Astrology Forecast for Creatives | Week of May 20th - fresh information, answers come in, choices and changing points of view, avoiding babble/babel, thinking without over-thinking, exciting changes, buttons are pushed, an old wound is triggered, changing what we can and accepting what we can't

We move past that red-hot mess, emotional Scorpio Full Moon and the energy starts lightening up- especially after the middle of the week! The middle of the week looks a bit challenging, but the holiday weekend looks good (no guarantee about the weather though).

TUESDAY - Mercury conjuncts the Sun, Sun and Mercury enter Gemini
WEDNESDAY - Mars sextiles Uranus, Neptune trines the North Node
THURSDAY - Mars squares Chiron, Mercury sextiles Chiron

On TUESDAY, the Sun moves into Gemini on the same day Gemini's ruler Mercury moves into Gemini and meet - kicking off a new Mercury cycle! They won't stay together for very long though because Mercury is FLYING. We talked about this in the Full Moon post for the weekend.  

Information/an answer comes to light. Clarity. A choice is illuminated. Our mental faculties are ON FIRE. The lights are flipped on. 

We will feel a difference in the days ahead as information and communications switch from turtle pace (fixed earth) to rabbit (mutable air).

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 do we need to talk to?

During Gemini season (until the summer solstice on June 21) life is busy. 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. We are off to the races!

Ruled by Mercury, Gemini is smart. It is the sign of the quick wit, unending curiosity and short attention span.

Since Gemini rules information we will have alot coming at us over the next few weeks. It would be a good time to learn to use the notepad on your phone is you haven't already. For some people, and for all of us at some times, Mercury will highlights situations with transportation issues/computer issues or siblings/cousins/local neighborhood.

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 all of us 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.

On WEDNESDAY, Mars will sextile Uranus and Neptune will trine the North Node.

Mars (in Cancer) sextiling Uranus (in Taurus) encourages, and indicates opportunity through - change and innovation.

Doing something new or in a new way, particularly within a home, family, home business, family business situation (or theme of your natal Cancer house!). Neptune's trine (brakes off) the North Node in Cancer speaks of the need for release, compassion, maybe sacrifice, a "letting go and letting God", the serenity prayer - knowing what we can change and what we can't. This could also indicate assistance from behind the scenes or the release of something that undermines us.

Today's aspects can also give us the courage to forgive/the courage to apologize.

If courageous words are needed we can find them.

A time for taking action (sometimes uncomfortable action this week) and for things to fall into place. If an auspicious opportunity is presented now, the energy is available to take swift and decisive action. There won't be time to hedge our bets, manipulate the data into what feels comfortable or second guess ourselves - if our intuition says "make a move" then make a move.

On THURSDAY, Mars squares Chiron while Mercury sextiles Chiron.

Chiron aspects trigger old wounds. That guy in your face in the post office will actually be yelling at his controlling mother and you will actually be listening to your demanding brother. Everything will be taken out of context and relate back to something else. Powder kegs are hidden in the most unlikeliest of spaces now. Tread cautiously.

Our actions (in-actions)/other people's actions are triggering an old wound.

There is tension/frustration around a domestic issue (or your natal Cancer house theme). Keep in mind yesterday's sextile to Uranus encouraging us to try something new or something more liberating/forward leaning.

At the same time Mercury's sextile to Chiron in independent Aries favors "telling it like it is" somehow. We are encouraged to talk about it, even when the conversation gets uncomfortable. We might have to stand up for ourselves. The way through the square is with our words/ideas.

Lighten up.

Bottom line - this week moves things forward.

It won't be trouble free (it never is and if it was we wouldn't move forward!) - Mars square Chiron is going to hurt - buttons will be pushed, triggering other times we have been hurt/been afraid, had to be brave/had to initiate. Squares require us to change/pivot and with the Sun in flexible Gemini and an aspect to Uranus encouraging innovation and change - we have what it takes to move past this.

Remember Chiron in Aries is about empowering us through individual action - we are not always going to feel supported when Chiron is aspected..

