Today's Astrology Forecast | September 23, 2020 - hard to say the right thing, "no" is a complete sentence, hard news, reality checks

 

The Moon in high-flying Sagittarius squared a retrograde Neptune at 12:20AM EDT and moves on to sextile Mercury (expansive/hopeful conversations/ideas) at 11:30AM EDT and then goes Void off a productive trine to a retrograde Mars (what needs to be re-done?) at 1:31PM EDT. 

 

If something must get done today, get it done early and then give yourself a well-earned break during the Void.

 

The Moon will be Void until 7:16PM EDT when she moves into "all-business" Capricorn and at 9:54PM EDT squares the Libra Sun giving us this month's First Quarter Square - a time of action in the lunar cycle.

 

The Libra Sun/Cappy Moon square is happening on the same day we have Mercury (in Libra) precisely squaring Saturn (in Capricorn) - exact at 6:38AM EDT - so we get kind of a double whammy with this energy today!

 

(this is also the day Mercury starts walking the degrees he/she will walk two more times during October's retrograde, so pay attention to what is happening because we won't have seen the last of it) 

Squares are not comfortable and two squares are even more uncomfortable. 

 

Libra/Cappy speaks of tension/frustration between being agreeable/pacifying/not wanting to appear impolite AND saying "no", setting limits/boundaries/ending something/being the boss. 

 

Mercury/Saturn -makes me think of things like how good fences make good neighbors. And how sometimes limits create opportunities because the boundaries/limited options give us something real to work with. 

 

Squares to Saturn can bring reality checks.

 

There might be things we can't say/can't agree to now. Maybe we hear a "no" or some challenging news. And if we do, because this is a square and not an opposition and because Mercury will go retrograde and we get to do this all again - this might be an actual stop sign but in some ways is most likely a jumping off point. 

 

People might not want to hear what we have to say and it might be a time to just zip it. On the other hand if the temptation to zip it comes (with the Sun in Libra now) so we might most easily smooth things out/fill the uncomfortable silences with flowery pleasantries and not say the real stuff that needs to be given a voice/say yes when we want to say no, then this zipping it thing is not such a good tactic. Bending over backward, pushing elephants under carpets and denying we have any accountability for what is happening (or ignoring someone else's accountability in order to keep the peace) will backfire later.

Libra/Cappy can also be relationships vs work/career/goals. 

If we don't want to do something, now would be a good time to say so. Firmly. 

 

And we don't need to make a bunch of bullshit excuses while we do it. "No", is a complete sentence. We learned that from Oprah back in the 90's. We may have tossed our Doc Martens and Sony Discman, but the "no" thing is a keeper. 

 

Tomorrow and Friday we have a Yod aspect that will help us get clear on what we really need/need to do - so if something (ideas, projects, etc) isn't jelling right now, it might be a good idea to give ourselves a little time to get clear. The Venus/Neptune will reach precision today, so we could feel the confusion of that - also the compassion/creativity/imagination.

 

Still we can't just sit around - that square tells us some action needs to be taken - we ignore lunar aspects at our later peril. Just try to get it done early.

xo all

Keep in mind Mars is retrograde until mid-November and Mercury will be joining him. We're going to have two of our three inner planets retrograde and things will really be slowing down. We will be stopped in our tracks and re-evaluating everything. We need to tend to our projects, etc, even if we are not seeing progress in the way we expected. 

We are in between ages, living in the time between chapters, the crack in the book. Reality has to get pretty screwed up for us to realize reality isn't real. The Age of Pisces was really an age of delusion. So we feel half-dead because we are split between worlds and we are holding this energy. And, it's not easy to do this, because while everyone is waking up and we are reaching a collective tipping point, the bills still need to be paid and the dogs fed.

 

Hang in there. This is all going to make sense at some point. 

photo by the amazing metindemiralay

Today's Astrology Forecast | Tuesday, September 22, 2020 - ... and venus was her name (and no, she doesn't belong to russia), excellent time to start something

 

The Moon is in Sagittarius now - we are nurtured and nourished through adventure, by what is foreign to us, by making something bigger/taking something further. Her only aspect a (brakes off/opportunistic) trine to beneficial Venus (in Leo) at 1:33PM EDT. Optimism. Hope. Good feels.

Venus is coming moves off last night's rock and a hard place with Jupiter (in Capricorn) - which will be followed over the next few days by Neptune and Pluto and Saturn - relationship, financial, self-esteem complications. 

 

The Sun leaves Virgo for Venus-ruled Libra - giving us our Autumn Equinox (Spring down-under). A time of RE-BALANCING.

