Mercury Retrograde at 17 Aquarius

Trees... sky

(photo credit: US Department of Agriculture, February 2005)

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A week from when this post hits the internet (January 21st) Mercury will go retrograde at 15:44 (3:55) in the afternoon.

So why bring it up now?

That would be because what we humans do depends on how and how well we think - that being the heart and soul of the astrological Mercury. So since as any celestial object heads into its station (either to direct or retrograde) things tend to get congested, challenging and otherwise somewhat like slogging through a lake filled with peanut butter (perish the thought...), to have such that gumming up our mental works seems something it might be helpful to have a ‘head’s up’ on in advance.

Ergo, this post.

Besides, next week is going to be one of ‘those’ weeks in astrology - call it either many things coming together or much ado (and to do) about much which needs doing ... and if you're someone with a birthday around the 20th or 21st, this coming year is going to be full of new things and new opportunities ... but with them are going to come some personal challenges, with all of this pertaining to long-range (rather than immediate) life changes.

Mercury Rx (glyph chart)

Jan 21, 2015 - 15:55 (3:55 p.m. ) UT/+0 - Aries Wheel (Location Not Specific)

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Mercury Rx (glyph chart)

Jan 21, 2015 - 15:55 (3:55 p.m.) UT/+0 - Aries Wheel (Location Not Specific)

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As for Mercury, once in retrograde, Mercury will continue counting down through the degrees, crossing back over ten  Aquarius on January 30th - a signal that the fervency likely to color many a thought, idea or precept until then will change over into more of a background now-you-see-it, now-you’re-clueless mode likely to be relegate to the background of our conscious thoughts even though it’s underlying everything we’re likely to be focused on.

The basic arc described by this retrograde (by its stations) is Aquarian - which means it is likely to have two energetic thrusts, one of which seeks to stabilize while the other seeks to change (representing Aquarius’ two rulers, Saturn and Uranus). When or where meshed together, these two energetics represent the chance that life will change (and/or) our efforts to be part of, or to resist it that change. And when or where Aquarian energies are not used in sync, they tend to represent the many  pluses and minuses of multiples and multitasking, which for some is easily artful ... and which for others is like living through some particularly unpredictable assault on one’s mental sense and collective sensibilities.

As to the specific degrees involved here, Mercury will go retrograde at 17 Aquarius and go direct at 1 Aquarius as of the 11th of February (both UT/+0 time), describing an arc of personal reconciliation to or understanding of circumstances which, if allowed to get the best of us, can manifest in difficulties or illnesses with the lesson being all about why, where and how we interact with others. The process involved here - like all Mercury retrograde cycles - will tend to manifest in a period where not much gets done ‘outwardly’ because things are being done (and need to get done) first, and those things may not be as ‘visible’ ... either to you or others.

Given that the sign involved here is Aquarius, neither the issues or whatever it is which ends up occupying our time is likely to be strictly personal - and with the station-direct point being 1 Aquarius there’s every chance that the whole of this time is ‘about’ someone or something which hasn’t been ...

a.) paid proper attention to ...

(or)

b.) ... which haven’t yet been even been noticed for what it actually is - or is worth.

You may be waiting for others to notice you or something you’ve done. Then again, others may be waiting on you - or you may not have yet noticed that the thing which is going to prove valuable moving forward.

It’s to think about.

With Mercury going direct only one degree ahead of the Moon, there’s a note of fervency, concern and high focus to this station. As well, with Mercury (and the Moon) within the 5 degree orb-of-trine to the North Node but NOT within the 3 degree orb-of-sextile to the South Node, there’s a clear differentiation between what we want to do and what we should do, with the Mercury/Moon-to-North Node trine indicating something ongoing which cannot be turned ‘off’ or ‘on’ through any act of individual will - which isn’t just about us, it’s about everyone.

In other words, we can’t ‘fix’ whatever is going on in a split second - and neither can anyone else. Will that play into why we feel we must or must not do something?
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It could ...with Pluto is sitting at 13 Capricorn t-squaring the nodes, dualistic (and maybe dueling) interests which range from 'resistance' to inordinate efforts to make something happen ... bring something into being ... or the eliminating of something something altogether seems inordinately important. And it may well be. But if or where the question is how to do-or-be all those important things, the very strength or intensity of our focus may get in our way.  Those who understand where their interests are in the global (meaning either 'world' or 'universal') interest - those people may now come to the forefront.

But will they succeed? Providing they are not working solely in their own regard (be that an individual person or an individual collective) great strides can be achieved. Yet those strides are unlikely to be immediate: Mercury retrograde is Mercury retrograde and all the standard advice about don't be impatient ... check your work twice ... don't sign onto anything permanent ... do your research ... thinks things over ... be prepared for messages to get garbled, lost or delayed ... all such regular Mercury warnings are all in play, as they always are under Mercury retrograde.

But even beyond that, with Pluto at the t-square here, that which is being negotiated now is unlikely to be achieved without some measure, feeling and reality of sacrifice even if in the end what gets achieved is something more wholesome, more satisfying, more productive ... and just better.

With Mercury (and the Moon) in opposition to Jupiter still retrograding back through Leo there’s likely to be a sense that something has gone ‘over the line’ or ‘too far.’ And with Jupiter retrograde posited as the ‘goal’ of a Venus-Sedna-Jupiter t-square, the freeing of our Self from whatever it is which is most challenging in the moment (be that one or a thousand things) is going to require that we finish learning that we need to, and how to let go of perspectives and expectations we were raised with and which were formed early about who people are (and aren’t!) as well as what we are entitled to ‘expect’ life to be, or how we thought things were going to “work” for us.

The strength, the power, the efficacy that we seek is there. But it’s not out there ... it’s inside some kind of ‘thought shell’ which has hardened around our way of thinking - most of all about what we ‘need’ in order to be or feel valid as a person or validated as part of our world.

And now we get to think our way to ‘breaking through’ that barrier which (oddly enough) we probably played a large part in erecting long ago when in our heads the ‘how it works’ ideas got set down in concrete.

We’ve outlived some of that. We need to change. And this week - the week leading up to Mercury’s station on the 21st (UT/+0) is all about coming to focus on what ... and why ... certain things need to change.
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Dateblog: January 2015

January 2015 by Sign

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In terms of personal planets (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars), January 2015 begins with three of the five (and we really shouldn't count the Moon in this discussion as the Moon changes signs about every couple of days) in Capricorn - a sign known for looking ahead and working to carry out plans ... and alternately, for loses (often of stature or reputation) and the reality of life's consequences and world/worldly responses - either for what we've done prior to now or what we're in the throws of doing (or trying to do) now.

