the astrology of february 2022 | a time of miracles, the rising feminine, the future and soul growth ....

 

 Yes, we are taking an early look at February! 

 

I saw some good stuff for us personally and think we can use some good news. We begin the month with a BIG New Moon in future/equality-focused Aquarius, so we will feel the NEW right out of the gate. The Moon's square to Uranus brings in, through tension/frustration - uncomfortable change over the next month. That's OK, we've got this thing. Mercury quickly stations direct, right on that powerful 24 Cappy where Pluto popped a LONG squat in 2021 - delays will end. Things will start moving forward. The month has multiple sextiles and trines - lots of opportunities and winds at our back. Maybe the biggest opportunity is mid-month's Jupiter/Uranus sextile (luck through change, miracles from chaos) and Pluto's trine to the North Node - letting go of fear/moving past the death through a smooth alignment with the future. ALL MONTH lovers Venus and Mars are traveling together, meeting at the BIG Leo Full Moon (cardinal cross) mid-month and closing out the month - feminine and masculine energy combined/balanced, what we want/what we have to do to get what we want - with their own smooth energetic trine with THE FUTURE.

Let's unpack the month!

 

 (I will probably add to this as we move along)

FEBRUARY 1ST - New Moon in Aquarius (12 degrees), Juno enters Aquarius - the month kicks off with a BIG New Moon in Aquarius, so it will FEEL like a new month right away. The Moon meets the Sun at 12 degrees - they are both applying to Saturn conjunctions, so we will feel the weight of our moves/decisions now. Something is getting shored up/becoming more solid. There are limits/rules. Maybe we are drawing a line in the sand. Ceres will be conjunct the North Node. Venus will be conjunct Vesta. Season of life situations will pull us forward/important compromises are possible. What we want could be keeping us up at night. That's OK, it is just becoming more REAL. Mars will be approaching his beloved Venus. What we want and what we have to do to get what we want are coming together. They will be exact around the middle of the month, but this is really in play all month. The feminine and the masculine coming together in a serious/sober sign - cardinal earth - starting something real. The sign that builds things that last. The Moon is squaring Uranus - so this New Moon is birthed through uncomfortable change. We are used to this. We can do this. We were born for this. That is the 2020's - uncomfortable change. Maybe toss some rocks under your mattress - let's get used to this and get on with things.

 

FEBRUARY 3RD - Mercury stations direct at 24 degrees Cappy - this is the flashing GREEN LIGHT we have been waiting for (maybe give him/her a couple days to get up to speed). Delays will end. Stuck situations will start to move forward. Minds will change.

 

FEBRUARY 4TH - Mars sextile Jupiter (8 degrees Cappy/Pisces), Sun conjuncts Saturn (15 Aqua) - the Sun meets Saturn - this is the serious part of our New Moon story. Reality checks/commitments/responsibilities. Here are the rules/the limits. What we can't do/have/be. At the same time, Mars, uber productive in the sign of Capricorn moves into an opportunistic sextile with Jupiter. Here is EXPANSION, LUCK. Take sober action. Step into your authority/responsibility. Big girl pants on. As long as we aren't in lalaland (taking that Jupiter in Pisces too far) this is a SOLID GOOD THING. Stay optimistic/have faith. Take something further. Note - this is earth and water and in order to 'get lucky', we need to take action. We want to be building bricks and not just hoping (although hoping and staying optimistic is good, too) that the earth and water will come together and make something other than a mudslide. Saturn shows us the reality of the situation and Mars/Jupiter says, "OK, but let's do this".

 

FEBRUARY 6TH - Mars squares Chiron (9 degrees Cappy/Aries) - now, Mars is hitting the painful squares to Chiron that Venus/Mercury/the Sun did last month. Something is standing in our way - probably ourselves with Chiron in Aries. Chiron in Aries is answering to a strong and stable Mars in Cappy, so I think we need to be brave here. Standing up for ourselves/being ourselves/knowing we can take care of ourselves is challenged. But look, Mars is applying to a smooth trine to change-maker/higher-mind Uranus - here is a way through.

 

FEBRUARY 8TH -  Mars trines Uranus (11 degrees Cappy/Taurus), 1st Quarter Moon (19 degrees Taurus), Ceres enters Gemini - so now, Mars, the general in Capricorn is trining Uranus. The trine is arguably the best aspect in astrology. Something is falling into place. This is Cappy/Taurus - something makes sense/cents. This is earth, so we need to be practical, but this is chaotic Uranus, so we need to do something differently. We are leaning into the future here and the future is leaning back into us. Take new action. At the same time our New Moon from the beginning of the month has worked her way into Taurus and is squaring the Cappy Sun. This is tension/frustration between the future and the now. The change and the comfort. New money and old money. The Sun, not happy in Aqua, is answering to Uranus and we've already said he is making a trine to a strong Mars, so here is our way through - sober, practical action. This is also the day Ceres leaves her garden and ventures out into the local community - Gemini. Ceres was on the North Node (how we are going to get where we are going) at that New Moon last week and now she is ready for more choices/to ask new questions. This is about smart nurturing. We learn and then we respond to what we have learned. More change.

 

FEBRUARY 11TH - Mercury meets Pluto (third of three, first time at 27 Cappy)- we've been here before. Mercury met Pluto on December 30th, then retrograde on January 28th and now we get the final pow-wow today. This is the 27 degrees that has been powering up all the Full Moons. They have met before, but not exactly here. Something has moved on. Things have changed/shifted. Mercury/Pluto. Words/ideas are powerful. Truth/what has been buried can come out.  This aspect increases our focus. Conversations/information can be intense. Feel like life and death. Mercury is applying to his smooth trine to the North Node, so it is likely whatever this is, is part of how we are going to get where we are going.

 

FEBRUARY 12TH - Mercury trines North Node (27 Cappy/Taurus) - fresh off his pow-wow with transformative/deadly Pluto, Mercury (our thinking, communications, commerce, movement, transportation, tech, siblings, local community) moves into smooth flow - the brakes are off - with our best future. PAY ATTENTION. Good news can come in. Ideas/information are like apples READY TO BE PICKED. With the North Node (way forward) in Taurus - this can be about our money, values, self-esteem. Maybe one door is closed (if something closed with that Mercury/Pluto it is permanent, don't spend alot of time wallowing because you need to see this open window over there) and now another door/window opens. Make/take the call. Earth trines are mega-powerful.

FEBRUARY 14TH - Pluto trines North Node! (27 degrees Capricorn), Pallas enters Aries, Mercury enters Aquarius - so, now here is Pluto, fresh off his pow wow with Mercury, trining the North Node, too. HERE is the way this dead earth is going to be repopulated. HERE is what we can plant now. HERE is a smooth way forward. This is real power/strength. HERE is where we pour our energy into the future - THAT Taurus House (we'll look at the North Node by house before this date and I will link to it here, in the meantime HERE is our first North Node Taurus post). Keep in mind these trines to the North Node are sextiles to the South Node - so an opportunity to release a fear/something that is dead/something that is too complicated. This is an incredibly powerful aspect folks. Earth trines are mega-powerful and when Pluto is involved this is very potent and amped up.

 

Our warrior queen Pallas enters Aries. Yes, she is answering to her brother now and their relationship can be testy. Still, she surely likes Aries much better than Pisces. Here she can take new action. Merge smart strategies and COURAGE. Mercury re-enters Aquarius. We were last here on January 8th. Now the ideas we have been re-thinking/re-working are moving forward. This is fixed air, so people are not so flexible, but at least we get some fresh air and Mercury likes air/works well here. Mercury in Aqua is about clear-headed/dispassionate thinking focused on the future. Its clarity comes from a space of detachment. We mentally step back a little bit and the picture in our head gets a little clearer/our words a little more sharp. I like that this is happening as Pallas (maybe a future co-ruler for Aquarius) moves into fire.

FEBRUARY 15TH - Sun squares North Node (27 Aqua/Taurus) - we knew with the Sun in a fixed sign and the North/South Nodes in fixed signs we were going to have this square this month (we will have another one with the Sun in Leo next summer). This is tension/frustration. A light on something we need to get past/release, etc before we can go any further. Don't disregard problems now. Don't push things under the rug. We NEED to deal with this before Mars/Venus trine the North Node at the end of the month. What is in your way? What can you do about it? This is pulled into our Full Moon story, so will play out over the next couple weeks. We will look at the Moon here as we get closer to this to see what she is up to.

FEBRUARY 16TH - Full Moon in Leo (27/28 degrees Leo), Venus conjuncts Mars (16 degrees Capricorn) - the Leo Moon opposes the Aquarius Sun at 27 degrees (and 59 seconds). The Moon is squaring the Nodes of Fate. The Moon is in the Sun's sign and the Sun (the king) is in the sign of his detriment (opposite his sign) so neither is very happy here.

 

Not sure I like the looks of this Moon for the U.S./Biden - although whatever is happening fate is playing her hand and the masculine/feminine energies are uniting/equalizing through it. The Moon is inconjunct Pluto which is applying to the first ever U.S. Pluto return - exact in this Full Moon cycle, pretty much exact right now. The Moon is conjunct asteroid Damocles - the peril that hangs over power. She opposes the United States natal Moon (the people). The South Node is on Biden's Sun. The Full Moon in Leo is conjunct Biden's natal Chiron/North Node conjunction (also his progressed Chiron/North Node exact now on his descendant - natally he has Uranus on his descendant just as the U.S. does) and forming a Grand Cardinal Cross (seeds of change) with his Sun and the Nodes (the North Node on the U.S. natal Wuhan/Pandora conjunction and Kamala Harris's natal Jupiter). This Moon trines (brakes off) Kamala Harris's Sun. This Moon is also conjunct, within seconds, the 2017 Leo Solar Eclipse that split America in two. We talked about that one and her connections to Trump and covid - HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE.

 

We will talk about this in the U.S. Pluto return series coming up next.

We'll talk about this Moon in more detail for us personally as we get nearer, too, of course. Full Moons are times of peak energy/culminations/endings. With the Leo Full Moon squaring the Nodes of Fate - something has to change before we can go any further.

