On September 22, the Sun ingresses into Libra, marking the Autumnal Equinox in the northern hemisphere. This time is celebrated as the sabbat Mabon in the witches’ Wheel of the Year. It is a time when the hours of day and night are equal in length, as the Sun crosses the celestial equator. From this point until the Winter Solstice, the days will grow shorter as we move deeper into darkness. Libra is described as the sign of the Sun’s fall or depression, in part because as it moves through this sign, its light and power diminish. Libra is also a sign concerned with cooperation, collaboration, and holding the needs of others together in balance and harmony, whereas the Sun is a singular, centralizing force around which all others orbit. In Libra, the Sun is challenged with distributing attention away from the one and toward others, building relations rather than blazing ahead alone.
This year as the Sun enters Libra, its ruler Venus is in Scorpio, the sign of its antithesis or detriment, applying to an opposition with Uranus in Taurus. Venus in Scorpio is traversing terrain far from its home sign of Taurus, seeking pleasure in the shadows and beauty in places where others might turn away. Uranus is the planet of upheaval, revolution, disruption, and radical change, demanding breakthroughs or breakdowns from established conventions. How might we become more capable of meeting one another’s needs and satisfying one another’s desires if we dare to unsettle or overturn what we have accepted as the standards of beauty, desirability, and superficial connections? As we move into this new season, may we each commit to diving deeply into the longings we have refused to acknowledge, subterranean passions that break open the ground of who we thought we had to be, sending fault lines through the social expectations that kept so much potential love and pleasure buried beneath the surface. [First image reads “Astrology of the Wheel of the Year: MABON, 22 September 2021” in golden letters on a dark green field of flowers and stars. Second image shows the chart for the Sun’s ingress into Libra and reads “Mabon, 22 September 2021, 3:21pm, Columbus, OH, USA”]
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August 1 is the traditional date on which witches celebrate Lammas — or Lughnassadh — the First Harvest in the northern hemisphere, the midpoint between the Summer Solstice and the Autumnal Equinox. As a harvest festival, it’s a time for offering gratitude for the abundance of the Earth, for the crops that are starting to yield fruit, and for all the ways our lives are bringing forth bounty. This year as the Sun rises in its domicile of Leo on August 1, it’s in a tight conjunction with Mercury. This superior conjunction is a condition known as cazimi or ‘in the heart of the Sun,’ a time when Mercury disappears into the blazing daylight to be purified and clarified. It is a place of extreme favor and relief for Mercury halfway between its direct and retrograde stations. Messages come through with precision and authority, and the topics for which Mercury is responsible benefit from the good will of the dignified Sun. The Sun in Leo burns with courage, whole-heartedness, and authenticity, calling us to radiate more fully and persistently in our truths. However, this conjunction is also in a tight applying opposition with Saturn, retrograde and also in its domicile of Aquarius. Saturn is in the process of reviewing and revising systems, institutions, rules, and regulations, and in this opposition, we may encounter resistance to what is being revealed during the cazimi. There may be revelations we are harvesting that are not easy to recognize or receive. The waning quarter Moon is exalted in Taurus, separating from a conjunction with Uranus and a T-square with Saturn, Mercury, and the Sun. For this sabbat, may we celebrate the rich abundance of our lives, all the lessons that we are learning from our labor, daring to seek and uncover the truth even as we encounter fear or restrictions from within or without. Stay open to epiphanies and take responsibility for how or when you share what you are coming to understand. Trust that the wisdom of your body is already leading the way.
On Thursday, July 8, Venus in Leo will form a square with Uranus in Taurus. Venus is separating from an opposition with Saturn in Aquarius and applying to a conjunction with Mars — and using only the visible planets, this is a condition of enclosure, in which Venus is flanked by the rays of Saturn and the body of Mars. This can describe challenges in our relationships and social dynamics, confronting barriers that seem immovable and reeling into the impulse to separate. Intimacy can sometimes feel threatening or even impossible, especially if we are holding trauma in our systems or if we were shaped by inconsistent care. In between the unyielding thought patterns and the instinct to bolt is Uranus, the planet of disruption and upheaval making a square with Venus, shaking up our ability to coregulate and feel safe with others.
