Venus Sextile Pluto | passionate about the things we love

Ashlin I by surabhiguptaphotoart

Venus in Pisces sextiles (opportunities) Pluto in Capricorn today.

Venus ruled women, art, money and beauty can be the catalyst for change and transformation now. Sextiles are gentle aspects - things can fall into place so easily that opportunities can be overlooked. This is feeling passion about what we love or falling in love with what we are passionate about. Fated relationships - personal and business - could begin now.

Back this afternoon with the inauguration chart once we see what time he actually takes the oath of office. We have the Scorpio Moon squaring the Aquarius Sun - so big changes ahead folks, but we probably don't need astrology to tell us that! xo all

Mars Square Saturn, Sun into Aquarius | giving that situation some space

Snow queen by thefirebomb

Today is a busy day in the skies. Mars - our initiative, our energy, our action, our anger -  still in Pisces for another nine days and not uber comfortable, is squaring Saturn (in Sagittarius until the end of the year).

Saturn here is that wall, that constraint, that authority blocking our way forward. Maybe an unexpected or unwanted "no".

Getting angry (Mars) or deciding to push harder won't help the situation now. Saturn is unyielding. Roadblocks serve a purpose - sometimes we need to go around, crash over or plow through them and sometimes they keep us from falling off the cliff.

For today, the best choice is likely to let things move at their own pace. Patience might be needed.

It is unlikely for Mars (young man) to beat Saturn (old man) while Mars is plodding through Pisces' shifting sands. If we keep our cool we live to fight another day here. If we don't, we lose. Also, if we are playing Saturn to someone else's Mars know that we could win the battle, but might lose the war.

Saturn in Sagittarius is asking us "what do you really believe? ... and how's that working for ya." The highest use of Mars in Pisces is compassion and healing - this is the spiritual warrior at work. Keep this in mind.

Also today the Sun begins his annual journey through Aquarius and gives us a chance to step back and look at the big picture. It energizes us to step outside the box and try something else. It allows us to put some space between us and that challenging, draining situation. As always with Aquarius all detachment is helpful until it isn't.

We are about to get very familiar with this energy when the South Node moves into Aquarius in May. Sometimes we are too close and too enmeshed in a situation to see clearly what is happening. Stepping back is good and needed. We can see what is happening with less judgment. We can see past societal rules (Aquarius is the rebel, genius, criminal). We get a new set of eyes to see the world.

Of course (that fly in the ointment thing again), if we step too far back we are like an outsider in our own life and this is not a good thing. Detachment can create dispassion and with the South Node's move into this space, dispassion isn't going to work anymore. The problem with loving 'people' in general more than we love the person lying next to us in bed ... or the person looking back at us from the mirror, is one of the themes we will be working with in 2017/2018.

For now, we will all get to feel what it feels like to burn Aquarius energy for fuel - how appropriate that we usher in Trump with his natal Sun conjunct Uranus (Aquarius ruler Uranus coloring his Sun and making him very Uranian and an honorary Aquarian).

Aquarius ancient ruler is Saturn (before Uranus was discovered). And because we have Saturn squaring Mars the day the Sun enters Aquarius and Saturn squaring Neptune the day of the Aquarius New Moon (the 27th) - we know this Aquarius season will be very much Saturn flavored - work paying off, realism, patience. But still Aquarian - independence, humanitarian, group-focused, being an individual within a group setting.

I'm going to take a look at Trump's inauguration chart tomorrow - trying to talk a little politics here (since it so aptly represents our own lives these days) without being divisive. The chart itself would be in play for whoever won the election, so we will add Trump's natal and see what we see.

For today - keep a cool head if you must go up against authority now. Live to fight another day.

xo all

Astrology Forecast for Creatives | Week of January 16th - cloudy skies and a thorny crown

Crown by Natalia Drepina

The word inauguration comes from the Latin "inaugurationem" meaning to install under good omens (auger meaning predict). In ancient times new phases and spaces were inaugurated when omens were favorable. Of course, 'favorable' meant whatever it meant at the time. This week's omens, whether looked at astrologically or just by taking the temperature of the U.S. populace, are probably not so favorable. 

(Remember the same troubled astrological skies would have ushered in Clinton had she won - although Trump's chart when synchronized with the U.S. chart and the chart for Friday, is particularly volatile. The inauguration chart will affect Trump's - and so the United States' and world's - next four years.)

On Monday, Mars (in Pisces) conjuncts Chiron and moves into position to square Saturn on Thursday. Mars in Pisces is tricky enough to manage. We are trying to direct the flow of water - it's not easy. The highest use of Mars in Pisces is compassion and healing. The lowest is deception and self-sabotage. 

Hooking up with Chiron (the wounded healer), someone's actions (ours or other people's) are 'opening a wound'. Actions are painful.

Sometimes the only way to clean a wound is to open it. This doesn't make it hurt any less. Also the Moon is in critical and persnickety Virgo now. Kindness matters. If our goal is 'to take someone down a few notches' - we might succeed in doing this, but with the approaching square to Saturn we will bring things to a screeching halt, too. If we are up against an authority figure or a situation that is 'always done this way' - it is unlikely to budge. Saturn is going to win this week. Let's really think about our goals with what we are doing and saying. There is a way around this. We all have Saturn in us. Time and patience may be required.

This doesn't mean authority and the status quo should not be challenged - this is the year it will be! But we must be pushing for (or better said - moving in the direction of) what we want and not against what we don't want. Keep this in mind.

The Virgo Moon says - get to work, get organized. Mars is behind the scenes (deception, addiction) so we don't know what we don't know. The distraction is probably not real anyway. Focus.

On Tuesday, the Moon moves into Libra so our attention naturally turns to partnership issues (equal partners - spouses, clients, attorney, agent, competitor, etc). We could be responding to challenging news. 

Mars (war, courage, passion) energy is getting stronger. If there is any great mayhem this week, it will likely be sometime now through Thursday.

On Wednesday, we continue to build toward the Mars/Saturn square - exact on Thursday. Whatever is going on in our natal Pisces house or behind the scenes or with a Pisces theme - addiction, healing, compassion, imagination, deception - is about to run head on into Saturn (authority, structure, time, limit, commitment, career). With Saturn in Sagittarius the theme will likely be something legal, higher education, politics, publicity, religion or travel. 

We can see the wall. Keep a cool head.

On Thursday, the Moon is void all day - don't start anything new, don't initiate. Mars squares Saturn - I'll do a post about this in the dailies. We hit a limit. Big boy pants are required. The Sun moves into Aquarius focusing our attention on the group, the internet, revolution, innovation, Trump (Sun conjunct Uranus natal), humanitarian causes. 

By Friday, the Moon moves into deep, dark Scorpio. There are a couple good aspects this day, so the inauguration chart isn't totally challenging. We'll talk about this later.

By Sunday when the Moon moves into Sagittarius - we are starting to move past 'the hurt'. We are focusing on 'what's next'. 2017 is all about moving us into our hearts and getting unstuck. This week concludes part one of that.

xo all
 

FULL MOON in Cancer | January 12th - pulled in different directions

Self medicating by Katy Twist

Today's Full Moon in Cancer is BIG.

The monthly Full Moon is always a time of Sun opposite Moon - this month, the Sun is in Capricorn at the same degree the Moon is in Cancer. It is always a time we are being pulled in two directions. Well, this month we also have Uranus and Jupiter forming a Grand Cardinal Cross with the Sun and Moon. Imagine a giant cross in the sky with each planet at one of the four points. And imagine us in the middle!

