Insights for the Month of Sagittarius

November / December 2020

November 21
Sun enters Sagittarius: 3:40 PM EST:
Venus enters Scorpio
When we think of adventure we probably don’t imagine being cooped up at home without visitors and going out as little as possible in a world where it’s ‘always winter but never Christmas’. This seems to be the adventure of the moment for many of us. Sagittarius was not made for such enforced detention. Even so, even Sagittarius can see that for 2020 the adventure has been inside. A good question for the Sagittarius part of this year might be What have you learned so far? The south node in this sign has been an interesting reflection of the weird, wild and ever intensifying beliefs that people subscribe to, shaking the fundamental ground of perception. It’s a human thing to wrestle with the question of what is really real. How much of our reality do we create with our minds alone?
The Sun will make two main aspects this month (close together), a square to Neptune and a conjunction with the south node. These aspect underscore the questions of ‘What have we learned?’ and ‘What is (and isn’t) real?’. The word ‘education’ derives from the notion of ‘leading out’. To educate ourselves is what Sadge likes best. To hold tightly onto our opinions with dogmatic zeal is the least positive expression of this sign. Wild and difficult as this year has been, could it be that it is an education? That we are being led out of a structure, a world, an Age that no longer fits?
Venus in Scorpio is discomforting. Possibly she is reminding us how the word ‘scared’ can be rearranged to spell ‘sacred’. To make something sacred requires a sacrifice. Not in some gory, bloody Hollywood kind of way (although there is plenty of that going on in this world) but a letting go of our attachments to thinking we have all the answers, to allow for our interaction, our co-creativity with Creation or Nature or Whatever You Call It . If we want a different kind of world we must give up something to get it. Venus knows this when she transits Scorpio. 

November 22
(Mercury inconjunct Mars)
(I’m putting these aspect of the inconjunct, in parenthesis it is not a primary aspect. You cannot divide a 360 degree circle into neat packages to figure out this aspect. It’s more like a hiccup than a straightforward interaction between planets.)
When engaging a mystery, a seemingly unsolvable dilemma, it is best to cultivate patience as you sit in the seat of awareness. Change will, can and must come. Anytime, all the time. It is the only constant. 

November 23
Mercury trine Neptune
Share your most profound, deeply felt, unprovable thoughts with someone who is interested, someone who gets you. It’s quite possible that this particular ‘someone’ lives deep inside you in which case journaling would be a good idea. We are connected by so many invisible threads.

November 25
(Venus inconjunct Chiron)
What if each and every one of our lives is an initiation? What if this is also true of our collective life as a species or even just as a life form? What if we are always becoming, never meant to arrive? What  if the requirement is to offer ourselves to the processes that are unfolding in time? What if…? 

November 26
Sun trine Chiron
And what if our willingness to surrender ourselves fully to that initiatory journey which never stops, shows us everything? We may be melting like candles but we are shedding light as we go. Especially as we travel the dark road to the New Year to come.

November 27
Mercury sextile Pluto
Venus opposite Uranus
“History, mystery, legacy, destiny” : something to ponder, a mantra, a prayer of layers of human experience. As you ponder this see if you can move back and forth between the personal as well as the collective experience of these things. They say that we, each of us, carries the last five generations of our ancestors into every moment of our lives. Inevitably we come to the issue of healing and the need for radical shift regarding our priorities. What is real and worthy of our attention, our intention and our commitment? 

November 28
Neptune stationery direct
Mercury sextile Jupiter
The waves continue to break, pounding the shore. Much, what seems like too much, washes up. In the light of our reflections what do you think can be done to make a beginning out of so much ending?

November 29
(Sun inconjunct Uranus)
Today is not necessarily one for reconciliation. Today is time to register the shocking awareness of how far apart we humans have grown from each other as well as nature: To recognize the challenge, to begin to believe that reconciliation can, will and must happen. 

November 30
Full Moon, Lunar Eclipse: 08 degrees Gemini: 4:30 AM EST
Mercury sextile Saturn
‘Mystery, destiny’. What can you do with these big ideas? How can you wrestle them into a shape you might understand? Write a poem about a door. How it looks, where it leads and why you want to open it. Then, walk through.

Astrologers fear eclipses but like everything else in astrology, eclipses don’t create events, they don’t make things happen. They simply, profoundly, powerfully reflect what is happening. We are awash in lies and T.M.I. (too much information) about everything along with too little knowledge or understanding. It is what it is. The eclipse asks us to grapple with the problem. Asking the question is a kind of poem in and of itself. 

December 1
Mercury enters Sagittarius
Time for visioning, for looking toward the horizon and considering the farther shore. Mercury is at a disadvantage in Sagittarius as it opposes it’s home place in Gemini. But only if you insist on pinning its wings. To think freely, to play without agenda in the world of big ideas leads to all sorts of breakthroughs. It is also an invitation for scoundrels to spin us into thinking things are not what they seem. We’ve all probably had enough of that by now but most horrifying is our understandable discomfort with the idea that one man’s scoundrel is another’s hero. It’s not that simple, of course but it is very difficult when there is no point of reference. Mercury in Sagittarius won’t make that easier.

December 4
Mercury trine Chiron
None of us get wiser for or by ourselves. We need all of us and some of us to stir the embers of our sense of possibility so they become flames of change. “What if?”  is still the question. 

December 5
Venus trine Neptune
The greatest moments are when we let go of separateness and trust that we are all one in the Great Soul of Nature that infuses the entire Universe. Allowing ourselves to feel that we belong here, along with everyone else is the fulfillment of our most poignant longings, even if our ability to feel this is fleeting and momentary.

December 6
(Venus inconjunct Mars
Mercury inconjunct Uranus)
Make necessary adjustments. If one way doesn’t work, try another. Sometimes, all you can do is fiddle with the dials.

December 9
Sun square Neptune
It’s a bad day when we confuse unrequited hunger with the soul’s true longing. Those are the days we drink too much or clobber our awareness with distractions until we are in a stupor. The line of least resistance leads straight to a hangover.

December 10
Venus sextile Pluto
The waning of the year, like the waning of the moon, is a time when mystery permeates everything, if you allow yourself to watch and listen for it. Having collectively lost our belief in life’s mysteries we are in the habit of creating excessive activity (not just for the children) which actually creates a false sense of mystery based on our expectations that getting what we think we want will make us happy. This distracts us from our fear of the dark. This year, unlike other years, we are collectively called to a  more contemplative holiday season. Magic is afoot when mystery blankets the land.

(I apologize to those who live in the southern hemisphere. Although your natural surrounding reality is quite different in that you are celebrating maximum light at this time it is still true that you celebrate the end of the year and the coming of the new one at this time. The traditions of the northern hemisphere have come with your ancestors as they colonized the lands on which you live. If I lived down there I would most definitely factor that into my reading of the symbols of astrology which is a very northern hemisphere construct!) 

December 11
Sun trine Mars and conjunct the Moon’s South Node
There is much to say about the ‘eclipse season’ (between a lunar eclipse and a solar one) we are in which is related to the Moon’s nodes. Add a bit of Mars and fire is the thing:
Fire burns even as it illuminates. Fire dances even as it consumes. Fire is the gift that allows us to cook, to purify, to see in the dark. Use what fire you have and use it with care. A good time to respectfully offer things to the fire that feed creativity. 

December 13
Mercury square Neptune
Whatever confuses you (and hopefully you know when the fog of confusion descends upon your perception), just wait and the fog will lift. Maybe there is a purpose to misunderstanding or even our propensity for deception. Maybe it’s just something we pass through, a fact of nature. Today is a poem. It will need to be seriously edited later this week. Today is a dream, possibly someone else’s memory drifting through your consciousness.

     Imagine you are walking along, maybe by the lake or the ocean. Maybe it’s raining. Lightly. Misting.           Suddenly or gradually you realize you are lost. Nothing looks familiar. Possibly you are dreaming but         you can’t seem to wake up. Maybe you have wandered into some else’s dream or memory but you           cannot be sure. Don’t panic. Be interested. Be curious. Be still. But don’t judge what is real or true.           Not today.

December 14
Solar Eclipse, New Moon: 23 degrees of Gemini 11:17 AM EST
Venus sextile Jupiter
Mercury trine Mars
The chaos is deafening at times. Our ability to trust what we are told is seriously eroded. Even our own thoughts, if we are honest, are not necessarily to be believed in this age of mind manipulation. How could we set an intention (for the New Moon) amidst such a froth? All is not lost. We are ever so close to a real shift (although most likely not a blinding flash of illumination). This is how it feels to be on the cusp of change.
Venus says: Look for every opportunity to love, to find beauty in this world. Nature is alive, intelligent and everywhere. She responds to our will, which is to say, our intention.
Mercury says: Let your vision for the future inspire an action. One small or not so small action, one that anchors your intention for a better, more beautiful world.

December 15
Venus sextile Saturn
Venus enters Sagittarius
Chiron stationery direct
It’s like dominoes. First Venus, then Saturn, then Jupiter, Mercury and even the Sun are all changing signs over the next week. Changing signs is akin to shifting perspective, reading from a new script, a kind of initiation. And it’s all the more meaningful as it is happening around the winter solstice which is a time to celebrate the birth of the Sun and the slow and subtle increase of light here in the Northern Hemisphere. What is your threshold? What calls you from the other side of the gate? Can you even let yourself acknowledge that you are here? Initiation requires that we let go and leave something on this side of the door so we can move through what looks like a tight spot to enter a new place. First you must see the door.

This initiation is collective, not simply a matter of your own rebirth or even that of your near and dear. This feels bigger than usual, beyond our inclination to gift those we love with things. This is a time when Earth and all her manifest life forms are dying into rebirth. Possibly a New Age. But it’s not a movie. It takes longer and it cannot be turned off. Don’t expect rainbows (although there will be some, somewhere). Don’t expect anything. Just show up for the change. 

December 17
Saturn enters Aquarius
The last time Saturn was in Aquarius was between 1991 and 1993. Aquarius is all about knowledge. The keywords for this sign are ‘I know’. But Aquarius is also about will. It is a ‘fixed’ sign (occurs in the middle of the season) and signifies a time when we are meant to reach beyond our grasp, use our knowledge which is to say our ideals and aim for the possibilities.
You might say that everything was different the last time Saturn was there. In truth it was just after the biggest oil spill in  history  which happened when Saturn was in Capricorn. It was a significant ‘no turning back’ event for environmental crisis. Here we are again. More important than looking back at this moment (although it is fascinating) is to look ahead. In a couple of days Jupiter will also enter Aquarius to exactly conjunct Saturn on the 21st..This is considered to be a ‘Great Conjunction’ and the beginning of a new series that hasn’t been seen for over 800 years. Things were definitely different 800 years ago. It was the time of the Black Plague which rings a bell for our current pandemic. For now, for us what’s important is to lean into our shifting, rattling, unpredictable, troubled world and con(with) sider(star) where you would like most to turn your attention. Choosing where to focus our attention is one of the few choices we can make. Over these next two year as Saturn journeys through Aquarius we will learn over and over again how much our attention creates our intention and therefore the world.

