Sun into Taurus | smell the roses

taurus locket by polarity and oksana grivina

After the past month in firey Aries, the Sun's ingress into grounded Taurus this afternoon will surely bring the noise level down a couple notches.

We begin to burn Taurean fuel and get to feel a bit like a natal Taurus for the next few weeks.

Taurus is the first earth sign. A fixed sign - she values simplicity over complexity, calm over chaos, stability over flexibility, silence over noise.

Taurus is all about the fertile Earth (it is not a coincidence Earth Day is this Friday) - she is everything grounded. The polarity of Scorpian sexuality - she is sensuality - the touch that feels like love.

Ruled by Venus she coaxes us back into our bodies at the end of a long day with a hot, soothing bath. She urges our hands to pick up those tomato plants at the market and get them into the dirt. She is the quiet voice that whispers I love you when we stroke the baby's ear with our lips.

Taurus rules our 2nd house of everything money can buy and everything money can't - love, money, our values and self-esteem.

Taurus can bring stability (although sometimes a lack of ambition or fire) to the space she resides in our natal chart.

(I have Taurus in my 7th house (equal partnerships) and hubs is not only a very earthy, stable, hands in the dirt kind of guy - the relationship grew in a very Taurean way - slow to start and then intimate and long-lasting.)

People will want to be comfortable (whatever that means to them) and might resist new and unfamiliar situations now. Keep this in mind.

It will be easy for all of us to wander outdoors and forget the pot of water boiling on the stove, the email that needed to be answered or the work waiting for us on the bench.

We'll stop and smell the roses now and we'll use Taurean strength and determination to be consistent and get things done (maybe just fewer and different things!). xo all

Astrology Forecast for Creatives | Week of April 18th - finish it up

your space by beauty spot crafts

Yesterday, Mars stationed retrograde at 8 degrees Sagittarius (what house, ie space in your life, is your natal and progressed Sagittarius?).

We will be revising, revisiting, revamping and reversing. Mars last retrograded in March 2014, so has been full steam ahead for a long time.

If you were a car at the Indy 500, it would be time for your pitstop and we know it doesn't end well for cars that skip their pitstops - I think they're even mandatory.

Mars, ruler of Aries and Scorpio (ancient ruler), our initiative, enthusiasm and anger and in the fire sign of Sagittarius and sitting on top of the fixed star Antares (the anti-Aries, who functions quite a bit like Aries) will make everything even more intense.

First - think safety. Wear a seatbelt and safety goggles. Don't play with matches. Don't pick fights. Think schoolyard etiquette now. Play nice. Sit on impulses that feel the least bit physically 'reckless' now.

Remember Mars is covering the same space Saturn traveled starting back in October 2014. So anything that comes up for us now that is something we have left undone, dangling, out in left field or messy - we will have to complete. The stuff from the last two years we are dragging behind us that is holding us back has to go so we can move on unencumbered. When Mars meets up with Saturn in August this chapter will be closed and a fresh chapter will kick off. We'll be ready for it. See my post on Mars retrograde here.

On Monday, Pluto stations retrograde. This brings seismic stuff out in the world - yes, including earthquakes and revelations about powerful people and structures that feel like earthquakes. In our personal lives this is about our own power and our relationship to power. Astrologer Tom Jacobs has an excellent post here.

Today's Virgo Moon will be void all day, so a good day for practiced action and organization - a great day 'to be of service' - not a good time to start anything new, since with Void Moons it is said that 'nothing will come of' the situation. If your taxes have not been filed yet- get on top of that or file for an extension. 'Nothing will come of it' sounds perfect for the tax man. With Pluto going retrograde we may reconnect with an authority type or power play situation now.

Venus (in Aries) and ruler of our love, money and values will be uber busy this week. On Monday she trines (brakes off) Saturn - this gives support and stability from older people or from older ways of doing things. Commitments are made more solid. On Tuesday, Venus squares (tension, frustration, a new way of doing something is forced) a retrograde Pluto (in Capricorn) highlighting old power and control issues. On Friday, Venus conjuncts Uranus (in Aries) creating unpredictability and surprises. This is very close to the Scorpio Full Moon at the end of the week - priorities will shift and could bring a more focused commitment to something more authentic or shutting down of something that needs to go.

On Tuesday, the Sun will move into Taurus - we'll talk about that tomorrow and we'll talk about our fate-filled Scorpio Full Moon at the end of the week. xo all and enjoy your Monday!

Double Grand Trines | optimism and abundance

dandelion by this year's girl

We have not one but two Grand Trines we can work with now.

Trines are 'brakes off' aspects that allow things to move forward more easily. Grand trines are like triple the power!

With an ongoing Grand Trine in earth signs and one building in fire signs (Sun, Moon, Venus, Mars, Saturn - sparks can fly with this one) - it looks like a very good couple days to take action and, just in time for the weekend, have some fun!

Mercury in Taurus (stability, nature) and Jupiter (expansion, abundance) in Virgo are in a nice flow with Pluto (power, transformation) in Capricorn (business, establishment).

This isn't about something new and innovative so much as about expanding and stabilizing what we already know - some things we thought were blocked and out of reach may not be.

Sometimes the gift of trines is to see opportunities (door with cracks and windows ajar) and act on them. Sometimes the things we act on now are symbolic and support bigger, later changes.

I am clearing my backyard of twigs and cutting the grass this afternoon - ensuring fertile ground for later plantings and clearing the dead stuff to support new growth. This is the kind of thing we can do with these energies (trines - brakes off) to 'clear the ground' in support of change and a more abundant future (for me and my yard!). It's use it or lose it with this stuff!  

