The Cyclotron, the Atom-Smasher :: Cosmic Weather Forecast for April 23rd - 29th
I recently read Alan Oken's book, Rulers of the Horoscope (which I highly recommend for intermediate+ astro learners), and in the book he referenced a cyclotron as a great example of 8th house / Scorpio energy, which deeply pervades this week:
I thought this analogy and his way of describing it, was quite insightful and apt for the symbolism of Scorpio (+ 8th house and Pluto).
A cyclotron was an early 'atom-smasher', also called a 'particle accelerator'. By changing the nature of the charged particle, the focused energy could then used for experiments and for different medical therapies that attack cancer tumors, for example.
Of course, as we all know, atomic energy can have both constructive and destructive uses and expressions - as can Scorpionic energy; the great transformer, alchemizer, transmuter, composter, metabolizer, and atom-smasher of the zodiac.
Pluto turned retrograde last SUNDAY (April 22nd) with the 1st quarter moon. And thus when Mars finally collides with Pluto on THURSDAY, while the Moon taps into their power with a simultaneous exact trine, it's an intense face-to-face impact and a fusion of energy that ripples throughout the week.
Mars and Pluto are the co-rulers of Scorpio and they are both currently traveling through Capricorn. Because of their slow movement they are essentially conjoined the entire week (within a degree of each other), while they are simultaneously making a powerful sextile to Jupiter Rx in Scorpio - a sextile which perfects with Mars in just a few hours (early TUESDAY ADT).
This is a MEGA POWER SURGE OF ENERGY.
Furthermore, the week will conclude with a potent Scorpio Full Moon on SUNDAY opposing the Sun in Taurus, and most importantly, squaring the Nodal axis (North Node in Leo, South Node in Aquarius).
With Scorpio's rulers, Mars and Pluto, still entangled in a powerful dance together, this Full Moon will bring the message home by bringing you to a sharp intersection where you may need to take certain deliberate action toward your continued growth, healing, integration, and liberation. Thankfully, this Scorpio Full Moon will be sextiling Saturn, bringing some helpful stability and grounding to a symbolic moment of atom smashing.
What was happening in your life around October 19th, 2016? This is the last time that Mars and Pluto, two cosmic powerhouses, collided in a very similar area of your chart (~15 deg. Capricorn). Don't expect literal repetition, but through reflection on past events occurring around this time, you may get some insight into how this archetypal symbolism is showing up for you this week.
If you have any personal planets or points around 21 degrees Capricorn, you will most definitely be aware of this transformative power surge. To a somewhat lesser extent, you can also apply this to any personal planets (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars) around 21 degrees of the other cardinal signs - Aries, Libra, and especially Scorpio.
If you are about my age (early 30s) with Pluto in the early degrees of Scorpio in your birth chart, you are likely also experiencing the Sun transiting Taurus opposing your natal Pluto, amplifying the intense Scorpionic vibes! What fun.
Apparently DC comics has a superhero named Atom Smasher...
Known for his super strength, I thought it was really interesting that supposedly the Atom Smasher is able to increase in size (up to 60 feet) by breaking his muscles and bones in order to regrow them at new lengths.
While that sounds rather aggressive and painful, it does mirror that Scorpionic process of personal growth through facing, processing, possibly battling with, and eventually integrating, transforming and transcending*, one's wounds and perceived limitations. (*not to be mistaken for bypassing)
I know very little about DC comics admittedly, but perhaps he could be this week's mascot? Channel your inner Atom Smasher in the best way possible in the coming days.
Of course, this intense power surge can also express more negatively. Here's a couple examples to ward against:
Scorpionic transits can sometimes correlate with self-destructive self-sabotaging. Self-sabotaging is a super weird irrational phenomenon of human behavior, but we ALL do it in some way, I'm sure. It can be massively destructive to our wellbeing, or slightly less so, but it involves doing things that we know are not ultimately in our best interests and are not in alignment with our values and goals... or it involves trying to mess up things, or NOT do things, that are in our best interests. This can include everyday procrastination, addictions, not showing up to an interview for a job we really want, or cheating continuously on a partner whom we love more than anyone else we have ever been with.
