a quick look at the astrology of China, the Corona-Virus and the Saturn/Pluto Conjunction - major changes through the world's workforce as our patriarchal unwinding continues

In the middle of January when I was writing about the Saturn/Pluto conjunction in Capricorn (the first time in more than 500 years) HERE and looking at its potentials I didn't think to look at China's chart to see what was happening there.

This morning, thinking about the astrology of March 20th's meeting of Mars and Jupiter on the 22 degrees Capricorn trigger point (the degree Saturn and Pluto met in January) and amid all the corona-virus talk in the media - I looked up China's natal chart and their transits for mid-January blew me away.

This is the chart for China during the Saturn/Pluto conjunction which happened in China on January 13th (the 12th in the United States). Saturn and Pluto and the Sun (and we had Mercury and Ceres almost precisely conjunct, too) were meeting EXACTLY on China's natal Jupiter in their 12th house (viruses, disease, endings, death, no boundaries, secrets and lies). At the same time, transiting Jupiter is opposing their natal Uranus (trauma signature, chaos, disorder) in Cancer in their 6th house of work and day-to-day activities and health. And transiting Mars is conjunct their natal hurting/healing Chiron in the 10th house (their work in the world, patriarchal energy, father).

Whew!

This was always going to be very big for China (and by extension, all of us).

According to a timeline of the corona virus: on January 11, 2020 - China reports to the World Health organization their first death from the virus and on January 13th, they report the first case outside China (the Saturn/Pluto - the breakdown of limits/authority, the end of the death postponed, time runs out). And remember this was all playing out at the time of a Full Moon Lunar Eclipse in Cancer, giving this whole thing even more energy and unfortunately, staying power.

I had an intuition to toss Pholus (we talked about this Centaur's story last month - the genie out of the bottle, uncorking of something that can't be stopped) into China's natal and found he is conjunct their natal Jupiter and their ascendant (!) - so a very important energy in their country's signature and was being mega impacted by the Saturn/Pluto conjunction. In productive and ambitious Capricorn this energy has likely helped them many times, but certainly not with this.

I am sure they applied herculean measures to contain this thing, but it was never going to be stopped here.

With so much happening in Capricorn let's take a look at their natal Saturn (he also rules their Cappy rising chart) - in their chart Saturn is in their 8th house of other people's money, the resources merged with other people, death, secrets. The same house that contains their Sun/Mercury/Neptune conjunction in Libra answering to Venus in their 10th house, but ruling their 9th house - showing their important, and highly visible, industrial partnerships with other countries and the way they have become the world's "work force".

If we move their chart ahead to March 20th, 2020 when Mars (action, military, impulsivity) meets Jupiter, making something bigger, maybe more explosive - at the HOT degree of 22 Capricorn - they are having their Jupiter return (Jupiter back to where he was at their country's birth) - hopefully that Jupiter return brings them some luck/optimism instead of a possibly abrupt expansion of the problem (!).

We also see Saturn sitting on their ascendant, transiting Pholus moving into their HOT 12th house and the transiting North Node (coming home, a focus on home and family and nurturing, the value they do or do not place on mothering and babies, on allowing themselves to show any vulnerability) hitting their natal Uranus (change, chaos, tech, the future) and the transiting South Node that patriarchal conditioning/mega work ethic/productivity/authority opposing their natal Uranus trauma point.

Something big will be happening - although we might not hear everything, because the 12th house is a place of secrets.

Major change playing out through our world's "work-force" as the patriarchy unwinds ...

xo all

Today's Astrology Forecast | Saturday, February 29th - relax, do something pampering, the eye of the storm, feeling more inspired and optimistic

The Moon, exalted in Taurus (so functioning at her best), sextiles dreamy Neptune at 2:50PM EST and trines expansive Jupiter at 5:41PM EST. We should feel more inspired, more optimistic. Taurus is all about comfort and feeling good. The center holds.

On SUNDAY morning, 10:52AM EST. the Moon will go void off a trine to Saturn (she trined Pluto while we slept) and be void until 2:2PM EST, when she moves into busy and communicative Gemini. She will square a retrograde Mercury at 6:05PM EST, so Sunday night could be a bit frustrating, but the rest of Sunday looks good for dealing with authority, our responsibilities, etc.

So, the Moon is really helping us for most of this weekend to stay grounded and feel better.

Once the Moon gets into Gemini, she starts building toward her square to the Sun (Monday) and we are in between Venus's square to Pluto and her square to Saturn (next week), so the weight of choices we need to make, decisions hanging over our head, maybe the feeling we are being uncomfortably pushed to take action is still here, but probably background noise this weekend.

In the meantime, take care of yourself today.

Treat yourself well - whatever that means to you!

Take advantage of this "eye of the storm" energy. Breathe deeply. Exhale.

Tomorrow keep in mind that void Moon (not the time to start) - expect a little wonk and for time to get stretchy and some possible tension tomorrow night.

xo all

back with the monthly and we'll dive into March

photo by the talented ESPRIT-CONFUS

Today's Astrology Forecast plus the last few weeks of Cancer/Capricorn - allowing ourselves to just not know and how everybody wins in the end

The energy is quite stressful for the next couple days, so I thought I would pop back in from looking at March charts and toss up a post.

We talked about Friday HERE.

The Moon is in Taurus now (where she is exalted) joining chaotic Uranus. Venus, ruler of Taurus and so ruler of the Moon now is squaring - tension/frustration - Pluto from her perch in fiery Aries. And she is going to square Saturn next week.  This is challenging energy focused (collectively) on our relationships, our money, our resources, beauty, what we value, our self-esteem.

What we want, and may not be able to get, or what we have that we no longer want - can feel like it is suffocating us/eating us alive. Jealousy, Compulsion, Power struggles. What we have/need squaring off with what we have merged with other people (through intimacy, sex, our bank account, the stock market). Plutonian squares create wins through transformation, but something has to die/be eliminated first.

This stuff is not for sissies.

Remember our North Node is in Cancer - our power lies within us. Life is an inside job. If we are giving too much power to outside situations/other people/other people's resources/to having things turn out just a certain way in order for us to feel safe, to feel loved, to feel valuable - we are going to be on very shaky ground right now.

Before just plowing ahead, let's stop and think for a minute - and yes, I know Mercury is retrograde in Pisces - our brain is frying on the sidewalk, but let's take a breath then. Venus is in Aries - she wants to win. And she wants to win now. We can see that even once she gets past Pluto, she is going to hit Saturn's reality check. Pushing is probably not going to help. She is at her detriment in Aries and Saturn is at his strongest in Capricorn. And Mars is in Capricorn and trining the Moon - smart business moves/doing the responsible thing.

The Moon is exalted in Taurus. We want to feel better and we CAN feel better. At the same time Mercury (who, yes, is retrograde in confusing Pisces) is sextiling Uranus. New information. New ideas. Change is good. New ways to do commerce/to be in our local community/to deal with sibling issues. This can also bring assistance through a Uranian/Aquarian person or through technology/astrology.

I have been working on March charts and I can't lie to you, it is a very challenging month and we are going to be pushed to make decisions/choices from very unsteady spaces, BUT once we get past the pivots and changes (and this means actually making pivots and changes) the month gets much easier.

Keep in mind the energetic framework that set up this year - things looking really, really bad, but then never getting as bad as they look like they might. Think back to January and the Iran situation.

Now we have the corona-virus - which with Mercury retrograde in Pisces is almost certainly not going to be "contained", but Mercury will not always be retrograde in Pisces. By April she/he will be walking new degrees and much sooner than that (March 4th!) she gets back into Aquarius - fixed air doesn't feel quite so contagious to me - and then she will station direct just a few days later, by the time he/she gets back into Pisces we will know what we are doing with this.

The stock market/economy is dealing with all this Venusian stress plus we have Uranus (anything-can-happen) in Taurus (our money and resources), for the next few years. When the energies are ripe for adjustments (via transits) - this stuff is going to adjust. Its strength and usefulness will be tested. The stock market may not even exist by the time Uranus leaves Taurus - we may have found better, more sustainable and more equitable ways to merge our resources. But right now it does exist and it's based on mutual trust. Does the market trust the investors? Do the investors trust the market?

Right now, during these fluctuating times we have the gift of the North Node in Cancer (who says you can't go home again?). We only have this energy here for a few more weeks.

How have we used this? How can this help us now?

We talked about this HERE and all throughout the past year.

That Capricorn South Node - where we are, what is working and most especially what isn't - is like winter itself. When life becomes fixed and rigid and inflexible we go on auto-pilot. We lose the capacity for reflection. For compassion. Growth stops. Nothing can be learned.  

As Carl Jung said, "the sure path can only lead to death".

