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

Mercury Opposite Chiron | healing words, hurting words, verbal triggers, let's be compassionate with ourselves and others

conversation by Daisy-M

The Moon is void until 12:24 PM EDT - this is not a good morning to launch something new. Sleep in if you can or go for a long walk and enjoy some unencumbered Sagittarius Moon optimism for a couple hours.

After lunch EDT the Moon moves into Capricorn. It will be time for us to get to work. Be responsible. Take care of business. Be respectful of other people's time and boundaries as well as our own.

There has been a story building all week. See the weekly HERE

Today Mercury (26 degrees Virgo) opposes Chiron (26 degrees Pisces). Words have an elevated power to both heal and hurt now. Think through what you are saying and hearing - is your response out of proportion to the situation? If it is, you can be sure an old wound is being triggered.

For example, this is how road rage works.

(and yes, be cautious when driving today, too, with Mercury involved and this could also involve a sibling issue, also Mercury ruled).

Hubs used to get really crazy in traffic when we were younger. I could never understand the big emotional response he would get when someone followed closer than he would like or pulled too quickly in front of him.

(obviously there are times when this could be a big deal, but he would make a way bigger deal out of little - non emergency - happenings of this than was called for)

Being cut off (other spaces where we have been cut off, where someone has shut us up, where someone appears to be have gotten "ahead of us") -

being followed too closely (other spaces in our lives where people are on our back, where people have been nipping on our heels, breathing down our necks, where we have not been fast enough)

 the themes driving activates are pretty universal - we've all been there.

When we feel an emotion that is out of proportion to what is happening we know it is activating something else - something our physical or emotional self is holding.

We have all kinds of "other people" issues playing out now. Relationships that have been steady as a rock for 20 years (is there really such a thing) are not so stable these days because Pluto in Capricorn is squaring Libra and Aries (our relationship axis) plus we have Jupiter in Libra.

Today, the Sun (in Libra) conjuncts Vesta. This shines a spotlight on a relationship issue, especially if we have a situation where balance, beauty or fairness is lacking. 

With Mercury not only opposing Chiron today (our childhood wound), but also squaring Black Moon Lilith - there will be a taboo issue no one wants to talk about. But somehow it will be.

That Chironic wound is unlikely to be ignored.

Finding an answer isn't as much the point of all of this right now as much as drawing our attention to the wound. It won't be comfortable. Comfort can be over-rated when we are housed in bodies per-programmed to crave what is familiar. Keep this in mind.

Let's be compassionate with ourselves and other people now. We really are all fighting a hard battle ....

xo all

Mars in Virgo Trine Pallas in Taurus | patterns of behavior, strategy, working the process, perseverance, creativity

time time time by muszka

First check the forecast HERE for this week's major energy patterns.

The Moon is still in "big-picture" Sagittarius today and making some tense aspects including a hook-up with serious Saturn. Although our mood could be a bit flattened, the combination of Saturn's feet on the ground/strong foundation and Jupiter's (Sagittarius ruler) head in the clouds/build it BIG isn't necessarily a bad thing, right?

It sounds like a recipe for success, long term success, which is a perfect fit with today's perfecting aspect -

Mars (in Virgo at 13 degrees) trines (brakes off) Pallas (in Taurus at 13 degrees).

Mars rules action, initiative, war and independence and Pallas rules creative intelligence, strategy, war and patterns.

Practical action (Mars in Virgo - take the next step, cross your t's, do what makes sense) along with structured, creative problem solving and pattern recognition (Pallas in Taurus - establish a new pattern/schedule/plan that builds on what is already working but put your own creative spin on it). 

This moves whatever we are working on/dealing with forward more smoothly (trine).

With all of this earth (Virgo/Taurus), stuff is going to take time to germinate. This isn't the energy of something that is fast or explosive. This is slow growth that lasts.

This starts with a plan. Something that builds on WHAT IS ALREADY WORKING. Then we do the day-to-day practical work the plan lays out. Create a pattern to be followed. Work the process. Progress will be steady and noticeable. 

