You've probably already noticed that this is going to be an eventful week.   The poster child for this week is Thursday, March 22, when Pallas Athena and Pluto were together.   Pallas is still right on top of Pluto, and it goes into retreat Thursday evening.   A planet is always strongest when it's going into retreat or coming back out.   This Pallas-Pluto is also strong for the rest of the month, with another meeting on April 22, and then Jupiter joining in at the end of the month just to make sure we didn't miss anything.

And that's just about how I'd read Pallas-Pluto: "What am I missing here?"   Pallas events often represent wisdom learned "the hard way."   That's silly, really; all wisdom is learned "the hard way."   It's only knowledge that's learned the easy way, and there's no comparison.   Knowledge might tell you which plants to eat and which ones to leave, but wisdom will tell you when a bear's about to eat you.   We get so much propaganda in school about how important knowledge is, and about how it's supposed to make life easy, that we tend to forget wisdom and "the hard way."

So when it's "hard" we think there's something wrong, and respond with all of the ineffective ways we've learned for dealing with the world.   We feel guilt or shame about not being "smart" enough to avoid the "hard" experience (of course, we'd avoid the wisdom too, but we don't notice that).   We try to figure out what it is that's "wrong" and try to "fix" it.   Well, since nothing was wrong to begin with, just a speed bump meant to slow us down a bit, "fixing" it can only make things worse.   Or, worst of all, we find someone else to blame.   Then we not only have it "hard," but now we have enemies too.   Nothing like an enemy to make us feel alive and justified and proud!

Or scared.   You don't want to try to make an enemy out of Pluto.   If there's something we're avoiding, Pluto's job is to rub our face in it.   So this Pallas-Pluto business is a pretty potent combination of energies.   We roll with the punches, we stand up for ourself, we try doing it differently, we try to keep letting go, we try to find our gratitude, but we also try to stay present and loving with our feelings.   We don't do gratitude to avoid our anger and fear and grief.   That doesn't work.   We have to do both.

Thursday morning, twelve hours before the Pallas energy peaks, another very different energy reaches it's maximum.   We've been dancing with this one for a while too.   It's the one you'll recognize from that cosmic laugh that you've been hearing when the world beats you up a little, or when you start to make a move to avoid something.   This is the Jupiter-Neptune energy.   There are lots of ways to interpret this one.

It's one of our best opportunities to commune with God.   Any time you can break away for meditation this week, you won't regret it.   We're likely to be a bit spaced out, so we need to take a little extra care operating machinery and walking under ladders.   It's a great time for insights about the ways you've been keeping yourself from your heart's desire.   A fantastic time to visit with faraway friends without leaving home or lifting the telephone.   And a fabulous time to make that tiny little shift that turns a fantasy into a visualization.

Then the other big event happens Saturday morning, as Chiron begins his retreat.   Most folks talk about wounded healers when Chiron lights up, and if that makes sense to you, go for it.   What I've noticed about Chiron, is that he usually gives us an opportunity to get more conscious about our childhood programming, so we can make choices about how we respond to the world, rather than just reacting in the same old ineffective ways.   Not always pleasant, since there's usually some ego death involved, but always very rewarding.

Put these three energies together, and it could be a bit of a pressure-cooker of a week.   We could be hypnotized (Jupiter-Neptune) into believing the world is one way (Chiron), then be rudely awakened into a world that ain't thataway at all (Pallas-Pluto).   That last sentence is as good a definition of ego death as there is, so don't be surprised if many of the usual symptoms of ego death come up.   Confusion.   Fear.   The mind running through all kinds of dire "what if's" predicting all sorts of traumas.   Dizziness.   Anger.   Feeling lost when you're not at all.   And of course there's that exhilaration we feel when we see something spectacular for the first time.

And in the background, Juno-Neptune is still making very deep changes to where we place our loyalty.

The major events involved are...

The Jupiter-Neptune dexter trine peaks on Th 4/5 at 8am PDT, from @39 to @69 on the 90-degree wheel, or 9 degrees of air, Gemini to Aquarius.

Pallas has its station @76 (16 Sagittarius) on Th 4/5 at 7pm PDT, still a stone's throw from Pluto.   The two reconjunct on Su 4/22 at 5am PDT.   Pallas's retreat lasts till 6/20, and spans @76-@60 (30 Scorpio).

The Moon triggers Pallas-Pluto on

F 3/30 3-6am PST,
Th 4/5 12-3pm PDT,
W 4/11 from 11pm to 3am PDT Th 4/12,
Th 4/19 10am-1pm PDT, and
Th 4/26 8-11am PDT.

Jupiter opposes Pallas @74 on M 4/30 at 9pm PDT, and opposes Pluto @75 on Su 5/6 at 4am PDT (14-15 Gemini-Sadge).

Chiron is stationary @89 (29 Sadge) on Sa 4/7 at 11am PDT.   The Moon triggers Chiron F 4/6 11am-1pm PDT.   Chiron's retreat runs through 8/25, and spans @89-83 (29-23 Sadge).

The dexter Juno-Neptune square @39 (9 Taurus-Aquarius) peaks on Sa 4/28 at 12am PDT (ie, F night at midnight).

The station of Venus occurred on Th 3/8 at 5pm PST, at 18 Aries.   The direct station occurs on Th 4/19 10pm PDT at 2 Aries.   On the 90-degree wheel, the span is @2-18.

Pluto's retreat spans @73-76, and lasts till mid-August.   Later in the Spring, Mars goes on retreat, spanning @76-@90 - so Mars meets the stationary Pluto, and Pallas Athena, just as he enters the territory spanned by his retreat!   This is indeed a conspiracy of Shakespearean proportions.   To thicken the plot further, When Mars does enter his retreat (on 5/10), he's conjunct Chiron, and on the same day Neptune stands still!

When Mars emerges from his retreat in mid-July, back at @76, he immediately opposes Venus, @75 in Gemini and quincunx to Ceres in Capricorn.

@copy 2001, Jim Buss.   Page updated 4/1/2001.  

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