Tough Time To Travel

On September 9th 2024, I'm booked on a Virgin flight from Brisbane to Melbourne. The flight leaves about 6pm. I was looking at the transits to my natal chart on that day and well, the aspects for travel are a little unsettling. See Figure 1.

Figure 1

As can be seen, transiting Mercury in 29c39' of Leo is conjunct natal Saturn which of course then aspects many other planets in my chart. Transiting Mars in 2°31' of Cancer and in the third house of travel is in square to my natal Mercury. Uranus has just turned stationary retrograde in 27°14' of Taurus. Transiting Venus is directly opposite my natal Sun in 12°49' of Libra.

Of course, this might only translate to a delay (Saturn) in departure times. Who knows? The ticket is bought and one can't worry too much about such aspects. I'll report back on the flight, hopefully! As can be seen I've regained access to the laptop running Astrolog and I'm a lot happier. 

The Coming Uranus Station

On September 1st of 2024, transiting Uranus will station in 27°15' of Taurus, about two degrees from my natal Moon. Transiting Mars will be in 27°56' of Gemini, closely sextile transiting Uranus, and in conjunction to natal Uranus is 26°52'. See Figure 1.

Figure 1

I'm naturally wary of Uranus and its station on my Ascendant back in 2016 that triggered my gallbladder collapse. I'd prefer not to lose any more organs. The major ailments at the moment, thymoma and rheumatoid arthritis, are chronic but that doesn't mean that something acute can't emerge. Uranus is the planet of the unexpected however, and so predicting what might happen is fairly pointless. Alternatively, it might all be a storm in a teacup and nothing of any significance will transpire. Meanwhile, the time draws near.

Revisiting Astrotheme

I decided to revisit the online astrology site Astrotheme. It had been a while since my last visit. I discovered that there were only two charts stored there: my own and Sabina's. Since I lost a lot of stored charts in a computer crash, I took to storing astrological data on Airtable, along with screenshots of the charts. It's better than nothing but not terribly useful without an the accompanying astrology hardware.

I'm allowed to store 200 charts on Astrotheme which is far more than I'll ever need so I thought it would make sense to store all my astrological data there where it's not likely to be lost and where it can be instantly made use of. It's just somewhat tedious to enter all the data but it's a project worth completing and should prove very useful in the longterm. 

Figure 1 shows the display for today's transits to my natal chart.

Figure 1: transits to my chart for June 20th 2024

The exact degrees and minutes of the positions of the planets can be displayed by hovering over the glypth. Using the zoom feature makes these coordinates visible as I later discovered. Having the charts of family and friends online and readily accessible might encourage me to post more often to this blog. I have only made four posts this year, including this current one.

So what's coming up for me in the near future? Well, on July 16th transiting Mars and Uranus will be conjunct in 26°20' of Taurus, about three degrees from my natal Moon. This may exacerbate my already delicate physical condition. Figure 2 shows the configuration.

Figure 2: transits to my chart for July 16th 2024

Another possibly significant event involves Chiron. It is currently moving forward through Aries but it will station and turn retrograde in 23°32', very close to my Ascendant in 24°29'. With an orbital period of over 50 years, this is the second time that Chiron has approached my Ascendant. The station occurs around July 26th of 2024. Given that this astrological body is often described as the wounded healer, this might be time where I undertake some much needed self healing or where I receive some healing from an outside party. 

No astrological software quite compares to Astrolog and I do have it still running on my old Macbook Pro that I have connected to the TV. It will not run on my Macbook Air M1 and I am still trying to get it run on my Raspberry Pi 400. However, it's important that I persevere with adding all relevant charts to Astrotheme where they are accessible from any device with an Internet connection.

Mars-Venus Conjunction 2024

Figure 1: conjunction of Mars and Venus
in Aquarius on February 22nd 2024

The conjunction of Mars and Venus took place about 5pm on February 22nd 2024 in 7° of Aquarius. That was a Thursday and it's now around the same time on the following Sunday. The two planets remain close and are currently in 9°25' (Mars) and 10°54' (Venus). The average time between these conjunctions is 334 days. I've written about these conjunctions several times in my blog titled Astrological Meanderings.

The current near conjunction of these planets places them in sextile to my natal Mars-Venus conjunction. I can't say I've been feeling all that well physically or mentally over the past few days. Whether that's the result of the conjunction or not I don't know. Anyway, just making a note of it here.

