Mercury into Libra | the art of gracious language, if you can't say something nice, chatting up the neighbors, indecision, instead of telling it like it is try finding some common ground

awake by lord celeborn

Mercury (communication, ideas, thinking, siblings, local neighborhood) moves into Libra (balance, fairness, diplomacy, passive-aggression, indecision, peace, art, beauty, women) today where he/she will hang his hat until October 17th.

Successful words are more tactful now - more focused on what the other person needs/wants. That splitting hairs and checking for typos Mercury did back in Virgo cedes way to saying it nicely. 

Although until mid-October with Mercury (Virgo's Ruler) in Libra and Venus (Libra's ruler) in Virgo - their mutual reception could give us the best of both worlds - kind words that are also grammatically correct and precise!

Our thinking could be more indecisive now. Not because Libra is wishy-washy so much as just able to see both sides of any situation. Libra's polarity sign Aries can make fast decisions because the energy can focus most easily on one point of view - their own. Ha! And because this is the way life seems to works we will often be faced with a decision at exactly the time all this energy makes decision-making hard - go figure.

Libra is the natural ruler of our 7th house of other people. Life gets more complicated after the 7th house. Do you have any planets in your 7th house or in Libra - these are the archetypes we usually set up our lives to have played out by other people - how's that working for ya'?

Libra wants everybody to be friends. Diplomacy, both in our personal lives and the larger collective, if actually attempted, can improve tense situations now. The gentle art of persuasion via a lighter touch can work, too. Mercury in Venus is a good listener because Venus actually cares about other people!

Words that make people feel loved and appreciated and beautiful will be the right words.

Our natal Libra house gets a visit from multi-tasking, inquisitive Mercury. So things in the area of our life naturally ruled by Libra get busy. 

For today, Venus is opposing foggy and dreamy Neptune so keep in mind someone could be painting a prettier picture of something than is actually factual. The mutual reception with Mercury should help us sort this out.

To be successful our words are more polite now. We need to listen. If we want our communications to hit their target we need to make the other person feel listened to. 

Conversations become kind of a dance here. We wouldn't tear off our dance partner's trousers and leave them standing there with hands covering their under shorts and last shreds of their dignity.

We wouldn't tell them they are a crappy dancer even when they step on our toes and smudge the tops of our favorite shoes. 

A type of kindness and civility prevails on the dance floor. We smile. We talk about the things everyone can agree on.

With the floor spinning beneath our feet we still manage to find common ground.

That is the energy that moves communications, ideas and conversations forward now.

With another planet in air it is also an excellent time to get a head cold. Do whatever you normally do to prevent that. xo all

Jupiter Opposite Uranus, Pluto Stations Direct | powerhouse day, let's just say THAT

p and o by bubble-gum-heart

Maybe re-read Thursday HERE because I probably won't be repeating what is there.

Pluto is stationing direct at 16 degrees Capricorn. 

Planets are uber powerful when they station and Pluto is our most powerful planet. He has been retrograde since April. If you have any planets or points at 16-17 degrees Capricorn (or the other cardinal signs to a lesser degree) you have been certainly feeling this. Partly when Pluto starts covering entirely new ground in late October and then completely by late December you will never, in this lifetime, have to deal with whatever has been churned up again. Never. Ever. Life has changed and Pluto change is permanent. You are almost there.

For the rest of us, whatever Pluto has been backtracking over - what house is mid-degree Capricorn in your natal chart? - will now be moving forward. He won't be covering new ground until October 23rd, but it could feel like a great load is lifted now. Blockages could be removed in an instant. The earth is tilled and ready for new plantings. If this has been gumming up the works for you, you will feel this shift, and yes, I am talking to you Scorpio (but not only to you).

If you wonder why Scorpio energy can be so manipulative - maybe take into account their ruling planet is retrograde almost half the year! How else are they going to get anything done - ack! Jupiter is coming Scorpio - hang in there.

It could be a bit like that feeling when you take off a bra at the end of the day (hubs feels the same about socks), especially on nights we are channeling our inner magician. Nothing up my sleeve. But wait. Presto. Change-o. And we pull out that tight fitting garment. We haven't really noticed it while we were wearing it. We got used to it. But now that it's gone, we do notice the lifting of the pressure. Everything else feels better, too. 

As Pluto shifts forward, we will also feel the pull of two conflicting energies - the third (of three) Jupiter/Uranus oppositions in Libra and Aries.

The first was on December 26th at 20 degrees, then on March 2nd at 22 degrees and now at 27 degrees. People with planets or points around 27 degrees of the cardinal signs - Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn - will feel this one strongest but we all will to some degree. Something could also have shifted in early June when Jupiter stationed direct. This energy will continue to be in play for the next week or so, but peaks today.

I talked about this quite a bit in the weekly and all year actually. The gist of the day is in the weekly.

We are just a couple weeks before Jupiter moves into Scorpio (for the first time in 12 years!) and a few months before Uranus, the disruptor, moves into Taurus.

Since 2010 when Uranus moved into Aries, natural ruler of our 1st houses of self - we have ALL had our personal identities rattled. Our Aries natal houses have been shaken up.

My first astrology teacher back in the 90's said that when Uranus moved into Aries - many people would lose their minds and fall into the chaos. And if people hadn't found their center by the time Uranus moved into Taurus (April 2018) shaking up the things ruled by our 2nd houses - our resources, self-esteem, our values - we were in big trouble.

We don't have to be in big trouble. We are aware of what is happening. We are waking up. It is Uranus's duty as we head into the Age of Aquarius to bring us outside of Saturnian law regardless of what that looks like. We are defying our father. And it will be messy because Saturn is coming home to Capricorn (for the first time in 28 years) at the end of December, so the old man is far from down and out. I think he's been pumping iron in the extra room in the off-years. And just before he gets home he will trine revolutionary Uranus. It is going to be interesting!

In U.S. politics my thinking when I first looked ahead at all of this was that Mueller (brought in to replace Comey whom Trump fired through revenge invoking the curse of Regulus and promise of the Leo eclipse) would announce something about the Trump/Russia investigation this week eventually leading to Trump (Uranus) resigning and passing the baton to Pence (Saturn) in December. But I am not sure of anything anymore. There is just no way to look too far ahead.

Uranus is charged with disrupting the status quo. It rips apart our safety net. It tears up our contracts. It breaks up stagnant energy. It is electricity. It gets our *ss moving. Uranus is the higher octave of Mercury - the way Aquarius is the higher octave of Gemini - Uranus is like Mercury on steroids ... and we have all seen how powerful Mercury is.

Opposing Jupiter everything is magnified. This can make whatever is happening seem much LARGER than it actually is. Oppositions can bring endings. An ending or SURPRISE now will be either massively disruptive (Uranus) or massively positive (Jupiter). Either way it propels us forward.

Aquarians have been feeling this (relationships vs self) since Uranus is their ruling planet and we have the South Node in Aquarius now. It is the energy we are releasing. Overthinking, retreating to ponder things through, detaching and disconnecting - Aquarius shadow stuff - isn't going to cut it for any of us. We need all players on the field. All hands on deck - if we are going to right this ship.

The bottom line - we should feel a lessening of the pressure with Pluto direct (think the bra out of the sleeve maneuver or the socks tossed across the room). A blockage removed. For some it could be massive. Power moves. Perfect timing. Relationship issues around freedom/the future, ourselves/other people. Unexpected events connected to results and endings. Things could seem much more important and much larger than they actually are - keep this in mind.

Today is one of the most powerful days of the year. Instead of thinking "let's see what happens", let's step into our own power. No scapegoating. No blaming. No playing the victim. We are all much more powerful than we think we are. In some space within each of us we are all ready to move on.

xo all

Mercury Opposite Chiron | healing words, hurting words, verbal triggers, let's be compassionate with ourselves and others

conversation by Daisy-M

The Moon is void until 12:24 PM EDT - this is not a good morning to launch something new. Sleep in if you can or go for a long walk and enjoy some unencumbered Sagittarius Moon optimism for a couple hours.

After lunch EDT the Moon moves into Capricorn. It will be time for us to get to work. Be responsible. Take care of business. Be respectful of other people's time and boundaries as well as our own.