By January 4th, that 'solidity' of thrust ... that's going to begin to change. It may not be obvious or evident in any giant way, but as Venus and Mercury move into Aquarius (with Mars already in Aquarius) the emphasis (and thus our mental space) is going to stop being so absorbed by or focused on hard facts and more prone to considering (read: zeroing in on) and responding to things as being relative to other issues, matters and details - much of which is going to be  basically pertaining to those eternal things which form the basis for our life: home, family, mortality ... the land, sea and sky, and all which comes from, or abides in any such location.

Just keep thinking 'basics.'

That shift (the shift in thinking and focus) is going to alter the flow of things. Mars in Aquarius - in pragmatic terms - often represents the motivation to get something done on a broadly unified scale even as it tends to impact, fragment and break apart that which may still be cohesive, but which no longer serves a positive function in that state ... which makes what's going to happen now in many ways dependent on what  what we have come into this period doing, feeling, and being motivated by. With Pluto having just entered the shadow of its 2015 cycle there are things which are going to change or be transformed - some of which at least are going to reflect Pluto's ongoing approach to fixed star Vega, charisma's star. That Pluto isn't going to conjunct Vega (exactly) during 2015 is actually a sign that more and more is going to change and that many of the things we have been 'enchanted' or moved by in times or years past are on the move. They're going to change - and no one can stop that change, insistent though they may be.

For the Mercury watchers (that would be most of us) there's another interesting note to attach to this Mercury-entering-Aquarius moment ... namely that as Mercury enters Aquarius (Venus having already done so), that's also the same date that Mercury will be entering its retrograde shadow as the Mercury retrograde which begins on January 21st (UT/+0) at 17 Aquarius will in time back down to 1 Aquarius - and from 0 to 1 degrees (the movement of one degree) is something Mercury does rather swiftly.

The net of this takes us back to that 'subtle shift' of attitude, 'vibe' or perspective mentioned in terms of Venus and Mercury exiting Capricorn in the sense that though there is a tendency for much of the world to hit the ground running on January 2nd (even if the Orthodox Church hasn't yet celebrated Christmas, meaning their holiday season isn't over yet!) ... that this year that 'hitting the ground running' is going to be colored or affected by the fact that pretty much the whole of January 2015 is going to be a 'hurry up so we can slow down' (or stop) exercise which will manifest in any of a billion ways, hastening and hustling us through the first couple of weeks so that come the 21st, we know what we're attending to.

Or at least waiting for. (At least that's the thought.)

 January 2015 by Element

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And it's not like we're likely to be entirely unjustified. Looking at the month by element, both planets most associated with the rise and fall of lives, regimes, religions and plans in general (Jupiter and Saturn) are now both in fire signs. Added to that, Uranus is also in a fire sign, and since all three planets are in separate signs, what we have implied here is a grand trine (ongoing and virtually immutable) flow of energies which we will be living with until Jupiter exits Leo this coming August, describing a period of time where we can change things and change our approach to life (our 'relationship' to our world) ... or we can have our world thrust change upon us.

(Take your pick.)

That Uranus is going to perfect its conjunction to the lunar South Node this month promises fractious relationships, startling news/events and a number of personal breakthroughs - some of which may be fairly breathtaking (though what that means is individual - some people gasp long before others do!) ... and that it will do as Uranus - which is now in direct motion - is going to be beginning to "close in" on slower-moving Pluto in anticipation of perfecting the Uranus-Pluto square which has been with us now for quite a while symbolizing eruptions of uncontrollable, transpersonal events which are quite literally changing our world.

That square won't perfect until mid-March. But let's just say that the closer we get to Uranus perfecting its conjunction to the lunar South Node (which occurs on January 19th), the more flexing and innovative thinking is going to be called for not just in external life and in terms of what we do (or choose to do/not do) but in who we are - and because this event is currently traversing degrees 12, 13 and 14 of respective signs (with the conjunction of Uranus/Node occurring at 13 Aries-Libra)(the South Node being in Aries and the North Node being in Libra) this entire month is likely to be particularly focal for anyone who with natal placements at one of these degrees in any sign... if particularly (she says, thinking of people in the news) those among us with primary chart indicators (Sun, Moon, Ascendant/Descendant, Midheaven/Nadir) at 13 Aries, Libra, Cancer or Capricorn, followed by those with placements at 13 Pisces, Taurus, Virgo and/or Scorpio.

The first group will face or be facing issues directly. The second group will be facing them obliquely, which is to say that because 'Thing A' happens, 'Consideration B' becomes important.

As to the nature of this particular ripple in the works, this transit - Uranus/South Node - is about a 'shake up' (or shift) in how we relate to our own nature as well as that of others. And though the likes of those news makers (the two I'm thinking of being politicians) and myself (my Midheaven is at 13 Capricorn) are likely to be particularly impacted on a core and/or internal level, there are going to be plenty of things floating around for everyone to be bouncing off of (or around about) - all while possibly getting bruised by, or through the process of participating in doing all that relating, relational or relationship tra-la.

Also: none of this is optional. If you're thinking you'll just put everything on hold or hide in some mental (or other type of) hole, you certainly have the choice to do that but the world (that thing you're supposed to be relating to and working on your relationship with?) ... the world will have moved on without you, which brings this all back to the most important thing I ever heard one of my astrology teachers (Robert Hand, as it happens) say: use the energy wisely, lest it use you unwisely. 

Plus that's not all ... (she said, well aware that she may be sounding a bit like a late-night infomercial, which is ridiculous seeing as I'm about as bad at sales and marketing as any human being has ever been) ... January is also playing host to an approaching square to Neptune (in Pisces) by a Saturn which is newly in Sagittarius. That will set in virtually as soon as the new year dawns (read: on January 2nd), and it's likely to be felt as an on-and-off 'haunting' awareness which we're all going to also be contending with not just this month ... and not even just into March, as in the case of the current 'ramping up' of various Uranus/Pluto square pressures and situational anxieties. 

No ... with Neptune-Saturn, we're not getting off that easily: this transit will be with us in various forms through November of 2015, promising all sorts of issues having to do with habits and things we are habituated by - and the many forms of 'addiction' which riddle our lives and world, be that an addiction to a substance or a belief or a perspective on sex, love, work, money, power, violence, happiness, exercise, food, politics - or anything else. Saturn-Neptune contacts being always about reality versus hope and facts versus denial in favor of something "prettier" (or at least more appealing), this is the sort of lengthy square aspect which we would expect to manifest both in our lives and through things in life which effects lives on a global and somewhat 'indistinct' (or) 'impersonal' way or scale.

The Saturn side of this brings the effort to structure, restructure, limit or withstand to the table where the Neptune energetic will inspire ... and then again, also dissolve, whether 'dissolution' or 'dissolving' means eliminating that which stands between you and something (or two separate things) where the elimination of some factor, thought, issue is taken on either because of a depth of feeling which is not only not about the Self (Neptune = lack of personal or individual ego) or because that which we have been sure of comes to no longer function or serve a positive purpose.