 

FEBRUARY 17TH - Jupiter sextile Uranus (11 degrees Pisces/Taurus) - Jupiter had a tense/frustrating square with Uranus from Aquarius on January 17, 2021, now, this year, with Jupiter moved into watery Pisces we get an opportunistic sextile. 

 

BIG moves/faith can pull us into the future/shore up our resources/make us money. The unexpected/different/chaotic can make us lucky. Miracles can happen. Again, with Jupiter in Pisces we can't be in "lalaland here", can't sleep/drink/escape our way through this. Keep in mind this Jupiterian LUCK will come in through bigger hands than ours/may not look the way we are expecting. We can't force our size 9 feet into size 7 shoes, even if they look way cuter. Something here is bigger than we are. Again this opportunity is water and earth, so cue the 'building bricks/clay' - requirement of a little action on our part. What's that story about the guy who asks God when he gets to heaven why he never won the lottery and God answered, "well, did you ever help me out and buy a ticket?". Buy a ticket.

 

FEBRUARY 18TH - Sun into Pisces - the Sun leaves Aquarius, the sign of his detriment, and moves into idealistic/imaginative Pisces. Our Pisces house is LIT. Our attention goes THERE. And we can all feel a little bit of what it's like to be a Pisces - we get more sensitive, more intuitive, more imaginative/artistic, more spiritual/connected, maybe more nostalgic, able to grieve what needs grieving, hopefully we become more compassionate. Often we need more rest. It's like we all get a taste of a 12th house Sun for a while and need to find ways to rejuvenate. While in Pisces the Sun will meet up with Jupiter and Neptune and sextile (opportunity) with the North Node and Pluto. How does Pisces energy work with your own Sun sign - give that one a think.

FEBRUARY 23RD - Mars sextile Neptune - (13 degrees Cappy/Pisces), Last Quarter Moon (5 degrees Sagittarius) - Mars reaches 13 degrees Cappy and moves into an opportunistic sextile with Neptune. Here is our solid/practical actions making the dream real. Note - Neptunian dream-making can sometimes require a sacrifice - we give up this to get that. Sometimes I find it's sleep I need to give up to get everything done that needs doing. This aspect speaks of gentle AND productive actions. This is also the day that Aqua New Moon/Leo Full Moon reaches her final square with the Sun - this time from 5 degrees Sagittarius. Maybe our beliefs are tested. A hope can fade. This is tension.frustration. We have that Mars sextile - sensible action/stepping into responsibility/our authority to move us through this one.

FEBRUARY 24RD - Mercury sextile Chiron (10 degrees Aqua/Aries), Venus sextile Neptune (22 degrees Capricorn/Pisces), Mercury squares Uranus (11 degrees Aqua/Taurus) - with Mercury squaring Uranus maybe some upsetting or disruptive news/information comes in. Conversations can be challenging. The good news here is Mercury's healing opportunity with Chiron, so the conversation needs to happen. The words spoken. The potentially shocking news absorbed. Very old/very deep wounds are being healed here. At the same time Venus, still in Capricorn (and how is this even possible?!) moves into an opportunistic flow with Neptune. She is doing what Mars did yesterday, so this is probably all the same thing. What we want/what we have to do to get what we want in line with our dreams/our spirits.

 

FEBRUARY 28TH - Mars/Venus trine North Node  (25 degrees Cappy/Taurus) - the month that starts off with a brand new vibe, brings miracles that sometimes hits us like a pouncing lion, finally closes out with this combining of the masculine and feminine energies in a beautiful/productive trine to our North North (how we are going to get where we are going) and sextile (opportunity) with the South Node (what is holding us back). Something forward-leaning can fall right into place here. Losses/letting go of fears and complications also create opportunity. We are moving into the future from a less fractured/more balanced position.

xo all

artwork by the talented Borda

weekly astrology forecast for creatives | January 17 - 23, 2022 - powerful endings, Aquarius season kicks off, changes with our money and values, lightbulb moments, new instructions

MONDAY - Full Moon in Cancer

TUESDAY - Uranus stations direct (in Taurus), Nodes enter Taurus/Scorpio

WEDNESDAY - Sun enters Aquarius and trines the North Node

THURSDAY - Mars conjuncts Galactic Center

SUNDAY - Sun conjuncts Mercury (retrograde)

Aquarius season kicks off with a BANG. Let's unpack the week!

On MONDAY - the Cancer Moon opposes the Capricorn Sun giving us this month's Full Moon, our annual Full Moon in Cancer - we talked about coming home to ourselves HERE. 

 

The Moon opposed to powerful Pluto will make endings/transformations PERMANENT.

On TUESDAY - Uranus stations direct at 10 degrees Taurus AND the Nodes of the Moon (fate) back into Taurus - North Node, how we are going to get where we're going - and Scorpio - South Node, what is holding us back. 

Uranus is our 'awakener' energy. Think hive-mind. Think rock-n-roll. Think earthquake. He gets us from point A to point B in the most efficient fashion (SUDDEN CHANGE), sometimes dropping us on our ass in the process. Uranus has been retrograde since August 19th. Our planets/points from 7-9 degrees Taurus can relax. Uranus is done with you. He won't be back here. Now, he starts moving forward from 10 degrees Taurus - steamrolling through our collective house of resources, money, our values, our self-esteem. Changing what we own. Changing what we value. Changing how we make our money and how our money connects to how we see ourselves. Pulling us into the future and the future back to meet us. Change is not an option. We've been here before, so if something changes direction now, it's not like we didn't see this coming ....

At the same time, the Nodes of Fate, after 18 months, leave Gemini/Sagittarius (breathe a sign of relief Gemini/Sags!) and move into Taurus/Scorpio. Collectively think - financial RESET.

 

We started talking about this in Part I - HERE.

 

With the North Node answering to a retrograde Venus, her way through Capricorn (or wherever she is, she is currently retrograding in Cappy) becomes OUR way through life. Build her a shrine. #kidding #not kidding. Actually the way to 'build her a shrine' is to respect Taurus's Venusian energy. Take care of what you own. Make a budget (I am not talking about being a tightwad, but consciously knowing where your money is going). Grow some food and eat it. Slow your roll/take time to savor what matters to you. 

 

I also like Ceres as at least co-ruler for Taurus and she has just stationed direct (in Taurus). Both Venus and Ceres are BIG players as the United States rolls into her first EXACT Pluto return on 2/20/22. With transiting Ceres EXACT on President Biden' Uranus that day and transiting Jupiter conjunct the U.S. natal Ceres AND transiting Venus conjunct both the Cappy HOT degrees "time runs out/power is cemented now updated to omicron" and Mars. 

 

We'll talk about this in the U.S. Pluto Return series.

 

With the South Node's move into Scorpio we aren't going to get anywhere mired in fear/death/obsession with CRISIS. If we don't start rising from these sweaty death bed sheets (also with Uranus in Taurus, stop scapegoating 'the other') we will be stuck. And Scorpio kind of stuck isn't like Sagittarius kind of stuck. Scorpio stuck is STUCK. Like big old wooden box in the ground kind of stuck.

 

EXAMPLE for Scorpio Rising (we'll get to all the signs in Part II). The North Node in Taurus will require you, in order to get where you want to go, to point your arrow toward OTHER PEOPLE. Yes, the unpredictable partners/contracts, etc, that have been shaking and quaking your world for the last couple years. The stuff/people you used to count on once upon a time, that haven't been so stable since Uranus entered Taurus in 2018. A focus on yourself/your physicality/your brand (Scorpio South Node and your first house) is going to keep you stuck - somewhere in here is the stuff you need to leave behind. The good news - the focus on partners/OTHER PEOPLE (and they are not going to stabilize, so here's the challenge) and making things more simple will reap you GREAT REWARDS. And you know I am not talking 'doormat' here, but going it alone isn't going to work. Unusual people can show up over the next 18 months. Maybe it's time to think about - who can I partner with and what's in it for them?

 

(this is not because what's in it for you doesn't matter Scorpio, but a focus on what's in it for them will get you 'what's in it for you') 

On WEDNESDAY - the Sun trines the North Node in Taurus and then moves into intelligent/detached Aquarius

With Uranus (Aqua's modern ruler) change of direction this week in Taurus and the North Node's entrance here and Mercury applying to his retrograde conjunction to the Sun - think "aha moments/flashes of insight" - maybe involving the future and our money/resources/what we value, so PAY ATTENTION to what comes to your attention. 

 

The Sun's trine to the North Node is his final aspect in Capricorn and the North Node's first aspect in Taurus. Both are POTENT. Our goals/responsibility/authority/Cappy house theme align us with the future. We won't have to push too hard/bang our head against the wall - something should fall into place here. The fly in the ointment is the Leo Moon will oppose Saturn today which is a depressing aspect, so we might need to check our ego at the door somehow. There could be rules/limits/restrictions. We will have to work for our 'applause/rewards' here and they will come over time/not immediately, but that's OK. The Moon's final aspect is a smooth trine to Mars. Keep going.

Once the Sun gets anchored in airy Aquarius things can start to lighten up. We can detach a bit from those Cappy goals/ambitions. Our Aqua house theme gets our ATTENTION/our life energy. This is a space we naturally 'step outside the box' and do our own thing. Sometimes as part of a group/cause and sometimes on our own. It's the space we connect to the 'future'. With Mercury here we can more easily translate 'the future' into words/ideas. Mercury will back into Cappy on January 24th, so we get a chance to see if these ideas/conversations/information have legs, before returning to Aquarius on February 14th (direct) when we will be full-steam ahead. 

 

The Sun will be in Aquarius until February 18th. 

On THURSDAY - Mars, nearing the end of his journey through fiery Sagittarius, crosses the Galactic Center - our homing signal/center of our Milky Way Galaxy. THIS is conjunct where the Sag South Node story started back in the spring of 2020 as Mars was opposing the Galactic Center and conjunct fixed star Algol and asteroids Pandora/Wuhan in the U.S. natal chart and we know what was blowing up back then. 