There has been a story building all week. See the weekly HERE

Today Mercury (26 degrees Virgo) opposes Chiron (26 degrees Pisces). Words have an elevated power to both heal and hurt now. Think through what you are saying and hearing - is your response out of proportion to the situation? If it is, you can be sure an old wound is being triggered.

For example, this is how road rage works.

(and yes, be cautious when driving today, too, with Mercury involved and this could also involve a sibling issue, also Mercury ruled).

Hubs used to get really crazy in traffic when we were younger. I could never understand the big emotional response he would get when someone followed closer than he would like or pulled too quickly in front of him.

(obviously there are times when this could be a big deal, but he would make a way bigger deal out of little - non emergency - happenings of this than was called for)

Being cut off (other spaces where we have been cut off, where someone has shut us up, where someone appears to be have gotten "ahead of us") -

being followed too closely (other spaces in our lives where people are on our back, where people have been nipping on our heels, breathing down our necks, where we have not been fast enough)

 the themes driving activates are pretty universal - we've all been there.

When we feel an emotion that is out of proportion to what is happening we know it is activating something else - something our physical or emotional self is holding.

We have all kinds of "other people" issues playing out now. Relationships that have been steady as a rock for 20 years (is there really such a thing) are not so stable these days because Pluto in Capricorn is squaring Libra and Aries (our relationship axis) plus we have Jupiter in Libra.

Today, the Sun (in Libra) conjuncts Vesta. This shines a spotlight on a relationship issue, especially if we have a situation where balance, beauty or fairness is lacking. 

With Mercury not only opposing Chiron today (our childhood wound), but also squaring Black Moon Lilith - there will be a taboo issue no one wants to talk about. But somehow it will be.

That Chironic wound is unlikely to be ignored.

Finding an answer isn't as much the point of all of this right now as much as drawing our attention to the wound. It won't be comfortable. Comfort can be over-rated when we are housed in bodies per-programmed to crave what is familiar. Keep this in mind.

Let's be compassionate with ourselves and other people now. We really are all fighting a hard battle ....

xo all

Mars in Virgo Trine Pallas in Taurus | patterns of behavior, strategy, working the process, perseverance, creativity

time time time by muszka

First check the forecast HERE for this week's major energy patterns.

The Moon is still in "big-picture" Sagittarius today and making some tense aspects including a hook-up with serious Saturn. Although our mood could be a bit flattened, the combination of Saturn's feet on the ground/strong foundation and Jupiter's (Sagittarius ruler) head in the clouds/build it BIG isn't necessarily a bad thing, right?

It sounds like a recipe for success, long term success, which is a perfect fit with today's perfecting aspect -

Mars (in Virgo at 13 degrees) trines (brakes off) Pallas (in Taurus at 13 degrees).

Mars rules action, initiative, war and independence and Pallas rules creative intelligence, strategy, war and patterns.

Practical action (Mars in Virgo - take the next step, cross your t's, do what makes sense) along with structured, creative problem solving and pattern recognition (Pallas in Taurus - establish a new pattern/schedule/plan that builds on what is already working but put your own creative spin on it). 

This moves whatever we are working on/dealing with forward more smoothly (trine).

With all of this earth (Virgo/Taurus), stuff is going to take time to germinate. This isn't the energy of something that is fast or explosive. This is slow growth that lasts.

This starts with a plan. Something that builds on WHAT IS ALREADY WORKING. Then we do the day-to-day practical work the plan lays out. Create a pattern to be followed. Work the process. Progress will be steady and noticeable. 

Perseverance is required.

xo all

Mini Astro Lesson - Taurus and Virgo are naturally trine each other. Rulers of our 2nd (our resources, our values, our self-esteem) and 6th houses (work, health, day-to-day activities) the themes of these houses naturally compliment each other, too. They work together so smoothly we might only notice them when they aren't working. We work (6th house) and make money (2nd house). We value ourselves (2nd house) and so we do the work needed to stay healthy (6th house). You get the picture. The other natural trine here (earth signs) is our 10th house (Capricorn) which rules career/public life, you can see how this house fits in here, too.

There is natural law at work here. If you go to astro.com, free horoscopes, natal chart and enter your birth data - your chart will include a little graph at the bottom where you will see lots of little symbols including triangles. Those triangles are some of your super-powers. They are your planets and points that were in just the right houses and just the right degrees when you were born to provide you with your personal arsenal of "brakes off". Check them out. Google the attributes of the planets and houses involved. Make a word salad. Sit with that for a bit.

Astrology Forecast for Creatives | Week of September 25th - painful truths, hard to find the right words, negative self talk, surprising news, big pushes forward, here we go!

shine even in the darkness by muszka

On MONDAY,  Mercury (in Virgo) squares Saturn (in Sagittarius) -

then on Wednesday, he/she opposes Chiron (in Pisces) - this makes the first three days of the week tense and stressful - stock up on the good chocolate and the red wine NOW.

Some painful truths might come out over the next couple days. Problems could come to light and the answers could be hard to find (maybe check that left side sofa cushion there is always something find-able under there).  Everything doesn't have to grind to a halt though. With Saturn in the picture, the solution may take time and some elbow grease. But with Saturn time is on our side.

Think the situation through.

It will be easy to say the wrong thing and put our foot in our mouth. Or maybe the right words don't come easy or don't come at all. Maybe we are talked over or just don't get our chance to speak. Maybe the less said the better.

It will be easy for our thinking to go negative. Keep in mind this is a fast-moving transit. With the other energies at play this week, it could be easy to make a mountain out of a molehill.

If it actually is a mountain, there will be actions we can take later in the week to deal with it. Remember we still have a heap of planets in Virgo - small precise steps, organization, stick to the facts.

And we have the Sun in Libra - think 'diplomacy', think 'balance', think 'fairness' - and brush your hair. Appearances matter now.

This is great energy (Monday) for solo work that focuses our mind on one thing for a long time. We could get alot done, but not alot of different things done. This is not the best energy to communicate (Mercury) with authority (Saturn). Not the best time for business negotiations. We could get caught up in the minutia (Virgo) and miss the big picture (Sagittarius).

The Moon is in Sagittarius so we could be focused on Sagittarius themes - education, travel, foreign issues, politics, weddings, the media, public relations, grandchildren, legal issues, religion. The Moon's squares first to Venus and later to Jupiter could leave us a bit scattered.

By TUESDAY, the approaching Jupiter/Uranus square is almost certainly being felt. See Thursday for the details. The Moon's conjunction with Saturn flattens out our mood. The Moon squares Mercury - our emotions and our head are in tension. Judging and being judged does not feel so good. Again this is Virgo/Sagittarius stuff. Two energies that naturally square each other. Sagittarius always wants more but Virgo knows how to use what we already have. Keep this in mind.

On WEDNESDAY, Mercury (in Virgo) opposes Chiron (in Pisces). Something hurts. Sticks and stones can break our bones, but words can never hurt us - turns out to be a LIE. Use Virgo - stick with the facts, be practical, stay calm, do something with your hands - put one foot in front of the other.

The Moon moves into "all-business, just get 'er done" Capricorn after being Void until 12:25PM EDT. People are more serious and concerned about their own safety and security for the next couple days. We might not be as emotionally available to each other now - keep this in mind when people want their space or seem colder than usual. Our emotions (Moon) need structure (Capricorn). I am not really sure what the hell I am saying with that- but it feels right. We have the first quarter Moon so whatever we started at the New Moon in Virgo is officially off the ground and we encounter our first obstacles.

The big news this week is the final Jupiter/Uranus opposition on THURSDAY. We will be feeling this all week. We have had three of these since Jupiter went into Libra last year.

The final opposition this week could bring a surprise ending to the Jupiter/Uranus story which started on December 26th - although in some ways really started back in 2010. 

Results will be either massively disruptive or massively positive. Or both.

With Uranus anything goes, so cross your fingers with this one. 

If you have planets or points around 27 degrees of the cardinal signs - Aries, Cancer, Libra or Capricorn you will feel this one strongest. It has been building all month really.

