Mars square the Nodes: Astrology of 8/11 – 8/17

Mercury and Mars in Virgo will each square the nodes of the Moon in Sagittarius and Gemini this week. Planets squaring the nodes relate to karmic impasse, and the forces represented by those planets are seeking greater integration into our lives via the pathway of the nodes. For us, there is some retrieval of energy/vitality (Mars) and communication/language (Mercury) to be found through increasingly honest conversation and self-talk. We may feel tired or fatigued in a way that is remedied by enlivening ideas or a sagacious exchange of words. We know the mind-body connection is a thing – so too do certain ideas slow our energy to a molasses pace, or other ideas brighten and move us.

The Gemini-Sagittarius axis is about truth, storytelling, narrative, information, experience, novelty, belief, and logic. It relates to how we ‘spin’ the stories we weave: how we can bend things to our beliefs or subconscious beliefs, how we can subtly be dishonest with ourselves and others. It also can relate to our capacity to be flexible with our minds and entertain new ideas that offer us just the inspiration we need to move forward with more optimism or delight.

The Gemini-Sagittarius axis teaches me about the transformational potential of conversation. Sagittarius holds wisdom and intuition that is often beyond language, and Gemini translates it, or through word-play opens portals to entirely new worlds. I find that in good company, when we actually talk about the things that matter the most to us, or are of the essence of the now moment, conversation will naturally generate an effervescent ‘aha!’ moment that can inspire more aliveness as a ripple effect long after the conversation is over.

With the configuration of Mercury and Mars in Virgo squaring the lunar nodes right now, we might want to be mindful of what I would call playfully here “conceptual greed” – the NEED to know why we are following our inspiration: will it all work out, what is the final result I can expect, will everything follow a plan I can intellectually understand right now? I get the image of laying down bricks, one at at time, for a building that is still taking shape, or one we don’t have a total, finalized blueprint of yet. It is like the future is nueroplastic-bendy, or we are being asked to take some steps without having it all figured out.

When we stop clinging to this need to be all-knowing or have all the information, yet we still pursue the questions that compel us – engage our curiosity, talk about our experience, have real honest conversation – we may notice that life itself is giving us the pieces of the story, and perhaps also the time to digest the most profound details as they trickle in to our conscious register of awareness.

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 zeitgeist 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.

Watch this week’s forecast on YouTube, or keep reading below:

Here’s our week after a few announcements!

My debut novel, The Garden of Sleeping Hammers is out and available for purchase!

Katerina is twenty-one when meets a spy twice her age who offers to teach her anything she wants to know about spycraft and magic. This apprenticeship plunges her into an unconventional romance and a heightened state of psychic awareness.  Her new identity inspires complete strangers, who are sure Katerina is destined for fame, but scares those who know the old Katerina. Katerina’s family believes she’s mentally ill and forces antipsychotic, antidepressant and mood-stabilizing medications upon her at the advice of a psychiatrist. The novel follows her struggle to maintain the heightened state of awareness and aliveness that she suddenly feels after years of depression, in the face of her family and friends urging her to come back down. What happens when a massive opportunity for personal growth is seen by others as a dangerous mistake? In the hope that she might be able to return to an extraordinary life, but with no guarantee, Katerina has no other choice than to use her recent spy training to play the game, and to get an up-close, inside look at the state of mental health in mainstream America.

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The course dates have been announced for the next Evolutionary Astrology Intensive. Enrollment will open soon. Get on my mailing list to be notified! Learn more about the intensive here.

Here’s our week:

August 11, 2021

Mars in 7 Virgo square the lunar nodes in 7 Gemini (north) and 7 Sagittarius (south): 1:59 AM PDT

• Given the karmic nature of the lunar nodes, it’s like conflict (Mars) arising currently can strike a deeper chord of memory: here I am again, here we are again. One tendency may be to collapse the issue by having a belief about it (“this is the way I am” or “this is just the way this other person or this situation is”) but a deeper opening is curiosity and dialogue.
• A cue that more nuance or realization is being asked for could be if our frustration boils down to a core sense of victimization – where we feel powerless, helpless, inept, overwhelmed, etc, or hooked into the drama of perceiving another person in this way. Being in a state of victimization certainly collapses possibilities and enforces roleplay along the victim triangle (learn about the victim triangle here).
• There is some call potentially for the greater capacity to identity complex feelings, name them, and share them, in an increasingly open/collaborative way. Some finer details of the situation are not obvious, shared knowledge, but rather necessarily transmitted through open communication.

Mercury enters Virgo: 2:57 PM PDT

Mercury will stay in Virgo until August 29.

• Mercury is at home in Gemini and Virgo. In Virgo, Mercury has an especially easeful time organizing internal information (as opposed to external, in Gemini). Meaning, in Gemini we collect information out in the world, we collect information socially, we read news, we research, etc. In Virgo, we assimilate and digest information we’ve collected. Virgo brings about a kind of humility when we realize that we do have to digest everything: we digest our environment, the people we choose to be around, the thoughts we have, etc. So we are drawn to notice where we have imbibed incorrectly: internalized another person’s value system in an unnecessary way, been unkind to ourselves, or eaten foods that our body does not digest well, for example.
• Though it often takes care and conscientiousness, we can find the systems or maps that click for us:  a skincare routine that actually works, foods that harmonize with our bodies, a system in the workplace or home that creates more efficiency and ease, etc.
• Virgo can induce a need for taking one step at a time, steadily – as considering all of the details can be overwhelming or create analysis paralysis. When it comes to taking care of the finer details of our lives, Mercury in Virgo could be the joy of crossing things off our to-do list and the skillfulness of mindset/attitude around being able to approach the multitudes of things to do or pay attention to without collapse – taking responsibility where we need to, and letting go of unnecessary work we’ve created for ourselves through emotional complexes like perfection.

