The Full Moon in Virgo occured on March 7, 2023, 12:40 UT. Saturn entered Pisces practically at the same time, only at about an hour later. In Pisces the Sun is in the same degree with centaur Nessus. In tight conjunction with them is asteroid Medusa. The Sun is sextile Uranus in Taurus.

Nessus was discovered in 1993 and named from Greek mythology after the centaur who tried to rape Heracles’s wife. The orbital period is over 122 years. Nessus orbits the Sun mainly between Saturn and Neptune, but sometimes crosses the orbit of Pluto too, so we can say that it links not only the realms of Saturn and Neptune, but also that of Pluto. Saturn (structures) and Pluto (renewal) are both changing signs now. Saturn just entered Pisces and Pluto is going to enter Aquarius on March 23 for the first time on this round.

Abuse of power, oppression, helplessness, and revenge are themes linked with Nessus, and the patterns can stretch beyond generations. The transits of Nessus can be painful, but they help to discover those patterns, and healing can occur when there is no more need to ”pass the buck”.

149 Medusa is a small main-belt asteroid discovered in 1875, and named after the Gorgon Medusa, a snake-haired monster in Greek mythology. Asteroid Medusa was discovered in Pisces quite near its current location.

In mythology Medusa was a terrible monster who could turn men to stone. She was beheaded by the hero Perseus, who gave her head to Pallas Athena as a shield. Originally Medusa was a beautiful maiden and represented the female wisdom. Along with the rise of patriarchy the image changed, and the serpent-haired Medusa is now widely seen as the symbol of feminine rage.

Quoting astrologer Demetra George: ”Medusa represents our serpent wisdom energy arising from our instinctive sexuality which we can transform into our powers to create, regenerate, and recognize truth.”

The current Sun-Nessus-Medusa conjunction is exactly conjunct the lunar nodes of the Islamic Republic of Iran (Apr. 1, 1979, 15:00 IRDT -4:30, Teheran, Iran). We have recently seen the horrific news, how more than 1000 schoolgirls in Iran have been poisoned since November. The aim is to frighten the girls from going to school, or possibly a revenge because girls have been protesting and removing their hijabs after Masha Amini’s death in the morality police’s custody in last September. This is the first time since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, that schoolgirls have been joining the protests in Iran.

After public anger, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called the poisonings as an unforgivable crime and that those who are guilty should be punished. The White House has called for an independent investigation. We shall see how things will develop in Iran.

The Moon in Leo and the Sun in Aquarius are squaring Uranus in Taurus. They form a T-square in fixed signs. In spite of the fixed sign’s tendency for stability and their desire to resist change, the tension contained in the pattern can burst out suddenly and unpredictably. In Scorpio a trans-Neptunian minor planet Mbabamwanawaresa is completing the pattern as a Grand cross.

Mbabamwanawaresa is named after a revered fertility goddess of the Zulu people of Southern Africa. The Zulu ask her advice when they need to make an important decision. According to mythology Mbaba Mwana Waresa was unable to find a suitable husband in the heavens, so she scoured the lands of South Africa in search of a mortal husband, and then defied all of the other gods when she fell in love with a mortal man.

Replace “the other gods” with “the royal family” and think about Prince Harry, whose Sun is in exact conjunction with Mbabamwanawaresa, and who has toured the Southern African countries just about yearly since his gap year in 2004. Being away from the spotlight in Africa helped him as a teen. He has described Africa a place where he finds peace and healing time after time. There he felt closest to his mother Diana after her death and there he later also found a soulmate in his wife Meghan. His charities are also in Africa. There he met a couple which he has referred as his beloved second family. Harry recently reveald that his African friend once told him: “I think your body was born in Britain, but your soul was born here in Africa.”

When Harry arrived in Lesotho on Feb. 13, 2004, the transiting Mbabamwanawaresa (the goddess) at 17+ Libra was in exact conjunction with his radix Venus (what we love and appreciate). The transiting Chiron at 22+ Capricorn (healing) formed a Grand trine with his radix Sun at 22+ Virgo (father, one’s soul) and Moon at 21+ Taurus (mother, one’s feelings). No wonder that Harry fell in love with the southern Africa and felt healed.

The following quotes are from different interviews in various media during the years.

“For most of my life, it has been my lifeline, a place where I found peace and healing time and time again,” he said.

“I have this sense of complete relaxation and normality [here]. To lose myself in the bush…. This is where I feel more like myself than anywhere else in the world.”

