Mercury stations on Pluto | January 22nd - stock up on ice cream

lucy in the sky by elif karakoc

Today, as Mercury stations and prepares to move direct he lands right on top of Pluto (in Capricorn) and squares Uranus (in Aries).

(imagine we move our finger through a flame and halfway through we stop and turn around - that space where we slow to a stop and start to reverse - well that space would be pretty intense, it might even necessitate an immediate ice cube and some ice cream later, chocolate chip mint, of course)

And we face our first storm of 2016.

(and with perfect synchronicity one third of the United States is preparing for a blizzard - stock up on ice cream, yes ice cream, when your power goes out and you have no way to heat the hot cocoa you ran out at the last minute and bought - I will be devouring the ice cream I have stockpiled on my front porch and snickering at you through my chattering teeth - yes, in a blizzard I'm like that, I will share if you're nice though)

It may have started for you last week or last month, but it's really been coming for years. We move through the end of the Mercury retrograde which has been happening within the chaotic Uranus/Pluto square and reactivating that.

This could be some shocking news that is probably unwanted.

Something Capricornian and security focused maybe - a change we don't want to make.

Fixed energy. A long term plan is needed even if revisions will be required later. Maybe some technological or cosmic breakthrough. Possible power struggles, lies, intimidation, hmm .... . it also gives us the ability to drill down deep and focus. Mars in Scorpio - secret motives and actions are possible. Shock and awe.

Brilliance is out there. Cue Uranus.

As Mercury (consciousness) passes over Pluto (karma, soul) expect to feel a pull toward something else (Uranus). This weekend's Full Moon in Leo (ego) will illuminate what we need to see (post tomorrow).

Remember that although we are on the brink of something wonderful - our ancestral DNA is registering the danger of change and leaving all of us edgy and worn out. When something drains our energy it is natural to want to sort it out ourselves - definitively and right away. However, often for a situation to be cured, we first need to disentangle from our urge to treat it.

To assume because there is a problem it is our job to intervene and impose a quick solution is a very "entangled" way to live. Of course, we can be too "disengaged" also. Sigh. This stuff is tricky. Again I advise ice cream.

Astrological energy like this weekend's has a way of getting us where we need to be in the most expeditious way possible.

It knows we want to go to the market and that we are headed out the door toward Hwy 9 where there is a 3 hour traffic jam, so it coaxes us toward a new route with a sudden craving for that jasmine iced tea only available at the other market on the opposite side of town.

And we may never know about the traffic jam we missed and end up griping when we drive all the way across town for the iced tea and the jasmine bin is empty. 

And with Pluto and Uranus and Saturn energy all balled together like this it might feel more like everything is falling apart than a cool glass of iced tea. We will hang in there. Whatever is happening will be sorted out over time (Saturn). More in the weekly forecast here. Full Moon post tomorrow. Hang in there, February will be much lighter! Get the ice cream. xo all

Venus into Capricorn | January 23rd - comb your hair

fashion and the fantasy by little flair

Venus moves into Capricorn on Saturday.

Venus attracts. Capricorn Suns get more attractive. Our natal Capricorn house becomes more magnetic.

(speaking of attractive and magnetic - have you seen my lockets? blog readers get 10% off anytime with coupon code blogreader)

Since Capricorn is a serious sign ruled by taskmaster Saturn, the stuff Venus rules gets more serious. Venus rules art and beauty, love and money, our values and partnerships. We will naturally handle these things more seriously and attract situations that require us to get serious about this stuff.

We will look at the people, things and situations we have partnered with like a father checking out his daughter's new boyfriend. Other people will check us out as if we are about to date their precious daughter.

If we want to be taken seriously we will need to look the part now.

We attract (Venus) what we want by respecting Saturn (ruler of Capricorn) - don't make that important sales call or fire off those important emails wearing your pajamas and slippers with your hair in a messy bun.

That might have worked last week while Venus was still partying in Sagittarius, but for the next month (and the month after that - Saturn is co-ruler of Aquarius which is Venus's next stop) get dressed, comb your hair, put on some shoes. xo all

life unravels where it cannot unfurl ....

unravel series by jon jacobsen

Today the Sun moves into contradictory Aquarius and Mercury (still retrograde in Capricorn) squares Uranus in Aries (this happens again at the end of next week when Mercury is moving direct and happened on December 20th before Mercury's retrograde). This is tradition and authority being questioned, challenged, maybe upended. Maybe a bold new idea is generated and we take action, maybe some old information threatens our structure, maybe we step away from the crowd a little bit more, maybe someone else rebels against our authority. Squares are tension that push us into a new action - where have we just had enough?

If you have any planets 16-17 degrees Aries or Capricorn in your natal chart you will feel this transit the most.

Aquarius, the humanitarian, can sometimes view life from twenty paces. Maybe the only way to see anything clearly is to take a step back from it - of course, too many steps and we face a stony future devoid of empathy and geared solely toward the "greater good". Balance in all things. We move from earth to air today. Support your immune system. xo

your creative business and the astrological generations | feeding your customer's Pluto - Part III

dark sun by mirella santana

OK, let's wrap up this series with the youngest Pluto generations your business might be catering to.

