Astrology Forecast for Creatives | Week of September 26th - making connections, getting lucky, Mars into Capricorn, Pluto goes direct and New Moon in Libra!

soft the skin by witchie miranda

On MONDAY -we kick off the week with the Sun conjunct benevolent Jupiter in benevolent Libra. Astrologer Susan Miller called yesterday and today "the luckiest days of the year". And it is unquestionably an optimistic pairing, especially in Libra, offering us luck and expansion, within our natal Libra houses, and within our relationships. 

This is an excellent time to make connections with other people - it's likely to be who we know and not what we know that opens doors now (and, with Jupiter in Libra, through October 10, 2017). This energy will move us into the New Moon in Libra on Saturday which is more good news for fresh beginnings to be lucky and fortunate.

The only real downside to Jupiter, especially when connecting with the Sun's spotlight, is to be cautious of anything that feelings too "over the top" since Jupiter, although larger than all the other planets combined, is also made entirely of gases - it's hard to know if there is solid ground underneath all the hoopla.

We want to avoid over-reaching, over-estimating, over-doing, over-indulging, over-dramatizing, over-confidence and over-spending. This doesn't mean we can't do these things without the 'over', of course - it is the luckiest time of the year according to some astrologers - just be wise and keep one foot on the ground!

Venus (ruler of Libra) is in Scorpio so intense and a bit moody. Jupiter and the Sun conjunct in Libra shines a light of us evaluating our relationships, tweaking things a little or a lot. A 12 year Jupiter cycle ends or changes. Partnerships adjust this week.

Also on MONDAY, Pluto, after five months retrograde, stations direct at 14 degrees Capricorn. We now have the next seven months to push forward with stuff in our Capricorn houses and with the stuff that Pluto rules - other people's money ie loans, debt, inheritance, spouse's income, joint finances, bankruptcy, insurance, taxes, alimony, child support, investments, commissions, our will, royalties, reproduction, sex, surgery, death, birth and re-birth.

With Pluto moving direct - the truth of a situation could be revealed or the truth about an authority figure. Take health issues that crop up now seriously.

Again this week (exact yesterday), we have Eris (angry feminine, angry underdog, revenge, discord, rivalry, goddess of war) conjunct Uranus (the unexpected, rebellion, genius) for the 2nd of 3 times (since her discovery is 2005).

Eris could be a planet, but instead of naming Ceres and Eris planets, astronomers decided to demote Pluto (Eris is larger than Pluto) and call all three of them 'dwarf planets' (and we now have two more - Haumea and Makemake).

It's interesting that after Ceres (mother, nurturing) was dissed for 200 years by not making the official classification of planet, we discovered Eris; the angry underdog.

The story of Eris always reminds me a bit of Angelina Jolie's vengeful fairy Maleficent, so it seems appropriate she would make an unexpected, rebellious (and probably pissed off) move with this energy. There are always archetypal things in the collective world when the outer planets make connections (the bigger things now are terrorism, anger at police shootings, Hillary Clinton's story). And there are spaces in our individual lives that this energy works through (this is happening in the last third of our Aries house).  

Eris seduces us wherever we carry the energy of that girl who didn't get invited to the prom, the wounded underdog or where we need to win at any and all costs

(and yes, this is the stuff we heal the wound and the world by seeing, feeling and releasing - we'll talk about this again).

As astrologer Steven Forrest writes:

Would I fight to protect myself or those whom I love? Of course. You probably would too.

But would I poison the water in order to keep the price of gasoline down? 

Would I live in a big house if it meant that someone else had to live in a packing crate?

And while we are at it, let’s add some urgency to that last point. Say that the person living in the packing crate held three more playing cards: hopelessness, hatred, and a gun.

Monday looks like more of a mixed bag to me than the luckiest day of the year, but certainly an optimistic focus will head us in an optimistic direction! This energy is totally helped along by the Moon in Leo - creativity, romance, children, getting lucky, games, sports and fun.

On TUESDAY, the Moon is void during work hours. This is great energy to get a lot of work done, but not so great to launch something unless you want 'nothing to come of it' (since the Moon is not making any aspects to any planets). The Moon moves into Virgo Tuesday night.

Mars finally leaves Sagittarius - do I hear a Hallelujah! and moves into Capricorn - a space he is uber focused and effective. Check your natal if you don't know your Capricorn house - with Pluto's direct station and Mars transit - it is waking up big time now. In addition to whatever your Capricorn house deals with we will be more focused on ambition, responsibility and dealing with authority figures and our own authority. Just like that mountain goat (Capricorn) we will be climbing that mountain! Much progress can happen here.

It won't be all smooth sailing, Mars is the God of war after all and challenges to authority will be more heated and passionate now. And he is 'out of bounds' until the end of October, so not playing by the rules. Still, I'm already feeling some renewed determination, maybe you are, too!

WEDNESDAY'S Virgo Moon will have us dealing with paperwork, organization, pets, health issues. Some information could be revealed now. Something is not going to happen. This doesn't mean it's not ever going to happen, but it's not going to happen with whoever we thought it would happen with - this will make sense to some people.

THURSDAY is another all day Void Moon - you know the drill.

All week, the Moon is waning and we are releasing. The Moon is balsamic - here is a post I wrote a couple years back about working with that energy.

On FRIDAY, we have the New Moon in Libra (Friday night) - I will do a post on this later in the week - Jupiter is tight with this Moon making it even bigger and better. After that it is all systems GO - especially if it involves love, other people, art, women, our values or our money. We can wait another week if we want Mercury out of his shadow period. Of course, if something needs to launch now - just avoid the void Moons if you need "something to come of" whatever you are beginning and realize you are launching in the Moon's balsamic phase (quieter, less energy).

The Jupiter/Sun conjunction plus Pluto direct and Mars transit through the sign.

Check your Sun and Rising Signs - if you know the house placements (Libra and Capricorn in your natal chart) even BETTER:

ARIES (7th house Libra) : an opportunity to get lucky through a new and positive business or romantic partnership or a new direction for your existing partnership that brings expansion - (10th house Capricorn) : stepping into new/different/more responsibility with your career or public life

TAURUS (6th house Libra) : an opportunity to get lucky through your work, your health, your day to day activities, your co-workers or employees or pets (9th house Capricorn) : stepping into different/more/new responsibility and making progress through education, travel, publishing, foreign ideas, places or people, a wedding, a legal matter, spirituality or a course of study

GEMINI (5th house Libra) : an opportunity to get lucky with a romantic relationship or your relationship with a child or children or with something you have created (8th house Capricorn) : stepping into new/different/more responsibilities with shared resources ie debt, taxes, spouse's income - maybe a debt is paid off or a new, and responsible, loan is taken on, financial issues are confronted and can make progress, this is also good energy for reproduction, intimacy and taking action with any taboo subjects, there could also be increased tension over these issues

CANCER (4th house Libra) : an opportunity to get lucky within the home or with your home, home businesses get lucky now, things feel/become more spacious, there is increased security and improvements within the home and family (7th house Capricorn) : stepping into new/different/more responsibilities within partnerships, this next month is a great time to start a new business relationship, push partnerships forward and maybe a fight with a partner brings two people closer together or shifts the relationship and power dynamic so things can move forward

LEO (3rd house Libra) : an opportunity to get lucky through communications, contracts and ideas, great energy to sell or promote just remember to avoid the 'overs', good news could come in now (6th house Capricorn) stepping into new/different/more responsibilities with your work or day to day activities, with your health or with a pet, co-worker or employee. Changes at work or with a boss or authority figure affect your day to day. There could also be increased tension over these issues. Sticking to health and dietary changes will yield big rewards.

VIRGO (2nd house Libra) : an opportunity to get lucky with your money or self worth. Maybe you receive a raise or raise your prices, there is opportunity here to make more money or get more of what you value (5th house Capricorn) : stepping into new/different/more responsibilities with a creative project, a romance or with children. These are the areas where your work and focus can make tremendous progress. There could also be increased tension and power struggles here.

LIBRA (1st house Libra) : an opportunity to get lucky through a new and improved sense of yourself - optimism and opportunities for an improved future, this could be your physical self or any area of your life - your home, work, money, love (4th house Capricorn) : stepping into new/different/more responsibilities at home, a move?, making progress on something with your 'foundation', working toward more security for your family, home renovations, a home business focus will bring good progress.