Maybe the most challenging thing happening right now is we are all kind of on our own (even as we are all in this together) - as the patriarchy fails, the stuff we used to count on is not going to be as available to us. Other people will not be as available to us because we are all moving through the same/different sludge. It's sink or swim. Maybe to show us we can still swim. Maybe so we can actually appreciate other people/situations when we can depend on them later. Maybe so we finally get off our ass and do it/learn to do it ourselves.

Keep in mind I write about the dates when things are most exact - all these aspects are in play for days before and after.

The biggest news this week is probably the kick off to Gemini season coupled with he Sun's conjunction to Mercury - we start a new Mercury chapter. 

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.

Notice your own language this week. Watch for negative words when you mean positive things - like saying "this isn't bad" when you mean "this is good" or using the word "want" when you mean something more than being in a state of "not having".

Watch for your limiting beliefs to show up as you spin your stories now.

Limiting beliefs are the thoughts, stories and 'spells' that we invite, through our own words, into the deepest spaces inside us and sometimes expel out into the world as conversation that inhibit our potential and limit the choices we make in our life.

For most of us, there is less question about whether or not our words are powerful - we know they are - as there is about how to best use this power to improve our world.

I have always loved anagrams and cryto-quotes and similar kinds of word puzzles. I had a bit of an obsession with them as a kid actually - also mythology, astrology and Rumi.

(And yes, all these things work their way into this blog. I was also obsessed with my metal wheeled roller skates, Ellen O'Neal and Tiger Beat magazine - luckily for you, dear reader, I leave them out of these posts.)

Words are powerful.

I love how "word" and "lord" can be combined to create "world". And "uni" meaning one and "verse" meaning word or poem or song makes "universe". And a spell is a s-p-e-l-l.

And dog is God spelled backwards (maybe especially that one - sniffle).

You might be familiar with the Bible story of the Tower of Babel - which is the story of God's displeasure at humankind's progress after the great flood. Everyone speaking the same language and working together meant soon nothing would be out of humankind's reach. This worried God so much that he scattered everyone all over the planet and changed their one language into many as a way to dis-empower everyone.

One nugget to take from this story is that Babel babble = dis-empowerment.

We honor Mercury, especially during Gemini season, when we speak our truth, when we think through our thoughts before we say our words, when we say more and talk less. We dishonor Mercury when we babble.

We also dis-empower (and self-limit) ourselves.

So, consider the words you use before speaking this week. Maybe speak half as much as you usually do. Unless you don't usually speak all that much - in that case, speak twice as much. Avoid gossip. Avoid babble. No little white lies. Think about your random thoughts and the song lyrics that get stuck in your head. This would be a good time to sign up for a class or begin a course of study - it doesn't have to be some big, important thing. Mercury also rules Virgo and the little details, too, remember and we have Mars in Cancer so our body knows what to do - one foot in front of the other folks.

Back with the lunar reports.

xo all

photo by the talented sollena fotografie

The Full Moon in Scorpio | May 18th, 2019 - part 2 : memories of loss/betrayal, disruptions around love or money, losing what we are clinging to, the cat is out of the bag, dead dragons, truth, life-changing directions, an emptying, creating fertile ground

Part I is HERE.

OK, down to business - let's unpack the chart!

We have the Moon at 27 degrees Scorpio and the Sun at 27 degrees Taurus. Mercury is approaching his conjunction to the Sun. Mars, the ruler of Scorpio (along with Pluto) and ruler of this lunation is freshly minted in Cancer (1 degree). Pluto and Saturn are retrograde and conjunct around the South Node (not shown). Venus is conjunct Uranus for the first time in Taurus in about 80 years. The only air in this chart is Pallas (retrograde) in Libra.

There is lots of earth here. Lots of water. Sounds muddy, huh? Our emotions are heavy. 

Full Moons (the part of the monthly cycle when Sun is opposing Moon) bring things to light and to a culmination.