“It’s like being plugged into the earth” is how Prince Harry described to me the effect Africa’s wilderness has on him.

“Lesotho gave me the space and the freedom to breathe, to live, and to grow.”

”I feel rooted in Africa and everything about it.”

“Fifteen years I’ve been coming here,” he said. “It’s a sense of escapism – a real sense of purpose.”

Prince Harry realized Meghan was his soulmate when they were camping together in Botswana in July 2016, shortly after they had begun dating. In the summer of 2016 the transiting Jupiter – the ”greater benefic” — was passing over Harry’s radix Sun-Mbabamwanawaresa conjunction in Virgo.

Prince Harry’s memoir Spare was officially published on Jan. 10, 2023. He stated “I’m writing this not as the prince I was born but as the man I have become.” The transiting Mbabamwanawaresa in the mid-degrees of Scorpio was conjunct Harry’s Midheaven (“calling”) and Saturn (grounding). His solar arc directed Sun-Mbabamwanawaresa conjunction in the first degree of Scorpio was conjunct his radix Pluto, the planet of transformations and rebirth.

However striking Prince Harry’s case is, a delineation of a new planet must be adaptable for more than just one man. Harry has given material for that too. One of his missions is to help save wild areas of the earth. When he was younger he dreamt of working as a wilderness guide.

People who have found their purpose from nature or in the wilderness:

Charles Darwin (Feb. 12, 1809 – Apr. 19, 1882), an English naturalist, geologist and biologist, best known for his contributions to the science of evolution. — Mbabamwanawaresa conjunct Jupiter in Pisces.

Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862) was an American naturalist, essayist, poet, and philosopher. — Mbabamwanawaresa in Aries square the Moon in Cancer, trine Jupiter and the Midheaven in Sagittarius.

Carl Gustav Jung (July 26, 1875 – June 6, 1961), a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who was concerned for man’s loss of connection with nature. — The Sun in Leo sextile Mbabamwanawaresa in Gemini.

Sir David Attenborough (born May 8, 1926) is an English broadcaster, biologist, natural historian and author. – Mbabamwanawaresa at the North node of the Moon in Cancer.

Christopher McCandless (Feb. 12, 1968 – c. Aug. 1992), a young adventurer who hiked into the Alaskan wilderness in the early 1990s and died there. — Jupiter in conjunction with Mbabamwanawaresa in Virgo.

The Full Moon takes place exactly conjunct Mars retrograde at 16+ degrees of Gemini. The Moon and Mars are in conjunction with Altjira, a binary Kuiper belt object.

148780 Altjira is a classical Kuiper belt object, cubewano. The primary was discovered in 2001 and the secondary in 2007. Altjira was named in 2008 from the mythology of the Arrente people, a group of Aboriginal Australian peoples. For some odd reason the secondary was not given a name of its own. Altjira was the central god of the Dreamtime who created the earth and then retired to the sky. The orbital period of Altjira is 294 years.

Some of my ideas and examples about Altjira is available here:
Full Moon in Gemini / Penumbral Lunar Eclipse — November 28, 2012, 14:46 UT

The Full Moon in the middle degrees of Taurus is an intense total lunar eclipse. The oppositon of the Sun and the Moon is exactly aligned with Mercury-Uranus opposition. Saturn in Aquarius squares the aforementioned planets and adds challenge.

A lunar eclipse works often a bit like Uranus, shaking us emotionally. Taurus, Scorpio and Aquarius are fixed signs, which are not keen on change. This eclipse disrupts their stability. Taurus is very concerned with security. The Moon represents our instictual reactions, memories, and what we need to feel safe. Uranus can strike like a thunderbolt. It is revolutionary and unpredictable. Uranus is also the liberator that can free one from something that has become a burden.

In Scorpio there is intensity. Mercury is the planet of communication, travels and commerce. It is also the messenger between our conscious mind and the unconscious. There can be a shift in one’s economical situation, in values, or in relationships. Try to be considerate in your communication now.

The Full Moon occurs in Pisces in conjunction with centaur Nessus. Mercury in Libra is stationary; it began its retrograde phase earlier the same day. The Moon is sextile to Uranus at the North node of the Moon in Taurus.

In mythology Mercury was the messenger of the gods, who traveled between the worlds of the mortals and the gods. The planet Mercury symbolizes mental processes and communication, whether verbal or written. Mercury retrograde can bring unconscious material and unfinished business from the past to the surface.