 *****

People ask me how to handle Uranus transits. With Saturn transits you need to do the serious, responsible, hard work. With Neptune transits you need to stay grounded, meditate (but not over-meditate), make art and then close that art room door and go deal with the real world - avoid escaping. Read non-fiction. With Pluto we need to go deep, let go of things that are dead (we will know they are dead because they will be leaving). You know that movie heroine who goes into the dark basement even though we are all screaming from our seats for her to get in her car and drive to Target for a cheap locket that will break in a week

(warning shameless plug ahead- my locket will not break in a week, it will last the rest of your life, it is available HERE)

well we need to be that girl during a Pluto transit. Pluto transits just have to be survived. Ha!

With Uranus transits, there isn't alot we can do once we are in them. The more "stuck" we are as Uranus approaches, the more dramatic the results of the transit. He will get us from A to B in the fastest, most direct manner and does not care at all if we are dropped on our ass in a prickly field of cacti.

The more we are moving and changing before the transit the less we will feel his disruption. Note - he will be moving into our Taurus houses in April. Find what house he rules in your natal chart (or ask me!). That house theme is about to be shaken up! And Taurus is fixed earth - our Taurus house is a space we most naturally hunker down and get stuck. It's going to be interesting folks!

 *****

Jupiter through Libra for the last year has been about balance within relationships, fairness, diplomacy. During this time Jupiter has done two things three times.

He squared Pluto three times (remember we talked early in the year about that elephant hiding behind the couch - that relationship issue that was going to get bigger and bigger in 2017 until we dealt with it) and he opposed Uranus three times.

This week is the final Uranus opposition. These boys don't move quickly so the energy will be sticking around awhile. We felt this in late December/early January, late February/early March and now late September/early October.

If outside forces are not pushing us into new terrains, this energy could be making us antsy and impatient. I will do a full post about this.

Also, on THURSDAY, Pluto stations direct (expect a post) after a five month retrograde. He moves toward a trine (brakes off) with Mars in Virgo which will be exact on SUNDAY. This one feels like PROGRESS. It will give us the strength (Mars) and staying power (Pluto) to achieve our goals!

Happening hand-in-hand with the Jupiter/Uranus opposition makes me think of something moving in a brand new direction. There is some kind of perfect timing here.

If we had some bad news/problem situations earlier in the week this is the energy we want to use to take right action!

The bossy Capricorn Moon trines (brakes off) Mars. This gives us extra energy and the drive to get things done.

On Thursday night the Moon will conjunct a strong stationing Pluto - lots of volatile emotions, jealousy, compulsion, possessiveness - this is in Capricorn so some chilly winds could be blowing! It could be a good night for a deep conversation where we MIGHT keep a level head, but I think I will pass on that and go to sleep!

On FRIDAY, Venus (in Virgo) opposes Neptune (in Pisces). One of the reasons so much is happening is that we have all these planets in Virgo working their way through Neptune and Chiron oppositions!

On the same day Mercury will move into Libra. So we have Mercury in Libra answering to Venus (Libra's ruler) and Venus in Virgo answering to Mercury (Virgo's ruler).

This strengthens both Venus and Mercury.

Venus/Neptune is good energy for art, music, using our imagination. A good time for true forgiveness and compassion, but also good energy for deluding ourselves with more pink paint. Leave the credit cards at home. On the other hand, if you market something to women - fantasy sells, so figure that out.

Our energy might be low today. This is not the best time to sign a contract because we could miss important details. It will be easy to try and avoid the unpleasant stuff we don't want to deal with. I know it is Friday and we all just want the week to be over - but try not to let the details slide or to give more than the situation warrants. Boundaries will be leaky. I swear if I get another insect infestation with this Neptune aspect I am going to shutter my house and go live in my car - which I shouldn't joke about because of course many people have shuttered their houses and are living in their cars. A good day for meditation. Maybe not so good for jokes about homelessness.

We could be inspired to create something beautiful now. The world needs more beautiful. Let's do that.

xo all

back this week with some dailies, plus a look ahead at the big transits of 2018!

Sun Into Libra | Equinox - the Sun begins to fall, bringing things into balance, natural cycles, those pesky other people, the beauty in everyday things

BAGO by schude

At 4:01PM EDT today the Sun moves into Libra - a day with an equal balance of daylight and dark.

The Sun begins to fall (weakens) as we move into longer nights and shorter days. It is the opposite down under (the Sun begins to strengthen). Western astrology is based on the Northern hemisphere where we move into Fall - which is not only about leaves!

I have had a few emails from people linking me to videos about the end of days (meaning the end of all our days!) being 9/23. But don't fill up the credit cards just yet folks. I could imagine the end of civilization, maybe some kind of ice age, coming during the Age of Capricorn. But we have a couple thousand years of the Age of Aquarius between us and then.

I know we are mostly exhausted, but let's not give up just yet. Saturn has been stopped for a long time and this is really zapping many people's drive. There have been losses and roadblocks and it is going to take work to get to where we want to be. It is like we are saying to ourselves, "I see these possibilities over THERE, but they are going to take alot of work and I am tired and not sure I want to do it anymore." Let's use nature's cycles to realize whatever it happening in our own life is a cycle, too. It seems that whenever the energy starts to feel like this - those doomsday prophecies are picked up by the news.

Don't forget we are all in this together. Even at times when it feels like we are all alone! Sometimes we just need to be shaken so our resting energy is provoked. Maybe we are like that bottle of ketchup and would get all clumped up without some agitation.

If we have tripped or "fallen" maybe we could try thanking this 'trigger', this 'benchmark' for what we are learning. I know it is hard to do that! And I have to somewhat spit those words out right now myself - sorry if I hit you!

But imagine a life where everything went our way all the time. Would we really want that? And we know we don't, because if we collectively did, we would have that. This doesn't mean we want whatever is happening to us to happen to us when things go wrong - but the more we focus on what we don't want, the more "don't want" there is to focus on.

The Sun in Libra is excellent energy to focus on beauty - where is the beauty in our life?

Can we use all these laser-focused planets in Virgo to see (Mercury), feel (Venus) and touch (Mars) the real beauty in our lives? Can we see the beauty in the stories behind our wrinkles and gray hairs? Can we see how the stories make those lines and twisted follicles beautiful? And now that we have seen that in ourselves can we see the beauty in other people's scars and blemishes, too?

We still have alot of inner planets in Virgo so the Virgo practicality and putting one foot in front of the other will still be a focus, but now the Sun (our life force) shifts into the sign of balance, compromise, relationships and fairness.

A light (the Sun) will be shone on what is out-of-balance or what is unfair, particularly within relationships. The curtain is drawn back and our Libra houses (and their themes) wake up. 

In some ways, because Libra is about weighing things out (nothing is cut and dried here like the wheat during Virgo season) things are harder when the Sun is in Libra. Libras sometimes (not always) appear wishy-washy, but it is because they were born between Summer and Winter - they can see both sides of everything!

With the Sun in Libra we will all be burning Libra fuel. We move ahead through balance, compromise and through our relationships with other people. 

We move into the shadow of Libra when we are passive-aggressive, pouring pink paint on garbage and pretending it is a Barbie dream house and putting what everyone else needs/wants ahead of ourselves thus building deep pockets of resentment that will explode all over us and everyone else by the time we get into Scorpio season. These are our no-no's now. Keep an eye out.

(the North Node is still in Leo - oxygen mask on our own face first)

Write your Autumn bucket list. What do you want to do, see, experience? Think about that.

xo all

Sun Sextile Ceres, Venus Sesquiquadrate Pluto | spreading seeds, feels like a hug, back to square one with something, vampires suck, maybe stop looking for the reason, last day of summer ... sniffle

goodbye by Ciril

The Sun, about to make his move into Libra and kick off a brand new season tomorrow, has a comforting sextile (opportunity) with mothering Ceres today (Goddess of the seasons!) at 29 degrees. Whenever universal timing offers up something like this (synchronicity) it pays to pay attention.

People with the Sun sextile Ceres in their natal charts are often generous with their gifts/talents/resources. They are fertile. Maybe not always in the pro-creation of actual children, but they are able to spread their seeds (gifts, talents, resources) and have those seeds germinate. Conflicted, they also make great hoarders.

