Sunday inspiration: Shift happens

April 28, 2013 By 3 Comments

Uranus square Pluto 2011-2015

 

[There is] the arising of something new in humanity. I sometimes call it the unconditioned consciousness. But it is also a field of stillness, where you see the torn roots of the human mind. Once it emerges, it’s a process that cannot be reversed. It emerges more and more fully, and you become less and less identified with the structure of thought. And then thought is no longer dysfunctional. It is actually beautiful. It can be used for helpful purposes. It’s wonderful—you are no longer looking for an identity in the structure of thought because now you know that who you are is deeper. You are the very awareness prior to thought. You are the stillness that is deeper than thought, much vaster than thought. We call it “stillness” but it’s just a word. We’ve reduced it to something. It’s more than that. It’s consciousness itself, unconditioned. Which is the essence of each human being. It’s that when you meet anybody in a state of open, aware attention, without labeling them mentally or judging them, then that you are already operating as a current or conscious awareness between human beings.

That [will] dramatically change human relationships. When aware presence operates between human beings, they are no longer dominated by mind structures. On a deepest level, that is also love. That is the only dimension from where love can come into this world.

Eckhart Tolle, interview

We are in the transition from the Age of Pisces to the Age of Aquarius, and this ongoing planetary aspect between Uranus and Pluto is facilitating that process.  As the old ways are destroyed (Pluto in Capricorn) a new and radically different way of looking at the world through new eyes (Uranus in Aries) emerges and what is left, ideally, is a reality that extends beyond the boundaries of the small mind.

Uranus represents the Higher Mind – the intuition and insight that comes to us from a multidimensional reality that we are only now beginning to grasp.  In order to move into this new consciousness we must let go.  2012 was just the beginning – the process of consciousness shifting continues.

 

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Catastrophe and transformation

April 26, 2013 By 8 Comments

catastrophe Tower TarotI was browsing around for something when I came across a definition of the word “catastrophe”:

catastrophe (plural catastrophes)
1. Any large and disastrous event of great significance.
2. (insurance) A disaster beyond expectations
3. (narratology) The dramatic event that initiates the resolution of the plot in a tragedy.
4. (mathematics) A type of bifurcation, where a system shifts between two stable states.

As an astrologer, I am always curious about catastrophes in a person’s life, because there is nearly always something of great significance astrologically that provides clues to the nature of this apparent disaster.  I believe that when we are ignoring our lives or unable to face certain truths, the Universe will present us with a catastrophe to get our attention and create the change and transformation that is required.

In order to get there, though, we have to completely suspend our usual ideas of what is good and bad, life and death.  A horrible childhood event can serve as the tool to foster a lifetime of introspection and self-discovery.  A terrible accident can create a lifetime of pain, but also shock us into realizing that a change in our life is needed.  A natural disaster can wipe away a family, but allow us to put our grief to work in helping others.  A terminal illness will end a life, but can bring great richness and transformation to an entire family as well as the patient.

All of these events could be considered catastrophes in definition #1 described above: “a large and disastrous event of great significance.”  And certainly a disaster beyond expectations (#2), because most of us don’t expect to encounter these disasters – they sneak up on us and shock us into an altered state.

#3 is one of the most interesting, and it comes to us from the elements of Greek drama: The dramatic event that initiates the resolution of the plot.  Many of us become stuck in patterns and situations that we know are limiting us but we stay there out of fear or inertia.  A catastrophe can indeed be the dramatic event that initiates a type of resolution.

Catastrophe theory in mathematics is a little more obtuse but it still has an interesting connection to this discussion: “Small changes in certain parameters of a nonlinear system can cause equilibria to appear or disappear, or to change from attracting to repelling and vice versa, leading to large and sudden changes of the behaviour of the system.”  Here again we see the idea that a catastrophe plants the seeds of change.

The Tower card in the Tarot is a significator of this kind of catastrophe.  The Tower card is represented by the planet Pluto which presides over death and rebirth – destruction and regeneration.  In this card we see the Tower of the material world, representing all that we have accomplished, but which rests precariously on a craggy mountain which represents a supremely difficult spiritual challenge.  In order to accomplish the spiritual work, the Tower of materialism must fall.

