This is tomorrow: Thursday, the 12th January, 11:34 am GMT.
OK, it looks painful and shocking.
I haven't been a big fan of these Cancer full moons, the past few years – despite the fact that the moon is at home in Cancer, her own sign.
The problem has been the now finished (but still potent) Uranus-Pluto square. Having these jolting, ruthlessly transformative energies hitting that soft, gushy, moody Cancer moon is just a recipe for hurt feelings, destructive outbursts and emotional trauma. Especially family trauma.
That's what we're dealing with here. Be nice to your mother please - she's under a lot of pressure.
The chart of this full moon is a cardinal grand cross, an intensely uncomfortable aspect pattern that demands change. The aspects are very tight. And our sensitive Cancer moon is under heavy fire from Uranus in Aries (rebellion, abrupt change), the sun and Pluto in Capricorn (illumination of structural rot) and Jupiter in Libra (the need for justice and balance, especially in close relationships).
Jupiter in Libra may sound like a benign influence, but if you keep in mind that Jupiter magnifies whatever he touches, you are looking at some potentially over-the-top emotional reactions here. Also power struggles, and abrupt relationship changes and re-balancings. Plus some cruelty, courtesy of Mars square Saturn. All in all, it's not pretty.
But at best, this looks like a necessary catharsis to me. Mars is applying toward conjunction with Chiron in Pisces (exact on the 17th January), and Mars and Chiron beneficially aspect the full moon. This is a big emotional outpouring – a bloody mess, basically – that must be acknowledged. You're allowed to feel hurt, to cry and to mourn your losses. It's not self-indulgence but emotional necessity.
Turning pain into art – or faith, or boundless compassion for all suffering – is also an option, with Venus exactly conjuncting Neptune in Pisces for this full moon. This is a beautiful, gentle, dreamy influence. Unfortunately it can also translate into romantic delusion and victim-saviour dynamics in relationships – but given the harshness and violence of this sky, I think it's nice to have so much soothing Pisces action going on. It's anodyne; it softens the blow.
We had a coldly realistic new moon in Capricorn a couple weeks back. It was not a feel-good scenario, but I did think it was a flash of illumination about the road ahead. Now at this full moon in Cancer, the view comes clear – we see exactly what we're dealing with and what must be done. Again, it is not a feel-good scenario. It's ugly. But it is workable.
Mercury is direct again, trining the north node in Virgo, and about to enter no-nonsense Capricorn a few hours after the full moon – and all this speaks of sober, bleak, no-nonsense insight that can be directed with immense practicality. You know the stark truth now, so what are you going to do? It's pretty clear you can't keep doing what you've been doing.
The cardinal grand cross denotes forced change. We are not going to be able to sail through this without adapting to radically changed circumstances. There is no pretending the changes away. They have to be worked with, and it hurts. The future isn't what we thought it would be.
But all the Pisces stuff in the sky says: at least we can try to be compassionate and kind to each other, and have faith that this mess serves some larger design. Jupiter in Libra adds that we should strive to stay fair, diplomatic and balanced, and to be generous in our dealings with others. And Mercury in Capricorn and the north node in Virgo are advising absolute pragmatism: doing what needs to be done to adapt, whether you feel good about it or not.
Kuan Yin, goddess of mercy and defender of the oppressed
This is tomorrow, the 23rd March, 12 noon GMT.
We had the spring equinox as the sun moved into Aries on the 20th March. And as of today, the 22nd March, Mercury has also moved into Aries...and with that, we are leaving the heavy, draining suckage of the past month's Pisces stellium behind.
There are only 3 planets left in Pisces now – Venus, Chiron and Neptune. Chiron and Neptune will stay in Pisces for the next million years. (Kidding. It's three years till Chiron shifts signs, ten years for Neptune. Long enough though!)
But Venus will only be there for the next couple of weeks. She's the last holdout from the mega Pisces party at the new moon eclipse in Pisces two weeks ago.
And she is highlighted for tomorrow's full moon. This is an eclipse in Libra, a sign ruled by Venus. So we have to look at what Venus is doing to understand the themes at play here.
Venus is actually very happy in Pisces. She's "exalted" there. Venus in Pisces represents a perfect, blissful, angelic kind of ideal love – too pure and beautiful for this world. And conjunct Neptune (as she is now), the effect is magnified. It's spiritual, compassionate and sacrificial - like Kuan Yin above.
OK, Kuan Yin is great, and a good patron goddess for this eclipse. She defends the suffering, the powerless and the unjustly accused. This is a perfect combination of Libra (justice) and Pisces (compassion).
But please recall that the south node of the moon is currently in Pisces – meaning Pisces is where we are liable to get stuck. There is potentially a very dark, addictive undertow at work here, pulling us backward into dangerous illusion.
I don't want to be negative about beautiful, dreamy Venus in Pisces. We all need a dose of otherworldly loveliness now and then.
But exalted or not, for the next few weeks she also represents the kind of destructive fantasy and romanticism we are trying to move away from. And I think she is likely to bring suffering in her wake, especially as she moves to conjunct Chiron and the south node next week. Chiron is about wounding.
This looks like the stuff of romantic tragedy, and it is a useless waste of life, no matter how pretty it might look on screen (or in a song or a painting).
Romeo and Juliet not being proactive.
Please remember: beautiful nostalgia for what never was and exquisite longing for what can never be are dangerous drugs. They degrade the value of ordinary, everyday reality; they suck the life out of the present moment.
And they are deceptions. It's worth asking: what is being obscured with all this dreamy sweetness and loveliness?
It's likely to be a reality that is deeply corrupt, unfair or dangerous. Cruelty and exploitation often hide under pretty platitudes about equality and respect and love, and protestations of innocence.
“Sentimentality is the superstructure erected upon brutality.”
Jung said that. It's quite true. And it's worth remembering for the next couple of weeks.