 

Now Mars (as us) is given a new comic download, new INSTRUCTIONS. New actions, new beliefs, new adventures. People with planets/points near 27 degrees of Sagittarius will feel this energy strongest, but it will be impacting everyone.

 

On SUNDAY - the Sun meets up with a retrograde Mercury at 3 degrees Aquarius. This is the mid-point of Mercury's retrograde cycle and his/her 'inferior conjunction' - the part of his retrograde cycle where a LIGHT SHINES ON WHAT THIS MERC RETRO HAS BEEN/IS ABOUT FOR US. 

Clarity. A future focused/logical conversation, idea or information comes in. Here is what we need to know NOW or the reason for what has previously been delayed/changed course.

(note this is also the day Mercury will inconjunct the North Node and semi-square Saturn, so it's more a time for insights than action)

 

Also note - this is a moment of clarity, but not an all-systems go signal. Big new moves should still wait until after February 3rd if possible. There is a New Moon in Pisces on March 2nd conjunct Jupiter that looks especially BENEFICIAL/potent - so time something for the days that follow as that one waxes if you can!

 

xo all - I hope something here is helpful.

artwork by the inspiring Duy Huynh

Full Moon in cancer | January 17th, 2022 - the homes we've built on shifting sands, shadow work, the transforming power of grief, the need to simplify our lives, by the time we get to phoenix ...

If that title is turning you off 

(Cat, I need some love and light right now, not "the transforming power of grief!")

well, I hear you(!), still, this Cancer Full Moon is in a standoff with the Sun/Pluto, that's not easy - let's trust there's some gold (there is!) in here, too, if we are willing to dig for it!

On January 17th, 2022 at 6:48PM EST, the Cancer Moon opposes the Capricorn Sun at 27 degrees giving us another 27 degree Full Moon (our 4th!) - this one, our annual Full Moon in Cancer.

The Moon is the ruler of Cancer, so with nowhere else to go - no secondary ruler and no multiple dispositors to work through - the Cancer Full Moon is always very potent. 

 

Full Moons are peak energy/culmination points - often endings. 

 

We have the Moon (where we've been, what we feel, feminine energy, being) and the Sun (where we are trying to go/be, masculine energy, doing) as far apart in the sky as they can be from our earthly perspective during a Full Moon. This Moon at home in Cancer - so very strong - the Sun, quite comfortable in serious Cappy, but answering to Saturn in Aquarius who is himself (although the ancient ruler of Aquarius, so strong here) answering to a retrograde Uranus in Taurus answering to Venus, retrograde in Cappy, so back to Saturn. The Sun gets a few more hoops to jump through/energies to be factored in. And, this year, he is certainly powered up through his proximity to powerful Pluto.

 

Cancer/Capricorn is the polarity of traditional female/male roles. Home and family vs work and the world. How we care for ourselves (and others) and meet our needs for safety and security vs how we push ourselves out in the world toward meeting goals to obtain safety and security. Sometimes on some level this is - love/comfort vs money/comfort. Mom vs dad. Lots of family patterns and soul group energies in this polarity - the Cancer/Capricorn axis - that come to the surface now; ripe to be released. We have been working out alot of our old stuff through Cancer/Cappy the last few years and this Full Moon is part of that story. I could link to a gazillion posts, but I will just link to THIS ONE, the Full Moon in Cancer from January 2020, right before "time runs out/power is cemented", that Moon also stood across the sky from Pluto, but in 2020, Saturn had Pluto's back, too, this year Saturn has moved on. 

 

We want to move on, too, but here we are AGAIN - facing off with these shadow issues/fears.

I pulled some asteroids/dwarf planets, etc into the chart to kind of flesh things out a bit for us, but let's start with the Moon's opposition to Pluto, by far this Full Moon's BIGGEST aspect, because, contrary to the astronomical community determined to demote him, astrologers are pretty sure 'death' cannot be so easily outmaneuvered 

Let's unpack the chart!

The Moon moved into Cancer right about the time the Sun was meeting up with Pluto (a couple days before the Full Moon). The Sun on Pluto throws a light on power. Merges power/ego. Maybe we see who is really holding the cards/a reveal of the man behind wizard briefly makes an appearance. Maybe the emperor is shown to be without clothes. Maybe the servant is shown to be the king he really is. Truth can come out. The way we deal with power comes TO OUR ATTENTION. With the Moon in Cancer we will FEEL what this power/lack of power feels like. 

In the run-up to this Full Moon, before the Moon in Cancer opposes Pluto and then the Sun - she will, trine Jupiter, sextile Uranus, oppose Venus and trine Neptune, so she has been put through her paces already. Her opposition to the Sun in Capricorn is her final aspect. 

 

The Moon's closing aspect matters... alot. 

 

Ideally we'd like something smooth like a sextile or a trine and certainly not an opposition, but with all these 27 degree Full Moons, the Full Moon IS most likely to be the FINAL aspect, and, of course, the Full Moon is ALWAYS an opposition. Life seems determined we end each monthly lunar cycle with this opposition, ego challenge/CHALLENGE COMING FROM OUTSIDE OURSELVES for months.

 

These 27 degree Full Moons are in play until April when the Moon moves to 26 degrees Libra, but even then the final aspect is a square to Pluto (this is about a week before Pluto stations retrograde). It won't be until May that the Moon's closing aspect will be a sextile (smooth aspect/opportunity) to a retrograde Pluto and that Full Moon is an Eclipse in Scorpio (25 degrees), our first in 18 years, and answering to Pluto. Eclipses are hard to predict. With that Eclipse the 'spell' is broken and we move on with our usual mixed bag Full Moons.

You might remember last year we had a string of 23 degree New Moons - all in various aspects to dwarf planet Eris and that 23 degrees all starting rather 'late in the game'. Now, we have all these 27 degree Full Moons - all in various aspects to Pluto (and Sedna/Algol) and all bringing the Moon to a tense final aspect/opposition - the Moon's closing aspect being 'the last play of the game'. 

 

And this month in particular, the Moon coming off that challenging closing aspect and moving a few hours later into Leo, the Sun's domain and the sign of her detriment might feel particularly tough (the Leo Moon though does end on the 20th with a smooth trine to Mars, so there's that). 

OK, back to this chart!

The Moon is in a close opposition to Pluto. Pluto is naturally connected to Scorpio (modern rulership) and our collective 8th house and rules such matters as life/death, what is hidden, sex, reproduction, power, transformation, other people's resources/money, taxes, insurance, inheritance, third party situations. 

Power and how we deal with power is a MAJOR Plutonian issue for us at both an individual and a group level. 

Pluto, God of the underworld, rules the stuff we have stuffed. The shadow self - the real self we buried to survive. His themes include guilt, resentment, control, revenge, manipulation, jealousy, etc. There is often a kind of 'horror story' connected to our natal Pluto placement AND the stuff we carry in our 8th house. It's a childhood story, yes, but the reason we magnetized it to us in childhood in the first place is because of an even deeper ancestral/past life horror story. 

 

Maybe it's the story (chapter in the book/in life) we read under the covers with a flashlight or skip over entirely only to discover later we need to go back there to fill in the missing details. 

Our shadow self is what was hidden/given up to ensure going-on-being in our earliest years. It is not so much our anti-social traits, but the creative potential that we repressed, both individually and collectively, out of the need to preserve our emerging self from repeated unmanageable blows of fate.

This well-timed opposition to Pluto is maybe even more important than another opposition to Pluto, not that any Pluto opposition will be ignored :) - because during this Moon's lunar cycle the South Node (what is holding us back) moves into Scorpio and starts answering to Pluto. 

 

So, here is the LIGHT of the Full Moon to force our head out from under those covers. Maybe to see 'what is holding us back' more clearly.

As a Scorpio rising with an 8th house Cancer Moon, I don't hesitate to call myself, warts and all, a Plutonian person. From experience, I believe the greatest healing for our Pluto nightmares isn't years spent on the psychologist's couch, so much as reaching for the highest aspects of Taurus (Scorpio's polarity sign) - SIMPLICITY and STEWARDSHIP. Scorpios will sometimes tell me they thrive on chaos, and this may be true for some people, but most 'Pluto problems' and an opposition to the Moon in feeling/vulnerable Cancer will probably not feel especially 'thriving' - can be greatly helped by making things more simple and focusing on what we are stewarding/nurturing - there is even a SMOOTH/OPPORTUNISTIC trine to Mama-bear Ceres nearing the end of her time in Taurus, 'back in the garden', to help things fall into place when we lean in this direction.

There is an 'out-of-sign' sextile to the North Node in Gemini (more choices, new facts, keeping things small and local) and a waning trine to Neptune (ancestral help, inspiration, imagination) to help us through this one.

 

The Full Moon also has an important inconjunct to Mars (Mars now conjunct the Sun of that first U.S. vax chart - Mars the trigger so triggering a light on what has and hasn't been accomplished). A rock and a hard place. Cancer/Sagittarius. Home/safety/security at odds with adventure/what is foreign/that maybe greener grass over there. Mars wants to GO, but the Moon says - stay home/stay safe. Some give and take is needed. 

Maybe during this Full Moon (with one eye on that upcoming South Node Scorpio) we might SEE/FEEL what is dying/scaring the hell out of us/coming out of the shadows. We don't want to stuff it because we are going to have enough to unpack over the next 18 months with the South Node in Scorpio. We want to feel it without being consumed/smothered by it.  We will probably need to LEAN INTO, what IS working, what is comfortable, what is most simple. This 'simple' thing is not always going to be easy, because Uranus has been in our Taurus house for the last couple years knocking over the furniture. Simple doesn't mean avoiding the mess. But what mess can be cleaned up/simplified? Or what part of this mess can we live with right now? Or how can make a practical plan for the mess, but also spend some comfortable time in the 'non-messy'? Am I making sense here? We have to get ourselves untangled from whatever is most complicated/crisis driven AND WE KNOW WHAT THIS IS. This Moon can bring something like this TO A HEAD. Self-care will matter at this Full Moon. Mother issues can be helped/healed through time spent with Mother Earth.

