New Moon in Aries | April 5th, 2019 - starting something new, fast breaks from the past, roadblocks and limits, don't shoot your eye out, cleaning up an old mess, how many monkeys can you carry, not being allowed to skip a step, too much her-story or just enough, a karmic emptying that creates a vacuum so be careful what you suck up

On Friday, April 5th, at 4:50AM EDT the Aries Moon will meet the Aries Sun giving us this month's New Moon at 15 degrees Aries.

This is the first New Moon of the astrological year AND in the take no prisoners, get fired up, let's start something NEW sign of Aries!

Aries energy is very self sufficient. This is the energy of "me". The sign of "I am". The baby of the zodiac, Aries can't always see the other person's side of things because if they did they wouldn't be able to take quick, decisive action and that quick decisive action is what they are here to manifest.

Aries is the sign of the warrior.

Let's unpack the chart.

Remember at the time of the New Moon, the Sun and the Moon are at the same degree. Every connection the Moon is making the Sun is making, too - so everything is amplified.

The New Moon is applying to a square to that Capricorn pile-up and the North Node in Cancer - Saturn, the North and South Nodes and Pluto. The squares are wide, but since they are applying, meaning this is stuff we haven't faced yet, they are important.

(now when I say "haven't faced yet" that may or may not be true - I have actually been through this entire New Moon chapter over the last 10 days with a real estate transaction and maybe you - especially if you have a strong Uranian/Aquarius signature, might be ahead of the curve with all this, too)

The Moon does in two days what it takes the Sun a month to do.

So the Moon is going to square these energies pretty quickly - squaring Saturn at 2:01PM EDT, Pluto by 7:50PM EDT and trine Jupiter at 10:14PM EDT TODAY.

The Sun will square Saturn on April 10th, the North and South Nodes on April 12th and Pluto on April 13th.

The squares are going to bring tension/frustration/road blocks. There will be limits. They (maybe authority, maybe a lack of something, etc) are going to slow us down. Saturn is going to make whatever we are starting now - play by the rules. There will be limits and red tape. There will be walls we will need to scale. I hope you have a pair of those grippy socks like the kids wear in the bounce houses to keep from slipping. They will come in handy.

With Pluto (lord of the underworld) at the tail end of this thing it make me think we have unfinished business to take care of first. Like we have another mess to clean-up before this new thing can move forward. The ground we are trying to plant in needs to be raked out and fertilized before this month's seeds go into the ground.

Those squares to the Nodes of Fate make this New Moon set up look like a skipped step in Evolutionary Astrology, so this could indicate a time when we don't want to do what we have to do. Maybe we don't want to do anything. There is something here we have needed to do before and haven't done. We have skipped a step in our Capricorn house (in this life, previous life or ancestrally) and now we won't be able to proceed in a straight line without dealing with it. Skip it, and it will "trip us up" later, so our feet will be held to the fire with something.

Maybe there are bigger problems than we know about with what we are already doing. We have our hands full already, but we just don't know it yet. Maybe we don't have the resources/money to do something and that is where the limit will come in. We have to deal with that first.

The delays and restrictions will work to our benefit later. Adjustments will be needed.

Keep in mind if we are still waiting for someone else to do this for us, that isn't going to happen.

Bottom line - this is Aries. Aries is self-sufficient. This mess isn't going to clean itself and trust me there is a mess in your life somewhere that needs a clean up crew right now. And THAT would be YOU.

After our Moon (today) and our Sun (over the next week) face these challenges, they are going to trine Jupiter in Sagittarius (the Moon tonight and the Sun on April 14th).

Fire trines create opportunities. Fast opportunities. With Jupiter strong in Sagittarius - expansion and good luck.

So, it could very well be there IS something real here with whatever we are doing/starting and we just need to work out a few kinks before we get to the good stuff.

Or maybe the good stuff - renewed confidence/passion - comes through the clean up process somehow or through the disappointment of what we don't get/what doesn't happen.

Karmic clean ups (those square to the Nodes) create HUGE opportunities to move past OLD blocks and boundaries. The blocks are gone, a natural vacuum is created and sucks in the Capricorn stuff we have, but don't know we have!

With Pluto sitting with Saturn sitting with the South Node and Jupiter approaching this whole thing set to amplify it at the end of the year - this is really a time of endings more than beginnings. And focusing too much on the beginning without 'closing out' properly whatever needs to be closed out mucks us all up. There are times we need to sit fallow. Endings change us. We aren't going to value/want the same things after we have had true closure. We need to work the process of that. We are all grieving something!

Again, this is part of this year's Neptune/Saturn sextile energy - making our dreams into something real/giving up something to get something MORE VALUABLE TO US NOW.

This is an excellent time to eliminate a bad habit (something like smoking for example) and replace it with something nourishing, something we do just for us. If it hasn't worked before, that doesn't mean it can't work now. This is right timing. We are releasing lots of toxic junk. All the ways we haven't taken good care of our bodies before can be replaced with improved habits very quickly now.

