I think it looks very calm and profound and powerful. Quiet, terse communication can cut to the heart of a situation at this time - few words are needed, but those words will go deep. Issues of love, money and values are highlighted, and surprising shifts in our thinking around these issues are likely.
Permanent endings of associations that no longer fit our values are also likely - full moons signify culminations and endings, and Scorpio is extreme, all-or-nothing. Also, Venus is conjunct Uranus in Taurus, making for a lot of abrupt change in relationship and money matters.
Please keep in mind, these endings are most likely necessary and healthy. If a situation is pathological, it has to be transformed, and if it can't be transformed it must be amputated from your life. It's that black-or-white. Trust your gut – you will know on a bodily level what's healthy / viable vs what's defunct / toxic, and you'll know what to do about it.
Sudden new beginnings are also likely with Venus conjunct Uranus – don't be surprised if something very new and strange starts looking attractive to you, or if things that never interested you before suddenly catch your eye.
This is exact at about 5:40 am GMT tomorrow morning, the 23rd November.
It's Jupiter's grand entrance into Sagittarius, just in time for Thanksgiving – he changed signs from Scorpio to Sagittarius just after the new moon two weeks ago, and this is his first lunation in Sagittarius since 2007. He spends roughly a year in each sign and will be in Sagittarius till December of next year.
Jupiter rules Sagittarius so this is a happy place for him to be! It's a real party vibe. Jupiter's about what brings us luck, so for the next year, there'll be great luck and benefit in doing Sagittarian things - i.e. expanding your perspective, via the open road and an open mind. This can mean travel, higher education, exotic philosophies or religions, new experiences. Exciting opportunities will be popping up.
So it's mostly great! However, Jupiter inflates everything he's associated with, and this can lead to too much of a good thing, especially in the sign he rules. Sagittarius can easily go overboard in its enthusiams, and become pompous and ideological. It can also be quite callous about peoples' feelings and sensitivities, mistaking impulsive, opinionated blurting for candour.
We'll be seeing all these over-the-top Sagittarian propensities at this full moon, which frankly looks like a head-melting scenario. We'll have a mutable t-square between the moon in Gemini, the sun, Jupiter and Mercury in Sagittarius, and Mars in Pisces. Optimistic and bouyant as Jupiter in Sagittarius is, his involvement here serves to magnify the stress.
A mutable t-square is a chaotic, neuron frazzling aspect, so things are going to feel jangled and all-over-the-place. This particular mutable t-square involves Gemini (information, communication) and Sagittarius (story / ideology / perspective) – so it's a conflict between different versions of reality. It looks confusing – reality, delusion, truth and falshood will be all tangled up, and it's going to be hard to know whose version of reality is true. There will be plenty of outright lying going on, as well as a lot of emotional manipulation.
The emotional manipulation part is courtesy of Mars in Pisces. Mars is about desire and aggression, and he doesn't work well in Pisces, which is about boundary loss and the unconscious. Mars in Pisces can be a spiritual warrior, but more often he's just passive-aggressive, slippery and manipulative. He's like a charismatic drunk who tells you his sob stories in order to seduce you and who ultimately wants you to “save” him – not a solid dude.
And Mars is squaring Jupiter, which is about going overboard and getting yourself into trouble via heedless enthusiasm. You put it all together and this full moon is a bit of an overboard headfuck. Don't believe everything you hear, because people will be spouting off some ludicrous stuff, and they may have conscious or unconscious manipulative agendas. Appeals to compassion and sentimentality are particularly suspect at this time. It's a good idea to stay critical and skeptical if someone is trotting out a “poor me” story. Ask yourself "What are they trying to sell me?"
Also "what am I heedlessly buying?" Be skeptical about your own opinions, unless your facts and reasoning are bulletproof (which is always hard to guarantee). The risk of self-delusion is very high these days. So often we believe what makes us feel good or what we have an emotional attachment to. We cherrypick facts to support our beliefs. We construct versions of the past to back up our personal narratives, disregarding everything that doesn't fit. It's unconscious dishonesty, we all do it in one way or another and it'll be more prevalent than usual about now.
Fortunately, Mercury (ruler of Gemini and dispositer of the full moon) is currently retrograde. Usually Mercury retrograde is a pain in the ass, causing difficulties with travel and communication, and now is no exception! But I still say it's fortunate here because Mercury retrograde allows us some space from jumping to erroneous conclusions or spouting off our ill-considered opinions. You can use it to rein in your communication and examine the information you're given. I think a bit of communication blockage can be helpful when there's this much pressure to jump the gun.
We'll be dealing with this nerve-frazzling, confusing, overboard, poor impulse-control stuff for the next month and a half. That means it colors the holiday season, never the most stress-free period at the best of times. I think the holidays this year look tough and the risk of over-the-top drama when you're hanging out with your crazy family is particularly high this year.
We have a lot of Neptune/Pisces stuff going on, with Neptune stationing direct the day after the full moon and Mars moving to conjunct Neptune in Pisces on the day of the new moon in Sagittarius (7th December). Meaning it'll be easy to slip into delusion, addiction and self-pity. Good boundaries are key – you'll have to keep a hold of all your discernment if you want to navigate this time without getting enraged or turning into a blubbering wreck at the holiday table.
Avoiding boundary-dissolving substances (drugs, alcohol) can't hurt, especially when you're in stressful situations. I know it sounds like no fun, but they can only make things feel worse at this time.
We'll also have some relationship turbulence as Venus opposes Uranus on the 1st December, just before moving from Libra into Scorpio. This is her third and final jolt from Uranus since September, and it makes for crazy on-again-off-again dynamics, instability and a lot of stress in relationships. But after Venus enters Scorpio on the 2nd December, we are headed for smoother sailing. Dynamics have been balanced and rebalanced and now they're either revolutionized or done. Either way, Venus is moving on.
It's beautiful. About as deep, shadowy, magical and transformative as a new moon in Scorpio can get. And it should feel like an abrupt tonal shift. We will not be the same coming out of this week as we were going into it.
Scorpio is about depth psychology, death and rebirth, and all-or-nothing emotional scenarios: either you're entirely done with something or you're all in. Maybe both at the same time here! One door shuts, another opens and your life is transformed, your self is transformed.
In this case we have the sun and moon in mid-Scorpio beneficially aspecting Neptune (compassion, spirituality, dreams) and Scorpio's ruler Pluto (power, intensity, transformation). So it's pretty mystical.
We also have a lot of planets changing signs at this time, and this is the abrupt tonal shift part. It's a weird situation!
Uranus retrograded back into Aries yesterday, where he will spend a final five months before re-entering Taurus for the next eight years. Uranus is the liberator, Aries is the sign of the self, and Uranus in Aries has been about revolutionary change to our basic sense of identity, often technologically mediated. We've seen the rapid spread of smartphones, social media and identity politics since Uranus first moved into Aries in 2010. As Aries is the sign of aggression and war, there has been a lot of collective rage associated with this transit, and we've seen the rise of populist movements all over the world.
Uranus moved from Aries into Taurus in May this year, and Uranus in Taurus is a bit less personal. It's about radical shakeups to the solid structures of our lives - the things we rely on for stability and security - like the money system, the political status quo, the climate, our "traditional" values, etc. The ground under our feet is shifting, Since May, things will have been shaken up in a revolutionary (and perhaps unpleasant) way for you in some area of your life. But now, as Uranus retrogrades back into Aries, we're getting a chance to integrate outer changes into our self-concepts.