December 19
Jupiter enters Aquarius
Venus trine Chiron
Sun conjunct Mercury
As we step even further away from the ‘Century of the Self’ (the 20th century) we take and yet another step into the age of Aquarius which is to say the age of collectivity. One thing for sure is that the issue of trauma is not an individual thing. ‘My’ trauma is not really separate from anyone else’s. To be alive is to suffer, sooner or later, but to bear it collectively is an awesome way to lighten the load and move forward. As we learn to do that things will become easier for the ones who follow and not just for the fortunate few who can afford therapy.
Jupiter is here to remind us over the next year that these kinds of things must somehow become part of our ideology, our laws, our systems of government and of civilization, assuming that we intend to continue the course of civilizing our instincts so we don’t completely wreck the joint.
And even, just for today we might find some way to honor this process. It’s not easy for individuals to shift from me to we. But ‘this the season and it is an idea whose time is coming.

December 20
Mercury enters Capricorn
Here, on the last full day of Sagittarius the Sun rises and sets low in the sky, offering us the least of its light (here in the North). We should pause. Even if you live near the equator or down under you could take a moment in honor of the cosmic shift that is happening in the ‘above’. Christmas is coming, so are many other things. This is a time of traditions. Consider yourself an ancestor, one of many creators of a new set of traditions for your descendants: Traditions based not on charity but on commonality. This world is not so much broken although it seems so at the moment, as it is transforming. Changing. We need to sail into that wind not turn our backs.
Mercury is the winged messenger. the god of words and thoughts. Words are windows to other worlds and thoughts have wings. Capricorn is astrology’s reminder that we all reap what we sow. 

Insights for the Month of Scorpio

October / November 2020

October 22
Sun enters Scorpio: 7:00 PM EDT
Mercury inconjunct Chiron

Before us lies eternity; our souls
Are love, and a continual farewell.

Ephemera by W.B. Yeats 

Scorpio, the sign of mystery and shadow, reminding us always that what is, will change. All will be eventually lost and out of this inevitable loss will come new things or old things, transformed. Scorpio reminds us that all we hate and fear is inside us as well as outside in what we perceive of as the world. In Libra we fight injustice, in Scorpio we cook, we wait, we feel. We harness the powers of nature in the hopes of using them (eventually) to build a better world. Or not. When Scorpio serves the self alone it twists and turns itself into its own shadow. It aligns with the kind of evil that arises when we project our negative feelings on to others rather than feeling them for ourselves. This inclination toward projection lies at the root of all systemic imbalances: racism, sexism, classism to name a few. Scorpio is at its best when we surrender ourselves to the forces of change (and to our feelings about them); when we accept the path of initiation which is not at all the same as blind faith. Scorpio is not about faith, it’s about process. The process of transformation.
This particular year, as the Sun travels through Scorpio it will meet up with Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter, Pluto, Neptune and of course Mercury retrograde. It will even tangle with Mars, accentuating the tension with Pluto which is to say, activating fear and the possibilities of greater violence. There is much that needs to change in our world. How and into what is the Great Mystery as well as the struggle which we need to respect and investigate.
Mercury and Chiron remind us that things don’t have to add up to be worth contemplation.

October 24
Venus trine Saturn
If it matters to you, it is worth the effort; especially if it contributes to sustainable solutions for our small and ever shrinking planet.  Think of your small contribution as practice. A drop in the ocean of workable change.

October 25
Sun conjunct Mercury retrograde: 2:39 PM EDT
Mercury conjuncts the Sun six times a year: three when it’s retrograde and three when it’s direct. The message is simple: For those who have the ears to hear: Listen, really listen to the messages from the deep (because the conjunction is in the sign of Scorpio). Which is to say, listen to your feelings; the good, the bad and the ugly. Listen deeply with your ear to the ground. Hear the swish and splash of feelings and undercurrents. They are clues to our individual and collective transformation.
After this conjunction Mercury finds itself on the morning side of the Sun where it is said to be less melancholic, more sanguine.

October 27
Mercury (retrograde) re-enters Libra
Venus enters Libra
Two planets enter the same sign on the same day from opposite ends: Mercury returns to Libra from the Scorpio side and Venus is just beginning from the Virgo side. We are asking Libra questions: What has happened to the notion of justice for all? Why is the playing field so uneven? It’s not enough to offer help – real justice only comes when we also stop causing harm. It’s Libra’s job to safeguard the rules of engagement.

October 28
Sun inconjunct Chiron
Inconjuncts are minor aspects, not evenly divisible through a circle. Easily dismissed. There are quite a few this month. This one between Scorpio and Aries is interesting because these signs share an affinity when it comes to aggression which we are all too aware of at the moment. Scorpio  manipulates, Mars attacks. The bullies are attempting to train the rest of us to be so fearful we cannot act. Of course one person’s bullies are another person’s champions. Here we have a possibility to inspect the value, the wisdom, the potential that arises even when fear is the motivator.

“Stand still” the poet advises.
Learn from the things that are already in the place where you wish you were not.
Hello to the fear of fear. Hello to here.

From ‘In the shelter’ by Padraig O Tuama

October 31
Full Moon: 08 degrees Taurus: 10:49 AM EDT
Sun opposite Uranus
Some say that Halloween is the most powerful day of the year as it marks the threshold between days of light and dark. It reminds us we are headed into the dark time.
Of course the world has opened up since the days when these rituals originated. We are aware that quite the opposite situation is unfolding in the southern hemisphere. In our times we must needs live with paradox and ambiguity. And so we dress up and we dress the children up in celebration of the dead; in acknowledgment of the other world to which, sooner or later, we all must come. Even worse is the reality that all those we love and cherish will also find their way there. We can be miserable about such things or we can celebrate and honor the inevitable turn of the wheel and all those who have gone before us. This year our celebrations are meant to awaken all sorts of revelations: with our masks ON!

Although the wind

blows terribly here,

the moonlight also leaks

between the roof planks

of this ruined house.

Izumi Shikibu a Japanese Buddhist poetess from the 11th century. (Women in Praise of the Sacred edited and translated by Jane Hirschfield and Martha Aratani)

November 1
Mercury square Saturn
Venus opposite Chiron
No matter what the outcome is of the farce going on as the empire crumbles, no matter if it causes us to be anxious and steals our sleep, it still remains that true justice requires a more level playing field for all. It’s not about caring for the needy as much as it’s about rectifying the imbalances which create that neediness.  There is benefit in making effort to understand the circumstance before charging ahead to fix it. A little research goes a long way.

November 2
Mercury stationery direct
Venus inconjunct Uranus
We all want to know who won, who wins but, really? Was it even an election? Did it abide by the rules of a free and fair one? Of course the question is and will continue to be, Now what? In the chaos leading to this day we the people (of the world) have had to lower our expectations. As Mercury goes direct in Libra, think back, if you can, to October 25th and whatever deep knowing you might have had around that time. Measure it against today’s expectations. Whether they seem too high or too low for such chaotic times, today we do well to adjust them to fit a world that is falling fast and hard into change that must and will come. 

November 6
Mercury square Saturn (again)
This theme of measured expectation that started on the 1st continues. Say what you must but before speaking, pause. Consider the effects your words may cause. There is nothing gained by attempting to bend ideas to make sense of things that don’t make sense. You could say that Mercury looks to Saturn for the kind of restraint that allows reason to overcome fear. Think twice before you hit ‘send’.

November 7
Sun inconjunct Mars
We can’t swallow it and we can’t spit it out. There is no agreement on who has the last word. Possibly this goes back to the opposition on October 13th. The issue remains. Actions arising from gut level instinct can be destructive and hurtful. We recognize this even as we watch reasonable people be manipulated to take drastically unreasonable action. Things unfold. If we can bring reason to bear we might release the impasse.

November 9
Venus opposite Mars
Along comes reason. We have been waiting for her. She knows how to find balance but she must deal with aggression and the ever-present precedent of bullying which has become the norm. Where in your own life do you sit in this clash of desires between the ‘yes/and’ of Venus and the ‘no way’ of Mars?

November 10
Sun trine Neptune
Mercury enter Scorpio
Great Mysteries never really change through time, only how we speak of them. The different stories we tell about them reflect culture, not truth. At the root or core of all these great mysteries is the inarticulate knowledge that joy and sorrow, happiness and suffering are present in all lives.

November 11
Venus inconjunct Neptune
There is art and there is beauty. Sometimes they combine in ways that make us feel intensely, that open us to other worlds, inner and outer. Other times the soul jangles and can only wait for integration.

November 12
Jupiter conjunct Pluto
You might need to put on your astrological thinking cap for this one.
Looking back: Jupiter conjunct Pluto has happened twice already (April 4th and June 30th). This last conjunction is, interestingly at the exact degree of the Saturn Pluto conjunction in January that you might think of as the astrological beginning of the current global mess, the signature of 2020.
Pluto entered Capricorn in 2008 and has consistently ever since been showing us (whether we want to see it or not) that the scaffolding, the root, the infrastructure of our civilization, is not holding. Reach back and see if you can remember your early introduction to the Covid crisis. Consider how your awareness has grown and how that has changed your world; how you are grappling with things you can and can’t change. Jupiter in Capricorn is about what’s worth keeping maybe what’s worth salvaging from the changes. You may wish for the serenity that would allow you to accept what you cannot change and the courage to change what you can change.
Then again, you may feel more inclined to no longer accept the things you cannot change but to change the things you cannot accept.
Either one will take you to the essence of Jupiter/Pluto. Throughout this year Mars and Jupiter have been taunting each other as they station (appear to stand still) squaring the sensitive points of the other planet. Anything involving Jupiter at this point carries Mars with it. And of course there is one more square from Mars to Pluto and Jupiter to come. Sometimes people let me know that ‘nothing happened’ on the day that an astrological configuration was exact. We don’t actually need explosions and specific events to understand that this is the picture of what is happening all around us quite consistently, these days. 

November 13
Mars stationery direct
If you’ve noticed Mars in the night sky you can see that it’s red, like blood. That’s how the ancients saw it: A blob of blood in the night sky. Blood belongs inside the body where it can’t be seen so Mars became the portend of war and wounds. But they were also aware that blood is present at birth which is how each and every one of us arrives on this planet. Mothers, women bleed regularly and this is connected to life: A different kind of blood, shed in the birthing of babies. We love babies, we want to protect them. We instinctively believe in goodness of life.  As Mars moves on, retracing the steps of its retrograde journey, we are called more into action. Which blood inspires you? If you’re aligned with the blood of birth now is a time to aim yourself at the goodness of life and the potential to birth a new way of living. If you’re aligned with the other kind of blood, the kind we shed when wounded you are either a healer or a killer. See what you can do. We all need to move forward from here with the best we have to offer and integrate it amidst the chaos and crises. Keep the kids on track, object to the abuses of power. 