What we don't want to do with all this South Node/Pluto energy, and please listen up because this is important (releasing old karmic obligations) - we don't want to jump into some crazy complicated commitment now. 

Like we get one monkey off our back and it feels a little light up there, so we go out and get some more monkeys!

Or we take on somebody else's monkey! NO.

If we are doing something like this - we really need to know what we are getting into. Do your homework. Know you are taking on a karmic obligation and you are going to have to see it through. Is it really worth doing? Maybe it is. Maybe it isn't. Think about our guiding star this year - that North Node in Cancer. Does it nourish you? Does it create the warm feeling of home and family? Does it stabilize something? Is it real? Is it what you need or what you want because you wanted it in the past? Does it allow you to be open and vulnerable or just create another scenario where you will have to watch your back/not make the tiniest little mistake?

This will be something we will have to "stay the course" with, so make no decisions lightly.

Also let's keep in mind the Moon's closest aspect - a trine to Ceres (in optimistic and expansive Sagittarius). This speaks of a few things. Since Ceres in our charts is about something "outside our control" and trines create a smooth flow, there could be something within our control here. The power is on in our hands right out of the gate. But, the trine to the Sun could make something seem too shiny, too good to be true. Or maybe we are over-identifying with our maternal her-story in some way at this time. Do we want what our mother wanted? Do we still want it? The Moon trine Ceres feels more balanced. Not so over the top. Like something gliding easily into place and clicking.

This New Moon - which sets the lunar stage for the year ahead, too - tells us to initiate. This doesn't mean grabbing onto just anything that comes our way. We already know what we need to do. We are playing a long game and our pieces were on the game board LONG before this Moon. Keep things in balance. CLEAN UP THE MESS. Do your homework with anything you are starting. Take other people into consideration because all month we are building  toward that second Libra Full Moon, BUT this has to be about us, first. Aries - "I am". We are making a statement about WHO WE ARE with the actions we take now.

Aries energy won't allow us to be paralyzed with indecision, so don't worry about that happening. We will decide. We will move forward. The square to Saturn speaks of patience, but Saturnian squares build real, solid things over time. Stuff that won't be knocked away easily. Stuff that can't easily be taken away from us.

What step have you skipped? What mess needs to be cleaned up? Start there.

New Moon Affirmations

This New Moon is an excellent time for energetic support to make changes with things ruled by Aries - the head (headaches, acne, eyes, brain), the overall physical self, exploration, initiative, courage, leadership, strength, stubbornness, impulsiveness, temper tantrums, anger, stress from inaction - what do we need more of in our lives? What are we needing to release?

AFFIRMATION TIPS: get into a calm, centered frame of mind - always make affirmations from a  positive (meaning certain AND happy/calm) space - write your affirmations down by hand in script, speak them out loud - with a fire New Moon maybe write your affirmations on strips of paper and burn them - 

now release your attention from these things knowing that your intention is known.  

Know these things are already yours. 

xo all

So my stuff over the last ten days went something like this (here is where I toss in a boring story disclaimer) - we are looking for a space to move hub's business. Time is running out. Through one of his customers we hear about a piece of property for sale. The sellers need a fast deal because they are being fined for a needed environmental clean up (not a chemical clean up, wood/wood chips, etc). Other customers say they will help us clean it up (to help keep hubs in business and they have the equipment, etc). We make the seller an offer. He, playing authority/Saturn here, says no, then yes, then no, then yes. We are now thinking we have to move fast before he changes his mind again.

We think we can clean it up, have resources in this area he doesn't have and know what we need to know. This all played along with last week's energies, too. The town tells me seven days to obtain open records on the property, but the title search comes back clean, so we are thinking maybe we don't need the town's records. Again we are thinking we know enough. We know the place needs to be cleaned up. We will clean it up (note - we still have our old mess to clean up at our existing location; a different kind of mess, but still a mess is a mess). And did I say we are paying 1/10th of his original asking price from the year before?

This is all too good to be true, but we aren't thinking this way. I actually worry that we could be taking advantage of the sellers and might incur a karmic debt from that. But, then we look at this massive clean up and think, no, this is a fair price. We ask an attorney to write a contract and firm up our offer. That same night the seller's wife emails us property info that includes a list of 150 trees, 100 bushes, etc - we are like .. hmm, why is she sending us this? Maybe there is stuff we don't know here. The list says the trees need to be 6' tall and I once bought a 6' tall tree and it cost $300. So now, this sounds like not only alot of work, but alot of money, too. Then a customer with a farm tells us we can plant 100 trees (6 foot tall saplings) in a day and saplings are $20 each if bought in bulk. So, we are still moving forward, but slowing this whole thing down. We are looking deeper.  Looking underneath. Hitting Pluto.

I finally get the DEP on the phone and we find out the property not only needs to be cleaned up, but it needs to be RESTORED back to the way it looked in the 1980's!

