Astrology Forecast for Creatives | Week of May 9th - do you feel lucky?

in my arms by kosmodisk

This week we have that Grand Earth Trine continuing to foster growth and prosperity!

We have Venus (love, attraction, money, our values, women) walking the path the Sun walked last week, so all those spaces get re-stoked. Lots of opportunities to get it right this time!

On Monday, Jupiter moves direct (our Virgo house and Virgo people get shaken awake now - in a good way). We have 4 months to make Jupiter in Virgo count for us! Do you hear me Virgos?

With Jupiter we learn through expansion. We outgrow things. The themes we are working with get bigger.  We assimilate larger points of view. In Virgo, we will all be more focused on our health, our work, our schedules, our craft, our animals - we will all become more industrious - within the micro we find the macro.

Spaces in the Virgo areas of our own chart - by progression (what our chart looks like right now) and natally (what our chart looked like when we drew our first breath) - as well as the universal theme of the things Virgo rules - work, health, service, training, pets - get bigger and take up more of our time.

We've had Jupiter in Virgo since late last summer but he has been retrograde half this time!

Now, and particularly when more planets have also moved direct by late next month, we will start to feel what his transit in Virgo can do for us. If any of these areas has been particularly troublesome - yes, sometimes problems expand with Jupiter so we can see them clearly and work to resolve them - there is lots of good energy this week to move those things in a new and improved direction.

Jupiter is the largest planet (it could hold over 1300 Earths!) and is the space in our natal chart that holds our natural blessings. It is the space that can 'turn things around for us' when we don't know what to do next or where to go. There are always options for us here.

On Monday we are also halfway through this season's Mercury retrograde (in Taurus) so whatever this is/has been about for us - the cards are pretty much on the table.

When Mercury conjuncts the Sun (Monday), dots will be connected for us.

So, we kick off the week with Jupiter - in Virgo - moving direct after five long months (!) and we've got the Sun (in Taurus) trining (brakes off) the North Node (our future) - also in Virgo - while conjunct Mercury - whew - whatever information, communication or facts we are dealing with are connected to our next moves and future path.

If something comes up for us now (especially something from the past or someone from the past or someone that reminds us of someone or a situation from the past or something that's been stagnant) - it would likely be good to check into it and expand on it!

We also have Mercury and Venus trining (brakes off) Pluto (in Capricorn) giving us even greater potential for transformation and evolution with whatever we are dealing with - particularly around communications, women, love, money and business.

Now remember we continue with lots of retrograde energy (four planets!) - revising, revisiting, reversing, reassessing - you know the drill - and lots of Taurus - careful, deliberate words and actions are best now.

The only stressy situation this week is on Wednesday when an active Venus makes an inconjunct to a retrograde Saturn (in Sagittarius) - this could be us overreaching a bit. We'll have to deal with whatever "brings us back to reality". In Taurus nothing is going to happen overnight anyway. Uranus could also usher in some last minute changes and out of the blue something or others that could go either way.

With Venus strongly involved with the positive aspects this week our greatest blessings and opportunities will come from following our heart!

A few void moons during work hours to keep in mind (great for production, not so great for launches) - Monday until lunchtime EST, Wednesday all day and Friday afternoon (maybe start the weekend after lunch!).

You can still do your New Moon intentions - before the first quarter moon on Tuesday - so get to that NOW if you haven't done them yet! xo all

Here's a link about watching Mercury conjunct the Sun on Monday.

New Moon in Taurus | SET THOSE INTENTIONS!

make a wish by catherinehh

Yes, I know I'm shouting at you, but I really want your attention this month!

Friday's New Moon in Taurus is part of a Grand Earth Trine and there are multiple (as many as nine) Grand Trines now and grand things are ... well, grand!

Imagine a regular New Moon is the Sears organ at Grandma's house where your Aunt Betty annually pounds out a rather rowdy rendition of Jingle Bells - a good time is had by all, but she's not playing Carnegie Hall on that baby anytime soon. This New Moon is the Steinway grand piano where Alicia Keys or maybe Billy Joel (or maybe Aunt Betty if she works this energy right) makes the real magic happen.  

