Full Moon in Capricorn

(Tsuchiya Kōitsu, Nijo Castle, Kyoto, 1933)

This is exact tonight, the 20th July, at midnight (GMT). The sun in Cancer opposes the moon in Capricorn.

Cancer is private, moody, domestic, emotional, creative; Capricorn is status-oriented, focused on outer achievement, authority and public persona. So a full moon across the Cancer-Capricorn axis will tend to highlight issues of inner life vs. outer life:

-inner self vs. public persona
-home and family vs. work life
-emotional truth vs. money / career / status
-feelings and needs vs. responsibilities
-nurturance and gentleness vs. order and discipline

Because these signs have to do with matriarchal (Cancer) and patriarchal (Capricorn) values, family issues are likely to be highlighted.

So how do you, personally, navigate this stuff and integrate these polarities? That's the question this full moon shines a bright light on. The odds are, something in your work-life / public-private balance is changing pretty rapidly right now, or has to change. Or your family dynamics may be shifting in unexpected ways.

Full moons are always a bit fraught, and this one is no exception. The sun and moon are in cardinal (initiatory, action-oriented) signs, and both square Uranus in Aries, which is an explosive, impatient, erratic influence. It looks frustrating – Uranus wants to rebel and break free, but Cancer and Capricorn are quite conservative and attached to the status quo.

Emotional control and pragmatism will be pretty important in dealing with this kind of energy. I think these will be on hand, courtesy of the moon in Capricorn. This influence can be repressive and depressing, but it is also very sober, grown-up, grounded and realistic.

We have seen plenty of eruptive violence on the collective level in the past few weeks. Much of it relates to Cancer-Capricorn themes: homeland (Cancer) and order (Capricorn).

I hope we don't see more violence this full moon – hopefully having the moon in Capricorn will lend a bit of stability and sobriety. It does look violent though – like a crackdown.

(human kindness) 

Collectively and personally, we are dealing with the aftermath of the transformative Uranus-Pluto squares of 2012-2015. These set populist anger and desire for change against a rigid and corrupt status quo, with very unpredictable results. The landscape has altered - often in shocking and disturbing ways - over the past few years. The dust hasn't settled yet.

Compounding the confusion, we have a Saturn-Neptune square now – and this is about the dissolution of whatever we took to be stable and secure. Also, a corresponding mood of unease and free-floating dread.

Fragmentation and chaos are the order of the day, the future is lost in fog, and people are scared – and angry. Under these circumstances, extremist and reactionary movements gain traction. I think things will get worse before they get better, and it will take a good while.

It's not a cheery prospect, but it is what it is.

Some Yeats:

“Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.”

Anyway, how do we deal with this frightening collective stuff, and with the smaller-scale ways these influences play out in our everyday lives? The sky does indicate a way through.

1. Jupiter and the north node are in Virgo, and have been for the past year. This is about a humble, service-oriented, systematic focus on the details of everyday life.

-So: you could take out the garbage, walk the dog, cook the dinner, clean the house, honor your commitments, do the small stuff that needs doing. Keep your head down and your mind on the task at hand. This sort of thing is very beneficial and grounding right now.

2. Venus and Mercury are in Leo, just past an exact conjunction but still conjunct for the full moon. This is a beautiful, loving, heart-centered influence on our minds, communication and relationships. Both planets are beneficially aspecting Saturn in Sagittarius, which, at best, is about realistic vision, taking the long view and having a sense of proportion.

-So: you could let your words and actions be governed by kindness, generosity and faith in the future, not hatred, cynicism and reactionary fear. There isn't going to be much of a future otherwise.

3. Finally, Mars (now direct in Scorpio) is beneficially aspecting the full moon, and we still have a grand water trine in effect, involving Mars, the sun in Cancer and Chiron in Pisces. This is painful emotional force and insight that can be easily directed toward compassion, forgiveness and healing.

-So: you could let pain and frustration open you up to the world instead of closing you off.

I think what we do and how we behave in our small lives has a huge ripple effect on the collective. It's the only real influence we have. So this stuff is very important.

Anyway, it's a well-balanced full moon overall – harsh, angry, childish and emotionally reactive on the one hand; but steady, realistic, kind and grown-up on the other. You can pick which side of the equation you want to be on.

New Moon in Cancer

This is today, the 4^th of July, around noon GMT.

We have a big stellium in Cancer for this new moon: sun, moon, Mercury and Venus. So this is a heavy dose of Cancer energy.

I think it's much-needed after the crazy mutable intensity of the past month. This is like a big soothing duvet over our frayed nerves and minds. It's a bit of a break – a chance to retreat, regroup, lounge around at home eating nice food and rebuilding our reserves.

