the upcoming retrogrades of Venus and Jupiter | what do we really want

The Bee by Natalia Drepina

Normally I don't pay much attention to Jupiter retrogrades, unless he is backing over planets or points in my natal chart. He is retrograde for large chunks of time (four out of every thirteen months) and similar things seem to occur when he is moving forward or appearing to move backward.

But this year we have Jupiter in Libra and answering to Libra's ruler Venus and Venus is also retrograde (March 4th- April 15th) for part of Jupiter's retrograde amplifying whatever is happening.

Also remember we have Saturn - the other middle planet, along with Jupiter, that impacts both of collective energies and our individual energies in somewhat equal measures - still in Sagittarius and Sagittarius is ruled by Jupiter - who, as I just said, is hanging out in Libra and ruled by Venus.

There is a strong picture here of VENUS RULES. So her retrograde will be felt.

Now, looking ahead to after the Venus retrograde, which is like looking at the dessert menu before we have even eaten our salad - but yes, let's do that! From May through November - we will have a passionate Grand Trine in Fire involving Saturn, Uranus and the North Node (by this time in "I am not afraid to shine!" LEO) - this will allow us to move mountains and more than make up for the crap we have to wade through before we get there, I promise. But first we will have to put on our waders, which I hope for your sake are very TALL, and get through March and the first half of April.

Now, let's look at the degrees so you can look at your natal chart (or ask me) and we'll see what areas of life we are talking about for you personally - you are also influenced, often strongly if you have no planets or points at the following degrees, by the general themes of a Venus retrograde we will talk about.

Jupiter will station retrograde on February 6th at 23 degrees Libra. He will station direct on June 9th at 16 degrees Libra - then he'll walk forward getting back to 23 degrees Libra and proceed into new territory sometime in early September (he actually entered his shadow period on November 11, 2016). If you have planets or points from 16-23 degrees Libra (or to a lesser degree the other cardinal signs since he will square and oppose them - Aries, Cancer and Capricorn) you will have multiple opportunities for growth (or waste) and expansion.

If you have something you are wanting to start do it BEFORE February 6th and Jupiter will help expand it! Let's use every moment Jupiter is in Libra!

Now, Venus, the piece of the puzzle we are going to pay the most attention to because SHE RULES, is going to station retrograde on March 4th at 13 degrees Aries and move backward until she gets to 23 degrees Pisces (you can see she is much closer and faster and covers more ground) and station direct on April 15th. If you have planets or points in your natal chart from 23 - 29 degrees Pisces or from 0 to 13 degrees Aries, you will feel this retrograde the strongest as well as people with Libra or Taurus rising, because your chart is ruled by Venus.

But we will all be impacted - particularly within the themes of the houses in our chart that house 0-13 degrees Aries and 23-29 degrees Pisces AND within the themes Venus rules - love, money, our values, women and beauty.

HOW THIS WILL LIKELY PLAY OUT - Venus retrogrades are typically times (her last retrograde was the summer of 2015) when events transpire to show us what we value. 

Relationships are tested. The way we handle our money (and other resources including the planet Earth) is tested. 

The retrograde period itself isn't a time to make major changes - it's NOT  a good time to start a business or love relationship that we want to last, for example - it's a time things happen to get us to clarity so we can take action, if we choose to, when Venus is direct (after April 15th). Got it?

When Venus stands still in Aries in early March (and think of a planet standing still as you stilling your hand over a candle - much more powerful, and in the case of a candle painful - than a moving hand) we will also have the Moon, Uranus and Mars (very strong here) in Aries. AND the Sun, Mercury and Neptune all in drifty Pisces.

Something within the theme of our Aries/Pisces houses - or involving the Venus themes of love, money, or values - could (to use Pisces terminology) "drift off course", "evaporate" or "fade away". 

Something/someone that looked like a sure thing or our next big thing may turn out to be anything but and something/someone we had written off as over might "drift back into our lives", "re-awaken" or "re-appear".