Yes, it's that good.

Grand Earth Trines are excellent for manifesting physical stuff. Stuff we can hold and touch and eat and wear and carry in our pocket.

A trine aspect is an energy of "brakes off". The movement and momentum is unrestricted. If we launch something in the right direction nothing is standing in our way. Things fall into place with this stuff. And if things are not falling into place, pushing for what we want/need doesn't really work. Patience will likely be required here. Earth energy isn't fast. But it is fertile and stable and dependable. This New Moon is the beginning of something we can build on with a good amount of simplicity and ease.

The intentions we set at this New Moon, in particular about our security, self esteem, fertility and physical resources have an excellent opportunity to take root and grow. 

(Jupiter the planet of expansion is part of the trine as well as Pluto - transformation and rebirth - now everybody involved here is retrograde BUT Jupiter "our good luck" is moving direct next week, so something could kick off kind of quickly with this even if it takes a long time to completely unroll itself)

Now remember we have FIVE planets retrograde and we have zero planets in air signs (mental), so this will probably not be about having a brand new idea or launching something that is brand new. Most likely this will be a new chapter to an existing situation or an old situation that has come back around. This is probably some door that is right in front of us but we just can't see it.

Remember last year when we talked about May and June as being the time we actually 'build' our dream - well here we go. Now we have a lot of retrograde energy, pretty much all of it, so the past is part of the future here. Every new thing is built on all the things that came before it.

So, let's give this one our best shot.

1. Talk as little as possible on Friday (or whenever you do your intentions, I would work with this within the next three days - we want to hook into the growth part of the moon's cycle). Keep idle chit chat to an absolute minimum. This will make our words more powerful when we do use them. No complaining. It drains the energy. No superfluous language. Read my post HERE about babble. This is good advice for all the time, but if you are normally a chatter, toning it down right now will be especially effective for you.

2. Meditate before setting our intentions. Even a few moments of silence stilling our mind makes it easier for us to be clear on what we want and to "hook into" the simplest path to line up with it. We want to approach this monthly ritual consciously and respectfully, so that we recognize the power of the moment and choose our words and actions wisely.

3. Eat whole foods and stay away from flour and sugar prior to setting the intentions. I had a teacher who saw people as "foggy" after poor eating. She was always right about it and she claimed it made our thinking and manifesting foggy. She said the things we are seeking that are also seeking us (and what we are seeking is always seeking us) cannot easily find us when we are foggy! I believe her.

4. Use positive language. Now, I don't mean positive as in "pink and flowery" and the opposite of negative. I mean positive as in certain. When we write our intentions now we want them to carry the energy of certainty. Just like when we plant a seed in the ground we know it will grow. We know the seeds we are planting with our words will grow, too.

5. Gather a number of flat, white rocks. 

(if you feel more comfortable doing our usual monthly papers by all means do that!)

6. Write one intention, in script, on each rock. Say the words out loud.

7. Bury the rocks in the ground. I would bury them about the depth you would bury a seed. Deep enough they cannot easily be kicked loose, but not so deep they cannot feel the sunlight and the rain.

8. Release. Now we release our attention from these things. Know they are already ours.

Don't struggle too much over what to write or how many intentions to set with no air signs and Mercury retrograde, our minds won't really help us now. We'll just plant our feet firmly on the ground and feel what we want here. Feel what it would feel like to have real security, to have the resources we need, to have perfect health and to have the self-esteem to know that we truly deserve to have these things. We'll imbue whatever words we use with those intentions.

I have found it's good to be somewhat specific but not so specific that we are totally wedded to only one way of getting to where we need to go.

This New Moon in Taurus is an excellent time to return to a grounding practice, make affirmations and set intentions about: money, contentment, patience, self-worth, releasing stubbornness, all health issues and especially those regarding our neck, throat and voice in the world.