Scorpio Full Moons are some serious sh*t. Through Scorpio, it becomes clear to us we are either living life or we are getting ready to die and since there are about a million things that can kill us these days - we had better make a commitment to being here if we really want to be here. Or else we won't be.

Fence sitters are falling over (another reason to hate plastic fences, fence sitting used to be quite comfortable).

After TWO Full Moons in partnership focused Libra  - we should be aware by now of how our friends/partners/tribe/job/house/town/family - wherever we are feeling any lack of intimacy - are simply reflecting us back to ourselves.

The Moon is opposing Mercury, and remember Mercury has just trined the Cappy planets including Full Moon ruler Pluto. Something needs to be/will be talked about. Maybe something not so pleasant because Scorpio rules alot of complicated, unpleasant stuff. And with the only air being a retrograde Pallas in Libra - our mind won't be much help here. Like Mars in Cancer - we are feeling our way through this thing. We need to be open. We need to be honest.

The Sun is exactly conjunct dwarf planet Sedna.

Named for an Inuit Sea Goddess her story is of a woman betrayed by her husband and then her father whose death birthed the sea creatures she later ruled/protected. She wanted so much to believe in the promises of a comfortable, easy life (from the trickster bird she would marry) she didn't look too closely at the fine print. When she called to her beloved father to bail her out of her predicament, he came to her, but then later, when his own life was threatened, betrayed her also - in a most gruesome way by chopping off her fingers as she clung to their boat before drowning.

(There is a devastating story in the news now of a woman and daughter who tricked and then strangled a young pregnant woman in order to cut out/steal her baby. When the pregnant woman was able to get her fingers between her neck and the cable as the mother strangled her, the daughter peeled the woman's fingers from the cable one by one. As happens when the Sun meets a planet, there is often a powerful story in the news/brought to light reflecting the story of the planet being illuminated, in this case, Sedna.)

So the Sun is bringing to light our stories/histories of loss and betrayal - even soul memories of cataclysmic events.

Our fingers are being pried from something. Maybe there is some kind of sacrifice needed. Something has to die - figuratively, I hope - so something else can be born.

The Sun can also bring to light any tendency we have to go unconscious in seeking the  simpler/easier/more comfortable path (Taurus) as Sedna did when she didn't look too closely at the bullshit story her suitor was peddling - the spaces where we haven't wanted to see what we don't want to see (Scorpio). It could even illuminate a situation where we have betrayed someone to save ourselves. Or where someone is tricking us/hiding something from us; they somehow benefit from our ignorance.

Keep in mind Sedna's death birthed all the creatures of the Sea - so the release of whatever we are clinging to now creates equally FERTILE space. 

Scorpio doesn't provide easy answers because it rules complicated issues (other people's money, other people's resources, loans, debts, inheritances, life/death/rebirth, reproduction, sex, intimacy - the ways and things we merge with other people) - the stuff we don't always want to look at/talk about.

(I know so many people who tell me they don't watch the news because they don't want to see any bad news and I get this and there are certainly times to turn away, but this can be exactly the way of thinking that brings this bad news to our door so we can see it when Scorpio/Pluto is activated. This isn't to punish us. Everything in life is showing us our connection to every other thing - the wheels are set in motion for all of us. We can barricade that door and spend weeks, months, maybe even years holding at bay what we think is out there - it is absolutely coming in anyway - or we can open that door ourselves)

The Full Moon's trine to its retrograde co-ruler Pluto tells us there is a re-making/transformation of a Scorpio situation - see the list above - or a re-structuring of something within the theme of the house that holds 27 degrees Scorpio in our natal charts.

The Sun/Mercury conjunction (their exact meeting will be in 2-3 days, so this situation could come to light/culminate THEN) tells us we learn something. The Venus/Uranus conjunction tells us we learn something DISRUPTIVE.  This will involve a Venusian theme - love, relationships, money, our values, self-esteem, beauty.

The Scorpio Moon is a secret keeper, but Mercury conjunct the Sun will let the cat out of the bag.

