Astrology Forecast for Creatives | Week of April 30th - imperfect options, compromises, adjustments, making the best of what we have on the table now, contracts, partnerships, take some 'noses in the roses' time because Taurus season won't last forever

Perceive the light by anaispopy

What has all this Scorpio/Plutonian energy brought to light for you? What is dead in the water? What has risen from the ashes or been brought back to life?

There is more lunar activity than anything else this week - we are processing what has happened through our emotions.

I can't tell if this week looks calmer than we have seen in awhile or if we are all just exhausted. There are multiple "rock and a hard place" situations, some positives around the middle of the week, but a lot of the week's energy could feel either unsatisfying or challenging depending on how directly your chart is impacted. We are riding the waves brought by Sunday's Full Moon for the next two weeks.

BIG changes (and REAL opportunities) ahead in May!

On MONDAY, the Moon (in Scorpio) trines Neptune at 8:32AM EDT. What were you dreaming when you woke up this morning? We start the day/week maybe feeling more sensitive and compassionate. Good energy to meditate, make art, do imaginative work. To make magic happen. To pull up anchor and drift off to sea. At 3:11PM EDT the Moon conjuncts Jupiter. This is a good business aspect. It might be a good time to ask someone for a favor. We could all be feeling more generous than usual. By 6:43PM EDT the Moon will sextile a retrograde Pluto (in Capricorn). There is an opportunity here to repair something, to have something that felt "dead in the water" suddenly rise from the ashes.

If you are entering into any sort of partnership/contract this week make sure you are looking behind corners and under rugs. Both partners need to be fired up (Juno in independent and fiery Aries since Saturday) and given enough space to move about freely for this thing to work. This won't be about merging multiple energies into one thing, but separate people/situations/groups working together because both benefit from the alliance. Like someone has a spare bedroom and needs extra money and someone else needs a place to sleep and has the means to pay the rent. This kind of stuff can fall into place now, but keep in mind with Aries energy being so independent and inclined to not look too far ahead - you need to take a more long-term view of what you are getting yourself into, there could be trouble not too far down the road if you are not both moving in the same direction and at the same speed off the starting line.

The Moon goes void at 10:56PM EDT off a sextile to Mars.

On TUESDAY, we kiss April good-bye - don't let the door hit you April (a challenging month with LOTS of growth!) - the Moon moves into BIG picture, big thinking Sagittarius at 11:19AM EDT. The next two and a half days will be fast moving!

This will feel similar to the Moon/Jupiter energy from yesterday. We might be more idealistic with more of a desire to travel and stretch our boundaries over the next couple days. It will be hard to restrict ourselves to one of anything - note to self - hide the Thin Mints.

Venus in versatile Gemini will inconjunct a retrograde Saturn, strong in Capricorn. This is a "rock and a hard place" aspect between what we want and what is actually available. We might not get exactly what we want here, but Gemini tells us there are options available. There could be a choice that doesn't really feel like a choice or a compromise needed. We might have to confront some relationship issues that make us irritable.We could be facing a financial limit, authority issue or maybe just not enough time/resources to do what we want to do!

The good news here is that WEDNESDAY, that same Venus is going to make a sextile to the North Node In Leo (our way forward), at the same time trining (brakes off) the South Node in Aquarius (what we are moving away from). Stay flexible. Adjust toward the new.

Maybe that imperfect option is actually exactly what is needed NOW to move things forward in the long run. 

Saturn will make sure we are working within our limits and means, but also make sure whatever is being built here is stable and lasting.

EXAMPLE FOR VIRGO, Virgo Rising (Gemini 10th house) - Venus is in your 10th house - your career, your calling, your achievements, your achievement goals, dad, business, authority, responsibility - something here is between a rock and a hard place now. Staying flexible in your professional life, even as challenges to your goals/status/authority present themselves will keep you on the North Node path within your career/public life. Adjust toward the new. Sunday's potent Full Moon (your 3rd house) could be bringing you evaluations/feedback/criticism on any changes/actions you took early in the year - pay attention and stay open-minded. There are big changes for all of us that start next month. You are going to need MORE SPACE Virgo.

The Moon squares Neptune making things a bit confusing.

On THURSDAY, the Moon goes void at 8:50PM EDT off a trine to Uranus then moves into steady Capricorn at 10:06PM EDT. Do something different.

The Capricorn Moon will make us more focused on our goals, career, duty and responsibilities for the next couple days. The Moon in Capricorn makes people less compassionate and more hard-hearted - pull yourself up by your bootstraps, like I did, buddy. Also more inclined toward self-protection, just staying alive. Every can in our cupboard could feel like the last can of beans in a blizzard. Good energy for business and building stability.