In order to live a creative life we have to be receptive to what isn't known. There is no other way. No crystal ball that really works. We have to be able to be led by circumstances. Even to move, at times, against our own better judgement. 

Not all the time of course, because total instability would drive us all insane I would imagine - Capricorn stability is very, very useful energy, and shouldn't be totally disparaged just because we have been digging through its negatives over the last year or so. 

But without some Cancer vulnerability, some chinks in our armor, we can't have interaction with the world or even interaction with our own authentic self (our real home). 

So, of course there is alot of anxiety in admitting that we just don't know/that we can't be sure and maybe most anxiety producing of all - THAT MAYBE NO ONE ELSE KNOWS EITHER - and yet to have our world carved in Cappy ice would be even more terrifying wouldn't it?

An unlived/unloved life doesn't just go away ....

Try to keep this in mind through unsteady times.

Vulnerability is actually our super-power, people.

xo all

(this 'anxiety' thing is how the millennials are going to change the world btw)

photo by the amazing Avine

Weekly Forecast for Creatives | Week of February 24th - a mystical fresh start, avoid overdoing it, more building the dream, fated endings, a karmic story is unwinding, a light on our path forward, power struggles, surprising news and ideas, something comes back around

Another important week and a karmic storyline playing out!

I am going to take blog break after this post. I'm getting burned out with the dailies and with only so many hours in the day, I need to write a monthly for March - a VERY pivotal month and we all need a heads up!

All these aspects are in play for at least a couple days before and after they are listed here.

SUNDAY - New Moon in Pisces (4 degrees), Venus squares Jupiter
MONDAY - Mars sextiles the Sun
TUESDAY - Mars conjuncts the south Node, Sun trines the North Node, Mercury retrograde conjuncts the Sun
WEDNESDAY - Mercury sextiles Mars
FRIDAY- Venus squares Pluto and conjuncts Eris, Mercury retrograde sextiles Uranus

On SUNDAY morning - we have the Moon meeting the Sun at 4 degrees giving us this month's mystical New Moon and this year's New Moon in Pisces. This energy is a good overview of the next two weeks - we talked about it HERE.

Venus (in Aries) squares Jupiter (in Capricorn) at 18 degrees. Squares are challenges/frustration, but these are our two most benefic planets ruling our love and money and luck, so the tension could be just what we need to increase our confidence and magnetism.

The possible downside? Things looking better than they actually are, getting too plugged into our Cappy ambitions, over-dose style spending or over-investing ourselves or our resources in something/some situation/someone. With Mercury retrograde in boundless Pisces and Venus squaring Jupiter this would not be the time to make any big promises. 

Venus is more than half-way through Aries now, the sign of her detriment, on her way - and she can't get there fast enough - into her home sign of Taurus. But first she has to get through these Cappy squares. Next up, the Lord of the Underworld - Pluto (power, compulsion, control issues, jealousy) on Friday!

OK it's MONDAY we are moving ahead with our New Moon agenda as Mars sextiles the Sun.

Sextiles bring opportunity, but between earth and water - this isn't something that is going to fall into our laps - this will take effort. Think about the way plants bloom over time as they are irrigated with water. This is more of the building the dream (Pisces/Cappy) stuff we have been talking about the last couple years. Mars in Cappy is confident and ambitious - we can get away with some brash moves now without looking like a jerk and annoying the hell out of people. Do something positive with this.

On TUESDAY, Mars, coming off that solar sextile is now opposing the North Node and crossing the South Node.  

Fated endings/completions.

Very old karmic re-balancings around power. Something could end now or reach some kind of limit. We could cut something off. Here is Mars doing what Saturn did last year. We talked about this in the Saturn/Pluto 2020 post. The Nodes are moving on to Gemini/Sagittarius next month and this is one last Cappy blowout to clear out the old obligations/limits/goals/structures that are no longer needed.

Keep in mind Mars is still trining Uranus - action toward the new, the unexpected, the future.

The other good news (besides the Uranus trine) is we have, at the same time Mars is meeting the South Node (the past), the Sun trining the North Node (our future) AND hooking up with a retrograde Mercury.

A light shines on our path forward - here is CLARITY.

And although Mercury is retrograde - there is some kind of fresh start (that might connect back to the last time these two met). Whatever this Mercury retrograde is for us, we are most certainly in the thick of it now.  Answers come in. Our words are especially important now, so only say what you mean. Our intuition is very high.

Pisces/the Nodes of Fate - there is undoubtedly a very old karmic story playing out here.

With the North Node in Cancer - keep in mind always our commitment to nurturing the small beginnings of things, taking care of ourselves the way we would care for someone else, moving toward our own authenticity even if it seems at first to make us more vulnerable, anything that feels like home, land, a mother's touch (not necessarily our mother's touch - ha!) and tastes like apple pie.

On WEDNESDAY - Mercury (retrograde in Pisces) sextiles ambitious Mars (in Capricorn). Opportunities when we walk our talk. More of the "building the dream". Ideas and conversations get us fired up. We are putting our words into action. Here is us taking action on the information Mercury meeting the Sun has brought to light. And Mercury is going to sextile Uranus on Friday, so our words married to our actions now can take us in a new direction! Keep in mind Mercury is retrograde, so this may be something we thought about doing before, but now we are actually doing it or doing it in a new way. We are re-working/re-thinking something here.

On FRIDAY, Venus meets Eris (in Aries) while squaring Pluto (in Capricorn). This speaks of jealousy/possessiveness/manipulation/feeling like life and death. Tension and challenges with love, money, our resources and self-esteem. Power struggles. Eris will really amp everything up and again emphasize the need to bring everyone to the table this year! This is explosive energy.

Aries/Capricorn is actually a love fest that only looks like a boxing tournament. After the fight is over - Aries bloodied and battered and Capricorn with tie askew and pockets picked clean - they almost always hit the pub for a beer.

But, the bottom line with these Venus squares, because after Pluto, Venus is going to square Saturn - is we might not get exactly what we want!

Adjustments will be required and here is where a retrograde Mercury's sextile to anything-can-happen Uranus can come in. This is an opportunity through surprising news and information. And since this is a repeating aspect - we might have to say it/hear it/think it again. Maybe here is another shot at something unexpected! Ideas and insights can come out of the blue. Good for visionary thinking and forward-focused language. Ideas are AVAILABLE for the right person - the person who can make them REAL - to pick them like apples in an autumn orchard.

Keep in mind with chaos-loving Uranus, even opportunistic sextiles are not always totally comfortable and with Mercury going to sextile Uranus again in a couple weeks when direct - this isn't the final, final.

Although we might have alot happening, we should probably get some extra rest this week - maybe some long walks (especially near water if possible), extra meditation, soothing music, etc with all the Pisces energy, because March is coming and it's going to be a VERY pivotal month that will come in like a lion and go out like a lion, too!

xo all

Have a great week!

photo by the talented Nodvikoff

New Moon in Pisces | February 23, 2020 - endings, healing, an old dream re-imagined, an ancestral inheritance re-invented, leaning into the future, genie out of the bottle, divine inspiration, watering our own roots

On Sunday, February 23, 2020 at 10:31AM EST, the Pisces Moon will meet the Pisces Sun at 4 degrees giving us this year's New Moon in Pisces.

Pisces is a mutable sign. The mutable signs prepare us for the change into the next season and this Moon really has her work cut out for her!

New Moons are the time to set new intentions and working with Pisces themes (and the theme of your Pisces natal house) NOW allow the natural energies to flow with us.

All beginnings are endings, too, and since Pisces collectively rules our 12th house of endings, Pisces new beginnings often have more to do with the ending (!). Maybe something needs to be forgiven/dissolved/discarded/fully grieved. And something wants to START. Think seeds into the ground. A new chapter. Here we go.

As the Moon naturally waxes (grows) over the next two weeks, and over the next 6 months until the Pisces Full Moon, so does whatever our intentions have set into motion - thoughts becoming things/our words energetically lining us up with what we are seeking, which is, of course, seeking us right back.

Besides the monthly lunar energy of "new beginnings" this particular Moon has its own relationship with the other players in the heavens based on its position. That is where the real juice of any particular New Moon can be found. We talked about some of the energies in play as we moved through the week.

Now let's unpack the chart!

Mercury is retrograde in Pisces right now (and conjunct the Moon/Sun), so this New Moon beginning could have a connection to something from the past (an old dream re-awakened maybe?) or there could be some delays/kinks to be worked out as we move forward with whatever gets started now.

We have the New Moon/Sun sextiling Mars (in ambitious Cappy) and Mars just past his trine to Uranus and square to Chiron/Black Moon Lilith (Chiron/BML and Uranus are semi-sextile each other).

The New Moon/Sun is trining the North Node. Venus is squaring Jupiter. Neptune (ruler of this New Moon) is sextiling Jupiter and semi-sextile Venus. Mars is conjunct Pholus.