SCORPIO (12 house Libra) : an opportunity to get lucky through something in the background or something/someone hidden that is working or falling into place (even if it looks like it is falling apart) to bring you a new and improved future (this could come fully to light in 2017 when Jupiter moves into Scorpio, but will begin somehow in the dark here), stuff that is going on 'behind the scenes' works in your favor, opportunities with those people and situations that have been 'put away' ie hospitals, distances, prisons, etc (3rd house Capricorn) stepping into new/different/more responsibilities with your communications, writing, teaching, siblings, neighbors, there could also be increased tension in these areas but honest work will yield progress.

SAGITTARIUS (11th house Libra) : an opportunity to get lucky through friends and groups, accept invitations to be with peers, good luck and an opportunity through them, excellent time to make a good impression, meet new people (2nd house Capricorn) : stepping into new/different/more responsibilities with your finances and your self esteem, a focus on your money (how you earn it, save it, spend it) can bring great progress now. What really matters here - what do you really value? Work for that.

CAPRICORN (10th house Libra) an opportunity to get lucky with your business, career or something you do in a public way, good energy to start a business or new career, authority figures are helpful, acting like a boss (not bossy) makes you lucky,  a career opportunity could open up now (1st house Capricorn) : stepping into new/different/more responsibilities with your personal self. You are ambitious now. This is excellent energy to kick off a fitness plan or get healthy. Take care of your body.

AQUARIUS (9th house Libra) an opportunity to get lucky through education, travel, legal issues, publishing, weddings, something or someone foreign or at a distance, growth and luck through doing something new and different (12 house Capricorn) : stepping into new/different/more responsibilities with things behind the scenes or people and situations that were 'put away', some buried ambition shifts over the next month. Trust your gut with how to proceed with issues if all the cards are not on the table, progress and even transformational progress can be made.

PISCES (8th house Libra) an opportunity to get lucky through intimate relationships, birth, death, taboo subjects or other people's money - loans, commissions, partner's money, inheritance, some type of financial assistance - just remember the 'overs' here, don't over-estimate or over-spend now (11th house Capricorn) : stepping into new/different/more responsibilities in groups or with friends, tension and clashes could occur now, competition heats up, this is good energy to work with big issues that you truly care about and your big bodacious dreams and move them forward.

(please excuse any typos - too pooped to reread right now - BIG XO EVERYONE!)

Venus into Scorpio | September 23rd - the seduction

beauty is by do not attempt aka madelaine

Today, Venus dives from Libra, the sign she rules, into the deep, murky waters of Scorpio.

Venus is considered in her 'detriment' in Scorpio. It's dark. It's ruled by Pluto. It's not her favorite place to hang out. She is also moving out of her opposition to Uranus. If we have felt someone separating a bit from us and taking some space or if we have done this ourselves to someone else, this can shift now. We will notice how we use other people's energy and how they use ours. Vampires do not really only come out in the night.

Venus in Scorpio doesn't look like the more traditional beauty of Venus in Libra. Her beauty is dark and forbidding now. She doesn't flirt. She seduces. She doesn't want peace at any cost so much as she wants to feel what's really underneath all the phony smiles and superficial niceties.

Scorpio rules death and destruction and now this comes through our relationships.

Here Venus pushes herself to the edge of life with compulsions, intimacy, jealousy, obsession and a struggle for real power. She goes into the dark corners that hold all our secrets and she coaxes them out into the open. There can be brutal and deep honesty here.  

Relationships get intense. 

If you are working through the unraveling of a relationship or financial quagmire - this energy will be your best friend. 

Venus will be in Scorpio until October 18th.

Scorpio Suns and Ascendants get more attractive (more beautiful and more able to attract what they want). Your Scorpio house (where is Scorpio hanging out in your natal chart?) gets more magnetic, too.

(and speaking of magnetic WARNING SHAMELESS PLUG AHEAD - have you seen my magnetic aromatherapy lockets - handmade by my two hands from a recycled steel car part - you can check them out at aromatherapylocket.com)

Venus rules love, money and women. Getting what we want with any of them becomes an act of seduction. We need to entice. We need to risk our flaws and shadows being visible.  

Venus in Scorpio knows our need for acceptance will make us invisible, so she risks rejection to be seen.

She doesn't want to be friends - she wants to be soul-mates. We will feel more "all or nothing" with our passions now. Things can crash and burn here. And for better or worse she isn't afraid to manipulate things to get what she wants (and yes, this, and her obsession with secrets and power will be her downfall).

People will be drawn to what is hidden; to what we don't show them. Keep this in mind if you sell things for a living. Buyers will want to discover things for themselves.

There will be no place for our secrets (especially women's secrets and love and money secrets and the secrets buried in our natal Scorpio houses) to hide. We draw to us during Scorpio cycles what we have not allowed ourselves to acknowledge in ourselves. We'll pay attention to what we attract and see what the person/situation is showing us. There will be lessons about power, playing the victim, jealousy, obsession, compulsion, manipulation, intimacy, truth, other people's money (taxes, loans, spouse's earnings, inheritance, etc), sex, reproduction, life, death and passion.

The Scorpio house in our natal chart is where we need to get real and go deep to have what we want now.

The world is not black or white. It has a whole lot of gray. If we can’t decide between "this or that", it's likely due to the infinite distance and variances between "this and that" that we haven’t even thought about.

Empowerment includes wading through the gray to find our own answers. Even though Scorpio energy is very much 'all or nothing', it is especially good at finding ways to be empowered. It is decisive. It is fixed and stubborn. We will want what we want here (and so will other people).

Pluto rules Scorpio and the house of Pluto in our natal chart carries quite a bit of karma and is the space we experience things "outside our control", so it's fitting how much Scorpio likes to be in control.

With Venus in Scorpio, the women will be calling the shots. We'll need to bring our 'A' game.

Pluto's 5 month retrograde ends in a few days - are we ready? xo all

the Fall Equinox, Sun into Libra and Mercury moves direct | where do we want to go from here

floating by sollena fotografie

Mercury retrograde - over the past three weeks (and the area came to our attention a bit before that when Mercury when into his shadow period- the degrees he was going to nit-pick over) some space in each of our lives (Virgo) had Mercury backpedaling and doing what Virgo (and Mercury since Mercury rules Virgo) does best - picking at something, checking for problems, re-thinking a situation, hitting a time out - you get the idea.

Maybe some miss-shaped pattern in our thinking, doing or relating was brought to our attention. Maybe something came to standstill. Maybe something/someone from the past re-emerged (it could disappear again). Things can start to move forward now. We will learn where we stand here.

Mercury rules Virgo and Gemini and is an important player in the inner skies (our day to day life) ruling communication (and the things we communicate with ie computers), our thinking, our early experiences and things nearby, ie siblings (even when they are no longer close by) and neighbors, education, transportation (re its link with speed, communication and commerce) and sales/commerce (re its link with communication and intellect).

He/she is the closest planet to the Sun - we will all feel better when he is back up to speed (give him a couple/few days to un-wonk himself and iron out the kinks). There could be rewards for our thorough re-work and patience. If you know where 14 degrees Virgo is in your natal chart this is the space he is moving forward from .... so here we go!

Also today, the Fall Equinox arrives as the Sun moves into Libra. Darkness and light are equally balanced today. Burning Libra fuel we can come into balance. In my part of the world we move from Summer into Fall (and heading toward Winter) - the time between life and death.

We take stock of our harvest - what do we have, what do we need, what do we need to do to get it, what do we need to do differently. We prepare for the winter ahead. We move into an air sign (and could reap a head cold - do whatever it is you do to head that off) and could feel a bit off-kilter and ungrounded for a couple days.

Libra is the sign of beauty and partnership and balance. We give and we get. With all of us burning Libra fuel for the next few weeks any ways this is out of balance in our lives could show up for us - an inability to make a decision could cause us a problem, bending too much to other people could cause us a problem, pouring pink paint on problems and pretending they don't exist could cause the problem to bleed through our crappy paint job in bigger and messier ways.

The good news and there is plenty of it - we are heading toward what astrologer Susan Miller calls "the luckiest day of the year" on Monday - the day the Sun conjuncts (joins) Jupiter.

