Astrology Forecast for Creatives | week of January 4th - freedom vs. control, mercury retrograde - part ll

everything is illuminated by c paos

OK, back to the week ahead - see part I here.

So, we have Mercury turning backward on Tuesday morning (also the Moon goes void around lunchtime so get things done and out the door early!). We can imagine Mercury leaning conspiratorially toward us, "OK, we've gone as far as we can go at this point in time - we need to backtrack a bit to recheck a few things, allow the stuff we've lined up with to catch up with us and gain a little more experience".

Stuff ruled by Mercury gets wonky because he is looking over his shoulder - this includes communications, electronics and transportation (think - stuff with fast moving parts - he is the fleet footed messenger, after all).

We get re-routed.

Now, we can try to plow ahead anyway and sometimes things must be plowed through - we will just know that some of the stuff we have plowed through, would have been easier to move through later or we will have to plow through this stuff again when Mercury moves direct and passes over these same degrees.

(Mercury spends about 1/3 of the year either retrograde, preparing to go retrograde or retracing his same retrograde path once direct. 1/3 of the astrological signs are mutable signs (cardinal energy begins, fixed energy stabilizes, mutable energy changes) and mutable energy follows fixed energy. It doesn't follow cardinal. In other words, the natural order of things isn't 1. start 2. change 3. stabilize - it is actually 1. start 2. stabilize 3. change then back to start (with the next season). Without the change/shift/re-do part the whole cosmos falls apart ... literally.)

As he backs up he squares Mars. Now he squared Mars last week, too but last week Mercury was in serious and proper Capricorn and Mars was out of sorts in peaceful Libra. This time they are both in better positions so the square is more potent. We can expect some not so nice things to be said. We can expect some agitation. We may be dealing with the theme of control vs freedom. We'll have to wait on outcomes. Mercury's retrograde in Capricorn this month will expose the cold, hard facts of the situation. This will be good practice for us for the rest of the year.

EXAMPLE for Virgo (rising or sun in whole house astrology) -  Mercury retrogrades in your 6th house of work, health and routine and squares Mars hanging out in your 3rd house of communication, siblings, local neighborhood. Maybe your work does not go as smoothly as you’d like. Maybe others challenge your way of doing things. Challenge a Virgo's way of doing things - how dare they?! Maybe your coffee maker breaks down or you drop your cellphone into the toilet - yes, sorry, this could happen, hold on to the damn thing. You could be dealing with an annoying health issue that is back or equally annoying co-workers or employees. By the end of the week, Mercury backs into your 5th house of creativity, children, fun, romance - you may shift your focus from what you need to do (6th house work) to what you want to do (5th house fun), at least for a while. Removing your attention from a work or health issue may be all you can do right now anyway and Mercury wants you to have a 2nd look at something in that 5th house.

Also, we have Venus (in Sagittarius) squaring Neptune in Pisces on Tuesday and conjuncting Saturn in Sagittarius on Friday - basically bumping right into the Saturn/Neptune square we will be dealing with all year (dreams vs reality).

There are a few ways this could manifest for us. We may need to deal with something going on behind the scenes; something hidden or secret. It may even be a karmic situation that needs to be worked through involving Venus issues - love, women, money, values. We could be dealing with Neptune/Pisces themes of healing or addiction, art, spirituality or anything that is hidden away - hospitals, prisons, secret romances, research, etc. Whatever it is we are dealing with it will have us wanting more or feel like an endless opportunity then the options narrow at the end of the week and we see the truth of it.

This week might offer us a midterm exam on how we are doing with the Saturn in Sagittarius transit we are working with until December 2017.

EXAMPLE for Scorpio (rising or sun in whole house astrology) - Venus in your 2nd house of values squares dreamy Neptune, maybe enticing you to spend more than you know you should or give more of your time and attention somewhere than you need to - maybe you ignore some obvious red flags regarding 2nd house issues of money, self-esteem or close relationships. Venus has captured your attention after all and it's hard to stay focused on what we need when we want something more - she's just so damn sparkly! Then Venus cozies up to tough love Saturn at the end of the week and you are confronted with a reminder of where you’ve wandered off the path with this stuff - the bills come due so to speak. Your credit card gets declined, your self esteem takes a hit or you collapse with exhaustion after giving too much to too many. This is more likely to happen if you’ve moved away from your area of primary focus with Saturn in your 2nd house this year : becoming more financially stable, disciplined and certain of what matters to you and what you value!

