Mercury into Libra | the art of gracious language, if you can't say something nice, chatting up the neighbors, indecision, instead of telling it like it is try finding some common ground

awake by lord celeborn

Mercury (communication, ideas, thinking, siblings, local neighborhood) moves into Libra (balance, fairness, diplomacy, passive-aggression, indecision, peace, art, beauty, women) today where he/she will hang his hat until October 17th.

Successful words are more tactful now - more focused on what the other person needs/wants. That splitting hairs and checking for typos Mercury did back in Virgo cedes way to saying it nicely. 

Although until mid-October with Mercury (Virgo's Ruler) in Libra and Venus (Libra's ruler) in Virgo - their mutual reception could give us the best of both worlds - kind words that are also grammatically correct and precise!

Our thinking could be more indecisive now. Not because Libra is wishy-washy so much as just able to see both sides of any situation. Libra's polarity sign Aries can make fast decisions because the energy can focus most easily on one point of view - their own. Ha! And because this is the way life seems to works we will often be faced with a decision at exactly the time all this energy makes decision-making hard - go figure.

Libra is the natural ruler of our 7th house of other people. Life gets more complicated after the 7th house. Do you have any planets in your 7th house or in Libra - these are the archetypes we usually set up our lives to have played out by other people - how's that working for ya'?

Libra wants everybody to be friends. Diplomacy, both in our personal lives and the larger collective, if actually attempted, can improve tense situations now. The gentle art of persuasion via a lighter touch can work, too. Mercury in Venus is a good listener because Venus actually cares about other people!

Words that make people feel loved and appreciated and beautiful will be the right words.

Our natal Libra house gets a visit from multi-tasking, inquisitive Mercury. So things in the area of our life naturally ruled by Libra get busy. 

For today, Venus is opposing foggy and dreamy Neptune so keep in mind someone could be painting a prettier picture of something than is actually factual. The mutual reception with Mercury should help us sort this out.

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

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

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

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

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

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

With another planet in air it is also an excellent time to get a head cold. Do whatever you normally do to prevent that. xo all

Jupiter Opposite Uranus, Pluto Stations Direct | powerhouse day, let's just say THAT

p and o by bubble-gum-heart

Maybe re-read Thursday HERE because I probably won't be repeating what is there.

Pluto is stationing direct at 16 degrees Capricorn. 

Planets are uber powerful when they station and Pluto is our most powerful planet. He has been retrograde since April. If you have any planets or points at 16-17 degrees Capricorn (or the other cardinal signs to a lesser degree) you have been certainly feeling this. Partly when Pluto starts covering entirely new ground in late October and then completely by late December you will never, in this lifetime, have to deal with whatever has been churned up again. Never. Ever. Life has changed and Pluto change is permanent. You are almost there.

For the rest of us, whatever Pluto has been backtracking over - what house is mid-degree Capricorn in your natal chart? - will now be moving forward. He won't be covering new ground until October 23rd, but it could feel like a great load is lifted now. Blockages could be removed in an instant. The earth is tilled and ready for new plantings. If this has been gumming up the works for you, you will feel this shift, and yes, I am talking to you Scorpio (but not only to you).

If you wonder why Scorpio energy can be so manipulative - maybe take into account their ruling planet is retrograde almost half the year! How else are they going to get anything done - ack! Jupiter is coming Scorpio - hang in there.

It could be a bit like that feeling when you take off a bra at the end of the day (hubs feels the same about socks), especially on nights we are channeling our inner magician. Nothing up my sleeve. But wait. Presto. Change-o. And we pull out that tight fitting garment. We haven't really noticed it while we were wearing it. We got used to it. But now that it's gone, we do notice the lifting of the pressure. Everything else feels better, too. 

As Pluto shifts forward, we will also feel the pull of two conflicting energies - the third (of three) Jupiter/Uranus oppositions in Libra and Aries.

The first was on December 26th at 20 degrees, then on March 2nd at 22 degrees and now at 27 degrees. People with planets or points around 27 degrees of the cardinal signs - Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn - will feel this one strongest but we all will to some degree. Something could also have shifted in early June when Jupiter stationed direct. This energy will continue to be in play for the next week or so, but peaks today.

I talked about this quite a bit in the weekly and all year actually. The gist of the day is in the weekly.

We are just a couple weeks before Jupiter moves into Scorpio (for the first time in 12 years!) and a few months before Uranus, the disruptor, moves into Taurus.

Since 2010 when Uranus moved into Aries, natural ruler of our 1st houses of self - we have ALL had our personal identities rattled. Our Aries natal houses have been shaken up.

My first astrology teacher back in the 90's said that when Uranus moved into Aries - many people would lose their minds and fall into the chaos. And if people hadn't found their center by the time Uranus moved into Taurus (April 2018) shaking up the things ruled by our 2nd houses - our resources, self-esteem, our values - we were in big trouble.

We don't have to be in big trouble. We are aware of what is happening. We are waking up. It is Uranus's duty as we head into the Age of Aquarius to bring us outside of Saturnian law regardless of what that looks like. We are defying our father. And it will be messy because Saturn is coming home to Capricorn (for the first time in 28 years) at the end of December, so the old man is far from down and out. I think he's been pumping iron in the extra room in the off-years. And just before he gets home he will trine revolutionary Uranus. It is going to be interesting!

In U.S. politics my thinking when I first looked ahead at all of this was that Mueller (brought in to replace Comey whom Trump fired through revenge invoking the curse of Regulus and promise of the Leo eclipse) would announce something about the Trump/Russia investigation this week eventually leading to Trump (Uranus) resigning and passing the baton to Pence (Saturn) in December. But I am not sure of anything anymore. There is just no way to look too far ahead.

Uranus is charged with disrupting the status quo. It rips apart our safety net. It tears up our contracts. It breaks up stagnant energy. It is electricity. It gets our *ss moving. Uranus is the higher octave of Mercury - the way Aquarius is the higher octave of Gemini - Uranus is like Mercury on steroids ... and we have all seen how powerful Mercury is.

Opposing Jupiter everything is magnified. This can make whatever is happening seem much LARGER than it actually is. Oppositions can bring endings. An ending or SURPRISE now will be either massively disruptive (Uranus) or massively positive (Jupiter). Either way it propels us forward.

Aquarians have been feeling this (relationships vs self) since Uranus is their ruling planet and we have the South Node in Aquarius now. It is the energy we are releasing. Overthinking, retreating to ponder things through, detaching and disconnecting - Aquarius shadow stuff - isn't going to cut it for any of us. We need all players on the field. All hands on deck - if we are going to right this ship.

The bottom line - we should feel a lessening of the pressure with Pluto direct (think the bra out of the sleeve maneuver or the socks tossed across the room). A blockage removed. For some it could be massive. Power moves. Perfect timing. Relationship issues around freedom/the future, ourselves/other people. Unexpected events connected to results and endings. Things could seem much more important and much larger than they actually are - keep this in mind.

Today is one of the most powerful days of the year. Instead of thinking "let's see what happens", let's step into our own power. No scapegoating. No blaming. No playing the victim. We are all much more powerful than we think we are. In some space within each of us we are all ready to move on.

xo all