The New Moon's position between Mars and Uranus, both in Earth signs, in very grounding. With Mars in Capricorn, our actions will be ambitious/serious. Our results will come over time. With Uranus in Taurus we might expect opportunistic changes with our money, our values, our resources - what we own. Expect a smooth move in a fresh direction/future focused. Coincidences/serendipitous situations plus our own intentions and actions are pulling us forward.

With Venus squaring Jupiter there is the possibility that we are expecting too much here or we over-do something/over-promise, etc, but these are both benefic planets, so even a square won't be too bad. This can also be about too many options.

Neptune rules Pisces and so is ruler of this New Moon. His position now is mega-important and remember we have talked about this year's best aspect which has just gotten started - his sextile to Jupiter. How often do we get a Pisces New Moon, with Neptune in a sextile to expansive/lucky Jupiter?! Not very often folks!

And Neptune is semi-sextile Venus. Not all astrologers think positively about semi-sextiles, but I like them. In this case we are talking about Pisces/Aries. Semi-sextiles kind of even each other out a bit so if Neptune goes too Pisces - too dreamy, pie-in-the-sky, escapist - Venus in Aries is here to pull us back into the reality of what our first/next step should be, giving us the initiative/passion (even sometimes the anger) to get moving with something, to remind us that we might have to do quite a bit of this sh*t by ourselves and that's ok.

We also have Pholus (asteroid like Chiron) exactly conjunct Mars in this New Moon chart.

I am not sure if I have ever written about him before, but because he is conjunct my natal Sun I have researched him quite a bit.

Conjunct Mars, he likely speaks of important changes through our own initiative or actions, coming from something that doesn't seem of major importance at the time we are doing whatever it is we are doing.

Like a snowball effect to give this New Moon an extra WHALLOP.

Pholus is also about situations - and you can Google his mythology for more info - where afterwards we might find ourselves saying/feeling something like, "I never would have done this if I knew what I was getting into, but now I am glad that I did it."

(famous for his 'uncorking' of the wine that leads to the battle between Hercules and the Centaurs - he is thought to represent something of a genie coming out of the bottle energy - rapid transformation, wanted or unwanted, that we ourselves initiate - he is conjunct my natal Sun and I started a jewelry line called Uncorked back in 2007 during a Pholus transit - with no knowledge of Pholus at that time - which totally changed my life)

Because his wine had been kept for three generations, his transits/aspects are also thought to connect us back to our ancestors (and/or past lives) and in Pisces, which speaks of this also, this energy is amplified. The influence of our ancestors (past lives) upon our present circumstances, even issues relating to our entire 'tribe' could come into play now (also possibly connections to addictions, viruses, healing).

Pholus's orbit connects Saturn to Neptune - again the dream being made real, and also touches Pluto - karma/death and re-birth/soul purpose and Uranus - radical/fast change/chaos.

His placement re-affirms the other aspects in the New Moon chart I think, since his signtaure seems to echo the entire chart quite nicely.

We also have the New Moon trining (brakes off) our North Node in Cancer and this one is waxing. We can trust what is unfolding now to be leading us to our most authentic and secure future.

This is a WONDERFUL New Moon for real and positive growth, change and healing. Merc retrograde may slow things down a bit, but might bring us back to an old dream that needs to be re-imagined. 

There is a new chapter starting and we won't have to beat our head against the wall to get it moving. Things should flow. But that doesn't mean we won't have to take action - we will.  

Patience. Persistence. Help from the past and from behind the scenes.

Small moves, or what seems at first rather inconsequential, can lead to very BIG things.   

Think - genie out of the bottle with this one.

With Pisces especially, this can all work backwards, too. Changes we set into motion now impact our past, past lives and previous generations. 

Can we water our own roots? Oh yes, we can!

What house does 4 degrees Pisces reside in your natal chart? What is the theme of that house?

NEW MOON INTENTIONS

This is an excellent time for energetic support to make changes with things ruled by Pisces (and your Pisces natal house theme!) including our imagination, art, music, the past, compassion, releasing our victim stories, releasing self-sabotage, healing our ancestral wounds, healing addictions, spiritual healing, sensitivity, trust, escapism, our lymphatic system, colds, our feet, toxicity.

AFFIRMATION TIPS: get into a positive frame of mind - meaning both happy and certain - a quiet, clean space where you can be alone - write your affirmations down by hand in script, speak them out loud - then let's release our attention from these things knowing that your intention is known.

Know these things are already yours.

xo all

For the first time in a long time, I am not going to set any intentions this month. Time to shut up for me I think. I am just going to do my normal clean my space/not use too many words the day of the New Moon/burn a white candle and just ask life/my higher self/my ancestors/God to guide my journey this cycle ....

Today's Astrology Forecast | Friday, February 21, 2020 - painful actions, take care with accidents, lean into the future, a green light somewhere, new ways to make money, surprising resources

The Moon, is in Aquarius now -

so nurturing us through our groups, friendships, through technology and detachment, through creating enough emotional space from the past that we can view things from a different perspective and leave the past in the past, through a future-leaning focus,

the Moon squared ruler Uranus last night (9:13PM EST) and moves through the day unencumbered, just the way an Aquarius Moon likes it - until she goes void off a sextile (opportunity) with Venus at 11:08PM EST. 

Today's big news - which we talked about in the WEEKLY for the latter part of this week -

is Mars (in ambitious Cappy) square to hurting/healing Chiron (in independent and 'me' minded Aries) and trine to 'expect the unexpected' Uranus (groups, tech, change, disruption) in Taurus - ruler of our resources, our money, our values and self-esteem. All happening at 3 degrees.

The square is the frustration/tension, so maybe our serious efforts/moving toward our goals or stepping into our authority trigger painful situations or we are pushing/taking action propelled by our fears/anger. Our vulnerabilities (and some very old wounds) are activated.

The trine - the way through this - is SMOOTHLY moving us toward something new.

It's a time to focus our actions on what feels more liberating - keep going. It's a time to focus our efforts on a group or cause or on a new technology. - keep going. It's a time to focus our efforts on something ELSE.

It's not always easy to work with Uranus, because Uranus rules our stored trauma/chaos. Uranus will drop us on our ass and carries our collective and personal memories of times we took a much harder hit than that. 

If we work with this energy - a trine doesn't require any herculean efforting - move toward the new and untested - something should fall smoothly into place now. Some kind of support is there. But we DO have to take some kind of action. Trines are easy to miss entirely if we don't.

CHANGE IS GOOD.

The detached Aquarius Moon is helping us with this, but it's a dark Moon, so we can't see what we can't see, don't know what we don't know.

And keep in mind, I can't see what houses (themes) this is happening for you personally, but collectively we are talking about new values, new ways to make money, new resources that we are propelled toward through career/authority/goal challenges and frustration.

Venus is moving toward a square with Jupiter, the Moon is waning and Mercury is retrograde, so we don't need to go too big, too fast.

Heads up - the Moon will be void all day Saturday.

A New Moon this weekend - that post is next!

xo all

photo by the amazing oprisco

Today's Astrology Forecast | Thursday, February 20th - longish void moon, making the dream real, establishing a ritual practice, working for what we want, going back to old information

The Moon in sober Capricorn met Pluto while we slept (EST) and goes void off her meeting with Cappy ruler Saturn at 9:08AM EST. She will be void until 2:42PM EST when she moves into humanitarian, detached and forward-leaning Aquarius.

The void is an excellent time to focus on our goals, production, routine issues. It would NOT be the time to launch anything brand new, if we want something to 'come of it'. Once we get into Aquarius we are in a balsamic (dark) Moon cycle, which could be challenging this month with the Sun in Pisces and Mercury retrograde (in Pisces, too).

Again, if something needs to be wrapped-up this would be the time.

I wrote about the Balsamic Moon phase a few years ago, on another artist's crafty blog HERE.

The big news today though, is we have the first exact sextile - an aspect of opportunity  and there will be three, with the last coming in October - so this is almost a year-long invitation - of Jupiter (in Cappy) and Neptune, home in imaginative/spiritual Pisces.

Since Jupiter went into Capricorn late last year he (as us) has been working to expand something/increase our faith/get us 'lucky' in our Capricorn house - either through the collective Cappy theme of our goals, work in the world, our authority - or our personal natal Capricorn house theme.

This is a year long process.And since Jupiter, being made entirely of gases, likes things kind of easy, peasy and Capricorn, especially this Jupiter cycle while Capricorn still houses Saturn (he is moving on within weeks, folks!), Pluto and the South Node, this is everything, but easy.

