Category: Current Astrology

Venus In Taurus Trine Pluto In Capricorn

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For those moments (i.e. NOW) when the astro has a modern-day “Orpheus & Eurydice” kind of feel and you need an appropriate melody: U2’s “The Ground Beneath Her Feet”

“All my life, I worshiped her
Her golden voice, her beauty’s beat
How she made us feel
How she made me real
And the ground beneath her feet
And the ground beneath her feet

And now I can’t be sure of anything
Black is white, and cold is heat
For what I worshiped stole my love away
It was the ground beneath her feet
It was the ground beneath her feet

Go lightly down your darkened way
Go lightly underground
I’ll be down there in another day
I won’t rest until you’re found…”

06/20/2017

The Mars/Saturn/Chiron T-Square, Part 2

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Hamstring (verb): To cripple a person or animal via cutting their hamstring muscles.

Remember when I said the T-square of Mars, Saturn, and Chiron had a “decreased mobility” kind of feel? This can be taken metaphorically as well as literally. When you want to act but your hands are tied, or want to speak up but can’t because there’s a gag order in play – damned if you do, damned if you don’t. It can also represent a case of Writer’s Block due to a lack of time, energy, too much “pressure”, or even actual censorship. The Mars/Saturn/Chiron T-square is that rock-and-a-hard-place painful “Catch 22” situation where we’re squeezed between a pressing sense of desire and a greater sense of responsibility/repercussion. Options seem limited/as if there is a trade-off involved no matter what we do.

But what’s this? Mars is also makes a sextile to Uranus! We yearn for freedom, and get it by doing the unexpected. So yes, we *do* get to do something about the situation; just not in the way we initially thought. We have to do something…inventive…and perhaps even a little “crazy”. Because when all the options suck, the only sensible thing to do is find an alternative way of redefining the “problem” (Hint: It’s not what we think it is). And we may even have an ally in this courtesy of Venus’ approach to Uranus; a friend or companion who helps us to make a jailbreak out of this “stalemate”.

Perhaps the issue is we have been operating off logic and fear all the while neglecting to trust; forgetting that our intuition, Highest Self, and spirit Guides know at all times exactly what the right thing to do is. If we get quiet enough to listen (say through meditation, prayer, or Journeying), It/They may advise patience or in contrast beckon us across a bed of hot coals as an Initiation. Because that’s exactly what this hamstrung feeling is on a spiritual level: A shamanic rite of passage. Can we walk a path that cuts through fear and logic by suspending disbelief?

Odin hanging from the boughs of Yggdrasil as depicted in the Rider-Waite tarot.

05/30/2017

Mars/Saturn/Chiron T-Square

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Public Service Announcement: Mars in Gemini approaches a T-square w/ Saturn in Sagittarius & Chiron in Pisces! Extra caution & restraint is beneficial at this time in order to help prevent injury, because these are two malefic planets opposing one another while a particularly painful asteroid squares off with both! If you have planets or points in the late degrees (23-29) of ANY Mutable sign (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces) take it extra easy because you’ll be directly tied into this. This T-square is strongly in effect now through June 5th, so until then do bear in mind the following:

On a physical level, do watch for the flare up (inflammation) of chronic pain; particularly from overuse/overwork, excessive compression (especially from too much standing), and/or general weakening from increased wear/age – overall, there is a “decreased mobility” feel to this energy. There may be issues with shoulders/hands/arms/fingers/lungs/nerves (Gemini) and/or difficulty with hips/legs (Sagittarius) – bone, joint, or arthritic issues may come into play as well with the Saturn involvement. Good alignment/posture may help – our bones need good support and aligning the muscles and joints in such a way as to avoid putting excessive pressure where it shouldn’t be is absolutely key. Also be aware that pain may not be straightforward to diagnose with Chiron in Pisces – it may be vague/diffuse/nonspecific/reflexive, or the actual cause may be obscured by symptoms that masquerade as something else. If you’re doing any activity and something in your body hurts, STOP DOING IT IMMEDIATELY – do NOT try to push through the pain to show how tough/strong you are! This is not a measure of your masculinity, boys (and girls)! If you exercise/work out, this is the kind of thing where you’ll want to make sure you (non-aggressively) stretch, are really mindful of your form, and avoid using too much weight.

