Full Moon in Aries

see http://www.bbc.com/news/in-pictures-38880353

This is tomorrow, the 5th October, at 7:35 pm GMT.

The sun and Mercury in peace-keeping, relationship-oriented Libra will face off against the moon in fiery, impulsive, warlike Aries. It's a me vs. we situation, and explosive conflict is likely, especially in close relationships. The challenge here will be to fight fair, and to find a way to work together despite anger and impatience.

Something really extraordinary about this full moon is that the dispositors of Aries and Libra (Mars and Venus, respectively) will be exactly conjunct in Virgo for it. Virgo is the sign of attention to detail, service and humility. So with this conjunction, any conflicts that rear their heads at this time have to do with WORKABLE relationship difficulties. This is a good time to try to iron out the kinks and achieve harmony – ideally via careful, fair communication focused on everyday details.

Libran diplomacy and tact and Virgoan humility are the way to go here, though you might feel like having a temper tantrum and storming off. Try to remember that temper tantrums are a total waste of this opportunity! You can achieve so much more of what you want by listening to the other's point of view, stating the facts on your side, being polite and kind, and making compromises.

What we all want under this sky is happy, functional, harmonious relationships. But you don't get them just handed to you. Balancing the needs of self and other is tough. There's bound to be conflict, requiring negotiation and compromise. If you want the relationship, you have to deal with the conflict.

The key thing is putting the work in. We have a bit of an impasse lining up, as Venus moves to square Saturn on the 8th October, followed by Mars on the 11th October. These squares speak of blocked relationships (Venus) and frustrated desire (Mars) – even cruelty. So getting what you want is likely to be difficult. But we are dealing with Saturn here, who is a taskmaster and teacher of hard lessons – so remember this is not supposed to be easy. It's literally a labour of love. If you love someone, you'll put the work in to understand where they're coming from and to deal with issues. You'll fight (Mars / Aries) for the relationship (Venus / Libra).

With Venus and Mars in pragmatic Virgo, love is not about feelings. It's the mundane work you do, on a daily basis, to keep a relationship alive and healthy. And with Jupiter in Libra, issues of fairness in relationships are magnified. The division of labour has to equitable.

Here is some food for thought on “emotional labour” - it's very relevant to the Virgo / Libra themes we're looking at right now (as well as the Aries moon theme of impatience / anger!)

We have a big shift coming as Jupiter exits Libra for Scorpio on the 10th October. Best to try to get disputes sorted out before then, as best you can. Compromise will become more difficult once Jupiter shifts signs - Scorpio is all-or-nothing and favours scorched earth tactics over diplomacy.

The new moon in Libra is on the 19th October. I think Jupiter's shift to Scorpio makes it a tonal shift for relationships - toward greater depth and a more perfect union, let's hope! But be advised, with Jupiter in Scorpio, if a relationship can't go deeper it's likely to fall apart. After the 10th October, it's go deep or go home.

Full Moon in Taurus

This is on the 27th October, around noon GMT.

The sun, now in early Scorpio, will be facing off against the moon in early Taurus.

A Taurus moon needs stability, physical solidity and comfort. It speaks of a deep attachment to pleasure, routine, habit and the status quo: Taurus doesn't like change. Whereas the sun in Scorpio requires change, discomfort and transformation – it wants to tear its skin off.

So you can see how these two energies are at odds. Further, Taurus and Scorpio are fixed signs – very focused and stubborn. Wherever this full moon falls in your chart is where you'll experience this tension between holding on/consolidating (Taurus) vs. purging/transforming/letting go (Scorpio).

What's nice about this full moon is that it should be easy enough to work with these opposing imperatives. The moon in Taurus is disposited by Venus (love, values, possessions) in Virgo; and the Scorpio sun is disposited by Mars (will, drive, sex) in Virgo and Pluto (death, transformation, sex) in Capricorn – and all these planets are in easy dialogue.

It's all very deep and workable – in a low-key, quiet, pragmatic kinda way. And pretty sexed-up as well. Scorpio and Taurus are a sexy combo, and we have Mars, Venus and Jupiter conjunct, aspecting Pluto – all in earth signs, which are very... physical. It's a real 'sexual healing' kinda vibe, cheesy as that sounds.

Cue the saxophone music!!

O yeah!!

(Sorry, sorry, sorry.)

