Full Moon in Virgo | February 19, 2019 - the Moon for butchers and bakers and candlestick makers, an ending and a beginning rolled into one, keeping our eyes on the prize and our thinking flexible

On Tuesday morning at 10:53AM EST, the Sun (at 0 degrees Pisces) opposes the Moon (at 0 degrees Virgo) giving us our annual Full Moon in Virgo. This is the second month in a row we have had a 0 degree Full Moon bringing us a culmination point/ending and a beginning at the same time!

This Full Moon is going to spotlight work issues, quality issues, health issues and issues/situations involving our daily activities - the nuts and bolts of life, cleaning stuff up - it's excellent energy for working with all of them. 

Be mindful of what is coming to fruition now (this Moon is the culmination of September's New Moon) and also what we are keeping in motion regarding our work and health that it is time to release or withdraw our energies and attention from. 

Full Moons tend to show us what we are holding onto. Don't be fooled (Mercury conjunct Neptune) into wasting energy propping anything up that isn't working. 

Full Moons bring us to peak energy - things reach a culmination or a conclusion. Under the Moon's full power - things come to light, meaning to our attention or into the open. Usually a Full Moon in grounded, reality-based Virgo provides the facts. The fog lifts. The results are visible. Sanity prevails.

This year's energy is a bit trickier because we have Virgo's ruler Mercury conjunct Neptune (which brings the fog!) in Pisces - where Neptune is strong and Mercury is weak. The plot then thickens as BOTH Mercury and Neptune are sextiling sober and most decidedly un-foggy Saturn - strong in his home sign of Capricorn. And the Moon trines (brakes off) Mars plodding his way through Taurus and Uranus finishing up in Aries. The Moon inconjuncts Chiron, freshly minted in Aries, and at the powerful Aries Point, squares Juno (in Gemini) and sextiles Pallas (in Libra).

The Moon is conjunct fixed star Regulus (all of us were born with Regulus at 29 degrees Leo, but in 2011 he moved to 0 degrees Virgo - this is the star we talked about in the Trump posts, since it is conjunct his ascendant and it was most prominent during the Great American Eclipse of August 2017, that literally - and I mean literally - cut the country in half).

This powerful star is connected to "king-making" ie great and swift success, but just as swift a downfall if "revenge" is taken.

The star's move from Leo (the king) to Virgo (the servant) is another sign of the shifting "success potential" from the few to the many; of a shift away from hierarchical birthrights. Think about the way the internet has made "regular" people rich and famous and evened the playing field for many.

And, we have the Full Moon's ruler Mercury hitting the first degree he/she will re-walk during her upcoming retrograde today! So, we are going to be back here again at the end of March and even though mid-April.

Whatever story we have playing out is going to include some delays and revisions. We won't be going straight from point A to point B, passing GO and collecting $200.00.

What we learn now won't be the total story. The conversation will continue. Facts will need to be double-checked. Minds will change. In fitting with both Virgo and the Moon's 0 degree status - we are going to have to work/move through the process.

The opportunity (sextile) comes through sober Saturn, so keep your feet on the ground and your eyes on the prize - the long term goal here.

Know with Neptune/Saturn we either have the dissolving of a boundary/limit or the need for a sacrifice/release/ending to get to something more stable and lasting.

Let's say we want better health (and Virgo rules our health) - it will come through what we give up. Maybe we give up sugar or cigarettes or thirty minutes sleep a night to get up earlier and exercise. The sacrifice is necessary to get to the goal. And this may seem obvious with our health, but keep in mind success won't come through adding something (like a handful of vitamins) but through what we are releasing (like an addiction).

This is the way to think about how to reach goals and stabilize situations now - what do I need to give up to get it?

Or working the flipside of Neptune/Saturn (and even though this is only one aspect of this Full Moon, since it is a repeating aspect this year it packs more of a punch) - a limit/boundary is dissolved that creates greater stability/success. With the conjunction to Mercury - this would be a good time for a change in our thinking. Again it will be about what we release. Maybe a powerful thought about what isn't possible for us, that king-maker Regulus in Virgo reminds us is no longer "true". And maybe that thought that something isn't possible for us, that belief that is keeping us stuck, but used to keep us safe (an excuse to not venture too far from what is familiar) can be dissolved this year/this Full Moon/maybe right this instant.