Perseverance is required.

xo all

Mini Astro Lesson - Taurus and Virgo are naturally trine each other. Rulers of our 2nd (our resources, our values, our self-esteem) and 6th houses (work, health, day-to-day activities) the themes of these houses naturally compliment each other, too. They work together so smoothly we might only notice them when they aren't working. We work (6th house) and make money (2nd house). We value ourselves (2nd house) and so we do the work needed to stay healthy (6th house). You get the picture. The other natural trine here (earth signs) is our 10th house (Capricorn) which rules career/public life, you can see how this house fits in here, too.

There is natural law at work here. If you go to astro.com, free horoscopes, natal chart and enter your birth data - your chart will include a little graph at the bottom where you will see lots of little symbols including triangles. Those triangles are some of your super-powers. They are your planets and points that were in just the right houses and just the right degrees when you were born to provide you with your personal arsenal of "brakes off". Check them out. Google the attributes of the planets and houses involved. Make a word salad. Sit with that for a bit.

Astrology Forecast for Creatives | Week of September 25th - painful truths, hard to find the right words, negative self talk, surprising news, big pushes forward, here we go!

shine even in the darkness by muszka

On MONDAY,  Mercury (in Virgo) squares Saturn (in Sagittarius) -

then on Wednesday, he/she opposes Chiron (in Pisces) - this makes the first three days of the week tense and stressful - stock up on the good chocolate and the red wine NOW.

Some painful truths might come out over the next couple days. Problems could come to light and the answers could be hard to find (maybe check that left side sofa cushion there is always something find-able under there).  Everything doesn't have to grind to a halt though. With Saturn in the picture, the solution may take time and some elbow grease. But with Saturn time is on our side.

Think the situation through.

It will be easy to say the wrong thing and put our foot in our mouth. Or maybe the right words don't come easy or don't come at all. Maybe we are talked over or just don't get our chance to speak. Maybe the less said the better.

It will be easy for our thinking to go negative. Keep in mind this is a fast-moving transit. With the other energies at play this week, it could be easy to make a mountain out of a molehill.

If it actually is a mountain, there will be actions we can take later in the week to deal with it. Remember we still have a heap of planets in Virgo - small precise steps, organization, stick to the facts.

And we have the Sun in Libra - think 'diplomacy', think 'balance', think 'fairness' - and brush your hair. Appearances matter now.

This is great energy (Monday) for solo work that focuses our mind on one thing for a long time. We could get alot done, but not alot of different things done. This is not the best energy to communicate (Mercury) with authority (Saturn). Not the best time for business negotiations. We could get caught up in the minutia (Virgo) and miss the big picture (Sagittarius).

The Moon is in Sagittarius so we could be focused on Sagittarius themes - education, travel, foreign issues, politics, weddings, the media, public relations, grandchildren, legal issues, religion. The Moon's squares first to Venus and later to Jupiter could leave us a bit scattered.

By TUESDAY, the approaching Jupiter/Uranus square is almost certainly being felt. See Thursday for the details. The Moon's conjunction with Saturn flattens out our mood. The Moon squares Mercury - our emotions and our head are in tension. Judging and being judged does not feel so good. Again this is Virgo/Sagittarius stuff. Two energies that naturally square each other. Sagittarius always wants more but Virgo knows how to use what we already have. Keep this in mind.

On WEDNESDAY, Mercury (in Virgo) opposes Chiron (in Pisces). Something hurts. Sticks and stones can break our bones, but words can never hurt us - turns out to be a LIE. Use Virgo - stick with the facts, be practical, stay calm, do something with your hands - put one foot in front of the other.

The Moon moves into "all-business, just get 'er done" Capricorn after being Void until 12:25PM EDT. People are more serious and concerned about their own safety and security for the next couple days. We might not be as emotionally available to each other now - keep this in mind when people want their space or seem colder than usual. Our emotions (Moon) need structure (Capricorn). I am not really sure what the hell I am saying with that- but it feels right. We have the first quarter Moon so whatever we started at the New Moon in Virgo is officially off the ground and we encounter our first obstacles.