The crown is falling from the Tower, showing that we must let go of our arrogance and righteousness during this process.  A bolt of lightning (Uranus – sudden and shocking experience) comes out of the blue to destroy all that we have built. In order to escape the destruction, a change of perspective (the people falling upside down from the Tower) is required.

To me, the biggest challenge in life is to face the reality of its tenuousness without fear and with trust in the Universal laws of consciousness and fate.  Astrology helps with this, because it can provide a context within which these supposedly meaningless events occur and offers a framework for understanding.

 

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Full Moon in Scorpio and the first eclipse of 2013

April 25, 2013 By 7 Comments

Lunar eclipse April 2013Today’s Full Moon is a powerful one, as I was reminded when it shone through my window and brightened the room into full daylight.  As in every Full Moon, the Sun is opposite the Sun which is in Taurus.  This creates a need to find balance between the equanimity and stability of Taurus with the need for deep regeneration and soul processing of Scorpio.  This Full Moon is a time of going deep within to confront whatever monsters lie deep in the psyche so that they can be put to work for us rather than lurking in the darkness.

Scorpio is a water sign, but its traditional ruler is Mars which is the fire planet so Scorpio also adds a fiery and passionate side to the watery realm of feelings and intuition.  With the Sun still in a conjunction to Mars until early to mid-April, the fire of the past month has not totally subsided.  Still, when the Sun and Mars both moved into Taurus a few days ago there was a grounding of all of that fire that can help promote relaxation and a reduction of stress.

This event is an eclipse because the Sun and Moon are 11 degrees from the lunar nodes.  Eclipses are significant because of this nodal connection – the nodes of the Moon are simply points in the sky that mark the passage of the Moon around the solar orbit (ecliptic), but in astrological symbolism the lunar nodes are connected to fate.  Not always, but often something arises during an eclipse that is later seen to be a pivotal point in our lives.

The tighter the connection of the nodes to the lunation (Sun/Moon aspect), the more powerful the eclipse.  Astronomers give a wide orb of 15 degrees to an eclipse, but from this astrologer’s point of view the psychological impact is strongest when the nodes are closest to the lunation.  This eclipse is a partial eclipse of the Moon so its personal impact will likely not be stronger than a “normal” Scorpio Full Moon, which is powerful enough.

Saturn is tied into this Full Moon which suggests that this is a time for isolation and solitary work rather than group celebrations.  The square of Uranus to Pluto is tightening now, and this is embedded in the chart of the Full Moon which means that there is a tremendous energy now for letting go of something in the past to make way for a radical change that may be shocking and surprising.

Still, Chiron and Neptune are linked harmoniously to both Sun and Moon, aiding in the healing and restoration of the soul as it takes the Scorpionic journey into the Underworld, and with Chiron in a harmonious sextile to Venus, our relations with others can experience healing as well.

Any Scorpio or Pluto cycle forces us to face our fears and let go of our hesitations.  This Full Moon is no time for superficial fluff – it’s a time of depth and intensity and letting the soul do the talking.

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Bitcoin: Uranus square Pluto in action

April 22, 2013 By 8 Comments

BitcoinThe story of Bitcoin has the Uranus square Pluto story written all over it.

Pluto entered Capricorn in 2008 and began to turn the structures of our life (Capricorn) upside down, tearing down our economy so that it can be rebuilt.  Of course our economy didn’t actually break down and it’s not being rebuilt in a healthier way.  In fact, things are progressing pretty much as they did before the Great Recession which means that we are heading for ANOTHER breakdown.  If a tornado (Pluto) tears down your home because it sits on a weak foundation (Capricorn), and you rebuild your house the exact same way, you can’t really expect a different result.

Uranus represents new ways of doing things, and it also represents technology.  Uranus is in Aries right now where it is radicalizing individuals and forging fresh new ways of innovating our society.  Because it is in a challenging aspect to Pluto in Capricorn right now, these fresh new ways are challenging the old ways and potentially leading us to radically different forms of business entities, family structures, and money.

