Full Moon, Lunar Eclipse + Mercury going Direct Magnolia in Washington Park Arboretum, Portland OR Welcome, May! Magnolias are blooming beautifully in the Pacific Northwest; our season of renewal has sprung into life. Are you feeling the urge to burst into new pathways? The astrology over the next few weeks can help you navigate what you're considering and the timing on when and how to move into new terrain. 5/3/23 - 5/5/23 Venus Square Neptune Venus Sextile Jupiter On May 3rd - 5th, Venus makes aspects with Neptune and Jupiter. This is an interesting combo, as all three planets are the money planets; when we look at the astrology chart to see into money, one of the things we look to see is the planetary placements and aspects of Venus, Jupiter, and Neptune. Therefore, if money has been a strong topic in your life recently, whether you want to save, invest, sort out debts, or make an expensive purchase, then it’s essential to consider the astrological aspects occurring during the 3rd through the 5th. Mercury continues to be in retrograde until the 14th. It would be advisable not to make big decisions until after the 14th. Decision-making and processing may not be as clear during Mercury retrograde. We are also in eclipse season, making it not the best time to start new things. (More on the May 5th Eclipse below) Amidst Mercury's retrograde and a Lunar eclipse, Venus, Jupiter, and Neptune present interesting dynamics: On May 3rd - 5th, Venus is simultaneously making both an easy and positive aspect (Sextile to Jupiter) and a challenging aspect (Square to Neptune). If you are thinking about money decisions (spending or making) during these days, it would be wise to consider what’s happening astrologically. Venus and Jupiter are the benefics of astrology, meaning they open you up to experiences that can bring good things. Venus allows for ease, love, beauty, and receiving of gifts. Venus and Jupiter in Sextile can open you up to feeling optimistic and seeing the good things that can come your way. However, when Venus makes a Square with Neptune, the things you feel good about can glow brightly with allurement that is idealized and illusionary. It’s wise to enjoy the grandeur of what may be possible and take care not to lean too far from your own center of gravity and grounded sensibility for what is truly possible. This is a great time to catch a vision and let it settle before acting. Therefore, I recommend noticing what’s coming up for you and your ideas and feelings about your money from the 3rd through the 5th. You may be able to open up to ideas you haven’t thought of, opportunities that are now available to you… and it is astrologically indicated to give it more time and thought before you jump in. In addition, if you can hold off until Mercury goes direct on or after the 14th, you may enjoy a clearer sense of what is the right move for you. These aspects can have us jumping in too big or biting off more than we can chew, so before you decide to execute big ideas, wait until this transit is over (after the 5th) to see what is still real for you.  5/5/23 Full Moon Scorpio 10:34 AM, PDT Penumbral Lunar Eclipse 10:22 AM, PDT We are in an eclipse season. First, there was a Solar Eclipse on the New Moon of April 19th. Then a Lunar Eclipse, two weeks later, on May 5th, as the Full Moon in Scorpio occurs with a Lunar Eclipse. (Solar Eclipses always occur on a New Moon; Lunar Eclipses always happen on a Full Moon.) During eclipses, it’s best not to start new things, especially on the day of, as the energy is more about releasing old things versus building or creating new things. Unexpected things can happen when adventuring onto a new path during the Eclipse time, so it is good to heed this oft-cited astrological advice. FYI, the type of eclipse on the 5th is called a penumbral Lunar eclipse, where the Moon’s light isn’t entirely blocked (as is with a total eclipse) due to its position with Earth at this particular time. Although you won’t see a total eclipse of the Moon, the energy of an eclipse still holds sway. (see the image above, the Moon will be positioned in the penumbral zone on May 5th) Full Moons are good times for releasing, and the Scorpio energy is good support for letting things and emotions go. It would be helpful to hold this understanding on and around May 5th and work on releasing what you know in your life is showing you it’s time to let it go. The energy of eclipses can linger on for weeks to months, depending on how it interacts with your personal natal chart. The Eclipse on May 5th is happening at 14 degrees Scorpio. If you know how to look at your birth/natal astrology chart, you can see if the eclipse energy touches or influences particular personal realms of your life. 5/11/23 - 5/13/23 Mercury Sextile Saturn Mercury Sextile Venus Venus Trine Saturn The astrological transits for May 11th - 13th, involving Mercury, Venus, and Saturn, emphasize getting grounded in communications and relationships. These are also good days to create positive and stimulating conversations. Three transits are happening, and the first one - Mercury Sextile Saturn, can turn your attention towards having matter-of-fact conversations and feeling mentally focused on the practical matters of life. Mercury also makes a Sextile with Venus, with the second transit, and is helpful in business, negotiations, and communication aimed at profitable activities. People will want to hear what you have to say. Venus also influences our connection to relationships, and you may have opportunities for good chats with those close to you or in your intimate relationships. The energy supports mental processing with others in loving ways. Venus will make a Trine with Saturn in the third transit from the 11th to the 13th. Beauty and practicality come together nicely— these are good days to experience relationship balance and harmony in close friendships and intimate relationships.  