This looks like a giant fly in the ointment (and, yes, I know I have to find another metaphor because, yes, this one is grossing me, out, too) because we get the energy we expect to work like Santa Claus answering to Ebeneezer Scrooge. And after the year we had last year this "the harder you work, the luckier you get" thing, might sound even more exhausting - although with Mars in Cappy - it should sound a little energizing, too, right now!

We have to keep in mind, just as there is always a fly in the ointment (yuck), there is always a silver lining, too. This year's Saturn/Pluto is being buffered by Jupiter in Capricorn. It's like your favorite cousin is home for the funeral ... and easing tensions with his confidence and enthusiasm and maybe, because he has no lack of faith in himself, he's even got an idea about what to do next!

This year's Jupiter in Capricorn cycle has two UBER important repeating aspects - one is Jupiter conjunct Pluto (Jupiter won't meet Saturn until they both get into Aquarius at the very end of the year) and the other is Jupiter sextile Neptune. 

So, today starts - although, of course, it actually started during the build-up - the Jupiter/Neptune cycle. This is the one with both planets direct and we have Neptune sitting with rebellious Black Moon Lilith. So, there is alot of power here.

This is the final Neptune/Black Moon Lilith in Pisces (purging victim consciousness, surrendering to our inner wildman, transcending anger, radical forgiveness, an unshackling from guilt) before she moves on to Aries.

Jupiter/Neptune - especially with Black Moon Lilith here at the kick off - has huge manifestation potential. Normally these two titans meeting would be alot of hot air and water, but here's where Santa Claus wearing his three piece suit, or coveralls, and working for a living, is going to pay off.

Here's where the grounding Jupiter gets in Capricorn can produce something radically stable and, dare I say it,  REAL.

Because Jupiter/Neptune is not usually such a good thing. It would be too much Santa Claus - like Santa without the naughty list - too much imagination which would be delusion. This is why Sagittarius (Jupiter ruled) squares Pisces (Neptune ruled). There is no opportunistic sextile here. It is only Jupiter being in Capricorn that brings the opportunity - the SOLID GROUND to Neptune's idealism/imagination. This is why Capricorn DOES sextile Pisces.
 
We get something we can hold in our hand, hug goodnight and take to the bank.

Now, this is still not saying this is all going to come easy - like POOF, here it is. There is going to be work. There are going to be responsibilities that must be attended to. There is going to be risk because Cappy's climb up the mountain is inherently risky.

There are going to be limits. But Jupiter and Neptune sometimes need limits. Limits are our friend here.

Jupiter in Capricorn isn't going to open ten doors for us. He is going to open one door, maybe two, and they are only going to open an inch and then they are only going to creak open slowly through our own efforts and faith - the good news, to keep in mind, with these heavy/slow opening doors is that once we get them open, their heaviness/slowness tends to work to our advantage because they STAY OPEN.

For today - reach for the POSITIVE - lean toward a goal. Focus on what you do want, not on what you don't want. It's important to be working for something and not against something.

(This is good advice for our political leanings, too. All this talk in the press about the Dems need to elect the candidate who can best beat Trump, this talk always pointing to the most corporate-friendly/middle of the road candidate, isn't what the astrology is saying gets us to what we want in 2020.)

With Jupiter in Capricorn our faith is tested this year. We have had to do alot of growing up.

What do we believe in now?

Working on new plans and goals is good because we know we have Mars (in Cappy, too, now) approaching his square to Chiron - this is going to hurt - and his trine to Uranus (brakes off on something new).

Something is expanding/changing in our Capricorn house.

It might involve a change of beliefs, a focus on what we believe in, practicing forgiveness/compassion, combining the real and the spiritual (a good way to do this would be through daily ritual), offering/living through a sacrifice, expanding our imagination.

This is a process.

Mercury is retrograde. Information is coming back or we are going back to old information. We won't have all the answers yet.

xo all

photo by the amazing sea-of-ice

Today's Astrology Forecast | Wednesday, February 19, 2020 - going back over our plans, re-dos and re-visions, finishing up, a nudge toward something else, making the dream real

After the Moon, in serious and work-motivated Capricorn, and a tense square to Venus in Aries this morning (in the mood to start/to fight/to get something going), moves on to easier energy, hooking up with expansive and confident Jupiter at 2:49PM EST and then an opportunistic sextile with idealistic Neptune at 3:05PM EST - she is activating tomorrow's exact Neptune/Jupiter sextile (the first of three direct hits this year and in play through October).

Here's something from the weekly post about tomorrow, but in play all week - "with Capricorn/Pisces - a dream can become real, IF we are willing to work for it - work within the rules and limits. Step into our responsibility. Possibly make a sacrifice first. This is not fast energy, so we need to have patience. This process will carry us through October."

And if this sounds something like last year's Saturn/Neptune - it is, because it's Capricorn and Pisces, and it isn't, because it's Saturn and Jupiter -

which is like the difference between Scrooge and Santa Claus.

(keep in mind alot of this year is like last year, except now we are 'past the death' or about to be)

Now, Santa's in Scrooge's office this year (Jupiter in Capricorn), so not quite doing his North Pole 'free toys' bit, because the elves are busy doing Scrooge's paperwork, but Jupiter (ie Santa) is still Jupiter even with a cranky and demanding boss breathing down his neck.

And now with this sextile to Neptune kicking in full blast - it can be like the boss is on vacation and Jupiter gets a little of his Sag boundlessness back.

The thing to look out for with this and especially because we have the Sun in Pisces and the Moon waning and Mercury retrograde in timeless Pisces is - we don't want to get caught up in all our old victim stories. We are probably going to be talking/thinking a bit about the stuff that didn't work out - par for the course with Mercury retrograde in Pisces - but we don't want to get stuck in this stuff.

Keep in mind, even retrograde, Mercury is MOVING.

And Mars is on his way to an aspect with Uranus, indicating this is a good time to take action with something new/something forward leaning. And this will be harder to do if we are 'all in' on wallowing about the way something didn't work out exactly as we had hoped, or what we lost or what we didn't get.

Now with the Moon waning and Mercury retrograde - doing the re's (re-viewing, re-vising, etc), tying up loose ends and getting stuff done will probably dominate our agenda. 

This week's Mars/Chiron could open some old wounds just as the Mars/Uranus will open up new possibilities. 

And with all the Capricorn energy, there will be certain restrictions here we will have to live with/work with and that's OK. That's life on planet Earth. 

It's up to us how we want to look at this. Glass half-empty. Glass half-full. Either way there is something in the freakin' glass, right?! 

Will we use Mercury retrograde in Pisces to re-imagine our dreams/to go on a vision quest or spend it wallowing in what didn't work out exactly the way we wanted it to, what we lost, yada yada (and I am not minimizing these losses because some people lost actual people and animals).

But what have we gained through what didn't work out/through the losses? There is something liberating here, too. How can we use this?

Mercury is going to sextile (opportunity) Pallas in Capricorn today - so MORE CAPRICORN/PISCES - making the dream real! We had this aspect back on February 9th when Mercury was direct, so this is the second hit - the "re-view" hit we skip at our own peril. Pallas is all about winning through strategies and patterns and with Mercury retrograde in Pisces stimulating "old dreams", there could be some gold to be mined here. We will have their final meeting in April. For now - what needs to be re-viewed, re-vised, re-visited? Cappy adds structure and boundaries to Pisces imaginings and driftiness. 

Whenever we have more than one aspect saying the same thing we know we need to pay attention.

We can notice how life always sends us a lifeboat, except of course those times we are required to swim or to learn how to swim, and those times are more recognizable in your natal chart than by looking at collective energies, we can notice how there is ALWAYS  a way through. And also notice how we MADE IT THROUGH. Or we can notice what is missing now that we are in the lifeboat. That part is up to us.

Pisces season is the time to give our problems/baggage to a higher power through prayer/meditation. We are not going to have all the answers now. Mercury retrograde in Pisces at the same time Jupiter is aspecting Neptune is offering us A VISION QUEST. Mars/Uranus is opening a door. Mars/Chiron and Venus/Jupiter are giving us some tense/challenge to push against/to stand up for, cautioning against going too big/too fast. Requiring us to have faith.

Even as we are doing the re's and finishing something up, something is pushing/nudging us to grow/expand into a new area. Pay attention.

And keep in mind always that North Node in Cancer - caring for ourselves as well as we would care for someone we love.

xo all

photo by the talented LloydHughes

Today's Astrology Forecast | Tuesday, February 18, 2020 - get to work, wrap it up, a little elbow grease, something unexpected, easing into the future

The Moon, in serious and earthy Capricorn since 5:37AM EST, is goal-focused now and ENERGIZED.

We have the Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Pluto and the South Node all in Capricorn - and I said this week was Pisces, Pisces, Pisces! Ha!

