Mercury conjunct Uranus

Astrological news this week: Mars in Pisces and stationary Pluto

Astrological update for the week of April 18-25, 2022

art by Sangsoo Jeong

Mars in Pisces.

As I wrote in last week’s update, Mars entered Pisces on April 14th just before the Libra Full Moon on April 16th. That was a highly potent Full Moon, with the Sun and Moon both in a square aspect to powerful Pluto. Unfortunately it did not lead to a peaceful Easter weekend, with three mass shootings in the US, riots in Sweden and Jerusalem, and the bombing of the wonderful World Central Kitchen in Kharkiv Ukraine.

Astrology cannot prevent global disaster and war, but knowing where there might be land mines can help us in our own small ways to promote peace and healing. Mars will be in Pisces until May 24th, and when Mars is in Pisces all of that aggression tends to be driven into the underground of the psyche. In Pisces, the sign of the artist and the mystic, Mars can be compassionate and fueled by creativity and a yearning for spiritual connection. But the drive and motivation of Mars doesn’t do well when subsumed by the passivity of Pisces and it will take more effort and conscious intention to express and assert ourselves where necessary.

Repeating what I wrote last week, during this time Mars will conjoin Neptune and Jupiter, which may exacerbate the fuzziness of planetary energies. We can ameliorate this somewhat by enhancing our own physical energy through physical activity – always an excellent way to stimulate the chi and activate our intellectual energy as well as physical. But in the end we will just have to be patient and wait for the Piscean clouds to lift, utilizing this […]

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By |2022-04-24T13:14:55-04:00April 18th, 2022|Planetary news this week|0 Comments

Astrological news this week: Jupiter/Neptune and a Libra Full Moon

Astrological update for the week of April 11-18, 2022

artist unknown

Jupiter/Neptune conjunction in Pisces. This week we have the exact conjunction of Jupiter to Neptune, culminating on April 12th.  You can do a deep dive into this conjunction by following this link. We can get the most out of this crescendo of Piscean magic and illumination (which will remain in effect for the rest of the  month) by placing our attention on areas of our life where creative inspiration and spiritual exploration can take hold. Meditation retreats. Music and art. Ecstatic dance. Anything we do that invites Divinity into our lives is highlighted now.

The conjunction of Jupiter to Neptune doesn’t always bring fairy dust and magic – there is also potential for illusion and confusion.  There is a longing under this conjunction for positivity and optimism, and this can be a gorgeous influence to help us create a beautiful future. However, we may not be thinking as clearly as we would like to, so I advise precautionary care with the mundane details to be sure we have our feet on the ground when making decisions.

Mars enters Pisces April 14th. Following the Piscean theme described above, the planet of war enters the the most mutable of the mutable signs. Mutability is flexible and adaptable, but also lacks focus and direction which is not the happiest place for Mars. In Pisces, Mars can inspire greater compassion and a yearning for spiritual connection, but the Piscean confusion can become a force that dissolves our motivation and even our physical energy.

Mars will be in Pisces until it enters Aries on May 24th. During this time Mars will conjoin Neptune and Jupiter, which may exacerbate the fuzziness of planetary energies. […]

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By |2022-04-11T08:15:17-04:00April 11th, 2022|Planetary news this week|1 Comment

Scorpio Full Moon on May 10th brings gifts of transformation

Scorpio Full Moon May 2017 Photo by Val West

Full Moons bring out the contradictions within us, and that is because in the Full Moon the Sun is opposite the Moon, in two opposite signs with opposing polarities.  This Scorpio Full Moon features an opposition to the Taurus Sun: the intensity and passion of Scorpio needs to find balance against the need for serenity and peacefulness of Taurus.  Both are fixed signs: stubborn and powerful, with a tendency towards rigidity and difficulty letting go.  Scorpio, though, is intensely emotional and dramatic where Taurus is, or at least wants to be, placid but still powerful – very like the bull for which it is named.  This Full Moon reminds us that we can become our best selves when we find balance between these two dynamics:  the power of emotions and the power of stillness.

Pluto, the planet of transformation is the modern ruler of the Scorpio Moon, and Pluto harmonizes in a trine to the Taurus Sun at the Full Moon.  Pluto strips away all artifice to bring us into close contact with the absolute Truth of our very existence.  Under this influence we can emerge fully from the chaos of confusion into the transformation of the true Self.

This Full Moon urges us to find balance between the comfortable (Taurus Sun) and the deep and meaningful (Scorpio Moon) – to venture fearlessly into the Underworld of the psyche (Pluto) and find the gifts of transformation.

Mercury is in fiery Aries right now, and for the next two weeks or so it is traveling with Uranus, planet of radical behavior and change. This is a time of excitement and insight, but not particularly restful. Meditation can help to quiet the mind and […]

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By |2017-05-18T12:53:34-04:00May 8th, 2017|Moon|0 Comments

How to succeed during Mercury retrograde, April 9 through May 3 2017

mercury retrogradeSometimes it seems like we are in a permanent Mercury retrograde period, doesn’t it?  Under Mercury retrograde communication snafus are common and often equipment that we rely on fails to work properly.

I like to think of Mercury retrograde periods as being the ebb tide.  Life doesn’t always move in forward motion – like the tide, there are periods where events rush us towards the shore and other times when we look to the past and must take a step backwards in order to find completion or master a certain issue.

Consequently, Mercury retrograde times are good for re-flection and for finding new wisdom in situations from the past; for re-decorating, re-designing, re-thinking. They are usually not great times to start something new, but we can’t always design our lives around the three weeks, four times a year in which Mercury is retrograde.

Mercury is in the fixed and somewhat stubborn sign of Taurus right now where it adapts well to the lack of forward motion.  However, when Mercury retrogrades back into fiery Aries where it will remain between April 20th and May 15th we will be at the mercy of two opposing forces: the urge of Aries to take dynamic and impulsive action combined with the retrograde tendency to take two steps backward for every step forward.  This will be exacerbated by the fact that throughout this period Mercury will unite with reckless Uranus.  Under this influence there tends to be a lot of impulsive behavior and action as well as words thrown about without too much thought.  Travel is likely to be disrupted and a fair amount of chaos can ensue if we fail to pay attention. However, this planetary dynamic also bestows new ways of […]

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By |2017-04-11T16:57:50-04:00April 11th, 2017|Mercury retrograde|2 Comments

Sunday Inspiration: The Kingdom of Memory

Image from geograph.ie

The Moon aligns with Neptune in Pisces today – a double dose of mystical energy to open the portals of consciousness and allow us to peer beyond the veil.  A conjunction of Mercury (the mind) to Uranus (awakening) assists us on the mental level so expand our awareness into multidimensional thinking.

These influences allow us to venture into the Kingdom of Memory – the place in our present where our past resides as beautifully stated by John O’Donohoe, the brilliant Irish mystic:

As we journey onwards in life, more and more spaces within us fill with absence. We begin to have more and more friends among the dead. Every person suffers the absence of their past.

It is utterly astonishing how the force and fiber of each day unravel into the vacant air of yesterday. You look behind you and you see nothing of your days here. Our vanished days increase our experience of absence. Yet our past does not deconstruct as if it never was.

Memory is the place where our vanished days secretly gather. Memory rescues experience from total disappearance. The kingdom of memory is full of the ruins of presence. It is astonishing how faithful experience actually is; how it never vanishes completely. Experience leaves deep traces in us. It is surprising that years after something has happened to you the needle of thought can hit some groove in the mind and the music of a long vanished event can rise in your soul as fresh and vital as the evening it happened.

Except from Eternal Echoes. 

Taken from John O’Donohoe Facebook page

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