People with Pluto/Moon or Scorpio Moon/8th house Moon or Cancer aspects (Sag risings) or people with planets/points nearest 27 degrees of the cardinal signs - Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn might be feeling this energy strongest. Maybe people who have lost their mother/lost their mothering. Feelings of resentment might come up involving children or a feeling of holding onto children in a life or death manner or grief around lost children or what our children are losing. The scars left from lack of/cut-off early nurturing can be exposed to us, too. The Moon/Pluto is a very good combination for anything that deals with subtlety. We can really tune into the motivations of other people now.

 

Cancer Moons can like to hide, but the Full Moon isn't a time that allows hiding (still we might need some time alone/take it). The night sky is ILLUMINATED, so we want to hunker down, but something is happening that isn't allowing this 'hunkering' to be comfortable. Full Moons can bring endings/culminations, but maybe here whatever is ending isn't a comfortable ending. Because HERE is Pluto. The truth, the secret that comes out, the fear of death or the actual death/loss, the power struggle, the obsession, the jealousy/resentment, the deep grief, the manipulation - the thing we can't control. 

 

For some, this very emotional/vulnerable Full Moon can bring up depression/anxiety issues. Perhaps anxiety/depression is simply what naturally happens to spontaneous aliveness when it is dismembered and buried out of the need to 'protect' ourselves. If life’s excitement can't be entered into maybe it is always very likely to assume pathological expression. 

 

What can we do to feel more alive?

 

No more 'waiting' for things to go back to what was working before or what was comfortable before. No more 'waiting' around passively for something to happen - it will and we might not like it! We might not be able to do everything right now, but what can we do? Mercury is about to move through multiple squares with Uranus and during these tangles Uranus is going to station direct, followed by Mercury. There isn't only the change that comes our way there is the change that we create! 

 

Millions of people not creating any change, allow these energies to run amok.

The highest energy of Pluto is the energy of the Pheonix - which rises from the ashes. These Full Moons in relation to Pluto are like mini collective deaths and rebirths. This one may be the most strongly felt/the most challenged, but it is also the one with the strongest Moon - in her home sign and sextiling Ceres, so we'll keep that in mind as we move through the next couple weeks and process our feelings with what comes up. 

This is getting awfully wordy - but let's take a fast look at those asteroids. 

 

Asteroid Pandora (pandemic and first woman /we'll get back to her in the U.S. Pluto return series) trines the Moon from the very end of Scorpio, answering to Pluto, and we can see ' the brakes are off' with omicron and our 'first woman' story-line that has been previously set into motion here in the U.S. This 'brakes are off' is not necessarily a bad thing and that is supported by benevolent Venus's conjunction (as omicron was announced) to the January 2020 degree where Saturn met Pluto (as China announced to the WHO the virus had jumped countries/official start of pandemic). 

The Moon/Sun are squared by asteroids Achilles in Aries and asteroids Elatus and Haumea in Libra which form a Grand Cardinal Cross. This shows the need to START something/initiate change. Makes me think of the anxiety/depression symptoms as we struggle for spontaneous aliveness. Haumea is a Hawaiian creator-God energy. She was discovered in December 2004 at 12 degrees Libra and tightly conjunct asteroid Tsunemi,  two days after a tsunami in the Indian Ocean that killed over 200,000 people - she was named for a scientist, but it is thought the sound of names can carry the meaning of a word they closely resemble. Elatus was a centaur killed by the poisoned arrow that went on to injure Chiron's knee/foot setting that whole part of Chiron's story into motion. Achilles was the great warrior/hero of the Trojan War and was raised by Chiron (his human-mother had attempted at his birth to make Achilles immortal by holding him in the River Styx, holding him by his heel that was the one part of his body "un-dipped" and later vulnerable). Achilles also died by an arrow through his vulnerable heel/foot. Maybe something here about 'shooting ourselves in the foot'? Maybe something about 'the shots'. Mars in Sag is now on the Sun of that first U.S. shot chart and he was on the natal Chiron of the U.S. birth chart during that first shot, which started on an Eclipse, so pretty wildcard energy back then.

 

HERE is a post about that. 

 

The Full Moon is also in an opportunistic sextile to Sedna (we talked about her HERE) and, with Sedna at 28 degrees, and being a VERY slow mover, the other 27 degree Full Moons have been/will be talking to her, too! And that aspect is applying/building, so a very strong one. The Moon also sextiles malevolent fixed star Algol, pretty much merged with Sedna these past couple years. 

 

We will talk about Sedna and Algol in the U.S. Pluto return post.

 

To bottom line something here - the Sun is conjunct Pluto - a light on power/powerlessness. Pluto is requiring we harness and redirect our solar power. The Sun in Cappy is determined anyway, with the tenacity and guts to be who he wants to be. Pluto respects this. The Moon, across the skies in her home sign of Cancer is determined, too. And Pluto and the Moon are both water planets and both have a talent for hiding/repressing feelings, intuitively knowing these stored memories can be PAINFUL. Maybe the biggest difference here is the way the Moon/Cancer holds on to this emotional baggage and Pluto/Scorpio can drag the deadwood/fear-based crap into the here-and-now and let the Sun's fire burn it up. Pluto brings the tough love. With the Sun's bright light, maybe we can see the ways we have built our house on the shifting sands of other people's values/money/resources/agendas and through outdated authority contracts (the ways we've given our power away), some as old as time itself. 

 

Maybe this powerful Cancer Full Moon asks us, in her time of fullness, what we need to let go of/give birth to, to come home to ourselves.

It's a BIG Full Moon - playing out over the next two weeks as things change and then change again.

Buckle up. Take care of yourself. Life has our backs, truly, truly.

xo all - I hope something in here is helpful. Back with part I of the U.S. Pluto return series.

Mercury stations retrograde | Ceres stations direct | January 14, 2022 - the conversation shifts, our thinking changes, the past and the future are pulled into the present

 

 

We talked about Mercury's retrograde in detail HERE. 

 

Starting in an air sign (Aquarius) this retrograde is designed to CHANGE OUR THINKING, connect us with fresh ideas we may have overlooked the first time through, SLOW US DOWN so the things we need to line up with will be there when we need them. 

 

Directions change. Conversations shift. Situations might need to be 're-worked'.

 

Expect some wonk, and give yourself extra time. Pay extra attention to emails/texts, etc - it will be easy to overlook something, misunderstand something or say something incorrectly. Someone from the past can reappear or old conversations, etc come back around. Gadgets and gizmos (and transportation, communication devices) can create problems/slow us down. Drive safely - especially right now with the Moon in Gemini during Mercury's station (Mercury's sign) and going void tonight off an opposition to a fiery Mars.

 

With Venus already retrograde and Mercury headed back into Capricorn, this is not the time for pushing full-steam ahead and barreling over obstacles to reach our goals. That stuff is in our way/delayed for a reason. Lay the groundwork. What isn't working and needs to be re-done? Mercury backs into Capricorn on January 25th, here is where we take the changes in our thinking/new ideas/conversations and use them for to make physical/practical changes. Mercury will be retrograde until February 3rd.

 

Today is also the day Ceres, at 27 degrees Taurus, stations direct. 27 degrees of all the signs is being heated up with this string of 27 degree Full Moons, so pay attention. Information may slow, but something physical/tangible/maybe something that makes sense/cents can start moving forward. 

 

Since Ceres rules change of life situations - the seasons of our life - her change of direction as Mercury retrogrades can also indicate whatever we have been 'propping up' during her retrograde, can fall now, taking us into another chapter/season. 

 

She is answering to a retrograde Venus, so some people may see money that has been held up come in now (for others this will wait for Uranus's change of direction or Venus's station direct). Resource issues that have been hidden during her retrograde can start to show up and conversely new resources start to take root. Weather situations are possible, especially as we get closer to Mondays' BIG Full Moon. Ceres stationed retrograde back on October 8th (in Gemini) and backed into Taurus, her garden, on December 21st (she entered Taurus on the Winter Solstice) - situations connected to those dates should begin to move forward. 

 

Keep in mind, in Taurus,  she is still answering to a retrograde Venus, so we will have to see how much momentum we get from Ceres station while Venus is in such a challenging retrograde (until January 29th). Ceres will be back in Gemini on February 8th - and start answering to Mercury, who will be direct by then, although re-walking old ground.

 

The Moon is in Gemini on Thursday (if you reading this on Wednesday there is a nice trine to Mercury in the evening - good for connecting with people, local get-togethers, etc) with a mixed bag of aspects with Saturn, Neptune and Mars. She goes void at 9:22PM EST off a challenging opposition to Mars (keep a cool head) and is void until 11:11AM EST on Saturday when she comes home to Cancer and starts preparing for Monday's emotional Full Moon. 

That post is next.

xo all

 

artwork by the amazing Rafael Pellicer Galeote

Today's astrology forecast | Wednesday, January 12, 2022 - the early bird gets the worm, practical progress, something falls into place, focusing and paying attention

 

 

The Moon is in comfortable Taurus now, the sign of her exaltation. We are nurtured/nourished by traditionally nurturing things. Comfort, good food, a soft touch, a hot bath, some benjamins in our wallet. 

 

She will sextile Neptune at 3:38AM EST, trine the Sun at 6:19AM EST, and will go void off her trine to powerful Pluto at 2:38pm EST. She will be void until 10:08PM EST when she moves into Gemini and meets up with the North Node.

 

Get up early. 

 

The trine to the Sun is this month's Waxing Trine - this is practical progress (Taurus/Cappy) with the things we can hold in our hands/take to the bank. Something wants to fall into place between our Taurus and Cappy houses. Here is where our New Moon story from two weeks ago can shake out something solid/supportive. We just need to make a little effort/do the next real thing. This is a kind of "if we build it, it will last" energy. Collectively this is our money/values/self esteem and our goals/worldly ambitions/career working together.

The follow-up trine to Pluto will allow us to focus. It can make this all more intense, but again this is a trine to Cappy - practical progress. Now we are merging with other people/other people's resources. Going deeper. Puzzling something out. Good for dealing with authority and stepping into our own. There is alot of flow now/positive alignment.