With this energy in play today for all of us it would be good time to take action with the seeds we are spreading (this could be a good time for a mailing or email campaign, but we would have to be quick about it since the Sun changes signs tomorrow at 4PM EDT). And also with the stuff we are hanging onto that has outgrown its season.

This could show up today as something that feels like a hug ... I hope we all get one! Maybe some good advice, a warm cup of coffee, a smile just when we need it!

The other thing we have going on today - besides all the stuff I wrote about in the weekly - is Venus (now in Virgo) sesquiquadrate Pluto (in Capricorn).

Sesquiquadrates are 135 degree aspects and are considered 'minor' aspects. I usually don't write about them here, because I don't have time to look and there is so much else to write about, but I find when talking to someone about their natal chart that it is often the minor aspects that give them those Oprah "aha" moments.

Sesquiquadrates fall between the trine (90 degrees) and the inconjunct (150 degrees). With trines we find things falling into place smoothly, talent we don't have to work for, stuff comes to us easy-peasy and we often take this stuff for granted. With inconjuncts things are out of balance, the two energies are not congruent, they don't get along, they can't work together, one side needs to adjust to the other, win-wins don't happen.

Sesquiquadrates are the middle ground. There is ready ability here but without the balance to have the success we are looking for. In the natal chart they lead to faulty planning or difficulties through inflexibility. They give us a kind of tunnel vision. We have an urge to do something or to cause something to happen in a very specific and very controlled way. We don't always look at the real circumstances clearly - which are always changing! - because we are too focused on the "goal". We don't adjust when the situation changes. We don't see how this could all work so much easier if we just adjust!

So sesquiquadrates usually require some kind of disappointment or loss that forces us to be FLEXIBLE.

So, Venus (freshly into Virgo) and Pluto (9 years into his 16 year journey through Capricorn) are 135 degrees apart today.

This could be the time when a loss or disappointment shows up to teach us the gift of flexibility.  

Maybe we could have put alot of energy into the details of something and it feels like we did it all for nothing. We could be back at square one. Maybe we are trying to make the environment conform to our plan and that is not really how life works. Ugh!

So now, moving forward, our planning will be more realistic, more flexible, more allowing of life to take its course and get us to the place we are wanting to be!

This could also be, since this is Venus/Pluto - about toxic relationships. Vampires (energy suckers, time suckers, resource suckers), obsessions, power plays are all themes of Plutonian relationship dynamics. Maybe the blinders come off. Remember we can only change our own behavior, not anyone else's.

Since the Sun is still in Virgo now the way through are those small, practical steps - if you are not a terribly practical person ask yourself what a practical person would do, or find one and actually ask them. Find a routine. Take it one day and one thing at a time.

Sometimes it is best to let go of trying to find the "reason" something is happening or the "lesson" in the loss. You have absorbed it. Trust that you have grown from it. You don't have to analyze (Virgo!) the thing to death.

And remember the North Node of our collective way forward is in heart ruled Leo and a healthy heart is passionately self-loving. If we wouldn't want it for someone we love we shouldn't allow it for ourselves either. Keep this in mind.

More info about the energies at play this week in the weekly forecast HERE

xo all - enjoy this last day of summer (or winter if you are down under)!

New Moon in Virgo | looking past what isn't working, cleaning up, doing the mending, moving on from the mess

cake go boom by schude

If the Leo Solar Eclipse on August 21st had been a regular New Moon this would be the day we would be putting that energy to bed.

Instead the Solar Eclipse energy is in play until at least the next eclipse in Aquarius in mid February,

but in some ways we are moving on now, especially after we get through the next couple days

(I find specific eclipse events, especially losses, sometimes happen almost exactly to the day one month before or after the actual eclipse, sometimes two months).

This morning's earthy New Moon in Virgo (Sun and Moon in Virgo at 27 degrees) AND also Mars, Mercury and Venus, this is very unusual - imagine a baby's chart if born today(!) - moves us past the last two New Moons that were both in fiery Leo. We also have both Saturn and Uranus going to enter earth signs (Capricorn and Taurus) over the next few months.

Earth is the new black. We can certainly feel that one!

That last New Moon (Solar Eclipse), and the energies at play before and after, has drop-kicked our attention right where it needs to be. And now here we are in Virgo, trying to clean up Leo's mess ... again. This is why the Pluto in Virgo generation is exhausted - imagine being charged with a lifetime of this!

This Moon is complicated. It is opposing Chiron (in emotional Pisces). The Virgo/Pisces polarity of healing and surrender (letting go) is very much activated. Chiron is the wound that can't be healed. Something here can't be fixed/cleaned up no matter how hard Virgo tries to make it work. Something will require an acceptance of an imperfection or acceptance of a vulnerability.

Maybe we just don't have the right info/tools/skills/resources/timing - whatever this is.

The Moon is inconjunct unpredictable Uranus (in Aries). This could create a sense of urgency. We need to fix this thing right now. Or maybe the problem itself hits us out-of-the-blue. Either way, the inconjunct tells us there is no perfect fix here. The signs involved - in this case Virgo and Aries have no middle ground. There is no real fix. There is just an adjustment we will need to live with. In astrology you will always find important points being made multiple times. You will see one thing in a chart that says something and then you will find another aspect that says the same thing (sometimes you will see things three times).

Today's chart is defined by the fact that we can't put Humpty Dumpty together again.

Mercury (in Virgo) is opposing Neptune (in Pisces) now. And because Mercury is ruler of this New Moon (rules Virgo) and Pisces is activated via the Moon (and Sun's) opposition to Chiron in Pisces - this Mercury/Neptune opposition's importance is increased. Probably alot. Neptune rules our imagination and opposing Mercury (our mind) we know that not all is as it seems now.

I could even be totally misreading today's chart - keep this in mind!

This is not a good time to make an important decision because things can look better, or worse, than they actually are. Nothing will feel certain. 

This is our brain (Mercury) on drugs (Neptune), but in the same way people who are drunk can't always tell they are drunk, we could think we are making stone cold sober decisions when we aren't. The facts can be skewed. We could get side-tracked away from what is real.

We could be very tempted to do what is easy rather than what is right. This is one apple we don't want to bite.

The best use of this New Moon energy is to do our Virgo!

We might have to respond to something that we can't make 100% better, but we will still have to respond. Focus on the details. Use commonsense. Do one thing at a time. Do your best. Know that it won't be perfect. Nothing in nature is perfect. Know that perfect isn't the point.

Even though with all this Virgo - it's going to feel like it is!

There is talk in the media about a doomsday of September 23rd. I don't see anymore of an astrological doomsday on this date than any other date lately. There are many places we could be living that feel like doomsday right now! When the energy on planet Earth reaches a certain crisis point the Earth itself will make changes. Keeping ourselves centered and balanced helps everyone. Note - this doesn't mean pouring pink paint on our problems and pretending they don't exist. It's Virgo season we are going to have to do the work. 

For more info check the weekly HERE.

New Moon Guidelines

Set your intentions and make your affirmations for Virgo themes (or your natal Virgo house theme!) for the best outcomes - health, quality over quantity, service to others, attention to details, work, co-workers, employees, day to day activities, cleaning, organizing, pets.

INTENTION TIPS: Let the earth guide you this month, plant your feet firmly on the ground, clear your head, write what your physical self, grounded by the earth, wants - not what you think you should write. Write your intentions down by hand in script on a blank piece of paper, speak the words out loud, maybe burn the paper and give the ashes back to the earth - release your attention from these things knowing your intention is known.

Life has heard you. Know these things are already yours.  

What do you do next? Do what is right in front of you.

xo all

(I find setting my intentions when I see that first little piece of the waxing Moon works best)

Venus Into Virgo | nothing constructive about criticism, the power of discrimination, taking a closer look at what we want and what we already have

Audrey Hepburn by bluesaga331

Today, Venus, after crossing over the 28 degree Leo eclipse degree, moves into stable and practical Virgo until mid-October when she comes home to Libra.

Since Venus naturally rules our 2nd and 7th houses (Libra and Taurus) the themes of these houses - love, money, self-esteem, values, relationships, women, beauty, our resources - are subjected to Virgo's keen focus and attention to detail now.

We will be analyzing what we want and what we have. We will be analyzing our relationships.

