Dana Gerhardt: The Planets
The Moon tells the juiciest stories. Our Moon remembers when we cried out in our diapers, wanting nurture, the warmth of touch, a breast or bottle of milk. It remembers what happened next, whether our needs were met and we learned our world was generous and cheerful or stingy and impatient.
Sun sign astrology is a profitable but ultimately flawed business. Much like fast food, it adds weight without real nourishment, increasing one's craving more than giving true satisfaction. People now wonder endlessly about their identities. Having lost an appreciation for their journey's mystery, they instead keep acquiring more mass. ('On the Enneagram I'm '4,' in Vedic astrology I'm actually a Cancer, in the Chinese system I'm a Rat, and my personal destiny number is a.'')
As the planet of language, Mercury is both a Magician and a Trickster. There's magic in Mercury's words. Through prayer and sacred mantras, words link us to the gods; through the power of naming, words encourage our mastery over chaos; through language, we communicate with others; we invent, build, change minds, and reshape our world.
Quite early, at age four or five perhaps, I gave up on being a girl. With Venus conjunct brainy Mercury, I've always gone for an androgynous, bookish style. Whatever passions I'm due from the Scorpio vibration, I've sublimated into 3rd house pursuits, as an ardent love for the beauty of language, a zeal for learning, a desire to probe the depths of thought.Venus Research Results, Part One
Mars likes action. Notwithstanding the media's lust for violence, most of us lead relatively safe and quiet lives. This puts many a Mars warrior behind a desk, staring at a computer, attending business meetings, shopping, doing the laundry, maybe fantasizing on porn sites, or watching a privileged few athletes parade their Mars on TV.
Saturn does bring lessons. And teachers are authorities (a Saturn word). But "teacher" and "Saturn" just weren't emotional equivalents for me. Here was another elementary astrology rule I had apparently missed. Nor was it the only time I'd find these two planets fully capable of dancing in each other's shoes.
In the Uranus Zone, we're the square peg surrounded by a field of round holes. We know we're different. We suspect we're even smarter than the rest. We're rebellious. Too, we're inventive, progressive, and creative. We feel an urgency to improve things. But we won't always like the society our creativity aims to serve. Nor will it always like us.
Was it true love or was it Neptune? In the following weeks, as the fairy dust dissolved, it seemed ever more incredible that I'd been so crazy for this man. Why the soul-mate swoon? Is that what Neptune wanted? Does he take delight in twirling us inside out with fantasies?
For many months I journeyed in the underworld, scooped out, frightened beyond comforting, forced to surrender. I was so profoundly humbled, I had to let go of all the naive and selfish notions that had gotten me there. From that release, I was reborn. In the years since, I've been so grateful for that transit that when I talk about Pluto, I have to watch my words.
I like magic formulas. When I learned about the Moon's North Node, I thought I had found one. Here was my key to happiness, fulfillment, and success, where the chart mapped my personal Excalibur. The heavens would sing as I stepped up to claim it, pulling my destiny sword from its stone with miraculous ease. Or so I thought.Topics in the Astro Shop
Current Planets
28-Apr-2025, 06:19
UT/GMT
| |||||
| Sun | 8 | 13' 8" | 14n15 | ||
| Moon | 14 | 38'55" | 19n53 | ||
| Mercury | 11 | 55'31" | 2n05 | ||
| Venus | 28 | 42'30" | 0n55 | ||
| Mars | 4 | 21' 0" | 21n10 | ||
| Jupiter | 20 | 49'31" | 22n53 | ||
| Saturn | 27 | 34' 4" | 2s48 | ||
| Uranus | 26 | 9'47" | 19n05 | ||
| Neptune | 1 | 0'37" | 0s46 | ||
| Pluto | 3 | 48'32" | 22s44 | ||
| TrueNode | 26 | 45'48"r | 1s17 | ||
| Chiron | 23 | 54'48" | 9n59 | ||
| Explanations of the symbols | |||||
| Chart of the moment | |||||
