Identifying the Impasse: Astrology of 9/23 – 9/29

There is a confrontational sharpness to this week’s transits – Mercury makes dynamic aspects to Saturn, Pluto, and Mars, and then enters Scorpio. Saturn stations direct in Capricorn. The Sun in Libra opposes Chiron in Aries. And Mars again, now retrograde, squares Saturn in Capricorn. (If you don’t sense a vibe from that alone, we will extrapolate throughout!) I chose the above image because while dramatic (with those teeth in the center) I think it communicates the sense of probing into challenging topics.

Mars retrograde already emphasizes conflict – if not outer conflict, the inner ones, like how we negotiate our own boundaries. The deeper we reflect on our external conflicts from a soul-based perspective, the more apparent it is that we are connected somehow – that some part of us is entangled with the drama and the way to liberation includes internal transformation – to learn how to relate differently to ourselves, and thus to our greater environment and our relations. There may be opportunities this week to notice dissonance within our experience – conflicting motivations, choice deliberations, or even noting a tendency to feel one way but present and act another way. Why the internal dissonance?

These internal dissonances may exist within us at low-levels and only become apparent when we are confronted with a choice or a direct conflict that forks the path more clearly. Shakespearean soliloquies come to mind, where a character steps out of the scene for a moment to voice aloud the conflict, the internal struggle (such as the famous ‘to be or not to be’…). I’m not sure how many people like feeling torn like that, and how often we try to brush these internal dissonances off to just get on with our days and lives. But to slow down into the grind of it and really feel it and soulfully identify the impasse? It might open up revelations. And perhaps, in being honest with ourselves where it is normally difficult to be self-present, there is a hidden pleasure.

Welcome back! Or in case this is your first time here, I’m Sabrina Monarch and I’m a soul-centered astrologer. I love providing perspectives on the opportunities of transits and putting into words what the vibe feels like at this moment in time, to support you on your path & open a dialogue between us and the cosmos. If you would like to receive these weekly forecasts to your inbox and be notified of upcoming educational opportunities, sign up for my mailing list here.

There is no YouTube video version of this week’s forecast, but I’ll be back soon! Head over to my channel and subscribe and hit the notification bell to be alerted when the next one comes out. Continue reading below.

Here’s our week after a few announcements:

New episode of Magic of the Spheres!

I have a new solo podcast out – I talked about a mystical experience I had with monarch butterflies as a kid and how it informs my concept of cause and effect and manifestation 🦋 Tune in where you listen to podcasts, or on your browser here.

Astrology Reading Bookings FULL: I am booked out for a little bit, but still taking new clients for ongoing mentorship/coaching (6 month – 1 year commitment). If you’re interested in working with me in that capacity, send me an email at sabrina@monarchastrology.com. And make sure you’re on my mailing list if you’d like to be informed of when my books open again!

NEXT EVOLUTIONARY ASTROLOGY INTENSIVE

We’re partway through the current intensive, but I’m going to announce the dates for the upcoming one sooner than I normally do, so you have time to plan. I’m also going to make the next one friendlier to European time zones. Stay tuned, and make sure you’re on my mailing list to be informed. View the course page here for more information on this amazing learning opportunity.

Here’s our week:

September 23, 2020

Mercury in 25 Libra square Saturn retrograde in 25 Capricorn: 3:38 AM PDT & Mercury in 26 Libra opposite Mars retrograde in 26 Aries: 3:53 AM PDT on September 24.

(Images: Perfect Blue, 1997, dir. Satoshi Kon)

Refer to Mercury squaring Pluto in Capricorn in last week’s forecast – that same dynamic is still at play.