“People who shut their eyes to reality simply invite their own destruction, and anyone who insists on remaining in a state on innocence long after that innocence is dead turns himself into a monster.” “It is not permissible that the authors of devastation should also be innocent. It is the innocence which constitutes the crime.”
I'm thinking also of the dangers of “idiot compassion” - or enabling. Which looks like love, but is really just a way of avoiding unpleasant reality and staying comfortable.
So these are things to be aware of right now, with Venus nearing the south node in Pisces!
I wrote a bit about the dark side of Pisces and Neptune at the new moon in Pisces a couple of weeks ago. The full moon is the culmination of the themes opened up at new moon - information will likely come to light that will shift perspectives. There will be revelations, conflicts, ruptures.
Full moons are intense in their own right – but this one is an eclipse, meaning it's supercharged. And it involves cardinal signs – the sun and Mercury in blazing, shoot-from-the-hip Aries, the moon in fairness-seeking Libra.
Aries is Mars-ruled and likes a good fight; Libra is Venus-ruled and likes peace, but will enter the fray to enact justice. Both these signs are cardinal – they mean action!
So I think - something will get decided here. Anger will be voiced, injustices will be aired, a balance will shift.
It looks to be about relationships (Libra), and it looks like it has to involve some straight talk and plain dealing (Mercury in Aries). Mars in Sagittarius beneficially aspects the sun, moon and Mercury. This reinforces the theme of truth-telling and plain dealing.
Basically, people are not going to be able to hide reality under a cloud of pretty lies. Expect to get called out on your shit if you try to do this, and please don't be all indignant and outraged about it. We all delude ourselves in countless ways, and sometimes we need to be set straight. So maybe it's a blow to your ego – big deal.
And if you're the one called upon to set someone else straight or establish fairness – well you can use Venus in Pisces to do so with kindness and compassion. But sticking to the facts and standing your ground quietly, without emotionalism, is probably your best strategy in this.
There is likely to be a smokescreen of bullshit and sentiment involved, and that stuff is confusing. But with the north node and Jupiter in reality-based Virgo – quietness, humility and strict attention to the facts are the way forward. Don't let yourself be diverted.
Everyday, mundane reality is where it's at right now. Keeping our feet on the ground and our minds on the tasks at hand. Overblown emotionalism will get you nowhere.
But if you see wrong-doing, rottenness and delusion, you're well placed to speak out about it. You don't have to become some kind of asshole crusader, and you definitely don't have to be cruel. But you're allowed to open your mouth and say what you think, and in fact you should probably do so.
Shutting up, keeping the peace and smoothing things over won't do anyone any favours right now. Lying to protect people's egos won't do them (or you) any good.
It looks like there's a fight to be had, so you might as gird up your loins for it. Remember the point of the conflict is, there's a wrong to be righted or a balance to be re-established. It's not about “winning”, it's about fairness and right relation (Libra).
It's also pretty important to pick your battles and have a sense of perspective. Jupiter in Virgo is currently squaring Saturn in Sagittarius – to the minute. This influence can make for pedantry and an inability to see the larger picture.
For example, it's probably not worth instigating a major relationship bust-up because someone doesn't agree with your politics or keeps leaving the toilet seat up. These things are relatively trivial in the grand scheme.
It's the larger, more systematic injustices and cruelties that demand attention here – the dirt that we usually prefer to sweep under the rug. I think under the light of this full moon eclipse, it's going to become a lot harder to keep sweeping it under the rug. Anyway, it's not advised. Air that shit out and rev up the dustbuster.
Poor dustbuster. It's definitely acting out some sacrificial Venus-Neptune stuff.
OK, so I have talked about Venus moving through karmic doomed romance territory for the next couple of weeks. She hits 0 degrees Aries – the start of the whole zodiac – on the 5th of April, just ahead of the new moon in Aries on the 7th. And then we open a new chapter. A fiery, energetic, go-getting one!
But you know – with the usual blocks, setbacks and disappointments. Nothing is ever perfect, ha.
It's a tricky summer ahead, marked by an interplay between Mars (action) and Saturn (limits). These two planets are currently in Sagittarius, which has to do with outward expansion, learning, travel, and enthusiasm. They will both be retrograding through the summer, making for plenty of delay, reconsideration and frustration in our plans for the future. They meet up again in Sagittarius in August, and it looks like a pain in the ass. Blockage and frustration galore.
Mars-Saturn aspects are known for their cruelty – but also for their endurance. Sustained work. It looks like that's what this summer will require of us.
Look at Bananarama busting their poor little butts there. Working on cars, climbing fire escapes, dancing on trucks, fleeing cops, dancing with cops. Hard graft! I suppose we'll all have to bust our butts as well.
OK, the Saturn retrograde starts in a couple of days, on the 24th March. He grinds backward from 16 degrees Sagittarius to 9 Sagittarius, and won't resume direct motion till August.
This is about delay and reconsideration in regard to our vision for the future. There are some more details to be hammered out, I guess. I know we're all sick of this stuff by now, but it is what it is.
Then we have Mars stationing retrograde on the 17th April. He'll move backward from 8 degrees Sagittarius to 23 Scorpio, stationing direct on the 29th June.
This is again about blocked energy, blocked forward motion – but this time in the context of what we most want. And it goes deeper than simple delay. It's a matter of looking deeply at what you actually desire, why you desire it, what you are willing to do to get it. Mars will be retrograding through Scorpio, and this involves some depth psychology.
So it's not enough to wonder if you've thought your plans through properly. Have you felt them through? Do you know what this is actually going to cost you? I don't mean monetarily, though that's a factor. I mean energetically. You will likely have to look at how much you can afford, how much you can invest in your deepest obsessions – on an energy level.