(there is a connection now to an astrological cycle in 1983)

She tells me 150 trees are not nearly enough. Hubs walks the entire 20 acres and wonders what is under the 15 foot tall piles of wood chips (cement/asphalt/dead horses - we start hearing all kinds of stories of stuff that has been dumped here and have I said this is New Jersey - who knows where all the bodies are buried?!).

We finally reach an environmental specialist who tells us we actually have 1 usable acre because it looks like 19 acres are wetlands - which can't be used in NJ for anything other than wildlife habitat. We love trees and frogs, but maybe not enough to spend our life savings on them right now.

And all the while I can hear Ceres calling to me (she is conjunct Pluto/Uranus in the 10th house of my natal chart) coaxing me to clean up this land, to help her, to help Mother Earth, to nurture this place back to health .. telling me I could make it into a paradise ...

Anyway, it took alot to stop us (yes, we stopped) and it's probably a good thing we did. Roadblocks can be a good thing. But we are disappointed.

I have given the short version here, but the bottom line with this example is - be careful jumping into a big commitment now. If other people are telling you - are you sure you should be doing this? Maybe you need to take a breath. Maybe you have your own mess to clean up first. Sometimes when something is finished we feel the need to move into something else too quickly.

This is how we get trapped in new karma. If that feels familiar - slow this puppy down.

On the other hand there is strong energy now to start something and we only get three fire New Moons a year and this is one of them! We can be starting, moving ahead and still work smartly. Mercury is still in Pisces - there is still something we don't know. So, know there is stuff you don't know. It's going to come out over the next couple weeks anyway. It's already coming out. Just leave yourself some options. Stay in your own shoes. Don't allow yourself to get trapped cleaning up someone else's mess.

Even if something is disappointing now (release your attention from that), let's keep in mind the trine to Ceres NOW and upcoming trine to Jupiter - where is the potential here because the chart shows there is some. What can grow in this soil?

Get those seeds into the ground - set your New Moon intentions. Fire New Moons are too rare to miss!

Astrology Forecast for Creatives | Week of April 1, 2019 - more clarity, knowing it's what we need to know because it's what we know, reminiscing, de-construction, letting go, powerful endings and structural changes, the courage to start something new, trusting the process

A month of permanent change for EVERYONE kicks off this week!

Some important aspects are -

TUESDAY - Mercury conjuncts Neptune (third and final time)
THURSDAY - Pluto conjunct the South Node in Capricorn (first time since 1982)
FRIDAY - New Moon in Aries (kicks off the lunar year!)

On TUESDAY, Mercury meets Neptune (Pisces) for the third and final time.

We had this conjunction first on the Full Moon in Virgo on February 19th at 15 degrees (when a message was delivered) and then again on March 25th at 16 degrees (when Mercury was retrograde and we were re-vising, re-viewing, etc). Mercury has been right on top of Neptune for weeks, so today's exact conjunction might not be something we experience as an event, but it could be.

It has certainly been a process.

With Mercury still floating through Pisces, we don't have all the facts, some information may still be partially obscured, but by this third and final drive-by to Neptune  

WE KNOW WHAT WE NEED TO KNOW. 

The writing is on the wall.

Don't be fooled (Mercury is the trickster) into wasting energy propping anything up that isn't working anymore. If something has looked too good to be true we have probably figured out by now that it is.

We may not be clear on all the particulars, but whether something is ready to expand or dissolve should be pretty obvious by now. And after this long journey through Pisces (we still have two more weeks) we have learned how to better trust our instincts/intuition.

We could find ourselves reminiscing, interacting with people/situations from the past. We could be feeling very emotional.

Maybe we can't totally separate what is real from what is not real because that isn't the point right now. 

Maybe the growth and authenticity comes through asking ourselves, "why do I want/need this thing to BE real - what does this say about ME?".

On THURSDAY, Pluto will conjunct the South Node (the past) at 23 degrees Capricorn. This is the first time in 19 years, so there could be a big world event this week.

This is de-construction.

This is an ending/a death - a need to let go or be dragged. Stuff from the past that has been holding us back is being pulled out by the roots. We can't continue to stand in stagnant waters and not get sick.

With Saturn at 20 degrees and right in the thick of this, too, it could feel de-stabilizing. This is changes (Pluto) to our structure (Saturn). KNOW this is fated and getting us to something more authentically aligned with who we are now instead of who we were then.

But first we have to CLEAN UP OUR MESS.

We need to be stepping into our own authority and responsibility. The ways we don't feel ready or qualified or credentialed and what we can do to improve this (this is one possible mess we might need to clean up).

There is no one to pass the buck to anymore.

We are in a process of enlightenment. We are lightening our load. We are taking in more light. These fears we are carrying from our childhood, from previous lives, from our ancestors  - are dissolving. The stuff our father didn't do, the emotional bridge our mother couldn't cross - the story we were handed to continue when we drew our first breath - doesn't even exist anymore. We are carrying empty bags that we are imagining to be as heavy as they would be filled with rocks!

On FRIDAY we have a potent New Moon in Aries.