November 14
Sun sextile Pluto and Jupiter
In the belly of the beast what might the main character in your story do? It’s dark in there, mysterious. Nothing is happening outwardly but so much, so very much is going on in the depths.

November 15
New Moon: 23 degrees of Taurus  12:07 AM EST
Mercury inconjunct Chiron (again)
Venus square Pluto
Here in the midst of the season, as we watch the struggle for a regime change, for a peaceful transfer of power we can’t help but see how far we have fallen from the ideal we thought we were living. At a time when fear and mistrust is at a peak, there must be something else to focus on. Always there is the present moment. The taste and texture of presence allows us to still the riot of sensory input as well as the spinning mind. Out of presence we make intention, the kind that speaks true.

November 16
Venus square Jupiter
Too much of nothing is still nothing. Don’t be fooled by empty promises or even empty calories for that matter. These kinds of nothing can be harmful.

November 17
Mercury opposite Uranus
Once before Mercury went retrograde (October 7), once during the retrograde (October 19) and, once after the retrograde (today) as Mercury completes the shadow of its recent retrograde journey. To quote myself: (from the other two times)

“our deepest secrets often reveal our shared humanity with those we would prefer not to have things          in common with. The greatest danger by far is  not knowing this. … as we dredge thoughts from our          collective and individual past we are meant to test them against how things are, not how they were.          Denial is not a great option. … and: There is much in the chaos of these days we don’t yet see or              understand. To feel deeply into our reactions before we turn them into actions could be the most                useful strategy.

As I write this, US election day has not yet happened. What I know is that I am observing the collective problem of dealing with a bully, a would-be dictator. I’m horrified and fascinated that people give over their power to such a one. Predicting mayhem only stirs fear and adds to the sense of powerlessness. Scorpio always works best by first turning inward. In opposition the issue is always: What really matters? Matter is the stuff out of which we make our lives. Yes I fear loss, I fear change but I also see the value in challenging my sense of what truly matters. 

November 19
Sun sextile Saturn
Venus square Saturn
As Saturn moves toward the end of its considerably defining time in Capricorn* it has some reckonings to contend with. Today is a particularly good day to consider all that has been lost against the backdrop of the boundless opportunities for transformation that lie ahead. Once a struggle ends, especially the struggle of denial of things real, it is difficult to tell who was on which side. In this way the old style of justice is undermined. Truth and reconciliation seems to offer a better way to achieve justice. Given that you, most likely, don’t rule ‘the’ world, how might your small corner of the world benefit from your willingness to accept things as they are, not as they were or as you wish them to be?

*It entered Capricorn in December of 2017, but didn’t catch up to Pluto until January of 2020. So much has happened since then…

THE END for now… 

Insights for the Month of Libra

September / October 2020

 A Mercury retrograde month: Alignment is possible.

September 22
Sun enters Libra: 9:31 AM EDT:
Libra has a lot of work to do this year. As the month unfolds the Sun in this sign will aggravate and challenge Saturn, Jupiter Pluto and Mars. Libra is where we define the rules of engagement. Libra invented them! Here we consider things such as what is fair and just. It has a lot to do with politics in the wider social sense as well as the up-close and personal sense. How do we talk to each other? Fight with each other? Do we engage as adversaries or advocates? Are we competitive or cooperative? These are big questions for the month of Libra. I think we’ll get a good look at how civilized we actually are as we watch the veneer of our social structures continue to crack and break in so many places. Pay attention on the days that the Sun makes aspects. We are in the process of leaving old and broken systems but we haven’t quite stepped into the new ones just yet. Consider the possibility that listening is a container for empathy. Libra is the sign of active listening.

September 23
Mercury square Saturn
Don’t bother rehearsing the brilliant conversation you’re going to have with whoever is taking up time in your mind at the moment. Real life will not conform to your imaginings. The more present we are to our actual circumstance the more valuable the discussion about them can be.  

September 24
Mercury opposite Mars
The plot thickens and the dialogue heats up. It’s still true that the imagined or anticipated conversation going on in your mind will not resolve the issues. Heated debate does not become violent if we remember and act as though the other person is as human as we are.

September 27
Mercury enters Scorpio
While Mercury is here we do well to allow our feeling to communicate with and through us. Feelings are always true but they are often not real in the sense that they arise more out of the past than the present. Where Scorpio is concerned it is always beneficial to scrutinize our feelings before acting on them.

September 28
Venus trine Mars
A passionate moment amidst a sea of contention. If we could change the world most of us surely would. Possibly, the least we can do is to choose our actions which may seem like a small thing but does effect change. A good day to guide our passions with a love, big as the sky, including all beings under that sky. No exceptions.

September 29
Saturn stationery direct
Sun opposite Chiron
Mars square Saturn (last time was first day of Republican national convention. Aug. 23 – pronouncements… )  
If there are culminating moments that one can see from observing the heavens, this might surely be one of them. In a year when so many cracks in so many of our social systems are letting the light of awareness of how much trouble we’re actually in come through, we feel the enormous task that lies ahead. It may seem impossible and daunting. The myth of freedom, even for the young ones, cannot be disconnected from the damage done and the responsibility which humans have for dealing with it, here and now. Overwhelming and discouraging as this may be at the moment, it is just a moment, a particular turn in the road. Necessary to be sure. The mother, giving birth cannot walk away from the process in the midst of the worst pain. The frustrations and fears of the moment remind us to make the good choice, not just for me but for the good of all.

October 1
Full Moon: 09 degrees Aries: 05:05 PM EDT
The ‘art’ of social distancing has changed our social realty. How we spend time and who we spend it with is not what it was a year ago. Look around, test the threads of connection. Open the door to healthy debate and discussion. Diplomacy begins at home.  

October 2
Venus enters Virgo
The Goddess of Fierce Compassion appears on our stage of life. How does she appear to you? She is called by many names. However you perceive her, do not turn your back on her. She is us. Those of us who allow her power to flow through can make change where only recently it seemed impossible.

October 4
Pluto stationery, direct
Today Pluto, literally, appears to make a stand. Another reckoning with the cracks and the sense that we are falling apart. Or is this what coming together looks like? Mars will aspect Pluto on the 9th. These aspects are more an indication that we are in a season of deep transformation and the chaos that accompanies it, rather than a day here or there. The world is fraught with protest. Some are willing to die and some to kill. Some are caught in the struggle by chance, others by design. Some try to calm, others to inflame. All of us are effected, affected, involved, touched. Don’t kid yourself. There is no vantage point from which to observe. Pluto renovates from the ground up and from the inside out.

October 7
Mercury opposite Uranus
What we think of as our deepest secrets often reveal our shared humanity with those we would prefer not to have things in common with. The greatest danger by far is  not knowing this. Mercury in Scorpio dredges up thoughts from the deep past and Uranus is meant to test them against how things are, not how they were. Denial is not a great option.

October 9
Mars square Pluto
What’s festering around your life these days? What needs cleaning up, cleaning out? Be it your basement or the remnants of past trauma or karma, tackling it by the light of day can help shape it into something you can handle. At night and from the shadows things often become distorted. Such is the stuff of our dreams (and nightmares). 

October 10
Venus trine Uranus
The fierce and focused desire for change is not without its disruptions – but worthy nevertheless. It can be revolutionary to tackle what matters.

October 11
Sun square Jupiter
The overwhelming desire to point, blame and punish is best corralled when tempered with reason. The impulse for confrontation is strong and pervasive this week. There is always a third alternative.

October 12
Jupiter sextile Neptune
Venus sextile Mercury
If you’re looking for the Pearl of Great Price or even the ruby, the gem in the rubble, so to say, today is just that. Think of this day as a priceless gem, adrift in a shamble of broken dreams and aggressive behaviors. What will you do with it?

October 13
Sun opposite Mars
Mercury stationery retrograde 
Yesterday’s gem does not eliminate today’s challenges. If we don’t question the way things are, we live in a dream of how things were or how they could be. Look what you can in the eye then take the measure of how you feel about it. It’s the dialogue, even the debate between passion and reason that keeps us on our toes.

October 15
Sun square Pluto

Fear is the mind killer
The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. 

Depending on our circumstances we seem to fear different things but when fear is the lowest common denominator we are in a kind of danger that affects us all in similar ways. We are susceptible and vulnerable to projection and aggression, against others as well as ourselves. 

October 16
New Moon: 23 degrees of Aries  03:31 PM EDT
Knowing what you know about fear and projection, what kind of intention will allow you to engage with others to bring a more just and equitable world into being? Should you donate or protest? Should you volunteer or run for office? Should you pray? Could you write letters or maybe just listen more fully to those you encounter in the course of your day? 

October 18
Sun square Saturn
Venus opposite Neptune
Frustrations and disappointments are a dime a dozen as individuals cope with harsh circumstance as well as inadequate leadership. For some that means turning our backs and withholding our energies. For others it’s a call to action, a time to get involved. Today is a good day to consider options from all available perspectives. Sooner or later, clouds part and the sun shines through.

October 19
Mars square Jupiter
Venus trine Jupiter
Mercury retrograde opposite Uranus
The planets of desire (Mars and Venus) are at it (again). Their struggle falls on the notion of righteousness. Mars wants to destroy the entire mess (the last time it squared Jupiter was the explosion in Beirut (remember that?) ) Venus wants to preserve the good, the essentials, and strengthen what remains. Nothing adds up. There is much in the chaos of these days we don’t yet see or understand. To feel deeply into our reactions before we turn them into actions could be the most useful strategy. If you don’t mind me repeating myself. (October 7th)

October 21
Venus trine Pluto
Wherever you are, whatever your conditions, these next few days may be time to build and strengthen the structures that hold you up. And so we prepare for Scorpio, the month when we are reminded that all things pass.

Julie

Insights for the Month of Virgo

August / September 2020

August 22
Sun enters Virgo: 11:44 AM EDT:
Virgo is sharp. Virgo is all the people who are tired of feeling like the children of lesser gods. Virgo is where the change must come. This may or may not be a specific Virgo although when they speak up and speak out they have something to say. Virgo is about the way we treat the ones who care for us be they our relatives or complete strangers. Virgo instinctively understands the necessity for diversity. That change comes from the margins and is only real if it permeates the very fabric of how we live. The small stuff. Virgo is where we understand that one thing changes and everything changes. Virgo is the enemy of hierarchy therefore has been relegated to the margins of culture over thousands of years. Virgo is a fierce sign. Not fierce in the way of that troublesome character of Mars but rather in the way of a goddess or a Great Mother who has had quite enough.
This year as the Sun moves through Virgo it will make favorable aspects to the planets in other earth signs (Capricorn and Taurus) reminding us that how we actually live on a day-to-day basis matters even if it seems overwhelming in these times of pandemic and cultural collapse. Virgo, unlike most mortals, loves all her children equally. It’s about time. 