So now we are being pulled in four directions! Cardinal signs initiate. Grand Cardinal Crosses create situations, usually stressful, that cause us to initiate changes.

This energy will be very potent and impact us strongly until the next New Moon on January 28th and to a lesser degree until the New Moon in Cancer next summer. Most impacted will be people with planets or points around 22 degrees. 

(this energy will be in effect during the U.S. Presidential inauguration and the U.S. - born on the 4th of July - is a Cancer Sun country)

This is a battle of extremes. With the Moon (our emotions, motherhood, patriotism) in its home sign of Cancer - emotions will be very high for everyone. Grand Crosses are difficult to resolve because it's like each side wants what they want, and something has to give here.

Luckily for us Saturn is forming beneficial angles to all the players in the cross. Saturn brings all of us together. Now, Saturn is called Father Time, so patience will be required. It may be time that heals this wounding. Hard work could be required since he rules that, too. Maybe Saturn will show up in the form of an actual older person (older than us or a very Saturnian person - strong Capricorn, strong Saturn) who pulls things together.

Saturn will be trining (brakes off) Uranus - this is an excellent aspect for young and old to work together. This is good for traditional ways to work with new ways. With Saturn in Sagittarius, this could bring people from different backgrounds together. Saturn will be sextiling Jupiter - this is measured expansion that creates opportunity over time. Common sense is needed. And, of course these Saturn aspects - the way through this - will play out over a longer period of time.

For now, if something happens that feels like it is threatening our security/family, remember we have faced hard things before and survived. We will survive this, too. For some of us, there is karma and fate in whatever happening is catching us off guard. This might be helpful to think about even if things are painful. Be flexible. Flow with what is happening. There is literally soul healing here ....

Also today Mercury moves back into Capricorn (moving forward) - this story has been unfolding since around December 19th. We have all the information we need and are ready to face the truth with this.

This Moon feels so challenging I wouldn't even walk in it - if you get what you want here, celebrate respectfully, because someone else isn't .... xo all

Mars Sextile Pluto | the courage to go for it

You and my winter by TanjaMoss

Today is a good day to tackle something we have been procrastinating or have been afraid would be too difficult. Action creates opportunity. Mars (action initiative) in Pisces (dream, imagination) is sextile (opportunity, ease) Pluto (karma, transformation) in Capricorn (work, authority, career).

Also the Sun is sextile Chiron and squaring Jupiter - this is us having faith in our goals and ambitions. This is us getting back on that horse.

I have to head out but wanted to get up a few sentence or two since the energy is there for us to take a chance. We could over-do things (not a good day for shopping!), there is that Jupiter square (see the weekly post for Wednesday HERE), we might also accomplish something we thought was out of reach. Focus. xo all

Sun Square Uranus | lead up to this week's Full Moon - tradition gets shaken up ....

her hands by Natalis Drepina

With the Sun, in Capricorn so answering to Saturn

(and I should say influenced by and not 'answering to' since the Sun, being the biggest big cheese of all, doesn't ever 'answer to')

squaring off with Uranus, the planet of the new and unusual - we might feel a strong urge to try something new now. Someone or something else could upset our apple cart, too, by doing things in a new way or acting unexpectedly. Restless energy can break through very stagnant and stifling walls, but could take the floors and ceiling out, too. Maybe they need to be taken out or maybe it just makes more of a mess to clean up.

This is a good time to try something else, but keeping one foot on solid (and proven) ground for a while will probably be a good thing. Take care driving since not everyone will be playing by the same rules.

We also have Vesta (keeper of the hearth) retrograding from Leo back into nurturing Cancer today. We talked about her a little bit here. Maybe we move away from Leo ruled - creative project, children, romance, passion, play - and refocus on taking care of ourselves. An energy of "devotion" moves from our Leo to Cancer natal house (where are Leo and Cancer in your natal chart?) for a bit of backtracking.

We are building toward Thursday's Cancer Full Moon which is part of a Grand Cardinal Cross (imagine a cross in the sky with a planet at each point and us in the middle being pulled in four different directions) involving the Moon, the Sun, Uranus and Jupiter. There is something shocking here. Something anxious to be born. So many planets at the same degrees and no planets in fixed signs at all!

Life is changing folks.

There's still so much Pisces energy ... we swim, we float or we drown. Maybe we cry. Maybe we just get wet.

xo all

Astrology Forecast for Creatives | Week of January 9th - changes in the weather and the leather

the weather maker by bloodymarie

Mercury (communication, information) is moving forward. Actually all the planets are moving forward for the next four weeks.

So, here we go!

On Monday, Eris stations direct at 22 degrees Aries. Eris's stations are sometimes a harbinger of violence in the world - so stay safe and calm, especially around people who are easily angered. Saturn (in Sagittarius - foreign, travel, education, media, publishing) trines (brakes off) Eris on Wednesday and Jupiter opposes this energy on the 17th - we'll see how all of this plays out.

At the same time Neptune focuses us on something going on in secret or behind closed doors, research, art, healing, addiction, escapism, things that have been put away.

On Tuesday, the Sun squares Uranus (in Aries) bringing a spotlight to sudden changes, shocking events and unexpected news particularly involving career or authority figures. We are building toward the Full Moon so results will show up now and maybe an ending. Whatever Mercury retrograde has been re-working in our life could bring news.

There is a very powerful Pluto/Mars aspect now - this is action creating meaningful change. There is also passion and impulsiveness here. With Mars in Pisces, actions may feel like they aren't really getting us anywhere (that Pisces floaty, drifty thing) when in fact they are getting us lined up with important transformational energies. Think strategy.

On Wednesday, the Sun squares Jupiter (in Libra) making us more optimistic, confident and even, dare I say, LUCKY. Now, the thing to remember about Jupiter is he is quite literally full of hot air and there is tension with this aspect. We can easily overdo whatever it is we are doing and this over-doing, over-feeling, over-the-top thing we might do can muck the whole thing up. Don't muck the whole thing up. Don't overdo or over spend or over commit now. Don't be a jackass. Stay humble. This is excellent energy to make a complete fool of ourselves.

On Thursday, Venus conjuncts Neptune (in Pisces). This is us getting what we want or this is what we want slipping through our fingers. This won't be something we have to work for - either way it will just happen.

We have the Full Moon in Cancer wrapping up something with our home or family, something started at the Cancer New Moon last summer or something involving the theme of our natal Cancer house. This is a BIG one involving all four cardinal signs. I'll do a post about it later this week.

Mercury re-enters Capricorn. Whatever news we hear now is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

The Moon is void all day Thursday so don't start anything brand new unless you want "nothing to come of it".

As always, although I write about transits on the dates they are most exact they are building for days before and unwinding themselves for days after - keep that in mind.

*****

Of course, I didn't finish the 2017 posts (!) - ugh. I will get back to them this week, or next weekend at the latest - we have some nice transits ahead for us in 2017 and some challenges.

I think the most important thing now is to focus on releasing whatever is not 'our hearts desire' (that upcoming Leo North Node). I always start with small things because small things are like acorns.

I have been feeling very "loaded down" and "heavy". Ten pounds off my physical body would feel pretty good right about now but since that would probably involve some actual physical exercise in the winter (is such a thing actually possible, I mean really?!) and passing on the guacamole I have been making almost everyday (I have no idea what this guac obsession is), I did the next best thing - I ditched my handbag.