To back up a bit - I think astrology could be a good way to analyze "generations" if we look at the natal placement of the planet Pluto (where Pluto was hanging out when we were born)

Pluto is a slow moving outer planet. The furthest planet from earth (yes, Pluto is a planet, don't get me started!) and represents karma and the "soul".

We experience a compulsive attention to matters related to the sign where Pluto resides when we are born.

NOTE - Pluto moves in and out of a sign as it retrogrades, stations and moves direct so a person born within the first couple years Pluto is in a sign may be more in tune with the previous sign and a person born in the last two years more represented by the following sign. And of course each person has their own individual chart with many aspects and placements including the energy of Pluto's house that may work against this collective energy - still, this way of looking at generations will be helpful when we think about our customers as a group.

See Part I Pluto in Cancer, Pluto in Leo generations 
and Part II Pluto in Libra, Pluto in Virgo generations

Pluto in Scorpio (1984-1995) - The Pluto in Scorpio generation (Pluto rules Scorpio) are intense. Charged with going down into the underworld and coming up alive (which they mostly do, but not always) - they often work through dark and unsettling experiences very early in life - their growth (and the growth of the collective from the energy they carry and transform) is mountainous.

Scorpio (and Pluto) rules banking, big money, other people's money - taxes, loans, insurance, spouse's income, collective money, inheritances - death, rebirth, sex, gender, the resources of others, surgery, metaphysics, reproduction and regeneration. These are the areas this generation is here to reshape.

This is a connection energy like Libra - but Scorpio connects us in ways that are deeper, more transformative and often more uncomfortable.

Born into the energy of "I did not have sex with that woman" and Real World MTV escapades they have turned pornography into "porn", sex into "hook-ups" and invented "friends with benefits". IVF became more mainstream as more and more reproduction issues are surfacing. Faced with a future without enough jobs and with huge educational debts -  energy and beliefs around finite resources and what belongs to "us" and what belongs to "them" will morph mainstream thinking as this group comes into their own. Endless war, media fear mongering and video games has made them more immune to violence than other generations and sometimes a little cold, determined and often brave. It also leaves them open to going too deep and too fast into Pluto's underworld through loss of hope, drugs and escapism.

If your creative business services this group - think about some of these Scorpio buzzwords. What do they need/want now?

They will not chase the bright and shiny thing. They need/want to be lured and are drawn to the mysterious, interesting and different although celebrity culture and their interest in "big money" and "what other people have" could attract them to more mainstream things branded in these ways as long as nothing appears too superficial.

They need to feel "deep" and like things with messages and meanings and will think about the things they own and what those things say about them in these ways. They are drawn to the ancient and esoteric but want the latest iphone. They want to feel different, because they are, actually, and although they need to fit in less than other generations, they are still a connecting force with a need to "fit in" somewhere.

Born into fast moving energy that idolizes - because it's all anyone has time to look at anymore - the stuff on the surface, they will come of age with a need to really see/know/experience what is underneath the glitz and casual conversation. Anything lasting that your business offers this group should best be geared to what is real and what it says about them that they purchased it.

Those plucky, inspirational quotes on Pinterest and Instagram appeal to and are made by this group, as long as it makes them feel strong and powerful. They don't like wimpy sentimentality. Scorpio is about change, so products that are changeable or that grow with them or that they can change and make their own in some way would appeal.

Pluto in Sagittarius (1995-2008) - The Pluto in Sagittarius generation are (or will be, many are still children) all about freedom and philosophy. They are easily bored and not so easily restrained. With brains wired differently (please let's stop drugging them) they will birth new ideas and inventions and things no one has ever thought about. I would say the sky is the limit, but with this group it really isn't.

Sagittarius rules college, higher education, philosophy, foreigners and foreign travel, churches and religion, air travel, publishing, charities and international commerce. These are the areas the energy they carry is here to transform.

Pluto in Sagittarius is about BIG thinking. Growing up connected to the world wide web at all times through their cellphones and ipads not much will feel 'foreign' to them. Their educations may be more limited so they will learn and grow in new and unique ways. They won't be pigeonholed. They want adventure. They want travel. Their thinking will be more positive than the previous generation and so they might be a little more "lucky". This is the wanderer, bohemian, gypsy energy. They will reinvent how and why we travel and how information and products move around the world.

If your creative business services this young group - think about some of these Sagittarius buzzwords. What do they need/want?

This is very young energy - they are age 8-20 right now - so much of this will be future based with them as they come into their own. There are also some of the younger Pluto in Scorpio people who fit in better with this group. The youngest people alive now - born since 2008 are the Pluto in Capricorn generation who are going to transform business and security and those safety nets currently falling apart! Then in 2025 Pluto in Aquarius children will be born to hold that new humanitarian energy and usher in a new age. Yes, it's a long process!

Every generation holds the generational energy they are born into to transform and is shaped by the previous generations - in this way we carry the gifts and sins of our fathers forward. We can only start from where we are. I think science will someday, maybe led by a Pluto in Scorpio person (!), link astrology and DNA the way quantum physics is linking beliefs and DNA.

I hope something in this series is helpful to makers and business owners.

Thinking "What does this person need?" is a much better starting point than "Who do I sell/offer this thing to?". xo all