August 24
Mars square Saturn
Maybe it’s a rock and a hard place. Maybe a circumstance that will not go away for some time. However it shows itself it requires effort and strategy. Build muscle wisely.  But build it. Don’t turn your back on responsibility or waste your time lamenting that it should not be the way it is.  

August 25
Mercury trine Uranus
Venus opposite Jupiter
Light bulbs are going on all over the world as we wake up to how things are rather than how we think they are. Justice cries out to be served and so it should even as we learn how to combine it with compassion. Forgiveness is a process, not an island in the setting sun.

August 27
Venus trine Neptune
It’s a wonderful night for a moon dance or whatever feels most romantic, mystical and deeply connects you to the All Mother.

August 29
Mercury trine Jupiter
What does optimism look like? All those good ideas that have been showing themselves about how this chaos can, will and must take us to a new kind of world. Could it be that the actual purpose of the ‘being humans’ is to make this happen, here and now? Ask yourself how you fit into these amazing times: How you can walk your talk. Starting Here! and Now!

August 30
Venus opposite Pluto
Mercury opposite Neptune 
Fear of loss is often worse than loss itself. It causes us to do terrible things. Allowing fear to infiltrate our minds leads to mistrust. Write a love poem today – to the infinite ways that loss can find you and the power of love to ultimately overcome grief and lead us to wisdom each and every time.September 1
Mercury trine Pluto
At every turn there are circumstances. Think of them, not as puzzles to be completed and put away, but as processes: The processes of lives lived. We engage circumstance from first breath to last.  

September 2
Full Moon: 10 degrees Pisces: 01:22 AM EDT
Venus opposite Saturn
Sun trine Uranus
Where do you feel the ache for those less fortunate than you? How is that changing you? As we reach into the heart of the human condition (and who could possibly be more human than you?) what is revealed? Never what we expect. 

September 3
Mercury trine Saturn
Back-to-school is nothing like it used to be. But/and there are lots of opportunities for implementing some good, solid supports today. We cannot be prepared for all eventualities but we can imagine a rhythm that resonates in our bodies that can support us as we navigate uncharted waters.

September 4
Venus square Mars
Mercury sextile Venus
In a way we all know that desire is futile. As soon as we get what we want it changes or it can’t last. Getting what we don’t want is an insult and an annoyance. But we do not stop. Desire is good for art, for discovery, for the relentless belief that we could make a better more beautiful world. So long-live desire even when it frustrates and disappoints. We love to love and will most likely not stop loving even as we long to love without attachment.

September 5
Mercury enters Libra
Leaving it’s home territory in Virgo, Mercury sets out to debate and question as it moves through Libra between now and September 27th. Every de-escalation of an argument, every vigorous discussion between different perspectives is an accomplishment.

September 6
Venus enters Leo
Planets changing signs are indications that we are changing as well. In Leo Venus burns with the fire of creative expression. Anything you love that needs expression qualifies. If you aren’t sure what your creative expression might be pay attention to the days (before, during and after) when Venus interacts with other planets, such as on the 15th when she squares Uranus. That should reveal something.

September 9
Sun trine Jupiter
Mars stationery retrograde
We all have ways of making things work. Some are more effective than others. Be honest with yourself and investigate if the way you are going about getting where you think you want to go will actually do the job. Our visions for the future are only as good as their ability to function in the present.
Mars is ready for us to face our fears so as not to terrorize each other. Over the next month or so the challenge is to figure out which of our fears are the projections of our own minds and which are warnings that we need to take action. There are other ways to imagine Mars that aren’t about war. Now would be a good time for that. 

September 10
Mercury opposite Chiron
Everyone you meet, anyone you talk with is your teacher. Avoid pontificators if possible. They will be especially annoying, distracting and aggressive at this time.  

September 11
Sun opposite Neptune
Devotion. How does it take shape for you? There is a human inclination toward it which often shows up as addiction, fanaticism or martyrdom. At best it might be a kind of rapture which increases as we give it away for the benefit of all sentient beings. Ephemeral, hard to hold on to, a great connector.  

September 12
Jupiter stationery direct
This year of ‘crumbling infrastructure’ and systemic breakdown has demanded that we look at the bare bones of how we live. What have you learned? What kind of life will you live as you step, day by day, into a future you weren’t expecting? Imagination is still a rich gift of the mind. Imagine…

September 13
Venus trine Chiron
Do not underestimate the power of beauty and creativity to heal the world.  

September 14
Sun trine Pluto
The power that leads to large scale transformation (Pluto) starts with the small stuff (Virgo) such as  the people who take care of that seemingly small stuff, the ones who clean and cook, the ones who serve. This has become painfully clear. Trans-form-ation means changing the form. We can do this because we must.

September 15
Venus square Uranus
It’s one of those days. A day when our habitual ways of expression meet the unrelenting need for real change.  There is always friction when the ‘big idea’ meets what once seemed like solid ground and now seems to be heaving beneath our feet. Resistance makes it harder. Embrace the essential creativity of chaos!

September 17
New Moon: 25 degrees of Virgo  07:00 AM EDT
Mercury square Jupiter
Sun trine Saturn
As we come to the end of Virgo we could evaluate and then align ourselves with possibilities that might actually work rather than cling stubbornly to that which we were hoping might work. Get real!

September 21
Mercury square Pluto
Here we are on the last day of a summer unlike any other. If you find yourself exhausted because you can’t filter truth from lies it’s a good day for a reckoning. Don’t believe everything you read or hear. Be willing to debate with those who don’t see it your way and as you do see if you can activate your ability to be a good listener over and above driving your point home. 

Insights for the Month of Leo

July / August 2020

July 22
Sun enters Leo: 4:36 AM EDT
Mercury sextile Uranus
I am in the habit of watching the Sun rise. Lately I see the Earth bowing, head bent, skirts collected, soft knees, less like a curtsy, more like at the end of qigong when we honor the teachers and the teachings. Her arms outstretched as She, the Earth, offers her life to Life. Maybe this is the human problem. We don’t bow to the Sun. We lack the humility that should be innate in us as a life form born of a body into a body. As the Earth makes her offerings to the Sun for the next month we do well to consider the difference between self-important, narcissistic engagement with the world (all the rage at the moment it seems) and self-confident engagement which arises out of self-esteem. What is required of a true king? Nobility, and a deep devotion in service to the people. Possibly the time of kings is coming to an end, but there will always be the Sun.
This month the Sun will encounter Chiron, Mars, Uranus Mercury and of course, as always the Moon at New and Full.
Today in particular is also a day for clever solutions. A good day to allow yourself to learn something practical. Maybe you are the 100th monkey. 

July 27
Jupiter sextile Neptune
Venus square Neptune
Mercury square Mars
Grace isn’t something you can count on. It springs up or showers down in ways and at times when we expect nothing. Often we are oblivious to it, which is why it’s so useful to cultivate a habit of gratitude. Human beings can be unaccountably mean to one another as well as kind and concerned. We are collectively riveted to horrible events, less so to the good. If we were aliens, studying these things from afar they might be fascinating. As it stands, however, we are each and every one of us challenged to awaken from the delusion that allows us to believe that life is not precious as well as to be kind, even when we are scared.

July 30
Mercury opposite Jupiter
Mercury square Neptune
Refrain if possible from harsh judgments and assumptions but don’t lose the ability to discriminate. For example it isn’t necessary to be contemptuous of people who eat KFC although you might not eat it yourself. It’s so easy to spread contempt across the things you disdain, more difficult to allow for all sorts of differences.  

July 31
Sun trine Chiron
Yesterday’s observation was based on feelings (water). Today the message might be the same bit it’s coming from the heart of wisdom – fire. 

August 1
Mercury opposite Pluto
Investigate. Take nothing and no one at face value. Which isn’t the same as not trusting. You are simply choosing to put your trust in your own ability to know what you feel. Feelings aren’t always the best guide to action but they are always true in that they are how we feel.  

August 2
Sun square Uranus
Let go of all attachments (ha!) if only for a split second. Like a blinding flash of light or a child returning home after a day of vigorous play.

August 3
Full Moon: 11 degrees Aquarius: 11:59 AM EDTMercury opposite Saturn
The sometimes full Moon rises as the always full Sun sets. Drama in the heavens: Spectacle in fact: A dance humans have been contemplating for eons. Does the Sun choose to make room for the Moon so she can illuminate the night? Has the Moon vanquished the Sun and claimed dominion over the night sky (if only for a few days)? Have they simply come to the part of the dance where one rises as the other sets? Do they miss each other but understand? The world is constantly changing. Nothing lasts forever. You tell yourself the story of what you see, based on your conditioning which becomes your perspective. As you look around and see a whole planet telling itself a story, it might be a good time to consider which story you would like to use to guide your way through the changes.

August 4
Mars square Jupiter
Mercury enters Leo
This manic struggle for progress as well as dominance exhausts us all. Where you notice an over-the-top kind of energy, see if it’s possible to turn reactions to responses and be more strategic than impulsive. Such is the challenge for the next 4 months. Think creatively, act with forethought.

August 7
Venus enters Cancer
Venus is done with Gemini and all that happened during the retrograde period (May 13 – June 25). It’s up to us to see if we can even remember what we learned about the way grief can turn to rage and how acknowledgment of that becomes determination. Consider the murder of George Floyd and all that erupted from it. There are so many ways to offer nourishment to the world: something of value. Your own way, of course.

August 9
Mercury trine Chiron
Could it be that we are meant to learn that the overt or covert violence we do to others we also do to ourselves? And conversely every act of kindness is a healing for all?

August 10
Mercury square Uranus
If you learned something yesterday, apply it today by staying connected to your heart even as the world tilts and careens down roads of chaotic change. Chaos is (just) change moving too fast.

August 13
Mars square Pluto
Today or thereabouts could be the second most tense day of August (The first being August 4th when Mars squared Jupiter). Awakening to outrage against or at those who have so mismanaged our world is painful and activates response or reaction in each one of us. Step away from the pressure cooker but not before you turn down the heat.  

August 15
Uranus stationery retrograde
We know – we all know – that change is inevitable. People grow up, grow old, die. So does everything else. Seasons change. Some call it impermanence. To have real presence, to exist in the Here! and the Now! is like standing in the middle of a flowing river, a place where movement and stillness are one. Meanwhile, humans don’t seem to like change, especially the kind they don’t think they chose. What Uranus does is turn on the lights. Some get the still point at the center of the wheel, others spin out on the rim. Same wheel.