Cancer is about home, family, our roots, motherhood, nurturance, emotion. It is ruled by the moon, and can be as changeable – it is a moody sign, with a lot of fast-shifting emotional intensity.

Our Cancer stellium this new moon opposes Pluto in Capricorn. So expect the emotional intensities this Cancer season to be a bit amped-up. Please cut yourself and others some slack if things get kind of PMS-y and hormonal... It's probably not a big deal, and not worth starting WW3 over. It's just a mood that will pass. Maybe it's a mood that you need to examine and go deeper into, instead of acting it out with others or trying to block it out.

Despite the Pluto opposition, the new moon is well aspected overall. It looks good for emotional catharsis - Neptune in Pisces and Jupiter and the north node in Virgo send support. Maybe there's some emotional processing to be done after all the shifts and WTF moments of June. Things have changed pretty drastically – we are all trying to get our heads around the changes and what they'll mean in a practical sense. (And with Saturn squaring Neptune, this is extremely hard – the road ahead is lost in fog.)

This month looks like a good time to let our hearts catch up with our heads. There are probably a lot of pent-up feelings we haven't had time to look at, busy and buzzing as things have been. I think it's a chance to focus inward and let those feelings come up and be acknowledged.

 

Not in a melodramatic way – with Jupiter and the north node in Virgo, the point of this kind of emotional processing is very practical and sensible. It's about reaching a point of calm in ourselves, because what's ahead will not be this calm again for a good while.

So please use this month to be kind and motherly to yourself and others. Eat well, rest and focus on healthy, practical things. There are more intensities ahead – August looks quite cruel, as the t-square across mutable signs regroups and tightens, and Mars (now direct in Scorpio) catches up with Saturn in Sagittarius. I think retreating a bit now in order to rebuild the reserves is not a bad idea.

Neptune is very close to the south node, so beware of using drink and substances to blot out stress. The hangover will be pretty swampy. (This is a good influence for anyone who wants to make art, though. This month is full of creative potential.)

 

And please remember you can't go far wrong if you focus on the Virgo stuff: health, everyday routine, humility, order, service to others. The current Cancer stellium - which is all about emotional nurturance - supports this focus on Virgo themes. So taking care of ourselves and others in a very practical, gentle way is what the sky is asking us to do this month.

 

That includes letting yourself feel what you feel - not beating yourself up over it, suppressing it, or using it to construct a sob-story that perpetuates your suffering. Pluto is about purgation and clearing-out of old gunk. So Pluto's involvement with this new moon indicates it's time to let whatever's emotionally dammed up or stagnant in you start flowing and moving again. You're allowed to feel what you feel and to let it flow through you.

You don't have to use it against anyone - please don't! But it's important to honour your own feelings, and make the space and time for them to come up out of the watery depths. It's healthy and pragmatic, irrational as it may feel.  

Summer Solstice and Second Full Moon in Sagittarius

This is on the 20th June, exact around noon GMT.

It's our second full moon in Sagittarius this year – the first was on the 21st May, at the early degrees of the sign. This one is at the final degree. The final, or anarectic, degree of a sign is where all its energy is concentrated. So this thing is fraught to begin with. Plus a moon in Sagittarius inflates emotion, for good or ill.

Plus it's a full moon, and those are intense. Plus it falls at the summer solstice, the height of summer. Plus we are looking at a nerve-wracking mutable grand cross during this, and Saturn squaring Neptune, which is all about reality dissolving under our feet.

All in all, it looks extremely tense – the culmination of a crazy, jangled-up month. Mental concerns are highlighted. Issues around communication, mental overload, truth vs. falsity, manipulation of reality, and reliability of information take center stage.

How fried do you feel right now? Do you feel like you're tripping?

How mentally exhausted are you? How much of a mess is your brain? How many little irritations are being thrown at you? How crazy are the people around you acting? How crazy are you feeling? How hard is it to know true from false or even what the hell is actually going on anymore?

There is so much stressful stuff happening in the sky right now, and our minds especially are under fire. And under this full moon, the mental strain and information overload are coming to a head. If you can avoid nervous exhaustion / collapse, you're doing well.

I think the key to getting through this lies with Jupiter conjunct the north node in Virgo. This conjunction will be exact for the full moon and solstice. It is all about keeping a grip on humble, everyday reality and the tasks that must be done. This focus on small stuff, necessary details, health, routine and service to others is immensely beneficial and grounding right now.

