Saturn Opposite Sun | pressure makes diamonds ... but pressure also creates depression

"People who have a creative side and do not live it out are most disagreeable. They make a mountain out of a molehill, fuss about unnecessary things, are too passionately in love with somebody who is not worth so much attention, and so on. There is a kind of floating charge of energy in them which is not attached to its right object and therefore tends to apply exaggerated dynamism to the wrong situation." ... M.L. von Franz

_ by nairafee

Once a year the Sun and Saturn line up in exact opposition. This happens today at 24 degrees Gemini and Sagittarius.

Our creative heart/life force (Sun) meets a limit (Saturn). Coincidentally (is there such a thing? I guess so ... maybe) Saturn also reaches the exact midpoint of its retrograde journey (retrograde through late August).

If we are encountering delays and obstacles this transit doesn't bring about a conclusion, but it can shine a light on what is limiting us and a light on what we need to do about it. Retrograde Saturn is focused - it creates the defined choices we need to look in a specific direction.

This energy might not feel good. Saturn can be depressing because it is quite literally like a weight pressing down on us.

I am not going to write again about the need to 'step into our responsibility', work hard, do the right thing, yada yada. We know this. And we are just as likely to get off course by stepping into someone else's responsibility, working too hard or neglecting the other muses. Saturn isn't everything and he doesn't run every show as much as he'd like to (although for today he kind of does).

In the Samuri tradition, warriors were expected to hone their skills in calligraphy, poetry and painting. This was to make sure their unlived creativity did not sour and devolve into an unintended/unattended mess.

These days we’re busy cutting creative outlets from our curriculum. They can’t be quantified and take too much effort. When would you ever need to play a clarinet? What use is a pen and ink drawing? Will writing a poem put food on the table?

I think quite a bit about effort these days because my body is tired. For life to be good lately it has to be easy.

We are all so busy that generally speaking our highest ideal is not to have to do anything. We work so we can take time off from working. We do it today to be free tomorrow. Something is very wrong here, but for today I am too tired (and stiff-necked - ugh) to think too long about this.

But maybe I am drifting away from Sun opposite Saturn. Of course, with a natal Sun/Saturn conjunction I do not often encounter Saturnian limits outside myself - I am much more likely to encounter a person/situation ready to hand off their own overloaded bag to me and/or to spend my time figuring out new ways to overburden/limit myself

(and if you are a person who was teacher's pet, got along with authority figures without even trying and gets out of traffic tickets easily I am talking to you, too).

Sigh ...

For now, let's give ourselves a break. We can honor our commitments. We can finish what we started. We can take responsibility for the situation we find ourselves in without judgement. And yes, this could be a good situation, too - it's report card time! We can resolve to move forward in a more responsible manner in whatever area of life we feel this pressure. And remember that 'in a more responsible manner' will have different meanings for different people. There's more info in the weekly HERE.

xo all

This is all part of a Grand Fire Trine encouraging us forward when we work courageously from our heart - it's tied into our Leo North Node, our collective way forward - so yes, there are report cards handed out now, but what we learn from our report card is ultimately what will move those mountains!

Mercury Trine Jupiter, Mercury Square Neptune | words get BIG and slippery ....

2-52 by Sturmideenkind

Today Mercury (mind, ideas, communication, learning, teaching, siblings, local community, transportation) in Gemini is very busy and in typical Gemini fashion going in multiple directions at once.

He/she has a trine (brakes off) with a recently full-steam-ahead Jupiter (in relationship oriented Libra) making this a good time for expanded thinking, big ideas and brainstorming. Jupiter rules our 9th house of higher thinking, higher education, foreign (which means different things to different people) travel and things foreign to us, weddings, legal issues, politics.

We get lucky (Jupiter) when we expand beyond our immediate boundaries.

It's a good time to share information, to think BIGGER, to imagine the possibilities. This is about optimism and lucky breaks - maybe we get good news now or have good news to share!

BIG ideas are floating in the wind to be picked like apples in the autumn. If you think you are never having any good ideas - which is not true, but just something you have convinced yourself of and once you believe it you start seeing it (kind of like when you buy a blue car and never see blue cars and then suddenly they are everywhere) - then you need to get yourself into a position to make use of good ideas. Thoughts are things and they flow to the people in the best position to bring them to life and give them legs.

