Mercury Conjunct the North Node, Sun Trine Chiron | what hurts is what helps, words that point the way forward

home by imagomundi
This week's diverse aspects have been a struggle to think/write about in a way that recognizes they work together and stand on their own.

Taken separately they are like looking at a complicated dinner recipe one ingredient at a time and trying to figure out what you are supposed to make. I am sure an experienced cook with a good eye and mature palate could create something delicious, but this week I have felt more like your average hungry person tossing all the ingredients into a pot and adding some salt.

We have only a couple more days of Cancer season - the season of nourishment. I have been using Blue Apron food delivery service, 3 days a week, for the last month - having lost most of the garden this year to animals. The biggest eye opener is how little food we actually need to make dinner. When I lay out the night's ingredients on the counter I am amazed they will feed 2 people - it looks impossible.

But we always have just enough. No wonder I toss so much uneaten food every week - for years I have been making way too much.

I think this applies to many things other than dinner ...

Today we have the Sun (our self, ego, light) trining (brakes off) Chiron (deep wound). The Sun is still in Cancer so maybe opening up (shining a light on) our home/family issues or childhood trauma actually makes us less hurt or less vulnerable. Maybe under the spotlight we can see these 'vulnerabilities' are part of our strength, too. Somehow they look more friendly in the bright light of day, don't they? What were we so afraid of?

Mercury (communication, ideas, thinking) hooking up with our North Node (collective way forward) means we need to pay attention to what is being said, what we read, what we see, etc now. Since Mercury trined Saturn on Wednesday - there could be some news or information guiding us toward a more stable future.

With the North Node in Leo, ruled by the Sun, these two aspects could work together.

Living our Sun doesn't mean we reject our inheritance. The opposite is actually true - the more we are truly ourselves then the more openhearted and genuine we can be to other people including the ones with the fingers on all our buttons. It's not that their fingers will move on, although they may seem to, it is actually that we won't be carrying around the hidden buttons anymore! AND although we can still see/feel their buttons we also see their frailties and vulnerabilities in a new way giving us the compassion to keep our own trigger fingers safely tucked in our own pockets.

The psychic skeletons that haunt our families - many for generation after generation, so often seen in our birth charts - the power ploys subconsciously designed to keep people 'close', the subtle and not so subtle undermining of talents and potentials, the scapegoating, the envy and resentment and fear that accrues within familial groups - the Sun, our heart, following our heart, has the power to break these family curses.

They need to come into the light.

(and yes, now I am picturing Poltergeist and that poor little girl trapped in the walls, or was she not supposed to go into the light, I don't remember)

I will do a final New Moon post this weekend to set our intentions. See Part I HERE and Part II HERE

The Moon has so many dots to connect and I hadn't been connecting it with all the family drama playing out within this week's closing aspects - here is a post by Marina at Darkstar Astrology where she does this very well ... the possibility of "sacrificing true family connections in order to please a fake, cult family" could resonate now. 

xo all

Sun Square Uranus, Venus Inconjunct Pluto | shaken not stirred

shaken by tori-f
I accidentally set this post to go live at 8PM instead of 8AM. I guess my previous, more upbeat Mars in Leo post wanted a little more center stage airtime - how very Leo!

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Today we have the Sun (in Cancer) squaring Uranus (in Aries) at 28 degrees. This could be disruptive.

Maybe a surprise situation or unexpected action (by someone else or by us) challenges or brings uncertainty to our security/stability or to a home/family situation.

Change directions too quickly and we could cause an accident, but this is good energy for a change in our appearance or the way we "shine" in the world. This is great energy to break out of a rut!

People will be restless and won't want to be pinned down. Today's stress/challenge could relate back to something from earlier in the week. Stay flexible.

We also have Venus (in Gemini) inconjunct a retrograde Pluto (in Capricorn) at 17 degrees. Our own choices and decisions regarding Venus ruled money, love, values, self-esteem or beauty situations could be contrary to whoever/whatever holds the power now.

Maybe something we thought/hoped we were finished with comes back around or maybe our "rehab" hits some roadblocks. Jealousy, manipulation, obsession, compulsion and power plays could cause issues within our relationships. Whatever the situation we are dealing with, if this transit is hitting our chart, the answers aren't easy and could be out of our hands for now ....

xo all

Mars into Leo | leading from our heart

in heart by Marta Syrko
Today we have fiery Mars (action, initiative, passion, anger) moving into equally fiery Leo (enthusiasm, heart, love, ego, pride, creativity, courage) until September 5th.