The big news this week is the final Jupiter/Uranus opposition on THURSDAY. We will be feeling this all week. We have had three of these since Jupiter went into Libra last year.

The final opposition this week could bring a surprise ending to the Jupiter/Uranus story which started on December 26th - although in some ways really started back in 2010. 

Results will be either massively disruptive or massively positive. Or both.

With Uranus anything goes, so cross your fingers with this one. 

If you have planets or points around 27 degrees of the cardinal signs - Aries, Cancer, Libra or Capricorn you will feel this one strongest. It has been building all month really.

 *****

People ask me how to handle Uranus transits. With Saturn transits you need to do the serious, responsible, hard work. With Neptune transits you need to stay grounded, meditate (but not over-meditate), make art and then close that art room door and go deal with the real world - avoid escaping. Read non-fiction. With Pluto we need to go deep, let go of things that are dead (we will know they are dead because they will be leaving). You know that movie heroine who goes into the dark basement even though we are all screaming from our seats for her to get in her car and drive to Target for a cheap locket that will break in a week

(warning shameless plug ahead- my locket will not break in a week, it will last the rest of your life, it is available HERE)

well we need to be that girl during a Pluto transit. Pluto transits just have to be survived. Ha!

With Uranus transits, there isn't alot we can do once we are in them. The more "stuck" we are as Uranus approaches, the more dramatic the results of the transit. He will get us from A to B in the fastest, most direct manner and does not care at all if we are dropped on our ass in a prickly field of cacti.

The more we are moving and changing before the transit the less we will feel his disruption. Note - he will be moving into our Taurus houses in April. Find what house he rules in your natal chart (or ask me!). That house theme is about to be shaken up! And Taurus is fixed earth - our Taurus house is a space we most naturally hunker down and get stuck. It's going to be interesting folks!

 *****

Jupiter through Libra for the last year has been about balance within relationships, fairness, diplomacy. During this time Jupiter has done two things three times.

He squared Pluto three times (remember we talked early in the year about that elephant hiding behind the couch - that relationship issue that was going to get bigger and bigger in 2017 until we dealt with it) and he opposed Uranus three times.

This week is the final Uranus opposition. These boys don't move quickly so the energy will be sticking around awhile. We felt this in late December/early January, late February/early March and now late September/early October.

If outside forces are not pushing us into new terrains, this energy could be making us antsy and impatient. I will do a full post about this.

Also, on THURSDAY, Pluto stations direct (expect a post) after a five month retrograde. He moves toward a trine (brakes off) with Mars in Virgo which will be exact on SUNDAY. This one feels like PROGRESS. It will give us the strength (Mars) and staying power (Pluto) to achieve our goals!

Happening hand-in-hand with the Jupiter/Uranus opposition makes me think of something moving in a brand new direction. There is some kind of perfect timing here.

If we had some bad news/problem situations earlier in the week this is the energy we want to use to take right action!

The bossy Capricorn Moon trines (brakes off) Mars. This gives us extra energy and the drive to get things done.

On Thursday night the Moon will conjunct a strong stationing Pluto - lots of volatile emotions, jealousy, compulsion, possessiveness - this is in Capricorn so some chilly winds could be blowing! It could be a good night for a deep conversation where we MIGHT keep a level head, but I think I will pass on that and go to sleep!

On FRIDAY, Venus (in Virgo) opposes Neptune (in Pisces). One of the reasons so much is happening is that we have all these planets in Virgo working their way through Neptune and Chiron oppositions!

On the same day Mercury will move into Libra. So we have Mercury in Libra answering to Venus (Libra's ruler) and Venus in Virgo answering to Mercury (Virgo's ruler).

This strengthens both Venus and Mercury.

Venus/Neptune is good energy for art, music, using our imagination. A good time for true forgiveness and compassion, but also good energy for deluding ourselves with more pink paint. Leave the credit cards at home. On the other hand, if you market something to women - fantasy sells, so figure that out.