The Moon continues to perform during the void - still not a time to start anything brand new - and then she gets into Gemini, so the pace will pick up for the next couple days.

Her first aspect is a conjunction to the North Node, so pay attention.

 

Here is information, a conversation, communication that connects us to the future/where we are going. This is through the Moon, our emotions, so notice what shifts -  in Gemini, the Moon is answering to Mercury STILL DIRECT for a couple more days, and in future-focused Aquarius, so this is likely new information. Mercury is about to go retrograde, so whatever comes to our attention now is subject to revisions later, but can still bring in new options/choices. Talk to people. Make the call/send the email.

 

Pay attention to what catches your attention now/what makes you ask questions/what makes you think. 

xo all

When we get to the Full Moon early next week the aspects to the Sun and Pluto will be much more challenging, so if something dealing with your Cappy house theme or the collective themes of careers/goals/authority can be done sooner (now) rather than later (then) that will probably be a good thing.

 

artwork by the amazing Dun Huynh

weekly astrology forecast | january 10th - January 16th, 2022 - Mercury stations retrograde, the king is dead long live the king, using our intuition, keeping our feet on the ground, the shifting sands do some more shifting

 

 

By the end of this week, we will have TWO of our personal planets moving backward - Venus in Capricorn and Mercury in Aquarius - more of the "re's", meaning if what you are doing starts with "re" you are probably on the right track. 

 

Mars is still making his way through Sag, a space he loves, but he will start hitting more challenges - this week a square to exhausting/delusional Neptune and next week an inconjunct (rock and a hard place) with the North Node (how we are going to get where we are going). It is probably not the best time for big leaps, because while the net MIGHT appear, there is a pretty good chance the net has changed direction, too, or was never going to be there in the first place (and, of course, after writing this, I need to say there might be something in your chart that countermands this advice, especially with this week's Sun/Pluto, and since I can't see your chart, you, as always, will have to navigate these waters as best you can - both intuition and common sense practicality can be accessed). 

 

On the other hand, this is not the time to be stuffing our size 9 feet into size 7 shoes either - again the Sun/Pluto, someone's power is going to be spotlighted, maybe it will be OURS.

 

Let's jump right into this week's biggest aspects:

 

MONDAY - Sun sextiles Neptune

TUESDAY - Mars squares Neptune

FRIDAY - Mercury stations retrograde, Ceres stations direct

SUNDAY - Sun conjuncts Pluto

We start the week with the Sun doing what a retrograde Venus did last week (Venus will do this again on January 24th). The Sun, at 20 degrees Capricorn sextiles Neptune. Again, this is "making the dream real" energy. This "making the dream real" thing can sometimes involve a sacrifice - we give up this to get that, for example. The Sun is our life force/our ego/our fire. The sextile with illusive/imaginative Neptune dissolves boundaries/limits. It allows unfiltered access to our intuition, our compassion, forgiveness, our ancestors, what we have put behind us/what we have forgotten. All these January sextiles to Neptune - and this has been true for almost a decade as Neptune has been in Pisces - encourage us to release old goals, any need for status/recognition that is no longer fulfilling. Things that once stabilized us, but are now just keeping us stuck. This is great energy for making art, music, creative work, meditation, prayer, healing.

After that solar sextile, Mars (in Sag - think :QUEST) squares Neptune. Mars is our actions, our passion, our initiative. Neptune weakens Mars, dissolves our ambitions/strength or provides a goal that is misleading. Squares are tension/frustration. Our hopes can fade. Our escape mechanisms/self-sabotage can pull us off course. We can catch a cold. Our impulsivity/need for adventure might lead us into challenging waters. 

 

Keep in mind this is a TEMPORARY aspect, so let's not allow it to create a mess of things. Mars in direct motion matters, our Quest continues.

 

And, on the other hand, because squares provide the greatest potential for real change (the whole back against the wall thing) Mars/Neptune can provide spiritual/creative FUEL if we can find a way to maintain focused actions and not drift off-course/chase something that doesn't exist.

 

At the end of the week, Mercury stations retrograde. I talked about that HERE. 

 

There might be delays, changes of course. Our thinking/the conversations shifts. We now have TWO of our personal planets retrograde. This is a BIG sign we do not want to be pushing full steam ahead - that Neptune square is actually helping us out. Life is an inside job for a bit. Give yourself a break/brake when you can. With Mercury retrograde in Aquarius - we might have had a brilliant or liberating idea that we rushed past and need to return to!

At the same time, and I missed this somehow in that retro post, Ceres stations direct at 27 degrees Taurus. Conjunct Algol and Sedna on that HOT degree from the first Solar Eclipse in Taurus last month. Ceres retrograde has been a review of what we are nurturing or what is outside our control or season of life situations, and most likely all of the above in some way. In Taurus, our Goddess back to her Garden, financial issues have been pulled into the mix, resource issues, our values, our self-esteem. Her retrograde in the Garden may have intensified our survival fears - what have we learned about ourselves? Something will move forward here (maybe a financial or value related something?), even as something else - Mercury retrograde - needs a re-think.

 

We'll talk more about Ceres in Part II of the Nodes Shift into Taurus (how we are going to get where we're going) and Scorpio (what is holding us back), sometime this week.

The week closes out with the Sun's meeting with powerful Pluto - in play all week as this applies (builds). 

The Sun/Pluto is a light thrown on power.  

 

This is power cemented/reaching its full potential or crumbled in pieces at our feet. Either way the Sun shows a result here, sometimes an ending. This is the death of the father/the old king. We can lose or gain power. Our weak foundations will crack/splinter - let them. When Pluto was thought to be the very boundary of our world/last planet out there - we thought transformation had to be life and death or death and rebirth. We had to suffer through the underworld to get to the other side. But since the discovery of Pluto's family - all these little Plutino planets (the dwarf planets) - we see this life/death/rebirth thing is alot more complicated and compelling. 

 

The Sun/Pluto cycle that started last year, at 24 degrees Cappy (this degree is super-activated during this Mercury retrograde season) is CULMINATING and a new cycle at 26 degrees Capricorn is beginning. 

 

We are building toward next week's powerful Full Moon in Cancer (opposing Pluto), Uranus stationing direct just as the Nodes shift into fixed signs and the Sun moves into Aquarius to square them. 

 

The 2020's shifting sands are going to keep throwing these curve-balls at us, as we, collectively and individually, decide (and, sometimes, yes, the fates will decide for us) the times the curve-balls will take us down, the times we need to duck, the times we need to weave, the times we need to CATCH the freakin' ball. 

xo all - back with the Full Moon post and we'll factor in the Moons with a couple dailies

artwork by the amazing Alex Garant

the astrology of Mercury's retrograde thru Aquarius and Cappy | january 14th thru february 3rd, 2022 - the change/chaos that changes the future, everything that needs to happen before the cement gets poured

 

Mercury, stations retrograde on January 14th, 2022 at 10 degrees Aquarius. 

 

He/she, as we, (is it confusing when I say this, I can't stop myself!) will get all the way back to 24 degrees Capricorn on February 3rd, before turning around again and re-walking/re-working those same degrees - 24 Cappy through 10 degrees Aqua - until February 24th when he will start covering new ground. 

Mercury originally reached 24 Cappy the first time through on December 29th. 

 

So the entire cycle of back and forth encapsulates December 29th, 2021 thru February 24th, 2022, but the actual retrograde, which most people will feel strongest is January 10th, 2022 through February 3rd, 2022. People with planets/points between 24 Cappy and 10 Aqua will feel this retrograde strongest as well as Virgo and Gemini risings (Mercury being your ruling planet) who are always more subject to Mercury's machinations. Pluto spent alot of time on 24 Cappy last year, so people with planets/points THERE may especially have something breaking loose now. 24 Cappy opposes the United States natal Mercury at 24 Cancer.

So .. Mercury is in Aquarius. Mercury likes being in Aquarius which is the higher octave of Gemini (his sign). He is connected to hive-mind, buzzing along. Taking his "little of this, little of that" Gemini mental gymnastics to a whole new level. He is approaching Saturn (reality) when he is made to stop and turn around. Another look is needed. Another conversation. New information. We missed something.

The "i's" are not dotted (and no, even though Venus is in here, too, hearts don't count). Maybe there is a "t" left uncrossed, somewhere back in chapter seven. Everything is not the way he/we thought it was. The truth shifts. Our reality shifts.

We have to re-think this! 

 

There is alot of non-sense out there about Mercury Retrogrades, and, of course, some people who would just disregard them entirely. I remember when most people had never heard of Mercury Retrograde and now it seems like poor Mercury (planet of communication and MAGIC) is being shamed/blamed for everything that goes wrong.

This is probably because - 1. the internet has exposed many more people to astrological teachings 2. most people are moving so fast now that any sort of slowdown feels like a problem  3. it's a convenient excuse when stuff falls to sh*t (pardon my french), especially stuff that would normally be considered our fault.

The truth is, although we don't want to spend too much time looking backward, we can't full steam ahead through life either.

 

Mercury goes retrograde, as viewed from our position here on Earth, three times a year (sometimes four). Mercury/think Hermes here - is "the Messenger", the "Trickster", the Cosmic Magician. Mercury retrograde periods are great times to figure out things that may be concealed when Mercury is in direct motion. Maybe because we are going too fast to notice them or maybe we took a wrong turn two miles back and need to change direction. Maybe there is a road out up ahead that we don't know about.

 

Sometimes when Mercury is retrograde, and this might be particularly relevant with this one since it starts in an air sign - we want to be proactive, but aren't able to decide. We second guess. Feel ambivalent. This is especially noticeable as Mercury slows down like he has now. He hasn't stationed to turn just yet, but some, likely ancient, part of us, senses this is coming. We pull up short. Or maybe we magnetize something to us that interrupts what we've been doing or we draw the past - the stuff with the dangling loose ends that might trip us up later if not attended to now - into the present to be dealt with.