We move from Aries (I want what I want, I want it now, I want what's mine) to Pisces (we are all one, the bigger picture, connection) and back and forth again. We figure out what we really want, what we value. This process is important.

Remember we really need to be going after the right stuff this year because we have the greatest chance we've had in a great while to actually get it!

And we want to get this stuff figured out NOW - there is no longer any "I'll figure this out tomorrow". Tomorrow is TODAY. I don't write this so we will all run off doing crazy ass things without thinking about them (although that crazy ass thing that makes your heart sing that you have been thinking about for quite a while well this could be exactly the year for THAT).

I write this only so we are all paying attention. If we are putting off stuff until we have all our ducks in a row - well this is the year those ducks line up, so be ready. The row of ducks may only look like a row of ducks if we drink two glasses of wine and squint into the Sun, but at some point even that will be good enough to get us moving. I promise.

By the end of the year Jupiter will be in Scorpio, Saturn will be in Capricorn, by the middle of 2018 Uranus will be in Taurus, Neptune in Pisces, Pluto in Capricorn and the North Node in Leo - this stuff is biblical - we want to be on course, and STRONG. Heroes and heroines will be needed.

I have a friend with a daughter disappearing (Pisces) on heroin (Pisces). There is a little less and less of her everyday. In many ways this is all of our stories now in the spaces we aren't vigilant, isn't it?

I have been poking and prodding this girl's natal chart for the times and ways her mother might reach her.

We have Neptune, so strong in Pisces until 2025, coaxing so many people with beautiful, imaginative energy into the dark void of illusion and delusion with its promises of "escape" - we all feel it to varying degrees, don't we? When the South Nodes moves out of Pisces in May and the North Node moves into Leo and especially when Saturn comes full strength next December in Capricorn - heroines will be needed. I just keep thinking of that little letter "e" that turns heroin into heroine.

And how when we hear the word spoken out loud we think first of the drug and not the woman and how we need to change that.

I have no idea what specifically this means you have to do - I do know we have to do what is right in front of us and follow our heart - we need to trust that this will get us lined up with the right stuff. Eat clean and meditate - truly there are so many studies and we need to fight this fogginess (sugar, wheat, drugs)!

(so many people say they have terrible memories now - and we are made of our memories! on the one hand this fogginess might make it easier for us to let go of things since it detaches us - on the other hand it makes us detached from each other since we are not remembering the things that keep us together!)

For now let's take NEW action by February 5th, then we'll back off a bit BUT KEEP MOVING, we'll see what Jupiter's station and the eclipses in February expand and eclipse out.

xo all

Mercury Sextile Neptune | when a picture is worth a thousand words

Semidarkness by Natalia Drepina

With Mercury, our words and language, (in all-business, just get 'er done Capricorn) sextiling Neptune (strong in dreamy Pisces) for the third time since December 10th (look for patterns!), this could be a good time to bring some imagination and a little "pie-in-the-sky" language into our conversations and communications.

Sextiles are opportunities, but they are often subtle and we miss them.

This is great energy to talk about our dreams. Just saying the words out loud can bring us the clarity we need or maybe the person we are talking to says exactly what we need to hear. Or maybe someone else needs us to listen to them. Words are magical now - use them carefully or we can choose to let our images do the talking for us. 

We can use this energy in the reverse, too. We can ground (Capricorn) our dreamy, airy-fairy conversations in the real world. We need both grounded and stable Saturn (ruler of Capricorn - Mercury is answering to him now) and Neptune (our dreams and imagination) to get anything done. And here they are shaking hands again!

This is the year everyone gets 'unstuck' and sometimes unstuck means a physical change and sometimes it means the clouds part and the fog lifts. And what we believe changes.

Remember we live in a vibrational Universe, but also in a world of contrast.

Often creative people get “strategically placed” in areas that need huge energetic help.

People who carry the vibration of truth or beauty or patience or empathy or joy or courage, etc - you see where this is going -  can arrive like human “seed bombs” into the spaces and situations they are needed.

