Mars Conjunct the South Node | same old fight, moving on from friends who don't have our backs, rubbing salt in the wound, familiar struggles, falling into that same old trap, our old actions and in-actions bite us in the ass

Eaten bubbles by E-BZ

Today we have Mars (at 7 degrees Aquarius) - the actions we take to get what we want, our passion, our initiative, our anger - hitting the South Node (what is ripe for release).

Expect old arguments to flare back up, old goals and actions (and in-actions) to result in consequences now. We might have to lose the battle to win the war. We might have to let go of a goal to free up our hands to reach for something else.

We might find ourselves having a rip-roaring argument with our hubby that feels awfully reminiscent of our childhood battles with our father. There is karma here. Pay attention.

You have the benefit of astrology - so take a breath and think about what is really being stirred up. There will be, or was (although this aspect is exact today it has been building for a couple days and will spend a couple days unwinding) likely an uncanny reminder of having 'gone through this before' with the added realization, if we are lucky and smart, that we can choose differently this time.

Because Mars is preparing to go retrograde in a couple weeks and walking degrees he will walk two more times this is a repeating aspect that will be in play until the end of September.

So we have the repeating pattern of an aspect that is all about repeating patterns!

Whatever situations/issues we are dealing with now will not be the final chapter - be prepared for delays, revisions and possibly a long drawn out battle.

With Mars on the South Node our instinctual drive (Mars) is very strongly and often unconsciously - remember we don't crave what is good for us, we crave what is familiar - influenced by our past.

Where is Aquarius in your natal chart? For many people the theme of the house Aquarius rules will be Mars field of play.

EXAMPLE for Taurus/Taurus Rising (Aquarius 10th house) - Mars is traveling through your 10th house of career, your calling, your achievements, your achievement goals, dad, business, authority, responsibility. An issue, likely within these themes, is activated. Something here is ripe for release - (Mars on the South Node) before the Nodes move into Cancer/Capricorn next fall. Holding on too tightly to something here could actually hasten its speed of departure. Let's say you really need to move on from a job - an action or inaction on your part, challenge at work or argument with authority, for example, could expedite the manner. Mars (as you) will walk back and forth through your 10th house territory - conjuncting the South Node and opposing the North Node (your future). What are you doing, perhaps unconsciously, in regard to 10th house matters that needs to end?

Collectively, Mars in Aquarius pushes for FREEDOM and toward advancement and the future. This summer - through multiple, sustained efforts which could include setbacks and revisions - life is offering us the energetic support to release - and yes, there will be work involved Saturn is still in Capricorn folks - the ties that bind us- whatever is making us feel stuck.

Mars challenges us to find the right level of assertiveness without being a total asshole.

We need to keep our eyes on that North Node in Leo - our creative passion, what makes us feel proud, where we need to shine and take the center stage of our own life - Mars agitating that South Node and opposing the North will be sawing/chopping/shaving away at anything holding us back from what we came to do here.

Next week we have a New Moon in Gemini squaring Neptune - new info will come in, again not everything can be trusted. Hopefully by the time Neptune stations retrograde on the 19th we will get more clarity and stronger sea legs. We also have Mars and Venus opposing each other from the South and North Nodes while t-squaring Jupiter in Scorpio coming soon. Our karma, dharma - whatever this is it will likely relate back to whatever Saturn set in motion back in January. We have Mars set to go retrograde and a heavy duty Full Moon at the end of the month.

I am going to write a June post on Sunday to finish out the month instead of the weekly so we are better able to see around corners.

For this weekend we have the Moon in Aries on FRIDAY hankering for some action, but she will be squaring serious Saturn. Maybe save important negotiations/communications for another day if possible. Not a good first date night! We could want to do something for ourselves but have work or responsibilities that won't allow it. There is a semi-sextile between Mars and Saturn today which tells us if we slow down and do things carefully and proceed one-step-at-a-time there is a very good chance of success with whatever we are starting. On SATURDAY the Moon is uber active - we probably will be, too - and then goes void at 3:00PM EDT. There is a sextile - opportunity - with Mercury early in the day that can be good for commerce, communication and interactions with siblings/the local neighborhood. On SUNDAY the Moon will move into Taurus, the perfect Sunday Moon - garden, cook, relax, recharge your batteries. There could be something testy in the afternoon as the Moon squares Mars.

xo all

Astrology Forecast for Creatives | Week of June 4th - like alice down the rabbit hole, illusions and delusions, what we want and feel like we can't live without

Down the Rabbit Hole by artiste-reveur

Neptune, uber strong at home in Pisces (since 2011 - a BIG part of our "can't tell what is real/true" current reality), will be having his way with us this week as both our Gemini planets - the Sun and Mercury, move in to square him.

