Mercury into Taurus | don't get stuck in the weeds

mi escondite by alberto poloianez

Mercury moves into earthy Taurus today. He will be direct until the end of the month when he stations retrograde, retraces his earlier steps moving backward (from our perspective) and then stations and begins to move direct (May 22nd) over the same area. Mercury will be in Taurus until June 13th.

Mercury is all about communication and the way we think and process information. Taurus is cautious and deliberate and all about security and material comfort. 

With Mercury hunkering down in Taurus for this extended stay, we can expect our ideas, conversations and communications to be evaluated on more practical terms now.

Stuff that doesn't have a clear track record, or stuff that is considered too risky, will be discarded. 

New ideas will be back-burnered for more tried and true methods.

People will be less flexible. Ideas will be more carefully assessed. Patience and proof will be required.

If we are looking for a commitment we can count on - this is very good energy. With Mercury in Taurus, our words, and the words of other people, will carry extra weight - promises will matter here. They will be harder to come by, but once made will be honored. Keep this in mind.

Delays will start to hit mid-month - when Mercury enters his shadow (the space he will be retracing). This can be frustrating if something feels 'ready to go' and gets slowed down, but retrogrades (if used to reassess, redo and realign) have a way of paying off later on.

Patience and the long game will be rewarded.

HOW TO USE THIS INFORMATION with your business.

If we are presenting something new to someone now it can be a good idea to use familiar language and comparisons. Know their minds (and decisions) will be seeking safety and security. People will more naturally want to go with what has worked before so figure out a way to factor that in. Solid numbers and examples will move things forward. Slow and steady might actually win the race this time.

xo all

Astrology Forecast for Creatives | Week of April 4th - change of perspective, powerful new beginnings

a change of perspective by kuschelirmel

We begin the week with a balsamic Pisces Moon - a time for wrap ups and endings. Neptune is in Pisces making Pisces Moons especially good times for creativity, artistic expression, a time to work with whatever or whoever has been 'put on the back burner' or hidden out of sight.

(here is an old post of mine about Balsamic Moons on Jess's blog)

Pisces Moons are healing Moons so even though it's Monday - it's a good time for rest, recovery and releasing addictions.

Neptune says, "going to work is escaping from going to the beach, so why not just go to the beach!". Allow yourself some time to 'stare out the window' today.

This Moon has a tricky angle to Mars - we will have to work with our intuition (Neptune) and channel the Aries Sun (warrior energy) if someone tries to take over and push us around. We don't want to allow ourselves to be pressured into something now.  

Tuesday is a busy day and we will feel a real push - as we build toward this week's New Moon - to get something started (Moon is void all day so not the best time to launch something new, practiced routine work is best) with both Mercury and Venus changing signs. See my post about Venus HERE.

Venus in Aries will make it easier to know what we want (and don't want) and where we stand with other people. People will love this and hate that, there will be no middle ground. It will also make us more impatient with relationship and money problems and may bring them bubbling to the surface. 

Mercury in Taurus, after our time mentally dealing with Aries hotheaded impulsive nature will allow us more time to think things through and use common sense.

Our minds will be more grounded here and our thoughts will turn toward the Taurus realm - the things we value, money and getting outside in nature! It is spring isn't it?! It's hard to tell here. Due to Mercury's upcoming retrograde he will he hanging out in Taurus until mid-June - this is a very long time for Mercury to spend in one sign since he moves so quickly - what space houses Taurus in your natal chart? - lots of communications, re-do's (there is a retrograde coming!) and focus there.

We are working through a mutable t-square (where is Gemini in your chart, look first for the answer there with any problems that are popping up now and I am just realizing if your birthday falls from March through August this transit will impact your next 12 months so we will talk about it in more detail later) and a re-connection with the Uranus/Pluto square we worked through the past couple years - this stuff will definitely be playing out on the collective (world) stage as well as in our own lives. 

Tuesday is also a trigger date for last month's eclipse so if nothing happened for us in March (karmic turning point) we could see something this week or something that was set up then, hits, ends or is brought out into the open now.