I realized I rarely even open the damn thing except to pull out my debit card and occasionally my lipstick and I am always looking for it and dragging it around with me and since it could be made of leather (possibly, it was a gift) - it might actually be a dead thing I am carrying around which is exactly what I do not want to be doing!

I put my lipstick, debit card, a credit card, my driver's license and a few dollars in a coat pocket that zips. I feel about 10 pounds lighter (probably because I am 10 pounds lighter). I can even get my stretch jeans zipped more easily - go figure!

I am not sure how I will work this handbag-less thing when it's time to put away my winter coat, but I will think of something. For now, it's coat on and out the door. I am standing taller and walking more purposefully - I am not kidding! And, I am putting to bed any belief I could end up a bag lady ... because I can't ... since I won't own a bag.

... xo all

Astrology Forecast for Creatives | 2017 - the end of the road ... (part II)

no, you won't see inside by duenan

Tomorrow Mercury stations direct (keep that finger through the candle analogy in mind now). He won't start covering totally new territory until the end of the month, but having him moving forward next week will help us get clear and we can begin to move forward, too!

In February, Jupiter goes retrograde (this isn't usually a biggie but this year with him in Libra and opposing Uranus it could be more impactful) and we have eclipse season so anything can happen. In March, Venus goes retrograde from Aries and back into Pisces. Venus will cross the zero degree Aries point (original creation point, first degree of the zodiac) 3X during her retrograde. I would imagine this is going to be a very important retrograde. Saturn and Mercury both go retrograde the same week in April. Then right after Venus starts covering new ground the North Node moves into Leo and the South Node into Aquarius. None of this sounds like full steam ahead to me and there are lots of other stuff during this time I am not even mentioning. It will be intense.

This isn't an excuse to get nothing done for four months. We will just be spending alot of time reacting to outside situations and things will be more challenging. Take the actions you need to take, just keep in mind the winds are blowing from different directions, pinning us into place and we might not get as far as we think we will. If we just sit around and do nothing though, we won't be in the right space for the headwind to catch us when it does get freed up!

After the North Node moves into Leo in early May and through at least the next Mercury retrograde in August (and we have gnarly eclipses in August!) and maybe until Jupiter meets up with the Sun in October this is when following our heart can really pay off. This is when the right doors can open. And yes we might have to PUSH them open, Leo isn't shy and doesn't wait to be invited. So, we want to set up the first few months of the year to allow ourselves to GET LUCKY in the middle of the year! We'll talk about all this as we move through it.

Maybe the most important change this year is the Nodes changing signs (and this is a big maybe because there is alot happening this year). In early May, the North Node of the Moon - our collective way forward - moves from Virgo into Leo. The South Node of the Moon - what we are releasing - moves from Pisces into Aquarius. This doesn't change our personal North and South Nodes of our natal chart, but if the collective energy is moving in a certain direction it certainly pays to adjust our sails.

I have 3 planets in Aquarius and the thought of each planet running into that South Node (release) within an 18 month period makes me shiver and throw up a little in my mouth - especially since I tend to hold onto things with both hands and feet and maybe sometimes, my quite sizeable teeth - chomp!

The negative qualities of Aquarius are what we want to let go of - detachment, rebellion for the sake of rebellion, being overly logical or coldly scientific, cold heartedness, trendy crap. This transit may not be the best news for the internet which is ruled by Aquarius. Or maybe we will just get more people unplugged more often - a good thing!

The positive qualities of Leo are what will move us forward - generosity, taking center stage, confidence, stepping into leadership roles, open heartedness, romance, our personal wants, creative self-expression, following our heart.  

With our current North Node in Virgo we have to watch out for being too nitpicky and critical - in Leo we will have to watch for selfishness, too much ego and over the top drama.

It's good to know this is coming, but we still have a few more months of that Virgo/Pisces axis - keep this in mind.

Following our hearts, romance, creative self-expression - this is going to be the most important thing after the middle of the year, start setting that up now - that's where the real gold is. Doing the trendy stuff other people are doing is no longer going to work. You have a job to do here on Planet Earth and we all need you to do it. Lean toward what feels good. Confidence is inspiring.

Back next post with the 2nd half of the year and the entire year's most important transits (we haven't even talked transits yet! - that's why I don't like to write these annual posts - ha!). We are having a snowstorm here and I sometimes lose internet in the snow - so fingers crossed! xo all

Astrology Forecast for Creatives | 2017 - the end of the road ... (part I)

no cars go? by L-N-E

I wrote a post back in 2014 saying that we needed to get where we were going, build what we needed to build, leave what we needed to leave, yadda yadda BEFORE Saturn comes home to Capricorn at the end of 2017.  

We are in the home stretch.

The things we carry with us into 2018 will be much harder to unload - it will be much harder to change course. 2018-2020 are watershed years for humanity. We don't want to be building houses of straw now - we want to be like that smart little pig using the bricks! Where/who/what are our bricks?

Let's jump right into this.

We start 2017 with the outer planets in the same places. Neptune, strong in Pisces until 2025, keeping our imaginations, intuition, inspiration and compassion high, the veils between us thin but our thinking sometimes foggy and illusory, addiction and escapism tendencies high and boundaries weak.

We have Uranus, planet of rebellion, explosions and fast change, in Aries - hang on Aries! -  (initiative, impulsivity, anger, war) for just one more year then he moves into Taurus  - buckle up Taurus! - (money, security, our values, planet Earth) for a long stay.

Pluto is in Capricorn through 2023 - he will take us all the way through the restructuring/transformation, death and rebirth of everything Capricornian - structure, security, government, business.

The middle planets which have the most impact on our individual lives (except for outer planet transit aspects to our natal planets) start 2017 with Saturn in Sagittarius (through December) and Jupiter in Libra until October 10th.

The nearest planets (fastest moving so produce less lasting results) include Mercury which starts the year retrograde - the reason the year started with a whimper and not a bang, Mars (no retrogrades in 2017 - thank goodness) and Venus which will retrograde from March 6th - April 15th.

Since Venus rules both Taurus and Libra her retrogrades impact our relationships, our finances, our values, art, beauty, women, nature - it is always a time when lessons come up to show us the real value of the people and things in our lives. Problems, differences and unresolved issues come to our attention. Venus ruled people and situations from the past reappear (she was last retrograde the summer of 2015). When the astrological year starts (Sun into Aries) Venus will be retrograde, mirroring the calendar year, and starting the astro year with a whimper rather than a bang, too. These are natural cycles and as they should be.

Very big news in 2017 is the Nodes change signs (May 9th). We move from our North Node - our collective way forward - in Virgo (just do the work, service to others, prioritize health) to a North Node in Leo. This doesn't mean these Virgo lessons get lost - they are integrated within us now and we are on to the next step. Because the Nodes work in reverse order instead of proceeding to Libra (the flock, relationships) - we've already done Libra - we've integrated that - where's your flock?? We move to Leo later this year. Also the South Node - what we are releasing - currently in Pisces (illusion, addiction, escapism, imagination, spirituality) moves into Aquarius.

We'll talk about what all this means next post.

And we'll talk about the major 2017 aspects. I'll get all these posts up before Mercury turns direct on Sunday, so we'll all be as clear as we can be - as a collective, obviously, I can't see your individual chart - about what is happening. There are always surprises, of course, and this is all one person's interpretation. I saw 2016 as "dreams vs. reality" and I guess it was, but "illusions vs reality" probably sums it up better!

2016 was a very mutable year. The mutable (and cardinal) signs got walloped. Stuff was always in flux and changing. 2016 was the Chinese Year of the Monkey and looking back on it all - that seems very accurate! In 2017 there is still quite a bit of mutable energy, especially early in the year. Stuff is still in flux.

