Saturn Stations Direct | forward motion toward our long term goals

time out by evivalarte

After five months retrograde, Saturn - the planet of time, goals, commitment, responsibility - stations to move direct. Check 21 degrees Sagittarius in your natal chart to see the house (area of life) where he has been re-tracing his steps. 

It could have felt, during this time, that we were getting further away from our goals or where we want to be in this area of our life. Maybe obligations weighed heavily. Walls and limitations had to be faced. Corners we had previously cut were noted to be missing. The bills came due. Maybe we were re-evaluating, re-assessing, re-affirming our responsibilities and commitments. Maybe we learned to say, "no". Maybe we learned to say "yes" to something we had been avoiding. 

Saturn always gives rewards, but they are Saturnian rewards - coming after we've put in the time and hard work to build something that lasts.

Our long range goals that have been stuck can start to move forward now.  

We have until right around the time of the winter solstice to finalize plans for our Sagittarian house before Saturn moves home to Capricorn. Sagittarius rules our big picture beliefs, what is foreign to us, foreign travel, higher education, religion, politics, the media, the Sagittarius house of our natal chart and the house that houses the planet Jupiter. Wrap that stuff up somehow - figure out what you want and set up a game plan. Get something done. Stabilize this stuff.

If you have planets or points very late into Sagittarius - 28-29 degrees, Saturn will hit them the first week of December. He will go about stabilizing whatever is happening there, but it might feel better if we do it ourselves first. He is heading straight home to Capricorn now and we don't really want to be standing in the way of that (says the person with the 28 degree Venus in Sagittarius in her 2nd house).

Consider this a clean slate. Mercury is still retrograde but this is a great time for planning and making small, stabilizing moves. In some ways we are right back where we were five months ago with our goals and commitments, except we are older and wiser now. 

If we have used this time wisely we should be clearer now. Maybe we've let go of a few things, maybe some things have been firmed up. Saturn doesn't rush, because Saturnian things (the things that last) are built over time. We don't have to rush either.

A heads up that after September 5th or 6th we will have two additional planets moving forward - Mercury and Pluto (plus of course Saturn as of today). This is as good as it is going to get this year for "full steam ahead" energy, wind at our back. We could probably postpone a week or so after these dates for things to calm down, but that will be it. We will need every minute of everyday to get where we need to be by the end of December - remember the solstice - winter is coming.

Use that Virgo Sun to do the cleaning, planning and legwork now - cross your t's and dot your i's - you don't have to know exactly what you are doing. Just clean up the mess. It will all pay off later.

xo all

Eclipse Hangover and Venus Square Uranus | pattern disruption, course correcting

mirror by kasiowata11

Monday's eclipse was a potent pattern interrupter.

It brings something to light or eclipses something out of our way. It closes off one path, one way forward, so we are nudged, pushed, dragged or drop kicked (boot meet ass) onto another path.

With so much retrograde energy there is alot of looking backward here (in the United States we are working through our collective energetic baggage regarding the Civil War and Nazism) as old cycles need to be finished up. We don't want to/need to be carrying this sh*t anymore. This energy will play out over the next six months.

The North Node in Leo assures me that we need to focus on the future and what we are creating rather than on the past and what we have lost. 

I had my own Oprah 'aha moment' the morning after the eclipse. I'd stilled my mind in meditation, drawn myself, once again, into the present moment when it hit me that since I believed my past thoughts had set into motion my present reality, my consistent focus on the present moment (pretty much a staple of New Age thinking, not that I consider myself New Agey, but it does impact me), which is great for focus and clarity was at least partly (and maybe significantly) responsible for my endless loop of creating the same things over and over again. New characters, same story line. New actions, same results.

So because what is, is a reflection of what was - focusing on what is has us focusing on the past, so we keep recreating our future as the past. Am I making sense?

I need to do ALOT more thinking/feeling about what I want and the future I want to create - with an emphasis on the feeling that is symbolized by the thing I want. I always think I do this, but I don't do it anywhere near as often as I am focusing on the present moment

which is really the past in disguise! That tricky bastard.

Our lives are never stagnant for long, our lives are always changing - how much of this change we are consciously participating in is up to us. I am pretty certain our unconsciousness will have its way with us IF we do not have a certain level of commitment to ourselves and are not in a vibratory state where we can handle the responsibility of captaining our own ship.