We saw last week's astrology - secrets revealed, unexpected news, fallout  - play out in major ways around the world. A secret bank account scandal involving thousands including Russia's Putin (is he actually the richest man in the world?), a bribery scandal involving major banks that fuels terrorism, global unrest and poverty, proof that fracking causes earthquakes, Trump saying out loud (women who have abortions, ie don't do what they are told, should be punished) what has been bubbling underneath for years, Clinton losing her cool with a voter's question and bringing a whole heap of new questions down on herself.

In my world, I got an unexpected call from a family member I was visiting recently that one of the kids was sent home from school with head lice. This was the kid who had decided her Aunt Cathy was "cool" enough to hang out with this trip - no doubt my thorough knowledge of Minecraft and suitcase stuffed with craft supplies and Entenmann's coffee cake played a key role in my sudden popularity. We even watched TV with our heads on the same pillow ..... (!). You can imagine my week took an expected turn after that.

Anyhoo, on Thursday we have a New Moon in Aries - Uranus is with this Moon so think BIG CHANGE with this one - there is also a trine to a retrograde Saturn that might realign what we thought was a done deal and will at least have us relooking at previously made obligations, priorities and commitments - it ain't over 'til the fat lady sings and guess what ... she ain't singin' ....

I'll post about the New Moon in a couple days! Lots of volatility this week, lots of fire, we'll need to keep a cool head and hopefully the forces in the larger world will keep theirs, too ....

xo all

(Void Moons all day Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday!)

Venus into Aries | what are we willing to fight for

pillow fight by sliwka

On Tuesday, Venus (love, money, values, women, beauty) begins her annual journey through the sign of Aries. Aries suns (and ascendants) become more attractive.

The house where Aries resides in everyone's natal and progressed charts becomes more attractive, too (ie more receptive to a makeover and more able to attract what we want and need).

In impulsive, courageous and action oriented Aries, Venus wants what she wants, she wants it now and she is willing to fight for it.

We can take this too far of course, but with Mercury (conversations, communications, intellect) moving into Venus ruled Taurus on the same day that Venus enters Aries and with both planets in these spaces for most of the month - our heads, hearts and actions working together - we are more likely to be grounded, focused, enthusiastic and able to produce tangible results (patience will be required though).

Most of the time Venus gets what she needs/wants through her powers to attract.

In Aries, she (and we) will need to be a little more active to get things going. Our powers to attract will be greatly enhanced when wedded to an ability to initiate and act assertively now.

On the flip side, our Aries house - the space where we are naturally more inclined to create situations that force a need for us to stand up for ourselves - will enjoy a greater sense of ease, magnetism and peace with lovely Venus taking up residence.

Competition and jealousy can be issues now. Know this. We'll work from the highest space we can hold.

The fly in the ointment (yes, another fly, will somebody please shut the door!)  - Aries is ruled by Mars and Mars will go retrograde on the 17th of April. So things will not be as "full steam ahead" with Venus in Aries as other years - expect slowdowns and delays.

Expect people and situations from the past to show up for things to be reworked through our actions. Expect a renewed spark for something we were previously passionate about. Expect to find ourselves fighting about something from the past (love, money, values) and this is actually a time (over the next few weeks) when rehashing this old stuff could actually put it to bed once and for all.

Whatever happens this week we should certainly feel a push to do something.

xo all

(if you haven't seen this - Amy Cuddy's excellent Ted talk on how 'power posing - standing in a posture of confidence, even when we don’t feel confident - can affect testosterone and cortisol levels in the brain, and might even have an impact on our chances for success. Excellent info for Aries season!)

Astrology Forecast for Creatives | a peek at April

april rain by mirella santana

Let's take a quick look ahead at April, since so much will be happening (and not happening) - forewarned will be forearmed now.