Mind you, any of this can be positive: squares ask us to balance different functionalities, much as an engineer balances the substance and structure of a wall against the structure and function of a ceiling. Then again, any of this can be detrimental. And all of it (or any of it) can be hugely informative, most of all as to what the realities and facts really are ... as opposed to what we might want them to be, or what we were hoping they were or would become.

All of which is far more about us than others or our world ... which is probably worth a thought or two.

And fortunately (read: whether we like it or not) Mercury retrograde is going to donate just that dynamic to our universally human personal cause.

So we are going to be learning something going forward. But what are we about to learn - and learn about?
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A Plutonic Lunar Eclipse

The Alchemist by William Fettes Douglas (1853)

With shadows cast and reflections invoked, so we move through the last couple of tense days towards the eclipsing of our inner emotional positions. Occurring at 25 Libra, that eclipse occurs on April 15th – and as it does, Pluto goes retrograde.

That’s a serious astrological combination.

Known for flooding emotions and events which often serve as life markers, lunar eclipses aren’t ordinarily associated with life changing events. Well, at least not in the moment – not unless some other major transit is happening on your individual chart in the area of the eclipse, which in this instance means 25 Libra.

Underwritten by the precept that to not ‘do,’ act, ask or care about who we’re being in life, Libra teaches that failure to take others into account ultimately either gets us nowhere or puts us at odds with Self or others. Thus all things Libra teach some part of why we cannot know unless we ask – even though there is that unsettling reality which says that when we ask, we must be prepared for answers we may not like, want, expect or feel prepared (or even understand how) to comply with.

As a degree in Libra’s last ten degrees (the  third ‘decan’) the lunar eclipse emphasizes connections with others and our world.

But then there’s the Pluto side of this equation, a segment of the conversation which starts with the idea that any station (planetary or otherwise) gets an allowance of several days – it having become this particular astrologer’s choice to say two days prior and two days after the moment of station, if not a little more.

All of which is fine and normal – or as normal as anything referring to Pluto tends to be. As a marker of transformative energetics, Pluto represents that which fascinates us, attracts us, obsesses us…even that which interests us – with our personal (birth chart) Pluto giving us a description of the challenges we face in such a regard. Are we someone who gets totally over-the-top obsessed to our own detriment? With Pluto (regardless of natal sign), those tendencies emerge so often as terrible feelings about our Self. Or sometimes we project that fear of not being able to love ourselves onto others in the form of  shame, embarrassment, denial or those ever-so-popular (if never really what you think they are) human choices known as revenge and retribution.

It’s never about ‘them.’ What we experience in life is always about us. That’s why vengeance doesn’t work – and why humans have learned enough to have coined the expression “revenge is a dish best served cold,” as that’s the only way to emerge from any or all things Plutonic (which would connect to matters 8th house and Scorpionic) with satisfaction and any sense of lasting validation.

You know…the kind of self respect and true self esteem which allows us to advance through life growing in positive attribute instead of simply becoming that most negative of Pluto images, Pluto as rapist – most of all of our own emotional stability and self worth.

At the moment, with Pluto going station-retrograde at 13 Capricorn (Sabian Symbol: 'AN ANCIENT BAS-RELIEF CARVED IN GRANITE REMAINS A WITNESS TO A LONG-FORGOTTEN CULTURE') in combination with a lunar eclipse we can expect an emotional shift (transformation)…or to be ‘shifted’ (diverted from something else, perhaps). The obvious combination of two cardinal signs speaks to action, decisions and taking something on (or committing to something) whatever that may mean in your life, with the square-by-sign between lunar eclipse and Pluto..

…giving us to know that there is a balance of some sort (the square) which is required between where we are ‘going’ and how where we are ‘going’ will affect others, or even who we are or are taken to be.

The Sabian symbol having been discussed elsewhere (you can use the world cloud to find the other posts focused on 13 Capricorn), given Pluto’s position just shy of fixed star Vega (charisma) there is a great deal of ‘pulling back’ (going into retrograde) from the certainty that something we have thought of as ‘charismatic’ is not exactly what we thought it would be: it is becoming transformed in our (emotional/lunar) regard…and thus we are being ‘brought back into balance’ with the necessities of (earthy/Capricorn) reality exerting – or at least beginning to exert a ‘balancing’ pressure on some sort of mass (3rd decan) action or reaction to some (Libra as air sign) idea.

In other words, something is becoming charismatic...or ending its life as a charismatic influence.

Or maybe we're just losing our shine. That happens too. Anyone with any natal axis point, nodal position or planet within a couple of degrees of 13 Capricorn, Libra, Aries or Cancer has been feeling life fluctuating for quite some time now...and this will be a particularly trying and/or insightful passage.

One figures it will be a little easier on those whose charts are unaffected...but we do live on the same planet, after all. And such things count.

Lunar Eclipse at 25 Libra (text chart)

April 15, 2014 - 7:43 a.m. (UT/+0) - Aries Wheel (location not specific)

Lunar Eclipse at 25 Libra (glyph chart)

April 15, 2014 - 7:43 a.m. (UT/+0) - Aries Wheel (location not specific)

Lunar eclipses are typified as ‘high emotional water marks’ which can be tsunami like. Or they can create something more akin to a mental or life-affecting undertow. Where solar eclipses take three years to ‘mature’ and manifest fully, lunar eclipses hit us hard and from there ebb off, generally becoming a factor we understand to cope with over the next three months.

Because this pairing links the Moon and Pluto, the darker sides of human nature (and vulnerabilities), we can expect to see revelations, ‘outbreaks’ and ‘unearthings' of every sort - good or bad. There will be those attempt to obscure and ‘bury’ much which people can’t bring themselves to deal with the truth of...and though some may be deceitful, many people will simply think they’re doing something good even when in some 'occulted' (hidden) way they are somehow part of the problem.

Those who are open to the type of inspiration and insight which allows them to see both sides of every problem, situation and dynamic will do well here...though there will be some temptation to simply give in or hold on (depending on what mode you come to this time in).

Where Pluto is concerned, to face our potentials as well as our flaws is ultimate strength; those very human but very real emotional frailties which cannot face its own reality will attract whatever will reveal the hidden truth...delicious or deliciously awful (or both) as it may be.

For effectiveness and otherwise it's fortunate that there is a ‘rule’ for handling All Things Pluto. It’s a curious sort of rule, and one which goes right back to that ‘served cold’ concept. Every sign has a challenge and with Scorpio, that challenge is not to lose ourselves to our emotions – which is why as ‘outcome ruler’ of Scorpio, Pluto events (and transits) carry such high human price tags.