One such radically different forms is the Bitcoin, a form of currency that lives exclusively on the Internet.  There are no actual coins, and the value of the Bitcoin isn’t tied to anything tangible.  It isn’t administered by any state or nation (Capricorn).  It is a purely Uranian form of currency.  It’s an interesting “coincidence” that Bitcoin was originally conceived in 2008 when Pluto entered Capricorn.  But its use as actual currency didn’t begin until Uranus entered Aries in 2010 and began the square to Capricorn.

Of course, our whole financial system is not that different from Bitcoin.  In our family we hardly ever see any real currency.  Our salary is automatically deposited into our account. Our bills are automatically drafted.  We pay for everything with a credit card and then pay the credit card every month online from our bank account.  Our financial world is already on the Internet.

The fact is, as the Onion pointed,out, “money is, in fact, just a meaningless and intangible social construct.”

At one time our currency was actually tied to gold and silver, and the dollar bills were a representation of a tangible currency that had intrinsic value.  But in today’s world, money is just an idea – an agreement that something has value.

On March 18 of this year a division of the US Treasury, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, attempted to assert control (Pluto in Capricorn) over this independent currency (Uranus in Aries), something that Bitcoin is resisting.

Meanwhile, the aggregate value of Bitcoin is now somewhere around $1 billion and the currency is in somewhat of a bubble.  Hedge fund investors are seeking out Bitcoin plays.  When the financial establishment (Pluto in Capricorn) takes ownership of Bitcoin (Uranus in Aries), the currency will lose its anti-establishment qualities and become a part of the stodgy status quo. This will help Bitcoin to succeed as a market currency, but at the cost of losing its independence – the classic Aries/Capricorn dilemma.

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An incendiary time: bombings and inspiration

April 21, 2013 By 23 Comments

Art from Senor Codo

Uranus square Pluto: revolution and counter-attack

As you may know if you follow this and other astrology writings, we are in the midst of a major planetary event: the opening square of a new Uranus/Pluto cycle.  Uranus represents the breaking apart of the established order – the rebellious force that resists conservatism and the status quo.  Pluto represents destruction and regeneration as well as power, and tends to create obsessive behavior in the sign through which it is traveling.

Pluto is in the sign of Capricorn now – the sign of business, corporations, marriage – all of the structures that create a foundation upon which our societies depend, so with Pluto going through this sign since 2008 we are seeing the destruction of many of these structures as well as an attempt to consolidate power and authority.  Uranus is in Aries – the planet of the revolutionary in the sign of the individualist.  The major theme in this planetary dynamic is individual (Aries) liberty (Uranus) vs. the power (Pluto) of the status quo (Capricorn).

This cycle began back in 2011 when the two planets came within a degree of an exact square (90 degree angle), but did not begin in earnest until last June when the angle reached exactitude.  We are now moving towards the third phase of that cycle.  This is a major cycle indeed, with seven exact stations within seven degrees.  Here are the dates of the Uranus/Pluto square:

  • June 24, 2012 at 8 degrees Aries/Capricorn
  • September 19, 2012 at 7 degrees
  • May 20, 2013 at 11 degrees
  • November 1, 2013 at 9 degrees
  • April 21, 2014 at 13 degrees
  • December 15, 2014 at 12 degrees
  • March 15, 2015 at 15 degrees

This month of April has been particularly fiery as we moved from the watery emphasis of a Pisces stellium in March to a fiery stellium (grouping of planets) in April that peaked on April 10th at the Aries New Moon with five planets in Aries and with the Sun, Moon, Mars and Venus tightly connected within two degrees.  Mars is the ruler of Aries, the sign of Cardinal (initiatory) fire,  and is the fieriest of all the planets.

Fire is an essential element of the human experience.  It motivates and inspires – it creates the need for action and gets us up off the sofa.  But it can also be extremely destructive, and has a wild quality that cannot be tamed.  The Aries New Moon on April 10th can be seen as a trigger for the upcoming Uranus/Pluto square which is tightening every day as we approach the exact event on May 20th.

Pluto turned retrograde on April 14th, and it had been stationary for most of the month as it prepared to change direction.  When a planet is stationary, its influence is at its most intense and stationary Pluto is often associated with destructive events.

