Mars Conjunct Pluto | something's gonna blow, focus like a laser beam

Beneath the Water Lily by Christine-Muraton

We knew when Mars (how we get what we want, our will, action, initiative, anger) entered Capricorn back on March 17th that at some point during his Capricorn journey - since Saturn is hanging here until the end of 2020 and Pluto is hanging here from 2008-2024 - we knew our hero would have to face Saturn and Pluto. Although they are not together yet, thankfully.

He hit Saturn (obstacle, wall, limit, authority) back on April 2nd.

Today is the day he (as we) runs into a retrograde Pluto (transformation, life/death, rebirth, power, control). This energy has been in play for a few days - you may have already felt this - and will continue to be in play until early May. Since these bad boys are squaring Eris, too - this energy is even more potent.

Mars' Capricorn transit started within hours of his square (in Sagittarius) to the New Moon in vulnerable, compassionate Pisces - so we have been coming at this period from a place of weakness - we kind of started this leg of our journey on our knees.

At the same time we have had Mercury back and forth through Aries for weeks squaring this whole thing. Ugh! Indecision, roadblocks, frustration.

By Saturday both Mars (by conjunction) and Mercury (by square) will have moved past Saturn's obstacles. This doesn't mean we got what we wanted, although surely some people did. And we might not know what we are doing or going to do, but we probably know what isn't working by now.

If we can't have it, we know we can't have it.

Saturn is karmic so in some way these obstacles are the 'effects' of causes we ourselves set into motion. Maybe recently. Maybe long ago. Maybe long, long ago. Maybe in other lifetimes - our other lifetimes and our ancestors' lifetimes because we carry their energy and their stories forward.

Now, after finding out/and working through what we can't have - what we can't go back and redo - our limit here - here is Pluto.

Running into Pluto isn't like running into Saturn. This isn't a wall. This is more like a box of dynamite waiting for our angry, impatient Mars, who just happens to be the man with the match.

Our will (Mars) merges with the ultimate power (Pluto). As you can imagine this can be very potent destruction. Something is going down. This can be a good thing or a not-so-good thing.

This could play out in our lives with an argument as tempers flare around control issues.

People (including us) will be tempted to use drastic measures to get what they want. Think "the nuclear option" as a metaphor for whatever lies within Mars/Pluto potential.

We have the knowledge and power of astrology to see what is happening - to use our power for good. If something we are doing smells even slightly of manipulation or revenge or compulsion, stop, think that action through. Be certain of your motivation. Be awake.

I wrote about today's energy HERE - see Thursday. It might be hard not to get caught up in the heat of the moment. Think about that angry man (who doesn't even know he's an angry man) coming upon that box of dynamite. And we are also that box of dynamite (who doesn't know she's a box of dynamite) seducing that angry man. This is all going on inside us and in our personal world and in the collective.

We can choose to go higher and use this energy is healthy ways. And it is probably best to do something with this, rather than leaving it for other people to act out around us or upon us.

This is good energy for any project we need extreme focus, strength and ambition. This is good destruction energy. What needs to be broken down?

If we find ourselves angry today - go deeper with the feeling. What is this anger really about?

Our Mars journey through Capricorn doesn't end here. Mars will square Mercury on May 12th and then on May 16th Mars will move into Aquarius - where he will start answering to Uranus and Saturn. Uranus will be freshly minted in Taurus (and yes, this information sounds very similar to the Mercury information from yesterday MID-MAY is GOING TO BE HUGE) so Mars will be squaring him.

There will be break-throughs and breakdowns. We will talk about this more as we move through it.

For today - this is the serial/cereal killer energy (not a coincidence the Golden State Killer has finally been caught and by DNA with both Saturn and Pluto retrograde) we talked about the other day. It was only by virtue of my having procrastinated both grocery shopping and dishwasher 'button pushing' that I was unable to take out the entire neighborhood.

And we are building toward this weekend's HUGE "die or be reborn" Full Moon in Scorpio (ruled by Pluto)!

April has been uber challenging for many people - lots of stuff happening with maybe not much headway on the physical plane to show for all our toils in the end, but MASSIVE movement underneath if we are awake enough to feel how far we have come. 

