solar eclipse

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
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Planetary news this week: Eclipses and Scorpio dominate the energetic frequencies

Astrological update for the week of October 23 – November 2

(I will be traveling so next week’s report will be a few days late and is included in this one.)

art by Sophie Wilkins

Scorpio. The big news that will dominate the week is the infusion of Scorpio energies that are emerging right now. On Sunday the Sun and Venus both entered Scorpio, and just after midnight EDT on Tuesday the Moon enters Scorpio just before the solar eclipse at the Scorpio New Moon on October 25, 2022 at 6:48 am EDT. And Mercury will enter Scorpio on October 29th.

Scorpio is associated with intense emotions – the dark feelings such as jealousy and hatred which normally don’t see the light of day.  However, anything which we hide in the darkness never has the opportunity to become transformed.  Scorpio fearlessly plumbs these depths of darkness and supports us in our quest to regain the power that we have lost through self-denial and diminishment.

Each sign reacts to the one before it, and in this shift from Venus-ruled Libra to Mars-ruled Scorpio we leave behind the polite niceties of Libra to dig into the Truth that often hides from the light of day. Scorpio season is followed in late November by Sagittarius, where the intensity is left behind in favor of a sunnier optimism.

Solar eclipse October 25. This Scorpio eclipse follows on the heels of the Aries Full Moon, and with both Aries and Scorpio ruled by Mars (Scorpio’s modern ruler is Pluto but Mars is still very much in charge), it’s no surprise that this is a time of intense warrior energy, dominated by female archetypes. The Sun and Moon are thought to represent the male and female […]

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By |2022-10-23T14:23:28-04:00October 23rd, 2022|Planetary news this week|1 Comment
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Sunday inspiration for Scorpio Eclipse transformation

The Sun and Moon have reached their conjunction today at the first degree of transformational Scorpio, and over the next few days the energies are building for the solar eclipse at the Scorpio New Moon on Tuesday October 25th. We are fully into Scorpio season now, where we dive fearlessly into the depths of passion and Truth and emerge forever changed. 

Unfortunately I have lost the source for this poem and am unable to find it – if you know the writer please let me know!

art by Verena Wild

There’re many stages of transformation in our lives

The strongest are are the ones that can’t be always seen from the outside

These within transformations can sometimes play tricks on our minds by making us think that we’re still standing in the same spaces

But when we keep connecting within and silence daily our mind with meditation or anything that will align us with our higher self

We can then actually see the dance of our soul twirling on the spiral ladder that keeps lifting us.


Looking from the outside can seem like we’re taking the same paths or turning in the same circles

Trust your guidance

You’re constantly being guided towards higher steps

Fear will make you feel like the past scenarios are close by youDon’t let it activate their emotions, they’re past over and so far away from you

Trust that you’re standing in the most beautiful place like you’ve never been before.


Every dark and light that you’ve been through have been weaving a magical dress that you’re wearing right now, in this space where you’re standing

A dress that’s sewed to the night and day

To the moon and sun, the sea and oceans, the sky and stars, […]

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By |2022-10-23T12:21:41-04:00October 23rd, 2022|Inspiration|1 Comment
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Astrological news this week: Pluto retrograde and eclipse season begins!

Astrological update for the week of April 25 – May 2, 2022

art by John Craig

Pluto turns retrograde. I’ve been talking for a while about the Pluto station because Pluto hasn’t moved much in months – it’s only traveled one degree since the end of February and won’t travel more than one degree until early July.  That is a long time if you have planets between 25 and 29 Capricorn or the other cardinal signs Cancer, Libra Aries.  And if you have planets between 0 and 2 degrees of Aquarius or the other fixed signs (Leo, Taurus, Scorpio) you’ll feel some effect too. (Some astrologers use 10 degree orbs or more – I tend to use tight orbs as that seems to work in a more practical setting, like real life.)

We have had quite a few months with no planets retrograde, and with Pluto changing direction we have just one retrograde planet. The next retrograde will be Mercury turning retrograde on May 10, but in the meantime the focus is on Pluto and drilling down to the absolute Truth. Self-deception might have been the name of the game over the past few weeks with Jupiter and Neptune slamming together in a dance of bliss and psychic harmony, and we now have Mars and Venus joining them in Pisces (see the information about the eclipse below).

When Pluto is in charge, we are under the guidance of fate. Anyone with tight aspects from Pluto to their natal chart knows this, and eventually we learn that when fate is in charge we are guided towards our highest destiny if we can only let go.

A note about the Pisces stellium.  The blurring of details is a feature […]

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By |2022-04-25T13:33:14-04:00April 25th, 2022|Planetary news this week|0 Comments
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Astrological update for the week of November 29, 2021: A solar eclipse, and some Neptune fog

artist unknown

This week the big news is Neptune turning direct on December 1 after traveling in apparent retrograde motion since June 2021 (like the other two outer planets, Neptune is retrograde approximately half the year), and the upcoming solar eclipse on December 4th in Sagittarius.

The outer planets work as inspirational forces, and because they move slowly their impact can last for a long time. When a planet is preparing to change direction, its apparent motion from our perspective on Earth slows down to a crawl before stopping as it appears to turn, just like a car doing a U-turn would do.  At these times the influence of the planet is particularly potent, especially if it is hitting a sensitive point in our own chart.  Neptune has been between 20-23 degrees Pisces since February 2021, so if you have planets in this degree range in any of the mutable signs (Pisces, Virgo, Sagittarius, Gemini) you might have been experienced some intense confusion, inspiration, heightened imagination, deeper spiritual connection – all of these are Neptunian experiences that tend to enhance or blur the mundane day to day reality.

This can be a magical time, full of Spirit and wonder, but it can also create some illusion and delusion. In the middle of a pandemic, and with the intensity of the square from Saturn to Uranus creating some conflict and disruption, the desire to escape may be a strong one. Neptune in Pisces is itself connected with the idea of a virus that spreads mysteriously around the world. Neptune will not leave this 20-23 degree box until April after a conjunction to Jupiter in Pisces, which is another whole story of potential spiritual grace mixed with delusion.

In any case, […]

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