Astrology of November 2010 by Henry Seltzer (www.astrograph.com)

« Back   Print All

The Astrology of November focuses on Venus, Mars, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. This is a time of great transition, with outer planets Neptune and eventually Uranus changing into direct motion and simultaneously aspected by the Sun and Moon. When outer planets station, or change the direction of their motion, they slow down and become even more powerful in our collective awareness. Neptune stations direct on November 6th, the day after the Scorpio New Moon, and Uranus does the same a month later in the first week of December. Pluto, direct since September, is also highlighted as it is hit by the Moon's North Node this month just as the New Moon aspects it in a semi-square.

Meanwhile Venus and Mars, conjoined in Scorpio as recently as last month, separate into different signs, Venus dipping briefly back into Libra – the sign of her rulership – where she herself will turn to direct motion on November 18th, while Mars extends his energy into Sagittarius, eventually to square Jupiter there by month's end. The Venus retrograde reminds us that as we continue to ferment in the pressure cooker of change, our relationships provide us with incredible information concerning where we ourselves are currently at in the cycle of transformation that is so much a part of daily life right now.

The Heliacal Rise of Venus, when she symbolically re-emerges from the underworld to become the Morning Star, takes place on November 5th, the same day as the New Moon. This initiates a new eighteen-month cycle of Venus, and, according to the principles of Shamanic Astrology, this time in Scorpio rather than Aries. We move from a period of powerful women warriors and more direct confrontation on the relationship front to one of more obvious sexuality and greater subtlety in dealing with the so-called battle of the sexes. We will be more aware of motivational undercurrents in all our relationships.

As the important archetypal energies of the outer planets interact with our lives, we are brought to a better understanding of deep places within us, both those where we are able to let go of past trauma and move on with our lives and also those where we are still stuck. The New Moon of Friday, November 5th, aspects both Uranus and Pluto, just as Pluto conjuncts the Moon's North Node. This first weekend of the month therefore brings the mandate for radical transformation represented by these two powerhouse planets directly into our awareness, just as the hope and the inevitable disappointments of the American post-election period (no matter what your party affiliation) begin. The Uranus – Pluto square, still forming, becomes much more active in 2011, signaling massive and much needed transformation. We are all looking for answers right now to the current plethora of societal dilemmas, and these next several years leading up to the spring of 2012 – when the Uranus-Pluto is exact for the first time – and beyond, will provide if not answers then at least a working hypothesis for taking the next significant step. As has become increasingly evident, the old ways are simply not working any longer. Both collectively and in our individual lives as well, we represent right now the butterfly in his cocoon, dissolving, dreaming up what will eventually emerge as our newly awakened and freer selves.

November 5th New Moon
This New Moon is part of the entire cycle of Venus retrograde, extending from last October 8th when she stationed on the very same degree of Scorpio as this New Moon, all the way up through her Helical Rise today and on into late December when she will return to the place that she started, completing the regaining of her lost Zodiacal longitude. The Helical Rise marks the beginning of a new Synodic cycle of Venus, this time in Scorpio. It is therefore a darker and more mysterious relationship energy that awaits us over the next eighteen months. Meanwhile on this day also, Mercury squares Neptune, bringing the mystical to mind. This New Moon also makes aspects to Uranus and to Pluto, reemphasizing their ongoing square. Pluto spiced with Uranus is about radical transformation that begins by knocking down the existing structures in our lives from the ground up and continuing on from there to seed new potentials that lie within us.

November 13th First Quarter Moon
This is traditionally a time of relative stressful trials and tribulations as we seek through action to asses the strength of what we are about as we ride the impulse from the preceding New Moon to its logical fruition. This Moon conjuncts Neptune, so the archetype of the Quarter Moon square meets the milder archetype of grace and mystical unreality represented by Neptune. We will perhaps find it possible to float above our difficulties into a calmer synthesis. Since Chiron and Neptune are conjunct right now, we will also get an opportunity for fresh perspectives on ancient woundings and on hidden feelings that can inhibit our growth process until we learn how to integrate them.

November 18th Venus SD
This is the great turning point of the latter part of the Venus retrograde cycle that has already lasted for many weeks, and it takes place in the late degrees of Libra. The Moon is opposite this point, emphasizing the connections that Venus makes to the other planets as well, to Uranus (by an inconjunct); to Neptune and Chiron (by trine); and to Mars and Mercury in conjunction in mid-Sagittarius (by a semi-square). Venus also aspects the Sun, so it is very well connected to all these other energies as it makes its powerful station, speaking to the potency of these times. We might feel the energy of this moment, and of the weekend to follow, expressed in relationship with significant others in our lives but with intense ramifications that rattle the doors and windows of our inner process.

November 21st Full Moon
This Full Moon represents in one way a completion and a fulfillment, and emphasizes relationship with others as a way past a certain portion of our dilemmas. This makes for a nice chime with the relationship signs of Scorpio and Libra that Venus occupies during this weeks-long transition period. It is also interesting to note that the Sun and Moon reside at this moment in the very last degree of Scorpio and its opposite sign of Taurus, so that the Sun is poised to go into Sagittarius on the following day, but it is not there yet. Supposedly the last degree of a sign is especially powerful, but in the sense of endings, not beginnings. We are being given one last chance to really get it, to understand the deeper meaning of Scorpio – and it doesn't get much deeper than that. Of course there will be a refresher course on the same subject over the next six weeks while Venus moves once more through this sign, but is many ways we are on the spot right now to more fully investigate our hidden motivational factors.

The Astrology of Thanksgiving
We are really in for an amazing final ten days of November - and a very special Thanksgiving Holiday season in America. There will undoubtedly be plentiful occasions for spiritual realization as well as deep process work of all kinds. These are indicated in the transits of this month, continuing into the present moment. Hidden feelings and painful trauma can actually be triggered by getting together with family members, since the very closeness brings up inner conflicts that may slumber throughout the year until this time. These issues are abundantly symbolized by the transits of this powerful end-of-year period, beginning this month when the New Moon and also the Full Moon of last weekend, November 21st, strongly aspected both Neptune/Chiron and also a stationing Uranus with Jupiter in Pisces, the sign of unconscious process. Neptune with Chiron gives us the chance to take our early wounding to another level altogether as we go into a more spiritual and higher mind take on our situation, and also presents the opposite tendency to become confused regarding our personal practices; we might become self-deceptive and attempt to place on others or outside ourselves the issue that we are confronting deep inside. Then also, Uranus provides enlightenment that comes to the fore quite suddenly, triggered by surprisingly dramatic events, especially potent now while Uranus is stationing. This station becomes complete as Uranus changes to direct motion on the very day of the December 5th New Moon, so that process work begun over this powerful weekend might find resolution then.

November 28th Last Quarter Moon
This is traditionally a time when we absorb the accumulated wisdom of the preceding cycle in terms of greater conscious awareness of our traps and follies and what part of our intended activity has indeed worked out as planned. This time Mars exactly squares Jupiter, indicating activity as well as contemplation, although we might also want to beware of too much activity, especially with Uranus still very much in evidence: conjunct Jupiter, square Mercury and inconjunct Venus, just as Venus hovers in the final degree of Libra getting ready to re-enter Scorpio. It's another very interesting and thought-provoking configuration that reminds us once again that we must use our imagination and our inspiration wisely and well if we are to extricate ourselves from our increasingly more obvious set of dilemmas that we have created for ourselves.