Mercury into Cancer | time to TALK about what we NEED plus some mid-year advice from Saturn

Y'all Come Back Now by Pandora Selezneva

Mercury moves into Cancer today where he/she will hang his hat until June 29th.

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

Mercury squares Chiron (the Aries point) almost immediately, so it is likely some words/thoughts could be painful right out of the gate. Whatever this is it won't likely be bandaged up by us (or someone else) saying just the right thing - with Chiron the pain is the healing. Thinking about - "why do these words hurt? what is familiar about this?" and then maybe having a good old cry - yes, one of those big, old ugly ones that make everything a fuzzy, black, mascara-y blur - might just be more healing than trying to fix whatever has just been re-wounded with some Betadine. This wound is too old and too deep for that.

The Moon is dark now and in Gemini moving toward the Sun (and tomorrow's New Moon) - so the Moon in Gemini is answering to Mercury and Mercury in Cancer is answering to the Moon.

Words are powerful and emotionally charged now.

(Trump has his natal Mercury in Cancer and prior to his meeting with North Korea's Kim Jong Un, said "I just, my touch, my feel, that's what, that's what I do" when asked about his preparation and how he would know if Kim was serious. His infamous verbal word salads aside - this feeling the words is pretty much how Mercury in Cancer communicates.)

Also today the Moon is trining (brakes off) initiating, assertive Mars - this feels like good energy to get the verbal ball rolling with something. Make an important call - maybe something that requires courage. This would also be a good time to make fresh plans.

For the next couple weeks we could be thinking/talking/writing about Cancerian issues more often - home, family, real estate, renovation, home business, ancestry, the past, mothers, country, safety, security.

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?". 

The difference - especially for the next week of so with all this Neptunian fog and Saturnian potential to feel the pressure - is likely a pretty wide gap.

With Mercury in Cancer words come from the gut. Words are taken personally. They can be soothing or they can be painful.

Since Cancer rules both the mother and the baby, Mercury (communication, ideas, thoughts) in Cancer could be a good time to talk (Mercury) about what we need (Cancer).

At the end of this week Mercury is going to oppose Saturn (in Capricorn) so that is some kind of information/authority/restrictive information that BLOCKS us. Maybe we hear a "no" now or maybe more pressure is piled on. This could also be a home vs work issue. The good news with Mercury in Cancer is that this weekend and into early next week we get a glorious Grand Water Trine when she connects with Jupiter and Neptune - all our water signs have a planetary visitor now and they are all talking nice to each other - BRAKES OFF. Then by the following weekend (around the 23rd-24th) Mercury will oppose Pluto (we know as planets move through Cancer they will be opposing our Cappy planets!) so likely whatever it is we haven't wanted to think about/talk about will be what we have to deal with.

Today is great energy to start thinking about our New Moon intentions for tomorrow's New Moon in Gemini!

xo all

Remember where we are now - Uranus has moved into Taurus officially closing out the Uranus/Pluto square we have been dealing with for around 10 years!

We are moving toward the Saturn/Pluto conjunction - exact in January 2020.

2018 is the year for us to take any corrective measures that need to be taken before we get to that conjunction - the heart of winter. Some roads are already snowed in and closed to us. But other roads - at least one - are still open and we have been gifted with SNOW TIRES!

We have the GIFT of a summer focused around Mars retrograde (and the eclipses!) and Venus retrograde in the fall. This is life giving us some opportunities to get our act together and our shelves stocked before we head into the coldest days of winter. Mars retrograde will be in Aquarius and Capricorn - both signs ruled by Saturn - the key to all of this is our relationship with Saturn.

Right now we could be facing empty shelves from the resources we have squandered. The stuff we have procrastinated about and not wanted to face is reaching its logical point of crisis. Jupiter is diving through the stuff we have pushed down and not wanted to deal with and making it BIGGER. This foundational 'pot-stirring' is causing any structural instability to be impossible to miss.

On the flipside - the spaces and ways we have been doing our Saturn - the responsibilities we have stepped into, the work we have conscientiously performed without an audience, what we have appropriately prioritized and the resources we have managed responsibly will create the opportunities for us to not only survive but thrive!

Did we build our house of brick or straw? This is what we are looking at now. And this isn't about beating ourselves up - we ALL have areas of life we have been using bricks and other areas of life we have tossed together some straw.

There is still time to build the necessary bricks. There truly is. But we need to get to work.

Astrology Forecast for Creatives | Week of June 11th - the times they are a changing, new information comes in, unexpected attractions, official words, feeling what people are saying, just how smart are we anyway

Untitled 478 by ErosTurranos

We continue to have alot happening this week. I was going to write a two week post, but the weeks are just too different and this one has too much going on.