The Mars retrograde is kind of epic – it only happens every two years, roughly. Normally he transits a sign in about two months. But this year he'll spend a disproportionate amount of time – and the whole summer – in Scorpio and Sagittarius. Scorpio is inward-looking and psychological, Sagittarius is outward-looking and enthusiastic - and Mars is about will and desire. I suppose the message here is about looking inward and determining what we really want before moving forward into action. In any case action will likely be blocked or constrained in some way.
Hexagram 39 from the I Ching - about temporary obstructions and how to deal with them.(The advice is to focus inward and refine your character. Very relevant here.)
This Mars retrograde follows on the heels of last summer's Saturn retrograde through Scorpio – which was some dark and ugly psychodrama. This could very well be the blowback... We'll see.
At the same time, we'll have Saturn and Neptune squaring off during the summer, dissolving (Neptune) the solid ground from underneath our feet (Saturn). It'll be hard to know what to believe.
And we'll have Jupiter and the north node in Virgo involved with the Saturn-Neptune square. Jangled nerves and a lot of juggling.
I'll write more about it all as we approach the new moon in Aries, the astrological new year. But suffice it to say, it'll be an interesting summer! Not easy, but interesting.
This is early on the 13th October, at around 1 am GMT.
It's a big deal. It opens up a new cycle – especially regarding relationships, as Libra is the sign of relating in close, one-on-one partnerships.
It looks pretty exciting and perilous to me – a slate-clearing event, or a re-boot. Big shifts are underway. Some alliances are being ruptured, others rejuvenated. There is plenty to work with here.
There's also plenty of potential delusion and big disappointment. Plenty of potential shock and hurt as well. Whatever was lit up for you at the full moon eclipse in Aries two weeks ago – well the consequences are still shaking down. It was a big event, and the consequences are long-term and final. And as the dust settles, we enter a new relational paradigm.
Mercury has just stationed direct, conjunct the north node at 1 degree Libra – and this speaks of new information coming to light, or a shift in thinking or communication that can destabilize (or re-balance) relationships. Or a message that starts something new in motion.
It might be that you just don't know what to think or believe anymore, your mind is so boggled. This doesn't have to be a bad thing! It can be liberating – like beginner's mind. But you don't get that kind of liberation without a dose of discomfort and shock.
Anyway, we'll have the sun and moon in peace-seeking, partnership-oriented Libra – opposite Uranus in Aries, which is all about personal authenticity, freedom, rebellion and shock. Plus the new moon is squaring Pluto in Capricorn, which is about radical restructuring. It's a cardinal t-square again – and this stuff heralds abrupt change.
We also have another t-square (involving Libra's ruler, Venus) reinforcing this theme of shifts, dissolutions and restructuring, especially in love and money matters. This one involves Venus in Virgo opposing Neptune in Pisces, both squaring Saturn in Sagittarius.
It speaks of profound unease, depression, disillusion and blockage – especially regarding love and money. Again, very uncomfortable stuff. Beautiful dreams coming up against a wall of difficult realities. Seeing your romantic fantasies (Venus-Neptune) in the cold light of truth (Saturn in Sagittarius).
So overall, things don't look particularly easy and pleasant – they look quite jarring and destabilizing. The story is definitely in flux, and it's tough. A lot of rugs are being pulled out from under a lot of feet at this time. Many relationships are not going to survive the stress – or they'll need to change radically in order to continue.
But Pluto is in easy aspect to Mars and Jupiter in Virgo, and this should help. What benefit us here is taking care of everyday details and attending to what needs to be done in a quiet, systematic, realistic way. There is a lot of energy available for restructuring and problem-solving.
This is a perfect time to overhaul...everything really. Your prejudices and opinions, your expectations for the future, your ways of behaving in relationships, your habits...your house maybe, your daily routines, your relationship with money, your job, etc etc. You'll know what needs restructuring in your life!
I think for the next month – and really the next year – the key thing to focus on is Virgo. It's a real Virgo party right now: Venus, Mars and Jupiter are in the sign, to be joined by the north node in early November. The north node and Jupiter will be in Virgo for a long while, and that's why the energy of this sign is a focus.
Virgo is all about attending to the details of earthly reality. Accuracy, efficiency, fine-tuning, order. Health, simplicity, purity, humility, service to others.
So if you're feeling the rug has been pulled out from under your feet, you can have faith (Jupiter) that doing humble, healthy, Virgo-oriented stuff will give your life some stability. That means things like cleaning the house, doing your work, walking the dog, going for a run. Doing something to help someone else, organizing the garage, learning a new craft....Etc etc.
You're better off focusing on the simple and the ordinary right now, because that stuff will ground you and help you to deal with whatever craziness is going on in your life.
Another key to dealing with conflict is Libra – and this is a new moon in Libra, after all. Plus we have the north node in Libra, and Libra's ruler Venus is currently in mutual reception with Virgo's ruler Mercury, meaning each is in the other's sign.
Mercury in Libra is about seeing both sides of a situation: the other's point of view as well as your own. It's diplomatic and strives for fairness and balance.
With the south node in Aries, it's easy to fly into a rage and blow up relationships at this time – but you are going to be shooting yourself in the foot if you act out your anger, emotional impulsivity or self-righteousness.
The point of the story right now is relating, compromise, good manners, fair and balanced communication. This is all courtesy of Mercury in Libra conjunct the north node. Dialogue, balance and mutual respect are possible – they might not be easy, given the tension we are seeing in this sky, but they are what we should be aiming for right now. Make sure you have all the facts and have considered all sides of a story before you rush to judgement or make any major decisions.
It's all about Virgo and Libra right now. Virgo is realism, humility, service, attention to the small stuff – and Libra is balance, fairness, good manners and right relationship. If we can stick to these themes, we'll be doing well.
It's hard to be a decent human being- especially now. But that is (always) what we're aiming for. Especially now.
This is on the 18th April, around 8 pm GMT. Aries is the first sign of the zodiac, so a new moon in Aries is like the real New Year. So happy New Year!