This Grand Earth Trine feels like an unusually strong opportunity to get something right the second, third or maybe the 33rd time! With all this retrograde energy whatever happens will certainly need to be "re"vised later and that's OK. It might even be through what is left after all this retrograde energy passes that we can see what is the real value at the center of it all and build from that.

xo all

(the weekend energy is quite stressy, so maybe try to get to this Friday night! here's a link to Jan Spiller's New Moon Wishes)

If we have planets or points in your natal or progressed chart in earth signs (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn) or fixed signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius) from 14 -20 degrees you'll feel this New Moon the most strongly.

Astrology Forecast for Creatives | Week of May 2nd - things are falling into place

distant flickering by super shrimp

YAY - it's May! This week we have a wonderful New Moon in Taurus on Friday (more on this later in the week).

At the time of the New Moon, the Sun and the Moon are sharing the same space. This means that every aspect the Moon is making (and they are very positive!), the Sun is making the same aspects, too - so there is a double whammy of potential now.

The Moon, along with Pluto (retrograde in Capricorn) and Jupiter (retrograde in Virgo) is forming a Grand Earth Trine. This actually kicks off with the Sun on Tuesday!

In general this trine is about healing our relationship with work and prosperity. It will also aid our lives via the houses the signs impacted occupy in our natal
and progressed charts.

There are luck and opportunities here. Trines mean "brakes-off" - things are intended to fall naturally into place with this (we will likely need patience here). We don't want to force stuff to happen. This trine has a supportive connection with Neptune (strong in Pisces) so there will be elements of the mystical, magical or miraculous (pick your comfort zone).

We won't need, or want, to bang our head against the wall with this one. But this is 'earth' we are talking about, so we shouldn't be afraid to get our hands dirty. And with fixed Taurus playing such a major role we need to be careful we aren't stubbornly holding our position - we need to go with the flow - there are "re"wards ahead for getting this right.

Now we still have half the planets retrograde (first time in 10 years) including Mercury, ruler of our North Node "where we are heading", so this is not about launching something brand new. There is a strong element of looking backward with this energy. It's through this process that the right insight, opportunity, person, etc will start to move things in a more prosperous direction for us.

We don't want to be sitting around waiting for something to happen to us - life doesn't really work this way. We keep moving forward with small, precise steps, we do the best jobs we can, we work in service to other people, we prioritize our health (think Virgo energy!) AND we are especially active reworking and reconsidering whatever isn't working for us (in any area of our life - changes in one area of our lives affect all the others - health and work are especially connected and potent now).

Jupiter in Virgo (good luck, expansion, service, precision, work) and Pluto in Capricorn (transformation, security, structure, business, reproduction, rebirth, power) had a very positive aspect last fall and then last month and they hook up for a final time next month.

With both planets in earth signs this is about physical changes to our lives.

Because Venus and Mercury are going to activate these same spaces throughout May we will have access to this energy all month. We also have Mercury (retrograde) trining (brakes off) the North Node (in Virgo) of "where we are going" next Sunday. It really looks like any delays, detours, Groundhog Day style repeats, re-works and re-connections are going to work out in our favor.

Patience is required here. Go slowly.

There is, of course, a fly in the ointment (I'm starting to think the flies are a necessary component) - hard nosed Saturn (also retrograde in Sagittarius) will be square to Jupiter - this will create tension and force us into a new action - and Saturn will be inconjunct the Moon and Sun - so some kind of creative blending of stuff that is at odds with each other will be required to make this all work together.

Never fear though, even mighty Saturn is not strong enough to circumvent the positivity of this Grand Trine!

I'll be back later to update this with the week's Moons and more on how to work with this energy and how it will impact different houses.

xo all

Mercury Retrogrades in Taurus | time to shut the heck up

quiet by nikolineir

Mercury stations retrograde today at 23 degrees Taurus (where is 23 degrees Taurus in your natal and progressed charts?). If you have any planets at 23 degrees of the fixed signs - Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius - you will feel this retrograde more intensely (this includes both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders - I am sure both are re-vamping things now).

