Mars Square Pluto | tension, jealousy, anger, courage and nerves of steel, no wiggle room, manipulation, power struggles, hair-triggers, ruthlessness, the passion we are repressing can get turned back on us, the power to make permanent changes, focusing our will, expressing anger, working with power, clearing the decks, kicking a bad habit

Today, Mars (passion, anger, initiative, impulsiveness) in Aries squares Pluto (in Capricorn) at 21 degrees.

Squares denote tension/crisis/frustration and we are only 1 degree from 22 degrees Capricorn where Pluto and Saturn will meet in January 2020.

This energy will carry into Saturday when our Moon (in Capricorn) will join Pluto and square Mars. The Cappy Moon will also help stabilize things and ground us in reality.

Mars is powerful in his home sign and Pluto is, well Pluto is Pluto. Expect intense competition and unbridled ambition. Manipulations. Obsessions. Jealousy. Your power could be challenged or you could be the one doing the calling out.

Mercury is in smart and cool-headed Aquarius. Use that.

Keep a focus on what you are trying to accomplish and how important whatever is happening actually is. Do you really need to win here? The fight about the parking space will not be a fight about a parking place, but about every other time someone has taken something you thought you should have. Keep this in mind. The other person will be feeling the same energy, too, so things can get out of control quickly.

If you are "waked" this is the time to think about why this situation is "triggering" you. If we are repressing anger/passion/strong urges - here's where the lid comes off and this stuff will get played out through other people.

If your kid is tossing a crazy fit - think about what you are repressing!

There is real power here.

Squares denote tension and crisis and create change. Plutonian changes are permanent. The ground has been scorched and there is no going back. Very deep issues can be challenged and put to bed. The bed won't be covered in rose petals, but at least the struggle with this one will be over.

Mars and Pluto met up back at the end of April 2018 - so whatever is happening could relate back to whatever kicked off then. We could be mad (Mars) at the truth (Pluto). We could be battling (Mars) for power/control (Pluto).

So, if the tension is a minor thing (the parking lot space as an example) - take a breath, channel some higher ground, use that cool headed Aquarius magic you have access to, to live to fight another day. Pluto does rule death, folks. And being squashed by an irate driver doesn't sound like how we want to spend the first Friday of February, right?

On the other hand maybe we really DO need to win/stand up for ourselves here - and for many this could be a work/career situation - if this is the case, we will probably not be able to just dis-engage.  

We don't want to be ruthless or under-handed, but we might have to stand up for ourselves - in a calm, cool, intelligent Aquarian kind of way!

We have access to courage (Mars/Aries) and nerves of steel (Mercury/Aquarius) now.

We might be working with themes of -

Where do I need to stand up for myself? How can I focus my will? How do I express anger? How do I work with power? When is my anger out of proportion to the situation?

Avoid unnecessary run ins with the boss/authority because THEY WILL WIN. If you are the boss/authority avoid making other people feel threatened because YOU WILL LOSE in the long run. And we are playing a long game here. Keep this in mind.

Anger can be a “negative” emotion,  when perverted into rage or violence or when it is repressed, so that it squeezes out sideways in passive-aggressive responses and actions.

But anger is passion, too.

We can't get angry if we don't care.

Passion is the energy of creation - passion makes the world. Anger is a similar energy alerting us to the need to remake our world when our creation has gone wrong. Let's try to stay conscious.

And get some physical exercise. Mars needs to move.

What a day for the Trump administration to announce withdrawal from a 1987 nuclear arms (Pluto) control treaty with Russia ...

xo all

this is great energy for permanent change - breaking a bad habit especially something self-harming like smoking, cutting loose from something that is strangling us, clearing the decks for next week's New Moon in Aquarius

Mars Trine Jupiter, Ceres Into Sagittarius | just START, the braver we are the luckier we get, life is helping us get out of the things that no longer make sense, moving from grief to hopefulness, support for caregivers and nurturers, time to find a way through

Today we have Mars (in Aries) trining Jupiter (in Sag) at 16 degrees. Mars - our passion, initiative, how we go about getting what we want - in fiery Aries (his home sign) is the ultimate energy to START. Trining (brakes off) our lucky and abundant Jupiter - another powerhouse in his home sign - tells us it is the time to get something GOING.