So don't forget the Taurus Sun - take care of yourself, get your hands in the dirt, get a massage, prepare a meal with ingredients that have touched the Earth. This will balance us now.

xo all

There is also something in the energy here about a 'gracious defeat'. About not being a sore loser. About the way we handle things when we don't get 'our way'. The way we handle any need to throw up a white flag will be the energy that seeds the ground our next battle is fought upon. We have many, many wins ahead of us folks. We are playing the long game. In the grand scheme of things we aren't all that many years from the sandbox where we first learned to keep our cool (or not) when little Susie got the red shovel we wanted and took her victory lap around the playground. Do we lay in wait for our revenge (like the box of dynamite)? Or do we move on and go play on the swings. It's our choice.

Mercury Square Saturn | hard to think straight, writer's block, hitting the wall, frustration, words falling on deaf ears, tongues are tied up or should be, narrow mindedness

My Personal Silence by Natalia Deprina

Today (and this has been in play for a couple days and then will take a couple more days to unwind) we have Mercury (in Aries) squaring Saturn (in Capricorn) at 9 degrees.

This entire month seems like it has been Aries vs Capricorn - some kind of hurry up and wait thing - wanting to GO, wanting/having to STOP or wait or be sure. 

We had the first square (tension/challenge/frustration) between these two planets on March 11th, the second when Mercury was retrograde on April 4th and now the final square with Saturn retrograde.

Our communication/idea/sibling issue/transportation issue/Aries natal house issue hits the Saturnian wall/rule/limit/authority/responsibility.

With Saturn retrograde this is probably not a new issue - at least the Saturnian part isn't.

Mercury/Saturn is a tongue-tied aspect. We could say the wrong thing now or misinterpret what someone else is saying - keep this in mind. This makes me think we need to know what we are talking about.

It makes me think of loose lips sinking ships and tight lips making our heads explode.

It makes me think of trouble with authority. Trouble with rules. Trouble pushing our own agenda forward via language. Maybe stop signs involving a lack of credentials.

And remember we are Saturn, too - it could just as easily be a younger person/newer idea wanting to speed past us that we are putting the brakes on. We could be stopping ourselves because we just don't know what the hell to do or say or think.

We could hear a "NO" now.

We could say "NO" or be the one making a firm decision. Facts could be delivered that might not be to our liking, but keep in mind this is the FINAL square.  

Mercury is moving past Saturn after this. And then he is on a collision course with change-maker Uranus!

We may not be walking away from the table with exactly what we wanted here, but with Mars (action, initiative, anger, independence) meeting Pluto (transformation, life/death) in this SAME Capricorn house on Thursday - this energy is already in play now and continues in play until early May - changes/progress will come through our ability to keep moving forward.

On May 13th, Mercury (at 29 degrees Aries) will conjunct "anything-can-happen" future-focused Uranus and then finally (due to her/his retrograde Mercury was in Aries a long time) leave Aries for Taurus. And yes, that is just two days before Uranus leaves Aries for Taurus, too. There will be some kind of money/resources/values WAKE UP CALL coming in then. We will be required to answer the phone - start right now envisioning the Publisher's Clearing House guy with the balloons and the check.

In the meantime, if that rock we are trying to push up that hill keeps rolling back down and smashing us in the face it might be the time to put that particular rock (ie problem/situation) to the side for a bit. Ruminating/worrying won't help. Over-thinking, thinking too far ahead won't help. Talking it out could lead to arguments. Squares are tension points, but without them we would never get anywhere that really matters. No one said this was going to be easy.

So, on one hand maybe that rock is just not going up that hill.

On the other hand Mercury is going to move past Saturn (that hill). And it's not like Saturn (the hill) is chasing after Mercury. Mercury will be long gone before Saturn gets back to these degrees and Mercury is just a couple weeks from his meeting with revolutionary Uranus, so things that seem good and solid are not so good and solid.

Maybe we need this rock at the bottom of the hill. Maybe we can climb the hill faster without the rock. Maybe the rock isn't the problem, maybe we want to try climbing another hill. Maybe our rock is being turned into a diamond with all this pressure. 

For now, instead of trying to talk it out which will probably lead to angry words and frustration - or think it out - our brain is in a vise right now - it might be better to just step away from the situation and go and do something else.

Let the square unwind a bit. You know how a solution can suddenly come to you when you are doing something else. It could be something like that.

