Sun into Gemini | going WIDE and seeing double

flowers for a bed by kittysyellowjacket

The Sun moves into Gemini today where he will hang his hat until June 21st (summer solstice).

During Gemini season life gets busy - physically busy and mentally busy.

Do you know which house holds Gemini in your natal chart? A light is shone on that area of your life now. Multi-tasking skills will come in handy.

Gemini is the teacher who never stops learning - it is about the processing of information. Ruled by Mercury and ruler of our 3rd house of communications, thinking, ideas, early childhood education, our neighbors, local community, our siblings, transportation - you will recognize all these themes from when I am writing about Mercury!

Gemini is a mutable air sign (head cold are possible now as we move from earth to air, cue the vitamin C). Geminis are flexible.

The energy goes wide rather than deep. They want to look at, and learn about, and talk about and do - a little of this and that and the other thing.

Geminis are clever and very good with words. They can say one thing to one person and something else to someone else - they are changeable. Geminis can create the perfect blend of imagination, half-truths and logic making them sometimes less than totally truthful, but they are so freakin' fast and so freakin' funny we might not even notice. 

Their symbol is the twins and with Gemini things often come in twos.

My Sun is in my 3rd house (Gemini's house) in Aquarius ruled by Uranus (in my 10th house of career). With my "career" things almost always come in pairs. In my first job doing taxes I worked in two different offices, when I was in banking I managed two totally different departments at the same time, I once had carts in two different malls selling things in two different sizes and I now have two websites and two different jewelry lines both of which carry items that come in two different sizes. I am currently writing two books at the same time (have been for awhile, don't ask) and am renovating a vintage camper which I have in mind to house two different businesses. I could go on and on (but I won't, don't worry, I know you are busy now). This career "things come in pairs" thing hasn't translated into double the money - go figure.

Some of this may be a natural inability on my part to make a normal focused decision (of course my Mercury is also in my 3rd house), but most of it has just kind of happened. Sun in the 3rd house, house ruler in the 10th.

Anyhoo, with the Sun's move into Gemini things will not be quite so black and white as they were in Taurus. It's a time to be curious. Ask questions. Try different things. We've been going deep and now we want to go wide. 

Now that we have the North Node in Leo ruled by the Sun - we can use the Sun's monthly journey, over the next 18 months, to help us focus on our Leo path!

While the Sun is in Gemini is a good time to talk about what we are doing and what we are going to do. It's a good time to advertise. It's a good time to promote what we are doing. It's a good time to try something new focused on where our heart is leaning. It's a good time to read, learn, write and teach about what we love!

Our natal Gemini houses (where is Gemini in your natal chart?) is about to get very busy. Did I say that already?

It would be a good time to get familiar with the notepad on our phone to jot down info on the go - short conversations, notes, ideas, appointments, etc. Gemini is all about WORDS.

The fly in the ointment (yes, the fly is back) is that in Gemini quantity can rule over quality as thoroughness loses out to speed. That's OK for now - we've spent almost half the year bogged down in retrogrades - fast is the new slow. xo all 

Saturn trine Uranus, Venus opposite Jupiter, Sun square North Node | shifting energies!

learning to let go by Ashley Mae

We have lots of stuff happening today. The following is in no particular order - see if anything is helpful. 

Saturn (retrograde in Sagittarius) makes his second (of three) trines with Uranus.

If you have planets or points around 26 degrees of the cardinal signs - Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn - you have probably been feeling that Uranian urge for change, change, change! I will toss you some applicable word salads:

Something old (Saturn) is new again (Uranus). A good time for new (Uranus) structures/boundaries/rules (Saturn). Work (Saturn) for change (Uranus). Some kind of structure (Saturn) creates more freedom (Uranus). The old (Saturn) and new (Uranus) work together - remember trines are 'brakes off' periods when things flow. They are also easy to miss for exactly this reason. Pay attention. Also with trines we don't need to push - stuff falls together. With Saturn time is on our side as long as we are doing our work.

Anything contacting Uranus can give us itchy feet (and unexpected out of the blue situations). Now is a good time to work (Saturn) with the itch. Solid plans began now (Saturn rules time) can create big opportunities for change (Uranus). Remember our freshly minted North Node in Leo - what does your heart want? Which direction is your natural spotlight? Check your Leo and Sun houses for themes!