Nessus was the third centaur discovered (in 1993) and the first celestial body in modern times named at the suggestion of astrologers (in 1997). The orbit of Nessus crosses the orbits of Uranus and Neptune and even that of Pluto. The themes of Nessus, such as the abuse of power, revenge, being oppressed, and patterns of helplessness, can stretch beyond a person’s own lifetime, through generations. Astrologically Nessus helps in recognizing the patterns and reach the point where there is no more need to ”pass the buck”.

The Finnish author Kira Poutanen ponders the theme of transgenerational trauma in her latest novel Surun kartta, ”The map of sorrow” (WSOY 2021). The main character of the novel is a woman who goes through a difficult childbirth, in which her body rouses memories that possibly belong to somebody else. Can memories really transfer from one generation to another without words?

The transgenerational trauma is a concept that has been studied in psychology and even in genetics in recent years. Research suggests that trauma can leave a chemical mark on one’s genes, which can then be passed down to future generations. For example, wars, famines and genocides are thought to leave a mark on the descendants of those who suffered them. Trauma doesn’t cause a genetic mutation, but it can alter the mechanism by which the gene is expressed. That which is not talked about or dealt with becomes a burden of the next generation. Healing the effects of trauma either in therapy or otherwise can help release undesirable patterns and stop passing them to one’s offspring.

In Kira Poutanen’s chart (born March 30, 1974) centaur Nessus is at her North node of the Moon in Gemini, trine the Venus-Ceres conjunction in Aquarius, and quintile (72°) her Sun in Aries. The quintile is often called the aspect of creativity. The novel Surun kartta was published on Oct. 5, 2021, when the transiting Nessus at 12+ Pisces was exactly conjunct Kira Poutanen’s radix Mercury in Pisces. The transiting Chiron in Aries was in conjunction with Poutanen’s Sun, and the transiting Jupiter in Aquarius was trining her radix Nessus in Gemini.

The Moon in Aquarius and the Sun in Leo are forming a t-square with Uranus at the North node of the Moon in Taurus. The trans-Neptunian Lempo is in conjunction with Uranus. The Sun is in its own sign Leo, and Uranus is the ruler of Aquarius. Venus in the first degree of Leo forms a sesquisquare aspect (135º) to centaur Nessus in Pisces.

The plutino Lempo is a triple system consisting of two components of similar size (Lempo and Hiisi) and a third (Paha), a small satellite circling the binary. Lempo is one of the most interesting objects in the Kuiper belt. It resembles the Pluto system, where four small moons are orbiting the central binary of Pluto and Charon. The orbital period of Lempo is over 247 years. Lempo’s perihelion (the point in its orbit that is nearest to the Sun) is just outside the orbit of Neptune. It reached perihelion in 2015.

The largest component Lempo was discovered by American astronomers Eric Rubenstein and Louis-Gregory Strolger in 1999. The components of the triple system were named from Finnish mythology in 2017. On his website Dr. Strolger expresses his thanks to Dr. Bryan Holler for the name.

According to the guidelines of the International Astronomical Union, all plutinos are given mythological names associated with the underworld (for example Arawn, Orcus, Rhadamanthus and Ixion). Lempo is the Finnish devil who, with the help of his two demon cohorts, Hiisi and Paha, brought down the hero Väinämöinen. However, until Christianity came to Finland, Lempo was worshiped as the goddess of love and fertility.

An event called the Human Be-In, held in San Francisco on Jan. 14, 1967, is considered a prelude to the Summer of Love, a social phenomenon during the summer of 1967 in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district. Hippies, Flower Power, anti-war demonstrations, hallucinogenic drugs, psychedelic music, and free love belong to that phenomenon. In the chart of the Human Be-In event the Sun, Mercury, Salacia and Lempo are in a quadruple conjunction in Capricorn. The conjunction forms numerous aspects to planets, namely a sextile to Chiron and Saturn in Pisces, a sextile to Neptune in Scorpio, and a trine to Uranus and Pluto in Virgo. Jupiter in Leo is opposite Lempo in Capricorn.

