weekly astrology | July 11-17, 2022 - new efforts and valuing ourselves pays off over time, big news and ideas, intense full moon in cappy takes us back to 'time runs out'

 

 

Are we hurtling toward the future or is the future hurtling back to us?! 

 

The mid-week's Full Moon is mega-important, on the still RED-HOT (as evidenced in late February 2022 when Mars sneaked past Venus, crossed 21-22 degrees Cappy and Russia bombed Ukraine) degree of January 2020 when Saturn met Pluto, China called the WHO to report a new corona virus had jumped countries and 'time ran out'. This Moon is INTENSE. In ambitious Cappy this will have alot to do with our goals, career, reputations and leaders. Something here about grace under pressure, naked emperors, facing loss/death, the inevitability of CHANGE. 

 

Hopefully, we heeded that last Full Moon and let some air out of that 'inflated dream/illusion' and can take advantage of this Full Moon's Venus/Saturn trine (more on this in the next post). 

This is also the week the U.S. Pluto return has its SECOND exact hit. Mercury makes his/her superior conjunction to the Sun (think : LIGHT- BULB MOMENT) while Venus leaves Gemini for Cancer. 

 

Something for everyone. Lots going on. 

Let's unpack the week!

MONDAY - Juno sextiles the North Node

TUESDAY - Sun sextiles the North Node

WEDNESDAY - Full Moon in Capricorn, Venus trines Saturn, Mercury squares Chiron and sextiles Uranus

THURSDAY - Venus squares Neptune

SATURDAY - Sun conjuncts Mercury

SUNDAY - Venus enters Cancer, Mercury trines Neptune, Sun trines Neptune

On MONDAY - Juno sextiles the North Node from 20 degrees Pisces. 

 

This means she is also trining the Scorpio South Node. The trine is the stronger aspect maybe making it too easy to settle/to slide along with tired relationship/partnership/contract dynamics that can be hurtful, complicated, are dead in the water. Or old Piscean agreements with wishy/washy rules, addictions, illusions, one person making all the sacrifices or someone's overly idealistic rose-colored glasses fogging things up. Juno often brings up our tendency to look the other way to preserve the status quo or our relationship to power even if that status quo is killing us softly.

 

Let's rethink that comfortable (because we are used to it) trine to Scorpio and lean into the sextile with the Taurus NORTH Node. 

 

This is where the seed needs to go into the soil/is where the creative opportunity lies. This will take some effort, some movement toward something NEW - something less dramatic and sexy maybe, but more stabilizing, more solid, more simple. NEW, practical efforting toward creating more stability within partnerships and contracts/agreements gets the green light. This will involve actual physical/tangible things and situations. Drifting into the same old Scorpian intensity-driven 'drama' might be the easier flow, since we just float right into it/stay where we are, but is a dead end in the end. Respond instead of react. Take new actions. Set new boundaries. 

 

This won't be about beating our head into the wall, because what we seek is seeking us right back - the new energies will reach back to meet us this week. Practical effort goes a long way. Our efforts will pay off over time.

On TUESDAY -the Sun sextiles the North Node, U.S. Pluto return part two

The Sun, at 20 degrees Cancer, sextiles (creative opportunity) the North Node in Taurus. Cancer/Taurus sextiles are stabilizing/comforting. Here is a LIGHT on a more simple path forward. With the Sun in Cancer, we are standing in our collective roots/home/family, THIS is where our vital force is activated/this is where the fire is burning, and now here is a direct connection - sextiles require movement to activate - to our Taurus house - the space of the North Node - our smoothest, simplest path forward. Keep in mind, the Sun is also trining (brakes off) the South Node, so a nostalgic pull to the past will be felt, too. It will be oh so tempting to stay where we are/stick with what is, even when it is enmeshed in Scorpion intrique - intensity, complication, third party situations, power struggles, secrets. 

 

First Juno from Pisces and now the Sun from Cancer - there is a light on something NEW that is more stable/simple - makes sense/cents - is about VALUING OURSELVES - find it, follow it!

At the same time, Pluto has returned to his exact degree from the signing of the U.S. Declaration of Independence AGAIN. This time retrograde and once more during a week with a re-activation of 21-22 degrees Capricorn (power crumbles, power is cemented, time runs out) from January 2020. 

(in late February 2022 we had Mars pass Venus at 21 degrees Capricorn, as the first U.S. Pluto return became exact and Russia bombed Ukraine, and this week we have a Full Moon at 21 degrees Capricorn as the second U.S. Pluto return is exact)

 

We could see significant changes with the Russia/Ukraine War over this Full Moon cycle (Putin's chart in particular is very heavily aspected at the end of the month and the beginning of August when Mars meets Uranus and the North Node), with supply chain issues/oil, finances. Power shifts. The chart for this second Pluto return is pretty much the Full Moon in Capricorn post we will talk about next. Pluto is powerful/destructive energy. Its purpose is RENEWAL/regeneration. Scorched Earth or the phoenix rising from the ashes. 

 

In the United States, irrevocable change is coming/is here. Can't be stopped.

WEDNESDAY - THURSDAY - Full Moon in Capricorn (21 degrees/back to 'time runs out' January 2020), Mercury squares Chiron and sextiles Uranus and the North Node, Venus trines Saturn and squares Neptune

This is HUGE. The Moon is conjunct a retrograde Pluto (the death that was postponed) and making a ton of aspects. She is opposing not only the Sun, but also Mercury and Ceres. And she is on the uncomfortably RED HOT degree of emperor makers and breakers (and Queen Elizabeth's ascendant). Saturn, the ruler of this lunation is squaring Uranus and the North Node and EXACTLY trining Venus. 

 

And we are hurtling toward the future. 

 

But, I said that already.

 

Expect a BIG post tomorrow.

 

FRIDAY - SATURDAY - Sun conjuncts Mercury, Mercury trines Neptune, Venus enters Cancer, Sun trines Neptune

The Cancer Sun meets up with Mercury at 24 degrees Cancer and then trines Neptune at 25 degrees Pisces. Can you say "LIGHT-BULB MOMENT"? News/information comes to light. Inspiration. We are listening to our intuition. Following a hunch. Praying. Listening to our ancestors. Something should fall into place here, so pay attention. Prayers/meditation are more deeply felt. Compassionate words are connecting/healing. There is magic here, but not alot of grounding. Avoid stimulants/slippery slopes.

Venus enters Cancer until August 11th.

 

Cancer Suns and Risings become more attractive - both able to attract what they want and easier on the eye. All of our Cancer houses become more attractive, too. Venus themes will be emotionally tended to. We will require more emotional connection to feel safe and secure. We will want (or feel the lack of) whatever feels like nurturing to us. Home becomes a more valuable space. Family is a resource. Our empathy increases along with our hurt feelings when we don't get what feels like "mom and apple-pie".

What we want (Venus) is to feel safe (Cancer).

Cancer is both the mother and the baby. So we get what we want/need by being cared for and by caring for others now. Ruled by the Moon, who changes signs every two and a half days, Cancer can be moody. Our emotions around what we want are subject to lunar whims now, but the actual thing we want can become more solid. The active feminine energy (Venus) connects with the responsive feminine energy (Moon). Venus rules love, money, women, beauty, harmony, balance, relationship, our values - everything money can buy and everything it can't. She rules the signs of Libra and Taurus (and if either of these signs is your rising sign - ascendant - she most likely rules your chart) and the 2nd and 7th houses of our collective astrology charts. This year she is ruling the North Node of Fate - our best way forward. She's a BIG deal. And since she's an inner planet, when she changes signs, we feel it and experience it personally - and we move the collective energy forward (as opposed to the outer planet transits that move the collective energy and then we adjust to that). 

 

Universally, home and family will feel more precious. We will want to feel safe. We'll want to move in the direction of whatever feeds this need now.

We might be more emotional. Maybe a little more needy and vulnerable. These do not have to be bad things. If we are waiting for someone else to take care of us though, remember Venus is an active energy herself - and Mars is stuck in the mud of Taurus, soon to be shaken up by Uranus and then back and forth through mutable Gemini for months. Chiron is in Aries and so is Jupiter. Aries is the sign of the self. The one we are waiting on to mother us/help us is most likely the person standing in our shoes, looking back at us in our bathroom mirror. 

 

The fly in the ointment with Venus in Cancer is the kind of smothering/mothering that suffocates or we overindulge ourselves in some unhealthy way or we have an unrealistic expectation of someone else filling some childhood need. So, watch for emotions that are "over-the-top" compared with what is actually happening, particularly within partnerships/relationships, financial situations and dealings with women. 

 

Keep in mind, Black Moon Lilith (the womb wound, mother/family wound, woman who chooses herself) is still squaring Jupiter and Venus in Cancer is now on a collision course with her in a couple weeks. 

If we are emotionally triggered, we can ask ourselves - what are we storing that is triggering these emotions?

 

Back with that BIG Full Moon post.

 

xo all 

Thanks to everyone who volunteered their charts for the Black Moon Lilith reviews. I am down to the last five volunteers and will email them this week (I have been doing about two a day). Keep in mind this is a little like pulling one ingredient out of a recipe and calling it a loaf of bread - for some it may be a cup of flour and very helpful to have, for others more like a pinch of salt. You will have to see how much it means in your life/how helpful the info is to consider/work with. 

photography by the amazing BirdSophieBlack

today's astrology forecast | Friday, July 8th, 2022 - a light on what we need to turn our attention to in order to heal it

 

 

The Moon moves into fellow water sign Scorpio this morning. Now we are nurtured/nourished by power, going deep, knowing something/someone more intimately, sex, secrets, getting to the bottom line, eliminating what needs to go/is dead. 