 

With the Sun leaving Virgo and moving toward these Cappy and Aries squares and literally/figuratively "falling" now, this can be a good time to pare down our to-do list - tense energies ahead/sinking Sun can leave us less motivated and require we either adjust our goals or get further out of whack by martyring ourselves. Feeling burned out and anxious over small things are signs something needs to give.

 

The chart for the Equinox will influence the next six months; in Libra focused on our relationships, women, beauty, fairness and balance.

With the Sun in Libra a light gets tossed on OTHER PEOPLE. Relationship imbalances will be felt. 

 

And keep in mind we move through life casting our shadow (what we reject from ourselves) onto other people, so often (maybe always) it is our own shadows we are seeing now. The parts of ourselves we have rejected, "I can see I'm not like this, by attracting someone who is like this." Or maybe something like "I'm not going to deal with this, so you deal with this and then I can blame you if you screw it up." 

 

Which sounds mean and lazy and few would actually say this out loud (this is mostly all an unconscious thing, of course), but is really more about overwhelm/perfection, and we all do this all the time. 

 

Changing things isn't about judging anything. The death of our most prominent female jurist here in the United States is powerful on multiple levels. And especially not about judging ourselves. Mercury in Libra (although yes, kind of "judgey") can make us just the right kind of "detached". And with the North Node in Gemini our main job here is to stay flexible/curious "isn't this interesting that I am responding like this or this other person is showing me this part of me that is totally triggered by this" - ack!

 

Remember this year everyone/every piece of us, gets a seat at the table. It is our job to SEE what we are denying (the situations that need to be re-balanced, maybe the places we have give our power away) and those energies will make themselves known one way or the other. 

 

We don't have to/want to make ourselves nuts here. 

 

This is the 3D world's separation consciousness/polarity. How life works. But this is an important week. We want to be responding and not reacting - which also means paying attention to the small things so they can become big things, but also BEFORE they can become big things (when I say small is big this year, we are talking about challenging things, too).

The first aspect the Sun will make in Libra (the chart and its first aspects set the ball rolling, so this one matters) is an inconjunct to Ceres in boundless Pisces. That smother mothering thing. We could create an imbalance through forcing unsolicited help onto someone or maybe someone does require our self-sacrificing care and this creates the imbalance. We need to re-balance this somehow - if we don't want to feel resentful or engender resentment in others. The Sun brings things to light, so we can see the situation CLEARLY. Libra doesn't always bring the answers (we have Mercury about to make a long retrograde through Scorpio for that part), but the imbalances are clearly shown. Any over-giving/over-receiving within our relationships will show up to be looked at. 

 

Then she trines the North Node - a smooth energetic toward our best future.

 

There is lots of good stuff in today's chart, too (which influences us until spring). The Sun and Venus are in mutual reception - empowering each other. This is not only influencing our natal Leo and Libra houses, but also energizing our natal Sun and Venus positions. Love, happiness. 

 

Venus is in between her inconjuncts to Jupiter and Neptune. Now inconjuncts are pressurized situations, so we need to be smart within our relationships/with our money/our self-esteem. If things are good now, that is very good news for you. If things are challenging now, we are going to need to figure this out - make some changes. 

 

The best case scenario here - we own our own crap.

 

The Sun enters Libra on the 22nd (because of Leap Year this year we get this MEGA added bonus of this happening a day early) - a master number, but also the number of self-sabotage if we are afraid to reach for that mastery. We need to do some stretching. 

 

This is a great time to start something related to business/design/beauty/other people.

 

The optimistic Sag Moon is waxing. The Sun enters Libra (9:31AM EDT) and crosses the Aries point (our collective focus) on the 22nd - the actions we take are made WIDER, more able to reach the public and be well-received. 

 

Then the Moon in Sag (our beliefs, legal situations, education, travel, the media, publishing, weddings, politics, marketing) trines Venus in Leo (love, money, our values, self-esteem, children, what our heart wants, our center stage, romance, creative projects) this afternoon pulling it all together.

 

xo all

 

photo by the talented shamanski

Today's Astrology Forecast | Monday, September 21, 2020 - challenging news and conversations - be brave, go deep, merge/purge, clean things up

 

 

The Moon is in deep/rich Scorpio now - we are nurtured by merging, purging, going deep, diving into puzzles/mysteries.  

 

She sextiled a retrograde Pluto at 3:06AM EDT then a retrograde Saturn at 7:50AMEDT and finally she sextiles our Virgo Sun at 2:12PM EDT - these sextiles are today's route through the Mercury/Pluto stuff we talked about in the weekly HERE - the challenging information/conversations.

