Today's Astrology Forecast | Tuesday, June 2, 2020 - relationship stress, imbalances, power struggles, sparks flying, the week heats up

Here's where the week starts to heat up.

Tomorrow Venus conjuncts the Sun, passes the Earth. The Moon is in Scorpio. Holy sh*t!

We wake with the Moon still in Libra - we are nurtured through partnerships, balance, fairness, peace with the Moon here, but our groove will be challenged right out of the gate as the Moon begins squaring the Cappy planets -

first Pluto at 3:22AM EDT (power struggles, emotional pressure, jealousy, compulsion) and then she goes void off a square with Jupiter (6:39AM EDT) both retrograde, so old/challenging situations. Choices made, maybe long ago, coming home to roost. Authority, work, relationship struggles. EXPANSION. And with all this cardinal energy - the need to start/start over, but then poor timing for this somehow, so frustration.

The Moon will be void until lunchtime (12:06PM EDT) when she dives into Scorpio - the sign of her detriment - moving toward a square with a retrograde Saturn which perfects at 2:37PM EDT. This is restricting/kind of depressing. The Moon in Scorpio wants intensity/truth/power - Saturn in Aquarius is detached/authoritative. Another retrograde planet. More old situations. Purging/merging. Painful cost cutting. Eliminating the dead wood. Coldness. No soft place to fall.

We are kind of needing to hit rock bottom before transformation, so maybe here we go, yes, we go there, no matter who gets hurt. Including ourselves.

Pallas retrogrades backs into Capricorn. She, like Saturn, briefly tested the futuristic/detached Aquarian air and then pulled back to earth. We (as she) weren't ready. The need here for our strategies to create greater stability and not just pull us forward, the need to re-make our plans, to re-think our next move. To plan like a general/CEO.

Mercury (in sensitive Cancer) squares Juno (in fairness/balance/justice seeking Libra). Relationship imbalances are felt. Visible. Words trigger. We are feeling what we are hearing/saying/reading. This could be communication or information about a home/family/real estate/home business/mother/family business/security situation that is creating a partnership rift.  Tension/frustration. The need to adjust. Rewrite the contract. Is this fair? With Mercury, moving into his shadow degrees today for his upcoming retrograde THIS WILL BE IMPORTANT and not ironed out in one press of the hot iron - we will be re-thinking/re-working this over the next few weeks. Pay attention.

The big news today is Venus (retrograde in Gemini) squaring Mars in Pisces. If we can remember back to before Venus turned retrograde and Mars was in Aquarius - Mars and Venus were so close to a trine (getting along/getting what we wanted) they/we could almost taste it, but then Venus slowed, her retrograde pulling her back and they never connected.

Now, instead of the smooth trine, they connect via a challenging square with Mars in unfocused, but feeling, Pisces and with Venus rethinking what she wants/what she values. Needing to re-balance her books.

Mars, not on the same page anymore, floating untethered/nostalgic/without a clear mission. Intuition/divine timing the only thing working, but not his cup of tea. Still pushing against water. Mars being Mars he just can't resist the push. Or maybe he's given up, immersed in Netflix marathons, napping on the sofa.

Venus, still undecided, tasting a little bit of everything, taking another look at the FACTS. That relationship/financial/values/self-esteem issue. A conflict between what we want and what we have to do to get what we want or between getting along and getting what we want. Or between the information and what we intuitively know. Sex/intimacy might help, at least for the moment, but change your position.

Venus wants to talk about it/think about it again. Maybe Mars wants to escape/for all this to be behind him/to take a nap or another drink. Maybe he cries out for the good old days. At the same time Venus is sextiling Black Moon Lilith (rebellion, the empowerment of the underdog/feminine energies) - so what we want isn't going to be cookie-cutter, isn't going to be controlled.
BML is the energy of the outsider. This is the energy of the future - the Age of Aquarius - the need to be who we are. Not who we are needed to be to fit in, the transcendence of the need to fit in. No kumbaya around the campfire (apologies to the lovers of that musical), but maybe kumbaya moments. A hard and painful process of detachment.

