NorthPoint Journal

Astrologer Pam Younghans writes her weekly NorthPoint Journal based on planetary influences and guidance received. Her hope is to offer perspectives and insights to assist you in making best use of current energies.

For insights into how these energies are working with you personally, please contact Pam for a private session: e-mail pam@northpointastrology.com or call 425.445.3775. Visit the "Readings" page of this website for more information.

NorthPoint Astrology Journal

for August 30 to September 5, 2010

Highlighted Aspects for This Week

Monday: Chiron biquintile Saturn; Tuesday: Pluto quintile Mars, Sun trine North Node; Friday: Venus semisquare Sun, Mercury conjunct Sun, Venus semisquare Mercury; Saturday: Neptune trine Venus, Mercury trine North Node

Mercury retrograde seems to be running the show these days. Waking life feels more like the dream state, and our dreams have been taking on an odd sort of reality. It's hard to know whether we're coming or going -- or what that really means, anyway.

That mismatch of time and place continues this week, especially toward the end of the week with Mercury aligning with the Sun on Friday. This is not a time for being especially clear about anything logical. If situations call for level-headed thinking, it's probably best to postpone decisions and conversations until a later date -- at least until after Mercury goes direct on September 12.

We begin September looking back at what has been, trying to make sense of it all. Five of our 10 primary planets are retrograde (appearing to move backward), supporting our process of review. This goes along with the intentions of the Sun in Virgo, which likes to assess and critique, sorting through the harvest and dividing the wheat from the chaff.

In addition to Mercury, a second of those five retrograde planets is also scheduled to change direction, and on almost the same day. Pluto will go direct on September 13, after having been retrograde since April 6. During these past five months, we have withdrawn some of the energy we usually expend in manifesting our life mission, using that energy instead in the support of our inner transformational process.

Where this has affected our individual lives depends where Pluto is currently transiting in our natal charts, as well as whatever natal planets he may be aspecting. If you are familiar with your astrological chart, you can locate the house that contains 2 or 3 degrees of Capricorn for insights. (For a reminder of house meanings, click here: Houses.)

Pluto is now claiming territory he first staked out in April 2009, then revisited in May 2009 and December 2009. Those who have been working closely with Pluto during this time may find those dates to be especially important in their process of transformation.

For all of us, we are coming to completion with issues we have been sorting through since as early as February 2008, when Pluto first entered Capricorn. 2008 was a powerful year, when we began to see the disintegration of outworn structures on all levels of this earthly reality, internal as well as external. It may be fruitful now to remember what was going on in our lives in early 2008, and to consider how we are now moving through the final stages of a process that began at that time.

This week's planetary aspects are working more on the subtle realms -- which means any major outer events that occur this week will be related to Pluto's strengthening influence or the upcoming Uranus-Jupiter alignment on September 21, rather than to any specific planetary interactions on our "highlights" list.

But, if we pay attention to those subtle levels, we can work most productively with the Neptune-Venus trine on Saturday. This aspect pairs the planet of human love with the planet of Divine Love. The two will be dancing in step, each enhancing the expression of the other, and encouraging us to open our hearts and become inspired channels of the highest forms of Art.

Many blessings,

Pam

NorthPoint Astrology Blog: Be sure to visit my blog during the week for additional insights and perspectives at http://northpointastrology.blogspot.com.

Photo: Bright auroras above the Arctic Circle on August 27 (photo by Bernt Olsen from Kvaløya, Norway)