The sun and moon will be conjunct at 28 degrees Aries, and they will be pretty much un-aspected by everything else in the sky. This is self-contained and intense - a big burst of fiery will, courage and absolutely self-focused energy.
Mars (will, drive, energy) - the dispositor of the new moon - is now in slow, steady, realistic Taurus. He is conjunct Mercury (mental energy) and squaring Jupiter (expansion, enthusiasm). He is also in harmonious aspect with Pluto.
This is the will and energy to get a job done, and to get it done properly. Bravery and energy combined with realistic thinking and unswerving will.
I like this a lot. New moons are about new beginnings, and whatever you initiate at this new moon – be it a new project, a situation, an intention – it will have real sticking-power and force behind it. The force that through the green fuse drives the flower.
Appropriately, the poem linked above is about the life force containing a death drive as well. Pluto – which symbolises death, rebirth, metamorphosis and transformation - goes retrograde the day before the new moon (17th April). This is about a deep, relentless and internal process of transformation. Self-transformation - as we are dealing with Aries, the sign of ME! in all its raw urgency.
It's not pretty - it's actually kind of nauseating.
“First, the caterpillar digests itself, releasing enzymes to dissolve all of its tissues. If you were to cut open a cocoon or chrysalis at just the right time, caterpillar soup would ooze out.”
Did you think metamorphosis was supposed to be all adorable and sweet, like in a children's book? Ha!
Transformation on this order is not a 'nice' process. It's primal, disgusting, gruelling – also relentless and intense. This is Plutonic depth-work. Self-digestion.
Like the phoenix, which resurrects itself by destroying itself...
(by FJ Bertuch)
On a psychological level, this is like the Dark Night of the Soul, or the Nigredo in alchemy – the place you come to when you've burnt out on what you used to believe in and are forced to look into the darkness and unknown in yourself – because there's nowhere else to look, everything external has broken down as a source of meaning.
This kind of breakdown is necessary for growth (see here), but it's about as pleasant as the caterpillar-to-butterfly transformation detailed above.
OK, I don't mean that we're all gonna be digested alive or have to go through the Dark Night of the Soul...though plenty of people will need that kind of inwardness, pressure and darkness for their further growth.
But I do think some kind of internal reckoning is required, for just about everyone - and that's what this Pluto retrograde is about.
We've come through a very trying time over the past few years - the Uranus square Pluto years (2012-2015). The pressure for deep, systemic change in our lives has been intense. Many of us have been through some crazy shit, and things will never be the same again. It's like the aftermath of a natural disaster. The scales have fallen from our eyes in potentially traumatic ways...and we may have lost things we thought we couldn't live without.
And here we are, still alive! And what was strong enough to survive has survived. Look around you – look at what in your life is still standing, still functional, still sustaining you. Of course nothing is permanent, but whatever has stood the test for you over the past few years has to be pretty damn strong. Whatever wasn't strong enough will be gone.
I think externally, things will be settling now. We will not be dealing with the same levels of external shock and urgency.
But internally, there is a need to process the changes we've been through – to come to terms with all this upheaval on a personal level. And to not slack off in our efforts to get clear of old conditioning.
It's like, you have a house that's been half-destroyed by a tornado, and it's looking pretty bad. You are not gonna be able to do a patch-up job here. You will probably have to strip it down to the foundations, and then assess the stability of the foundations before you rebuild – maybe even re-cast the foundations. And what you build will be entirely new. Even if you re-use old materials, you're not going to build the same house.
Or you may have found yourself in a new world, building a new life. And maybe structurally, this new life is sound! I hope it is. Because you are going to have to be looking at the structural integrity of it – all the stuff you mightn't have wanted to think about, in the initial euphoria of newness and change – till the early autumn of this year. It's not as easy to establish the new as we might like. It can take a lot longer than we thought it would.
But we have Pluto retrograding through Capricorn till September 2015, through territory he was in during the final Uranus-Pluto square...and we also have Saturn (karmic necessity) grinding backward through Sagittarius and into Scorpio, sign of psychological depth and healing. Pluto and Saturn will be in mutual reception again (each in the others' sign, fostering an easy dialogue between these energies) from mid-June to mid September.
Saturn will finally leave Scorpio (till 2041!) on the 18th September, a few days ahead of Pluto stationing direct on the 25th September.
So basically, these two heavyweights will be working in concert to facilitate psychological depth work, restructuring and processing – it's very important this summer. Especially coming as it does after the revolutionary and historic Uranus-Pluto squares.
Remember external change is just not good enough. More than that will be demanded of us. There is a level of deep psychological insight and realism demanded, before you can fully inhabit the place you're standing now – and before you can move forward.
Reinforcing the "reality check" theme, we'll also have Venus (now in sparkly, hyperactive Gemini) involved in a fairly painful t-square with Neptune in Pisces and Saturn in Sagittarius for the new moon. With Venus involved, this has to do with relationship and money matters especially – but also self-esteem and values. We are looking at dreams vs. realities in these areas – longings and delusions (Neptune) vs. pragmatism and boundaries (Saturn). And some potentially painful disillusion and loss.
“In a relationship, whenever we sense unease -that point where it doesn't suit us - a big question mark should shoot up as to what is going on with us. How we can practice with the unease? I am not saying that all relationships should be continued forever, because the point of a relationship has nothing to do with the relationship itself. The point of relationship is the added power that life gets in working with it as a channel. A good relationship gives life more power. If two people are strong together, then life has a more powerful channel than it has with two single people. It's almost as though a third and larger channel has been formed. That is what life is looking for.It doesn't care about whether you are "happy" in your relationship. What it is looking for is a channel, and it wants that channel to be powerful. If it's not powerful life would just as soon discard it. Life doesn't care about your relationship. It is looking for channels for its power so it can function maximally. That functioning is what you are all about; all this drama about you and him or her is of no interest to life. Life is looking for a channel and, like a strong wind, it will beat on a relationship to test it. If the relationship can't take the testing, then either the relationship needs to grow in strength so that it can take it, or it may need to dissolve so something new and fresh can emerge from the ruins. Whether it crashes or not is less important than what is learned.Many people marry, for instance, when nothing is being served by their relationship. I am not advocating that people dissolve their marriages, of course. I simply mean that we often misinterpret what marriage is about. When a relationship isn't working, it means that the partners are preoccupied with "I": "What I want is . . ." or "This isn't right for me." If there is little wanting, then the relationship is strong and it will function. That's all life is interested in. As a separate ego with your separate desires, you are of no importance to life. And all weak relationships reflect the fact that somebody wants something for himself or herself.”
