By Erik M Roth of Inspiral Nexus

Link to my astrology page: https://www.facebook.com/InSpiralNexus

The only asteroid we can see with the naked eye, Vesta, stations retrograde on July 8th at 6°53’ Pisces.  Vesta is a symbol of our sacred hearth within, the sign/archetype which is nurtured and held in sacred trust in ourselves.  The astrological house also matters to expression to one’s natal Vesta position.  The retrograde point of Vesta takes place about every 16-17 months and signals the ending of its synodic cycle until it reaches opposition with the Sun, which comes up August 22nd.

The Earth has caught up with Vesta, which orbits between Mars and Jupiter and is one of the most massive asteroids and is nearly large enough to be a small planet.  Vesta is in the sign of Pisces, a sign that opens the heart and spirit to the great ocean of the cosmos, loving and between the middle world and the celestial realm.

Pisces is an archetype of the Empath and Healer, transcending the attachments of the complexities of the middle world life.  Pisces is of service to the humanity, the divine and beyond.  As an archetype, it is at home in the dream world, merging with feelings in totality, taking other forms as it takes on the feelings of others.

Pisces is made for transitory states with those forms and dreams and not to stay locked into a feeling or become addicted to it.  Its service can help others by its recognition and understanding of the feelings of others and how much power those can hold, reaching into the deepest fractures and wounds of the psyche and heart to help guide a person to heal.

Vesta’s role with Pisces is to assist us in opening our hearts to be of sacred service without bias.  It is also in recognizing the healer and empath within ourselves, nurturing it as a strength rather than some perceived weakness.  When we get out of our head and into our heart, we can realize and learn on a significantly different level of knowledge that goes beyond the Western mechanistic paradigm.  It can free ourselves into the oneness with the divine itself.

On the planet today, there seems to be a great deficit of empathy and compassion, especially with the increase in mass shootings and deepening divisions, splitting communities and cultures apart.  There is an overflowing amount of fear and psychic wounding all around us.  The fears and wounds come from that separation with the oneness and of seeing others that remind us of our own wounds.  These can create powerful knots of energy in our psyche called complexes, which can act out unconsciously and create more wounds and spread fears.

Reaching within our hearts and learning to accept the gifts of healing through empathy and compassion, without judgment, then we can begin our own healing journey.  Vesta in Pisces can help make it a sacred process and to understand our own patterns and relationship to the divine.

Vesta’s retrograde journey takes it back into the sign of Aquarius on August 21st, just one day before the asteroid’s opposition with the Sun and start of a new synodic cycle. Vesta will spend a total of three months in retrograde until October 5th when it stations direct at 22°58’ Aquarius, then move back into Pisces on November 20th.

We can include the sign of Aquarius in a merging with Pisces during this retrograde period and start of a new synodic cycle.  Both Aquarius and Pisces are signs with strong resonance with the celestial or upper realm.  Aquarius connects to the upper realm through its expansion of consciousness, the mind and desire for objective reality and cosmic perspective.  Pisces connects through its desire for oneness between the heart and the divine and to be of universal service to all without egoic bias.

With Aquarius and Pisces, Vesta encourages us to co-create sacred space (temple, grove, garden, etc) inclusive of empathy, conscious change, compassion, service, and objective reality.  It is about manifesting the healthy qualities of each of these archetypal energies for the higher benefit of all.

Vesta’s retrograde pattern in the sky also contributes to the intent of this transit.  The area of the sky that Vesta is in is currently below the ecliptic and between the Goat-Fish and Water-Bearer constellations.  It stations retrograde around the knees and water droplets (going into the cosmic waters and Earth), then retrogrades back over in late September and October below the tail of the Goat-Fish.

This is a transitionary region of the sky.  Vesta will be helping us as it crosses back and forth over it. Vesta will activate and access the wisdom of the ancient stories and our own natural human abilities to adapt and adjust to the great turning of a new age, that has been in the works for decades now.

As we recognize Vesta stationing retrograde on July 8, we can open our hearts and consciousness to greater levels of compassion and healing.  We can give to others in a healthy way and be of service in the world.  Vesta is assisting us in these sacred innate gifts we possess and it is emphasized during the retrograde period.

By Erik M Roth of Inspiral Nexus

Link to my astrology page: https://www.facebook.com/InSpiralNexus

Mars in Taurus July 4/5th

The red planet Mars enters the sign of Taurus at 11:04 pm PDT July 4th / 2:04 am PDT July 5th.  The entry of Mars in Taurus also crosses over the point where it was on January 6, 2021 in the moments of the insurrection at the US Capitol building.  In its synodic cycle, Mars is nearing the end of its 5th phase and final maturation of the sign of Aries, which began back on October 13, 2020 (last Sun-Mars opposition) encapsulating much of the energy we are experiencing with Mars and the masculine today.

The transition from the end of Aries into Taurus is a pivotal one for other reasons as it marks the beginning of runup to Mars’ conjunction with the Moon’s North Node and the planet Uranus on August 1st – a relatively rare alignment that is the closest in over one thousand years.

Taurus is about receiving the physical pleasures and comforts in life.  Its essence is sensual, artistic and personal.  It is about living the “good life” in abundance with one’s self, especially with the five basic senses.  In today’s world, Taurus is also about the conveniences of those pleasures, being just a few clicks away to obtain nearly anything.  Many things in the West are almost too convenient with our relationship to Earth paying heavy price.

Mars in Taurus is an opportunity for action in a balancing act with our relationship with conveniences and pleasures while also taking steps in fully engaging with Earth’s gardens and the bounties it provides without excess.  It’s in knowing how much provides the pleasure to savor without discomfort or pain in ourselves.  It’s in checking in with ourselves and appreciating the gifts we are already blessed with.

Mars is an active force in transit, connecting us to the masculine principle archetype that permeates the 12 signs or zodiacal archetypes the planet expresses itself through.  However, Mars is most closely resonate with the sign of Aries as an instinctual actional energy, but that does not mean that ONLY Mars is that description in Shamanic Astrology.

In the early morning sky, Mars is visible at +0.4 and slowly brightening over the coming months.  It’s orange-red light reflects out to us above a special star that marks the “knot” of water trails from the leaping Fish Constellation.  This is Alrescha, a magnitude 4 star and the most well-known of the stars (and Alpha star) in this constellation.  Below Alrescha are the cosmic waters and Cetus the whale or leviathan (constellation).

Alrescha ties the ribbons or cord of the Fish as Mars ingresses into the earthy sign of Taurus and out of the watery Fish. Mars will continue through the sign of Taurus, transiting the constellation of the Ram and above Cetus and reaches the Bull Constellation before entering the sign of Gemini on August 20th, which begins a 7-month long journey through Gemini and months later, a new synodic cycle.