Your natal chart would give the best indication as to whether this will be a good surprise or something challenging. Either way with Pluto there is a before and after feeling to things. Like, we used to own this and now we don't. Or we used to value this and now we don't. Liberation. A change of fortune.

Keep in mind the nature of any Full Moon is to bring things to a culmination/conclusion.

So, here we are - having been through all the days since the day we were born until today - with intensified emotions as the Sun and Moon oppose each other - striving for/seeking a DEEPER CONNECTION WITH LIFE.

The only way to get out of here alive is to truly BE ALIVE.

Intimacy/sex/money/power issues between people could come out of the shadows now. Our watery Moon in watery Scorpio is very empathetic. At its point of fullness we could be full of the energies of other people.

This Moon will carry in HIGHER levels of consciousness when we are prepared to let go of what is complete for us (that dead stuff we are dragging around). 

In Scorpio things feel more intense and maybe this feeling is appropriate to the circumstances and maybe it is over the top. Like we are losing something not that important, or something we never actually really had, and it still feels like a death. Honor your feelings with this. There is a reason this energy packs such a punch for you.

Also keep in mind the Pluto/South Node/Saturn conjunction, very much alive all year - we are being made aware of the ways we have given our power away to family, to relationships, to "the man", in order to simply stay alive (in this lifetime and many prior lifetimes and you don't have to believe in reincarnation to believe in the idea that more than a tendency toward brown eyes is carried in our DNA) - these obligations have expired. It's like we have a 30 year mortgage and are continuing to mail in our monthly payments in year 37 or we are still paying our parents' mortgage and they have retired and moved to sunny Fort Lauderdale.

So, what do we do?

We don't have to really do anything (Mars is in Cancer - we are feeling our way through this, our body will KNOW what to do)  - although our current situations will need to be attended to, of course. We get what we need to get just by being on planet Earth and having experiences. We just have to allow ourselves to feel what comes up.

Don't judge ourselves as weak or crazy (yes, Full Moons can make people look crazy!) and allow other people the same gift of non-judgement. Just hold the space for the emotions to come up and out. Tears, sweat, being in or near water can help release lunar emotions.

Transformation is offered by fully experiencing the Moon - by NOT CLOSING OURSELVES OFF from whatever life is showing us now - what life has been showing us for the last couple weeks. This is an introspective Moon. It's an emptying kind of experience. The emptying creates the space for something new.

Imagine those parts of ourselves we have exiled off to Elba being welcomed back.

What old beliefs about what is not possible for ourselves are we ready to tenderly love away now?

Just sit with yourself during this Moon. Take a long walk in it. It doesn't matter if the sky is cloudy. It's there. It doesn't matter if you think you don't know what you want. You do. You came in with a plan. It is fail-safe.

If we've emptied ourselves at the Full Moon, in the days following we will find signs and answers coming in. Nature abhors a vacuum.

Mars (Scorpio's traditional ruler) and Pluto (Scorpio's modern ruler) add strength, courage and intensity to the Full Moon.

Whatever dragons we are facing now - we have the power here to slay them. Dead.


xo all

The Full Moon in Scorpio | May 18th, 2019 - part 1 : the players take the field

Let's take a step back and look at where the planets are right now as we approach this weekend's Full Moon in Scorpio.

The Sun is in Taurus (for just a couple more days). The seeds we planted in Aries are taking root. We are fueled by practical concerns. Security. Simplicity. Silence. Moving through our days on sturdy legs. Our hands in the dirt (since Taurus is our fixed Earth sign - we can also get stuck in the mud). Digging in. Becoming entrenched. Reverence. The Sun has just trined the Cappy planets and sextiled Neptune - we are restructuring our foundations. Sacrificing something to get something more real.