Venus in 24 Virgo trine Pluto retrograde in 24 Capricorn: 3:45 PM PDT

(Image: Ivan Kramskoi)

• Venus-Pluto aspects highlight transformations in self-esteem, love, beauty, and relationship. Depending on where we are at in the storyline, there are quite a range of experiences here. Something that precipitates transformation is often feeling extremely uncomfortable with where we are at, and in the key of Pluto this can look like self-loathing, jealousy, or disgust. On the other end, a kind of harvest moment of Venus-Pluto is feeling like we are on the other end of a profound struggle, experiencing the fruit or the realization of a long-cherished desire.
• Because Venus and Pluto are both in earth signs, the arena that this transformation or realization is taking place may be very tactile, physical, grounded: relating to things such as the cultivation of home environment, the garden, the body, the wardrobe, physical possessions, food, etc.
• Another angle to consider is the way that Pluto in Capricorn relates to a deconstruction of societal conditioning, which includes patriarchal values, and Venus in Virgo can relate to the aspiration to be perfect. This calls to mind images like beauty pageants or a tight, controlled approach to experiencing Venus. As opposed to the practice/praxis of opening from within, embodying one’s form, and developing an intrinsic internally-based relationship with pleasure.
• Another theme could be etiquette (the craft of charm with Venus in Virgo, and the social standards with Pluto in Capricorn). Etiquette varies culturally, personally, and in different spaces. Certain etiquette may be antiquated or stuffy, while other forms of etiquette actually do condition an experience into something more beautiful. There is a creative utility to etiquette, but not all etiquette values are equal. Is it restrictive, or supportive?

August 15, 2021

Mercury in 7 Virgo square the lunar nodes in 7 Gemini (north) and 7 Sagittarius (south): 7:45 PM PDT

• Mercury follows suit of Mars here, and at the time of Mercury squaring the nodes, Mercury and Mars are only 3 degrees apart in Virgo. Mercury-Mars together squaring the nodes can relate to some impasse at the moment around confrontational dialogue.
• On one side of the spectrum, there is the fear of confrontation and the self-minimizing that can occur when one does not voice or even value their own needs, and instead swallows it and plays martyr or doormat. On the other side of the spectrum, there is the bully/perpetrator energy, the capacity for verbal domination and vitriol/cruelty and excessive force with language or communication. We may be in situations that call for a more skillful use of force: not too little but not too much. And we may make mistakes here as we learn the skillful use of will.
• Conflict can be a gateway toward deeper intimacy and it can also reveal the end of the line, a place where a relationship or agreement has become incompatible. If we are in the karmic pattern of playing out excessive acrobatics to hide, keep the peace, not rock the boat, etc. we are using the skill of adjustment (Virgo) to attune to an inauthentic situation. Bringing truth into our lives and into the open air (through dialogue) invites change and the opportunity to take responsibility in leading a more authentic/honest life, even if that means we lose people. When this is not a habit, honesty threatens to collapse everything, like a tower falling moment, so beginning to tell the truth is necessarily going to be dramatic. When honesty is a habit, intimacy with others and with life is deepened incrementally at every turn of honest revealing.

Venus enters Libra: 9:27 PM PDT

(image: Frixos Aristeus)

Venus will stay in Libra until September 10.

• Like Mercury entering into a home sign, Venus also enters one of her home signs (Taurus and Libra).
• Venus in Libra highlights choice and negotiation. Unlike Aries who mostly acts from a place of singular focus, Libra considers multiple options and therefore deliberates. Libra thinks more of how decisions will influence the environment or other people. Part of this balance is of course also including the self: knowing what one wants and values and taking that into account.
• When balancing one’s own wants/needs with the environment and relationships, negotiation comes into play, also bringing in Libran themes like diplomacy and fairness.
• This transit can be a time to notice how we participate in advocating for our needs and desires within a social and relational context, as well as how we move toward others. This includes voicing our desires and giving opportunity for others to meet us there, as well as really listening to others’ desires or asking them.
• Libra also highlights reciprocity, of which there are many kinds. One kind of reciprocity could be to notice if others lean into your needs/requests/desires or if they move away from you when you have a need or desire. We can take this personally, but this is moreso information about how that person shows up in their relationships. We have to really consider if we are willing to participate in relationships where another person does not lean in.
• Sometimes people imagine Libra in this kind of spineless, people-pleaser way, but that is only if Libra takes themselves out of the equation and balances in relationships where they are not actually included, where there is no reciprocity. A Libra in touch with their own values is one of the fiercest and most graceful negotiators I’ve ever encountered. 
• Where there is a true willingness to lose people (let friends, relationships, work relationships, etc. go) if it’s not a match, there is room to advocate for higher values or the truer, deeper thing, as opposed to collapsing into codependency. This does not mean relationships are disposable or easily discarded, either, but that the relationship itself isn’t God. Love and collaboration involves choice – subconscious drives and needs that bond people together unwillfully is just addiction. And where there is choice, there is the freedom for real connection.

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 experiences in the form of the Evolutionary Astrology Intensive, higher level courses for alumni, and 1:1 mentorship – helping people form a depth relationship to their natal chart and personal transits over time, to develop themselves, to be in their power, and to reach their goals, all through the soul-making lens of evolutionary astrology. I would love to support you in building your relationship with astrology. The intensive is currently in session but will be offered again in the autumn, and I am to take on new coaching clients again in the future.

Find me on Instagram @sabrinamonarch, 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: George Henry Boughton)