(2017 is the Chinese Year of the Rooster and Trump reminds me of a Rooster with his hair and "tweeting" - this week the House GOP quietly voted to gut an independent ethics committee. The media pounced. Trump cock-a-doodle-doo'd. The people called their reps in Washington. The gutting was gutted. Pluto is conjunct Saturn - the House GOP were humbled. There is a huge lesson here for us about our power.)

There will be very powerful doors opening in 2017. We have all had plenty of time to figure out which door is the right door. We should know by now what really matters to us. We have no malefic planets in Scorpio this year, for the first time in quite a few years. For anyone even half-awake, the deep stuff has been unearthed. We don't have to go back down there. This doesn't mean we have to know what to do. We don't have to know that part. Truly. We do have to know what we want or more accurately how we want to feel (and we do!) and what we want has to align with what we are here to do. This will make more sense later.

When the Sun and Saturn conjunct in Capricorn at the end of 2017 - that's the wall. We need to have our act together by then. We will be stuck with the world we have built (and the world we have allowed authority to build) for quite a while.

Back with Part II next and we'll move through the months of 2017 - also heads up, we have a BIG Full Moon next week. We'll talk about that, too. xo all

Aies Moon | resistance, urgency

porcelain by L-N-E

Today's Aries Moon (first quarter square) is opposing Jupiter, squaring Pluto and the Sun and conjuncting Uranus. There are power struggles and disagreements. That supportive angle to revolutionary Uranus tells us that fresh approaches are best. Mercury still retrograde tells us we don't know what we don't know. Things will be clearer after Mercury stations direct on Sunday.

We could be feeling a strong push to do something. We could also be feeling a strong resistance to doing anything. First quarter Moons are a time of action. They are also the time the first tension and problems hit whatever launches at the New Moon. There is pressure. Decisions (and sitting things out and not making any) will have ramifications. What do we really want to do? And what can we live with? More stability is needed ... or more freedom.

Jupiter in Libra says expansion comes through balance and fairness now.

I have a friend who has a job she loves/hates. She loves the work. She hates the finances of it. She doesn't make enough money and her job is too many hours and leaves her too depleted to make extra money in another way. She's been in this loop for years. Well, now a situation has come along that is forcing her hand. Something has to change. She has to change it. She doesn't know what to do, but this love/hate thing is keeping her stuck.

Can you really love a job that doesn't equally compensate you? Isn't it a bit like loving a guy who doesn't love you back. Can you really hate the money if you have been accepting it for all these years? Isn't it a bit like eating oatmeal for breakfast every morning while hating oatmeal?

She blames the company, the boss, the economy. Anything to keep from looking at what is really happening here. I said, "Try loving the work a little less. Try loving the money a little more." Visualize yourself coming back into balance. Do some yoga. Start there. See how that feels. See what opens up.

If you have planets or points around 20 degrees of the cardinal signs - Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn - you will be feeling the power struggles and issues around your security, your home, your work, your family. We are also being reminded that even though we might have coupled up - we still have our own individual journeys to walk here.

If you have planets or points around 20 degrees of the mutable signs - Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces - Saturn is pinning that space in your life to the wall with a pushpin the size of an elephant.

That insurmountable whatever-it-is has most likely been made insurmountable by our inability to face it earlier. It's grown like one of those snowballs that kids turn into Frosty's ass.

That's OK. We are where we are right now. Maybe it took urgent, to break down our resistance to facing whatever the hell this thing is. Go read The Hobbit or something about dragons and brave warriors. Mercury is still retrograde. Clean a closet. Clean all of them. When we don't have the answer either seek to clarify the question or shelve it ... for now.

xo all

Venus into Pisces | I water you and you water me and we grow together ....

Gasp by Greta Tu

Venus enters Pisces until February 3rd.

Venus loves Pisces. After the last few weeks in Aquarius where she was keeping her distance it feels good to merge again. Boundaries blur. Artistic yearnings beckon us to create something.

Imagination attracts us. 

It is easier to see the best in others when we realize we are all connected.

No one wins. No one loses. We are all coming along for the ride. 

We wonder, when we look at the person we do not agree with - "what truth has this person been able to see from his perspective, that is invisible from mine?".

Compassion attracts us. 

Pisces Suns (and ascendants) become more attractive - both easier on the eye and able to attract what they want. Everyone's natal Pisces house gets more attractive, too.

With Venus hanging out in the realm of dreams and possibilities anything is possible.

The fly in the ointment of Venus in Pisces, and yes, no matter the temperature outdoors, or the fact we just installed those insulation strips around our windows, there's still a fly in here somewhere - is all the stuff a lack of boundaries could conjure up that might not feel good.

We could trust someone too much or put too much faith into something. We could realize that fancy new doormat that says WELCOME ALL actually has our name on it. We could feel confused about what we want. The energy of "anything is possible" can feel an awful lot like "nothing is possible" with a slight twist of circumstances.

Reality morphs. Germs spread. Money can slip right through our fingers now (here come the holiday bills).

Stay grounded. Watch for escape mechanisms/addictive behaviors. Meditation can prevent medication. Prayer works miracles. Water soothes. If it feels like we are drowning, we will remember this is just a transit - it will pass (some of the emotional stuff as early as Thursday when the Moon leaves Pisces).

There is alot of Pisces energy right now - we haven't had this much Pisces since early March 2013!

Mars (action, initiative, anger) just walked the degrees Venus is about to cover, so we get to reap what we have sown here. With Mars still traveling through Pisces, too, there is still time to move in a new direction if we don't like the results we are getting!

With Mercury retrograde until Sunday, 2017 hasn't really started yet. We are easing into it. This energy will help. xo all

Astrology Forecast for Creatives | Week of January 2nd - our Mercury retrograde story wraps, something comes to light, something fades to black ...

recent color by KalbiCamdan

This week we have Mercury (retrograde) moving back into Sagittarius and Venus heading into Pisces. We also have the annual meet-up between the Sun and Pluto.

2017 will be just as challenging as 2016, but in a different way. By autumn 2016 either our dream came true or we released it - and if we are still dragging it, it's dead, time to let it go and move on.

We will be very glad we did!
 
We move from a focus on mutable (in flux, changeable) signs to cardinal (initiative, fresh start). This will be a busy year, let's establish a plan now to make time to stay healthy, have time for ourselves and what matters most to us and maintain our sanity.

Technology is outpacing our central nervous systems! With so much Jupiter and Uranus energy in 2017 we can expect big (and bold) breakthroughs. Maybe something even more life changing than Google will launch - can we remember life before Google? Biden's cancer "Moonshot" initiative launched with excellent astrologically energy behind it, maybe we will finally put this bad-boy disease to bed.

On Tuesday, Venus moves into Pisces. Pisces Suns and ascendants get more attractive - both easier on the eye and able to attract what they want. Our Pisces natal houses get more attractive, too. We have Venus, Mars, Neptune and the Moon in Pisces (Monday and Tuesday) sextiling all the Capricorn planets. This feels balanced. Venus loves being in Pisces - I'll do a post about this tomorrow.

On Wednesday, a retrograde Mercury backs into Sagittarius. Maybe some news or information from our Sagittarius natal house or with a Sagittarius theme (higher education, travel, foreigners, beliefs, weddings, religion, politics) gets a second look. With the stellium of planets in shifting Pisces,  I wouldn't believe anything presented to me now at face value. It will become clear next week and moving forward after Mercury moves direct. Mercury will only get back to 28 degrees Sagittarius, so most of this retrograde was reviewing the 'rules' of Capricorn and we take a brief visit into the realm of faith and truth (or lies). We might be looking too far ahead - or be too focused on what is right in front of us. A change in our viewpoint could help us find direction and meaning now. There is no need for any fast moves - let's wait until we know what we want to do.

