Mars Square Pluto | danger and opportunity - be brave

danger by tfavretto

Powerful energies conflict today as Mars (in Aries) squares Pluto (in Capricorn).

Crisis.

Remember the Chinese character for crisis represents both danger and opportunity. 

There is opportunity here to move that mountain

(yes, the one you were assigned to show others it can be moved)

and to push through a limit. Imagine a red flower bursting through a rotted concrete sidewalk.

This energy is being supercharged by the positions of Jupiter, Uranus and the Capricorn Moon.

Remember we are in a five month long Cardinal T-Square. It dominates today.

Wear safety equipment. Drive cautiously. And if you have a fender bender keep your cool, because the other person probably won't. Take care with fire. I'm setting my torch down for the day.

This is the energy to start a war, so let's not start a war. We won't be able to make someone do something they don't want to do. We could win the battle and lose the war here by making a powerful enemy, so tread smartly, but bravely. Yes, some things are worth fighting for, but please don't use this energy for any type of revenge. It won't be sweet.

Collectively, the world has too many people who are angry and powerless. Something has reached a tipping point. One way these collective tipping points get re-balanced is through crazy weather events, other times wars or violence, other times a million small but contentious points of interaction between individual people.

Keep this in mind now.

If you have planets or points from 18-20 degrees of the cardinal signs - Aries, Cancer, Libra or Capricorn - you will feel this energy most directly.

Remember we have the Sun hanging out with that South Node and we are releasing the stuff that no longer serves us - a push now toward something empowering could be life-changing/saving.

Evolving that rage into passion would change everything. xo all

(see the weekly for more info on the energies at play this week)

Sun Conjunct North Node, Mercury Trine Jupiter | use different words

The Wind and the Sea by ChrissieCool

Today we have Mercury (in rebellious, eccentric Aquarius) trine (brakes off) a retrograde Jupiter in Libra at the same time the Sun (in Pisces) conjuncts the South Node of what we are releasing.

Changes are afoot and the more open we are to different ideas (especially those that are new and unusual) the smoother things will go. A little distance, and a step back, from the way we have always done it could be needed. Try another approach. Use different words. Ask different questions.

The Sun is shining a light or bringing to light something from the past - maybe an old dream or an old wounding. With all this happening in illusory Pisces, it's hard to get a grip on the situation and know what is real. The thing that is pushing our button isn't really the thing that is pushing our button. The best course of action is to release (Pisces) what is unhealthy, un-boundaried and undisciplined. Our North Node (collective way forward) is still in discriminating Virgo.

And with Virgo ruled by Mercury and Mercury aspecting Uranus (change) yesterday and Jupiter retrograde (focused expansion) today - it's probably best to let go of any restricting idea about what is possible. 

We are in between eclipses (karmic portals) now - ANYTHING is possible.

See the weekly forecast for more info on the energies this week. xo all

Astrology Forecast for Creatives | Week of February 20th - the slap in the face that clears our head and spins us around

Tidal Wave by Chrissie Cool

This is a BIG astrological week (understatement).

On Monday, the Moon (in Sagittarius) conjuncts Saturn and aligns nicely with Jupiter. The energy is on our side to work with Sagittarius issues - legal, foreign, travel, higher education, wedding, philosophy, politics, publicity, marketing, media - and particularly in association with someone else. Saturn (time, authority, stability, work) adds security and structure to whatever we are working with. This is good energy to deal with authority figures. Or step into our own authority.

Mercury (communications, news, conversations) hooks up with Uranus so there could be surprising news or an out-of-the-blue meeting or conversation now.

On Tuesday, the Moon moves into 'just get it done', all-business Capricorn. Mercury moves into an easy alignment with Jupiter (news expands, conversations and communications are expansive .. and could be over-blown). Jupiter is retrograde so talks could be centered on old issues and what needs to happen to move things forward.

The Sun (now in Pisces) conjuncts the South Node. This energy will carry us right into the space of Sunday's Solar Eclipse at 8 degrees Pisces (what house is 8 degrees Pisces in your natal chart?).

Something is being eclipsed out, coming to light or moving to a new level. A spotlight (the Sun) is thrown on something from the past (South Node).

Wednesday is a BIG day. We will probably start to feel this on Tuesday. Mars (in Aries) squares Pluto (in Capricorn). Mars squares Pluto opposing Jupiter - this is a biggie. Squares are tension and tension between the active, impulsive, angry and war-like Mars and the powerful, karmic ruler of death and destruction, Pluto, is not something to take lightly. There are power struggles and confrontations. With Mars a major player in Sunday's Solar Eclipse - the situation will be related to something from the past.

This could be the slap in the face that clears our head. Badda bing.

The tension might allow us to move something large and unwieldy out of our way. Or it can bring us face to face with a challenging situation that requires our instinctual action.

On Thursday, the Moon is void until lunchtime, EST, so don't start anything new until after you've had your mid-day meal or 3rd cup of coffee - depending on what kind of day you are having! Mercury is again communicating with Saturn so talks with authority or conversations about security or things we are building over time, should go smoothly. Situations involving Sagittarius themes - legal, foreign, travel, higher education, wedding, philosophy, politics, publicity, marketing and media - get some structure, confirmed plans, some legs placed under them.