Mercury is thoughtful in Taurus anyway and now that he will be retracing his prior steps, he might be downright unresponsive and dogmatic. Words will really matter now. What we say will not just be accepted at face value - statements will be questioned. Talks will need to be walked. When in doubt - we'll re-look at the situation before communicating, maybe we'll just shut up. Decisions will be up for review. Written material will be, and should be, scrutinized now. We can't believe everything we hear or read.

Questions and problems will resolve more slowly. We may not have the answers until Mercury goes direct on May 22nd or maybe not until he is covering new ground entirely on May 28th. Being prepared for a long process will make things move smoother.

Something from the past can come back around for another look. Things that come out of the blue now may not look so good (or bad) when Mercury moves direct.

With our North Node in Virgo and Mercury the ruler of Virgo, plus the four other retrograde planets right now, we will all be a bit more tired of the stuff we are already tired of and re-thinking, re-working and re-evaluating our future plans/path forward.

The best use of this energy as always is the "re's" - "re"laxing, "re"viewing, "re"searching, "re"organizing, "re"generating, "re"connecting, "re"creating, "re"viewing, etc. 

 xo all

Venus into Taurus | making the most of what we already have

walking through dandelions by frank beer

Mercury stations retrograde today. We are now working with five retrograde planets, something we haven't had in ten years. Almost everyone's energy level will be lower. Our sense of timing, ability to focus and keen sense of whatever it is we would normally pride ourselves about having a keen sense of can be thrown off.

I thought I would use this time to "re"vamp my websites. Every morning I open the back-end, make a couple changes, feel overwhelmed by the enormity of the task ahead, look out the window and go for a walk ....

Tomorrow Taurus moves into Venus. Venus loves (and rules) Taurus. After her weeks in Aries trying to be a lover and a fighter, she is quite content to settle into herself again. Taurus suns and rising signs get more attractive (both physically attractive and more able to attract).

For everyone, this transit, particularly when coupled with all this retrograde mud, can help us really appreciate what is right in front of us.

Taurus is a fixed sign, so things happen slowly. It can take some time for a person who is used to (remember we are hardwired to crave what is familiar) seeing beauty in a lush green lawn to appreciate the magnificence of a dandelion.

(did you know the word dandelion comes from the Latin "lion's tooth" - dandelions are some of the honey bees earliest food, are reproductive superstars - an energy sorely needed now and have centuries of usages in food, drink and medicine)

Taurus is a fertile earth sign. She is the earth in a sense. Taurus rules our 2nd house of love, money and values. Where is Taurus in your natal chart? This space is about to receive its annual visit from Venus (beauty, love, self-esteem, values, women). How can we make her feel more welcome?

Taurus is the sign of comfort, but not the comfort of five star hotels and maid service. She values simplicity - fancy or complicated embellishments just get in the way of true comfort. It gets easier to see (and feel) that now. With Venus here until May 24th what we want and what we need are fused into the same thing. 

The power and real beauty of Venus in Taurus is a deep seeded belief that everything we need is available to us. Either we have it, or we can attract it, if we believe we are worth it. 

Friday is also the last quarter moon of the monthly cycle. This is the final piece of this year's Aries New Moon cycle, so whatever those New Moon intentions set into play this is when we play our final hand. We follow up on anything that it makes sense to follow up on, we let the other cards fall.

xo all

Astrology Forecast for Creatives | Week of April 24th - an INTENSE look back

bold dreams by multicurious

We have Mercury stationing retrograde in Taurus on Thursday - we will really start to feel this on Tuesday (back up your computers NOW).

This will make five planets retrograde until Jupiter finally moves direct in early May - yes this is BIG!

Mercury rules communication and the movement of information. When he is moving backward (from our perspective) these things get scrambled. More on Mercury here.

