Astrology Forecast for Creatives | Week of September 12th - here comes the lunar eclipse, grab your pillow!

pillow fight by shadow and soul

This is a challenging week filled with twists and turns and big news. All week we are building to the Lunar Eclipse on Friday!

On Monday, we are at the midpoint of this Mercury retrograde. By now we know what this "re" period is about for us. If someone or something connects from the past now -she/it is here to focus our attention on something we missed, needs to be "re-done" or have been avoiding.

We have Mercury (mind, communication) squaring (tension) Mars (war, impulsiveness). This can lead to disagreements, making hasty decisions and jumping to conclusions. So let's not. We might hear or read something that makes us mad. We could say/write something that makes others mad, too. We also have the Sun conjunct Mercury (in Virgo) to increase our verbal and written confidence and maybe offer us one of those Oprah "aha" moments.

On Tuesday, the Sun squares Mars (this aspect is the over-riding theme of this week!). This is another tense transit, but could get us moving. Use this energy to create something bold. Passionate energy will be available. We should think (Virgo Sun) before we act (Mars). We could be impatient and irritable. If you are a road rage prone driver just stay home. If you need to have a meeting with a boss or competitor it could be challenging, stay on your toes, but maybe try not to step on theirs. A good defense is the best offense now. On the other hand, if something is really worth fighting for, we'll have the right energies available. Take care with power tools and with fire.

If you like to fight this could be your favorite week! :) We get these energies a couple times a year although happening during a Mercury retrograde and with Monday's long Void Moon - let's not make any long term, binding decisions!

On Wednesday, we start to get clearer on what will be - ending/ eclipsing out/ coming to light - with the eclipse energy (in our Pisces house).

On Thursday, the Moon squares Saturn and Mars squares Chiron.

(Yes, this is a week of squares. Squares = tension and frustration, but without them pretty much nothing would ever happen. We react with indignation against some status quo thingamajig, situation or person, then we begin to organize a way to change it. Maybe 'crowds' of people, energies and resources gather around the focal point of grievance. Maybe we gather our own energies and resources. The emotions that were birthed in reactive indignation or annoyance become an inner source of strength. Or maybe we just get pissed off and fly off the handle!)

The Moon squaring Saturn is like mom and dad fighting or maybe having to grow up too soon. We have to appear stronger than we actually are, or more stable. We have to step into something we are not quite ready for. Maybe something/someone we relied on for support is no longer available so we become more self sufficient. Or a home issue arises or requires our attention now. It can also make things appear a bit bleak - brighter days are ahead folks and not very far away!

Mars squaring Chiron while the Sun opposes Chiron could indicate we need to take some action (Mars) that won't feel good (Chiron). It may not actually solve anything (it might though), but could need to happen anyway to shift the energies around the situation. It could hurt. With Chiron we are talking about a wound that is old and deep. Words like 'should' and 'guilt' might force us to do things differently this time or wrap things up. Both Chiron and Mars are players in Friday's Full Moon Eclipse so everything that is happening this week will lead us to that culmination, revealing, ending.

There are multiple void moons during work hours this week. The Moon is void all day Monday. On Wednesday the Moon goes void just before lunch and on Friday the Moon goes void at 3:00 pm - all times EST. Void Moons are great times to get things done so we will have a productive week. They are not great times to start brand new things though - if you want anything to come of them (sometimes we don't though). Keep this in mind. If we are starting something important and can wait for Mars to go into Capricorn and the Mercury retrograde to end, let's wait for that. If we can't wait choose times when the Moon is not void.

I'll write another post about this week's Full Moon Lunar Eclipse (24 degrees Pisces/Virgo) in Pisces. We can see from the energies we have building toward it there will be plenty of fireworks!

Venus is also building all week toward her opposition to Uranus (exact on Sunday) so there could be some shock or change of course regarding a woman, our income or love.

If you have anything (planet or point) in the later degrees of the mutable signs - Virgo, Pisces, Gemini, Sagittarius - this would be a good week to get some extra exercise or work done or fall plantings in the ground to burn this Mars energy off in a productive way!

Stay tuned. xo all

Saturn Square Neptune (reality vs the dream) | Venus Square Pluto (love vs power)

jealousy by heatherz

Saturn squares Neptune and Venus squares Pluto today. We're still in the middle of Eclipse season. Mercury is still retrograde. Whew!