Be brave!

The waxing Libra Moon (the Moon moved into Libra last night at 11:02PM EST) and the Aquarius Sun are trining, too. This is great energy for collaboration, cooperative ventures, taking action within a group or in a public setting. Promotion. BOLD communication.

Whatever it is - do you know the themes of your natal Sagittarius and Aries houses? It's a GO.
 
Mars will give us the courage to try and the trines will allow the right energies to fall into place smoothly.

There is no beating our head against the wall with this one.

The only fly in today's ointment is the Moon squaring Saturn late in the evening. This could have us butting heads with authority/limits/time or forecast tension between our partners/partnerships and our goals/career.

Another positive today, and this one is long-lasting, is Ceres (who is set to play a big role in January 2020's meeting of Saturn/Pluto - energies in play now) is coming up from the depths of the Plutonian realm of Scorpio and flying into the blue skies of Sagittarius.

Life has been trying to help us get out of the things that no longer make sense. We are creatures that are literally created from a craving for what is familiar. It is hard to let go.

We are like, "sure I can get rid of things/beliefs/situations/people .. oh wait, THAT?, no, I don't want to get rid of THAT!"

Ceres out of the underworld will help.

It is not about forgetting - our loss/lack of control - but now able to get to a loftier perch we can see the big picture or maybe a glimpse of those bluer skies available to us in the days, weeks and months ahead.

Ceres out of Scorpio and into more optimistic Sag is good news for caretakers and nurturers.

Ceres will be in Sagittarius (including her retrograde) until the middle of November. This is good news for our Ceres storylines - lack of control especially involving losses, cycle of life changes, nurturing, loss of beloved pets and loved ones. We can feel better.  The first step is wanting to feel better. We can have faith that things are falling into place even in the times they look like they are just falling apart. Bigger hands than ours have got this thing.

Jupiter is the sign of faith and we have the great gift this year of Jupiter in his home sign. Faith truly can move mountains. 

Mercury is finally in a friendly air sign. Ceres is out of Scorpio. Mars is playing nicely with Jupiter and Mars won't be in Aries for long folks, we better get MOVING.

Saturn is moving into a sextile with Neptune next week

(remember in 2016 when we only had Saturn/Neptune squares that seemed to erode what was genuine/all hope of things just being normal and ordinary, we couldn't tell what was real - well in 2019, we are getting the opportunistic sextiles - the spaces where reality and our dreams can come together! the disillusionment and surreality of the past leading us to some solid understandings).

Yes, there are challenges ahead. There are always challenges.

But, things are looking up today. We can be, too. Lift your head. Have courage. Find a way through.


xo all

Mercury into Aquarius thru February 10th | the conversation changes, our thinking shifts, seeing situations from a less emotional perch, don't look backward you aren't going that way

Mercury (our thinking, information, communication) FINALLY gets into an air sign today with his/her move into detached and future-focused Aquarius.

Yes, it's fixed air, so people are not always flexible, but at least we've got some air!

One less planet in cardinal Capricorn and, now, without the South Node in Aquarius - detachment can be our friend. We step back. We view our situation from an observer position.

Does what we are saying/signing/thinking/writing MAKE SENSE?!

Some people think Aquarius represents independence (Aries), but more accurately Aquarius represents individuality. Think about it. There is an independent spirit here, yes, but since Aquarius rules the 11th house of groups, it shows people bound together by a cause. So, in Aquarius we find a better way to work together so it benefits everyone or else we go our own way.

These are the only two outcomes for Aquarius. Aquarius is the space in your chart where it's never going to work to follow the crowd just for the sake of fitting in, you will always have to do things differently. Our rough, uncomfortable rebel edges are there for a reason.

So, three things happen when Mercury changes signs.

Mercury changes (the conversation changes, our thinking changes, we are more innovative, we can detach emotionally from our thoughts, there is more air in this room so maybe we can breathe easier). The house Mercury exits changes (Cappy house slows/relaxes a tiny bit). The house Mercury enters changes (Aquarius house - roused by the Sun just a couple days ago - gets busy).

