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Planetary news this week: Solar eclipse awakening and Mercury turns retrograde

Astrological update for the week of April 17-24, 2023

all images on this page by me & AI


Solar eclipse
. The big news this week is the solar eclipse at the very last few minutes of Aries. I wrote about this last week but it bears repeating as we enter the doorway to the upcoming pair of eclipses.

Eclipses are often bunched into a series of two or three pairs, but this year the two eclipse pairs operate on their own, without any others in the series. The first of the pair, the New Moon, occurs at 29º 57′ Aries – just three minutes of a degree from being in Taurus rather than Aries. The very last degree of a sign, the 29th degree, is called the “critical” or “anoretic” degree and is associated with the endings of cycles and new beginnings.  In this eclipse the Sun and Moon are a few degrees from the North Node of the future, signifying the pressure to release the past and move into an enlightened future.

The New Moon at the ending of a sign offers a sweeping away of the old and a fresh new beginning, especially with the Moon eclipsing the Sun, stripping away any artifice of conscious awareness and bringing us face to face with the raw truth of our needs and desires as described by Aries. In this moment which is rich with  the power of Mars (ruler of Aries), we can begin to let go of some of our willfulness as patterns are completed.  the Moon slips gently into Taurus just 20 minutes after the eclipse, forming a square aspect to transformational Pluto. We are in new territory, and this anaretic solar eclipse will help (force?) a push through obstacles into a […]

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By |2023-04-18T07:02:24-04:00April 17th, 2023|Uncategorized|4 Comments

Planetary news this week: Aries New Moon at the Equinox, and Pluto in Aquarius

Astrological update for the week of March 20-27, 2023

art by Lightstar on Deviant Art

This week we have three planetary bodies changing signs, including a zero degree Aries New Moon at the Equinox. This is a whirlwind of planetary motion, so hold onto your hats and prepare to let go.

There are times when we can create our own present and future, and times when we can exert power over the workings of the Universe. This is not one of them. This week in particular, with so many intense planetary energies blowing a new wind into the workings of the world, the very fabric of our experience is being altered and will change the way the future unfolds. This is a week for self-care: for calming our nervous system, for strengthening the bonds of our relationships, for taking care of the physical body through nutritional attention and physical activity. (This is because of several Ceres aspects I’ll discuss later in this article.)

Aries New Moon and Vernal Equinox

Whether we are in the northern or southern hemisphere, the March equinox marks an equal balance of light and dark midway between the Solstices. These are turning points at the zero degree point of the cardinal signs which mark the change of seasons. When one of these turning points occurs at a syzygy (new or full moon), the alteration effect is magnified and that is what we see here. We are at the edge of the first sign (Aries), ruled by Mars (action), at a time when the light begins to dominate over dark.

The chart for the New Moon is pretty potent: the Aries Sun and Moon are opposed by Ceres (integration of body, mind and spirit). Four planets […]

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By |2023-03-20T08:55:07-04:00March 20th, 2023|Uncategorized|4 Comments

Planetary news this week: Virgo Full Moon, and Saturn in Pisces

Astrological update for the week of March 6-13, 2023.

art by Verena Wild

Full Moon in Virgo March 7th. The Virgo Full Moon on Tuesday (EST) occurs with Saturn at the 29th degree of Aquarius, just about to spill into Pisces. The Virgo Moon is the only personal planet in an Earth sign, and with three planetary bodies in the mystical watery sign of Pisces it may be difficult to ground into the practical realm of life for the next few days. If that occurs, the best thing to do is to go with the flow.

The Pisces influence is wonderful for anything creative or magical, but with the Moon full in Virgo there is a strong emphasis on ritual and routine. Mars in Gemini is in a strong square to the Sun and Moon this week which suggests that we will likely find ourselves somewhat scattered under these energies, so this Full Moon will be better for planning and imagining than actually implementing something which requires a disciplined approach.

Saturn at the true cusp of Aquarius and Pisces is intensely idealistic – Aquarian idealism is intellectual and Piscean idealism is emotional – combining the two offers up a banquet of visionary longing for a world that offers greater perfection than the one we actually live in. The Virgo Moon resists this broadening of the scope of our experience and prefers to be grounded in the mundane details of life in physical form. It anchors us into a heart of practical reality where we are able to make the small changes that can ultimately result in the satisfaction of the larger Aquarius/Pisces vision. In any case, this lunation will impel us to seek more from our […]

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By |2023-03-06T08:45:50-05:00March 6th, 2023|Uncategorized|0 Comments

Sunday inspiration: When bad planets happen to good people

art by Laura Diehl

This article was originally posted in 2019. I mean the title as a bit of a joke – an homage to the self-help book from the 1970s by Harold Kushner.  But it’s no joke when tragic events happen in our own lives or to someone we love.

Over the past five years of such intense planetary drama these stories seem to occur more frequently, at least in my life.  The bride-to-be whose fiance dies of a heart attack five days before the wedding.  The parents who lose two children in the space of a year.  The friend who waited over 40 years to find her soulmate and build their dream house, only to have him die of a brain tumor less than five years into their marriage.  Another friend in a difficult marriage who loses her husband and father within six months.  All of you have your own stories, perhaps from your own lives.

This kind of event that turns our world upside down generally occurs under the auspices of Saturn or Pluto.  And sometimes both.  My sister was an astrology skeptic until I started my blog under her tutelage, and then she became curious.  I’m still not sure she’s convinced in its accuracy, but she is interested enough to want to know what the planets are doing when things get rough.

Over the past few years she has had a ridiculous lineup of planetary transits and progressions including a big lineup of planets to Pluto in her progressed chart and her second Saturn return.  During that time she lost a job, found another one, her husband lost his job, couldn’t find another one, our mother ended up in the hospital with […]

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By |2023-01-27T11:26:20-05:00January 29th, 2023|Uncategorized|8 Comments

This week’s forecast is on vacation!

Dear friends,

art by Daniela Zekina

I have a lot of writing projects this week: Finishing up the Astrology of the 2020s, writing about Pluto in Aquarius, putting together the monthly Planetary Illuminations, and the yearly forecast for 2023.

Consequently, I am going to give my brain a bit of a break and put the weekly forecast on vacation. I hope you had a good holiday weekend!

right: Actual pictorial representation of my brain right now. 😃

More soon,

Lynn

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