On FRIDAY, the Moon (in Capricorn) conjuncts Saturn at 3:02PM EDT for their monthly pow-wow. This is yesterday's energy on STEROIDS. Things are taken seriously. If you are prone to depression - give yourself a break now. Stuff could seem harder than it actually is. It could feel like we are facing whatever it is we are facing ALL ALONE. Stepping into your responsibility is required. Hard work pays off.

On SATURDAY, Mercury makes a "rock and a hard place" inconjunct to a retrograde Jupiter. With Mercury in "just get it done/said/out there" Aries - we could say something we regret or make too fast a decision on something. Words could be inflated - ours or other people's. Expectations could be too high. We could be making assumptions. We could be rushing something that shouldn't be rushed. With Jupiter in Scorpio we could reveal too much and put ourselves in a difficult position.

The inconjunct tells us to proceed cautiously, especially with our communications/sibling issues and written and verbal contracts - also whatever is happening with your Aries/Scorpio natal house themes. Jupiter's retrograde in Scorpio has us zeroing in on something in the shadows, something we missed - next week when the Sun (in Taurus) opposes Jupiter, something will conclude or come out into the light.

EXAMPLE FOR Capricorn/Capricorn Rising - (Aries 4th house) With Mercury in your house of - home, family, your roots, mother, mothering, your ancestry, real estate or a home business - family communications, real estate decisions, renovations, etc could be challenged by over-ambitious plans, inflated expectations, making assumptions about what is possible or just by rushing through a choice or decision. Late July's first eclipse on the Cancer/Capricorn axis could be a game changer for you Capricorn - you might be catching a glimpse of what's in store then now.

I will be back with some longer term stuff including Uranus into Taurus (May 15th) and some updates on the Donald series - since we finally have a week with no major transits - I can catch up!

xo all

Full Moon in Scorpio | April 29th - RECLAIMING a commitment to our life

The Moon. by laura-makabresku

Sunday's Full Moon at 8:58PM EDT - the Moon at 9 degrees Scorpio, the Sun at 9 degrees Taurus - squares the North Node in Leo (Ceres is conjunct the North Node) and the South Node in Aquarius. The Moon sextiles a retrograde Saturn in Capricorn. It is also the day Uranus reaches the 29th degree of Aries. We have Chiron and Juno sitting together on the Aries point (0 degrees Aries).

And we have had a powerful, crazy two week period leading into this Full Moon!

The Full Moon in Scorpio is ruled by Pluto and Mars. Pluto is retrograde in Capricorn and conjunct Mars (exact just yesterday).

Full Moons (the part of the monthly cycle when Sun is opposing Moon) bring things to light and to a culmination.

Scorpio, in the northern hemisphere, rules late autumn. The wind is blowing the leaves from the trees, the landscape is becoming barren, death is expected - there is a sense of being cut off, a sense we are on our own. Scorpio energy doesn’t fear the dark. Taurus, in the northern hemisphere, rules late spring. The world is fertile. Taurus energy seeks the light.

Both signs are fixed and want what they want.

(one energy isn't "good" and the other "bad" - neither could exist without the other - they are really two sides of the same coin)

So, we have this polarity - Scorpio beckoning us "come over to the dark side" and not because there are cookies (although there might be and I freakin' hope they are my Girl Scout Thin Mints that still haven't shown up) but because there could be buried treasure.

Scorpio energy embraces complication. There is no fear of what we might find when we go digging around in the dark because Scorpio knows the negative thought or feeling is an aspect of personality we have sacificed to help us survive and "fit in".

(it is up to us to be humble enough, and astrology is helpful here, to find the context for such thoughts and feelings and give them credibility by knowing they are there for some good reason)

Taurus is equally adamant that we should "stay where we are - it's comfortable and working out just fine". Of course there could be a life that is better than "fine" if we are willing to take those steps in the dark to find it.

Taurus energy embraces peace and comfort.

With Scorpio we have the shadow of control and jealousy and taking on too much that can fuel greed. With Taurus; stubborn resistance to change and resistance to anything that is complicated - an attachment to the familiar that is also a kind of greed if you think about it - "this is MINE".

There are no right or wrong answers. Without any journeying through Scorpio though, Taurus "peace and comfort" is just pouring pink paint over our problems and calling them cotton candy.

Scorpio is always reminding us that getting caught up in the ego's preoccupation with conventional morality and what it means to be "good" can rob us of our spontaneity and trustworthiness. We can confuse "being positive" with being authentic.