Boston Bombing and the Tsarnaev brothers

The bombings at the Boston Marathon turned out to likely be not part of a global revolutionary conspiracy, but an act of two isolated and disaffected brothers in a country into which they felt unable to assimilate.  However, we can see the workings of Uranus and Pluto in the (in my opinion) radically overblown reaction in which an entire metropolitan area of over four million people was shut down by order of the state (Capricorn) and its fear of radical extremism (Uranus in Aries). This kind of reaction is unprecedented, even after the London bombings which killed 52 people and injured over 700, and the Oklahoma City bombings in which 168 people died.

In a square formation such as this, each planet reacts against the other.  So we have the rebellion of Uranus reacting against the imposition of power by Pluto, and Pluto’s compulsion to maintain power reacting against the radical actions of Uranus.

I predicted long ago that the entry of Uranus into Aries in 2010 would change the landscape of global warfare from nations and large terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda and Hezbollah to rebellion (Uranus) of individuals (Aries) instead.  I believe we will continue to see this more and more as we move through this cycle of Uranus and Pluto through 2015.

Eric Francis posted the chart for the event on his Planet Waves site here along with an interesting analysis of the mundane aspects of the chart. The Sun and Mars had been in a very tight conjunction ever since the Aries New Moon on April 10th, and culminated in the exact conjunction a few days after the bombing.

I am always more interested in the psychology of the event.  The older brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who died in the aftermath of the bombing, had an exact square between Mars and Pluto in his chart.  This is a difficult aspect that often (but not always) involves abuse in childhood and difficulty in getting one’s needs met.  With the Sun in Libra he would have tried to please others in order to make his way in the world, but the underlying rage of Mars/Pluto would make that a challenge.  Saturn opposed his Moon which can make it difficult to connect with others and especially in younger life can denote loneliness and isolation.  Tamerlan competed in boxing tournaments but was thought to be a coward underneath a veneer of arrogance.

We don’t know what sign was rising in his chart without a birth time, so we can’t really assess that veneer astrologically.  But the isolation and rage is clear from the chart.

The younger brother, Dzhokhar,  is a Cancerian at the last degree.  Sensitive and committed to family, he also has a Virgo Moon which needs to have a sense of safety and security.  That Moon conjoins Mars, so he too has anger issues like his brother.  These difficult lunar aspects in the two brothers suggest that the relationship at home, particularly with the mother, threatened their security.

With Mercury (mind and mental function) opposite both Uranus and Neptune, which are conjunct in the chart, he likely suffered from some kind of attention deficit disorder that would have made it difficult to concentrate, and he did not do well in school.  Saturn is retrograde in his chart which generally denotes someone who is particularly self-critical, and it opposes Chiron which suggests a deep wounding and emotional sensitivity.  I suspect this younger brother went along with the plan out of a need to belong and be accepted by the older brother. It appears from news reports that both of the boys’ parents had moved back to Russia, and that they were living on their own.

Moving through these  incendiary times

When our lives are falling apart and being reconfigured in new and unfamiliar patterns it can be difficult to find a perspective that has any meaning to us.  The traditional concept of faith, that good things happen if our faith is only strong enough, doesn’t really work in the real world.  But there is a different type of faith – a faith in a process of Universal Intelligence that is unfolding in ways that we are unable to imagine and which will bring us exactly the lessons that we need to learn and the experiences that we need in order to progress in our lives.

A friend of mine told me yesterday:  ”This is where you are in your story.  This is not the end of the story.”  I love this concept, and know it to be true.  The experiences which seem like they will destroy us in the moment, can be the most amazing times of our lives.  Even when we are faced with critical illness and death, there are gems of wisdom that can be given, including an insight into the very nature of life and the passing of time.

The only way I know to reach this level of understanding is through meditation.  Meditation helps us to let go and connects us with the inner guidance of the higher self.

Pluto’s lesson is that we can only control so much of our lives – the rest we must let go.  I like to use the example of tubing down a river – if you try to reach out for something to slow down, you and your tube are whipped against the rocks with sometimes disastrous results.  If you let go and let the flow of the river take you through the path of least resistance, you experience the exhilaration of the journey.

 

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Happy Eostre!