Another key is Mars in Scorpio, retrograde till the 30th June. This is a very sharp knife, in terms of intuition. Also the ability to cut ties that are energetically harmful or toxic. It can be pretty ruthless - but if you feel drained and depleted by certain interactions, or you have a sense of being lied to, trust your gut instinct.

New Moon in Gemini

This is tomorrow morning, the 5th June, 4 am (GMT).

Woo, it is MENTAL! Absolutely all over the place. That's the kind of month we are entering into.

Neuron-frazzling as it looks, I think it's also very exciting. Gemini is the sign of thought, communication and networking. And this new moon is the focus of a very tight grand cross involving planets in the mutable signs.

Meaning, a lot is going to shift this month – a lot of new developments and multiple confusing options will be thrown at us. It'll be important to stay flexible and open to change. Everything will be in flux – even circumstances that had seemed immutable are liable to change radically, in ways you couldn't have imagined.

So being open-minded and ready to grab whatever opportunities are thrown at you is key!

But so is staying practical and grounded, if that's even possible. Because maybe some of these new developments might not have a lot of substance behind them. Remember not everything is what it's cracked up to be.

“Cracked up” - what a great phrase. It has multiple meanings: to laugh, to go insane, to shatter...

We will be cracking up on multiple levels this Gemini season! It's looking kind of ADD out there – positively Jedwardian.

Maybe I should skip writing this up and just post Jedward videos. I think Jedward illustrate the cosmic weather pretty effectively.

It is bonkers. Fun, hyper, ridiculous, shiny, disturbing, irritating – all at the same time.

The new moon forms one corner of a grand cross involving planets in mutable signs. This is absolute, unavoidable flux. We will be dealing with it in various forms all summer, but I think this is the official kick-off.

So if you're being hit with multiple little irritating problems and adjustments these days, or if your mind is all over the place, or if you feel like jumping out of your skin with frustration – you're not alone. This is just the sky at the moment, and this kind of energy will be in play for much of the year. Everyone is affected in some way.

That said - despite all the chaos, this new moon is kind of nice! We'll have the sun, moon and Venus all conjunct at exactly 14 degrees Gemini. This is about multiple options, especially re. love and money. Something pleasant is bound to come out of this.

With Gemini, there's a need for variety, diversion, communication and mental stimulation. It looks kind of fun and sparkly: glitter everywhere!

We'll want to jitter around and party and explore multiple options.

The trouble is, this feeling of multiple options may be an illusion. Neptune squares the new moon and Venus from Pisces. This is some heavily delusive energy.

Plus retrograde Saturn opposes the new moon from Sagittarius, and this is a party-killer: a dose of heavy, uncomfortable realism.

So you might want to believe you're a free agent and can do anything you want, but this is actually not the reality. There are commitments (especially, as this involves Venus, re. love and money) that you'll have to honour. There are tasks which must be fulfilled and responsibilities which will constrain your future, like it or not. You do not actually have infinite options; you may not actually have that many options at all.

We also have Jupiter in Virgo squaring the new moon and Saturn, opposing Neptune. Jupiter magnifies things, so having Jupiter involved in this mutable grand cross magnifies the tension between dreams and reality, "options" vs. necessities.

The nice thing is, Jupiter also shows the way forward. He is conjunct the north node in Virgo, and this is about keeping our heads down and our minds on the tasks that must be done. Staying humble, grounded and realistic. Keeping to our commitments.

It doesn't mean you can't have a bit of fun with this and jitter around partying like Jedward! But don't go overboard, and don't forget your actual, real-life circumstances.

Reality is heavy at the moment, and staying attuned to it is favoured. We still have a grand trine in earth signs. It's in effect for the new moon, and therefore for the month ahead.

This involves Mercury in Taurus, Pluto in Capricorn and Jupiter in Virgo, and it is a grounding, stabilising, realistic influence on our minds. This is really lucky to have in the midst of so much flux.

I think the flux will be fairly unrelenting, though. Saturn squares Neptune this month on the 18th June, right on the heels of Neptune's retrograde station on the 14th June. It's going to be really hard to know what's real from what's false – it will take all the pragmatism and discernment we have.

We'll have a second full moon in Sagittarius on the 20th June. And we'll have another mutable grand cross for this, with Mercury in Gemini. There is just no letup to the insanity – not for a while.

It looks like we'll really be trying to parse truth from falsity this month – to distinguish between our real options and our illusions. Hopefully by the full moon we'll have a clearer idea of the reality we're dealing with.

Mars retrograde in Scorpio is a good bullshit detector, and this should help. You can rely on your intuition to guide you – and your innate sense of self-preservation.