When we can begin to embrace the greater purpose to our situation we start to decrease the resistance to us moving along to something better.

Keep this in mind. Speak (Mercury) with compassion (Pisces).

xo all

Astrology Forecast for Creatives | Week of January 23rd - wrap it up, get extra rest, new cycles at the end of the week

Synchronization by Alexan dru Crisan

On Monday, Mercury (in Capricorn) sextiles Neptune (in Pisces) so Mercury ruled conversations, communications, ideas or information focused on our goals, career, business or with authority will flow smoothly (or we could put the other person to sleep - ack!).

Mystical Neptune could also center those communications or ideas on art, healing, boundaries or what is happening "behind the scenes."

On Tuesday, the Moon is void from 12:30pm to 5:45pm EST. This is not a good time to start anything new. The Moon (in Sagittarius) in squaring Mars (still in Pisces for a couple more days) which could bring tension and struggle with legal, political, foreign, educational, religious, travel or wedding situations. Productive energy today through Thursday, but remember it is the dark of the Moon and we are wrapping things up or releasing stuff.

On Wednesday, Venus and Chiron meet up in Pisces. This could involve a situation about something we can't have or didn't get. There could be disappointment and hurt feelings now. This might take us back to whatever happened with last week's Mars/Chiron conjunction and will push us toward Venus's Friday square with "the wall" Saturn and the bold Aquarius New Moon.

On Thursday, the ongoing T-Square that impacted the inauguration chart connects with the Moon in Capricorn. Emotional career, business, goal or authority situations connect with power players Jupiter (expansion), Uranus (revolution, change) and Pluto (transformation). This can bring unexpected changes and power plays. Our natal Cancer house will be where to focus to ease the tension. The Moon is dark, wants to rest and in its detriment in Capricorn - not wanting to deal with whatever might be hitting the fan - take some deep breaths here.

On Friday, Venus squares Saturn and we have the New Moon in Aquarius. I'll do a separate post - this is a BIG day. Then on Saturday - another BIG day, Mars comes home to Aries where he'll hang out until March 9th and kick off a new two year cycle in our Aries house. This will have us more motivated, more courageous and give us more energy and initiative! Our Aries house will be WIDE AWAKE and ready to kick butt. The Chinese New Year begins and Mercury makes his annual conjunction with Pluto which kicks off another new cycle - this one in our Capricorn natal house and/or with our ongoing Capricorn themes - business, career, goals, responsibilities and limits. We'll talk about this in another post, too!

After we get a little sliver of New Moon in the sky - it will be all systems GO until at least February 6th. There aren't many GO periods in the early part of this year, if we need/want it - it's here.

After that, eclipse season is coming and will take us back to February 1998 - where were you then? That was a very challenging time for me and the eclipse is exactly conjunct my mid-heaven at 22 degrees Leo -a nail biter.

xo all

new world ... part II

Elle voulait voir (she wanted to see) by Leona Snow

Part I is HERE

Let's finish up this look at the inauguration chart by comparing it to Trump's natal chart.

The first thing I see is the Aquarius Sun in the inauguration day chart is conjunct Trump's 6th house cusp. The 6th house rules our health and work. This could give him energy and vitality with his daily work and also a focus on jobs, but also shine a light on his health (also the country's healthcare issues!) or bring to light issues with his health. I don't know if he ever had a complete physical - I remember his doctor was very vague on the papers that were released. Hopefully as he focuses on his day to day activities he will also focus on his health. He will certainly be focused on the 6th house issues of jobs and healthcare. 

His natal Sun and natal Uranus (2nd house - values, money, security) oppose the inauguration day Saturn (8th house - death, transformation, karma). Gemini Suns have been dealing with Saturn opposing them since Saturn moved into Sagittarius over a year ago and have another year to go. He has certainly faced many obstacles and succeeded. In this chart the opposition is pretty exact though. Saturn is time, work, restrictions. This shows obstacles, roadblocks from authority - he will need to focus and clarify his purpose

His Mercury (communication, information) is strong in the 3rd house (which it rules) of the inauguration chart - it will be hard/unlikely for him to stop tweeting! It opposes the inauguration chart's Mercury in the 9th house. Since the 9th house rules the media, legal issues, the courts, higher truth, foreign issues, foreign trade, immigration, higher education - his communications will continue to be at odds with these themes - no big news here.