Remember the north node is in Libra, sign of balance, harmony and right relationship - so relational issues are highlighted. I think the above passage is one of the most useful and interesting perspectives on relationships I've read, and it's directly relevant to the themes of the new moon - so I'll leave you with it.
But first the run-up. As of today (1st February), we have a bunch of planets in beautiful, dreamy Pisces. Venus is conjunct Neptune in Pisces, and squaring Saturn in Sagittarius – the square was exact a couple days ago. Venus-Neptune aspects and Venus in Pisces are about impossible, boundless, delusive love and sweetness...and Saturn is about reality and constriction. So this is a potentially painful awareness of limits in love and money matters – a reality check.
And we also have Mars in Pisces conjunct Chiron - an asteroid symbolic of the “wounded healer” archetype. And this is also painful – but potentially an aspect of great healing and spiritual awareness. It is a sacrificial kind of aspect – what gets sacrificed here is personal will and ego.
So we are looking at some major dreamy love-and-loss and sacrificial holy devotion in the sky right now, yikes. And the moon in Cancer is trining these planets in Pisces today, adding emotional force – as if more were needed. It's all too bittersweet and soulful.
We also have a cardinal grand cross involving the moon in Cancer, Uranus in Aries, Pluto in Capricorn and the north node in Libra. This was the same set-up we were dealing with at the full moon in Cancer last month.
So it's a revisiting of that scenario, to some extent – whatever it was about for you. Except that scenario was very stark and violent. In this one, healing and forgiveness are on offer. Emotional release, kindness, catharsis. It all goes very deep.
It's a day to forgive others – or yourself. I think it's incredibly beautiful. Have faith. Pisces is about faith...and trust in the larger design. Have faith in life no matter how much it hurts.
OK, so this sets the stage for our main event – the full moon in Leo late on the 3rd February. And tricky and intense as this thing looks, I really like it.
The moon will be conjunct Jupiter in Leo – and this is a happy, bouyant, creative, emotionally generous kind of emotional tone.
And the moon and Jupiter will be bound into a very beneficial 'mystic rectangle' formation involving the sun and Mercury in Aquarius, Uranus in Aries and the north node in Libra.
This is about new ideas, liberation, creativity, energy and enthusiasm. Radical new approaches to intractable problems are likely, especially in relationships. And at the same time, we'll have this stellium in Pisces, which is about deep faith, love, healing, sacrifice...
It looks pretty nice. That's not to say it's easy: there will be plenty of weird juxtaposed feelings and mutual irreconcilables. We'll have two yods going, and these are tricky aspect patterns, all about irrecconcilable imperatives.
Yod 1 involves Pluto in Capricorn sextiling the Pisces stellium, and inconjunct the moon and Jupiter in Leo. So here we see dedication, very deep seismic change, deep love and faith, austerity and truth... vs. lightheartedness, fun, partying, good times! Obviously these poles are hard to balance...and the point about yods is they DON'T balance; you cannot get them to balance and it's no good trying.
Yod 2 involves Jupiter and the moon in Leo sextiling the north node in Libra, and inconjunct the stellium in Pisces. And this is about creativity, fun, generosity, social harmony, happiness in relationships...vs. siren songs, impossible loves, soul-deep wounding. Again, the poles don't compute – you cannot balance them.
Just know you don't have to decide in favour of anything. In fact you'd be better off NOT deciding. You can let all these mutual irreconcilables hang spinning in the air. Let them balance themselves like a gyroscope.
Diplomacy is possible, reconciliations are possible, balance and fairness are possible – and remember that with the north node in Libra, these are the aims of the story right now. But with all these planets in Pisces, you have to let things flow. There is no need to push anything. Don't rush for premature closure, don't try to argue things out. Try to stay open and tolerant of ambiguity, hard as that can be.
Focus on staying internally free and true to yourself and to your own heart. Uranus in Aries and the sun and Mercury in Aquarius are about personal integrity and freedom of expression, and the Moon in Leo is about emotional generosity and open-heartedness...and remember these points are all beneficially aspecting each other.
I guess maybe the best way to approach this is to just have a good time with it and have faith (Pisces) that the whole crazy mechanism will balance (Libra) itself out somehow. (It will, too! It always does.)
Like the gyroscope above, which is a totally weird yet simple contraption. I can't get my head around how the thing works, but it works.
Having some faith in the larger design looks important for the days after the full moon – the moon in Virgo will be making all kinds of tense aspects to the rest of the sky. Don't let your worries get the best of you. Steady as she goes. Remember moods are only a kind of weather...They pass. Be a gyroscope – spinning around your own internal center to keep steady.
--An aside on Saturn in Sagittarius, which I've been thinking about lately, as we are at the beginning of this transit. Saturn is about solidity, and Sagittarius is about philosophy, meaning. And I think to get through the next few years, people will have to concretise (Saturn) a personal philosophy of life (Sagittarius)...and live by it.
Saturn will be squaring Neptune for much of its transit of Sagittarius – and this complicates things. Neptune dissolves boundaries and structures, and makes it hard to know what's true and what's illusion. But it also dissolves ego – it is an intensly spiritual, mystical influence.