The main organizer of the Human Be-In event was artist and activist Michael Bowen (Dec. 8, 1937 — March 7, 2009), who in his chart has a Sun-Lempo conjunction too. The conjunction is in Sagittarius in a novile aspect (40º) to Jupiter in Capricorn. The novile has a similar quality to the trine, though more subtle. According to Frances Sakoian and Louis Acker, the novile could act as a link between subtle spiritual dimensions and the ordinary realms of human awareness and activity (Frances Sakoian and Louis Acker, Minor Aspects, 1978). Bowen’s Jupiter is opposite Pluto in Cancer. At the time of the event, the transiting Jupiter-Lempo opposition aligned with Bowen’s natal Jupiter-Pluto opposition.

After Christianity came to Finland, the reputation of the god Lempo worsened. Her name became used as a swear word. One of the Finnish words which mean “love” is “lempi”. Sometimes “lempi” turns to “lempo”. The stars don’t compel, but sometimes people make bad decisions, which can lead to bad situations. Recently we have been able to learn about the sinister side of Lempo on the news concerning the marriage of Johnny Depp and Amber Heard.

Both Johnny Depp (born June 9, 1963, 08:44 CST +6:00, Owensboro, Kentucky) and Amber Heard (born Apr. 22, 1986, Austin, Texas) have asteroid Juno opposite Chiron in their birth chart. Asteroid Juno symbolizes relationship dynamics in committed relationships. Johnny Depp’s Lempo is in Capricorn at his South node of the Moon. His Mars-Uranus conjunction in early Virgo is square to his Nessus in Gemini.

In Greek mythology centaur Nessus was a ferryman on the river Euenos. Heracles and his wife Deinaneira wanted to cross the river. Nessus carried off Deianeira first and tried to rape her. Heracles saw this from across the river and shot a poisoned arrow into Nessus’s heart. The dying centaur gave to Deianeira some of his blood mixed with semen. He lied that it was a love potion which would keep Heracles faithful to her forever. Later Deianeira spread Nessus’s poisoned blood on Heracles’s robe, and he died in agony.

Astrologically Nessus addresses issues such as abuse, revenge, being oppressed, and patterns of helplessness. The themes of Nessus can stretch over more than one generation and we can pass the patterns to someone else even unconsciously.

Amber Heard’s natal Sun in early Taurus is conjunct her North node of the Moon and sextile to her Lempo in late Aquarius. In the chart comparison her Sun is at Depp’s Midheaven, the cusp of the 10th house of career. Her Lempo opposes Depp’s Mars-Uranus conjunction. Her Jupiter is in conjunction with Depp’s Chiron in the middle degrees of Pisces.

When Johnny Depp and Amber Heard were married in February 2015 (the same year when Lempo reached its perihelion), Depp was having his Chiron return. Heard filed for divorce in May 2016. During the brief time period that they shared, the transiting Lempo went over Heard’s Sun and over Depp’s Midheaven in early Taurus. While the transiting Nessus ingressed from Aquarius to Pisces, it was in conjunction with Heard’s Lempo and opposing Depp’s Mars-Uranus conjunction. Depp’s solar arc directed Nessus in Cancer was conjunct his natal North node and opposite his Lempo. His solar arc directed Jupiter was conjunct his natal Nessus, and his solar arc directed Chiron was conjunct his Midheaven. Heard’s solar arc directed Sun in early Gemini was conjunct Depp’s natal Nessus.

The keywords for the healing process of Nessus are “The buck stops here.” Revenge is never the answer. One has to find ways to stop passing wounding patterns on to someone else.

The Full Moon in Capricorn on July 13, 2022, is the biggest and brightest supermoon of the year, because the Moon will be closer to Earth than at any other Full Moon this year. The Moon is in conjunction with 486958 Arrokoth, a contact binary with orbital period of almost 300 years, orbiting the Sun beyond Neptune. Arrokoth was discovered in 2014 by astronomer Marc Buie and the New Horizons Search Team using the Hubble Space Telescope. Arrokoth is the most distant and most primitive object in the Solar System ever visited by a man-made spacecraft.

The New Horizons space probe was launched on Jan. 19, 2006, at 14:00 EST (+5:00) from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The ascendant of the chart is in Gemini, the sign associated with gathering and processing information. Since this is not a birth chart of a person, but an event, we could say that the ascendant is the label of the event. The Midheaven, the highest point in the chart, is in Aquarius, the sign of technology and science. Pluto in late Sagittarius was in conjunction with the Galactic Center. Arrokoth was in the first degree of Capricorn, one of the four cardinal signs (which are Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn). The first degrees of the cardinal signs are all related to the Aries point, joining individuals with the collective. Arrokoth was semisextile to the Sun in the last degree of Capricorn, semisquare to Neptune in Aquarius, semisquare to Jupiter in Scorpio, square the Moon in Virgo, and sesquisquare to Mars in Taurus.

