A February Month of Exploration, Transformation, and Insight

The February month kicks off in the wake of the mid-January Capricorn New Moon, when all three personal planets (besides the Sun and Moon) were in the Capricorn sign. The February 9th Aquarius New Moon, on the other hand, features an Aquarius line-up that includes, now, Pluto, with Mars being only a few degrees away, entering Aquarius on the 12th. This month therefore features the twin signs of Capricorn and Aquarius, with emphasis on the latter. There is also the long sextile, lasting the entire month, between Capricorn’s ruler, Saturn, in Pisces, and Jupiter, traditional ruler of Pisces. Because Jupiter is located in the earth sign of Taurus, there is a sort of mutual reception between the two ‘social’ planets, which are sextile to within 1° as the month begins, and only a little more than that when it ends. This brings up issues of contraction versus expansion, especially because Jupiter and Saturn are aspected by personal planets Mercury and Venus in the February 9th New Moon. Along with Jupiter in Taurus, Uranus, also in Taurus, is again activated by the Aquarius New Moon, which makes a close square to Uranus. Jupiter and Uranus both being emphasized this month brings dynamic inventiveness, optimistic novel awareness, and surprise events to the fore. And finally, of course, the elephant in the room, Pluto, now in Aquarius, is triggered as well by this Aquarius line-up. As all three personal planets move into Aquarius this month, one by one, they conjunct Pluto! That is Mercury on the 4th, Mars on the 12th, and Venus on the 16th. This has several effects, and one is to bring up the hidden flaws and fractures in the various areas of life that these planets rule in terms of your natal chart. There is intensity and control or obsession possible with the way our minds, hearts, and passions will work themselves out over these weeks. The other thing is the personal evolution that Pluto brings. Noted folk singer and lyricist Bruce Cockburn penned a song in the 1980s that was entitled “You Get Bigger as You Go,” which sums up the circumstance of this earthly life that we have; full of imperfection, it is true, and yet full as well of beauty, hope, and the possibility for transformational change.

As personal planets Mercury, Venus, and Mars, cross into Aquarius throughout the first three weeks of February, they make additional alignments with Saturn and Jupiter, and with each other. In the February 9th New Moon, Mercury is perfectly aligned with both Saturn and Jupiter, so that our though forms tis month might well partake of social issues, politics, the state of the global culture of the planet. Of course this is a time of politics in America, and of extreme study of warring factions in other parts of the world. Venus is the last to cross, and conjoins Mars in Aquarius leading up to the Virgo Full Moon of February 24th, so that another theme for this rather intense monthly period is the issue of male-female connection, or relationships in general, and how we handle ourselves as we combine.

The planetoid Chiron, known as the Wounded Healer, is another feature of the current month, being conjuncted by the Lunar North Node for much of February. The North Node there brings our attention to issues of inner wounding that might be holding us back, and also to the pain and suffering of the world around us, which is currently heart-breaking. Because the Chiron/ Eris midpoint of 20 Aries lies in perfect sextile to the February 9th New Moon, connecting Chiron with the archetype of the Feminine Warrior, this latter recognition must also be accompanied by a determination to find our inner guidance on this subject as primary. We must be clear in our own minds on where we stand, and on what we stand for, and then we can at least rest more easily, knowing that we will take whatever action or advocacy becomes available to us, as the occasion arises.

Another rather fascinating feature of this month is the prominence of Haumea and Makemake. I have been tracking these KBO planets and my research has shown that they have to do with “profound connection to Nature, and to natural law, to right action, right relationship and truth-telling, with Makemake the more activist. There is a forming yod to Makemake from, very significantly, Jupiter and Saturn, present in the Aquarius New Moon, and culminating in the Virgo Full Moon of February 24th, when the inconjunct angle from Jupiter to Makemake is exact to the minute of a degree. Haumea at 2° of Scorpio is also closely squared by Pluto in the first degree of Aquarius. Faced with the suffering of certain populations that we are currently seeing, I can only gather from this formation that there will be a concerted effort on the part of people everywhere, rather than shrugging and letting things go, of attempting to alleviate their misery.

Eris, as mentioned above in connection with Chiron, is prominent in this February 9th New Moon as well, being square the Venus/Mars midpoint. And finding our inner conviction, what it is that we cannot not do, is a recipe for coming to peace of mind in the midst of these dark times. When we feel that we have thoroughly understood our own bottom line, and acted as much as possible in accordance with that, then we are no longer helpless pawns in the midst of problems beyond our control, but instead we are part of the solution.