Besides watching Kenny G videos, you could use this influence to do nice, healthy things for yourself physically. Resting up, eating well, getting some decent sleep. The past few weeks (hell the past few YEARS) have been rough on everyone...so this is a good time for building your energy and resources back up.

Anyway, recall the relationship re-boot theme of the new moon in Libra two weeks ago. What was implied at the new moon – tension, shifts, re-balancings, especially in the context of love and money matters – all comes to fruition at the full. This is where whatever was set in motion becomes a lot more solid and real.

Venus has by now left her square to Saturn and is conjunct Mars and Jupiter – and this stellium in Virgo trines Pluto in Capricorn. So it's time to act now, on whatever you want to create or repair. The blockages and obstructions we've been dealing with since the summer are falling away.

It is entirely possible to fix any relational/money/career problems you have at this time – to shed old problems like a snake shedding its skin. As long as you are willing to make a serious commitment: Saturn is in Sagittarius, and this is about consolidating (Saturn) a vision for the future (Sagittarius). It's serious stuff, and not particularly comfortable – but anything worth having involves work and discomfort. And also some sacrifice. You have to be willing to forgo some short-term comfort for a long-term goal.

It doesn't have to be about relationships, but with Venus and Mars conjunct and the north node at 0 degrees Libra, relationship and money issues take center stage in this.

But it could also be about your relationship to yourself, or to your possessions, values, psychological issues - you name it. It could be about getting clear of an addiction, decluttering your house, dealing with a psychological pathology, fine-tuning a health regimen, making a course-correction re. money/career....

Basically, overcoming inertia in some area of your life that has become stagnant and needs an overhaul – and you'll know exactly what area this is, it'll be hard to miss. Time to pick yourself up and get the ball rolling again.

It's as likely to be about an ending as it is about a re-boot: remember full moons signify culminations or endings. Something has to be dealt with decisively here, or purged in the interests of long-term stability. Something in your life - a habit, a relationship, a job, an ideology, whatever - may be shown to be completely outworn and unviable.

There are some potentially difficult choices to be made here - but deep down, there is really no choice. Trust your instinct on this: what do you really need and value, and what can you dispense with? You'll know.

If what you need or value is broken or damaged in some way, you can fix it with a bit of work. With all this Virgo and Pluto stuff going on, there's tremendous, focused, practical energy available for identifying problems and working to fix them. Deep structural change is easier than usual at this time. Deep healing, compassion and renewal from the roots are also possible – the stellium in Virgo opposes Chiron in Pisces, which represents a wound that confers spiritual knowledge.

Fairy uncomfortable stuff overall – but any kind of growth involves discomfort. A cicada doesn't climb out of its old carapace because it is 'comfortable' there. It climbs out because staying there is uncomfortable – and impossible.

Anyway, there is likely to be some shocking communication or mental re-balancing at this full moon: a message or information that radically shifts your perception. Mercury in Libra is opposite Uranus and squaring Pluto - you won't see it coming, but it looks potentially quite transformative and/or traumatic. This is a wake-up call for sure, if you were in need of one.

If you find yourself in a situation where verbal nastiness is being flung around, be careful. With Mercury still squaring Pluto and the south node at 0 degrees Aries, communicating impulsively in anger will come back to bite you on the ass in short order. Keep your head down (Virgo), mind your manners (Libra) and curb your enthusiasm (Saturn in Sagittarius). There is plenty of work to be done on fixing what really matters to you, without making more work for yourself via destructive conflict.

Full Moon in Pisces

(from Pakeezah. Oh, let's watch some Bollywood!)


This is tomorrow, the 29th August, around 8 pm GMT. Maybe you can feel it already.

It's a big, dreamy, romantic moon – conjunct Neptune, meaning the emotional tone will be idealistic, deluded, sacrificial, suggestible, ungrounded. Drunk, actually.

The moon and Neptune will face off against Jupiter and the sun in rational, detail-oriented, pragmatic Virgo.

So we are looking at the need to balance practical, everyday, earthly reality with big swirling emotion, romance and potential delusion. Grounding ourselves in the everyday while feeling way out at sea. It's a very seasick kind of vibe.

Nice influence for artists and musicians – you can use this to give dreams and intuitions an actual form. Anyone spiritually inclined, or in a helping role or profession, should also benefit. But the danger here for many of us is that dreams and delusions will overwhelm our sense of reality.