August 16
Sun trine Mars
Venus square Chiron
“Courage is not about changing anything or grasping for some better state. It’s the valor of being truly present.” Jospeh Goldstein

August 17
Mercury trine Mars
Mercury conjunct Sun
If you were born today you would most likely have an innate ability to listen to your heart’s truest desire and have it propel your actions. For the rest of us the day offers the very same possibility, to let love itself propel our actions, if only for a fleeting moment.  

August 18
New Moon: 26 degrees of Leo  10:41 PM EDT
Venus sextile Uranus
Everywhere there is this thing called suffering which we must bear – for ourselves as well as others. On our way, back to that garden we imagine and long for we encounter endless, innumerable opportunities to alleviate this suffering in small and bigger ways. Might as well… If you’re awake after 10:41 PM even if you awaken in the night – make an affirmation to use your heart to turn your will toward love, every chance you get.

August 19
Mercury enters Virgo
Mercury is well placed in Virgo and will encourage us as it travels through Virgo to see horses not zebras Which is to say that we will understand best that which we see as it presents itself, rather than how it makes us feel or what we think it should or could be. The more practical and grounded our understanding, the better the outcome.

Insights for the Month of Cancer

A Mercury retrograde month:
Alignment is preferable to anxiety.

June / July 2020

June 20
Sun enters Cancer: 05:44 PM EDT
Mars sextile Jupiter             

https://charleseisenstein.org/essays/the-conspiracy-myth/?_page=2 Conspiracy myth: Eisenstein.

Use pictures: ladysmantle and peony, doggie flowers.

We made it to the half way mark of one of the strangest years ever. Summer begins with the longest day, here in the north, as we tilt toward the Sun. Half way through this difficult year we might explore Cancer themes from our newly acquired pandemic perspective. Cancer means one thing to those who feel secure and something quite different to those who don’t. It can indicate a creative productivity leading to nourishment for many. We are happy to give when we feel secure. When security is lacking, when productivity is impossible, when there is no hive, we feel needy. Consider the intensity of a new mother’s full breasts and her baby’s empty stomach. (Cancer is the ruler of these parts of the body.) A wailing baby is hard to ignore. The desire to feed the baby is powerful, natural. These two sides of nourishment create a lasting bond and becomes the prototype for bonding throughout a life. Dominator culture has done everything in its misguided power to sever this bond. The result being that some eat and some starve and we can’t always feel the bond between. It seems that this is a really good time to do what we can to repair this broken bond.
Don’t be afraid of the moments when you feel good. Our willingness to slow down enough to listen to all states of being opens the doors to change.

June 21
New Moon: 00 degrees of Cancer: 02:41 AM EDT
It’s kind of auspicious to have a New Moon so very close to the summer solstice. A New Moon in the first hours of summer promises a new start, possibly aimed at feeding the hungry. It’s a time worthy of real consideration regarding how you want to spend the second half of this strange year. Let your intention be about need: Paying attention to your own genuine needs (not wants) and being aware of  your ability to meet your own needs as well as others. From this kind of intention radiates good things.

June 23
Neptune stationery retrograde
So much has been lost, washed away in a flood of confusion and insecurity. If you’re willing to live with uncertainty it might at least be interesting. If you need control, go bake some bread.

June 25
Venus stationery direct
The Great Goddess of Love and beauty, having gone through her ordeal (which down here in the ‘below’ seems to have been the murder of George Floyd and the rage and grief it has let loose on our planet). She is well into her return. Look  In fact she has been returning since early June, to a changed world. As the story goes she is now ready to claim back her throne and take her rightful place. We laud her determination, her commitment. And you? What have you to claim as your rightful place, given what we have witnessed during this time of descent and return? How have your values been transformed? What’s left to want?

June 27
Mars enters Aries
Mars will be in Aries for many months as it retrogrades back and forth in its own sign. Mars is the planet of aggression, assertiveness and pure vitality: The singular self-starter. In Aries these qualities are amplified. I guess we’ll have to see how this expresses itself in the lives of humans but it’s a sure thing that we are embroiled in a moment of righteous rage about systemic brutalities in our civilization. Plain as the color of your skin, the gender of your body, the resources you do and don’t have at your fingertips. It’s a wild mess, one that must be cleaned up if we are to move along into that vague, promised land of the Age of Aquarius.

June 28
Mars sextile Saturn
Off to what could be considered a good start, Mars reminds us to consider the benefits of discipline, commitment, excellence. This aspect will only happen once in the journey of Mars through Aries. A good day to think/act strategically about how you might accomplish your goals over the next 6 months.

June 30
Jupiter conjunct Pluto
Sun square Chiron
Mercury sextile Uranus
Sun conjunct Mercury retrograde
A busy day in the ‘above’. Pay attention to possible benefits that could come from the spin cycle we have been dealing with. What have you had to let go of that you might be well rid of? If there’s change to be made, make it, but not before pausing and reflecting deeply on how the past loves to repeat itself. Consider how these changes you’re hot to make might not be changes at all if they simply repeat patterns. Then what? What really can and should be changed? Given the theme of ‘crumbling infrastructure’ that we all can see you might think less about the appearance of change and more about the fundamentals. Changes of heart or perspective matter. Change at the core changes everything.

July 1
Sun sextile Uranus
Mercury retrograde square Chiron
Saturn, retrograde, re-enters Capricorn
Everyone should have a notebook for their best ideas. Over time you could check back and see which of them were actually useful. Uranus in Taurus wants us to go forward, to make changes, to get on with it even if there is breakage in the process. Revolution is its stock and trade. Taurus is about the economy, the earth and the real world. We don’t need to look in shadowy corners to see this principle at work in our world. Saturn wants us to be cautious and change as little as possible. Saturn wants change from within the systems already in place. The tension between them will be a major factor in 2021. For now we might take and make notes for later use.

July 5
Lunar Eclipse: 13 degrees Capricorn: 12:44 AM EDT
As we survey the landscape of the first half of 2020 there is definitely some wreckage. For some it is irreparable for others it may seem more like a shift than outright change. The Full Moon encourages us to see at night, to use a different kind of vision. It shows us, if we pay attention, how to avoid tripping over tree roots or falling into the well. Take a look at (your) life. What do you see in the dark that you might not see in the harsh light of day?

July 8
Mars square Mercury retrograde
A moment of calm reflective peace will end as predictably as anything else if that state of being is based on external conditions to hold it together. Mars disturbs the peace. It’s his nature. He shows us, sometimes ruthlessly, that which refuses to get swept under the rug. 

July 10
Venus sextile Chiron
What are the happiest, healthiest possible consequences to following your bliss? If there are enough of them then you must be on a good track. 

 July 11
Chiron stationery retrograde
Chiron is not a planet. It’s not even an asteroid. I’ve heard it called a planetoid as well as a comet. Back before November of 1977 it didn’t exist for astrologers because it wasn’t visible to astronomers. When a celestial orb pops into view it also pops into consciousness. So say the astrologers. Suddenly the awareness of the wounded healer, the mentor, the shaman standing on the threshold, revealed itself. Indeed the late 1970s was a time of great innovations in healing; some better, wiser and more useful than others, to be sure. And so we take note of where Chiron is and what it’s up to in the skies. In Aries the message is to pay attention to how the wounds and traumas of individuals affect us all. Our inability to see and use our wounds as doors to wisdom and compassion makes the world a dangerous place.

July 12
Mercury stationery direct
Sun trine Neptune
We breathe a sigh of relief when Mercury goes direct, but why? What do we think is happening? Time to move on? To get going? Ideally we might have spent this retrograde period reflecting on what we have and what we have to give as well as what we do and don’t need to get. Now is a great moment to give with all you’ve got because it does indeed take a village.

July 14
Sun opposite Jupiter
Mars square Chiron
If someone judges you but they aren’t kind it generally says more about them than you. If you’re the one hurling thunderbolts, beware. Everything we do that’s hurtful we do from the wounded places. It’s fairly ineffective to think we can make the world a better place by creating more wounds in a misguided attempt to settle the score. Which isn’t to say we should not name what we see and act to change it. To acquiesce to injustice feeds the festering mess of denial. It’s just true what the grade one teacher said, ‘Two wrongs don’t make a right’.

July 15
Sun opposite Pluto
There is a powerful energy alive in the world: The power of the witness. S/he who sees what is, has the power to change everything. Denial has led us to terrible injustices which ultimately must erupt like lava and spew ash across the sky which seriously dims the light of the Sun. Inasmuch as we have choices this is one we could make: To see or not to see.  

July 20
New Moon: 28 degrees of Cancer
Sun opposite Saturn
Some are tired, some are chomping at the bit. All are ready to move along. It matters when the moon is new that we give real consideration to our intention regarding the path we think we’re on. What conditions do you anticipate going forward? How do you plan to deal with them? What responsibilities can, can’t and must you take on? What does it actually mean to care?

July 21
Mercury square Chiron
People say we are not all in ‘it’ together if we aren’t all affected by ‘it’ in the same way. Although it is true that some have easier, safer lives than others it is possible to acknowledge this and show awareness by easing the suffering of others. Or not. Ever since humans began to live in a hierarchical, dominator based world where some have more than others, we have had to deal with the absurd lie that we are not all here together and equally deserving of food, shelter and care as well as freedom to express ourselves. It’s a mighty struggle to pretend otherwise.  Charity is like putting a band aid on a gushing wound. As things fall apart around the world we get a chance to build a better system. It may not look possible today but 2021 puts us squarely to that test. Are you ready?

Insights for the Month of Gemini

May / June 2020

May 20
Sun enters Gemini: 09:49 AM EDT:
Venus retrograde, square Neptune
As we make our way through the long and perilous (more for some than others) journey of pandemic reality, including self-isolation, hand washing and wondering how we will ever meet again and what we will meet on the other side, Gemini pops into view, bringing, as always, the last astrological sign of spring. Gemini is the sign of the breath and the lungs, the respiratory tract. During the Sun’s journey through Gemini we will be contending with Venus retrograde in this sign: Goddess of matter, values and all that we love journeying through the realm of the trickster. Together we are called, if we are listening, to descend into the dark and foreboding underworld and see to what kinds of transformations are necessary and even possible. Gemini is a funny sign, both clever, eccentric and at times, a bit ‘peculiar’. Other signs might think of themselves as eccentric and one-of-a-kind but Gemini takes that cake. Gemini is ruled by Mercury, the mind, that trickster we all know and love who takes us down roads and along tracks seemingly on its own. Unless we practice some kind of mindfulness we are often at the mercy of what goes on in there. Gemini is fake news and skewed statistics as well as the genius of turning a phrase and opening doors to understanding. As Venus descends we are called in her underworld to acknowledge the lies we tell ourselves in aid of believing the lies of others.
A hallmark of descent and return is that we do it alone. No one but me knows the workings of my mind. We can share our thoughts as best we can. We can even try to help those in mental distress but it’s up to the individual to wrestle that unruly fellow – the mind – into position to do the bidding of the heart. To do this we need to sit with it and pay attention to what it’s on about without being led down the garden path. This is our task for Gemini 2020. Even as we zoom here and there on all sorts of mind-ways and by-ways can we pull back and reflect? Is it possible to sort through reams of information and find some truth? Do we actually know what really matters? Can humans ever master the mighty gift of our brains, and the minds that work through them? There is much to process here. Be still, especially on June 3 when Venus conjuncts the Sun. Listen, breathe, and of course, laugh at the absurdity of it all. It’s a wild dance and we are all here, doing it, twirling and spinning to the music of life.
The square to Neptune from Venus today underscores the need to be mindful or else get swept away in the delusions of collective entrancement. We must protect ourselves against the hoodwinkers, the greatest one being our own mind. We are in fact the masters of our own oblivion.  So slow down, be reflective, don’t push away your griefs and fears, real or imagined. Simply acknowledge them and see what happens. The only way is through. 