We had this transit on Christmas Eve (the itch started then, and yes, I know, that super strength hydro-cortisone cream isn't working - the only thing that will work is, surprise - CHANGING WHAT ISN'T WORKING) and we'll have another one in November. This is a three-parter. This is the part where Saturn is retrograde. And, if this isn't directly impacting our chart these transits could simply be the old and the new working together smoothly during these time-frames!

We have the Sun (in Taurus) squaring the North Node (in Leo). Squares are tension. There is something here about using what we already have as we walk toward the future that is stressful. Don't toss the baby out with the bathwater. Squares to the Nodes are turning points. We will note this date for our Leo/Aquarius journey ahead! Shifts are happening all around us and within us.

Venus (in Aries) is opposite Jupiter (retrograde in Libra) just as Venus starts covering new territory. That Venus retrograde (started March 4th) is finito. This can bring good news, maybe VERY good news. With Jupiter things can look better than they actually are BUT they can also be pretty good. This is about love or money or self-esteem. Don't overspend (writes the armchair astrologer about to do just that!).

Mars/Pluto inconjunct now could create some argumentative energy. There could be a power struggle or acting out of obsession. Small things can create big triggers for people with this aspect and over-reactions are possible. Keep a cool head.

That North Node in Leo for the next 18 months also means we need to be thinking/researching/acting for our heart health now. The physical and metaphysical work together! What does your heart need?

New portals are opening all around us this weekend.

Stuff is moving from the back burner to the front burner - we are moving forward, belly full of butterflies, grieving for the stuff that is over, unsure of what is ahead, still with more questions than answers - 18 months from now everything will be totally different, maybe even 6 months from now. We might have to feel the fear and do it anyway. We can't be worrying about what anybody else thinks and what other people are doing. We'll talk about this as we move through it.

xo all

awkward energies for us to deal with | revenge must be avoided - the way kings fall

hands III by duhitsmia

Today and tomorrow we are dealing with multiple inconjuncts. What are those song lyrics "the stars are stacked against you girl - get back in bed" - well that fits pretty well.

We have Saturn inconjunct the Sun, Chiron inconjunct the North Node, Jupiter inconjunct Neptune, Pluto inconjunct Mars and Juno inconjunct Mars. Inconjuncts represent crisis. Now remember crisis is both danger and opportunity. This is how we grow. Whatever we are dealing with here and obviously with so many crisis points at the same time many people will be affected and some will be dealing with multiple things - it will probably be best to let things be the way they are going to be.

Slow things down.

These are transits - they will pass. Big shifts coming on Friday and through the weekend!

We have Mercury in Taurus and the Sun in the late degrees of Taurus - it's time for a few deep breaths. Like, quite a few deep breaths. Like we'll turn ourselves into a Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon (I'll be Lucy) with all the oxygen we will be sucking in. PLUS the Moon will be in Aquarius, along with the South Node for the first time in 18 years - this is alot to be happening.

Inconjuncts are awkward energies where it seems nothing is exactly right (or we can't do/say anything right). Maybe something gets postponed. Maybe we just have to make the best of something less than ideal. Partners will offer us difficult choices.

It's a good time to look at the reasons we are doing what we are doing or the reason we want what we want. Caught between a rock and a hard place might mean we are not seeing what is really happening clearly or our motives may be corrupted. We may think we are helping someone when we are really coming from a place of our own ego that isn't very helpful to them or us. 

TRUMP CHART UPDATE - Trump's chart is very active and very stressed.

Transitting Mars (moving through Gemini) just hit his natal Uranus (yesterday) and will hit his Sun next Wednesday. He is getting hit big time. The attacks (Mars) are unexpected (Uranus) to him (Sun). The attacks (Mars) bring unexpected (Uranus) things to light (Sun).

The North Node, now in Leo, is at the exact degree of his ascendant - this is BIGLY - also watch the 8th to the 16th of June when the North Node - destiny - connects with his natal Mars.