Overall this looks like a tough full moon to me. Neptune is a confusing, disillusioning influence, and Virgo can worry like nobody's business...plus Saturn, now grinding his way onto the last degree of Scorpio, will be loosely squaring the full moon, adding an undercurrent of darkness, psychological pain, guilt and deep compulsion. And having Jupiter involved magnifies all this. Fun stuff!

Best case scenario – this is about dreams that can come true, given enough mental seriousness and attention to detail.

Worst case scenario – this is about worry, fear, emotional instability - and just generally feeling kind of seasick. Guts all knotted up with free-floating anxiety and dread.

And the worst worst case scenario, with so much Neptune, is getting in way over your head, screwing yourself over, drowning in your anxieties or addictions.

Personally I think this is not particularly comfortable cosmic weather unless you're comatose drunk or full of Valium - but beware drink and drugs, because the hangover for this one will be the Fear all right. With Jupiter (luck) in health-conscious Virgo, you're better off focusing on what's healthy and avoiding boundary-dissolving substances.

The motto of the Virgo-Pisces axis is 'Serve or Suffer'. So if you're feeling lousy and caught in painful mental/emotional loops, a good way to feel better is to focus on what you can do for others. With Jupiter in Virgo, pragmatism and quiet, unassuming service to others are favoured. These are sure-fire ways to transcend your worries right now.

And there is no shortage of suffering in the world, it's useful to remember. Much of it is particularly horrific these days.

Re. seasickness – this is literal for many, and puts most people's troubles in perspective:

European refugee crisis

Porous national boundaries, death at sea (Neptune), a lot of fussy bureaucratic anxiety (Virgo), and people willing to go through hell to get away from the hell they're living (Saturn in Scorpio). It all fits.

Anyway, on a less literal level, the full moon makes me think of this card in the Tarot:

Something will have to be sacrificed for the greater good here. It's not about getting what you want. It's about what serves everyone best; what serves life best.

The guy on the card is Odin, sacrificing his physical comfort for mystical illumination in a kind of symbolic death. Jesus on his cross is another example of transcendent human sacrifice.

And all the refugees in those Mediterranean coffin ships represent absolute sacrifice as well.

But the sacrifice required of you may not be so intense. It could just be a bit of your pride. Your story, your opinions, your rigidities of thought, your anger, your defensiveness. Maybe your conceptual apparatus is getting an overhaul about now. I'd say, roll with it - even if it feels like not having any ground under your feet.

Virgo's ruler, Mercury, is currently in Libra and conjunct the north node. It's a good time for seeing all sides of a story, particularly in terms of relationships – the aim here is fairness, justice and balanced relationship.

And Venus will be retrograde in Leo till the 6th September. Again, the theme is balancing, reconsideration, cautious delay, careful preparation for future success in love and money matters.

Starting new relationships or business ventures under a Venus retrograde is generally held to be bad luck, so waiting till she goes direct on the 6th before committing yourself is probably a good idea.

We also have Saturn grinding his slow way through the end of Scorpio – and this speaks of frustrated desire, blockages and delays...also deep fear.

Saturn will leave Scorpio for Sagittarius on the 18th September - not too much longer now! It should lighten things up a bit. (Unless you have refused to deal with your shit – in which case you'll be living with it for quite some time. Decades, actually. It's very harsh, but karma's a bitch.)

Anyway, frustrating as delay and blockage might feel, you can use the next few weeks - and the next week in particular - to ensure you have read the fine print on any interpersonal (or actual) contracts you're thinking of signing. This includes major purchases and new creative projects.

With Saturn in Scorpio, you can open yourself up to a world of long-term hurt by being careless or light-minded about energetic transactions and mergers. (Keep in mind that love and money matters are all about energetic transaction and merger.)

That's not to say there's nothing nice going on! Venus and Mars will be exactly conjunct in Leo on the 1st September, trining the moon and Uranus in Aries. This is a fiery, “expect the unexpected” influence for relationships. Anything could happen! People will be feeling revved-up with desire, and impatient.

The conjunction is in uncomfortable aspect to Pluto in Capricorn. Some skeletons in the closet coming out to play, maybe – some very tense power dynamics at work. It looks emotionally fraught, frustrating as hell... but exciting and positive overall.

I do think, under these skies, that delay and caution will serve you well. Jumping headlong into anything is not a great idea – especially with a full moon as emotionally ungrounded as this one.