March 31, 2013 By 6 Comments

reprinted from 2006.  Artwork by Paulina Stuckey-Cassidy

Many people will celebrate Easter Sunday as the day that Christ rose from his grave and achieved godhood. In ancient mythology, the archetype of the dying and rising god actually began thousands of years before Jesus with the stories of Osiris and Tammuz, Adonis and Attis — all legends of gods that suffered an untimely end but were reborn into physical existence in order to spread their religion. Festivals celebrating the death of the god in winter when the crops were dying and the resurrection in spring were common.

Long before the birth of Jesus, Dionysus was resurrected and ascended to heaven after being torn apart by the Titans, an event celebrated in mystery cults in early Rome. Belief in Dionysus was thought to give one eternal life, and followers were initiated by bathing.

Several hundred years before Jesus, stories about the Anatolian god Attis claimed that he was born to a Virgin and was considered both the Father and the divine son. The Festival of Joy was celebrated every year in Rome: the first day commemorated his death, and on the third day the worshippers celebrated his rising from the dead.

Mithras was a Persian god who had faded into prehistory until being imported into Rome around 70 BC according to Plutarch. Mithras was born on December 25 of a virgin mother. He was born into a mortal body in order to redeem humanity and was known as Savior.

According to the 8th century Christian monk and historian Bede, first asserted in his book De Ratione Temporum that Easter was named after Eostre (a.k.a. Eastre). Eostre was a Teutonic goddess of fertility, who was often portrayed in Anglo-Saxon myth with a white hare standing in attendance. The hare, or rabbit, of course symbolized fertility and it was said that Eostre took the shape of the rabbit at the time of the full moon. When Christianity took over the old nature religions, the fertility rabbit became the Easter Bunny.

The timing of Easter coincides with the Jewish festival Passover, presumably because Jesus’s Last Supper took place at the Passover meal. Passover occurs on the 14th day of the lunar month following the Vernal Equinox, and when the Catholic Church established their dogma in Nicea in 325 c.e., it was decided that Easter would take place on the Sunday following the first full moon after the Vernal Equinox except if it falls on the same day as Passover.

Regardless of the holiday we celebrate, spring is a time of rejuvenation, of resurrection as that which has appeared dead springs to life. It’s a time when we are able to revive parts of ourselves that may be dead as well, and live more consciously and with greater presence.

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Libra Full Moon, March 27 2013: Finding balance in chaos

March 27, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Full Moons are all about balancing polar opposites since during the Full Moon the Sun is in the sign opposing the sign the Moon is in.  The polarities of the zodiac are oppositional in nature but some of the polarities are more oppositional than others.  Taurus and Scorpio both are sensual and stubborn.  Gemini and Sagittarius both hunger for knowledge.

In the Libra Full Moon the Sun is in Aries, and this time around the Sun has a lot of company in a tight Aries stellium which includes Venus, Sun, Uranus and Mars.  Aries is ruled by Mars, so the fact that Mars is in Aries is itself a “double whammy” which exponentially increases the aggressive fire and force of the Aries influence.  Mars and Aries are self-initiatory – at their best they inspire, motivate and create a force that is unstoppable.  If thwarted, diminished or blocked they evoke rage and a rebellious fervor that is particularly strong now since Mars itself is conjunct Uranus, the very planet of revolution.

And yet the Full Moon is in Libra and our hearts are longing for peace and harmonious connection with others.  The Libra Moon, which is much more polite and tends to withdraw from conflict. Libra is the sign of balance in any case – striving for balance in a polarized world. In this lunation, where the force of Libra’s opposite polarity, Aries, is so powerful, that balance will be much harder to achieve. But achieve balance we must – that is the lesson of the Libra Full Moon.

At its core, the Aries/Libra polarity teaches us to integrate our need for individuality (Aries) with our need for beautiful connections that inspire noble truths (Libra).  This polarity is made even more difficult by the fact that Libra’s ruler Venus is in its opposite sign of Aries – yet another symbol of the need to balance the personal (Mars/Aries) with the social (Venus/Libra), the self (Mars/Aries) with the couple or friendship (Venus/Libra).  Yin and Yang – darkness and light.  Each can’t exist in the presence of the other – yet they must.

