Happy Labor Day! And Skywatch is posted

The September issue of Skywatch, my monthly report of planetary news, is posted now on my website and you can read it here.  Here are the general influences that we encounter as we enter September:

The beginning of September finds us with a shortage of the fire and water elements, with a predominance of earth and air. Ever since Mars left Cancer in May, there has been a shortage of the water element in the placements of the major planets, and the fire element has been missing since the beginning of August. Water is the element of emotion; it adds sensitivity, compassion and creativity. Fire gives us inspiration and motivates us to action - it facilitates physical activity and enthusiasm. The combination of earth and air creates an environment where practical (earth) ideas (air) come to fruition, but the more personal emotions (water) are not easily understood and there is less pure energy available with which to accomplish our goals and put our ideas into motion. This is exacerbated by the high number of retrograde planets, so for now don't be surprised if your ideas and plans do not immediately find their manifestation, especially when Mercury turns retrograde later in the month.

Jupiter and Pluto will turn direct in early September, and both have slowed down to a virtual standstill (a "station") in preparation for that change of direction. This means that their influence is felt more powerfully, and those of us who are experiencing planetary cycles involving these planets will be affected most directly. The Jupiter experience is pushing for expansion of a sense that life has meaning and is full of opportunities. The positive side to this is a general feeling of good fortune; the negative side, especially since Jupiter is now in Capricorn which is very success-oriented, is frustration if we have not yet achieved our goals. Under a Jupiter influence we want to be King of the Gods and feel limited in our ordinary humanity.

Pluto of course is more powerful in its influence and on a personal level we are being pressured to surrender to the flow of life and let go of anything that no longer serves us. The Pluto station can be experienced very intensely and we often find wars and conflict playing themselves out on the global stage even more than usual. Pluto has traveled less than three degrees all year as it moved into Capricorn in January and then traveled back into Sagittarius in its retrograde journey. When it turns direct on September 8 it will head back towards Capricorn where it will begin to transform the world's social and governmental structures. (See Pluto in Capricorn article.)

Chiron, which has been conjunct the North Node since May, is nearing the end of this partnership. The North Node is a signpost pointing towards our future evolutionary direction, and Chiron (the Wounded Healer) in close alliance to the Node has been bringing old wounds that are holding us back into the conscious mind so that these wounds can be healed once and for all. This is happening all over the world, and while it is not always a comfortable process, it is a necessary one. Painful experiences hold energy and until these experienced are thoroughly digested and released, we cannot really move forward in our lives. Chiron will be conjunct the North Node into mid-October, so we have plenty of time to complete this work!

 To sign up for your own free subscription to Skywatch, including an abridged translation from the original astrologese into English, visit my website.