Mars will be in conjunction with both the Sun and the Moon on Sunday at the time of the New Moon and Mars will be exactly conjunct the Sun next Wednesday - which ends whatever started at the time of the last Sun/Mars cycle (something started mid June 2015) and launches something NEW

involving universal Leo themes (and/or for us personally the themes of our Leo natal houses) - how/what we initiate, how we take action, how we express our passion, our anger issues or issues we are angry about, something involving our creativity or children or romance. Mars will be active during the August 7th Aquarius Full Moon, too.

If you are a Leo Sun (or other fixed sign - Aquarius, Taurus, Scorpio) this transit is going to wake you up. If you are an Aries rising or a Scorpio rising (your chart is ruled by Mars) this is going to wake you up. Everyone's natal Leo house is waking up BIGLY!  

We will all feel this one.

The great thing about Mars in Leo is that it not only provides that Martian kick off at the starting line, it also provides the Leo ability to stick with it once we get it started!

Leo is the sign of the lion - the king of the jungle. One of the best ways to understand the king of the jungle is to understand the little lions we keep in our homes - those creatures called cats.

Everyone who "owns" a cat knows what a misnomer this word is when applied to the feline species. Cats can't be "owned". We know it and they know it. It is perfectly natural for them to convey an attitude of comfortable superiority.

This energy, this "presence" is what Leo is all about.

Everyone has Leo somewhere in their natal chart - a space we are meant to feel "comfortably superior". Ruled by the Sun, this is an area of life (in addition to our Sun sign) we are meant to SHINE. We are all about to get a whole lot more shiny. I think we will need those eclipse glasses no matter where we live now!

This is a great time to take action with something we are passionate about. Leo energy will not be ignored and doesn't like to wait, so if something needs to happen now - let's make it happen. The two weeks following Sunday's New Moon in Leo are PRIME make it happen days!

If we need courage, if we need confidence, if we need attention - this transit will provide the fiery push to take the action we need to take. Fresh starts don't get any fresher than this.

We have the North Node in Leo now - it is important to focus on the things that call our heart forward. Our blood is flowing faster (seriously I think someone needs to check on this) - our passions are stirred up!
 
Sometimes when we ask what our heart really wants we do not like the answer we get because we know it will force us to disconnect from something else - maybe something we used to love or maybe something that made/makes us feel safe or maybe something that is comfortable - start with those ratty old slippers, toss them!

Or because Leo's instinct is primal we (Aquarius polarity's shadow) start overthinking all the ways this new thing isn't going to work. 

We use our minds and words to start creating problem "cords" and entanglements from our new thing to all kinds of crap we don't want to happen. 

We don't need to do that right now. It is actually counter-productive.

Looking for dragons doesn't protect us from dragons - it actually creates the dragons!

We don't have to get too far ahead of ourselves - we don't have to know HOW we are going to do it. We just have to get clear on WHAT we want/need and take some kind of action. Life can use whatever action we take to get us where we need to go.

The energies on planet Earth have changed since the end of 2012 - we have lost the the energetic gatekeepers that kept things from happening too quickly - they have folded up shop and left the building! 

We don't need them, but we still think we do. 

We really can get there (wherever there is) from HERE. 

(Donald Trump is President people, I mean, who ever thought that could happen - well HE did and that's how it did happen. Instead of, or in addition to if we insist, bemoaning that fact let's celebrate what it shows us is actually possible - so, what do WE really want?)

By the end of the year we will have Saturn coming home to Capricorn the sign he rules - we will have to work harder and there could be more restrictions on us. Things will be a bit more "set in pace" so we want to be doing/living what we love NOW since we could be doing it for a while!

What is the theme of your Leo house? This is the space of our lives where we are all "lightworkers" - we are all able to channel the Sun's (Son's, if you resonate with this) energy unfiltered. It's going to be a space/theme of life we LOVE. And yes, there will be work, notice the word lightworker includes those four letters, too! We are spreading light (knowledge) through work.