(p.s. This is a good list of 6 possible reasons why we engage in actions that are destructive and sabotage our flourishing)
Scorpionic transits (like those occurring this week) may correlate with self-destructive type behavior because....
1) they tend to trigger our buried early conditioning, childhood imprinting, and implicit narratives about ourselves and our past experiences that haven't been fully processed and integrated - which then infiltrate our consciousness, often without us realizing that we are replaying an old, old expired, toxic story in the present moment.
2) Scorpio is the sign of death and rebirth. We cannot move toward new growth and liberation if we are weighted down. Thus sometimes Scorpio transits correlate with times of letting go of something (i.e. allowing something in our lives to die - whether that be a relationship, or our fortress of ego defenses). Before we encounter a visceral sense of rebirth in our lives, the shake-up from the dying process can sometimes leave us in a state of deep grief or frustration (depending on what it is), and in this state we can sometimes turn against ourselves with blame and regret.
3) Scorpionic energy is really powerful. When it shows up in our lives, we may not trust ourselves to fully claim this power, externalize it, and channel it forward successfully. So instead, we may direct this powerful force inward, against ourselves.
Scorpionic transits can sometimes correlate with lashing out with anger at others. Because Scorpionic transits stir up deep stuff within us and get us in touch with our power, sometimes this can emerge as anger or a desire to harm others. Projections often show up when we are faced with our deep buried stuff. We take everything that we don't like or fear within ourselves, and project it on to someone else - which then allows us to externalize the anger at them, instead of toward ourselves.
Or someone innocently reminds us of someone who hurt us years ago, and without realizing it, we begin projecting our anger toward this new person.
Projection may sound rather bizarre, but it happens. all. the. time. Watch out for this one. It is sneaky and insidious.
Scorpionic transits can sometimes correlate with a thick cloud of fear and paranoia. Scorpio is a sign that propels us beyond our comfort zone, beyond everything we are attached to, beyond every transient earthly thing that appears to give us some sense of fleeting security. And thus, when Scorpio is active in our lives, this looming sense of uncertainty and potential chaos, loss and abandonment, can creep up on us as fear and rigid paranoia. It doesn't have to, but this can be a side effect.
Scorpio is not the easiest zodiac sign to work with, but it has immense, transformative potential if one is ready to wrestle with their demons, become an atom smasher, integrate their shadows, and step into a new freedom.
Now here are some more constructive expressions:
Scorpionic transits are opportunities to challenge ourselves and reach for the stars. They remind us that we are more resilient and powerful than we ever dreamed we could be. They remind us of our infinite souls, our courageous, instinctual animal bodies, and our capacity to rise from the ashes - again and again and again.
If you have a major project or goal that you are working on this week, ride this wave with confidence. Go for it, hard. You've got this. Have that break-through. Whatever the outcome, you will rise up. CLAIM YOUR POWER.
Scorpionic transits are opportunities to metabolize wounds that keep us small, imprisoned, and feeling out of alignment with our core selves and disconnected with the fullness of who we could be.
Metabolizing and composting are my new favourite Scorpio words. I've been using them more than 'transform', or 'alchemize', because they feel more physical and tangible, which I appreciate.
e.g. We eat dead food (plants included) that have been seemingly cut off from its life source. We then METABOLIZE the calories and nutrients into energy that not only keep us alive, but also gives us the physical strength to do tons of stuff throughout our day.
As a symbolic energy, Scorpio helps us to integrate and transform our most difficult life experiences by metabolizing them - by turning them into something that gives us new LIFE.
Scorpio is a magnificent composter. It is present among the amazing bacteria and all the creepy crawlies of life that we think are disgusting. Overtime, with the right ingredients, it can turn everything that we would otherwise throw away, into nutrient rich soil that will support new growth.
Everything is energy, and energy can get STUCK.
As Einstein wrote, "Energy cannot be created or destroyed, it can only be changed from one form to another.”
And yet, energy can stagnate.