 

A great Moon for expulsion. People born with the Moon here are intense! Have intense mamas, too.

Luna opposes Mars at 8:06AM EDT, lessening our impact, creating tension (now the Moon is in the sign Mars wants to be in and Mars is in the sign the Moon wants to be in, so there is this tension, but also a way through the tension - yes, the tension can be cut with a knife, but we also have the knife - if we give Mars some Scorpio - our actions the access to passion/probing, and the Moon some Taurus - our emotions access to comfort/nature/stability). 

 

Keep in mind, the dailies are about transiting planets interacting with other transiting planets - the background energy we are working with. When the Moon opposes our natal planet - and if we have natal planets in Taurus, she will over the next couple days - we will feel that more strongly, as she pulls against the permanent vibrational resonance imprint that is somehow embedded in us at birth. This weakens the opposed planet's natural function. Lasts just a few hours. Traditional astrology deems oppositions as 'negative', but sometimes an opposition provides a much needed balance and Scorpio can be a hugely regenerative Moon.

 

The Moon trines Mercury and Vesta at 1:31 EDT - while they trine each other - forming a Grand Water Trine for a few hours. 

 

All our water houses connected, in flow with each other. 

 

Maybe with Vesta involved our focus narrows to that thing that is keeping us up at night/what matters right now. We are talking about/thinking about deeply personal things. This is a mix of home/security/the past/mothering (Cancer), the dream/art/our intuition/forgiveness/inspiration (Pisces) and intensity/intimacy/what's hidden (Scorpio). Grand Water Trines can make us feel nostalgic, pull the past into the present.

This is also the day the Sun squares Chiron, which we might experience as a blow to our ego - the Grand Water Trine will help, provide an emotional balm for any hurt/wounds. 

 

The Sun shines a bright light on precisely what we need to turn our attention toward in order to heal it.

 

With Chiron in independent Aries we have a personal responsibility for our own healing. To act on what we know/use what we have. To do our best to share our gifts, even those with their roots in a painful past, maybe most especially those gifts.

xo all

artwork by the talented Andreea Chiru

weekly astrology forecast | July 4-10, 2022 - our thinking and actions change, a slow down, working with very old wounds, preparing for the future coming at us like a freight train

 

Following the fireworks (not just the 4th of July kind with that Mars square Pluto!) - the energies shift.

 

Soften. Become slower, more deliberate. Both Mars and Mercury leave their home signs - Mars for Venus ruled Taurus (on his way to his big pow-wow with both Uranus and the North Node at the end of July and beginning of August that will change our world, both collectively and personally, yes, again!). Mercury moves into Luna ruled Cancer.

 

We trade anger/passion for determination and physical/practical effort and mind chatter/info overload for a mental need for comfort and security.

 

Next week, we have a BIG Full Moon on "power is cemented, power is destroyed, time runs out" - 21 degrees Capricorn plus the U.S. Pluto return part two, and the month just kind of builds and builds from there until we reach the end of the month's world changing BLAST OFF into the future - big post coming about that this week.

 

In the meantime squeeze whatever you can squeeze in terms of comfort and 'what feels good' out of this week. Stop/smell/appreciate the roses when you can, thorns and all. If a hard conversation needs to be had, don't put it off until the end of the week when Mercury squares Jupiter - things can get bigger/hotter and more emotional than we intended.

 

Let's unpack the week! 

 

MONDAY - Pallas into Gemini 

Wise Pallas moves into smarty-pants/dualistic Gemini. New strategies, more than one way forward. We need to stay mentally flexible. This is a good transit to learn/teach - keep in mind she is answering to Mercury, who will cover a few signs during Pallas's time in Gemini (through September 6th), so it will pay to keep an eye on him/her. With Pallas in Gemini - solutions will come from communication, learning, teaching, trying multiple routes/methods, staying open to new ideas. 

This is also the day the Virgo Moon will sextile  (opportunity for growth) the Cancer Sun at 12 degrees. This month's Waxing Sextile. Virgo/Cancer. Small adjustments make things more comfortable/safe. Practical solutions are needed for home/family issues. Small fixes and small improvements create big changes. Do it one step at a time.

TUESDAY- Mars into Taurus, Mercury into Cancer, Mercury sextiles Mars

 

Mars falls into Taurus, Mercury flies into Cancer (for only two weeks!). They make nice with each other as they settle in. It is unusual to have two planets leave their home signs within minutes of each other, so I think we will all be feeling this one. 

Mars, after a few weeks of being king of his domain/the man coming out on top falls into Venus ruled Taurus, the sign of his detriment. Things tend to slow down when Mars ingresses into Taurus. If we are ready for this time to "stop and smell the roses" - if we have done our "starting" and are now ready to work with what we have accumulated - this is the time the run turns into a walk. Have patience. Our actions will have a more deliberate focus. Will need to be more practical. Hands on. Make sense/cents.

 
Mars in Taurus will wake up our Taurus house - a space naturally inclined toward doing the same old, same old and where we can get a bit "set in our ways" - although with Uranus here the past couple years that 'steady as a rock thing' has been more like a landslide. Taurus Suns and our other Taurus planets will get a visit from Mars sometime over the next few weeks, so they get some revitalizing energy and a WAKE UP call. This is a physical transit - tired muscles feel good. Balancing the books feels good.

At the same time - Mercury leaves his home sign of fast-paced Gemini for home/family/security-oriented Cancer. We will be feeling what people are saying now. Our own words will be impacting other people emotionally, too. When Mercury changes signs, we can simply CHANGE OUR MIND - so can other people. With Mercury in Cancer, words come from the gut and are taken personally. They can be soothing or they can be painful. We can all be more moody. Keep this in mind with communications (and when our own thinking gets overly emotional). Our thoughts/conversations can turn to home/family/mothering situations now. It's a good time to remember how much home and family mean to us. Mercury will only be in Cancer until July 19th.

 

As Mercury and Mars enter Cancer/Taurus - they will sextile each other. Our thinking and our actions are on the same page. Together via a smooth aspect at the beginning of their transits is a good indication of their ability to work well together over the next couple weeks. Mars in Taurus is about taking deliberate action with real-world things. This is about using what we already have/growing things over time. Being practical. Mercury in Cancer is onboard with this, ready to slow down and feel our way through things. A slower Mars can also aid a more emotional Mercury - give us a chance to think things through/not act too quickly when we take things too personally. Since both signs have connections to food, it's a good time to improve our diet with something more self-nurturing, maybe more plant based or more home cooking, less eating out, etc. Also a great time for walking (Mars) our talk (Mercury).

WEDNESDAY TO FRIDAY - Venus sextiles Chiron, Sun squares Chiron

The Sun in Cancer's square to Chiron can activate old wounds around home, family, parents, our ability to be ourselves or take care of ourselves. We can be more sensitive to criticism. The way through this tension/frustration is Venus in Gemini. The power of love, new possibilities, communication, intellect, keeping things light/flirty, not taking things too seriously will all help. The Sun/Chiron pain is intended to create change and that's what Venus in Gemini is all about. Stay flexible. The wound won't vanish, but maybe we can see/feel the situation differently.

SATURDAY - Mercury conjunct Black Moon Lilith squares Jupiter

 

Now Mercury is doing what the Moon did at the New Moon (beginning of last week) and the Sun did at the end of last week. Our emotional words are infused with old pain and exaggerated/enlarged. Maybe to spark new action or to engage with us to broaden our scope. Maybe what we care about is shown to us by the words and information that makes us feel angry or shameful or guilty. Jupiter won't let Mercury past this square until the conversation/idea GETS BIG enough we have to deal with it. 

 

Keep in mind we can also reverse this whole thing and think about the way Mercury/BML is standing in the way of Jupiter's expansion. This isn't necessarily a bad thing - our emotions/need for comfortable words and ideas should be taken into consideration. Jupiter wants to GO BIG. In Aries he wants to START/take action. AND, we've got this square/this problem/this challenge/this opportunity/and also, this EXCUSE. This very old/very deep fear connecting to our very survival. This isn't something we can just dis-regard/plow through, but Jupiter in Aries is direct for only a couple more weeks, the Moon is waxing - we don't want to be sitting still! 

 

And, even saying all that, squares to Jupiter are still access to Jupiter - and through Mercury can bring good news, faith, optimism, courage (sometimes brings blind luck). It just all comes with a little PUSH. Which isn't a bad thing, and can be a VERY GOOD THING, but just don't believe everything you are told, don't over-promise, exaggerate, get too big a head here because Jupiter is about POTENTIAL, everything isn't always real. At the same time a balanced Black Moon Lilith (when we honor the wisdom of our bodies) gives our words/ideas deeply feminine EMPOWERMENT - keep this in mind now, too.

xo all

photo by the amazing ankazhuravleva

Today's Astrology Forecast | Thursday, June 30th, 2022 - a light on the womb wound, smart strategies that stabilize and give us more power and control

 

The Moon is finishing up her journey through Cancer. 

 

Today she trines (brakes off) a retrograde Neptune at 11:27AM EDT, squares Mars at 2:16PM EDT (feisty, disagreeable energy, feeling pressured to act, maybe home/family vs what we want, both planets strong in their home signs) and finally goes void off her monthly opposition (old power struggles, we've been here before) with a retrograde Pluto at 4:13PM EDT. She is void until 8:40PM EDT when she moves into Leo (and mutual reception with the Sun, so a smoother transition than most months). 