This happening in Libra this year (love and money) makes it even more magical. We are in that energy now as they move toward their meeting

(and if you have a birthday between now and September 30th - my brother does, the lucky devil! - this energy will be part of your whole, entire next year and because it's part of the Fall Equinox we all have access to it for the next 6 months!).

We'll talk about this in the next weekly, but it's all good with this one!

For today - we can be like that Libran scale symbol and weigh our options (don't run full steam ahead just yet, let things fall into place a bit around you first).

This has been a challenging six months. The mutable trials have been immense. Mutable energy is rather boundless and stretchy. This can be a good thing.

But it can also have its drawbacks. We can end up right back where we started very easily. Too much space sounds like a good thing until we get it. Less options always equals more focus. More focus with less options is exactly what we get with Saturn in Sagittarius (through the end of 2017).

As we move into the second half of the astrological year we will have learned that sometimes we need to know this is as far as we can go. Or this is where we must concentrate our energy in order to succeed. People who do not see things this way at all may feel their goals and dreams are stifled now or get kicked in the ass at some point. For dreamers that can embrace this way of thinking (we can't have everything all at once and this means even in little things like we can't sleep in all the time and waste time and still get our work done on time or we can't eat fast food and have a fast moving, fast thinking body, etc), Saturn will help us build the kind of stability that supports BIG THINGS.

While we have the Sun in Libra - two heads will be better than one, air signs in particular (Aquarius, Gemini and Libra) will be very quick thinking and easier to work with, yes, even stubborn Aquarius (ack!). It's a time to negotiate. Brings legal matters to a close if possible. It's a time to partner. We will refuel the way Libra Suns do - through beauty and peace - get to a museum, get outdoors. 

What feels out of balance? Hint - it's probably that thing we dread doing or the relationship with that person we dread dealing with. On the other side of that same coin it can also be whatever we feel we can't live (breathe) without - they only thing we can't breathe without is oxygen! If something feels like a do or die situation or there is some person we simply must be in balance with to be able to sleep at night - this is a good time of year to make changes here.

We can evaluate the past 6 months and see what we can do in the next 6 months to bring ourselves into a better balance with ourselves and with other people. Our beliefs, past decisions and past actions have brought us to exactly the space we now occupy - our current beliefs, today's decisions and today's actions will bring us to the next space - where do we want to go next?

xo all

after the eclipses | the baseball cap

final hour by sebastien tabuteaud

So, if you are reading this you have survived the Eclipse season - ha! (although maybe it's not officially over until the New Moon at the end of the month). It feels closed to me though.

The Fall Equinox in two days represents the mid-point of the astrological year. Someone in a store yesterday said to me, "this year is flying" and I said, "yes, we are half-way through already!" and she looked at me like I was nuts and needed to repeat my second grade math class or maybe buy a calendar. 

You might have felt a big adjustment in your life, maybe it was more subtle, maybe it's still to play out in the visible realm. Pisces rules the 12th (and final) house of "everything hidden" and "what we put away" and "what we do last" so it could be the shift was more "behind the scenes".

Usually with Eclipses we start to feel the energy about 6 months prior, so probably six months ago there was some change in our thinking/beliefs and we started to move in a different direction without us consciously moving in a different direction. Then the Eclipse season acts like a portal to connect that thinking/belief realm to our 3D physical reality and over the 6 months following the eclipse the changes manifest ... and life is different.

It's like when we set intentions or make goals, except the intentions and goals that set the changes into motion are outside our conscious control. They line us up with fate/destiny - what we came here to do.

(I always imagine us all lined up in the heavens like children on their first day of school - shiny new shoes and notebooks with smiles on our faces and ready for everything ... before schoolyard bullies (or maybe we are the schoolyard bully), burned out teachers, overloaded backpacks and helicopter parents have their way with us - ack!)

Sometimes we just need a little tweak to get back on track and sometimes we need a more major overhaul. Life can turn on a dime. And when enough people's individual lives turn on a dime - the world turns on a dime, too. This particular eclipse (in Pisces) maybe had a lot of us looking within because there were no answers outside of us.

The eclipse was t-squaring Mars and Saturn (the two planets considered malefic by astrologers) and with a t-square (picture the letter T) the energy gets funneled in the direction of the t-square. That is a lot of energy to change outdated belief systems; stuff that we often don't even realize is constraining us.

my cap circa 1999

Most mornings I get up early and walk at my local reservoir. I throw my hair into a baseball cap and when I first put on the cap it feels tight and annoying, but after a few minutes I don't even notice I am wearing it. Some days when I get home and check my email and get off track with whatever comes up I can find myself still wearing it hours later because I have adjusted to the tight/annoying feeling and don't remember to take it off. I always feel better when I finally do though.

We could think of an eclipse (and this happens with other transits, too, especially those involving Uranus and Pluto) as one way life has to get us to notice and (hopefully) remove that baseball cap; to move past what is constricting us.

I had a memorable eclipse season this month with Olive's accident and in March 2015 with a financial tax matter - to outside eyes these might seem like very different things, but I can see the connections.

They were both about "values, what's most important - what money can't buy" and "other people's money" and my own habit of negative thinking where I immediately take what is happening to the worst possible conclusion in my head and don't trust things to unfold properly without my manipulation.

I took Olive's situation, in my head, to an expensive surgery she would not survive (I have experience with pets having expensive surgeries they did not survive) and the tax situation, in my head, had me going to jail, missing months of Sully's life and losing tens of thousands of dollars. Both these things were extreme and very, very unlikely to ever happen, but I did not see them that way. In my head, they were right in front of me. Both situations were outside my control, resulted in me having to "let go and let God" and offered up lessons about what my negative thinking does to my physical body and lessons in what is most important to me (ie Olive and Sully) and the way I react emotionally to issues around money and security. They have a 'before' and 'after' feeling to them and are situations/times I will remember.

(And now I feel the need to explain the tax situation a bit - hubs business, truck repair, has some customers who do not pay sales tax on their repairs/maintenance because of their gross vehicle weight or the type of work their vehicle is used for, etc - now, some of these rules changed a few years ago, but we were unaware of the changes so exempted sales tax where we shouldn't have and I say we, but I really mean 'me' here. A mistake I made brought this to light and I was told by a tax attorney that although we wouldn't have to pay the missing taxes, since we had tax waivers signed by customers claiming exemptions, we could have to pay the penalties and interest which totaled about $18,000 and I could even go to jail since I had signed the inaccurate returns. Of course, it's probably in his best interest to tell me the worst case scenario so I would hire him, but I was in the circus of eclipse season and this seemed to me like exactly what was going to happen. I also had a long transit in my chart that spring that looked like 'legal' stuff to me. In the end the state waived the penalties and we paid about $1500 interest and obviously I didn't go to jail - although I did watch a couple seasons of Orange is the New Black and cut my hair to get myself ready just in case and I did get on the jury of a very long heroin trafficking trial ...)

Anyhoo, with Mars (action) in Sagittarius (freedom) part of the t-square, life is asking us what we are going to do as we release whatever limiting belief (ie baseball cap) we have taken off. Do we really want our freedom or are we more comfortable staying constrained and playing small, because of course with our freedom comes our responsibility (Saturn in Sagittarius). It's easier to stay constrained and blame something outside our control for the limitations in our life or stay asleep and wait for someone to come along and fix everything - the complaining/blaming thing that Saturn in Sagittarius (through the end of 2017) is bringing to our attention.

This eclipse is releasing a constriction (maybe right away or maybe more slowly over the next 6 months). The wind has blown off that baseball cap and we can either have a really bad hair day or look the world straight in the eye, hat hair and all, set our sights on our target (the hair in our eyes won't stop us, it's only hair after all!) and move forward with this new passion that has awakened now that our head isn't being constrained by 10 ounces of canvas.

(for me, the thinking that keeps me stuck and playing small and thinking "this isn't going to work" so not doing the first step - even though I know the step by step thing changes the outcome and it's not possible to see the outcome anyway - and feeling that I have to manipulate the situation for it to work out and a lack of trust with money and other people that has me making emotional decisions focused on security rather than freedom or happiness)

We might have been so dependent on that baseball cap that we are kind of freaking out now and thinking "where the hell is my cap?!" and, of course, we have free will and so if we keep looking for that baseball cap we will re-manifest/re-create it 

(there is a Target in almost every town after all) 

and this is how we move from one relationship to a new relationship that turns into the same relationship and a new job that turns into the same old job. And then we'll be stuck in it again and get used to it again and it will be comfortable. But maybe a comfort zone is not what the world needs us to be looking for right now and maybe it's not what we came here to find ...