May 22 
Mercury conjunct Venus and square Neptune
Sun trine Saturn
New Moon: 2 degrees of Gemini: 01:39 PM EDT
Mercury tells us to think about everything even if we can’t think clearly: To float in the vagaries, not because we seek clarity but rather because we are curious and would explore the cave of dreams even if it means encountering a nightmare or two.
The Sun and the Moon, alone in the dark, encourage us to begin again: To open the door to the next lunar month with an intention to learn, not because we should but because we can. Here at the start of the lunar month is a good time to play; with ideas or art supplies, maybe found objects or musical instruments, including your voice. We might find ourselves playing with words or the quality of light at different times of day. As you play in the realm of the ten thousand things, allow your intention for this next lunar month to reveal itself to you the way, once upon a time, a photographer would conjure an image with film and solution in a dark room.

May 24
Mars sextile Uranus
Mercury inconjunct Pluto
Our world seems to be changing in a collective way: All of us, forever. Irrevocable, lasting change has always happened to individuals. Someone dies, we lose our job and change careers, we marry this person not that one, we have children or we don’t. Like it or not we are forever changed by events. Call it fate or destiny it is simply how it goes, not just for individuals, sometimes for all of us together in the One World. Some days are better for making lemonade than others. Today is one of those.

May 26
Mercury inconjunct Jupiter
Consider the need to have to fiddle with the dials a part of the task rather than an intrusion on it. 

May 28
Mercury enters Cancer
If one person eats and another does not have enough is hunger a problem? How is productivity different from ambition and greed? What gifts or skills do I bring to my particular circle of life? These are things Mercury in Cancer considers.

May 29
Sun sextile Chiron
Mercury inconjunct Saturn
Sometimes we need to re-calibrate, bring disparate issues together and see if we can integrate them. Every awkward moment is an opportunity to find a third option. Let the notion of ‘and this too’ guide us today.

June 2 & 3
Mars square Venus retrograde
Sun conjunct Venus retrograde
Venus has come to the precise midpoint of her journey toward and then away from the Sun. Ancient people saw in this a moment of great transformation. A magical threshold where something becomes something else, or perhaps when nothing becomes something. It’s a tense time, to be honest. Consumed in the fire of the Sun something we value is becoming something else. Words such as transformation and renewal come to mind as do words like loss and grief. On the other side of whatever is in the cooker, life will go on. Determination will arise as naturally as our next breath. So be it.

June 5
Mercury sextile Uranus, square Chiron
Lunar Eclipse: Full Moon: 15 degrees Sagittarius 03:12 PM EDT
For change to be worth the effort it must take into consideration that which benefits the greatest good which isn’t to say we should let individuals fall through the cracks. This is challenging to manage. We aren’t quite there yet. There is more needs to come to light, to be understood as we travel these times.
See the light, shining in the night? See the things that are illuminated? Take a look at dead ends and distractions, deliberate and not so deliberate distortions as we struggle to return from ‘unprecedented’ to what might be turning into the new normal.

June 6
Sun square Mars
One minute you’re anxious because the wrong kind of bug has made it into your kitchen. This may be followed by random but distressing thoughts of catastrophe, accompanied by dramatic images of earthquakes and floods. That’s how the nervous system works. The worst part is when you fly off the handle and hit some innocent bystander who was just bopping along, even if that was you, doing the dishes. To be mindful is to know that a bug is a bug and not let it turn into a catastrophe.

June 11
Sun square Neptune
Venus retrograde, sextile Chiron
Some say the world is a delusion we create with our mind, our skewed human perception, fraught with stories we tell ourselves about what we are experiencing. But who doesn’t love a story? This would be a really good time to become aware of story itself. Its allure and how it takes you down the garden path. The way the story we tell ourselves creates the reality we are experiencing, not to mention the stories we seek out in books and movies. It’s not something to fix. The mind is not broken. That’s just how it works. Awareness changes everything.

June 13
Mars conjunct Neptune
When we say things such as, ‘Violence against women’ we leave out the most important part. We make it a woman’s problem, something she should change. One of the first rules of magic is that if you can’t name something you can’t change it. The word has power. Naming the perpetrator focuses our intention on the real problem and the causes of violence against women. As we begin to name behavior we open the gates of healing and restoration. The soul relaxes a bit.

June 14
Sun inconjunct Pluto
It’s a minor aspect but the world is tender to the touch at the moment and minor things can feel intense. Adjustment is possible. Make small ones. Change, like new habits, must be integrated over time.

June 16
Sun inconjunct Jupiter
More adjustments, no blame. 

June 18
Mercury stationery retrograde
Mars sextile Pluto (and Jupiter on the 20th)
Enough of the retrogrades you say! But are they so bad? Don’t we need time out? Wasn’t it good to give Earth a time out from our relentless human activities? Mercury asks us to reflect on security. Not so much the kind that keeps the robbers out but the kind that invites others to share in our bounty. The kind that nurtures and supports the children, their parents. You know: the whole village. In the last days of the Sun’s journey through Gemini Mars lets us know that all the rot, all the crumbling infrastructure and the unprecedented change it has shown us is possible needs to happen, is some kind of opportunity. One world, ours.

Insights for the Month of Taurus

April / May 2020

I tend to think that the issue for Taurus is the struggle between being and doing. And so… 

It may be that when we no longer know what to do
we have come to our real work,
and that when we no longer know which way to go
we have come to our real journey.
The mind that is not baffled is not employed.
The impeded stream is the one that sings.

-Wendell Berry from Standing By Words

April 19
Sun enters Taurus: 10:45 AM EDT:
Taurus is about real things, their smell and taste, color and shape, texture and sound. The doors of perception, the senses, are found here. Although it’s long been forgotten in our world of hyper consumption, these sense doors are ground zero for our values. We like the way some things look and feel but not others. These preferences underlie the innate integrity of our senses which has little to do with greed or grasping. It just is what it is.
In the current unreality of our enforced confinement one positive side effect might be more being, less doing, a reawakening of simple pleasure and some awareness of core values. Our collective values create our economy. Uranus in the sign of Taurus, is the planet of deep change, revolutionary change, inevitable change. It has been hard at work crashing the system. There never was a better time to ‘be the change’, the one you want to see. 

April 21 
Sun square Saturn
Fresh out of the gate the Sun in Taurus encounters obstacles, restrictions, limits and the seeming impossibility of dealing adequately with them. Never have we needed to remind ourselves more that if it’s in the way, it is the way. Take that in fully before you make effort. We need resolve and commit to tackling the obstacles of the present moment. We waste a lot of energy looking for someone to blame and worrying about the future. Of course and however… if there are issues to straighten out you would surely see them today. Everything is easier to accomplish after the New Moon. Coming right up.

April 22
New Moon: 3 degrees of Taurus: 22:25 EDT
And a Happy Earth Day to you!
This new Moon is positioned neatly between the square to Saturn (yesterday) and the upcoming conjunction with Uranus on the 26th. Our intentions need to acknowledge the overwhelming circumstances that we are facing as well as our ingenuity and potential for dealing with them. Given that this is the territory, and that you, most likely, have accepted the mission, what is your intention toward moving through the next month? Not your pie-in-the-sky intention, not your longing to ascend and have it all behind (although we all would have it behind us). Rather your intention on the most practical of levels. The actual New Moon in the eastern time zone comes late in the day. There is time to identify, hone and fashion our intentions. Savor the process. Prepare today for that which you will declare tomorrow. One thing we have is time. Use it to be as present as you are able to the moment you are inhabiting. So says, Taurus! 

April 25-26
Mercury square Pluto and Jupiter
Every misunderstanding; especially in these times of unknown outcomes; every thought, word or idea that falls outside of its intended target is an opportunity (honestly!) to look in another direction, over here, not over there. To see the inner workings, the powerful projections and the deeper problems. Be willing to go beyond the field of right or wrong.  It won’t be the last time. Practice makes perfect. Or at least creates aptitude. We are learning so much in these strange days.

April 26
Sun conjunct Uranus
Pluto stationery retrograde
Fear and the rapidly changing world we are facing are riding like highwaymen, together through the strangely constructed days and the deep dives we take at night in sleep or wakefulness. Are we melting like candles or changing our notion of what matters? It seems our society is in a period of vivid, surprising, and most likely, enduring transformation: Call it quantum change. Uranus likes that. It is everywhere. It’s a revelation of sorts when we come to understand that being is always possible even when doing is not. To do this, to allow this we must be radically rooted, or rooted in the radical awareness of some kind of essential beingness. Pluto likes that.

April 27
Mercury enters Taurus
When the mind is anchored in the body we think with our common sense(s). In this way we are less likely to subvert reality with denial. 

April 28
Mercury square Saturn
A lot happens, often on an inner level, when obstacles appear. We can simply throw up our hands and stamp our feet in frustration or we can wrestle and wrangle with our problems which builds a kind of mental muscle.

April 30
Mercury conjunct Uranus
If you were hoping for an Aha! moment now’s your chance. It may come via a smell or a sense, when you least expect it. Perhaps we need to ‘rejoice in the things that are present; (as) all else is beyond …’.

May
Venus will be retrograde in May and June. Maybe you have seen her in the western sky after sunset. Maybe you have cast your wishes in her direction. Her journey reminds us we have a lot to lose. That every loss changes us. That life goes on and that loss and gain are inextricably connected. As the poet said: Loss is the great lesson even as she reminds us that happiness, when it’s done right is a kind of holiness…

May 3
Venus square Neptune
Many of the things we believe we must have are more about feeding addictions than true necessities. So be it. Humans have addictive tendencies. Opening to the awareness of this is the best way to change it.

May 4
Sun conjunct Mercury
Stand your ground. Be as fully present as possible. Observe your body, its posture and the myriad of felt senses within. There is much going on in and on this body of yours. Best to be with it than with out it.