On a somewhat related note specific to the Mars in Gemini end of things, know this can also be a verbally aggressive placement and a wounding war of words can occur – dealing/receiving a “sick burn” is a real possibility, so make sure to temper your tongue’s fire w/ caution & restraint (especially over topics like religion and politics). With Mars presently aligned with the constellation Orion, don’t club someone over the head just to make a point. And know that if you don’t self-censor, someone else may be tempted to do this for you – try & use the verbal energy of this Mars responsibly to heal rather than harm. And speaking of burns, ping-ponging back to the physical end of things once again, literal painful burns and cuts are possible under this vibe as well. Watch your arms/digits particularly – especially around sharp/hot objects – & immediately rinse the wound under cold running water if anything should happen. Apply pressure/a burn cream/topical analgesic quickly; don’t wait. And for the love of Divinity, since we have a long summer weekend here in the US, be cautious around any fireworks!

05/26/2017

Venus In Aries Square Pluto In Capricorn, Part 2

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Building upon my last post regarding Venus in Aries square Pluto in Capricorn,

When you’re wondering what the counterpart male ”voice” of this energy might sound like and you get an answer in the form of another song:

 

“Come break me down
Bury me, bury me
I am finished with you

Look in my eyes
You’re killing me, killing me
All I wanted was you

I tried to be someone else
But nothing seemed to change
I know now, this is who I really am inside.
Finally found myself
Fighting for a chance…”

 

I am forever and always saying that ultimately we are our own lowest common denominator in relationships. Sometimes it takes the breakdown of a union to strip it all bare and put us in touch with our core Self, the Shadow within, and what it is that we truly want out of a partner/partnership. Nothing gives us potent clarity surrounding the Good, Bad, and the Ugly of our love nature quite like having to face ourselves in the mirror of relationship. Power/control dynamics, possessiveness, jealousy…if we don’t like what we see reflected back, it’s time to nut up, do something about it, and dig down deep to heal/transform the heart and provide a more psychologically constructive underpinning.

Sometimes we are tempted to simply kill time in a defunct, non-compatible relationship because underneath we are afraid to face devastation (whether this be material, psychological, etc). Over time, this eats away at a union from the inside – when we stay wrongly matched with someone *period* or for the particular place we are at in our psychological development, emptiness can set in during this long, slow, steady process of deterioration. This includes partnerships that may have had a lot of initial “spark” but that in the longer-term had little actual compatibility – hot sex is a poor stand-in for real intimacy. But when Venus in Aries squares Pluto, this provides  the impulse and the bravery to break new relationship ground – when we hit that “stick a fork in it; it’s done” point in a union, a post-mortem autopsy is always useful. Strip it all down and look at the roots – what was the “seed” that bore this “fruit”?

05/24/2017

Venus In Aries Square Pluto in Capricorn

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NB: The literary voice I’ve adopted for this particular post is pointedly edgy – apologies in advance if you were looking for something fluffier and less gritty, but it’s important that I set the tone correctly in order to convey an accurate portrayal of a particular facet of this energy. Let’s set the stage then, shall we? Music please, maestro!


“Go on take everything, take everything, I want you to!
Go on take everything, take everything, I dare you to!

I told you from the start just how this would end;
When I get what I want, then I’ll never want it again…”

Venus in Aries squaring Pluto in Capricorn gives me the sense of a contentious divorce; people fighting over who gets what while pathologically trying to cling to tattered remnants of material security. Personally, I favor the Courtney Love approach above, as in “Go ahead and have it all” – this is a Spartan Venus we’re dealing with and as such sometimes the best “fuck you” isn’t hitting them in the wallet but proactively deciding for our own inner peace we don’t want the energy attached to their money or their things. It’s a “Get out of my life and take your shit with you!” kind of vibe; a purgative influence rather than one that chooses prolonged, messy, complicated (financial/material) entanglement.

Within the astrological community Venus/Pluto is all too often given the bad rap of being a “gold digger” or for being “vindictive in a divorce”. While this *can* be true in its Lo-Fi capacity, the higher functioning version wants nothing at all to do with “dirty money” or physical possessions that have any kind of bad energy attached to them and would much rather just do without. In an ugly relationship situation, the best cut Venus/Pluto can make is one that is as clean and virtuous as possible – nobody does a coup de grâce better than Hi-Fi Venus/Pluto. It’s a shame that in an astrological sense we so seldom see this pairing being given balanced credit for the kindness and fairness that it can also convey when dealing with endings and loss, and divorce is always a loss even in the best of circumstances. With Venus currently in Aries (the sign of Venus’s detriment), granted this will considerably less graceful than it would otherwise be, so in this particular instance the Courtney Love treatment does seem much more apropos.