Mercury retrogrades are a GREAT time to take another/new look at information. To have conversations that we've had before, but to say things in new ways. To STOP ourselves from saying the same old things. To STOP ourselves from looking at/absorbing the same old information. To STOP ourselves from having the same old thoughts. To REDIRECT our attention. Often, we won't have to make conscious decisions to do this kind of stuff, things come up that pull our attention/intentions in new directions.

 

Here in New Jersey, everyone is sick, was sick, or is probably about to be sick. Tests are awol, testing centers fully booked. Everyone is kind of guessing about their state of contagion. 

 

This retrograde starting in Aquarius - the sign of the shot/the mandates - and going back into Cappy - the sign of Wuhan/Pandora "time runs out" during the time of omicron (Venus retro) will have all of this being re-thought, re-analyzed, re-lived (Mercury rules Virgo as well as Gemini and his retro takes us from air to earth) over the next few weeks. 

 

No doubt after Mercury stations direct on February 3rd and has some time to get up to speed we will have alot more information. The information will no doubt still be polarizing because we live in a 3D reality that grows through polarity - that's how this thing works. Still, we will know more than we know now, even though we will still all be looking at different things/knowing different things. That's OK. That's how this whole 'life on planet Earth' is supposed to work. 

We have all lived through dozens of Mercury retrogrades. We are offered the chance, again and again, to learn to use these periods WISELY. Mercury is a trickster energy though - things can kind of sneak in on us, maybe so we can more consciously decide what to do with them than we did the first time through. Everything doesn't come back around because we need to hold onto it/see it as something important. But sometimes we get useful information/situations that we can use later. Things turn around that we wish hadn't, but can later see how this turnaround/delay or stop, was beneficial.

Often the best way through a dicey Mercury retrograde - and any retrograde that takes us through two different signs looks dicey to me - is to give our attention to what comes to our attention and/or what has been previously neglected to free our hands up to get to something new when the retro period ends.

Let's unpack the chart for this particular Mercury retrograde:

 

The way something starts is always a good harbinger of what is going to play out and this retrograde starts with Mercury applying to his Saturn conjunction - so we are approaching something serious and need to re-think/re-vise before we get THERE.  

 

Mercury is in an EXACT square to Uranus. We know we have had Saturn in an exact square to Uranus three times in 2021. Now, Mercury stations just as he reaches his/her (our) square. And Uranus is the modern ruler of Aquarius - so Mercury is answering to him. 

 

Squares bring tension/frustration. Mercury has replaced Saturn in the Saturn/Uranus square of last year, so maybe news is upsetting, disruptive or controversial. Whatever happens it is intended for our thinking to change, we will NOT be able to stick with an out-of-date point of view.

 

Before our thinking/situation meets Saturn (reality/the cement), it has to CHANGE (Uranus). And we know we are going to be back here again after Mercury stations direct, so the change is subject to change!

We get the first Mercury square Uranus on January 14th - a change of direction/thinking and then Mercury will be back on this degree on February 24th, but Uranus will have moved on to 11 degrees Taurus. 

The next day, Mercury will reach 11 degrees Aquarius (February 25th) and square Uranus for the second time - the change changes.

Keep in mind exact dates are tricky with this stuff.

 

Just know whatever changes is subject to more change. This DOES NOT bring us back to where we started because Uranus has since stationed direct and moved on. The first change has changed us AND the future.

 

Another thing in play during this retrograde is Mercury's sextile to Chiron. You might remember it was Saturn's recurring sextiles to Chiron that brought in the healing energies in 2021. So again, Mercury is replacing Saturn. Bringing new ideas/new thinking/new information to HEALING. This aspect is going to repeat on February 24th, too, and this is also the day Venus makes her second sextile to Neptune.

With Mercury, (from Aquarius) replacing Saturn as he/she (we) move through 2021's BIG Uranus squares and Chiron sextiles - we will be bringing the collective hive-mind, new information/conversations/ideas/genius/logic/reason in to replace what has grown out-dated, traditional, too limited. 

 

How does this apply to our own story? 

Another BIG part of this Mercury retrograde is Mercury's multiple meetings with powerful Pluto. 

 

We had the first meeting back on December 30th, a day after Mercury met Venus. So, a conversation started around the end of December. Venus was already retrograde, she had just met Pluto then she meets Mercury then he meets Pluto. 

 

Mercury/Pluto can stir up our fears, obsessions, passions, verbal super-powers, sometimes even TRUTH. That retro Venus might have brought back an old-love/old-ambition. Whatever this is, by the time Mercury gets past Pluto for the final time (when is that mid February?) the hooks and tangles that have been pulling us somewhere we no longer belong will be GONE. 

 

We will know our own mind. 

 

Whatever is left of it anyway :)

 

(will also be something here helpful for releasing what we have gathered in the name of 'fear', but that will be up to us ...)

 

Here are some key dates -

DECEMBER 29TH -  Mercury reaches 24 degrees Cappy and meets Venus - this is the degree he will station direct on February 3rd - this is the degree of the Sun on January 14th when Mercury stations retrograde, and, also where Pluto (death, transformation) was parked for much of 2021 opposing the United States natal Mercury at 24 Cancer.

DECEMBER 30TH - Mercury meets Pluto - part 1 of 3 - this is the day after he meets up with a retrograde Venus, who has also just met Pluto, so he picks up a piece of her story now, this pulls Mercury into the Venus retrograde story

JANUARY 9TH - Mercury direct sextiles Chiron (pulling Mercury into the 2021 Saturn/Chiron sextile as a stand-in for Saturn) part 1 of 3

JANUARY 14TH -  Mercury stations retrograde 10 degrees Aquarius, the Sun is on 24 Cappy, Mercury is squaring Uranus an 10 degrees Taurus (pulling Mercury into the Saturn/Uranus square of 2021 as a stand-in for Saturn)

JANUARY 18TH - Mercury retrograde sextiles Chiron - part 2 of 3

JANUARY 23RD - Sun meets Mercury/inferior conjucntion - here is the mid-point of the Mercury retro journey, HERE is a light on what this is about for us/moment of clarity

JANUARY 26TH - Mercury retrograde trines the North Node in Taurus (sextiles South Node in Scorpio)

JANUARY 28TH - Mercury retrograde meets Pluto - part 1 of 2

JANUARY 30TH - Sun squares Uranus from 10 degrees Aquarius, the degree of Mercury's station on January 14th

FEBRUARY 3RD - Mercury stations direct at 24 degrees Cappy (opposing the United States natal Mercury)

FEBRUARY 11TH - Mercury direct meets Pluto - part 2 of 2

FEBRUARY 24TH - Mercury direct sextiles Chiron, Mercury direct squares Uranus (part 3 of 3 for both)

MARCH 2ND - Mercury direct finally meets Saturn

 

Of course, we will talk about all this as we move through it. 

 

This is all part of the shamanic evolutionary process we are all going through together (Sedna!).

 

Have I said that the United States first ever Pluto return happens in the midst of all this? Well, I guess now I have. Post coming about that. 

 

I hope something here is helpful.

xo all

artwork by the talented Pertaret

venus retrograde meets the Sun | January 8th, 2022 - a light on what we want/value, seeing the real worth of our efforts, our actions can be challenged by what we can't control, allowing things to unfold/unwind, swimming against the tide just wears us out/gets us wetter

 

For SATURDAY - the Moon is in fiery Aries now - we are nourished/nurtured by moving our body, starting, taking action, passion, arguments (sometimes), men. Her only aspect today is a smooth sextile to Mercury at 7 degrees Aquarius. Good for new conversations (keep in mind Mercury is walking degrees he will walk two more times during his upcoming retrograde, so ideas/communications/information - nothing is set in stone here), writing, commerce, opportunities through siblings, our local community, our tech, transportation. Mercury is cutting edge in Aquarius, our minds are linked up with the FUTURE/humanity. 

This is a BIG day for Venus as she meets up with the Sun - reaching the mid-point of her 40 day/40 night retrograde cycle. HERE is a light on what this Venus retrograde is about for us. Can we see the real worth of our efforting? What have we learned?

A message comes in now, likely expressed through a Venusian situation - relationships, love, our values, self-esteem. 

 

Since Venus started her retrograde cycle as omicron was announced as a new variant, maybe now is when we get some enlightening data/sense of what is happening.

Venus also rules beauty, so changes are good while Venus is retrograde, we are "re"vising after all, but only if it’s something we used to love and/or can be easily reversed once Venus is direct, in case we find the change something we are not loving later on. Move the couch, but don't buy a new couch, for example.

At the same time the Sun is meeting Venus, he is sextiling Pallas at 18 degrees Pisces and Mars (18 Sagittarius) is squaring Pallas.

 

Mars square Pallas and applying to his upcoming square to Neptune speaks of tension/frustration/delays with our QUEST. Our actions can drift off course. Here in New Jersey, we've just had a snowstorm and everyone is sick, was sick or is probably about to be sick. Pushing through a Neptune square is like trying to fight water/swim against the tide. 

 

Better to go with the flow of that smooth sextile between the Sun and Pallas.

 

We are working with our intuition and spirit, offering compassion/rest/healing/imagination, connecting illusive dots as a STRATEGY.

 

Ultimately this is another Saturn/Neptune - making the dream real with maybe a sacrifice/release necessary before things can stabilize. Patience is par for the course here. Also keep in mind, although Mars is squaring Pallas, the Moon, answering to Mars through Aries is sextiling (opportunity) Mercury. Talk about something new. The North Node is still Gemini - there are more choices than we think there are. Ask new/smarter, less emotional questions.

 

Know there are almost certainly going to be delays and changes of directions over the next month, take care of yourself - this is all in bigger hands than ours ....

xo all - back with a post about Mercury's upcoming retrograde, the second part of the Nodal shift AND, I think, we'll take a look at next week's Cancer Full Moon this weekend, get a jump on things with that and see where this two week cycle winds up

 

note - people with planets/points nearest 18 degrees will probably feel these energies strongest as well as people with natal aspects getting repeated (regardless of signs) through these transits and probably Venus ruled Taurus and Libra risings

more about the astrology of january 2022 | january as preparation for February through April's GO time

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Once we get through the next month of retrogrades - we will have all the planets direct for quite a few weeks. 