Work doesn't really feel like work when we are loving it though, does it?

xo all

Venus Trine Jupiter, Mars Trine Chiron | smoothing things out, do you feel lucky?

beauty outside, myth inside by cobraromania

Yesterday's challenging energies (still in play, but to a lesser degree) give way to today's more manageable aspects.

Trines bring natural grace, support and the ease of things "falling into place".

In our natal chart, trines (120 degree aspects) are our natural gifts, sometimes so innately a part of us we don't even realize they are gifts. They work in similar ways during times of transit - smoothing things out, easing us over rough patches, quietly removing road blocks, sometimes while we are still miles away. They do their work so seamlessly we might not even feel them. We'll just look back later and see the ease with which something potentially complicated fell into place.

With Venus (in Gemini) trining Jupiter (in Libra) at 15 degrees (those with planets or points around 15 degrees of the air signs - Gemini, Libra, Aquarius - will feel this most)

communications within relationships will be more harmonious. Conversations can be more relaxed. This is great energy for socializing. Be out and about. Return the call. Send the email. Situations with Venus ruled themes - love, money, women, beauty, self-esteem, our values - expand (Jupiter) under this transit. We get lucky. 

With Mars (in Cancer) trining Chiron (in Pisces) at 28 degrees (those with planets or points around 28 degrees of the water signs - Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces - will feel this most)

we are offered a cooling balm for any wounds yesterday's Mars/Uranus square opened up. Here's the band-aid. It's a stretchy fabric one that stays put in the shower and, look, it's even got a picture of Bambi on it. Also mom has kissed our boo-boo and given us a cookie. Oatmeal!

Actions (Mars) can be healing (Chiron). Family (Cancer) connections (Pisces) can be repaired. Compassionate (Pisces) action (Mars) heals. What hurts? What needs mending? Work on that.

xo all 

Venus Square Neptune, Mars Square Uranus | proceed carefully

Out of View by FlewDesigns

Today we have two inner planets, Venus and Mars, squaring off with two outer planets, Neptune and Uranus. This gives us multiple ways things can go off the rails. With more positive transits coming as early as tomorrow, today is not the day to leap into something without looking.

Keep a cool head. Don't say/do something you will regret tomorrow.

Neptune squaring Venus is good energy to simply want too much. Expecting too much from other people or from a certain situation dulls our vision to what we already have and where we already are. The grass looks greener on the other side, but that's only because we are not the one who has to water it.

Sometimes we get so caught up in the next thing that we miss out on our connection to the thing we have now. Someone I know with this aspect in his natal chart is always having his hopes dashed. He thinks he has bad luck, but what he really has is a natural tendency to want/expect so much that he is continually disappointed.

(this doesn't mean that wanting/expecting too much is a bad thing - it can be a great thing and most people probably settle for too little - but with today's skies this is something to be aware of)

With Venus in Gemini (choices) it will be easy to make the wrong decision or pursue the wrong thing today. Snap decisions could snap back at us. Keep things realistic. Is this thing "we want or need to take action on NOW" really something we want/need to do? If something logically looks like a long shot, this is not the best energy to have a go at it. Invest your time and money carefully .....

With Mars in Cancer squaring Uranus in Aries, we, and other people, could feel a strong urge to rebel within the family, home or an environment that feels like family. Or things could get pretty passive/aggressive - for example we don't want to go to dinner with someone so we lose our keys and can't leave the house. Or maybe someone is stubbornly holding onto a position simply to annoy the other person or not finishing something as a way to have power over someone else or power over a situation where they feel out of control (ahem).

Something unexpected (Uranus) could be in conflict with what we are doing or trying to do (Mars). There are many tricky situations that can lead to conflict now.

Take care when driving. If it ain't broke don't try and fix it today.

On the other hand if we need to find real courage against something that truly is oppressing us - today's energy could stoke a fire that needs to be started. Chew on that.

Baby steps people, the Sun will come out tomorrow and we are heading into Leo season - the sign that rules HAPPINESS and FUN .... and today's Moon is in Taurus - get outdoors, eat some good food, focus on the things you already have ... xo

(there may be more info in the weekly HERE)

Astrology Forecast for Creatives | Week of July 17th - high stakes, getting fired up, chickens coming home to roost

cutting light by alltelleringet

Last week was fairly quiet in the skies but this week should more than make up for it.