Yes, unfortunately it seems to take more and more to get our attention these days. Some like to ‘blame’ such things on the internet or other modern technologies. That such blaming goes on is plainly ‘new age, new page’ unfamiliarity – we humans scream loudly for change, then run from it in person. Our new age (the Aquarian Age) moves all things which were emotionally based into a theoretical and economic mode.

For those down on war, take heart – it’ll probably all become economic. People will still die of course, they’ll just die of economic neglect...and if you don't like that statement welcome to the passionately dispassionate realm of Aquarius and its qualitative Aquarian test: to be an individual while being part of the whole…to use one’s individuality in the advancing of that whole, as one among equals.

No, no elitism is allowed…and we can all expect that ‘lacks of responsibility,’ especially those which are based in economics (individual or systemic, purposeful or accidental, personally moderated or automated, individual and ‘mass market’) are going to become ever more costly.

Lack of responsibility under the Aquarian precept says ‘I must do what I must do because that is what is required in this life.’ Not MY life, not the ‘next’ life…this life.

Astrology…like all other belief systems…is ultimately about what it means to be a human being. We are given rules not so that we can impose them on others but so we can acknowledge them within the scope of our conscious Self and thus be the better person worthy of this life.

Where Pluto is concerned, we must always know what our ‘fact’ is. It may be right or wrong in any other context, but we must know what it is and we must be capable of stating it, simply and clearly, despite what is being said or held forth by others.

If you are being affected by this eclipse/station pairing, you will be feeling this need to understand and clarify your thoughts. It may be the moment for you to feel your feelings and think…or this may be the moment to make your choice or act.

That’s individual.
 

 

That the ongoing Pluto-Uranus-Jupiter t-square is being opposed by transiting

retrograde Mars (in Libra) is a sign of too many issues or options. We will 'need' to take care of many issues...and through trying to prioritize those things (because they can't all be taken care of at once) we will come to know more about our Self - in particular, our most human (lunar) and feeling Self. This isn't defined astrologically as a comfortable process, but it can have a very good outcome.  

Whichever way you go, you will probably encounter some degree of resistance, conflict, objections – any such measures. You may be questioning yourself…and then again, you may find yourself ranged against any number of others who may or may not agree with you.

The Plutonic instruction is simple: know your truth and state it clearly – ONCE. Then be quiet.

After the noise dies down, after the ‘temperature’ falls…then the real fact (or facts) win out. That’s the Pluto equation. Pluto operates positively when and where emotionality is not just controlled, but understood by the one subject to their own emotionality.

And it’s a cycle…just as Pluto has been so likened to the earthly process of volcanism, things must ‘get heated’ in order for them to cool off – which is why you’ll see many people with Scorpio heavily presented in their chart go through such emotionality as part of their personal process.

Did you think it’s about you? No – Scorpio is all about eliciting your reaction so that in learning about others the Scorpio(nic) entity learns more about being comfortable in their own life and skin.

Warning us of that? That’s a premier Pluto manifestation, which makes understanding just that much…?

Well, that may be the whole point at the moment, considering the impending Taurus solar eclipse. We’re experiencing a time which asks us kindly to examine the state and nature of our own self worth.

And if we won’t kindly do that…then life will be unkind in its asking of us to do that much.

Fortunately, there is a good side to all this – which is the grace of all things Pluto: when we can bring ourselves to be kind, that very process…the process of being brave enough to feel another’s hurt as our own…that not only heals them, it heals us through triggering the innate power of sustaining, regenerative energy.

You know…the reward of inner warmth which brings such human comfort in the midst of what can otherwise feel like a terribly inhuman or inhumane life.
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Jupiter Square Uranus

A microscope photographs crystals of Vitamin C

(Josef Reischig, CSc, 2008)

As Uranus moves into 10 Aries on February 15th, that will just edge out Jupiter retrograding into 10 Cancer on February 16th.

Astrologically, 10 Aries to 10 Cancer is a cardinal square – and a departing square at that. What do we mean by a ‘departing square’? Well, first there’s the square part – that being an aspect between planets within 5 degrees of a 90-degree angle. All squares challenge us to grow through taking on the new, the untried, the different sort of approach.

We don’t want to.

In fact, when faced with squares we tend not to think we’d even be any good at whatever would be involved in taking on the challenge of internally integrating some ‘untried’ factor (or some approach we aren’t personally familiar or comfortable with) in solving our current situational dilemmas.

And let us not forget…that there is a square going on says we’re having dilemmas.

(Yes, we all tend to forget that part. But to get an answer implies there was a question, just as to have a challenge means there must be a problem or something else to be good and stuck over.)

As for 'cardinal' - that refers to the type of impulse of the 'let's just do it and see what happens' type, which goes rather well with a departing aspect as ‘departing’ refers to the faster moving planet (the one closer to the Sun, in this case Jupiter) and how its moving away from the theoretical conjunction with Planet Two (in this case, Uranus in Aries) isn't something we're waffling about...and isn't something we feel any need to endlessly anylize. Currently in the throes of  learning from or dealing with matters in the wake of some (Uranian) sudden change of status or realization of the rather personal (Aries) type, we're all into who we are, what we've done, what we've not done - or who we are being because of what we are or are not doing.

To go with this, we have the Jupiter being in Cancer – so we know that things surrounding the period indicated by this square are going to ‘reveal’ our nature to us through really basic qualities and considerations…things we tend to take for granted as ‘just part of life.’

Do they have to be? Should they be?

Those are only some of the questions buzzing about now…and moving forward. Given that this square is forming up at 10 degrees of Aries and Cancer we know just from the number that there is a degree of agitation in the mix. Any degree between 10 and 19 of any sign tends to manifest ‘fervently’ so with the ‘I/Me’ sign of Aries and the ‘who I am and where I come from natively on the emotional level’ of Cancer we have a recipe for anything from restlessness to outbursts to really dramatic efforts and explosions – and it would be hard to think going in that we would know which would be good or bad once the dust has settled.

And that won’t come for a while yet. This Jupiter square Uranus period arises now as yet another indicator that we are in the middle of a massive growth period which in breaking us down offers us the chance to build anew – and more realistically.

Or at least accurately.

For Jupiter to be in retrograde now should also be a tip-off that this probably isn’t the start of this process. After all, didn’t Jupiter strike a forward-motion (direct) square at some time in the (semi)recent past?

As a matter of fact, yes. (How good of you to ask…) This Jupiter square started stirring and burning away our dangling misconceptions back in August of 2013…which to jar our collective memory would be just prior to September when the two month ‘breaking down’ period in advance of the November 2013 solar eclipse began. At the time, Jupiter was direct and Uranus was in retrograde, so the ‘shaking up’ of things occurred as we were “pressing ahead” and looking to expand or working to have things happen in our ‘regular world’ life. We were doing the Jupiter-direct-in-Cancer thing of building for the future and feeling good (at least relatively) about who we were and what we were doing.