Remember: take the time to read the fine print. We are trying to see clearly and lay strong foundations here, in order to create structures that can work in reality. That process takes the time it takes, not the time we might want it to take.

Being swept off your feet may sound very romantic and exciting, but it's not the best way to go right now.

New Moon in Aquarius / Venus, Mars and Moon into Aries / Uranus square Pluto

Monica Vitti in "L'avventura"

This new moon is on the 18th February, around 11:50 pm (GMT).

It's a very important one. We are nearing the culmination of a cycle of accelerated change – and things are starting to shift in amazing, magical ways. It's a kind of metamorphosis.

The thing about metamorphosis is that it's so improbable it seems like magic. A visitor from another planet would never connect a caterpillar with the butterfly it becomes - the two stages look like two entirely different creatures. Something very mysterious has to happen to the caterpillar to turn it into a butterfly! And that mysterious place is where we're at.

Over the past four months we've had a series of new moons at zero degrees of their signs, starting with the new moon in Scorpio in October of 2014. This is not the usual run of things – it's very weird and special.

As new moons initiate new cycles, each of these new moons could be seen as opening a month-long period with an intense, sustained focus on the themes of its sign. So over the past four months, we've moved from an emphasis on Scorpio (psychological depth, purgation, transformation), to Sagittarius (new horizons and enthusiasm)....then Capricorn (solidity, realism, achievement)....and finally Aquarius (revolution, shock, the new order). Overall, it is a story of death and rebirth – the end of an old order, the birth of a new one.

The series of zero-degree new moons has coincided with the culmination of another extraordinary cycle: the historic series of seven exact squares between Uranus and Pluto, running from 2012 to 2015. The final exact square is coming up on the 16th of March, and the tension of this final looming square over the next month is just...kinda nuts.

Uranus is about revolutionary change and upheaval, and Pluto is a ruthless force of destruction and transformation. Put them together and you have a damn volcano. The last time these planets squared off was during the Great Depression, setting the stage for the second World War - and there were only five squares that time. The current series involves seven squares.

I am not going to talk about war now, because I think what happens on the world stage is out of anyone's hands – except to say that the level of intractable conflict going on globally right now really does not bode well.

I'm far more interested in what these squares mean for individual people trying to navigate their lives, because your personal stage is the place where you can have an influence.  And what these squares mean, on a personal as well as a collective level, is a totally altered landscape. Again, the theme is death and rebirth. Nobody comes out of this time (2012-2015) the same as they went in.

Shock, traumatic loss and necessary transformation are the order of the day. It can feel excruciatingly painful and difficult. But there's just no way around radical change right now – it has to be faced head-on and accepted.

Pluto destroys what is rotten or outworn so that new life can grow. It's like a forest fire, consuming the deadwood and opening up space for something new. And Uranus is the spark igniting that fire – and also the new life pushing out of the scorched earth.

Another image for this is a crucible – the vessel where materials are cooked to a white heat and transformed. In alchemy, the object was to heat 'base metals' in a crucible until they were transformed into gold. In practice, no gold resulted from this process – but as a psychological metaphor it works. We are refined and transmuted by pressure and difficulty.

I know nobody wants to live inside a crucible, but that's what this time is. Resisting change and trying to cling to your old personal or psychological status quo will only intensify the suffering involved. It will do you no good now to go along with your old patterns... You have to let go of your control mechanisms and your conditioning and allow yourself to be transformed. That's how to work with this energy instead of being destroyed by it.

As if to hammer this theme home, our cycle of zero-degree new moons began last October with a new moon in Scorpio, a sign ruled by Pluto and having to do with purgation and transformation. We had the 6th exact Uranus-Pluto square on the 15th December, during the cycle. And the cycle is now ending with two new moons in Aquarius – on the first and last degrees of the sign, like bookends. We had a zero-degree Aquarius new moon last month on the 20th January, and tomorrow we have our new moon at the final degree of Aquarius – a degree known as the anarectic, where all the energy of the sign is concentrated.

Aquarius is about revolutionary change, and is ruled by Uranus...and tomorrow's new moon ushers in a 30-day cycle in which we'll see the final Uranus-Pluto square of most of our lifetimes on the 16th March.