Old energy can get trapped and stuck in repeating inter-generational legacies of pain and suffering until it arrives at a descendant who is prepared to do the dirty, sacred work of composting, metabolizing and transforming it.
Old energy can get stuck in our homes. Old energy can get stuck in our relationships. It can get stuck in our bodies. It can get stuck in our thought patterns and our habits.
As Alan Oken wrote, the purpose of the cyclotron is to destroy the existing atoms so that "their energetic properties are released" and can be channeled in new ways and put other uses.
Scorpionic transits ask us to free up energy. To get unstuck. To open the door to the caverns of our life where energy is trapped, in order to set it in motion again.
To paraphrase David Rosen, what in your life must die so that you may fully live?
Scorpionic transits tend to shine a flashlight on stuck, stagnant energy in our lives (especially with Jupiter currently in Scorpio). Pay attention.
Here are some life content themes we might see erupt during heavy Scorpio-type activation: anything related to sexual expression and the physical human body, the (mis)management of power and control, death, grief, loss, rejection, betrayal, abandonment, exposure and humiliation, buried secrets, repressed memories, the acute vulnerability of opening up to someone, energetic enmeshment, anger, a desire for revenge, fear, shame, and guilt.
What might be asking for healing and integration? What might the next small step be toward metabolizing old energy? Where in your life might the whispers of liberation be calling for your attention?
You don't have to rush. There is a time for big, drastic sweeping changes, and there is also a time for gradual, gentle release and integration.
If you have an intense reaction to something this week - check in with yourself to determine what is really at work beneath the surface of your conscious mind and your ego's response. There could be something from the depths of your past or your being that surfaces this week, inviting you into an opportunity for some metabolizing, some composting to occur.
Okay, now what about the rest of the week? In my opinion these Mars-Pluto-Scorpio vibes will make the loudest noise this week, but I'll quickly address the other important transits...
Venus leaves Taurus and enters Gemini on TUESDAY; shifting from earth to air, from opulent sensuality to curious connection-seeking. In Gemini, the planet of love and relationships blesses our conversations with sweetness. Exchanging words is one of the most important ways we learn about our loved ones. So talk with each other, lovelies.
Chiron, the wounded healer, is still hanging out at 0 degrees Aries, the zodiac's sacred birthplace. As Venus enters Gemini, she immediately sextiles Chiron on TUESDAY. Later, over the WEEKEND, Juno, the asteroid of partnership and commitment, will enter Aries and simultaneously conjoin with Chiron at 0 degrees Aries.
This activity between Chiron and two relational bodies, suggests that we could be identifying and working through wounding within our close partnerships, with the assistance of loved ones, or through reflection on past partnerships and relationship.
One question we might ask ourselves is: how might we seek to balance our desire for independence and freedom, with our desire for authentic, intimate connection? There is an opportunity for something new and meaningful to be birthed from our significant relational encounters this week
On WEDNESDAY Mercury will make its third and final square to Saturn Rx post-retrograde. The first square was March 11th and the second (during Merc retrograde) was April 5th. There may be some important inner or outer task in your life, where you've been continually wrestling with barriers, that is now finally reaching the final stretch. Keep going! Check the house where ~9 deg. Aries lands in your birth chart, for clues as to what this might be.
The Moon in Virgo opposes Neptune in Pisces as this final square goes exact, so there may be a temporary confusing wrench thrown in the plan, before things straighten out. And yet on FRIDAY (the day after the Mars-Pluto conjunction) we have Mercury trining the North Node in Leo, giving us an extra spurt of energy and inspiration through some form of thought or communication.
On FRIDAY Uranus also reaches 29 degrees of Aries where it will linger until its ingress into Taurus on May 15th. That area of your chart, according to house theme, may feel a little on edge, a little uncertain, and perhaps a little exciting from now until then. Something big may be coming to a conclusion or reaching a final tipping point over the next three weeks.
Alright! That's all. Blessings on this power-packed week!
Make compost! Smash atoms! Metabolize! Transform! etc. etc. etc.
And if ya want to nerd out over the wild phenomenon of atom-smashing, here you go:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sldBwpvGFg
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