And then the uncertainty started. Or the restlessness. Or the boredom. Or the sheer necessity of it all. A long time ago the person who taught me basic astrology (and yes, you too can learn from the same text I did, it’s still in print!)…when I asked him what Uranus stood for, he gave me an answer I remember to this day: ‘Uranus is the premise which states that even if you insist on staying in a rut, that life will cause you to redecorate that rut now and again.’

That’s actually a pretty genius definition as it embraces both the idea of outward and inner change. The forces which we think of astrologically as Uranian are those which by ‘disrupting’ the harmonic or harmony in some part of life awakens us to possibilities – and the possibility that what we’re doing right now may not be all there is to do.

Or that we want to do.

Or need to do.

With Uranus we may know the parameters of what we’re doing or need to risk at least our (Aries) concept of Self through learning things and discovering more about who we are and what we’re capable of.

Or not capable of, obviously.

And then there are the specifics of degrees: back in August 2013, Uranus was retrograding back through 12 and 11 Aries, triggering ‘me/my life’ conflicts and questions. We were being tested on what we thought our individuality was worth, and whether we understood that worth, whether those around us understood that worth and where there were disagreements, whether those disagreements had to do with compromises we want to make, compromises we’re ‘expected’ to make and how each of us goes about balancing out who we need to be in our own life and life span against who and what we are ‘expected’ to be – whether that’s by society, our significant other, our family, children, boss, co-workers, friends…whomever.

Between that time and now as Jupiter and Uranus move back into position for Part II of their square we had the 11 Scorpio solar eclipse and the Capricorn Venus retrograde.

Just think through the numbers: the Jupiter/Uranus square originated at 12 Cancer/Aries. Then we had an 11 Scorpio eclipse…and then we got pretty much waffle-ironed by the Venus retrograde ending at 13 Capricorn. Numerically, every inch of that is about how or how well we deal with all things emotional. And no matter where your emotional Self is these days, in the end the question  - at least that one being posed at the moment – is who do we know we can be if we live up to the best of who we are – and does that require making any changes or some kind of owning up to mistakes made which we now need to correct?

This second round of the Jupiter/Uranus square is coming under Mercury retrograde – which automatically tells us to think things over. Mercury retrograde has a pretty fearsome reputation, some of which is merited. Certainly those who speak before they think or who choose this as the moment to bulldoze into something new without thought or reference will tend to go awry. But on the other hand, this can be a time for experimenting – when if you can ‘just try’ something out for the sake of trying you can learn a lot or otherwise benefit from the experience. As with all personal planet retrogrades, Mercurial (conversation, textual or written) matters may go a bit wry or off-track and need ‘reworking’ – just as creative and/or financial affairs under Venus retrograde may have also been a bit ‘off the mark’ or (let’s be real here) sloppy.

**a pause while ten thousand eyes glare at the monitor... **

Yes, sloppy. You know, less than what we’re capable of doing? That kind of sloppy. And it would have been fine except that everyone else was feeling…well, critical.

But that's how it works. Under Venus retrograde we're going to do less than what we know we're capable of because the whole of the cycle is about learning to value our Self on an intrinsic level - that which will become instinctual - the object there being to grow self regard, self value...self worth. That which shakes us seeks to get us to value that 'thing' in terms of the sign Venus is transiting in.

Example: the recent Venus retrograde was in Capricorn, a Saturn-ruled sign which rules (among other things), time. And perhaps you heard that actor Seymour Hoffman died as the Venus station moved through? The astrological flag here is Hoffman's having had a lunar return as the station occurred, but my point here is this: if his passing affected you in such a way to make you think 'I should value the time I have here on Earth,' then Venus retrograding in Capricorn did its job.   

Moving forward now in present tense (and for some of us, very tense) Uranus supports those ‘stop-gap’ measure and ‘temporary fixes’ which are aimed at changes being made. Until Mars goes retrograde next month the ‘doers’ among us are not likely to be fully ‘owning’ what part of today’s goings on are problems, disappointments and bigger challenges we’ve created for ourselves by NOT changing our way of doing or being…and then there are the shirkers, hiders and avoiders who aren’t likely to be getting off our duff to do what really needs doing.

And just to make this interesting, we’re all probably doing a little bit of both. (Don’t they say variety is the spice of life?) So let’s just say that moderation is more of an asset than usual; under this sort of influence we’re likely to want things, like things, not like things, want to do something or not do something merely in the moment. Especially with Mercury in retrograde, those who aren’t engaged in some sort of ‘me’ work (working on me, or on something which will allow me a more effective way of being the person I am)…those people are likely to be looking for something to do at that very level which fosters glib times and fast-track mistakes.

And then there’s Valentine’s Day, which will be under Mercury retrograde with the lunar nodes (the emblems of relating through relationship) at 0 Scorpio and Taurus. As an astrologer, I certainly can say that if what you want to do is commit to working on who you are in a relationship or through a relationship that’s fine as that’s something you can do yourself, and under Mercury retrograde the most productive clarifications we reach are those which allow us to chart a more healthy and reliable path for our Self. If you are (for whatever reason) looking to found or negotiate an open sort of ‘let’s see’ sort of arrangement, Mercury retrograde plus Jupiter-square-Uranus will help with the freedom part, making this also a perfectly fine time to throw those friendly fun greetings at friends who know your style.

But whatever that style is, you had best know what your style is now. You had best be ready to stand with yourself against all which you have done…and not done…over the days and weeks – even months and years recently past. All those things which Mercury retrograde ‘brings up’ – be it people from your past or choices/determinations made badly or even left unmade – all those are likely to rear up and bite you, either in real or simulated form.

In your mind, in your heart, in your face – it’s all grist for life’s mill going forward. We still know this is a departing square – so we’re building. And though Uranus is in Aries now, the actual point at which the current Jupiter/Uranus synodic cycle began is 27 Pisces, a degree known for promoting very odd, very quirky behaviors…theoretically so we can learn better about who we are and what it means to be human.

Jupiter and Antiope by Hendrick Goltzius (1612)

It’s so not cookie-cutter. Considering the degree and the fact that we’re talking about a synodic cycle involving Uranus, impossibilities being proven not just possible but workable and all those things we have thought really well hidden (especially from ourselves) are going to both affect things and ‘come to the surface’ every time we go through one of these Jupiter-Uranus periods.

So we all shows our quirks…and maybe even some unacceptable behavior last August. Now we’re finding out what we’ve learned. Or we’re thinking over what we learned and whether the ‘thing’ was wrong…or maybe just how we went about doing it was wrong.