Courage is required. We will have to give up one thing to get something else. We don't know what we don't know. Other people are needed. There is going to be a back and forth, two steps forward, one step back with whatever is going on. We will work the process. Things could get confusing.

Something could feel hard to hold onto. Lots of things could feel like they are slipping through our fingers. Maybe completions will still feel incomplete and unsatisfying somehow. Maybe we feel better - the symptoms clear up, but since we aren't sure what really happened or if it is going to happen again we still feel a certain unease with our health. We will have to see how this goes and work the process - do the daily stuff that keeps everything moving - with Neptune/Pisces there are always more questions than answers!

Keep in mind we are playing the long game. And this is the year we get lucky. Also that all the aspects we talked about in the weekly (other than the daily moons) are in play at this Full Moon.

xo all

don't forget to get out and walk in it and also to make some kind of symbolic release - a bag of clothes to Goodwill, a box of books to the library - free up some space for the good stuff to find you!

Astrology Forecast for Creatives | Week of February 18th - wounds get triggered, life gets even more fishy, what needs fixing, what is good enough, exaggerations and a shifting storyline begins

Mercury is uber active this week, which makes us busy and attending to lots of details, errands, talks, meetings, commerce, communication, etc. He/she is in watery Pisces which could lead to frustrations when we need fast and accurate answers and for things to move in a straight line. This could also focus our energies and conversations around Piscean themes - what is hidden or put away or done behind the scenes, secrets, research, romance, art, music, the ethereal realms, imagination, hospitals, spirituality, addiction, healing, your ancestors who have passed away.

Stay flexible and keep some time in your schedule open.

NOTE - Mercury enters the degrees she will be re-walking during her upcoming retrograde on Tuesday, so pay attention to what is in play the beginning to middle of this week because we are going to be working and re-working this chapter over the next few weeks!

The major aspects I see are:

MONDAY - Chiron into Aries (until 2027), Sun into Pisces (until April 20th), Venus conjunct Saturn
TUESDAY - Full Moon in Virgo, Mercury conjunct Neptune (Mercury starts walking the degrees of his Pisces retrograde with a conjunction to Pisces ruler Neptune!)
THURSDAY - Venus conjunct Pluto, Mercury square Jupiter

On MONDAY, we start the week with the energy of the Venus/Capricorn conjunction we talked about last week. Continue to take money/love/resources SERIOUSLY. Here is where the rubber meets the road. We find out what we really have. We might reach a limit or hear a "no". We learn to age/mature gracefully. Attractions become more practical and time-tested. Any lack of maturity or experience could hold us back. This might be a good time to find an older and more experienced mentor or a younger and less experienced muse. Less than solid relationships can end. Money/love lessons will be learned. Loneliness will suck lemons now.

Chiron will ingress into Aries until 2027. He first entered Aries back on April 17th of last year, so issues/situations from around that time could be back in play or connect to what is happening now.

I write about Chiron in Aries HERE.

With Chiron in Aries, changes will be faster. Rough edges will be smoothed efficiently on a chopping block. We will have to get right back up when we fall down. We will see what we need to do and then we will need to do it.

There will be less time for reflection and there won't be any time for wallowing. 

Except of course during Pisces season which also starts TODAY!

Chiron in Aries will be about taking action. It could be about standing up for ourselves (and vulnerable others). We might have to fight (as we work through appropriate ways to handle anger/initiative/competition) - even when it makes us uncomfortable and leaves us with knots in our stomach, hurtful words splashing around in our heads or scraped knuckles (yes, there might be some knock down - drag outs, hopefully like me you will be fighting with wallpaper).   

Keep in mind - this is a seven year transit and will play out over time. You probably won't have to fight on Monday! Also keep in mind Chiron isn't about winning. No trophies will be given out (dammit). No roses tossed at our feet (which is good, because we might slip and fall and no one will want to hear us whine about our twisted ankle).