Again, though, this is Aries, and there may be a lot of anger associated with this transit. Someone might have done you pretty damn wrong, and that stuff hurts. However, Aries's ruling planet, Mars is currently in Aquarius, the sign Uranus rules. This is called a mutual reception, and it means this energy of outrage and the drive for liberation can work very well together at this time. It's great for collective action and also for breaking free of your old self-concepts or other people's ideas of who you should be.
Another big shift: the north node has just changed signs as of yesterday: from Leo, where it has spent the past year and a half, into Cancer. The north node is about the "direction" of the sky-story - the path forward. With the north node in Leo, we were meant to focus on our individual self-expression, joy, romance, creativity, bling and fabulousness. But in Cancer it's all about emotions, roots, home, family, nurturance. It's a far humbler, more introspective path, concerned with the domestic sphere and the inner world. Traditionally it's associated with women and motherhood. So abruptly, we're over going out into the world to claim our spotlight. The way forward for the next year and a half is to stay home in our fuzzy slippers and cook pasta dinners. (Except that the the north node in Cancer is disposited by the moon, and the moon shifts signs every 2.5 days - aaargh, so it's a bit more complicated than that. But you can't go too far wrong with fuzzy slippers and comfort food and phoning your Ma.)
Finally, Jupiter is at the final degree of Scorpio for this Scorpio new moon, his grand finale in a sign where he's spent the past year. Jupiter is about expansion, and in Scorpio, the sign of depth and the Shadow, he's a giant muckraker, bringing hidden ugliness and corruption to light. Jupiter is also about what brings us luck, and this obsessive digging up of old dirt has been necessary and collectively transformative over the past year - the entrance of Jupiter into Scorpio last year coincided nearly exactly with the viral expansion of MeToo. (As this is Scorpio, reactions to it have been extreme and polarised.)
The chart of a new moon determines conditions for the month ahead, and as Jupiter is still in Scorpio for the new moon, we are still called upon to do this depth work into December. But tomorrow, he moves from Scorpio into the sign he rules, Sagittarius. And Jupiter in Sagittarius is a whole different vibe: free-wheeling, happy-go-lucky, the life of the party. It's like coming out of a dark, airless little room filled with psychodrama and intensity, into sunlight and open space. The scenarios couldn't be more different.
So all in all, this new moon heralds a very rapid and sweeping emotional phase-change - or a bunch of them, and how they'll fit together remains to be seen. It carries the potential for a profound psychological shift, individually and in the collective. Things that didn't seem possible will come to seem possible, very suddenly.
Other events this month:
Mars also changes signs on the 15th November (so many sign-shifts this month!!) He'll move from Aquarius to Pisces, where he doesn't function so well. Don't be surprised if your energy suddenly feels a bit underwater from then till the New Year, and beware of drink and drugs. (This is not great timing for the holiday season, I know.)
Venus will resume direct motion on the 16th November. She's currently in Libra, where she seeks harmony in relationships - but she's tangled up in an opposition to Uranus, which makes for turbulence and on-again-off-again dynamics. These dramatics will continue into mid-December.
The next day, the 17th November, we'll have Mercury stationing retrograde in Sagittarius. The retrograde will take him into the late degrees of Scorpio and will last till the 6th December. The usual Mercury retrograde cautions re. signing documents and communication and travel difficulties apply. Also, be careful what you say at this time, especially when under the influence - it may come back to haunt you.
We'll have a full moon in Gemini on the 23rd November and it involves issues of information, truth, falsity and delusion. Kinda jangled-up. Then Neptune resumes direct motion on the 24th November, which can be a bit of a WTF scenario.
Basically, there are just so many shifts this month it's hard to keep track of what's going on, or to know how things'll pan out. I guess we'll see! It should be interesting. But this new moon can be like a pause where you connect with some deeper truth in yourself and commit wholeheartedly to your path (after getting rid of what is no longer viable for you). No matter how whiplash-strange things get this month, you can rely on this inner truth and sense of guidance. You know deep down what's really important for you and where you want to be going.
This happens today, the 24th October, around 4:30 pm GMT.
Taurus is comfortable, habitual, slow to change. This full moon is not at all like that though. Prepare to be zapped out of your comfort zone.
The moon will be conjunct Uranus at zero degrees Taurus, so this full moon is really all about Uranus. And Uranus is about revolution. Uranus in Taurus, the sign of stability and physical reality, portends a radical shake-up to the structures of our lives: our habits and routines, our values, our possessions, our relationships. It's unsettling.
In this case, the earthquake is likely to come from the depths of your psyche, as you realise that you no longer value things or relationships you used to cling to for self-worth. The sun entered Scorpio yesterday, so we're at the start of Scorpio season, and Scorpio is about depth psychology and death-and-rebirth type transformation. We have a stellium in Scorpio for this full moon: the sun is conjunct Venus in Scorpio, and we also have Jupiter and Mercury conjunct in the later degrees of the sign. That's a lot of psychologically probing and intense energy, geared toward letting go of what's no longer viable in our lives.
The sun and Venus in Scorpio oppose the moon and Uranus in Taurus, and this is all about shocks and abrupt endings, in relationships especially. But Venus also has to do with money and values, so expect lightning shifts in those areas as well. As Scorpio is involved and both Uranus and Venus are retrograde, it's likely that the shifts will be deep internal realisations – sudden “ah-ha” moments that have you re-assessing the structure of your life and what caused you to build it this way.
With the Venus-Uranus opposition, relationships can also start up quite suddenly, but as Venus is retrograde till the 16th November, it's inadvisable to begin anything new – what's begun under Venus retrograde is likely to fizzle out when she resumes direct motion. Old relationships can also come back from the grave to haunt you, and this full moon can be the moment you see those dynamics for what they were and finally let them go. Flux and upheaval around Venus themes (love, money and values) will continue into early December, as the Venus-Uranus opposition will be in play till then.
Uranus is headed backward into Aries, sign of the self, for a final four months (6th November 2018 – 6th March 2019), so we'll have some time to assimilate outer changes into our self-concepts. And Venus will move backward into Libra this Halloween, staying there till the 2nd December – so we'll also be re-assessing our relationships.
This full moon is fateful and has long-range effect, as it squares the north node in Leo and the south node in Aquarius. Anything involving the moon's nodes like this involves a heavy dose of karma: the road ahead is defined by the choices you make now. The way forward is shown by the north node in Leo, which is all about living from your heart, with courage, playfulness, generosity and creativity. The way backward is about shadow Aquarius: a cold, theoretical dogmatism, or using an ideology to justify destructive rebelliousness.
The full moon also beneficially aspects Saturn in Capricorn – again, this is about karma, getting back what you've put in. It also suggests that if you're willing to work slowly and put the necessary groundwork in, beneficial changes can be made, lasting new relationship and money situations can be built.
We'll have a new moon in Scorpio coming up on the 7th November, and it's a big one. Uranus and the north node both shift signs the day before – Uranus into Aries and the north node into Cancer. Jupiter shifts signs the day after, moving from dark, intense Scorpio into sunny, freewheeling Sagittarius. All this represents an abrupt shift in tone – things are going to feel very different, very suddenly. The Venus-Uranus opposition will be heavily in play, sparking sudden shifts in relationships – you could meet the love of your life under this sky, or break up with someone you thought was that. Or both! It's just very volatile. But I think overall it looks pretty good. I'll write more about it closer to the time.
