Mars inconjunct Chiron and trine Uranus | yes, it might hurt ... no, that isn't going to stop us

Summer breeze by TheNightSheDied

I was going to jump back into the weekend series, but we have a lot going on today so let's stay where we are for a little while longer.

First, let's talk Moon - this stuff is fleeting but powerful.

The Moon is in stable and ambitious Capricorn. As it moves through Capricorn today, the Moon will conjunct Pluto giving us stamina and the ability to focus. On the downside (fly meet ointment) it could excavate intense energies that are not so great for harmony with others.

If we need to end an emotional attachment though (my personal plan is the solid defeat of SUGAR) and take our own power back - this is good energy to do that.

Tonight the Moon will square Jupiter. This could bring up relationship issues or tension between work/goals and partners/other people. Our emotions could be over-the-top and out of proportion to what is going on. This might lead us off course. Things can feel better than they actually are, too. Our standards could get lowered.

We also have Mars (action, initiative, boldness, anger) inconjunct Chiron. Inconjuncts can't be solved. With Chiron involved someone is going to get hurt.

Maybe our confident action (Mars in Leo) rubs someone else the wrong way (Chiron in Pisces). Or maybe we are the one who gets hurt. We can't win here, but I'm not really sure we will be able to avoid whatever this scenario kicks up (or if we want to), especially if we have planets or points around 27 degrees Leo or Pisces.

This doesn't mean we give up.

If we want/need to step up now (Leo North Node/Mars) and are worried about making a mistake or worried about what other people will think, we also have a trine (brakes off) from Mars to innovative Uranus (in independent Aries). Action creates freedom. Self-expression is freeing.

Bold, brave actions may lead to some difficult moments with/for other people (and for ourselves!) and we surely don't need to toss salt in the wounds, but we don't need to stop in our tracks to avoid any chance of injury or hurt feelings either. And, of course, it could be someone else's bold action that hurts us.

Either way, we keep moving forward.

Remember, Mercury is still retrograde and we have him (news, information, communication, siblings, transportation) meeting up with Mars this weekend and Mars hitting the Eclipse degree. I will post part II about that tonight or tomorrow morning.

This is not the best time for big changes because we can't see far enough ahead. Let some stuff unwind itself first. Let's see where the cards have fallen after Mercury stations direct next week.

In the meantime we can keep moving forward toward what our heart wants. Don't stop. Now is the time for planning and revising. The eclipse has reset everything, but we are not fully operational quite yet. Let's be gentle with ourselves and others.

Also, Houston needs underwear.

xo all

Mercury backs into Leo and approaches Mars | RED ALERT for the next few days ... part l

haaam by TheNightSheDied

Now, a red alert isn't necessarily a bad thing. Think about those red light specials the department stores used to have when people actually shopped there. They were designed to get us to look over here. There is something over here we need to be paying attention to. Red lights (and alerts) are attention grabbers.

Whenever an event/situation/person is grabbing our attention we will react or respond. Now, many of us, have been training ourselves to respond to situations rather than react to them. To slow down, take a breath, think about what the most intelligent, compassionate response would be and most of the time this is exactly what we should do.

Sometimes we just need to react though. If we find ourselves in one of those situations hopefully we can turn the wheel into the slide and not screw things up even more by turning away. But we just don't know until we are in it what we are going to do.

And I once, with my car sliding on ice, instinctively turned my wheel away from the slide - exactly what they say not to do. I spun in a few complete circles and came to rest, without a scratch, precisely between two metal guideposts.

(Of course, this was years ago and just yesterday I was pushing Sully on the swing and Olive walked right in front of Sully's legs and almost got clobbered. My reaction was very slow, sloth-like actually and I pride myself on my good reflexes. I need more sleep. And to stop watching sloths on the internet. I'm serious.)

Anyway, this post is your red alert. Let's look at the astrology.

Today we have a retrograde Mercury backing from Virgo into Leo.

His journey through Virgo had us picking over the details of something; making revisions, dealing with criticism, determining if this thing is even possible.

Now we are back into the Sun's territory (Sun rules Leo). This could have us re-thinking what our heart (Leo) wants. Does something we thought we wanted still making us happy? Do we still want to do this? This could be about a creative project, romance, child, something recreational or involve the theme of our Leo natal house. With the retrograde tied so tightly into the Eclipse all of this has a much bigger importance than we can see from our current vantage point.

