Ask the Astrologer
Ruling Planets Astrologer, Christopher Renstrom answers your questions and offers advice on love, money, work, and family. Do you have a question for Christopher? Become a member of Ruling Planets for only $1.99 per month. Subscribe now for more features! All questions* are answered personally by Christopher and may even appear here on the website.
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My question has to do with my life purpose. I always feel like I am "waiting" for something . . . like waiting for the answer, waiting for the meaning of my life. I have a couple of pokers in the fire in that I am a Reiki Master, I run a monthly law of attraction meditation group, I am part of a women's networking group. But I feel like there is something out there for me that is just out of my grasp right now. What do you see for me? DOB 11/20/1961
Your question is interesting to me because in one line you describe yourself as “waiting for something”—like an answer or to discover the meaning of your life; yet in the following line you describe all of these activities that don’t sound like you’re waiting at all. You say that you are a Reiki Master, that you run a monthly law of attraction meditation group, and that you are part of a women’s networking group. You sound pretty busy to me and like you’re a go-getter. It makes me wonder if your problem isn’t so much waiting as it is in recognizing all that you do?
As a Scorpio, you have two Ruling Planets: Mars and Pluto. Most people have one Ruling Planet, but you were born under one of the three zodiac signs (the others are Aquarius and Pisces) that have two. What this means is that you have to answer to both planets. Now in some cases these planets may be conjunct in a horoscope (which means they’re right next to each other being all buddy-buddy) and sometimes they may occupy totally random points in the sky (which means that they have little to do with each other), but in your case your two Ruling Planets form a square. A square between planets means that they are in conflict and that the conflict is over who gets to be in charge. Mars? Or Pluto? You can think of your Ruling Planets as locked in an arm wrestling match. Each is trying to gain the upper hand, but ultimately they will have to work together.
Your Mars is Sagittarius is higher purpose driven. This is the part of you that needs to have something to shoot for. What else would you expect from Mars in the sign of the Archer? But Mars is driven by more than just an aim or an ambition. Whatever you accomplish in your life must have some sort of spiritual, philosophical, or religious impact. Connecting to your life purpose is integral to Sagittarius.
Your other Ruling Planet Pluto is in Virgo. Virgo is all about seeing tangible results for your efforts. In other words you need to have something to show for yourself at the end of the day. Pluto in Virgo challenges you with questions like: how much money did you make today? How much work did you get done? Are you doing better this week than you were doing last week?
Mars and Pluto will pit your idealistic side against your practical side which is good because the nature of this planetary square is to be collaborative. Both voices have something to say and both voices need to be heard. However right now Mars in the sky is traveling through the zodiac sign of Virgo which means that it will be weighing in on Pluto’s side. Translation? You’re going to feel like you should have more to show for yourself and you will feel frustrated when you don’t. This could lead you to question your spiritual work and maybe even discount it all together.
The trick to working with Mars in Virgo is to not get down on yourself. It’s easier to criticize than it is to train and practice, but the beauty of Mars in Virgo is that it is one of the most self-motivating, disciplined signs that Mars could be traveling through. You may start off this period feeling like you can’t get to where you want to go from where you are now but you will certainly cross that divide by the time that Mars leaves Virgo.
Mars will be in Virgo until early July 2012 which means that you will have to find practical ways to utilize your spiritual experience in your day-to-day life; in essence you will have to practice (Virgo) what you preach (Sagittarius). This won’t be easy and it may even be discouraging at times, but the Mars energy will push you to push yourself. That’s just what Mars does. And who knows? Perhaps it’s because Mars will be holding your feet to the fire during this time that you will find new ways to bring your dreams of a higher purpose-driven life down to earth into your day-to-day interactions. You may even discover that that vision of yourself that always seemed beyond your reach is well within your grasp and ready for the embracing by the end of the summer.
Does transiting retrograde Mercury affect someone with a natal retrograde Mercury differently than normal people? If so, in what ways? DOB 2/23/1987
There are a number of different theories about this but no real hard fast rules. None of the old school Astrologers like Firmicus Maternus, Ptolemy, or William Lilly wrote about this in their books. Yet in my experience as an Astrologer, I have found that Mercury retrogrades do affect people born with Mercury retrograde in their horoscope differently than those people who were born when Mercury was moving direct in the sky. And the effect appears to be a positive one.
