Saturn square the North and South Nodes | what is standing in our way ....

Road Block in Africa by Solarstones

Today we have Saturn (time, responsibility, work, the fly in the ointment, the party pooper) squaring the North Node (our collective way forward) and the South Node (what we are releasing, leaving behind).

(12 degrees Sagittarius, Virgo and Pisces)

We are stuck.

The path in front of us is murky and uncertain and the way back is covered with prickly brush and fallen trees.

This is when Saturn's gift of time can be a good thing.

(and yes, I mean good as in 'eat your vegetables' - there isn't any cake with this one)

We can take a breath here. In fact, life will probably demand it.

Some kind of frustration or delay must be dealt with before we move forward (this could bring us back to something started around September 2013 or something began around the last New Moon).

One of the reasons these check-in periods and stop signs are important is so we can all catch up with each other. 

Remember, we are like a beehive. 

We serve a larger objective and are part of a larger gathering. We don't have exclusive responsibility for anything, not even our own outcome ...

Even if we feel insecure and uncertain, there is nothing wrong with this space we sit and this energy we hold. Don't fight it or push to move past it yet. Just sit with it and feel it. Something like, "This is interesting that this thing is blocking my way. It is making me uncomfortable."

This would actually be a great tapping exercise if anyone is doing EFT where you use the words "even though" in the beginning and "I completely love and accept myself" at the end of each statement. So it would end up something like "even though _____ is blocking my way (could be indecision, lack of something like money or an actual situation or person) and it is uncomfortable for me to not know what to do next or where this is going or to have to stop now, I completely love and accept myself." This stuff is amazing for calming the nervous system.

Saturn square the Nodes will most likely show up as some kind of restriction or obligation. The way forward is still that North Node in Virgo - small, accurate steps, doing the next thing that is in front of us.

I have Saturn conjunct my Sun natally, so usually Saturn shows up for me as me getting in my own way. I also have my husband's Saturn conjunct my Sun (!) so his immediate reaction to my ideas/actions is to tell me they will not work. Even though I have told him for many years that he is unlikely to come up with problems/restrictions I have not thought of, he just can't help himself. Drives me nuts. 

Anyway, almost two weeks ago I bought this little Shasta trailer that needs to be fixed up. I usually do not do something like this without having a plan, but I saw it for sale during that "luckiest days of the year" period and I took the plunge.

Immediately I had buyer's regret.

I sent waves of misgiving out to the universe. I'm sure my Muses were thoroughly disgusted and turned their back on me. While I was driving to the post office lamenting the loss of my hard earned cash, a couple of 'travelers' - this is what they called themselves on the note they left in my mailbox - asked me if it was for sale and to please call them. They said they loved it. I set the note on my kitchen counter and walked back outside to look at the damn thing again. Maybe I was being too hasty. Maybe I didn't need to know exactly what I was doing to keep going.

I felt a Muse turn her attention back in my direction.

But here comes the Saturn part because to keep this whole project affordable I need hubs to do some of this fixing part. And he hasn't quite bought in (his muses are on vacation, I think) plus he is very busy right now at work. I have to work with his timing and trust that delays create the space for things to line up with this later. I also have to keep my Sun shining on his Saturn so he can see the possibilities here. With my own busy season approaching and deadlines I need to meet for what I want to do with this thing (aka Ethel the trailer) - it is damn frustrating.

Although, I know delays and frustrations almost always result in better projects and products. 

I can't count the number of times some manufacturer has changed something I use in my makings that sent me scrambling for something else and instead of something else, I found something better.

So for now we are gathering our willpower to move in a positive (meaning certain) direction, but right timing matters and is what fits us all together like a giant puzzle. Let's trust it.

xo all and Happy Saturday!

Mercury into Libra | the dance of civility and finding common ground

waiting for a partner by panosozi

Mercury has been in Virgo for more than two months. Much of this time he was retrograde or walking degrees he would walk when retrograde (he moves forward, he stops - from our perspective on Earth - he moves backward, then he stops, he moves forward over those same steps until he reaches the degree where he stopped the first time then he is said to be 'out of his shadow' period). Mercury rules Virgo and is very strong here.