Anytime we have a week with two inner planets changing signs - we know our lives will be changing, too.

Add to that a complicated New Moon in a complicated air sign and all this foggy Neptune (there isn't much solid ground for us at the moment) and things can feel very dicey. We won't have all the answers - this is Gemini season, the season of QUESTIONS - keep this in mind.

TUESDAY - Mercury enters Cancer
WEDNESDAY - New Moon in Gemini (22 degrees) plus Venus enters Leo
THURSDAY - Venus squares Uranus
FRIDAY - Mercury opposes Saturn

On TUESDAY, Mercury moves into Cancer until June 29th and begins answering to the Moon. We are feeling what people are saying. Our words are impacting other people emotionally, too. We could be thinking/talking/writing about Cancerian issues more often - home, family, real estate, renovation, home business, ancestry, mothers, country, safety, security.

With Mercury in Cancer we need to step back now and then and ask ourselves - "am I feeling the situation or am I feeling my thinking about the situation?". The difference - especially for the next week of so with all this Neptunian fog and Saturnian potential for depression - is likely a pretty wide gap.

With Mercury in Cancer words come from the gut. Words are taken personally. 

They can be soothing or they can be painful.

Cancer is all about family and home and history and patriotism and security - about having our needs met and meeting the needs of others we are close to. It's about vulnerability and how we deal with that.

On WEDNESDAY, Venus - leading the pack this spring/summer - enters fiery Leo. Our Leo house, the space we have intended to SHINE in this lifetime, becomes more attractive. Leo Suns and rising signs are more naturally attractive (ie easy on the eye and able to attract what they want).

We attract what we want and need (Venus) through Leo now - so by standing out, standing up, being passionate, taking center stage - you get the idea. We could, of course, go overboard with all of this. Leo (ruled by the Sun) doesn't really like others blocking the light. Competition can get ugly. We could become downright diva-like. Being in love with being in love fits here, too.

Wanting to be adored will make being ignored all that much harder to handle.

Also Venus in Leo is not so into compromise. I will write a post.

Today's New Moon in Gemini squaring foggy Neptune and between a rock and a hard place with both a retrograde Pluto and Black Moon Lilith and with the Moon's ruler Mercury squaring healing/hurting Chiron is COMPLICATED. Not that a Gemini Moon is ever not complicated, but this one, being a Super Moon so close to the Earth and at a karmic 22 degrees, is quite, yes, let's say it again COMPLICATED. In Gemini we know there will be oodles of communication, information and choices.

We will have to be smart about whatever we have going on now.

New Moons are times when we are literally in the dark. The Moon and Sun are together at the same degree. Then time moves on, the Moon becomes visible, a little more visible everyday. This is called waxing and is the two weeks of the month when things are naturally growing.

Ruled by Mercury and ruler of our 3rd house, Gemini rules our growth through the exchange of information, through contact with our immediate environment, through language. Gemini reigns over: the flow of information, technology, communication, our mental processes, conversations, stories, lies, our local community, our neighbors, our siblings, our transportation.

Gemini is the first air sign of the astrological year - a sign of the mind, the archetype of the "teacher" - the storyteller. If you are a Gemini Sun sign this is basically the way you process life. As soon as you learn something, and you are naturally curious and learn alot of "somethings" - you simply must pass it on. Gemini has more to do with questions than answers because she has been mentally exploring and noticing stuff her entire life.

Gemini is perspective. What we notice becomes what we think about, what we talk about, what we act on. 

What we notice becomes who we are. 

It's a good time to notice what we are noticing. Of course, we would probably have to stop for a moment to do this and we won't be able to - because we will be so busy!

The next two New Moons after this one - are both eclipses, yes eclipse season is coming hang onto your hats, and are Super Moons, too.

I will write a post about the New Moon this week.

Also don't forget we have Mars conjunct the South Node. See my post HERE on that transit.

On THURSDAY, Venus is going to square Uranus which could set off impulsive attractions - suddenly something over THERE looks/feels very good and we WANT it. Of course, this is a square so there is tension/frustration. Venus is in Leo, so we will want what we want. Venus rules our love, money, values and self-esteem - something unexpected could happen within these themes or with our Leo house theme now. With the Sun and Moon in Gemini - it could also be that we have a couple choices, or with all this foggy Neptune - the appearance of multiple choices - and maybe we could end up choosing poorly. Maybe there aren't any good choices. Maybe all the doors hold booby prizes. It is going to be hard to tell.