5/14/23 Mercury goes Direct Mercury has retrograded since April 21st and will go direct on May 14th. When planets are retrograde, they appear to move backward in the sky from Earth’s vantage point. Mercury’s retrograde motion that began on April 21st covered the same celestial sky terrain as it did on April 7th - 21st. This retrograde energy can put you in rewind, review, and rework mode regarding the matters of your life during these April dates. Mercury goes direct on the 14th, so you may continue to work out the same things as it covers the same terrain again for a 3rd and last time in forward motion. Mercury will take until June 1st to return to the same place it was in Taurus before retrograding. June 1st will be when Mercury "gets out of its shadow”. This whole time from April 7th - June 1st may ask for your mental patience. The decision-making and communications you’re involved in may take longer to work out. If things have been confusing or you’ve been uncertain about how you will wrap your brain around situations in your life, things should become more apparent the closer we get to June 1st. Until Mercury goes Direct on the 14th, I recommend following the guidelines for Mercury retrograde; refer to my last blog post (April 17th - 30th) for tips on how to focus your time. ~  With astrology, the most helpful advice is always individual and personalized based on your astrology birth chart and life situations. Astrology readings with Laura can help you: ~ Align with your unique talents and opportunities ~ Move through life's challenges more intentionally ~ Gain a new awareness of major life changes ~ Know when is the best time to take action ~ Find clarity on self-limiting patterns Please get in touch to learn more about scheduling an astrology reading with Laura to help you navigate your life!
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Sun enters Taurus; Mercury goes Retrograde 4/19 - 4/20 New Moon in Aries Sun Enter Taurus Sun Square Pluto On the last day of the Sun’s annual, month-long journey through Aries, it conjoins with the Moon on the 19th, making a New Moon in Aries. Aries is a Cardinal Fire sign, creating vital energy for action and initiation. What New beginnings this Spring are stirring excitement within you? As nature buds and blooms, connect with this New Moon energy and see what initiations are ready to emerge in your life. What are your action steps (Aries Energy) to support the movements of these sprouting new shoots of life? The next day, following the New Moon, the Sun moves into the Fixed Earth sign of Taurus on April 20th. Whatever you’re opening into this season, these weeks of Taurus energy can add layers of solid groundedness with a “fixed” capacity to see it through to completion (or at least the creation of well-established fruitful movement in that direction). Something to keep in mind, however, is that as the Sun enters Taurus on the 20th, it will also be making a challenging square aspect with the great transforming energy of Pluto. Squares can bring friction as they challenge you to shift out of old patterns that aren’t working for you. With Sun Squaring Pluto, you may feel internal conflicts around letting things go that might not be worth putting your energy towards. On the 20th, tune in and notice if old parts of yourself are pulling on you. The Sun's energy connects to our identities. When Square Pluto, you may see certain aspects of yourself might not fit your present paradigm and need to be released so you can reach new levels of your being. The challenge is the attachments we have to these old parts of self. To overcome the conflict, acknowledge the shifts inside yourself and release attachment to what’s no longer serving you. The blessing of the Pluto Square Sun energy, just after the New Moon in Aries, is something New and better inside yourself will have a chance to emerge. 4/21 - 5/14 Mercury retrograde Just after the New Moon and Sun’s transit into Taurus, Mercury goes retrograde on the 21st. Mercury always transits close to the Sun and is also in Taurus, directing your mental attention toward creating nourishment through groundedness and stability. As Mercury, the planet that governs thought and communication, goes retrograde, it will be in “rewind’ mode and going back over the terrain of our recent weeks. More specifically, whatever mental processes, plans, and communications revolving around what was going on in your life from April 7th to April 20th may continue to be rehashed/worked out until Mercury leaves its shadow on June 1st. Mercury retrograde periods are an opportunity to review, reprocess, and integrate current events in your life. It’s a time for recollecting, reflecting, and metabolizing your recent experiences. When we avoid this opportunity and try to conduct our affairs by charging ahead as if Mercury were moving with a direct forward motion, communication and thinking processes go haywire and run wonky. When we allow the retrograde period as an opportunity to welcome a retreat into integration, we can take the opportunity to recalibrate ourselves and move in harmony with the nature of this time. It’s a supportive time to finish up projects taking up psychic space. Spend time with these activities during these next three weeks. Clear clutter in closets, garages, workspaces, donate items, etc. Mercury rules our minds, and when you clear out the physical clutter, you are also helping clear your mental clutter. When Mercury goes direct again on May 15th, you can feel mentally refreshed if you take advantage of the Mercury retrograde, rewind, review, and clear out period.  