The problems will stand out. We won't be able to miss them. And since what we focus on grows, sometimes things get worse before they get better during this transit. But this is excellent energy to fix what needs fixing and accept (or eliminate) what just isn't fixable.

Our Virgo houses get a visit from lovely Venus. Virgo Suns and Ascendants get more attractive - both easier on the eye and able to attract what they want. Our natal Virgo houses get more attractive, too - what is your dream for your Virgo house?

We have a New Moon in Virgo late tonight (we will talk about it tomorrow) so now is the time to think about that!

Venus in Virgo is about loving the details of something, enjoying the work, appreciating the craftsmanship and complexity of something or someone or some situation - yes, also, noticing the imperfections, Virgo can't miss those, and choosing not to dwell on them.

Venus in Virgo works for her money. She gets us clear on what we want. She gets her hands dirty (and then she scrubs them clean). Venus in Virgo can make love critical. We can use this discrimination and ability to see things clearly with our work and make things more beautiful.

We could also use this energy to criticize the people we love. But let's not do that. Constructive criticism is not possible. It's still criticism. Nothing constructive there.

Things could get bitchy and people could get hurt. With people, it's always best to work on ourselves and not others. We will then attract from others something different as they mirror the something different we project onto them. We can't change people into something they're not. So we allow Venus (love) to soften Virgo (critical thinking, seeing what is wrong).

Here is a story I wrote on the blog a couple years ago. Right now hubs and I are sorting out our own Eclipse mess and it's a good reminder for me now, too. We didn't get the boat into the water at all this summer .... and that's another story.

*****

Hubs, a Virgo rising, bought a Hurricane Sandy wreckage boat. He's been working on it for almost 3 years. It finally went back into the water last week. It's docked about 15 minutes from our house in the river. We went out yesterday morning (river to ocean). It was my first time on the boat. As we were loading the things we brought with us I noticed George running a towel along the floor of the entire boat with his foot. We would carry a few things into the boat, I would head back to the truck, he would swab the deck and then join me at the truck. Three times he swabbed the deck.

This is the kind of thing that used to drive me nuts.

I might have said "for Pete's sake the boat is going to get a little dirty you know - we'll just hose it off" or I might have worried about his inability to just enjoy the fruits of his labor and relax for 5 minutes.

But I thought about Venus in Virgo; about the attention to detail this man I loved had put into something he loves (and my own Virgo mid-heaven that zeroes in on this kind of stuff) and I said, "you certainly keep this boat clean".

And not in a bitchy, 'meaning the opposite of what I say' kind of way, but purely from an openhearted space. He responded, "well, I spent a lot of days cleaning it ... and I forgot to bring a hose." We laughed. With Venus in Virgo we are reminded, in small ways and big ones, that we get what we pay attention to. 

***** 

Venus in Virgo can bring a woman/women to help with Virgo themes or focus us on a woman/women who is important to our Virgo theme - work, health, paperwork, organization, our day-to-day routine, service to others, co-workers, the people we hire and our pets. Venus energy into these areas can make this stuff more enjoyable and smooth off any rough edges.

There is lots of other stuff happening today, too, so be sure to read the weekly HERE .

We will talk about the New Moon tomorrow - start thinking about your New Moon intentions for those Virgo themes listed above! xo all

Astrology Forecast for Creatives | Week of September 18, 2017 | new moon, new season, new energy to move that eclipse story forward - sex, lies and videotape

autumn by Lubitella

This week we get a New Moon, a new season and a new area of focus for both the Sun and Venus as we build toward the final Jupiter/Uranus opposition at the end of the month! Mercury starts walking NEW ground. Uranus is active so maybe something unexpected comes to light and must be responded to.

Chiron is active so our response is probably not going to totally fix whatever is broken or replace whatever is missing and will quite possibly ... hurt. Since our Chironic wounds are carried from childhood when we were innocent there is a large degree of unfairness about them. We will talk about this in the New Moon post.

Venus has reached the North Node and will now hit the Solar Eclipse degree of 28 Leo and then move into Virgo. Whatever the eclipse has removed/ripped from around our heart (stems from family story and "unfair" wound/weight) it has created the space for loving Venus to penetrate.

Note - if we need to make a decision and haven't made it yet, this week is NOT the best energy since we have two Neptune oppositions. Facts will be blurry, things could look better than they are or worse than they are, we could be deceived.

On the other hand if you have already made a decision this might not be the week to un-make it either. I know I said we need to make decisions and we do and we will, but new information that comes in this week may not be totally reliable. We'll need to do our homework. We'll need to double check our facts.

What are we aware of now that we were not aware of just a few weeks ago? Pay attention. This week's New Moon in Virgo is another chapter in this story and it takes us back to 2015 or spring 2016. The main message/gist of the thing has probably already been delivered though.

Let's look at the Moons and this week's action:

On MONDAY, we are coming off Sunday's trine between Venus and Uranus, so something/someone new and unusual may catch/have caught our eye. With Venus still so near to the North Node of fate - this could be life-changing. This is about our Leo and Aries natal houses. Venus will hit the 28 degree Leo Solar Eclipse degree early this week, too. Something is beginning to seep inside the heart-space the Solar Eclipse has left unguarded - something good.

The Moon is in Virgo now, so our minds are clear and active. It is easier to stay organized. This is good energy to get work done, to be of service to others, to take care of our pets and our health. We will be focused on organization, stream-lining what we need, eliminating what we don't. Keep in mind Virgo energy can create problems just so we have something to fix!

The Moon will hook up with Mars in the afternoon - we will be more assertive, people could be more aggressive and even well-intentioned criticisms will carry some bite. The Moon then hooks up with mental, communicative Mercury - this is good energy for negotiating, working with complicated information, remembering details. By night fall the Moon is opposing Neptune - dissolving boundaries and maybe coaxing us to the dark side with cookies .... stay strong!

(Speaking of boundaries has anyone seen the new movie "mother"? Hubs and I went Saturday night. He didn't like it - hated the final acts. I was traumatized and need therapy ... I am not kidding. Am I the only person connecting this movie to Mother Earth and patriarchy? Probably not, need to google.)

On TUESDAY, Venus moves from Leo to join the Sun, Moon, Mercury and Mars at the Virgo party - which is, yes, attended to by staff who clean up our crumbs before they even hit our napkin.

Imagine a baby born today - Virgo on steroids, challenging to be her/his mama! Of course that baby would have a Virgo Moon, so see me (mama) through the lens of Virgo and that would force me to really get my act together.

Collectively we will be applying Virgo's penetrating practicality to our Venus themes (love, money, values, self-esteem) until October 15th. This transit also makes us more receptive (Venus) to our Virgo themes (health, work, service, practicality, organization, pets, co-workers).

Virgo Suns and ascendants get more "attractive", meaning both easier on the eye and able to attract what they want, and all of our natal Virgo houses get more attractive, too. In Virgo, Venus won't be impressing anyone with Leo drama - the appeal of Venus here will be about the work, the service, the quality, the devotion. Love can be more fussy and people can show they care by nagging and criticism, so let's try not to take it personally when someone points out the flaws in our plan, typo on our report, lipstick on our teeth, etc. And let's try to reel this tendency in a bit with ourselves. Venus in Virgo can cause affection to fizzle when we, and others, start zeroing in on the flaws.

The Moon (in Virgo) will square (tension) Saturn (in Sagittarius). Mercury (in Virgo) will oppose Neptune (in Pisces). We have had dreamy Neptune in Pisces since 2012 and we have 8 more years of a strong Neptune (ruler of Pisces) opposing Virgo! No wonder our thinking is muddled, we can't tell truth from fiction, we are drifting off course, we are under water, everyone wants to escape and no one can make a clear decision. Neptune!

All the planets in Virgo are also working their way through an opposition to Chiron (also in Pisces). If we try to escape our reality in Virgo - we are going to have a health crisis, an injury - we will be called back into our body. Remember the Virgo/Pisces nodes of 2015 and early 2016 - how is that story playing out now? I don't have enough hours in the day to write about this. Ugh!

Anyhoo, this is NOT a good day to come to an important decision or sign a long-term contract - we will have missed something, change our mind later, things could look better than they are, yada, yada. This is the culmination of the Mercury/Neptune cycle that started on March 4, 2017 if that date means anything to you.