Anyway, enough seriousness. Here is some suitably discordant music for the grand cross:

Fulll Moon in Sagittarius

This is tonight, the 21st May, at 10:14 pm GMT.

It looks kind of explosive and warlike. Sagittarius can be crusading and self-righteous; a moon in Sagittarius inflates emotion. And this moon is conjunct a retrograde Mars, which denotes major pent-up emotional intensity and irritation.

Plus the moon is facing off against the sun in Gemini and Venus in Taurus. This has to do with communication (Gemini) around matters of love, money and values (Venus).

So expect some repressed emotion around these issues to come bursting out in potentially over-the-top fashion. There will be a big need for freedom of expression, and because of the levels of frustration and blockage involved, speech could be inflammatory.

Issues between men and women are highlighted, with Mars opposite Venus. Venus in Taurus isn't likely to budge – she knows what the bottom line is, for her. So this looks like an intractable kind of conflict. And consequential.

Communication planet Mercury resumes direct motion in Taurus late tomorrow. He is bound into the grand trine in earth, which is all about careful attention to the facts, calm consideration, realism and internal reckoning.

So whatever gets said or revealed around this full moon – it's weighty, and it has probably been building a while.

It's really about knowing where you stand, what you stand for, what you value. And communicating that, if necessary.

But the danger here is of an uncontrolled explosion of dammed-up emotional material. If you find yourself in a touchy conversation, try to stick to the facts and rein in the emotional reactions. And state your case as succinctly as possible - fewer words are better. More words will only lead to confusion.

We have two major patterns in effect at this full moon: a grand trine in earth, which is steady, calm, reality-based energy. And a t-square across the mutable signs, which is jarring, edgy, frustrating and unstable.

The grand trine involves Mercury, Pluto and Jupiter, and it denotes great mental clarity, insight and quiet attention to the facts. Also intense mental focus, analysis and restructuring.

The t-square involves Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune, and it's about conflicting or deceptive versions of reality, frayed nerves, confusion and dissipation of energy. Nervous breakdown stuff.

So both these influences are in play right now, and the full moon will likely bring them into conflict. And as this full moon is happening across the Gemini-Sagittarius axis, which has to do with information gathering and the construction of guiding narratives – well this really becomes about which version of reality to trust, what to believe.

If you're conflicted and confused as to what's trustworthy information, consult the still, small voice within you. Intuition is never emotional. It is very quiet and calm.

I'd be wary of anything said or thought in the heat of emotion, because emotions are likely to be really overblown here, and there may be a lot of conscious or unconscious obfuscation or manipulation going on.

We have a pretty intense few weeks ahead, and these issues will likely take center stage. The grand trine in earth will gather force toward the end of the month, heightening our capacity for solid, deep, pragmatic thought and communication. At the same time, Venus and the sun in Gemini will turn our jangly, dissonant mutable t-square into a grand cross: an extreme tension necessitating change. Venus issues – love, money, self-esteem and personal values – will be highlighted.

Things will be in major flux, and this sets the stage for the new moon in Gemini on the 5th June.

Gemini is changeable, communicative, adaptable, networky and frenetic. It's like social media: a constant stream of information, gossip and amusement. Interesting and distracting - but knowing what's actually true can be tricky. 

With the sun now in Gemini, that's the season we are in! And it looks like this June will be more relentlessly Gemini than usual. Potentially really neuron-frazzling.

New opportunities will be popping up all over the place, and the ground will be dissolving from underneath our feet. It'll be a blooming, buzzing confusion – reality will be shifting in previously unimaginable ways. 

So if you can connect with your bedrock sanity and sense of reality now, under the grand earth trine, you'll be better situated to navigate the shifts that are coming and to know real opportunity from pipe dream.

The grand trine will break up in the second week of June, so what we have now is a brief window where you get to clarify what you really value in your life, before 12 million dizzying options get thrown at you.

Mars (energy, will) backs into Scorpio, sign of psychological depth and transformation, on the 27th May, and this will help us to dig deep and parse truth from falsity. Mars in Scorpio is a good bullshit detector. His retrograde will involve excavation of past patterns and possible re-opening of old wounds – but in order to heal them. We can't move forward until we've adequately dealt with this stuff.

We'll have a second full moon in Sagittarius on the 20th June – tonight's is at the beginning of the sign, and June's will be on the very last degree. So for the next month, we are really on a journey – Sagittarius is about travel, learning, mental expansion and the search for meaning and truth. 

Because of the involvement of retrograde Saturn in Sagittarius, it's a serious, inward journey, with long-lasting import.