Planetary scientist Alan Stern is leading the New Horizons mission. Alan Stern (born Nov. 22, 1957, New Orleans, Louisiana) has his Arrokoth in conjunction with Neptune in Scorpio, semisextile Sun in Sagittarius, semisquare Mercury in Sagittarius, sextile Pluto in Virgo, and quintile Uranus in Leo. The New Horizons launch chart’s Sun in the last degree of Capricorn was sextile to Alan Stern’s Sun, square his Arrokoth, and quincunx his Pluto.

New Horizons was originally planned as a voyage to the only unexplored planet in our Solar System, Pluto, and to perform a flyby of the Pluto system. Pluto was still classified as a planet in 2006. The closest approach of the New Horizons spacecraft to Pluto occurred at 11:50 UT on July 14, 2015. The spacecraft transmitted beautiful images of Pluto, Charon, and the four small moons of Pluto to us on Earth, and the images greatly changed our perception of Pluto.

The New Horizons mission was extended to explore additional Kuiper belt objects. Arrokoth, which was not yet officially named then and known by the nickname Ultima Thule, was chosen as the flyby target. Closest approach to Arrokoth occurred on Jan. 1, 2019, at 05:33 UT. The first detailed image of Arrokoth confirmed that it is a contact binary consisting of two lobes attached by a narrow neck or waist and was described as a “snowman” by Alan Stern.

486958 Arrokoth by NASA

Team leader Alan Stern stated there is potential for a third flyby in the 2020s at the outer edges of the Kuiper belt, if a suitable Kuiper belt object is being found in time.

Arrokoth was officially named on Nov. 8, 2019. Arrokoth is the word for sky from the Powhatan language of native people indigenous to the state of Maryland, where Arrokoth’s discovery took place. Director of NASA’s Planetary Science Division, Lori Glaze, stated in the name announcement ceremony, that the heritage of the Powhatan / Algonquian people continues to be a guiding light for all who search for meaning and understanding of the origins of the universe and the celestial connection of humanity. According to Alan Stern, “the name Arrokoth reflects the inspiration of looking to the skies, and wondering about the stars and worlds beyond our own.”

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is the most powerful space telescope ever built. It is the successor of the Hubble Space Telescope. JWST was launched on Dec. 25, 2021, at 12:20 UT, from Kourou, French Guiana. The ascendant of the launch chart is in Aquarius. Arrokoth in Capricorn is in conjunction with Mercury, sextile to the Midheaven in Scorpio, sextile to Neptune in Pisces, and novile to Mars in Sagittarius.

NASA released the first science images from JWST appropriately on July 11 – 12, 2022, just before the Capricorn Full Moon. The Sun is opposite Arrokoth now, and the Full Moon will be exactly conjunct Arrokoth. Let Arrokoth inspire us to look to the skies and to search understanding of our celestial connections.

Summer Solstice – June 21, 2022, 09:14 UT

The Full Moon in Sagittarius on June 14 is square to Neptune in Pisces. The Moon is in conjunction with the trans-Neptunian Varda. Mercury has just entered Gemini and it is semisquare to the Mars-Chiron conjunction, which will be exact the next day.

This is the first super Full Moon of the year. A supermoon is a term that astrologer Richard Nolle coined in 1979, describing a New Moon or a Full moon at or near its closest point to the Earth in its elliptic orbit. The Full Moon appears now bigger and brighter than usually, and you may feel edgier than usually.

The brightness of the Moon is emphasized by Varda, the Star-Queen of J. R. R. Tolkien. Varda created the stars and constellations, and also set the vessels of the Sun and Moon upon their courses above the girdle of the Earth. She is said to be too beautiful for words, and her face radiates light. In light is her power and her joy. “Of all the Great Ones who dwell in this world the Elves hold Varda most in reverence and love. Elbereth they name her, and they call upon her name out of the shadows of Middle-earth, and uplift it in song at the rising of the stars,” writes Tolkien.

Manwë and Varda complemented each other. If Varda is beside Manwë, he “sees further than all other eyes, through mist, and through darkness, and over the leagues of the sea. And if Manwë is with her, Varda hears more clearly than all other ears the sound of voices that cry from east to west, from the hills and the valleys, and from the dark places that Melkor has made upon Earth.”