This is excellent energy for a fresh start that requires COURAGE and I will write a big post about it!

And of course I will be back with the Moons and some other stuff as we move through the week.

xo all

Don't let the length of this week's post trick you into thinking not much is happening! Alot is happening and Mars in Gemini is going to keep us busy.

photo by the talented Nairafee

A Quick Sky Map | the Astrology of April 2019 | cleaning up the mess, pulling back our projections and stepping into our own power and responsibility, a time of karma and unlimited possibility

April is a MEGA powerful month so let's take a quick look ahead.

April amps up our 2019 journey toward the Saturn/Pluto conjunction of 2020 - with both the New and Full Moons activating those energies and the month bookended by Pluto meeting the South Node (at 22 degrees Capricorn) on April 4th and Saturn meeting the South Node on April 30th (the first of three due to his upcoming retrograde!).

Let's start with Pluto.

APRIL 4TH - Pluto conjuncts the South Node. We need to clean up our mess. We need to let go of the crap that is no longer true for us/working for us. The South Node is endings and Pluto is death - Capricorn rules our goals, career, the power structures in our lives. Trying to control people/situations will bite us in the ass now. An old life is fading to black. Note to self - buy a flashlight.

APRIL 5TH - New Moon in Aries. The Moon/Sun are widely squaring Pluto/Saturn and the South Node. This is a new beginning, but we can't move forward - with this exciting NEW energy in fiery Aries dragging heavy baggage along with us. The old stuff is standing in the way of the new stuff. We don't have to toss everything into the dust bin, but we can't get there from here either. It's a new Moon but also a time of adjustments. A trine to Ceres offers an ability to rebound now and the promise of a rebirth. Mars (ruler of the Moon) is in Gemini, so we will be busy, maybe scattered. That square to Saturn could bring delays, limits and responsibilities. It can also prevent us from being too impulsive. Pluto brings power struggles, but also stamina and endurance. Then the Moon moves into a trine (brakes off) with Jupiter and we move forward/expand.

APRIL 9TH - Mercury trines the North Node. Pay attention. Information/communications/ideas can slip us right into our best and brightest timeline. Send the email. Have the conversation. Plan for the future. Also think Cancer - nurturing, real estate, growth through allowing ourselves to be vulnerable, prioritizing home and family - the theme of your natal Cancer house.

APRIL 10TH - Jupiter stations retrograde at 24 degrees Sagittarius. Whatever is expanding in our life stops expanding because it needs some re-visions. It's Aries season, so any kind of slowdown can make us antsy, angry and could lead to impulsive errors. Take a breath. Stuff that just keeps growing and growing is NOT sustainable - it bursts, it makes us outgrow our favorite jeans, it's what cancer cells do.

APRIL 17TH - Mercury starts walking new degrees and enters Aries. Whatever Mercury's retrograde through Pisces has been about for us - we get it. YAY! Fresh ideas. New conversations. Our minds speed up. Our tongue gets sharper. We can ask for what we need. Our words get more instinctual, but also more pushy. Arguments get more likely as communication becomes more competitive. The silence that was so golden in Pisces gets broken now. We are moving on.

APRIL 19TH - Full Moon in Libra (yes another one - this is the one on the final degree!). This is about our relationships. Me vs. we. What have we learned since the last Full Moon in Libra last month? Again this is squaring Saturn and the North/South Nodes and Pluto! And conjunct fast change Uranus! Something comes to light, reaches a culmination or conclusion.

APRIL 20TH - Sun enters Taurus. Maybe life doesn't slow down with Mercury all fired up, but we will feel much better when we enjoy those slower moments now. Stop and smell a rose now and then. Venus enters Aries where she is not so happy answering to Mars, but Aries people and our Aries houses become more attractive. Aries' ways do, too - having courage, loving a challenge, just doing it, starting something new. 

APRIL 24TH - Pluto stations retrograde. At the same time Mercury is going to conjunct Vesta pulling what we hold sacred and give our attention to into our Pluto retrograde story. Pluto retrogrades are times to do some deep inner work. Fear that is ripe for release will come up to be looked up/worked through/maybe just survived. Fear can arise through uncomfortable situations, but we can see it for what it is now. The emperor has no clothes. He never did. Deep insights are possible. Worn out controls, rules and power systems are getting re-looked at as well as the way we merge our resources (including our bodies and our money) with other people. This is also the day Mars will square Neptune. We might be tired. Drift off course. Keeping our attention (Mercury/Vesta) on the important stuff will be the way through this one.

APRIL 30TH - Saturn stations retrograde on the South Node. Whoa. Major wake-up call. Maybe a major ending. Time to re-think our commitments. Re-consider our goals. Re-structure our projects. Re-assess our ambitions. Re-draw our boundaries. Re-value our time/history. Sometimes we get to see what is holding us up because it isn't holding us up anymore. Have we built our house on sand or stone? Dad is on vacation folks. On the South Node this is the karma of our past lives, the patriarchy, our ancestors we are working with. Don't be afraid of karma - I guarantee you haven't done all the bad things you think you did. Past choices/actions bring rewards and repercussions now.