• There is a greater tendency for apparently simple conversations or apparently simple exchanges of information to turn into more explosive dynamics, revealing a conflict that has been simmering under the surface for some time.
• It might be wise to pick one’s battles at this time. Disengagement or retreat is an option, especially if there is not longer term interest in relationship building or reconciliation. Disengagement is a potentially beneficial option when disentanglement from a dynamic IS the breakthrough – such as when we learn how to stop repeating the same story in life by playing the same role, with the same other characters.
• For connections where there is a sustained interest in collaborating (in friendship, in love, in business, etc.), working through the impasse together in difficult conversation might be more likely this week with this transit. Rather than being a new pattern or a new issue, something historic boils over. We can do our best to be as thoughtful/kind and honest as possible, and also have increased compassion and patience for ourselves and others at this time.
• Mercury enters retrograde shadow (the exact degree and second of the zodiac where Mercury will next station direct at the end of the retrograde) on September 23 at 1:38 PM PDT. The retrograde proper lasts from October 13 – November 3. The shadow period here means that some of the dynamics and conversations unfolding at this time may be pivotal to this retrograde’s themes for you. These ideas may be revisited and turned over in the mind. You might expect to have a change in perspective – especially from engaging with the values of others, that truly differ from your own and spark a process a deliberation.
• A process of deliberation meaning – through gaining new or conflicting perspectives from others, we end up deciding what we align with and what we don’t. Instead of the mind being on stable or stagnant ground, it is literally like working with a scale and balancing different options. There may be negotiations at play which feel tricky.
• In addition to having a change of perspective through dialogue, you might also keep in mind that others you are in relationship with deserve the same choice. Voicing your own perspective is crucial for allowing others to meet you and to balance with you. If you keep your views or needs secret, consider why – what are you trying to gain and what are you afraid to lose? Might there not be liberation or empowerment in speaking the truth and being able to deal with the consequences? When we sacrifice our own voice, it can make us resentful of others and not allow others the option to truly relate with us.
• Negotiations might not come to a mutual agreement and that is not necessarily a failure. It may be (if you choose to look at it this way) a failure of the relationship to be something particular, but it is not a personal failure – yet often we perceive it as such. Not getting a need met in relationship triggers attachment or early life wounding, and there is a way we have to be responsible for that in adulthood instead of feeling victimized by it.
• Where it does feel like a win – like a meaningful/loving agreement is reached, or you feel dignified in how you met the situation regardless of its outcome – it is likely that some alchemy occurred. These are moments that exemplify the concept that relationships are spiritual paths.
• If you don’t feel good about what has happened, consider finding the ‘lesson’ or wisdom in the situation so that you can move on from this moment more empowered in your life. We cannot avoid failures in life, but we can have a better relationship with them.

September 27, 2020

Mercury enters Scorpio: 12:41 AM PDT

(Image: Vincent Giarrano)

Mercury will station retrograde in 11 degrees of Scorpio on October 13.

• Mercury in Scorpio highlights the penetrating depth of the mind. Scorpio is a sign that relates to trust, and at the root of trust is the capacity to trust ourselves. When we have intuition, hunches, or sense things, it opens up a process of learning how to discern between psychic vision or paranoia, for example.
• Trusting our intuition and vision opens up a process of psychological purification. If we are for example, running a subconscious script that everyone is out to get us, then this is going to compromise our ability to see underneath or behind things – because we will be inevitably scanning for what we fear, and reading fearfully into situations. We’re trying to protect ourselves when we do this, but it doesn’t necessarily relate to the best quality of life and internal experience.
• Some things that help with mental purification are learning how to witness our thoughts and notice our biases and stories (as opposed to just being merged with them), and learning how to wield our focus intentionally. If we meditate on certain transcendent values and create space for them in the mind, they tend to magnify in our overall experience.
• At a neurological level, the brain has more tendency to focus on the negative and to find ways to protect ourselves from danger, so developing neural pathways around pleasure and feeling content/safe is often an intentional habit cultivation process.

September 28, 2020

Venus in 25 Leo trine Mars retrograde in 25 Aries: 6:01 PM PDT

• This alignment of Venus and Mars brings together the loyalties of the heart (Venus in Leo) with the ardor and heroism of Mars. There is a pleasure and a vitality we source when there is something or someone in our lives who inspires this sense of loyalty within us, who inspires us to be there/show up and to court.
• At times this awakened passion of the heart has a way of inspiring courage – both the courage to actually feel this level of desire or interest, and the desire to make it known (without the promise of reciprocity, and therefore the willingness to face rejection).
• In this creative tension of feeling attracted and awakened, we can get in touch with more noble elements of our personality and soul – an inspired willingness to respect ourselves and others at a deeper and perhaps unconditional level, despite one’s hopes for a particular outcome.

Saturn stations direct in 25 Capricorn: 10:11 PM PDT

(Image: Francisco Zúñiga)

At this point, Saturn is on route to re-enter Aquarius (it did briefly in the spring of 2020, before retrograding back into Capricorn) on December 16 and will stay in Aquarius until March 7, 2023. The next few months close out the transit of Saturn in Capricorn.

• Stationing planets become louder energies in our experience. Saturn stations with a square to Mars (Mars adding further emphasis/force to the felt experience of Saturn). Saturn moods range from feeling oppressed/blocked, to feeling ashamed, to feeling successful and dignified, to feeling esteem through our work and feeling like we are being responsible or in integrity. Saturn moods can be cynical, dark, hopeless, dry, or one might feel robust, or feel a sense of gravitas.
• Saturn highlights the consequences of neglect (like dental problems from not taking care of one’s teeth over the years). Saturn also highlights consequences from societal or inherited hardships through no fault of one’s own, and consequences from not taking personal accountability in life.
• Saturn also highlights the rewards that come from discipline, effort, commitment, consistency, or the steady cultivation of a process/goal. These rewards come with time and have a sturdy foundation under them, in which no shortcuts were possible. It really was ‘work’ that made it happen.
• One of my favorite Saturn meditations is the concept of leverage, like taking real stock of what you have going for you already and where your footholds already are in life, and working from there. This means taking the time to be aware of our resources (including ones we are ignoring and overlooking), talents, accomplishments, and whatever else is creating ground/traction in our lives. This is important because climbing a mountain (literally or metaphorically) involves one foothold at a time, and knowing where we are starting from allows us to more accurately perceive opportunities that are available to us.

