On August 24th, 2014, Mercury/Mars/Saturn/Uranus will combine to form one of the most unique astrological aspects, the Yod, a.k.a. the Finger of God, the Eye of God, the Finger of Fate.

If you have planets or points at the 16th-17th degree of Aries or Libra, pay close attention!  Even if you don’t, the areas in your chart that are brought to the fore, especially Aries’ house, will be a place of action.

Here’s a fast and dirty crash course on what the heck is going on!

In a large celestial mixing bowl combine:

• 3 planets
• 2 inconjuncts
• 1 sextile

Stir well.

A Yod will look like a skinny triangle or an arrowhead in the chart.  It is made when two planets sextile (30° apart) one another creating the ‘feet’ of the aspect.  The third planet becomes the apex, or focus planet, of the configuration by inconjuncting (150° apart) the 2 planets at the base of the arrangement.  Here’s my post about quincunxes.

When Fingers of Fate occur in a natal chart, the native has been given a mission from god, it is a sign of destiny.  Those with Yods feel they need to be doing something but only have the feeling of frustration by not knowing ‘what?’ or ‘why?’.  Sometimes, actually a lot of the time, the subject doesn’t consciously realize they are on a mission at all.  The bewilderment and ‘being hidden’ quality of the 2 quincunxes that help make up a Finger of Fate is the reason behind this.  This confusion is strongest in youth and lessens with age as the person becomes better at working their stuff.

In fact, Yods take on a definite Neptunian/12 House feel because they generally operate from the subconscious.  At times, people will feel out of control in the area affected by this configuration. The themes of the apex’s house placement, especially, can become a down right obstruction in the native’s life, where the 2 feet planets are sucking vitality from the third planet.  But when the Yod is being worked in a healthy manner, the apex planet is supported by and receives much energy from the 2 sextiling planets and their respective archetypes, becoming a conduit (or dysfunctionally, a  hindrance) to the house in which the focal planet is located.

Simply, Yods have a literal built in fix—they point directly to where your focus should be.

So, this weekend, in the heavens, those of us who have no natal Finger of Fates get to experience one by transit.  It will be more intense for some, given the set-up of individual charts, but we will have an opportunity to tap into this astrological muscle, one and all.

I will blog about this weekends specific Yod as the planets move closer in to alignment.

Lona