But these aspects can also tell another story: Saturn can remind us of the boundaries we need to maintain in order to love well. Venus conjunct Mars can describe the fiery passion of coming together in shared desires. In this story, Uranus describes our liberation from old patterns that were never working in the first place. As we face our fears and ask for what we need, we find freedom that we did not know was available to us, an emancipation that sets us loose into blazing erotic satisfaction. The planets describe archetypal patterns. How they correlate with our lives is full of variation and often choice. As you navigate these transits, look back to April 22 when Venus was conjunct Uranus to understand what was planted then that is now breaking through the surface of your life. What will be your story for this astrology? [Image reads VENUS SQUARE URANUS 8 July 2021 in bright pink letters on a dark red background] Today Mars in Leo will perfect its square with Uranus in Taurus at 13º. This square comes just two days after Mars opposed Saturn—and is still within 1º of that opposition. Here we may feel a similar combustibility as we did back around January 13 at the Mars/Uranus conjunction, a building of energy for change blazing against structures that resist such change. But here we may acutely feel the limitations of rigid ideologies setting the parameters of what is and is not possible. We may find our energy for radical change colliding into the walls of institutions that resist our efforts. Uranus inspires innovation, and perhaps it is at these limits that we will be pushed to generate new emergent strategies (adrienne maree brown) for addressing systems that refuse to respond to our demands. Notice where you are experiencing your drive and determination crashing into seemingly immovable structures that deny your momentum. How might the limitation itself provide valuable information for the kinds of innovations that are needed in order to forge another way?
[Image reads MARS SQUARE URANUS 3 July 2021 in light green letters on a dark red background.] On July 1, Mars in Leo will oppose Saturn in Aquarius, both at 12º—in a T-square with Uranus at 13º Taurus, activating and potentially agitating the ongoing Saturn/Uranus square story that is unfolding throughout the year. Saturn is retrograde. Mars has no particular dignity in Leo, other than ruling the third decan at the end of the sign, and it is just at the start of Saturn’s bounds. Fiery Leo fuels Mars’ drive and intensity, but Saturn is setting the limits here. Mars will only be able to accomplish what Saturn allows—especially as Mars does not have reception from its domicile ruler, the Sun. Anticipate potential frustration, the kind of frustration that comes from having the energy and willpower to accomplish something with little or no latitude in which to make significant moves. With Mars applying to the exact square with Uranus—which will perfect on July 3—any opportunity for making things happen may come from abandoning the familiar and attempting a radically different approach. As Audre Lorde wrote in Sister Outsider, “For the master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house. They may allow us to temporarily beat him at his own game, but they will never enable us to bring about genuine change.” In your frustration, it might be time for developing new tools and strategies, innovative new ways of encountering and confronting our conflicts.
[Image reads MARS OPPOSING SATURN 1 July 2021 in lavender letters on a dark red background.] The Sun enters Cancer at 11:33pm eastern on Sunday, June 20, marking the Summer Solstice in the northern hemisphere—called Litha in the witches’ Wheel of the Year. The Summer Solstice is the longest day of the year, at which point the days begin to grow shorter and the nights grow longer. From the peak of its strength, the Sun begins to move toward its symbolic death and rebirth at the Winter Solstice. This year, as the Sun moves into Cancer, its ruler the Moon is in Scorpio, the sign of its fall or depression. The brightest light of the year is revealing where our needs feel unmet, the places that feel neglected or abandoned. The Moon is in the waxing quarter lunation phase, a time of pressing through resistance, overcoming challenges, and establishing the viability of this cycle—proving what is possible even when the support we may be seeking feels absent or unavailable. The Moon is also square Saturn and opposing Uranus in Taurus, wading through the residue of this week’s exact Saturn/Uranus square. Our foundations may feel shaken and unsteady. But the Sun is also applying to a trine with Jupiter in its domicile of Pisces, and it is co-present with Venus in Cancer. Provision may not come from the sources we expect, but there are resources available to us is we follow where the currents are carrying us. As that which you have been grasping is shaken from your trembling hands, surrender to the flow, moving in the direction of abundance rather than clinging to the places where it feels as if there is never enough. May we each trust that our lives are simply tributaries streaming into tides that nourish us even as we pour ourselves into them. As we move from the longest day toward the longest night, may we remember that we are never alone.
