At 10:18 pm on February 28, 2020, the new Decan begins with the Sun’s entry into the Decan that Austin Coppock called “The Net” in 36 Faces, his book about the Decans. For us, this shows us a tool for porous capture — the tangle that grasps us harder the more that we struggle, and yet allows us freedom of movement as long as we do not resist. For now, the planet Neptune, the watery and wide-ranging lord of Ocean, holds us in the realms of illusion and confusion and delusion, where it is difficult to parse out what is real and what is invented. Mercury retrograde in the first Decan of Pisces, called “The Labyrinth”, invites us to consider the way that our communications have us caught in a long, narrow and winding prison, where we can see neither the beginning nor the end of things. Thus, we are doubly caught in places where the light of the Sun still does not aid us in finding our way to freedom or true knowledge — neither the net nor the labyrinth release prisoners easily. Relax, they say, it’s easier if you don’t struggle.
It’s important to stay with the struggle. Just be a little more cautious about sudden arm movements. Let’s look at Planetary Placements, and then horoscopes by rising sign. But I’ll end with a brief personal note — I’d say this ten day forecast has been the hardest to write so far, and I’d appreciate knowing if they’ve been useful to you, with a note in the comments.
Planetary Placements
The Sun, of course, is in the middle decan of Pisces, called “The Net” by Austin Coppock. Associated both with the holographic net of Indra, where each knot is a jewel that reflects and mirrors the whole of reality, and the shining prison of our present circumstances, Pisces II is associated with the 9 of Cups in the Tarot — the joys of materiality, as well as the constraints that it imposes. We’re likely to be aware of these dichotomies during these next ten days, as we allow our minds to shine a light on our private skies.
The Ascendant is in Scorpio, making Mars the accidental lord of this Decan (naturally ruled by Jupiter). Both planets are in Capricorn, the realm of cardinal earth — the untilled soil, the realm of nature unsullied. Sexile by sign to the Ascendant, they support a course of fixed emotion over the next ten days: few of us are likely to change direction or our minds or our hearts in response to outward circumstances. We are likely to seek our own favor and advantage, and endeavor to cut away our less-useful connections. Mars stands in the Decan called “the Poisoned Arrow” associated with the 8 of coins, while Jupiter tries to keep hold of the Decan called “the Bridle” just a little while longer, associated with the 9 of coins. Our key struggle these next ten days is likely to be between identifying the targets and objectives we truly wish to achieve — and the self-management to direct our attention and willpower to achieving them.
Saturn and Pluto are seated upon the Decan called “The Throne”. When power is shared between duty and malignancy, the results are usually awful. Even good and responsible decision-making tends to be perniciously tinted with an unhealthy green radiance. Family matters are likely to require our responsible genes to respond to the call of need… even as our personal wants and wishes urge us to stay as far away as possible.
Mercury and Neptune share Pisces with the Sun, flanking him in the Decans on either side: Mercury presides in “The Labyrinth”, wandering back and forth trying to find a relevant story even while trapped in the review of old aphorisms demanded by the retrograde. Analysis and logic are both desperately needed — yet the big picture also commands attention. All issues — our children, our personal enjoyments and hobbies, our creative strengths, our quest for happiness and safety — are interrelated, and finding the thread that turns the labyrinth to a straight path to our centers will prove difficult. At the same time, the Water-King finds reasons to extend the nets farther than usual — we can remain unaware of just how far out he’s pushed the boundaries of what’s acceptable, of course, but all nets are still traps woven of string and illusion.
Venus sinks down in Aries, in the sixth house of work and heavy labor. She is diligent but weary of using her creativity for a drudge’s work. We all must engage our hearts and our love for beauty in our daily lives, in order to generate a better world for ourselves — but for right now that means using our heads to batter down ugliness, a little bit at a time.
The Moon and Uranus frame the western horizon, with the planet of upsets and individuation simmering below the surface of your primary partner’s experience; and the Queen of Night shimmering just over the hills. At 9° Taurus, she occupies the Fourth Mansion, “The Follower” in the tropical system, but the First Mansion, “The Two Signals”, in the sidereal system. Here, she signifies a balanced approach between directed conflict which charges into the battle-space and seizes ground, and a deliberate “burning of the boats” behind you, while setting fire to the enemy camp in front of you. This may seem like overkill — but this is the space the Moon occupies right now: commanding us to refuse retreat to how things used to be, and demanding that we engage in the battle before us, immediately. For his part, Uranus invites us to move in the direction of freedom, knowing that there’s a long and difficult struggle ahead, but nonetheless urging us to stake our claim to the liberation we desire; there is no other time.
Rising Sign Horoscopes
Scorpio: Family feuding could topple an old throne,
as personal longings flood defenses.
artistry wearies of tediums known;
and a partner sloughs off old pretenses.
Sagittarius: Your money and yourself are not alike,
though your kin may not see the difference well.
Consciously fix the washed-out, broken dike—
support your spouse, though the battle brings hell.
Capricorn: your tribe and yourself, in structures contained,
find strife while balancing joys and duty.
clever accounting, some fictions maintained;
to spouse and children, your heart owes fealty.
Aquarius: A vision of home is briefly achieved —
though seclusion is difficult to keep.
Your wealth is spent on happiness received,
your spouse planted woes — so troubles, you’ll reap.
Pisces: Explain your mind, though it wanders widely,
to friends enthralled to duty and strain;
your spouse’s kin fight? Shut up, politely;
bring love to work on your current campaign.
Aries: An artist hammers your skull from inside—
effort’s needed to make the dream more real.
Your labor’s weighty and much magnified;
a lonely beach is a good place to heal.
Taurus: Love your partner like you love your own soul,
as they pass through a tumultuous change;
Trips to see family will help stitch you whole —
first, there’s a kingdom of plans to arrange.
Gemini: a partner needs some solo time to think,
for though work is great, it gnaws at their guts,
and pressure to play, leads to drugs or drink,
til the whole house must be propped up with struts.
Cancer: This hunger to share in all that could be,
is matched by reluctance from all their kin;
and whammies hit your friends, like one – two – three,
mean that your learning journey must begin.
Leo: In the light, with laurels, obviously —
a brief joy while other loves are weighted.
A partner wants expansive privacy,
until some patron’s wishes are sated.
Virgo: a friend helps your fortune to manifest,
enjoyably and with chance to travel —
but try not to be a burdensome guest;
a lover’s life appears to unravel.
Libra: Make peace with flying solo for some days,
even as you manage the burdens of home.
Projects without borders extend work-stays;
you’re holding in place what might have to roam.
Colophon
I use iPhemeris for my charting software, and screenshot it to make charts. I use Christopher Warnock‘s The Mansions of the Moon as the basis of my Moon placement delineations, and Austin Coppock‘s 36 Faces as the basis of some of my planetary delineations. Neither gentleman endorses me.
Any errors in these columns are my own.
If you want to read some of my other astrologically-oriented poetry, To the Mansions of the Moon is a collection of hymns to the angels of the Mansions mentioned in these columns. For the Behenian Stars is a collection of hymns to the first/brightest sixteen stars. The Sun’s Paces are hymns to the thirty-six Hellenistic-era deities and ascended souls of the Greco-Egyptian Decans-calendar. While not astrological, Festae contains hymns to some of the older Roman gods and spirits from the calendar created by Numa Pompilius, the second ancient King of Rome.