So these zero-degree new moons over the past four months have been a re-iteration and acceleration of the main theme of this time: death (Pluto) and rebirth (Uranus). The symbolism is all about purging your life of what no longer serves you (Pluto), and embracing radical change (Uranus). The skies have been underlining this theme and pounding it home with a remarkable lack of subtlety for months...and now we see it coming to a crescendo.

--OK, so that was a long preamble on the significance of this new moon! But it's very special. We are looking at some crazy beautiful astrology here and I wish I could adequately convey how amazing and emphatic it all is...

You must change your life.

By now, unless you're totally asleep, you know what has to change.

And if you refuse change – rest assured, you'll be forced into it regardless, and it will hurt worse. “The fates guide him who will; who won't, they drag”.

Anyway, let's look at this new moon:

It takes place at the very end of the final degree of Aquarius near midnight (GMT) on the 18th February... and less than ten minutes later, at the changeover to a new day, the moon and sun will be at 0 degrees of the next sign, Pisces. So it's very hard to tell whether this is a new moon at the very end of Aquarius or a new moon at zero degrees Pisces – but the symbolism is about the culmination and dissolution of a cycle however you look at it. Pisces is the last sign in the zodiac – the place where our personal boundaries come undone, where form dissolves back into the universal.

The day after the new moon, we'll have a big stellium in Pisces: sun, moon, Neptune, Chiron, Venus and Mars. This looks beautiful, and it sets the tone for the month to follow. Compassion, forgiveness, deep faith, spiritual longing, dreams, art, romance...

Here's some Pisces for ya:.

Please keep in mind that beautiful, dreamy Pisces has a very dark shadow. So along with the deep-sea fairy castles and romantic longing, we are also looking at self-pity, addiction, manipulation, delusion and martyr-complexes.

Beware (and this holds true for the rest of the month) drink and drugs, guilt trips and your own tendency to feel like an outraged victim. Outraged victimhood is never the healthiest of psychological stances. Neither is trying to rescue people, or waiting for Prince or Princess Charming to come along and rescue you. That shit will look increasingly stupid, going forward...because it IS stupid. Everyone's salvation is in their own hands, no one else's.

It's a good influence for making art or music...and Pisces is also great for dissolving hardened feelings, ego issues and anger. Remember we are coming to the end of a cycle...so it's good to let go of old baggage, release your old hurts, listen to Cure songs and have a good long cry if you need to.

(sigh)

Ok, so Pisces is about the end of something. But every ending is also a new beginning, and that is what we're approaching...fast! The new beginning in this case is a fiery, impatient, imperious one – very fierce and unambiguous. It comes on the 20th February, as Venus, Mars and the moon enter Aries, the first sign of the zodiac.

0 degrees Aries is called the Aries Point, and it's like the Big Bang – the kickoff, the blast that sets a whole new story in motion. And holy crap, we'll have Venus (love, money, values), Mars (sex, desire, aggression) and the moon (emotion, need) all passing over this point on the same day, from wishy-washy Pisces to warlike Aries...

It's just nuts. Whiplash-inducing. It's like a giant cosmic “reset” button gets pushed and things are different after that. How you feel, what you want, what you value, what you love, what you'll stand for – all suddenly transmuted and white-hot.

Venus, Mars and the moon are THE relationship planets. And right now the huge Uranus-Pluto-fueled impetus for collective change is being filtered largely through the context of close personal relationships, especially romantic ones. So the shifts in relationship structures we'll see this month have far-reaching effect – this stuff is not idle romantic nonsense right now. It is vitally important and deserves our full attention.

Relationships are our crucibles of transformation these days, with the north node in Libra. Libra (ruled by Venus) is the sign of balance, harmony, fairness, partnership and right relationship. It is about bridging polarities – 'marrying' them into a workable whole. So that is what we're trying to achieve in this story – balance, peace, workable relationships, justice. But the way things are set up, getting there involves a fierce fight.

The south node, representative of what we are trying to move away from, is in Mars-ruled Aries – and this is about self-will, anger, war, going it alone. Selfishness: 'me' as opposed to Libra's 'we'. This is the path of least resistance now, and it means self-sabotage is an ever-present danger.

For the past few months, we've had the Uranus-Pluto square mixed up in a cardinal t-square with the nodes of the moon in Aries and Libra. This is an aspect pattern forcing radical change and upheaval, in relationships especially. There is a definite gender theme to it – there are historical injustices and imbalances in relationships that need to be examined and addressed. We don't get to blindly continue the same old gender-based power dynamics and games, going forward – the rot underlying that stuff has become a lot more obvious than it used to be. People are just not having it anymore.