This is also the day, the Sun in Cancer meets up with Black Moon Lilith (what the Moon did at the New Moon on Tuesday) and Pallas in Taurus trines a retrograde Pluto.

A light on Black Moon Lilith in Cancer spotlights the ways we don't fit in with family, old/soul memories of being cast out/feeling unsafe. Being shamed for being needy/dependent which maybe has created, among other things, an inability to ask for help or even to help. Stifled nurturing. Awkwardness with mothering situations. Food issues. Mommy issues. Annoyance with people who are, even appropriately, needy. Family secrets/lies can come out. Situations can activate our BML wound or the collective wound of our Milky Way Galaxy of mother-less children. 

 

Black Moon Lilith is starting a new annual cycle with the Sun. Our old shame/victim stories don't have to come with us into this new chapter if we have compassion for our awkwardness/anger/fear knowing that there is a very old/very real pain at its root - even if we can't remember it!

 

This is all happening in a square to Jupiter. Jupiter is in Aries. This is the house in our chart that is experiencing ADVANTAGES if we aren't afraid to take confident action/a risk. The Sun/Black Moon Lilith in Cancer is the house that is requiring adjustments to get those ADVANTAGES. Sort of what is standing in our way, something we need to register/CLEARLY SEE/accept so that our advantage doesn't turn into a disadvantage through awkward/over-the-top action because it is based in FEAR or a deer in the headlight/crab into her shell FREEZE. 

We can choose to feel faith (Jupiter) over fear (BML wound).

(yoga/processes to release stuck energies around our bladder, kidneys, adrenals and lower back will help)

 

At the same time, our wise warrior Pallas in Taurus has reached her exact trine with a powerful (and retrograde) Pluto. 

 

This is her (our) final aspect before she moves into Gemini next week.

Pallas in Taurus is all about the practical plans/strategies we need to be stable/secure, to grow something healthy, something that lasts. She offers us excellent guidance as to what's practical/wise (hint - it will be the thing that is falling into place). The trine is a smooth aspect, the energies are woven together instead of thrown into a pile/knot or tossed at our head like a football. Pluto is a 'commit or quit' aspect. In Capricorn, he wants us to take something pretty bloody seriously, so we are asked to GET SOMETHING UNDER CONTROL. 

 

Merge. Purge. Step into our authentic POWER.

Next month, Uranus, the North Node and Mars are setting up to turn our Taurus house upside down, so this Earth trine today, the thing that is falling into place NOW - Taurus/Capricorn, Pallas/Pluto - is likely a chance to smoothly/smartly release what is dying/dead, commit to a stable plan to simplify our life, figure out a way to get a grip on something that is out of control, but not out of our control. These are Earth signs, so this won't be some pie-in-the-sky or abstract thing. This will be something we can hold in our hands/take to the bank. 

We just need to be able to see things as they actually are. Practical plans and actions are EMPOWERING.

 

Do what makes sense/cents.

xo all

artwork by the amazing Astri-Lohne

the meaning of the astrology of the New Moon in Cancer | June 28th, 2022 - back to the womb, a fresh start driven by big motivations

On Tuesday, June 28, 2022 at 10:51PM EDT - the Cancer Moon meets the Cancer Sun at 7 degrees, giving us this month's New Moon - our annual New Moon in Cancer.

The Moon rules the sign of Cancer, so the New Moon in Cancer is UBER important every year. 

 

This Moon is about home, family, our roots, mother, mothering, our ancestry, real estate, country, patriotism, home businesses, family businesses, the root of the matter - our emotional security - and, of course, the theme of your personal natal chart's Cancer house -  this is where we get the NEW BEGINNING. The New Moon is an excellent time for fresh starts and new projects. Old behaviors and beliefs can be replaced by more caring and nurturing actions and attitudes.

 

Let's unpack the chart!

 

The Moon meets the Sun at 7 degrees Cancer. They are sandwiched between asteroid Lilith, Black Moon Lilith and asteroid Child. The New Moon sqaures Jupiter, at 7 degrees Aries and trines Vesta, at 6 degrees Pisces. The Moon semi-sextiles Venus while Venus, at 7 degrees Gemini, is sextiling Jupiter. Neptune stations retrograde today.

The Moon and Sun are conjunct. Together. On the same page. This is where we start.

 

The Moon is conjunct asteroid Child (separating, this connection has already happened), Black Moon Lilith (applying) and asteroid Lilith. So, the Moon meets asteroid Child, then is blown-out/re-set by the Sun, then gets a double dose of Lilith, with Black Moon Lilith first followed by asteroid Lilith - we won't be able to miss dealing with her!

 

The dark New Moon meeting anti-Moon, Black Moon Lilith, can activate our hidden mother/family/inner child wound that has grown dark/dangerous. 

 

In Cancer this is about being shamed for being needy/needing mothering (tossed from the nourishing garden). Family secrets. Things done in the dark. Lies our inner child absorbed as truth. Hurt mothers who hurt their children or pass on unconscious wounds. This is our inner child feeling unsafe/insecure. Black Moon Lilith is known for her rage/vindictiveness at not getting her way when in fact her darkness is the result of being unjustly judged and unfairly treated by those who held all the power. God's unconditional love not there for HER, not unconditional for HER. She is a point in our chart where our 'temper at injustice' is triggered by transit. Maybe also shows where we showed anger or autonomy and were "cast out".

This is connected to the house of our natal Black Moon Lilith and what happened to us during the nine months we were in the dark of our mother's womb. 

 

(we can free up ALOT of energy by just being aware of the implications of our Lilith junk - also if you volunteered your chart for a Lilith look, I haven't forgotten you guys and will have them to you this week!)

 

AND having said that, although Lilith was/is a victim she is now a touchstone in our chart for a dangerous black rage (with fear at its heart) that we ignore at our own peril.

 

With the New Moon conjunct Black Moon Lilith needs/wants/what is beginning can be driven by our Black Moon Lilith shame wound/by what we are NOT acknowledging. This is where the Moon gets tricky and the square to Jupiter can amplify this. If our need feels TOO BIG, if something feels like it absolutely MUST happen, tread carefully now. The square from Mars to Pluto is kind of echoing this, too. Anger can also seem to come out of nowhere.

 

Jupiter and the New Moon/Sun/Black Moon Lilith/asteroid Lilith, asteroid Child are forming a T-Square with asteroid Hera (of the Milky Way Galaxy spilled milk fame - we talked about HERE) with the focal point the New Moon herself. In our own life this is about a need to nurture our inner child, to KNOW what we want/need to feel safe. To NOT push the child away this time. To acknowledge that Lilith pain point (collectively not being allowed to be needy/to desire mothering), so that we can begin something that is NOT driven by shame. 

The Moon's biggest aspect is her square to an expansive Jupiter in Aries. It makes me think of the mother pushing the baby into the world. We don't want to rip the mother apart/traumatize the baby, but the BABY IS COMING.

How are we going to carry what we are starting (this is as important as the birth itself)? How can this gestation period be the most loving and connecting? How will we give birth? We want 10 finger/10 toes, some things can't be rushed.

 

Although the Moon's contact with Jupiter is a challenging square, any aspect with benevolent Jupiter can bring confidence, optimism, LUCK. With Jupiter sextile Venus, I would double the LUCK and add bonus points. The fly in the ointment here is Venus can gloss over problems and Jupiter tends to over-do and is partial to rose-colored thinking, too. So moderation is needed now. With our ideals, with thinking we know-it-all, with taking on too much, with overspending or over-investing. To avoid disappointment/burnout - don't take on too much or move too fast.

 

After the recent Neptune squares pushing us to dissolve the lie, illusion, inflated dream, now we have the Moon's smooth trine to Vesta in Pisces just as Neptune stations retrograde pulling the past into the present. Vesta in Pisces is a connection to a higher power/the spiritual realms. A focus on something bigger than ourselves. An ideal. Now what is keeping us up at night is something bigger than we are. With Neptune stationing retrograde, maybe we are taking a clearer eyed look at an old dream or old ideal.

The New Moon semi-sextiles Venus while Venus sextiles Jupiter, our relationships, our values, our money are pulled into the mix. With Venus in Gemini, there are multiple choices/roads divided. Venus/Jupiter - our two most benevolent planets are making nice, there is something GOOD VERY GOOD here we don't want to over look. And happening at the New Moon pulls the entire 28 day lunar cycle under its spell! This is your Aries house and your Gemini house combining/bringing OPPORTUNITY. Collectively this is new action and those divided roads, multiple choices, the things we attract by being smart/flirty/open-minded and the new, the brave, the independent.

 

To bottom line this one (in 100 words or more, you know me) - the New Moon is a BIG new beginning for our Cancer house theme or the collective theme of home, family, our roots, mother, mothering, our ancestry, real estate, country, patriotism, home businesses, family businesses. 

 

Something here is ready to START.

 

This START is entangled with the energy of our earliest/pre-birth FEAR which is triggered.

If we allow the fear to stop us in our tracks - allow the energy to just clam up/hunker down because Cancer likes to do just that - we might experience this energy as depressing, all this fiery Jupiter watered down/frozen. 

If we go too big/too fast, act on impulsivity, be driven by those entangled/unconscious fears of not feeling safe, we can lose touch with what we really need. We over-do/over-reach. Projects get too big to support their own weight. We can burn-out. If we commit to things we don't really want to do out of FEAR or FOMO, we will most assuredly find ourselves feeling unsupported (and then shamed/guilty for being needy!).