Quiet the mental chatter, do more stuff you want to do - the more we are doing things we are passionate about the more we will line up with things that enhance that passion - stretch your brain with new ideas, new books, new websites, travel. Make stuff. Put time into what matters to you.

Now, here's where the Gemini propensity to bounce around comes in because immediately after Mercury trines Jupiter (at 13 degrees) he moves to 14 degrees and squares Neptune. And these degrees are so close together they are pretty much happening at the same time.

That square to Neptune really muddles things up. With Neptune, more words can just mean more confusion. Maybe the information we get now blows in and then drifts away like a storm that never happens (which can be good news now that I think about it). Maybe the story we tell reaches the wrong ears. Maybe someone is intentionally misleading us with inflated information. Maybe we are the one doing the misleading. Maybe we are misleading ourselves.

So what do we do now?

Well, first know this is not good energy to make a decision because our thinking (Mercury) is not clear - and yes, this week is a time of decisions for many people AND Neptune is going retrograde at the end of the week (through November), which isn't going to help us. At some point we will have to move forward with our heart (North Node in Leo) and/or our courage (North Node in Leo) - probably still unsure of all the facts.

But for today, if you can avoid making any major decisions push it off a bit. Give Mercury a couple days to move off that square to Neptune (lies, delusion, drifting off course) and that trine to Jupiter (expansion, big picture thinking, rose colored expectations).

It doesn't mean whatever comes up now will drift off course or turn out to be all about nothing but with that possibility on the table it's not the day to bet the farm.

Grab your idea apple if you can reach it (it's Gemini season we are stretchy) - you can totally stand on tippy toes or use your step stool or even that ladder from the garage (Venus is in Taurus so we are working with our existing resources). Write ideas/conversations/thoughts down. Work with it a bit. Feel it out.

Just don't head down to Home Depot and spend thousands of dollars on a cherry picker to reach that perfect looking apple way up top. Leave that apple for someone else - it will either be there for the someone who already owns a cherry picker or the someone willing to fall on his ass. Our asses are cushy, but maybe not that cushy.

Yes, think BIG. Just keep in mind the possibility we are hearing what we want to hear now. Save the big moves (if we are basing them on information that comes in now), choices and life changing decisions for a clearer day.

xo all

Astrology Forecast for Creatives | Week of June 12th - a test, another kite and lots of communication stuff

Downward Spiral by Mrs-White

This is another big week with some connections to that big week two weeks back - can anyone remember two weeks back? Am I the only one with a memory aging in dog years now? I'm serious. WTH.

This week there are alot of aspects with Mercury - so this is about us and how we relate to our local environment - how we communicate, what we say, what we don't say and what all of this saying and not saying actually says about us.

(Remember this weekly update is general and collectively focused - I can't see what your Mercury is doing - he could be out drinking in the pub or in the library studying like he said he was. Transitting Mercury was opposing Kathy Griffin's natal Mercury when she blew up her career. Transitting Mercury opposes Comey's natal Mercury this week. I guess his career is already blown up, but the transit isn't about that anyway. It's really about other people (transitting Mercury) giving their opinion about our opinion (natal Mercury). So what we say engages conversation by others, usually through arguments and tests. When Mercury enters Cancer in 10 days, this is something for me to think about since my natal Mercury is in Capricorn - Cancer's polarity sign. Do you know where your natal Mercury is? It's either in the same sign as your Sun or the sign before or after, since Mercury travels so close to the Sun - something to think about.)

On Monday morning the Moon is in "let's get to work" Capricorn, but the skies are lining up to get us off-track. We'll get up early and attend to our responsibilities. We'll get in early and schmooze with the boss. We'll get our proposal in early. We'll get our orders out early. Whatever we normally do by the end of the day Monday, we'll try to get it done by lunch - which might not happen because the Capricorn Moon is squaring Uranus (surprise) so the stars are stacked against things running smoothly - we'll try anyway, but expect the unexpected. Then at 2:45PM EST (that EDT last week just looked wrong to me, can't commit to it) the Moon goes void for five hours before popping into Aquarius. So, the day could start out going one way and end up in a totally different direction. People will be changing their minds today. It's Gemini season - we'll stay flexible. We'll stretch.

On Tuesday the Aquarius Moon is squaring Venus (in Taurus). Maybe someone is digging in their heels. Maybe it's us. By the time the workday starts on the East Coast, Mercury (in Gemini) is trining (brakes off) Jupiter (in Libra). This is great energy for communication - for broader, more optimistic thinking, to receive/give GOOD news, for partnership opportunities - be out and about! Make the call. Send the email. Good for presentations, planning, traveling and studying.

