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by Steven Forrest

Everyone seems to know the myth of Persephone where Pluto drags her down to the Underworld “to be his bride.” Her mother, Demeter, expresses her grief at her daughter’s abduction by putting the world into the deep freeze of an endless winter. In the end, the Olympian gods and goddesses broker a deal, both to keep humanity from starving and also to keep the worshipful observances coming. From then on, Persephone spends six months of the year with her mother. The other six months of the year, she is ensconced with Pluto in the Underworld. Demeter is bereft during the months spent without her daughter, and so winter and cold reign over the planet until the two are reunited.

And thus does Spring return every year.

It amazes me how literally astrology expresses itself sometimes.  For the past three years or so, Pluto has been transiting through a conjunction with my natal Sun. I’ve lived the myth.

by Steven Forrest

If Pluto is a planet - and most astrologers, myself included, still say it is - then, like it or not, distant Eris is a planet too. The two bodies are about the same size. Both orbit in the dark deep-freeze beyond Neptune. We know all about Pluto’s direct impact on our lives. Most of us have scars to prove it. Should we expect anything less of Eris?

The astrological jury may still be out on the power of Makemake, Haumea, Sedna, and the rest of the “trans-Neptunians.” But Eris is way bigger. I believe it is time to say that everyone who claims that the jury is still is out on Eris is just not paying attention. I also believe that its current explosive conjunction with Uranus underlies much of the chaos in the world’s current headlines. Notice how you can hardly post “have a nice day” on Facebook without someone drawing parallels between you and Adolph Hitler? That’s the fingerprint of Eris.

The big news in the astrology blogosphere this month is the Mars-Saturn conjunction on August 23. Seeing these two so-called malefic planets come together might give you pause, but with Mars moving briskly forward and Saturn at a standstill, this transit will be over before you know it. It might help to think of this as a “trigger” transit – a faster transit that sets off a slower transit. In general, slower transits make a more lasting impression because they have time to “cook.” Faster-moving planets often trigger events that engage with the bigger-picture story told by the slower transits. In this instance, Mars will activate the year-long Saturn-Neptune square that has been in range since last fall.

Here are the technical specs: Mars, at 6° Sagittarius, will apply to the conjunction with Saturn, at 9° Sagittarius, on August 17 within 3° orb. As transits apply within 3° they really start to heat up. As the conjunction forms, Saturn will be at its slowest, since it stations direct at 9° on August 13 and doesn’t move to 10° until August 30. The station emphasizes Saturn’s impact. On August 23 the Mars-Saturn conjunction will be exact. By August 25, Mars will begin separating from the conjunction.

The devil is in the details. So are the angels sometimes. In my transits and progressions work with clients, the focus is always on the “big picture.” That grand evolutionary perspective emerges most clearly when we reflect on the slow-moving, theme-building planet — basically the transits of everything out beyond Mars, plus the progressions. In the counseling room, it is usually practical to ignore the little “firefly” transits of Mercury and Venus, or the Sun and the Moon. They go by so quickly that they don’t have much time to develop depth and complexity of meaning. But they sure “work!” Let Mercury transit over your Sun, for example, and your phone is ringing like crazy and your email inbox looks like Obama’s.