The best use of this Jupiter square/challenge - because the square is an action aspect requiring movement - use it to feed our MOTIVATION, and take our time/great care to grow this fresh, new beginning - because we want a healthy baby and this time in the womb MATTERS/will make all the difference.

The trine to Vesta in Pisces just as Pisces ruler Neptune stations retrograde pulls the past into the present. The Cancer start includes a return to something in our rear-view mirror. This can be from earlier in this life or a past life/ancestral DNA. We can feel nostalgic. What is the old dream that is most simple/stabilizing? Where is forgiveness/compassion/connection still needed? Where is our spirit/the universe/God in all this?

The New Moon speaks of different options, multiple attractions, something being 'split into two' or a multi-pronged approach that will work/that makes a success of what we are starting. We will need courage, initiative. This makes something BIGGER and BETTER. More loving. More secure. This is how we get lucky!

 

SETTING NEW MOON AFFIRMATIONS

 

This is a powerful energy to focus our intentions and make affirmations around general Cancer themes : mothers, motherhood, self-care, nurturing, home, family, real estate, home business, family business, food, breast health, stomach and digestive health, gut health, security ... AND around our Cancer natal/progressed house themes.

AFFIRMATION TIPS: get into a positive frame of mind, work in an uncluttered space - always make affirmations from a positive place (positive meaning both happy and certain) - write your affirmations down by hand in script, speak them out loud - then release your attention from them knowing your intention is known.

 

Know these things are already yours.

 

xo all 

 

You might ask yourself what was happening to your mother when she carried you and how you might still be carrying that energy now/how it impacts your choices and actions. 

Weekly astrology | June 27- July 3, 2022 - big new beginning with home and family, healing words, playing the long game, keeping your head, the god of war meets the god of death

 

 

HUGE week ahead!

 

I'm late getting to this, so let's dive right in.

 

MONDAY - Mercury sextile Chiron, Mars sextile Saturn

TUESDAY - Sun square Jupiter, Venus sextile Jupiter, New Moon in Cancer, Neptune stations retrograde

THURSDAY - Pallas trines Pluto

FRIDAY - Mars square Pluto

SATURDAY - Mercury trine Saturn, Mercury square Neptune

On MONDAY, Mercury, at 16 Gemini sextiles Chiron in Aries while Mars, at 24 Aries, sextiles Saturn in Aquarius. The Moon will be finishing up in Gemini so answering to Mercury. Mercury/Chiron is healing conversations/information. Siblings, the local community, teachers are helpful. Mercury is in his/her home sign and this is an opportunistic sextile, so opening up about our fears/vulnerabilities is favored, just keep conversations short/light - offer empathy/compassion. Humor can be healing. Sometimes simply saying back to someone what you are hearing them say brings comfort/connection. With Gemini there can be options we hadn't thought about. More than one way through. At the same time Mars/Saturn stabilizes/gives structure/patience to our actions/passion/anger. We are playing a long game here. Saturn is retrograde so we are dealing with old rules/limits/responsibilities. 

TUESDAY - needs its own post. We've touched on The New Moon in Cancer's aspect with Black Moon Lilith, but there is alot more going on. This is a POWERFUL new beginning around home, family, our roots/mothering. Neptune is stationing retrograde - this is probably most important for people with planets/points in the retrograde zone as well as people with Pisces rising or alot of Pisces planets. For all of us though, the tide goes out. Those shells that looked so big and colorful through the glistening water are shown for what they really are. This isn't a bad thing, it's part of the cycle. Neptune will be retrograde until December. It is HUGE that the Sun and Venus are both interacting with Jupiter, and in different ways - bigger is better or is it? We will unpack all of this in the next post!

 

THURSDAY - Pallas, at 27 degrees Taurus, trines Pluto in Capricorn. Practical strategies, powerful negotiations. Maybe this is our way through any minefields this week. Simplify our plans. Choose what adds to our security. When things get rough, we turn back to the basics. To the stuff we can touch, taste, smell. Nature is powerful/empowering. This is Pallas's final aspect before she heads into Gemini next week.

FRIDAY - Mars, at 27 degrees Aries, squares Pluto in Capricorn. The God of war squaring off with the God of death sounds, well, scary/intense and it can be, but let's think this through. People born with Mars/Pluto aspects will be activated. They have usually learned to control this energy and may even channel it positively, but for the rest of us it can activate repressed anger - we over-react, blow up, act out. Especially about things we can't control. Pluto is retrograde, so old power plays/struggles can get reactivated. This energy would be good for starting renovation projects when we are looking to destroy something! Remember though Mars is just unwinding his sextile with Saturn and he is strong in his home sign. We can keep our head when needed - be smart, no dark alleys/no unnecessary crazy-making. If we are pushing to make something happen (Mars in Aries) we want to be sure we don't destroy (Pluto) what we are trying to achieve - don't toss the baby out with the bathwater. Don't force/manipulate someone to do what you want (we can also be on the other end of this) unless we are absolutely, positively sure the ends justifies the means because it rarely does in the long run. Squares require action, and, yes something needs to transform here, but if we are thinking something MUST happen, we can get ourselves into trouble. Keep in mind the positive aspects to Saturn - be a grown-up. We have that Pallas trine - be a smart, stable grown-up. This is a cardinal square pushing up to START something new/deal with these power struggles and challenges in a NEW way. 

 

SATURDAY - Mercury, at 24 degrees Gemini, trines Saturn while squaring Neptune. Mercury/Saturn is discussions with authority/stabilizing information/formal words. Something can be confirmed now. With Gemini our thinking can be all over the place and Saturn helps focus us, maybe forces us to look/pay attention over here. With Saturn in Aquarius, maybe we are talking/thinking about the future. Decisions are made. At the same time Mercury is squaring Neptune. We've had a few Neptune squares (and sextiles lately), but this is Neptune's first aspect while retrograde. The old dream/illusion/lie that pushes us to move on. Move into something more reality based/more stabilizing. With Saturn in Aquarius - our causes/groups/ideas about the future are getting clarified/firmed up. 

 

xo all, back with the New Moon in Cancer!

artwork by the talented Joshua Smith

the astrology of Black Moon Lilith's square to Jupiter | Roe V. Wade and the New Moon in Cancer - part II

 

 

We started this conversation about Black Moon Lilith's lengthy square to Jupiter and her connection to next week's powerful New Moon in Part I - HERE.

 

At next week's New Moon in Cancer, the Moon/Sun conjunction will be exactly squaring Jupiter in Aries.  

This is a BIG push to be brave/confident and take action to START SOMETHING THAT MATTERS TO US. 

A challenge/wildcard, but also opportunity for healing at this New Moon is seen through Black Moon Lilith's conjunction with the New Moon as she (and the Sun) square Jupiter. The Sun/Moon will spotlight the wounded mother/child - the SHAME. The Moon and Sun will move on, but the square from Black Moon Lilith to Jupiter (in play for the last few weeks) will continue until the end of July. 

 

Squares are dynamic aspects that create change. Something has to give. Both Jupiter and Black Moon Lilith each have a perspective that can't take in the whole picture.

This New Moon is about our childhood wound/mother wound. The ways we weren't seen or heard. The ways our needs were not accepted. There is a need at this New Moon to see/confront emotional FEAR. At this New Moon we will be able to see/feel what we do with this fear. Do we hide? Do we project it onto other people? Do we get sick? Do we entangle/manipulate? Do we take action? Do we get bloody freakin' angry? Can we allow our bodies to process/feel it without judging it?

 

Throughout the summer, as the Sun, Mercury, Venus and Mars move through Cancer, they will all meet up with Black Moon Lilith. We are in Cancer season already and the New Moon in Cancer comes in right out of the gate, so the overall vibe is emotional anyway and JUST GETTING STARTED. By the middle of July, Mercury will be in Cancer, too, (only for two weeks, this will be fast). Random conversations will quickly become intimate. We will find ourselves confiding in people, talking about our family. We could learn very personal information about people. We will be feeling what people are saying.

 

Part of the work of Black Moon Lilith in Cancer is dealing with/noticing the very old familial triggers that cause us to act out in extreme ways and sabotage ourselves. 

 

His-tory and myth has turned Lilith into something deadly/dangerous. And this IS what happens to us when we are shamed for wanting something we are perfectly entitled to want. When Lilith was told to be less than she was, she refused. She held her own shape, and was banished into the night, cursed as the personification of evil. 

 

Also keep in mind, there is another abandonment story even older than the story of Lilith. 

 

That story is the origin story of our galaxy. It's the story of a cheating husband, an angry wife and a hungry baby. The baby (Hercules), birthed by another mother and held to angry wife's (Hera/Juno) breast by cheating husband (Zeus, Jupiter) and the lost mother's milk that flies out of her when she awakens to find another woman's baby to her breast. This spilled milk - which we've never been allowed to cry over - creates our galaxy, the Milky Way Galaxy of un-mothered children (the dishonor to the feminine becoming baby's dishonor). 

 

The passion/obsession the "anti-Moon" Black Moon Lilith's shame/rage ultimately being about not only the woman's dishonor, but the screaming, hungry child's desire to return to the breast, TO STAY ALIVE. 

 

It shouldn't be surprising, although it is, that during the United States Pluto return, a country with a Cancer Sun and a Jupiter ruled chart - Cancer ruling both mothers AND babies and Jupiter ruling the legal system - Roe V. Wade, the landmark 1973 court case that legalized abortion nationwide, has just been overturned in the United States. 