This is how the vibrations that we have in our physical body that are determined by the belief systems we have in our psyche create the world we experience. So we can experience a world with a baseball cap where we are all neat and tidy and our problems are all tucked away underneath and people cannot really see us or get close to us or touch our hair.

Or we can experience a world where our hair is unrestrained even if it gets in our eyes sometimes and maybe even gets caught in the steering wheel of our car (yes, I did this recently - don't judge me) and needs to be brushed and given our attention and also gets to touch and sometimes, yes, be judged, loved, hated and ignored, by others.

And I hope this metaphor is making sense to someone - I think I've lost the thread here - ack!

This is how we all live on the same planet but inhabit very different worlds and how most people, and maybe most of us in some space in our life, just move from baseball cap to baseball cap and never take the damn thing off (whatever is restricting freedom but is providing safety).

xo all

Astrology Forecast for Creatives | Week of September 19th - comfort zone buster, new directions, Mercury moves direct

surreal tiger bubble waterdancer dream by deskridge

This is a busy week with multiple planets changing signs and Mercury moving direct! Whatever Mercury retrograde has had you "re-ing", wrap up the re-do by Thursday when the energy around it will shift.

We start the week with a Taurus Moon (Monday and Tuesday) focusing us on what we value, our money, the stuff we own and our purchases. This is good energy to get stuff done and bring ideas into physical form.

We have Venus (strong in Libra) opposing Uranus (retrograde in Aries) and sextiling Mars (still in Sagittarius). We could find ourselves unexpectedly getting what we want with minimal effort. We could surprise ourselves with actions that choose freedom over security. There could be sudden changes with Venus ruled relationships, money and women. These are good days to meet new people and make new friends.

Something is shaken up here. Opportunity could be calling. We're rattled because something here is not in balance (or maybe something is brought back into balance unexpectedly) and that could be a good thing (lottery winners are rattled, too, eh?). This energy clearly says "the good stuff is just outside your comfort zone - go for it". Results are not guaranteed, of course, but are they ever?

On Wednesday, Mercury (retrograde in Virgo) trines (brakes off) Pluto (retrograde in Capricorn) then Mercury stations direct and changes direction and trines Pluto again on Friday moving direct. Pluto rules obsession, karma, compulsion (also 8th house matters - other people's money, surgery, debt, taxes, inheritance, reproduction, life and death, sex) so whatever this is we think about it on Wednesday (or something is communicated about it) and then on Friday we take action or it wraps up or moves forward in some way.

On Wednesday and Thursday the Moon moves into Gemini. We are busy. Lots of communication and conversations going on. Words can move us emotionally and we can move others through our words. Keep this in mind.

The Sun moves into Libra (Wednesday- I'll do a post) and we all start burning Libra fuel - cooperation, balance, justice. It's the Fall equinox - as day balances equally with night it's another opportunity for us to get back in balance - with Jupiter in Libra this week, balance cannot be over-rated. This is a critical time of year - we'll talk about it on Wednesday.

The Moon (in Gemini) and Uranus (out of the blue) could offer up some surprising news on Wednesday afternoon/evening or maybe it is our emotional reaction to the news (or someone else's reaction) that is unexpected.

On Thursday, Mercury goes direct and whatever we have been dealing with since early August can start to move forward or resolve. There can now be progress and answers. Mercury won't be covering new ground for a bit longer and the period when he stations is fraught with snafus so don't rush back into anything immediately, but know we are moving forward now!

On Friday, Venus says bye-bye to Libra and dives into Scorpio (I'll do a post). Scorpios and Scorpio rising will get more attractive - both physically and able to 'attract'. Our Scorpio house gets more attractive (able to attract what we want). Love (and money and women) situations get intense. Our passions are stirred. We could get more possessive or want what we can't have. Superficial relationships are not gonna cut it. If you are moving through a divorce, loss or separation - this energy will work with you. We'll talk about this later in the week.

The Moon in Cancer on Friday and Saturday has us focused on home and family; squaring Jupiter indicates some, possibly over-the-top, tension and disruption here (on Saturday this same Moon squares Uranus so we'll expect the unexpected - something wants to break free here).

No Void Moons during work hours this week - the Moon is waning so it's a great time to clear out and let go. By the next New Moon, Mars will be in Capricorn, and it will be pretty much all systems go. There is the same aspect with Eris (female energy, discord, Mars' angry sister) and Uranus (unexpected, rebellion) this week that we saw previously in the year with traumatic events - heads up. Take care with fire and electricity and any jealous/angry tendencies around 'being ignored' or not valued - if any new or unexpected health stuff crops up, get it checked out pronto.

Saturn is squaring our North and South Nodes (what we are releasing what we are working toward) - setting boundaries and working with right timing (no rushing through) is a good thing.

We'll talk about this later, too. This is an intense week as we prepare for what comes after. xo all

FULL Moon Lunar Eclipse in Pisces | cry me a river ...

cry me a river by julie de waroquier

We have a BIG T-square Full Moon Lunar Eclipse in Pisces today.

It lays out like this - we have the Sun in Virgo at 24 degrees (we also have the North Node of our collective destiny in Virgo). We have the Moon in Pisces at 24 degrees - we have the Moon conjunct Chiron (the space of our wounding and the bridge between restriction and freedom, and maybe why new things are so often birthed by pain) in Pisces (and the South Node of what we are collectively releasing and leaving behind also in Pisces). We have all of this squaring Mars (in Sagittarius and also the space where Saturn is still hanging out). I'll put all of this into english, too, I promise. :)

Full Moons bring energy to a "peak"; to a culmination, maybe to an ending. Eclipses eclipse something out; we get re-set. If you have planets or points near or on 24 degrees Pisces or Virgo your life will be very, very different in 6 months (lunar eclipses play out over 6 months). For everyone else this eclipse is bringing something to a peak, culmination or an ending. It will be complex and we will probably be asked to be compassionate toward ourselves and other people. Emotions will be running high now.

With Chiron sitting with the Moon this is probably going to hurt a bit .... and instead of turning away from what hurts - it is the time to let our defenses down and feel it. We don't have to understand or figure things out. Pisces dissolves. Pisces feels. Pisces is a water sign and heals through wetness - blood, sweat and tears (I would avoid the blood though if possible). If we want/need to cry, and even if it turns into one of those big old ugly cries that has our eyes all scrunched up two days later and people looking at us funny, it's time to cry. You will probably not need me to tell you this though .....

There could be losses, accidents - things beyond our control. Or maybe the controls are still in our hands, maybe we can still steer the ship away from the rocks, maybe .....

Old patterns and ways of thinking and being are very seductive. Our physical body craves, not what is good for us, not what it actually needs - but what is familiar (see the work of Candace Pert and others). 

Whatever fantasy crap is standing in the way of our growth (and the collective's growth) needs a swift kick in the ass now. 

We'll try to remember we need this when we are being kicked in the ass.

(and I'm not talking martyrdom - that crap is part of the Piscean fantasy and the way we keep ourselves separate from others - it needs to go, too)

This Moon culminates the New Moon from two weeks ago, the Pisces New Moon from March 8th and reaches forward from the Eclipse cycle we've worked with since spring 2015. Lots of things are impacted here because one thing brings us to the next and where things start and end aren't really where they start and end. Look at the ultimate beginning "thing" - a baby. The baby doesn't start when she is born, she doesn't even really start when she is conceived - she is set into motion long before that. We can see that right?

If we've been toughing something out and carrying some load that is bending our back into a pretzel - this would be a good time to set it down long enough for us to feel for a moment what we could feel like without it - who we would be without it - what the world might look like if we are standing up straight.

If the tears now make everything a big black, mascara-y blur - we will narrow our focus (Virgo) and remember that every ending, even one that is fated like an eclipse ending, always ALWAYS carries the seeds of a new beginning and the best thing about our Virgo North Node is that a fated beginning will come from doing the next step thing, the thing that is already right there in front of us.

There is a leap of faith here to release the past.

With slippery Pisces the results this Full Moon brings could be unpredictable. We think we are getting X and we really get Y. Our energy could flow here and there and much of it could be wasted (especially with Mercury still retrograde). If something leaves now though, there is no stopping it.