There is always a way through.

The sextiles are Scorpio/Cappy and Scorpio/Virgo - today's way through.

The parts of us that need to be right. The parts of us that need to be good. The parts of us that need to be in control. Where is Capricorn in your natal chart? Where is Virgo? Where is Scorpio? We all carry these energies to a greater or lesser extent.

And, of course, we can only be right when we label someone else as wrong and we can only be good when we label someone else as bad. Without scapegoats we would actually have to own our own crap. 

 

The more I look at astrology charts and the more I talk to people about them, the clearer it becomes that our road maps (natal charts) and the subsequent transits over the course of our lives to those road maps are more relevant and more nuanced than we could ever imagine. 

 

Our beliefs, the way we see the world (our natal chart) become our reality, our way of connecting with the world, and then the world reacts/responds to us.
 

Maybe the biggest question we all face right now is how to live our own truth, even when that truth is not supported by other people and even when that truth does not support other people. Ouch. What is it we want that we don't want to look at/own up to?

And just as important - how can we hold a space for other people to live their truth even when we do not agree with them? Even when it hurts us. More ouch. 

At the same time we need to be mindful of the bigger picture as the "service to self" vs "service to others" war plays out, do we really want to be on the side of "service to self" - this Chiron in Aries, every man for himself thing is wearing me the f*ck out.

In 2016, I wrote, "we are living in the days between the Age of Pisces (religion, patriarchy) and the Age of Aquarius (science, equality). We can see far enough ahead now to understand that we could get this science/equality thing very wrong, very fast, if we are not careful. If we lose our heart (Leo). If we lose our connection to our passion (Scorpio).  If we lose our connection to each other (Neptune). It is Pisces that rules our eternal connection, spirituality, love. Aquarius rules disconnection and chaos. What do we really need to carry with us because there is only so much room on the ark."

Flash ahead four years later and here we are on the ark and I, for one, am still so loaded down with baggage I feel in perpetual danger of sinking.

The Cappy sextiles with the lunar energies today tell us we need to be standing in our own shoes. The truth of who we are. We need to be prepared to live with the consequences of whatever we are dishing out and whatever is being served (because on some level we ordered it, even if we think we didn't). Scorpio is only sated when things get intimate/deep. Go deep. Take this stuff seriously. Stand in your power. Less is more with Scorpio - less words can be more impactful, less clutter more beautiful. 

 

That Mercury square we talked about in the weekly tells us cooperation/collaboration will unravel if the tension/intensity isn't dealt with.

So life tosses us some Scorpio so we can deal with it!

 

The Waxing Sextile - Scorpio/Virgo - is this month's smooth flow from last week's New Moon in Virgo. Scorpio brings the smooth. This will pull in the theme of your Scorpio house, but also universal Scorpio energies to your disposal. Going deeper than Virgo's need for perfection/quality. Because this "quality" will not be enough. Where's the passion? Where's the mystery? Scorpio teaches us by showing us what we don't need. Go back to what you started last week and go deeper with it/connect with it on another level. Virgo is the surface cleaning/light watering and Scorpio is the deep cleaning/drenching/don't be afraid to start over if you need to/facing the deep truth. 

 

Maybe last week's New Moon energy needs a deep cleaning/come to Jesus moment of truth. 

 

Then it will be ready to rise rooted. 

 

So will we.

High level Scorpio is the phoenix rising from the ashes. Make it simpler. Be honest. Clean up any mess. And keep in mind the other part of the waxing (growing) sextile (opportunity) is Virgo - don't allow yourself to be overwhelmed - take it one step at a time. Stay practical. Time is on our side here.

 

xo all

photo by the amazing metindemiralay

Astrology Forecast for Creatives | Week of September 21st - September 28th, 2020 - justice, accountabilty, making an argument, challenging news and conversations, responding and not reacting, what would ruth do?

 

 "Real change, lasting change, happens one step at a time." ... Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Pisces Sun, Scorpio Moon, Saturn in Aqua)

This week is going to be an intense one folks:

MONDAY - Mercury squares Pluto

TUESDAY - Sun into Libra/Equinox

WEDNESDAY - Mercury squares Saturn (enters shadow of October's retrograde)

THURSDAY - Mercury opposes Mars

SUNDAY - Mercury into Scorpio

When Mercury went into Libra we knew at some point he was going to have to square the Cappy pile-up and oppose Mars. 

 

So, here we go. This is the week.

 

We could be challenged by information, communication and conversations this week. Our feet held to the fire. Made to account for past mistakes. Issues with authority can have our attention. Relationships will be tricky fields to navigate. We could be tempted to dominate someone or have someone pushing our back against the wall. 