That's a mini-rundown. There are at least 20 aspects I haven't talked about. April is a HUGE gateway month into the new energies. Stuff is falling away as other stuff is falling into place. Step into your responsibility. Give everything your best. The sharp edges of cut corners will be biting us in the ass for years to come.

xo all

Astrology Forecast for Creatives | Week of March 25th - still some confusion but we are moving forward, emotional endings, honoring our commonality, unexpected love and money situations, irrevocable decisions, karmic slates being wiped clean, your great-great-great-great grandma has your back, too

Here are some major aspects for the week ahead:

SUNDAY - Mercury retrograde conjunct Neptune
TUESDAY - Venus into Pisces
WEDNESDAY - Venus sextile Uranus
THURSDAY - Mercury stations direct, Pluto on the South Node
SUNDAY - Mars into Gemini

THREE planets are changing sign/directions, so this week is pretty action packed, turbulent and emotional. Let's unpack this puppy!

Check out the dates listed, but don't marry them. Things don't always happen when the energies are most exact, but sometimes as the energy is building or unwinding.

On TUESDAY, Venus moves into Pisces (bye-bye Aquarius, I hope you have enjoyed all those good hair days!) until April 20th.

Pisces Sun people and Pisces rising people become more attractive now. Both easier on the eye and able to attract what they want.

(how have we never noticed how blue your eyes are or how deep your voice?)

All of us attract what we want by working with Pisces energies - an ability to show compassion, create beauty, honor feelings, stay emotionally open, connect, use our imaginations. 

 In Aquarius it was our differences that attracted people and situations to us, in Pisces it is our ability to believe in and honor our commonality.

Venus is exalted in Pisces. She can work her magic here.
 
She expands relationships, money and self-esteem. Opportunities increase. Resistance dissolves.
 
The tricky part of Venus in Pisces is we need to know what we want now.
 
The lines between us and other people, between acceptance and avoidance, between their money becoming our money and our money becoming their money, between love and "what the hell was I thinking" - will blur.

In Pisces, things that look too good to be true usually almost always are. And what flows in can flow right back out again. But if we set boundaries - THIS is ok, THIS is not ok - and release our expectations that outcomes must go a specific way - this is wonderful energy for more beauty, love and money to move into our lives. The irony with Venus in Pisces is that although we can attract more love and money those things often will feel less important somehow.

For artists and makers, and yes, that means everyone, this is wonderful energy for the beauty and creativity and imaginings and love we put out into the world to attract more abundance back into our lives.
  
We are more attractive to our dreams now - we call to them just as they call to us. 

The feeling is mutual. 

On WEDNESDAY, Venus (in Pisces now) is going to sextile (opportunity) Uranus (in Taurus). Fast changes with love and money are possible. Life is encouraging us (sextiles are gentle aspects) to move in a NEW DIRECTION. Be open to something different now. Maybe something less structured. Unexpected situations/people, likely with a connection to the past, could appear. Changes with love/money/relationships are possible. With these energies in water and earth the benefits of whatever this is will probably not just drop into our laps - the situation will need to be watered/tended.

On THURSDAY, Mercury stations direct. YAY! We will feel the forward movement of this. Stalled ideas/plans will start to move forward. There will be less glitches. Keep in mind Mercury is still hanging out with Pisces ruler Neptune for the next couple weeks.

It might be the middle of April, when he/she starts moving through NEW degrees, before we are feeling clear headed and full-steam ahead with whatever Mercury retrograde has had us going back and forth over. If important decisions/contracts, etc can be delayed a bit longer we will benefit from this.

If something cannot be delayed, then we will make the best decisions with the information we have available now.

Know with Pluto (death) on the South Node decisions made now could be irreversible. 

Endings are emotional. Karma is dissolving. Keep in mind this means if we are connected to other people/situations though karma, the dissolving karma severs that connection.

This is going to be an IMPORTANT THEME IN APRIL and throughout the rest of this year and we have been talking about it here since the South Node moved into Capricorn. We are pulled into our ancestor's stories (our past life stories, our childhood stories) so we can choose differently (we are them, but more than them), finish what they started, make the amends they needed to make and earn the rewards they were denied. If we have benefited through the abuse of Capricorn energy (hierarchy, power) either through our own actions, our ancestors' action or our past lives we could find those benefits wiped away.

If this is happening to us, this is truly, truly our hold being released from something we no longer need to free them up for something BETTER.

Mercury is sitting on Neptune - meditation/prayer is very effective. Remember we are carrying our ancestors' stories forward - our actions benefit them, too, and they are actively helping us now.

If big decisions are needed and we don't make them - and yes, I know we don't think we have all the info we need to make them, the energy is still confusing! - we will find the decisions made for us.