Gemini is a mutable air sign: communicative, changeable, social, distractable, hyper. Ruled by Mercury, planet of thought and communication, the sign is about the multiplicity of information and choice. It's important to note that Mercury was also a trickster god, patron of liars, thieves and lawyers – with Gemini, the distinction between true and false is not such a big concern.
A new moon is about new beginnings, so this new moon in Gemini is about a new start in the realm of information, communication and thinking. The symbolism here is also of an abrupt shift in values and relationships, as Venus changes signs a couple of hours after the new moon, from Cancer into Leo. It's always significant when a planet changes signs at the time of a new or full moon; it colours everything.
Venus is about love, relationships, aesthetics, values and money. In the regal sign of Leo, she's a prima donna: the queen who expects to be treated as befits her rank. She will not be slighted or undervalued or play second fiddle to anyone.
In this case she's also moving straight into a square with Uranus at 1 degree Taurus. Venus rules Taurus, which is all about physical stability, comfort and security. Uranus is in Taurus as of last month, where he will shake up all these constructs for the next 7 years, roughly. As Venus squares Uranus, we will see people abruptly exiting relationships and work situations that no longer accord with their values or make them feel good. Attractive new options may suddenly appear out of nowhere. Whether those options are real or mirages is another matter – Neptune squares the new moon, which makes for plenty of confusion and delusion about what's real and what's not. Be that as it may, people will be looking to bolt the fences and go after something shinier. (You'll know by the full moon in two weeks' time whether it's fool's gold or not.)
This Venus-Uranus square comes on the heels of a Venus-Pluto opposition last week, which exposed toxicity, power dynamics and betrayal in the realms of love and money. So odds are, someone is feeling undervalued and “done” with something: “I'm worth more than this, I don't have to take this shit!” says Venus in Leo. She's beneficially aspecting Chiron in Aries, which is about a wound to our sense of self. Overall, this looks helpful and healing. Knowing when you've settled for less, coming to understand your true worth and leaving dynamics where you've been undervalued is bound to be a good thing.
We have another shift around this new moon, and it also involves wounded healer asteroid Chiron. Mercury, ruler of the new moon, changes signs the day before it, on the 12th June. He moves from Gemini into emotional, touchy Cancer, where he will square Chiron in Aries. Chiron is about wounds, and Cancer is easily hurt, so this means there's a lot of potential for wounding, emotional communication at this time – especially regarding family issues.
As I said though, there's plenty of potential confusion and delusion at play here, courtesy of Neptune. So if you're upset about something, please take a moment to check that your reaction is justified, and not some trumped-up wounded ego stuff. Think before you open your mouth, as it'll be easy to hurt people.
We are in for some WTF moments this month, as Neptune stations retrograde on the 18th June. This is like brain fog and distraction in warp drive. You may need to retreat from the Gemini stuff (parties, news, social media) to protect your frazzled neurons!
Things are likely to feel kind of edgy and weird leading up to the full moon. Mars will station retrograde on the 26th, and then we'll have five planets retrograde: Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, Pluto – leading to delay and frustration. If going to be hard to make things happen this summer. If your progress seems to be hitting a wall, just take whatever baby steps you can and wait the blockage out. Jupiter will station direct in early July, Mars at the end of August, and Saturn in early September – things will gradually be feeling less stuck.
The full moon in Capricorn on the 28th is harsh, there's no other way to say it. The moon will be tightly conjunct Saturn in Capricorn, and this is hard, cold realism about the situation you're in. It'll be a necessary wake-up call after the confusion and delusion of this new moon, but a bitter medicine nonetheless. Chiron in Aries will be involved – very wounding to the thin-skinned, emotional sun in Cancer. Family issues and responsibilities are likely to figure heavily.
There will be blessing and help in the form of a trine to Jupiter, but I think it will be hard to appreciate that help with Jupiter retrograde – it's a behind-the-scenes sort of thing, not very obvious at all.
When conflict comes up, it's important to note that the way forward right now is shown by the north node in generous, open-hearted Leo. Venus will be conjunct the north node for the next few weeks, so if you can muster up some creativity, playfulness and love, you might as well use it! The alternative is Mars conjunct the south node in Aquarius – this looks like chilly, egocentric rage and selfishness, and it will be much easier to access than generosity and heart. Needless to say, things will not go well for you or your relationships if follow this path of least resistance.
Mars on the south node and Venus on the north node spell karmic make-or-break stuff for relationships especially. This is not an easy time. It's confusing, disjointed, abrupt. The full moon on the 28th June is a necessary dose of hard reality after the exciting mirages of this new moon, but it's not fun. The outlook into August is not easy – not terrible, but not easy.
This is to be expected after the sign shift of Uranus into Taurus last month. We are dealing with shake-ups to our sense of comfort and security, it's not supposed to be easy. Weird and uncomfortable is how we're rolling for the next while! So please keep doing your north node in Leo stuff: creativity, heart, a willingness to take risks and a sense of humour will pull you through.
This is early tomorrow, the 17th January. It's exact at 2:15 am UTC.
We have a big stellium in Capricorn for this: the sun, moon,Venus and Pluto are conjunct in the later part of the sign, and Mercury, Lilith and Saturn are conjunct at the beginning. It's a serious dose of a very serious, work-and-achievement focused sign. We are at the start of a long uphill climb.
New moons represent new beginnings, and this is our first new moon of 2018, and the first with Saturn in his home sign of Capricorn. The symbolism is of a sober, intensely pragmatic new start, especially as regards love and money matters. This is the right time to begin something – but it has to be something grounded in the real world, not fantasy. Capricorn works with the world as it is, not as we'd like it to be. What's valuable to this sign is what's solid, tangible and secure, and what's built slowly and carefully, step by step. Rome wasn't built in a day.
With Saturn in Capricorn, we are working to create solid foundations for future security. And I mean WORKING – Saturn rewards effort. You get back what you put in and there's no such thing as a free lunch.
Mars and Jupiter in Scorpio beneficially aspect this new moon, meaning there's a lot of very focused energy to be poured into new projects, and big potential gains to be had.
But Uranus squares the new moon from the end of Aries, and this denotes disruption. Don't expect things to run easily – there will be blockages, shocks and setbacks. But if you're willing to work with them, they can lead to beneficial adaptations to changed circumstances.
The point of the Uranus square is innovation, which can be difficult for traditionalist Capricorn. But doing the same old thing the same old way will not work anymore – we are rewriting the rule-book.
We saw this breakaway Uranian influence at the full moon in Cancer two weeks ago, and it continues for this new moon. We'll be dealing with the conflict between following established rules vs. creating an entirely new operating system all this year.
As at the Cancer full moon, this applies to women especially. We have Venus and the moon squaring Uranus, and Lilith conjunct Mercury and Saturn in Capricorn. That's a lot of fed-up, enraged female energy – but it's also articulate, independent, authoritative and decisive. There is a theme of women examining their relationship with authority and power, and taking responsibility for their own security.
Mary Beard is my mascot for this new moon – she embodies this energy. She's a classical scholar – very Capricorn – who has brought the world of ancient Rome to life in documentaries aimed at a popular audience, and with an emphasis on the lives of ordinary people – very innovative and Uranian. She is also a Lilith figure, a target of vicious misogynist bullying and derision because of her refusal to conform to societal beauty standards – and she has made a point of standing up to the bullies and exposing them. She also published a book on women and power last year. More power to her.
