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Jupiter Finally Gets Back On Track

Jupiter stationed direct from retrograde position on July 10. When she went deep into Scorpio she dug through issues for money, sex, power and taxes.  So now in that she has stirred the soup pot of these deep issues it is up to us to shift through and make life corrections. None of these areas is “light” – there is nothing “light” about Scorpio. He dwells in the deep underworld of secrets and lies.

Jupiter only visits Scorpio once every 12 year so we don’t get to head into these “sex, drugs and rock and roll” arenas that much – and perhaps that is a good thing. However, take a minute to see what lessons she has given during this retrograde. Where are you not holding your power? Where are you giving up your resources, your value, your sexuality? Where are you generally not in control of the forces that keep your personal boundaries safe?

Don’t run away from the power of Scorpio and the expansion of Jupiter. What you may find on the other side i a new more formidable person!

 

 

The Mars/Venus Dance on the Solstice

This was written by my friend and mentor Adam Gainsburg of Soulsign Astrology (www.soulsign.com.) It is such a beautiful description of the Mars/Venus dance this June solstice that I am copying in total.

Enjoy

 

Joan

Mars and Venus will be very close to an exact opposition on Summer/Winter Solstice in June (for northern and southern hemisphere people respectively) while also on the nodes of the Moon. They will also be close to their maximum brightness in our skies. Mars will rise while the Sun is setting and thus be MidnightStar, visible and brightest for the entire night. Venus will be at the end of her Remembering & Embodiment Phase, heading toward her Wholeness Phase — her brightest as an EveningStar. They’ll not be in the same part of our skies together, but for an hour or two, we will be blessed with bright, red Mars in the East rising, while bright, glowing Venus in the West will be slowly setting. This is a clear symbol of the Masculine and Feminine inside each of us at their most demonstrative – brightest and highest and longest in our skies – wanting what they each want. This can create quite a pull in opposite directions inside us. Generally, the one we are more comfortable with will win our attention to be acted upon. However, this is a fantastic opportunity to try on the ‘less familiar’ version of yourself, which may not be comfortable at first. Which do you default to when you don’t know how to proceed, your inner Masculine or Feminine?

A suggestion is to select the less familiar for you, while not excluding the other. See how you might make room for both in this new or different relationship to each other (by starting from the less familiar polarity). Is it meditating? running? are you alone or with another or lots of others? Remember, ‘making room for’ does not mean prescribing what will happen. It’s clearing out space to be spontaneous and freed up.

This summer’s alignments are invaluable opportunities to own, really own, as many of your facets, qualities and gifts as you’re safe to. You may just discover yourself as the Whole Living Sky itself that the planets are traversing through!!

 

Venus and Pluto In Opposition: All or Nothing at All

Venus and Pluto are facing off this week. Venus is in the mommy sign of Cancer while Pluto, the god of the underworld, is in taciturn Capricorn. It is almost as if Mom and Dad are fighting and the kids are in the middle. Venus is all about desire and love and Cancer is nurturing and coddling. Whereas Pluto is all about live and death choices and Capricorn is the task master! Family fight!

Depending on the placement of these planets in your chart you might really feel these movements. If, for instance, you are a Venus or Pluto Capricorn or Cancer person, you might feel a bit torn between your duties to your kids or even to yourself. There was a great song in the musical “Mame” when she lamented about perhaps being too strong or soft with her nephew. This describes this placement perfectly.

Even if it doesn’t hit you hard, think about the balance in your life between duty and comfort, work and play, time enjoyed or struggling.

Mom and Dad may be fighting but use that energy to bring balance to yourself.

Mars with Saturn and Pluto In Capricorn – Anger Mangement?

On March 17, Mars joins Pluto and Saturn in Capricorn. Like his fellow travelers, Mars enjoys the ride through this constellation. Mar loves aggressive direct action and Capricorn enjoys organization and direct action. The good part is that Capricorn will hold back some of the more risky Mars behavior. Mars wants to lash out and act regardless of consequences. Capricorn is more the village elder informing Mars with common sense calming energy.

Mars will march through Capricorn for most of the year and will retrograde back at the end of the year.

Evaluate where you may be too angry, where you don’t think before you act or where you are holding childish angers too deep inside. Process these through the fatherly energy of Capricorn. Is there a better way to resolve issues? Can you make a long term plan to release pent up anger?

The point of this energy is to mature your anger responses and make them more productive instead of reactionary. We need more of this energy right now so let’s use it!

Lillith in Dangerous Territory: How Are You Addressing Your Inner Rebel?

And there is Lilith – wedged between karmic Saturn and Pluto.  Saturn is the authoritarian and Pluto, the Lord of the Underworld so this is not a neighborhood full of frivolity. Yet, there is the temptress, daring Lilith bravely holding her own between this two dour creatures. In Sumerian mythology, Lilith was the ultimate bad girl. She was a dark demon and seductress of innocent men. Lilith was a strong minded, desirous woman who struck fear in the hearts of the fragile male ego.

Later lore made her a fallen Eve type. Forced to fill an idealized male role of the perfect woman, she vehemently rebelled.

In Astrology the placement of Lilith indicates where we rebel against the norms of society – where we seek our own path.  Even the meekest person can look to Lilith for the one area they allow themselves to at least dream of autonomy.

Now as she asserts herself between the two most dominating and restrictive of planets she reminds us that this is the time of rebellion. Indeed, it almost looks as though she is saying hey guys I am here. #METOO

Uranus Finally Goes Direct – Too Bad So Does Trump.