Since this is a Lunar Eclipse a woman might leave or bring news of a change of direction or ending.

As always get out and walk in the Full Moon energy - if you can walk near water or be in water (yes, a bathtub totally counts here), even better!

Now a quick look through the signs (Sun and rising). 

If you know your Virgo house for the solar Eclipse (two weeks ago) and your Pisces house for the Lunar eclipse (today), use the houses (number in parenthesis) for best accuracy!

ARIES (Virgo in the 6th) the New Moon Solar Eclipse two weeks ago was about your health and your vitality, maybe some change in your day to day situation or day to day functioning or an issue with a pet, co-worker or employee - the Full Moon Lunar Eclipse (Pisces in the 12th) today is about this being "time to go", maybe a move or relocation? events could show you how you sabotage yourself

TAURUS (Virgo in the 5th) the New Moon two weeks ago was about peaks, endings and culminations with creative projects and how you show up creatively, could be changes or endings with a romantic partner or with children - the Full Moon Lunar Eclipse (Pisces in the 11th) today is about changes, endings and culminations with friends and groups and your emotions around them or some adjustment around that 'big dream' you carry for yourself

GEMINI (Virgo in the 4th) the New Moon Solar Eclipse two weeks ago brought changes in your home and family, maybe a physical move or family member left or moved in, maybe some kind of trauma at home, something you needed to just 'deal with'. This could also be something about your mother or your belief about your mother. - the Full Moon Lunar Eclipse (Pisces in the 10th) today is about your career and reputation in the world, whatever peaks, culminates or ends within this space is meant to go now, so something new can be built. This could also be something about your father or your belief about your father.

CANCER (Virgo in the 3rd) the New Moon Solar Eclipse two weeks ago was about changes in your mental thinking, your attitude, your communication, maybe a peak, culmination or ending with a sibling, neighbor or within your neighborhood - the Full Moon Lunar Eclipse (Pisces in the 9th) today is about deeper emotional insight and truth or maybe a peak, ending or culmination or the release of a belief related to education or travel or a wedding or someone or something from or at a distance.

LEO (Virgo in the 2nd) the New Moon Solar Eclipse two weeks ago could have brought possible losses of money, maybe a check didn't show up or you didn't get your money's worth somehow - the Full Moon Lunar Eclipse (Pisces in the 8th) today is about a financial loss of some kind or inheritance debt, some kind of debt or tax coming due? something impacting 'other people's money', maybe a change regarding your spouse's income. This could also be about sex or reproduction; a peak, ending or culmination

VIRGO (Virgo in the 1st) the New Moon Solar Eclipse two weeks ago will impact your entire life for the next 6 months - big changes ahead, release and let go of whatever is not needed - the Full Moon Lunar Eclipse (Pisces in the 7th) today is about a possible rude awakening with a relationship, maybe someone leaves or some karmic connection/debt releases - some peak, ending or culmination regarding a partnership

LIBRA (Virgo in the 12th) the New Moon Solar Eclipse two weeks ago released a karmic debt - the Full Moon Lunar Eclipse (Pisces in the 6th) today is about self reflection (try to flip depression to self reflection and don't repress your emotions), your health, your day to day operations, something is peaking, culminating or ending here, this could also be about your pets, co-workers and employees

SCORPIO (Virgo in the 11th) the New Moon Solar Eclipse two weeks ago likely brought a peak, culmination or ending within friendships or associations or maybe something in the way of your big dream gets removed or the dream itself evolves through release or loss - the Full Moon Lunar Eclipse today (Pisces in the 5th) is about romance, creative projects, children - something here reaches a peak, ends or comes to a culmination. Time to let go.

SAGITTARIUS (Virgo in the 10th) the New Moon Solar Eclipse two weeks ago brought changes within your career and reputation in the world - there will be big changes in this area within the next 6 months! This could also be something about your father or your belief about your father. The Full Moon Lunar Eclipse (Pisces in the 4th) today is about emotional changes within your family, possible losses within the family, your home or 'base'. This could also be about the release of a belief about your childhood, what 'home' is or something about your roots. This could also be about your mother or your beliefs about your mother.

CAPRICORN (Virgo in the 9th) the New Moon Solar Eclipse two weeks ago brought changes in your education or travel plans or with what is foreign, maybe the removal of a belief system and access to greater knowledge (opening of crown chakra) - the Full Moon Lunar Eclipse (Pisces in the 3rd) today is about letting your emotions open your mind, a challenge for Cappys! learning to trust your gut intelligence, maybe a peak, ending or culmination in regard to communication, intellect, something with a sibling, neighbor or your neighborhood

AQUARIUS (Virgo in the 8th) the New Moon Solar Eclipse two weeks ago was about death, divorce, surgery, sex, deep discoveries, reproduction something about taboo experiences - the Full Moon Lunar Eclipse (Pisces in the 2nd) today is about the loss of something valuable but the loss brings freedom .... what belief about 'security or safety' is standing between you and freedom? what do you really value?

PISCES (Virgo in the 7th) the New Moon Solar Eclipse two weeks ago  was about the loss of a close relationship or belief around a relationship - the Full Moon Lunar Eclipse (Pisces in the 1st) today is all about you, you will feel the wounding and healing here, take it easy on yourself, meditate don't medicate, get some exercise and skip the alcohol, don't overeat, get healthy. Your life will be so different in 6 months!

If you need assistance determining houses let me know! Eclipses work themselves out over a six month period although big events often happen at the eclipse and, I often find, one month to the day before or after.

Also something about Full Moons and Pisces - it's a time to 'let go'. It isn't a time to 'move on'. The 'letting go' and the 'moving on' times are two different things - we get all screwed up when we push them together like they are one big thing.

They aren't. 

This is how we dis-honor our feelings and try to bypass grief and we get ourselves out of 'right timing'. This is just the time to 'let go' - nothing more ....

Happy Harvest Moon everyone! xo all

Astrology Forecast for Creatives | Week of September 12th - here comes the lunar eclipse, grab your pillow!

pillow fight by shadow and soul

This is a challenging week filled with twists and turns and big news. All week we are building to the Lunar Eclipse on Friday!

On Monday, we are at the midpoint of this Mercury retrograde. By now we know what this "re" period is about for us. If someone or something connects from the past now -she/it is here to focus our attention on something we missed, needs to be "re-done" or have been avoiding.

We have Mercury (mind, communication) squaring (tension) Mars (war, impulsiveness). This can lead to disagreements, making hasty decisions and jumping to conclusions. So let's not. We might hear or read something that makes us mad. We could say/write something that makes others mad, too. We also have the Sun conjunct Mercury (in Virgo) to increase our verbal and written confidence and maybe offer us one of those Oprah "aha" moments.

On Tuesday, the Sun squares Mars (this aspect is the over-riding theme of this week!). This is another tense transit, but could get us moving. Use this energy to create something bold. Passionate energy will be available. We should think (Virgo Sun) before we act (Mars). We could be impatient and irritable. If you are a road rage prone driver just stay home. If you need to have a meeting with a boss or competitor it could be challenging, stay on your toes, but maybe try not to step on theirs. A good defense is the best offense now. On the other hand, if something is really worth fighting for, we'll have the right energies available. Take care with power tools and with fire.

If you like to fight this could be your favorite week! :) We get these energies a couple times a year although happening during a Mercury retrograde and with Monday's long Void Moon - let's not make any long term, binding decisions!

On Wednesday, we start to get clearer on what will be - ending/ eclipsing out/ coming to light - with the eclipse energy (in our Pisces house).

On Thursday, the Moon squares Saturn and Mars squares Chiron.

(Yes, this is a week of squares. Squares = tension and frustration, but without them pretty much nothing would ever happen. We react with indignation against some status quo thingamajig, situation or person, then we begin to organize a way to change it. Maybe 'crowds' of people, energies and resources gather around the focal point of grievance. Maybe we gather our own energies and resources. The emotions that were birthed in reactive indignation or annoyance become an inner source of strength. Or maybe we just get pissed off and fly off the handle!)

The Moon squaring Saturn is like mom and dad fighting or maybe having to grow up too soon. We have to appear stronger than we actually are, or more stable. We have to step into something we are not quite ready for. Maybe something/someone we relied on for support is no longer available so we become more self sufficient. Or a home issue arises or requires our attention now. It can also make things appear a bit bleak - brighter days are ahead folks and not very far away!