This is a busy week with the most notable transits Mars squaring Uranus on Monday and the Sun squaring Uranus on Thursday. We also have both Mars and the Sun moving into a fire sign and the week ends with a BIG New Moon in Leo!

A Sun/Mars/Uranus mix-up can be rough and challenging. Even angry and violent. We need to be prepared for some unexpected twists and turns over the next few weeks. 

The stuff happening now is reactivating the Pluto/Uranus square we were all dealing with a couple years ago (that we never really stopped dealing with) - chickens are coming home to roost (hoping mine are guinea hens and will eat these damn ticks and mosquitoes).

So, if something needs to be fixed, it needs to be fixed NOW. 

If this means something to you, if something popped into your head when you read that - then deal with that. If there is something we can't outrun - we need to turn and face it. Maybe we can suddenly clock in a 4 minute mile and get away clean, but more likely that thing we have been avoiding is not as far behind us as we thought it was.

On MONDAY, fiery Mars (in Cancer) squares unpredictable Uranus (in Aries). We also have Venus (in Gemini) squaring a retrograde Neptune (in Pisces).

This is confusing energy.

Venus squaring Neptune can leave us inspired but insecure or maybe disappointed or taken advantage of. This is the first square of the Venus/Neptune cycle that started on January 13th, if that date rings a bell. Boundaries could be leaky now and our discernment could be lacking. Let's be diplomatic, but we need to take our time with this one and not rush into something blindly (like maybe rushing in to help someone or agree with someone without all the facts)

because on TUESDAY Venus trines Jupiter (the BEST aspect we could have), so whatever "crisis" is stirred up on MONDAY, the winds will change on TUESDAY, very likely for the better (give life your best shot on TUESDAY - get dressed up, be nice to other people, expect communications to go well). Tuesday is a good day for investments - our money/value of what is purchased grows.

Later in the day on MONDAY Mars is squaring Uranus. People's actions will be unpredictable. We will be restless and so will other people. Crisis points could center around freedom and taking action. Arguments and disruptions are possible now. Keep a cool head.

Taking action (Mars) for the good of the community (Uranus) is favored. New action is favored. The Moon is waning, so it's not necessarily the best time to launch something new, but it's very good energy to do something in a new way. Work outside the box. By TUESDAY Mars will be trining Chiron so it looks like the fight/argument leads to healing. Compassionate, creative action is best.

Our waning Moon will be in Taurus both days which is great energy to get your hands into the dirt, prepare fresh food and enjoy eating it, walk barefoot in the grass, slow down, sing, dance, take an afternoon nap - get out of your head and feel the weight of your physical body on our physical planet.

On WEDNESDAY, Mercury (in Leo) trines Saturn (in Sagittarius) then on FRIDAY Mercury goes on to conjunct the North Node. There is something to pay attention to here. This is the news/communication/conversation/idea (Mercury) that will last (Saturn). This is something you can take to the bank. Something stable. There is not only security here and something tangible (Saturn), it is connected to your best way forward! Like all trines we need to put out some effort. The Moon will be balsamic, so we might want to take another nap, but be out and about. Put yourself, and your words and work, out there.

On THURSDAY, the Sun squares Uranus. This is a bookend to whatever was happening on Monday. Know people will be restless and maybe looking for a confrontation. The best way to use this crisis point (use it or be used by it!) is to understand there is a cost to preserving the solid structures in our lives. Throwing babies out with the bathwater may clear the tub and we won't be cleaning any soiled diapers, but then we don't have that cute little baby to sing to when the lights go out. There are trade-offs.

Of course, if someone else is really stepping on us - this is the energy that will bring the situation to a head. Oppressive situations come up to be worked out. Where there is anger energy, there is also courage.

Also on THURSDAY Mars enters Leo (this is about us putting energy into our creative endeavors) followed by the Sun on SATURDAY (more passion, more creativity, more energy). On SUNDAY we have the New Moon in Leo (fresh start!), so the week ends with a whole lot of Leo fire!

Things are very combustible now. Take care with fire. Everyone will want to be the king of the jungle now. With so much Uranian energy - expect the unexpected (and yes, with the energy focused on Uranus and Leo, expect Trump to be back in the news - has he ever been out of the news?).

xo all - back with the dailies and to finish up and sort out that New Moon post!