Saturn (in Sagittarius) is squaring Vesta and inconjunct Ceres. This could be about home/family issues or legal/educational/foreign issues - there is something happening here where we are being forced to take on greater responsibility, exercise more patience, shoulder a greater burden, etc. The inconjunct tells me there may be no way out of it. Devotion, service, nurturing and security will feature in our smoothest path forward.

In a few months Saturn will come home to Capricorn. It will be best to find a way to take on any increased responsibility with a welcoming heart because following our heart is what is moving all of us forward. Know that things falling apart now are setting us up to be in the right place at the right time later - and by this I am talking about the space we are most needed.

I am not advising we take on more than we have to take on. We are not victims or martyrs here. We are not here to carry other people's burdens. That said, there might be a responsibility here that cannot be shrugged off. And we can't see the whole picture. No point kicking and tossing a tantrum when we can just get on with it. 

Hurricane Harvey isn't just happening in Houston. And this isn't to minimize what is happening in Houston! In some way the energy represented by this Hurricane (forced loss, forced responsibility, dealing with something we don't want to deal with, under water, accepting nature, accepting authority, being homeless, loss of security, loss of solid ground beneath our feet, being all wet, etc) which is the physical manifestation of the Eclipse - the largest storm in the United States in 60 years in our 4th largest city, the ramifications of which can't be remotely seen yet - is playing out in everyone's lives. Our energy is all over the place right now.

OK, back to the RED ALERT. 

As we come into the weekend we have Mercury beginning to conjunct Mars (exact on Sunday) AND Mars hitting the Eclipse degree of 28 Leo. And this is all (once again) trining (brakes off) a rebellious, reactionary, "anything-can-happen" Uranus. And then on Tuesday Mercury will station direct at that same 28 degrees! You can't make this up. WTH, people.

We've seen all kinds of previous madness during recent Mercury retrogrades and now we have Mars - anger, initiative, passion, war - thrown into the mix at the exact degree the Solar Eclipse previously set up as an activation point.

We'll talk more about ways this can all play out tomorrow, but as we approach this energy - it will be important to keep a cool head since Mercury rules our thinking and Mars is a hot-head.

Know that angry (Mars) words (Mercury) or unexpected (Uranus) information (Mercury) that makes us mad (Mars) or requires action (Mars) will have consequences far beyond whatever situation we are dealing with because Eclipse energy is in the mix, too!

We'll talk about all of this tomorrow, but in case your personal RED ALERT allows you to respond and not react (please drive safely starting right now) - it will be good to be prepared, so you can choose the most intelligent and compassionate response. The words we use can wound other people mightily now, too - they can hit someone like a hurricane. Keep that in mind. 

xo all

Astrology Forecast for Creatives | Week of August 27th - the eclipse PUSHES back, renewed energy for something from the past, hard work pays off

colourful and fragile like a peacock feather by wanderer in wonderland

As the Solar Eclipse in Leo energy continues to play out - this week and next are again times when direction changing events/information can seem to come out of nowhere.

This week it is all about Mars. He is hitting the North Node and then meeting up with unpredictable Uranus - our physical body, initiative, passion, action, courage, maybe anger, a fight, an argument, a push. Then next week it is all about Mercury. He is meeting up with Mars and stationing direct at the eclipse degree - our mind, communications, ideas, information, conversations, decisions.

After September 5th - the decision is made, the writing is on the wall. Something has been re-invented or put to bed.

On SUNDAY, Mars meets up with the North Node of our collective way forward. This is part of our eclipse story. Something, and this is Mars so we could be talking about an - action, initiative, anger, passion, courage, push, fight, argument, contest - forces our step in the right direction. 

Jupiter (luck, expansion) sextiles (opportunity) Saturn (time, responsibility, work, authority). Yes, the harder we work, the luckier we get.

Earlier work can pay off now with a LUCKY break. Work started now can pay off later. Hard work makes us lucky. Patience pays off. Long lasting and positive results can come from opportunities and responsibilities taken on now. This energy is exact now but will be in play for a while.

With Saturn in Sagittarius and answering to Jupiter - this is a double dose of Sagittarius positivity to resolve all that we need to resolve before Saturn moves into Capricorn at the end of December. With Jupiter in Libra - lucky breaks can also come through women and partnerships. Remember the rewards are Saturnian coming through hard work and over time BUT they are long-lasting.