 

This happens as transiting Black Moon Lilith - shamed for demanding body sovereignty/accused baby killer - squares transiting Jupiter - the Supreme Court.

The astrology is striking - transiting Black Moon Lilith is sandwiched between the United States natal Sun and natal Jupiter with the Sun on the United States natal Venus (women). Transiting Jupiter is on the AC of the Roe V. Wade 1973 chart while transiting BML is on the IC (!), transiting Pluto has just backed onto that chart's natal Mercury exact and ruling that chart's 8th house of death/endings. The original 1973 ruling is also having its Chiron (wounded healer) return.

 

The 1973 Roe v. Wade chart had a 22 degree Capricorn Jupiter (the degree killed off/transformed by Saturn/Pluto in January 2020, so legal precedent ripe for change) and BML tightly conjunct Neptune, in the Sagittarius 8th house, so answering to that newly transformed Jupiter.

 

Since the original 1973 chart's Mercury was exactly conjunct the United States natal Pluto this, too, is part of the shaking and quaking of the U.S. Pluto return. 

 

And now, just as Venus has left Taurus - the sign she rules/is strong - and falls into dualistic Gemini (two roads ahead, two different sets of values, two different ways of seeing this) and starts answering to a strong Mercury (remember Pluto is on that 1973 Mercury and that 1973 Mercury was on the U.S. natal Pluto), with Black Moon Lilith (a symbol for BOTH women's sovereignty and killing babies) squaring Jupiter and the Sun/Moon applying to meet up with Black Moon Lilith (back on May 3rd when the Supreme Court's draft opinion overturning Roe V. Wade was leaked to the media sending shockwaves across the country, Venus in Aries was squaring Black Moon Lilith in Cancer) - the court tosses out the Roe v. Wade ruling/tosses the issue to the states.

 

With the North Node - our best way forward - in Taurus which is all about our values/new life/fertility and answering to Venus, ruler of women, the country is charged with figuring out how to move forward (Venus in dualistic Gemini now) .... with Mars squaring Pluto next week, we can expect an explosive beginning.

 

The real healing starts with clarity, with those who call themselves "pro-life" coming to an understanding that those who call themselves "pro-choice" are desperate to defend women's bodily autonomy and equality in the economic/social realms. And those who call themselves "pro-choice" understanding that those who call themselves "pro-life" are equally committed to protecting the rights of the unborn child/see abortion as murder.

Personally and collectively - self-acceptance is the key to our Black Moon Lilith wound. 

 

There is a CLARITY that comes when our Black Moon Lilith shame is confronted/allowed to be accepted/seen for what it is - her anger/our inner child's hunger quelled. Once we understand the shame as the seat of the rage, maybe we can begin to clear lifetimes of residual debris from our soul's path.

 

Brene Brown has done alot of great work on healing shame. And David Hawkins, an amazing spiritual teacher, has determined, through muscle testing, that shame is the lowest emotion on the level of consciousness scale. Much lower than depression, anger or frustration. So, it would make sense that the point in the Moon's (emotions) orbit furthest from the Earth might also speak of the furthest/most deeply buried emotion.

 

Back with part III and we'll look at some charts. We will also return to some of these themes in next week's New Moon in Cancer post.

 

xo all

 

artwork by the amazing Svetlana Belova

today's astrology forecast | Friday and Saturday, June 24-25, 2022 - the blocks push us toward a more simple and secure life, taking action on the new, not totally new dream

 

 

On FRIDAY, the Moon continues her monthly journey through Taurus, the sign of her exaltation. At 6:14PM EDT she meets up with change-maker Uranus. This is positive energy allowing us to release what needs to go, feel more comfortable with change/the future. Do something different.

This is also the day Pallas, at 24 degrees Taurus, squares a retrograde Saturn in Aquarius. Old rules, responsibilities, commitments, dealings with authority, groups, causes, limits, time constraints might force adjustments to our plans/strategies. We could hear a "no". Saturn is retrograde, so we should have been able to see this coming.

Pallas in Taurus is focused in on practical concerns - what makes the most sense/cents RIGHT NOW, so the square to Saturn in Aqua could bring up challenges/tension/worries about the future. 

 

The Moon's conjunction with Uranus tonight - the modern ruler of Uranus - will help, allows an integration of the now with what's to come. In Taurus we can't be afraid to get our hands dirty.

On SATURDAY, the Moon in Taurus gets busy - squares Saturn at 9:01AM EDT (so repeating what Pallas did yesterday, more concerns about the future, roadblocks, limits, what authority is doing), sextiles Neptune at 10:05AM EDT and goes void off a smooth trine to Pluto at 3:02PM EDT. She is void until 7:13PM EDT when she gets busy in communicative Gemini.

 

The Moon/Saturn can feel depressing. Old responsibilities/pressures. Old rules. Group tension. Feeling what we don't/can't have. Luckily Luna quickly moves into an opportunistic sextile with Neptune. 

 

Good time for a trip to the ocean/to get into some water. Relax. Rest. Make art/listen to music. For more than a week we've been dealing with these dueling Saturn/Neptune aspects - asking us to deal with these old rules and responsibilities while leaning into a NEW (with its feet in the past) dream. 

 

That closing trine to Pluto feels like - all's well that ends well then we get a few hours to chill before the Moon in Gemini makes our Saturday night into Monday busy with lots of chatter and information. There should be a good flow. The Moon is making good aspects on Sunday, too - looks like a nice weekend, let's enjoy it!

Saturday is also the day Pallas makes her own sextile to Neptune (in step with Luna) and Ceres in Cancer sextiles Uranus. 

 

Uranus/Ceres makes me think of free-range parenting. Or that expression about "if you love something let it go, if it comes back to you ...". Ceres in Cancer tends toward smother-mothering and this opportunistic sextile with freedom-loving Uranus can give everyone a little bit of breathing room. Also something here about forced changes/things we can't control creating opportunities for a simpler/more secure future. The 'out of control' stuff doesn't seem quite so problematic. Taurus/Cancer is comfortable/makes everything feel better. 

 

Neptune/Pallas is reinforcing the Moon/Neptune sextile from Taurus/Pisces. Building the new/not so new dream. Benefiting from our intuition. Pallas in Taurus is smart practical/grounded strategies that make sense/cents and don't we love a double dose of Pisces magic added into the mix 

 

(keep in mind we need to do something with a sextile to make anything happen, fertile dirt AND fairy-dust)!

 

xo all

artwork by the amazing Sylvie Demers

today's astrology forecast | Wednesday and Thursday, June 22nd - 23rd, 2022 - all part of falling in love with reality

 

 

The Sun is in Cancer. The Moon is finishing up in Aries today - we are nourished/nurtured by action, physical movement, taking the initiative, time spent alone, time spent with men, passion, anger. 

 

She meets up with ruler Mars at 2:58PM EDT and sextiles Saturn at 10:18PM EDT. 

 

We want to be constructive with all this fire. Take it seriously. Don't waste it, but don't burn the house down either. Be brave, but not overly pushy or impulsive. We want to be taking action on what we want (the Moon is waning, so good for things we are finishing/wanting to release), exercising, doing something new/fresh. It's good energy for independent work. Avoid rushing which can lead to accidents. The sextile to a retrograde Saturn tonight shows opportunity when we deal with what we have been procrastinating. Good for working on long term goals/career goals/dealing with responsibilities.

This afternoon Venus leaves her home sign of Taurus for Gemini. She starts answering to Mercury in Gemini, so we will feel the change, but with Mercury in his/her home sign (and the Moon moving into Taurus tomorrow) - the change should be smooth/as it should be. With Venus in 'multiple everything' Gemini, what we want can change ... and change again. This gets tricky with the Sun in Cancer where we will be more emotionally attached to things.

 

We talked about this in detail in the weekly HERE. 

Chiron, at 16 degrees Aries, squares Ceres in Cancer. This is kind of echoing the Black Moon Lilith in Cancer square Jupiter we have been talking about. 

 

Mother/family/home wounds are triggered. 

Chiron in Aries heals through action/initiative/courage and Ceres in Cancer takes things very personally, handles things in private, within the family, within her shell. We can see how this Aries/Cancer square gets tricky/uncomfortable. We are pushed to leave our safe space or pushed to create one. 

Yesterday, Pluto retrograded back to 27 degrees Capricorn, preparing for his second go at the U.S. natal Pluto (U.S. Pluto return), which will be exact on July 11-12th. The first exact hit saw Russia invade/bomb Ukraine just as transiting Mars edged past Venus in Capricorn right on "time runs out". This second exact hit will have transiting Venus EXACT on the U.S. natal Mars (with transiting Mars in Taurus, so answering to her) and Ceres in Cancer EXACT on the U.S. natal Mercury. Whatever is happening then, and it won't just be about Russia/Ukraine, might be what is setting off big changes/the potential chaos at the end of the month and into early August. 

 

We talked about that first conjunction HERE, we'll dig into the second one next week. 

TOMORROW, the Moon will be in Taurus, the sign of her exaltation. We are nourished/nurtured by more traditionally nurturing things - a warm bed, a soft touch, good food, security, time spent in nature, time spent with what/who we value/love, all the good stuff money can buy and all the good stuff money can't.

 

The Moon is exalted in Taurus because she can really settle down here. Just keep in mind with Uranus in Taurus (Moon meets Uranus on Friday) and Saturn in Aquarius (Moon squares Saturn on Saturday) changes and challenges are par for the course.