She will conjunct Mars at 8:16AM EST, and then maybe giving us a little preview of what Mars will be up to later in the week, squares Chiron (tension/hurting/healing) and trines Uranus (11:44AM EST - smooth movement toward something else, change, expect the unexpected).

The day will also be colored by the Moon's last aspect in Sagittarius (a sextile to the Sun at 4:03AM EST). This month's waning sextile (opportunity) from Sagittarius to Aquarius.

With the Sun wrapping up her yearly journey through Aquarius around lunchtime today - here is some hope/optimism/expansion that could feel liberating/group or future focused.

There could be an opportunity here, and with so much about to get very slippery in Pisces, we might want to PAY ATTENTION.

None of today's aspects should involve us beating our head against the door or leaping off a tall building.

Which is a good thing, obviously. but also means we might miss the good stuff that is almost within our sight, if we look just a little bit ahead, and maybe even within our reach, if we reach just a little farther/higher.

That trine to Uranus speaks of stepping out of the box/out of our comfort zone. Changes, for the better, - with our money, our values, our resources.

The waning Moon could indicate a wrap-up/ending. It is a good time to finish something.

And all this Cappy says - apply yourself to whatever you are doing. Give this your best shot. Allow yourself to feel your ambitions. We are nurtured through Capricorn now - our goals, our work, the stuff we have earned.

xo all

photo by the amazing oprisco

Weekly Astrology Forecast for Creatives | Week of February 17th, 2020 - a dream starts to grow legs, a push in a new direction, Pisces on steroids

SUNDAY - Mercury station retrograde in Pisces, Mars enters Capricorn
TUESDAY - Sun enters Pisces
THURSDAY - Jupiter sextiles Neptune
FRIDAY - Mars squares Chiron
SATURDAY - Mars trines Uranus
SUNDAY - New Moon in Pisces (4 degrees)

Let's take a quick look at the week ahead!

Lots of Pisces/Neptune, so double up on that Vitamin C!

Sunday's energetic shifts are going to be in play for a few weeks, so read about them HERE.

On TUESDAY - the Sun joins Mercury in dreamy and intuitive Pisces - the mutable water sign of mystics, empaths, dreamers, poets, escape artists and addicts.

Our imagination, and Pisces natal house theme, gets solar charged now!

Pisces is the final sign of the zodiac, the sign of consciousness. Although often pictured as fish, probably Pisces is best represented by the ocean itself. A symbol of life and healing - the space where one thing flows into the next, until there is no 'next thing'. When we are lost at sea, there are literally limitless options as to where we can go - all directions are available to us.

(which is hell for the indecisive but invigorating when we remember we are here for the adventure!) 

Pisceans have the ability to comprehend almost anything (the downside is the ability to easily hook into stuff that isn't real). Certainty is a temporary state of mind for Pisces. Even the truth can get a bit stretchy. For grounding and to stay in touch with the ethereal energies that continually beckon to them - they really need to meditate daily (research shows coloring activates the same brain areas) - we are all burning Pisces fuel now, and so, especially if we find ourselves distracted, unfocused and forgetful we can use a meditation practice to free up the space we need to remain effective and centered.

Ruled by Neptune, Pisces is the space in our natal chart where we heal, avoid, wallow, dissolve or transcend boundaries. Since Neptune came home to Pisces in 2012, we have all been a little less clear about what is real.

Think of meditation as a requirement for life on planet Earth now - also hydration!

My multi-generational childhood home 'contained' four Pisces. Of course Pisces energy cannot really be contained. It washed over all of us and blended us all together - for better or worse.

Pisces season allows the dream to come into focus as it seeps into our cells ... or goes down the drain. We can also get sick as the boundaries between us and other people thin.

It opens us up to the new astrological year that kicks off next month with Aries.

I notice, for me, Neptune energy (Neptune rules Pisces) and Pisces season often feels like I have returned to square one with whatever I am dealing with. With the Sun in Pisces our ability to force things is not as powerful. The more we struggle to stay on course, the more we drift toward the rocks. This doesn't mean we give up or go back to bed - it just means the best course will be with the current now - saving our strength for when the energy is best for challenging the prevailing tides .....

on THURSDAY we get the first DIRECT HIT of this year's favorite repeating aspect (which is in play for most of the year) - Jupiter (in Cappy) moves into his first exact trine (brakes off) with Neptune (in, do I even have to say it - Pisces).

This is kind of like the Saturn/Neptune sextile we had last year - there is always a way through challenging energies and this is our collective golden ticket through 2020.

With Capricorn/Pisces - a dream can become real, IF we are willing to work for it - work within the rules and limits. Step into our responsibility. Possibly make a sacrifice. This is not fast energy, so we need to have patience. This process will carry us through October.

Keep in mind that following our heart and doing what is required of us is actually the same thing.

We get this stuff confused because we think doing what's in our heart will make us happy.

That's not always true.

The sun's light may be very bright and feel really good sometimes, but the sun's light burns, too.

Following our heart doesn't guarantee a happy life; it does guarantee an authentic one though. At the end of our days in rocking chairs or hospital beds we will be content with what we have done.

But now, hopefully many years before those rocking chairs and hospital beds, we think that living a happy life is what we want, although often we don't know what will make us happy and get ourselves stuck and sometimes we think we do know and then we get the thing we are so sure will make us happy and realize it doesn't make us happy after all - this happiness thing can really muck us up.

(we can't really muck it up though, don't worry, life will find a way to get us to the challenges we came here to meet)

The fly in the ointment with Jupiter this year is probably trying to go too big or too fast or not having faith in the thing we are trying to do. This aspect is quite literally an open pipeline between our material reality (Cappy) and the ethereal realms (Pisces). Now there is always flow between our Cappy and Pisces houses but now the flow is filtered and AMPLIFIED by the presence of Jupiter and Neptune. It sounds BIG because it is big, but it is also subtle in the way all Piscean/Capricorn stuff is lasting, so takes time. Think of the way water changes the structure of stone.

We'll talk about this more as we move through the week and year.

On FRIDAY, Mars, strong and sobered up in Capricorn now, squares hurting/healing Chiron. Our actions/passions bring us to a space of a very old pain - something about our ability to take care of ourselves/stand up for ourselves/be brave enough/measure up/be taken seriously. The good news because Mars is very fast-moving is that very quickly he

trines Uranus (in Taurus) on SATURDAY. So the way through this involves CHANGE, soing something differently and probably some disruption -

because, yes, change can feel erratic especially when it comes by way of anything-can-happen Uranus and through Taurus, a space where we really like things to stay the same.

A Uranus trine isn't about doing things the same old way. Not gonna work.

(although with Mercury retrograde in Pisces we could be re-looking at our old creative imaginings that MIGHT be re-tooled)

So, Mars (through us) hits this Aries obstacle/tension/frustration/this pain and the way through this, after we feel it/live through it, is a change of course - now the change of course comes via a trine so will happen smoothly. Trust this. Collectively (and for Aries rising) this pain/frustration will be about our career/work in the world and the change will come through our values, money, self-esteem. New ways to deal with these issues.

And we all have natal house themes where this is playing out, in addition to the collective energies that influence all of us, so for example - let's say you are a Cancer rising and Mars has come into your 7th house of partnership, and well maybe a partner does something that is hurtful. This will trigger the need for a change, and maybe not just in the way you work with this one particular partner, but maybe with other people because Uranus is in your your 11th house of friendships and groups. Maybe you need more friends or maybe you need different friendships or different goals that bring you in touch with other people.

This won't be the same thing for everyone. But the different/future focused path - and we can move smoothly toward this, we won't need to make any herculean efforts to figure this out, maybe because it will feel like the only open door at the moment - will be the way through.

We will talk about the New Moon in another post and the Moons as we move through the week. And keep in mind with Mars following Saturn's footsteps in Capricorn - whatever is still standing in our Cappy house (after last year and last month) will start to be TESTED this week.

Is it still strong? Is it still needed?


xo all

photo by the talented Jarno-photograhy

Today's Astrology Forecast | Sunday, February 16, 2020 - Mars into capricorn, Mercury stations retrograde - swimming with the sharks, dreaming backward

Big changes in the skies today as Mars moves into Capricorn (through March 30th) - a space he is exalted, but also this year, the temporary home of some other VERY big players whose footsteps he is following, making Mars in Cappy, for maybe the first time in our lifetimes - a small fish in a very big (and complicated) pond.

At the same time we have Mercury stationing retrograde at 12 degrees Pisces - ready to back over the degrees she/he didn't get to do a do-over with last year. Mercury will be retrograde until March 9th.

At first glance these are paradoxical influences - our actions (Mars) moving FORWARD, into what some might call "shark-infested" waters at exactly the time our thinking (Mercury) - which we might think needs to sharp as a laser beam right now for us to survive - is moving BACKWARD; drifting and unfocused. 