[First image reads “Astrology of the Wheel of the Year: LITHA, 20 June 2021” in golden letters on a dark green field of flowers and stars. Second image shows the chart for the moment of the Sun’s ingress into Cancer, and reads “Litha, the Summer Solstice, 20 June 2021, 11:33pm, Columbus, OH, USA”] I am so excited for this talk I am giving with Fresh Voices in Astrology on Saturday, July 3, at 1pm pacific / 4pm eastern:
“Asteroids in Astrology: Nuance, Subtlety, and Direction In this talk, Michael J. Morris will introduce the use of asteroids in natal astrology, including both the asteroid Goddesses — Ceres, Vesta, Pallas, and Juno — as well as the use of minor asteroids. Asteroids are relatively small celestial bodies that are not visible to the naked eye. The first four asteroids were discovered between 1801-1807, and now there are over 1 million asteroids identified in our solar system. Michael will introduce participants to philosophical, mythological, technical, and practical considerations for working with asteroids in natal chart delineation. In particular, they will focus on the use of a specific set of minor asteroids named after Greek deities who are venerated in the surviving Orphic Hymns, with plenty of chart examples from their ongoing client work. Asteroids hold the potential to bring subtle details and nuance to our understanding of the purpose and life direction described by each birth chart.” I am SO grateful for the clients who have generously given me permission to share their charts and stories. Hearing what the asteroids have described in their lives is truly breathtaking. Not to miss. Link for registration on my Events page. [Image: a colorful collage with Michael’s face in a starburst shape in the center alongside the symbols for the Moon and Sun. Text reads: Asteroids in Astrology: Nuance, Subtlety, and Direction, Michael J. Morris Webinar, Saturday July 3rd at 1pm PST, Fresh Voices in Astrology, @astrologyvoices] Jupiter is still in Pisces until July 28, but stationing retrograde later this week.
Several nights ago, the Moon was in its domicile of Cancer, applying to a conjunction with Venus, both receiving a superior whole-sign trine from Jupiter. It was a night for ritual and reverence, connecting with these celestial bodies and inviting their support. May abundance and ease find each of you in the midst of all of that we are struggling for. On June 10, there will be an annular Solar Eclipse at 19º Gemini—9º from the North Node. This eclipse is conjunct Mercury retrograde in Gemini and square to Neptune in Pisces, both of which are signatures for potential confusion, misunderstanding, and miscommunication. Mercury is within one degree of its inferior conjunction with the Sun — moving into the heart of the Sun or cazimi. It could be that just as we come to some kind of clarity regarding Mercury’s retrograde, a shadow is also revealed, a side of the situation that we could not see before.
Do not expect to fully understand the events around this eclipse and anticipate that more will become clear with distance. Gemini is often concerned with information and communication, gathering and synthesizing data to develop a particular point of view. But at this eclipse, these are precisely the kinds of processes that may experience disruption. Remember, eclipses can describe unpredictable events, sudden or dramatic changes unfolding in different areas of life. Most often, solar eclipses—which occur when a new moon is within close proximity to the Moon’s nodal axis—describe significant or dramatic beginnings. These events can unfold suddenly or over the next six months. Look to the signs in which the eclipses occur in your own chart to see which areas of life they might be describing. If they occur within a tight orb—I use 3º—of a planet or angle in your natal chart, these eclipses are more likely to indicate more significant events in your own life. [Image reads: SOLAR ECLIPSE IN GEMINI 10 June 2021 in yellow-grey letters on a dark background] On June 3, Venus in Cancer will make a trine with Jupiter in its domicile of Pisces, both at 1º. I think this June 3 trine between Venus and Jupiter may be one of the most auspicious aspects of the year. Venus is the planet of love, union, relationships, desire, pleasure, beauty, aesthetic harmony, and justice. Jupiter is the planet of abundance, expansion, growth, wisdom, faith, and belief. Jupiter is in its domicile, and Venus is the ruler of the water triplicity by day. Together they create supportive conditions for collaboration, for investing in shared beliefs and values, for connecting our personal desires and pleasures with something larger than ourselves, for making art and love that can guide us to more expansive wisdom and perspectives of the world.
Consider prioritizing pleasure and connection today. Notice what feels good and move in that direction. Remain sensitive and responsive to your own shifting desires as well as what your friends, lovers, companions, and colleagues want as well. Follow ease and flow and see where they can take you. Venus made a conjunction with Jupiter in Aquarius back on February 11, which was the start of a Venus/Jupiter cycle. It may be worth recalling what was coming up for you around then and notice how it has grown and evolved to this point now. [Image reads: VENUS TRINE JUPITER 3 June 2021 in light aqua letters on a light blue background] “What I hope is becoming clear is that sex and sexuality, even in their most mundane forms, involve our already more-than-human bodies mediating more-than-human sexual partners, incorporating more-than-human technologies with consequential entanglements with a much larger world that is far more than human. ‘Ecosexuality’ is a term for these and many other entanglements of human sexuality with the nonhuman world. Broadly speaking, ecosexuality directs attention toward various ways in which sexuality is already ecological, and the ways in which ecology might be understood as sexual or erotic. This term has come to be used by artists, academics, activists, environmentalists, people working in sex industries, and others. Its dimensions can be practical, material, biological, metaphorical, representational, conceptual, and philosophical.”