The stellium in Capricorn at this new moon gives a serious emotional tone to the month ahead – but the moon, Venus and the sun will be moving into Uranus-ruled Aquarius over the next week. Also Mars shifts signs on the 26th January, from dark Scorpio to happy-go-lucky Sagittarius. So it's not all heaviness and gloom. Things should start to feel lighter and zingier as we move toward the full moon in Leo on the 31st January, which looks a bit revelatory and surprising! I'll write about it closer to the time.
This is exact early tomorrow morning, 5:20 am GMT.
Taurus is about the earthly stuff we hold onto – our money and possessions, our physical body and sense of self, our habitual patterns and our values. It's a grounded, happy, sensual energy, but it can get stuck in ruts like nobody's business. It likes to clutch onto things and has a lot of trouble with accepting change and letting go – even when obviously necessary.
A moon in Taurus is about the desire for comfort, stability and security. But this full moon is opposite the sun and Jupiter in Scorpio, which are voracious, extreme, probing and crisis-driven – the opposite of comfortable and stable. So it's going to be pretty hard to stay stuck, much as we might want to.
In addition, Venus, the ruler of this full moon, will exactly oppose rebel planet Uranus to the minute as the full moon is exact. This is a little cray.
Venus is currently in Libra, where she likes to glide around like a fancy hostess, making sure everything stays pretty and polite. She shares the Taurean distaste for conflict and abruptness. With the exact opposition to Uranus though, there's bound to be a shock – the careful Libran balance and poise will be knocked sideways by some bolt out of the blue, and everybody's drink will get spilled.
So clearly it's going to be hard staying within your comfort zone this full moon. Something is bound to come along to upset the equilibrium.
That something is likely to come from other people, and it's especially likely to have to do with love and relationships – recall we are still in Libra lunar cycle, and Libra is about partnering. The forecast for the new moon in Libra two weeks ago still applies, but this is the culmination.
Whatever shock you encounter, the best strategy here is to embrace it. Let go of your need for things to stay comfortable and safe, go toward what scares you, let yourself be changed by the encounter.
The north node is in Leo, which is about opening your heart – and the north node is currently disposited through the sun in deep, dark Scorpio, which has to face what's most frightening and painful in order to heal. So getting all outraged at having your feathers ruffled is absolutely unproductive here. Your feathers are supposed to be ruffled.
Neptune is beneficially aspecting the full moon, which means that something deeper is at work here. By accepting life on its own terms and sacrificing your pride to the larger design, magical things can happen. Try to have a little faith..
This song is so cheesy, but it fits. Here you go, you sexy thing. (I forgot to mention that the Taurus/Scorpio axis is SEXED UP. So this is definitely a full moon for freaky yet deep sex stuff, and if that's where it leads you, more power to ya!)
We're getting a beautiful Venus-Jupiter conjunction in Scorpio on the 13th November, and it'll trine Neptune. This is a great gift for relationships, and it comes ahead of a very beneficial-looking new moon in Scorpio on the 18th November. So I think after the relationship drama of the past few months, things are going to start feeling a lot better. Even if it's just your relationship with yourself! If you've made it through the past few months without cracking up, hang in there. Things are going to feel much more solid and deep soon.
This is tonight, Friday the 16th September at 8 pm GMT.
It's a penumbral (partial) lunar eclipse in the final sign of the zodiac: Pisces, which is concerned with the dissolution of form and of ego. Also sacrifice, faith, magic, art, drugs, delusion - whatever dissolves the boundaries between this world and the Otherworld, or between the self and the larger cosmos.
Full moons symbolise culminations or endings, and Pisces is the final sign of the zodiac. And eclipses are supercharged. So the symbolism here is definitely of an ending.
Potentially a painful one: a Pisces moon is sensitive, idealistic and emotionally porous, and for the eclipse she will be conjunct Chiron. Chiron signifies a wound that will not heal, but can become a source of knowledge. In Pisces, the wound can be to our faith in life; our sense of a transcendent, guiding purpose. Or to our ideals, illusions and romantic fantasies.
So basically we are looking at a very thin-skinned, vulnerable emotional tone. This is aggravated by a square to Mars in Sagittarius, which can be a bombastic, aggressive, impulsive influence – like someone who insists on pushing their agenda without any sense of tact or emotional subtlety.
Extreme emotional sensitivity vs. tactless aggression - someone is likely to get hurt here.
--But there is also the potential to transcend your sense of injury by focusing on the larger picture, having faith in the grand design, serving others. Some kind of sacrifice might be called for - of ego, maybe.
The moon opposes the sun and retrograde Mercury in matter-of-fact Virgo, and Mars squares them. The Virgo stuff, especially with Mercury retrograde, is about caution, humility, getting your facts straight, thinking and rethinking before you open your mouth. A focus on the small, mundane, practical details; also a need to serve others.
With the north node in Virgo (and tied into this eclipse) - this is the way through. I've been harping on about this for months, but it bears repeating: do not let a mood of hopelessness or despair get the better of you. Keep attending to the small, practical stuff. One foot in front of the other, one mundane task after another – keep your mind on the little daily tasks at hand and don't look too far ahead, because the road ahead is unclear at present.
We had the final pass of the Saturn-Neptune square on the 10th September, and it's still very tight – so basically the future is all up in the air. Worrying about it and allowing yourself to get depressed is counterproductive. So is indulging the longing to escape your present circumstances – and that includes drowning your sorrows or succumbing to your addictions. You have to keep dealing with what's in front of you in a systematic, practical, organized manner, because there is really no other way out. “The best way out is always through” - per Frost.
The poem that quote is taken from illustrates the mood of this full moon pretty well...it's about a woman going crazy (moon in Pisces) under the weight of her domestic duties (Virgo), and telling a traveler (Mars in Sagittarius) her story.
The poem is ambivalent as to her fate – but this sky is not so ambivalent. Virgo is definitely the way through, so keep doing what has to be done. Despite broken illusions, hopelessness, dreams of escape, despairing moods and the sense of the ultimate futility of existence – just keep doing your Virgo.
It is likely that the issues we are dealing with under this full moon have to do with relationships. Jupiter (as of the 9th September) is in Libra, sign of marriage and close partnership. And Venus in Libra has been tangled up with Pluto and Uranus – gods of transformation and shock - this past week, sparking off big, abrupt shifts in relationships. Venus squared Pluto on the 11th September and she opposes Uranus, planet of revolution and disruption, for this eclipse...the exact opposition is on the 18th September.
With Venus opposite Uranus, the relational shifts we're looking at may be abrupt endings – but this can also be about radically transforming the way you relate, giving people the space they need to be themselves, detaching from drama and shitty old power dynamics, examining and transforming your patterns and your unconscious control issues re. relationships...
So it doesn't have to be about endings! But if you are facing the end of something, please keep in mind that every ending is also a new beginning. Mars is beneficially aspecting Uranus, and this is about freedom, personal authenticity and new vistas opening up. As Jupiter (travel, luck, expansion) is now in Libra, these new vistas are likely to be about relationships.
(Urgh, sorry. SO cheesy. But it fits.)
I think things will be easing up and feeling more dynamic in the weeks ahead. We will be past the intensity of eclipse season. Then our nerve-frazzling Mercury retrograde ends on the 22nd September, a few hours before the autumn equinox.
At the equinox, the sun moves into Libra – and this year the sun will be conjunct Jupiter in Libra. This is a big, happy, creative influence, especially re. relationships. Maybe a little over the top, but exuberant and hopeful!