On Thursday, the Moon (in Aries) will oppose Jupiter (in Libra) - this energy is itching for a fight; an emotional one. If something has been building and building it is apt to come to a head now.

On Saturday, the Sun and Pluto conjunct in Capricorn. This only happens once a year - a spotlight is thrown on power or a control issue. Maybe something regarding power/control "comes to light". Or our ego (Sun) dies (Pluto) - makes me think of Mariah Carey on New Year's Eve! We could be humbled in some way. Venus conjuncts the South Node (in Pisces) so something from the past involving women, love or money (Venus themes) culminates. Probably in the very slippery, "fading away" way of Piscean energy. Stuff will be hidden.

(you might remember during the run up to the election Hillary was very closely channeling Venus - even hitting the wall of Comey as Venus met up with Saturn, maybe she moves into some Piscean compassionate or 'behind the scenes' work now or focuses on her health)

With so much of this Mercury (information, communications, news) Retrograde in Capricorn (government) story in the U.S. focused on the Russia hacking allegations, probably that story will get new life as Mercury backs into Sagittarius on Wednesday. If the rest of the week's energy focuses on this story it is likely we get new information that may alter some people's beliefs, followed by a fight, followed by someone/something taking firmer control.

We will continue to cover this ground until the end of January when Mercury finally starts hitting new degrees but by the time Mercury moves direct on Sunday we will know what we need to know to move forward.

And this same energy plays out in our personal lives in this same general order - what has this retrograde been about in your own life?!

I am getting back to that big picture post today or maybe just a January post and will hopefully get it up later. xo all

New Moon in Capricorn | the climb

climb by little-moonshine

Today's New Moon is at 8 degrees Capricorn.

The New Moon is always a time of Sun conjunct Moon. They come together once a month (from our perspective) - the Moon is hidden/dark and we start a whole new cycle.

Let's look back at 2016 and see what we have survived and what we have achieved. Let's not worry about where we 'should' be or what we 'should' have done. Let's just look at where we are now. Where we are now is the perfect place to be to get to where we want to be next. There is nothing pie in the sky about Capricorn energy, It's a 'just the facts Jack' time of year.

Things are serious. Serious doesn't scare us.

This month we also have a retrograde Mercury joining the Sun and Moon. This is significant. It gives additional significance to this Mercury retrograde, too.

If you remember Mercury was just about to conjunct Pluto when he stationed retrograde pulling his energy away from Pluto. We know the things Mercury rules - communication, transportation, our local neighborhood, siblings - as well as the theme of our natal Capricorn house (where is Capricorn in your natal chart?), will have important roles to play over the next 28 days.

There is a lot of energy in Capricorn now (ruled by Saturn) -  responsibility, stability, maturity, security, ambition - this is serious stuff.

Can you feel the weight of everything that is happening in the world; the seriousness of it all? I can, too.

The Moon is squaring Jupiter (in Libra). Jupiter is opposing Uranus (in Aries). Uranus is trining Saturn (in Sagittarius) and tomorrow Uranus will finally move direct. There is momentum here. It feels a bit like a powder keg to me ...

Maybe the most important aspect is that Uranus trine (brakes off) to Saturn since a stationing Uranus is uber powerful and we still have Saturn in Sagittarius for the entire year of 2017 and Saturn is the ruler of this Capricorn New Moon.

There are opportunities here for people who are not distracted by the newest bright, shiny objects and can stay focused on the work necessary to make these opportunities pay off.

This isn't the best time to make choices, but choices are really mostly our rationalizations anyway. The reasons we cite for our choices are often coming from some other space in the past. Moving away from old habits is tricky ...

It is almost accurate to say we should make our choices based on what feels good. This way of looking at things breaks down the habit of self-rejection/sabotage by allowing us to embrace pleasure as our friend

(and for those who think making choices based on what feels good means the dishes never get done and the trash piles up - well, that might happen for awhile, but at some point it will feel good to clean it up - and that's when we'll clean it up). 

And 'what feels good' is different than addiction, which feels familiar, and that's something else to think about.

The energy of 2017 is very different than 2016 which was dominated by the Saturn/Neptune square of dreams vs. reality (and often illusion vs reality). The Saturn (sobering) in Sagittarius (truth) is sticking around though. Good-bye 2016, don't let the door hit you on your way out - or maybe go ahead and let the door hit you 2016, you deserve it.

The first two thirds of 2017 will be dominated by the Jupiter/Uranus/Pluto stuff and of course we still are dealing with that 'sobering truth'. And we have so many retrograde planets next year! We'll talk about this later.

Let's look at what this New Moon energy squaring Jupiter (with Jupiter opposing Uranus) might look like through the signs. Plus that Saturn trine. This is complicated, so your sign might sound a little all over the place.

Anyway here goes .... (if you know your rising sign - 1st house sign on the cusp - use that for best accuracy, and also check your Sun sign)

Saturn Square Chiron | Sun Conjunct Mercury - taking ourselves seriously

novooo by nikelena

The Sun is conjunct Mercury. A baby born today would be a good communicator, using language and interacting with others very early - later he would probably be a better talker than listener though.

For the rest of us, this transit can make for a very mentally active time. We could also be going here and there - lots of errand-type activities (Mercury rules not only the transport of words and ideas but the transport of everything else as well as the things we use for the transport like our telephones, computers and cars).  

With tomorrow's New Moon in Capricorn this is an excellent time for planning. 

With a spotlight (Sun) thrown on communications (Mercury) now - there could be answers. With Mercury retrograde, the answers may lead to more questions. Or maybe someone from our past reappears. Whatever happens now, whatever we are making happen now, it is probably best to use this energy to plan our way forward and take action on what shows up, but not make any firm commitments or decisions since all the cards are not on the table yet ...

Saturn is squaring (tension) Chiron. This one hurts. Maybe we get a 'no' from an authority figure. On the other hand maybe we need to step into our own authority and say no. It's a good time to remember we learn from experience not from success or failure. The results of our actions are often out of our hands.

Maybe some obligation or responsibility or debt needs to be lived up to - did we make a promise or commitment near December 2nd? Maybe some rule is rubbing us the wrong way or restricting us. Maybe something about whatever is hurting feels very familiar - that would be something to think about.

When I see Saturn (time) and Chiron (wound) together I think of the old adage "time heals all wounds". Maybe this applies.

With Mercury in Capricorn and Saturn the ruler of Capricorn - the best way to handle whatever comes up is probably to channel Capricorn. Mature, level headed reasoning is needed now. Personal ambition is favored (not on the backs of others I'd hope). We will survive if we take ourselves seriously. It's winter - stock up. xo

Capricorn and Piscean sextiles | maybe let's try releasing the habit of measuring everything ....

illusory by la-child

The Sun (in Capricorn) sextiles Mars (in Pisces). A retrograde Mercury (in Capricorn) sextiles Neptune (in Pisces).

Sextiles are like handshakes, they create opportunities. Something new is available here from the combining of these energies. It's not a sure-fire success or an iron clad contract, although it can lead to these things. There is agreement though. A sextile can be easy to miss because it's the thing that glides smoothly into place. It's sometimes easier to see the gift in hindsight.