All these players are inside all of us, so this could all be an internal situation or acted out through us and the other people in our lives as we all play our parts. We can see this energy is so well mirrored in the collective news.

Remember we bring all parts of ourselves, all pieces of the situation and all people to the table this year. Nothing can be built on anyone else's back. Or else next year - when we have multiple Saturn/Uranus aspects - the split is going to break us in two.

This is Gemini season. Small moves. One idea/sentence taking us to the next. We aren't writing a novel, even if we are writing a novel - we are writing this chapter. We are writing this page.

Keep it small. Keep it local. Keep talking. Thinking. Seeing. We don't have to change what anyone else believes - it's not our job, it's not our lane. We each get our own lane. This is not about having everyone do the same thing or think the same way. That's actually the last thing we need right now.

Relationships are being tested. Power dynamics are changing. Stay flexible. If you must fight, fight fair. Know the other person is feeling what you are saying. And what you are not saying. Stay in your heart. Keep it relevant. 


xo all

Eclipse post coming next!

photo by the talented 7oretta

Today's Astrology Forecast | Monday, June 1, 2020 - focusing on what matters most, compromise, a need to be fair and balanced, talk about it but keep the conversation light, seeing without judging

I will get the weekly up tonight or maybe the Lunar Eclipse for Friday post because the weekly is all about building to that anyway!

Last week, Mercury connected with the Galactic Center (black hole at the center of our galaxy - our homing signal- and opposing all the duality we carry at the end degrees of "the sign of the twins" Gemini) and we had the largest solar flare we've experienced since 2017. Evolutionary light energies interacting with our physical, emotional and mental frequencies. With the creation energy calling everyone back into oneness - divisions have been made bare and painful.

This week we are building toward Friday's uber-powerful Full Moon Lunar Eclipse at 15 degrees Sagittarius. People with planets or points between approx. 12 - 18 degrees of the of the mutable signs (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces) are scheduled for/or experiencing huge wake-up calls in some area of our lives. We are being pushed to clear old karma very, very rapidly as old timelines fall away and new timeline options tighten up.

We talked about June in broad terms HERE.

The week rolls out like a freight train:

MONDAY -Vesta conjunct North Node
TUESDAY - Venus squares Mars, Mercury enters shadow
WEDNESDAY - Sun conjuncts Venus
FRIDAY - Mercury sextiles Uranus and squares Chiron, Lunar Eclipse 15 degrees Sagittarius
SATURDAY - Sun squares Mars

The Moon is in Libra today - nourishing us through partnership, a need for things to be more fair and balanced, a need for peace. She trined the Sun at 5:27AM EDT- this month's waxing trine - Gemini/Libra.

So we have that Gemini energy - communications, conversations, information, for some people this will be about siblings, local community or transportation situations and this energy is harmonizing/brakes off with equality, compromise, other people.

Keep in mind Gemini's need to keep things light and Libra's ability to push things under the rug. What might look like avoidance (dealing with surface issues, not going too deep, etc) is actually exactly what is needed. If we can compromise and allow both sides of a situation - there is truth in all sides - to be seen/heard, things can flow more smoothly today.

The other thing we have happening that is exact today is Vesta meeting the North Node at 29 degrees Gemini. This makes me think of that question about what you want on your tombstone/obit. What's most important? We ignore what's most important at our own peril now, so let's not do that. That's why you read stuff like this. Here's your heads-up.

The vestal virgins kept the community fires going or the community died - what is that important in your life? Situations can pull our attention there. 

Happening at the end of Gemini (information, communication) this could be about making a conscious choice/decision and then moving forward with that lunar trine. Vesta is following Mercury's footsteps from last week, so it can connect back to something from then. Keep in mind world events are mirroring personal events and vice versa - what needs to come together in your own life? Where are you not practicing what you preach? What do you say is very important and then not give enough time and attention to? Think - what do you want your tombstone/obituary/the people you leave behind to say about you.