Our energy might be low today. This is not the best time to sign a contract because we could miss important details. It will be easy to try and avoid the unpleasant stuff we don't want to deal with. I know it is Friday and we all just want the week to be over - but try not to let the details slide or to give more than the situation warrants. Boundaries will be leaky. I swear if I get another insect infestation with this Neptune aspect I am going to shutter my house and go live in my car - which I shouldn't joke about because of course many people have shuttered their houses and are living in their cars. A good day for meditation. Maybe not so good for jokes about homelessness.

We could be inspired to create something beautiful now. The world needs more beautiful. Let's do that.

xo all

back this week with some dailies, plus a look ahead at the big transits of 2018!

Sun Into Libra | Equinox - the Sun begins to fall, bringing things into balance, natural cycles, those pesky other people, the beauty in everyday things

BAGO by schude

At 4:01PM EDT today the Sun moves into Libra - a day with an equal balance of daylight and dark.

The Sun begins to fall (weakens) as we move into longer nights and shorter days. It is the opposite down under (the Sun begins to strengthen). Western astrology is based on the Northern hemisphere where we move into Fall - which is not only about leaves!

I have had a few emails from people linking me to videos about the end of days (meaning the end of all our days!) being 9/23. But don't fill up the credit cards just yet folks. I could imagine the end of civilization, maybe some kind of ice age, coming during the Age of Capricorn. But we have a couple thousand years of the Age of Aquarius between us and then.

I know we are mostly exhausted, but let's not give up just yet. Saturn has been stopped for a long time and this is really zapping many people's drive. There have been losses and roadblocks and it is going to take work to get to where we want to be. It is like we are saying to ourselves, "I see these possibilities over THERE, but they are going to take alot of work and I am tired and not sure I want to do it anymore." Let's use nature's cycles to realize whatever it happening in our own life is a cycle, too. It seems that whenever the energy starts to feel like this - those doomsday prophecies are picked up by the news.

Don't forget we are all in this together. Even at times when it feels like we are all alone! Sometimes we just need to be shaken so our resting energy is provoked. Maybe we are like that bottle of ketchup and would get all clumped up without some agitation.

If we have tripped or "fallen" maybe we could try thanking this 'trigger', this 'benchmark' for what we are learning. I know it is hard to do that! And I have to somewhat spit those words out right now myself - sorry if I hit you!

But imagine a life where everything went our way all the time. Would we really want that? And we know we don't, because if we collectively did, we would have that. This doesn't mean we want whatever is happening to us to happen to us when things go wrong - but the more we focus on what we don't want, the more "don't want" there is to focus on.

The Sun in Libra is excellent energy to focus on beauty - where is the beauty in our life?

Can we use all these laser-focused planets in Virgo to see (Mercury), feel (Venus) and touch (Mars) the real beauty in our lives? Can we see the beauty in the stories behind our wrinkles and gray hairs? Can we see how the stories make those lines and twisted follicles beautiful? And now that we have seen that in ourselves can we see the beauty in other people's scars and blemishes, too?

We still have alot of inner planets in Virgo so the Virgo practicality and putting one foot in front of the other will still be a focus, but now the Sun (our life force) shifts into the sign of balance, compromise, relationships and fairness.

A light (the Sun) will be shone on what is out-of-balance or what is unfair, particularly within relationships. The curtain is drawn back and our Libra houses (and their themes) wake up. 

In some ways, because Libra is about weighing things out (nothing is cut and dried here like the wheat during Virgo season) things are harder when the Sun is in Libra. Libras sometimes (not always) appear wishy-washy, but it is because they were born between Summer and Winter - they can see both sides of everything!

With the Sun in Libra we will all be burning Libra fuel. We move ahead through balance, compromise and through our relationships with other people. 

We move into the shadow of Libra when we are passive-aggressive, pouring pink paint on garbage and pretending it is a Barbie dream house and putting what everyone else needs/wants ahead of ourselves thus building deep pockets of resentment that will explode all over us and everyone else by the time we get into Scorpio season. These are our no-no's now. Keep an eye out.

(the North Node is still in Leo - oxygen mask on our own face first)

Write your Autumn bucket list. What do you want to do, see, experience? Think about that.

xo all