On SUNDAY, fiery Mars leaves Taurus, where he has been kind of grinding his heels, and moves into energetic, airy frenetic space of Gemini. With Mars now in Gemini answering to Mercury (direct, but sitting on Neptune and still covering old degrees) this change of signs won't be so straight forward either.

Mars in Gemini will have us running here and there. This is the energy that loves multi-tasking. Yes, we know now that multi-tasking really just means doing everything half-assed, but sometimes half-assed is good enough. And sometimes it isn't. You decide.

Gemini can bring more questions than answers and it is our job now to LOVE our way into the questions - be curious, appreciated the GIFT we are given when we are given a CHOICE. The answers will come easier after mid-April when Mercury is covering new ground, but we might have to just work with what we have. We have a lifetime of experience that got us to this point. If our hands feel tied, take another look. Mercury is traveling his third time over these same degrees - we know more than we think we do.

Keep in mind having too many balls in the air, can be an exciting thing, until they are all in a pile at our feet. If everything is equally important than nothing is really important. Skills to prioritize and stay on track will come in handy now.

With Mercury on Neptune and covering degrees for the third time, alot of our energy will be going into old situations. Maybe we can say/do it differently this time. Watch for flashes of temper and tricky situations to come and go quickly. What is that old expression - don't get too worked up about the weather because it's about to change. Well, that's a good way to look at life right now.

Stay flexible. Things are in flux. Use a loose grip now and don't count your chickens until they have hatched. This isn't the final, final round.

xo all

photo by the talented Sergey Spiric

Full Moon in Libra and the Spring Equinox | March 20, 2019 - moving our relationships into the future, stand-offs, taking a good hard look in the mirror, balance is the new black, shifting values, kicking off a New Solar Year when we have both time and luck on our side

On Wednesday, March 20th, just hours after the Sun moves into Aries bringing the Spring Equinox and kicking off a New Solar Year - the Libra Moon meets the Aries Sun at 0 degrees bringing the rare FIRST OF TWO Full Moons in relationship-focused Libra this year.

Full Moons bring things to light, to a peak/culmination and to an END.

But with the powerful Spring Equinox happening on the same day and with the Moon at the very beginning degree of the sign (this is the 3rd Super Moon we've had in a row) there is also a BIG NEW BEGINNING now as we shift toward something that brings greater BALANCE/peace/justice/cooperation into our lives - this will play out over the next couple weeks (Full Moon) AND continue to play out over the next year as we live out the Solar New Year chart (transiting planets/points interacting with the Spring Equinox chart).

With unpredictable Uranus triggering life/death Pluto and the North Node of Fate as a retrograde Mercury conjuncts Neptune square Jupiter. And Mars opposes Venus. PLUS the Full Moon/Vernal Equinox energy. There is volatility here and we can see this playing out in the world and in our own lives.

Let's unpack the Full Moon.

The Sun and Moon are opposing each other from the "me vs we" signs of Aries and Libra. Challenges within our relationships are possible now.

The Sun and Moon are inconjunct "fast-change" Uranus in our Taurus house. So change comes from that area of our chart - collectively we are talking about Taurus themes - money, values, resources, self-esteem AND the change plays out through our Libra house - collectively through relationships/partnerships/agreements. Whatever this is for us it will require we make an adjustment.

Chiron - at 1 degree Aries - is conjunct the Sun and opposing the Full Moon. Maybe whatever is 'coming to light' or to a culmination/conclusion now is somehow painful. It could be a weakness/vulnerability is exposed in the Full Moon's bright light. Maybe whatever "me vs we" dynamic we have playing out now leaves us standing/feeling alone. Any distance between us and a partner/partnership could be more keenly felt now. Imbalances will tend to topple over. With Chiron in warrior Aries we are going to need to be brave. With Chiron in Aries there are time we will have to stand on our two feet over the next few years. For some people this will be one of those times. A contact to Chiron is another opportunity to work through wounds that are very old and very deep!

Mars (in Taurus) is trining Pluto and Saturn (in Capricorn). Practical action moves things forward now. This is stabilizing and adds strength and permanence. Change is supportive - even if it doesn't feel like that in the moment. Mars is sextiling (opportunity) the North Node of Fate. We can get there from here. Life can use whatever action we take to get us where we are needed. Actions taken at the time of this Full Moon receive celestial assistance. Keep in mind the long game we are playing now. This action doesn't have to be some big bold thing.

Venus (love, beauty, our resources, values, partnerships) is squaring Mars and these planets rule the Full Moon (Venus/Libra, Mars/Aries), so this square speaks of tension/frustration - conflict between our masculine and feminine energies that could play out within ourselves (what we want vs what we have to do to get what we want, our ability to be ourselves, to be liberated) or between us and those pesky other people in our lives.  

All kinds of important relationships and agreements/contracts with other people could be stressful now. 

Projections are ricocheted back to us at the Libra Full Moon anyway and with the rulers of the lunation squaring off, this will likely play out through tension/frustration, even crisis.