If we aren't where we want to be then our current ways of thinking/communicating are not working. It's that simple and that complicated.

Time feels stretchy, but also sped up ... am I the only one burning almost everything I try to cook? Any Julia Childs-like skills I ever possessed went the way of the old Earth. 

This is all happening while the energies oppose the Galactic Center - we are on a journey back to ourselves, and this leg of the journey (Age of Aquarius) will make us more individualistic/detached. It's really not about coming together - although it can be - but instead about figuring out where we stand and how to stand up.


xo all

Sorry I didn't get to the weekly last night, my keyboard space bar is sticking and making it hard to type the long run-on sentences I am so fond of writing for you. Hopefully something is open around here today and I can buy a new one. I spent a half hour last night trying to give my space bar a little bounce with some plastic strips I'd cut from an ice tea bottle, followed by taking apart a couple pens for their springs, followed by staring off into space and thinking about the astronauts, followed by remembering I had half a cream cheese bagel in the fridge and tossing in the towel. Just another nut in the nuthouse here, folks.

photo by TheFoxAndTheRaven

This Week's Saturday Night Mystery | the death of Lori K. - the astrology of a conspiracy theory

Early this week (which feels like a lifetime ago already with everything that has happened since), Trump tweeted something along the lines of "some people think Joe Scarborough got away with murder" referring to the death of a young woman who worked in one of his district offices in Florida when he was serving in the U.S. House of Representatives back in the summer of 2001. He stirred things up, including the grief of her loved ones, as he is apt to carelessly do.
We are entering a powerful Eclipse season that brings us back to that summer and fall for the first time (activated by Mercury this week) and I thought it might be interesting to take a look, so here we go.

On July 20, 2001, a couple entered the district offices of U.S. Rep. Joseph Scarborough (now host of Morning Joe an American TV talk-show on MSNBC) in Fort Walton Beach, Florida for an 8:00AM scheduled appointment with someone at that location. Upon arrival, they discovered the body of 28 year old staff worker Lori Klausutis on the floor behind a desk. Her only co-worker was away on vacation and newspaper reports would later indicate Lori had been dead for "some" time

(her obituary notice listed her date of death as the day before her body was found).

Lori was young and vivacious, married for four years, she had graduated cum laude (with distinction) from the University of Georgia School of Journalism and was working on completing her MBA from the University of West Florida. She was a singer in her church choir and former president and current treasurer of her local Young Republican's group. She had worked at a district office for Rep. Scarborough for two years (he would later state he had met her about three times during those years).

Multiple people who had seen Lori at work the day before, including a delivery man, said she had spoken of not feeling herself/feeling unwell and anxious. We don't know exactly when Lori died (I would assume sometime before she would have been expected to leave), but we can see quite a bit from this forensic event chart drawn from the moment her body was discovered.

Foul play, illness, accident?

Let's unpack the chart.

When doing a chart like this, there are a couple things you can look at quickly to determine if the chart is viable. We typically want a degree on the first house cusp/rising sign that is between 5-25 degrees - otherwise the chart might be too early or too late to use (this isn't always the case, but it's always my first stop) - here we have a 13 degree ascendant which looks safe to judge.

(I usually take a quick look to see if the chart supports the facts and can see at a glance the Leo rising with the Sun/Moon in the 12th house of endings and, Saturn, which often signifies the location of 'the person's body/bones' at the time, is in the 10th house of her workplace/career, so with a quick glance we know the chart is usable/accurate and we can keep going)

There are two significators for Lori (the subject) in this type of forensic astrology chart - the ruler of the first house and the ruler of the Moon.

