today's astrology forecast | Friday, January 19th, 2024 - big ideas, good news, moving on from the disappointments of 2023

The Moon. exalted in Taurus still, meets up with a retrograde Uranus today. We are more comfortable with change/the unexpected. Give yourself extra time. Be flexible. Plans are subject to change. We've been here before. 

This is also the day, in the run up to Pluto's big move this weekend (and you will be feeling this already/this is already in play but not exact) that Mercury trines Jupiter and Venus squares Neptune. 

Mercury's trine to Jupiter has us THINKING BIG. Words are hopeful/optimistic. Loose lips don't sink ships so much as they carry good news. From Mercury's perch in sober Cappy, this is about GOOD NEWS WE CAN USE. There is room for GROWTH/expansion. If an opportunity comes along - and keep in mind, this is a trine and not yesterday's sextile where we need to effort, although maybe the trine, since it comes after the sextile, is because of our efforting with the sextile - 

anyhoo, an opportunity that comes along now that seems to FALL IN OUR LAP is a big GREEN LIGHT. 

One thing to keep in mind, and yes, there is always a THING TO KEEP IN MIND, is this is also the day Venus, and Jupiter is answering to her right now, reaches her exact square to dreamy/dissolving Neptune. 

Venus's square to Neptune is the closing square from their fresh start conjunction last Valentine's Day when something was maybe SWEEPING US OFF OUR FEET. Maybe this has worked out for us or maybe our rose-colored glasses, who had ordered their own rose-colored glasses from Warby Parker and we were wearing both pairs, have been lost in a desk drawer somewhere by this time. Here we are almost a year later with universal energies lined up for us to fish or cut bait. 

Was this worth our time/effort? Are we disappointed? Squares force action through tension and frustration, although Neptune squares can be more like something just kind of fades away. 

So, we get this great trine that lines up as a BIG IDEA or GOOD NEWS - and this is an Earth trine, so speaks of things we can feel/touch/take to the bank AND, at the same time AND CONNECTED (because Jupiter is answering to Venus and she is being depleted here, but we have to also remember Venus is answering to Jupiter and the mutual reception is almost certainly making the depletion thing less than it would be), we get this square that speaks of possible disappointment or exhaustion. 

What to do? What to do with this?

If we are feeling the draining square - tired, disappointed, maybe even sick - and the thing that is supposed to be falling in your lap just looks like a used tissue. We can lean into that exalted Moon in Taurus's meeting with that retrograde Uranus. Take care of ourselves in a new way with something that used to nurture us. We can pay attention to the MESSAGE that is the Mercury/Jupiter because there is surely good news or something bigger/better/real-er in here somewhere, too. 

PAY ATTENTION. 

If we get the good news or the big idea and the thing that is falling into our lap is HERE/in our lap, we can't miss it - we can resolve to keep in mind the Venus/Neptune draining/disappointing possibilities and know we need to keep our feet on the ground THIS TIME and grow this thing in ways that are practical, responsible and steady - Cappy/Taurus. 

If something seems too good to be true then with both Jupiter AND Neptune involved it surely will be. 

Can we stay practical with this? Keep our feet on the ground even AS we take a chance/make a stretch? Can we see the 'reality' of the big idea/good news - how this would actually work, the practicalities of this thing? 

Can it be good, is it still worth it, even if it's not great? Earth trines grow slowly, so the payoff may not be so quickly visible. 

Also, keep in mind there are two things, no, three things happening here. 1. Venus is making that third quarter square - the final square - to her fresh start with Neptune from late last winter - that's the fish or cut bait thing. Is this working? Is this disappointing? What needs to change? NOTE - this conjunction happened in the run-up to Pluto's first entry into Aquarius, so could surely have a connection with that. 

2. Venus is squaring Neptune as Mercury is trining Jupiter who is answering to her while she is answering to him. Is she drained from the Neptune square or fired up to make changes - remember the Moon in Taurus trining Uranus is answering to Venus, too. The way we are FEELING will be uber important here. 

and 3. Venus is squaring Neptune in the event chart for this weekend as Pluto enters Aquarius (with the Sun) and we might as well say he kicks off the New Age of Aquarius, because this is probably as close as we are getting to that in our lifetimes. We will talk about that in the next Pluto post because it has both challenging and opportunistic Venus/Neptune implications for the new energy kick off - draining relationships and resources, but also giving us a portal to old loves/compassion/our ancestral inheritance. It's exciting. Complicated. 

NOW, I need to toss in a disclaimer here because in my birth chart I have multiple Neptune squares, since he is the apex of a gnarly and also uber helpful at times T-Square with my Sun, Saturn and Mars, all of whom are squaring Neptune within 1 or 2 degrees. And he sits on my Ascendant. 

Sooo .. you might think this would make me an expert, but, I am thinking it might make me look at this whole thing a bit more jaded. Neptune squares also give us access to something bigger than ourselves, to compassion and universal love, to our ancestors/past lives and what has come before us. The 'drain' - think of a pipe here - runs both ways after all. I am focused on the Neptune square and not the Venus square and Venus squares are maybe not so bad. We might get hurt. We might lose some money, but ... they are portals to VENUS. Neptune - what is behind us, the ethereal realms, no boundaries - gets to VENUS.

I am not sure how helpful this post is, but I am sure that Mercury is still in Capricorn for a reason, as the Sun and Pluto make their exit - to give us these opportunistic portals to Saturn and Jupiter. The two middle planets that connect the inner planets - us - with the outer planets - everything that isn't us. And there is a reason Mercury's retrograde took us back to Sagittarius FIRST - back to our hope, faith and optimism. 

Complicated storylines are playing out folks. 

And, of course, this feeling that something is coming. Something ELSE.

xo all