This is the 3rd trine between these guys since last October - we had one on 10/11 and another on 2/21 - maybe something from those dates expanded our voice in some way? If so, here could be another similar opportunity or more expansion of that same situation.

The fly in the ointment today (yes, same fly that's always dancing in the ointment, hopefully not the same ointment though - that stuff is lethal by now) is that tonight we have Mercury squaring Neptune (art, imagination, escape, delusion, healing, things put away and forgotten, addiction).

This is the square from the Neptune/Mercury transit that started back on March 4th. If you started something back then this is what is called - don't panic - the crisis point for that endeavor/situation. Now, the thing to watch out for here is our tendency, during this 'crisis', to surrender (Neptune) our thinking/ideas/voice (Mercury) to someone else. It's easy to be deluded or lied to now. It's easy to delude or lie to ourselves. Someone could be keeping secrets from us or we could be the one with our lips sealed - either way, it could lead to problems. Even this morning's good energy between Mercury and Jupiter could make this crisis point seem bigger or more over the top than it needs to be. Don't make any drastic moves now or go overboard with anything.

Give major decisions a couple days for things to shake out a bit.

On Wednesday, there are multiple aspects to our Aquarian Moon so this is a good day for community and humanitarian efforts, internet activities and anything new and cutting edge - opportunities come through legal, foreign, travel, higher education, religion, weddings, politics (sextile to Saturn in Sag) and opportunities are available to break out of a rut (sextile to Uranus in Aries), especially emotionally.

Thursday is a big day. The Sun is having its annual opposition to Saturn. Our creative energy meets opposition and limitations. We are tested. This is a good time to take an unbiased (those rose colored glasses from earlier in the week need to be firmly tucked into a drawer now) inventory of where we are now. It could appear that other people or outside circumstances are blocking our way forward. This is the mid-point of Saturn's retrograde transit that started in early April and the half-way point for the path we started on last December. Do we stay on this road, and that might not even be an option, or do we pivot now? It would be good to spend some time alone today sorting this out and allow others this same option. The information is available now to see what Saturn's retrograde (limits, delay, rules) is all about and to make decisions about what to do moving forward. This aspect can be depressing, so the blues today is NORMAL. Our energy could be low now so let's give ourselves (and others) a break.

Another aspect today relates back to the Kite formation pointing to Mars we talked about two weeks ago. Events now will take us back to that May 29th - June 3rd time frame. We have a new Kite with the Sun sextiling (opportunity) the North Node in Leo and trining (brakes off) the South Node in Aquarius.

The point of this Kite is Mercury so the actions, initiative, anger, passion - whatever the Mars focus had us experiencing two weeks ago - is leading to this week's decisions, choices, conversations, sibling issues, local community issues, transportation issues. The Kite will last through next Tuesday when Mercury sextiles Uranus (the unexpected). I'll do a post by sign later in the week about this!

On Friday, Neptune stations retrograde in Pisces. Some of us will feel this more than others. The Moon is also in Pisces on Friday and making multiple aspects. The weekend has some important stuff, too. We'll talk about all this later as we move through it.

All in all the week is a mixed bag. I'll do some dailies. Heads up that the end of the month has some challenges so let's enjoy the good moments as much as we can - I think we came to Planet Earth for those most of all!

xo

Jupiter Direct | Full Moon in Sagittarius - getting real so we can get on with what really matters

El camino by eulalievarenne

We have our annual Full Moon in Sagittarius at 9:09 EDT tomorrow morning (someone reminded me recently we are in daylight savings time and I should be writing EDT instead of EST, it looks weird but just means east coast time in the spring and summer). The Moon is followed, almost exactly one hour later by Jupiter, retrograde since February and ruler of Sagittarius, stationing direct in Libra.

The Sun will be at 18 degrees Gemini, the Moon at 18 degrees Gemini's polarity sign of Sagittarius.

Every month the Full Moon is a time of Sun opposite Moon. This is a time of what we need (Sun) vs what we want (Moon), ego/physical (Sun) vs emotion/intuition (Moon), dad (Sun) vs mom (Moon), work/our place in the spotlight (Sun) vs home/our place out of the spotlight (Moon) although with people posting so many public pics of families and home on Insta and Facebook I may have to rethink this one! - with an opposition there is internal pressure and external pressure. This is why emergency rooms fill up, paintings of wolves howling at Full Moons fill books and luna-tics' screams fill the day/night - really, stop and listen, you'll hear someone!