4/23 Mercury Sextile Mars On April 23, Mars will be making a positive Sextile with Mercury. Your mind may be pretty active and stimulated towards moving on plans or ideas you’ve been having. If you haven't been able to wrap your mind around things happening in your life, a Mars/Mercury Sextile can help you get more mental energy toward figuring it out. Remember, Mercury is in retrograde, and you might have to give yourself more time to think through what you want to do and ensure it’s a solid plan. Mercury in retrograde can sometimes interfere with clarity in decision-making. If you have a big decision, this Mercury/Mars transit may activate you to move in one direction or another. However, I recommend writing these ideas down and waiting until Mercury is out of retrograde (as time allows) on May 15th to see if it still seems to be the right choice for you. Otherwise, if you move on impulses coming to you on or around April 23rd, you may have to rehash your action plan later, which may require more work to get it right. 4/27 - 4/29 Mars Square Chiron On April 27, action-oriented Mars makes a square with the wounded healer Chiron. Squares between planets point to nagging internal conflicts that must shift towards something healthy and positive for you. Under the Square dynamic of Mars and Chiron, you may notice an urge to heal patterns related to how you respond to situations. You may feel encouraged to stand up for yourself in a new way, which may initially feel edgy but ultimately will help you become untangled from a long-held unhealthy pattern. Notice what’s happening in your life on the days surrounding the 27th. Are there situations that require you to act in self-love that might feel internally difficult? Whatever work you can do on the 27th and 28th will be helpful for when Mars makes an opportune Sextile with Uranus on the 29th, helping you feel even freer from the old patterns. 4/29 - 4/30 Mars Sextile Uranus On the 29th, Mars will move into a Sextile with Uranus, allowing you to feel more invigorated toward moving out of restrictions that have kept you from feeling free to be you and create new things in your life. Mars helps us take action toward what we want to be doing for ourselves, and Uranus opens us up to new visions for how to do that. Uranus’s Energy can access breaking free from things that hold us back or areas of life we feel stuck in. We feel free to be who we are and act from that place of personal sovereignty. As April approaches its last days, look deeper into how you feel held back, whether it’s situations, fears, or relationship dynamics. See if you feel stimulated and inspired to take a different course of action to create a more self-aligned reality for yourself. I recommend setting yourself free to follow what’s emerging. Recognize how you can free yourself from being controlled by situations out of your control. Fresh new energy is available to explore, creating new pathways for self-actualization. ~  With astrology, the most helpful advice is always individual and personalized based on your astrology birth chart and life situations. Astrology readings with Laura can help you: ~ Align with your unique talents and opportunities ~ Move through life's challenges more intentionally ~ Gain a new awareness of major life changes ~ Know when is the best time to take action ~ Find clarity on self-limiting patterns Please get in touch to learn more about scheduling an astrology reading with Laura to help you navigate your life! April's Astrology and You Spring "Marches" into April; buds and blooms appear; notice what's emerging from within you. As above, so below . . . what's going on in your inner world reflects what's happening in the external world. Over these next few weeks, the planetary arrangements can help you sort out any blocks to your fullest blooming that are in play in your present dynamics. 4/3 - 4/4 Mercury Square Pluto Mercury influences our communications, and Pluto brings deep things to the surface where they can become known and consciously addressed. Pluto’s power reveals and transforms unconscious material. Pluto’s transformative path can require us to move through dark, challenging material, and with conscious intention, it can ultimately move things into new places that feel better and more appropriate. When Mercury and Pluto come into a Square aspect on April 3rd and 4th, you may find yourself in matters that stir internal conflicts regarding resolving issues. Recognize in the first handful of days in April if you see yourself in a communication dynamic or an internal dialogue regarding a challenging situation. Ask yourself: Are you in a familiar thought pattern that holds you in a hostile and stuck place? Notice what ways of thinking you must let go of to shift into a new mental space.  