Jupiter trine Uranus

Planetary news this week! The Winter Solstice turns the wheel

photo from Anthony Murphy

The planetary energies are relatively quiet this week and mostly benevolent.  The effect of Jupiter in a harmonious trine to Uranus which culminated last week still lingers for another week or so.  With no other major planetary alignments to dilute the effect of this wonderful trine, we can create real magic. Jupiter’s expansive influence can help us to more easily receive the multidimensional consciousness that Uranus bestows when we can become unstuck from our outmoded thoughts and ideas.

Between the 18th and the 20th we have a harmonious connection (sextile) between Mars (action) and Saturn (structure) that will really help us to focus and achieve whatever we put our minds to.  Mars is in Scorpio right now where its aggressive nature is able to operate freely, and with the support of Saturn’s discipline we have a serious aid to buckling down and accomplishing a goal.  However, Mercury (mind) faces off in a challenging square to Neptune (imagination and illusion).  While our energies our focused under Mars/Saturn, this Mercury aspect heightens imagination and creativity, but also fosters a tendency towards woolgathering and spaciness.  Keep that in mind when you make your plans for these few days and make sure that you allow some time for creativity and to let your imagination run wild while in achievement mode.

Venus moves into Aquarius on December 20th, and for the next few weeks all of our interactions with others (Venus) will take on the Aquarian qualities of detachment and reason.  Aquarius is humanitarian and concerned for social justice, but it is more of an idea than an empathic connection.  Under Venus in Aquarius, we need space in our connections as we follow our ideals for the […]

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By |2019-12-16T08:08:11-05:00December 16th, 2019|Planetary news this week|0 Comments

Sunday poetry: The Painted Face of God

Photo by Markus Grass

This beautiful poem was written by Clarissa Pinkola Estes on the death of the wonderful John O’Donohue, whose works appear frequently in these pages.  Under the trine from Jupiter to Uranus this week our perspectives can shift and we can begin to see our world in a new light. 

The Painted Face Of God

–Clarissa Pinkola Estes

I’ve often thought in my life how hard it will be to leave this earth
And once when I was so ill and lay dying and crying
Thinking how horrible to leave the people I so loved
As though I would never see them, ever again
Those most precious to me

To never hold them, smell them, hear them again
And especially also to leave the mysterium of this earth
Our beloved yellow sun
Our brilliant blue sky
Our mother of pearl shining moon
Our green grasses
Our purple heather
Our black-winged raptors
Our silver wolves
Our colored songbirds
All these of such beauty

A seeming nowhere else known in the entire universe
To leave this painted face of god
That we lived mirrored upon
This painted face of god
That teaches us through the seasons of flowers and pines on mountains
And creatures and red hearts beating
In flurries all over the world
In all that moves with purpose on earth
In all else

How can anyone believe that here on earth is not god
Right here on earth
How can we leave
This magnificent, incandescent, radiant, beautiful painted face of god
On earth
And I wept and I grieved

How can we leave this beautiful god on holy earth
So filled with gems and diamonds and gold and silver
And all the elements of wonder
And I wept

But in time now as many years have passed in my life
As I gather more years
I am able to see better now the far encampment in my own life
And coming closer and closer […]

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By |2019-12-15T07:59:57-05:00December 15th, 2019|Inspiration|5 Comments

Planetary news this week! A Full Moon on 12/12 at 12:12!

There is lots to unpack this week!  Grab something to drink and let’s get started.

First, the challenging square aspect between Jupiter’s expansion and Chiron’s pressure to squeeze out the pain from old wounds for release is on the wane.  If this has affected you personally, either emotionally or physically, you may find you feel better this week.  Chiron, having been retrograde since July, is stationary in the sky as it prepares to turn direct this week so its energies promoting healing of old wounds is intensified now.