This sounds like a recipe for disaster, we'll make a rather tasty lunch for one of those sharks we have circling.

But, if we really think it through, taking into consideration this thinking is being done using a brain in Pisces - this is all starting to make perfect sense. Like the drunk man who survives the car crash - we don't tense up, our reaction time slows down, we don't "brace for impact".

(An old EMT customer once told me, and it makes perfect sense to me and, so, although I have forgotten a  gazillion things over the years this has always stuck with me - if you are driving and can see a collision/impact coming, it's important to stay in a relaxed state, don't try to control your body, don't grab for anything.)

Now as Mercury stations retrograde - and keep in mind the start of the retrograde itself sets up an event chart that gives some indication of what we can expect over the next couple weeks - she semi-squares Saturn and then the Moon (in Sag now, have I said that yet?) squares her/him - Mercury is androgynous, and I like to switch pronouns now and then to keep us all awake.

So, the semi-square could be viewed as a problem up ahead - all things being equal, if we continue going the way we are going. The problem will be Saturnian - so with limits, authority, responsibilities, deadlines, goals, etc. But this is just a semi-square, so a kind of heads-up, we aren't totally lined up with this.

The Moon's square to Mercury, on the other hand, is here now - tension/frustration. This is a Sagittarian square - so maybe a challenge with what we believe or maybe with a burdensome fact. Or maybe an actual Sagittarian situation, or the theme of our natal Sag house, is drifting off course and requiring us to look backward (legal, media, foreign issue, education, travel, politics, wedding, etc).

And as with all Mercury retrogrades - we do the "re's" - re-think, re-do, re-examine, re-search, re-peat, reunion, reminisce, re-vise, re-move, re-visit, relax - this time focused on whatever is happening in our Pisces house.

The stuff we have done/said hastily or from too detached a space when Mercury was in Aquarius, will now be re-analyzed and gone over from a more intuitive/emotional vantage point.

Situations and people from our past can show up because we are looking backward.

Pisces rules our collective 12th house where there is no separation between us and everything else. There is no time. There is no space. This is where we find God/spirit/the Universe.

The positive expressions of Piscean energy include - connection, imagination, music, art, empathy, compassion, healing, spirituality, transcendence of the physical world. The negative expressions of any energy are really the positive expressions taken to an extreme. So imagination becomes delusion/lies, empathy become martyrdom, transcendence (lack of physical connection) becomes addiction, escapism, mental illness. Pisces is the last house - it rules endings and the things we do last. Because the 12th house is behind the 1st house (our physical self) - it rules what is behind us, what is done behind our back, what we have put away, our past, the things we have forgotten, memory, our ancestors, sleep, charities, prisons, hospitals, illness.

Mechanical stuff can encounter glitches. Rushing around will only result in stubbed toes, stressed out interactions and dents in our car

(I once had three car accidents in a month when Mercury was retrograde, two of them in my own driveway!).

Something isn't quite ready for prime-time. Here's another chance to get it right.

Taking our time with important decisions, hesitating, being unsure of which direction to take, needing to think things through slowly and carefully and taking the time to listen and allow things to fall into place in their own right timing - are par for the course now.

This is not the best time to plow full steam ahead, but, yes, Mars is in Capricorn and there will be some plowing!

This is not the best time to sign a contract, because things will come to light later that require revisions or our thinking (Mercury) can change after Mercury moves direct (in March).

Now, sometimes things can't wait and contracts and papers must be signed and if that is the case - this would be a good time to READ THE FINE PRINT. No skimming. Get a lawyer or maybe better yet get a psychic - if they have any kind of game at all, they should be on top of it now - the psychic I mean, the lawyer will probably miss stuff, too. I would get one anyway though.

Use clear spoken and written language - and this won't be easy with Mercury moving backward through Pisces - we need to be doubly sure people are understanding what we are saying and that we are understanding other people, because wires get crossed now. And people will lie and maybe not even know they are lying. Secrets/behind door dealings will come out, but first they will be HIDDEN.

Double check that email before hitting 'send'. Mercury, the fleet footed messenger, rules things that are fast moving from our computers to our cars. BACK UP YOUR FILES. Check your oil.

Pisces is a water sign. We are going to be feeling what people are saying.

We will be more intuitive. Other people will be, too. On the other hand, our ability to "trust our gut" is dependent on what we have been putting in it. If we have just eaten a Big Mac and downed a Coca-Cola and we are thinking we know that this other person is telling us the "truth" or that some decision we are making is the right decision based more on feelings than facts, I would sleep on the whole thing and give that stuff - the words and the food - a couple days to digest ... first.

Mercury/Pisces confusion is a collective thing. So we will all be sucked into it, BUT keep in mind your natal Pisces house has ALWAYS been the part of your chart where your boat isn't so tightly tethered to the dock. This isn't a rock-solid, stable area of life for you anyway. Mercury will bring your attention here, and his retrograde behavior will bring the need to revise, re-think, etc, but it's not like she is coming into a neat and orderly place and kicking up a mess.

And the fact that we had a Mercury in Pisces retrograde just last year covering the later Pisces degrees and now we have one this year covering the early Pisces degrees tells us Pisces, as a collective energy, demands a thorough RE-IMAGINING.

Now, this is what is happening in the physical world, but there is another level we are all working with, and in this higher level, in the ethereal realms, something else is happening.
 
We are surrendering, allowing, receiving (Pisces) a new way of thinking/communicating (Mercury).
 
Mercury is doing a back and forth over our "divine wound", the ground Chiron just spent the last few years triggering. This is the space of shame, victimization, betrayal, grief, loss of faith and self-sabotage AND also the space of healing connection.
 
This retrograde, happening at the same time Mars will cross the South Node and Neptune will sextile Jupiter, is truly a divine intervention.
 
We are listening to higher frequencies. We are reminded of our old dreams, our past life stories and the stories of our ancestors (both helpful and hindering) that were passed on to us to see what we could do with them!
 
The past and all that has been forgotten in that 12th house - is given a voice (Mercury) now. 
 
Our mind is going all spiritual ninja on us.

It will be important to stay attuned to what our body needs while our mind is thinking it's 5:00 somewhere.

We will need more sleep. We might need a couple days of escape. Let's schedule some rest/relaxation into our calendar now, so we have something to look forward to. Just keep in mind with Mercury retrograde our plans will need to stay flexible, and if traveling, it is best to re-turn to a place we have been before.

We are going to need to drink more water. We can more easily catch colds and things, so do whatever it is you do to try to prevent that. We are going to need to meditate or do some mindfulness exercises. Time spent outdoors, and with grounded animals and plants (and babies!) will be time well-spent. We will be very sensitive to music while Mercury is retrograde in Pisces (and song lyrics and tunes will get stuck in our heads).

Note for people with addiction issues and for people who love people with addiction issues - this Mercury retrograde in Pisces might be treacherous, but also exactly the energy needed for a true breakthrough/healing. 

***

With Mars in Cappy the work we do will pay off over time. We will be more ambitious and goal-oriented. We need to be serious about what we are doing. Maybe put on a second pair of big girl/boy pants over the first pair until the end of March.

With a retrograde Mercury in Pisces we will be looking/thinking back to our old dreams, our old imaginings. The past will be on our mind. Our thinking will be more fluid, more intuitive.

This will somehow turn out to be most useful in our Mars in Capricorn, shark infested waters. We'll talk about all of this as we move through it.

xo all

artwork by the talented stellartcosica

Today's Astrology Forecast | Saturday, February 15, 2020 - dream, rest, some frustration later on, logic vs passion, going deeper with something, and a mystery solved

Tonight (5:20PM EST), we have the Moon in deep and probing Scorpio squaring the Aquarius Sun (this month's waning square) and sextiling Saturn (in Cappy) - all at 26 degrees.

Maybe something needing to come up and be dealt with that the Aquarius Sun has kept us comfortably detached from will be activated via tension/frustration/a challenge as the Moon squares the Sun from deep and probing Scorpio
 
Emotions could get intense.

Aquarius/Scorpio is cool headed logic vs passion. Merging vs staying on the outside looking in.

If there is something we haven't wanted to see/feel - something we have wanted to stay comfortable numb from - this would be the part of our monthly cycle when it comes up to be dealt with. The time when we have to feel it. Maybe a decision needs to be made about how far involved we get with something/someone. These are both fixed signs, so people could be dug in.

The Moon's smooth and opportunistic sextile to Saturn tells us there is a way to work with this/stabilize things here.

And that the very square itself though frustrating and challenging IS stabilizing things. Limits and structure and patience are our friend. Living up to a responsibility. Doing it right. Our big girl/boy pants need to be on all the time this year.

And this does NOT mean we stay in a situation that is suffocating because Aquarius square Scorpio is also the time we need to cut stuff loose!

