A reader Wonders…
“I just realized I am not well versed in the ‘vacant spot’ and how to read it; for example, 19 Virgo (near my Natal Jup) – Is the vacant point an important piece to incorporate Natal planet positions to understand creating the pattern within the transits? Or is the vacant spot more an indication of what is to be understood from the pattern configuration? If you have any references from your posts that I could study further? Or maybe a quick explanation will do the trick.”
Yes, when you’re at https://astrobuss.wordpress.com/, there’s a long column of keywords (“categories”) to the right of the text. If you’re looking at a specific post, it doesn’t show up. I try to add a keyword to a post only when the post explains the term, but I’m not totally consistent about categorizing all posts. I notice that there are two cubbyholes for “Vacancy,” one under “Planets etc.” and one under “Astrologuese.” They should be combined, as there’s no difference in how they’re used – but it would take me about an hour to combine them, so I won’t bother.
But let’s go ahead with a quick explanation, as we never know what we’re going to find from the keyword list – I “improve” my astrology constantly, so I’ll just tell you how I use Vacancies now…
Configurations in a chart are combinations of planetary angles that, usually, fill the Zodiac (usually that means they add to 360 Degrees). For instance, the Grand Sextille comprises six planets each two Signs or 60 Degrees apart, 6 x 60 = 360. The Grand Sextile (and the Grand Anything) is considered to be much more Powerful than six Sextiles randomly placed around a chart or less well organized.
I consider it an Almost-Grand Sextile when five of the six Positions are occupied, because if we supply the missing Energy in the sixth Position, then we Complete the Grand Sextile and Enjoy the Benefits (kinda like Bingo or the Lotteries, of a Full Hand in Poker). It’s similar with other Almost-Grand Configurations – Quintile, Septile, etc. Occasionally, when it seems appropriate, I’ll consider a Configuration with two Vacancies to be Almost-Grand. Like the four adjoining Septiles we had at the 25 April 2020 Pluto Station, where just for the heck of it we looked to see if there were Stars at the missing three Positions (still in my queue, Bob!).
Notice that an Almost-Grand Cross is a T-Square – the primary Benefit of any Grand Configuration is that it’s Balanced, including the Grand Cross. It combines four T-Squares, but it’s In Balance, so it’s not considered as Troublesome as the T-Square. The primary Challenge of the T-Square then is to Create Balance from it. We don’t usually consider the Vacancy of a T-Square, but it wouldn’t hurt to do so.
We were looking at a 19-Virgo Vacancy in the Almost-Grand Sextile in the 7 May Full Moon chart. I don’t have a way to check to see if a Vacancy may be occupied by asteroids (or even dwarf planets) that I don’t usually use – I wish I did, as it would help a lot. If anyone has a way to do this, let me know. So if none of the “planets” (meaning planets, asteroids, dwarfs, Lights, Nodes, etc) I use are there, I look for Stars nearby. That’s an iffy proposition, as there aren’t that many Stars that are cataloged for use by astrologers. However, if there’s a Biggie there, like Arcturus or Regulus or Sirius, that’s Huge.
Whether there’s a Star near the Vacancy or not, if you have a natal planet there, you automatically Complete the Configuration, without even trying. So for you it’s a full Grand Sextile, because you Embody the Energies of your natal chart. If you have natal planets near any of the other planets in the Configuration, that’s worth noting as well, because that natal planet will be Lit Up more than usual. As Huminals (Huper Animals), we’re like Viruses, with those little Spikes all over, corresponding to the planets in our natal chart, each of which is an Antenna for broadcasting and picking up (and maybe getting Stuck on) Energies from outside of ourself.
So that Almost-Grand Sextile in the Full Moon chart comprised…
- Klotho – Beginning New Timelines
- Sun-Mercury – Awareness of our Essence
- Neptune – Our Relationship to Energies Larger than Our Own
- Hylonome-Veritas – Insights into our Codependence
- Moon – our Instincts
If we add a Jupiter to that in the Vacancy, which would apply only to you, we Expand everything. A Grand Sextile itself is about fabulous Grace or Good Luck in combining the Energies in each Sextile, which in turn is about Projects where we take the First Step and the Universe takes over after that. So for the next several weeks (Full Moon charts impact the following 2-4 weeks) we might be finding excellent progress around Expanding New Projects that involve Trusting our own Instincts more, and Listening More to (and/or PIAVAing the Assistance of) our Guides, instead of Playing to or Soliciting the Opinions of Others.
Now, for most of the rest of us, without a planet in or near 19 Virgo, we have to Consciously add the Energy of the Vacancy in order to take advantage of the Enhanced Grace of the Grand Sextile. For a guess about what that might mean we’d read the Sabian Symbol for that Degree, 19 Virgo: “A Swimming Race.” To me that means Efficiency at processing our Emotions. So for the rest of us for the next several weeks we might find great progress with New Projects that involve Trusting our own Instincts more, Listening More to our Guides and Soliciting their Assistance more, and Trusting our own Emotions (as Opposed to our Thoughts About them of course), instead of Trying to Please Others.
For all of us, the Programming we received from our Mothers is likely to be particularly Lit Up, since the Saturn Station occurs on Mother’s Day. And we can’t ignore the fact that the Moon goes Out of Bounds on Mothers Day, so it’s all going to be a lot more Emotional than it would be usually – though telling Mom to Butt Out of our Choices will probably always be a Chancy Conversation. But its a Grand Sextile, suggesting very Positive Outcomes from any Project that we Initiate, so it may be the best time ever to Begin our Self-Liberation.
Or, you can take an Easier path, especially if your Mum is Difficult (or Deceased), and use your Mirrors instead. Either way our Relationship with our Dear Mother is Changing, so we want to Make the Best of the Opportunity in whatever way Feels best to us – that is, by Trusting our Emotions. If our Emotions are Conflicted, as they’re likely to be, what an Opportunity to Stay Present with our Confusion and Avoid trying to Fix it.
If your Mother is the type to Demand Commitment, what an Opportunity to Stand your Ground (Veritas-Hylonome) – “Mom, I hear that you’re Asking for a firm Commitment, but I’m not Ready to do that, so we’ll have to leave the whole Issue Dangling till I am Ready, and I don’t know when that will be.” Then, while the odds of Success are Great (Grand Sextile), you get to Practice Not Trying to Fix or Manipulate your Mother’s Emotions!
You might think this all sounds Daunting, but it’s a Critical and Natural part of Claiming Your Power, and as we’ve said, there may never be a Better Time. Trying to stuff your Mother’s Heavy Emotions into your Carrion Bag for the Ascension Flight won’t work. They’ll bump you off the Flight for overweight.
jbuss Astrology 