There could be an ending now. We might have taken an idea as far as it is going to go and we can see that now. It might not be the kind of ending the storybook would label as "happily ever after", but it will free up our focus in the long run. Mercury is the fleet-footed messenger and this is a fast transit. This will be in our rearview mirror in no time at all. We can count on that.

For now. Treat language as sacred. Mercury/Saturn speaks of karma and contracts and we want to be clear on what we are getting ourselves into. Commitments made now will not be unwound easily. 

This is excellent energy to get clear on our intentions.

Just keep moving. We are playing the long game now.

xo all

Mercury also rules siblings and transportation - which sounds random but really isn't.

DRIVE SAFELY. Avoid eye contact with that crazy driver tailgating you. Simply pull over and let him pass. We are Saturn, too.

Venus into Gemini | more options regarding love and money plus the transit's kick-off sextile to Chiron

Duel by Diana Cretu

I wrote quite a bit about this transit (thru May 19th) HERE see Tuesday.

Venus's month in Gemini will give us more options.

So you will want to keep yours open, if possible. If you are a flexible person this will feel good. If you feel more comfortable with solid situations, you are going to have to remind yourself that change is a good thing. Stay curious.

Maybe this will work/feel good. Maybe that will. Maybe a little of this and a little of that is needed.

Maybe you don't have to know what you want right now.

Try that one on for size.

If we must choose and the choice is important at least we finally have a planet in an air sign.

We should be able to get a little distance from the situation mentally and not make the choice based entirely on emotions.

Gemini is dualistic and not much help with deciding though. There will be alot for us to see and hear and learn - so unless we are being terrible lazy, we won't be choosing without quite a bit of information available to us, so there's that.

Now, immediately, because Gemini is sextile to Aries and Chiron is freshly minted into Aries and moving through 0 degrees, Venus will sextile (opportunity) Chiron.

Having the wounded healer energy (Chiron) in Aries for the next few years won't be about healing through talk therapy or hugging it out or crying about it.

Cardinal Aries just wants to get moving.

Some electric shock therapy might work, and with both Chiron and electrical Uranus in Aries for the next couple weeks - most of us have experienced some kind of shocking ending or beginning (or will over the next couple weeks).

It might seem that shell-shocked people would need cuddles and warm chicken soup, but probably

(and keep in mind I am an armchair astrologer and not a psychiatrist - my couch is occupied by a 25 pound brindle beagle/terrier named Olive, not some guy named Harry with a marriage problem paying me two hundred bucks an hour)

what shell-shocked people need most is TO KEEP MOVING.

And actually I once read the survivors of a horrendous African genocide who were given counseling afterward were three times more likely to commit suicide than those who weren't given counseling.

This makes sense to me and with Chiron in Aries now maybe this is something to keep in mind.

Remember how our high school heartaches were mended so much faster if we just KEPT GOING out with our girlfriends/boyfriends and didn't sit around wallowing. By the time we got to the wallowing part, we had enough distance from the situation (ie less of ourselves invested in it) that the pity party was over with a pint of Chunky Monkey - we didn't need the whole gallon and we were able to skip the John Cusack marathon entirely. 

Hub's Moon is in Aries and too much (ie almost any) even well-intentioned comforting and care-taking leaves him feeling muzzled and restless. Back rubs work because Aries rules the first house of our physical bodies, but what he really wants is to KEEP MOVING and take some kind of  action.

Today's sextile (opportunity) between Venus, breezy in Gemini, and Chiron, already antsy in Aries - tells us the balm for whatever is hurting/needs healing will come through giving the situation a little more air, a lighter (Gemini) touch (Venus) and through our ability to KEEP MOVING. This could be good advice for the entire Venus in Gemini season, too.

xo all

Astrology Forecast for Creatives | Week of April 23rd - the countdown to the DIE or BE REBORN Full Moon in Scorpio, facing what wounds us, a final brick in the wall, the operating room, truth, alternative truth, danger will robinson, explosions, extreme focus, stamina, ambition, detoxification, FATED change, the curtain rises

.... . . by Frozen-photo

If your schedule didn't meet resistance last week - my entire plans for everything changed -  it probably will this week.

Especially tricky are any areas of life we are trying to power through our own agenda. Stay flexible. Pluto rules the week - if we aren't using our power wisely now, something could blow up in our face or we could find ourselves a victim of someone else's power plays.