This transit could also be the splash of cold water in our face we need right now. Remember we are playing a long game, if something feels extremely urgent or extremely essential right now take some time to think it all through. Imagine a blinking yellow light. Proceed with caution.

On FRIDAY, Mercury (in Cancer) will oppose powerful Saturn (home in Capricorn). Communications will be taken seriously. We could be blocked by someone else's words. This is some kind of outer authority, the rules, the pressure. This could be about official (Saturn) paperwork (Mercury) or a career/home decision or the need to talk (Mercury) like a grown-up (Saturn). This transit can bring negative thinking and depressive thoughts - take this stuff seriously now and use that powerful Neptune to connect with other people.

This is a reality check between our Cancer and Capricorn houses and for some people the more general themes of home vs work.

Once Venus moves into Leo (Wednesday) she will be trining Chiron (in Aries), so there is going to be a flow this week between our love, money, values, self esteem, issues with women or about beauty and our initiative, courage and ability to stand on our own two feet. With Venus in proud Leo - let's not be afraid to say we aren't certain (pretty much impossible to be certain right now anyway) or to speak up about our pain/problems. It could be our weaknesses/sore spots that will attract to us what we actually need.

With multiple aspects/moves by Venus this week we know there will be situations around our money and our relationships. Uranus will bring Venus something unexpected and it will create tension/frustration - which btw is what creates the greatest environment for GROWTH. Neptune will keep things foggy (or us dealing with Neptunian situations - what is hidden or put away or done behind the scenes, secrets, the ethereal realms, imagination, hospitals, spirituality, addiction, healing, illusion, compassion, deception). Saturn assures us stuff will be serious. And all this Gemini/Mercury means we will be busy, there will be lots of communication, information and choices.

I am going to write a few dailies this week and am a bit pushed for time, so am not going to get into the Moons here. The long voids are (not a good time for starts/launches) WEDNESDAY 3:45PM EDT to midnight and FRIDAY from noon until 3:21AM EDT. Back with some daily posts and the big New Moon post, in the meantime this weekly should be a bit of a heads up.

xo all

Pay attention to your dreams, synchronicities and intuition now. Also keep in mind I am writing about aspects on the days when they are exact, but often we feel their biggest impact as the planets are moving into aspect or separating.

Mars Conjunct the South Node | same old fight, moving on from friends who don't have our backs, rubbing salt in the wound, familiar struggles, falling into that same old trap, our old actions and in-actions bite us in the ass

Eaten bubbles by E-BZ

Today we have Mars (at 7 degrees Aquarius) - the actions we take to get what we want, our passion, our initiative, our anger - hitting the South Node (what is ripe for release).

Expect old arguments to flare back up, old goals and actions (and in-actions) to result in consequences now. We might have to lose the battle to win the war. We might have to let go of a goal to free up our hands to reach for something else.

We might find ourselves having a rip-roaring argument with our hubby that feels awfully reminiscent of our childhood battles with our father. There is karma here. Pay attention.

You have the benefit of astrology - so take a breath and think about what is really being stirred up. There will be, or was (although this aspect is exact today it has been building for a couple days and will spend a couple days unwinding) likely an uncanny reminder of having 'gone through this before' with the added realization, if we are lucky and smart, that we can choose differently this time.

Because Mars is preparing to go retrograde in a couple weeks and walking degrees he will walk two more times this is a repeating aspect that will be in play until the end of September.

So we have the repeating pattern of an aspect that is all about repeating patterns!

Whatever situations/issues we are dealing with now will not be the final chapter - be prepared for delays, revisions and possibly a long drawn out battle.

With Mars on the South Node our instinctual drive (Mars) is very strongly and often unconsciously - remember we don't crave what is good for us, we crave what is familiar - influenced by our past.

Where is Aquarius in your natal chart? For many people the theme of the house Aquarius rules will be Mars field of play.

EXAMPLE for Taurus/Taurus Rising (Aquarius 10th house) - Mars is traveling through your 10th house of career, your calling, your achievements, your achievement goals, dad, business, authority, responsibility. An issue, likely within these themes, is activated. Something here is ripe for release - (Mars on the South Node) before the Nodes move into Cancer/Capricorn next fall. Holding on too tightly to something here could actually hasten its speed of departure. Let's say you really need to move on from a job - an action or inaction on your part, challenge at work or argument with authority, for example, could expedite the manner. Mars (as you) will walk back and forth through your 10th house territory - conjuncting the South Node and opposing the North Node (your future). What are you doing, perhaps unconsciously, in regard to 10th house matters that needs to end?