 

At 12:11 on Thursday, she will sextile the Cancer Sun at 2 degrees.

The sextile is this month's Waning Sextile. Taurus/Cancer. Cancer is about the past and Taurus the here and now. This waning sextile feels like just the salve for yesterday's painful Chiron/Ceres. Releasing the past/working with what we have. Enjoying our physical senses - the things that feel safe and nurturing. Taking care of our home/family/finances. Enjoying nature/good food. Keeping things simple. This sextile is part of last week's Full Moon story about releasing the lie/exaggerated hope and falling in love with reality - pulls that Full Moon story forward as we head toward the Cancer New Moon (conjunct Black Moon Lilith and squaring Jupiter) next week.

I hope something here is helpful.

xo all

artwork by the talented ItsEndy

the astrology of Black Moon Lilith's square to Jupiter | removing the curse, a chance to heal childhood wounds and shame through self-acceptance - part I

 

 

Black Moon Lilith isn't an asteroid or a planet. 

 

She is the lunar apogee, a geometric point in space that marks the furthest point of the Moon's orbit around the Earth. She is as far as the Moon gets from the Earth. The darkest region of our psyche. 

 

She moves slowly; spends about nine months in each sign. Not to be confused with asteroid Lilith in your chart, she does embody the essence of the Goddess Lilith though. Lilith was Adam's untameable first wife. She wanted equality/wouldn't play second fiddle and was tossed from the garden/vilified. Another demonized Goddess.

 

So, we all carry this soul memory/wound that plays gracelessly on repeat. This space where we were tossed from the garden. This space where we were shamed for wanting something we were perfectly entitled to want. 

The space where shame turns to awkward action. The space where shame turns to anger.  

(think about the astronomy/astrology - the Moon gets as far away from the Earth as possible, but is pulled back into orbit by gravity - no escape!). 

 

There aren't enough likes/thumbs up/hearts in the universe to heal our Lilith wound. The wound is only healed through self-acceptance.

 

I don't see BML, other than in Scorpio or the 8th house or maybe in aspect with Pluto, as innately related to sexuality. Some astrologers do. You can make up your own mind about this.

For the last few weeks Black Moon Lilith has been in Cancer and squaring/shadow-boxing with Jupiter in Aries. 

 

This is a great gift to us that kind of feels like a kick in the teeth (so maybe just a gift to our dentist, we will have to see how this all plays out). 

 

Now that we've moved into Cancer season with the Sun, Mercury and Venus set to meet up with BML over the next few weeks, the wound/gift/kick in the teeth becomes even more important to unpack. This will be in play until late July when Jupiter will slow down for his retrograde and Lilith will move on.

 

With Black Moon Lilith squaring Jupiter in Aries - the wound/shame/anger AND THE ENERGY WE NEED TO HEAL THIS THROUGH SELF-ACCEPTANCE (Jupiter/Aries what better energy for self-acceptance, especially right now with Mars in Aries, too) ARE CONNECTED. Yes, the connection is through a challenging square, but squares (think of the way pressure makes diamonds here) get more done than smooth trines or sextiles, which are easy to miss, and this is Lilith we are talking about!

So, two things are happening with Black Moon Lilith in the sign of Cancer (home, family, mother, motherhood, our roots/tribe) squaring Jupiter for WEEKS - 1. we are all working through childhood wounds and wounds around home/mother/children and 2. our natal Black Moon Lilith is mega- ACTIVATED through tension. If you have a natal BML in aspect to Jupiter or the Moon, or 4th or 9th house this is probably all the more powerful and intense.

 

We have the collective childhood wound AND the personal wound (which will also connect back to childhood/past-lives/ancestral DNA) - activated/enlarged/ripe for healing. Black Moon Lilith in Cancer can bring a sensitivity to areas of our emotions that we have not been able to express before. Squaring Jupiter in Aries this expression may come out in over-the-top/angry ways, especially if we are just reacting and not responding. Her connection to Jupiter can also provide an outlet of optimism/faith in ourselves and a benevolent universe that was lacking when the wound was created. This is how we start responding instead of reacting. We can find/own our own wound/fear – what we’ve projected onto our family/tribe that they have also projected onto us – and realign with it.

 

The Lilith in Cancer wound (very powerful since Lilith is a lunar archetype) speaks of being shamed for being needy/dependent. 

 

For desiring mothering, home, family, stability. Lilith in Cancer can interact awkwardly with these themes. Uncomfortable being dependent even when the situation is totally appropriate. An awkwardness with motherhood/mothering or being mothered (it's not a coincidence the United States. a Sun Cancer country has a baby food shortage with Black Moon Lilith in Cancer and Roe vs Wade up for dismissal). An inability to ask for or accept help. Sometimes an anger at people who can. Wounded or angry mothers or a lie/lying connected to mothers/mothering/home (I see the 'lie' connected to Lilith's refusal to 'lie' beneath Adam, her very essence linked to that word for centuries, words are s-p-e-l-l-s, people, use yours carefully, and also the "lie" that had Lilith going from a protector of babies to a feared killer of babies). This can also apply to Lilith in aspect to our natal Moon or Lilith in the 4th house. There are an unlimited number of ways this can play out, but the bottom line is extremes of behavior that is a result of being shamed for being needy. 

 

And, of course babies/children are needy. With Lilith, the shame is always about something we are perfectly entitled to want, this is why it gets all twisted with awkwardness and anger. 

The wound's connection to Jupiter for the last few weeks and over the next month through a challenging square is designed to help us see this, work with this, maybe even help heal this. And if our inner child has been seriously wounded to the point of immobility (we don't even know what we want anymore), this square can help us get ourselves moving again.

Jupiter went into Aries back on May 9th just as Mercury stationed retrograde - we were going back to go forward. Black Moon Lilith was already in Cancer - bringing her special kind of "pissed off Danger Will Robinson" energy into our space of home/family. 

 

Jupiter has been chasing her ever since. But catching Lilith is tricky this summer and Jupiter never will. The BML/Jupiter square doesn't reach exactness/perfection. Whether this becomes a nagging thing we never get resolved (we can still learn from this, not everything gets tied up with a big red bow and that's ok) or we do get some kind of conclusion here (knowledge is power at the very least) - this starts to unwind when Jupiter slows to retrograde and then stations at the end of July. 

 

Lilith, as always, keeps moving.

In the meantime, the Jupiter square will attract situations or enlarge situations that create tension/frustration. Our feelings about dependence and neediness may come up. Shame around wanting a home/family/to be mothered or be a mother. Shame around wanting safety and security. The wounds we carry from our wounded mothers. The ways we have wounded our own children. Without work we are probably only able to accept ourselves to the degree we were accepted by our parents. And they are only able to accept themselves to the degree they were accepted by their parents. And so on. And so on. Cancer also rules tribes and countries. 

 

(this shame around neediness, the mother wound that creates narcissism among other things, is maybe our most ancient wound)

Jupiter in Aries provides an infusion of confidence and optimism and energy. The Lilith wound is healed through self-acceptance and here is our largest planet in the sign of the 'self'. I can't tell exactly how this will play out for each of us, but the square's rough edges will force change/adjustments/action. 

 

Maybe if Lilith didn't get unconditional love from God, we can't get unconditional love from our parents (even if they give it), can't give it to ourselves. These kind of shadow energies, feelings we don't want to deal with, squeeze out in all kinds of awkward, uncomfortable, passive-aggressive and angry ways. With Black Moon Lilith in Cancer all kinds of childhood wounds will come up to be looked at/worked through. The wound itself created a kind of 'seed' of fear that we have been growing in the dark and carrying with us like an old suitcase (and yes, you can imagine it with tentacles ripping through the torn leather seams).

 

If we can see our original behavior for what it is (perfectly logical at the time), forgive OURSELVES, offer ourselves compassion/understanding, maybe we can eliminate the worn out/awkward ways we have of responding emotionally. At least, through astrological study, we will take the first step -  we will notice them. Next month when Mercury hits Black Moon Lilith on July 9th and again on July 27th when Venus does, we will be better able to deal with whatever is going on. We likely can't totally heal our wounded child/old childhood hurt, but we can stop re-enacting these painful stories through unconscious emotional reactions and start responding in more conscious and healthier ways.

If anyone is interested in investigating their personal Black Moon Lilith wound, I would like to give some examples here on the blog. I used to do this here more regularly, but haven't done this in awhile. They will be written about publicly, but anonymously (without your name, birthdate, etc, nothing will identify you) - just send me your birthdate, place and time via email to cativins@gmail.com with a heading about Black Moon Lilith. Send the email within a couple days.

 

If I have done anything with your chart, I may have this information on file. Expect the write ups to appear here on the blog within a few days in Part II. How many I get to will depend on how many requests come in.

 

And we will finally unpack the Depp/Heard charts in part III (the mother wound, fall of women from Goddess to demon, releasing rage against men) - also look at ways to remove the curse, offer ourselves compassion and self-acceptance, to grieve the past and move on because there is a cornucopia of opportunities for a new life waiting to replace our old one. 

 

And big changes are coming.

xo all

 

I should add Black Moon Lilith is a complicated archetype/energy - she can't be reduced to a 'wound', obviously, but seeing the root of her/our, often destructive and self-destructive behavior in this way is incredibly helpful. 

 

artwork by the amazing Svetlana Belova

weekly astrology forecast | June 20th to 26th, 2022 - talking and thinking big, intense desires, wanting something that makes us feel powerful then ... it's summer!