On the other hand if we are smart and lucky we could be using this energy with an almost surgical precision.

These are the kind of skies under which someone's great-grandmother coined the phrase, "if you want to make God laugh tell him your plans".

Changes are fated now.

Pluto stationed retrograde on Sunday joined Saturn (in Capricorn) and Jupiter (in Scorpio) - so now we have three powerful planets looking backward. Pluto will return to the degree he sat on December 28th, 2017 - so anything we have done this entire year can be CHANGED over the next five months.

The big aspects in the week ahead:

MONDAY - Mars Sextile Jupiter
TUESDAY - Venus Enters Gemini, Venus Sextiles Chiron
WEDNESDAY - Mercury Square Saturn (3rd of 3)
THURSDAY - Mars Conjunct Pluto !!!
SUNDAY - Full Moon in Scorpio (9 degrees)

On MONDAY, we start the day with the Moon in Leo. We could be focused on Leo themes - a creative project, children, recreation, romance, following our heart's desire or the themes of our natal Leo houses. She will square Jupiter in the morning - not the best time to make a financial decision, especially if we are feeling overly optimistic. Throughout the day we will be building toward a sextile (opportunity) between Mars and Jupiter - exact at 11:44PM EDT. Our actions now make us lucky. This one could be worth staying up for - especially with the challenges ahead later in the week.

On TUESDAY, the Moon in Leo goes void at 2:39PM EDT off a trine (brakes off) with unpredictable and futuristic Uranus. Good energy for our creative ambitions. Don't start anything new until the Moon moves into Virgo at 4:40PM EDT. The Virgo Moon will shift our focus to Virgo themes - our daily actions/activities, work, co-workers, our pets, our health. Virgo trines Capricorn (the sign Mars, Saturn and Pluto are hanging out), so we know the 2.5 days a month the Moon spends in Virgo can be time well-spent. Good energy for decision making and production.

Venus moves from her home sign of Taurus into fast-moving Gemini at 12:40PM EDT.

With the Moon (Virgo) and Venus (Gemini) freshly minted in signs that square each other - there could be some time in the late afternoon where it might be challenging to express ourselves or where we just get bogged down in too many details. The Moon in Virgo wants to dot the i's and cross the t's and Venus in Gemini is like one of those speed-reading courses (that none of us wanted to take because what is the fun in that, but that we are all living out now). She wants to scan it over and move on to the next thing.

Venus will sextile (opportunity) wounded healer Chiron (now in Aries). This aspect makes me think of an artist who comes to appreciate her true value and starts charging what she is worth - the opportunity that comes through the process of working through the pain of those self-esteem issues. Or an aging woman making peace with her appearance. Or love that is painful and healing ... something like that. The love/money/women/beauty/self esteem/values opportunity comes through contact with our sore spot. There could also be something here about an Aries/Taurus relationship/money issue - impulsive behavior/affairs, impulsive spending, a drive for comfort .... whatever this is Chiron tells us it might hurt, but the sextile tells us there is more opportunity than pain here. The hurt makes us stronger.

VENUS INTO GEMINI 

Note - I am putting the Venus into Gemini into the weekly post here rather than doing a separate post since the weekly gets more readers - keep in mind this is a transit that begins Tuesday and runs through the middle of May. It is a process.

And we still have the Sun in Taurus, keeping our feet on the ground and our noses in the roses.

Gemini Suns and rising signs get more attractive - both easier on the eye and able to attract what they want and need. Whatever house in our natal chart holds Gemini hosts a visit from magnetic Venus now - making it easier for all of us to attract what we need in that area.

We are most attractive (use our Venus) through Gemini (our mind). It's a good time (through May 19th) to be talking and communicating with lots of different people about lots of different things.

Venus in Gemini is about variety. In the mutable air sign (Gemini) the themes Venus rules - love, money, value, self-esteem, women, beauty - get more light-hearted. There are quickly more options available. There is also more duality - this is the space where our heart is saying one thing and our brain is saying something else.

We could suddenly recognize a mismatch between what we have and what we want. Or what we thought we had (during Venus in resource-rich Taurus) could be up for grabs a bit.

With Venus in Gemini life becomes more of a flirtation. Communications are more casual, more lively and humorous. It's a good time to set aside any existing constructs about what we like and what we don't like and stay open to new experiences, new people and new situations. Say YES to the things that sound like FUN now.

