Photo Credit: Susan Stolovy (SSC/Caltech) et al, JPL-Caltech, NASA
Horoscope: November 18 to 24, 2019
Astrologer Pam Younghans writes this weekly astrological journal based on planetary influences, and offers perspectives and insights to assist you in making the best use of current energies. This column is not intended as prediction. Your own experience will be more specifically defined by transits to your personal chart.
Highlighted Aspects for This Week
All times listed are Pacific Standard Time. For Eastern Time, add 3 hours. For Greenwich Mean Time, add 8 hours.
MON: Mercury semisquare Jupiter, Mars enters Scorpio
TUE: Jupiter conjunct Galactic Center
WED: Mars sesquiquadrate Neptune, Mercury stations direct
THU: Mars quincunx Chiron
FRI: Sun enters Sagittarius
SAT: Mercury semisquare Venus, Sun trine Chiron, Venus conjunct Galactic Center
SUN: Venus conjunct Jupiter, Mars opposite Uranus, Sun semisquare Saturn
THE SENSATION of being suspended between dimensions has been increasing this past week, as Jupiter has drawn closer and closer to its exact alignment with the Galactic Center (GC). This is the point in space around which our Milky Way galaxy orbits, similar to how Earth orbits around the Sun.
The GC emits infrared energies that affect us in various ways, causing an acceleration in our spiritual growth. If we clear our minds and listen, it also is a source of high-level information that we can access and download, through conscious channeling.
With our experience of the GC's energies heightened now, we are drawn more easily into an altered state. We're probably able to function in the "real world" as needed, but there's also a feeling that part of our consciousness is existing in another version of reality—even if we can't mentally grasp what that reality is.
WE MAY ALSO be experiencing manifestations on other levels, with strange symptoms occurring in our physical bodies. Philip Sedgwick*, an acknowledged expert on the influences of the GC, explains that the infrared vibration emanated by the GC "jostles the Root Chakra."
Since the GC shakes up this energy center, which represents our physical foundation and anchors us to the Earth, it makes "sense" that we might literally be wobbly-legged right now, feeling lightheaded, or simply sensing that we're not inhabiting our bodies in the usual way. Physically, we may experience dizziness, a slight out-of-body sensation, or an unexplained weakness.
JUPITER is the Great Magnifier, amplifying the effects of whatever it touches. As it reaches the exact degree of the GC this week, we will continue to feel other-worldly, as that flow of infrared energy is channeled powerfully in our direction. We will also continue what Mr. Sedgwick calls a process of "defragging" our mental and emotional bodies, where old data and patterns are deleted, making space available for new information and behaviors to be written.
Jupiter aligns with the GC every 12 years or so, as it nears the end of its routine transit of Sagittarius. So, why do the effects of the alignment seem especially heightened this time around?
PART OF THE ANSWER lies in the effects of the Saturn-Pluto conjunction in Capricorn, an influence that has been building in strength throughout 2019, and is now nearing its January 2020 zenith. This planetary pairing is dismantling the systems, structures, and constructs of our reality, in preparation for a major evolutionary shift. We see it clearly in the world around us, but must consider how the process is also occurring in other ways—such as the breakdown of old personality patterns that no longer support us.
This dismantling, on all the levels on which it is occurring, has removed certain barriers and opened new energetic pathways for the effects of the GC to reach us more directly. Jupiter's alignment with the GC is increasing the flow of that energy. As a result, we're receiving a more powerful upgrade to the operating systems that have been running the hologram of our current reality.
AS THE ENERGIES of the Jupiter-GC alignment "jostle" our root chakras, we can of course feel destabilized. But that feeling of being slightly off-balance encourages us to walk differently and more consciously through our day. The lightheadedness, that feeling of sometimes being in a half-dream state, enables us to perceive reality from a new vantage point, and also enables us to receive new information and insights.