Because the north node is in Venus-ruled Libra, truth, justice and the impetus for constructive change are with the “feminine” (and historically suppressed and undervalued) side of the equation. I am not going to talk about the epically stupid ways the “masculine” is fucking itself up these days, because I don't want to generalise too much on the basis of gender...but look around you. It shouldn't be too hard to see.

Anyway, right now this polarized scenario also contains a lot of potential for forgiveness, mutual understanding and compassion, as Venus and Mars are conjunct in Pisces. This softens the tension and bathes everything in dreamy romanticism and longing.

But all bets are off after Venus, Mars and the moon move into Aries on the 20th! I think we are gonna see some fireworks. Things go from being all mushy and idealistic...to raw and urgent and explosive. We move from beautiful dreams to difficult realities. Mars in Aries is male energy on steroids, Venus in Aries is a warrior lady who goes after what she wants and takes no shit, and the moon in Aries is temper tantrums and an inability to delay physical gratification...And I guess you can probably see where this is heading. Yikes!

Anyway, it's real. And Saturn in Sagittarius is beneficially aspecting the conjunction, so whatever this big energy shift is about for you, it should stick. Our feet are really being held to the fire for the next month, but if you stick to your deeply-felt principles and your commitments, you should come through OK.

There will definitely be a lot of testing of said principles and commitments, as Venus and Mars get mixed up with the tightening Uranus-Pluto square in the first half of March. It looks really freaking intense. Hold the line.

--On commitments: with the relationship planets in Aries, a sign known for its self-focus - please don't neglect your commitment to yourself and to your own path. Being true to yourself is of primary importance, and it's the basis of right relationship. Whatever you have to do to get along with others, you should never compromise your self-respect.

Something I keep thinking of, with Venus (female energy) and Mars (male energy) conjunct – is that our gender issues don't necessarily have to be played out in the arena of relationships. It's probably a lot healthier to deal with them internally. I'm talking about androgyny – the balance of male and female energies in each of us. Connecting internally with the gender qualities you normally project onto people of the opposite sex is a way of becoming a whole, integrated human being – you 'marry' yourself. And you hopefully get to avoid horrible relationship drama in the bargain. (See Jung's work on the anima and the animus.)

New Moon in Virgo

Toilet roll art by Anasstasia Elias

This is on Monday the 25th August, around 3 pm (GMT).

New moons represent new beginnings -  you feel out what an energy (in this case, Virgo) means for you, and you set your intentions for the month ahead in relation to that energy. New moons are also great for initiating projects.

Here, we are looking at the sun and moon conjunct in the early degrees of Virgo. Virgo's ruler, Mercury, is also in the sign.

Virgo represents clarity, order, service, perfectionism, problem-solving, craftsmanship, fine-tuning. It's an analytical, fiddly sign, concerned with getting the details right.

It's also about day-to-day routine, health, work, cleanliness, simplicity, purity. So a Virgo new moon means it's house-cleaning time, back-to-school time, end-of-vacation time. A good time to start new health regimens and to organize your life.

In the Northern hemisphere, you can feel autumn in the air as Virgo season takes hold – that crispness, like a ripe apple. Summer's big showy party (culminating under the happy-go-lucky sign of Leo) is over. The flowers are finished and the harvest has to be gathered... Time to get back to reality and make provisions for the winter.

This particular Virgo new moon opposes dreamy, delusive Neptune in Pisces, which underscores the theme of 'back to reality'. We bring the clarity, focus and pragmatism of Virgo to bear on our swirly dreams and fantasies, and on our destructive habits and addictions.

We also have Mars exactly conjuncting Saturn in Scorpio later on the 25th, and this reinforces the "reality" theme and deepens it. Intense energy is going to be available for getting rid of whatever in your life no longer serves you – and this goes deep. It's a surgical focus.

It seems to me like an absolutely great set-up for anyone trying to kick an addiction or deal with an intractable problem. Really, the best possible set-up. You will be able to see through the bullshit and denial – your own or whoever's - and do what needs to be done.

The amount of bullshit and denial involved – well we are potentially looking at the Augean stables here.