The next day, Venus changes signs – from Libra to all-or-nothing Scorpio. Venus in Scorpio has her issues (drama, power games, obsession, jealousy, betrayal), but in this case she's well-aspected. So I would read this as being about great intensity and depth in relationships: true love. To the death.
Then Pluto resumes direct motion on the 25th September, in beneficial aspect to Mercury and the north node in Virgo – practical restructuring is underway! Earth-shifting life changes become workable.
We have a new moon in Libra the 1st October – the sun, moon, Jupiter will be conjunct in the sign of relationship, marriage, harmony, balance and justice. This opens a new chapter where Libra matters are concerned – or a whole new book altogether. I think it looks like a really solid new start.
It's all pretty exciting. So if you feel low at this full moon, don't fret, and try not to act out. Have faith. It's just a mood; better days are ahead.
This is later today, the 2nd August, at 9:45 pm GMT.
New moons represent beginnings. Leo is about creativity, pride, self-expression, bling, romance, childlike enthusiasm, look-at-me DRAMA, ego! And hair, of course. Leo people work very hard on their manes. If you know one who claims not to care about their hair or isn't using it to make some kind of statement - well something is off.
(Leo rising)
Leo people can also be very childishly thin-skinned, highly sensitive to criticism and perceived slights. Best not to disrespect the hair.
OK, but more abstractly - and seriously - Leo is about the divine, radiating through the medium of individual personality. It is associated with the heart – the core of who we are. Everyone is the star of their own show, and has to express their core essence.
The sign is ruled by the sun, which can't help but radiate. And in doing so, it keeps life as we know it going – it is the star of the whole melodrama. The boss, the central heavyweight every entity in the solar system orbits around and relies upon.
So in addition to being about creativity and showmanship and personal expression, Leo stands for boss-energy, inherently organizational and entrepreneurial.
Anyway, a new moon in Leo signifies a new beginning in creative / romantic / business endeavours. It's a great time to start a new artistic, romantic, or entrepreneurial project.
This new moon will prove especially good for initiating new projects: the sun and moon will beneficially aspect Saturn in Sagittarius. This gives whatever you begin this month weight, staying power, and a realistic sense of the road ahead.
It doesn't mean it's all going to be smooth sailing. It's not, needless to say. The sky is setting up some major roadblocks this month – there will be a need for sustained effort, even when things look hopeless, confusing and stuck.
All in all, though, there is great promise and potential here. But the future will have to be worked for. Saturn is involved, and Saturn is about karma and hard work. You'll get back what you put in. If you aren't willing to put in sustained work toward making something real, don't be surprised when your dreams turn out to be substanceless.
Reinforcing the theme of new beginnings in creative / romantic / money-related endeavours, Venus in Leo is beneficially aspecting Uranus in Aries (exact 1st August). This is a fiery, impulsive influence – it has to do with going after what we really want.
But here is the roadblock part: Uranus stationed retrograde on the 29th July. So bear in mind that the new beginnings being considered here may be stalled / under reconsideration till the direct station in late December. A seed has been planted, but it might take a while to germinate.
Also reinforcing the theme of new beginnings (and roadblocks), Mars moves from Scorpio into Sagittarius a few hours before the new moon. This is a big deal! It marks the end of a long and difficult transit recapitulating Saturn's transit through Scorpio from 2012-2015.
--Think back to where you were psychologically this time last summer, with Saturn grinding his way through the last degrees of Scorpio. Plenty of people were dealing with some fairly nasty crap. Plenty of toxicity was erupting from the depths. Saturn in Scorpio was some ugly, karmic stuff, and the difficulty of the transit was heightened by the Uranus-Pluto squares during the same period – the whole setup was like a wrecking ball.
Anyway, Mars has spent much of the past year going over the still-raw wounds of the Saturn transit through Scorpio, squeezing out the last of the pus, cutting away the dead flesh, putting in the sutures. It has not exactly been pleasant. Surgical procedures aren't meant to be.
But on the day of this new moon in Leo, Mars moves from deep, dark, psychologically intense Scorpio to Sagittarius – a sign which is all about new vistas, exploration and enthusiasm. Meaning: it's time to leave the past behind and move on. There is no longer anything to be gained in revisiting it. What could be repaired – has been. What was broken will remain broken, and it might just be a blessing. (The word “blessing”, incidentally, comes from the French for “wound”.)
It doesn't mean that the losses disappear. An amputee can learn to function just fine in her new reality, but still feel the ghost of the missing limb.
It also doesn't mean the consequences of past actions can be evaded - and in fact Mars is going to hit a wall of heavy consequences later this month. (I'll get to that in a minute.)
But losses and consequences aside, you have a life to be getting on with and new things are happening. Remember that, please, when you feel like wallowing in nostalgia or self-pity. There is no going back to the way things were; you are here in your life now, and it is never going to be perfect (and it never WAS, however ideal the rear-view mirror makes it seem). But there is still plenty to be done.
I feel obliged to say that, because this new moon is hit hard by an inconjunct to Neptune in Pisces. And Neptune – planet of idealisation, delusion and fog – will be close to the south node in Pisces for the rest of the year. So it'll be easy to get pulled backward into dreams of what might have been; romantic fantasy; poisonous nostalgia; idealisation of scenarios and people that are, in fact, not so ideal...
So Neptune is another of our roadblocks under this sky - or more like a swamp you'll get stuck in. Beware of escapism and self-serving fantasy. (Plus - substance alert, in effect now and for the rest of the year. Drink and drugs are more dangerous than usual these days. You'll need to keep your wits about you and your boundaries intact, so please be careful with the boundary-dissolving substances.)
OK, re. roadblocks - this is important. Mars, planet of will, desire and forward drive, is going to hit a huge one later this month as I've said. Saturn, lord of consequences, resumes direct motion in Sagittarius on the 13th August – and then Mars runs smack into him on the 24th August. This is likely to feel like hitting a big wall of karma at high speed. It will hurt.
I think people who've been insulated against the consequences of their crappy behavior under Saturn in Scorpio are going to feel this more than most – they will have to pay the piper here. Also, inflated ego types who do not walk their talk are likely to be exposed as frauds. (This is a Saturn in Sagittarius theme.)
But really everyone will be affected. Please take blockages and delays as a matter of course, because it's unlikely that forward motion will be easy over the next month. It's important to try to stay calm and humble and keep working toward your goals even if progress seems impossible. Getting angry over it will only make things worse. This stuff looks intensely frustrating; there is plenty of potential for violence and cruelty. People will be lashing out.
And it won't help that we'll have a nervewracking mutable t-square in effect again (as in June), involving Mars, Saturn, Neptune and a succession of planets in Virgo. Or that Mercury (mind and communication) will be right in the crossfire of this mutable t-square for much of August, before retrograding back into it in September. (Head-wrecking!)
--Or that we are headed into eclipse season, with an extremely uncomfortable-looking solar eclipse in Virgo on the 1st September.
--Or that we are approaching the third (and final) pass of the Saturn-Neptune square, exact on the 10th September. Saturn is about structure, Neptune is about dissolution – and with these planets squaring each other over the past year, we have been seeing instability, uncertainty about the future and terror spreading like contagion.
I think things are set to get worse this month and into September. Nice as this new moon looks, we are not headed into a nice stretch of time – we are headed into more crazy / violent, and I think everybody can feel it. It's frightening.
My take on getting through all this is the same as it's been all year: the important thing is to keep doing your Virgo. The north node and Jupiter in Virgo point the way forward.