Are we unconsciously generating a life that mostly consists of everything we have gathered along the way that is not even ours?

Anyway, this is just something to think about, how too much emphasis on 'being in the moment' or not enough emphasis on 'creating the future' could unconsciously set us up for a loop. I don't think we need to do less meditation, mindful walking, etc - I know this stuff is helpful. But I do think we need a daily practice of thoughtful creation (thinking about and feeling what we want that at least equals, probably in both time and intensity, the present moment practice).

***

I've been feeling hungover since the eclipse. I wrote the Sun into Virgo, clean the closet post, but keep opening my closet, inbox, etc and closing them again. Everything seems like quite a mess. Like I am being asked to clean up after Katrina.

I've heard some people found the eclipse to be energizing. I've felt mostly drained with a few sporadic moments of motivation. Now that the Moon has gotten away from the Sun (Moon into Libra today after traveling through Leo, the Eclipse and Virgo being blasted by solar energy - enough already Sun leave the poor Moon alone!) it could be the cosmic coffee that wakes me up - I am hoping!

Today could be tricky. We have Venus (in Cancer) squaring Uranus (in Aries) and trining Chiron (in Pisces). This is break-up, break-through, break something energy. And, yes, if we break something, the glass will be sharp.

Venus rules partnership, money, love, our self-esteem and our values. In Cancer, she is sensitive, moody and family/home oriented. She is squaring off with rebel/awakener Uranus in independent Aries. The trine to wounded healer Chiron means if something hurts here - the hurt is very old and very deep. And we'll know how old and how deep by how much aspirin or red wine we have consumed by the end of the night.

This square could make relationship and/or financial issues unpredictable. Maybe a change we should have made a long time ago now closes in on us. Maybe we make some kind of impulsive move or break toward freedom that just leaves us more unstable. There could be an unpleasant surprise here. It could feel like our safety/security is threatened. Slow down. Take a deep breath. We can love ourselves through this thing.

If we are the one feeling restless it doesn't mean we need to take drastic action - this close to the eclipses and with both Mars and Mercury set to hit the eclipse degrees within the next two weeks - maybe small moves would be best. Mercury is retrograde, along with four other planets including Saturn set to station direct TOMORROW. Let's not make any moves that set our course in cement, if we were a GPS we would still be course correcting.

xo all

Sun into Virgo | clean the closet

Still holding myself by little-moonshine

The astrology wheel is the hero's journey of self discovery. When the sun moves into Virgo today, it is the hero's (our) first encounter with service.

We are learning when to help and when helping isn't really helping. Virgo is the modest healer with the critical eye that takes care of the details. Meaningful work and competence are key now.

Virgo knows we are not here to do the work we love - we are here to love the work we do. There is a difference. This is the difference that changes the world. This is the difference that changes us.

Every sign has something to learn from the sign that follows it.

Leo learns from Virgo (and we all have Leo and Virgo in our charts somewhere - its placement will affect how this activates in your own journey) - to do the work. Virgo teaches Leo to let go of the need for the spotlight and recognition and to just focus on the work.

The king gets humbled (and we might, too, now!).

It is no coincidence that Virgo comes in autumn; the time of the harvest - the time we separate the wheat from the chaff.

The Sun in Virgo needs to do good work. In order to do this, we need to figure out what isn't working. We need to be able to see the flaws and problems.

When Mercury meets up with the Sun at the end of the week (and kicks off a new Mercury cycle) an idea, conversation, information, news, detail will come to our attention that tells us what we need to know to move forward (even though we are still looking backward). With the Sun's big old light we won't have to worry about missing it. It won't be a subtle thing. It will be obvious. It could be - the fly in our ointment, the flaw in our plans, the new idea, the crucial detail - that tells us what we need to know now.

Coming so close to Venus's move into heart centered Leo at the end of week (and with Venus now answering to Leo's ruler the Sun) we could use whatever comes to light now to determine if what we want (Venus) is at all practical or even actually possible now or it could provide us with the info we need to get it/make it happen.

Virgo's shadow is perfection. Perfection is a ferocious teacher and many people with strong Virgo have the battle scars to prove it. There must be self acceptance here  If a Virgo is unhappy with what she sees in the mirror, she will be unhappy with what she sees everywhere else.

Self-esteem is the key to avoiding self-destruction. Despite Virgo's need for careful planning (a well planned job is half done is certainly one of her mantras) she must learn to live in the moment and to live there with compassion (for herself and everyone else).