We will be trying to find meaning and joy in the chaos, to be true, and to live with integrity even as conditions shift wildly. And I think we are liable to end up someplace very different to where we're starting from. Paths will open up, leading us to places we didn't think we'd ever see.


So over the next month, please try to keep a hold on what you really value and hold true. Define and hold to your own personal line. Keep focusing on what's simple, practical and sensible (per Jupiter and the north node in Virgo).

But also, leave some space in your mind for life to surprise you! Reality is much stranger than we can imagine - I think we're about to find out just how strange. 

Some songs for the full moon:

(PS: It feels like a Lee Ranaldo kinda moon! He always sounds so solid and steady in the midst of chaos.) 

New Moon in Taurus

This is today, the 6th May, around 8.30 pm GMT.

I don't have a lot to say about this new moon, except that it looks lovely. Solid, slow, pleasurable, calm – all the grounded, earthy, steady Taurus stuff. It's a taking-bubble-baths, eating chocolates, revelling in physical existence kinda vibe, and it should calm and slow us down considerably. After a month of shocks and unpredictable changes, this slowdown is very welcome.

That said, the key word here is SLOW. Patience is a virtue, good things come to those who wait, etc. This is not a month for beating your head against walls. If you encounter blockages and delays in your endeavors, please just sit tight and wait them out. Don't go trying to power your way through. You'll only exhaust yourself. Things will happen when they're ready to, not necessarily when you want them to.

If you find yourself pushing against big resistance to accomplish something, it's a good idea to take a step back. You can use the blockage to reconsider and refine your plans, or you can divert your energy toward avenues that are not blocked – and there will be plenty of these. We have a grand earth trine in effect until the first week in June, and it means there will be lots of material opportunities and blessings flowing.

So if something is just not happening for you at this time, focus on what IS working. You can probably do a lot with what you've got; there is no hurry and there's no need to punch yourself out trying to force things. The way things are set up this month, delay is a gift. Please remember that if you find yourself frustrated!

If all else fails, you could just sit in the sun and have a beer. Life is mostly good! Whatever your problems may be, you are probably not dealing with this – I think it puts the everyday first-world problems into perspective. There is always a lot to be grateful for.

Anyway, re. the sky this new moon: we have a lot of stuff in Taurus right now. Sun, moon, Mercury and Venus. This is very slow, calm, contented energy.

And those planets are bound into a grand earth trine with Jupiter and the north node in Virgo, and Pluto in Capricorn. It's just very HEAVY and solid – but in a nice way.

Jupiter beneficially aspecting Venus denotes new opportunities re. love and money matters – and with all this Taurus energy, it's likely that things begun now will have some stamina and momentum behind them. We are looking at new beginnings and opportunities that stick.

That said, there will likely be plenty of delay. Five planets – Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto – are currently retrograde. So your actions / effectiveness may be temporarily blocked in the outer world.

It doesn't matter! Remember Rome wasn't built in a day. Keep attending to the small stuff and the big stuff will sort itself out.

Things should flow much more easily after Jupiter stations direct on the 10th of May. He'll go direct in beneficial aspect to Venus, and this is like getting a beautiful present that you can actually use – something practical and real.

It's especially helpful because we have a jangly, tense t-square across the mutable signs, involving Jupiter in Virgo, Saturn in Sagittarius and Neptune in Pisces. This will be tightening all month, as Jupiter and Saturn square off (exact on the 26th May) – but this kind of tension will be in effect all summer, in one form or another.

Jupiter-Saturn aspects are about expansion vs. contraction: the tension between our grandiose visions of the future vs. what is actually possible and practical. This is hard enough to navigate on its own, but it's made trickier by Neptune's involvement. Neptune blurs the lines between the real and the unreal, so it's hard to know what is actually possible and what is a pipe dream.

So we'll have this background craziness and cognitive dissonance going on all summer – this low, constant buzzing drone of discontent, like a cicada chorus.

If you're in any doubt as to what's actually feasible and what is not, I'd say just focus on the small everyday stuff as it comes up (per Jupiter and the north node in Virgo). Don't drive yourself crazy with plans and schedules and long-term scenarios that may or may not pan out. Just do what needs doing on a daily basis, and have faith that the long-term will manage itself.

Under the circumstances, it's lovely to have the slowdown indicated by all the retrograde planets, and the calm and stability of the grand earth trine and stellium in Taurus. This new moon really does look like a soothing, happy, grounding influence to me.

So if you're feeling frazzled, please put your feet up and eat some ice cream for me, and don't worry too much. Things set in motion will come to fruition, even if it's slow. And in the meantime, life is beautiful.

Full Moon in Scorpio

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.