There is a saying amongst the anti-fracking community that, when you are on the front-line, ‘if you see a job, its yours’. It’s a pro-active, pragmatic, hands-on attitude that emphasises the importance of simply paying attention to the immediate tasks in hand, not waiting for someone else to pick up the beat, and shows how mucking-in also serves the greater cause. As the 11th lunation draws to a close the focus shifts into this place and the planetary matrix suggests this is an attitude that will serve us all well now. This is a good time for knuckling down, getting stuck into ground work and for grounding activities in general. There is more power in this than may be obvious.

This is a reality mirrored straight back through Mars conjunction with Pluto in Capricorn over 10th through 13th November. On the face of it this looks like a scarey transit, but, as both planets are rulers of Scorpio it carries more of an intensifying global energy, fundamental and pragmatic, than a catalystic ‘eventful’ one. The energy at work behind this focus becomes deeper still as Venus conjuncts Saturn in late Scorpio on the 13/14th; here there are strong aspects at work and any work undertaken at this time can carry an expression of passionate, tangible commitment. It does not have to be a big deal, we are talking mundane world material here, but, talk alone won’t do it, as Moon squaring Mercury illustrates. Sun squaring Jupiter emphasises the need to stay focused on the tasks in hand and not to be dissuaded by the overwhelm of the bigger picture.

If we are carrying work forward from the full Moon and Samhain, focused on clarification, renewal and strengthening of otherworldly connections, this will serve to metabolise this work in everyday life, and will lay personal foundations of very real and much needed substance for our future actions. Still very much the business of ‘soul making’, it is here that the worlds now unite, become the Smithy of the Soul.

As Mars burns off the canker of Pluto’s deep drilling and turns up the heat on issues around ‘destructive use of power’ at large in the world it should be easier now to identify the global hot spots on which that action can be brought to bear as spiritual activists. This will not fade off either as Mars squares Uranus and then the Moon’s nodes as new Moon approaches. Expect big questions to be asked of us all, but, why wait for someone else to ask them, or find an answer. Feel the energy of your roots at work; listen for the voices of the ancestors at large in the world.

As last quarter winds down the planetary tide turns and Neptune opens outward stationing direct on the 16th. While this is a slow and subtle field effect it is the accompanying aspects that grab attention as, on this day, and, as if to emphasise the watershed nature of the moment, Venus enters Sagittarius and the Sun conjuncts Saturn. The combined movement sets the stage for what is going to be a very different lunation opening on the 22nd.

Every small thing is underpinned by the bigger picture now and contributes to it ~ we have passed the time where simply getting on with life is enough. A certain dedication is called for, and, whether or not it is acknowledged as such, it is all a part of healing the World Soul. Tikkun Olam. But, who can escape that reality now? The planetary matrix suggests, at bottom, no-one.

As we approach the 12th lunation focus and realism will be the watchwords. Both come from being able to work in the world with strong intuition and clear links to the powers that guide us from beyond the mundane sphere. This is the spiritual warrior’s prerogative. Keep your ears to the ground and hearts open ~ the Earth’s drum is still beating and the voices of the many can be heard resonating with its great spirit.

Key Aspects

• 10-13/11 Mars conjunct Pluto, 11° Carpicorn
• 13/11 Venus conjunct Saturn, 25° Scorpio
  Moon square Mercury, 6° Scorpio
  Moon trine Uranus, quincunx Chiron and Mars (yod)
  Sun, 21° Scorpio square Jupiter, 21° Leo
• 14/11 Moon last quarter
  Moon conjunct Jupiter, square Sun
• 15/11 Moon square Venus
  Moon opposite Neptune, 4° Pisces
• 16/11 Moon opposite Chiron, 13° Pisces
  Mercury sextile Pluto
  Neptune stations direct
• 17/11 Venus enters Sagittarius
  Mercury, 13° Scorpio trine Chiron, quincunx Uranus
  Sun conjunct Saturn
• 18/11 Moon opposite Uranus, square Pluto
• 19/11 Moon conjunct North Node, 18° Libra
  Moon square Mars
• 20/11 Uranus square Pluto < 2°
• 21/11 Moon conjunct Mercury 19° Scorpio
• 22/11 New Moon 0° Sagittarius
  Mercury, 22° Scorpio square Jupiter