This transit encourages independent thought and action. Courage is available here and change comes more easily. Pisces (ruled by Neptune) encourages change and action through vision and imagination.

We don't create vision. We receive vision.

We shut up. We listen. We still our brain. We move our body.

(I find I have to move my body in new and unexpected ways to get things unstuck. Almost always I have to be outdoors. After dangling from my front porch hanging Christmas lights a couple weeks ago, I felt like an entirely new person. Maybe I need a little more dangle and a little less ladder.)

We live in a time when we try to measure and quantify everything.

This measuring is part of the problem. It creates a kind of scarcity thinking.

When we think time is scarce we hurry. When we think money is scarce we get greedy or envious. When we think attention is scarce we show off. When we think acceptance is scarce we manipulate.

In another reality, one that is as close as the breath we just exhaled and as far away as the distant horizon, none of these things are scarce. Our culture of scarcity has embraced us so completely we have mistaken it for "reality". It isn't.

Neptune asks us to think about - how much cheap ugly does it take to make up for a lack of real beauty? How much entertainment makes up for a lack of play? How many adventure movies make up for a lack of real adventure? How much pornography for a lack of intimacy? How much money for a lack of real security?

The answer is always an infinite amount. We never have enough. Our cup is never full.

This may be good news for the shopping economy, in the very short term, but it's incredibly bad news for our health and for the health of our planet. We are so close to releasing this vision of artificial scarcity - we just have to release the habits and walls that hold us here in this old story and they are breaking apart more and more everyday ...

The Piscean energy encourages attention to our intuition while the Capricorn energy encourages us up that mountain.

Pallas (dwarf planet, warrior) has just moved back into Pisces, too. This Mars/Pallas/Pisces energy can be used to create more than religious or crazy fueled violence.

We can use this energy to step into our own new story. Possibilities that didn't exist within our old story lie right in front of us even if we don't know exactly how to reach them. Let's trust ourselves to know what to do when this time in-between stories has ended. xo all

a spotlight on the way forward ....

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!

I was hoping last week to get caught up with a few 'where we are now' and 2017 posts, but couldn't seem to make the time.

We'll get caught up this week.

For today - we have multiple things going on. Jupiter (20 degrees Libra) is opposite Uranus (20 degrees Aries). Mars (5 degrees Pisces) is conjunct the South Node. Retrograde Mercury (9 degrees Capricorn) is sextile Neptune (in Pisces) and our Capricorn Sun is trine (brakes off) the North Node (in Virgo).

The Sun trining the North Node could "shine a light on" our way forward. It is likely whatever happenings all the other energies are stirring up for us are really a way to focus us on our next step and get us to a place we are serious (Capricorn) about taking it.

With Mars (action, initiation, anger, war) hooking up with the South Node of what we are releasing - there is an impetus to let something go now. Addiction issues or situations where we play the martyr or victim could push some of us to find our bottom (solid ground). Boundaries are real things with this energy. We could feel invaded.

Since Mercury and Neptune are sextiling (shaking hands) and Mercury rules the North Node (Virgo) and Neptune rules the South Node (Pisces) - there is a way forward here. The simplest answer (not always the easiest since with all this Capricorn there will be work involved) will have the most support.

The big transit now is Jupiter opposing Uranus. This is a recurring one for 2017, too. This could put what we want to do or be or what we believe at odds with the other people in our life. This has been building for a couple days and will be around for a couple more days. We could feel rebellious. So could other people. Situations can seem larger than they actually are. Differences between ourselves and others will be overblown. Areas where we are feeling stifled will be challenging. We don't need to make some big explosive leap into something new (no big splashy new until after Mercury moves direct, please), remember we still have that Virgo North Node encouraging us toward those small, precise steps that will lead us to bigger and better things.

Back later today with the weekly - xo all

Sun into Capricorn | winter is coming ....

winter by voorikvergeet

Doesn't it feel better somehow to call the Winter Solstice the longest night rather than the shortest day?

The shortest day sounds like I am missing out on something. The longest night sounds like I can lie in bed and finish my book and still get a good night's sleep.

This is a good time during the busy holiday season to take stock of where we are, what we've done and where we are going.

This is a season when melancholy can set in if we aren't careful. We have to remember when looking at the bad stuff that was or the good stuff that never was - to own the fact we have survived it!

In Capricorn, the Sun gets serious. We are heading into the serious time of year - the time our ancestors could starve if they hadn't stocked up properly or catch a cold that would turn into pneumonia.

(Can a cold turn into pneumonia? I am one of those people who think it can, although I guess the cold has just left our lungs in a weakened state. I also think I can catch a cold from getting wet on a cold day, although science, and my local doctor, tells me it doesn't work that way. I know it happens though.)

If they hadn't prepared for winter, they wouldn't survive.

They would celebrate the Winter Solstice and go into hibernation for a few weeks (exhausted from the harvest, escaping the cold and, intuitively, the germs, too, I'm sure), venturing back out sometime mid-Aquarius season for some social interaction and hoping to trade whatever they still had plenty of to restock whatever had grown scarce.

This is true for us today, too. Without structure, responsibility and discipline - mandated by Capricorn's ruling planet Saturn - we'll be in trouble when the cold settles in and the stuff we need to survive is covered with two feet of snow and ice. I think I write this so often, that anyone who doesn't think this way (or know they need to hear this) probably wouldn't read this blog. I am sure I am preaching to the choir here.

Today is the Capricorn ingress and sets up the next 3 months, so it's a good time to look at where all the planets are and how the energies are working together.

Mercury is retrograde (in Capricorn!). Mars has just moved into Pisces. I know some astrologers think Mars in Pisces is kind of a "peace on earth" transit. It could be, I guess, but Pisces (ruled by Neptune) ability to dissolve reality can make it a treacherous space for fiery Mars (action, violence, war).

If Mars were a person he would be a passionate, impulsive (and easily angered) young man. And we all have this masculine, passionate, youthful, angry energy inside us. When we don't acknowledge this young man we meet him in other people and outside situations.

Collectively Mars into Pisces is a time of escape or surrender. He also energizes our Pisces house.

In my chart, for example, Pisces rules my 4th house of home and family. It's my roots and my mother or father (this varies based on our chart and interpretation). I have the planet Jupiter in my 4th house and Jupiter is the ancient ruler of Pisces making the whole thing more impactful (I blame all this for my inability to keep my house neat and organized). So, I know at some point during Mars transit through Pisces he will meet up with my natal Jupiter.

So, now Mars has moved in. Maybe I have more energy at home. Maybe I clean this place up. Since I have a home business maybe I have more activity there or more energy. Maybe I am more easily angered at home or attract this impulsive, passionate energy into my home through other people. Maybe I spend more time and energy on my family.

Maybe my plumbing overflows (like a toilet did 10 minutes ago here).

We'll look at the rest of the energies for the next 3 months over the next few days.

For now, stay safe.

Stock up (physically with things like food, candles, maybe wood and books - emotionally with family, friends, good memories and plans - and spiritually with meditation and prayer).

We saw what happened Monday when Mars moved into Pisces conjunct Pluto and Mercury went retrograde and Mars isn't exactly conjunct Pluto until the end of the month.

Today, just breath, take in the long night and let's acknowledge what we have all survived. 