With Mercury in Pisces and ready to station retrograde tomorrow feeling a bit un-moored from the dock is par for the course. The Moon will go void off that Sun square and then move into Sagittarius at 11:07PM EST.

Allow yourself some extra rest today and the time to dream and drift around a bit .... the astro shifts rather intensely tomorrow.

More in the weekly HERE.

****

I know quite a few people who read my blog study astrology, too, so I thought this might be interesting.

A few months ago I was asked if it would be possible to use astrology to look into the disappearance of a beautiful, twenty-five year old local woman.

Out of respect for her and her family we will call her Sue.

Sue had gone out with her family to a show. She returned to her parents' house, kissed her mom good-bye and drove home (actually the house of her grandmother where she was staying after her grandmother's death to care for her grandmother's dogs).

On her way home she posted a Snapchat.

The next day she did not show up for work at her nanny job (it was also payday) and never replied to her friends' and family's texts and calls. Her father said, "she doesn't go to the store without telling someone about it" and that normally Sue would text her family four or five times a day.

Her worried parents reported her missing to police that night (so the night after they last saw her) through a 911 call made by her mother.

Since there is no way to make a chart for the exact time she disappeared - since this is unknown - we have to use what we do know. 

A forensic astrology group online had looked into the case using a chart cast for the time of that last Snapchat (kind of as a 'last seen' chart), so I thought I would use a chart for the moment (close to exact) that her mother had called 911 and reported Sue missing.

This would be an official kind of 'time stamp' chart associated with the crime (if there was one).

Let's unpack the chart.

We see that pile-up of planets in the area of a chart ruling things that are outside our control/fate. We see alot very intensely grouped together.

We see Gemini rising - Gemini is ruled by Mercury (communication) and Mercury here is conjunct Venus (a young woman), so there is communication about a young woman. There is a Ceres/Moon opposition to the Gemini rising (mother/home/stolen daughter), so I can see the chart is accurately depicting the 911 call and what her mother is thinking/feeling as she makes that call.

But can we see something about what happened to Sue from this chart, too? Can we see anything about the event that 'inspired' the 911 call?

We will start with the ascendant and the Sun (both represent Sue here, the Moon can also represent the event chart 'person' but with the Moon here conjunct the descendant I see it more reflective of something happening at the home) and their oppositions/aspects (what happened to Sue/the perpetrator if there is one).

The Sun is in Scorpio in the 5th house and I know that Sue had just left a fun night out and one of the things the 5th house rules is fun and recreation. The 5th house also rules children and we know Sue was supposed to work with children the next day, so we have the Sun snuggled between those activities - the one that just happened and the one that was interrupted (that Uranus opposition). I don't have Sue's birth data to connect this chart to her natal, so we'll just plow on with what we have.

Scorpio is ruled by both Pluto and Mars (ancient ruler).

So, we look to see that they are up to.

Pluto is in the 8th house (death) and Mars (violence) is in the same house as her Sun and Mars is in Libra the sign of partnership. My heart kind of sank when I saw this because I am thinking this chart might be showing that Sue has died at the violent hands of a partner - taken from her home and from her mother (that Moon/Ceres opposition) to her death.

But I am also thinking this chart - since it represents the 911 call so well - could just be what her mother is thinking at that time, so I'm not sure.

We can see Uranus (break-ups/unexpected chaos) is opposite the Sun - the Sun (Sue) is past the opposition, so I am thinking the breakup/unexpected chaos - the precipitating event, probably with the partner (since we have Libra ruling the house the Sun resides in) happened sometime before whatever happened to Sue. Within a few days - maybe four days before.

Or maybe I was seeing the disruptive event had happened to Sue before her mother's call to 911.

The ascendant (Sue) is in Gemini, and usually a Gemini ascendant in an event chart like this would indicate two people or two connecting events or two of something, so I am wondering if there are actually two victims?

Or maybe Sue was a natal Gemini? Or had a strong Gemini - communicative/adaptable nature? She might look like the Gemini archetype - delicate, quick, bright eyed, brown hair, funny or a good talker, maybe under 29 (which we know she is, but often Gemini in an event chart indicates someone youthful).

We'll find out later what this Gemini thing is all about (not that it is just one thing, we know something in a chart is important because it will show up multiple times or represent multiple things).

The descendant, and by now I am thinking this is a crime and the descendant is the perpetrator - shows him and shows what he has done to Sue (the ascendant). If we look at the chart above, the descendant is literally dividing the Moon from Ceres - Sue from her home and mother. The Ceres archetype is one of the mother whose daughter was stolen by Pluto and taken into the underworld.

The descendant is in Sagittarius and the ruler of Sag, Jupiter, is conjunct the Moon and Ceres! So maybe this person is a Sag or looks/acts like a Sag male - maybe stocky, but strong, maybe brown hair, a high forehead, maybe a big talker/know-it-all - or he is acting out in a negative Jupiterian manner. Things are very over-blown, not well-thought out, he is mostly acting on impulse. Not thinking about consequences.

The 7th house ruler Jupiter is squaring Eris, so likely the perpetrator is angry. Feels backed into a corner. Not in control of the ascendant (Sue). Feeling left out/explosive, and again that Jupiter is just making everything BIGGER

(also this shows why the media which is ruled by Jupiter picked up this case and why it became such a big news story here).

Jupiter is in his home sign giving the perpetrator here the advantage of strength and luck (for now anyway, because we can see Jupiter is nearing the end of Sag and I suspect his luck will eventually run out in Capricorn and it does). I don't think this is something the perpetrator was exactly planning to do, but I do think the chart has multiple aspects indicating a karmic storyline playing out.

I thought the square from Jupiter (the perpetrator) to Neptune indicated he might self-sabotage himself and get caught or his lies would trip him up. Prison might stop him. Maybe he was on drugs/alcohol/steroids at the time of the crime. I wondered if he had an ancestor who had killed or kidnapped someone. Stolen someone from their mother ....

There was alot we couldn't really know just from the chart.

Still, we could probably make some guesses and assumptions (and yes, I know what that can get us!) to see if we can tell what might have happened to Sue.

We know she got home that night because her car was at her house.

The Moon on the descendant (remember the descendant is the perpetrator) suggests he comes to her house or was there when she got there. Then probably he takes her away (Sag rules travel) from her home (the Moon). With Mercury (ruling Sue) in one of her/his home houses (the 6th) it feels like Sue started out on her home turf.

And with Mercury, the ruler of the ascendant (Sue) and Jupiter, the ruler of the descendant (the perpetrator) both in the 6th house it suggests they leave the house together. With Mercury ruling the direction of north-west, I wondered if he had taken her somewhere north-west.

I was wondering if she might still be in a car (that Gemini ascendant/ Mercury/Venus conjunction and Gemini ruling transportation). I was wondering if she might have been suffocated (Gemini rules lungs) or strangled. I thought with Gemini ruling the local neighborhood and being an air sign, maybe she wasn't very far away, maybe she was in the open air ...or in a car trunk.

The thought of her in a car trunk somewhere kept me up at night!

*****

Anyway, a couple months after Sue disappeared, her ex-boyfriend, who had long been a suspect, and was mentioned to the police by her mother in that 911 call, committed suicide (that Neptune square!) which explained the Gemini ascendant's indication of two victims - not that he was a victim, but he did die at his own hands, too. The suicide note he left his family, which did not include an actual confession, although he did say "most of what they would hear about him was true", certainly showed his over-the-top personality and that he considered himself a victim in this matter.

(and just like what always seems to happen in these cases - his mother considers him innocent still, making me think that the Jupiter (remember he is Jupiter here) Moon/Ceres conjunction speaks also of his escape from her into the underworld)

Two weeks ago, Sue's body was found by two young men walking down a local highway (both the local highway, the two men and their ages represented by Gemini). It was kind of unbelievable that hundreds of searches hadn't found her sooner, but now at last her family could have some kind of closure. I haven't had the heart to look at his suicide chart or her recovery chart ...

Anyway, I don't usually do this kind of post, but I thought it was interesting the way the chart so well represented both the 911 call from her mother and the events that had inspired her call.

It reminded me of how a baby's birth chart can so accurately reflect both the baby and the parent's life at the time the baby was born (and their lives leading up to that moment).

There is alot we will never know - exactly how Sue died and what happened that night. There is alot of information Sue's ex-boyfriend took to his grave (that 8th house ruler indicating dark secrets, too), but it seemed quite a bit of the crime 'time stamp' chart from the 911 call was accurate -

they both looked quite a bit like the chart indicated they would and she was found north-west of her home, just a few miles away in the open air along the side of the road ...

