This Virgoan Moment

I've been leading a rather monastic existence, with my spouse at a conference in the U.S. I work, I eat simple meals, I go for walks, I am asleep before midnight.

Right now, there's a stellium of four planets in Virgo. So it's no wonder that I was at the farmer's market this morning, before sitting down to my computer. It's no wonder that, when I opened up my mail page, the first thing I saw was "Trending: health care". It's no wonder that my teenage jock nephew has started doing yoga with me.

This Virgo stellium is like an Amish buggy going through the expressway of my life -really, of all our lives. It gives us time to look around and go, "Well, well. So that's what's growing on the side of the road."

So the oil gusher has been capped? That's another thing I read this morning. It's about time. Well, it's way past time according to all our harassed sensibilities. But clearly, this is the time, this Virgoan moment in which things can be fixed, patched, mended and healed.

Although the water and its living things will take a lot more healing, I know.

And this is only an interval. Right now, the moon, Saturn, Mars and Venus are all in earthy, practical, service-oriented, health-conscious Virgo. But in about four hours, the moon will enter Libra. In about five days, Saturn will enter Libra, and stay there for the next two and a half years. Mars will wait till the end of the month to enter Libra, while Venus won't do it until early August.

But that first degree of Libra is a pivotal point. It's as though I'm watching them - the moon, Saturn, Mars and Venus - amble through a nice grassy meadow. The moon is chomping on wheat straws. Saturn is saying wise things about preserving the soil. Mars is gamboling. Venus is picking flowers. And they don't notice that they're just about to walk off a cliff.

Yes, right at the first degree of Libra, they will all encounter the opposition with Uranus, the planet of change, in the fire sign Aries. Uranus' symbol is the lightning bolt, while Aries is known for flash fires.

So all this pleasant tranquility may be coming to an end. But hey! This could be good. Libra is a cardinal sign. It's the sign of justice. How many reformers have had important Libra placements? Eleanor Roosevelt and Fannie Lou Hamer had the sun in Libra, Elizabeth Cady Stanton had Venus and Jupiter in Libra, Aung San Suu Kyi has the moon in Libra, as did Flora Tristan.

Of course, I feel compelled to add, looking at my lists: not everybody with important Libra planets is a reformer, at least not in my terms. It gives a strong sense of right and wrong, but that may not jibe with my own sense of right and wrong. I like to think I have an unclouded sense of justice, but I'm just as partisan as the next Western lesbian feminist baby boomer.

And that is a very Libran thing to say. I adjust to the other. They may not think like me, but they're right in their own way. Live and let live.

Will we be able to stay in balance when Uranus comes zapping down? Will our lack of balance be a good thing, will it bring needed changes that could never exist without that Uranian stimulus? Will we be challenged to say who we are, what we believe, and where we're going next?

And I'm reminded that the Fool in the tarot deck is not a bad card. We are all innocents, and that's what keeps us open to spontaneous possibilities.

Okay, I'm ready. I think. Let me just admire the wildflowers a little longer.