We can use the physical in symbolic ways, but we need to take some kind of action.

(clearing inboxes and closets works the same way - anything standing in the way of us getting what we want, ie the email from the big new account, the new spring jacket that needs a space to call home - the wrong things symbolically blocking the right things - they need to go now)

If we have stressful stuff happening right now - let's use the next couple days to relax and get outside our problems (literally and figuratively - think about something else, do something for someone else, get outdoors).

Small changes in our daily routine can create big, and with these aspects incredibly long lasting, changes in our attitude, beliefs and health. And it's those changes in our thinking and doing, ie what we really think is possible for us - what we show we really value by spending our time on - that starts the ball rolling in the physical world and changes everything. 

We are approaching quite a bit of retrograde energy over the next few weeks. We will be retracing some steps or dealing with some road blocks, but it's good to remember the other planetary energies have moved on. We can never really walk the same path twice. And we will have quite a bit of help along the way to get us through. These trines are some good energy to help clear the ground in preparation.

When we hold onto things and don't want anything to complete, it's because we fear nothing will come along to replace the thing that is finishing. Life is forced to kick the thing out from under us to have us face the fear. But there is an easier way. We can release the fear first. We can know we will be OK. The upcoming retrogrades will apply pressure on us to finalize things that have been sitting half completed for a long time, big and small these things must end, to get ready for the new. We are all going to need the skills of flexibility and focused presence to navigate the next few years. What can we do now to develop those muscles?

Enjoy the weekend. Get outdoors! xo all

Mars Retrograde April 17th - June 29th | finding out what real courage is

Mars goes retrograde about every two years for about 10 weeks. He will be retrograde (moving backward from our perspective) from this Sunday until the end of June.

Mars entered his "shadow period" (the degrees he will 'retrace' beginning on Sunday) back in mid February and he won't be covering completely fresh ground until August.

What does this mean for us - well, first of all, in a way, this transit's lessons have already started. The stuff we will be dealing with (and reworking) over the next couple months is already in play (it can connect back to the spring equinox happenings, too).

Mars will begin his retrograde in Sagittarius and move back through Scorpio - so these are the houses in our natal (and progressed) charts we will be dealing with. Since this is the same slice of sky Saturn worked through (in a slower and more thorough fashion) from 2014/2015 - this could be about something we were dealing with then. It's one more chance to work with the themes related to these houses - to get it right, to take action on it, to put it to bed.

If this was the olden days, our ancestors would be sacrificing a goat right about now. They knew from experience Mars' movements (easy to track since he is that red spot in the night sky) often brought aggression, hostility and war.

Now (although Mars is still the planet of war), we look at him and his movements a bit less malefically. Mars is our will, our initiative, our energy. He is also our passion, our anger, our courage.

With Mars outside his 'normal flow' we can expect our energy to be lower. We can expect less to come of things we 'initiate' during this period. Romances started now could fizzle out when he moves direct next summer. Projects will face delays and disruptions. We will be rethinking and reworking our actions. Anger can come out in ways inappropriate to the situation and will backfire on us.

There are astrologers who believe whoever starts a fight (action against a rival, lawsuit, war, etc) or "fires the first shot" when Mars is retrograde will always lose. Keep this in mind.

Since Mars rules Aries - Aries Suns and risings are strongly affected (although for particularly assertive/aggressive Aries, this could bring a period of calm and peace). Since Mars is the ancient ruler of Scorpio - Scorpio Suns and risings are strongly affected, too - although Scorpion manipulation may work better for most people now (as opposed to overt action), it may not work so well for Scorpios.

I was born with Mars retrograde (and if you have a natal Mars retrograde or even Mars in the water ruled houses - 4th, 8th, 12th houses, Mars retrograde can be a good transit for you and almost the reverse of other people's experiences) and see this in my natal chart as one, of multiple, indicators that willful action often backfires for me. If I start the fight, I lose. Actively going after what I want either doesn't work or when I get what I want I realize it's not what I really want. I think this is how willful action will work for most people during this transit (April 17th - June 29th). We may also find, if we are more naturally passive, we will be forced to stand up for ourselves now.

One of the things Mars represents in our natal chart is the kind of emotions we got used to feeling when we were very, very young (pre-speech). This is partly because of our earliest environment and our parents or caregivers but also because of the energy we carried into that environment and the way those energies interacted.

Since Mars represents passion and desire - these emotions are the ones we grow to associate with those things (passion, desire, love) and those are the emotions, when triggered by other people and situations, that we move toward as we go through life.

(this is an unconscious process and yes, we can consciously decide that passion and desire will feel differently and move toward something else, but it is the energy we will naturally feel passion and desire for)

With Mars retrograde (especially in the deep waters of Scorpio) we will be relooking at what we are passionate about and what we really desire. It's also a chance to regroup and try a new way to "attack" (not overtly) the challenges in our life.

It's a time to re-examine and rework the way we express, experience and integrate Mars energy (masculine, assertive) in our life. It will also allow us a pause between - what happens and what we do about it, putting ourselves in the other person's shoes, etc - that can make all the difference!

We will talk about this as we move through the transit.

Pluto (in Capricorn) is also going retrograde and both these planets (Mars and Pluto) are the rulers of Scorpio - which is about getting to the real truth of the matter, the truth about power and seeing through the illusion of life on planet Earth.

And we are leading up to the Scorpio Full Moon on the 22nd - the truth is coming out people! xo all