Mercury is in Taurus. Language is something we own. We own our decisions. We own our words. We are valued by what we know. We are talking about/thinking about what we have. Our existing resources are on our mind. It's a time of purchases. Commerce. Contracts. Our words are our fortune. We make practical choices. Mercury is trining (brakes off) our Capricorn pile-up and sextiling (opportunity) our North Node in Cancer, so we are talking/thinking/writing about the past - our commitments/our boundaries. There are opportunities to verbalize and make decision about our future, maybe especially as we look within at what we really NEED. We are re-structuring the way we communicate. Conversations where we are open/vulnerable (owning up to the past/to what we do and don't have) move our story forward in more authentic and stabilizing ways. Mercury will be conjuncting the Sun and opposing the Moon during the Full Moon.

Venus is in Taurus - a sign she RULES. We are making the most of what we have. We are attracting and attractive to stuff that is stable/practical. Quality over quantity. Simplicity. Wanting a more solid bottom-line. Wanting to be touched. Wanting to feel good. Wanting food that is tasty and nourishing. We are wanting what makes the most sense/cents. We are still asking - what's in it for me? Venus (ruler of Taurus and the sign opposing Scorpio and housing the Sun) will meet Uranus at the time of the Full Moon - expect surprises with love, money, our values and self-esteem.

Mars is in Cancer - the sign of his fall. We are acting on our emotions/our moods. Trapped by our passions. Defensive. Childish. Taking things personally. Protective. Nurturing. Brave mama-bears. We can't be all Martian-like changing into battle (unless our home/family/survival is threatened then watch out) and that's OK, because this is a transit. Mars is answering to the Moon. This is a time of inner action. Acting on impulse, acting on what we NEED. Healing. Our body innately knows what to do now.

Mars in Cancer is setting up some of our biggest challenges over the next couple weeks. He is going to square the Aries energies (Chiron) and the Libra energies (Pallas) and maybe most importantly oppose (in June) the Capricorn energies - where we have Saturn, the South Node and Pluto.

Jupiter and Saturn are both retrograde in their home signs. They are strong, but moving backward. We are re-working, re-looking, re-vising.

Through Jupiter we are re-seeking our lost faith/our lost treasure. Maybe an old opportunity re-turns. An optimism/sense of adventure is re-discovered. Our faith re-stored. Our wisdom re-valued.

Through Saturn (sitting with the South Node and on a collision course with Pluto in early 2020) we are re-viewing our commitments, our limits, the rules. Our past. What we have built is being strengthened/tested/reaching a culmination/an ending. Did we build our house of straw or brick? How about our father's house and his father's house?

Uranus is in Taurus bringing change to our most fixed/entrenched spaces. Disruptions. Chaos. Loss of stability/structure. Excitement. New ways to own things. New ways to make money. New values. New ways to create greater self-esteem. Unusual friendships. Owning the chaos. Owning the disruption. We will take those Taurean things we talked about earlier in this post and revolutionize them over the next few years!

Neptune is home in Pisces - since 2011 making it very hard to know what is real. Escape. Drugs. Fantasy. Alternative facts. Boundaries are thin/washed away. Seeing through the veils. Only seeing what we want to see. Creativity. Imagination. Wet weather. Compassion. Compassion fatigue. Seeing what has been forgotten/put away/been previously invisible/done behind our back. Healing. Spirituality. Endings.

The North Node (of the Moon) is in Cancer. The South Node is in Capricorn. The South Node is where we are /what we are releasing - patriarchy, hierarchies, living to work, working to live, our outer life, stability, structure, status, the stuff on our resume, our fathers and their stories. The North Node - our future path - home, family, our inner life, nurturing, stability, structure, the stuff on our tombstones, our mothers and their stories.

Pluto is retrograde in Capricorn - postponing the transformation/death until autumn. Giving us time to clean up the mess, re-search, look under the hood/under the covers/under the radar, merge, purge, re-think our compulsions, manipulations, jealousies, de-construct before the destruction, get our sh*t together, allow sh*t to fall apart.

Of course we are looking at the parts of the whole here which is never totally satisfying or useful. It's how the players interact with each other and the ways they interact with our natal chart that makes this whole amazing universe come alive through us.