And after Venus moves into Virgo on the 5th August, we'll be looking at a stellium in this sign for the rest of the month. So Virgo is extra-highlighted.
In many ways this Virgo party will be Jupiter in Virgo's last hurrah – he moves from Virgo to Libra on the 9th of September, having spent a year in the sign of humility, detail work and service.
Jupiter is about what enriches and blesses us - where our luck comes from. From now till the 9th September, our luck and blessings are in Virgo.
So however crazy things get and however crazy and powerless you may feel, keep doing your Virgo. Keep your head down and your mind on the everyday tasks at hand. Clean the house, weed the garden, walk the dog, go to work, stay humble and grounded and focused on the small stuff. Restrain your ego and serve others as much as you can.
And clean up your relationship karma – make sure your relationships are clear and balanced and fair. Pay attention to the details and clear up the misunderstandings and injustices. Because Jupiter in Libra is going to be all about relationships... and justice.
It's hard to avoid the feeling that a lot of karma will be coming due over the next few months. We'll see what happens. It is sure to be interesting, anyway - as in the curse "may you live in interesting times". We do!
This is tomorrow, Friday the 22nd April, around 6:30 am GMT.
OK, so at the new moon in Aries a couple weeks ago, I wrote about desire: excavating your True Will and focusing intent and stuff like that.
Well here we are at the full moon, the culmination of the cycle opened at the new moon. And it's in Scorpio, which is all about primal desire, psychological depth work, power, intensity, death/rebirth, self-transformation and purgation.
So we are looking at a continuation and culmination of this theme of examining / transforming desire, and focusing intent.
And it's pretty intense! We are at fever pitch here. Shifts, shocks and transformations are underway.
These transformations likely have to do with relationships, money, possessions, self-esteem and values – all Venus themes. The sun is now in earthy, pragmatic Taurus – and Taurus is ruled by Venus.
So Venus is highlighted here. And right now, she is in Aries (where she is basically Xena, Warrior Princess) and tangled up with the violent and transformative Uranus-Pluto square. So she's in fighting mode. She's really not taking any shit.
Venus squared Pluto in Capricorn on the 20th, just as the sun moved into Taurus – and right on the heels of Pluto stationing retrograde. And she will conjunct Uranus in Aries on the evening of the full moon.
This denotes some major upheaval, in relationships especially. Hidden corruption and buried injustices coming to light, power dynamics shifting in wildly unpredictable ways, new opportunities popping up out of nowhere...and an unwillingness to play out the same old stories and dramas.
I think something is going to change radically here, of necessity.
It could also be about a shift in values; a change in what you want or need. Or a shift in your finances...especially shared assets and debts.
But whatever form it takes for you, this won't be superficial. It's about deep structural change. The kind that puts your life on a new footing.
It could well involve an abrupt, decisive ending – maybe there's something you have to leave behind for good here, be it a relationship, a habit, a situation. This kind of Venus action puts me in mind of a woman discovering she's been two-timed, and walking out for good. Righteously!
Like pretty much every Mary J. Blige song, ever...
Yep!
OK, but I also have to say, this moon is pretty sexed up. Scorpio and Taurus are sexed-up signs, and the sun and moon are a charged polarity at the full moon – so I guess that's another way to use this energy, if you don't want to be lighting cars on fire or taking people to divorce court.
Scorpio and Taurus are fixed signs, and Scorpio in particular brings a intensity and fixity of focus to emotional matters. And full moons are about emotional intensity...So all in all, this full moon is really fired-up.
Plus it makes no aspects except for a very weak trine to Neptune in Pisces - so the intensity of it is pretty much unmodulated. It's an all-or-nothing kinda vibe.
Please bear in mind that it might bring an intensity of frustration! Scorpio's ruling planets, Mars and Pluto, are both retrograde as of the 17th April.
I have said this is is about reconsideration, inwardness, excavation of True Will etc. – and I think at the deepest level, that's really what this is about.
But at the everyday level, it's likely to manifest as blockage, delay and frustration. Being held up or thwarted in some way, especially in regard to what you most deeply desire.
If your progress in the outer world is stalled and things are not happening the way you want them to happen or on your schedule, please just sit tight and focus inward. Think about what you really want and need, and where you want to go. Locate the obstructions in yourself that keep you stuck – because the obstructions you face in the outer world are often a mirror of the inner ones.
And please remember, things ARE shifting – just not necessarily on a surface level. Nothing can be forced right now. Lashing out in anger or frustration isn't going to help.
It will be easy to feel frustrated and jangled-up, with the mutable t-square we have going on now (and for much of this year). This involves Saturn and Mars in Sagittarius, Neptune in Pisces and Jupiter in Virgo. It's just kind of a hot mess – energy and drive all over the place, the future completely unknowable, our minds all frazzled and neurotic.
And it's made even more frustrating by all the retrogrades we have going on right now: Saturn, Mars, Pluto and Jupiter are all moving backward, denoting a ton of blocked or inward-directed energy.
Compounding the frustration, they'll be joined next week by a Mercury retrograde (29th April to the 23rd May). He'll be retrograding through Taurus, and this is about mental energy and communication that move about as fast as a damn glacier. Things are going to feel a whole lot slower by the end of this month.
Expect some mega frustration and blockage with this. Remember: things really are not going to happen according to your schedule, so don't expect them to. They will happen when it's time for them to happen. (With Neptune involved, you can have faith in that.)
Annoying as it may be, please remember the blockages you encounter are in service of deep restructuring. This Mercury retrograde through Taurus creates a grand earth trine with Pluto in Capricorn and Jupiter in Virgo – all moving retrograde as well. It'll be in effect till early June, and it looks immensely beneficial, as far as creating a solid new foundation goes. Blockage and delay will provide us with plenty of time to consider all the details of what we're entering into, and to get things right.
Anyway – remember there's really no big rush. Everything will get done if you keep attending to the little details as they come up, per Jupiter and the north node in Virgo. Please don't drive yourself crazy with deadlines and schedules and expectations, because things aren't likely to go according to plan.
It's important to keep working but also to trust in the larger design. And to view delay as a kind of gift...Because the way things are set up right now, it really IS a gift.
Anyway, to sum up: we are in the midst of a lunar cycle that is all about profound structural upheaval and transformation – especially in the context of YOU, what you really want out of life, where you want to go etc. This full moon is where the self-transformation stuff gets really intense, lit-up and unavoidable. There might be some stuff you have to cut yourself free of decisively, before you can move forward. There is likely to be some deep psychological reckoning involved. Don't expect it to be painless. Also, “moving forward” right now is more about quiet planning and internal psychological processing, because outward progress is likely to be delayed or blocked. You'd do well to treat any blockages you encounter as opportunities to refine your plans, or to re-examine your assumptions. Things will happen when it's the right time, not when you want them to happen.
PS - RIP Prince.
He would shed his mortal frame at a sexed-up, super-intense, transformative full moon in Scorpio. He just would.
This new moon is Monday the 8th February at 2:38 pm GMT.
OK, so it looks like a jolt – a big reboot. Aquarius is liberating, progressive, erratic and shocking – like a lightning bolt. Abrupt, good at sudden beginnings and endings. Freaky oddball electrical energy, like a dragon made out of lightning.
Plus we have Mars in Scorpio squaring the new moon, adding a surge of uncomfortable emotional drive and irritation. This is the kind of thing that makes you want to jump out of your skin or break something.