Our conversations, ideas and communications have been picked through quite thoroughly by now. We all know where we stand, and where everyone else does. We are tired of talking/bickering about this stuff and are probably craving more pleasant and civil interactions. I know I am! I have mostly been avoiding social media for weeks.

(the VP debate is a perfect example of how the person who appears the most 'polite' and 'in balance' right now - Libra Sun, Libra Jupiter and Mercury moving in - will win the day - heads up, the 3rd Presidential debate on October 19th should be interesting because Uranus is ruling that day so anything can happen)

After today, Mercury moves out of the shadow degrees of his retrograde - he finally starts covering new ground! This is big news. If something got shelved or morphed around August 10th it could come back to life now, in a new way, or morph again.

Right after he moves out of his shadow, Mercury moves into Libra. We move forward from here.  

Now we have Mars square Jupiter - so we are not going to have it all figured out (and we never will!). We don't have to push that hard. Mars is in Capricorn and wants to reach the top of the mountain and because he is Mars he wants to do it yesterday. Jupiter is in Libra and wants to chill out a little, check out all the angles, figure out how other people figure into the mix - he has recently moved into Libra for a long stay and is just getting himself acclimated here.

This weekend there is alot of Capricorn - the Moon (emotions), Pluto (karma, fate), Mars (action, initiative, anger) with Venus (desire, love, women) sextiling - stuff will be serious.

There will also be a lot of Libra (Sun, Jupiter, Mercury) - Libra rules balance, justice, love, money, women. Being the sign of fairness she sees everyone's side and so it is hard to make a decision here. And because this is the way life works we will often be faced with a decision at exactly the time all this energy makes decision-making hard!

With all the grounded Capricorn and airy Libra - the ways we are out of balance could show up. If we have grown too one-sided in Virgo, a person or situation could show up now to allow us to see both sides of a situation. Relationships are still being reset. New things are just getting started - some in the dark and behind the scenes!

Capricorn is ruled by Saturn (father time) - there isn't really the rush here Mars has some of us feeling. We might feel like we are late or behind schedule (has anyone ever met a prompt Libra unless they have some very strong Scorpio, etc). Libra season with heavy Capricorn means if we make a rush decision we will then have to weigh it out afterwards (we will not be allowed to skip the weighing it out step) we will probably be stuck with the thing we have chosen for a long time - which could be a good thing or not, that isn't shown here. It might be better to weigh things out first. Gather information. Make plans.

When Mercury gets into Scorpio (next month) commitments will be sealed - for now we get engaged, we take some action, we get balls rolling, we weigh everything as we go forward- we will more naturally move into balance through Libran niceties - things are going to really speed up though!

OK back to Mercury into Libra!

On Friday, Mercury (after being holed up in Virgo analyzing the hell out of everything for two months) moves into Libra.

Mercury is not super strong in Libra because Mercury is fast and rules our intellect and Libra is slow and rules balance and justice. She weighs all sides of an issue before taking any action - the reason for the indecision she is so widely known for. There will maybe be some superficial chitchat and passive aggressive stuff while Mercury is in Libra, too. That's all to be expected.

The good news though is that none of this can happen without other people - Mercury in Libra is all about social interactions. Virgo doesn't need other people to analyze, but Libra can't achieve balance without them!

(the Libra house of our natal chart is where we need balance most of all - with fast moving Mercury moving in this house will wake up now)

So, to be successful our words are more polite now. We need to listen. If we want our communications to hit their target we need to make the other person feel listened to. 

Conversations become kind of a dance here. We wouldn't tear off our dance partner's trousers and leave them standing there with hands covering their under shorts and last shreds of their dignity.

We wouldn't tell them they are a crappy dancer even when they step on our toes and smudge the tops of our favorite shoes. 

A type of kindness and civility prevails on the dance floor. We smile. We talk about the things everyone can agree on. 

With the floor spinning beneath our feet we still manage to find common ground.

That is the energy that moves communications, ideas and conversations forward now. 

We'll go deep next month in Scorpio, for now - let's dance!

xo all