The Conjunction of Jupiter and Uranus

The conjunction of Jupiter and Uranus occurs every 13.8 years and last occurred on June 8th 2010 in 0°17' of Aries. Its next occurrence will be on April 20th 2024 in 21°50' of Taurus. As I said in an earlier post, Uranus is headed for a station in 27°15' of Taurus on September 1st of 2024. I feel that the resultant proximity of Uranus to my natal Moon and its entry into my second house may have implications for my physical health. Perhaps the Jupiter contact will exacerbate things, perhaps not.

Jupiter will move to cross my natal Moon on May 23rd 2024 with transiting Venus conjunct as well and the transiting Sun. This could have health effects or perhaps bring some good luck, who knows. The point is that before the September station of Uranus there will be activity of some sort in late April and late May. I have noticed a decline in my general well-being over the past couple of weeks but whether this is temporary or not remains to be seen.

In general terms in a natal chart, the following can said about the conjunction (source):

With Jupiter forming a conjunction to Uranus in the birth chart, you naturally connect with your intuition and trust your visions, often acting on inspiration. Instinctually welcoming change and innovation, you want to improve, grow, and develop. New methods and innovations intrigue you, and you have faith in the future.

You enjoy being a step ahead of others with your ideas, projects, or knowledge–and you often naturally are. You also prefer to explore life spontaneously. You can be rather averse to instruction or direction, as you want to leave some room for discovery and exploration.

You are quick to imagine possibilities where others see dead ends, and your optimism is commendable. Authenticity means everything to you, and your sincerity and openness are distinctive.

This aspect helps you detach from traditions or customs that feel restrictive. Your ideas, beliefs, worldview, and opinions are unconventional.

It can be extremely challenging for you to accept restrictions, preferring the freedom to be spontaneous. You instinctively know that there are multiple, diverse paths and viewpoints that are valid. Look for other factors in the chart that could help with follow-through and concentration.

Key Traits of Jupiter conjunct Uranus. You will find some, many, or all of the following, depending on how strong this aspect is in the natal chart:

• Unusual, nonconventional, and forward-looking thinking, ideals, and worldview.

• Prophetic tendencies.

• A free spirit.

• Fights restriction.

• Visionary and intuitive.

In my own case, this energy will be focused on my second house cusp and given my preoccupation with my declining physical condition, it would be a good time to dig deep into alternative therapies and exercises that might help me.

This conjunction of Jupiter and Uranus will doubtless have repercussions in terms of mundane astrology but I won't deal with that here as this blog focuses on the effects of transits on me personally. I'll link to my astrology blog if I make a post about it there.

Betrayal

I received some interesting news this evening from afar that had an emotional impact on me and is appropriately reflected in my chart. See Figure 1.

Figure 1

We see transiting Mercury in 25°41' of Sagittarius conjunct the transiting Moon in 24°05'. Both are opposite my natal Uranus in 26°52' of Gemini and trine my Ascendant. This opposition is across the 3rd and 9th houses, appropriate given the geography. It's no big deal and life goes on but the betrayal rankles and will never be forgotten. I've made excuses for this person's behaviour in the past but not anymore.

More on Neptune into Aries

 Here is a summary of the passage of Neptune into and out of Aries in the coming years.

• Enters Aries on the 30th March 2025
• Retrogrades into Pisces on the 22nd October 2025
• Re-enters Aries to stay from the 26th January 2026
• Dips into Taurus on the 21st May 2038
• Final visit to Aries from the 21st October 2038
• Enters Taurus to stay on the 23rd March 2039

Source

This blog gives a good account of the passage of Neptune through Aries from an historical perspective. For me, this transit of Neptune marks its passage through my twelfth house and its consequent conjunctions with Mercury, Venus, Mars, the Sun and my Ascendant. Of course, Neptune takes 165 Earth years or 60,190 Earth days to orbit the Sun and so this is its first passage through my twelfth house. 

In my natal chart, Neptune is located in 13°50'R of Libra and so transiting Neptune will reach an opposition to its natal position when I'm about 82.5 years old. When it finally leaves Aries and enters Taurus to stay, I'll be almost 90 years old if I'm still about. Prior to that however, it will have crossed over my Ascendant. For the remainder of my old age then I'll be under the auspices of Neptune.

The transit could mark a lapse into senility or it could herald a renaissance of an interest in psychic healing and psychic experiences. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out. The first planetary contact that Neptune has with my natal Mercury will be in 2°15' of Aries. Significantly, Neptune will turn stationary retrograde in 2°11' on 4th July 2025 and this should correspond with a crucial inner or outer contact that will orientate me as to how to harness the energies of Neptune for the benefit of those around me.