There is an astrological configuration called a 'mystic rectangle' when we compare Trump's natal chart with the inauguration day chart. This is a connection with four planets. We have two planets in opposition to each other and separated by a sextile - it looks like an envelope. 

When found in a person's natal chart the envelope contains a gift - from the person to the world. When the person gives their gift to the world, they are rewarded in kind. 

In this case it involves Trump's 2nd, 6th, 8th and 12th houses. We can make a word sandwich with these house themes - (2nd) money, values, security, personal resources (6th) health, daily activities, work, (8th) death, rebirth, transformation, other people's resources, karma (12th) illness, lies, hidden enemies or alliances, stuff put away, secrets, self-sabotage, escape, addiction, imagination.

We'll have to see how this plays out.

There is also a T-Square here involving Trump's natal Venus/Saturn conjunction and the inauguration chart's Uranus and Jupiter. This one also involves the 6th and 12th houses and the 4th house of home, family, country. Since Venus is the ruler of Trump's mid-heaven (career, public reputation, life's goal) Taurus and his "home" is now The White House (his place of work) this year's Uranus/Jupiter opposition - one of the big ongoing aspects in 2017 - will be impacting him big time.

(and with his natal Uranus/Sun conjunction I think whenever I say "Uranus" in the weekly forecasts - and you can pronounce this either way, long a or short a, depending on your feelings about the President and these could change, too, as we move along - anyway, when I write Uranus, you can think Trump)

He has many challenging periods over the next year (through October 2017 at least) including the fact our total solar eclipse in August - what astronomers are calling The Great American Eclipse because it will be so visible in the United States - will be conjunct his ascendant (first house cusp, his physical self). Eclipses are giant cosmic resets and eclipse something out. This one will last for two minutes, so it's effects will be felt for two years.

He needs to be cautious, but I don't think he can/will be. Whatever he is here to bring us, he is going to bring us.

Asbury Park NJ Women's March

Think about Sunday's Women's March with millions of women marching around the world and the kind of energetic shift we will see over time from this - is there any other person who could have created this?

If Hillary had been elected I don't think we would have seen this. And not if Bernie had won either.

We are ending centuries of patriarchy and moving into equality. It takes what it takes. It won't be pretty.

And truly Trump's chart, as ugly as it is sometimes, also shows a larger than life energy for change and transformation, a passion to win and a deep caring for family and country. There are always diamonds - hopefully he/we will unearth them. Also as he changes us, we change him, too. The Universe is never static and free will is always present in all situations. We will hope, and work, for the best outcome for all of us.

People keep asking me if it looks like he will finish out his term. I think there are indicators he might not. Maybe if he makes it through October, he will finish. But when we look ahead to the inauguration of 2020 (2020 is going to be a HUGE year astrologically) his chart still fits right in with where we will likely be then. 

 
With Trump's natal Uranus/Sun conjunction his actions and outcomes really can't be predicted and now that his chart is enmeshed with the U.S. chart, the United States can't be predicted either. We also have the North Node moving into Leo in May - people who are not stepping into their own spotlight and responsibility might be looking for a "King". It's hard to say.

I have tried to write these two posts in as unbiased a manner as I could. 

 Here is a post I wrote about both Clinton and Trump before the election. But the astrologer is always present in any astrology forecast (and if you are a regular reader you know I am a bit of a negative thinker). I'm going to leave these posts in the feed for a week and then bury them a bit. They will still be searchable by subject. I want to keep this blog as nonpolitical as I can - although obviously sometimes events factor into the weeklies.

I don't want anyone to feel unwelcome here. We are all in this together and we need to remember whoever won the 2016 election would have been stepping into very similar landmines!

xo all