From wikipedia:

“The fifth Labour of Heracles (Hercules in Latin) was to clean the Augean stables. This assignment was intended to be both humiliating (rather than impressive, as had the previous labours) and impossible, since the livestock were divinely healthy (immortal) and therefore produced an enormous quantity of dung. These stables had not been cleaned in over 30 years, and over 1,000 cattle lived there. However, Heracles succeeded by rerouting the rivers Alpheus and Peneus to wash out the filth.”

So if you are dealing with a massive stable full of shit, take heart! You can use the energy of this new moon to re-route a river or two and clear it out. It's entirely do-able and you don't have to be Hercules.

Please take note, though: the clear-out of the Augean stables was meant to be humiliating. And the kinds of scenarios we are looking at with this new moon are potentially very humbling. Venus is still in Leo, and she'll be squaring the Mars-Saturn conjunction - along with Jupiter in Leo, which magnifies the ego insult involved.

Venus in Leo is proud: a prima donna, a queen. She wants the best of everything. Needless to say, she is not going to enjoy shovelling shit in the Augean stables. But it doesn't matter whether she enjoys it or not – it has to be done.

So if you're confronted with a situation that needs fixing but is uncomfortable for your ego, it's best to swallow your pride and get to work. Virgo is about humility – being a good behind-the-scenes worker, a good servant and helper. It doesn't demand the spotlight; it gets to work quietly and efficiently, without needing much recognition for its efforts.

--I keep thinking of Ebola health workers in West Africa in relation to this new moon. Quietly, humbly dealing with a horrible situation that few people would voluntarily take on. They do it because it's their job, because somebody has to, because they care. They sure aren't doing it for glory - it's dangerous and thankless work.

(Virgo is the sign of health workers, incidentally.)

Anyway, to sum up: the way to work with the energy of this new moon is to roll up your sleeves and do what needs doing, with a minimum of fuss.

Of course it's humbling to have to downsize financially, or to deal with your addictions and bad habits, or to confront ugly problems, or to clear out your junk. You are looking at your own imperfections and insecurities – your own shit. That's unpleasant.

But try to remember that the focus here is on order, healing, personal integrity and well-being. It's about what's really best for you and everyone...as opposed to what you'd like best.

(PS: here is a depressing article about the ongoing Fukushima crisis. Another Augean stables situation - one that we're not hearing much about these days. It hasn't gone away.)

Mercury into Gemini / Venus Opposite Mars / Full Moon in Scorpio / Mars Direct

by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi

There's a bunch of stuff going on in the sky at the moment, & I'm inclined to feel that the intensities April promised are all hitting about NOW. Last week was a doozy and I think the next few weeks will be tough as well. You know, the cardinal grand cross, at its height, felt like immense blockage and pressure – everything at an impasse. It's still in effect, but things are starting to come unstuck...just kinda explosively. So it's not exactly relief.

Ok, so what have we got? First off, Mercury has just moved out of Taurus into his home sign of Gemini, and this represents a shift in our thinking and communication style. From slow and deliberate to speedy, darting, sparky, hyper. A trine to Mars amps up the energy: people will be popping up with news and messages and gossip all over the place. A square to Neptune means be careful what information you trust: plenty of room for deception, delusion and misunderstanding here.

And Venus has been in Aries for about a week. Venus in Aries is a firebrand who goes after what she wants. Except the way things are set up right now, she's going to have a hard time getting it. Let's look at this situation a bit more closely...

Mars, ruler of Aries, is in Libra, which is Venus's home domain - so each planet is in the other's home sign. This is called a mutual reception and it means these planets have some business with each other. Also, they're opposing each other: so definitely these two are talking. Or arguing more likely, from completely opposite viewpoints. Sparks fly between men and women under a Venus-Mars opposition.

Mars has slowed down in his retrograde motion and is stationing at 9 degrees Libra, getting ready to go direct on the 20th of May. This will be a big release of pent up energy and drive, but till then, it represents some real passive aggression and covert operating on the part of Mars. Or just plain dicking around. He doesn't know what he wants, he's dithering, he's weighing his options, he's acting like a wuss, etc.

And Venus is moving into exact conjunction with Uranus in Aries, meaning she's fed-up with this crap and getting ready to cut ties and move on. She is LEAVING.

But some things are not all that easy to walk out on...There are big consequences.