Excerpt from “Ecosexuality: Toward Pleasurable Relationality With the More-Than-Human World,” a short piece I published in UnBound Zine Issue 9: “Awakening”. Many thanks to executive director Lashonda Love for inviting me to contribute. I wrote my doctoral dissertation on ecosexualities in performance, and this piece summarizes some of the important ideas that have continued with me from that work. I write about how I understand ecosexuality, the work of Beth Stephens and Annie Sprinkle who first introduced me to ecosexuality, the ways ecosexuality can disrupt human exceptionalism and anthropocentrism, and awakening to the deep pleasure of belonging with-and-in this world. I hope you check it out! https://www.unboundartscollective.com/current-issue HAPPY PRIDE! [Images above include screenshots of the article described above, in two-page spreads on a light green background. Image below shows the cover of Issue 9 of UnBound, an illustration of two nude brown figures woven through vines and flowers.] On Saturday, May 29, Mercury stations retrograde at 24º Gemini, and will remain retrograde until June 22 when it stations direct at 16º Gemini. This is our second Mercury retrograde period on 2021.
In Gemini, Mercury is in its domicile, so it has access to the resources in needs in order to accomplish its goals. But for these weeks, the goals that will be best served are reflection and review, particularly in terms of communication, the transmission of ideas, how we access and process information, how we articulate our perspectives, as well as the movements of material goods and travel. Mercury stations retrograde in a conjunction with Venus and square Neptune in Pisces. How we communicate in relationships of all kinds may require extra care and consideration. With Neptune involved, we may not be hearing one another as clearly as we believe we are. Check your own projections. Exercise patience. Practice deep and deliberate listening. Be intentional in reflecting back what you heard and understood. There is a moment of vivid clarity possible on June 10 when Mercury is cazimi the Sun, bringing some of what has been clouded into bright focus and revealing what is at the heart of this transit for each of us. Mercury will make one last square with Neptune on July 6 then clear its retrograde shadow on July 7. Between now and then, pay close attention. Gather information. Develop multiple possible plans and contingencies, holding off making final decisions or determinations—because you very likely will not have all the information that you need in order to come to such conclusions. By the end of the first week of July, it will be time to put what you’ve learned out into the world. [Image reads: MERCURY RETROGRADE IN GEMINI May 29-June 22 in dark olive letters on a bright yellow background] Lunar eclipses tend to describe significant or even dramatic culminations in whatever part of the chart they fall. Especially as this lunar eclipse occurs with the Moon just 5º from the South Node, this could describe a striking decrease or clearing out, potentially unfolding between now and the Solar Eclipse in Sagittarius on December 4. The events described by eclipses are often unexpected or unpredictable, as an eclipse is an interruption in the light of the Moon or Sun. However, letting go and bringing things to completion—even in unexpected ways—need not necessarily be traumatic. This eclipse is not only ruled by Jupiter—because the Moon is in Jupiter’s domicile of Sagittarius—but the Moon and Sun are also in a T-square with Jupiter at 1º Pisces. Jupiter is in its domicile of Pisces and witnesses this eclipse, offering currents of cohesion and compassionate growth through whatever passage this eclipse describes. This suggests a more benevolent and supportive quality to whatever events unfold around or following this eclipse. In Sagittarius, this could describe changes in our beliefs and how our views of the world impact the particular part of our charts occupied by Sagittarius. What beliefs have you outgrown or outworn? What perspectives of the world are expiring, creating space for new experiences and emergent observations? The loss of belief can be a time of crisis, but as our familiar points of view disintegrate, pathways to more freedom can come into view.
[Image reads: LUNAR ECLIPSE IN SAGITTARIUS 26 May 2021 in light grey letters with a red-orange glow on a dark grey background.] Today Jupiter ingresses into Pisces where it will be until July 28, foreshadowing its longer transit through Pisces throughout 2022. Pisces is Jupiter’s nocturnal domicile, a mutable water sign where Jupiter’s abundance can be oceanic, where its growth comes from its adaptability, and its deepest beliefs are in our capacities for connection and dissolving the barriers between us. More becomes possible with Jupiter in Pisces. Perhaps we become more possible or simply we become more. More abundantly more. More sensing, more feeling, more than one, more than two, more than a single point of view, more gracious, more loving, more compassionate, more passionate, more opening and expansive, more available to more, more of ourselves, more than ourselves. It has been approximately twelve years since Jupiter moved through Pisces, and it’s been since December 2, 2019, since Jupiter was in a sign that it ruled. While Jupiter’s ingress into Aquarius in December 2020 marked an improvement in its condition from being fallen in Capricorn, as it moves into Pisces, it will have access to all of the resources it needs in order to bring about that which it signifies—especially when it is moving direct from May 13 until June 20. Whatever Jupiter is responsible for in your chart—depending on the houses that it rules—this period has the potential to deliver the most resources and support that those areas have had since the end of 2019. Do note that Jupiter will have a trine with Venus in Cancer on June 3, making this part of the year even more promising amidst the other sky stories of 2021.