This is not the best week to make a big decision or more forward with any important plans.  

Things will not be quite what they appear to be now.

The fog is rolling in. The sands are shifting.

We will need to think twice about what we are saying/communicating. Misunderstandings are likely now. The truthfulness of whatever we are dealing with will be complicated.

We could be lied to or we could be the one spinning a tangled web.

Treat what you hear/read/experience now with a sense of curiosity - ask yourself - "well, isn't that interesting?" - nothing will be quite what it seems.

People, including us, will think they know more than they do. Things can look better, or worse, than they actually are. It would be best to read this post, and everything else you are consuming via language now (especially the news!), with more skepticism than you normally would.

Women (Venus) vs power (Pluto) could also be a theme - we saw three women shoot themselves in the foot last week with their language - Roseanne Barr, Germaine Greer and Samantha Bee. With Jupiter in Scorpio having so much to do (within the collective) with the #metoo movement - women (mostly) taking out the power structure and Jupiter now retrograde - this is more like women taking themselves out.

If we are kind of in-tune with the Neptune/Pisces energy and can chill out this week and just allow things to flow - step off the hamster wheel for just a little bit - this week's energy could feel almost peaceful.

Our time might be best spent finishing things up - the Moon is waning - and getting ready for next week's New Moon!

This week's major aspects are:

TUESDAY - Sun conjunct Mercury and Venus opposite Pluto
WEDNESDAY - Mercury square Neptune
THURSDAY - Sun square Neptune
FRIDAY - Venus square Eris, Mars conjunct the South Node

MONDAY is another day like last Wednesday - a Void Moon all day and no aspects. This would not be a good day to start something new. If you were thinking of taking a day off this week - this would be it, if you don't want to miss anything.

With Chiron squaring (tension/frustration) Vesta, we could be dealing with hurting/healing around the ways our constant tending to something/someone has allowed other parts of our life to grow weeds (this will be our Cappy vs Aries houses) or the painful realization we are no longer devoted to something/someone and are just "going through the motions".

We associate Vesta with the Vestal Virgins of ancient Rome. Charged from childhood with keeping the sacred hearth of the temple burning, they had the responsibility - via their devotion to the flame -  with keeping their civilization alive. If we have shouldered a responsibility or devoted ourselves to something that is not allowing us to be our own person or move in a direction we want to go, we could be feeling the squeeze of that now as our responsibilities/limits (Capricorn) rub up against the action we need to take for ourselves (Aries).

HERE is a short post on Chiron in Aries.

On TUESDAY the Moon moves into imaginative Pisces at 6:53AM EDT - this will make us more intuitive and compassionate, but also less grounded and realistic over the next couple days.

We have the Sun (in Gemini) meeting up with Mercury while inconjunct (rock and a hard place) a retrograde Jupiter in Scorpio. Within the same hour we have Venus (in Cancer) moving into her exact opposition to Pluto (ruler of Scorpio).

The Sun meeting up with Mercury could bring some important information to light (whether we can totally trust it or not is another matter) or maybe something from the previous Sun/Mercury conjunction - when Mercury was retrograde on April 1st - to a culmination (peak) or conclusion via Gemini  - communications, information, choices, etc. The rock and a hard place with Jupiter, retrograding through whatever is buried in our Scorpio houses is the challenge.

EXAMPLE FOR ARIES/ARIES RISING - The Sun and Mercury are meeting in Aries - your 3rd house of communication, information, writing, siblings, transportation or your local neighborhood. You could get an answer, have a conversation, receive some information - that concludes something connected to the last Mercury/Sun meetup from the end of March/early April. With Jupiter moving backward through your 8th house of the stuff not really talked about - other people's resources, other people's values, intimacy, other people's money, spouse's income, loans, debts, taxes, inheritance, sex, reproduction - there could be something here that is not being said. Maybe this is the problem and you are going to need to keep this in mind (you don't know what you don't know) or maybe some things are better left alone behind door number three (unopened/unsaid). With both the Sun and Mercury moving into a square with illusive Neptune over the next couple days - you are going to have to sift the facts from the fiction. It won't be easy.

Also on Tuesday - and for some people THIS will be the BIG transit of the week - Venus (what we want - love, money, our values, beauty and our self-esteem) will move into an opposition with Pluto (power, compulsion, obsession). This has been building since last week.

Power struggles around what we want and/or with authority are possible now.

Do we really want something or are we just obsessed with the idea of having/keeping it?