(in U.S. politics Google is telling me this was the date Trump accused Obama via Twitter of wiretapping Trump Tower and the date of the March 4 Trump - which I don't actually remember, although with his Uranus/Sun aging us in dog years I think I can be forgiven for forgetting this one - ack!).

This is not a good time to leave things unsaid because the other person will walk away with the wrong impression. Speak clearly. Be specific. State the facts. And know that even if you do all these things - the other person could still walk away with the wrong impression. We could, too.

Mercury/Neptune is a great combination for lies and wishful thinking. Avoid drugs and alcohol - we will need a clear head. And if you were born around 1962-1965 be especially attentive and focused this week - watch that what you say is what you mean. It will be easy to say something that comes back to bite you or to hear something that bites and make a move you regret. Keep a cool head.

Think about what is happening here when these energies connect - our mental boundaries (Mercury) are dissolved (Neptune). We could think of things we haven't thought of before with this boundary gone, see things in a new way - just know that everything we are seeing/thinking may not be ... real. This doesn't mean having access to these realms isn't a good thing and it doesn't mean we can't make these thoughts/ideas real. Maybe we can. Maybe not. It's a fine line between practical reality (Mercury in Virgo) and our unbounded imaginings (Neptune in Pisces) now. Or no line, actually ...

Let's try to avoid making important decisions until next week when these two planets separate.

On WEDNESDAY, we have the New Moon in Virgo at 27 degrees (I will do a post). This is the first New Moon since the big Solar Eclipse in Leo on August 21st. I'm not a huge fan of this Moon's aspects, but it is what it is. We will be doing more adjusting to the Solar Eclipse energies. The Moon is inconjunct Uranus and opposing Chiron and with the Sun and Moon fixated (in Virgo) on what is not working, broken, unhealthy or missing, we could feel an urgency to fix something that just can't be fixed. We'll do our best with it. And we will avoid those Piscean escapes (vices) ...

On THURSDAY, the Moon in social Libra squares powerful Pluto. This is about power games within relationships - control issues, obsession. Relationship secrets/ stuff we don't want to look at, could come out now. By night-time the Moon is sextile (opportunity) Saturn in Sagittarius. This allows us to prioritize the right stuff, stay grounded and respond responsibly.

On FRIDAY, the Moon is void until 1:40PM EDT when it enters Scorpio - this is not a good morning to start anything new or put anything out that we want something to come of.

Mercury (in Virgo) trines (brakes off) Pluto (in Capricorn). Good for communications regarding career matters. We could say something that deeply impacts someone or they could say something to us. Good for deep conversations. Good for research. Good for organizing our business communications, emails, etc. We could be dealing with other people's resources, taxes, debts, loans, inheritances, sex, reproduction, death, rebirth.

The Sun enters Libra kicking off a new season with the Fall Equinox (spring if you are down under). We'll talk about this chart later in the week because we will be dealing with it (collectively) for a while. We still have alot of Virgo, but our Libra houses are waking up!

All our cages are being rattled or are about to be. Hang in there, it really does all work out in the end, so if it's not working out we know it's not the end .... back with the dailies. xo

Please remember the Moon transits are in play on the dates listed, the other planets for some days before and after the dates listed. The Mars/Mercury argumentative energy from previous weeks continues to be in play. Drive safely. The energies combining this week (Neptune/Mars, Neptune/Mercury, Mercury/Mars) could feed things like misleading action and/or words, force or aggression out of proportion to the situation, anger fed by fantasy, unrealistic plans and actions and generally lots of confusion over how to best move forward or what to do. Give yourself a break. Nobody else knows what the hell they are doing either.

All the nasty Trump jokes (Mars/Mercury) at the Emmys were not very helpful. Anything divisive is not very helpful right now ....

Mercury Conjunct Mars ... again | headstrong, argumentative, pushing the conversation, pushing the idea, the review is over and we are ready to get started

Odyssey by Vertu Design

Mercury and Mars have been dancing together for weeks (highly unusual!). They met up on September 3rd when Mercury was moving backward (retrograde). They meet again today with both energies (our head and our ability to act) moving forward - we are post eclipse, eyes wide open.

So what are we going to do? The review, the reflection - is over.

Maybe we get a second shot at something from early September. Maybe this is another argument (Mercury/Mars is great energy for a rip roaring confrontation) or more likely the same one being rehashed - last time Mars was strong and direct in a fire sign and Mercury was still retro in Leo. Now Mercury is strong in Virgo, a sign he rules and Mars is not quite so flashy. So Mars is a little less powerful now and Mercury is a lot stronger. There is greater potential for a cool head to win this round.

Maybe we need to have the uncomfortable argument to find where the blockages are. The bigger the blowup the older and deeper the pain.

Or maybe we need to walk away from unproductive discussions and focus on how to get what we thought we needed from the other person from ourselves. Maybe we need to just let it go.

We are more likely to be comfortable expressing anger OR sorrow, but not both (the Course in Miracles teaches they are really both fear in disguise). So we will be more comfortable with anger and repress sorrow (hubs) or be more comfortable with sorrow and repress anger (me).

We'll push whatever we are not comfortable with onto other people for them to act out for us. This is mostly done unconsciously, but when we get conscious about this stuff - well, first our world is majorly rocked then majorly ripe for real change. Alot of this past season has been about family dynamics, old stories that need to be put to bed - we will know what these are by the way they trigger our bodies and emotions. This isn't so much a time of progress as a time for healing ...

****

(I decided to take an hour beach-break yesterday morning and enjoy a little "local-summer" now that the tourists are mostly gone. I am sitting in the front of a long line of cars making a left turn at a red arrow waiting for the bridge to close and the gates to open. This arrow is new and I'm sitting there thinking it's a smart new addition because when the gates come down, and block the traffic in front of the bridge, everyone used to pile up in the intersection and the traffic going straight through (not over the bridge) used to get stuck, too.

We are sitting for a bit. Bridge openings on this road can take a while. Suddenly someone behind me beeps their horn. Then someone else. Soon at least a dozen people are beeping and yelling out their windows at me. I am not sure they can all see what I see, but I am still looking at a red arrow and the bridge rails closed. I am thinking WTH. Well maybe I am thinking WTF. Well maybe by now I have my arm out the window with my middle finger extended.

And yes, I am thinking to myself that I must be really pissed off to be attracting this much "pissed off" in my direction.

I inch up a bit, so the tractor trailer behind me can get around me and into the empty right lane (there is an empty right lane next to me for cars going straight and not left over the bridge) - maybe he wants to avoid the bridge wait and drive straight? But no, he swoops around me to the left, along with four other cars, blocking the intersection and piling in front of the gate.

I was thinking about Mars/Mercury (Mercury also rules transportation) and about how this could have, in the past, triggered old stuff for me the way traffic situations tend to do to us - other times in life we have been cut off, left behind, out-maneuvered - but it didn't this time. I kept a cool head - well, my left middle finger got a little hot and itchy, but as a person more comfortable with sadness than anger, that anger had to come out. It felt appropriate to the situation (plus I live in Jersey).

I could see the red arrow and the closed gates. Maybe the other drivers could, too, but maybe they couldn't. Maybe they got around me and said to themselves "oh, so this is the hold up".

With the Mars/Mercury energy peaking today knowing that other people don't have the info/view/background knowledge that we have can help avoid a tussle. It can also show us our triggers.)

***

Maybe we push (Mars) the idea/conversation (Mercury). We decide (Mercury) we take action (Mars).

We still have the Black Moon Lilith (the uncontrolled woman, sexual freedom) story in play, the Venus (love, money, values) story in play, the Moon in fun-loving Leo, the Sun in practical Virgo shining a light on our harvest AND all the ways we screwed this harvest up (damn nit picky Virgo) and all the ways it was screwed up for us (not everything is under our control) and all the ways we freaking got lucky.

What are we going to do with all of this?

I am about to hit a local flea market and then clean the pool, so we can close it up for the season (sniffle). I hope everyone enjoys their Saturday.

We'll use Mars/Mercury to move forward. We'll watch for Mars/Mercury triggers.