4/5 - 4/6 Mercury Sextile Saturn Following the Mercury/Pluto Square, Mercury will make an easy and stimulating Sextile aspect with Saturn on the 5th and 6th. This energy provides an opportunity to restructure your thoughts in a way that helps you feel more grounded and stable. Saturn helps your mind “get real”. If you’re in decision mode regarding a direction you want to go with what you are planning or building in your life, take note of what’s coming through your mind on April 5th - 6th. Some helpful ideas may be coming in, allowing you to see more clearly what will and won’t work in your planning process. Heed these ideas; write them down! 4/7 - 4/9 Venus Sextile Neptune Mercury Sextile Mars April 7th - 9th brings more energy around communications with Mercury activating Mars in a Sextile aspect. Sextiles occur when planets are 60 degrees apart and invigorate opportunities for you to open up the highest qualities each planet represents. Mars influences your will and stimulates your desire to take care of your needs. When Mars gets activated, action happens. As Mercury and Mars affect each other’s energy on the 7th and 9th, your mind (Mercury’s influence) might be more noticeably stimulated by thoughts and urges to communicate needs or other topics of concern with enthusiasm. This transit brings good energy to help you speak up for yourself. If there have been recent challenges around getting your thoughts out to another, this is an opportune time for doing the real work of self-expression. Along with the Mercury/Mars Sextile, Venus and Neptune are also making the same 60-degree aspect with each other. Venus and Neptune can add more loving and meaningful communication to the astrological energy of the 7th - 9th. If you feel like you’re opening into what could be a more challenging conversation, Venus softens and balances the often pushy energy of Mars to create more harmony. Neptune extends into our soul experiences and can help you see the more significant meaning behind the actions you are taking on these days. One thing to recognize, however, is that when Neptune is involved in planetary arrangements, the soulful opening can blur boundaries creating a more undefined and even, at times, confusing energy to anchor in. If this face of Neptune emerges amidst important communication, and dialogue becomes murky during this transit, remember you can pause and allow clarity to emerge before resolving communication.  4/11 - 4/12 Venus Trine Pluto Venus and Pluto will be in a flowing and opportune Trine on the 11th and 12th, opening energy for transformation in your relationship(s). Venus connects us to receiving love, friendship, intimacy, and beauty. Pluto takes us into the unknown depths to uncover what’s operating from the unconscious so we can transform into present-time consciousness and make choices from this place of awareness. When Venus and Pluto Trine, there’s a flow of energy that help discharge the things that need to go so you can take your relationships to the next level. Relationships remain healthy and viable when they can evolve and grow as each person naturally changes over time. There is an ease in doing some of this, letting go and transforming during the second week of April, which will be helpful as Venus makes a hard Square to Saturn on the days following the Venus/Pluto transit (see below). 4/13 - 4/15 Venus Square Saturn Just after Venus, ruler of the heart and relationships, makes a flowing Trine with Pluto, it will move into a more challenging Square aspect with Saturn. Square aspects between planets occur when planets are at a 90-degree angle from each other, squaring off and blocking their natural impulses. When the Square is between Venus and Saturn, during the 13th - 15th, you may notice more of “what’s not working” in your relationships or heart spaces and feel the need to restructure some things. Sometimes this means changing some aspects of how you are present and show up in your relationships; other times, it may be time to break up. Squares are more connected to our internal processes that ultimately influence our outer world. Spend time with yourself during the 13th -15th and see what is coming up inside you in connection to your relationships and feeling heart. See if you notice an internal pattern keeping you held hostage from having a more fulfilling relationship experience that needs acknowledging and shifting. ~  With astrology, the most helpful advice is always individual and personalized based on your astrology birth chart and life situations. Astrology readings with Laura can help you: ~ Align with your unique talents and opportunities ~ Move through life's challenges more intentionally ~ Gain a new awareness of major life changes ~ Know when is the best time to take action ~ Find clarity on self-limiting patterns Please get in touch to learn more about scheduling an astrology reading with Laura to help you navigate your life! Spring Equinox + Pluto Moves into Aquarius The Spring Equinox is here; we are halfway between Winter and Summer Solstice when the Sun enters Aries. This Spring Equinox time energy can engender brighter feelings as more light comes in and we head into longer, warmer days in the Northern Hemisphere. The plants are stirring underground, and like Aries’ ram lamb nature, they start to push forth, rear heads, and sprout. How is your life reflecting and manifesting this Arien Spring season energy? Also, Pluto moves into Aquarius this month and we are shifting towards a new era in humanity - Read on to get the full scoop! March 