I've written before about how that North Node in Virgo (and Leo and Trump's ruling star Regulus moving into Virgo) helped his appeal with the common man since Virgo rules the common man. This was a key part of his appeal the last 18 months and it was in his first house (self) along with expansive (and lucky) Jupiter.

Now that the North Node has moved into Leo he starts to lose that "common man" appeal plus it will soon move from his 1st house (public) to his 12th house (private). Something could also come to light (Sun) involving his children (5th house ruled by Leo).

This is either Trump's last stand or a huge test of his destiny. And remember the U.S. chart is all mixed up with his now.

It is also VERY interesting to look at the fixed star Regulus.

Fixed stars move so slowly they appear to not move at all - hence the name 'fixed'. Regulus was at 28-29 degrees Leo when Trump was born - the exact degree of Trump's ascendant and conjunct his natal Uranus! - and has since moved into 0 degrees Virgo - the exact degree where the North Node was as it moved from Virgo into Leo last week.

You might remember the North Node (our collective way forward) changed signs last Tuesday, exactly two hours before Trump fired Comey. 

Regulus is an uber important star for Trump - fating him with fame and riches and making him a "king". This is the "royal star" of the Leo constellation.

In Bernadette Brady's Book of Fixed Stars it says, "he is the Heart of the Lion and associated with the angel Raphael (healing). Regulus can bring glory and leadership, but his weakness is revenge. Power gained through Regulus is reversed quite dramatically if revenge is taken. Then comes the fall."

If Comey's firing was about Trump taking revenge, Trump's destiny changes dramatically.

This "revenge must be avoided" thing applies to us, too.

xo all

Mercury back into Taurus with the North Node in Leo | well thought out decisions, plain language that speaks from the heart

monique 4 by MiZH

Mercury first moved into Taurus on March 31st. Then on April 9th, he stationed retrograde and started backtracking. He backtracked from Taurus into Aries until he stationed direct on May 3rd (still in Aries). He has been moving forward since then and today gets back into Taurus. He will start covering totally new ground on Sunday - remember he is still covering ground he walked before April 9th.

(and I'm throwing in all these dates, not to be confusing, but in case they ring any bells - jingle bells, church bells, bicycle bells, doorbells, cowbells, wedding bells - you get the idea)

Just imagine you are walking somewhere and you stop walking. You turn around and begin walking back the way you came. Then after a time you stop again and turn back around and walk forward again - back the way you were going in the first place. You can visualize that you will be covering ground you walked before for awhile until you get back to where you turned around in the first place. Simple, right?

Most people think of Mercury retrograde as the time he is backtracking, but the story is LARGER than that - his journey (inside us) actually takes us over situations and issues 3 times - we go forward, we go backward (doing the "re's") and then forward for one final time after we've had time to re-access, re-examine (whatever the situation calls for) whatever is happening.

This retrograde was in our Taurus/Aries natal houses. So some situation in our Aries house (since he moves into Taurus today and won't return to Aries for almost two years) is finished. 

Maybe it untangled with a bang when Mercury hit Uranus last Tuesday (and we'll know by the end of this week what all that was about!) but we might feel it now. Or maybe we'll feel it this weekend when Mercury finally starts covering new territory.

Now, for some people, with planets and points within the degrees Mercury traveled, this will be a big situation resolving itself in some way. For other people, they won't be able to put their finger on exactly what this has been about for them, but the retrograde has still worked its magic in smaller ways this time (not every retrograde is uber-important for every person).

The tricky part for us is Venus has been working her own retrograde story (within us) in almost the same spaces in our charts at almost the same time - this one involving a love and/or money situation.

The Venus story was about us figuring out what we really value now. It wraps now with our decisions and those decisions carry us into our next chapter.

In the meantime the North Node has shifted into Leo, so it's like the spaces Mercury and Venus come to at the end of their journeys are not the same spaces they left behind when they turned around.

We are all in uncharted territory. Even if our life, from the outside, looks exactly the same as it did back in January, everything has actually shifted because we are not the same people we were then and we are not on the same road anymore. This might sound overly dramatic, but I am actually under-reporting this! 

And we still have Saturn and Jupiter retrograde ...