 

Negotiations to reach a space of fairness/balance will be complicated and some will be long and messy. Buttons will be pushed and probably not so much the kind that open the door to a brand new car.

Our Libra shadows coming into the light - out of balance relationships, passive-aggressive tendencies, any need to please or pour that pink paint! 

 

People with planets/points near 22- 26 degrees of the cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn) will be feeling this energy strongest.

 

It will be important to keep a cool head - and also to forgive ourselves and other people when we/they can't always do that. 

 

A heads up that Saturn is slowing to station (direct) and Mercury will begin walking degrees he/she (as us) is going to walk three times - expect some slow downs, some things to not go as planned and even just fall apart by early October. And then October itself looks kind of like a fall picnic without any sandwiches, or good weather, or friendly banter or well, any actual picnicking. 

 

It might be our most challenging month of 2020. Muscles will be built.

 

Remember our guiding star/North Node in Gemini - stay flexible and curious, keep it small and local. There won't be one big move that fixes everything, so don't make yourself nuts. Our mantra within all communication, and maybe especially in our closest relationships, could be something like, "when I listen and when I can learn from this other person, I win".

 

Keep in mind the reflective mirror life is holding up to us via outer circumstances and other people - to show us WHO WE ARE now. This is actually a great gift that only looks like an overdrawn bank account notice or some upsetting words/news from a friend/partner. This is all Libra/Capricorn. Grit and grace. Calm assertive. The most important thing and sometimes the only thing that is important at all is how we will respond. Maybe think - what would Ruth do?

With two inner planets changing signs, an inner planet squaring multiple outer planets and two inner planets squaring each other - the collective world is being squeezed down into our personal experiences. The patriarchy is ending. There is no Plan B for the patriarchy because in reality it has already ended. We are looking at/holding onto something that no longer exists. Most of us are carrying karma and old contracts and commitments that have already ended. 

 

For everyone now in order to stay sane during these changes a need to make things simpler/less crowded, less complicated - more authentic.

 

Know we are truly all in this together - let's unpack the week.

MONDAY - Mercury at 22 degrees Libra squares Pluto at 22 degrees Capricorn. 

 

Mercury in Libra wants to be polite and wants things to be fair and Pluto is all hard edges. Intense interactions and conversations. Manipulations. Obsessions. Jealousy. Authority. The need for diplomacy. A push for the truth. An intense focus. Clear your head.

 

Words can cut like a knife. 

 

Challenging news/verbal confrontations where maybe we are fighting about one thing, but there is a whole other level of stuff underneath that we are really fighting about. If pressure has been building in us (or someone else) to SAY SOMETHING, well, here is where it might get said. And probably in a more cutting /harsh way than anyone intended. Plutonian squares can be hard "no's"/firm endings. Situations that feel like life and death and sometimes they actually are, but not usually.

 

This is powerful energy - especially happening at the powerful 22 degrees Cappy - activated in January via the "time runs out" Saturn/Pluto/Mercury/Ceres conjunction. A good use of this would be deep research, really listening, getting to the bottom of something, disclosure, TRUTH.

Pluto can show us via Mercury (in Libra) an uncomfortable truth and we push it back into the closet at our own peril. Especially with Mercury about to go retrograde in Scorpio answering to Pluto!

TUESDAY - the Sun moves into Libra, crossing 0 degrees (an Aries point - where our collective attention is focused on the SAME THING) and giving us the Autumn Equinox (Spring, down-under). This year's Autumn Equinox chart is kind of dicey because Libra squares Capricorn (Saturn, Pluto, Jupiter) and opposes Aries (Mars), so the Sun will kind of be repeating what Mercury is doing this week later in October. 

 

A light (the Sun) will be shone on what is out-of-balance or what is unfair, particularly within relationships. The curtain is drawn back and our Libra houses (and their themes) wake up.

 

With the Sun in Libra we will all be burning Libra fuel. We move ahead through balance, compromise and through our relationships with other people which won't be easy with the Cappy squares and Aries opposition, but nothing about 2020 has been easy anyway!

WEDNESDAY - Mercury at 25 degrees Libra squares Saturn at 25 degrees Capricorn. 

This is the first of three squares - the one with Saturn retrograde. We get the next on November 1st with Mercury retrograde and the final square on November 6th with both planets direct.