Jupiter-Uranus asks us to grow. And it asks that we take on some quality of ‘new,’ whether that’s in what we do, coping with what we learn or choosing how to change things going forward. At 10 degrees of Aries and Cancer we are challenged by whatever we have not yet learned to cope with, discard or heal at the same time as we are endowed with an extraordinary insight which could limit us simply because the vision it affords is so different than what we are used to. Many of us will have problems with trying to take on the whole of a problem at once when the only sensible way to achieve one’s aims is to work through things bit by bit, freeing ourselves up one piece at a time.

Apparently there’s something to be learned by doing this piecemeal. That may have to do with a dualistic thread which pits personal aims against strong humanistic impulses. And yet...Aquarius (the sign Mercury will retrograde back into as of February 13) in combination with Uranus as part of this configuration suggests that things are neither 'standard' nor predictable.

Or maybe that's us. Maybe we're not standard or predictable, even in terms of who we claim to be in our own regard.

And whether it's Uranus or Aquarius, we shouldn't want the old, the classic, the standard or status quo. Under either influence, too much pent up energy produces eruptions - which may happen now. Such events and moments can occur in real time...or in our mind. We can have a breakthrough in real world terms – or come to some realization about how to break out of our shell.  

There is no right or wrong here…except for that which works in your life. If you know your natal chart and know that one of these two planets (Jupiter or Uranus) tends to be problematic for you…or if it is for any reason heavily ‘weighted’ (emphasized) by your natal chart, this is an opportunity to learn better – but it might come at some sort of cost.

So this could be the moment when you realize some error. Or how to correct one already made.

Jupiter’s square to Uranus perfects on February 25th…and considering that this date is about a week out from Jupiter’s turn to direct, we can expect that singular sort of ‘push’ which tends to blanket all of life as any planet approaches its station.

Ordinarily we would just see that as an escalating inner desire to achieve something. But this year, before we get to Jupiter’s station we’ll see three other stations: Mercury’s on February 28th, Mars’ on March 1st and Saturn’s on March 2nd.

That's a lot of energy...a lot of pressure...and a lot of potential. Are you doing anything which is important to you? Should you be doing something which is important to you? 
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Venus Direct

Act in Blues

by Antoni Karwowski (January 2009)

Of all the posts I write, without question those marking the end of a Venus retrograde or Mars retrograde are my favorites – if merely for the relief I know they will spell for so many.

So here’s the news we’ve all been waiting for: Venus will go direct on January 31st at 8 p.m. (UT/+0) at 13 degrees of Capricorn.

In going direct conjunct Pluto and in a semi-sextile to an Aquarius Sun everything isn’t perfect or probably even sorted out at the moment. Many of us are still uneasy or undecided about what has happened during the past six weeks. That the degree Venus is going direct in (13 Capricorn) points to where we stand at the moment in our own life as well as where we thought we were going has created a curious sense of separation…isolation…even alienation as we’ve tried to let go of certain things while preserving that which seems vitally important.

And not all those choices have been easy. Or “fair.” Venus in retrograde, so known for its ability to manifest as situational relationship dynamics which disappoint, fall short of expectations or which elicit feelings of compromise, rejection or lack of proper reward for our efforts. Focused through the Capricorn lens, this particular retrograde has been sobering. Apparently ‘aimed’ at our hard core, real life, ‘what it takes to exist’ sorts of Capricorn standards as applied to wherever we need to grow, get more realistic or consider the effort(s) being made – or which need to be made, this Venus retrograde has been uncomfortable for all and costly on a very personal and human scale.

Through others, through our experiences we have been forced to at least consider something about who we are and how we’re going about living our lives. And now that Venus is going direct, all those many things which haven’t been so straight-forward or obvious are facing us – at least as an undercurrent - going forward.

To toss in a little metaphysical history here, that Venus is going direct at 13 Capricorn – a degree which calls on the toughness it takes to make it on your own while making us wish things were ‘nicer’ all the way around – this is a degree hit by a solar eclipse back in January of 2011. At that point something about our ‘direction’ (or the directives by which we live our life) was irrevocably altered, sending us into a three-year solar eclipse rebuilding cycle, the results of which only really began to surface during early-mid 2013.

As those effects did surface, something else was revealed…something we could not have anticipated and which we would not have considered or undertaken to take on had we not been through that January 2011 solar eclipse.

Or more specifically, the two months or so before that eclipse. In some ways we could say that this Venus retrograde has taken up where the eclipse left off, echoing through our lives asking us who we really are – and what or who we want to be thought of as.

The most sensitive points affected by the January 2011 solar eclipse AND this

current Venus retrograde (which takes its station to go direct at 13 Capricorn)

are the Capricorn conjunction, the Cancer opposition (the 'confrontation' with

issues and ideas) and the two squares - one in Aries and one in Libra. Seeing that

all four of these signs are members of the cardinal (pro-active) modality, what the

2011 eclipse may have stopped now will have resurfaced as a check point.

All of these points have a five-degree orb allowance, as shown above.

    

The gaps between those two ideas or values or qualities were shown up in large scale back in 2010/2011 …now we’re at a checkpoint, asking ourselves what we have and haven’t done since then, focusing in particular on the human side of this equation: our satisfaction with life, the integrity with which we think we’re living our lives (and in that, how we feel about integrity as a necessity or option) and what it means to ‘win’ in your terms and survive only to recognize the cost to others…maybe to other things you actually value…and to our self respect, our feelings of self worth and whatever it is which makes us want to do whatever it is we do in this world.

Mind you, this is only Step One in a much longer process. Yes, there will be those among us who will shake off Venus retrograde effects and trot away like some puppy which has forgiven itself its latest transgression. But most of us still have a lot of work to do, the underlying qualities of which are going to remain Venusian and linked to this December 2013-January 2014 retrograde period. Seeing as next up on the calendar is a Mercury retrograde beginning in Pisces and ending in Aquarius we can expect an unusual combination of effort, contemplation,  investigation and rejection during the weeks ahead – all with a dose of wondering what we should take on or be in competition about.

Are we competing with them, with ourselves – or with some ghost of failings past, real, ingrained or imagined?

Then we come to Mars and Saturn retrograde – a pairing of stations which for some may well prove to be monumental on their own and which play into what we’re talking about with Venus seeing as Mars, along with Venus is considered a ‘primal’ sort of descriptor of emotionality – the ‘strength’ side of the feeling energetic - as opposed to Venus which represents a softer and more ‘receptive’ side of our emotionality. And though the natural tendency is to think of these emblems as good-or-bad and even masculine-versus-feminine, that’s not the issue here. This ‘Mars and Venus as Moon partners’ (and the corresponding ‘Jupiter and Saturn as Sun partners’) is not about social attributes, but about whether we are able or even willing to harness our abilities without getting in out own way.