.... xo all

Venus Sextile Juputer | increased expectations, opportunities for more love/more money, shop smart, drive safely, watch your tongue, play with the kids

kids by Joa Gna

Today, Venus (in Leo) sextiles Jupiter (in Libra) at 24 degrees. There is opportunity for expansion/celebration/to get lucky. Personally, the opportunity will be between your late degree Leo and Libra houses.

Collectively this will be about love, money, self-esteem, our values, women, beauty, children, recreation, romance, fun jiving (all those Venus and Leo themes) finding their happy places through our groups, social activities, chance encounters (Venus is still conjunct that North Node!), women, travel, education, foreign, weddings, higher thinking.

I know this sounds like a word salad. Because it is. Take what you need!

This would be a good time to begin a new relationship - personal or business. With Mercury so close to Mars (exact tomorrow) there could be some bickering, maybe quite a lot of bickering, but it might be worth it!

Watch your wallet because Venus/Jupiter is good for spending money and might not care if we actually have any. On the other hand funds spent on our appearance or our relationships is probably not a bad thing. Just keep your eye on the benjamins today and through the weekend.

Jupiter brings increased EXPECTATIONS.

In this case it would be around our relationships, love and money. And because we often seem to get what we expect we are going to get this can be very helpful. Hence, his reputation as a kind of astrological Santa Claus.

Keep in mind though that Jupiter is a planet made up entirely of hot air (gases). Not everything will pan out in huge ways. Some things will just kind of fade away like a dream. Venus is moving toward an inconjunct with wounded healer Chiron, so some of the promise of this energy will need to be fine-tuned. Something might trigger a previous wounding.

With Venus in Leo new doors will open (North Node!) fastest with a Leo attitude - optimistic, happy, generous. There are multiple opportunities here and we simply can't screw this up.

The greatest opportunities for our collective will come through our belief that things can get better for all of us.

The Moon is in Cancer. It opposed Pluto just about the time of the London bombing. And we have Mercury (transportation) moving toward an exact conjunction with Mars (violence) tomorrow. What we see in the collective is always at work in our own lives, too. So take care with machinery. Drive safely. Passionate conversations and arguments can be dropped like bombs so don't initiate confrontations. Think before you speak.

By mid day the Moon will be sextiling (opportunity) the Sun - in Virgo, so opportunities for a light to be shone on detailed work, service or our health. This is good for seeing both sides of a situation and for having alternate views work together. The Moon goes void at 5:23 EDT. With an interaction with unexpected "out-of-the-blue" Uranus as her parting shot - we could have some unexpected emotions (ie a reason for unexpected emotions) later in the day. After the Moon gets into Leo late tonight would be a good time for fun, romance, kids.

Don't plan to get to sleep early! xo all

Venus Conjunct the North Node | affirmation we are moving in the right direction, wild women make history plus a warning about too many green bean casseroles

If the dream flies away by Julie-de-Waroquier

This week we have seen Venus (in Leo) trine (brakes off) Saturn, then the Sun moved into an exact square with Saturn (brakes on) and now Venus (love, money, self-esteem, our values, women, beauty) in Leo (creative work, children, romance, recreation) moves into an exact conjunction - at 23 degrees - with the North Node (our future).

Pay attention to what comes to your attention now.

There should be an affirmation that you are moving in the right direction - or a nudge in a new one! This will involve the themes I have listed above and/or the theme of your natal Leo house - yes, this is the same house/theme we have been talking about for weeks via that total Solar Eclipse in Leo.

Venus is going to hit the eclipse degree next week but we might get a preview now. There could be an opportunity to push a little further toward what "our heart" (Leo) wants. With Saturn playing a part in this week's story line working with Saturn's discipline, limits and responsibilities will be key here. Nothing works unless we do.

At the same time Venus is also trining Black Moon Lilith (the out of bounds woman, the woman who plays by her own rules, sexual freedom, power) in Sagittarius. Interesting that it is Margaret Sanger's birthday (Planned Parenthood founder) and Hillary Clinton has been in the news again lately. Black Moon Lilith will conjunct the North Node in a couple days, so there could be even more of a spotlight/acceptance for out of bounds women/women's issues or personal power.

Her trine to Venus as Venus conjuncts the North Node of destiny hints (not that BML ever speaks softly about anything!) the part of ourselves/the situation/the relationship/the creative project that might normally be in some way "out of bounds" or not conventionally accepted (even offensive, think - the things we don't talk about in polite society - sex, money, power, our flaws, our vulnerabilities) - will need to be included. If we leave the uncomfortable pieces of ourselves to wither on the vine now the whole orchard goes down, too. The trine should make this acceptance process move smoothly.

We might not even notice the trine, we'll just realize later on that some formerly unacceptable part of us has been merged into the whole and we are better for it. Or we take the new job and realize we didn't ask about the money! There is always a flip-side.

We don't want to be putting up with a "dis-empowerment" in whatever situation we are dealing with (although with Saturn involved we know everything won't be all sunshine and flowers). We are connecting with the fire of millions of female voices that have been dis-empowered. We have more power than we think we do. 

The Moon is in Cancer today and tomorrow so we will all be feeling more sensitive, more in need of nourishment and care. The Moon will have some nice aspects with Neptune making us more compassionate and more imaginative. We can hold a space for someone else without judgement more easily now. This is a good day for meditation or some kind of grounding practice.

Mercury isn't covering new ground yet and the Moon is waning - this is the time of tying things up, planning, not rushing into something new. As early as next week we'll have Mercury covering new ground and a New Moon in Virgo - we will be pushed into something new soon enough, trust me on this one.

We might want to push off those big decisions, and we likely can for a few more days, but they need to get resolved this month or life will force our hand anyway.

Decisions made now need to take into account the lessons we learned over the last few weeks. Then we decide. Then we decide to not look back. 

That's all that is required of us. Life can use whatever decision we make to get us where we need to go if we don't disrespect life by disregarding these last few weeks. Really. 

Save the big new moves for a few more days though. Let Mercury start covering new ground and the Moon to start waxing. For now, tie up loose ends. Plan. Do what is right in front of you.

The Moon in Cancer is squaring Uranus and hooking us into the next big aspect - the Jupiter/Uranus opposition on September 28th. That date and the following couple weeks will be challenging for many people (in the collective the Trump vs legal issues or Trump vs media story will be peaking). And Pluto will station direct in Capricorn the same day!

There are BIG changes ahead for all of us - both collectively and personally. By next April we will have 3 outer planets in new signs, including Uranus, who last changed signs on March 11, 2011 (the day of the Fukushima earthquake). And both Mars and Venus will go retrograde in 2018! It will be another big year to go over and over things.

We have October, November and December to make the big personal changes (and you may have already made them - many, many people have - but if you know you were/are supposed to make some kind of move/change, but haven't - this timing is for YOU, get something started with this). At the end of December Saturn comes home to Capricorn. Daddy's home. Things could get more stable but also more stuck. We might miss this mutable, crazy year.

How is that possible? Well, have I said before that winter is coming? 

We are still in the season of the harvest and we are all harvesting something. If you have a kitchen filled with green beans (like me) and really wish you had planted some eggplant and kale (actually the critters ate the kale) - well, it's too late to plant eggplant and kale now!

So stop obsessing over that and make what you can make with the green beans.

Figure out a way to use your green beans to get the eggplant and kale or you will be eating green beans all winter. Maybe you like the stability of knowing what you will have for dinner (green beans!) but most likely you will feel stuck with them.

And now I've made myself hungry ... but not for green beans. xo all

Sun Square Saturn | meet the wall (no, not THAT wall)

the wall by alice faux

The Moon, still in multi-tasking and communicative Gemini has some nice aspects this morning with both Venus (sextile) and Jupiter (trine) - this would be a good morning for communicating with a partner, teaching, some kind of PR opportunity, social something or other.

Before going void, she sextiles (opportunity) Uranus (the unexpected, the future, freedom). Uranus is in Aries for a few more months and her interactions with our Moon today could have us feeling ambitious and looking for something new. 

At 2:35PM EDT the Moon goes void until dinnertime. We'll be left dangling with that sextile to Uranus pushing us to close up early and make a run for it. The Moon will enter Cancer at 6:12PM EDT leading to a couple days where we would all prefer to hunker down at home or with people and places that feel like home. Our emotions will naturally be soothed by what nourishes us and its lack will be more strongly felt.