Happy New Year! In addition to the beautiful New Year’s Day full Moon, the universe gave us the present of Uranus moving out of retrograde where it has been since August, 2017. It didn’t surprise me that our so-called president used that movement to make a stereotypical move. Uranus is in Aries, the god of war. I describe this as like a teenager running with a loaded gun this situation. Uranus is unpredictable trickster energy that loves to shoot thunderbolts just to shake things up.

Trump’s ridiculous mine-is-bigger-than-yours tweet to North Korea is a perfect example of this Uranus-Aries, unhinged warrior energy unleashed. This is playing out when Saturn and Pluto remain in a difficult square energy that fulminates anger and even rebellion (a la Iran and Pakistan.)

The lesson at this time is to reign in that fight energy and use the positive free thinking and revolutionary Uranus with the drive of Aries to solve problems, not instigate more. Uranus is a planet of humanity and union. We need to think of ways to bring people together.

Check where your Uranus is in your chart – (let me know if you need help) and see how it is relating to Aries. This will tell you whether you too need to dial back the aggression or if you are ready to build bridges for the future!

The Beauty of Neptune in Retrograde

Neptune is in its ruling planet, Pisces, but has been retrograded for most of this year. Neptune is literally our connector to the “god.”  Someone with a strong Neptune/Pisces presence in his or her chart has a spiritual or physic ability – the more Neptune the better the connection. Of course, if in a debilitated state, the person can exhibit the shadow aspects of Neptune which are disassociations with reality. Because Neptune loves to dwell in spirit, it is easy for them to forget that they have to live here in the physical.

While in retrograde, a planet asks us to go within ourselves and find how we can better use the energies it gives us. Therefore, during this time of Neptune retrograde we can ask two questions:

  1. How can I better connect with the universal source?
  2. Where am I hiding from a reality in life that I would prefer not to see?

Working on those two arenas will help you attune more to what Neptune wants to give us.

Backdrop design of sacred zodiac symbols signs geometry and designs represent concept of astrology alchemy magic witchcraft and fortune telling

The Comey Firing

So was happening on Tuesday night when Trump fired FBI Director Comey?  Mercury, recently out of retrograded and in the fire sign of Mars, made an exact conjunction to Uranus, also in Mars, as it is trining Saturn in retrograde. Let’s break that down. Mercury, the communicator whose fleetness of foot allowed him to be the messenger from the gods, is ripe for some caustic words because of the infusion of the Mars energy. When he is cozying up to rebellious and fitful Uranus also infused with Mars aggression – it makes the time recipe for aggressive, erratic communications.

The Saturn retrograde is the key to this because it is the planet of authority. By turning retrograde this summer it creates the perfect opportunity for the revelation of more government secrets. A retrograde is a time for everyone to go within and discover what no longer works. Will this Saturn retrograde bring more government muck to the surface – and what will we do about it? Was the sudden firing of Comey a quick and aggressive attempt to keep secrets hidden?

By placing the chart of Tuesday night next to Trump’s chart we get a clearer picture of why he chose that time to fire the FBI director. The Mercury/Uranus conjunction take place in his eighth or power house and Saturn is in his fifth house of personal creativity and expression. Was Comey coming too close to impeding the power Trump thinks he can wield without restriction? Was he suppressing Trump’s ability to be Trump? I think so but you can draw your own conclusions.

Look too at Vesta on his natal Pluto – there will be challenges to his power which he loves to wield in secret. This will last until the end of the year so we are in for the long haul of power struggles.

Libran Lessons of Balancing the Self During the April Full Moon

I had a very interesting dream the other night. It started with me entertaining three close friends for breakfast. Unfortunately, I hadn’t realized I had schedule+6d a meeting of a civic group one hour later and then my book club was coming just minutes later. As these three events converged I found myself sort of spinning around trying to please every group and failing miserably with each.  I woke up laughing at myself and thinking what a perfect dream for a Libra rising person at the height of the full Libran Moon!

The full Moon this month, a Moon in Libra, peaked on April 11. It occurred when Jupiter and the Moon were in conjunction and opposing both the Sun and Uranus. Jupiter makes everything more grandiose. Our largest planet hates boundaries. Libra, being an air sign also prefers total free range and is our most social of signs. Libra loves to get into the business of others and can go to the extreme of total co-dependence. These two coming together just want nothing more than for us to lose all sense of self and blend with and get the acceptance and approval of others.

Someone like myself with a Libra ascendant (having Libra on the cusp of the first, eastern most, house that of personality hence our rising sign) can relate to this never ending need to merge with others. It is so easy for someone with a strong Libran chart to lose themselves totally. For that reason I knew that my dream was a message from Libra to pull back, slow down, and come back to myself.

With the Sun opposing the Moon (which is why the Moon is full at this time because we can see it without the interference of the Sun) – we feel the disconnect between our inner selves – the Sun – and our emotions – the Moon. This is a perfect time to ask where you are either blocking or allowing your emotions to take over.

When you throw Uranus, the rebel, into the mix you get the desire to break free – to be follow your own drummer. It was the part of the dream asking me to find my own desires in this mix of doing for others. He was asking me to break from my self-imposed social demands and do what I needed and wanted to do for me again.

When I looked at that Libran Moon this week, I kept the dream in mind as I tried to remember to reign in the negative aspects of Libra – and maintain that Uranus spark of myself in my hectic socialized life.

Others with a strong Libra influence in their chart should take a moment to reflect on that balance we children of the scales must maintain.