One of the advantages to writing a daily horoscope column is that I get to see the effect of the planets on huge swaths of my readership instead of just on a chart by chart basis. And what I came to discover whenever I would post a “watch out: Mercury is about to turn retrograde” type of warning is that some of my readers would write in to say that they were actually experiencing a good period rather than a bad one. I began asking them for their birthdays and sure enough—a good number of them had Mercury retrograde in their horoscopes. Now this wasn’t always the case, but it happened enough times for me to rethink my thinking. Simply put the periods of time when Mercury is retrograde feels “normal” for people who were born with Mercury retrograde in their horoscopes. Indeed these even appear to be times when they can take full advantage of the planet’s energies. It’s kind of like someone who’s left-handed being allowed to use his left hand when he’s writing instead of being forced to write with his right hand. Believe it or not this was the case for many left-handed children learning in school until recently.
To be born with Mercury retrograde gives you a very special genius. You may not know what it is right away, but you will eventually. Mercury retrograde in Pisces may give you a unique emotional intelligence or an uncanny ability to work with images or music or it could make you amazingly prescient. Then again the retrograde may reverse the traditional meaning of Mercury in Pisces as being “dreamy” and “impractical” and turn you into a very down-to-earth and analytical type of thinker. Remember that Mercury turns retrograde three times a year so you can try experimenting with its 2012 retrograde dates—Mercury will be retrograde from March 12 to April 4, 2012; July 15 to August 8, 2012; and then again from November 6 to November 26, 2012—to see how it works for you.
I've been feeling a general sense of unease that I have no explanation for. It prompted me to ask whether something is up with the planetary alignments. I'm happy at work and I’ve been with my current company for about a year. Interestingly enough I worked for this company seven years ago. I was working for a different company when I was laid off in September 2010 so I’m fortunate to be able to come back to this company. I can’t put my finger on any issues in particular, so maybe you can help? I was born on February 5, 1964.
It makes perfect sense that you would be feeling a general sense of unease nowadays with Ruling Planet Uranus preparing to come out of retrograde on December 9, 2011. Uranus is the planet of revolution and change in Astrology. Essentially it’s the Cosmos’s version of a wild card. One never knows whether life is going to be up or down when Uranus is activated so it’s always a good idea to brace yourself for the expected unexpected.
That said, Uranus has been traveling through the zodiac sign of Aries since Memorial Day Weekend of 2010, so if there was ever a time when you would have experienced a major change or upset in your life then it would have been between August 13, 2010 and March 12, 2011. This is my way of saying that you should be safely passed the surprise-curve-ball-out-of-left-field window. So why are you experiencing feelings of unease?
It’s true that Uranus is the planet of revolution and change, but Uranus doesn’t just upset the status quo for the fun of it. Uranus has a job to do and that’s to wake us up to ourselves so that we can live the best life ever. Children of Uranus believe that there is an intelligent design to the Universe and that if we can figure out what that design is then we will be able to unlock our inner potential and tap into creative energies that we never dreamed existed. Children of Uranus are always struggling to bring lofty principles (like eternal truths) down to earth while lifting the sights of the people around them so that they embrace the highest that humanity has to offer instead of settling for the lowest common denominator.
Now that you’ve re-established yourself career-wise, you may be wondering if there isn’t something missing from the life that you are living. And if that’s the case, then perhaps that feeling of dissatisfaction may prove to be a better explanation for the sense of unease that you describe. There’s nothing wrong with being dissatisfied. Material concerns are all fine and good, but they don’t really speak to the Aquarian higher plan. That’s because material comforts are meant to satisfy our day-to-day needs—like an appetite or a craving; material comforts aren’t really outfitted to fulfill us on a self-expressive or a spiritual level.
My feeling is that you’re seeking greater fulfillment in your life and that you may not have the clearest idea of what that is supposed to be or even where that might lead. And I don’t think that you need to know at this point. In fact the best thing that you can do right now would be to leave an empty space. It’s funny how uncomfortable people get with empty spaces. There’s this feeling in our society and culture that empty spaces need to be filled immediately—even if we don’t know what we’re filling them with. Be open-minded and open-hearted and I think that you’ll like what materializes in your life between March 24, 2012 and April 4, 2012. I don’t know whether it will be a person, place, or thing, but it looks to me like whatever shows up at this time will act like calling card from your higher purpose. It’s not quite a burning bush in the desert, but it could turn out to be the next best thing.