 

We might want to be thinking about this now/preparing. January's New Moon in Capricorn last weekend was a GO/get seeds in the ground with that trine to future-focused Uranus, but we still have Venus retrograde in Capricorn and an approaching Mercury retrograde that will start in Aquarius - the future - and pull us back into Capricorn - the present/past. 

 

We also have Mars in Sagittarius now reaching the degrees where he is beginning to square Neptune (this will be exact on January 11th) - which can feel draining/diluting. It can also pull in wet weather/virus, flu, etc and other Neptunian situations that can work at cross purposes to our actions/our quest. Mars in Sag is answering to Jupiter in Pisces, so ultimately answering to Neptune, really giving Neptunian delusion/exhaustion/escape (but also inspiration, healing, compassion) the upper hand here. 

Once we get past February 3rd, we will have all the planets direct including Venus and Uranus (currently retrograde) and Mercury (retrograde starting January 14th). We will still be walking old shadow degrees for a bit, but that's ok. This will be prime 'LAUNCH'; time, but there will be some days/times that are better than others. This 'forward ho' will last until April 28th when Pluto stations retrograde and the spring/summer retrogrades begin. We will talk about this more as we get closer and move through it, but the preparation/clear the field/reflection/get seeds into the ground time is NOW.

This doesn't mean we can't launch/start anything important before early February if we must, just know things will tend to revise themselves as we move along. With the Nodes set to move into fixed signs - Taurus/Scorpio - on January 18th, it might be in our best interest to not be as flexible as we have been after this time. So, if we can help it, we really don't want all the retrograde energy in the 'start chart' for anything that really matters (realizing sometimes this can't be helped). Forward moving planets mean less revisions later and that's usually a good thing - less headaches/more momentum with fewer starts and stops.

 

Just keep in mind these retrogrades MUST BE WORKED in order for the 'momentum' thing LATER to be most effective or we could be moving ourselves toward a cliff/brick wall very quickly when all the planets are direct. There are good reasons for the delays/road blocks/turnarounds we will encounter as we move through January. The retrograde energies are times for INTERNAL work - getting real/getting clear. Doing the "re's". We usually can't just sit them out.

 

A couple dates to note in January: 

 

January 14th - we have Ceres stationing direct (27 degrees Taurus, conjunct that RED HOT degree from the last Solar Eclipse in December 2021 that kicked off the Taurus nodal shift) at the same time Mercury stations retrograde (10 degrees Aquarius). 

 

January 18th to 19th - we have Uranus stationing direct, the nodal shift into Taurus/Scorpio and the Sun's move into Aquarius answering to Uranus and squaring those freshly minted Nodes. This also lights up the RED HOT 'world starts up again' 0 degrees Aquarius where Jupiter and Saturn met back in December 2020. 

(an interesting side note here is that Venus will meet Pluto at 0 degrees Aquarius on December 7, 2024 - so they met on "time runs out/power cemented" for the first time on the day Omicron was announced in November and meet again on "time starts up again" in 2024)

 

Lots of changes ahead/twists and turns. Opportunities and challenges. 

 

We are probably feeling more 'goal-oriented' right now with all this Cappy energy. With Venus retrograde we want to be bringing more Venusian charm/balance into our business dealings. AND conversely, we want to be taking Venusian themes - relationships, money, our values and self-esteem more seriously. February will bring fresh opportunities/starts, but it is the January "re's" that make sure we have that 'ladder of success' we will be climbing perched against the right wall.

With all this Capricorn, life's a marathon, not a sprint. Take care of yourself.

xo all

 

artwork by the amazing Duy Huynh

Today's Astrology Forecast | Wednesday, January 5th, 2022 - re-imagining what we want, giving up the ghost, all day void moon

 

The pile-up of planets in one part of the heavens is creating an unusually long void Moon today. The Moon, void last night off a sextile to Mars, is void until 7:17PM EST tonight when she enters Pisces. In dreamy Pisces we are nourished/nurtured by art, music, imagination, rest, meditation, prayer, compassion. Her only aspect is a conjunction with Pisces ancient ruler Jupiter at 9:56PM EST. 

This feels very supportive of today's dreamy Venus/Neptune sextile at 20 degrees Capricorn/Pisces. 

 

Venus is retrograde and this is her second of three meetings with Neptune. We had the first sextile back on November 30, 2020, so maybe something from that time frame is connecting to a situation now. 

Cappy/Pisces is 'making the dream real' energy. Neptune rules the collective unconscious and his contact with a personal planet, in this case Venus, in stabilizing Capricorn, can merge the collective creative imagination with our physical power to create something in tangible form. This is excellent energy for making art, music, writing, etc. We can tap into collective potential. Give life to something that can benefit/heal other people.

 

There might also be something here about softening the hard edges of our ambitions or defenses. The retrograde of Venus in Cappy can be particularly eye-opening for people with Venus/Saturn natal aspects which might have manifested as the feeling of needing to 'earn' love or 'earn' our keep or having a great sensitivity to rejection. Situations can arise that mimic or trigger childhood emotional pain. Here, maybe the Neptune contact can bring some healing/compassion. The three-peat nature of this sextile can be especially healing and we will have Mercury and Mars through here in the coming weeks. Old ghosts/family curses can be put to bed. Keep in mind, for our benevolent Venus, this is our second pass - the one where we are doing the "re's", re-evaluating, re-feeling, re-doing, etc. 

 

Maybe an old dream is re-awakened. Maybe someone/something can come back around.

 

Whatever this is, the sextile is opportunistic. It's a good time to be socializing, connecting with other people, connecting with our muses and spirit via meditation/prayer. Tonight's meeting of the Pisces Moon and Jupiter might foreshadow next spring's big meeting between Jupiter and Neptune. Write down your dreams. Pay attention to what is inspiring you now.

 

Venus pulls in themes of money, relationships, our values and self-esteem. Neptune brings in our dreams, healing, compassion, our ghosts, sometimes our escape mechanisms. Saturn activates our Cappy natal house themes and the more general themes of our careers, goals, karma and ambitions. 

This is a good time to be "re-imagining" what we want. 

 

Keep an eye on the Void Moon, too. Give yourself a break.

xo all

artwork by the talented paulee1

the nodes of fate shift to taurus and Scorpio | january 2022 to July 2023 - turning away from the complicated drama and crisis situations, Keeping things simple, minding our own business, turning toward mother earth, savoring life

 

On January 19th, 2022, the Nodes of Luna move from Gemini/Sagittarius to Taurus/Scorpio. The North Node will be in Taurus (which becomes our most beneficial path forward) and the South Node (where we are, what we need to leave behind) will be in Scorpio. 

 

The nodes will be in Taurus/Scorpio until July 17, 2023.

Here is where we, as a collective, and in our personal lives, of course keeping in mind we have our own nodal story playing out through our birth charts - appoint Taurus (ruled by Venus, and we will look at Ceres here, too) our guiding North Star and Scorpio (ruled by modern ruler Pluto and we'll look at ancient ruler Mars, too, at times), the space and themes in need of sorting/sifting and, whatever is past its use-by date here, retirement. 

 

The Nodes are activated by transits (their interactions with planets/points) and our Taurus/Scorpio houses will be amplified via Eclipses in these signs over the next eighteen months. This story kicked off a little early with the New Moon Solar Eclipse at 26 degrees Taurus on November 18, 2021.

 

We talked about that one HERE. 

(this was the Eclipse with the Moon on fixed star Algol, tightly conjunct the U.S. birth chart's exact Wuhan/Pandora conjunction, conjunct asteroid Sedna and opposing President Biden's Sun - yes, the Eclipses came in with a bang)

What does it means to appoint Taurus our North Star? 

 

Taurus rules our collective second house - our values, our self-esteem, our finances, our resources, our earned income. Taurus likes comfort and ease and stopping to smell the roses. This isn't about being lazy, although Taurean energy can be a bit lazy. This is really about our ability to savor. And to put down roots.  In Taurus we see where we are and what we have. WE HOLD ON TO THINGS. Gratitude and patience pays off. Taurus always makes me think about stewardship - the responsible care we take of ourselves, our families, our businesses, our spaces, our planet. As the North Node moves into Taurus, Taurean ruler Venus is retrograding through sober/traditional Capricorn, so, even though the North Node is all about the future, with a retrograde ruler at kick-off time, the past, this whole 'going backward to go forward', will need to be factored in. 

 

Another thing to consider is that even though Taurus is FIXED EARTH, we have had disruptive Uranus in Taurus, shaking up our Taurus stability for the last couple years, so it's an area of life we are already dealing with CHANGE. As the North Node moves into this space in our blueprint/birth chart the changes/chaos we have ALREADY BEEN DEALING WITH will be magnetically lining us up, as we lean into Taurus, with our best path through these changes and their aftermath. When the North Node meets up with Uranus next summer, we can expect a big chaotic push into the future.

 

The South Node - where we are, what we need to be leaving behind - will move into Scorpio. 

 

Scorpio rules our collective eighth house - where those second house themes get merged or purged through our relationships with other people. So, Scorpio rules other people's resources, other people's values, other people's money, our spouse's/partner's income, loans, debts, taxes, inheritance, death, rebirth, intimacy, sex, reproduction. Here is where we take the time to understand/unravel/obsess over other people's motives. It's through the constructive traits of Scorpio - focus, resourcefulness, passion, probing, deep perception - that we experience real intimacy. We merge with other people physically and materially. The sum becomes something far greater than its parts.  

 

The shadow of Scorpio, like all signs, are always the positives taken too far. Compulsion, jealousy, manipulation, power struggles, making things too complicated, we get too focused on what someone else has/is doing or on things that don't belong to us, the need for life and death drama, the need to dig so deep/unearth so much that we lose sight of the importance of any of it. The South Node will move into Scorpio with Scorpian ruler Pluto uber active via multiple hits with Venus and Mercury, the Sun having just met Pluto and with Mars scheduled to meet Pluto in a few weeks. Scorpio is fixed water - think oasis in the middle of a desert, bottomless lake/sometimes pit, stagnation.