[Image reads: JUPITER ENTERS PISCES 13 May 2021 in bright blue letters on a dark blue background] Today Venus in Taurus perfects a square with Jupiter in Aquarius, just before Venus leaves its domicile for Gemini, and just days before Jupiter ingresses into its domicile of Pisces. While the square is the aspect associated with the qualities of Mars—contention, conflict, crisis, and the demand for adjustment—in Hellenistic astrology, the square can also be a very dynamic form of bonification from the benefics. Today the two benefics bonify one another—Jupiter overcoming Venus in a superior square, Venus hurling rays back to Jupiter from the inferior position. Both are offering support and affirmation, particularly in the area of favorable relationships. This could be a potent time for forming powerful alliances, as well as for building deeply meaningful connections in our intimate partnerships. Jupiter describes the principles of expansion and inclusion, whereas Venus describes the principles of union and pleasure. How can we form relationships—personal, political, and professional—that encompass more of our capacities for pleasure and joy? Asking for what feels good and supporting others in experiencing satisfaction can create important solidarities between us. As Audre Lorde writes in “Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power,” “The erotic functions for me in several ways, and the first is in providing the power which comes from sharing deeply any pursuit with another person. The sharing of joy, whether physical, emotional, psychic, or intellectual, forms a bridge between the sharers which can be the basis for understanding much of what is not shared between them, and lessens the threat of their difference.” How might you center the sharing of joy in your relationships today?
[Image reads: VENUS SQUARE JUPITER 8 May 2021 in pink letters on a dark purple background] Tomorrow, April 22, Venus in Taurus makes a conjunction with Uranus. Venus’ conjunction with Uranus offers grounding connections to sustain impulses toward authenticity and freedom throughout the ongoing Saturn/Uranus squares. Notice how Venus entices us to cultivate radical new patterns of relating throughout the year, particularly on July 8 when Venus in Leo makes a square to Uranus, on August 3 when Venus in Virgo makes a trine to Uranus, on September 23 when Venus in Scorpio makes an opposition to Uranus, and finally on November 19 when Venus in Capricorn makes an overcoming trine to Uranus. The trine on November 19 occurs the same day as the lunar eclipse in Taurus, just two days after the Mars/Uranus opposition, suggesting that whatever is culminating and breaking through in mid-November has the potential to bring us into greater loving connections with others, with beauty, and with justice. Tomorrow’s conjunction is the start of this Venus/Uranus cycle, so attend to what is being seeded now in order to witness how this story unfolds in the year ahead. Commit yourself to revolutionary care, and then devote yourself to the process of daring to love in ways that break from established patterns—your own and those you have received from society—knowing that doing so is necessary for our freedom. As adrienne maree brown write, “We need to learn how to practice love such that care—for ourselves and others—is understood as political resistance and cultivating resilience.”
[Image reads: VENUS CONJUNCT URANUS IN TAURUS 22 April 2021 in bright pink lettering on a chartreuse background] I’m so excited about this talk I am giving next month!
Astrology as an Artistic Practice: As It Is Made, So It Makes Online webinar produced by Inner Sense Healing Arts as part of the Chicago Astrology Speaker Series Sunday, 16 May 2021, 3:00-4:30pm eastern (2:00-3:30pm central) Link for registration on my Events page. Astrology is a fundamentally creative practice in which we craft meaning, developing compositions with the materials of light and spacetime, archetypes and symbols, words upon words articulating connections between celestial phenomena and earthly experiences. The development of astrological interpretations and delineations is never reducible to a cypher of one-to-one correspondences, like a code in the sky awaiting decryption. Rather, doing the work of astrology is more like creating and interpreting art, generating perspectives that did not exist prior to our careful engagement with the sky and our intentional sense-making and choice-making in the spaces between determinacy and indeterminacy. In this talk, astrologer and artist Michael J. Morris will discuss what can be generative in considering astrology as an artistic practice. With a PhD in Dance Studies and many years teaching in both the arts and humanities, they will invite us to ask: what frameworks for understanding the production of knowledge do we prioritize when we consider the field of astrology, and how might frameworks for knowledge production that are particular to the arts allow us to not only understand more of what we do with astrology but also to destabilize the preeminence of ways of knowing that often dominate discussions of our field? |
AuthorMichael J. Morris is a witch, an astrologer, a tarot reader, an artist, a writer, and a teacher. Categories
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