The rewards will come through the acceptance of the thing we can't win - and this is different than giving up! - the process of  "learning to live with it", and through that energetic grace/acceptance we can heal some very old, and very deep, trigger points of pain for all of us. Yes, you heal me and I heal you and we are all together (or so said John Lennon, I think .. sort of).

Your Aries planets will be taken over by Chiron at some point, your Libra planets opposed and your Capricorn and Cancer planets squared. Those with planets and points in the early degrees of these signs will feel this energy first.

The Sun moves into Pisces today - (happy almost birthday Pisces!) the mutable water sign of mystics, empaths, musicians, dreamers, poets, artists, escape artists and addicts.

It's the final sign of the zodiac, the sign of consciousness. Although often pictured as fish (maybe a fisher-of-men Christian, Age of Pisces symbol), Pisces is better imagined as the ocean itself. A symbol of life and healing - the space where one thing flows into the next, until there is no 'next'. When we are lost at sea, there are literally limitless options as to where we can go - all directions are available to us.

(which is hell for the indecisive but invigorating when we remember we are here for the adventure) 

Pisces people have the ability to comprehend almost anything (the downside is the ability to easily hook into stuff that isn't real - I had noticed alot of Trump's younger staff early on had strong Neptune and Uranus energies). Certainty is a temporary state of mind for Pisces. Even the truth can get a bit stretchy. For grounding and to stay in touch with the ethereal energies that continually beckon to them - they really need to meditate daily (research shows coloring activates the same brain areas).

We are all burning Pisces fuel now, and so, especially if we find ourselves unfocused and forgetful we can use meditation to free up the space we need to remain effective and centered.

Ruled by Neptune, Pisces is the place in our natal chart where we heal, avoid, wallow, dissolve or transcend boundaries. It's unlimited territory; our ocean.

Since Neptune came home to Pisces in 2012, we have all been a little less clear about what is real. Think of meditation as a requirement for life on planet Earth now - also hydration!

EXAMPLE FOR TAURUS/Taurus Rising - Chiron is moving into your 12th house of what is hidden or put away or done behind the scenes, secrets, the ethereal realms, imagination, hospitals, spirituality, addiction, healing, your ancestors who have passed away, your spirit guides. With the Sun moving into your 11th house of the collective on the same day - your friendships, groups, causes, the internet, the public, the goals that bring you into relationship with other people, your advancement, technology - a deep, possibly unacknowledged or secret wound, is activated through other people, your groups, your connected goals. This could be about something you hide from other people or something that has been hidden from you.

TUESDAY, is a big day. First we have the Full Moon in Virgo. I will write a post and link to it here. This is our second zero degree Full Moon in two months - an ending and beginning all rolled into one. The Full Moon will trine (brakes off) a stable Mars in Taurus, so our actions taken over the next two weeks are linked to solid and lasting results.

The trickiest part of the Full Moon - which emphasizes the Pisces/Virgo axis of allowing vs micro-managing (among other things) may be the days other aspect -

Mercury (ruler of Virgo, so ruler of this Full Moon) conjunct dreamy Neptune, so probably not everything the Full Moon brings to light will be real. And due to Mercury's upcoming retrograde this aspect will be a three-peat. Mercury meeting Neptune on the exact degree he starts his back and forth retrograde journey is important so pay attention to what is happening now. Not everything will be as it seems. Think - alternative "facts".

Minds and ideas will morph over the next few weeks.

This is going to re-activate this year's major repeating transit, the Neptune/Saturn sextile (working for the dream) we have talked about before - making us aware of what we are giving up to get something solid or what solid thing/boundary is being dissolved.

EXAMPLE FOR LIBRA/Libra Rising - the Virgo Full Moon is lighting up your 12th house of what is hidden or put away or done behind the scenes, secrets, the ethereal realms, imagination, hospitals, spirituality, addiction, healing. Secrets move out of the shadows. Stuff gets dug up. Mercury in your 6th house of day-to-day activities, your routine, work, co-workers, pets and your health - could bring something here into play while the Neptune/Saturn sextile activation makes you aware of what you are giving up to get something solid or what solid thing/boundary is being dissolved. Whatever you are working through here will play out over Mercury's retrograde through the middle of April.