05/23/2017

Jupiter In Libra Inconjunct Neptune in Pisces

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What is “marital bliss”, anyway?  As the inconjunct (or quincunx, if you prefer) between Jupiter in Libra and Neptune in Pisces perfects on May 17 2017, it is important to note this is truly a subjective ideal!  Many of us think about this in broad terms and haven’t bothered to clarify with ourselves/Divinity/The Universe what exactly that vision looks like to us – it’s nobody’s fault, really, likely the result of being indoctrinated since childhood with fairy tales that vaguely trailed off in this manner. “And they lived happily ever after….” May have been the last words we heard before drifting off to dreamland as youngsters; a nebulous but reassuring omnipresent narrative that helped put us to bed at night.

But what if we are Awake, and wondering?

The paradigm that such a thing happens as if by magic is so deeply embedded in the Collective Unconscious that many of us have been sleepwalking in a sense.  It probably hadn’t even occurred to us to separate personal philosophies about love, togetherness, and relationship from the ones that have been instilled from media, our moral and/or spiritual background, our faith, and/or culture. But with Jupiter in Libra awkwardly backing into contact with Neptune in Pisces, meditating upon this topic is essential – there are a lot of things that have been passed off as Universal Truths about relationships that, well, aren’t.  Think about all the myths and stories we may have absorbed via osmosis that could have distorted our own personal Truth about what a happy union is AND regarding what it is that specifically makes *us* happy within the context of partnership.  The inconvenient Truth is we’ve been lied to – there is an “Eat, Pray, Love” quality to this energy and from a relationship perspective if we don’t ever take the opportunity to reflect on this and separate the signal from the noise it can be a setup for major disappointment and/or disillusionment.  An adjustment is needed – lucky for us, the current inconjunct between Jupiter in Libra and Neptune in Pisces provides just such an occasion.

05/15/2017

A Jupiter In Libra Truth

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The above philosophy regarding elevating our partner has huge resonance during Jupiter in Libra; particularly while it makes repeated squares to Pluto in Capricorn (i.e. in the weeks surrounding Nov 24th 2016, Mar 30th 2017, & Aug 4th 2017).  To reiterate a key point about this energy, Jupiter in Libra is a time for (mutual) growth and happiness in a union, but ever since Jupiter turned retrograde back in early February 2017, it’s entirely possible that we’ve taken for granted this will happen automatically; with no effort on our part. That’s what can make Jupiter transits a letdown – we puff ourselves up with these overinflated hopes expecting that he will just drop a cosmic goodie bag in our laps.  Then when we perceive him as not delivering the goods, we become disappointed when really what we should have been doing all along was seeking opportunities from within to create the growth and happiness we hope for.

At the moment Jupiter in Libra is also sitting in a prolonged and uncomfortable inconjunct with illusory Neptune until late July (note this leads right up to the time frame of the final Aug 4th square between Jupiter & Pluto), and many may be attempting to tune out inconvenient Truths about their partner, the general state of their relationship, and regarding their own role pertaining to any disillusionment with either. There is an element of Divine Discontent conveyed by this awkward pairing that can make it difficult to put a finger on why we’re not exactly happy in a partnership.  It’s not abuse – that would be far too obvious. Neglect, however, is far more insidious, eroding away happiness until partners drift away from one another.  It seems innocuous at first so that we tolerate it; appearing “benign” enough that we don’t see the Truth of it in its entirety.  But even small leaks can turn into a cascading waterfall.  Perhaps we’ve forgotten to give our spouse a kiss before leaving for work – if it happens once, we might not think it a big deal. But sometimes this snowballs until all the love and affection has seeped out and we’re left sleeping in separate beds.

On occasion, we also might not realize that we don’t seem to have as much in common with one another as we did “once upon a time” – political and social views may have blurred our understanding of one another where we no longer see eye-to-eye and isolation trickles into the open space where there was once unity.  There is also the angle that couples don’t always grow together in a spiritual sense; an uncomfortable schism can indeed infiltrate a relationship, creating a wide gulf between orthodox “faith” and the more free-flowing “spirituality”.  Or maybe we simply can’t recall the last time a significant other paid us an honest compliment – whatever the case, these many different kinds of “trickles” can all have the potential to dissolve even a good union if there are enough of them.

If we value the relationship, however, we cannot continue to ignore such issues. Neptune’s current influence upon Jupiter in Libra can be one of estrangement, so unions become more vulnerable to this pervasive-yet-vague sense of general dissatisfaction that cannot quite be named.  If we’ve ever been “together” with someone and yet felt so alone, the current inconjunct between Jupiter in Libra and Neptune in Pisces can carry this same rippling sheen of sadness. Meditate on all of this now, and imagine what might happen if our Significant Other were to stumble upon a Price(ess) Charming who elevates them where we have neglected them.