Mars and Aries work with the personal Will, and at this Full Moon we have even greater potential to create magic through focusing the Will and desires. This means that it is incredibly important to use conscious awareness of what you desire at this time, because it is likely to be fulfilled.

Mars is exactly square Pluto at the Full Moon, challenging the personal Will against the Will of the higher self and beginning to tighten the Uranus/Pluto square with its powerful revolutionary force. There is an awkward aspect (quincunx) between Saturn and Mars that suggests some frustration during this time but the harmonious sextile from Saturn to Pluto helps to provide some grounding into the realm of the practical.

Surprises are likely with the strong presence of Uranus linking the Sun to Mars.  Uranus brings about new ideas and a fresh approach to moving through life that shatters old paradigms.  But this Full Moon also includes a Yod (Finger of Fate) aspect with Saturn at its apex, and with Saturn (the taskmaster which offers rewards for hard work and discipline) attention will be required in order to make the giant leap that is possible now.

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Catching up and letting go – another personal story of Mercury retrograde

March 21, 2013 By 9 Comments

They say that bloggers should never apologize for a lack of posts, but some of you have been with me for years and the past few months is the first time I have ever gone more than a few days without posting.  It turns out that losing your mother is harder than I thought, and when you combine that with a resurgent real estate market (in my other life I own a small real estate company), there has literally been no time to breathe.

All of this really combined to create an incredibly challenging Mercury retrograde period for me.  Usually I sail through with a laugh – “oh yes, Mercury is retrograde.  Of course these things are happening!”  Mercury has been in Pisces, and I had anticipated that the Pisces retrograde would be less challenging because Pisces tends to go with the flow and find ways to swim around obstacles.  Perhaps it’s just because my fingers are in so many pies right now – fixing up my mother’s house, working my real estate business, trying to take care of a limited number of astrology clients – over the past few weeks I have felt I was swimming through a morass of twisting tides that lead nowhere in particular but have kept me from making progress.

Whenever there is an experience like this, where confusion seems to reign, you can nearly always look to Neptune.  Neptune purposefully casts a cloud over your life and makes it difficult to see.  The purpose of this cloud is to encourage one to look within to a more transcendent experience of life and an awakening to a consciousness that supersedes the day to day world.  My progressed Moon right now is nearing an exact alignment with Neptune, and my soul has been crying out for connection.  ”You cannot control this material world,” Neptune says, laughing.  ”Let go and come with me.  All of your important details and things to do will be taken care of – let go and come with me to an experience of inner peace.”

Ha!  Try telling that to someone with Saturn on the Sun and Mars in Capricorn –  geared towards manipulating the physical world to accomplish specific goals and objectives.  But the planets are teachers – they don’t give up easily.  ”You won’t let go?  Here is a murky mist that makes it impossible for you to control your life.  Surrender for just a moment and be aware of the peace of the breath that flows, like the ocean, in and out.”  In those moments there is magic.  In the stillness of the moment, with life churning around us, we see that we create these realities with our minds and we can direct their flow just as easily from a place of relaxation as a place of stress.

Mercury retrograde periods are designed for this, and when you combine Neptune with a Pisces Mercury retrograde there is no other option other than to let go and learn to trust.  I know from working with my clients that cultivating trust in the Universe to coordinate and unfold exactly what is needed is one of the hardest things to do.  Sometimes we just have to be hit over the head and be forced to find that trust because there is no other option.

There is quite a bit going on now astrologically, and we are headed into the second phase of the Uranus/Pluto square so I hope that I am beginning to find my voice again.  Meanwhile I wish you all peace in the knowledge that the twists and turns of our lives really do bring us closer to Truth and Knowledge and greater peace of mind and heart.

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Planetary Illuminations for March now posted

March 3, 2013 By

March horoscopesIf you’re on my mailing list you will soon be receiving the translation of the article into English that is easy to understand.  If you’re NOT on my mailing list, please sign up in the sidebar!  Skywatch is free every month.

You can read the article in its entirety here, but here is the introduction to the overall planetary view for March:

March is packed with planetary activity which means that the energy around us will be powerful and provide an impetus for transition and transformation. Uranus and Pluto are moving closer towards the second phase of their dance which will culminate in a square (90 degree) formation in May of this year, creating drama and resistance as the old forms (Pluto in Capricorn) are breaking away for greater individual liberty (Uranus in Aries).