A key theme for 2016 will be separating the truth from lies and reality from illusion.

This is the ground our brave Venus travels now. Have we tied our hearts to something that is real or something that is an illusion?

xo all, back tomorrow with the rest of the week including Jupiter and destiny :)

Astrology Forecast for Creatives | week of January 4th - freedom vs. control, mercury retrograde - part l

Whatever anyone does, anyone says, in the past, now, everything, let it bounce off the rock . . . . . of yr gladness (yr mirror) - Jack Kerouac, Book of Sketches

confrontation by pedro luis palenica

Are we ready for 2016? It's going to be a wild ride! I am waiting for the Capricorn New Moon on January 9th to start thinking about New Year's intentions and fresh starts. I know with all the personal planets changing signs last week, many of us will be feeling the change and the need for "new, new, new" but there is lots of astrological action this week - maybe the most all year, and it might be best to see/feel where it all lands first.
 
To back up a bit, Mars just moved into Scorpio where he will be spending a lot of time over the next eight months (yes, I said eight months!) due to his 2016 retrograde. Mars is the planet of fight, flight or freeze (usually not so much freeze, but we will see that this year with his lengthy retrograde).
 
In Scorpio, he is the ultimate survivor. We will be, too - of course this also presumes there will be things going on we will need to survive!
 
Mars is very much at home in Scorpio, the sign he once ruled (modern astrology recognizes Pluto as the ruler of Scorpio). Mars likes action and aggression and Scorpio is the space we carry our taboos, fears and compulsions. They fit together like a hand and glove. Scorpio isn't afraid to be uncomfortable and in fact knows that any time of action in the space where all the secrets lie is the time when things can finally begin to get interesting ....
 
Hubs met a guy last week who had traveled the world and was a "professional adventurer" - his words. He was now making his rounds in a Mandalay motor home that broke down near George's shop. He is, I'm sure, terribly clever, brave and committed to what he is doing; he is also ... not very interesting. I'm not sure why. 

But I suspect because his adventures are all on the outside, he is not so interested in anyone else's adventures that are mostly happening on the inside. He was oblivious to any clues from the person he is talking to about where the conversation should naturally go next. He already knew it all. Hubs said it was like talking to a page in a book. He seemed to have forgotten what other people are for. 
 

If we have come to a space like this man where all our adventures are on the outside - the next few months of Scorpio will likely be very challenging, very uncomfortable. Scorpio is the space in our chart where we squirm, we sweat, maybe we turn away and we will have the planet of fight, flight or freeze spending much of 2016 here. We will put on our big girl pants for this transit ....
 

(more on Mars retrograde later but check your Sagittarius and Scorpio natal houses for clues - in the United States we could see citizen unrest, clash of ideologies, secrets and hidden enemies, freedom vs control - with the election in full swing it's going to be interesting)

Last week all the personal planets changed signs - Mars into Scorpio where he is very happy, Venus into Sagittarius where she is much happier than she was in Scorpio and Mercury into Aquarius where he/she is happier than in Capricorn. All this positive (for the planets) change right out of the gates will enable our feelings, wants, needs and actions to change, too..

First up - Mercury squares Mars. Mars (action, control, anger) in Scorpio squares Mercury (communication) in Aquarius (freedom, liberty, group consciousness). Our buttons will be pushed. There will be tension between what we do and what we think or what others do or think. This is not a pretty aspect and it won't be valuable for me to sugarcoat it. It makes this first week of 2016 challenging.

Second - Mercury goes retrograde at 1 degree Aquarius - he will quickly back into Capricorn (a practical earth sign) so we will all be doing the "re's" in physical, practical ways. Know that projects, jobs, etc, started this month will have to be "re-done" in some way later when Mercury moves direct. Mercury in Capricorn seeks to find the correct way to express the reasonable. Retrograde, we will have the ability to rethink conventional points of view. The slow downs and second looks we take now are necessary. Our New Year "change" energy will be challenged right out of the gate.
 
If we obsess over everything that can go wrong during a Mercury Retrograde we will miss our chance to experience what can go right.

This is the time when we get sightings of what's arriving. Mercury says .... "hold up there a minute, don't rush forward too quickly. This may take a little time girl."