Anyhoo, back to Mercury. He moves back into grounded Taurus now. This slows down communications and conversations and our thinking. That's OK. Snap decisions will be less snappy.

(snaps are highly over-rated anyway, am I right seamstresses, aren't buttons more practical?)

Those monkeys in our brain will quiet down now if we allow them to - imagine them quietly hanging in a tree, eating their bananas and watching the sunset. Maybe they eat so many bananas they tumble to the ground in a banana coma for the next few weeks - imagine whatever it takes to quiet those chatterers. They will not do us any good now. They are not needed. And don't worry about the little fellows, they will wake up as soon as Mercury moves into fast moving Gemini on June 6th. Until then, they nap.

Mercury in Taurus is the time to mentally recharge our batteries. Practical language will get our point across better than long winded sentences now. 

Here's my original post about this transit, just skip over the retrograde stuff. 

If something from the end of March comes back around now - we are better equipped to deal with it than we were then. We have thought it through. Our decisions can be made from this new grounded space where we are following our heart.

Remember that Leo North Node - communicate from your heart. If it doesn't work for us it doesn't work for anyone else either. xo all

do the right thing | Capricorn Moon

What you’re missing is that the path itself changes you.
 ... Julien Smith, The Flinch

portfolio by aufzehengehen

I didn't get the weekly written yesterday - not with all that "feet on the ottoman, being handfed grapes and fanned with the Sunday paper" style adoration I was receiving for Mother's Day (ahem).

I have a monthly look ahead a few posts back that covers this week a bit if you simply must peek today. And we'll do dailies. This is another big week. It doesn't seem right to just throw something up!

This is the week Venus (in Aries) finally hits new territory - we'll feel it! She is opposing Jupiter (retrograde in Libra) all week. The Sun is still in Taurus. Mercury moves back into Taurus tomorrow. Enjoy the Taurus folks! You don't want to rush it.

For today the Moon is in hardworking Capricorn. It has a closing square to Uranus and is then void tomorrow from approx 6:30AM to 2PM (any Uranus style surprises today won't amount to anything in the long run since they take us to that Void Moon tomorrow - also don't launch anything tomorrow morning that you need to amount to anything).

Today we need to be responsible. Hard work pays off. Keep the focus on goals and career. Do the right thing. Don't expect to be coddled now. Don't count on being let off the hook. Capricorn is ruled by Saturn and he's stone cold sober.

Remember when we were kids and thought Santa was watching us in those days before Christmas - well that's the way to feel about Saturn during each month's Capricorn Moon!

The Capricorn energy could have us dealing with authority figures and stepping into our own authority. The early part of the day is flavored by Gemini - talks, meetings, sales, siblings, transportation, communication, emails. Later on the day is flavored by Pluto - deep emotions, transformation - maybe we just clean that hall closet. Stuff is purged.

xo all - back tomorrow - enjoy your Monday, another rockin' and rollin' week ahead!

Mars Trine Jupiter | no guts, no glory

Mars (in Gemini) trines (brakes off) Jupiter (retrograde in Libra) at 14 degrees.

Trines are easy aspects between planets and points. Things fall into place. Things work together.

Mars (action, independence, courage) trining Jupiter (expansion, luck) is a time when action makes us lucky. With Mars in Gemini and in mutual reception to Mercury (ruler of Gemini) in Aries (ruled by Mars) it could be our words that need to be bold. Humor works, too.

With Jupiter it is easy for things to be exaggerated - to look better than they are - but that's OK. Even if the light at the end of the tunnel is a train (it isn't) we can still use the light to see what's coming and get out of the way. It's the action that creates the win not the situation.

This is stable momentum we can use to move ourselves forward. Remember Jupiter is still retrograde in partnership oriented and balance loving Libra and Gemini offers multiple options and could scatter our energies - we need to focus. There is one best way forward now.

Instead of casting a wider net, we'll be better off spear fishing (and I don't like my analogy so much here, but I think it drives home the point - ouch). Get specific and take action.

Don't be afraid to try something new that is calling to your heart - yesterday's transit is still in play but now we add a little Jupiterian erergy and enthusiasm - "bigger is better" "do I feel lucky?" - action into the mix.

Be confident. We got this thing. xo all