Then Mercury, planet of the mind and communication, leaves intense Scorpio for buoyant Sagittarius on December 9th and will travel through Sag until December 28th.   Mercury is more optimistic in Sagittarius, and that optimism can filter down to we humans even if your natal Mercury is in a darker sign, like my own Mercury in Scorpio.  Mercury harmonizes in a trine to Chiron on the 10th, helping us to understand the challenges that we face and devise ways in which to move past them.  But between the 11th and the 13th, Venus is sandwiched between stern Saturn which could create some bumps in our relationships if expectations aren’t met, and Pluto which could bring out any hidden agendas or power conflict to disrupt our relationships.

Mercury and Venus events last only a day or two so these are fleeting influences, but they are locked into the chart for the Full Moon on December 12th.   The Full Moon is at 12:12 am Eastern time, which is interesting from a numerological perspective.  Twelve is considered to be a holy number: there are twelve signs of the zodiac, twelve tribes of Israel, twelve apostles, twelve knights of the Round Table, twelve successors of Muhammed.  Of course […]

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By |2019-12-09T08:58:57-05:00December 9th, 2019|Planetary news this week|0 Comments

New Moon at the Spring Equinox! Time for a fresh start

New Moon Aries Equinox “Ascension” by Willow Arlenea

The Aries New Moon on March 20th at 6:45 pm Eastern time occurs at the Aries Point – the zero degree of Aries that marks the beginning of the entire zodiac.  For the northern hemisphere, this marks the first day of spring (you Aussies and Kiwis, and anyone living in Antarctica, may want to read my earlier article about astrology in the southern hemisphere here).

The Aries Point gets a special mention in astrological literature.  Kim Falconer writes, “the AP represents a movement (cardinal) from an inner quality to an outer manifestation. It orients us towards the world at large—society, public events and all relationships propelled from the individual to the collective.”

The sign of Aries is itself the beginning of manifestation in the world – the point of initiation and assertive dynamic experiences that push us into the world itself.  Any New Moon marks a new beginning – the beginning of a new lunar cycle that wipes the slate clean and provides an opportunity to create something new in our lives.  Any Aries New Moon adds another layer of excitement and Marsy energy to stoke the fires and energize that creation.

A New Moon at the Aries Point is an explosion of fresh new potent creative enthusiasm that can provide the motivation we need to begin something anew.  The challenging square (90 degree aspect) between Uranus and Pluto is still very tight, the two planets are just 9 minutes apart, so the adjustment is not easy.  Uranus breaks apart the old way and leaves us to put together the pieces.  Pluto assists with the destruction and reminds us who we really are at our core so that when […]

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By |2015-03-20T08:29:52-04:00March 20th, 2015|Moon|4 Comments

Planetary Illuminations for March 2015 now posted

February astrology Image from Deviant Art

The March Planetary Illuminations report is now posted and you can read it in its entirety here.  If you are on my mailing list you will soon receive a simplified version of the report which is in plain English and easy to understand.  If you’re not on my mailing list, please sign up in the sidebar!

There is a great deal of planetary excitement this month and here is the introduction to get you started.

The biggest planetary factor influencing our world today continues to be the challenging square (90 degree) aspect between Uranus and Pluto.  (If this is unfamiliar to you please read the summary in the sidebar for more details.)  Challenging aspects between Uranus and Pluto occur every 35 years or so, with the last one, the conjunction, occurring between 1962-1968.  The current cycle has included seven exact alignments and one additional alignment that was within a few degrees, beginning back in 2010.  It is this major cycle that has been the witness of so much revolutionary change and radical breakdown of power structures across the globe.

During the first two weeks of March Venus and Mars, both in Aries, “translate” the bigger Uranus/Pluto event.  The faster moving planets often trigger larger cycles into action, so I would expect this time period to erupt into conflict and bring any power structures that simmer below the surface into consciousness, both in the global political arena and in our personal lives as well.

We also see the second phase this month of a harmonious trine between Jupiter and Uranus, the two freedom and liberation planets, that peaks on March 3rd.  Jupiter provides expansive confidence, and Uranus excites the imagination and creates innovation and […]

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By |2017-04-02T09:40:54-04:00March 1st, 2015|Astrology|0 Comments