The Moon (our emotions and instincts) is at its monthly peak. The night sky is lit up. Something comes to light. Something comes to a conclusion

(although with Jupiter not covering completely new territory until autumn, conclusions could take some time to unwind themselves).

The fact that Jupiter, ruler of this Moon, stations direct an hour after the Moon reaches its peak tells us alot. I wrote about Jupiter retrograde HERE.

This Moon takes us back to the Sagittarius New Moon at 19 degrees back in December 2015. HERE is a post about that one. This would be a good read now.

To paraphrase that post - Sagittarius is a fun-loving sign that rules travel, freedom, adventure, legal stuff, higher education, good luck, faith, religion, prayer, optimism, problem solving, truth seekers, boldly going where no man has gone before, the quest  -

it also rules carelessness, taking shortcuts, thinking we are right, making assumptions, throwing pink paint on problems and hoping they will go away, overconfidence, impatience and superficial fluff.

Sagittarius is a mutable sign. The mutable signs prepare us for the change into the next season.

Mutable signs are service signs and Sagittarius is in service through the exploration of Truth - this could be legal truth or political truth but its most especially spiritual truth - its highest purpose is enlightenment and expanding what is known.

The lower level energies rule religious wars, legal battles and political bullshit.

(and if you live in the U.S., unless you are living under a rock you are probably thinking about Comey testifying today - for many months the rock thing may have felt somewhat appealing and believe me I have tried to tuck myself in there, it's just not possible - the pill bugs got there first ... although they do make for incredibly quiet neighbors plus they will almost certainly run away when we show up with the coffeecake for a chat up, so we'll have the cake all for ourselves so there's that, too - of course they are rather creepy looking although hubs insists they are somewhat helpful and related to shrimp (!)

The Moon is conjunct restrictive Saturn. The Sagittarian propensity for saying YES, and the Gemini smorgasbord of options, is forced into a more defined and honest space. See Friday's forecast in the weekly HERE.

None of our stories, lies, beliefs that are no longer needed, options that are just distracting us from what we really need to do - none of these paradigms are moving forward with us. Truth bombs are dropped.

Life is calling bullshit on our bullshit. Ideas, conversations, who we used to be, who we never were - whatever doesn't work anymore has to go. We are done with it. 

From this space we move forward (Jupiter direct) with what is real.

Now remember what Jupiter's retrograde has looked like - he stopped, he moved backward, now he stops, he moves forward - he is covering this ground for the THIRD time. And you know what they say about third times! Are you feeling third time lucky or three strikes you're out?

Also remember he won't be covering new ground until early September and he first walked these degrees last November. Saturn says "you learn patience by practicing patience".

The Moon is also squaring Neptune (strong in Pisces). This is the energy of the recent Saturn/Neptune square where we were working with dreams vs reality (and truth vs lies). Some of us let go of a dream. Some of us may be getting/living the dream come true now and will have to deal with the reality of that situation. Dreams coming true pushes us into the next thing in similar ways that letting go of dreams does. Life isn't static. There is no finish line. With Neptune involved with this Moon whatever is brought to light or whatever concludes - won't be crystal clear. Neptune dissolves but it also fogs things up.

The good news is Jupiter (expansion, good luck) will have us all moving forward! The flies in the ointment are : Saturn - time, hard work, responsibility, consequences - and Neptune - sacrifice, dissolution, escape, loss. Stuff is dropping away now so we can get real and get on with what really matters.

Losses now lead to something BETTER later if we take things seriously, and honestly, going forward. Gains can stick (Saturn) or drift away (Neptune) depending on whether or not we have honestly earned them. I think they are most likely to be earned if they come now and have some stickiness!

Faith moves mountains. For many people this Moon could likely tie in with the Venus retrograde themes (Jupiter is answering to Venus these days) of love and money.

Last night's Moon was beautiful. I hope you can get out and walk in the Full Moon tonight and tomorrow night. If there is any way to get naked in it - do that (it's not like being naked in the supermarket - or most dressing rooms - with that horrible lighting plus the only ones out there will be the wolves and our fellow lunatics).

xo all

with that conjunction to Saturn we will be able to see Saturn now, too, if the skies are clear - did you catch Jupiter with the Moon in the skies last week?