Manwë is at the Aries point conjunct Jupiter in early Aries. Manwë is changing signs from Pisces to Aries in 2021 – 2023, so it is topical now. The final ingress takes place in January 2023.

J. R. R. Tolkien wrote: “Manwë has no thought for his own honour, and is not jealous of his power, but rules all to peace.” According to Tolkien, poetry is the delight of Manwë, and the song of words is his music. In the Full Moon chart Neptune is squaring the luminaries, and thus we may not see things clearly. On the other hand, Manwë can see through mist and darkness, and Jupiter is strengthening his ability further.

A week after the Sagittarius Full Moon, on June 21, the Sun enters Cancer. The Sun’s ingress into Cancer marks the Summer Solstice, when in the Northern Hemisphere we have the longest day of the year. This is the time when the Sun, in its apparent annual motion along the Ecliptic, reaches its most Northern point. In the solstice chart the Moon in early Aries is squaring the Sun in Cancer. The Moon is in conjunction with Jupiter and Manwë.

It feels almost repulsive to have all this light present, when at the same time the world is facing dark times: the ongoing war in Europe, the worsening global food crisis while millions of tons of grain are stuck in Ukraine, Turkey blocking the NATO membership application process of Finland and Sweden for whatever the reason, etc. However, light and shadow take turns in life. We need light at times in order to be able to get on. Life is dualistic, as is the nature of astrology too.

I have found a prominent Manwë for instance in many charts of astrologers, occultists, writers and gifted speakers. When I was searching Wikipedia for examples of the Sun-Manwë conjunctions, the following event caught my eye and touched me.

On Dec. 20, 1939, a fundraising rally for the Finnish Relief Fund called “Let’s Help Finland” was held at Madison Square Garden in New York. Former U.S. President Herbert Hoover made a speech at the event which was also broadcast to the American people. The Finnish Relief Fund was a humanitarian aid organization intended to support Finnish civilians during the Winter War, a war between the Soviet Union and Finland, which began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on Nov. 30, 1939. Hoover’s campaign was advertised in 1,400 newspapers across the United States, and by March 1940 it had raised 2.5 million US dollars. The largest contributions came from private donors.

In the chart cast for the rally, the Sun is in conjunction with Manwë in late Sagittarius. Jupiter in the last degree of Pisces squares the Sun-Manwë conjunction. Mercury at 6+ Sagittarius is sextile to Varda in Libra. The transiting Sun-Manwë conjunction was conjunct Finland’s Mercury and North node of the Moon in early Capricorn. Finland’s Manwë is at 6+ Sagittarius, so the transiting Mercury was in exact conjunction with it.

In the chart of Herbert Hoover (Aug. 10, 1874 – Oct. 20, 1964), his Leo Sun is sextile to his Manwë in Libra. His Moon-Mars conjunction in Leo is conjunct Varda. At the time of the rally at Madison Square Garden, the transiting Manwë in late Sagittarius squared Hoover’s Venus-Jupiter conjunction at the Virgo-Libra sign cusp, and the transiting Varda at 6+ Libra was sextile his Moon-Mars-Varda conjunction in Leo.

The income from first screening of the film Gone with the Wind in the state of Washington on Jan. 27, 1940, was also forwarded to the relief fund. According to Peter von Bagh, a Finnish movie historian, the national anthem of Finland was played before the showing, which began at 8:30 PM. The transiting Sun at 6+ Aquarius was trine Varda in Libra and right at Hoover’s Midheaven. The ascendant of the screening chart at 15+ Virgo was conjunct Finland’s Moon-Mars conjunction in the middle degrees of Virgo.

Ukraine needs help of the world now.

The Full Moon in Scorpio is a total lunar eclipse. The Moon in Scorpio and the Sun in Taurus are squared by Saturn in Aquarius. Mercury turned retrograde less than a week ago in its own sign, Gemini. There are two tight conjunctions in the chart, namely Mars conjunct Neptune in Pisces and Chiron conjunct Venus in Aries, and also some interesting recent sign changes.

Jupiter entered Aries on May 10, the same day that Mercury turned retrograde. Jupiter is now in conjunction with Manwë in the beginning of Aries. They are about to start a new cycle. Manwë is a trans-Neptunian binary planet. Manwë’s ingress into Aries lasts a couple of years altogether, and it will go back and forth over the Aries point several times. The final ingress takes place in January 2023. Jupiter too is going to revisit Pisces briefly, but until late October they both will be together in Aries. In mythology both Jupiter and Manwë are sky gods and leaders of their pantheon of gods. In this respect these two planets will intensify their mutual effect while they are conjunct each other. Jupiter in itself magnifies everything it touches.

