Magical Mystery Tour

is coming to take you away -- provided you can eliminate, release, and let go of old obsessions, toxins or tendencies to domineer.

According to Isabel Hickey, the Plutonian energies when transformed into higher consciousness become the wisdom of Minerva, the Etruscan Moon goddess of poetry and culture, associated with sacred baths and healing.

Scorpio New Moon at the 18th degree is part of a watery grand trine, including Uranus in Pisces at the 15th degree and Mars in Cancer at the 13th degree. It's the perfect time to clean things up in the material plane using hot water and a bit of elbow grease, as well as in the emotional and spiritual area using the technique of letting go of negativity and transforming the flow of ideation to positive expectations.

Neptune at the 20th degree of Aquarius sextiles Pluto and Jupiter in the last decanate of Sagittarius, aiding and abetting our quests for spiritual transformation and putting a happy spin on the upcoming holiday season. Mercury at the 29th degree of Libra makes another sextile to the Sagittarian conjunction of Pluto and Jupiter, so we are feeling rather sociable and in the mood to accept or invite guests for a bit of happy socializing and artistic enjoyment.

Not everything is perfect in this chart, since Neptune in Aquarius squares the Scorpio New Moon. There may be some serious insincerity in someone's plans for change, which could merely be a smokescreen to cover up a power grab.

Venus at the second degree of Libra makes an out-of-sign square to the Sagittarian duo, and Pluto is close to enterering Capricorn, so it is unlikely that a desire to preserve peace is at the root of any power grab or political coup.

Pakistani General Musharrof's recent declaration of marshal law and emprisonment of the Pakistani judiciary upon the return of political leader Benazir Bhutto is a good example of the preemptive move toward dictatorship that could come with these aspects.

Saturn in Virgo is still close enough to the South Node of the Moon in Pisces to make us fail in assessing the details of our clean-up duties. We may become excessive and go too far in our desire to purge our environments of undesirable elements.

Extremism and dictatorial qualities are best released at this time rather than making an effort to hold on to power. Mars in Cancer will be going retrograde in about a week and bring problems in trying to defend the boundaries of the home or the country. Mars doesn't do very well in Cancer and when it's retrograde, the action is further hampered so that any altercations become losing battles more in the realm of personal spats and hurt feelings than actual battles.

Doing battle with dust bunnies in the domicile would be favored, while becoming the domestic tyrant of homeland security will probably not go over so well, as Musharoff is finding out for himself in the arena of international politics and power.

There are lots of mysteries bandied about at this time of year and with this grand trine in water involving Uranus, some of the skeletons in the domestic closets are bound to be revealed. The revelation of mysterious matters involving world leaders is also in the air. Is Russia's Vladimir Putin really a poisoner? Did Dick Cheney try to start WWIII with a Syrian air attack that went wrong? And what about the two US nuclear bombs that have gone missing and the strange deaths, disappearances and removals of quite a few nuclear handlers in the chain of command? Is Musharoff acting alone in his latest coup, or is this just another piece of plutocratic political theater to keep the area stirred up for further oil exploitation?

The mysteries abound and surely many details will be revealed, but with Saturn in Virgo close to the south node of the Moon, we may be overloaded or confused in our factual assessment of information so that our interpretations could go awry and veer toward extremism. Compulsive thinking or disorganized categorization could lead to misinterpretations of governmental processes. Certain facts could elude us and common sense could just go missing.

Everyone loves a mystery -- and now more than ever, we may feel inclined to take that trip over the water to the sacred well of the ancient goddess to reclaim and restore our cultural heritage and wholeness of spirit. Such mysteries, which are really interior and of the soul, can probably be pursued with a little abstract thinking, arm chair traveling and flights of the imagination.

I dreamed I was an artist; my medium was cottage cheese. -- from "For the Etruscans," by Rachel Blau Du Plessis, an essay exploring the development of the female literary aesthetic.

Article: "Minverva," from Wikipedia

Link to Lunation Charts for November, 2007