Leo was rising at the time this event "came to light" making the ruler of the first house the Sun. The first house represents Lori. Lori actually was a Leo Sun sign and we know she was spoken of as cheerful/generous/athletic and she was a singer in her church choir (and also performed on stage in college) - all very Leo-like. Leo also represents - the Sun, the heart and heart-centered activity, passion, accomplishment.

The sign on the cusp won't always (or even usually) be the person's actual Sun sign, of course, but it should always represent them at the time the chart is drawn. Here, Leo also speaks of Lori's "time of life". Leo rules young adulthood and the kind of pride developing as we finish up school and step out into the larger limelight of the world.

The Sun, ruler of the 1st house is in that final 12th house. We also see we have the Moon (the other significator for Lori) in that house, too. The Moon is waning/balsamic moving toward the Sun (so the time just before a New Moon when the skies are dark).

Both significators in that final 12th house with that dark Moon speaks very highly of endings/death.

The 12th house can indicate dying alone (also the general loneliness of dying), maybe in a small space, maybe from an old or hidden illness. It could be a maternal inheritance since this is all happening in Cancer. Although, with the Sun here, too, a paternally inherited illness is also possible (maybe connected to the heart/Sun), so we'll just say an inherited illness/inherited ending - meaning with a past life or ancestral connection.

Now, the sign on the descendant (cusp of the 7th house) rules the perpetrator (if there is one); this would be who or what caused whatever happened to Lori.

The 7th house ruler is Aquarius and we have the modern ruler of Aquarius, chaotic Uranus indicating something catalytic, sudden and unexpected in that same 7th house. He is strong in his home sign and inconjunct the Moon - rock and a hard place/no way out. The other ruler of Aquarius, his ancient ruler, is Saturn - seen here in Gemini in that 10th house of career/public life (Gemini also rules offices, neighborhoods, high places, sometimes it shows up prominently when we are looking at two things).

Neptune (natural ruler of that 12th house of endings) is conjunct the descendent from the 6th house of work/office/health. Neptune in Aquarius might indicate an unconscious state that creates an unexpected occurrence - like if someone was to fall asleep at the wheel and have a car accident. Neptune in the 6th house could also be a hidden illness.

So, was Lori's enemy an unexpected accident (Uranus) at work (Saturn)? Or an inherited illness?

Let's keep digging.

Saturn is conjunct Venus in Gemini answering to Mercury (Mercury has just moved into Cancer again as I type this, and I should note when Trump was tweeting about Lori, Venus, the planet that rules young women, was exactly where Venus was when she died).

Nearest the top of the chart - this shows the public event/what this chart 'shows us' - the couple (Gemini) finding a young woman (Venus) dead at work (Saturn) in an office (Gemini). And even now as this event is re-activated (and Venus and Saturn are also both retrograde right now) - we have the President/leader (Saturn) talking/tweeting (Gemini) about a young woman (Venus).

Mercury is in Cancer which is ruled by the Moon which is also in Cancer. The Moon (Lori) being the final dispositor of that ruler of the 7th house (the enemy) - puts Lori in charge of this situation. I don't mean Lori is responsible for her own death, but it could indicate no one else is.

Other than maybe fate (North Node conjunct Mercury ruler of that 'hidden enemy').

The 4th house ruler is Scorpio - we use all the chart angles to analyze this type of chart, the other houses are ONLY important if an angular ruler, or the dispositor of an angular ruler, is placed in them. The rulers of Scorpio - Mars/ancient and Pluto/modern are conjunct in Sag in the 5th house (Leo's natural house). Pluto/Mars would indicate a fast death - maybe death (Pluto) from a head injury (Mars). They oppose Saturn. So, we have all the malefic planets in a tight little bundle. We see another karmic indicator with Chiron conjunct the 4th house rulers. The 10th house ruler is Taurus - ruled by Venus in the 11th house (Uranus's natural house of chaos/accidents) and answering to Mercury and finally again to the Moon (Lori).

So what happened to Lori?