So, we know whatever this complicated negotiation is this week - it is long-lasting. We are back and forth reaching a point of balance/fairness with something/someone. Libra/Cappy makes me think of those "grit and grace" signs. Or that dog whisperer guy who was always asking people to be "calm assertive". And, of course, the incredible icon of justice and equality (and steel!) Ruth Bader Ginsburg (who passed last week as first Mercury in Libra (news of a woman) squared Jupiter in Cappy (structural changes within our legal system) and then the Moon - our emotions, the public knowledge - followed).

 

Whatever this is, it matters or we wouldn't be getting three shots at it!

 

In the meantime, the here and now, as Mercury squares Saturn there could be verbal/written rules that need to be followed. We are required to say the right thing/maybe even agree to something we don't totally agree with or are unsure/undecided about. We might feel we have to be polite out of fear of what will happen if we aren't and this might snowball into an explosion later. 

 

Saturn is retrograde so this won't be an entirely new situation/conversation. This also speaks of an added seriousness to partnership communications and mental activities. This is not a time to be glib or airy. Sober words mean serious business. Keep in mind the three-peating design of this challenge - we will be here again. If you are signing a contract now, prepare to keep your end of the bargain.

 

(echoing this theme, Mercury begins walking the degrees she/he will walk three times between now and November, so pay attention to what is happening - we start this journey in cordial Libra then merge into intense and penetrating Scorpio then we double back)

 

THURSDAY - Mercury at 26 degrees Libra opposes Mars (retrograde) at 26 degrees Aries

We really need to be walking our talk now!

Here's the exploding cherry on top of Mercury's messy week. Arguments. Competition. Challenging information. Internalized anger - what are we really so pissed off about?! - comes up and out through fiery words.

Take care driving. Stay safe. Take care operating heavy machinery (and light machinery, don't toss your phone across the room - just sayin'). Patience is needed. 

Of course, this is probably connecting to the Mercury/Pluto, Mercury/Saturn stuff and we can only take so much. Give yourself a break. Turn off the news if you need to because it will surely be cray/cray.

On Friday, Saturn stands still preparing for his direct station on the 29th - things can change around on us. Keep this in mind and stay flexible. 

SUNDAY - Mercury enters Scorpio and because of his/her upcoming retrograde will be here (other than a quick two week dip back into Libra) until December 1st. 

 

So, now instead of answering to Venus and the Sun, Mercury is answering to Mars and Pluto - that's a pretty big left hand turn! His actual retrograde will be from October 13th - November 3rd - stationing direct on the United States Election Day!

During this transit we will be getting to the bottom of things and will not be satisfied with Libra's (Mercury's last stop) conversational civilities. We'll want to know, and think/talk about, what is really happening.

It won't always be comfortable.
 

Decide first if you really want to know what is hiding underneath because Plutonian authenticity is not only transformational - it is permanent. There is no going back to "not knowing". Mysteries can be solved. The truth could come out. Secrets can be languaged and spoken out loud.

 
Difficult conversations will create deeper levels of intimacy now. If you are dating someone and you have sex (also Scorpio ruled) with them you can never go back to not having sex with them even if you never have sex with them again. 

The intimacy is still there. 

It will be like this with our words now. 

 
And once we know the information - we own it. It's our move (with Scorpio the move might be internal). 

 
It changes who we are and we ignore who we are at our own peril.

 

Mercury is going to oppose Uranus three times during this transit - think : "mind blown" - we need to hold on loosely to our certainty about ALMOST EVERYTHING.
 

Careless language (disrespect for ourselves and others) and our careless treatment of other people's words (and their reaction to ours) will be karmic. Keep this in mind. 

There could be battles for mental supremacy and mind games during this transit. People prone to manipulation could be extremely effective (or someone will finally see right to the bottom of what we are doing - maybe that someone will be ourselves).

This is a time to take a good, long look at what we are really seeking when we are trying to make a situation/person behave in a way that pleases us. Think about it. There are gold nuggets to be mined now. Even tiny specks can be used to create great fortunes. Scorpio rules our inheritance. 

 
The fly in the jelly here is that we might think we are mining for gold when we are really just obsessing on the same old same old. Scorpio rules obsession and compulsion and our minds could easily go there now.

Notice it. Don't judge it. Think about - "what does it mean that I keep thinking about this?".

Scorpio rules death, too. It's not only what we dig up, but what we put into the ground that matters now. This is going to be a long transit, we will talk about it more as we move through it.

 

Back with the dailies as we add in the Moons. 

 

Get enough rest. 

 

Take care of yourself. 

 

Know there are some things we are just going to have to experience. Because as challenging as this week is with Mercury's squares and oppositions - in October, we will have both the Sun AND Mars making them.

 

xo all

artwork by the talented joel8x