05/03/2017

(Retrograde) Mercury In Aries, Mars In Gemini: Backdraft

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No, you’re not seeing double – a retrograde Mercury just retread its tracks for a second passage back through fiery Aries while Mars entered dualistic Gemini less than 24 hours later.  With Mercury occupying the sign Mars rules (Aries) and Mars making a run through Mercury’s turf (Gemini), we have what is known as a “mutual reception” between Mercury and Mars in effect – for a primer on mutual reception, see my previous post here.

The effects of this Air (Mercury/Gemini) and Fire (Mars/Aries) combination can be particularly volatile, as we all know that Air feeds Fire.  With Mercury retrograde, this is making me think of the word “backdraft”; something I’m using as a metaphor for a dangerous and highly combustible situation where the rapid re-introduction of oxygen (i.e. the wind of our words) into a heated situation may explode and make arguments come rip-roaring back to life in an instant.  While this Mercury/Mars mutual reception remains in effect for the next 3 weeks it would be a particularly ill-advised time for any of the following:

1) To pick this period to initiate the re-hashing of a repeated point of contention – doubly so if it happens to be with a sibling, cousin, or neighbor. You’re not going to get anywhere new with Mercury Rx, and it’s highly likely to just wind up being a shootout at the O.K. Corral.

2) To insult someone’s intelligence.  This is never a nice thing to do, but even if snappish understand that under this energy words can quickly turn into fistfights and this is particularly likely to be a near instantaneous trigger for such to happen.

3) To *not* think twice before saying something in anger, period.  Because you can’t take it back and it’s likely to be especially cutting/brutal now.

4) To say something rude.  There’s straightforwardness and then, well, there’s just being an asshole.  What; I thought you wanted plainspoken?  So how does that grab ya – on the receiving end, it’s grating to the listener/reader, isn’t it?  😛  The point is, don’t be “that guy” regardless of gender – directness is no excuse for barbarism, nor is brevity justification for tactlessness.

5) To hurriedly, hastily, or agitatedly fire off a missive that is just plain ill thought out.  The aggravation and strife (Mercury plunks down next to discordant Eris and upset-oriented Uranus, remaining near one or both until it exits Aries in mid-May) likely to result may be similar to kicking a hornet’s nest.

6) To drive angry. When there’s such a strong Mercury/Mars vibe in the air, it’s the little things that will tend to piss us off.  Mercury is transportation-related, and when we put this into a vehicular context we may be inclined to find ourselves swearing at someone who cut us off or who blew through a stop sign, for example.  This can lead to things like road rage, impatience behind the wheel, and really aggressive driving in general. While anger is understandable when somebody is driving like an inconsiderate jerk (because nobody wants to wind up in a collision due to this!), instead of becoming belligerent and feeding the fire by giving it more air, take a deep breath, count to 10, and focus on staying in control.   Remember, your own actions behind the wheel may very well dictate whether or not the incident ends in a phone call to emergency services.

7) To use inattention when handling sharp or hot objects.  On a physical level, Mercury/Mars can make for cuts or burns to our arms or digits – especially if we are agitated and thus inclined to use excessive speed or force.

Please, if you could take away only one thing from the above list: Don’t be a conversational arsonist during this mutual reception!  Mercury/Mars combinations tend to heat up the mouth & sharpen the tongue, perhaps inclining us to say rude things, yell, interrupt, or fire out the first thing that comes to mind without really thinking about it. Remember that Mars is traditionally a malefic in astrology, so when it is double-teamed by Mercury/Gemini energy the problems will multiply when we give a fire air; particularly if/when it has been choked of oxygen.  The speed, heat, and force with which we verbalize irritation can rapidly ignite with hair-singeing capability, resulting in everything from tempests in teacups to dangerous backdrafts.  Before unthinkingly creating a scene that might best be described as belonging in Dante’s Inferno (i.e. “What fresh [circle of] hell is this?!”), mull all this over. Again, if need be – repeat as necessary until this mutual reception ends on May 16th.

04/23/2017

Venus, Inverted

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In a moment of pure Venus Retrograde synchronicity, I recently heard about a new dating app that is turning traditional matchmaking on its head: Hater.  The basic premise is that it matches you with a partner based upon things you both can’t stand – its logo even features a little upside-down heart. How’s THAT for some Retrograde Venus vibes?!

