Mercury Square Chiron, Venus Sextile Neptune, Mercury Sextile Uranus | multiple opportunities - connect, talk, think, forgive

The Crowd by uglybug

There are multiple energies at play today and of course, we still have that powerful Grand Fire Trine (stay careful with fire and away from angry people).

Mercury's square to Chiron makes this an excellent time for a healing conversation. Words can wound though (the kind of wounds that don't heal) - offer compassion, above all else. No one needs our judgement now. The best tone is set when we forget about sounding right and just speak from our heart.

It's time to forgive ourselves all those Mercury foibles.  

Yes, a lifetime's worth - our North Node is in majestic Leo now - think BIG. 

The wrong word we said at the wrong time. The conversation we didn't have. The email we didn't send or the one we did. The idea that didn't work out. The research we didn't do. The sibling crap. The crap car we bought when we knew better. The times we were less than neighborly.

Particularly if we have a strong Virgo or Gemini signature in our chart or packed 3rd or 6th houses. If we do, Mercury is one of our muses. She/he will not be neglected. Do a ceremony. Muses love ceremony. Then we'll use that sextile (opportunity) to "anything-can-happen, freedom loving, future-oriented, tehno-fearless" Uranus to work with this energy in a new way. We'll talk more about this later.
 
The Moon is exalted in Taurus now. This manifestation portal offers up two sextiles (both were exact late last night):

1. Venus, ruler of love, money, self-esteem and women, in Taurus, a sign she rules, sextiles imaginative Neptune in mystical Pisces, a sign he rules. This is excellent energy to attract what we want through imaginative/spiritual/healing work. Creative times with women can be particularly lucrative now. Mine for diamonds.
2. Mercury, ruler of ideas, communications, siblings, our local environment, our transportation, in Gemini, a sign he/she rules sextiles Uranus, ruler of invention, genius, freedom, in passionate Aries - what do we want to start? Think NEW with this one.

What can we make from this word soup within our own story? Sextiles offer opportunities. Today's tangle highly favors our mental and creative work, people connections and our resources.

The Sun is still in Gemini for a few more hours and Mercury is still here for some hours after that - keep talking, learning, looking at different sides of whatever issues are at play. The answers are out there.

xo all

Astrology Forecast for Creatives | Week of June 19th - new beginnings

Sand wings by Lileinaya

On Monday, the Moon is uber busy (we likely are, too) ... until she isn't anymore.

We start the day with the Moon in initiating, passionate, "me" and action-oriented Aries - get to work early. Best to put future gains ahead of present comfort this morning. Yes, even if the sun is shining (unless we are on vacation then this is good energy for vacation style action - get out there!). With an Aries Moon everyone will want what they want and they'll want it now. The Moon kicks off with a trine (brakes off) to Saturn in Sagittarius. This is a good time to work with Sagittarius themes - foreign, travel, weddings, politics, higher education, religious, media, politics and with structure and authority. With the Moon in Aries it's best to keep the focus on our own stuff even as we deal with 'big picture' themes.

The Moon is sextiling (opportunity) Mercury - good time to make a decision or come to an agreement. Ideas, communication, local activities, neighbors, siblings, transportation, interviews, writing - all get the green light early in the day. Later on the Moon conjuncts Uranus (also in Aries) and then sextiles (opportunity) the Gemini Sun. We are all feeling ambitious and probably a bit restless and scattered.

The Moon goes void at 3:42PM EST and then moves into Taurus a couple hours later. In Taurus the Moon is exalted. This would be a good day to close down early and enjoy some Taurean comfort - good food, nature, massage, etc. Summer is as close as our own fingertips ...

On Tuesday, we have the Moon exalted in Taurus and Venus (happy in Taurus) sextiling Neptune (in Pisces where she rules). Right brain activities are favored. What could be better for making money with imaginative work, attracting what we want with and through women and/or for compassionate, spiritual or healing activities. We will all be absorbing each other's energy now ... likely in a positive way - it will be easy to feel where other people are coming from (if we are patient enough to let ourselves go there) even when we disagree with them.

The rest of week - Wednesday onward, it is all CANCER all of the time (and there is alot of Cancer for the next few weeks actually). First the Sun moves into Cancer kicking off a new season with the Summer Solstice. Post to follow

The Sun quickly conjuncts Mercury (also making a move into Cancer this week) so the first day of summer brings important messages/information

or something involving a Mercurian theme - information, communication, sibling, transportation, local environment - that could involve us through the summer season.  

Family discussions will be sentimental. What we need and what other people need will be colored by our memories of how things used to be (or how we wished they had been). Comfort comes from people and situations that are familiar.

Then we have the New Moon in Cancer (Friday) - the entire end of the week is about NEW BEGINNINGS. We'll talk about this New Moon later, coming so near the Summer Solstice and sitting with Mercury - it's a big one.

Cancer is all about family and home and history and patriotism and security - about having our needs met and meeting the needs of others we are close to. It's about vulnerability and how we deal with that.

The Sun will shine a light on these areas as well as light up our natal Cancer house. Cancer is ruled by the Moon. Her emotional nature comes from the fact she changes signs every couple days - contrast that with the Sun who moves through one sign a month or Neptune who sits in the same sign for fifteen years. Can you imagine if the celestial body ruling our emotions stayed in the same place for fifteen years? We wouldn't be moody anymore that's for sure and certainly some people would be lucky enough to be smiling for over a decade, but we could be stuck in a bad mood through four presidents and three car loans. That's a whole lot of lemons!