The Aries point represents contact with the larger world or publicity. The secondary progressed Sun of Finland is now in the last degree of Pisces conjunct the Aries point. Because of the changed security environment of Finland due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Finland has decided apply for membership in NATO. This is a historic shift in Finnish security policy, and we are entering a new era. The international media has widely noted our decision.

Damocles has entered Pisces recently. Like Manwë’s ingress, that of Damocles will also take time. The final ingress into Pisces on this round happens in 2025. Damocles is a peculiar little planet, like a comet without a tale. Its orbit is highly inclined and takes it from Mars to Uranus. The orbital period is almost 41 years. In the astrological chart Damocles seems to behave strangely. It spends around 30 years in Aquarius and then hurries through the rest of the eleven signs only in about ten years. The sword of Damocles is a symbol for an over-hanging threat, faced especially by those in positions of power.

On May 14 President Niinistö called President Putin, because he wanted to deal with the matter directly by speaking to his Russian counterpart. “I’m not the kind of person who just slips away around the corner,” said President Niinistö earlier. President Niinistö’s natal Sun is at 1+ degrees of Virgo, exactly opposite the transiting Damocles. Symbolically President Niinistö was looking at the threat face to face.

The Sun in Taurus is at the North node of the Moon. The North node is future oriented and conjunct the node there are three minor planets, which mythologically suit the current situation well. Lempo is named after the Finnish goddess of love and fertility. One of the Finnish words meaning love is “lempi”. Love can sometimes turn bad; it becomes “lempo”. In our unique situation the only trans-Neptunian body named from Finnish mythology is prominent. Pelion is a centaur named after the mountain where the Centaurs were said to live. Centaurs can bring some dark stuff from the psyche to the surface. They have the healing capacity too. Alicanto, the mythical bird in the darkness of the night can lead a miner to a treasure or a lost traveler to a safe place, but only if the person following the bird has a good heart. Hopefully we get to a safe place.

The Moon in Libra and the Sun in Aries are squaring Pluto in Capricorn. The Sun is in conjunction with Eris and asteroid Pallas. The Jupiter-Neptune conjunction in Pisces was exact on April 12.

Jupiter is the traditional ruler and Neptune is the modern ruler of Pisces. The orbital period of Jupiter is almost twelve years, so these two giants meet around every twelve years, but the last time they encountered each other in Pisces was in March 1856.

Jupiter expands and Neptune dissolves. If you read cookbook descriptions of Jupiter, Neptune and Pisces, you will discover that we should now be living a period of growth, idealism, inspiration, sensitivity, and limitless compassion. We ought to be searching for meaning, be drawn to spiritual matters or to mysticism, and wanting to work for the greater good.

For example, Constance Ullner (March 20, 1856) was born at the time of the previous Jupiter-Neptune conjunction in Pisces. She was a Finnish animal welfare activist and author. She was one of the leading proponents of animal welfare in Finland and in the Nordic countries. Ullner served as chairman of the Helsinki Association for the Protection of Animals in 1916 – 1926. She toured in schools and lectured also abroad. Ullner’s Sun is at the Aries point. The ruler of Aries, Mars is in Libra as the apex of a yod configuration. The other actors of the yod are the Jupiter-Neptune conjunction in Pisces and Uranus in Taurus.

Currently there is a brutal war raging in Europe, which jeopardizes the stability of the whole of Europe, and the aforementioned Jupiter-Neptune-Pisces energies may be hard to perceive. The Jupiter-Neptune conjunction of April 12 fell in conjunction with Finland’s Chiron in Pisces (Dec. 6, 1917). At the same time the transiting Chiron at 13 + Aries is aspecting several planets in Finland’s chart. It is trine to the Sun in Sagittarius, trine Saturn in Leo, quincunx the Moon in Virgo, and quincunx Pallas in Scorpio.

In Finland we are now living crucial weeks. Our foreign and security policy environment changed dramatically when Russia invaded Ukraine in February. On April 13 the Finnish government submitted a report to Parliament, which forms the basis of debate on whether we should join NATO. Parliament will now analyze and discuss the report. The decision to apply for membership will likely be made within a few weeks.