On THURSDAY, Mercury will square Jupiter and again with Mercury set to station retrograde, we are going to communicate/converse/think - or with Jupiter involved - over-communicate, over-converse, over-think -  our way through this situation multiple times. Conversations could be inflated. Exaggerations are likely. Enthusiasm and optimism is a good thing, just keep in mind things could appear better than they actually are. We will be working our way through this until the middle of April, so there is plenty of time for pins to get pressed into the inflated stuff. Not everything will be totally realistic now and there will be details and information we just can't see yet. We don't know what we don't know here. Don't bet the farm. Focus on the facts.

At the same time Venus meets Pluto at 21 degrees Capricorn and sextiles Mercury (in Pisces). Venusian situations - love, money, our resources, values and self-esteem - get more intense. Our need for love/money increases. This is good energy for attracting powerful people and situations that bring us into a more powerful position. Avoid manipulation now. Avoid jealousy and compulsive crap. Look deeper at what you already have and what you really want. Situations will likely conspire to force our hands with this.

Keep in mind, with Mercury bringing the opportunity and set to retrograde over this storyline a couple times over the next few weeks, patience and possibly some revisions and adjustments will be required to get to the good stuff. Stay positive and focused on what you want, which with Pluto, is likely to come through a merger (or intimacy) with other people and/or their resources.

EXAMPLE FOR ARIES/Aries Rising (and keep in mind Aries rising puts the planets in their natural houses, so this one is in play for all of us collectively) with Jupiter in your 9th house - travel, higher education, weddings, politics, legal issues, the media, publishing, foreigners, everything outside your comfort zone, exploration, your beliefs and higher thinking squaring Mercury from your 3rd house of communication, information, writing, siblings, transportation or your local neighborhood - optimistic ideas and plans are possible now. Just keep in mind Jupiter's tendency to make things appear bigger/better than they are and the fact we have a few weeks of revisions and re-thinking ahead of us. With Venus/Pluto in your 10th house of your career, your calling, your achievements, your achievement goals, dad, business, authority, responsibility sextiling (opportunity) Mercury from your 12th house of what is hidden or put away or done behind the scenes, secrets, the ethereal realms, imagination, hospitals, spirituality, addiction, healing - behind the scenes machinations/hidden information is helping you with your career/goals. This is going to play out over the next few weeks (through mid-April), so it will be a while before you know exactly where you stand here. Stick with the facts. Stay in your integrity. Avoid gossip and deception. Do your job.

Back - somewhat daily - with the Moons and back with the Full Moon in Virgo post!

xo all

North Node in Cancer, South Node in Capricorn | part 1 - facing our ghosts, the karma of our ancestors, dependency issues, the chickens come home to roost, nurturing ourselves, allowing ourselves to be vulnerable

On November 15, 2018 the North Node moved into Cancer and the South Node (of the Moon) moved into Capricorn.

The North Node is like a collective North Star - where our Earth family energy is heading - our best path for growth, and it asks us to do/feel things that are new to us, that make us uncomfortable.  The South Node is what we are leaving behind/what we have outgrown even though it may still feel comfortable.

Much of the time Nodal events (planets interacting with these points) bring internal situations/lessons/stressors/gifts, and then, around the time of the Solar and Lunar eclipses, the events play out in the external world.

Before mid-November, the South Node was in Aquarius - we were collectively releasing detachment, group think, over-thinking, hiding out in the crowd/audience, our "alien" spaces. The North Node was in Leo - we were striving to follow our heart, put our own oxygen mask on first, take care of the children, take the center stage of our own lives, create something we can be proud of, ROAR.

How did we do with this?

Did we allow ourselves to be distracted by technology? Detached from our hearts? Over-think things to the point of inaction? Did we step back into the safety of the group (choosing sides, aligning even more strongly only with people who agree with us)?

Or did we create something we are now proud of? Did we take care of our children/our inner child? Did we make some time to play? Did we step up, take the lead, stand out?

Did we follow our heart (Leo) or our head (Aquarius)?

Hopefully, as a collective we moved toward our heart. If you think about the immigration issues/children at the border - did we use our heart or our head? The artificial intelligence/robotics/internet push - heart or head? Did we allow the Aquarius South Node (what we are releasing) to loosen our grip on any impulse to connect mostly with like-minded people? Sometimes it is easier to see the ways we fall short, but the conversations around these issues stirred hearts certainly. The seeds were planted for more change and progress as we spiral and evolve through these spaces again.