I love a good conspiracy as much as the next girl, but could Joe Scarborough have killed Lori Klausutis - well, let's just say the chance is just as good that Professor Plum did it in the ballroom with a monkey wrench.

The official explanation, given some weeks after her sudden death (by a rather disreputable coroner who was later discredited) - a cardiac arrhythmia causing her to fall and hit her head on a desk.

Even with hindsight being 20/20 (maybe 20/30 in my case) we can see this does align pretty well with the chart even taking into account the coroner's tainted reputation many years later when he lost his license for stealing body parts, yes, I said for stealing body parts! No wonder this case just refuses to be put to bed.

There are other scenarios that might fit the chart, but his findings and this chart do align themselves pretty much perfectly. We could go deeper and backtrack the skies and figure out when it exactly happened if we wanted to, but it wouldn't change the analysis.

Lori was only 28 years old when she died. She left a grief stricken husband, sister, parents and friends behind. It seems that so many, very creative people pass away between 27-29 years old, around the time of their first Saturn return (Saturn returning to the position he occupied at our birth for the first time - also around the age of 56 -58 during the second Saturn return).

Important life cycles are shifting.

Maybe it's because they have already done what they came here to do and are ready to move on, much to the sadness of their loved ones and not known to their personality here on Earth,

and their soul just finds a way to take their leave ....



xo all

artwork by the talented Elizabeth Handelsby

Today's Astrology Forecast | Friday, May 29, 2020 - what's making it hard to breathe, what's burning, seeing the ways we are tied to the past by the choices we have made, time to adjust, time to choose

The Moon leaves fiery Leo (with Minneapolis ablaze) and moves into the sign of - "let's clean up the mess/fix this thing" Virgo at 7:40AM EDT.

Yesterday, we had a LONG void Moon as Mercury moved through the North Node and then crossed the Aries point (0 degrees of a cardinal sign) on her/his way into Cancer.

So, he goes from his home sign where he is strong and as stable as Mercury gets (other than his time in Virgo each year) and into a water sign - his least favorite element. A message/information/decision about our future. And our collective attention on ONE THING.

And in Cancer, we get to feel what everyone is saying.

We saw the video of a police officer kneeling on a black man's neck as he begged for breath - the officers faces robotic and unfeeling as the crowds screamed for them to help. In a time when so many people are struggling to breathe (from a disease/a mask/suffocating situations) - kneeling for almost 10 minutes until the man's words and breathing ceased ...

Grief turning to anger. Anger to fire. A Leo Moon going void off a square to radical and disruptive Uranus and not answering to anyone. A zeitgeist moment. Torn between the old world - where remember this stuff still happened, but we just didn't have to look at it - and a new world it looks like our children or grandchildren might be building - from our ashes - if we don't get our arms, and hearts, around this.

Everyone feeling that insecurity/inability to get control of anything (the dying man, the crowds, the police) .... again the need to bring everyone to the table or that table is getting flipped!

Control doesn't even exist anymore - WE ARE TIED TO THE PAST BY THE CHOICES WE HAVE MADE, but there is nothing there. Time ran out. Time already ran out. That's why we are feeling like we are not all here. Because we aren't. 

Keep in mind that North Node in Gemini. Talk. Listen. Learn. Keep things small and local. There are moves you can make/decisions/choices that can make you feel better. It will be the light touch that works not some heavy handed broad thing. It's not about what we believe (that Sag south node) it's about what we see - what do you see??  

What situation are you trying to control that is out of your hands? What is suffocating you? Where is the fire in your own life burning? Where is the mess?  Where is our anger/our actions only hurting ourselves?

Let's look at today's aspects.

The Moon is in Virgo now so we are nurtured through our daily activities, crossing t's and dotting i's, fixing what's broken. Be advised a lunar Virgo can get very nitpicky/notice the problems. This can be helpful or just make everyone batsh*t crazy.