 

With the North Node in Taurus - our values, our self-worth, what we really own - is going to MATTER. 

 

We will be in a collective heap of sh*t if we don't get this stuff right. Simpler things will move more smoothly than complicated things. And this might sound obvious and always the case, but it isn't. Remember with our North Node in Gemini for the last 18 months everything has required multiple things to move us forward, nothing has been simple. 

With the North Node in Taurus, boundaries will be important. We are going to need to know where we end and the other person begins. We are going to want to be looking at where we are putting our time/resources and how and if this is paying off for us.

Our Taurus natal planets will meet up with the North Node, our Scorpio planets the South Nodes. Our planets in Aquarius and Leo will square the nodes and offer us challenges and pivot points. The Nodes move from the mutable signs - breathe a sigh of relief, Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces and into the fixed signs - looking at you Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius. 

The Nodes are karmic points. During the Nodes time in Taurus/Scorpio - people with planets and points in these signs (and the other fixed signs) will release what is ready to go, past karma that is keeping us from moving forward, and, pull in what we have lined up with for our future.

The South Node shows us where we are. With the South Node in Scorpio we start this transit IN SCORPIO/the dark/dealing with life and death/needing to rise from these sweaty death bed sheets. With the South Node in Scorpio, there will be some 'bottom-less' pit activities/situations that won't get us anywhere, will keep us stuck.

 

1. getting immersed in the complicated minutiae, looking for problems, looking for truth that hurts, continuing to be absorbed in these never-ending and escalating (what we give our attention to GROWS) crisis situations

2. losing ourselves (and our resources) in another person 

3. focusing on what is dead/dying

4. getting all tangled up in other people's business/third party situations/other people's motives

5. borrowing too much money, having no personal safety net

6. trashing our physical bodies, spaces, the planet

7. inappropriate merging - lack of boundaries

8. being judgmental or withholding with others and ourselves

9. compulsions, jealousy, manipulations (trying to control what someone else is doing/thinking/wanting)

10. endless power struggles

We will be happiest/most successful if we lean into the positives of Taurus:

1. making things more SIMPLE

2. living by our own values - not getting our self-esteem through feedback/thumbs ups

3. minding our own business

4. making things more beautiful/comfortable

5. slowing down, having patience - think of the way the seed in the ground will not be rushed, be realistic, this is fixed earth

6. being outdoors

7. practicing gratitude for what we have instead of focusing on what someone else has or what we are missing

8. enjoying our five physical senses, SAVORING LIFE

9. choosing quality over quantity, accumulating resources that gain value over time

10. taking care of our physical bodies

With the North Node in Taurus our successes will be EARNED. This will be through a practical, step-by-step process. Our values/our self-worth should be dictating what we DO. This is a good transit to make money/gain resources.

Let's say you were born with a North Node in Taurus or North Node in your 2nd house - you have earned the opportunity, via your past lives' financial maneuverings with other people, to gain/reap personal wealth in this lifetime, but this time those rewards will need to come through your own efforts. Yes, you can have nice stuff. Yes, you will have to earn this stuff.

As we collectively, over the next year and a half, move away from the darker dynamics of Scorpio and build, through our own efforts, that Taurean stability, we will EARN the right to gain, too. We can have nice stuff. Comfort. Security. What we value.

 

I am writing this a bit early, so we will have to see where we are at when we come into this nodal shift. Our North Node is still in Gemini for the next couple weeks, our South Node in Sagittarius - we talked about these Nodes often over the last eighteen months and in greater detail HERE and HERE.

We'll talk more about the deeper energies of this nodal shift and dig in by sign, in Part II as we get closer, but I thought this heads up now might be helpful.

xo all

artwork by the amazing Brian Kirhagis

Today's Astrology Forecast | January 4th, 2022 - the Aqua Moon pulls us back into the Saturn/Uranus square, contractual changes, time to adjust

 

The Moon is in Aquarius now - we are nourished/nurtured by logic, smart conversations, group dynamics, our friendships, detaching a bit from intense situations. She will square ruler Uranus (retrograde) at 11:24AM EST, meets Saturn at 1:43PM EST and goes void off a sextile with Mars at 7:44PM EST. She will be void until 7:17PM EST TOMORROW (so, yes, almost all day Wednesday - the planets are mostly all huddled together creating some big empty spaces!). 

Her square to Uranus and conjunction with Saturn pulls the energy of 2021/2022's Saturn/Uranus square into our personal lives. The new and the old, liberation and responsibility. That final sextile to Mars in Sag (QUEST), tells us there is an 'all's well that end's well' here if we take positive action, stay optimistic/brave. The void itself is a kind of 'time between time' - the hours get stretchy. We can be very productive/get alot done, just don't start anything brand new you want 'something to come of'. 

At the same time, Juno, at 18 degrees Capricorn, inconjuncts Black Moon Lilith in Gemini. This is the wife vs the 'other woman' energy. Juno in Capricorn is about traditional partnerships/commitments/contracts and BML is a take-no-prisoner kind of girl in 'a little of this and a little of that' Gemini. Maybe Juno's limits/rules are too tight and need to be loosened up. Maybe BML's crash and burn tactics/lack of focus/toss baby with bathwater needs to be reined in a bit. Inconjuncts are rocks and hard places and these energies are kind of repeating the Saturn/Uranus the Moon is activating, so we are probably going to run into something like this today. 

 

The good news with Gemini is THERE ARE OPTIONS. Sometimes multiple solutions. The Moon in Aqua will allow us to step back emotionally from heated/tense situations and that will be helpful. The final aspect of this Aqua Moon being a supportive/opportunistic sextile with Mars speaks of solutions through action, optimism, courage. 

 

For late tonight and tomorrow the long void gives us time to rest, re-group, yada-yada. Time gets stretchy during long voids and we can be very productive/get alot done. Just stick to routine work. It's not the time to start anything brand new unless you want to have to do it all over again later.

xo all

artwork by the talented gerezon

weekly astrology forecast for Creatives | January 3rd - 9th, 2022 - an obstacle, an opportunity, knowing what we value, starting something fresh and new, detaching from the drama

 

 

Sunday's New Moon kicks off a two week cycle of practical/stabilizing fresh starts focused on the future/change/something NEW. 

 

Magical new beginnings are possible people!

 

Let's take a look at the biggest aspects of the week ahead:

 

MONDAY - Jupiter squares North Node

WEDNESDAY - Venus sextiles Neptune

SATURDAY - Sun conjuncts Venus

SUNDAY - Mercury sextiles Chiron, First Quarter Moon

On MONDAY, Jupiter, at 1 degree Pisces squares the North Node in Gemini

 

This is the FINAL major North Node in Gemini aspect before the node switches into Taurus in the middle of January. One more course correction folks!

 

Squares are tension/frustration. Piscean squares can bring up our delusions, addictions, lack of boundaries, spiritual bypassing, illness, escape, self-sabotage tendencies. Jupiter will exacerbate the situation, show us the problem if there is one here, so we can't miss it, by pulling in Jupiterian excesses - what just got BIGGER?

 

Nodal squares are skipped steps - something needs to be addressed before we can proceed any further. Keep in mind we are still working with the North Node in Gemini - so there can be more than one way forward, more than one thing that needs to be decided, etc. As we have for the last 18 months we want to point our sails toward GEMINI. 

 

Following the facts/details/asking questions/working through your natal Gemini house theme.

 

(collectively, one of the things this might speak of, because nothing is ever just one thing, is the virus or even wet weather situations - Neptune - squaring off with our Gemini situations, for example children's education)

 

On WEDNESDAY, Venus, retrograde at 20 degrees Capricorn, sextiles Neptune in Pisces

This is Cappy/Pisces - 'making the dream real' energy - a creative opportunity. With Venus retrograde, something here feels like a second chance. Neptune softens Venus in Cappy's harder edges and brings the 'dream/our imagination' into Capricorn's more practical realm. Venus gives Neptune a sober/concrete support for the 'dream'- something solid is being built now. Something lasting. 

 

As we've talked about before with Cappy/Pisces (Saturn/Neptune) aspects, they often involve a sacrifice/release - we may have to willingly give up this, to get that.

 

If we are working too hard, we might get a rest/break. We could even get sick if that's what it takes. Which doesn't sound like much of an opportunity, but somehow it is. If we are being too escapist/lazy, well, here is some kind of responsibility/situation that requires we put in the effort/get to work. 

 

Either way this is - Creative Opportunity. Practical magic. Unconditional love.

On SATURDAY, Venus, retrograde in Capricorn, reaches the mid-point of her retrograde cycle and meets the Sun at 18 degrees, her inferior conjunction as she moves from an evening to a morning star turning invisible. People with planets/points near this degree will probably be feeling this strongest.

For all of us - a light shines on what this Venus retrograde has been about for us, even as Venus is occulted by the Sun, as she/we reach a symbolic turning point in this 40 days and 40 nights journey. Venus' cycles particularly pertain to Venus things - love, money, our values and self-esteem. Cappy has pulled in collective themes of our work in the world, careers, goals and reputation. What do we want? What do we value NOW?

 

On SUNDAY - the Moon at 19 degrees Aries reaches her First Quarter Square with the Cappy Sun while Mercury sextiles Chiron.

The square is Aries/Capricorn. Tension/frustration. The self/identity vs work/career/reputation. The new vs the old. Independence/doing it our way vs responsibility/commitment/tradition. First quarter squares require ACTION and Aries doubles down on this. The New Moon energy is checking up on us - are we doing something new? Are we STARTING? Have we set out intentions

 

At the same time, Mercury will be sextiling Chiron in Aries giving us a way through. 

 

We can discuss what hurts/our vulnerabilities/what we are needing without alot of emotional drama. Detach. Use logic/intellect. With Mercury in future-focused Aqua - here is another aspect about doing it differently/trying a new approach to an old problem. 

 

This week continues the New Moon in Cappy story. What are we starting from this older/wiser position? What needs to change?

xo all

 

(this week isn't about some giant leap forward, just get some seeds into the ground)

artwork by the talented agnes-cecile