The Moon is in the last quarter phase of her monthly cycle. And Mercury is getting ready to begin covering new ground next week - this is the time to put any finishing touches on projects started before late July or follow up with any appropriate situations from before that time.

With the Quarter Moon happening in fast moving and "too many irons in the fire" Gemini we could be feeling rushed, under-appreciated or over-worked. The Moon is winding down now. Find some time this week to unwind a bit, too.

In the meantime, back on the ranch, the Sun (in Virgo) is hitting her exact square with Saturn (in Sagittarius) at 21 degrees. These two will be close enough to have this tension/stress in play all week.

This is Saturn's 2nd square (due to his retrograde) with the Sun since we started our new Saturn cycle back on December 10th at 18 degrees Sagittarius when these two power players met up.

This is that wall, or obstacle, we talked about in the weekly (ie fire breathing dragon). There are GROWING PAINS.

The Sun will shine a spotlight this week on whatever this is for us. Our life force/creativity is blocked somehow. There is pressure, tension, frustration. Maybe too much work or too much service is being required of us. We could doubt our own abilities and any space we "don't have what it takes" could be right in our face and possibly even on view for others.

Maybe we'll get a "no". Maybe something that stabilizes us comes to an end or something requiring additional responsibilities/work could begin.

Whatever this wall is for our egos in this cycle - we hit it. "DAM!" said the fish when she did. Ack!

Patience and diligence (sorry!) are the only antidote to a Saturnian wall. We'll get through this. Time is on our side here.

(September is a big decision month and no one is going to feel like they have enough time/facts, etc to make the best decision. In October, Jupiter - higher thinking and remember Saturn is answering to him! - will move from Libra where he can see both sides and wants things to be fair, and into Scorpio where he will not be dealing with any crap.)

This square could be most strongly felt by the mutables - Gemini, Sagittarius, Virgo and Pisces - and anyone with planets or points around 21 degrees Sagittarius or 21 degrees Virgo. But since this is the Sun we are talking about we will all be feeling blocked somewhere.

The way through this tangle (since the Sun is in practical Virgo) is working with whatever is right in front of us in the current moment.

Don't look too far ahead or too far back. Saturn likes things to stay exactly as they are, but that opportunistic sextile between Uranus and the Moon today tells us something new needs to happen here. The square makes any move challenging since we are between a rock and a hard place. Just do your Virgo and get through the briar-patch - small, practical steps, focus on quality, don't get caught up in a 'perfectionist/criticism/mired in the details' trap. Keep moving. Do your best. If you don't know what to do - there is probably some weeds to be pulled or dishes to be washed somewhere. 

Doing something for someone else (very Virgo-like) can help bring us out of any depressive funk - Saturn can be heavy-duty. Of course, if this over-doing is part of the tension, this would be the thing to ease up on a bit. Virgo also rules our health - if this is the space we are hitting the wall - take things seriously. Make the difficult changes. Do it one step at a time.

Tomorrow, we have Venus crossing the North Node - she is on a roll people! Whatever it is we are doing to bring more beauty to the world is ripe for a BIG PUSH in the right direction.

xo all

Venus Trine Saturn | commitment, investing for the long haul - Rome wasn't built in a day, attracting the stuff that lasts, mentors and muses show up

like stars on your skin by quadratiges

Today, we have Venus (in Leo) trining Saturn (in Sagittarius) at 21 degrees. This has been within orb for a couple days and will continue to be within orb for a couple more when Venus finally pulls away from the old slow poke. It's strongest today though.

Venus rules love, money, our values, women, beauty, our self-esteem (Libra and Taurus) and in Leo, ruler of our 5th house, concerned with romance, creative work, fun, recreation, children. Saturn rules structure and things that are real and have weight, time, goals, hard work, discipline, fathers, older men and responsibility (Capricorn) and in Sagittarius, ruler of our 9th house, concerned with higher education, travel, the things, the people and the places that are foreign to us, legal issues, politics, the media, weddings, higher thinking and religion. Trines create smooth energy - the brakes are off - the vitality will flow and work together naturally.

This trine will apply to our natal Leo and Sagittarius houses (21 degrees) and their themes.

Now these houses are always in trine, but today, inhabited by attractive Venus and hard-working Saturn, the vibes are particularly useful.

For me, this is about my 10th house (21 Leo) and my 1st house (21 Sag). So good energy for my (10th house) career, business, the way I show up in the world, my visibility - to support and jive with my (1st house) physical self, name, brand, image. A good time to make a bigger commitment with this stuff.

We could make a commitment (Saturn) within a relationship (Venus) now. We could make a commitment with our money. We could make a commitment to valuing ourselves. We could commit to the hard work of being more beautiful (ie Venusian) or birthing something beautiful. We could beautify (Venus) our career (Saturn). This would be a great time for cosmetic changes within a business. Spruce ups now will pay off over time.

Venus/Saturn is not going to be about developing some trendy thingamajig because with Saturn the payoff comes over time and our trendy thingamajig will be gathering cobwebs in the corner. For creators this isn't so much about new styles as new methods. Both form (Venus) AND function (Saturn) will matter here. People will be drawn to more traditional, quality items that will last. Venus/Saturn will only be together for a couple more days, but this is the card to play now.  

Our existing relationships can grow stronger. There is a mutual respect here. Relationships between people of different ages started now would likely be long-lasting. Fire signs could be especially ready to settle down (Aries, Leo, Sag). *

Mentors (Saturn) and muses (Venus) can show up. 

When dealing with authority (Saturn), pulled over for speeding for example, it can't hurt to show them some respect (Leo) ... and maybe a little leg (Venus). When channeling Venus in Leo it is best to be unafraid to be noticed - spider veins and cellulite be damned, our legs are coming out!

(Many years ago someone was talking about cellulite and hubs said "Catherine, doesn't have any cellulite". Later I asked him why he said that, since it wasn't true, and he said, "hmm, well what the hell is cellulite?" I think he thought it had something to do with poor phone reception.)
 
If Venus and Saturn were people they would be a young, loving, attractive woman and a serious, responsible older man. You can see how these two people could bring out the best in each other (not in a sugar-daddy kind of way - Saturn ain't nobody's free ride).

We carry both these archetypes within us - what can we do today to cement their merger?

ALSO NOTE - our fast-moving, multi-tasking Gemini Moon is challenged by both Mars and Neptune today.

Numerous distractions are likely. Stay focused on what your heart wants. With Venus stabilized by Saturn and within orb of the North Node in Leo ... our heart's desire (what you seek is seeking you ... Rumi or in astro speak, "what's in your heart is in your chart") is quickly catching up with us and much closer than it appears ... time to check that rearview mirror.

Check the weekly HERE for more info.

xo all

* A few words about this "settling down" thing. I have a friend who lived with a man for 12 years. They didn't want children, but she wanted to marry. He was always firm that he would never marry. Then one summer during responsible Saturn's transit of his 7th house (partnership) and her 2nd (values, self-esteem) she drew an equally firm line in the sand. They married within weeks.

All was well for about a New York minute and then ... everything changed, it all felt like work (her words here). He started to feel like her father even though they were close in age. She couldn't figure out what the hell had happened.

Saturn transits grow us up. And the things we commit to during Saturn transits will not be easily discarded. She needed to draw a line in the sand. And he needed to commit. They loved each other, but had suddenly become each other's ball and chain (Saturn!). Ack!

Now this guy has a very challenged 7th house - multiple tense aspects and a very beneficial 5th house. So when my friend moved from 5th house (girlfriend, romance, fun) to 7th house (partner) she stepped right into all these strained spaces he was learning about through his dealings with equal partners. And he stepped into her equally tricky 2nd house self-esteem issues.

She now says she thinks all she really wanted was, "the respect of not being someone's girlfriend" and she wishes things were back as they were before. Saturn rules time and Saturnian commitments often have a "before and after" feel to them. There is no going back. They both stepped up to the plate to play a bigger game. They moved from the minors into the majors and will need some time to find a new rhythm. The good news with Saturn is that time is always on our side ....