May 5
North Node enters Gemini (South Node in Sagittarius)1:50 AM EDT
Our karmic task shifts from the issue of responsibility (although this is always important) to that of belief. The story we tell ourselves about what we are experiencing truly matters. We have witnessed firsthand the consequences of the ways in which governments all over the world have managed the handling of Covid19, for better and worse. Most of us have done what they asked in an attempt to protect as many as possible. Now and for about a year we must meet our challenges as we balance faith against opinion. We must try to avoid the pitfalls of dogmatic fundamentalisms, to listen with a good ear – as unbiased as possible. This is how we turn fear into wisdom. Don’t believe anything just because someone said so. Ask yourself a lot of questions.

May 7
Full Moon: 17 degrees Scorpio: 06:45 AM EDT
Mercury sextile Neptune
We’ve been through a lot. There is more to come. Everything is changing. Transforming. Becoming. Talk is cheap, yet birds sing in the morning, waking the sun and we are more aware of caring for and about each other than we used to be. The nature of time itself seems to be changing. Possibly we are spending less of it. It feels less like a commodity than it used to. Our metaphors are changing. We are spending less time in favor of inhabiting each moment. Presence at any time of day or night dispels fear.  

May 9 & 10
Mercury trine Pluto and Jupiter
What are you learning? What do you feel called to investigate? No matter what the subject matter you are learning about yourself and the sustainability of your life. Are you transforming your fears or are they transforming you?

May 10 (continued)
Sun sextile Neptune
Open your senses to the world around you. Imagine you are not a separate entity but a part of a great whole. An ingredient in the soup of the universe. Alive for now. Connected. Perhaps this does not require imagination but rather a willingness to stop imagining yourself as apart from the rest of life.

May 11
Saturn stationery retrograde
Mercury square Mars
Mercury enters Gemini
Things are what they are. We cannot ignore the conditions of our existence. Frustration is part of these conditions. Things are not exactly the way we want them to be. Some of our social distancing has been rich in solitude or even connection with those in our household, a gift. Other times, more akin to kind of privileged imprisonment. The situation itself did not change but our feelings did, from moment to moment. That’s why we call them e-motions. They are always in motion. Stamp your feet, butt your head and snort if you must (Taurus style) even as you know and will come to experience: Nothing lasts. Everything changes.

May 12
Mercury trine Saturn
Having joined the airy planets (Saturn in Aquarius and Venus in Gemini), Mercury, the messenger encounters the rock and the hard places of reality. Be curious. There is always something to learn. It’s a good starting point for a more beautiful world

May 13
Venus stationery retrograde  conjunct Vesta
Mars enters Pisces
Ancient peoples looked to the heavens as a way to understand our situations and predicaments down here on Earth. They innately understood that everything in nature is a reflection of everything else; that the messages in the stars were largely about our ability to receive them. As humans have developed technologically we have all but obliterated the ‘above’ in the sense of actually reading what might be written there. Between light pollution and space travel our relationship to the cosmos has profoundly altered.
Still, Venus does her dance. Five time in eight years she appears to descend into the underworld which is to say she vanishes from the sky as she is pulled toward the fiery rays of the Sun. This journey is a prototype for grief and loss as well as the inevitable return to a life transformed on account of what has been lost and the determination to live into what remains.
Venus will be retrograde from today until June 25th. She is still the evening star but somewhere between late May and about June 6 she will conjunct the Sun and disappear. Then she will return as morning star, reminding us that we are still here, those of us that are still here. That life goes on and we must focus on the things that matter which may have changed since first She went retrograde.
So here, in the first leg of the journey, what do you need to let go of? What has been taken from you? How can you grieve your losses? Relinquish is a good word for this part of the retrograde. We are, many of us, grieving the loss of people we love, of a way of life and the expectations inherent in that way of life. Venus in the first half of the retrograde is permission to grieve. Permission to feel the losses. In Gemini she reminds us to avoid things that distract us from our feelings. She asks us to be curious about what we might learn in the realm of descent.
Mars, the troublemaker, will be more significant at the beginning of June. But there is a promise in his ingress to Pisces of an ocean of feeling wanting to crash on the shore.

May 14
Jupiter stationery retrograde
Jupiter’s station, so close to Venus’ must be interpreted in this light. True to the nature of its fall in the sign of Capricorn, Jupiter certainly slowed or maybe stopped travel as we know it, in its tracks. Now what? Some of us are disappointed because we can’t show the kids the Eiffel tower or visit the shamans in Peru. Others are terrified because they can’t cross the border to safety. Some of us are sad because we can’t visit our relatives in faraway places. Jupiter, the judge, is harsh when it’s not beneficial. In Capricorn it wants us to acknowledge the costs of travel. Not just the financial cost but the cost to the planet. In 2020 Capricorn is struggling to find its way back to its original mandate which is ‘The right use of resources’. So consider the notion of travel: Astrologically travel is part of a larger construct including culture, higher learning, religion and philosophy. It’s also about our ability to envision the farther shore. How has travel restriction changed your expectations? Most important, what do you see on your horizon?

May 15
Sun trine Pluto
Mercury sextile Chiron
Where do you feel empowered? Each of us has a place, small or large, where we feel this. It’s not something to be acquired, like stamps in a collection. It’s something to express and in that expression to find a sense of constant becoming and transformation as we allow (or block) the Great Spirit to express within and through us. This what Life does.

May 17
Sun trine Jupiter
Whether you’re home alone or spending lots of time with your near and, hopefully, dear the authentic expression of self continues to be the theme of the moment. From the ashes of our time inside will come many things. Some good, some bad. But you, and you alone are the One who lives your life in the here and now. I leave you, this month, with a reflection from a book titled: Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead.

“I wondered whether the stars can see us and if they can, what might they think of us? Do they really        know our future? Do they feel sorry for us? For being stuck in the present time, with no chance to              move? But it also crossed my mind that in spite of all, in spite of our fragility and ignorance, we have        an incredible advantage over the stars – it is for us that time works, giving us a major opportunity to          transform the suffering, aching world into a happy and peaceful one. It’s the stars that are imprisoned        in their own power, and they cannot really help us they merely design the nets, and on cosmic looms        they weave the warp thread that we must complete with our own weft. P.404

Insights for the Month of Aries

March / April 2020

March 19
Sun enters Aries:  11:50 PM EDT: Equinox
Sun sextile Saturn
As always, Aries is a sign to be reckoned with. We are generally born head first into this world. There is a little Aries in each and every one of us. This year Aries brings more than the usual impulse to get on with it. Whatever ‘it’ is we are called to break new ground and dive fully into the new season (be it spring in the north or fall in the south) as well as a new world that is laboring to give birth to itself. Birth is scary at the best of times. This one is no exception.
As it leave Pisces today, the last aspect the Sun will make is a sextile to Saturn as if to remind us that there are opportunities in a world undergoing rapid, accelerated change: opportunities to nourish the soul as it prepares for birth rather than to line pockets. We can all benefit from the time out which has imposed itself on us. Eventually we will heed the call of self actualization which Aries suggest.
As the Sun travels through Aries it will square Pluto and Jupiter before it’s done. This suggests that breaking through will require great effort. Later in the second half of 2020 Mars will spend a long time in Aries, making the same aspects. We are getting s sneak preview of the issues that will be activated then.
During the time that the Sun is in this sign it will play host to Saturn as she takes her first step in the sign of Aquarius, as well as Mars shortly after. Change may be good, may be bad but there is no stopping it. Never was.

March 20 
Mars conjunct Jupiter
War is the fundamental myth of dominator culture: The war against this or the war to save that, the war against the ego, the war to secure our future. War fills us with enthusiasm which is to say we become possessed as if by (a) god. We rally round the flag. We suddenly realize the nobility of the ‘ultimate sacrifice’. Really? Is there no other way to combine the raw, fierce energy of Mars with the visionary passion of Jupiter? Now is the time. Capricorn (where they meet) shows us the perspective of their meeting. This suggests that our enthusiasm is best aimed at the task at hand however mundane it is. What is required is the better management of whatever situation we stumble upon (at the moment it seems to be the virus).  Could there be another way to see things besides as a battle? Possibly war is the one great trick of homo sapiens. If this is so we might as well become extinct.
If you weren’t at war with yourself, for example how would you engage the energy of the task of being human at this moment?

March 21
Saturn enters Aquarius
EXTRA! EXTRA! Saturn on the Move!
Saturn, the wise elder, who reminds us that we learn best what we learn through experience, who expects us to toe the line, is putting her own toe into Aquarian country. Saturn is as strong in Aquarius as she is in Capricorn. These two signs are her home places. In Capricorn for the last two years we have become aware of the enormity of the mess we humans have made and the corresponding enormous effort required to address it. It is the nature of Aquarius to see possibilities, to make blueprints. Saturn will only be here until early July at which time it retrogrades back to Capricorn. But it will step in and stay for two years in December, leaving Capricorn behind for another 28 years. Saturn suggests we need a better plan, and that we should get down to work figuring out what that is, despite the clowns and the disrupters. 

March 22
Mercury sextile Uranus
Venus sextile Neptune
Reach into the emptiness, the gaps, the forces that take you beyond your individual self. Reach for poetry, for simple raw truths that affirm that this is life, not a product to be bought and sold, not even a  mountain to climb or conquer. Simply, powerfully, undoubtedly expressing and fulfilling its mission through you but not simply to satisfy you alone. 

March 23
Mars conjunct Pluto
Conjunctions are the most powerful aspects. They are a fusion of energies. The will is a mighty force for ‘yes’ and for ‘no’. Intention matters. Delve into whatever it is that powers your intentions and be at the ready tomorrow when the Moon is new.

March 24
New Moon: 4 degrees of Aries: 05:28 AM EDT
The first New Moon of the new season encourages us to aim at the breakthrough point. To take a bold step over the next two weeks as the moon becomes round . Knowing the difference between arrogance and intention, many of us have figured out that human beings are not necessarily the crown of creation. What then? 

March 28
Venus trine Jupiter and Pluto
There cannot be a better day than this one to lean into what matters and make it so.

March 30-31
Mars enters Aquarius and conjuncts Saturn
We all have a sense that the real terrorists, the dangerous ones, can be the policy makers. What do you think these days of the invisible hands that are guiding our social and political lives? Are they level headed and acting for the greatest good? The impulse is there. It’s quite possible that terrible things bring out the best in people, even in our leaders. Mars wants to kick Saturn into gear. Who’s in charge (of your life)? The algorithms which corral us into boxes, rendering us powerless to see or knowledge of the authentic self which is a reliable guide to our ideals?

April 3
Venus enters Gemini
Mercury conjunct Neptune
Venus will be powerful in Gemini as she will spend more time than usual in this sign (April 3 – August 8) due to retrograde motion. Gemini is about language, its uses and misuses. Among the many crises besieging our planet at the moment is the one about fake news, false facts and the takeover of our minds. Choose your news wisely.
Mercury is the ruler of Gemini. As it wends its way through Pisces and conjuncts Neptune we are reminded that some of the greatest truth is found in our dreams, the ones we dream alone at night as well as our collective dreams which often reveal themselves in poetry, fiction and the stories we tell through the arts.