Communication includes not only verbal conversations, but the way we think, speak, learn, write, use language and the tools we use for these things: letters, maps, appointments, schedules, classes, books. It also rules telecommunication - publishing, email, sales, public relations and advertising and the tools we use here: computers, cellphones, mail deliveries, shipping, transportation, roadway. Mercury also rules our earliest learning environment which translates over to - our siblings, our neighbors and our local neighborhood. All these things can be a bit like scrambled eggs now. Double check everything.

Retrogrades are an excellent time for the "re's" - revise, re-do, relearn, restore, reinvent, retreat - you get the idea.

When all these planets go direct this summer we are all going to fly forward at 100 miles per hour!

I remember when most people had never heard of Mercury Retrograde and now it seems like poor Mercury (planet of communication and MAGIC) is being shamed/blamed for everything that goes wrong!

This is probably because 1. the internet has exposed many more people to astrological teachings 2. most people are moving so fast any sort of slowdown feels like a problem  3. it's a convenient excuse when stuff falls to shit (pardon my french), especially stuff that would normally be considered our fault :)

It's best to 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, gain a little more experience and allow the stuff we've lined up with to catch up with us".

Remember unlike what is reported in the book The Secret we don't just decide and the universe responds. We align ourselves with the energy of the thing we want/need/think about/believe in/spend time on/spend energy on/talk about, etc in the invisible realms and then it shows up in the appropriate form for us.

We don't have to create our reality based on instinct like an animal - doing the exact same thing every year. We are gifted with imagination and free will choice. We are always in partnership with life and co-creating our reality.

Our subconscious wants to repeat the past - just like an animal does (remember we are not craving what feels good, we are craving what feels familiar - see this post on the work of Candace Pert). So we will get the same thing we've always gotten when we do the things we've always done.

I have a friend who has had 4 jobs in 5 years. She is always in a state of indecision - should she go or should she stay? She tells me she is tired of having to decide - all she wants is a permanent job.

But her thoughts, words and actions keep recreating the same situation. How does this happen?

First she worries/complains about her current job alot - whatever that job happens to be at the time. The hours are too long. The pay is too low. The field is not where she really wants to be.

She is continually sending out little currents of energy for something else to come along. And because she is an excellent manifester (and we all are) - it does.

Then because she is a pro-active kind of person she puts the ball into play on the physical realm. She hears about a new position, she makes a call. She makes a call, she goes on an interview. She goes on an interview, she gets a job. Then she must decide again - should she stay or should she go? Then she decides and within a few weeks starts the cycle all over again. She thinks life is sending her all these choices and she is tired of having to choose. She complains about the cycle not even realizing she is the one creating the cycle!

Retrogrades allow us to break cycles. We have to backtrack. We get re-routed. Retrogrades offer the opportunity to slow down and re-work a few things. Decisions will not be made quickly now. Deals fall through. Stuff and people from the past come back for connection (and often closure). Things will not always run smoothly. And that's OK because when things run too smoothly we all go on auto-pilot and auto-pilot is just not cutting it anymore for any of us.

Taurus establishes our sense of values, worth and security. With Mercury retrograde in Taurus these are the things we will be dealing with. What do we need to re-do before we move forward?  

Taurus is an earth sign so physical things can be lost/broken- keep track of your money, your cellphone, your credit cards now.

Someone recently asked me what he should rework while all these planets are retrograde - just rework whatever isn't working!

This is a very productive week. On Monday, the Moon is in Sagittarius we will be seeking a little adventure and really wanting to believe in something. On Tuesday, the Moon goes void at lunchtime so get stuff done early. Just before the Moon goes void she makes a positive aspect to Venus, so the void Moon will be a good time to work on (not launch!) something involving love, money, women or beauty (Venus themes). Wednesday and Thursday the Moon is in Capricorn - we will want to get down to business now. On Friday, the Aquarius Moon is great energy for the genius/rebel/criminal to come out and play.

Venus will move into Taurus on Friday giving Taurus themes (and our own natal and progressed Taurus houses) an even greater emphasis.

More on this later in the week! xo all