**Parts 2 & 3 of this series are here: A Mercury Retrograde Re-Take, Part 2
A Mercury Retrograde Re-Take, Part 3
1/19/2016
Aries Takes Everything At Face Value
Ignoring for a moment other potentially mitigating factors in an individual chart (say, having a strong Scorpio signature or a preponderance of Plutonic energies, for example) the above astrological statement holds quite true in my experience. It rarely occurs to Aries to dig deeper and/or that someone may be talking out their ass, outright lying, or harboring some kind of hidden agenda – there is something straightforward and uncomplicated about this sign where the default assumption is that everything must be quite simple, even when it isn’t. WYSIWYG is, like, their unofficial mantra or something.
I don’t know if that makes Aries naïve or gullible, but there you have it.
Yet with Aries’ ruling planet – Mars – now traversing intricate Scorpio more or less until August 2016, it behooves our Ram to realize that sometimes things are considerably more complex than they initially seem. For roughly the next 6 months, Aries gets a tactical immersion in covert or even psychological ops maneuvers which may or may not include: reconnaissance, surveillance, honing (metaphorical) sniper skillz, and/or baiting an adversary in order to draw out a negative reaction. It’s always warfare to Aries, but now it shifts over to more subtle methods…forget fistfights; it’s picking an opponent off with a strike-and-move gambit from the concealment of the shadows. Unsophisticated components of the persona can now be ditched to add an enriching layer of intrigue where Aries gets to go all “Secret Agent Man” for half a year.
Think: Less Archer, more Ethan Hunt.
All of that aside, there is yet another facet of Mars’ passage through Scorpio that is particularly important for Aries to be exploring now. Quite possibly one of the the highest-functioning uses of this energy, the theme in question is one of “Confronting the shadow within”. Since our brave Aries (and Scorpio) brethren do in particular take their cues from this planet, it looks as if they will definitely want to take note because there is a good chance they may find themselves imbued with the guts to do a little conquering of their Inner Demons sometime during this transit. This, however, is going to have to be a topic for another post…
1/14/2016
The Pluto/Uranus Square’s Curtain Call
David Bowie has just passed over to The Other Side, folks – a sad day for all of Rock n Roll indeed! Bowie was a 17 degree Capricorn Sun and thus strongly affected by the current curtain call of the Pluto/Uranus square; very literally manifesting as his shocking (Uranus) death (Pluto). I would wager, though, with Pluto making its excruciating slow march toward his Sun that he had probably seen that freight train coming on the horizon a looooong time ago, even though it seemed sudden to all of us here on the outside. Pluto transits are like that, though…they are very private and interior. But we can even see the Plutonic themes very strongly in the title of his swan song work, “Lazarus”; the Uranian edge coming in as he sings about being “free”.
May he find true liberation in death…his work will always and forever remain immortal, which I think is about the highest honor any Capricorn could ever hope to achieve. ❤
01/11/2016
The Saturn/Neptune Square, Succinctly
One of my girlfriends recently shared this on Twitter, and I was immediately struck by the profound correlation it had to Saturn in Sagittarius square Neptune in Pisces! Coming to us via prima ballerina Dusty Button:
Though this quote only represents one very specific facet of this square, the takeaway about it I think is her drive to achieve…she’s not just daydreaming her life away; she is making it so and bringing those dreams down to earth with lots of hard work! Just look at the photo – it’s not a pic of her all glammed up in a stage performance…nope, she shows us a behind-the-scenes look at her sweating and stretching it out in Practice Mode! I love the astrological metaphor of her foot (Neptune) reaching over the bar (Saturn) as well! So on a hunch, I decided to run her chart just to see how plugged into this energy she is – do you know she was born when Saturn and Neptune were last conjunct in Capricorn? Thus she is quite attuned to the current square indeed, and it looks like she can definitely teach us all a thing or two about this astrological energy! It’s also worth noting she is a Gemini Sun and will be strongly impacted by the June 17th hit of the Saturn/Neptune square this year. I love the quote, though, and think it to be some highly inspirational mojo to embrace during 2016 – let’s make it our motto!