Looked at it this way - the moody, changeable Moon is our friend, right?

By the end of the week, the Sun, Mercury and Mars will all be in emotional Cancer. Whatever is happening will feel deeply personal. Emotions will override logic. We will be feeling where we are most vulnerable. So will other people, so let's give each other a break.

On Sunday, Mars (in Cancer) will square Jupiter (in Libra) and then trine (brakes off) Neptune (now retrograde in Pisces).  This adds passion, excitement and ambition to whatever we are focused on. It could make something feel bigger than it actually is. New beginnings can seem overwhelming because we will be feeling the words we hear and speak, feeling our way through the actions we take (yes, this could slow us down a bit) and feeling what we need to feel safe. The further our current circumstances deviate from this space of safety and the feeling of "home" the more stress we will be dealing with over the next couple weeks.

xo all

Neptune Stations Retrograde | increased intuition, releasing fantasy, releasing guilt, the anesthetic wears off ...

The Whispering Lake by Mirish

Neptune retrogrades are subtle because Neptune is subtle. Think of the way rock is worn away by water - slowly and almost imperceptibly - but effectively and permanently.

This one takes Neptune from 14 to 11 degrees Pisces through late November. If you have planets or points in those degrees or in those degrees in any of the water signs (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces) or mutable signs (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces) you will feel this year's retrograde strongest. Neptune is retrograde about 40% of the time.

Neptune rules the ocean, the seas, sleep, our dreams (both the dreams when we are sleeping and the dreams when we are awake), the unconscious, the subconscious, our inter-connectedness, flow, imagination, compassion, meditation, medication, illusion, deception, lies, addiction, alcohol, exhaustion, escape, baptism, sacrifice, spirituality, detox, faith, psychology, mental health, mental illness, intuition, mysticism, fantasy, the ethereal realms (things that cannot be seen, touched, tasted or heard with our five senses), art, dance, music, film, chemicals, drugs, poison, ghosts, victim, martyr, saint, religion, Christ-like, fanaticism, hospitals, healing, research, confusion, retreats, release, isolation, orphans, nursing homes, retirement, our feet, vision, karma, hidden enemies, what is hidden, what we do in secret, lack of boundaries, the 12th house of our charts (things we do last, things that are put away, our subconscious, our self-undoing), the house that holds Pisces in our charts, the 12th house of our charts.

At first glance this might look like a list of unconnected things - but when you look closer can you see/feel the connections? And of course, even as we look for the connection we are using Neptune!

Something here is up for review which means situations, people, circumstances will come up that will re-focus our attention on one or more of these areas over the next few months.

This will be a time to reflect, re-do, re-evaluate, re-examine, release or re-visit what we are working with here. Neptune always turns us inward. Dream guidance and intuition will increase.

Remember when a big energy shifts like Neptune does today we will literally be "off" so things can just feel "off" - let's not push where we don’t need to push. Instead let's stay alert to the signs and feelings around us and take our cue from them. We might require extra (or less) sleep, more (or less) time alone or more (or less) meditation time.

Avoid mind altering chemicals and known addictions. Life's natural anesthetic is moving in reverse now, so the lure of outside numbing agents - that drink or shopping spree or pain pill will be stronger - keep this in mind.

Imagine we are standing at the shore line up to our knees in the cold ocean. When we look down into the water everything looks foggy. Our legs look two sizes too big, almost like one wide mermaid's tale (or this is how I imagine myself, clamshell bra and all). The shells and pebbles at our feet are not in exactly the place they appear to be when we reach for them. Even in the clearest water things are illusory and shifting.

Then the tide flows out. The shells at our feet look a lot more ordinary and less colorful and they are smaller than we thought they would be.

Instead of things being closer than they appear, they now appear to be exactly where they actually are. Stuff is a little less magical - the mermaid's tail/tale turns back into our ordinary legs; sunburned and spider-veined - but now that we have legs again we can do all kinds of things we couldn't do before. Maybe sometimes the tail/tale is needed to keep us sane and protected, but at some point it just gets in our way. And this is a sloppy, terrible metaphor, but you might see what I am getting at. Maybe.

Neptune retrogrades separate the illusion from reality. 

And what we will be left with next November will be the reality. Useless boundaries, lies, guilt, martyr and victim stories and other tall tale/tails will be left on the shoreline. What was vague will clear up. Draining dreams will dissolve. Reality shifts.

As Neptune stations she is sextiling (opportunity) Juno (partnership, commitment) in Capricorn (time, responsibility. structure, work). Since Juno is also retrograde - for some people this will be part of that partnership/commitment "re-view" we talked about HERE - also finishing up in November which I guess will be a big month for .. finishing up!

Also today if you have anything in your chart around 26 degrees of Aquarius, Leo or Gemini there is a nice trine (brakes off) between the Gemini Sun and the South Node in Aquarius and a nice sextile (opportunity) to the North Node in Leo. Communications, ideas, information - also siblings, local neighborhood, transportation - issues that come up now could have a positive impact on your future. If there is something you have been detached from (Aquarius) it could be time to put it in your spotlight (Leo) or maybe your bystander role in a group needs to move more front and center? See what develops. Write down words that catch your ear now.

xo all

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