Or maybe more to the point here, what with Mars being in Libra, whether our Mars drive to get things done/assert one’s Self is in harmony with your own intent or desire. And make no mistake, sometimes life knows better than we do…and no, we don’t tend to like it when life takes that tact.

Part of what we are dealing with now – and which we will be dealing with on an increasing basis as we move forward (towards the Mars retrograde and Taurus solar eclipse) is a subtle if ongoing awareness. Mars in Libra is an air sign which functions through the ‘idea of the thing’ – which in the case of Libra is all about who we are in relationship to others, personally and/or professionally. (And yes, sometimes both.)

Meanwhile, Venus in Capricorn (or shall we say, Pluto-Venus in Capricorn) can perhaps be typified as a ‘drive born of necessity’ which operates in a very Big Picture fashion – the ‘big picture’ part being all about the fact that the last four signs of the zodiac (Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces) are worldly and public by nature.

Some will spend the whole of these next few months trying to ‘balance’ the individual/interactive concern against their bigger or worldly concerns. Others will instead move towards the idea of relating to others (or what they learn from others) as a ‘microcosm’ of that ‘world’ in the sense that society is really just a collection of countless individuals, all of whom have pretty basic instincts, tastes and opinions.

Considering the sign aspect here is a square (from Venus to Mars) the first variation will tend to cause friction within us (as to how to use our Mars assertiveness energies) and that’s likely to surface as problems, tough choices and for many, hard scenes. With squares – whether by sign or degree – we always want to work towards integration, towards synthesis. That takes work, hence the reputation squares have for being difficult.

But the reward is an inner understanding we’ll never lose…and since this is Mars-Venus we’re talking about, what stands to be gained here seems likely to be self respect or confidence.

The ‘medium’ through which Venus operates may be anything - emotional or financial, something to do with a career you have or want…it may pertain to some physical necessity. Or simple survival needs. You may be grappling with the nature of some responsibility you’ve taken on and whether that really fits who you are.

But whether this time is about something you need to get done in order to move forward towards and into the new…or  whether you’ve determined that you need to put distance between your today and yesterday, this is just the start of a process.

A turning point, call it.

Given the Mars in Libra inconjunct to this April’s Taurus solar eclipse we can anticipate there’s something to be learned from others or experienced through some association or situation which is going to affect us on a substantially personal level.

As for when we’ll encounter such a moment, catalyst or insight…that’s individual. However, considering the fact that Mercury is entering Pisces rather in sync with this Venus turnabout, some of us will be making changes now which we will capitalize on or find out the true wisdom of come this April. Mercury in Pisces can represent indecision and insecurity…but it can also signify intuition and a grace of spirit which is often highly seductive. And because this ingress will occur in tandem with Venus’ station, we can expect an intense few days when relationships and our ability to relate to someone through relationship (be it business or personal) can become a matter of personal fascination.

The caution here is obvious: lest you fall prey to some own desire to be seduced into (or out of) something, know your limits.

It’s also entirely possible that you may now meet or become involved with a project or person who will change your perspective on something fundamental. If so, enjoy the positive but pace yourself. Venus/Pluto connections are well known for stirring obsessive feelings which, given the Mercury in Pisces cue, may be nothing but a mirage.

As always, there is a two-days-before and two-days-after ‘station allowance’ given here, and the usual astro-theories will apply: things which occur during the two days before the station have yet to play out and things which happen during the two days after the station are a playing out of situations already met.

Pluto will be moving into 13 Capricorn as of February 26th…which would be late on the 25th for those in the Americas or eastern Pacific basin. It will then remain at 13 Capricorn and go retrograde on April 14th under Mars retrograde - during the heart of eclipse season.

This 13 Capricorn Pluto sequence will recommence just before New Years 2015 and finalize in January, teaching us all a lot about what ambition really means along the way. 

This last six weeks has been difficult for everyone. No doubt it's been particularly hard on Gen X’ers (born under Venus-ruled Pluto in Libra) and Gen Y folks – the Pluto in Scorpio tribe. (My sympathies, absolutely.) But across the board, no matter what generation you were born into, as many times as we've all been told we need to learn to love our Self, most of us aren’t that good at comforting ourselves with the sort of support we need when we feel like no one understands us and we don't understand life, when it seems like our dreams are crumbling for no known reason, when nothing seems to be going our way.

This feeling...the odd malaise so many of us have been laboring under for the past month or so...will begin to pass as January gives way to February. But it will be slow. Any planet coming out of retrograde takes a bit of time to pick up speed again, and thus our lives - or in this Venusian case our sense that things are more or less back to 'normal' will take a bit of time. Some of this is individual. But even if your personal chart doesn't answer to 13 Capricorn (Venus' station point), 23 Taurus (the degree Sedna will go direct at on February 5th) or 3 Pisces (the degree Mercury will go retrograde at on February 6th) it will be mid-February before Venus motion is more or less back to normal - at which point we'll be under Mercury retrograde, an influence which is easier on the heartache but more prone to producing headaches.

That Venus won't be exiting the shadow of this retrograde until March 4th tells us we're going to be working with and through much of which we've been challenged by for a while yet. But that's natural. Some decisions haven't yet been made (or acted on) and many situations need resolutions. Relationships and financial issues are likely to take the longest to sort out and a few such matters (probably those which embody or test our personal sense of vulnerability as it concerns how to proceed) - will become part of Mars retrograde quandaries. 

Still, as of January 31st we can expect communications to warm and many a process human or situational to finally achieve some sort of ease. The combination of Venus going direct as Mercury motion slows can create great clarity, great confusion and a whole list of questions and choices all at once. So yes, we do evidently still have a lot to learn yet.

But at least we've gotten this far.
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Venus Retrograde Conjunct Pluto: January 18 - 31

Integrity

by William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1876)

It's standard astrological theory how during the week before a retrograde begins (or ends) we all tend to feel a bit pressured. Maybe even frustrated. Or confused.

Then the object goes retrograde, marking a time of shifting perspectives, when whatever the attribute we associate with its energetics becomes the general ‘focus,’ prompting force or ‘framework’ for thinking things over.

Venus went retrograde on December 21 (2013) in the sign of Capricorn, sign of structure, leadership and commerce. Associated with everything ‘outside of who we (physically) are,’ Capricorn has a dualistic quality in that through all things Capricorn – our career, our social standing, our achievements, our reputation or whatever we are known ‘for’ or ‘as’ – through everything and anything external we get measured by others (or society).

Then as we reflect on that, we measure ourselves.

Under Venus retrograde (as a general concept) we’re likely to be not in an approving mood. Or maybe we’re not (as they say) “feeling the love” from others. Venus’ movements through the zodiac indicate the ‘directions’ from which we should expect to receive input and reward and right now the normal give and take between people (or in situations) feels forced. Or lacking. It’s like things aren’t working and we don’t know why.