In many ways, the Scorpio Full Moon is the most powerful and intense Moon of the year (it's Scorpio, so duh!) and this one is super-charged. 

By Sunday, if we have been paying attention, the Mars and Saturn squares to the Sun and Mercury and the Mars/Pluto conjunction, will have bared, any spaces in our lives that we have been sleep walking through by waking them up. Our "no skin in the game" situations have probably demanded some skin in the game

and/or by activating a kind of "going to the dentist" style aversion to anything we are only halfheartedly doing/being/living. 

We are awake to any situations where we are not fully participating. 

With Scorpio, we are either living life now or we are getting ready to die.

And there are about a million things that can kill us these days - we had better make a commitment to being here if we really want to be here.

Fence sitters are falling over (another reason to hate plastic fences, fences used to be quite comfortable).

Our friends/partners/tribe/job/house/town/family - wherever we are feeling any lack of intimacy - are simply reflecting back to us any need on our part to embrace our own passion. Scorpio doesn't provide easy answers because it rules complicated issues. It rules the 8th house (yes, the collective space Jupiter is diving through these days - the house of other people's money, other people's resources, loans, debts, inheritances, life/death/rebirth, reproduction, sex, intimacy - the ways we merge with other people) - the 8th house is the unconscious container of the difficult material, outside of our conscious awareness, that our psyche carries until we are sufficiently mature enough to deal with it.

So, here we are - having been through all the days since the day we were born until today - with intensified emotions as the Sun and Moon oppose each other - striving for/seeking a DEEPER CONNECTION WITH LIFE.

The only way to get out of here alive is to truly BE ALIVE.

Intimacy/sex/money/power issues between people could come out of the shadows now. Our watery Moon in watery Scorpio is very empathetic. At its point of fullness we could be full of the energies of other people.

The Sun is in Taurus opposing this Moon. Taurus rules our 2nd house (money/resources/values/self-esteem) - our possessions. Taurus energy is possessive. It can make us afraid of losing what we have. Taurus might say, "MINE!" like a two year old with a death-grip on her pacifier. The 8th house is our possessions; the resources we share. So maybe we are a couple and why are we holding onto our possessions and not sharing? Stuff could play out around themes like this or one partner treating the other as a possession. Maybe one partner not wanting to share something now (time, attention, resources) they used to share willingly. Maybe a couple isn't having sex. If you have ever seen the 1989 movie with Kathleen Turner called The War of the Roses - that kind of depicts a Scorpio Full Moon style divorce - they tear their house apart with death-grips on their joint possessions. It might be hard to avoid something like this if you are breaking up some situation now (Scorpio is passionate and intense), but it doesn't have to be so dramatic.

This Moon will carry in HIGHER levels of consciousness when we are prepared to let go of what is complete for us (that dead stuff we are dragging around).

This could be an actual death, but most likely it will simply feel like a death ... and maybe this feeling is appropriate to the circumstances and maybe it is over the top. Like we are losing something not that important, or something we never actually really had, and it still feels like a death. Honor your feelings with this. There is a reason this energy packs such a punch for you.

Within hours of the Full Moon, the Moon moves into conjunction with Jupiter - this would be a big emotional release point, if we allow it to be. Tears would help.

Asteroid/dwarf planet Chiron (wounded healer) sitting with asteroid/dwarf planet Juno (partner/contract) at the Aries point is very potent. This is a BIG opportunity - remember the Full Moon is a point of fullness and in Scorpio, ruler of the 8th house, is filled with the stuff we carry for other people and the stuff that blocks our true intimacy with other people - to face the hurt/healing of old familial (and societal power structure) programming/restrictions and carries the ability for us to write off old contracts that no longer serve us.

The ways we have given our power away to family, to relationships, to "the man", in order to simply stay alive (in this lifetime and many prior lifetimes and you don't have to believe in reincarnation to believe in the idea that more than a tendency toward brown eyes is carried in our DNA) - these obligations have expired.

It's like we have a 30 year mortgage and are continuing to mail in our monthly payments in year 37 or we are still paying our parents' mortgage and they have retired and moved to sunny Fort Lauderdale.

A retrograde Saturn is sextiling (opportunity) the Full Moon from secure and stable Capricorn. This is an opportunity to burn that mortgage (ie expired soul contract)!

This can also be the time of a new contract as Juno begins her journey through Aries.

At the same time asteroid/dwarf planet Ceres (earth mother, I think the future ruler of Taurus once astrology has more time to ) is sitting with the North Node in Leo squaring (tension/frustration) the Full Moon and the Sun.