We will look at the Full Moon chart tomorrow, but in the meantime maybe think about the ways your life has changed over the last year. There have almost surely been BIG changes.

If we think back to mid-May 2018 when Uranus first went into Taurus we had Mars stationing retrograde in Aquarius (last year's South Node energy - what we were releasing) and then backing into Capricorn (this year's South Node energy - what we are releasing). Then we had the eclipses followed by Venus stationing retrograde in Scorpio followed by more eclipses. This year we have Venus in Taurus in mid-May (a sign she rules) hitting the same degrees Uranus did and then meeting up with Uranus - we'll talk about this in part II - and we have Mars moving through Cancer with the North Node - the direction we are going, not the old South Node stuff like last year - so we are moving toward something new, naturally/innately even though the old stuff isn't quite cleared up (all those retrogrades creating delays that are actually buying us more time). Mars and Venus will be full steam ahead all year with no retrogrades like they had last year.

So, that thing last year that ended or never got started or didn't work out is not an indicator of what we can expect this year. But we already know this. We are still working through the consequences of last year's stuff, but we also have new situations in play, too. Plus we have lucky and benevolent Jupiter in his home sign this year and last year we had him digging through the dirt in Scorpio.

In some ways this weekend's Full Moon in Scorpio is putting some of last year's challenges to bed. It will also bring its own SHOCK AND AWE.

We'll unpack the disruptive Full Moon chart tomorrow night in Part II.

xo all

photo by the talented oprisco

Astrology Forecast for Creatives | Week of May 13th - control over our own lives, changing beliefs, opportunity knocks, romance, changes with love/money, a second chance, protecting our home/roots, stay flexible, endings, answers, we better know what we are talking about, Full Moon leaves nowhere to hide

A HUGE week ahead with Mercury doing this week what Venus did last week, multiple planets changing signs, Venus meeting Uranus and a Full Moon in Scorpio! Whah!

MONDAY - Sun inconjuncts Jupiter and trines Pluto
TUESDAY - Venus sextiles Mars
WEDNESDAY - Venus comes home to Taurus and Mars enters Cancer, Mercury sextiles Neptune
THURSDAY - Mercury trines Saturn
FRIDAY - Mercury trines the South Node
SATURDAY - Mercury trines Pluto, Venus conjuncts Uranus, Full Moon in Scorpio (27 degrees)

On MONDAY the Sun reaches 22 degrees Taurus and trines (brakes off) Pluto (retrograde in Capricorn). This is in play from 5/11-5/16. Major life changes. This is solid, practical power and transformation. This is us having the power/control over our own lives. Interactions with authority should go well. Taurus themes (love, money, values, self-esteem) and the theme of our natal Taurus house are empowered now. We can be bossy or we can be the boss. 

Time to bet on ourselves as we move toward a more authentic version of success/security.

This can also be a time when Plutonian themes come into the light (Sun) so we know what we need to know to stabilize a situation  - other people's money, other people's resources, secrets, sex, mergers and in Cappy - career stuff, goals, etc.

At the same time the inconjunct to a retrograde Jupiter (home in Sag) speaks of the need for a give-and-take with something (without which we get the rock and a hard place); an adjustment via a Sag theme - legal issues, travel, publishing, our beliefs, education, foreign issues, weddings, politics, media. This could be a fear of the unknown/big change.

With both Saturn and Jupiter retrograde this whole thing will be rooted in the past - maybe we are getting a second chance with something this week!

On TUESDAY, Venus (at the very end of Aries) will sextile Mars (at the very end of Gemini). Good for romance, socializing and getting what we want. We know what we want and we are taking action to get it. We are walking our talk. What we want and what we are doing to get what we want are working TOGETHER. We can be assertive and cooperative. Our masculine and feminine energies are simpatico. Now both planets are almost immediately going to change signs (tomorrow) with Venus coming home to Taurus and Mars entering Cancer for the first time in two years.

So, things are in flux. Stay flexible.