We have a New Moon next week in Aries (with aspects to Uranus, Pluto, Saturn and the North Node). This feels like a very big, new and maybe unexpected commitment. Or I should probably write COMMITMENT. This one could have staying power for better or worse (we will need to be flexible, patient and ready to pivot as needed - where is Aries in your chart?) so caution is needed.

The energy around this New Moon will bring some major outer world events, too (April 6th-11th).

There is the opportunity for great wins and terrible losses here.

(and if that sounds dramatic, well we are living through dramatic times ... and I have been serial watching Happy Valley while I work and feeling strong and stable and much like that other Catherine this morning; the tough police sergeant - another great show with wonderful, complicated female characters - love it)

The Aries New Moon is an excellent time to create a vision board as we kick off the astrological year!

Last year's New Moon had no aspects to any other planets and this year the Moon has many intense aspects, so yes, this new year will be complicated (in the outer world and in our own lives) - as if we had any doubt about that! Remember we are all in this together - truly we are. See my post about vision boards from last year here.

The best time to begin something new will be between the New Moon and the April 22nd Full Moon, although I would get it launched before Mars goes retrograde on the 17th.

And that's the word of the month for April - retrograde. We begin the month with Saturn and Jupiter retrograde. As we move through April - Mars, Pluto and then Mercury will go retrograde, too. This is a whole lot of sky moving backward (from our perspective). There will be roadblocks, challenges and standstills (but aren't there always?!).

After all the changes and revisions (by late summer, early autumn) we will know where we are headed and how we need to proceed.

The best way through some of this will be to 1. focus on what is not retrograde (we'll talk this through as we move through it) 2. release our expectations about exactly how things need to look 3. embrace the chance to work through some old stuff (look to your Sagittarius and Scorpio houses for most of this) 4. create empty space (think closets, inboxes, calendars) 5. give ourselves a break and prioritize our health 6. as always this year, keep track of the details, focus on what is right in front of us, enjoy the process.

The last time Mars retrograded close to the piece of sky he is currently traveling was in 1988. We'll talk about this as we get closer.

There will also be some people who will feel the effects of March's eclipses in April. We'll hit on all this again as it approaches.

"when the student is ready, the teacher appears"  ... buddhist proverb

I love this proverb, but used to imagine this teacher would always have a human form - like a certain someone would pop into my life just when I needed them to and I would hear just the thing I needed to hear at exactly the right time and this has actually happened to me a few times (and all of us, I am sure).

(and I have to admit that I love to play the "teacher" at times and offer unsolicited advice the other person will quickly dispense with by saying, "well, that's easy for you to say", to which I always counter, "exactly, that's why I'm saying it", which always makes them rethink whatever I have just said and gives me a guru-like seriousness, kind of like Forrest when he came to the end of his run)

What usually happens though when we are "ready" is this "teacher" appears in the form of a lesson or obstacle or something that doesn't look anything like the solemn faced Mr. Miyagi we were expecting.

So, when we are ready (ie desperately need) to learn patience, for example - life sends us opportunities to learn patience by practicing patience - in other words - delays, traffic situations, time spent waiting - this year's month of April - you get the picture.

We'll know what we need to work on by what we are working on.

People keep asking me when things will get back to normal. There really is no 'getting back to normal' although almost certainly our bodies and brains will adjust to this new speed of life (or at least the next generation's will!).

The world is changing very fast. But the problems we are encountering are not anything new. The karma (beliefs) is just unraveling faster than we could have ever imagined.

Everything we need to move past (as individuals and collectively) is coming up for us to move past - everything we have ever swept under the rug (individually and collectively), all the pain we didn't allow ourselves to feel, all the words we didn't allow ourselves to say or hear (individually and collectively), all the ways we self-sabotage and hold ourselves back (individually and collectively).

Just imagine what our world will look like without all this old stuff clogging up the works!

Today, we are in the final third quarter moon phase of the astrological year - this is the best time of the year to finish things. 

The Sun is in Aries. We will be brave. We will take action. We will take charge of our lives. We really have got this thing.

xo all

(Aquarius Moon this weekend so a great time for an adventure - do something NEW)