01/09/2016
Knowing Your Own (Astrological) Kind
Every now and again, I like to play a little game that’s kind of like the astrological version of “Name That Tune” – with as minimal a series of clues as possible, I try to figure out somebody’s Sun sign or another dominant astrological signature in their chart.
Case in point: I recently attended a viewing of the new Star Wars movie, and while I though the rest of the main cast did a perfectly satisfactory job in their roles, the standout performer for me was Adam Driver as the evil Kylo Ren. Which is not all that surprising, as I am fairly Plutonic so like a good villain now and again and do tend to have a pretty good radar for spotting the energy of the Dark Side in others.
It wasn’t until I was waiting in line with another fellow moviegoer to exit the theater and chatting casually with her that I caught the actor’s name since I wasn’t familiar with his body of work, and it was also at this juncture she informed me offhand that he was a former Marine.
Hmmm…played an über villain AND was a Marine IRL, you say? I sense some Plutonic energy there…sounds like Scorpio to me, I thought. I pulled out my phone in order to either confirm
or refute my initial suspicion when a cursory search of the intewebz revealed that Mr. Driver is indeed Plutonic; a Scorpio Sun ruled by an extra-powerful Pluto in Scorpio and with Pluto loosely conjunct career-making Saturn!
Yup, I can smell the Dark Side from about a mile away, apparently…I can Name That Sign in just two clues, LOL!
Laughingly, I thought to myself with THAT astrological signature, the dear boy will certainly have to watch out for the possibility of being typecast, as the “Plutonian as Villain” shtick would indeed tend to be a natural fit for him – looks like we have a professional villain on our hands, folks! But perhaps in his next big role, he’ll decide to take on more of an anti-hero role…who knows?
All that aside, I’m thinking the trait of being able to suss out others’ (astrological) energies like this could well be the work of a sharpened Venus/Pluto influence. Plutonic peeps are by nature investigative and energy-responsive anyway, but when I contemplate the quality of Venus added to this I can’t help but think that – on an inner level – we may be particularly able to sense energetic “sameness” in others….what say you?
**Walks away humming “You’re one of my kind…”**
01/06/2016
Shaking It OFF!
Regardless of what may have happened during our day, our month, or even our year, I invite everyone reading to join me in starting off 2016 right by collectively shaking off any skanky vibes that may have been absorbed during the course of everyday living. It doesn’t matter what happened last week, yesterday, or this morning…it’s all history, baby! What is important at this very moment is setting and aligning with your intention for the future. What do you want the New Year to be? It doesn’t have to be defined by any static or negativity you may have encountered in the past – you can make it what you want it to be based on the vibe you choose to bring to the table.
So let’s greet the New Year with joy and with optimism. Light a candle, make a wish. Meditate, say some prayers. Burn some incense…smudge yourself and/or your space. Do whatever you need to do at this moment – no matter how small or how great the symbolic gesture – to feel prepared greet 2016 with fresh energy. Let it all go. It’s currently a Virgo Moon over Jupiter and the North Node, so think about ritual ways you might scrub your auric field of any dingy residue to help usher in that better tomorrow. Even literally, perhaps – I myself scheduled a physical and meta-physical housecleaning today, baseboards to ceiling. Not only did I dust, vacuum, mop, organize, etc. but immediately afterward I busted out my cedar smudge stick, lit my jai shri Hanuman incense, and sealed the deal with an energetic cleansing as well. I even laundered my bed linens in lavender-infused water, fanned the thin smoky plume of an artemesia smudge stick over my pillows, and placed a dream pillow handmade by a Mohegan Medicine Man on top of my usual one for peaceful sleep and enhanced dreaming. Tonight before I go to sleep, I plan on anointing my 3rd eye with some Bear Medicine dream oil a shaman friend made for me – it’s going to be AWESOME! 🙂 You don’t have to go to these kinds of lengths, of course – a simple shift in mindset or attitude alone will do wonders. So please join me in shaking it all off and welcoming in the New Year – blessings of peace, prosperity, health, and happiness to you & yours in 2016!