September 29, 2020

Sun in 7 Libra opposite Chiron retrograde in 7 Aries: 1:44 PM PDT

(Image: J Louis)

This sets us up for the Full Moon coming October 1, where the lunation will be still in close opposition to Chiron in Aries.

• With the Sun in Libra casting its light by opposition to Chiron in Aries, there can be experiences where witnessing the beauty/graces/charms of another person bring up painful experiences around jealousy, comparing, or feeling inferior in some way (a Chiron in Aries pain point). This also troubles our ability to connect with someone else, or feel happy for them – and so for love, we might have some interest in diffusing jealousy. We can also be on the other end of this, sparking and/or feeling the jealousy of others.
• Aries is full of life and yet so fresh, and has this ongoing tendency to scream, “I EXIST! I AM!” and will fight until that victory or recognition is accomplished. It is the underdog, the hero, the one who was underestimated. Until further development along the timeline of Aries’ becoming, where external recognition is garnered, Aries possesses a secret knowledge of their own capacities and potentials, and they are highly motivated to prove themselves.
• If you feel triggered this week and it relates to this sense of wanting to be better as a person, more on top of life, more #1 — see if you can have deeper compassion for this aspect of yourself that is wanting to emerge, and what you can do to facilitate it in a way that is truest to you, and not based in the standards of someone else’s qualities or achievements.
• Jealousy in of itself offers very little, and is often detrimental. But as a signal, it can be an invitation to cultivate and take deeper ownership fo the qualities we see more in others than we see in ourselves.
• In situations where we really don’t want to remain jealous (say of a friend or loved one), it opens up the development of nobility. Being truly happy for others and feeling inspired by others creates more receptivity within us to receive or develop those qualities, and allows us to relate to those people instead of feeling separate from them. Appreciating others creates honorability.

“Most of us do not know how to deal with people’s reactions. In real life, it takes a lot of fortitude to be radiant, say, at a friend’s wedding, and respond graciously when you realize most women are giving you the evil eye. Escaping to the powder room, you and before the mirror and notice that conversation has stopped. You can feel them thinking, and may even hear them saying, ‘She’s got a lot of nerve. Who does she think she is?’ Is it a worthwhile price to pay for loveliness? Wouldn’t you rather continue being a schlump?

Feeling envious and being the target of it are both corrosive. When we define ourselves as worthless nobodies, our envy and malice toward the glamorized other whom we perceive as ‘It’ feels justified: because we are nothing, our feelings don’t matter. We are just weightless yearning. They matter, they are Somebody. We imagine being envied as the pinnacle of success, not realizing the others’ yearning for our state would not give us peace, reliability, or happiness. Whom do you envy? When will you stop feeding that envy?

Consider your vulnerability when you look at a clothing ad or story. Finding and understanding the substance beneath your surface provides an antidote to the addiction to their idea of what will make you beautiful. Once you taste your own power, the petty promises of advertising, like evanescent illusions, lose their power to sway.” – from an essay titled “Fashion and its Discontents” by Andrea Sieigel from her book, Open and Clothed: For the Passionate Clothes Lover

Mars retrograde in 25 Aries square Saturn in 25 Capricorn: 2:50 PM PDT

Refer to the Mars retrograde forecast for thoughts on this dynamic, as well as this recent episode of Magic of the Spheres! (Available where you tune into podcasts, or click the image.)

Thank you for meditating on the planets with me this week! If you would like further guidance, I have been increasingly focused on longer-term 1:1 work with my students and clients, in the form of mentorship – helping people form a depth relationship to their natal chart and personal transits over time, to develop themselves, to heal, and to reach their goals, all through the soul-making lens of evolutionary astrology. If you’re interested in working together in that capacity, I am currently accepting new clients. Send me an email at sabrina@monarchastrology.com to start a conversation and set up a free consultation call.

Find me on Instagram @sabrinamonarch and Twitter @Sabrina_monarch, get on my mailing list to stay apprised of all upcoming offerings and events, and I’ll see you next week!

With love,

Sabrina Monarch

(Top Image: Oleksandr Shatokhin)