On MONDAY, the Moon is void until 3:48PM EDT. It's not a good time to start anything new or launch something that you want something to come of. Feel free to sleep in. Stick to routine matters. The Moon is in Scorpio which is good energy for solitary research and problem solving. Shortly after the Moon moves into Sagittarius in the late afternoon she will square Mercury (retrograde in Virgo) - stress and tension come from needing to make the big picture and the fine details work together.

This is also a good time to put our foot in our mouth.

Hopefully the Moon's move late Monday from water into fire will aid the first eclipse victims in the Texas floodwaters.

On TUESDAY, the Moon is in Sagittarius. We are thinking BIG.

We have the first quarter Moon of the month with the Moon (in Sagittarius) squaring the Sun (in Virgo). This is similar to last night's energy - tension around the big picture and the fine details working together.

Maybe we need to finish one thing (be satisfied with it) before starting something else?

The Sun is in Virgo so planning, taking care of the details, using our resources wisely is the best use of our energy now.

By late afternoon that big thinking Sagittarius Moon will be squaring dreamy Neptune (strong in Pisces), so knowing where we start and another person/situation's energy leaves off will be tricky. People will be emotional and easily deceived. It will be hard to know what is real and what is fake. The rose colored glasses are on. Watch for the activation of addictive behaviors. The Sun is in earthy Virgo - stay grounded, do the Virgo practical thing.

On WEDNESDAY, the Moon's contacts with Saturn and Jupiter have us all over the place. We could go from down to up in a New York minute. Then the Moon (still in Sagittarius) moves on to trine first Mars and then Uranus (Grand Fire Trine). Ambitious, inspirational - good socializing/fire starting energy as long as we let go of any preconceived notions about how this night is going to end up! This could bring us Luck with a capital L especially when it comes to being in the right place at the right time. Be out and about. Take action.

On THURSDAY, the Moon enters Capricorn. We slow down. We get serious. We get to work. We could be dealing with serious people/authority, serious situations or just knuckling down. Our survival instinct kicks in.

Mercury (moving backward now) travels from Virgo back into Leo. He'll be covering our old Leo ground through September 5th and be back in Virgo on September 11th. This is a do-over with our universal Leo themes - creative projects, romance, children, fun, recreation - or our personal Leo house theme. Where is late Leo in your natal chart? Yes, this is eclipse stuff.

Note the dates. Also add to your calendar a heads up for September 2nd and 3rd. This is all related to last week's Solar Eclipse. The new is emerging now AND it's emerging through the old.

On FRIDAY, the Moon (in Capricorn) conjuncts Pluto. This is good energy for our goals and ambitions. Rewards for hard work. We could be dealing with authority figures and stepping into our responsibility. Stuff that has been hidden could surface now to be dealt with.

On SATURDAY, Mars is trining (brakes off) Uranus. Try something new and take some new action. This energy will give us a strong need for independence. New opportunities come through taking new risks. Great energy to get new projects off the ground. This could bring something unexpected into our eclipse story and a renewed energy/passion for SOMETHING FROM THE PAST.

Remember I write about dates when aspects are exact. The aspects (not so much the Moon which just moves too fast) can often be experienced days before or after. Keep this in mind. Also the eclipse stuff is still playing out and eclipse events often hit one week or month before or after the dates here and then unwind over several months.

xo all

Trump's chart is hit rather bigly at the end of this week and into the weekend (exact on Saturday), part of his Mars eclipse story, so we will see what happens then - could also be the stuff that hit the end of this past week.

Saturn Stations Direct | forward motion toward our long term goals

time out by evivalarte

After five months retrograde, Saturn - the planet of time, goals, commitment, responsibility - stations to move direct. Check 21 degrees Sagittarius in your natal chart to see the house (area of life) where he has been re-tracing his steps. 

It could have felt, during this time, that we were getting further away from our goals or where we want to be in this area of our life. Maybe obligations weighed heavily. Walls and limitations had to be faced. Corners we had previously cut were noted to be missing. The bills came due. Maybe we were re-evaluating, re-assessing, re-affirming our responsibilities and commitments. Maybe we learned to say, "no". Maybe we learned to say "yes" to something we had been avoiding. 

Saturn always gives rewards, but they are Saturnian rewards - coming after we've put in the time and hard work to build something that lasts.

Our long range goals that have been stuck can start to move forward now.  