There is a deep push for personal freedom and authenticity encoded in these aspects. Something - maybe everything! - has to change.
Also there's the potential for a lot of stupid viciousness and power struggles, if the necessary freedom and changes are blocked.
Recall the full moon in Leo two weeks ago. Drama drama drama! Plus, messes that must be dealt with, revelations, shocks, hidden things coming to light.
OK, so this new moon is a continuation of that theme.
As of this past week, Venus is tangled up with Mercury and Pluto, and squaring Uranus. This represents a value shift, a jolting re-assessment in love and money matters - maybe as a result of whatever has been brought to light over the past few weeks.
Sudden shifts - endings and beginnings - are likely in relationship and money matters at this time. The shifts could also be in your values. The status quo just won't cut it anymore, with these aspects - deep structural change is needed.
Something new and strange wants to happen! So if you're dealing with intense frustration at this time, it might be worth asking yourself: "how am I boxing myself in; how am I failing to be fully true? How am I blocking change and progress and dragons made of lightning?"
The Venus-Pluto conjunction is about dead loves coming back from the grave, true love and commitment, romantic obsession, betrayal, manipulation, addiction, toxicity – human bondage in all its best and worst forms. Also sex, money, power, control, possession. There's nothing light about it, especially in sober, serious Capricorn. You add in the square to Uranus, and it's Indian soap opera time.
OK, so hopefully your life is not as intense (or dumb) as all that, but you get the picture.
Happily, Jupiter in Virgo sends beneficial aspects to Venus, Pluto and Mercury. This affords some buoyancy, cosmic benevolence, perspective and humor to situations that might otherwise be very fraught and gloomy.
We also have Saturn in Sagittarius beneficially aspecting the new moon and Uranus in Aries, and this grounds and stabilises the tense, erratic energy. There's a real future to be built.
And there's plenty of balance on hand. Whatever new direction you're headed in, whatever your vision for the future, whatever you have to change about your circumstances so that your life looks less like an Indian soap opera - it is entirely possible to make your dreams a reality. It will just take focus, planning and sustained work.
The right way to deal with the power surge of this new moon is to channel it into things that support freedom, authenticity and progress for you and your wider community. No hidden agendas, no manipulation, no passive aggression. Everything out in the open, fair and egalitarian and objective.
The worst way is to use all this jolting electricity to shock, hurt and manipulate. There's plenty of potential for that here. Aquarius can be cold to the point of cruelty, and Mars in Scorpio knows exactly where to stick a knife for maximum damage. Both of these signs are fixed: they don't back down.
It's like a dinosaur battle in Jurassic Park - intensely violent and reptilian. Needless to say, if you find yourself in the path of any dinosaur battles, best not to get involved. Best keep the hell away, if you can. Dinosaurs are not rational and they don't care if you become collateral damage.
If you are the dinosaur battling it out, I don't know what to tell you - except, nobody wins; nobody prevails. With Jupiter and the north node in Virgo, it pays to be humble and to keep a low profile.
The really nice thing about this new moon is that it represents a new direction: a surge for freedom, a shedding of old restraints, and a fierce drive to be yourself in all your freaky glory. You get to shed something that's been draining and dogging you.
Wherever this falls in your chart is where you'll feel a lightning bolt of clarity and personal authenticity. There's really no reason to stifle your true self anymore – what have you got to lose? The world needs everyone's weirdness.
Bearing this out, Lilith, taboo 'mother of demons' and emblem of the dark feminine, is beneficially aspecting the new moon - and this is good for women especially, but it supports everyone's suppressed wildness. Go ahead and speak your mind, say what you really think and feel, be your real self and not the respectable facade you think you should be. Cut loose and be true - "be the change you want to see", as they say.
But at the same time, remember the message of Jupiter and the north node in Virgo, and Saturn in Sagittarius. Perspective, humility, good boundaries and grown-up behaviour, please.
This is early on the 13th September, around 6:40 am (GMT).
It's an eclipse – a supercharged new beginning – in the detail-oriented, service-minded sign of Virgo. And I am determined to see it as a good thing, though it looks quite painful and uncomfortable – because Virgo is an immensely practical, grounded, orderly sign.
So if things hurt, there are practical things you can do to heal. You can start a new health regimen. You can focus on doing practical, helpful things for yourself or others who are hurting. You can clean the house and do the laundry. You can volunteer at something.
The focus will be on doing practical, humble, everyday stuff. Jupiter is in Virgo also – so our blessings and happiness this year are tied up with a focus on the everyday, the humble, the small but necessary. Attention to the little details will go a long way.
Hopefully this new moon will be painful like necessary surgery - or like how a wound stings when it's being cleaned and sewn up. Or like root canal, which is painful but functional.
Of course, it could also feel like a knife twisting in your gut, or jagged worry and mental misery. Try not to worry too much. It's definitely a worried kind of sky.
The moon and sun in Virgo will oppose Chiron in Pisces, which represents a deep, incohate sense of wounding. They will also inconjunct Uranus in Aries, which is a jittery, erratic, angry kind of energy.
Virgo's ruler, Mercury, is also in cardinal t-square with Pluto and Uranus. This is full of the potential for raw, painful, shocking thought and communication. Quite violent and explosive.
In addition, we have Saturn at the very end of Scorpio, hammering out the karmic consequences we are going to be living with for the next few decades (ugh). He will leave Scorpio for Sagittarius on the 18th September, and this should lighten things up a bit – but the month ahead is colored by the energy of this final grinding transit of 29 degrees Scorpio.
So things look pretty difficult overall. Plus we have this Jupiter-Neptune opposition which speaks of big delusion, big disappointment, mental confusion, pragmatic reality vs. huge swirly dreams.
Ack, whatever. It all looks a bit shitty – not the loveliest cosmic weather. But there is work to be done regardless.
So do your Virgo: focus on the small stuff that keeps the whole show running. Take out the trash, take the cat to the vet, do your homework, sweep the floor, trim the hedge, do some pushups, help someone who is in direr straits than you. (There's always someone.)
There are a lot of shifts underway this month. It should be interesting.
We have the aforementioned shift of Saturn from Scorpio to Sagittarius on the 18th – so we will be done with the grinding hellish psychodrama of that transit for another 28.5 years, thank Christ. Awful stuff.
The day before, the 17th September, we have Mercury going retrograde in Libra till the 9th of October. Expect the usual glitches in communications, troubles with communication devices and travel delays. Because the retrograde is happening in Libra, sign of close relationships and partnerships, there will be plenty of room for misunderstanding and miscommunication in the context of close relationships, and that can lead to major blockages and frustrations – so be aware. Paying close attention to what people are actually saying and what they actually mean will be helpful.
Pluto will resume direct motion on the 24th September, after a retrograde period that started in April. This, along with Saturn's move out of Scorpio, signals the end of the exhausting inward psychological focus of the past few months. Hopefully we can quit brooding and move forward in our lives now.
Not without frustration and blockage though: Mars moves into Virgo the next day, the 25th September – straight into a difficult square with Saturn in Sagittarius. Mars-Saturn aspects are full of frustration that can express itself as cruelty and abuse – this square will be in effect for the latter part of the month, and things could get very tense. Nitpicky and nasty, destructively critical.
And then Venus moves into the same square in the middle of October. Suffice it to say, we have not seen the end of our blockages and delays in love and money matters. (Though there will be plenty of new opportunities as Venus trines Uranus during the latter half of September.)