On our journey from the South Node (been there, done that) toward our North Node (collective future) right smack in the middle is this Moon - we have to GET PAST THIS FULL MOON IN SCORPIO.

Remember what the North Node in Leo, South Node in Aquarius journey has been and is about (and this ends this summer when the nodes move into Cancer/Capricorn) - moving from the space of alienation and distraction and detachment and over-thinking into our heart-space, the space we are meant to shine - where is Leo in your natal chart? We come in from the house on the edge (Aquarius) of town and a detached view of life from a distance. We step away from technology (Aquarius) and a detached view of life from behind the screen. We step out of the audience (Aquarius) onto the center stage. We step away from our over-thinking brain that is trying to protect us by giving us all the reasons something isn't going to work and toward what our heart wants. We move from traumatized (Aquarius PTSD) into our power (Leo).

Ceres connected with the North Node on December 2, 2017 and then on January 16th, 2018, so this is the third time around for her (as us). This is the final conjunction so something is reaching a culmination here now. Remember who Ceres is - she was the Goddess whose daughter was kidnapped by Pluto (ruler of this Moon!) and taken into the Underworld. Ceres' grief began the earthly cycles of death and rebirth we experience as the seasons.

Ceres sitting with the North Node (our collective way forward) and squaring the Moon in Scorpio speaks of fated cycles. It speaks of GRIEF. Maybe a life and death fear of losing something that is part of a natural cycle and must be shed or something that is growing away from us but feels like it has been stolen from us. Maybe something about smother-mothering or a pushy kind of nurturing that requires something of us when it should just love us unconditionally. Again this makes me think of that two year old's death grip (have you ever tried to take something from a toddler's hands?!) - we are either holding on for dear life or some situation/person has a hold like this on us.

Again the Moon is the release point on our journey toward that North Node. We are full up. This situation has nowhere left to go. It must unwind itself so we can breathe. 

With the Full Moon squaring the Moon's Nodes we know that whatever it is that is ending now or culminating or coming to light - this is a HUGE Moon for secrets to be exposed - is fate train stuff. We are ready (even as we don't feel ready) for it to come to light or culminate or end now and so it is.

So, what do we do?

One of the great things about Full Moons is we don't have to really do anything - although our current situations will need to be attended to, of course (Mars/Pluto will see to that!). We get what we need to get just by being on planet Earth and experiencing them. We just have to allow ourselves to feel what comes up. Don't judge ourselves as weak or crazy (yes, Full Moons can make people look crazy!) and allow other people the same gift of non-judgement. Just hold the space for the emotions to come up and out. Tears, sweat, being in or near water can help release lunar emotions.

Mars (Scorpio's traditional ruler) and Pluto (Scorpio's modern ruler) are both activated now - adding strength, courage and intensity to the Full Moon. Whatever dragons we are facing now - we have the power here to slay them. Dead.

Just remember the Taurus toddler with the death-grip (MINE!). And the Roses (from the movie) with their death-grips on their stuff and their egos. This is what we want to avoid - filling ourselves up with stuff so we don't have to deal with what is happening underneath. Jupiter - the planet of good luck and expansion - is UNDERNEATH. The treasure is buried now.

Think about - what GOALS (Saturn in Capricorn) would, in order for me to complete them - require that I transform myself into someone I have heart-felt respect for (North Node in Leo)? How would that feel? What would I look like, dress like? What would my work space look like? My house? My town? My day? My bank account? How would the other people in my life make me feel?

This isn't about taking actions toward that goal (although it might be for some people - Full Moons are peak action). Just get into the energy of embracing that new person. 

Transformation is offered by fully experiencing the Moon - by NOT CLOSING OURSELVES OFF from whatever life is showing us now - what life has been showing us for the last couple weeks. This is an introspective Moon. It's an emptying kind of experience. The emptying creates the space for something new.

Imagine those parts of ourselves we have exiled off to Elba being welcomed back.

What old beliefs about what is not possible for ourselves are we ready to tenderly love away now?

Just sit with yourself during this Moon. Take a long walk in it. It doesn't matter if the sky is cloudy. It's there. It doesn't matter if you think you don't know what you want. You do. You came in with a plan. It is fail-safe.

If we've emptied ourselves at the Full Moon, in the days following we will find signs and answers coming in. Nature abhors a vacuum.

xo all

As above, so below - think about physical actions to empty and dismantle - give away a bag of old clothes, delete old picture from your phone, emails from your inbox, expired food from the cupboard, toss broken items, etc. EXHALE.

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