Aies Moon | resistance, urgency

porcelain by L-N-E

Today's Aries Moon (first quarter square) is opposing Jupiter, squaring Pluto and the Sun and conjuncting Uranus. There are power struggles and disagreements. That supportive angle to revolutionary Uranus tells us that fresh approaches are best. Mercury still retrograde tells us we don't know what we don't know. Things will be clearer after Mercury stations direct on Sunday.

We could be feeling a strong push to do something. We could also be feeling a strong resistance to doing anything. First quarter Moons are a time of action. They are also the time the first tension and problems hit whatever launches at the New Moon. There is pressure. Decisions (and sitting things out and not making any) will have ramifications. What do we really want to do? And what can we live with? More stability is needed ... or more freedom.

Jupiter in Libra says expansion comes through balance and fairness now.

I have a friend who has a job she loves/hates. She loves the work. She hates the finances of it. She doesn't make enough money and her job is too many hours and leaves her too depleted to make extra money in another way. She's been in this loop for years. Well, now a situation has come along that is forcing her hand. Something has to change. She has to change it. She doesn't know what to do, but this love/hate thing is keeping her stuck.

Can you really love a job that doesn't equally compensate you? Isn't it a bit like loving a guy who doesn't love you back. Can you really hate the money if you have been accepting it for all these years? Isn't it a bit like eating oatmeal for breakfast every morning while hating oatmeal?

She blames the company, the boss, the economy. Anything to keep from looking at what is really happening here. I said, "Try loving the work a little less. Try loving the money a little more." Visualize yourself coming back into balance. Do some yoga. Start there. See how that feels. See what opens up.

If you have planets or points around 20 degrees of the cardinal signs - Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn - you will be feeling the power struggles and issues around your security, your home, your work, your family. We are also being reminded that even though we might have coupled up - we still have our own individual journeys to walk here.

If you have planets or points around 20 degrees of the mutable signs - Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces - Saturn is pinning that space in your life to the wall with a pushpin the size of an elephant.

That insurmountable whatever-it-is has most likely been made insurmountable by our inability to face it earlier. It's grown like one of those snowballs that kids turn into Frosty's ass.

That's OK. We are where we are right now. Maybe it took urgent, to break down our resistance to facing whatever the hell this thing is. Go read The Hobbit or something about dragons and brave warriors. Mercury is still retrograde. Clean a closet. Clean all of them. When we don't have the answer either seek to clarify the question or shelve it ... for now.

xo all

Venus into Pisces | I water you and you water me and we grow together ....

Gasp by Greta Tu

Venus enters Pisces until February 3rd.

Venus loves Pisces. After the last few weeks in Aquarius where she was keeping her distance it feels good to merge again. Boundaries blur. Artistic yearnings beckon us to create something.

Imagination attracts us. 

It is easier to see the best in others when we realize we are all connected.

No one wins. No one loses. We are all coming along for the ride. 

We wonder, when we look at the person we do not agree with - "what truth has this person been able to see from his perspective, that is invisible from mine?".

Compassion attracts us. 

Pisces Suns (and ascendants) become more attractive - both easier on the eye and able to attract what they want. Everyone's natal Pisces house gets more attractive, too.

With Venus hanging out in the realm of dreams and possibilities anything is possible.

The fly in the ointment of Venus in Pisces, and yes, no matter the temperature outdoors, or the fact we just installed those insulation strips around our windows, there's still a fly in here somewhere - is all the stuff a lack of boundaries could conjure up that might not feel good.

We could trust someone too much or put too much faith into something. We could realize that fancy new doormat that says WELCOME ALL actually has our name on it. We could feel confused about what we want. The energy of "anything is possible" can feel an awful lot like "nothing is possible" with a slight twist of circumstances.

Reality morphs. Germs spread. Money can slip right through our fingers now (here come the holiday bills).

Stay grounded. Watch for escape mechanisms/addictive behaviors. Meditation can prevent medication. Prayer works miracles. Water soothes. If it feels like we are drowning, we will remember this is just a transit - it will pass (some of the emotional stuff as early as Thursday when the Moon leaves Pisces).

There is alot of Pisces energy right now - we haven't had this much Pisces since early March 2013!

Mars (action, initiative, anger) just walked the degrees Venus is about to cover, so we get to reap what we have sown here. With Mars still traveling through Pisces, too, there is still time to move in a new direction if we don't like the results we are getting!

With Mercury retrograde until Sunday, 2017 hasn't really started yet. We are easing into it. This energy will help. xo all

Astrology Forecast for Creatives | Week of January 2nd - our Mercury retrograde story wraps, something comes to light, something fades to black ...

recent color by KalbiCamdan

This week we have Mercury (retrograde) moving back into Sagittarius and Venus heading into Pisces. We also have the annual meet-up between the Sun and Pluto.

2017 will be just as challenging as 2016, but in a different way. By autumn 2016 either our dream came true or we released it - and if we are still dragging it, it's dead, time to let it go and move on.

We will be very glad we did!
 
We move from a focus on mutable (in flux, changeable) signs to cardinal (initiative, fresh start). This will be a busy year, let's establish a plan now to make time to stay healthy, have time for ourselves and what matters most to us and maintain our sanity.

Technology is outpacing our central nervous systems! With so much Jupiter and Uranus energy in 2017 we can expect big (and bold) breakthroughs. Maybe something even more life changing than Google will launch - can we remember life before Google? Biden's cancer "Moonshot" initiative launched with excellent astrologically energy behind it, maybe we will finally put this bad-boy disease to bed.

On Tuesday, Venus moves into Pisces. Pisces Suns and ascendants get more attractive - both easier on the eye and able to attract what they want. Our Pisces natal houses get more attractive, too. We have Venus, Mars, Neptune and the Moon in Pisces (Monday and Tuesday) sextiling all the Capricorn planets. This feels balanced. Venus loves being in Pisces - I'll do a post about this tomorrow.