And today's Moon (as I finish this up) is almost precisely where the Sun was when the 911 call was made. 

xo all

(have you backed up those files?)

photo by the talented Avine

Today's Astrology Forecast | Thursday, February 13, 2020 - choices around love and money, what new passion is pulling us forward, life is like #allcaps "look over here"

The Moon continues her journey through Libra - squaring Pluto at 9:20AM EST, trining the Sun at 10:15AM EST, squaring Saturn at 1:46PM EST and going void at 4:40PM EST off a sextile to Mars.

So we have a nice trine to the Sun mid morning just as the Pluto tension starts to unwind (power play, transformation, issues with Plutonian themes - sex, death, birth, rebirth, taxes, insurance, inheritance, other people's money/resources, the ways and things we merge with others). Then we move into that Saturn square - this could bring limits, the feeling of being overloaded/out-of-time, or stressed over goals, with authority, etc.

Her final move is a sextile to Mars, at the end of Sagittarius. Adventure, going wide with something - maybe that square to Saturn helped us get clear on what we need to do to get what we want.

The Moon will be void from 4:40PM EST through 7:37PM EST when she dives into Scorpio.

Today, is also the day Venus, moving through early Aries, squares the North Node in Cancer and the South Node in Capricorn.

This is us, stumbling across one of those paths that divide in the woods, or coming up on one of those freeway mergers where just a one lane change will land us in a whole different state. Squares brings tension, frustration and challenges. Squares to the nodes bring choice points through tension, frustration and challenges.

And keep in mind, not making a choice is still making a choice with this aspect. 

Maybe a new passion (Aries!), a new sense of ourselves, the antsy need for a fresh start will bring us to the point where the old, although maybe somewhat comfortable because our bodies are made to crave what is familiar above all else and Venus in Aries is very much in her physical body - but maybe here is where we come to the space where we feel so blocked in and desirous of something ELSE that we can make a more authentic, self-nurturing choice. It feels less secure to go with what is new - but if that new is more home-centered/more emotionally driven (and not driven by our ambitions), then the nodes tell a different story.

BML is in early Aries, too and we had the Libra Moon move through these degrees yesterday and Mars is soon to conjunct all our Cappy ambitions - we don't want to have our ladder leaning against the wrong wall!

What do we want? What do we need?

What is happening in our life and within our hearts RIGHT NOW is letting us know what we can expect with the future of our relationships/finances - is our current trajectory still working?

The waning Moon (and Mercury walking his retrograde degrees) tells us it is not really the time for big changes, but it is the time for thinking/planning - what are our values now? What are our priorities? What do we want? What feels good? Imbalances  are being made visible. Are we taking care of ourselves?!

An inner planet's contact to the Nodes is a time to take note of what is going on/being said/read, etc, there are clues we might have missed before, adjustments needed - and this is a square, so our attention here comes through tension/frustration/challenges - which sounds like a bad thing, but actually makes it less likely to be missed and more likely we will take action! 

Everything counts here. Everything matters. 

With Mercury in Pisces for the long slog, not everything will be above-board, visible or in our hands. But this also means we have access to our ancestors, to magic, to the stuff we have forgotten, to what that guy standing next to us knows, but doesn't even know he knows.

What is going on with our relationships, with fairness and balance in our life, with our money and resources, with our values and self-esteem, with our physical appearance? What needs a change here? A change that will move us toward something more comfortable (not because it is familiar, but because it is soothing) and more authentic. 

Life is speaking to us through our present circumstances. 

It's a time for flexible plans, giving our attention to what comes to our attention and making choices.

xo all

photo by the talented gHopson

Today's Astrology Forecast | Wednesday, February 12, 2020 - needs vs wants, the old vs the new, too much or too little, keeping our balance, a turning point

The Moon continues her journey through Libra - nurtured through balance, fairness, love, peace. She opposed Venus at 3:06AM EST (we talked about this yesterday for last night) and will square Jupiter at 8:53PM EST.

In between she squared the North (Cancer) and South (Capricorn) Nodes at 7 degrees, which is what Libran ruler Venus is going to do tomorrow. 

The Moon opposing Venus is something like what we need (the Libra stuff - cooperation, to feel loved, for things to feel fair and just, to partner) vs what we want (the Aries stuff - independence, initiative, passion, to be first). Maybe we vs me. Partnering up vs doing it ourselves. This can also show up as tension/frustration via our natal chart's Libra and Aries house themes.

Venus, in her detriment in Aries and opposing her own Moon complicates things.

After the opposition the Moon moves into her square to the Nodes of Fate - setting up tomorrow's path for Venus - so this is likely all one thing. Or generally all one thing. Squares to the nodes are crossroads - are we sticking with the old stuff or moving toward something new.

This, too, is complicated by the Moon's square to Jupiter, in between the Moon squaring the Nodes and Venus squaring the Nodes.

Libra/Venus is about balance and Jupiter is all "go big or go home". We could - since this may be playing out within our relationships or our resources/money -  overextend ourselves/give too much or on the flip-side want too much from someone/something else.

That square to Jupiter (in serious Cappy) could also bring us to a peak with this turning point via a commitment.

At the same time, Mercury walking degrees he/she will walk two more time in Pisces, is semi-square Saturn. Our thinking could be more creative/imaginative/spiritual than realistic/practical now. The semi-square to sober-headed Saturn warns of a "fly in the ointment" we can't see from our perch in the here and now - maybe he's tucked himself under the lid somewhere taking a nap. This isn't intended to stop us, just something to take note of, since we have the gift of astrological foresight - a possible "no" or limit later that could require an adjustment. But keep in mind Mercury in Pisces can stir up unconscious/and very old stuff - so we don't want to imagine problems that aren't even there!

xo all

See more in the weekly HERE

photo by the talented YouAreViolentRed

Today's Astrology Forecast | Tuesday, February 11, 2020 - get it done early, practical and ambitious action, afternoon void moon after some tension, bringing everyone to the table

Get up and get it done early. 

The Moon is in earthy, organized and level-headed Virgo, a sign that is making nice with those sober and ambitious Cappy planets - she trines Pluto at 8:35AM EST, then Saturn at 12:36PM EST before going void off a square to Mars (in Sag) at 1:25PM EST.

She will then be void (so chill!) until 6:37PM EST when she moves into Libra for the next couple days.

It should be smooth sailing early in the day with our Cappy/Virgo themes - paperwork, work, co-workers, employees, pets, our health, day-today activities, career, commitments, authorities, our goals and ambitions.

Great for taking action and getting practical and serious stuff accomplished.

The square to Mars in the early afternoon could make situations a bit more tense. We could be feeling more critical or pushed to our limit with something.

The Moon's void would be a good time to take a break. It would NOT be the time to launch anything brand new if we want something to come of it. Either nothing will or we will somehow find ourselves having to do it all over again. Good for the stuff we do all the time (again and again anyway). Time will get stretchy. Things can go a bit sideways.

Tonight the Libra Moon will turn our attention to partnership matters, our relationships, bringing something into balance or making something more beautiful or more fair.

In general a Libra Moon is good for compromise/teamwork and socializing. 

As the night moves on, the Moon in Libra will be building toward an opposition with Venus (Libra's ruler) in "me, me me", "I want it now" Aries very late night EST (could feel this more tomorrow morning), so something to keep in mind if looking for any late night cooperation - which might be hard to find!

With Black Moon Lilith here, too, the needs of each person must be heard - remember we talked in one of the 2020 posts about the need to bring everyone to the table this year - or that table is going to get flipped (think Real Housewives New Jersey circa 2009) and there goes dinner ...

We also have Venus (who is uber active this week) sextiling (opportunity) Ceres in Aquarius at 4 degrees. Again the need to bring all voices to the table - to nurture our groups and friendships. The Aquarius/Aries sextile emphasizes individualism/innovation/groups and courage/independence. Venus/Ceres emphasize love, mothering, resources, our values, self-esteem, things that feel outside our control, cycle of life issues. The 'opportunity' will likely come from giving everyone the space to be themselves and taking that space for ourselves, too.

Mercury will station retrograde on Sunday at 12 degrees Pisces (back up your files - Carbonite is super easy and inexpensive - it took me 2 days running 24/7 to back up 85000 files - whew).

Watch for inspiration and intuition to come in as she/he grinds to a halt this week and strengthens.

And watch your language. 

I have a relative with his natal Mercury in Pisces who has at least a dozen colds/allergies a year. He speaks of 'his illness' as part of him all the time (my sinus infection, my allergy, my cold, etc). With our collective Mercury in Pisces - we want to watch for the ways our language might muddy the lines between ourselves and an illness or ourselves and the past/an addiction, etc. With a LONG Mercury in Pisces season ahead of us, we don't want to blur the boundaries between ourselves and something we don't want!

See more in the weekly HERE.


xo all

photo by the talented cahilus