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There's a Big Line Up of Planets This Weekend: this week on the Storyteller's Night Sky

There are several traditions that line up on January 6th, making it a unique day in the cycle of the year, including the Ancient Egyptian observance of the birth of Osiris, the Baptism of the Christ, the visitation of the Three Kings, and it’s the birthday of the French patriot and martyr Joan of Arc, in the 15th century.

While the beginning of the week is defined by this line up of observances, the end of the week is all about the line up of planets! It involves Sun, Moon, Mercury, Saturn and Pluto, but because the planets will occupy nearly the same degree on the ecliptic as the Sun they won’t be visible to us, but the Moon will be, because it will be at Full on Friday.

The Moon aligns with the Sun twice each month, so that’s not a big deal. Mercury aligns with the Sun about six times each year ~ also not too unusual. And while Saturn and Pluto also align with the Sun twice each year, they only line up with one another every 33 to 38 years, so, add to this the fact that their rare meeting is occurring with Sun and Mercury in the same region with Full Moon opposite, and things start to get really interesting.

Mercury is the messenger god, full of tricks and even revealing secrets this Friday, when the planet makes its first meeting with the Sun since its transit last November. Then there’s the Full Moon, which reflects all available cosmic light to us, kind of shattering anything that’s stuck; add Saturn, Father Time who stirs things up from the past, bringing a feeling of steadiness that might also feel a bit confining and already things are pretty potent; but then add Pluto, the great transformer, working from the deepest foundations as both bringer of power and obsession …you get the idea. So tune in, take a deep breath and consider Joan of Arc, who said, “I am not afraid. I was born to do this.”