So now, and through May 5, 2020, we've moved into new energies and because the Nodes move backward - they take us through energies we have already experienced. And this is even further emphasized now because the Cancer/Capricorn polarity rules history.

The Cancer/Capricorn polarity reminds us to recognize and appreciate the past without getting too attached to it. 

Our tribal/familial energy - his-story and her-story - visits us now and we are pulled into circumstances similar to those of our ancestors 

(and our own past lives), 

so we can choose differently this time, finish what they started, make the amends they needed to make, even earn the rewards they were denied. 

We can also find any benefits we have been allowed to own from their/our misdeeds (through the misuse of Capricorn energy) detaching from us, too.

Capricorn is a patriarchal energy.

Ruled by Saturn - builder of time and rules and structure and careers and hierarchy. Nothing "real" gets built without Saturnian energy. His-story. "Corporations are people." The ways we make ourselves invulnerable. Our hard edges. Our survival instinct out in the world. 'Life is a battlefield". "It's a dog eat dog world." Our stiff upper lip. The Capricorn energy is about stability, history, security. It's the sign of "father". And, with this mindset/with these beliefs, in order to survive, to order to keep his family/tribe alive, father (as us and through our leaders) has had to do a whole lot of stuff that isn't very warm and fuzzy.

Cancer is a matriarchal energy.

Ruled by the Moon - our emotions, nurturing, home, family, food, our roots, her-story, how we take care of things, the ways we allow ourselves to be vulnerable, our soft spaces, our innate survival instinct. "Home is where the heart is". "There's no place like home." Any quote by Brene Brown. The Cancer energy is about stability, history, security. It's the sign  of "mother".

And this isn't a masculine vs feminine thing or a man vs woman (although it might look like it at times) - these are both feminine energies!

As we move through the South Node in Capricorn - and keep in mind this is happening with both Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn, so the South Node is going to meet up with THESE GUYS (authoritarianism on steroids!) - we are asked to release those Capricornian things that have outlived their usefulness - the things/beliefs that may have previously kept us (and our ancestors) safe, but are now only keeping us stuck.

At the same time, as we move through the North Node in Cancer - we are asked to embrace this gentler part of ourselves. To use our Moon. To feel our way through things. To allow ourselves to be vulnerable (admit when we are wrong, show a weakness, let down our guard, trust someone else). To stop judging vulnerability as a weakness. To take care of ourselves and prioritize self-care and the care of vulnerable people/places and things. To face issues of dependency. To face our childhood (and ancestral and past life) emotional patterning with steady, unblinking eyes. To look within for rewards instead of looking for rewards in the outside world - praise at work/likes on social media are feeling a whole lot less satisfying now.

With this polarity ancestral stories, past life stories, childhood stories that are keeping us in fear and staying stuck will be released. The circumstances and people we will meet - what it takes to release these worn cords we struggle with - will depend on how tightly we are holding onto whatever is no longer working.

We will talk about this as we move through it over the next year and a half.

I was born with this polarity which probably means I understand it well and also don't know it at all!

I have learned to appreciate the small beginnings of things, to appreciate babies and baby steps, soft spaces and ease. Vulnerability is an issue for me (from a childhood, past lives, ancestral energy that made it clear showing weakness would kill you/make you lose) and with this energy in my 3rd house - a discomfort with not knowing, an inclination toward fear-based thinking "is this the safe/right thing to do?" that leads to yes - staying safe and right (although this has shifted and doesn't work anymore) - but missing out on a whole lot of good shit. I will write more about this in future posts.

We have been transforming Saturnian systems since 2008 and although it might feel like authority has a tighter grip than ever; like we have less control than we did before - what is really happening is the reins are being handed back to us and it's been so long since we have held them, we don't know what to do with them, so they are flying about like long hair in a wind storm for any idiot to grab hold of them! As we step into our responsibility in saner ways that prioritize nurturing, this will all shift.