The north node in Libra and the south node in Aries mean that issues of right relationship take center stage right now. There is definitely something to be worked out via relationship here. And the sun in late Taurus is moving into opposition with Saturn in Scorpio: so what has to be worked out is heavy, karmic, depressing, full of blockages. But it has to be done.

This is all happening in the context of the cardinal grand cross, and needless to say, it doesn't look fun. It looks fraught and final. The weekend ahead is especially full of potential for hurt feelings and busted relationships: on Sunday the 11th, the moon conjuncts Mars and opposes Venus and Uranus, lending emotional intensity to the Venus-Mars opposition and to the cardinal grand cross it is tied up with. The Mercury-Neptune square will be exact that day as well.

Meaning amid all the tears and accusations and flying crockery...someone is LYING, deluding themselves, misunderstanding the facts, wilfully obfuscating, withholding information. Spreading propaganda. Maybe it's both parties.

See here for something ridiculous, but based around a dead serious subject...

Dialogue should be possible. Mercury beneficially aspects both the Venus-Uranus and Mars-Moon conjunctions. There is diplomacy and arbitration available to the warring parties...if they can see past their personal grievances and hurt feelings and look at things objectively. Easier said than done!

And in a lot of cases, we are looking at associations that are definitely OVER and need to be buried. Venus is squaring Pluto, and under this aspect you can expect old partners or relational issues to come back to haunt you. Toxic love.

(Never seen this video before, but it's creepy & weird as hell! Yikes!!)

Anyway, in such circumstances, please remember yr Dr. Phil:

Venus is not just about relationships: she also has to do with your self-esteem, money and values. So the issues haunting you now might have to do with the way you spend money, or how you undermine your own self-esteem or values. What toxic habits are you stuck in, that you want to get rid of but can't seem to shake? This is the right time to blow yourself clear of them, if you can muster up the strength.

Because however you look at it, something is ending here. We have a full moon in Scorpio on the 14th (around 8 pm GMT) to drive this point home. Full moons are culminations or endings, remember. Release-points. And Scorpio is about deep psychological insight, and an all-or-nothing stance toward life. Committing to what's real and amputating what's rotten.

So whatever in your life supports and stabilises you - you can recognize and commit to that. And whatever bullshit is dogging you now, whether it's a destructive relationship or a habitual pattern that screws you up, or an addiction...you have a chance to look deeply into it and cut it off. Abruptly. If you know something you're doing is poisonous to your self-worth or your values or your financial status...you can always just stop doing it. You can.

This is not to gloss over how potentially difficult this full moon looks. It is conjunct Saturn in Scorpio, which is really fucking uncomfortable, involving feelings of constraint, deprivation and fear. Something is dying, and for a lot of people right now, there are big losses involved that no amount of positive psychology can whitewash away. These times are hard.

But there is great emotional support and healing available too, in the form of a grand water trine between Jupiter in Cancer, Saturn in Scorpio and Chiron in Pisces.

What this means is, if you can let go of what you know you have to let go of, accept that this is uncomfortable and painful, have a good, long cry about it...you'll be supported and aided by these skies. But if you attempt to hold on you'll get all smashed up, and it'll hurt worse in the long run.

On some level I think we all know this is what's going down. It's very stark and simple, and there really isn't much else to say about it.

Except that you know, you might want to lay low and protect yourself this week. People will be feeling shitty and explosive, and you might be too. It's easy to get into big emotional blowouts over stupid crap right now, and things can go horribly wrong forever between people in about 5 seconds. Often as a result of simple misunderstandings or drunkenness (Mercury-Neptune).

Be careful driving and operating machinery too. We have a Mars-Uranus opposition going on, and that means sudden accidents are more likely. Especially when you combine it with all the emotional intensities that are in effect.

(Yep.)

Early on the 20th May, Mars will move forward again after an exhausting retrograde period that started in early March. I think this should provide a bit of relief: things will start moving again. Energy and will should start working properly again. Time to move on, for real.

And here's another road song, while we're listening to road songs:

They're always so sad! Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose...

Oh well, here is the mother of all road songs for Venus conjunct Uranus in Aries. I guess I have to play it. :)

(PS: I just want to emphasize how hazy things can get with the Mercury-Neptune square we have going on...it is a recipe for delusion and head-fuckery. Under the circumstances, drinking and getting stoned is pretty dangerous right now and can lead to all kinds of problems. Ok, I'm going out for a pint now, bye!)