Collectively, Mars in Aquarius pushes for FREEDOM and toward advancement and the future. This summer - through multiple, sustained efforts which could include setbacks and revisions - life is offering us the energetic support to release - and yes, there will be work involved Saturn is still in Capricorn folks - the ties that bind us- whatever is making us feel stuck.

Mars challenges us to find the right level of assertiveness without being a total asshole.

We need to keep our eyes on that North Node in Leo - our creative passion, what makes us feel proud, where we need to shine and take the center stage of our own life - Mars agitating that South Node and opposing the North will be sawing/chopping/shaving away at anything holding us back from what we came to do here.

Next week we have a New Moon in Gemini squaring Neptune - new info will come in, again not everything can be trusted. Hopefully by the time Neptune stations retrograde on the 19th we will get more clarity and stronger sea legs. We also have Mars and Venus opposing each other from the South and North Nodes while t-squaring Jupiter in Scorpio coming soon. Our karma, dharma - whatever this is it will likely relate back to whatever Saturn set in motion back in January. We have Mars set to go retrograde and a heavy duty Full Moon at the end of the month.

I am going to write a June post on Sunday to finish out the month instead of the weekly so we are better able to see around corners.

For this weekend we have the Moon in Aries on FRIDAY hankering for some action, but she will be squaring serious Saturn. Maybe save important negotiations/communications for another day if possible. Not a good first date night! We could want to do something for ourselves but have work or responsibilities that won't allow it. There is a semi-sextile between Mars and Saturn today which tells us if we slow down and do things carefully and proceed one-step-at-a-time there is a very good chance of success with whatever we are starting. On SATURDAY the Moon is uber active - we probably will be, too - and then goes void at 3:00PM EDT. There is a sextile - opportunity - with Mercury early in the day that can be good for commerce, communication and interactions with siblings/the local neighborhood. On SUNDAY the Moon will move into Taurus, the perfect Sunday Moon - garden, cook, relax, recharge your batteries. There could be something testy in the afternoon as the Moon squares Mars.

xo all

Astrology Forecast for Creatives | Week of June 4th - like alice down the rabbit hole, illusions and delusions, what we want and feel like we can't live without

Down the Rabbit Hole by artiste-reveur

Neptune, uber strong at home in Pisces (since 2011 - a BIG part of our "can't tell what is real/true" current reality), will be having his way with us this week as both our Gemini planets - the Sun and Mercury, move in to square him.

This is not the best week to make a big decision or more forward with any important plans.  

Things will not be quite what they appear to be now.

The fog is rolling in. The sands are shifting.

We will need to think twice about what we are saying/communicating. Misunderstandings are likely now. The truthfulness of whatever we are dealing with will be complicated.

We could be lied to or we could be the one spinning a tangled web.

Treat what you hear/read/experience now with a sense of curiosity - ask yourself - "well, isn't that interesting?" - nothing will be quite what it seems.

People, including us, will think they know more than they do. Things can look better, or worse, than they actually are. It would be best to read this post, and everything else you are consuming via language now (especially the news!), with more skepticism than you normally would.

Women (Venus) vs power (Pluto) could also be a theme - we saw three women shoot themselves in the foot last week with their language - Roseanne Barr, Germaine Greer and Samantha Bee. With Jupiter in Scorpio having so much to do (within the collective) with the #metoo movement - women (mostly) taking out the power structure and Jupiter now retrograde - this is more like women taking themselves out.

If we are kind of in-tune with the Neptune/Pisces energy and can chill out this week and just allow things to flow - step off the hamster wheel for just a little bit - this week's energy could feel almost peaceful.

Our time might be best spent finishing things up - the Moon is waning - and getting ready for next week's New Moon!

This week's major aspects are:

TUESDAY - Sun conjunct Mercury and Venus opposite Pluto
WEDNESDAY - Mercury square Neptune
THURSDAY - Sun square Neptune
FRIDAY - Venus square Eris, Mars conjunct the South Node

MONDAY is another day like last Wednesday - a Void Moon all day and no aspects. This would not be a good day to start something new. If you were thinking of taking a day off this week - this would be it, if you don't want to miss anything.

With Chiron squaring (tension/frustration) Vesta, we could be dealing with hurting/healing around the ways our constant tending to something/someone has allowed other parts of our life to grow weeds (this will be our Cappy vs Aries houses) or the painful realization we are no longer devoted to something/someone and are just "going through the motions".

We associate Vesta with the Vestal Virgins of ancient Rome. Charged from childhood with keeping the sacred hearth of the temple burning, they had the responsibility - via their devotion to the flame -  with keeping their civilization alive. If we have shouldered a responsibility or devoted ourselves to something that is not allowing us to be our own person or move in a direction we want to go, we could be feeling the squeeze of that now as our responsibilities/limits (Capricorn) rub up against the action we need to take for ourselves (Aries).