On Wednesday, a retrograde Mercury backs into Sagittarius. Maybe some news or information from our Sagittarius natal house or with a Sagittarius theme (higher education, travel, foreigners, beliefs, weddings, religion, politics) gets a second look. With the stellium of planets in shifting Pisces,  I wouldn't believe anything presented to me now at face value. It will become clear next week and moving forward after Mercury moves direct. Mercury will only get back to 28 degrees Sagittarius, so most of this retrograde was reviewing the 'rules' of Capricorn and we take a brief visit into the realm of faith and truth (or lies). We might be looking too far ahead - or be too focused on what is right in front of us. A change in our viewpoint could help us find direction and meaning now. There is no need for any fast moves - let's wait until we know what we want to do.

On Thursday, the Moon (in Aries) will oppose Jupiter (in Libra) - this energy is itching for a fight; an emotional one. If something has been building and building it is apt to come to a head now.

On Saturday, the Sun and Pluto conjunct in Capricorn. This only happens once a year - a spotlight is thrown on power or a control issue. Maybe something regarding power/control "comes to light". Or our ego (Sun) dies (Pluto) - makes me think of Mariah Carey on New Year's Eve! We could be humbled in some way. Venus conjuncts the South Node (in Pisces) so something from the past involving women, love or money (Venus themes) culminates. Probably in the very slippery, "fading away" way of Piscean energy. Stuff will be hidden.

(you might remember during the run up to the election Hillary was very closely channeling Venus - even hitting the wall of Comey as Venus met up with Saturn, maybe she moves into some Piscean compassionate or 'behind the scenes' work now or focuses on her health)

With so much of this Mercury (information, communications, news) Retrograde in Capricorn (government) story in the U.S. focused on the Russia hacking allegations, probably that story will get new life as Mercury backs into Sagittarius on Wednesday. If the rest of the week's energy focuses on this story it is likely we get new information that may alter some people's beliefs, followed by a fight, followed by someone/something taking firmer control.

We will continue to cover this ground until the end of January when Mercury finally starts hitting new degrees but by the time Mercury moves direct on Sunday we will know what we need to know to move forward.

And this same energy plays out in our personal lives in this same general order - what has this retrograde been about in your own life?!

I am getting back to that big picture post today or maybe just a January post and will hopefully get it up later. xo all

New Moon in Capricorn | the climb

climb by little-moonshine

Today's New Moon is at 8 degrees Capricorn.

The New Moon is always a time of Sun conjunct Moon. They come together once a month (from our perspective) - the Moon is hidden/dark and we start a whole new cycle.

Let's look back at 2016 and see what we have survived and what we have achieved. Let's not worry about where we 'should' be or what we 'should' have done. Let's just look at where we are now. Where we are now is the perfect place to be to get to where we want to be next. There is nothing pie in the sky about Capricorn energy, It's a 'just the facts Jack' time of year.

Things are serious. Serious doesn't scare us.

This month we also have a retrograde Mercury joining the Sun and Moon. This is significant. It gives additional significance to this Mercury retrograde, too.

If you remember Mercury was just about to conjunct Pluto when he stationed retrograde pulling his energy away from Pluto. We know the things Mercury rules - communication, transportation, our local neighborhood, siblings - as well as the theme of our natal Capricorn house (where is Capricorn in your natal chart?), will have important roles to play over the next 28 days.

There is a lot of energy in Capricorn now (ruled by Saturn) -  responsibility, stability, maturity, security, ambition - this is serious stuff.

Can you feel the weight of everything that is happening in the world; the seriousness of it all? I can, too.

The Moon is squaring Jupiter (in Libra). Jupiter is opposing Uranus (in Aries). Uranus is trining Saturn (in Sagittarius) and tomorrow Uranus will finally move direct. There is momentum here. It feels a bit like a powder keg to me ...

Maybe the most important aspect is that Uranus trine (brakes off) to Saturn since a stationing Uranus is uber powerful and we still have Saturn in Sagittarius for the entire year of 2017 and Saturn is the ruler of this Capricorn New Moon.

There are opportunities here for people who are not distracted by the newest bright, shiny objects and can stay focused on the work necessary to make these opportunities pay off.

This isn't the best time to make choices, but choices are really mostly our rationalizations anyway. The reasons we cite for our choices are often coming from some other space in the past. Moving away from old habits is tricky ...

It is almost accurate to say we should make our choices based on what feels good. This way of looking at things breaks down the habit of self-rejection/sabotage by allowing us to embrace pleasure as our friend

(and for those who think making choices based on what feels good means the dishes never get done and the trash piles up - well, that might happen for awhile, but at some point it will feel good to clean it up - and that's when we'll clean it up). 

And 'what feels good' is different than addiction, which feels familiar, and that's something else to think about.

The energy of 2017 is very different than 2016 which was dominated by the Saturn/Neptune square of dreams vs. reality (and often illusion vs reality). The Saturn (sobering) in Sagittarius (truth) is sticking around though. Good-bye 2016, don't let the door hit you on your way out - or maybe go ahead and let the door hit you 2016, you deserve it.

The first two thirds of 2017 will be dominated by the Jupiter/Uranus/Pluto stuff and of course we still are dealing with that 'sobering truth'. And we have so many retrograde planets next year! We'll talk about this later.

Let's look at what this New Moon energy squaring Jupiter (with Jupiter opposing Uranus) might look like through the signs. Plus that Saturn trine. This is complicated, so your sign might sound a little all over the place.

Anyway here goes .... (if you know your rising sign - 1st house sign on the cusp - use that for best accuracy, and also check your Sun sign)