Mercury is retrograding in an earth sign - and because earth signs are practical and grounded and well, earthy, these are the kinds of skills and thinking we should be applying to problems that might crop up now.

Mercury retrogrades are the the best time of year to do all the re's - reconnect, redo, rethink, repeat, dare I say relax (it's winter, remember) - in business it is a great time to reconnect with old customers (as opposed to looking for new ones), go back over old projects, revise and redesign things, repair things or buy recycled (rather than buy new, no new mechanical items now) - yes, I have a dog in that fight (literally, Olive is one tough cookie), but it's still true.
This is probably the most challenging Mercury retrograde of 2016 - take it seriously.

I will finish this up tonight, too much happening to write this morning we have - Mercury Retrograde while squaring Mars, a Sun/Pluto conjunction, Venus and the Moon squaring Neptune, Jupiter Retrograde, the Sun and Moon squaring Uranus, Mercury Retrograde changing signs, the Venus/Saturn conjunction, and a New Moon in Capricorn. Whoa baby, don't expect to sleep in!

For Monday, we have a moody (and deep) Scorpio Moon playing nice with the Sun and Pluto - good for dealing with authority and people in power, good for stepping into our power, just triple check everything. xo all - back tonight!

Astrology Forecast for Creatives | Week of December 28th - eyes wide open

wide eyed by worlds of smoke

Multiple fresh energy patterns as Venus, Mercury and Mars (the three inner planets) all change signs this week!

Our energy around communicating what we want and need, how we attract it and how we go after it shifts. All the planets are moving forward this week, so we will be, too.

On Monday the Moon is in passionate and generous Leo. Leo rules our 5th house of self expression, play, children, creativity, romance. Leo Moons are often great hookey days and falling right in the middle of two holidays - it will be hard to resist!

On the other hand Mars (action) and Mercury (in responsible Capricorn) are square today and the Sun (also in Capricorn) is sextiling Neptune (strong in Pisces) - doing the responsible thing to move our dream forward is supported by this energy.

I guess if we work - make some time for play, too. If we play - make some time to work.

People will want to be appreciated and will require our attention. We'd like a little of that limelight, too. That's OK. There's room on center stage for all of us. If no one is patting us on the back now - we'll take the time to do it ourselves!

(another good reason to incorporate yoga into our lives - so we don't throw our back out showing ourselves a little love!)

On Tuesday, the Moon is void until 2 pm, so best for routine work and production. Expect stuff could get wonky.

Communicative Mercury (in serious Capricorn) squares action-Jackson Mars (in sociable Libra). Squares show tension, frustration - something happens that requires us to act. With Capricorn - rules, official information, tradition, authority - will be challenged or challenging.

Discussions can turn argumentative, on the other hand whatever is communicated could just involve or usher in a lot of activity.

With Libra this could involve women, art, money, social mores, love. In the late afternoon the Moon moves into Virgo and we start to focus on the details that need to be attended to with whatever is happening. Our actions becomes more practical now.

EXAMPLE for Aries (rising and sun in whole house astrology) this square is between your career and relationship spaces. Business plans or ambition could create clashes with partners or something communicated in too authoritarian a manner could set you at odds with another or others in a social setting. 

On Wednesday, the first energy shift - Venus moves into Sagittarius where she'll be cruising through until January 23rd making Sagittarius Sun people more attractive and everyone more able to "attract what we want" through optimism, BIG thinking and pushing past boundaries.

A focus on ninth house matters (Sagittarius rules the 9th house) - travel, media, marketing, legal, religion, politics, wedding - can connect us with what we need/want involving Venus themes - women, money, love, values, art. This energy feels celebratory so any chance we get to celebrate anything - we'll grab it!

Also since Venus is exiting Scorpio, if something has become an obsessive focus (involving those Venus themes or our Scorpio natal house) - this can lighten up as new opportunities show up for us or we just gain a fresh perspective through a Sagittarius glass half-full approach. Note - Mercury is about to go retrograde and is in his shadow now so just factor the time and resources for a few glitches into your planning. Also note - our Virgo Moon is challenged by Saturn (authority, endings, responsibilities, commitment) so something serious may need to be dealt with today. Take it seriously.