There are many reasons to appreciate the semi-altered mental state we currently are experiencing. Mr. Sedgwick writes that "the Galactic Center radiates brilliant insight to anyone connected with it. At all times, new and newer insights spew forth." If we were to be fully focused in physical reality, fully connected to and able to focus on our "real" life, how open would we be to the brilliant insights that are being broadcast to us from the GC, and magnified by Jupiter?
ADDING another spice to this week's already-enticing cosmic stew is the planet Venus, now also traveling through the last degrees of Sagittarius. Venus will align with the GC on Saturday, and then conjoins Jupiter on Sunday.
Venus rules the arts, our aesthetic, our ability to create beauty, and our capacity to express human love. The inclusion of Venus in the Jupiter-GC energy field makes this week an excellent time for any creatively inspired artistic activity where we utilize both the left and right sides of our brains. The Venus-GC alignment may also provide new insights in the area of personal relations, helping us see beyond the filters that might cloud our perceptions of others and our relationship with them.
Another facet of the GC's influence, according to Mr. Sedgwick, is that it "pushes out mentally/emotionally stored data to clear space for new information to enter both the conscious and subconscious minds." If we consider this within the context of personal relationships, this can be a very good week for letting go of the past, and for releasing the mental/emotional patterns within us that have repeatedly manifested challenging relationships.
OTHER significant events in the astrological news this week include the completion of Mercury's retrograde phase on Wednesday and Mars' ingress into Scorpio on Monday, which sets the stage for a Mars-Uranus opposition next Sunday.
Mercury has been retrograde in Scorpio since October 31, a day that some may recall as being especially pivotal. We've been compelled to confront some inner demons ever since that date, as the Messenger Planet has turned on the heat and required us to seek the truth at the heart of the matter. What we've discovered, both about ourselves and about others, may not have been especially pleasant; but our new and deeper understanding will ultimately enable us to move forward with greater clarity.
Once Mercury begins to move forward again, there can be a subtle lightening of the emotional weight of these past three weeks; however, Mercury will be in its "shadow phase" until December 7. This is when it moves beyond the degree at which it went retrograde. Until that date, we will continue to process and integrate the events and insights of this retrograde period, as a necessary step of moving beyond victimization and into empowerment.
NEXT SUNDAY'S Mars-Uranus opposition is likely to create some disturbances, as this combination of planets represents the sudden release of assertive/aggressive energies. On a personal level, we can maintain our balance by observing where we might tend to be too-quickly impatient or irritated. If we are very self-aware, we can find productive ways to move the energy, instead of allowing it to blast out at whoever seems to be "causing" the feelings of anger to arise in us.
When Mars and Uranus interact, there's always the potential for impulsive or erratic behavior. We are more likely to be reactive, rather than calmly considering our options. With Mars in retentive Scorpio at the time of the opposition, actions that seem unexpected or sudden may actually arise from long-held resentments or feelings of jealousy or betrayal that have been percolating beneath the surface.
This is the energy of a sudden revelation that potentially alters our course. Any Mars-Uranus interaction gives us the opportunity to take a new road, to go in a new direction that is more personally fulfilling. Decisions that we make under this influence are often profound and truly game-changing.
(* To read more of Philip Sedgwick's writings about the Galactic Center, visit www.philipsedgwick.com/Galactic/GalacticCtr.htm.)
*****
IF YOUR BIRTHDAY IS THIS WEEK: At the heart of your experience this coming year is the potential for a deep healing of your self-confidence. The changes that are occurring in the world and in your own life may feel disruptive, but your inner courage and deep insights are your allies through any challenge. Your innate capacities for sympathy and kindness, as well as your psychic sensitivity, will also serve you, enabling you to be a support to those who might not have your emotional strength. (Solar Return Sun semisquare Saturn, trine Chiron)
For previous weeks of the Astrological Journal, click here.
About the Author
Pam Younghans is a professional astrologer, editor, and writer. She lives in a log home northeast of Seattle, Washington with her beloved animal companions. She has been interpreting charts professionally for over 25 years. If you are interested in an astrology reading, e-mail
