Astrology for the Pandemic: Retrograde Season Edition

Art credit: Ted Feighan

This week, Jupiter, Saturn, and Venus all stationed retrograde, signaling an energetic shift and an opportunity to reflect on themes of expansion, contraction, and desire. Jupiter and Saturn together illustrate the never-ending cycle of expansion and contraction, for one without the other is untenable. If Jupiter represents a Sagittarian desire for evolutionary growth in leaps and bounds, Saturn represents the structures and containers that Capricorn puts in place to provide some order and stability. (Picture a well-tended garden, in which many forms of life are carefully nurtured rather than simply letting the most rambunctious plant take over.) 

Even for someone with anarchist leanings, this current pandemic has reminded me that structure is necessary. Rules are necessary. Structure and rules are not synonymous with oppression. In fact, plenty of oppression takes place because we lack the structures to prevent it. At its best, Saturn provides the foundational structures that we need to live in a just society. The current Saturn retrograde (May 11 through September 29) invites us to collectively rethink the institutions, laws, and social norms that govern us. Currently in the rebellious and unconventional sign of Aquarius, Saturn further asks us to imagine what kind of a world we might be able to build with different rules altogether. Saturn will transit back into its happy, rule-following place in Capricorn from July 1 - December 17, when it will return to Aquarius until 2023 — this means that the next month may give us a preview for longer lasting structural change.

Meanwhile, Jupiter’s retrograde in the sign of Capricorn (May 14 - September 12) amplifies these themes by asking us to reconsider what structures might aid our individual and collective expansion. It may feel counterintuitive to prune a rosebush, but gardeners know that this is a necessary process for the health and vitality of the plant. Jupiter in Capricorn may feel a bit thorny but we must remember that this process has the potential to open up new possibilities for growth. These themes will continue through the remainder of the year, as Jupiter will be in Capricorn until December 2020. 

Deck: Next World Tarot by Cristy C. Road

Venus retrograde (May 13 - June 25) is a shorter but no less impactful transit. Unlike Jupiter and Saturn, Venus only goes retrograde once every year and a half, making it the most strongly felt retrograde of any planet. During Venus retrograde we are invited to reflect on what, whom, and how we love. Taking place mainly in the sign of Gemini, this retrograde invites us to approach this question with curiosity, perhaps even playfulness. Consider reflecting on how these themes showed up in your life the last time Venus was retrograde in Gemini: May-June 2012. While we may be inclined to over-intellectualize, Venus in Gemini highlights our communication skills, making this a good time for thoughtful, engaged conversations about our values, desires, and what we want to get out of our relationships. At the same time, a square to Neptune means that we will need to be careful of a tendency to slip into idealizing or fantasy scenarios. Pay attention to your dreams, but don’t let your subconscious steer the ship.

The challenge right now is Wheel of Fortune reversed. Ruled by Jupiter, this card’s reversal nods to Jupiter’s current retrograde movement, and asks us to reflect on how our lives have been impacted by a force known alternately as fate, destiny, luck, or chance. Right now many of us are acutely aware of the limitations of our own agency; rather than attempt to exert control where none exists, what would happen if we accepted the Wheel of Fortune as a friend and ally? Once you acknowledge the limitations of your control over your life, what possibilities might open up to you?

What’s underneath is the Five of Wands reversed. This card represents contraction and internal and/or external strife. None of us choose to experience difficulty and conflict, yet we do get to choose how we respond. In the Next World Tarot by Cristy C. Road, a figure kneels amidst a collection of objects, some of which represent healing and others that represent danger. With their eyes closed and one hand on their heart, this figure has clearly chosen to respond to external strife by pausing to offer themself the emotional caretaking they need. How can you honor the contraction you are experiencing right now? What would it look like to choose to respond in the most compassionate and nurturing way possible?

Our invitation is the Nine of Wands reversed. The Nine of Wands reversed symbolizes the ways in which our individual and collective resilience are being tested — and strengthened — during this time. The Nine reminds us that we have come a long way already, and while our journey is not yet complete, we can rely on the strength and endurance we have developed so far. When reversed, the Nine of Wands can feel like we are exhausted and close to giving up hope. We thought we would be there already, and these last miles of our journey feel almost insurmountable. Remember, though, how far we’ve come and how resilient we’ve had to become to make it here. Put on Survivor by Destiny’s Child and have yourself a dance party. You got this.

A resource for us right now is the Three of Cups. More than anything else, this card again reminds us of the importance of being in community with those who nourish us. Despite the fact that we are unable to share physical space with many of our people right now, we do have the power to choose who we share our time with, whether we’re talking about who is in our DMs or what voices we are choosing to listen to and read. Make a list of ten people who inspire you, and then actively seek them out, whether by sending them a text or checking out their audiobook from the library. 

The way forward is the Knight of Cups. This card says that in order to move ahead, we must follow our heart and act in alignment with what we most deeply value and desire. While the Knights signify movement, we can see that the Knight of Cups has paused on their journey. In their hand they hold a clear vessel of water in which we can see a small crab. The Knight is illuminating the feelings (represented by the Cancerian crab) that we don’t always pay attention to, inviting us to follow our intuition and honor our emotional intelligence. What happens if you slow down and begin making it a habit to check in with your emotions? 

Finally, our foundational card is The World. Ruled by Saturn, this card is the final card in the Major Arcana, representing the completion of one cycle even as it prepares us to initiate another. Like the image for the five of wands, the figure pictured on this card also kneels with one hand on their heart. Able to offer compassion to themself and others, their eyes are open, signaling an active engagement with the world around them. Surrounded by the four elements of fire, water, air, and earth, this figure carries a homemade banner, demonstrating that they have learned to live in harmony with their environment and they know what they stand for. Around their arm is coiled a serpent with its tail in its mouth, symbolizing the infinite cycle of life, death, and rebirth. Like the Wheel of Fortune, this card reminds us that we exist within a cycle of life that is greater than each of us. Yet while the Wheel of Fortune encourages us to follow the unruly growth of the wild rose, the World card invites us to anchor our root systems in the structures that give our lives purpose, meaning, and fulfillment.

It has become clear that we are not going “back to normal.” Our lives as we knew them have been transformed — what would it look like to meet this transformation with the strength and fortitude of The World, knowing as they so wisely do that that an ending is always a beginning?