Normally we would see Venus in Capricorn and think of the implied Venus/Saturn connection as a sign of stability, pragmatism and good business sense (corporate or the ‘business of life’). But with Venus in retrograde, finding a path through our lives has felt difficult and muddled. We have all tried to rely on who we are and the skills we understand ourselves having – and of late (since December 21st) – things haven’t been going that well. They’ve been sluggish. Or maybe people have been unresponsive.

Is it them? Is it who we are? Are we on the right track? Have we built the right life for ourselves so that we care not just about the ‘outer’ person and ‘outer’ life but the person we are ‘inside’ our personal world or individual life?

Businesses and efforts (personal or public) which have been or which are aimed at achieving some goal have been moving along slowly, if at all. A lot of us – and many a company or organization founded during the last ten days of December in any year – they’ve met up with setbacks and ‘support problems.’

Our Venusian feelings of being appreciated, fully responded to and properly reward is being exposed to a harder course – a ‘bigger world’ or tougher set of rules than we thought we’d have to face.

Or…is it that we’re just not capable? Personally and professionally, a lot of people have been asking themselves just that question.

And now Venus is moving towards its station-direct point at 13 Capricorn on January 31st – a date which we know (because Mercury is entering Pisces on the 31st) is going to cause us to feel something.

Something. What you feel is read through Mercury’s natal position (replete with aspects et al) plus where 0 Pisces is in your chart. (Check your solar chart as well.)

Plus 13 Capricorn of course – that being where Venus is going direct.

Normally the thing to do would be to think through was ‘Venusian results’ mean when we bring that ‘I cause the effect I receive’ Venus vibe to 13 Capricorn, a degree which is all about the ambition which when combined with standards of integrity presents us with tough choices and difficult situations which need negotiating. And learning from.

The durability and determination which we feel we have to use now we will also experience in others. The funny thing is though…in them the energetic looks like arrogance. It feels dismissive. And in our own lives this Venus at 13 Capricorn retrograde can feel like a rejection.

And the truth here is this: if we fail now it’s because we have refused to try or (given the Sun’s presence in individuality-oriented Aquarius) be present as our own ‘presentation’ of Self in this world. Plus the bottom line here is this: all of this is likely to be highly intense and productive…or destructive based not on who or what we face, but how we face it.

And that is about how well we deal with two other ideas: desire and reality – specifically, our emotional ability (or willingness) to deal with reality, or to deal with others in a manner which is realistic, given the situation.

The intensity of this period is likely to be very much ‘in our faces’ and/or virtually subliminal, depending on how we tend to deal with ‘the dream’ as a motivation and something totally apart from daily life. Both can exist, but only if we don’t try to…or even need to live in some sort of ‘dream.’

Some of our dreams are simple lacks of realism.

Some are reflections of that we are unable to deal with.

Knowing one from the other is vital now…and as we move forward into February (Mercury retrograde), March (Mars and Saturn retrograding on March 1st and 2nd) and the sluice of events which is likely to accompany the April 2014’s Libra-Taurus eclipse pair.

Venus going retrograde last December began a radical altering of our relationship(s) to others. This is what is now intensifying as Venus 'backs into' the Plutonic position. This is a transformative dynamic - and a highly intense one at that.

But will it evolve as something inside of us that we choose to do or be? Or will this be a time when external forces leave us no option but to change - or maybe just do something new?

As we pour over inner indecision, this is a time when we may be tempted - if for no other reason than to feel tempted...though by what is individual, and strangely enough, at this time the why we would be tempted becomes at least as strong as the temptation itself.

If Venus represents that which comes from us, which can be evoked by us or through us...and Venus is now functioning so that we can better understand ourselves and our lives and our potentials and what matters...that's the issue we are instinctively reacting to as something with deep and meaningful potential.

Is that a potential for good? It well may be, though with Venus-Pluto connections, best bets always consider the allure of the intense and those internal desires which, whether they're erotic or not, inspire cravings.

There is a power exuded during Venus-Pluto periods which feels pervasive. Mysteriously so. With Sun in Aquarius/Mars in Libra, much now has to do with our relationship to our world and thus this Venus-Pluto connector is likely to function as part of whatever we are going through right now which has to do with our ability to value ourselves...and whether we're doing that in such a way as to enhance our lives - or maybe just make things incredibly toxic.

Toxins - real or emotional, physical, financial or situational - are a large matter to deal with now. There is a need to protect or inure ourselves to effects even as we need to improve situations.

And still Venus is in retrograde. As this process evolves, as Venus edges ever closer to Pluto's zodiacal position impacts will increase. The evidence of what things 'cost' (or cost us) will become more manifest - most of all in our regard for ourselves, in the distance or dichotomy between what is and is going on and what we could be. Or could do. Or could become.

Or could perhaps learn, once and for all.

There are emotional outpourings yet to occur in April which will trace their origins back to now (mid-late January) and December – say, from the 21st until just prior to Christmas.

As for this next period ahead, January 18-31 is likely to be anything but dull. Even if you’re not doing anything out of the ordinary, something is brewing. It may feel like it is ‘about’ others but it isn’t – this time is about how we react to others based more or less on external interactions and ‘hidden factors’ which we are as fascinated by as wary of.

Why we are fascinated…and why are we so skeptical or perhaps even defensive? That’s the real question, and that’s all about us.

And if something affects us, we’ve been touched.

Eos (Dawn)

by William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905)

How we deal with that is likely to be part of a greater step in our personal, hugely human evolution. It’s a theme we’re all living through and being subjected to – most of all by ourselves.

If we can bear in mind that things happen – good or bad – and people come into, and leave our lives for reasons which can be totally positive and entirely painful at the same time…then we stand to get a lot out of this time. That which feels most stable may in the end prove worthwhile (if less productive) than that which is undertaken with a willingness to take reasonable risks in the cause of overall growth.

Quality and quantity are not the issue here: we are. We can do all the worldly things the way the world says they should be done and end up hollow if we have not yet grown into the person we are inside.

Life will prompt us – as it is doing now – telling us to grow, to change, to liberate ourselves through connecting with whatever our strengths are, difficult or otherwise, within. To love ourselves as a generative force which can give is positive. To love ourselves as and for our own ends is to undermine our own ultimate goals. Some of the reasons why this last point will prove out over the next several months (probably about six months) are not evident from here and are hidden - in particular – whenever or wherever our passions are given too wide a berth or rein. Creative or not, well intended or not, the heat of any fire ignited now can be dangerously disappointing (at the very least) if not harnessed and utilized with a light if firm touch and a clarity of human – and humanistic – purpose.
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