Venus square Pluto feels like jealousy (or suspicion) or some kind of manipulation to attract/get what we want. Maybe it's lusting after money or power or someone or maybe it's love and sex feeling like two different planets. Maybe something is shameful or maybe there is obsession. Maybe something is not as pretty as it seems. The shadow of our relationships can rear its head here. Can we be powerful and still be loved? Can we love and hold onto our power? Expectations within relationships could be too high now.

With Jupiter in Libra our relationships will be very much our focus over the next year - we'll be seeking connection and belonging, figuring out how we all fit together and creating a whole new world. We need to trust that whatever happens next we can handle it to let go of the need to manipulate our relationships, other people and ourselves. We need to trust. The fall out from games played will not be worth the results we get or like the bumper sticker says, "Karma is a bitch".

Saturn square Neptune (reality vs the dream) - we have been working with this aspect since last November. It's THE transit of 2016 and today is the last and final exact connection. After today it starts to separate. I don't think we'll miss it! Some issue that has been shifting on us since last year is culminating or breaking through the surface here. Maybe we've let go of some dream and come down to earth. Maybe we've decided to actually work to make some dream a reality. Whatever we do will be the correct way forward here (and other roads may be blocked now anyway).

Saturn/Neptune has been shaking up the outer world by waking everyone up. Here's to hoping this one allows us to all sleep in ..... :)

Our Capricorn Moon will be void almost all Monday (working hours) so we will get a lot done, but it's not a good time to start anything new - just a heads up! xo all

Jupiter into Libra | beauty, partnership, balance and fairness - part II

pencil vs camera by ben heine

Jupiter moves into Libra this morning where she will hang her hat until October 2017. We talked about this in general in in Part I. Let's look at how Jupiter could affect all of us.

Libra is the sign that follows Virgo and the sign that precedes Scorpio. So in Virgo we focus on the nitty gritty details - we get it done as well as we can do it. We don't skip any steps. We do this thing, whatever it is, keeping in mind that it is really to serve other people, and we do it without overtaxing ourselves (and I am very much simplifying it here).

We move to Libra. We share this thing with the world. We take it 'out of the box'. That dream/gift we were building last year in Virgo - it gets opened during this transit. We also get to see/share other people's dreams/gifts. We come together with like minded others. Libra is the space in the zodiac where we love through sharing, cooperation, by looking through another person's eyes. It is the sign of relationship. It is the sign of real beauty.

The polarity sign (opposite) is Aries - which is the sign of me, me, me. This is where the balance comes in. If Libran energy leans too far toward the other person, we lose our connection to our Aries, to ourselves - we have people pleasing, we have living our life for other people, we have pouring pink paint on relationship problems and pretending everything is a-ok.

Then we head into Scorpio where all that crap gets unearthed and looked at. It won't be pretty.

Now Jupiter in Libra is a very good transit - it brings to mind the lyrics 'what the world needs now is love, sweet love", so I don't want to get all negative on it. Just keep in mind the balance thing and the 'we head into Scorpio next year' thing (and we have some oppositions to Uranus before then) that will be harder to deal with if we try to cover up, or float through, our problems now.

The bottom line - Libran beauty isn't about how we look - it's about what we are looking at and what we are sharing with others. 

What are we looking at? What are we sharing?

We will 'expand' during this transit by filling up with and sharing with others what is beautiful.

OK let's go through the signs/houses. You can look at your Sun sign here BUT it will be more accurate to check your rising sign (sign on cusp of 1st house)

BUT it will be most accurate if you know the house where Libra sits in your natal chart (and it can be multiple houses - mine is 11th and 12th). Go to astro.com - free horoscopes - natal chart. Or just ask me!

7th house ARIES- this is about expanding through your relationships. You will have an increased enthusiasm and opportunities to broaden your intimate relationships. This could be a time when you are required to learn compromise, not really Aries strong suit. This transit can unfold the next step in your closest relationship(s). Someone new and significant could come into your life during this next year - this could be personal or professional. With Uranus in your sign you are a catalyst for others now, too.

6th house TAURUS - this is about expanding through your work and/or your health routines. Your relationships with co-workers and employees and your pets will expand and be more optimistic, too. You will likely have an increased work load (maybe an opportunity to travel for work) and the increased energy to handle it or you will have to make changes in your work routine to balance your health needs. Imbalances will show up. This transit gives you 'luck' with health and work matters. If you need to turn your health around - here's where you do that.