Mars squaring Chiron while the Sun opposes Chiron could indicate we need to take some action (Mars) that won't feel good (Chiron). It may not actually solve anything (it might though), but could need to happen anyway to shift the energies around the situation. It could hurt. With Chiron we are talking about a wound that is old and deep. Words like 'should' and 'guilt' might force us to do things differently this time or wrap things up. Both Chiron and Mars are players in Friday's Full Moon Eclipse so everything that is happening this week will lead us to that culmination, revealing, ending.

There are multiple void moons during work hours this week. The Moon is void all day Monday. On Wednesday the Moon goes void just before lunch and on Friday the Moon goes void at 3:00 pm - all times EST. Void Moons are great times to get things done so we will have a productive week. They are not great times to start brand new things though - if you want anything to come of them (sometimes we don't though). Keep this in mind. If we are starting something important and can wait for Mars to go into Capricorn and the Mercury retrograde to end, let's wait for that. If we can't wait choose times when the Moon is not void.

I'll write another post about this week's Full Moon Lunar Eclipse (24 degrees Pisces/Virgo) in Pisces. We can see from the energies we have building toward it there will be plenty of fireworks!

Venus is also building all week toward her opposition to Uranus (exact on Sunday) so there could be some shock or change of course regarding a woman, our income or love.

If you have anything (planet or point) in the later degrees of the mutable signs - Virgo, Pisces, Gemini, Sagittarius - this would be a good week to get some extra exercise or work done or fall plantings in the ground to burn this Mars energy off in a productive way!

Stay tuned. xo all

Saturn Square Neptune (reality vs the dream) | Venus Square Pluto (love vs power)

jealousy by heatherz

Saturn squares Neptune and Venus squares Pluto today. We're still in the middle of Eclipse season. Mercury is still retrograde. Whew!

Venus square Pluto feels like jealousy (or suspicion) or some kind of manipulation to attract/get what we want. Maybe it's lusting after money or power or someone or maybe it's love and sex feeling like two different planets. Maybe something is shameful or maybe there is obsession. Maybe something is not as pretty as it seems. The shadow of our relationships can rear its head here. Can we be powerful and still be loved? Can we love and hold onto our power? Expectations within relationships could be too high now.

With Jupiter in Libra our relationships will be very much our focus over the next year - we'll be seeking connection and belonging, figuring out how we all fit together and creating a whole new world. We need to trust that whatever happens next we can handle it to let go of the need to manipulate our relationships, other people and ourselves. We need to trust. The fall out from games played will not be worth the results we get or like the bumper sticker says, "Karma is a bitch".

Saturn square Neptune (reality vs the dream) - we have been working with this aspect since last November. It's THE transit of 2016 and today is the last and final exact connection. After today it starts to separate. I don't think we'll miss it! Some issue that has been shifting on us since last year is culminating or breaking through the surface here. Maybe we've let go of some dream and come down to earth. Maybe we've decided to actually work to make some dream a reality. Whatever we do will be the correct way forward here (and other roads may be blocked now anyway).

Saturn/Neptune has been shaking up the outer world by waking everyone up. Here's to hoping this one allows us to all sleep in ..... :)

Our Capricorn Moon will be void almost all Monday (working hours) so we will get a lot done, but it's not a good time to start anything new - just a heads up! xo all

Jupiter into Libra | beauty, partnership, balance and fairness - part II

pencil vs camera by ben heine

Jupiter moves into Libra this morning where she will hang her hat until October 2017. We talked about this in general in in Part I. Let's look at how Jupiter could affect all of us.

Libra is the sign that follows Virgo and the sign that precedes Scorpio. So in Virgo we focus on the nitty gritty details - we get it done as well as we can do it. We don't skip any steps. We do this thing, whatever it is, keeping in mind that it is really to serve other people, and we do it without overtaxing ourselves (and I am very much simplifying it here).

We move to Libra. We share this thing with the world. We take it 'out of the box'. That dream/gift we were building last year in Virgo - it gets opened during this transit. We also get to see/share other people's dreams/gifts. We come together with like minded others. Libra is the space in the zodiac where we love through sharing, cooperation, by looking through another person's eyes. It is the sign of relationship. It is the sign of real beauty.

The polarity sign (opposite) is Aries - which is the sign of me, me, me. This is where the balance comes in. If Libran energy leans too far toward the other person, we lose our connection to our Aries, to ourselves - we have people pleasing, we have living our life for other people, we have pouring pink paint on relationship problems and pretending everything is a-ok.

Then we head into Scorpio where all that crap gets unearthed and looked at. It won't be pretty.

Now Jupiter in Libra is a very good transit - it brings to mind the lyrics 'what the world needs now is love, sweet love", so I don't want to get all negative on it. Just keep in mind the balance thing and the 'we head into Scorpio next year' thing (and we have some oppositions to Uranus before then) that will be harder to deal with if we try to cover up, or float through, our problems now.

The bottom line - Libran beauty isn't about how we look - it's about what we are looking at and what we are sharing with others. 

What are we looking at? What are we sharing?

We will 'expand' during this transit by filling up with and sharing with others what is beautiful.

OK let's go through the signs/houses. You can look at your Sun sign here BUT it will be more accurate to check your rising sign (sign on cusp of 1st house)

BUT it will be most accurate if you know the house where Libra sits in your natal chart (and it can be multiple houses - mine is 11th and 12th). Go to astro.com - free horoscopes - natal chart. Or just ask me!

7th house ARIES- this is about expanding through your relationships. You will have an increased enthusiasm and opportunities to broaden your intimate relationships. This could be a time when you are required to learn compromise, not really Aries strong suit. This transit can unfold the next step in your closest relationship(s). Someone new and significant could come into your life during this next year - this could be personal or professional. With Uranus in your sign you are a catalyst for others now, too.

6th house TAURUS - this is about expanding through your work and/or your health routines. Your relationships with co-workers and employees and your pets will expand and be more optimistic, too. You will likely have an increased work load (maybe an opportunity to travel for work) and the increased energy to handle it or you will have to make changes in your work routine to balance your health needs. Imbalances will show up. This transit gives you 'luck' with health and work matters. If you need to turn your health around - here's where you do that.

5th house GEMINI - this is about expansion through creative expression. This is a great transit to play. This is a great transit to create - art and love and babies. Just don't take a total vacation on your responsibilities. You could travel for love or a creative project. HAVE FUN.

4th house CANCER - this is about expansion through your home and family. Maybe someone new moves in or maybe you move to a bigger/better place. Maybe you re-decorate. Maybe you set up totally new roots. If you have a home business - it expands. This transit offers enthusiasm and positivity with your family situation and opportunities to improve the 'base/bottom line/home'. Imbalances within your home will show up to be worked through and you will have the energy to deal with them.

3rd house LEO - this is about expansion through communication. You can sell and promote and connect with others via the verbal and written word. You will have big ideas and improved, more optimistic thinking. Your relationship with siblings can be more of a focus and can improve. If you have a tendency to exaggerate or embellish with your words this habit could grow bigger until the imbalance comes to your attention. You could travel to visit siblings or to share your ideas or words with others. YES, write that book and get it out there.

2nd house VIRGO - this is about an expanding wallet (here's where you get a little, or a lot, of reward for all the Virgo focus the past year!). You could make more money or increase whatever it is you 'value' - the stuff money can buy and the stuff money can't. This transit can improve your self-esteem. Maybe you raise your prices. Maybe you get a raise. You value yourself more now. Your income can increase and so can your spending. Imbalances with your money and other people's money will show up for re-alignment as well as self-esteem issues. Resources expand.

1st house LIBRA -  this is about expanding your whole life. Dream big. Spread your wings. This transit will increase your charm and ability to get along with other people. It brings love and attention. Someone could show up to assist you with study or travel. Imbalances will show up where you have a lack of boundaries, people pleasing or are too dependent. Make your life more beautiful, share it with others - you deserve it!

12th house SCORPIO - this is about expanding through what is hidden. Unseen forces are assisting here - there is spiritual protection. This is where things fall into place and good things can happen without much effort - this is also a preparation phase for next year's Jupiter transit through your sign. Memories may come up for you that bring expansion and healing. Imbalances will show up with things coming to light that are hidden.