We have until right around the time of the winter solstice to finalize plans for our Sagittarian house before Saturn moves home to Capricorn. Sagittarius rules our big picture beliefs, what is foreign to us, foreign travel, higher education, religion, politics, the media, the Sagittarius house of our natal chart and the house that houses the planet Jupiter. Wrap that stuff up somehow - figure out what you want and set up a game plan. Get something done. Stabilize this stuff.

If you have planets or points very late into Sagittarius - 28-29 degrees, Saturn will hit them the first week of December. He will go about stabilizing whatever is happening there, but it might feel better if we do it ourselves first. He is heading straight home to Capricorn now and we don't really want to be standing in the way of that (says the person with the 28 degree Venus in Sagittarius in her 2nd house).

Consider this a clean slate. Mercury is still retrograde but this is a great time for planning and making small, stabilizing moves. In some ways we are right back where we were five months ago with our goals and commitments, except we are older and wiser now. 

If we have used this time wisely we should be clearer now. Maybe we've let go of a few things, maybe some things have been firmed up. Saturn doesn't rush, because Saturnian things (the things that last) are built over time. We don't have to rush either.

A heads up that after September 5th or 6th we will have two additional planets moving forward - Mercury and Pluto (plus of course Saturn as of today). This is as good as it is going to get this year for "full steam ahead" energy, wind at our back. We could probably postpone a week or so after these dates for things to calm down, but that will be it. We will need every minute of everyday to get where we need to be by the end of December - remember the solstice - winter is coming.

Use that Virgo Sun to do the cleaning, planning and legwork now - cross your t's and dot your i's - you don't have to know exactly what you are doing. Just clean up the mess. It will all pay off later.

xo all

Eclipse Hangover and Venus Square Uranus | pattern disruption, course correcting

mirror by kasiowata11

Monday's eclipse was a potent pattern interrupter.

It brings something to light or eclipses something out of our way. It closes off one path, one way forward, so we are nudged, pushed, dragged or drop kicked (boot meet ass) onto another path.

With so much retrograde energy there is alot of looking backward here (in the United States we are working through our collective energetic baggage regarding the Civil War and Nazism) as old cycles need to be finished up. We don't want to/need to be carrying this sh*t anymore. This energy will play out over the next six months.

The North Node in Leo assures me that we need to focus on the future and what we are creating rather than on the past and what we have lost. 

I had my own Oprah 'aha moment' the morning after the eclipse. I'd stilled my mind in meditation, drawn myself, once again, into the present moment when it hit me that since I believed my past thoughts had set into motion my present reality, my consistent focus on the present moment (pretty much a staple of New Age thinking, not that I consider myself New Agey, but it does impact me), which is great for focus and clarity was at least partly (and maybe significantly) responsible for my endless loop of creating the same things over and over again. New characters, same story line. New actions, same results.

So because what is, is a reflection of what was - focusing on what is has us focusing on the past, so we keep recreating our future as the past. Am I making sense?

I need to do ALOT more thinking/feeling about what I want and the future I want to create - with an emphasis on the feeling that is symbolized by the thing I want. I always think I do this, but I don't do it anywhere near as often as I am focusing on the present moment

which is really the past in disguise! That tricky bastard.

Our lives are never stagnant for long, our lives are always changing - how much of this change we are consciously participating in is up to us. I am pretty certain our unconsciousness will have its way with us IF we do not have a certain level of commitment to ourselves and are not in a vibratory state where we can handle the responsibility of captaining our own ship.

Are we unconsciously generating a life that mostly consists of everything we have gathered along the way that is not even ours?

Anyway, this is just something to think about, how too much emphasis on 'being in the moment' or not enough emphasis on 'creating the future' could unconsciously set us up for a loop. I don't think we need to do less meditation, mindful walking, etc - I know this stuff is helpful. But I do think we need a daily practice of thoughtful creation (thinking about and feeling what we want that at least equals, probably in both time and intensity, the present moment practice).

***

I've been feeling hungover since the eclipse. I wrote the Sun into Virgo, clean the closet post, but keep opening my closet, inbox, etc and closing them again. Everything seems like quite a mess. Like I am being asked to clean up after Katrina.

I've heard some people found the eclipse to be energizing. I've felt mostly drained with a few sporadic moments of motivation. Now that the Moon has gotten away from the Sun (Moon into Libra today after traveling through Leo, the Eclipse and Virgo being blasted by solar energy - enough already Sun leave the poor Moon alone!) it could be the cosmic coffee that wakes me up - I am hoping!