So we have pragmatism (Saturn) squaring off against idealism (Neptune). Given these skies, I think the task is to find a workable, realistic philosophy of living that is rooted in our highest spiritual ideals....and to maintain it in the face of disillusion and despair.
Stoicism is what springs immediately to my mind. A philosophy (Sagittarius) of endurance (Saturn) – of equanimity in the face of life's ups and downs.
If you allow yourself to live at the mercy of your fluctuating moods and emotions, you are pretty much screwed. You will be doubly screwed under the Saturn-Neptune square, which is an inherently disillusioning kind of energy. We're all going to need something stronger than mere emotional reactivity to get us through the next few years.
I think your personal philosophy is a good place to start. What can you actually put your faith in? What in you endures, beyond hope and fear? What do you commit yourself to, even in the face of disappointment? What kind of future do you envision, and what will you do to secure it?
These are Saturn in Sagittarius topics and I think they're worth thinking about!
Anyway...
As we move on through the 2nd week of February, Venus will be catching up to Mars in Pisces. The two of them will be 3 degrees apart in Pisces for freakin' Valentine's Day, which is a real dreamy romantic love scenario, yikes.
All this Pisces stuff can be very delusive, but Venus and Mars will be moving into harmonious aspect with Saturn in Sagittarius – so whatever this is about, it looks like the real deal to me. Grounded and true. Quite lovely, really.
And then we have our weird new moon late on the 18th February. I say 'weird' because it's a bit of a departure from the last four new moons, all at zero degrees of their signs. This one is at the very end minutes of the end degree of Aquarius...so technically it is a new moon in Aquarius, same as the last one. A herald of intense change.
Except with this one, the sun and moon meet in Aquarius around 10 to midnight (GMT), then immediately move together into the next sign, Pisces. They will be together at zero degrees Pisces at the stroke of midnight on the 19th. It's like a fairy story – very heavy on the magic and romance. At the stroke of midnight, we move from emotionally distant, rational, clear-sighted, future-oriented Aquarius...to dream cities at the bottom of the sea in Pisces. To the otherworld.
It is something incredibly beautiful and powerful, I can't help feeling. And it shifts...everything. The next day (20th February), Mars and Venus and the moon will be together at 0 degrees Aries – this degree is called the Aries point, the most potent significator of rebirth in the zodiac. When the sun reaches this point, it means the start of spring in the Northern hemisphere.
This is a burst of raw, fiery energy and will, and it signifies new beginnings, in relationships especially.
(It could also signify the beginning of World War 3, but I'm trying to be positive here.)
I'll write more about the new moon closer to the time...but all in all, the next few weeks look really interesting. Get out the popcorn, we are watching a big weird movie!
This is on Saturday, the 22nd November, around 12:30 pm (GMT).
The sun and moon will be conjunct at 0 degrees Sagittarius – this is the second in our series of four new moons at zero degrees of their signs. It should be a bit of a jolt!
We're moving from Scorpionic depth, intensity and psychodrama to the sign of freedom and open vistas... So it might feel like walking out of a dark, hot, stifling little room and finding yourself on the open range with the wind in your hair.
As the sun and moon will be conjunct Venus in Sagittarius, the new terrain we are headed into likely has to do with relationships, money, personal values, art. And really it's a wild frontier, uncharted and free. Very exhilarating – but this is the kind of freedom that can make you feel dizzy and dazed - or lost. There are no signposts in a wild frontier. There are no roads to follow - you have to make your own. You may have no pre-existing model for what you're trying to create in your life now, and this can feel disorienting and dangerous. And it can be hard to tell if what you're envisioning is real or a mirage...
“I'm set free to find a new illusion...”
Overall, the tone of this new moon is exuberant and exciting - but the scenario it describes doesn't look particularly easy or light. Saturn and Mercury in Scorpio are also conjunct the sun and moon, holding us in thrall to the past. Jupiter in Leo is squaring these planets, magnifying the tension and intensity of this backward pull. And Neptune, newly direct in Pisces, is squaring Venus, the sun and moon, and Saturn – and this is about siren songs and disorientation.
It's like: OK, you've left your stifling little room and you're walking on the open prairie, dazed by all this sudden light and air. Everything seems perfect and magical, and you're utterly amazed. But your mind is still preoccupied with whatever happened back in the room. You haven't quite left it yet, however giddy with new freedom you may feel.
And therefore, you're in a somewhat dangerous and vulnerable situation – unsteady as a newborn foal. It's going to take some time to settle into the new reality, and you'd better not go galloping off after any exciting possibilities until you've adjusted properly. You could easily trip and hurt yourself.
OK, so how long is this shaky foal stage going to last? What kind of adjustment period are we looking at?
Saturn, lord of time and form, will take another month to grind his way through the last degrees of Scorpio. The last part of this transit could be fairly tough and wrenching, coinciding with the 6th exact square between Uranus and Pluto on the 15th December. He moves into Sagittarius on the 23rd December, the day after the new moon in Capricorn, which is Saturn's own sign. Capricorn is about structure and stability – so this is when you should see your dreams taking on a concrete form. Plans and possibilities should begin to solidify into something real.
Until that solidification begins, hold your horses and don't rush into anything, however much you might want to. People can be very vulnerable to hotheadedness and delusion under these influences - so much Jupiter (inflation) and Neptune (delusion) action going on - and it is imperative to COOL IT and stay grounded.
I think the weeks ahead are for weighing possibilities and dreaming up new ones, and also for working through past issues. It's a good time for drawing blueprints and making sure the designs are workable in the real world. There'll be plenty of inspiration and energy on tap... But the actual construction phase starts later, with the new moon in Capricorn on the 22nd December.
On dreams and plans: we've had two years of sifting through our psychological garbage with Saturn in Scorpio, culminating in an intensely purgative Scorpio season this past month...and with all this behind us, plus these transformative Uranus-Pluto squares going on, you must understand that your old status quo just will not cut it anymore. There is absolutely no point in trying to make it work, or in re-creating scenarios that used to work for you in the past. These times are about radical change, so you have to try something new – maybe something you might never have dreamed of doing.