Poor Mercury has been through hell these last few months - and now I am going to write a disclaimer before I go any further because my natal Mercury has been dealing with transitting Pluto (can we deal with Pluto? I think maybe not, Pluto simply deals with us and we survive it ... or we don't) - exact now for the third time within the last two years, with two passes to go - I am far from thinking straight. Plutonic transformations are incredibly painful and challenging. When Pluto combines with another planet, he hides that planet's influence from us. That paradigm becomes a blind spot. Mercury is tricky (and he is the trickster, so eternally tricky) for me to clearly see my way to these days, so keep that in mind when I write about him/her. On the other hand I could be seeing things clearer. I am zeroed in here (on the stuff I can no longer see) like a laser beam. It's difficult to explain. Perhaps like breathing we can only get truly focused on this stuff when we are drowning.

OK - back to our collective Mercury energy.

In just the last few months he has had to walk through Scorpio - the spaces Venus, retrograde in Scorpio, had dropped her landmines, then flew up into Sagittarius - where Mercury, the ruler of Sag's polarity sign Gemini, is debilitated. And in Sagittarius, she had to meet up with Jupiter and do their annual forest vs the trees thing, but this year Jupiter, in his home sign was uber strong, so the trees got lost. Then she went retrograde squaring dreamy/foggy Neptune, not fun for Mercury who just wants facts and details and to keep moving forward. How do we make decisions? How do we make plans? How do we know what the hell is going on? Then Mercury finally gets out of Sag and into Capricorn and immediately runs right into Saturn. A limit. A wall. A "no". A delay. And then he had to deal with the Eclipse cycle and square the planets in cardinal signs like Chiron and Mars and Uranus and then last week she had to meet up with Pluto.

Airy Aquarius will be better.

This isn't going to last long though - only until February 10th - because next stop is Pisces (this is our brain on drugs) and he is going to get all the way to the very end of Pisces and then station retrograde, the day before Uranus gets back into Taurus and Mars will be in Taurus, too. Unless you are over 84 years old and maybe not even then, we have not had Uranus and Mars both in Taurus at the same time. And Mercury will be retrograde ... in Pisces. March is going to be cray-cray.

For now though, we have all the energies moving ahead. We have multiple planets in their home signs. And now we have Mercury very happy to finally get into an air sign where he can be himself!

We can see the information we need to see from a more detached space. Say what needs to be said. Hear what we couldn't hear before when maybe the words triggered us too much emotionally. We get more logical. Also more innovative. The facts will be presented in a more cold and clear fashion, but at least we know they are facts.

Mercury in Aquarius is about clear-headed, dispassionate thinking focused on the future. Its clarity comes from the space that is generated from detachment. We mentally step back a little bit and the pictures in our head get a little clearer, our words a little more sharp. She can also focus us on what "the crowd" is doing. Not only so Aquarius can join in (if she wants to), but also so she, as we, can think about what the crowd hasn't thought about yet!

Aquarius is fixed air, so people will still dig into their positions, but we will all be subject to flashes of pure genius.

Aquarius rules the collective. It's time to get out and talk to people. Aquarius wants most of all to advance, so HERE WE GO.

xo all

Venus Conjunct Jupiter, Mercury Conjunct South Node | now would be the time to ask yourself - do you feel lucky? - a leap of faith, attraction on steroids, optimism is magnetic, defining words, conversation from the past, saying it/hearing it again, a line in the sand, an ending, a powerful good-bye

Our heart-centered and fun-loving Leo Moon makes nice with Jupiter (11:29 AM EST) before going void off another trine to Uranus at 8:19PM EST - a good night to do something different; something liberating. She will move into organized Virgo tonight (10:22PM EST) focusing us on Virgo themes for the next couple days - our work, day-to-day activities, paperwork, planning, pets, cleaning, editing, the dotting our i's and crossing our t's stuff, you get the idea.

TODAY is all about Venus (love, money, values, beauty, women, resources, self-esteem) and Jupiter (expansion, optimism, the kind of luck that comes from feeling lucky) meeting at 16 degrees Sagittarius.

You gotta ask yourself - do you feel lucky?

To get lucky in Sagittarius - and this transit has added oomph because this is happening in Jupiter's home sign - we need to be optimistic.  