April 4
Venus trine Saturn
Jupiter conjunct Pluto
The intellect is a powerful tool, especially in service to what matters. Cut through the manipulations and wrest the essential goodness from your circumstances. No panic. Venus is at her best as Saturn reminds her to stay real. Jupiter may be hampered in Capricorn but it’s still Jupiter. It still aims to make the most out of what and where it finds itself. Down here, in the ‘below’ we get to decide and enact what, exactly that is.

April 7
Full Moon: 18 degrees Libra: 10:35 PM EDT
Mars square Uranus
Mercury sextile Pluto and Jupiter.
If the earth buckles beneath you, all you can do is run for solid ground. You can’t waste time on blame. But once you’re grounded, justice and fairness matter for everyone. Engage the challenges surrounding you with a good ear for listening. The ultimate end of justice is to restore love to the heart.

April 8
Mars sextile Chiron
All manner of suffering, great and small, confer wisdom if we can allow it. What have you learned about taking or not taking action since the end of March when Mars was conjunct Saturn?  

April 10
Venus sextile Chiron
Part of healing is understanding, which allows us to step back and have some perspective. It helps us slip the surly bonds of thinking that we are the only one: the only one who ‘gets it’, the only one who truly understands. Our supreme allegiance to the cult of individuality has become quite lonely.  

April 11
Mercury enters Aries
Some are good at thinking on their feet, others feel anxious at having to do so. It’s a good idea to look sharp and give the mind something to do that makes it stronger, not weaker. We all need time to zone out. We also  need to think critically, to know what we think and to speak with as much clarity as possible. A sharp mind can actually make things easier.

April 14
Sun square Pluto
It’s true, just because we are paranoid doesn’t mean someone isn’t after us which makes sorting through our projections and fears even more challenging. It’s the opposite of tilting at windmills. More like staring down demons many of whom are figments of the mind. Some of whom are real.

April 15
Sun square Jupiter
Mercury conjunct Chiron
Understanding our fears makes us wiser. Understanding the fears of others does too. Ignoring fear goes against the survival instinct. Sometimes we need heroes, first responders. Sometimes we need people who can distinguish what is worth keeping and what needs to be let go. Life, here on Planet Earth seems to have as its goal the getting of wisdom although you wouldn’t always know it from the powers that be. Maybe that is the wisdom we need most.

April 18
Mercury sextile Venus and Mars
Everywhere there are people to talk with about your experience. Some will help, others will be helped by what you say. In an attempt not to throw any babies out with the bath waters we may need to entertain more conversations than we think necessary. Words are transmissions of energy. Like seeds they carry blueprints for what may grow into being. Imagine them as dandelion fluff or milkweed, food for butterflies and all sorts of beings. We are beings too.

Insights for the month of Pisces

February / March 2020

Capricorn, the sign which Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto (even Mars at the moment)  is an earth sign. It is about how we manage the earth, our home. It can be about the uses of resources for personal or corporate gain and it can be about the sustainability of life, for the Good of All. Here is a quote from an article that speaks most intelligently about the global crisis we are so painfully aware of. To my mind it speaks directly to the cusp of Capricorn and Aquarius (where all the above mentioned planets will come soon). It’s long, readable and worth your attention:

   A life initiation begins with a crisis that dissolves what you knew and what you were. From the rubble         of the ensuing collapse, a new self is born into a new world.
     Societies can also undergo initiation. That is what climate change poses to the present global           civilization. It is not a mere “problem” that we can solve from the currently dominant worldview and its solution set, but asks us to inhabit a new Story of the People and a new (and ancient) relationship to the rest of life. – Charles Eisenstein, Extinction and the revolution of Love.

February 18
Sun enters Pisces: 11:56 PM EST
We are one, we are many. So says Pisces in its obscure way. “I am you and you are me and we are all together. It’s complicated.  Sometimes this interconnectedness feels cosmic and mystical. When it comes to the spread of viruses, however, it seems frightening and overwhelming. Both are true. You can’t really have one without the other. That’s why ultimately, Pisces is about compassion. As the wheel of 2020 turns we are each and every one meant to hear the cries of the world. Then what?
As the Sun journeys through Pisces it will sextile Uranus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto. It will conjunct Mercury and then Neptune. (See below for specific dates.)  Sextiles encourage us to make the effort that is worth making. So many in one month say it loud and clear. Do what you do and think about the ripples that will spread out from your efforts, across the waters. Conjunctions are times of transition, endings and beginnings, in this case for the soul of nature that gives life to the universe.  It’s time for an infusion of soul` We sure could use that.

February 20
Jupiter sextile Neptune
Jupiter is the old ruler of Pisces, Neptune is the more modern one. Together they show us the two sides of faith – Jupiter the religious side, Neptune the mystical. Working together as they are today could be seen as an opportunity to lift our assumptions up by infusing them with the simple and profound realization that all sentient beings want to be happy. Avoid the temptation to treat your opinions as if they are commandments from God on High. Truth is a slippery fish. We trust the kind that comes from the heart or the gut. What’s true, may be true for all but the expression of it is always unique.

February 21
Mars trine Uranus, square Chiron
There’s an astrological ‘thing’ going on between innovation (Uranus) and wisdom (Chiron): change for the sake of change and change that acknowledges the rights of all living things. We see this everywhere. Maybe we applaud and support the ones on the front lines. Each of us is trying to navigate the connection between chaos and compassion. Makes your head spin. It scares us unless, until we understand that we, each and every one of us, has the mandate to innovate in these times of great change and that each of us is also deserving of compassion, not more or less than anyone else.

February 22
Sun sextile Uranus
Given that we are in fact the change we want to see, today is an excellent day to reach into your compassionate heart and do something for the earth, the planet, your body or someone else. Given the backdrop of a waning moon and Mercury retrograde it doesn’t have to be big but it just might feed the soul. Maybe, if we could really know, we would see that it isn’t my soul, or yours. There is just one soul and we each have a connection to it, both unique and collective.

February 23
New Moon: 4 degrees of Pisces: 10:32 AM EST
Venus square Jupiter
New Moons encourage us to make intentions. Intentions are not like wishes. They do not grow into realities on account of good luck or fairy godmothers. Intentions are more akin to commitments. We all know the futility of New Year’s resolutions. There is a sweet spot at the new Moon. A sense that we can plant the seed and it may grow. There are so many factors we can’t control. But the one factor we can is our intention. Two weeks hence, at the Full Moon we can see if it takes or not.
Whatever you’re up to it’s not a day to ‘shoot the moon’. Manic enthusiasm is about as misguided as it gets.  

February 24
Sun sextile Mars
Strength is something we all can muster even if it looks quite different in each of us. Some of us can lift 300 lb. Others manage 3 and it’s still about strength. It’s relative. Respect strengths in yourself as well as others, cultivate their uniqueness and use each and every one the best you can. We’re here in this life for a short time as individuals but our contributions live on through each other.

February 25
Mercury retrograde conjunct the Sun 20:44 (6*of Pisces)
At the midpoint of Mercury’s retrograde journey some of us have the capacity to be still and listen for the messenger’s message. We fear the spread of contagion to be sure, but there are other feelings, besides fear that are longing to spread among humans; gentler feelings but nonetheless powerful if we allow them voice. Let the still, small voice which Pisces offers, whisper in your year or your heart as Mercury shifts from the setting side of the Sun to the rising.

February 26 – 28
Mercury retrograde sextile Mars and Uranus
Mercury continues to reach out and touch other planets; today Mars, Friday Uranus. If you felt the messenger yesterday you might consider combining that with any intentions you made at the New Moon. As the Moon waxes she calls us to participate in the dance of life.

February 28
Venus square Pluto
Avoid jumping the queue. You might be better off at the back of the line till you’re sure what’s happening at the front.

February 29
Leap Year
There are many rituals and superstitions about this day. None of them are astrological. It’s a convention, mathematical in nature, that allows the calendar to work, year after year. Even so it may be a day to leap into something completely new and upside down from what you’re used to.

March 3
Venus square Saturn
Respect every obstacle, if only for today. There are limits to matter. And there is also some truth to the notion: ‘If it’s in the way, it is the way’.

March 4
Mercury Rx enters Aquarius
Venus sextile Mercury
Venus enters Taurus
There is a cuspy feeling today. We are on (the) edge as Mercury and Venus meet, bow to one another and go their different ways. Astrological cusps are thresholds. We stand in the doorway and decide if we will enter. What might you see from a different perspective? How might you evaluate things in a new way? Shift happens.

March 8
Sun conjunct Neptune
Venus conjunct Uranus
Transmissions or infusions of soul into the world happen on many fronts, within and without us. What new thing would make a difference? What ancient, familiar longing puts you in touch with all longing, increasing the capacity for compassion? Avoid the longing for perfection which tends to cloud rather than illuminate.

March 9
Full Moon: 19 degrees Virgo: 1:47 PM EDT
Mercury stationery direct
In business world they do a thing called a 360 review. I believe it’s some kind of evaluation of a person’s performance by others. Any circle has 360 degrees. A horoscope is, of course a circle, a mandala, a constant 360 but not of performance. That’s only one aspect of the circle. If you were to sit at the mysterious center of the wheel of your life what might you see spinning around the periphery? To see and witness your life as if from the center of the circle is to see it from the perspective of the unknowable magic that powers all life. Today’s full moon (a time to be aware and celebrate what is, not what could be) combined with Mercury stationery direct (time to get on with your projects) reminds us that we are alive, pure and profoundly alive and that what we see, know, feel about our lives is and isn’t real.

March 11  
Sun sextile Jupiter
The poet in her wisdom asks, ‘… what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?’  She’s not asking what we will accomplish ultimately. The question is just the way it sounds, what will we do, what are we doing, why do we bother? No matter what you are doing, this is your one precious life, the here and  now of it.

March 14
Mars sextile Neptune
Sun sextile Pluto
Life may be precious but it’s not meant to be kept in a jar. It’s meant to be used, to be lived. Where are the places you can make joyful effort no matter what your circumstances? Reach into the cauldron of possibility, like a grab bag at a birthday party. What will you do with your gift?

March 16
Mercury enters Pisces
When thinking meets feeling we really can know something but when thinking gets hijacked by our worst fears we should run for cover. Better yet we might remind ourselves to breathe in and breathe out, which we are doing anyway.

March 19
Sun sextile Saturn
Today is the first day of the new season but not until the last day of the old one is finished. As it leaves Pisces the Sun will sextile Saturn which is in the last degree of Capricorn. These are liminal degrees; threshold degrees. Magical places which exist after the end and before the beginning. Places akin to the gap between inhaling and exhaling. Sweet spots for any and all transitions.