Dreaming up something new is the best way to roll with this new moon, I think. Sagittarius is about future possibilities, inspiration, conviction, enthusiasm. It's not a pragmatic sign, but a visionary one. It can easily be misled by enthusiasm, and that is something this new moon is clearly warning against – don't go overboard! Step carefully! Look at where you're putting your feet!
OK, speaking of folly, I want to talk about Neptune for a bit, because Neptune is very caught up with this new moon. And also he just went direct on the 16th November, after a retrograde period that started in June. With Neptune, it can be hard to tell the difference between forward and retrograde motion, because Neptunian energy is so dreamy and unclear and diffuse. It is inherently deceptive. And as Neptune is in his own sign (Pisces) – well it's a headfuck on multiple shimmering levels.
Neptune is about high delusion – fairy realms and castles in the air - and the disappointment that follows the return to reality. Addiction is also a useful metaphor for how Neptune works – you have the experience of something intensely sweet and blissful, and diminishing returns as you attempt to recapture that state over and over again.
In everyday life, I think Neptune is mostly about disappointment. But it's the kind of disappointment that leads you to the divine, when you realize that nothing earthly – nothing – is going to satisfy your discontent. You hit some rock bottom of degradation trying to fill up this hole in your heart...and then you give up; you give your life over to the Higher Power like they say in AA.
So anyway, Neptune is all caught up with the new moon and with Venus and Saturn also, and in light of this, it's important to really be careful about over-idealizing any romantic or financial prospects, because the kind of disillusionment that can follow idealization is potentially crushing right now. It's also important to keep your ego in check: to restrain your delusions about how much you're capable of. Look at the fool in the picture above. He's so delighted with himself, he doesn't even notice he's walking off a cliff.
Also, be very careful about alcohol and drugs, because they can throw you way off course about now and for the next couple of weeks.
--One other thing: these squares from Jupiter in Leo to the sun, moon, Saturn and Mercury look potentially pretty ugly. Inflated egos, overboard emotions, death-dealing words. Be careful of what comes out of your mouth and try not to be drawn into disputes, because that stuff is liable to drag you back into the claustrophobic Scorpio territory we're trying to exit.
(Detail from Van der Weyden's Descent From the Cross)
This is exact on Tuesday, the 9th September around 2:30 am (GMT).
The moon will be at 16 degrees Pisces, conjunct Chiron and opposing the sun in Virgo.
A Pisces moon is sensitive and empathetic, with a lack of clear boundaries between self and other... and Chiron represents a wound that will not heal. So the emotional tone described by this full moon is one of painful sensitivity for the suffering of all existence. Boundless empathy.
We are also moving into an opposition between Venus and Neptune, exact on the 10th September. It's an aspect known for romantic delusion, pining, unrequited love. Also spiritual longing and artistic creativity.
The emotional tone of these skies is very idealistic, sensitive, dreamy and wounded overall.
The nice thing is, there are practical, helpful things you can DO with all this sensitivity and empathy. The sun in in Virgo, sign of the dedicated nurse, the selfless servant. Virgo is happiest when there's a job to be done, a problem to be solved, a bandage to be applied, someone to be helped.
The themes here are the classic Virgo-Pisces ones of compassion, service, sacrifice and healing. “Serve or suffer”, the motto of this axis, applies. If you're feeling bad, focusing your energy on something you can do for others is the quickest way to feel better.
That said, suffering may be hard to avoid. with the moon conjunct Chiron and also a cardinal t-square between Uranus, Pluto, and Mercury in Libra. Situations are weighty and difficult, on a mental level as well as an emotional one. Remember last month's new moon in Virgo? We are still clearing out the Augean stables - there is still plenty of work to be done.
Beware of what the Buddhist teacher Chogyam Trungpa called “idiot compassion” (another word for which is “enabling”). What's required here is a very sharp, pragmatic, purposeful kind of compassion. Like a “cordon sanitaire”.
Bearing this out, we have Saturn in Scorpio sextiling the Virgo sun and trining the Pisces moon. Saturn in Scorpio is a no-bullshit, surgical energy that is best used for removing what's rotten or diseased from your life.
The whole setup reminds me of a line from T.S. Eliot about “the sharp compassion of the healer's art”:
"The wounded surgeon plies the steel That questions the distempered part; Beneath the bleeding hands we feel The sharp compassion of the healer's art Resolving the enigma of the fever chart."
Chiron is often referred to as the 'wounded healer'. In the mythology, he was a healer and a teacher of heroes. But he was hit by a poisoned arrow during one of Hercules' escapades and proved unable to heal himself, for all his knowledge.
The archetype of the wounded healer goes back a long way. In classical shamanism, initiates were called to healing via trauma and illness. The explanation was that the spirits tormented people until they accepted the calling to become a healer.
Accepting the call meant the death of the ego – 'shamanic sickness' often ends with the sick person's vision of death and physical dismemberment, which is experienced as literal. And there follows the acceptance of a new mode of living, and a liminal social position – one foot in the everyday world, one foot in the otherworld. Your life doesn't really belong to you anymore – you become a channel between the worlds, an instrument. Not an easy position.
This pattern of initiation holds across cultures. The Buddha was so traumatized by his apprehension of the truth of suffering that he left his comfortable life and entered into austerities that nearly killed him – and his final realization was a kind of death. Jesus was an itinerant faith healer who was literally tortured to death before attaining god-status. Odin hung himself from a tree for nine days and nights in order to gain knowledge. Muhammed nearly killed himself after his initial revelation...and then he spent three years in a deep depression. Inanna went down to hell and was stripped of her finery and even her skin, hung for dead on a meat-hook. Etc, etc...