 

We will feel the shift toward home/family/roots/tribe as the Sun crosses over the world axis at the Cancer Solstice on Tuesday launching a new season and moving the background buzz from active fire to emotional water. 

 

Most of the planets have smooth sailing, but the Moon's aspects are trickier/more challenging, and arguably the most important now, with the Sun answering to her, so I will pop back in with some important dailies. 

 

With two planets changing signs and especially with one crossing an Aries point - we know life is changing. Mercury is walking new degrees - we are moving forward!

 

MONDAY - Mercury sextile Jupiter, Third Quarter Moon (Pisces)

TUESDAY - Venus trine Pluto, Sun enters Cancer (Summer Solstice)

WEDNESDAY - Venus enters Gemini

 

On MONDAY, Mercury, at 6 degrees Gemini, sextiles Jupiter in Aries and the Moon at 29 degrees Pisces squares the Gemini Sun

 

The lunar square is this month's Third Quarter Square, one final challenge before next week's New Moon in Cancer. The Sagittarius Full Moon - we talked about that HERE - was all about waking up/the end of the delusion/lie/escape and coming down to earth. 

 

Have we woken up? Has the exaggerated belief/hope dissolved and been replaced by something more stable and not quite as flashy.

 

It's been a week and now the Moon has made her way from Sag to Pisces. The Sun is still in Gemini. Pisces/Gemini. For some this will speak of needing to get things done/errands/communications and it's hard to focus or we are tired/exhausted/escaping. The facts are drifting. Options can dissolve. The truth can feel hard to come by.

 

This is the Moon at the very end of the very last sign and the Sun ready to move into Cancer and launch a whole new season. 

 

But first, one final wringing out of that Sag Full Moon energies!

The good news and there may be literal GOOD NEWS - the Sun in Gemini is answering to Mercury, strong in his/her home sign and sextiling - opportunity - Jupiter. Here is a way through the Third Quarter Square if we need one. Mercury/Jupiter is confident words/optimistic conversations. Maybe we are talking about that Sag situation the Full Moon was highlighting - the legal issue, wedding, publishing, foreign issue, travel, higher education, our beliefs, religion.

 

This is about looking beyond what is right in front of us/thinking about the future/seeing the big picture. 

 

Don't be afraid to stretch outside comfort zones into something foreign/ask questions/take verbal risks. There is good news/opportunity here somewhere if we just WAKE UP.

Mercury is covering new ground now, his/her retrograde in our rear-view mirror, so this is about new conversations, new information, new news. Maybe with expansive Jupiter involved we find there is MORE TO THE STORY.

On TUESDAY, The Sun moves into Cancer. The sign of home, family, mother, the past, our maternal heritage. Safety/security become more paramount now/front and center as we launch the season that brings us in touch with - who/what we can depend on, what we need to feel secure/at home/stable/our roots. Cancer is cardinal water, rules our emotions. It's the season when things can slow down as we wait for the spring plantings to BLOOM.

As the Sun crosses an Aries point of 0 degrees Cancer, we welcome the Solstice which means standstill. The Summer Solstice is the time when the sun halts his journey over the Tropic of Cancer on his tropical journey north - then after three days, turns in his tracks and begins his journey south. The time of symbolic marriage - called Midsummer (Midwinter down under). 

It's time to get up early and absorb the sunrise - at least one of the next three days if you can - there is much magic at play now. Remember our DNA carries the energy of our ancestors who celebrated the solstice all over the planet for CENTURIES.

This is powerful stuff. Set your intention for the new season of your life. Light a candle and let it burn in the sunlight. Meditate in the Sun. Get into water/the ocean. Clean your house. 

 

The Solstice chart, active until the Sun reaches 0 degrees Libra in autumn, includes a square to both the Moon/Black Moon Lilith and Jupiter in Aries, so challenges ahead for us collectively, likely with housing, family stability, nationalism, food, security, that childhood wound that created fear - that will require adjustments, Mercury sextiling Jupiter, a very powerful Venus trine to Pluto (we'll talk about next) AND five planets in their home sign, so many people have their ruling planets in their home signs now (and we all benefit from home sign planets through transit) and the Solstice keeps this energy in play/in the background throughout the summer - Aries rising, Taurus rising, Gemini Rising, Virgo rising, Libra rising, Scorpio rising, Aquarius rising and Pisces rising.

 

This is also the day, and this factors into the next season, too, via the Summer Solstice ingress chart - Venus, at 28 degrees Taurus trines a retrograde Pluto in Capricorn. This is about attracting what we intensely desire/taking something to a deeper level. Wanting something that makes us feel powerful. Wanting to feel something intensely.

Resources/values/money/intimacy. Powerful feminine energy. Controlling women and note controlling can be a verb or adjective here. If we aren't stepping into our power, someone might be stepping on us. Venus is conjunct Algol so proceed carefully. Don't lose your head! This is an earth trine, so a smooth flow of energy, intended for practical purposes - excellent for what makes sense/cents. 

Just keep in mind this is Venus's FINAL aspect in her home sign of Taurus before she moves into Gemini, so this should be something you have been building toward/part of a process - fly-by-night attractions/intensities likely won't last. We get what we want and then don't want it anymore. Taurus rules really important stuff, so, again, be practical. 

 

But, if we know what we want, this, (and the Solstice gives this aspect added staying power - it's most potent now and provides a background buzz over the summer) is where we just might get it.

On WEDNESDAY, Venus moves on from her home sign of Taurus and enters airy Gemini. 

 

Gemini Suns and rising signs get more attractive - both easier on the eye and able to attract what they want and need. Our natal and progressed Gemini house themes get more attractive, too. We are most attractive (use our Venus, think magnetic here) through Gemini (our mind, being flexible). It's a good time (through July 17th) to be talking and communicating with lots of different people about lots of different things. Venus in Gemini is about variety. In the mutable air sign (Gemini) the themes Venus rules - love, money, our values, our resources, self-esteem, women, beauty - get more light hearted. There are quickly more options available. There is also more duality - this is the space where our heart is saying one thing and our brain is saying something else.

We could suddenly recognize a mismatch between what we have and what we want. Or what we thought we had (during Venus in resource-rich Taurus) could be up for grabs a bit. 

 

With Venus in Gemini life becomes more of a flirtation. Communications are more casual, more lively and humorous. It's a good time to set aside any existing constructs about what we like and what we don't like and stay open to new experiences, new people and new situations.

This is also the week Pallas is doing everything Venus did last week, so we are bringing our wisdom/ability to strategize like a war general, into the square with Saturn/sextile with Neptune. We will talk about this in the Moon posts. Just know, if this is hitting our chart, we might see certain patterns from last week repeating, but now we are in a better/smarter position to deal with them.

xo all

artwork by the talented BisBiswas

Today's Astrology Forecast | June 16th, 2022 - what we value now, attracting the future, willing to be present for every step, better the carrot than the stick

 

 

The Moon finishes up in sober Capricorn today. She trines Venus, sextiles Neptune, inconjuncts the Sun and finally goes void at 2:41PM EDT off a conjunction with Pluto. She is void for about three hours and then moves into airy/detached Aquarius.

This is also the day the Sun trines Saturn and squares Neptune (part of this week's New Moon story, the Sun taking about a month to do what the Moon does in a couple, days - we talked about this HERE) and Venus meets the North Node (a BIG part of this summer's - NEW FUTURE - energies - we talked about this HERE). 

We can see how the Moon in Cappy - us being goal-oriented, unemotional, serious - think of the 'traditional' dad in a traditional 'mom/dad' scenario with all his power/responsibility -  is totally tied into everything else that is happening. 

Venus meets the North Node now - this is the way forward. 

 

Taurus - something more stable, comfortable, less complicated, simple, those new seeds we are putting in the ground, using what we already have, taking care of our bodies, taking care of our resources and our money, the Earth and what we value. Your Taurus house theme.

 

The Sun's square to Neptune is the challenge/what is standing in our way - the lie, the old dream, the nostalgia for what was, the illness, the addiction, the escape. 

 

The trine (smooth flow) to stable Saturn in Aquarius - the new reality, new rules, new responsibilities. Saturn is saying "no" to certain options and this is being reinforced by the Moon in Cappy inconjunct the Sun in Gemini. Some doors are closed.

That's OK, even if it looks like it isn't. 

 

Because some doors are OPEN. This summer is about a radical NEW REALITY, but Venus (right now where Mars, Uranus and the North Node will be later) is saying it's really already here. Look around you. Uranus and Saturn will both be retrograde by the time Mars gets there and the North Node is always retrograde. What seeds are you planting? What are you nurturing? Black Moon Lilith is in Cancer and, so is Ceres. This is challenging, but also a whole lot of STRENGTH. Five planets are in their home signs. 

 

WHAT DO YOU NEED?

Think about what makes the most sense/cents. What is the most practical, but also the most beautiful? Venus is in a nice alignment with Neptune and in her home sign of Taurus, this isn't about settling. This is about attracting what are actually the most important things. The things we can't live without. In some ways this is about survival, yes, but if we are lined up with our values we can flourish. The flower in your garden needs rich soil, sunlight and water. Room to grow. That's really it. What do you need? The answer is something similar.

(think about how good it feels to buy something you really want, but then think about the follow-up feeling later if you've bought something you really can't afford or hadn't put enough effort into somehow, the 'thing' can never live up, always disappoints - we need to know what we really value now/what really matters)

Venus is at 22 degrees when she meets the North Node in Taurus - she's looking for love/money in all the right places!