Alot of the stuff we thought was "them" will turn out to be "us". And alot of stuff "they" are thinking is "us", will turn out to be "them". Chiron in Aries tells us our healing now is dependent on how much of this we are willing to own. 

(meaning not owning what isn't ours - brush that stuff off - BUT taking responsibility for the energy we are bringing into the situation - the way our relationships mirror us will be easier to see now in the Moon's bright light)
  
Passive aggression. Sexual frustration. Conflicts between getting what we want and being able to get along/live in peace. Frustration as we assertively go after love or money. We want this. They want that. Part of us wants this. Part of us wants that. 

Our wants and needs within our relationships are being re-defined now. We can see where we are taking more than we are giving or vice versa.

Some relationships will end now. 

New partnerships can also begin - they might be volatile at times, but could be long lasting and prosperous/expansive.

(of course with Mercury retrograde some endings will not be quite so permanent when Mercury stations direct and some new relationships could dissolve then, too)

Remember Venus is running the show here and she is in Aquarius. Going backward, doing things the same old way, squeezing ourselves (or trying to squeeze someone else) into a tight little box isn't going to cut it anymore.

What is really happening is our relationships (which are living creations) are struggling to catch up to the changes within us! 

Jupiter (home in Sagittarius) is sextiling Venus, so here is our way through the Mars/Venus conflict. The theme of our Sagittarius house and/or our collective Sagittarius themes is our safe passage through these minefields - optimism, seeing the big picture, staying flexible, embracing whatever is foreign to us, learning something new, teaching something old, getting sage advice from an elder, expanding into new territory, traveling, publishing, media, the legal system. This is the road to greater FREEDOM.

A retrograde Mercury is conjunct Neptune at the time of the Full Moon/Vernal Equinox chart -this will be exact at the end of the week. So this is building at the time of the Full Moon. This connects us back to a message we received around February 19th. We need to re-member it now. We need to re-vise this. We are re-building, re-inventing, re-thinking this thing.

Keep in mind this is a zero degree Full Moon - we don't know what we don't know. By mid-April when Mercury is walking new degrees and we have the SECOND Libra Full Moon at the very end of Libra we will be much more certain with anything that is up in the air now (it's rare enough to have two Full Moons in the same sign in a year, even more rare to have one at the very beginning of a sign and the next at the very end).

We are still in the process of figuring this stuff out.We are trying to make things work. Maybe we are afraid to make a decision we could regret later. Maybe we are afraid to let go of this thing/situation/person before we have all our other ducks in a row

(note - our ducks will never be in a row for more than 30 seconds, which is a good reason to truly, truly appreciate things when they are and also a good reason to not sit around waiting for everything to get all lined up, because one of our ducklings will wander into the street, fall through a storm grate in the road and the next thing we know we are trying to coax our life back into balance with crackers and mommy duck calls - quack!).

THIS IS A PROCESS.

Maybe we can't decide right now because right now isn't the time to decide. 

This Full Moon is in Libra, the sign of the scales - we are weighing things out. We get ANOTHER Libra Full Moon in a month and THEN we will know what we are doing because we will be doing it.

With Mercury in Pisces backing into Neptune we are listening to our inner voice. The guidance of our ancestors, our past lives, our intuition, our inner knowing. We are finding the spiritual perspective during these big endings.

With Venus (ruler of this Full Moon and remember Mars in Taurus is answering to her right now, too) in a sextile to expansive, lucky Jupiter - MORE is being offered to us than we could ever even imagine!

We are standing around with our hands full of what we wanted/needed YESTERDAY and can't figure out how to reach for what we want/need NOW.

Life is helping us work through all of this with these repeating transits!

There is nothing to worry about.

The big energetic shifts have already happened.

The aftershocks are, well, shocking, but we can handle them.

Moves made now can be extremely effective. So make one.

xo all

(symbolic moves work, too)

Change/need for adjustment and challenge is coming from your Taurus house - what house does Taurus rule in your natal chart? What is the theme of that house?

The change will play out in your Libra house - what house does Libra rule in your natal chart? What is the theme of that house?

The opportunity/ease will come through your Sagittarius house - what house does Sagittarius rule in your natal chart? What is the theme of that house?

I haven't had a chance to get to this for all the signs like I had hoped. If you want to know what houses/themes all this is impacting for you just leave a comment or email me and I will check for you (you will need to know your birth date, time and place). We ALL have the collective themes going on that I wrote about in this post, too. Collectively this Full Moon is all playing out through our relationships.

Be sure to get out and walk in the Full Moon!

Astrology Forecast for Creatives | Week of March 18th - Happy New Year, exposure, action, courage, relationship imbalances, owning our projections, tension, unexpected opportunities, uncomfortable changes, thinking things through, keep our eyes on the skies

HUGE happenings in the week ahead as we shift into a BRAND NEW YEAR :

WEDNESDAY - Spring Equinox- Sun into Aries, Mars trines Pluto, Full Moon in Libra, Mercury sextiles Saturn
THURSDAY - Venus squares Mars and sextiles Jupiter
SUNDAY - Mercury retrograde conjuncts Neptune

The post for the Full Moon/Spring Equinox is HERE

The astrological New Year kicks off this week with a powerful, prosperous chart that sets up the year ahead.