EXAMPLE for Scorpio (rising and sun in whole house astrology) Venus transits your 2nd house of values (the stuff money can buy and the stuff it can't) making the period through January 23rd a time when you can attract love and money. It can also bring in a woman to help. On January 3rd, Mars will move into your sign upping your confidence and energy level!

Thursday, New Year's Eve, Jupiter kisses up to the Moon and along with Venus in Sagittarius feels like a party to me - make your plans!

On Friday, the second energy shift - Mercury moves into Aquarius - the sign of the genius, rebel, criminal - plus we've got Aquarius ruling planet Uranus direct now!

Mercury loves Aquarius where he exalted - Aquarius is a sister sign to Mercury ruled Gemini (and fellow air sign Libra). We will be crackling with new ideas - electricity will be in the air for Uranian types. Our natal Aquarius house is where we find that genius/rebel/criminal energy - the space we are here to reinvent!

When Uranus stationed direct on Christmas he brought us a breakthrough, an aha moment as Oprah would call it, or maybe he is moving forward our story from last spring/summer when he went retrograde.

EXAMPLE for Virgo (rising and sun in whole house astrology), Mercury will enter your 6th house of work and health (and pets). This is the area you will connect with that genius/rebel/criminal energy. Innovation, communication and your attention, shifts to these areas. Mars moves into your 3rd house  of communication (siblings, local community, transportation) a couple days later - this is where you will take action - just keep an eye on your 'bluntness' (and yes, your temper, too) when communicating with others now. Of course with Venus in your 4th house of home and family - you may be stepping away from work and sprucing up your home or just finding enjoyment and attracting what you need there. Working from home works, too.

Since Mercury is in his shadow preparing to go retrograde pay attention to what comes up again this week - since we will be working with this story through his retrograde.

Also Jupiter is preparing to go retrograde and will station on the North Node next week - STAY OPEN for opportunities that will put us on the right path - especially involving 6th house (ruled by Virgo where Jupiter is hanging out) themes of work and health (where's your natal Virgo house - check that, too). Now, an opportunity or meeting or person who comes along now may not be exactly the right thing since Jupiter is going retrograde BUT it can lead us to something right when he moves direct in late spring. Let's keep our eyes open!

Jupiter stationing on the North Node (our collective north star future) will be asking us if we are doing our right work in service (Virgo) to the world. More on that later this week, plus on Mars' move into his lengthy journey through Scorpio and some big picture winter forecasting.

In the meantime BACK UP YOUR COMPUTER.

xo all

Merry Christimas - Full Moon in Cancer, Uranus Moves Direct

will we ever get home for christmas by frank and cary

We have a Full Moon at 3 degrees Cancer today - this will probably make our holiday more emotional and sentimental. Full Moons illuminate what is hidden. They also offer up endings and conclusions - we won't be able to just flip it over and blow it off this time. A story from June 2014 culminates now.

In Cancer - this will be about mother issues, self nurturing, family stuff, home, patriotism, the past. The Moon trines (brakes off) Neptune, sitting strong in Pisces. We will be feeling compassionate and empathetic.

This is a very imaginative, dreamy and creative trine, but can make us kind of blend with our surroundings. With the boundaries this thin we will feel any harshness in our current reality very strongly. Let's be tender with ourselves and others, especially any little ones melting down. We might want to watch our alcohol intake.

Mercury (communications, conversations) in Capricorn (seriousness, rules, structure) sextiles Venus in Scorpio and trines (more brakes off) Jupiter at 22 degrees Virgo. People will be really talking, listening, making plans, discussing their dreams and their ideas. There could be some self righteous rants and drunken dialogues but it still feels like wonderful energy for Christmas get-togethers - the stuff will be emotional and there will be some surprises, but it will be real!

Uranus (the unexpected, rebellion, revolution) has been retrograde in Aries since the end of July and he begins his forward movement today (check your natal and progressed houses for 16 degrees Aries - this space will start to get movement now) so expect some surprises. The Cancer Moon's love of tradition could clash with Uranus's need to buck it.

Our North Node approaches Jupiter in tidy Virgo - what mess are we being asked to clean up? or maybe I should say which messes? If we have been letting some situation play out until we know what to do, we are about to know what to do.

Merry Christmas everyone! Let's allow this Full Moon energy (get out and walk in it!) to carry our hearts home - this is water energy so tears, sweat and long baths are all good things ... xo