On Saturday,  Mercury moves into Pisces. I'll do a post about this later in the week. In Pisces, Mercury (communication, ideas, news, conversations) reminds me of those 80's commercials "this is your brain on drugs". It's great energy to work with our intuition and imagination though. The illogical becomes logical now. Just what we need, right - ack?!

On Sunday (the energy carries us into next's week's aspects), we have the BIG Solar Eclipse New Moon in Pisces (8 degrees). Up is down and down is up. That situation from Tuesday and Wednesday (that had been in play for quite some time before this week) clicks into place and with Uranus in the driver's seat could EXPLODE upon impact. Think tidal wave.

This is ginormous fresh start energy. But something has to end first. And there could be wreckage. Or water damage. Know that the breeze from the door that is slamming shut is forcing another door open. This won't be something we have planned - this will be something else. There is magic afoot.

I'll do a post about this later in the week by sign.

In the meantime use the powerful and positive Mercury energy to get any information, reports, news, communications, dealings with siblings, teachings or transportation issues out of the way before Friday. And use your knowledge of the astrology at play to keep a cool head - not by sticking it in the sand - but by having faith that things are unfurling just as they should be. Because they are. xo all

wizards vs muggles | straddling two worlds - stuff kicks up after Saturday, get some rest

KMag#57 by haania

February (the first eclipse season of the year) is a very important period of 2017. Can't you feel it?

Right now, we are in between two powerful eclipses - in between karmic events - straddling two worlds.

Eclipses are a kind of cosmic reboot; like when we download new software and have to turn our computer off and back on for the newly downloaded material to function properly.

Except in this case, we are the computer, and our connection to a changing cosmos gets "reset".

Eclipses are some of the most dramatic means life has to draw our attention to spaces that need to change. They allow us to move from one level to another in some area of our lives very quickly. They can have influence weeks before and sometimes kick in 1-3 months after they have happened (often to the exact day). They work in cycles astrologers call Saros cycles.

This month we have two eclipses and they are each part of a different cycle.

The first eclipse, on February 11th, was the Lunar eclipse (Full Moon, 22 degrees Leo) - this one had mostly easy aspects and was the first (since 1999) of the new Aquarius/Leo eclipses.

The next one (and last until August when we have another cycle of two eclipses that connect to the February 11th eclipse), on February 26th (New Moon, 8 degrees Pisces) is the final Pisces/Virgo eclipse. Here's a list of eclipse dates and polarities by Susan Miller. The eclipse on the 26th is a doozy.

On Saturday, the Sun moves into Pisces. Pisces is the ethereal realms. Ruled by Neptune, Pisces is about everything that cannot be physically held - everything mystical, everything magical, everything hidden. It rules water (I hope they've damn well fixed that dam) and has no boundaries. Pisces also rules imagination, compassion, intuition, escapism, addiction, dementia, lies, illusion, spirituality, things/people/situations put away and hidden from view.

We will need more meditation, more SILENCE, more sleep for the next month - keep this in mind.

At the same time that our Sun moves into this watery realm (I see it as us universally burning these themes as fuel - this is also going to make all of us much more sensitive) the Moon comes into its three quarter square position. This is called the waning part of the Moon. The Moon is moving into the last quarter of its monthly cycle - it is in its fall. The Sun, in Pisces, will be exactly squaring the Moon, in Sagittarius. And Pisces, currently housing the South Node and Chiron, is a very powerful space right now. Then Mars will trigger the Cardinal T-Square. Ouch.

We have had Saturn anchoring the situation and giving us some stability, but that aspect will start to fade this weekend. This sounds like Alice down the rabbit hole time to me.  Next week's astrology (including Mars squaring Pluto - issues over power, control. government, independence, rebellion, anger, the drumbeats of war) is rather gnarly. Then Mercury moves into Pisces and we really won't know what to think. Logic will be challenging. On the plus side we will have access to greater compassion and intuition. These things are not to be discounted. So, there's that.

The stuff we think can't go up another notch will go up another notch. More people will wake up.

And this will all lead us toward the eclipse on the 26th.

It's important to remember as we move through this year the future is an incomplete equation.

We are nine years into a Pluto in Capricorn cycle designed to dismantle our power structures. 

We have six years until Pluto moves into Aquarius. 

If we imagine this as a linear journey, and it isn't, we are in the home stretch. 

Chaos is the new normal. This entire thing is way more challenging if we try to control what is happening. The stuff ahead of us looks nothing like the stuff that is behind us. 

This is why it is all so tricky.

Not because it is all so bad, but just because it is all so NEW.

Remember our bodies crave what is familiar, not what is good for us.

My grandmother used to say "you will never know this little again". Think on that. If you can postpone major decisions/moves into after the next eclipse - do that. If you can't, know this is part of the 'fate-train' and do your best with the info you have.

Get some rest. Learn to meditate. Walk in the woods. Got to make some lockets. We'll talk later. xo