5th house GEMINI - this is about expansion through creative expression. This is a great transit to play. This is a great transit to create - art and love and babies. Just don't take a total vacation on your responsibilities. You could travel for love or a creative project. HAVE FUN.

4th house CANCER - this is about expansion through your home and family. Maybe someone new moves in or maybe you move to a bigger/better place. Maybe you re-decorate. Maybe you set up totally new roots. If you have a home business - it expands. This transit offers enthusiasm and positivity with your family situation and opportunities to improve the 'base/bottom line/home'. Imbalances within your home will show up to be worked through and you will have the energy to deal with them.

3rd house LEO - this is about expansion through communication. You can sell and promote and connect with others via the verbal and written word. You will have big ideas and improved, more optimistic thinking. Your relationship with siblings can be more of a focus and can improve. If you have a tendency to exaggerate or embellish with your words this habit could grow bigger until the imbalance comes to your attention. You could travel to visit siblings or to share your ideas or words with others. YES, write that book and get it out there.

2nd house VIRGO - this is about an expanding wallet (here's where you get a little, or a lot, of reward for all the Virgo focus the past year!). You could make more money or increase whatever it is you 'value' - the stuff money can buy and the stuff money can't. This transit can improve your self-esteem. Maybe you raise your prices. Maybe you get a raise. You value yourself more now. Your income can increase and so can your spending. Imbalances with your money and other people's money will show up for re-alignment as well as self-esteem issues. Resources expand.

1st house LIBRA -  this is about expanding your whole life. Dream big. Spread your wings. This transit will increase your charm and ability to get along with other people. It brings love and attention. Someone could show up to assist you with study or travel. Imbalances will show up where you have a lack of boundaries, people pleasing or are too dependent. Make your life more beautiful, share it with others - you deserve it!

12th house SCORPIO - this is about expanding through what is hidden. Unseen forces are assisting here - there is spiritual protection. This is where things fall into place and good things can happen without much effort - this is also a preparation phase for next year's Jupiter transit through your sign. Memories may come up for you that bring expansion and healing. Imbalances will show up with things coming to light that are hidden.

11th house SAGITTARIUS - this is about expansion (luck and opportunities) through friendships and group activities. If you are a homebody or hermit (unlikely!) - opportunities will come up to get you out and about. You will unfold with other people. You can make friends with people who are very different from you now and this friendship will expand your way of seeing the world. If you carry a secret wish for your life - this is where it can come out in the open and manifest. Imbalances will show up through groups and issues with friends can come out to be worked through.

10th house CAPRICORN - this is about expansion through professional opportunities and public status. Relationships with authority figures and bosses will improve. You will have the energy to take on more responsibilities or imbalances will show up between work and home. You might travel for work. Your reputation will improve. This is a great transit for professional success!

9th house AQUARIUS - this is about expansion through travel, education, publishing, spirituality, working with anything 'foreign' to you. Legal issues work out in your favor. Maybe you have a great big wedding. Your wedding, travel, education, legal, spiritual job or business expands. This is a great time to study or explore something new. Your book gets published. You and your work gets media attention. Aquarius trines Libra so 'brakes are off' with this stuff! Anything standing in your way is on its way out!

8th house PISCES - this is about expansion through shared resources. This is a 'luck through loss' transit. A loss triggers an opportunity here. Maybe your partner's income increases. Maybe your tax or loan burden shifts or improves. Maybe you inherit money or something of value. This is also about increased physical and emotional intimacy and reproduction. Imbalances will show up through overspending or those taxes, loans, spouse's money issues. Taboo subjects can bring growth now.

Unlike Saturn, where growth comes from constriction and loss, Jupiter brings growth and unfolding through expansion, through more, the addition of something new. We'll work with this energy as we move through it - it will be a good thing! xo all

Jupiter into Libra | beauty, partnership, balance and fairness - part I

tree of libra by fishbot1337

We've had Jupiter, the planet of expansion and 'good luck', in the persnickety sign of Virgo for the last 13 months. We have expanded through the details - gotten bigger by going smaller.