This is everyone's lesson now. We are all burning Virgo fuel for the next 30 days. Until September 5th, Mercury, the ruler of Virgo, is retrograde. We are looking backward. We are revising, redoing, renovating, rethinking, etc.

If major decisions or major moves can be put off until after this date, since we won't have all the facts and all our ducks beginning to line up until then - put it off. If it can't be put off, then make the decision, etc knowing things will work out a little differently than you think they will and there are still some tweaks and details that will need to be adjusted.

It's a good time to focus on our health - eat better, move our bodies more - Virgo rules the 6th house of health and work and there are reasons these two things go together

So let's get to work (can't you feel that "back-to-school, sharpen your pencils" energy even if no one in your life is heading back to school?). Let's get organized. Let's make our bed and sweep the floor. Any space in our life where we get to decide what stays and what goes is a good space to be working in now. Think closets and inboxes.

Evaluate what is and what isn't working - what is worth doing/trying and what isn't. The North Node is still in fiery Leo, but Virgo energy is practical. It is time to deal with all the little background noise that makes it impossible to hear what our heart is saying to us.

xo all

Astrology Forecast for Creatives | Week of August 21st - confronting our shadow, here comes the light, Virgo season begins, daddy's home

My playful friends by msRainie

This is a big week. I know I say, "this is a big week" alot, so maybe I should say THIS IS A BIG WEEK. And when I shout, remember I am from New Jersey - my hands fly out, Olive runs under the bed and the glasses in my neighbor's cupboard hit the floor.

On MONDAY, we have the Solar Eclipse New Moon in Leo - the Sun and Moon meet up at 28 degrees Leo at 2:45PM EDT. I wrote about this HERE and HERE - keep in mind this is something none of us have ever experienced before and it will impact us over the next few months, so let's go into this with a light and open heart and a gentle prayer for peace. Choose your mood now. Don't be afraid to look into the dark, but stay focused on the moment the light comes back on.

The Leo house in your natal chart is ripe for a fresh start. This could come through a powerful ending or result being delivered. Ceres (in Cancer) opposing Pluto (in Capricorn) at this crucial moment in time could signal a permanent change in a power dynamic within a family, home or nurturing/protective/mothering situation. The Moon goes void from 2:30PM EDT to 4:30PM EDT.

*My personal belief is that the Great American Eclipse is opening the portal that will push the United States to the end of the American empire and ultimately toward the creation of something more inclusive and more equal and more creative than "empire"; something actually managed by the people for the people instead of by and for corporations. And something where "created equal" are more than words on a piece of paper. This is big energy as we move toward the date in January 2020 when Pluto and Saturn meet up in Capricorn and since that is the month we will inaugurate our next President, maybe instead of a new President we figure out a whole new system of government that doesn't divide us into two bickering groups who, at the end of the day, really want the same things anyway. Maybe instead of the patriarchal system of winners and losers, we figure out how to work together in a space where everyone wins. Truly. We can't see how to get there yet, because we don't know what we don't know. But we will.*

On TUESDAY, the Sun moves into Virgo. Since Virgo's ruler Mercury is retrograde there is still something we are reviewing or re-doing here. Over the next 30 days with the Sun in Virgo we are focused on the work that is right in front of us, planning, dotting our i's and crossing our t's, providing service to other people, quality over quantity and Virgo ruled themes - work, health, our pets, paperwork, organization, co-workers and employees.

On WEDNESDAY, Saturn (in Sagittarius) is squaring the Moon (in Virgo) so there could be some tension with any of those Virgo themes I wrote about yesterday or Saturn ruled goals, career, authority, responsibility, time issues or a Sagittarian themed issue - legal, political, travel, foreign, educational, wedding, religious, media, publishing, etc. Then the Moon moves into a sextile (opportunity) with Venus - situations with women, money, self-esteem, things we value - will be looking up.

On THURSDAY, Venus squares Uranus so there could be something unexpected or sudden or liberating happen with a woman or a financial issue or since Venus is still in Cancer with a home situation, real estate, family, parent, mother, renovation, etc. People will be wanting to stand out and be unique in some way. Maybe something we started around June 3rd (when these planets met up) hits some kind of test or tension now. In the long term, stuff started then, especially new relationships, are not meant to last - they are that rebound guy who gets us from A to B but is gone by the time we get to C. Stress can come to older and more seasoned relationships through us wanting change (maybe just for the sake of change) or maybe an unexpected argument happens around expectations about freedom within the relationship. It something is really stagnant and draining our energy this transit can help us break free from the situation. The Moon goes Void at 4:00PM EDT.

