An Astrological Cauldron: Venus/Saturn and Mercury/Neptune

What to watch for:

* Love, age, wisdom, maturity
* When serious, sober, and mature look beautiful
* Pagan, dark, exotic, mysterious, cold and deep
* Commitment in relationships, defining parameters or boundaries
* A moment of finality in relationships and love, a defining moment
* Older women and the beauty of age and time
* Love is hard, love is real, love is sobering
* Lonely and in love
* The crone
* Iron hand in a velvet glove
* Pain and beauty, suffering and elegance
* Solidifying or crystalizing something, admiring one’s work
* The mastery of a craft or art, an artful lover
* Attraction to earthy, pagan, alien, or outsider art
* The exclusivity of beautiful people, the exclusive, wealthy, and traditional
* The boundaries or walls that keep something beautiful but also repress or strangle it off

On the other hand, Mercury/Neptune…

* Lost in unreal thoughts
* Romantic reveries
* Whimsical daydreams
* Imagination and altered states
* Transcribing the ineffable
* Secrets and subtle energies
* Flow states
* Deception and intoxication
* Persuasion and mental/emotional manipulation
* The comprehension of vast or complex ideas in sudden, fluid openings of the mind
* The need of the mind to transcend the rational, mundane, or literal

The two sets of planets are also in a sextile with one another, which brings harmony to these combined planetary archetypes. This morning when I cast the I Ching about this complex sextile, I received the 35th hexagram of the I Ching, which is called “aspiration,” and it depicts the gathering of forces in order to accomplish something that can’t be done alone. The 50th hexagram is called “The Cauldron,” and it depicts a beautiful sacrificial cauldron, that is used to honor the gods with sacrifices. The Cauldron is also an image of the venerating of people who manage to bring others together for a common purpose, aiming their minds at something higher.

The potential to build something beautiful, something of enduring, solid, earthly value is therefore pronounced right now. But we can’t do it alone. We need the help of others. Venus/Saturn is the bond, the agreement, and the common goal among friends, colleagues or lovers. It is the solidness of the cauldron, and the religious and spiritual legacy it points us toward. Mercury/Neptune is the voice calling us to unite behind the common vision or to find unique ways of getting the work done. It is also the sacrifice and the Mercurial substance within the cauldron.