February Planetary Highlights

Planetary Aspects and Influences for 25 Gamelion to 24 Athesterion

(all times listed are CST, please adjust accordingly!)

01 Feb 08 - Venus conjunct Jupiter: The month begins with fair Aphrodite in conjunction with strong Zeus, which symbolises stregnth and expansion. This aspect shows us that this is a favourable time for letting our emotions and feelings grow; now is not a time to keep things bottled up inside. This is also a period which would be good for any sort of venture concerning the arts - taking up a new interest such as painting, sculpting, or music would be in harmony with the energy of this time. It is also a good time to perform acts of charity or sharing - as both Aphrodite and Zeus are known for their love and generosity.


Moon conjunct Pluto: This aspect symbolises the feminine, emotional energy of Selene combining with the masculine, dark energy of Dis Pluto. It can represent a time of surprising or sudden emotional upheaval. During this period, events may happen unexpectedly, and cause you great upset. Be sure to watch out for blowing up over something small, when what you need to do is look inside yourself for your answer to why/what is making you angry. This is also a period, over the next few days, when you can expect to have some inner struggles about subjects where your emotions and intellect are seemingly at odds; if you use the energy of this time, you can make substantial progress in your personal growth.


02 Feb 08 - Mercury conjunct Neptune: This aspect symbolises all the mental energy and ingenuity of Hermes coupled with the watery, emotional, nature of Poseidon. This is a time when you will have the power of mind and imagination, if you will open yourself to the influence of these Gods in your life. It is possible that during this aspect you will feel especially "sensitive" and recieve psychic and mental impressions that you normally don't recieve -the lesson for you is to learn to be able to discern what these vibrations and impressions mean, and to sort out the good from the bad.

06 Feb 08 - Mercury conjunct Sun: This aspect represents Hermes, who is an intellectual God (as mentioned above) combined with the shining, enlightened outlook of Phoebus Apollo. This aspect is so integral to us as human beings, that the planet of Mercury never moves beyond 28 degrees away from the position of the Sun as we see them from Earth. This means that the Sun and Mercury can only be conjunct with each other - no other aspects, not even a sextile, can form! This is why our intellect and and mental energy influence our outlook and physical energy so much! We are both mind and body, united by spirit into a unity of human being. Now is the time to explore the connection between your mind and body, and to see if any of your mental patters or thoughts are affecting your health; if you want to excise any bad thoughts or negative "tapes" that play in your memory, ask Hermes and Apollo to shower you with good vibes and heal you!


Venus sextile Uranus: This aspect between the loving Aphrodite and the deposed sky god Kronos is a time of opportunity; it is also a time when the unusual and unique will be the norm. This is also a period when you can expect to pick up on vibes and feel extremely creative, incorporating inspiration and dream images into your life and work.

Moon conjunct Sun: Today is the day of the New Moon in Aquarius; there is an annular solar eclipse at 09:45pm (CST) at 17 Aquarius 44 (it is not visible from the US, as it is night). This is the first day of the Greek month Anthesterion, and it is called the noumenia, or new moon celebration. In Greek, this is the month of flowers; it is also the month during which (we aren't exactly sure when) the Lesser Eleusinian Mysteries took place.

Meditations for this lunar month:

• I want to make more time to enjoy a full and varied social life



• I want to make a positive contribution towards a happier world



• I want to meet a group of people who share my interests



• I want a job where my inventiveness can be put to good use



• I want to embrace the unexpected with gladness in my heart

Affirmation for the month of Anthesterion: My horizions are boundless and my experiences enrich my being.

10 Feb 08 - Sun conjunct Neptune: Remember watery Poseidon from the second? Well, now he is conjunct Phoebus Apollo, who we saw interacting with Luna on the sixth through an eclipse. Phoebus Apollo is now fully back from being occulted by the Moon, who in some myths is represented by his sister, Artemis.