EXAMPLE FOR CANCER/CANCER RISING - Venus in your 1st house of yourself opposes Pluto, retrograde in your 7th house of partners/partnerships. This aspect could stir up issues/lessons via insecurities around power imbalances. A partner's (business, romantic, personal) perceived power over you or the feeling that they are essential for your very survival may be activated. Do you really want something from them or are you just obsessed with the idea of having/keeping them/what they have? The way through this is by taking back the power you are projecting onto the other person - stepping into our own Capricorn now. Neptune and Jupiter are in harmony with your sign Cancer - YOU are the one who sets the terms around how you engage with other people. This aspect has the power to transform a relationship and Plutonian transformations are permanent. Or it could be a wake up call via a hurtful encounter with another person that shakes us up to how much we are giving away our own power.

On WEDNESDAY,  Mercury (home in Gemini) moves into her square with Neptune (home in Pisces), so it could be tricky to separate the fantasy from the reality now. Keep that in mind with whatever you have going on.

We could be dealing with Neptunian themes - hospitals, healing, things put away, things from the past, addictions, medications, meditation, spirituality, imagination, etc.

This isn't the time to run with some information that comes in unless you are very, very grounded.

It would be the time to speak with a conservative kind of caution (am I saying what I really intend to say, what I really feel, what I really KNOW to be true?). Listen the same way. Avoid gossip.

Our addictive tendencies could be biting us in the ass right about now.

Today is the last Quarter Moon in Pisces and the skies are quite muddled. Information could be misleading. Choices that look like real solid things could turn out to be just our eyes playing tricks on us in a shadowy room at night and then vanish in the cold light of day.

Sleep on ALL decisions.

THURSDAY is more of Wednesday with another long Void Moon (until 5:26PM EDT when she moves into Aries) and the Sun squaring Neptune, too, tossed in for good measure. Except we won't be measuring anything because nothing will quite be lining up.

The Moon is waning now - what can we finish?

Any connection to Neptune is excellent energy to create, imagine, connect, meditate, heal via water, love, compassion.

As the Moon moves through Aries in the evening and meets up with Chiron (wounded healer) we could be feeling some pain around our ability to be ourselves or take action. This would be a good time for me to write one of those sleep medication warnings around driving and operating heavy machinery - take care with your physical body now and your head in particular tonight. Stay hydrated.

Back in a couple days with Friday and the weekend - we have some powerful energy to finish out the week, too. Plus let's start looking further ahead to a very important summer.

xo all

Jupiter and Venus trine Neptune, Mercury trine Mars | smooth seas may not create skilled sailors but they might make for a nice afternoon in a boat

Splash of Color by thillyLiv

Today, we have Venus in Cancer trining (brakes off) Jupiter, retrograde in Scorpio, at 15 degrees. We also have Mercury in Gemini trining Mars in Aquarius at 5 degrees and tomorrow Venus will perfect a trine to Neptune (in play now) in Pisces, at 16 degrees.

With Venus (love, money, women, beauty. our resources, values and self-esteem) in Cancer (home, family, mom and apple-pie) joining the Jupiter (expansion, luck) and Neptune (imagination, idealism, compassion, forgiveness, spirituality) party and forming a Grand Water Trine we have a beautiful flow of energy for the next couple days.

This is expansion, luck, beauty, love and imagination. This can bring healing and increased intimacy. With Venus in Cancer this is a good time for resolving home, family and real estate issues and healing situations with your mama and your matriarchal inheritance.

Remember our water houses are ALWAYS in trine and working together, but RIGHT NOW, home to the powerful energies of Venus, Jupiter and Neptune all lined up the way they are - they are SUPER dynamic.

All this water means our intuition - and emotions - are greatly magnified now (also actual water issues - flooding, I think we are having the biblical 40 days here, etc).

EXAMPLE for SCORPIO/Scorpio Rising (using whole signs) - this Grand Water Trine involves your 1st house (Jupiter retrograde at 15 degrees) of yourself, your 5th house (Neptune in Pisces at 16 degrees) of creative projects, your self-expression, what you give birth to, children, romance and recreation and your 9th house (Venus in Cancer at 15/16 degrees) of travel, higher education, weddings, politics, legal issues, the media, publishing, foreigners, everything outside your comfort zone, exploration, your beliefs and higher thinking. This is excellent energy for bigger thinking or exploration around a creative project you are personally involved with to create expansion and luck. You could have something fall into place with any of the themes mentioned above. You (1st house) could fall in love (5th house) while traveling (9th house), yadda yadda. You won't have to push (or manipulate dear Scorpio!). This doesn't mean some action won't be required on your part, but it will be a logical next step kind of thing. There is synergy here.