NOTE - the Sun is squaring the Moon (in Libra) today - what we want and what we need are in conflict here. It's a good day to deal with our own stuff and not tell other people how to deal with theirs. We could attract challenging situations and tension. We may have to adjust to others. Just breathe. Tomorrow the Moon will hook up with Jupiter and we will all feel more optimistic. xo

Astrology Forecast for Creatives | Week of December 19th - NOT quite time to decide, productive escape plus it could be a Merry , ie everybody gets along just fine, Christmas

where the wild roses grow by krowka7

Let's dive right in.

When we wake up Monday morning the skies are quite different than when we went to sleep. A new story is taking shape for all of us! Mars has moved into watery Pisces and Mercury has stationed retrograde in Capricorn. Whatever story kicks off now (and yes, it could already be in motion) will play out through the end of January.

When Mercury retrogrades we focus on the "re's" - we rethink, redo, re-imagine, rework, reconnect, release, relax (my wish for all of you this holiday season!). People and situations from the past can come back for another look. Our mind turns in toward itself. This is why it is so easy to misplace things, say the wrong thing, send the wrong email, etc - the stuff we can normally do without thinking, well we can't do that stuff very well when Mercury is retrograde.

Mercury's normal speed is very fast, so when he slows down we feel it. Breathe!

Expect that people will take their time getting back to you, that things will be delayed, that you will get to the movies at the wrong time or the electricity will go out and the show will be canceled. We are not meant to fly through life at 90 miles an hour when Mercury is retrograde - this is the one third of the year we are supposed to be looking backward and flying 90 miles an hour looking backward only works if you are a bumble bee.

For the rest of us our cars brake down, our computers zonk out and our systems go haywire which requires us to SLOW DOWN. With the holidays approaching, it's a good excuse to kick back!

With this retrograde happening in serious Capricorn, we will be personally focused on our natal Capricorn house themes as well as the universal themes ruled by Capricorn - government, business, authority, career, reputation, tradition, structure.

With Mars in Pisces actions could be indecisive, wishy-washy, escapist, healing, secretive, artistic - you get the drift (literally!). Pisces isn't Mars favorite place - it's kind of like putting a lit match into a glass of water - you get a whole lot of smoke and sizzle, but not much else. The good news is Mars in Pisces is excellent energy for compassionate and healing activities and for creating imaginative or other worldly (spiritual, religious) art.

Mars in Pisces gives us permission (not that we need any!) to binge watch Netflix (I've heard good things about "The OA" already), read five books in five days, daydream and run off to the ocean!

Escape is totally practical and productive now - just be sure not to overdo it in unhealthy ways.

Pisces Suns get more powerful (and maybe easier to anger or irritate) and our Pisces natal houses get more active (and maybe easier to anger or irritate) with Mars hanging out here!

Mercury's station is conjunct Pluto - the planet of karma and transformation. Also the ruler of all the taboo stuff we don't want to look at. So now we'll have to. This feels like an important decision is needed, but we really need the next few weeks to review things first. So, let's review things first.

Mercury will be retrograde until he/she stations direct on January 8th, but will not really be covering new ground until January 27th. Mars will be in Pisces until January 28th. I wouldn't start anything important, if you do not have to, until after these dates.

On Monday and Tuesday - the Moon is in Virgo - great energy for detailed work and for service to others to provide us with emotional support. Clean the house. Clean up your eating. Get organized. Good days for paperwork and to care for pets.

On Wednesday, the Sun moves into Capricorn marking the Winter Solstice. Now a light is really bring thrown on our foundations; the stuff that is holding us up. What do we do because we have always done it this way or because our father/culture did? What do we put up with to feel safe and secure? What needs to stay? What needs to go?

We are all burning Capricorn fuel now - so show up, do the work (even if no one knows you are doing it), think long-term and rock-solid.

The Moon is in balanced and other-oriented Libra and aspecting both Mars and Neptune (in Pisces). We will need to adjust to other people with whatever Piscean stuff we are dealing with - art, healing, secrets, addiction, escapism, spirituality, hospitals, prisons, the stuff, places and people that have been "put away".

On Thursday, the Moon goes void at 2:30pm so get things done early. There are aspects to Jupiter (in Libra) now that should lighten the load a bit.

Great energy to be with friends and partners and we have this for the next few days!

On Friday, the Moon moves into Scorpio. This is great energy to be intimate with others and deal with Scorpio ruled matters - other people's money, loans, taxes, reproduction, sex, taboo stuff. With the Moon working so nicely with Mars and the Sun (both in Pisces) - it's also good energy for dealing with authority figures, business, government, men, healing, art, addiction, fantasy, secrets, etc (see Wednesday's Piscean laundry list).

On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day (first day of Hannukah) - Saturn (in Sagittarius) trines (brakes off) Uranus (still retrograde in Aries). Making changes to something we already have in place is favored here. Everything old is new again.

(take care with fire, candles and driving)

With Uranus there could be some real Christmas Eve/Christmas surprises!  

This is great energy for the old and the new to come together for the holidays.

It's also great energy for whatever we thought we had to put up with or whatever we thought wasn't going to work out to suddenly work out after all.

With Saturn still squaring Chiron we could be dealing with some added responsibility, father issues or authority stuff that could be draining or hurtful - this is fading now. We could also be dealing with Sagittarius themes - legal, politics, wedding, foreign, travel, education, media, publicity.

The Moon is void all day on Christmas. Expect glitches.

Also on Christmas Day we have Venus (in Aquarius) trining (brakes off) Jupiter (in Libra). This is good energy for us to get along with people who are different from us - for our relationships to be fair and balanced! There is the potential for everyone around our Christmas tree to get along this year and for people spending the holidays alone to feel perfectly fine about it!

xo all - back in a couple days

Mercury Retrograde | secret information, slowing down, destabilizing

empire by jaimel barra

Mercury stations retrograde on Monday at 15 degrees Capricorn. Right on top of Pluto. Whatever sludge Pluto dregs up be prepared to think/talk about it for a while. Capricorn rules our security - our bottom line, our structure, authority, rules. In the collective she reigns over the government, business, systems and whoever reigns over us.

Pluto is about transformation and karma. He rules over the stuff we try not to think about. And now we'll have to.

The next three weeks will be very intense (and this energy really lasts until the end of January when Mercury starts covering new ground). I hope everyone has wrapped up the majority of things they need to get done this month because from here on in things could be a bit less stable. Things will also slow down. We will probably need more rest and more sleep.

Do the usual Mercury retrograde things - back up your files this weekend, recheck all correspondence for the next few weeks, cross your t's and dot your i's, realize that what you say to someone could stir something in them you did not intend to stir up (that Pluto conjunction) and we'll pay attention to what is stirred up in us, pay your bills, keep things organized, lighten your schedule if possible, don't make any large purchases, keep your receipts and know the store's return policies. Do the "re"s as they come up. Whatever comes back around now is here for us to rethink/rework, it's not necessarily here to stay. If it stays past the end of January, it will be around for awhile (yes, the same can probably be said of the U.S. President elect!).

When a planet stations he/she is very powerful. I like to use the finger through a flame analogy - you can easily move your finger quickly through a flame without burning your finger, but if you stop mid-flame (like Mercury is doing now), the heat is much more intense and you burn your finger. Mercury really won't move much for the next week or so and even after that he will be retracing his steps, appearing to move backward through the sky. Prepare for projects and life to slow down and move backward a bit.

Mercury is traveling through the t-square housing Jupiter, Pluto and Uranus. The Pluto/Uranus square I was writing about a couple years ago is re-triggered now. This is the big transit shaking everything up.

