By Cal Garrison a.k.a Mother of the Skye
With the sun newly ensconced in Virgo, this week’s horoscopes are coming out under the light of a Cancer Moon. As I sit down to write this column the moon happens to be sitting at the midpoint between Uranus, at six degrees Taurus, and a Venus-Mars conjunction at the sixth degree of Virgo. Loosely translated? This would indicate remarkable opportunities to connect in meaningful ways with all kinds of people. Who you happen to bump into is where it’s at under this influence, so don’t take anyone for granted, and don’t be surprised if whoever shows up knocks your socks off, one way or another.
The sun’s entrance into Virgo is a huge transition. It may be no accident that Labor Day gets celebrated around this time. After frolicking through the summer months the Virgo vibe reminds us that vacation is over; it’s time to stop fooling around and head back to school. This sense that we need to get down to business is an energetic thing. Why? Because the Virgo archetype is happiest when the soul is involved in meaningful work, or in any activity that allows the spiritual piece to make itself manifest in the physical realm.
Speaking of meaningful work: I get a lot of letters from people who are filled with a desire to learn about astrology. They begin by trying to understand what’s going on in their birth charts. The birth chart is the blueprint for whatever the karma in the present incarnation involves. To a certain extent, it is written in stone, in that it is what we have to answer to at the end of the day- but it is by no means a static thing.
Yes, it is a freeze frame of the Cosmos at the birth moment – but life is a mixture of fate and free will. The planets keep moving after the first breath is drawn. The way they move, and reconfigure themselves from that point on shows the astrologer how the free will of the individual is responding to the karmic lessons. From one year to the next, that information shows up in what is known as the progressed chart.
There are numerous ways to progress a birth chart. I rely on secondary and solar arc progressions. Both methods progress all of the planets and asteroids according to the sun’s rate of daily motion, which is approximately 1 degree a year. To give you an example: I was born with the sun at the 26th degree of Virgo. I am 71 years old. Over time my Virgo Sun has progressed to the sixth degree of Sagittarius, and my moon, which was at the fourth degree of Aries in my birth chart, is at the fifteenth degree of Scorpio in my progressed horoscope. All of the other planets and asteroids have shifted position as well.
What this means is that time and experience have changed me. And while the natal horoscope still holds sway, the original story has been altered by everything that has ever happened to me. When it comes to consulting an astrologer, it’s one thing for them to read the birth chart and look at the transits to the natal planets – but the whole story doesn’t show up if the astrologer doesn’t look at the aspects in the progressed horoscope, and superimpose them over the natal picture. In my own case, going by the transits to my natal horoscope alone, it would appear as if I am having a stellar year. When the progressed chart is drawn up, forget about it! There is a hard square between my progressed Sun and my natal and progressed Saturn that has been teaching me some of the hardest lessons of my life for over three years.
These things become important if you work in the field, or if you consult with an astrologer on a one-time or a regular basis. If you are a professional, your interpretations will be off and your business will suffer if you don’t include progressions. If you’re a client who’s paying good money to have your chart read, you will walk away from the session feeling like the astrologer was full of bull and that you wasted your time and your money. Whether you’re the one doing the reading, or the one who’s paying for it, it is important to know what you’re doing in this business. Before you decide to get your chart read, always ask the astrologer if progressions are part of the deal. Let me leave you with that and invite you to take what you can from this week’s ‘scopes.