I think this is an app that would probably most appeal to people with a strong Venus/Pluto or Venus/Mars energy signature, as these peeps generally don’t do milquetoast and like their partners ardent for better or worse.  The capacity to bond over mutual dislike for something/someone seems to be a baseline function of both energies, albeit with some very notable differences in expression.  Venus also does not function in typical “lovey-dovey” ways when wired into either of these energies; consider that she is in her detriment in Aries (Mars) and Scorpio (Pluto).

I can foresee this app being either really good or really bad – there’s not much room for in-between here, IMO.  The bad side: It can potentially turn the prospective relationship into a cesspool of negativity that winds up degrading into a bitchfest.  The basic principle of Venus is “like attracts like” – if this is allowed to go very low-vibration, it can certainly have the capacity to be draining for one or both parties.  If we want people to meet us with energy we like, wouldn’t it make more sense to bring our best to the table instead of our worst, then? Of course, this can also be quickly remedied as the app is intended just for making that initial connection.

The good: If you both have a strong aversion to the same types of things, well, there’s really not much to fight about, is there?   An app like this could weed out a lot of dealbreakers for people early on, and less conflict can have the ability to correlate to more harmony.

The other thing I am hoping is that it sticks to more meaningful questions as the major screeners, for example a “hate” on “Trump” or “Kids” getting a much higher point value than a “hate” on “Sleeping with a lot of pillows” (an actual metric).  Besides, I actually *like* sleeping with lots of pillows – it works out great if I were matched with a partner who only wants one; more for me!   😀

04/13/2017

Venus Retrograde: “You’re Like A Bad Penny…”

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“You’re like a bad penny; you keep turning up!” Such an apt phrase for Venus Retrograde, as Venus rules copper and the retrograde period is a time when ex-partners and ex-friends tend to resurface.  While verdigris patina can hold a “shabby chic” charm for some, in my eyes I see the deterioration – it’s still corrosion, even if the age and wear do give it a certain je ne sais quoi.  Rest assured that when I’ve stopped taking a shine to someone, it’s for good reason – I do not just allow my love to rust.

I find the phrase “pennies from heaven” especially apropos with Venus currently in Pisces, denoting there may be an element of Divine Intervention for reasons we may not fully comprehend. But it is important to remember that pennies are essentially worthless currency; it’s not necessarily a “gift” just because there is a spiritual or karmic reason for a (temporary) Re-union. With Venus also now sitting in a square to Saturn as it stations Direct, this may actually refer to there being a “lesson” involved; a sort of cosmic “What have we learned here?” about our faults and foibles in relationships and the ways in which we’ve learned how *not* to shoot ourselves in the foot anymore.

Maybe we’ve grown up & matured.  Perhaps we’ve gotten “too old for this”. It’s possible we’re tired of hurting ourselves – Venus will halt movement very near wounded Chiron, so the pain is there but the ability for healing with compassion is as well. It can be simple forgiveness for the pain someone has caused us as we (re?)release them with strength; certain in our heart they’re no good for us.  It can be self-compassion for the ways in which we now have the benefit of experience to understand that we’ve grown wiser and don’t have to perpetuate any lather-rinse-repeat cycles of pain/suffering/self-undoing when it comes to partnering.  We can love someone unconditionally without being a martyr to an ideal – sometimes this entails good boundaries and/or loving from afar, à la ”Surrender, surrender, but don’t give yourself away…”

So is it worth the time and effort to try and put a polish on a relationship that we know in our heart already had its day during Venus Retrograde?  Particularly if/when we know the other party is still up to their old tricks?  I see the prospect of such a would-be reunion – of that “(bad) penny from heaven” turning up at this moment – as naught but a validation from The Universe that we indeed made the right (but difficult) choice…even though it may still hurt a bit.  Sometimes we have to be willing to say “no” despite the history and there being “no love lost” (in the most antiquated sense of the phrase) between the parties involved.  Way back when I was a teen, a friend of a friend had left a suicide note with those exact words, telling all of his crew how much he loved them and how sorry he was that he just couldn’t take it anymore.  My friend then had that haunting line tattooed across his shoulders as a massive memorial back piece to his fallen companion, with Christ on the cross set amidst a field of boulders in the pouring rain below – I wept when I heard the story. I’m welling up now, as a matter of fact.  But my point in retelling the tale is twofold; that sometimes time changes context (both literally AND as a metaphor for past relationships) and that sometimes pain and sadness are just a part of the experience of truly loving someone – it wouldn’t hurt if it wasn’t real.  ❤

04/05/2017