In the U.S., Monday is also the day the electors cast their votes. And Mars (initiative, anger, war) changes signs. You might remember Mars last changed signs on election day when he moved into Aquarius in the middle of the day and helped to upend the results. Now he heads into Pisces (the sign of foggy 'whatever happens, happens' results). What all of this means to the elector voting process is anybody's guess!

Of course we also have the Russian hacking story that broke when Saturn (the ruler of Capricorn) conjuncted the Sun. This annual conjunction typically brings something about our bottom line (Saturn) to light (the Sun). The retrograde will almost certainly be walking us through this story. Pluto (secrets) and Mercury (information) will challenge us to see the truth here.

We also have a North Carolina governor signing legislation, before he leaves office, that guts the powers of his successor. What a mess.

It will be weeks before it is sorted out. And whatever happens, it won't be pretty. Until we figure out we need both mommy (the Democrats) and daddy (the Republicans) energy to work together we will keep teeter tottering back and forth, like a country on an out of control seesaw. Maybe we will get to self-governance before that happens. Oy.

In some way we are all like that North Carolina governor trying to hold onto our power, so sure we are right - we are lugging around something that is dead and gone, but our minds haven't quite figured that out yet.

There is a theme during this retrograde about us growing the hell up and facing whatever the hell we do not want to face here. Maybe what we want to do and what we need to do have parted company somewhere along our journey. For people who always do what they want, I imagine there are chickens coming home to roost. And the same can be said of people who always do what they have to do and have lost touch with what they actually want. Jupiter in Libra for the next eight months will show us the ways our relationships are out of balance and unfair. The energy other people are carrying for us gets handed back to us here.

Anyhoo, I will write more about this in the weekly.

I also wanted to touch on some energy potential ahead that could spell trouble. I've been back and forth with myself for a few weeks about whether to write about this - I am just an armchair astrologer after all. But once you see something it is hard to unsee it and I've decided to just put it out there ...

Uranus stations direct on December 29th (finger in the flame again). We will start to feel this energy around Christmas (but maybe as early as Monday's Mercury retrograde station on Pluto and we can certainly feel the unsettledness of life right now). It will carry through the first week or so of January.

There are some aspects here that connect to the U.S. chart that governs this period (Libran ingress chart from Autumn equinox) that have a similar signature to the events of September 11th. Now, I'm not saying something like this is going to happen - it could be related to the Russian hacking story, etc, upending things here. But there is also a connection to Mars (violence, angry young man) and Neptune (unclear thinking, medication, religious fervor) that we have seen before when people get hurt.

What can we do? Well maybe not much about any specific situation that might arise. But we can make sure our house is well stocked (food, medication, pet food) in case this has something to do with the grid going down (Uranus rules technology) and I wouldn't be in large crowds during this time period if I could help it (maybe take a pass if you get an invitation to go watch the ball drop in Times Square this year, etc).

We can reach out to family we disagree with this holiday season and really listen this time. We really do all want the same things.

Dialing down our personal narratives dials the collective narrative down, too. 

There is less need for something to happen within the collective that brings us all together if we have already done this ourselves ....

Stay safe. Schedule light. This could just be Trump (very strong Uranus energy and now he's stepped into the U.S. chart) moving ahead with something or upending something, maybe on the advice of an angry young man or channeling his own, who knows. Whatever it is, with Uranus, we won't see it coming.

xo all

Full Moon in Gemini | tangled up ...

the violence behind by julie-de-waroquier

Today's Full Moon at 22 degrees Gemini is uber complicated. A spotlight is being thrown on a lot of information now. Almost too much to process. With Gemini, truth is shifty and it is hard to tell fact from fiction. We will see what we believe rather than believe what we see. 

Speak clearly now. This is not a time for babble or childish gossip. Let's not say one thing when we really mean something else - even habits like saying "this isn't bad" when we mean something is good dilute our energy. Just say, "this is good!".

This Full Moon could bring us to a decision point with something we have been thinking about for a while - a conversation or communication with someone now could help us decide and even strengthen our resolve to take action.

Full Moons are always potentially stressful because we have the Sun (this month in Sagittarius) opposing the Moon (this month in Sagittarius's polarity sign of Gemini). Oppositions are exactly what they sound like. Yes, you can imagine a boxing ring, some sweaty towels and bandages.

The Moon is opposed to Saturn, too. Remember we talked last week about the Sun and Saturn hanging out together. So, we not only have the Sun opposing the Moon, we have stern Saturn in the Sun's corner, too. We also have all three of them squaring Chiron (in Pisces) and Chiron aspecting Jupiter (in Libra) who is opposing Uranus (in Aries).

All together they create a beautiful Mystic Rectangle (doesn't that sound lovely? well, sometimes yes and sometimes no).

And Mercury, Gemini's ruling planet, is preparing to go retrograde and walking ground we will be covering again. Nothing feels easy here.

This Moon is about choices and endings. With Saturn, our choices will have boundaries - which is actually the good news, because we can maybe see the way forward more easily (usually with Gemini it is hard to choose because there are so many options on the table). With Chiron, whatever is happening can be painful, but there is something of deep value being born now, too ....

Let's look through the signs - check your Sun sign for collective wisdom, but if you know your natal Gemini house you might find that more accurate :

Astrology Forecast for Creatives | Week of December 12th - get that shopping done!

hey jude by dorguska

This is the last week we have a direct Mercury before the holidays, so get that shopping/shipping done! And since Mercury is already walking degrees he will cover two additional times - make sure to double check orders and sizes and hold onto your receipts.

On Monday, the Moon (in Gemini) squares Neptune and then on Wednesday Neptune and Saturn finally move out of orb of the Saturn/Neptune square we have been dealing with since September 2015.

We may not feel this - dreams vs. reality, not being able to tell fact from fiction (or real news from fake news?) - energy improve quickly, because with Neptune things tend to dissolve or fade slowly over time and the U.S. chart is still influenced strongly by Neptune through 2017. And we still have Neptune strong in Pisces (until 2025) and hanging with the South Node.

We have had to face the reality that some dreams need to be left behind so we can move forward. And we will all look back at this period and find it hard to believe the stuff we were believing ...

We haven't had to deal with this energy since the Salem witch trials in the 1600's

(we can see the witch hunts and scapegoating in the collective and also in our own lives over the past 15 months as well as our tendency as a collective and individually to get caught up in stuff that isn't real or true - we will be dealing with the repercussions for a long time).

There will still be some strangler situations with this energy next summer when Saturn goes retrograde, but we have so much happening next summer we might not notice!

Whatever comes up this week that relates to Neptune (imagination, escape, addiction, illusion, healing, spirituality, things/people/situations put away) just needs to come up.

With the Sun connecting with Uranus this would also be a good time for something Sagittarian related (or connected to your Sagittarius natal house theme) to pop or shake things up - media, wedding, politics, travel, foreign, education, legal.

Maybe whatever came to light or firmed up last week when Saturn met the Sun changes on us somehow or gives us a surprise or shock.

(in the collective we had the news that the CIA is confirming Russia interfered in the election, so we know this story is not over)

On Tuesday/Wednesday, we have the Full Moon in Gemini. I'm going to do a Full Moon post on Tuesday. It's a big one.

On Wednesday the Moon is in Cancer so we are focusing on home and family.

The rest of the week I will pop in with as we move along! Next weekend the Moon will be in fun loving Leo - an excellent time for that holiday party!

Midnight Monday is the end of my holiday free shipping in my Etsy shops - Polarity and Uncorked. If you have your eye on anything this is the time to nab it.

xo all - back Tuesday with the Full Moon post and I have the post about the next few weeks and into next year almost complete!