Jupiter is big - larger than all the other planets combined. She rules the sign of Sagittarius (and was the ruler of Pisces before the discovery of Neptune). She is Saturday after a hard week at work. She is the Sun after a week of rain. She is faith and this isn't so much a religious faith (although it can be) - this is a faith that 'things are going to be alright' - that life is worth living, that things will get better. I used to see Jupiter as growth but now I see her more clearly as unfolding. You can decide what you think or if there is even a difference (since we and everything is all connected).

Jupiter is never happy in Virgo. She has had to cram herself into too small a space - the way a woman (or man - this behavior feels more typically feminine) shrinks herself into a job or a conversation or a marriage.

Jupiter wants/needs to go big and Virgo is happiest attending to the small details of things. With Virgo's propensity to notice the tiniest of flaws - remember the word Virgo comes from Virgin which means whole and the Virgo space is in our charts is where we are whole already and often do our best work alone - and Virgo's propensity to want just what it wants, it's been difficult for Jupiter to work her magic.

We still have our North Node (collective way forward) in Virgo until May 2017. So we are still moving forward by taking care of what is right in front of us; the little details of things, our health, service to others, etc.

Our expansion (Jupiter unfoldment - growth?- and good luck) is going to come through Libra now.

Libra is an air sign, ruled by Venus, and all about beauty and fairness and balance and harmony. Libra rules the 7th house of partnership. We can see how Jupiter's expansive qualities can move more easily in a space like this!

Jupiter will travel through Libra rather quickly. She gets to 23 degrees of Libra by February 7th when she retrogrades until June 10th at 13 degrees. She backtracks over old ground for a while (10-23 degrees - do you have planets at 10-23 degrees of Libra - they will get a triple dose of expansion and good luck!) and then begins to cover new ground on September 7th, 2017, finishing up the sign of Libra on October 10th, 2017.

All Libras and Libra risings will benefit from this transit and everyone with planets in Libra. Even those with a barren Libra house will benefit! This can be a breath of fresh air for cardinal signs - Libra, Aries, Cancer and Capricorn who have been dealing with Uranus in Aries and Pluto in Capricorn as well as all of us with planets in cardinal signs. This will also, to a lesser extent, benefit air signs. And of course, if you were born with Jupiter in Libra you will have your, once every 12 years, Jupiter return and kick off a whole new Jupiter book (not just a new chapter!). For everyone, think back to 2004-2005, and you can move backward through your  life in 12 year increments - what was happening then? what expanded/unfolded?

Jupiter in Libra is wonderful energy. We get more beauty, harmony, balance and fairness in our Libra houses and our lives. The house itself unfolds. The world has access to this energy and we can have more civility and 'come together'. Partnerships can unfold in new and beautiful ways (and yes, I mean romantic partnerships, but also that flock we've been talking about). We'll expand through our interactions with other people and they will expand through us. Opportunities for lessons around the appreciation of true beauty (nature?) and partnership and balance and fairness will come to us.

The shadow to all of this is that the lucky Libra is lazy. And those scales of balance can get wobbly fairly easily. Libra energy (mental/air) can hold onto some crazy ideal fantasy in such a way that it encounters harsh lessons of reality to loosen its grip. There is a youthfulness and sometimes almost a recklessness to Libra that can shift it out of balance. Libra can also focus too much on their partners and partnerships (although this is also the area in which they are intended to shine).

Libra's opposite sign of Aries has been housing Uranus (rebellion, things happening out of the blue, radical change) for the past few years and while Jupiter is in Libra she will oppose Uranus a few times - these times will be tricky. We'll talk about them as we move through them.

If we are responsible and pull our own weight, if we collaborate and compromise, if we don't get too extravagant, this will be a good transit. There is kind of a feast or famine energy to Jupiter in Libra and it could bring some extreme experiences with comfort, and we'll deal with that, too.

Libra is about beauty - real beauty - not the photo-shopped images forced upon our optic nerves and carried to our weary brains everyday.

Do you know which house holds Libra in your natal chart? Do you know what part of your life that house represents? This space will unfold as well as the universal themes Libra rules - beauty, partnership, harmony, balance and fairness.

How do we feel now about this area of our life and about these themes? What would make us feel better? Can we trust an unfolding here? Can we grow into more of ourselves, even if it is noisy and complex and not so pretty? Or will we shut all this shit down so we fit in / stay comfortable / keep the peace?

I'll be back tomorrow with part II and what this means for each sign/Libra house - time to make the lockets! xo all