11th house SAGITTARIUS - this is about expansion (luck and opportunities) through friendships and group activities. If you are a homebody or hermit (unlikely!) - opportunities will come up to get you out and about. You will unfold with other people. You can make friends with people who are very different from you now and this friendship will expand your way of seeing the world. If you carry a secret wish for your life - this is where it can come out in the open and manifest. Imbalances will show up through groups and issues with friends can come out to be worked through.

10th house CAPRICORN - this is about expansion through professional opportunities and public status. Relationships with authority figures and bosses will improve. You will have the energy to take on more responsibilities or imbalances will show up between work and home. You might travel for work. Your reputation will improve. This is a great transit for professional success!

9th house AQUARIUS - this is about expansion through travel, education, publishing, spirituality, working with anything 'foreign' to you. Legal issues work out in your favor. Maybe you have a great big wedding. Your wedding, travel, education, legal, spiritual job or business expands. This is a great time to study or explore something new. Your book gets published. You and your work gets media attention. Aquarius trines Libra so 'brakes are off' with this stuff! Anything standing in your way is on its way out!

8th house PISCES - this is about expansion through shared resources. This is a 'luck through loss' transit. A loss triggers an opportunity here. Maybe your partner's income increases. Maybe your tax or loan burden shifts or improves. Maybe you inherit money or something of value. This is also about increased physical and emotional intimacy and reproduction. Imbalances will show up through overspending or those taxes, loans, spouse's money issues. Taboo subjects can bring growth now.

Unlike Saturn, where growth comes from constriction and loss, Jupiter brings growth and unfolding through expansion, through more, the addition of something new. We'll work with this energy as we move through it - it will be a good thing! xo all

Jupiter into Libra | beauty, partnership, balance and fairness - part I

tree of libra by fishbot1337

We've had Jupiter, the planet of expansion and 'good luck', in the persnickety sign of Virgo for the last 13 months. We have expanded through the details - gotten bigger by going smaller.

Jupiter is big - larger than all the other planets combined. She rules the sign of Sagittarius (and was the ruler of Pisces before the discovery of Neptune). She is Saturday after a hard week at work. She is the Sun after a week of rain. She is faith and this isn't so much a religious faith (although it can be) - this is a faith that 'things are going to be alright' - that life is worth living, that things will get better. I used to see Jupiter as growth but now I see her more clearly as unfolding. You can decide what you think or if there is even a difference (since we and everything is all connected).

Jupiter is never happy in Virgo. She has had to cram herself into too small a space - the way a woman (or man - this behavior feels more typically feminine) shrinks herself into a job or a conversation or a marriage.

Jupiter wants/needs to go big and Virgo is happiest attending to the small details of things. With Virgo's propensity to notice the tiniest of flaws - remember the word Virgo comes from Virgin which means whole and the Virgo space is in our charts is where we are whole already and often do our best work alone - and Virgo's propensity to want just what it wants, it's been difficult for Jupiter to work her magic.

We still have our North Node (collective way forward) in Virgo until May 2017. So we are still moving forward by taking care of what is right in front of us; the little details of things, our health, service to others, etc.

Our expansion (Jupiter unfoldment - growth?- and good luck) is going to come through Libra now.

Libra is an air sign, ruled by Venus, and all about beauty and fairness and balance and harmony. Libra rules the 7th house of partnership. We can see how Jupiter's expansive qualities can move more easily in a space like this!

Jupiter will travel through Libra rather quickly. She gets to 23 degrees of Libra by February 7th when she retrogrades until June 10th at 13 degrees. She backtracks over old ground for a while (10-23 degrees - do you have planets at 10-23 degrees of Libra - they will get a triple dose of expansion and good luck!) and then begins to cover new ground on September 7th, 2017, finishing up the sign of Libra on October 10th, 2017.

All Libras and Libra risings will benefit from this transit and everyone with planets in Libra. Even those with a barren Libra house will benefit! This can be a breath of fresh air for cardinal signs - Libra, Aries, Cancer and Capricorn who have been dealing with Uranus in Aries and Pluto in Capricorn as well as all of us with planets in cardinal signs. This will also, to a lesser extent, benefit air signs. And of course, if you were born with Jupiter in Libra you will have your, once every 12 years, Jupiter return and kick off a whole new Jupiter book (not just a new chapter!). For everyone, think back to 2004-2005, and you can move backward through your  life in 12 year increments - what was happening then? what expanded/unfolded?

Jupiter in Libra is wonderful energy. We get more beauty, harmony, balance and fairness in our Libra houses and our lives. The house itself unfolds. The world has access to this energy and we can have more civility and 'come together'. Partnerships can unfold in new and beautiful ways (and yes, I mean romantic partnerships, but also that flock we've been talking about). We'll expand through our interactions with other people and they will expand through us. Opportunities for lessons around the appreciation of true beauty (nature?) and partnership and balance and fairness will come to us.

The shadow to all of this is that the lucky Libra is lazy. And those scales of balance can get wobbly fairly easily. Libra energy (mental/air) can hold onto some crazy ideal fantasy in such a way that it encounters harsh lessons of reality to loosen its grip. There is a youthfulness and sometimes almost a recklessness to Libra that can shift it out of balance. Libra can also focus too much on their partners and partnerships (although this is also the area in which they are intended to shine).

Libra's opposite sign of Aries has been housing Uranus (rebellion, things happening out of the blue, radical change) for the past few years and while Jupiter is in Libra she will oppose Uranus a few times - these times will be tricky. We'll talk about them as we move through them.

If we are responsible and pull our own weight, if we collaborate and compromise, if we don't get too extravagant, this will be a good transit. There is kind of a feast or famine energy to Jupiter in Libra and it could bring some extreme experiences with comfort, and we'll deal with that, too.

Libra is about beauty - real beauty - not the photo-shopped images forced upon our optic nerves and carried to our weary brains everyday.

Do you know which house holds Libra in your natal chart? Do you know what part of your life that house represents? This space will unfold as well as the universal themes Libra rules - beauty, partnership, harmony, balance and fairness.

How do we feel now about this area of our life and about these themes? What would make us feel better? Can we trust an unfolding here? Can we grow into more of ourselves, even if it is noisy and complex and not so pretty? Or will we shut all this shit down so we fit in / stay comfortable / keep the peace?

I'll be back tomorrow with part II and what this means for each sign/Libra house - time to make the lockets! xo all

Astrology Forecast for Creatives | Week of September 5th - in between eclipses

seed by laura makabresku

This is another big week!

We are in the middle of Eclipse season and Mercury is retrograde. We've got our Sun trining (brakes off) Pluto (in Capricorn), Jupiter making his move (after about 13 months in Virgo) into Libra (YAY) and the FINAL exact Saturn/Neptune square that we have been dealing with since the end of November 2015.

Let's break this down - 1. we had a Solar eclipse (New Moon) last week in Virgo and we have a Lunar eclipse (Full Moon) in Pisces next week. A little background - from our perspective here on Earth, the Earth is going around the Sun once a year and the Moon is going around the Earth once a month. If you can imagine the earth revolving around the Sun at the same time the Moon is revolving around the Earth - there will be a point during their travels that they will intersect in a line (and this line/plane is what astrologers are talking about when we talk about the Moon's Nodes - North and South Node). Now usually when they meet up, the Moon will be either higher or lower than the Earth and the Sun and we get a regular New Moon or a regular Full Moon. But sometimes, usually twice a year the New Moon and Full Moon are close enough to the North Node or the South Node (the plane where everything is intersecting) and either the Sun (Solar Eclipse/New Moon) is blocked, partially or fully, or the Moon is (Lunar eclipse, Full Moon). I hope this makes sense - not that's it's something you need to know, but it might help to picture this in your head.

So because last week's New Moon was in the plane/line of the North Node and because the effects of a Solar Eclipse can be felt for the next 6 months - this will bring changes, as a collective and individually, with Virgo things. Most people will have some changes in their lives from this energy - maybe move into a new line of work, take better care of their health, master the tiny details of their lives, get a new pet or have a change of relationship with an existing pet, get on a better day to day schedule, start something new that serves other people, etc and the area of life that houses Virgo is your natal (and progressed chart) will experience changes and fresh starts, too. Often with eclipses fresh starts begin with something else being eclipsed out. They can change our course and get us back on 'chart'. If we don't have major things happen with this energy this is probably not an area of life we need to make a major change right now to stay on course with our life purpose (remember eclipses are all about the Nodes of fate), but we will always be impacted by other people who are affected - we are all in this together! I sometimes have eclipse situations hit me one month to the day after the eclipse.