There is always the possibility, if we are un-grounded or ignore all boundaries, to take something too far because there isn't anything stopping these energies.

Our addictions, compulsions, lies, illusions, spending could go off the rails. Keep these things in mind.

At the same time we have Mercury, freshly minted in his home sign of Gemini, trining Mars (in Aquarius) - this could be a new idea we can take action on. Our minds should be razor sharp.

We might have to make a fast decision or make a quick move. With Mercury and Mars tag-teaming, we can speak with confidence now. The Venus/Jupiter/Neptune should help soften any pushiness.

All in all this should be good energy for harmony between people! Prayers we collectively make good use of it. Water signs can make us more emotional, so maybe have a box of tissues handy folks.

We have an inconjunct on SATURDAY between Mercury and Saturn - rock and a hard place - so something unresolvable here maybe between information/communication/ideas and authority/security/responsibility/time/limits. With both planets strong in their home signs some things just can't be resolved right now. A heads up that Mercury will be very active next week with news and information and with Neptune and Jupiter uncooperative - facts will be elusive and possibly illusive.

xo all - here's hoping for a lovely weekend for everyone - another rainy one expected here

Another heads up that we have an all-day Void Moon on Monday. Maybe take the day off and save the big moves for TUESDAY.

Another heads up - and all this "heads up" is again making me think of what is happening to our world with so many people walking around looking down at their phones all day and not up at the possibilities - that we are going to be doing alot of backtracking and "cooling our jets" this summer (and busy work that might not amount to much in the end if we are determined to push our way through) with all the retrogrades and eclipses as our old vision of our future morphs ... again.

Mercury into Gemini | fresh information comes in, who do you want to talk to, choices and changing viewpoints, giving life permission to not make any sense for awhile

Consume by bypolar-bear

Mercury (communication, ideas, local life and travel, transportation, sibling issues) moved into his home sign of Gemini last night.

We will feel a difference in the days ahead as information and communications switch from turtle pace to rabbit.

Increased choices, conversations and ideas will start to flow.

We won't put everything to use, Gemini can be rather chatty, so some stuff will just move in and out, but the change in momentum will be noticeable.

Keep in mind with Gemini there are more questions than answers and the information might be unreliable.

But easy, adaptable conversations, suitable for the moment, can pull everything forward now.

With the Sun and Mercury both in Gemini this is an excellent time to catch up on our communications. Who would we like to talk to?

Ask questions. It is best in Gemini season to maybe suspend judgements for awhile (Geminis make the best - and funniest - cynics) and approach situations with curiosity. 

Fresh information and conversations will come in and expand whatever we are dealing with. This can be stimulating if we've grown weary of Taurus's scrutiny and demand for truth.

Gemini energy talks. It listens. It questions. It perceives what isn't said at all. In short, it doesn't miss a trick. With so much to see and so much to do and so much to communicate - there is not a moment to waste on any of those roses we were smelling last month

Gemini (the twins) is the sign of duality - of black and white, of feminine and masculine, of truth and lies. Nothing will be totally one way or the other or quite what is seems now. We will be faced with dilemmas and changing viewpoints. In the end contradictory thoughts and things can come together with this energy.

We all have ideas about how things are supposed to look and work that we've carried since childhood (and before). We have these beliefs and then we, subconsciously, look around for the things that support these beliefs and that's what we notice. Then our beliefs gets reconfirmed and strengthened. Even though these beliefs are no truer than someone else's beliefs that reflect the opposite thing.

With the Sun in Gemini and Mercury home until June 12th, all of us are burning Gemini fuel - we can give ourselves permission to embrace a more wide open receptive state. We can move against the beliefs we've been strengthening since childhood if they no longer suit us. We can give life permission to not make any sense for a while.

If we are confused we are probably doing something right.

See what house holds Gemini in your natal chart - this space will be communicating with you now! What is it saying?

xo all

Today, Mercury - within hours of coming home to Gemini - is going to sextile (opportunity) Chiron in Aries. Talking about what hurts can be healing. 

We could make a connection now between some early traumatic experience and our current behavior/situation.

Chiron is freshly minted in Aries, too, and we haven't had this energetic connection in these signs since the late 1960's/early 1970's.

With Chiron in Aries encouraging us to take a hard look at ourselves, to do things for ourselves and stand on our own two feet - there could be a conversation now or information that comes in that allows us to see how our own survival instincts (or any lack of courage, passion or initiative) that we were smart enough to develop as children and that helped us when we were younger may no longer be something we need to carry. Is this energetic still working for us?

Talk about it. Write it down. Actually read the book that comes to your attention now.