12/31/2015
Mercury Retrograde January 2016
Hi all – I’m back after a temporary (necessary) blogging hiatus! It’s been a busy holiday season, but now that my duties have eased a bit I have put together a video discussing the nuts & bolts of the upcoming Mercury retrograde (Rx) in January, which runs from the 5th through the 25th. Humorously enough, it’s worth mentioning that I did have some odd tech glitches while making the vid, so it seems as if our Trickster friend is already making himself known! 😉 😀
12/28/2015
Saturn In Sagittarius: Built On Faith
Something that strikes me regarding Saturn’s transit through Sagittarius is the concept of being built on faith – especially when we take into account this planet’s series of squares to a highly-spiritualized Neptune in Pisces. There is something tangible and yet intangible about this energetic pairing that does give the ability to manifest via belief…provided of course we apply the appropriate amounts of planning and elbow grease required to make it so. It can be tricky, though – Neptune’s involvement suggests there is also the possibility of doubt, confusion or a lack of clarity/focus, or even unrealistic visions that may cloud this process.
Could it be that we are hoping to build upon something nebulous and ephemeral; a proverbial “castle in the air”? Or might we instead be “Ye of little faith”, discouraged and discounting possibilities because we’ve hit an obstacle somewhere? Back in my December 2014 newsletter, I mentioned one thing Saturn in Sagittarius was sure to do was bring tests of faith one way or the other for the sake of strengthening us. Fortify or weaken, it is our choice…it is time to look at what beliefs we are building on and how they are/aren’t they serving us.
The key under this energy is to set positive but realistic goals – unrealistic, misapplied LOA-type dogma that encourages fantasizing about having that dream job/pile of cash/whathaveyou without actually doing any of the real-world legwork required to procure such lofty ambitions is not the way to go, because a dream without a plan is just a wish. Or, if you prefer: God helps those who help themselves. I feel this theme has particular resonance over the next year with Saturn running over The Great Attractor several times during the next two hits of the Saturn/Neptune square. So let’s not misapply/distort the LOA to mean that we shouldn’t be doing any work to make those dreams a reality, aye?
On the subject of Saturn’s laws and the misapplication of The Law Of Attraction, I should also mention that any ideological framework can be misapplied in a harmful manner even if it *seems* positive – especially while Saturn in Sagittarius & Neptune in Pisces square one another. I have seen this in action firsthand and know all too well exactly what can happen when one reads a few too many self-help books and loses proper context. For example, when we are faced with significant stressors somewhere in our lives, I don’t believe we should just try to wish them away or pretend they don’t exist. My concern with the LOA is that I’ve seen a (rigid) belief in its teachings do serious psychological harm when one bottles up feelings and thoughts they perceive to be “negative” out of concern that “like attracts like” and that talking about their fears, concerns, etc. will somehow only invite more negativity into their life.
When we stuff our very real, very natural feelings down inside like this, judge them as “bad”, and attach a degree of shame or stigma about expressing them, it is totally possible to wind up in a “when the levee breaks” scenario. The result I saw involved someone being hospitalized for what ultimately turned out to be a panic attack, though at the time the party it was happening to didn’t register it as such. The tightness in the chest and difficulty breathing seemed like a legit physical medical emergency given the lack of prior history regarding anxiety attacks, and it was initially suspected these symptoms might have been markers of a heart attack. Thankfully this wasn’t the case, but unfortunately this event did indeed present residual psychological challenges for the person involved, as they were subsequently unable to drive for a number of years afterward. Now tell me that’s healthy…! With Saturn in Sagittarius presently disposed of by Jupiter in Virgo, we do well to apply scrutiny to our belief systems to check to see if there might possibly be anything unhealthy going on. Yes, especially if the LOA is involved since Saturn is hovering around The Great Attractor.