I will add to this post as we move through these energies and it will pop back up to the top of the feed. Hope something here is helpful.

xo all

Mars into Taurus | taking care of the nuts and bolts of life, the touch that feels like love, stopping to smell the roses, physical work, results over time, stubborn determination, digging in until we are up to our knees in mud

Mars, needing a bit of a break, after a few weeks in Aries (a space he rules, but where it is go, go, go and push, push, push and surely even Mars can grow weary of that, can't he?) and after his explosive meet-up with Uranus (still in play - and isn't THIS interesting news for Tuesday night when Mars conjuncted anything-can-happen Uranus) moves into the green pastures of Taurus today.

Mars in Taurus will wake up our Taurus house - a space naturally inclined toward doing the same old, same old and where we can get a bit "set in our ways". Taurus Suns and our other Taurus planets will get a visit from Mars sometime over the next few weeks, so they get some revitalizing sunshine and a WAKE UP call.

For the collective energy, things tend to slow down when Mars ingresses into Taurus. If we are ready for this time to "stop and smell the roses" - and keep in mind that North Node in Cancer, this is a year to nurture ourselves and take care of ourselves - if we have done our "starting" and are now ready to work with what we have accumulated at a less brisk pace - this is the time the run turns into a walk. It's excellent energy to recharge empty batteries.

If we have something going on that requires speed and pushing, we could get incredibly frustrated now - and keep in mind, Mercury is in drifting Pisces and approaching her/his retrograde and will not be doing any pushing either.   

There is no out-running this "slow and steady" thing.

Taurus is the space in our natal chart that naturally encloses what we are here to nurture, preserve and grow. It may be a space we have a bit less passion and ambition because we most naturally feel the need to sustain what takes root here. A bird in the hand thing usually applies to the theme of whatever space Taurus occupies in our natal chart. The energy is cautious because the thing we are holding/carrying here is precious.

It can also become the fear-based space where good things go to die - and then we carry around a bunch of dead stuff like a crate of rotted vegetables and wonder why we are so tired all the time (and smell like moldy cabbage). What house does Taurus rule in your natal chart? What is the theme of that house? Don't know? Shoot me an email (or comment) and I will check for you.

Taurus gets results through self-sufficiency, by bringing situations 'down to earth', by being sensible.

Mars in Taurus loves physical work. This is the time to dig into something and not be afraid to get our hands dirty. Here the rewards come through sustained growth and immediately, too. Think about how good it feels when our physical body is tired; when it has been well-used - the good night's sleep and strong muscles that follow.

Some things to watch out for now - Taurus gives us stubborn determination, but also stubborn everything else. Let's not dig our heels in so deep we find ourselves in mud up to our knees when this transit is over.

If Taurus is stubborn and she is, it's only because it rules really important things - the kind of things that have to be nurtured and preserved and seen through to the end, but too much stubborn just gets us STUCK.
 
Mars in Taurus can bring procrastination. If you find yourself putting off to tomorrow .. well, everything - realize it is probably time to give yourself a break. Get out in nature. Take a bath. Then move back into the thing you have to do. Slowly.

There is no multi-tasking in Taurus. Just do one thing at a time. That's how things will be done and how they will be built to last. Choose a project to work on during this transit and see it through to completion. Our patience increases as we focus on one thing and on long-term results.

Taurus is the nuts and bolts of life. She rules our second house of everything important money can buy and everything important money can't. She rules food and nourishment. She rules the sensual touch that feels like love. She rules our resources - our money, the planet. She rules our self-esteem and values.

Ruled by balanced and beautiful Venus (hopefully Ceres someday which feels right to me) our lives could get maybe more imbalanced until they topple over or we are forced to remove something from the more loaded side or add something to the weaker one.

Venus is in steady-as-a-rock Capricorn (until March 1st), so this earthy/practical thing is multiplied now. AND she is on pace to meet Saturn (Cappy's ruler) on Sunday - which always feels like some kind of "test". Taking care of the things we have is important now.

_______________________

The Moon is in Gemini today. She will square Neptune this morning (EST) - do you remember your dream? And then she moves onto an opposition with expansive Jupiter late this afternoon. Hearts open. Not a bad day to celebrate the ones we love.

xo all and Happy Valentine's Day