

                                                                                                                                  

SkyWatch – Moon phase of the week: 6/11 -- The Moon reaches perfect fullness at 2:03 PM EDT, at 20 degrees of Sagittarius. Related sky factoid of the week: This Full Moon follows its most southerly course, and so is the lowest Full Moon in the sky all year. (Last June's Full Moon was slightly lower and was the lowest until 2024.) Because the Full Moon is directly opposite the sun, summer Full Moons follow the course of the Sun in winter, meaning they rise low in the Southeast and set in the Southwest. (In winter, by contrast, Full Moons ride high while the Sun takes the low road around the sky.) Skywatching events of the week: 6/15 -- Mars passes almost directly in front of the Beehive star cluster, M44, with the point of closest approach happening about 6 PM EDT. You can spot this pairing still very close low in the Northwest shortly after sunset. (As noted in last week's SkyWatch, star clusters are remarkable collections, usually globular or spherical, of thousands of stars.) 6/17 -- Mars passes just North of Saturn, coming within half a degree (about the Moon's diameter) at 7 PM EDT. After dark, the two planets can still be seen very close together in the Northwest. Space news of the week: The Air Force Space Command participated in the precision air strike that killed Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, head of al-Qaeda in Iraq. One of the two bombs used to destroy Zarqawi's safe house was guided by the Global Positioning System (GPS) complex of satellites orbiting the Earth. Give credit where credit is due. Go out! Look up!

 

Mercury in watery Cancer trines (120deg.) Uranus in watery Pisces @ 14 deg., on Monday, June 12, 2006 @ 12:43PM EDT. Watery elements, and in particular this flowing grand trine in water signs (most active between 6/9 and 6/13/06), provides a magical-feeling energy that is particularly useful for reflection, meditation, and extra-perceptual insight. Tune in to your emotional intelligence – that’s what this trine is about. Go past ego, access compassion, and at the same time be honest about what you are feeling. If you seek, you will surely receive messages that are more subtle or at least not as easily accessible from logical deduction.

 

The Sun in airy Gemini opposes (180deg.) Pluto in fiery Sagittarius @ 25deg. on Friday, June 16, 2006 @ 1:22PM EDT. This yearly opposition between the Sun and Pluto brings us face to face with our deepest needs and desires. But more than that, it presents an evaluation of what must be released, what must die the natural ending of a cycle of experience, thought processes, beliefs that don’t really work pragmatically, etc. This opposition also opens up a dialogue – those things that have been simmering below the surface must be placed on the table and discussed until every party understands. Discussion can become strong and intense, and that is because the stakes are high and the feelings go deep.

 

Venus in earthy Taurus squares (90deg.) Neptune in airy Aquarius @ 19deg. on Thursday, June 15, 2006 @ 3:05AM EDT. Be prepared to be beguiled, entranced, enchanted, or possibly deceived, disappointed, and deluded. This is a tricky aspect composed of the elements of pleasure and nourishment but also ephemeral truths or perceptions we wish were truths but become something else when tested in reality. You can experience a magic moment, time out of time, a special meeting with someone, a unique sharing, a rare glimpse of the divine in an action, a conversation, a project. So much depends on what you bring to the moment and what is in your deepest heart. Neptune brings the serendipity that your soul needs at this time.

 

Erratum:  -- Massacre of Innocents in Iraq! Misspelled in last week’s PW - Haditha, Iraq is the location. (I knew that but hit the wrong button on spell check).

 

News Bits: Al-Qaeda’s head in Iraq, Al- Zarqawi, killed in bombing! Some heavy-duty super sleuthing uncovered the whereabouts of Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi. He was tracked down through the movements of his spiritual advisor, who was also killed when the bombs fell. Zarqawi is credited with fomenting some of the most barbaric acts of the Iraqi insurgency, including the beheading of American Howard Berg in 2004. Zarqawi had a tumultuous and brutal life, dying violently himself just months before his 40^th birthday (10/20/66, Zarqa, Jordan, time unknown).

Zarqawi’s chart has a clear intensity and some very complex patterning. His Libra Sun is conjunct Venus also in Libra square the Moon/Capricorn. A Sun/Moon square is never easy as there tends to be an ongoing struggle in the personality. Add to this that the Sun/Libra is in the sign of its Fall (operates less than its basic ideal) and the Moon/Capricorn is in detriment (opposite the sign it rules), representing some constraint to the emotions, which can sometime mean compartmentalizing and cutting off feeling. Sun/Venus Libra is inconjunct (150deg.) to Saturn/Pisces (struggles around belief systems) and Saturn is opposite a strong Pluto conjunct Uranus, which in itself expresses explosive tendencies (so to speak) and a need to reform systems or to feel victimized by them, creating a desire to break free of constraints. There is also a tight Mercury conjunct Neptune/Scorpio – which in his case expressed itself as a powerful urge and desire for secrecy or nefarious activities, a taste for generating strong emotional responses in others, and in combination with other aspects mentioned, a release of internal tensions through violent activity probably based on early anger and victimization. The debilitated Moon makes a trine to the twisted and highly complex aspect between Uranus/Pluto and Saturn. Because this Saturn rules the Moon, already square to the Sun, it allows the tension of the aspect to emerge more easily in everyday life (the Moon and its habits). Reportedly, Zarqawi has a prosthetic for a peg-leg, but it is not known how or when he lost his leg. Zarqawi is dead but others are ready to take his place and the violence will go on until there is reason to stop.