12/09/2015
Relational Friction Under Mars In Libra
There’s definitely something in the air…an electric sort of twinge that feels awfully familiar. What we are sensing are the energetic effects of Mars in Libra triggering Pluto & Uranus. Every single time Mars has agitated this duo over the last few years, it is a predictable shit storm (yes, that’s a technical term, LOL) – with Mars in Libra, this tends to dredge up its fair share of conflict in relationships, and from those heightened fight-or-flight responses being triggered, it can certainly generate adrenal fatigue as well. I’ve had 3 consults alone in the last 24 hours that were all dealing with the subject of some pretty major relationship upheaval of one stripe or another, so the planets don’t lie.
The resonant theme I keep seeing running throughout, though, is of people not wanting to be alone – how very Mars in Libra. If there’s one thing this placement is desirous of, it’s a companion, but sometimes we can’t fight ultimately going our separate ways – our individual evolutionary journey may in fact depend upon it. Uranus & Pluto are very powerful transpersonal forces, and any time Libra planets get drawn into a T-square with these two it can put a lot of pressure on unions…they either learn how to adapt and move forward, or get stuck in the tar pits of the status quo and wind up extinct. But Mars in Libra’s involvement tends to foretell the individual breaking away from/breaking out of the partnership…our identity as a couple may be inclined to fracture and break when under this kind of strain; especially with Black Moon Lilith nearby and Venus about to submerge into Scorpio, the sign of her detriment.
As I was mulling all of this over, this song suddenly made a very conspicuous appearance out of nowhere; perhaps as if to reinforce my thought process on the matter:
Lyrics:
“I am leaving
This is starting
To feel like
It’s right before my eyes
And I can taste it;
It’s my sweet beginning
And I can tell just what you want:
You don’t to be alone
You don’t want to be alone…”
The Universe never ceases to amuse me…! But it is a beginning, even if it’s an end – we must not lose courage! In my 2016 astro-overview (published in my December newsletter), I wrote of Jupiter going into Libra which is kind of A Big Deal for unions. As I said therein, sometimes to be better together, we must grow separately as individuals – if you want to reap the benefits of a better relationship when Jupiter enters this sign next year, better to clear the decks and be alone to do some hardcore self-development if you know what you have 1) isn’t what you want or 2) isn’t working and is legitimately beyond repair.
I know it can be scary. I know it takes bravery. It is a loss, and loss is never easy. But I will relate a personal anecdote here in saying that something I learned about myself some time ago is that I’d rather be alone than “settle for half a loaf”, as a very wise and kindly Grandmother figure once put it to me. I cried so hard when I heard those words…not because I knew it was over at that exact moment, but because it was so utterly validating to hear that someone completely understood what a massive struggle it had been, and – more importantly – assured me that I wasn’t meant to do this to myself. I also want to say that being alone is not a death sentence – it is an opportunity for us to develop a more intimate relationship with ourselves so that when love does find us again, we are able to have a fuller, more complete understanding of our love nature to have a better, happier partnership.
So who can relate?
12/03/2015
Life Under The Saturn/Neptune Square…
Speaking of “temporal vortex” –
Life is looking an awful lot like this lately, is it not? I think we can pretty accurately sum up the square between Saturn in Sagittarius and Neptune in Pisces as being one big surreal “Chrono Trigger” moment; complete with alternate timelines and weird portals being stumbled upon in unlikely places. Time is anything but linear under this astrological influence; it loops, bends, and distorts. At any point, we – somewhat like Ebenezer Scrooge – may be visited by Ghosts of Times Past, Present, and/or Future…and not necessarily in that order.
We’ve just gotten our first taste of this square, but have about a year more of it to go…short term, this energy begins to ebb soon yet it will become continually pervasive once again from May through October 2016.
12/01/2015
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