Mercury is in Cancer now. We will be feeling what people are saying. Our own words will be impacting other people emotionally, too.

The Moon (our feelings) and Mercury (our head) are both in signs where they don't want to be, but helped by their mutual reception to each other - the best of both signs can be activated here. Mercury gets the use of his analytical/practical Virgo and the Moon the use of her feeling Cancer.

With Mercury in Cancer we will need to step back now and then and ask ourselves - "am I feeling the actual situation or am I feeling my thinking about the situation?".

This day is challenging (maybe mostly tonight, so it could just run into tomorrow) and tomorrow could be challenging, too.

We have the First Quarter Square of this lunar cycle.

The Moon in Virgo squaring the Sun in Gemini.

Gemini wants choices and Virgo wants to narrow our focus onto just one, practical thing. Making a CHOICE allows the rest of the lunar month to evolve - our muses are standing by, but this is a free will universe (and yes, we made some of the choices before we got here this time around, so it's not so cut and dried) - we have to make the first move. At the same time, the Moon is opposing and the Sun is squaring Mars and Ceres in Pisces. We will really be feeling the stuff that is out of our control. And the more we push the further we get from what we want!

The other aspects today can help guide our decisions/our next moves.

We have the Sun sextiling Chiron - here is a light on that very old, very deep wounding and a need to address it.

OK, so we know the Moon in Virgo wants to help/fix things and he is being aided by his mutual reception to Mercury/Cancer, so stronger than our usual Virgo Moon.

So, we can see what is wrong and we can see something we can do about it.

It won't be totally fixable, but that doesn't mean we get to just look the other way - remember this Chiron wounding isn't about the healing, but about the "living with the wounding". Choose. Decide. Take some healing action. Virgo rules our health, our work, our daily habits. What needs to change? Be flexible. Gemini rules our communication, our neighborhood, our siblings, our thinking. What needs healing? What needs practical action? Talk it out. This is a square, so it's not going to be comfortable. We haven't been comfortable in months anyway. The only way through it is through it. What houses do Gemini and Virgo rule in your own chart?

Another aspect we have today is a testy inconjunct between Mercury and a retrograde Saturn.

With Mercury in Cancer words come from the gut. Words are taken personally. They can be soothing or they can be painful. And here is Saturn (authority/responsibility) retrograding through detached Aquarius saying the rules are the rules, here are your responsibilities, "you are way too sensitive, you snowflake, grow up!". This is a rock and a hard place. There aren't really any answers here. Adjustments are needed.

With a strong aspect to Chiron and a Mercury/Saturn inconjunct we can all be easily triggered. 

Keep that gun in your holster folks.

When Mercury crossed that 0 degrees Cancer yesterday he set up a marker for the June 21-22 eclipse that will set up the rest of 2020, so we can see what that will be about!

Check the news/your local newspaper. Mercury is a trickster - the most important stories will not always be on the front page. Check your inbox/mailbox.

We won't be able to say we didn't get a heads up. We got our heads up.

Our heart and heads can align today. What do we do with this?


xo all

photo by the amazing alltelleringet

Hubs and I can check our mailbox pretty easily right now, since it's lying in our driveway, taken out (along with some of our fence) by a newbie tractor trailer driver trying to back up last night because he hadn't noticed the road was closed. They are re-paving Main Street at midnight and it was crazy loud, but hubs, somehow with a kind of super-hearing available to him only in times of a "something is happening to my stuff" emergency, since I didn't hear a thing and he recently heard me sneaking his mother's old cuckoo clock out of the dining room and up into the attic - jumped out of bed and ran outside in his boxers. He kept a cool head, collected $100 from the guy and talked the police out of giving him a ticket which he said would cost him his job. Twenty/ten/five years ago (months ago?) he might have been angry. Anyone can change. Plus time is stretchy now.

Funny how the other day when I accidentally locked myself out and was yelling and banging ... he somehow didn't hear a thing ;)