 

A master number. The iChing hexagram for 22 is one of my favorites and very suited to Venus in her home sign - it is called "beauty".

 

The iChing hexagram is a stack of six lines built from the ground up like a flower in the garden would grow. In each of the iChing's 64 hexagrams the pattern of broken and solid lines - which represent a unique interaction of yin and yang - tell a story. 

 

One of my favorite stories for beauty is "making your feet beautiful, putting away the carriage and going on foot".

 

This one is about not looking for a shortcut. "We are not expecting to travel quickly, to be whisked away from the dust of the open road in a isolated carriage. We are willing to be present for every step. We are not laying claim to any special status. There is a humbleness here and honest commitment to the journey. Without the carriage our trip won't be fast, but we will have the chance to discover the landscape on the way. There are things we would have missed in the carriage. We focus on that and not on the speed of our journey, our windblown hair, our tired feet."

When Mars and Uranus reach the North Node at the end of July/beginning of August they will be at 18 degrees - the iChing hexagram "corruption". I am going to talk about this in another post, but I would rather make my decisions/lean into my path NOW. Deal with reality now. Make contacts. Get things going now and next week when Venus trines Pluto and Mercury sextiles Jupiter. 

 

You probably do, too.

So, think about what makes the most sense/cents. Venus/North Node/Beauty - this is the carrot.  

 

Venus in Taurus is about enjoying life and Venus is sextiling Neptune (and Neptune is retrograde, so connecting to the part of the old dream that is still valuable). This isn't about settling, but we might need to broaden our concept of what 'success' looks like.  

 

The old definitions are already dead, killed off by Pluto on Saturn in January 2020. Keep this in mind, too.

xo all

artwork by the amazing Christobaldo1971

Mars conjunct Chiron and the Cappy Moon | June 15th, 2022 - pushed to take action that both hurts and heals

 

 

Just off her opposition with the Sun and square to Neptune, Luna moves into sober Capricorn. The sign of her detriment/exile (as the ruler of Cappy's polarity sign of Cancer). Now we are nourished by stability/work/having a goal/having control/a few bucks in the bank/cans in the cupboard.

 

Today she will square both Mars and Chiron as they meet each other in Aries.

 

People with planets/points near the middle of the cardinal signs (Aries, Libra, Cancer and Cappy) will be feeling this strongest.

 

We talked about Mars/Chiron in the weekly HERE.

 

"Very old wounds are triggered around men, masculinity, our ability to take care of ourselves/to be ourselves. Painful actions might be necessary. Situations can force us to confront a wound/weakness/vulnerability. We might be pushed to assert ourselves. It won't be comfortable. We might need to find constructive ways to deal with very old anger this week."

 

Mars in Aries can activate an existing wound around our ability to take action via ambition/passion. If our Martian ability to go after what we want is injured, we will be hard pressed to even know what we want. This is a childhood/past-life/ancestral wound that clamps down on our exuberance/vitality (this is something we are collectively working on this year, particularly this summer).

 

Chiron also speaks of physical wounds/illnesses. Mars can be a trigger for dormant energies and kick things off, but is also about initiating new action, so if you are already dealing with something physical trying something new can help. This would be a time to be careful with your head since Aries rules the head. If you know something can bring on a headache/allergy/injury avoid it now. Wear a helmet - when appropriate obviously, maybe not to bed, although I don't know what you are doing in bed, and Mars is the ancient ruler of Scorpio, so maybe that helmet makes sense there, too.

 

Action and pain are linked and that square from the cold Capricorn Moon doesn't look like a soft space to fall. Cappy is about rules, limits, authority and Aries is our instinctual nature, so it could be just doing what we do/the way we do it triggers someone else. Keep in mind, Mars is in his home sign now, so we have access to courage/initiative/youthful passion.

 

The bottom line with all of this - we are going to have to push through this. 

 

The hurt comes from the action, but so does the HEALING.

 

We are learning to be assertive, not aggressive or wimpy. The Cappy Moon is helping us by wringing some of the emotion out of the situation/keeping us sober and clear-headed. The square will force us to deal with the Mars/Chiron pushing us to be more passionate/independent/brave/stand up for ourselves/learn we can take care of ourselves. 

 

xo all 

 artwork by the talented ArthurHenri

the astrology of the Full moon in Sagittarius | June 14th, 2022 - the end of the lie, coming down to earth

 

 

On June 14, 2022, at 7:51AM EDT, the Sagittarius Moon opposes the Gemini Sun, giving us this month's Full Moon, our annual Full Moon in Sagittarius.

 

Full Moons brings things to light, to a conclusion or point of fullness/peak energy.

 
At any Full Moon in Sag - we OPEN OUR MINDS to a higher ground/broader view with a new WISDOM and at the same time welcome the choices and changing attentions of Gemini. 

 

Sagittarius is our mutable fire sign and rules such things as travel, freedom, adventure, legal situations/justice, higher education, faith, religion, prayer, optimism, problem solving, truth seekers, boldly going where no man has gone before, the quest, the luck that comes from courage/faith - it also rules carelessness, taking shortcuts, thinking we are right, making assumptions, exaggeration, overconfidence, impatience and superficial fluff.

Sagittarius is a mutable sign. The mutable signs prepare us for the change into the next season. We put on the sweater. We put away the sweater. We adjust. Mutable signs are service signs and Sagittarius is in service through the exploration of Truth - this could be legal truth or political truth but its most especially spiritual truth - its highest purpose is enlightenment and expanding what is known. 

 

We can see how this is all playing out in the United States with a quick glance at the CNN headlines.

 

Let's unpack the chart!

The Moon opposes the Sun - 23 degrees Sagittarius vs Gemini. The Moon is squaring Neptune in Pisces, sextiling Saturn in Aquarius and widely trining the Mars/Chiron conjunction in Aries - all separating. The Moon is trining Eris in Aries - applying. Jupiter, ruler of Sagittarius and so ruler of this lunation is in Aries, sextiling Mercury and squaring Black Moon Lilith.

Neptune is the focus of a T-Square with the Sun and Moon, fogging up the line between Gemini and Sagittarius. The square to Neptune speaks of what is standing in our way. The fog, illusions, lies, our own escapist tendencies, addictions, situations that require healing (health, spiritual, forgiveness, compassion). Squares to Neptune can be exhausting/draining - show if we require more rest, sleep, time in water, connection with others, even a vacation. 

 

At their best, they can dissolve very old tendencies/situations/habits. In this case, with the square to a Sagittarius Full Moon - Neptune can dissolve beliefs that are no longer serving us, exaggerated hopes/optimism that are not realistic, greed, sloppy/impatient propensities that lead to failure.

Know-it-alls will find out they don't.

 

There could be an illusion/dream/lie we NEED TO SNAP OUT OF and the Full Moon's bright light WAKES US UP.

The trine to Mars/Chiron EXACT (within seconds) is about our wounded masculine. Connecting to the Full Moon this might speak of an inability to even know what we want, a shut-off vitality from childhood/fear of following our passion (this is some of what we are working with this summer, too, with Black Moon Lilith in Cancer). If action/risk wasn't safe - maybe we have drawn too quickly a line in the sand between what we can and cannot do/accomplish/be. Jupiter's applying square to Black Moon Lilith in Cancer is echoing the wounded child, wounded/wounding mother theme. Maybe lies we were told in childhood (maybe by well-meaning adults) that formed who we are and what we believe that are no longer helpful if they ever were. This might come up in big ways over the next couple weeks and has already been in play, will be in play through other energies this summer. 

Mercury is sextiling Jupiter from Gemini, walking these degrees for the third time. This is part of the SOLUTION. The information, conversations, communications that are coming in now aren't brand new. Maybe we are talking about/thinking about old situations or working with revised information, BUT we (through Mercury) have taken the information back to Taurus - seen what is stable/solid and what isn't - and returned the information to Gemini to be dispersed/discarded/decided. We are dealing with whatever we are dealing with from an older and wiser perspective. The revised information/facts may be challenging to us, but, have, in a sense, been audited. 

The Full Moon's sextile (opportunity) to serious Saturn in Aquarius is the way through the Neptune square. There is solid ground here somewhere. Reality is supportive. Dad/authority/older people/someone who knows more than we do about this are supportive/helpful. The opportunity comes through taking something seriously, growing up, being responsible, being accountable. BEING REALISTIC. Rules and limits are HELPFUL/healthful. Sagittarius is about expansion, so maybe something now needs to be reeled in order to stabilize it. A bold Sagittarius vision may need to be narrowed down. Saturn rules time which is on our side here, so don't rush.

 

Sagittarius tends to like shortcuts, but Saturn is not allowing any corner-cutting.

To bottom line this one for us on a collective level - something is concluding/peaking/coming to light, that will dissolve an old belief/exaggerated hope and lean us into REALITY. The vision dissolves and is replaced by something more stable/not so big/not so flashy. THIS IS A GOOD THING.

 

Coming down to Earth is supported.  

 

xo all 

 

Health situations (including mental health) are tricky with a Full Moon square Neptune, so take care of yourself. Things definitely can conclude now and over the next couple weeks, but might also seem to be expanding. Give that Neptune something to do - make art, listen to music, dance, meditate/medicate (if appropriate and within reason because effects could be amplified), get into water, get enough sleep/rest. Lean into Saturnian authority/professionals now. Take serious/sober action.