At the same time there is a big stellium in Pisces made up of six planets that will align with the Moon on March 11th, a powerful Pisces alignment that has the potential to create a flood of divine consciousness, but also to drown our intelligence in a sea of confusion. However, a harmonious sextile between Saturn and Chiron ensures that if we avoid laziness and apply discipline to our lives during this time (Saturn), healing can occur and we will become more wise in the ways of the world (Chiron).

This is helpful because Jupiter (ideology and belief) is moving towards a strong square to Chiron that will tend to draw us away from the process of healing if we’re not careful. Jupiter doesn’t always see the necessity of effort, and sometimes a lack of attention will cause the exposure of wounds by Chiron to be more painful than it would otherwise be. On the other hand, Jupiter does bring opportunities for healing if we can stay the course rather than flee to more comfortable territory.

Pluto is powerful now as it slows down in preparation to turn retrograde in early April. Throughout the month of March it will move less than a half degree, meaning that if you are being affected by a Pluto transit right now at 11 degrees it will remain pretty intense for the next few months. Pluto is retrograde for about six months of every year, as are the other outer planets, so the retrograde is not unusual. But Pluto acts with force and intensity, and this will not be a time when the superficial can have any importance.

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Mercury retrograde, and a Virgo Full Moon: February 2013

February 24, 2013 By


Virgo Full Moon February 2013Mercury turns retrograde today (February 23) and it’s time to go over the things we’ve done in the past in order to help perfect our future. Mercury is in Pisces now where it tends to be more adaptable and flexible and doesn’t mind reversing itself in order to improve the flow of our lives so this retrograde period may not be as difficult as some others.

Mercury turns retrograde for three weeks four times a year, so it is not a rare event.  I like to think of retrograde periods as being similar to ocean waves on a beach.  The ocean comes towards the shore, and then it retreats so that it can come once more – the ebb and flow of life.  We progress forwards in our life, marching towards the end of time, and then periodically we retreat, take a break, and re-evaluate that progress.  We correct the things that aren’t working, and improve the things that are.

While it’s true that Mercury retrograde periods are not great times to plan a vacation or make a major purchase, I confess I do these things all the time.  In my real estate business I can’t take off three weeks four times a year when Mercury turns retrograde, but if I have to sign a contract during that time I know to be prepared for renegotiations and reversals.

But Mercury retrograde is not the only news – we also have a Full Moon on February 25th in Virgo, the sign of practical reality and the body/mind/spirit system. I personally believe that Chiron is the modern ruler of Virgo because both share an attention to the balance between mental and spiritual health to the physical body. This emphasis on balance and healing is embedded in the chart of the Full Moon since the Sun and Moon are tightly linked to Chiron (the Sun conjoins Chiron and the Moon opposes it).

The Sun/Chiron combination is squared by Jupiter, planet of expansion and ideology which suggests that the concepts that underpin our reality are likely to be stretched at this time in order to accommodate the necessary healing process. With five planets in Pisces and Mercury retrograde, much of this will be operating through the subconscious and imaginal realms.

Venus enters Pisces just after the Full Moon, at which time there will be SIX PLANETS in Pisces. This is a very big lineup of planets in one sign, and several of them are trined by Saturn which helps to anchor the dreamy hopes and fantasies of Pisces. And of course the Virgo Moon desires order and grounding through ritual and established patterns of action. Mars is approaching a harmonious trine to the North Node now which helps to motivate us towards our highest good, despite the pull of the past.

In the Full Moon the lunar influence opposes the solar, and in this lunation Virgo opposes Pisces: the practical left-brain Virgo opposite the right-brain transcendence of Pisces. But Pisces is very heavily weighted here which could create some anxiety if an attempt is not made to ground the entire experience into something practical. Bring a pen and paper, or go for a walk in the woods and try if you can to stay away from technology during this Full Moon. This time is about going within and finding the rich experience of the inner landscape and that requires re-treat and re-juvenation, perfect for Mercury retrograde.

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