With the rulers of the Full Moon (Libra/Venus and Aries/Mars) at odds with each other now (and part of the New Year chart) - we will face conflict and challenges as we try to balance what we want with what we have to do to get what we want. Growth will come through our relationships. Buckle up.

On WEDNESDAY, the Sun moves into Aries giving us the Spring Equinox and launching the astrological Solar Year. The illuminating Sun will conjunct hurting/healing Chiron, so a weakness could be exposed now or maybe we are feeling unsupported or all alone in whatever we have going on. It's a time to be brave.

The good news - Mars is trining deep, transformative Pluto. We have the available resources/self-esteem to power through this thing.

This transformation won't be stopped. It will be life-changing. We are either in the thick of it now or it is coming. We'll keep moving.

The Libra Moon moves into a fast opposition with the Aries Sun giving us this month's Full Moon (a zero degree Full Moon, so another lunar ending and beginning rolled into one!). Full Moons bring things to light, to a culmination or to a conclusion.

This is the Aries/Libra polarity. Too much Aries and we get selfishness, anger, foolish impulsivity, lots of fast starts and then nothing gets finished. Too much Libra and we get boundary issues, indecisive waffling, avoidance of conflict and co-dependency.  

Relationship imbalances will show up now.

We need to really take a look at the disagreements and challenging situations we are having with others - what are we projecting onto other people that we need to take ownership of? Full moons are about release - how can we let go of what isn't working? Diplomacy, cooperation and balance will be needed as well as action, courage and staying aware/taking care of our own self-interests. Some relationships and partnership agreements might end now.

The Moon's inconjunct to Uranus could make things uncomfortable as changes might come at us 'fast and furious' style. The ground might feel shaky. There are unexpected opportunities here, too. 

Mercury's sextile to Saturn could bring news/information that creates structure/stability. Maybe a sibling situation/local community issue or transportation issue stabilizes. Something REAL that was just a dream is being built. With Mercury in Pisces this brings 2019's best aspect - the Neptune/Saturn sextile (building the dream/the release of one thing to get something else) into the Equinox chart and again confirms its viability in the months ahead.

With Mercury still retrograde, we are re-viewing the stability of the dream, re-working our plans - giving something physical another look. Good energy for having a repeat conversation with an authority figure or stepping into your own authority via the written or spoken word. Challenging karma is dissolving. New neurological pathways are being created.

This sextile also gives us some space to THINK THINGS THROUGH.

We have a rare second Libra Full Moon next month in mid-April at 29 degrees, so there could be things started now that culminate then or maybe as we begin new partnerships/agreements now, others finish up in mid-April.

We'll see how this all shakes out. Keep moving forward.

On THURSDAY - and again this is part of the Full Moon chart and the chart of the Solar New Year so influencing the next 12 months - we have Venus squaring Mars and sextiling Jupiter.

Venus is what we want and Mars is how we get what we want. Sometimes they represent actual women and men. There is tension/frustration here. Relationship situations are testy. With Venus set up to win this one - being the ruler of Taurus (so Mars is answering to her) and with her moving through freedom-loving and future-leaning Aquarius - trying to fence someone else in or hold them back isn't going to work. Any effort to tap down on someone else's ability 'to just be themselves' will turn out equally poorly.

The sextile (opportunity) to Jupiter shows us the way through this - expanding our territory/reach/thinking, looking at the bigger picture, being more optimistic, embracing what is foreign to us, learning/teaching/travel. Stay flexible. Sagittarius is where the gold will be mined. There are real opportunities in this New Year chart.

This is collective energy and will affect all of us to a greater or lesser extent. You may find the themes more relatable to your own natal houses -

for example if you are a SCORPIO RISING - the challenge will be between your 4th house (Aquarius) home/family/real estate/mom/home business and your 7th house (Taurus) your partner's actions/maybe stubbornness/agreements. The opportunity/payoff comes through your 2nd house - positive progress with money/resources/values or self-esteem.

On SUNDAY, a retrograde Mercury will again meet Neptune - this time at 16 degrees Pisces, the degree Neptune met the Sun/Moon at the New Moon on March 6th, so more stuff this week connecting us back to early March when Mercury first stationed retrograde.

Mercury met Neptune back on February 19th - THIS WAS WHEN A MESSAGE CAME THROUGH - so something now connects us back to that.

We are going back over information/communications. Re-vising, re-kindling, re-leasing our dreams. Secrets are being talked about. We are communicating about the dream/spirituality/healing. Things could get confusing. It might be hard to know what is real. Words are slippery. It's not the best day to try and make sense of things .... this will all be much clearer in a couple weeks.

xo all

The week will really be fleshed out in the Full Moon post which will be up sometime Monday or Tuesday

photograph by the talented Ilona Shevchishina