The message of all these traditions is: there's no real power or wisdom without the acceptance of suffering. You gain the ability to help others only by making your own wounds conscious. But bringing those wounds to consciousness can be very painful and difficult, and there's no going back to your old life... no 'healing' of what has been broken. It stays broken.
But that brokenness, that loss...is also the source of the ability to empathise with others, and to help them.
Chogyam Trungpa again:
"To be a spiritual warrior, one must have a broken heart; without a broken heart and the sense of tenderness and vulnerability, your warriorship is untrustworthy."
Ok, enough writing. Let's just play some videos. Under these skies, music and art make more sense than any amount of talking or explaining...
Making art is a good use of this energy, by the way. Art is a form of catharsis or purgation, and can heal.
And here are a few for Venus-Neptune. Bollywood has always been great at portraying Venus-Neptune (unreachable glamour, impossible love, spiritual longing).
--Worth noting: the actresses in these films were dying in real life. Madhubala of a hole in her heart, Meena Kumari of alcoholic cirrhosis. Very fitting, for Moon-Chiron in Pisces: they were tragedy queens. The boundary between life and art was very porous for these women.
--And here is one that is just kinda silly. I don't get what is happening in this video at all, but it's fun...
Anyway, "a heart that hurts is a heart that works" is a good slogan for this full moon.
This one is tomorrow morning: Friday the 27th June, around 9 am (GMT).
The sun and moon will be in the moon's own sign, Cancer. Cancer is basically big mammy energy: concerned with home, emotion, food, nurturing, babies. Nice day to hang out with your family and eat comforting snacks. Nice day to not get out of bed at all if you don't have to, and just lie around eating chocolate and watching 'Moonstruck'.
I think I saw that movie with my parents when I was a kid. If I remember right, it's about a big Italian family being all Italian and arguing over dinner, eating spaghetti, stuff like that. Very Cancerian. Plus a dreamy love story, and Cher weeping at an opera. It seems like the right kind of movie for this new moon.
Wow, it's hokey. But that's ok, right?
Cancer can be hokey. Home, roots, mamma, the past...and the sentimentality that goes with that stuff.
You know what Jung said about sentimentality? That it was "a superstructure covering brutality". With Pluto in Capricorn (rotten societal structures) opposing this new moon, maybe that's a useful quote to keep in mind.
Still, it looks pretty sweet and lovely overall. I don't mean to be snarky about it.
As with the last new moon (in Gemini), Neptune is involved with this one. But Neptune is much happier in the arrangement this time. So we are looking at a very dreamy, kind, romantic influence... Good for artistic inspiration, good for calming family tensions, good for forgiving and forgetting, good for easing ragged nerves.
Let's listen to some Chopin:
Re. ragged nerves: there is still a background of high angst courtesy of the cardinal t-square. Wednesday the 25th saw the Mars-Uranus opposition hit exactitude... this energy is waning now, but it will still be pretty strong all week. And Mars-Uranus is a blitzkreig. Fury coming out of nowhere. Sudden accidents, explosive anger, nerves at breaking point. Factor in a square to Pluto, and the consequences can be profound and disturbing...life or death.
So I think this dreamy, romantic new moon is a welcome respite. If you're lucky enough not to live in Iraq, you should find it quite pleasant really.
What the hell, let's listen to ALL of Chopin's nocturnes. I guess we need them after the past few weeks.
Anyway, the weekend ahead should be nice too. The moon conjuncts Jupiter on Sunday morning (29th June), which makes for a buoyant emotional tone.
And then later in the day on Sunday we move into an exact square between Venus and Neptune. This is...Chopin's nocturnes again, basically. It's about unrequited (and therefore perfect) love, spiritual longing, pining for the ineffable: divine discontent. You can use this as a spur toward artistic creation or spiritual growth.
Venus-Neptune is also about trying to rescue people or dreaming of Prince or Princess Charming arriving on a white horse to rescue you, and that side of it is just stupid.
With Venus in Gemini, it could be about being tantalized by multiple options (Gemini) that are just out of reach (Neptune). If you're drunk in some bar on Sunday evening I'd say you'll know exactly what this aspect is about. Try to have fun with it and don't take home any loquacious charmers with substance abuse issues! Maybe don't take home anyone at all, because physical reality is only going to be disappointing, compared with whatever woozy fantasy you're entertaining.
Early on the 2nd of July, Mercury goes direct in Gemini, and you should be able to view your options with greater clarity after that.
Mia Farrow as Venus in Virgo. Careful, shy, humble. Look at her face at the end of the clip. Neptune in Pisces is what she's looking into: a projected dream, pure fantasy. And she is in love with it, entralled. In the story, her real-life dreams have been broken. Yet the cinematic heaven illuminating & softening her angular little face...suffices. Or does not suffice. It doesn't matter. None of it is real: Neptune & Venus are staring from opposite sides of the screen at each other & it is all happening inside another dream.
Her face here...is the closest image I could find for how this opposition, bound into the kite formation of the current grand water trine, feels. What it feels like to be sitting in the theatre during this particular film: end of July 2013. No illusions will be permitted of us, really (Saturn in Scorpio); the shocks & manipulations & betrayals are written up there in the sky....the rottenness is palpable. The t-square between Mars, Pluto & Uranus right now feels UGLY. Having Jupiter & Mercury involved doesn't help...I know my mind has felt under some deep dark waters this week.
& yet there is this fragile, humble little dream of redemption binding the pattern together at present. Tenuous as a spider's thread or a frame or two of celluloid or a sentimental old song. & it's nearly over...
Venus is moving out of the opposition with Neptune now & the moon leaves dreamy Pisces this evening to conjunct Uranus in Aries tomorrow & add more emotional fire to the Mars, Pluto, Uranus t-square. Nearly time to wake up from the dream, to leave the cinema, to face whatever difficulty or horror or opportunity the street outside is holding in reserve for you.