This isn't the best energy to make an important decision (regarding our Gemini natal house theme or Venus ruled love, money, self-esteem, values, women or beauty) or commit to something permanently although we do have an improved ability to make SMART CHOICES with this energy.

We don't want to be asking long-term commitments of others either. For example it's not the best time to ask clients to be tied into a long-term membership, but it's an excellent time to think outside the box about who would be up for a short-term trial period.  

People will be more open-minded about less important things. For the next three weeks, it's time to "flirt", it's not the time to "put a ring on it".

This doesn't just apply to romance.

Venus in Gemini attracts through communication. If you have a business this could be the time that increasing your social media presence pays off (like ka-ching, Venus rules money after all).

This is a good time to - talk, read, make the call, write the note, tell the joke.

This is not the best time of year for introverts (sniffle). If that sounds like you - let's remember that comfort zones do not promote growth - all the goodies really are sitting right outside our self-made boxes! We can do this thing (ie small talk, light banter, jokes - yikes!).

Gemini rules the 3rd house of our early education. This isn't about high level conversations - nothing has to be profound; words over two syllables will not be necessary. This is about the kind of communication skills we all learned in grade school. Wide beats deep now.

The witty and street smart girl gets the worm this month.

We will be sizing things up quickly and others will size us up quickly, too. It's probably best to keep communications a little light, but in a way that people are left thinking we are more than a light weight (and I am talking intellect here, not squeezing ourselves into too small yoga pants or skinny jeans - exhale girls).

Women (and money) may come and go now. Gemini is a mutable sign - we'll adapt.

We will be attracted to what makes us curious. Other people will find us, and our offerings, more attractive when we make them curious about us, too. Keep this in mind now.

*****

On WEDNESDAY, we have the final square between Mercury (in Aries) and Saturn (in Capricorn).

We had the first square (tension/challenge) on March 11th, the second when Mercury was retrograde on April 4th and now the final square with Saturn retrograde. Our communication/idea/sibling issue/Aries natal house issue hits the Saturnian wall/rule/limit/authority/responsibility. With Saturn retrograde this is not a new issue. There could be a "no" now. Maybe we are the one making a firm decision. Facts could be delivered that might not be to our liking - keep in mind this is the FINAL square. Mercury is moving past Saturn after this. We may not be walking away with exactly what we wanted, but with Mars (action, initiative, anger, independence) meeting Pluto (transformation, life/death) in this same Capricorn house on Thursday - changes will come through our ability to keep moving forward.

Let's look at how this might play out for a couple different signs.

EXAMPLE FOR ARIES/Aries Rising (Aries first house, Saturn/Mars/Pluto 10th house) - you could be at some kind of finish line or culmination point with whatever authority/rule/limit you have going on with your career, an important goal or the way the world views you. There could be tension around a commitment, official paperwork or an added responsibility. On Thursday and Friday Mars and Pluto are going to be sitting together in your same 10th house (these power players last met up On October 19, 2016 -if that time period rings any bells) - this is action, ambition, power moves, you stepping into the authority to change your life/career/goals in a public way.

EXAMPLE FOR PISCES/Pisces Rising (Aries 2nd house, Saturn/Mars/Pluto 11th house) - you could be at some kind of finish line or culmination point with an issue dealing with your money, your values, your resources or self esteem. You may get a "no" now or have to deal with a rule/authority situation that is stressful/critical. News regarding a financial situation may be challenging. News might be somehow 'public' or involve group/team goals. Keep in mind this is the FINAL Mercury/Saturn square in Capricorn - after this Mercury moves on and you will, too. On Thursday and Friday Mars and Pluto are going to be sitting together in your same 11th house (these power players last met up On October 19, 2016 -if that time period rings any bells) - this is your house of the collective - your friendships, groups, causes, the internet, the public, the goals that bring you into relationship with other people, your advancement, technology. This is about ambition and power moves within the public sphere. Watch your back. Your own actions within those 11th house themes will have the ability to transform something in a powerful, public way.

Mercury squaring Saturn would not make today the best day for commerce or wheeling and dealing. Our thinking will be slowed down - we will be looking for things we have missed (and with three passes we won't have missed much by now). This energy might encourage negative thinking and even depression. Know this is a transit. It is transitory even if the results are final. This, too, shall pass. We have been dealing with this since at least mid-March - we are almost past this wall. Just do what you have to do here - give Saturn his due and move on.