On Friday, the Moon in Libra is making nice all over the place providing a good day for partnerships and business - for fairness and justice.

The biggest news, Saturn stations direct after more than four months retrograde. Even with Mercury and three other planets still retrograde, things will slowly but surely start to move forward now.

Saturn has been retrograde at the Galactic Center (28 degrees Sagittarius, the black hole at the center of the Milky Way) since April 6th. This has had us going back over rules, structure, security issues,  and obligations. Since Saturn moved into Sagittarius in 2015 (through the end of 2017) our beliefs and commitment to our dreams have been tested.

If we no longer fit in the space we are occupying or are holding on where our heart is no longer invested or if we are truly needed elsewhere - situations have arisen over the last few months to make this clear to us.

Coming on the heels of our bold New Moon Solar Eclipse means changes now will be long lasting. What is going on in our lives over the last and next few days will tell us alot about what this Saturn retrograde period has been about for us, where we need to make our final tweaks and the areas we need to be more Saturnian.

Dad's home. Have we been goofing off? Staying out late? Run up the electric bill? Worn out his favorite chair or left his tools out in the rain to rust?

Karmic books are being balanced. Remember, karma isn't about punishment - we are just being served what we ordered. Most of us do alot of this "ordering" unconsciously. But we can choose to do things differently today. Right now.

Please make any course corrections BEFORE December 21st-22nd when the Sun and then Saturn shift into Capricorn. After this date there will be increased responsibilities, deadlines, walls, boundaries, structure, patience needed, authority to deal with, tradition (winter is coming!) - so let's get our sh*t together NOW. Be where you want to be. Be who you want to be. Because things are going to get poured into concrete.

And please no shortcuts - they will just come back to bite us later.

Remember when any planet meets the Sun a new cycle begins. So in late December we will have Saturn starting a new solar cycle and a new Capricorn cycle - the sign he rules!! - at the same time!

(we will have a Fire Trine then with Uranus so one final chance to free ourselves from something limiting before the snow starts to fall)

You want your act as together as your act can be by this date. If you need to make a major change make it before this date. 

THE WINTER SOLSTICE IS YOUR FIRM DEADLINE.

The way we go into this period of time will impact our Capricorn house theme and the stuff Capricorn rules - goals, career, all the Saturnian responsibility, security and time issues thru March 2020 AND will very much set up the results we get. Saturn in Capricorn can produce some very incredible results. It pretty much guarantees success, folks, oh yes, it does.

But the success will be Saturn's success - earned through hard work. If we are not "doing our Saturn" ie stepping into our responsibility, walking our talk, doing the work, being dependable, being honest - we will be screwed.

Someone else - some situation or authority figure outside of us - will step in and be the boss of us. Do we want to be the boss of us or do we want a boss? Some people need a boss. If you need a boss you are going to love Saturn in Capricorn because you will find one. If you are ready to be your own boss you are going to love Saturn in Capricorn. If you are not ready to be your own boss and you do not want anyone else to be the boss of you either - you are screwed.

Please take this seriously. Claim it. I was born with Saturn one degree from my Sun - in the same way Trump is unpredictable Uranus, I am responsible Saturn. I am your Saturn telling you to get your sh*t together. :)

(except Saturn wouldn't smile at you and I will - hell, I'll even wink ;)

On SATURDAY, Venus moves into Leo (I will do a post) making Leo Suns and ascendants more attractive (both easier on the eye and able to attract what they want/need). All our Leo houses become more attractive, too.

The Sun and Mercury will meet up in Virgo. This is called an inferior conjunction and kicks off a new cycle with our Mercury story. An answer, information or conversation could bring something to light now. Maybe it's a fact or visible weakness that will allow us to proceed with the remaining Mercury retrograde period  (through September 5th) - reworking, revising, etc - with better information. Coming so close to Venus's move into heart centered Leo (and with Venus now answering to Leo's ruler the Sun) we might be able to use whatever comes to light now to determine if what we want is even actually possible or it could provide us with the info we need to get it/make it happen.

xo all