Category Archives: fast and dirty

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staring into the eye of god

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.

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the inconjunct: huh?

What the hell is an inconjunct?

How is it related to a quincunx?

Wait, did you just misspell ‘conjunct’ and call me a mean name?

Nope.  An inconjunct and a quincunx are the same thing.  It is an aspect between 2 planets or points, 150° apart.  Not to be confused with an opposition which is 180°.

And in honor of  the many inconjuncts currently swirling about in the heavens, I wanted to write another fast and dirty post on what exactly these things are and how they compute in the astrological chart.

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so, what’s with this retrograde business, anyway?

Right now in the heavens,  3 of the slow-moving outer planets (Uranus, Neptune and Pluto) and Chiron (asteroid) are retrograde.

Huh?  How does this compute?

This is my fast and dirty research results about retrograde planets.

  • retrograde motion is when a planet APPEARS to slow down and move backwards in the sky—this does not actually happen, just seems to from Earth
  • the symbol for retrograde is Rx
  • the sun and moon never go retrograde
  • the inner planets (Mercury, Venus and Mars) go retrograde much less often and for shorter durations than the outer planets (Jupiter through Pluto), who stay retrograde for a long time throughout the year
  • regular old natal placements can sometimes take on the feeling of a retrograde and vice versa; e.g. Saturn conjunct Venus in the natal and Venus Rx sure do share similarities; also Mars in the 12th House can be as uncomfortable as a natal Mars Rx
  • when a planet is in transit with a natal planet and goes into the retrograde/station/direct cycle, there is the potential for the transit to ‘hit’ the natal planet with an exact aspect three times
  • it is generally accepted that retrogrades in the natal indicate past lives and karma, with each planet/position pointing to specific circumstances in a former life

Alright?  I want to dig a bit deeper into this phenomena of retrogradation for a sec.

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