Today could be tricky. We have Venus (in Cancer) squaring Uranus (in Aries) and trining Chiron (in Pisces). This is break-up, break-through, break something energy. And, yes, if we break something, the glass will be sharp.

Venus rules partnership, money, love, our self-esteem and our values. In Cancer, she is sensitive, moody and family/home oriented. She is squaring off with rebel/awakener Uranus in independent Aries. The trine to wounded healer Chiron means if something hurts here - the hurt is very old and very deep. And we'll know how old and how deep by how much aspirin or red wine we have consumed by the end of the night.

This square could make relationship and/or financial issues unpredictable. Maybe a change we should have made a long time ago now closes in on us. Maybe we make some kind of impulsive move or break toward freedom that just leaves us more unstable. There could be an unpleasant surprise here. It could feel like our safety/security is threatened. Slow down. Take a deep breath. We can love ourselves through this thing.

If we are the one feeling restless it doesn't mean we need to take drastic action - this close to the eclipses and with both Mars and Mercury set to hit the eclipse degrees within the next two weeks - maybe small moves would be best. Mercury is retrograde, along with four other planets including Saturn set to station direct TOMORROW. Let's not make any moves that set our course in cement, if we were a GPS we would still be course correcting.

xo all

Sun into Virgo | clean the closet

Still holding myself by little-moonshine

The astrology wheel is the hero's journey of self discovery. When the sun moves into Virgo today, it is the hero's (our) first encounter with service.

We are learning when to help and when helping isn't really helping. Virgo is the modest healer with the critical eye that takes care of the details. Meaningful work and competence are key now.

Virgo knows we are not here to do the work we love - we are here to love the work we do. There is a difference. This is the difference that changes the world. This is the difference that changes us.

Every sign has something to learn from the sign that follows it.

Leo learns from Virgo (and we all have Leo and Virgo in our charts somewhere - its placement will affect how this activates in your own journey) - to do the work. Virgo teaches Leo to let go of the need for the spotlight and recognition and to just focus on the work.

The king gets humbled (and we might, too, now!).

It is no coincidence that Virgo comes in autumn; the time of the harvest - the time we separate the wheat from the chaff.

The Sun in Virgo needs to do good work. In order to do this, we need to figure out what isn't working. We need to be able to see the flaws and problems.

When Mercury meets up with the Sun at the end of the week (and kicks off a new Mercury cycle) an idea, conversation, information, news, detail will come to our attention that tells us what we need to know to move forward (even though we are still looking backward). With the Sun's big old light we won't have to worry about missing it. It won't be a subtle thing. It will be obvious. It could be - the fly in our ointment, the flaw in our plans, the new idea, the crucial detail - that tells us what we need to know now.

Coming so close to Venus's move into heart centered Leo at the end of week (and with Venus now answering to Leo's ruler the Sun) we could use whatever comes to light now to determine if what we want (Venus) is at all practical or even actually possible now or it could provide us with the info we need to get it/make it happen.

Virgo's shadow is perfection. Perfection is a ferocious teacher and many people with strong Virgo have the battle scars to prove it. There must be self acceptance here  If a Virgo is unhappy with what she sees in the mirror, she will be unhappy with what she sees everywhere else.

Self-esteem is the key to avoiding self-destruction. Despite Virgo's need for careful planning (a well planned job is half done is certainly one of her mantras) she must learn to live in the moment and to live there with compassion (for herself and everyone else).

This is everyone's lesson now. We are all burning Virgo fuel for the next 30 days. Until September 5th, Mercury, the ruler of Virgo, is retrograde. We are looking backward. We are revising, redoing, renovating, rethinking, etc.

If major decisions or major moves can be put off until after this date, since we won't have all the facts and all our ducks beginning to line up until then - put it off. If it can't be put off, then make the decision, etc knowing things will work out a little differently than you think they will and there are still some tweaks and details that will need to be adjusted.

It's a good time to focus on our health - eat better, move our bodies more - Virgo rules the 6th house of health and work and there are reasons these two things go together

So let's get to work (can't you feel that "back-to-school, sharpen your pencils" energy even if no one in your life is heading back to school?). Let's get organized. Let's make our bed and sweep the floor. Any space in our life where we get to decide what stays and what goes is a good space to be working in now. Think closets and inboxes.

Evaluate what is and what isn't working - what is worth doing/trying and what isn't. The North Node is still in fiery Leo, but Virgo energy is practical. It is time to deal with all the little background noise that makes it impossible to hear what our heart is saying to us.

xo all