On THURSDAY, the Moon goes void at 5:49AM EDT off a trine to Pluto. The Moon will be void all day until she moves into Virgo at 9:13PM EDT. This is not the day to start anything or launch anything into the world that we need 'something to come of' because the Moon isn't aspecting any other planet. The trine (brakes off) to re-framing Pluto and the fact the Moon is void all day will hopefully help mitigate any potential nastiness from the Mars/Pluto conjunction.

At 6:45AM EDT, Mars (action, initiative, anger, war) meets up with Pluto retrograde (transformation, life/death) at 21 degrees Capricorn. We will feel this explosive energy THURSDAY AND FRIDAY.

This is powerful manifestation energy but can be ruthless and brutal. What's ready to be born, will be born. What's ready to end will be cut down. This is ambitious, powerful and potentially dangerous energy. There could be manipulations, obsessions and power plays. The last time these planets met up was on October 19, 2016, so something happening now could connect to that time frame.

Don't wander down any dark alleys. You know the drill.

Be aware that crowds can turn into mobs with this energy. Eruptions are possible. The machinations of war. Earthquakes.

It is best to do something with this, rather than leaving it for other people to act out around us. This is good energy for any project we need extreme focus, strength and ambition.

My natal Mercury is at 21 degrees Capricorn - it sits in my 3rd house with my Sun and Saturn and rules my 3rd and my 8th - since I tend to feel the energies almost exactly one week to the day before they are exact - it left me feeling very POWERFUL and like a totally different person

(kind of coolly logical and less emotional, maybe like a serial killer or a psychopath, yes, I said, serial killer - although in my case it was more like a cereal killer and luckily for my family we were out of Raisin Bran .. and milk ... and clean spoons .. so things didn't have to get too messy - story to follow - as soon as I get far enough into this freakin' transit and can talk/write about)

- it gave me a laser-focus.

And, now that I know what a laser-focused mind can feel like I feel cheated to have my "versatile" 3rd house Mercury in "always looking backward, talking like my grandmother" Capricorn - dammit.

All I can say is - WATCH YOUR BACK (your camera phone in reverse mode can be pretty effective for this) and be aware of the CONSEQUENCES of your actions.

Plutonian changes are permanent and fated.

Mars is impulsive and Pluto is destructive - this is excellent energy to "cut out" what isn't working - just maybe take a couple extra moments to make sure it actually isn't working. It makes me think of a surgeon removing an infected body part. Excellent energy to de-clutter and de-toxify.

Pluto is retrograde. Re-form, re-pair, re-generate - whatever you do here, do it with complete COMMITMENT.

Once you have thrown it out, it's gone. Don't go digging through the trash later with a flash light and your gardening gloves looking for it. It will smell like tuna and be covered in egg-salad. And you won't even have any tuna or egg-salad in the garbage bag.

The good news here is that Mars, who has been trapped for weeks between Pluto and Saturn will move PAST Pluto now - what's to stand in his/our way after this ... well, not a hell of alot.

On FRIDAY and SATURDAY the Moon will be in Libra so we know the Moon will be squaring those Capricorn planets - Mars, Saturn and Pluto. This is challenging energy. We'll talk about it in the weekend's post.

And as if this week wasn't already big enough we spend the entire week building toward the Scorpio Full Moon (courtesy of Scorpio's rulers a newly retrograde Pluto and a newly unencumbered Mars) where we will toss all the 'dead' stuff we have been carrying around onto the proverbial fire.

By the time we reach this Full Moon, the spaces where we have been CARRYING DEAD WEIGHT (holding onto things that are no longer needed) or JUST COASTING BY (we need your full commitment to life on planet Earth now) will be ready for this DIE or BE REBORN, detoxifying uber powerful Moon squaring the Nodes.

Scorpio doesn't play, people.

I know you are already feeling this.

This "I am still HERE" energy. And we are readier than we think we are for what comes next - our whole life has been in preparation for this even when we don't know what this is.

Hint - the North Node is still in our Leo house - what does our heart want? what stage sits empty because our ass is parked in the audience?

Big Full Moon post to follow.

xo all