Greetings!

Well, I’m not sure where to start, so I’ll cut to the case. In a few minutes from the writing of this blog we will have the full moon in Cancer, with the Moon being in Capricorn. This is one of the more potent full moons that we’ve had thus far in 2015, and it bears special attention. To start this off, I would like to focus on a Capricorn trait: Critical Thinking. After all, while Cancer is intuitive and sensitive, Capricorn is critical thinking and maturity.

I would like to begin by picking apart a story that is currently circulating on social media: the vaulted Star of Bethlehem. This is not an attack, but rather a critical look at said article, for a few reasons that will soon become apparent. The article (pick one, there are a few) states that the conjunction between Venus and Jupiter that is now occurring in Leo is the “Star of Bethlehem,” and hasn’t occurred since the birth of Jesus. The various articles reference an article from Sky & Telescope magazine that addresses the conjunction. I believe all of you know me by now, but if you don’t, you’re about to get a glimpse into my personality. I call bullshit on this one. Being a professional astrologer, I would like to point a few things out. I do this to show the necessity of critical thinking skills, especially in this day and age of constant information saturation. In short though, this article is bullshit, but there are some very positive things that can be learned from this, so I’m glad that it was brought to the attention of so many. I’ll come back to the positives after I critique and clarify this article.

Jupiter’s cycle through the zodiac is every twelve years. Venus’ jaunt is every two years. Thus we quickly discover that this event has happened many, many times. I broke out the trusty old ephemeris, and did some quick research going back just five years, and this is what I discovered. I discovered that this conjunction that is being much hyped and rare has actually occurred six times over the last five years! So there ya go. However, I narrowed down my criteria, and focused on conjunctions when both were in Leo, which left me to just one date: August 14th-24th (using a tight orb) of 2014. So, this happened last year. Do you remember that? I don’t, and while there is a short term memory in the media world, I really don’t think it’s that short. So, there was no hype about it last year, but there is this year? Bullshit. This is nothing unique in the sense of these articles.

I decided to go back to the original Sky & Telescope article that these articles drew from, and found that “In fact, such conjunctions, or close pairings, of these two planets are not particularly rare.”(Quoted from the article, no copyright challenge intended) I also found this: “Sky & Telescope Contributing Editor Fred Schaaf brings up a very interesting point: this current trio of Venus-Jupiter conjunctions closely resembles a similar series in 3-2 BC that has been suggested as the Star of Bethlehem. “As has been the case in 2014–15,” he explains, “the first two conjunctions back then were extremely close, the last one separated by about 1°, all three occurred not far from Regulus, and all were similarly high up in the sky.”

Thus it can be seen that nowhere in the Sky & Telescope article is this said. It was the interpretation of the person that wrote the article that you read. I believe the value of critical thinking is now evident. We should question everything. As the late great Dr Timothy Leary said: “Think for yourself, question authority.” This is very important now, more than ever. This is a prime example of the critical thinking of Capricorn. The Sun in Cancer influences us to gravitate to those pieces of information that play to our emotions. While usually this intuition is spot on, if we waiver from critical thinking skills, we may occasionally find ourselves in an emotionally driven space rather than a clear space. But if we are too critical, we may find ourselves without passion, without emotions, and without peace.

So, what are the perks to this full moon? Well, esoterically speaking, its a “WOW” kind of full moon! In esoteric astrology it is taught that when a soul enters into a new cycle of spiritual development, it enters that cycle through the astrological sign of Cancer, and exits it when it is ready through the sign of Capricorn. Thus we have a lot of potency at our fingertips. The first form of potency we have is the fact that it is the full moon, and this particular one is known as the “Thunder Moon.” Thus it is clear how potent it is. Secondly, we have the fact that there is a Jupiter Venus conjunction in the sky in the sign of Leo! Jupiter is known as the “Greater Benefic” in astrology, meaning that it is the most beneficial planet to look at for good fortune, and Venus is known as the “Lesser Benefic,” which is the same, only less. The sign of Leo corresponds to good fortune, luck, children, creativity, and all things related to shining brightly. Thus we have the perfect environment for good fortune to favor us if we choose to shine brightly during this stage of life. Finally, we have the esoteric side of things, which tells us that this is a perfect time to make forward progress on our personal development path. This is an excellent time to work with the spiritual side of life, and in particular where you want to go from here. By decreeing your intent, you step into your own personal power. This will assist in determining the karma that you face, but to discuss that would be a digression.

I will simply close here with a final summation thought to ponder: Why not?

Blessings,

Bill

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