HERE is a short post on Chiron in Aries.

On TUESDAY the Moon moves into imaginative Pisces at 6:53AM EDT - this will make us more intuitive and compassionate, but also less grounded and realistic over the next couple days.

We have the Sun (in Gemini) meeting up with Mercury while inconjunct (rock and a hard place) a retrograde Jupiter in Scorpio. Within the same hour we have Venus (in Cancer) moving into her exact opposition to Pluto (ruler of Scorpio).

The Sun meeting up with Mercury could bring some important information to light (whether we can totally trust it or not is another matter) or maybe something from the previous Sun/Mercury conjunction - when Mercury was retrograde on April 1st - to a culmination (peak) or conclusion via Gemini  - communications, information, choices, etc. The rock and a hard place with Jupiter, retrograding through whatever is buried in our Scorpio houses is the challenge.

EXAMPLE FOR ARIES/ARIES RISING - The Sun and Mercury are meeting in Aries - your 3rd house of communication, information, writing, siblings, transportation or your local neighborhood. You could get an answer, have a conversation, receive some information - that concludes something connected to the last Mercury/Sun meetup from the end of March/early April. With Jupiter moving backward through your 8th house of the stuff not really talked about - other people's resources, other people's values, intimacy, other people's money, spouse's income, loans, debts, taxes, inheritance, sex, reproduction - there could be something here that is not being said. Maybe this is the problem and you are going to need to keep this in mind (you don't know what you don't know) or maybe some things are better left alone behind door number three (unopened/unsaid). With both the Sun and Mercury moving into a square with illusive Neptune over the next couple days - you are going to have to sift the facts from the fiction. It won't be easy.

Also on Tuesday - and for some people THIS will be the BIG transit of the week - Venus (what we want - love, money, our values, beauty and our self-esteem) will move into an opposition with Pluto (power, compulsion, obsession). This has been building since last week.

Power struggles around what we want and/or with authority are possible now.

Do we really want something or are we just obsessed with the idea of having/keeping it?

EXAMPLE FOR CANCER/CANCER RISING - Venus in your 1st house of yourself opposes Pluto, retrograde in your 7th house of partners/partnerships. This aspect could stir up issues/lessons via insecurities around power imbalances. A partner's (business, romantic, personal) perceived power over you or the feeling that they are essential for your very survival may be activated. Do you really want something from them or are you just obsessed with the idea of having/keeping them/what they have? The way through this is by taking back the power you are projecting onto the other person - stepping into our own Capricorn now. Neptune and Jupiter are in harmony with your sign Cancer - YOU are the one who sets the terms around how you engage with other people. This aspect has the power to transform a relationship and Plutonian transformations are permanent. Or it could be a wake up call via a hurtful encounter with another person that shakes us up to how much we are giving away our own power.

On WEDNESDAY,  Mercury (home in Gemini) moves into her square with Neptune (home in Pisces), so it could be tricky to separate the fantasy from the reality now. Keep that in mind with whatever you have going on.

We could be dealing with Neptunian themes - hospitals, healing, things put away, things from the past, addictions, medications, meditation, spirituality, imagination, etc.

This isn't the time to run with some information that comes in unless you are very, very grounded.

It would be the time to speak with a conservative kind of caution (am I saying what I really intend to say, what I really feel, what I really KNOW to be true?). Listen the same way. Avoid gossip.

Our addictive tendencies could be biting us in the ass right about now.

Today is the last Quarter Moon in Pisces and the skies are quite muddled. Information could be misleading. Choices that look like real solid things could turn out to be just our eyes playing tricks on us in a shadowy room at night and then vanish in the cold light of day.

Sleep on ALL decisions.

THURSDAY is more of Wednesday with another long Void Moon (until 5:26PM EDT when she moves into Aries) and the Sun squaring Neptune, too, tossed in for good measure. Except we won't be measuring anything because nothing will quite be lining up.

The Moon is waning now - what can we finish?

Any connection to Neptune is excellent energy to create, imagine, connect, meditate, heal via water, love, compassion.

As the Moon moves through Aries in the evening and meets up with Chiron (wounded healer) we could be feeling some pain around our ability to be ourselves or take action. This would be a good time for me to write one of those sleep medication warnings around driving and operating heavy machinery - take care with your physical body now and your head in particular tonight. Stay hydrated.

Back in a couple days with Friday and the weekend - we have some powerful energy to finish out the week, too. Plus let's start looking further ahead to a very important summer.

xo all