Well it's all potentially very frustrating, but remember – now and for the year ahead, do your Virgo. When things get shitty and your nerves are all fried and your head's a mess from beating itself against walls, do something healthy or practical or helpful, for yourself or for others. Stay humble and focused on the everyday. Plenty of people are going to be needing help, and helping others is a good way to forget your own worries.
There's a full moon eclipse in Aries on the 28th September – a 'blood moon' which some people claim will be the end of the world. I don't think that's likely, but it does look jangly and difficult. Not the easiest month ahead overall. But Saturn leaving Scorpio is a big deal, and a relief - so there's that anyway!
It looks beautiful. Big shiny happy new cycle opening here.
Leo is the sign of creativity, fun, romance, generosity, open-heartedness. And the sun and moon in Leo will be conjunct Venus in Leo – this is just a big burst of joy and creativity.
Sun, moon and Venus trine Uranus in Aries – so be open to new opportunities, new creative and romantic openings, new opportunities to have fun and to be happy. It's a party kind of sky.
The weekend ahead should be lovely. And the month ahead looks pretty nice as well.
That is not to say it's just simple, uncomplicated party time – but when is it ever? Saturn in Scorpio squares the new moon, meaning whatever gifts are involved here, they are heavy, karmic ones. Not to be taken lightly. Commitment and work are involved here; there is nothing flippant about it.
But Mars in Leo also trines Saturn at this new moon, meaning there's a lot of energy to put toward working toward the objectives we deeply want. And by deeply, I mean deeply – like heart-and-soul-level.
What do you really want for your life; what would it take to be happy? Not just surviving, but really alive?
First song on that video (“standing in the sun”) is what it's about. (Though it's worth watching the whole thing cause she's adorable.)
“I would like to see you live / standing in the sun, standing in the sun. / Not survive but really live.”
Well, what would that take, for you? What would it even mean? What practical things would you have to do, or change?
Remember, Venus is retrograde, and this amplifies the theme of recalibrations, reconsiderations, laying the proper groundwork in love and money matters. The new cycle we are beginning requires that we be absolutely true to ourselves and to our hearts – and to our self-respect. We are going to get things right this time.
That means getting the details right: Jupiter is in Virgo now, and for the next year. This is helpful, as far as seeing clearly and paying attention to the small stuff. It's much more grounded, humble and down-to-earth than Jupiter was in Leo - much more conducive to ordinary, everyday happiness.
It is sort of a tough placement for Jupiter, as he is all about the big picture and Virgo is about the little details – so Jupiter in Virgo can be pedantic at worst, not seeing the wood for the trees. But the best way to use this is to attend to details, serve others, take care of health and physical routines, and stay humble and focused on the little things that keep the whole show running.
This year - and for the month ahead, certainly - happiness is not about the big gamble, the grandiose gesture, the overblown emotion. It's about what works in the real, everyday world. Our luck and happiness (Jupiter) will be attendant upon taking care of our ordinary, routine lives and health. And also on humbly serving others, in whatever capacity we can.
It's a very tense and angry full moon – full of potential emotional violence. Also full of potential happiness, blessing and freedom. It really looks like a fairy-tale battle to me: the forces of light vs. the forces of darkness, simplistic as that sounds. There is such a contrast between the heavy, dark, emotionally claustrophobic stuff and the joy and release on offer. (But they are two parts of the same story, remember.)
It's like, Perseus cuts off the Gorgon's head – this monster whose gaze has the power to turn life to stone. And Pegasus, the beautiful winged horse representing freedom, inspiration, poetry – is born out of the wound.
I keep thinking of that story in relation to this full moon! I guess it's really an allegory for facing what we fear. Fear ossifies.
Anyway, there are some very scary monsters to be faced here. And there is the possibility of really defeating them, really getting free – getting to the root of the toxicity and amputating it from your life.
There is also some crazy magical aid on offer to help you in this task. I am not exaggerating here – it is actual magic, and it's on the side of human happiness and freedom.
I think this is all about the idea of a 'threshold guardian' - the force you have to defeat before moving to a new level, like in a video game. When you've just reached the crossing between two different states of being, there is always a struggle, and this can be internal or external. There are powerful forces of inertia and fear that manifest as blockages, setbacks or demons you have to fight. If they can scare or discourage you enough, you back down, stay on the same level and stagnate. If you keep fighting to get past them, you eventually break through to the next level - a new world., where you are no longer defined by your pathology or other people's craziness or the family ghosts or whatever.
A new world is definitely on offer - life really can turn on a dime right now. You really can get free between one minute and the next. But it looks like you have to fight for that freedom.
Maybe the freedom on offer takes the form of a painful loss or an amputation – you might have to let go of something you thought you couldn't live without. Loss can open up a space for something new and unimaginable to enter your life.
Anyway, re. the dynamics of this full moon: Mars and the sun in Cancer will be facing off against the moon and Pluto in Capricorn.
Mars in opposition to Pluto is quite violent, focused, brutal energy. It is likely to play out as interpersonal conflict - the kind that feels like a fight to the death.
Having the moon involved with Pluto and opposite Mars – and disposited by Saturn in Scorpio - means there is quite a hellish emotional load here. This speaks of buried emotional stuff coming up to be dealt with – especially family stuff. Toxicity, rage, control issues, manipulation, secrets, debts, illnesses, shattering losses. The full weight of the past. It's tough.
If battles, ordeals or painful revelations are coming up in your life, externally or internally – well you just have to face what you're afraid of. Have to. You can't let fear ossify and block up your life – there are absolutely no rewards for doing that.
Saturn (duty, karma, fear) in Scorpio is the dispositor of the full moon, and the stakes couldn't be higher. Saturn in Scorpio is intense, scary and all-or-nothing. It demands a fierce commitment to emotional excavation and dealing with your shit. Sorting out the energetic imbalances, the debts, the trauma and garbage. Doing the dirty work.
I have written plenty about Saturn in Scorpio and won't re-hash it here. It is quite dark and hellish, but the effort to deal with your demons will pay off.
At the same time, we have heaven on offer: Venus is now conjunct Jupiter and trine Uranus. This is intense, unexpected sweetness and luck. Magical loveliness, lucky breaks, open doors of possibility. Unicorns and rainbows, seriously.
Neptune in Pisces is also involved with the full moon, harmoniously aspecting the moon and sun. Meaning dreams, art, compassion and faith can carry the day.
More unicorns and rainbows!
You cannot go wrong with unicorns and rainbows, and that's a fact.
It reminds me of all the epic fairy-tale battles in Lord of the Rings-type movies. Somehow, against all odds, good always prevails. Life defeats death.
Ask yourself: what's the worst that could happen, if I face what scares me most? Is it worse to take a chance and potentially fail...or to go on living under Mordor's rule?
It's really about life or death – that's the choice on offer. And the life option involves fighting what you're afraid of, fighting for the kind of life you want.
This may involve hardship and pain - but please remember that this story favours bravery, openness, joy. Taking chances, accepting new opportunities, walking into the unknown, getting unstuck.
Unicorns and rainbows, seriously. And magic, and singing frogs.
(Please note - when I talk about fighting, I don't mean fighting by returning whatever ugliness is thrown your way. To win this fight, you have to be better than the forces arrayed against you - more aware, calmer, more compassionate, kinder. You have to be the bigger person and keep doing the right thing, even when it would be easier to just blowtorch everything. Good is all set up to prevail, so you have to put yourself on the side of the good, and not be dragged down to the level of whatever is opposing you.)
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!)