On WEDNESDAY, Venus exits Mars ruled Aries and moves home to stable and sensuous Taurus (through June 8th). Mars leaves multi-tasking "let's start a million things and finish none of them" Gemini and moves into Cancer for the next 6 weeks.

Venus loves (and rules) Taurus. After her weeks in Aries trying to be a lover and a fighter, she is quite content to settle into herself again. Taurus Suns and rising signs get more attractive (both physically attractive and more able to attract what they want). All our Taurus houses get more attractive, too.

For everyone, this transit, particularly when coupled with all this retrograde outer-planet back pedaling, can help us really appreciate what is right in front of us.

In Taurus, Venus will be intent on manifesting love and prosperity!

Once in Taurus, Venus will be on a collision course with unpredictable Uranus, so BUCKLE UP.

Mars (action, initiative, anger, passion) is not quite so comfortable in Lunar-ruled Cancer where he is considered in his fall.

This is because Mars can't be all Martian - fired up and passionate and out in the world testing his courage, running onto the battlefield thinking only of himself and how good it will feel to swing that sword - when he has these pesky emotional Cancerian things to contend with.

Things like feelings (it's harder to take the instinctive action he needs to take when he has to feel his way through what he is doing instead of just doing it). And home and family and security (harder to be putting himself first when he has a family depending on him and harder to fight most effectively when he needs to stay alive to come home at the end of the day).

This stuff can make Mars like a pot of hot water ready to boil over at any minute. Like the too-young father who wants to be out bar-hopping with his buds - he is trapped.

Collectively we will be more security and safety conscious. We will be more emotional. We could be more focused on home and family, real estate, a renovation project, a home or family business. We could be taking action to be more protective of whatever we have going on within these themes.

Individually, our natal Cancer houses will experience more initiative, action, passion and anger. Where is Cancer in your natal chart? Wherever it is, Mars is not the usual way we deal with the things ruled by this house (unless of course, you have Mars there natally).

Once in Cancer he will be on a collision course with the North Node in Cancer and an opposition to the Cappy pile-up (Saturn, South Node, Pluto) - this will all be hitting in June and is one of reasons June will be challenging.

So, BUCKLE UP.

Mercury will also sextile (opportunity) Neptune today - good for healing words, creativity, making affirmations, meditation, making art and music, our intellect and our intuition are working together. Good for sales, publicity - words that connect us and what we are doing to other people.

On THURSDAY, Mercury - following Venus's path from last week - will trine a retrograde Saturn (in Capricorn). We want to be purposeful with our language now.

When Mercury aspects Saturn our spoken/written words, and maybe most especially the things we tell ourselves about what is possible, create iron-clad contracts. Only make promises you know you can keep because you will be held accountable. If you say you are going to do something, you are actually going to have to do it or it is going to come back and bite you in the ass.

Avoid gossip. With Saturn being the king of karma and all that, it has a way of coming back around.

Opportunities come through careful planning and preparation as Mercury (communications, conversations, ideas, thoughts) trines serious Saturn (time, stability, hard work, authority) now.

With Saturn retrograde the past is factoring into all of this somehow.

Deliberate, thoughtful and sober words create the most impact. If we want to be taken seriously we need to take ourselves seriously. Conversations should be respectful. Do we know what we are talking about? If not, it's time to connect with someone who does. Lessons learned now stay with us, so what are we learning?

Communications and conversations with authority figures are helpful now. ANSWERS COME IN. Pay attention to what you are hearing. Be sure you are understanding what is being said and that you are being understood.

This aspect gives us the perseverance and concentration that creates stability and is good energy for paperwork that requires accuracy. We can focus on what is most important rather than what might at first appear most urgent.

It is perfectly alright to say, "no", "not yet" or "I have to think about it". We may hear these words now, too. 

With Mercury then moving into a trine with the South Node on FRIDAY - there could be news of an ending this week. We could be nostalgic. Talking/thinking about the past.

SATURDAY'S Full Moon in Scorpio is HUGE and shocking and needs its own post. Stay hydrated.

xo all

photo by the talented Zhivago86