Next week's Lunar Eclipse will be about releasing Piscean themes, so this week, sitting in between two major energetic shifts can leave many people feeling off-balance and over-loaded. Others will be chomping at the bit for something else.

2. Mercury is moving backward through, you guessed it, Virgo. Mercury retrograde is about looking backward - what can we release? what are we re-thinking? what did we miss? what needs to re-done? who or what is back?  This is about those same Virgo themes and the area of life ruled by our Virgo natal (and progressed house) - so something has to be re-done or re-looked at here before we can move forward.

This is the time to be re-leasing, re-doing, re-thinking.

We spend about a third of the year with Mercury retrograde or in shadow, so it is natural to spend a third of our life "re-making" - isn't that interesting for all of us always trying to plow ahead and getting nowhere?! If we really did the re-thinking and most especially the 're-leasing' (think - new lease on life) our life would be much smoother. I've lived through how many Mercury retrogrades and am still like those awful gun bumper stickers and need things pried from my cold, dead fingers. Ack!

3. The Sun (in Virgo, and yes, I'm tired of typing Virgo week after week - ha!) trines Pluto (retrograde in Capricorn). This is exact on Wednesday. This is a good day for dealing with authority figures, your elders and people in power. This transit can give us more power over our own life. This is good energy for stepping into a new position now with more power or responsibility. If we are trying to avoid something with a person in power, the trine could release whatever brakes we have keeping the situation from evolving/resolving. Something karmic (Pluto) may come to light (Sun).

Pluto (slow and deepest transformation) has been moving through Capricorn since 2008. Sun Capricorns and risings very identities are being evolved. The Pluto generation born 1971-1984 with Pluto in Libra have had Pluto squaring their natal Pluto. It is pretty exact right now for people born in 1978. This is the generation (1971-1984) charged with transforming relationship (and our relationship to what is beautiful and the karmic lesson of it being ok to be flawed). This is about the karmic misuse of power within relationships. It started with their birth families, then through all their personal relationships and particularly their partnerships they are learning the ways they use power instead of love. They probably need to be overpowered and to overpower to transform this.

Venus is going to square Pluto next week and then Jupiter will square Pluto in November - people dealing with these issues will feel the pressure in their relationships. This will also affect all of us through Capricorn (business, banking, power structures) as foundations get rocked and lots of hidden stuff gets unleashed (the Pluto in us is not afraid of the dark) we'll talk about this next week.

4. On Friday, September 9th Jupiter moves into Libra. This one is big and it will be about connection and cooperation and balance! I'll do a post this week and we'll look at this transit through the houses.

5. On Saturday, September 10th, we have the FINAL exact square between Saturn in Sagittarius and Neptune in Pisces. What have we learned since last November about our dreams vs reality? about what we really believe? about how we relate to what is foreign? what fantasy are we separating from reality? The last two exact squares saw the Paris shooting and the Orlando shooting (also Britain leaving the EU and the alligator attack - this stuff and whatever else was happening then, will probably all be back in the news, too) - hopefully we don't have any more violence with this transit or natural disasters. We'll see during this time period how this energy has evolved - limits overcome, dreams coming true or dissolved, feet more firmly planted in some area of life. Eyes wide open now. Rose colored glasses in the trash can. Last July we had a focus on what was real vs pie in the sky, now we can see more clearly where this way of thinking/being/doing has brought us. Maybe something is solidifying?

There are no void Moons during working hours this week. I'll post some dailies as we move through the week.

Monday - Wednesday's Scorpio Moon is a good time to focus on Scorpio themes - money, taxes, loans, power, life, death, reproduction, surgery, sex, maybe something 3rd party, good time to be cutting though the crap and seeing what can be eliminated. We might meet someone important on Monday or have a pattern made visible to us. If something partnership related ends on Thursday before Jupiter moves into Libra on Friday - know it's for the best, we'll just move on. If someone waffles on doing something now then I would assume it's not going to happen later. Don't worry. Jupiter in Libra (ruled by Venus) will offer us plenty of opportunities for connection, collaboration and yes, LOVE, in the year ahead!

xo all

Sun conjunct North Node | a light on the path

the birthday boy

The Sun (in Virgo at 12 degrees) conjuncts (meets up with) the North Node (our collective way forward) today.

A light will be thrown on our path forward. Something/someone confirms we are on the right track or a course correction is visible. This will probably not be a big spotlight. Through the lens of Virgo even monster sized stage lighting can be reduced to the size of a penlight - what is our next small step .....

Synchronicities are common. So are repeating numbers and patterns. We could be more confident. There can also be a reminder to just be who we are - when it comes to our soul purpose, in many ways we are our own way forward since we were born with all the energetic patterns we will ever need to manifest! It could be a good day to get clear (re: clearing a space, making time or a plan) on practical ways (Virgo) we can move toward or forward on our best, most heartfelt, path.

xo all (the birthday boy, Sully, turns 3 today - the energies at play when your natal Sun meets the degree of the transitting Sun called your solar return, play a big role in your year ahead - and today's energy is very fortunate to build his confidence this year and guide him toward his destiny - lucky fellow!)

situations already in play ....

photo by Katarzyna Kos

A couple of the transits I wrote about in yesterday's eclipse post tighten up today.

The Sun (in Virgo) opposing Neptune (in Pisces) - this shines a light/focus on something ruled by Neptune/Pisces - illusion, deception, compassion, imagination, something hidden or put away, hospitals, prisons. If it sounds too good to be true though, it probably is. Resist the temptation to escape whatever the Sun illuminates with drugs, alcohol or Netflix. This is good energy to edit (Virgo) imaginative (Neptune) work. If a decision needs to be made today, keep a clear head. It is also easy to get a little too self-absorbed with this influence and create resentment in others - stay tuned in, but not boundary-less .....

Mercury is conjunct Jupiter (28 degrees Virgo) - this can bring good (Jupiter) news (Mercury). It can also make communications, conversations, news and ideas over the top and overblown or just BIG in some way. Jupiter is larger than all the other planets combined, but it has no surface - it's all gases. Maybe we could say he's full of hot air (ha!) - couple this with that Neptune opposition and it will be important to keep our heads with any news we hear. This would be a good day for some positive conversations and to have a BIG idea - write things down! This could be a good day for a talk that leads to BIG things, just be sure both parties are clear with what is being said/offered and know there could be some hot air thrown about .....

The Sun and Moon are still in Virgo for a few more hours. If you haven't done your New Moon intentions you still have time to take advantage of Jupiter. With Mercury retrograde and ruling yesterday's eclipse and ruling this New Moon - setting intentions that work with energies and situations already in play, or with a connection to the past, can be very powerful and effective.

Not that we can't make something from nothing here

(seeds planted in the dark earth, especially during an earthy New Moon like this one, can certainly take root),

but I have found I sometimes get the best results working with what I already have going on.

For example say we are going to make something for dinner. We can make whatever we want, but we are limited by what we have in the house. Or we want to buy a new camera. We can buy whatever we want within the limits of our budget.

Even with the excellent manifesting energy we have available right now - we are working with situations already in play. Our previous beliefs, thoughts and actions have supplied us with the food in our kitchen or dollars in our budget. I'm sure if we could see all the stuff we have in play at any given moment all lain out before us we would be exhausted and need a nap!

So, if one of your intentions is to be more organized (Virgo) - get specific about something you have in play that needs more organization. Set the intention for it to be accurate and organized and for this to lead to X (a satisfied feeling of completion, an increased bank balance, etc).

Our new chapter is starting to take shape in September, and yes it is new, and yes, it also builds on all the preceding chapters.

Some of us may be starting a whole new book, but most of us will have characters and storylines that carry over and impact this next section.

And something else to think about - Jupiter is preparing to leave Virgo. How have we expanded by shrinking over the last year? How have we grown by staying small ... or humble ... or focused on the tiniest detail .... or focused on someone else  ... or focused on our health. 

There is a rainbow at the end of September for EVERYONE, stay flexible and focused. xo all