We need to be reaching for something outside our comfort zone.

This isn't about more of the same old same old. Venus in Sag has one eye on the distant horizon anyway. She has faith in it. That green grass over there. No, way over there - she wants some of that.

Watch for an opportunity - within your Sagittarius house - that involves a leap of faith.

ARIES/ Aries Rising (and this is about our collective 9th house/Sag's home house so applies to all of us, too!) - the planet of attraction and the planet of expansion are meeting in your 9th house of travel, higher education, weddings, politics, legal issues, the media, publishing, foreigners, everything outside your comfort zone, exploration, your beliefs and higher thinking. You are attracting expansion here. Stay positive. Stretch yourself.

TAURUS/Taurus Rising - the planet of attraction and the planet of expansion are meeting in your 8th house of other people's resources, other people's values, intimacy, other people's money, spouse's income, loans, debts, taxes, inheritance, sex, reproduction. You are attracting expansion here. Stay positive. Stretch yourself.

GEMINI/Gemini Rising - the planet of attraction and the planet of expansion are meeting in your 7th house of partners and partnerships. This is Venus's house so has some added oomph. You are attracting expansion here. Stay positive. Stretch yourself.

CANCER/ Cancer Rising - the planet of attraction and the planet of expansion are meeting in your 6th house of day-to-day activities, your routine, work, co-workers, pets and your health. You are attracting expansion here. Stay positive. Stretch yourself.

LEO/Leo Rising - the planet of attraction and the planet of expansion are meeting in your 5th house of creative projects, your self-expression, what you give birth to, children, romance and recreation. You are attracting expansion here. Stay positive. Stretch yourself.

VIRGO/Virgo Rising - the planet of attraction and the planet of expansion are meeting in your 4th house of home, family, your roots, mother, mothering, your ancestry, real estate or a home business. You are attracting expansion here. Stay positive. Stretch yourself.

LIBRA/Libra Rising - the planet of attraction and the planet of expansion are meeting in your 3rd house of communication, information, writing, teaching, learning, siblings, transportation or your local neighborhood. You are attracting expansion here. Stay positive. Stretch yourself.

SCORPIO/ Scorpio Rising - the planet of attraction and the planet of expansion are meeting in your 2nd house money, your values, your resources and self-esteem. This is Venus's house so has some added oomph. You are attracting expansion here. Stay positive. Stretch yourself.

SAGITTARIUS/ Sagittarius Rising - the planet of attraction and the planet of expansion are meeting in your 1st house of yourself dear Sag. You are growing, attracting expansion. Stay positive. Stretch yourself.

CAPRICORN/ Capricorn Rising - the planet of attraction and the planet of expansion are meeting in your 12th house of what is hidden or put away or done behind the scenes, secrets, the ethereal realms, imagination, hospitals, spirituality, addiction, healing. You are attracting expansion here. Stay positive. Stretch yourself.

AQUARIUS/ Aquarius Rising - the planet of attraction and the planet of expansion are meeting in your 11th house of the collective - your friendships, groups, causes, the internet, the public, the goals that bring you into relationship with other people, your advancement, technology. You are attracting expansion here. Stay positive. Stretch yourself.

PISCES/ Pisces Rising - the planet of attraction and the planet of expansion are meeting in your 10th house of your career, your calling, your achievements, your achievement goals, dad, business, authority, responsibility. You are attracting expansion here. Stay positive. Stretch yourself.

The other BIG news now is we have Mercury (communication, news, information) meeting the South Node (ending, finalizing, the past) in serious Capricorn.

This could be connected to the Venus/Jupiter attraction/expansion or something else and keep in mind just because these aspects are exact today we might not experience this today.

Mercury/South Node speaks of information from the past or carried by someone from our past (or something/someone familiar).  

There could be information that finalizes something/lays something to rest. That was then. This is now.

Something (conversation/information/official paperwork) clarifies where we stand.

There is a line in the sand, an ending, a powerful good-bye.

Both of today's powerful conjunctions were in play during the Eclipse. And time is extra tricky around eclipses - so this might have already happened.

Today's Leo Moon's trine to Jupiter hasn't already happened though and that is magnanimous and "lucky" all on its own.

xo all