14 Feb 08 - Sun trine Mars: This aspect is one that our whole nation needs to learn from, as it is between the intelligent God of the Arts, Apollo and the violent, ill-tempered child of Zeus and Hera, Ares. While Athena rules strategy and the practise of Just War, Ares rules the negative aspects of war - war crimes, brutality, treating soldiers as cannon fodder, and Unjust War. This aspect is teaching us that we should apply the light of Apollo - who rules such areas of life as prophecy, healing, and the arts - to the violent and dark areas of our lives. This can be seen happening in some of the political discourse surrounding the political primaries and caucuses; the Iraq War, the economy, homelessness, health-care, and the environment are all issues that the candidates are debating. Today is a good day to do a mental and spiritual inventory to assess what you are doing in your personal life to shine the light of Apollo effectively on your "Ares areas" - such as sexuality, courage, action, and assertiveness. Having a balance between your Ares and Apollo energy can help you to develop fully in all four of these areas; ask Apollo and Ares for help achieving this balance.

17 Feb 08 - Venus enters Aquarius: This aspect represents Aphrodite coming into relationship with Ganymede, the cup-bearer to the Olympian Gods. It was believed by the Ancient Greeks that Ganymede, after he was carried to the realm of the Gods by the Eagle of Zeus, manifested in our physical world through the constellation Aquarius. This astrological sign is described as being More about the constellation of Aquarius can be read here and here.

18 Feb 08 - Mercury goes direct: Hermes is

Sun enters Pisces:

19 Feb 08 - Sun sextile Pluto: During this aspect, Apollo is in relationship to Dis Pluto .

20 Feb 08 - Moon opposite Sun: This is the 15th of the Lunar Month Athesterion, and it is marked by a total lunar eclipse @ 09:31p (CST) in 01 Virgo 53. The shadow of Apollo is casting darkness across Selene. This means that your emotional nature, which you may feel was overshadowing your "more rational" side during the eclipse on the 6th, is now no longer generating a strugle within you; the tension between heart and head that you felt during noumenia is now back in balance. This balance may have been especially refreshing on the 13th and 14th if you are more in touch with your Apollo nature than your feminine Artemis nature. Enjoy this moment and use it to see how your two natures - the physical and the spiritual - are treated by you in daily life. Do you over-emphasize one while ignoring or down-playing the other? If so, today would be a good day to do a meditation asking both Apollo and Artemis, as representatives of light and the luminaries in later Greek and Roman myths, to help you to balance your emotional and rational sides. You have experienced each eclipsing the other this month, now focus on balance; instead of seeing rationality and emotion as two competeing forces, view them as a single harmonious whole.

24 Feb 08 - Sun opposite Saturn: This symbolises the warm light of Pheobus Apollo standing opposite from the restricted, dark, and limiting Kronos. This is a time for you to look inward and to take a personal inventory - do you focus most or all of your energy towards your self alone? If so, this can be a very difficult period for you; you will encounter experiences and likely setbacks that are meant to teach you to turn your focus outwards. Do you focus most or all of your energy towards others alone? If you answer yes to this, this particular aspect period is meant to help you see that you MUST care for yourself in order to be able to care for others. Remember, aspects are given to us by the Gods so that we can see what we need to "remedy" within ourselves so that we can be happy, healthy, whole men and women.

26 Feb 08 - Venus conjunct Mercury: This aspect brings Hermes and Aphrodite into interaction with one another.

Saturn is retrograde the entire month of February 2008:

note: Mars went direct on 31st January 2008! We have just completed a period in which Ares had great influence upon us living on Ge due to his Retrograde motion - this can be seen in part in the situation in Darfur, Kenya, Afghanistan and most notedly in Iraq. Hopefully this means that conflicts in this area can begin the long, arduous path to peace. Keep the people living in these area in your meditations and offerings for the month; please remember to send positive vibes to and pray for all who are involved in or affected by armed conflict.