20th: Spring Equinox + Sun enters Aries March 21st: New Moon Aries 10:23 AM, PDT Spring Equinox that always comes as the Sun Moves into Aries - the zodiac sign that begins the zodiac circle. The fiery and passionate sign of Aries is considered to be the child of the zodiac. It’s a good reminder to approach the Spring season in tune with your child-like nature, in awe of what’s around you and the exciting possibilities of all the paths you can take. To add to the Sun in Aries / Spring Equinox movement towards fresh and new possibilities, we will have a New Moon in Aries on the following day, March 21st. It’s a supportive time for opening into what wants to spring forth in your life. Whether it is a plan you’ve been working on or new creative ideas emerging. These days offer a potent time to set some intentional space for reflection. Explore what action steps you can take this week to support any new beginnings happening for you (internally and externally). Write down your thoughts so you can return to this over the following days and months to help you stay grounded and focused through the Spring season.  March 26th - 27th: Mercury conjuncts Chiron and Jupiter Mercury, the planet that influences your mind - thoughts, communications, and mental processes is joining its energy (conjunction) with Chiron, the wounded healer, on March 26th. It is an opportune time to have that healing conversation if you know one is on the horizon. Perhaps there’s a “conversation with yourself” you need to get into a better place regarding how you think about a situation or life circumstance. Chiron transits can help us bring healing to patterns of “woundology”. It’s good to feel our feelings when we have them, and sometimes we might unconsciously interject negative thoughts onto them, creating a dynamic of feeling worse before we notice what has occurred. If you have this pattern, it’s helpful to notice if you’re attaching more negative thinking toward the things you already feel, which can make you emotionally spiral or feel bad about yourself. See where you can be more mindful (pun intended) about these thought processes and shift your thinking to provide more opening and healing versus putting yourself down. This Mercury conjunct Chiron transit combines well with Mercury’s conjunction with Jupiter the following day on the 27th, opening up more access to Jupiter’s gifts of positive and expansive movement. The energy of the Mercury/Jupiter conjunction can help you get out of limiting thought patterns and see what more can open regarding the things going on in your life that may feel more challenging and restrictive.  March: 30th - 31st: Mars Trine Saturn + Venus conduct Uranus March ends with a productive Trine between Mars and Saturn and Venus and Uranus joining their energies in conjunction. From March 30th to 31st, you may feel the urge to create more novel and evolving beauty around you (Venus/Uranus) and the ability to manifest (Mars/Saturn) the inspiration coming through. Mars and Saturn, in a Trine aspect with each other, open up an opportunity to use your active energy in a grounded and practical way, productive, balanced, and to the point. When Venus and Uranus blend their energies in Conjunction, you may notice a heart-opening connection to new ideas of inspiration. Venus also influences our relationships with others in friendship and intimacy. At the same time, Uranus’s energy can suddenly urge us to break out of old stuck patterns that feel freeing to do so. With Mars and Saturn in the mix, there’s a sense of direction and steadiness to the potentially changing energy that feels balanced. In the last days of the month, tune in to what the spirit winds of inspiration in your being are calling you to do and create. See what sense of freedom you can gain by taking the inspiring action steps moving through you on the 30th and 31st.  Planet Pluto A special addition - Pluto enters Aquarius this month! Pluto is the slowest moving planet in our solar system and can significantly transform our lives over a long period. (Yes, astrologers continue to work with the power of Pluto’s influence as a member of the “planet” community) Pluto takes 248 years to make one orbit around the Sun and can stay in one sign from 14 to 31 years; it affects a generation of people at a time. Its effect is like a death and birth process in that things must change at some point, and when they do, a birth of something new in your life or with humanity emerges. The process can slowly happen over a few years or more when Pluto is involved with change. Some things just take longer to transform and get to a new place. When Pluto enters a new sign, it can be a significant mark at the end of one era and the beginning of the next. Pluto has been transiting through Capricorn since 2008, and on March 23rd, Pluto moves into Aquarius. However, it is in retrograde for six months out of every year, so it will go in and out of Capricorn a few more times before it remains entirely in Aquarius during November 2024. Notice the transformations that have shaped your life and the collective since 2008. Pluto in Aquarius will begin a new collective era that will take us to 2044 when Pluto enters the next sign (Pisces). These next 20 years of Pluto’s transit through Aquarius signify a rather large topic, but I will share some things to consider. Pluto, the great transformer, is headed into a sign that opens the mind to pathways of envisioning innovative ways to help humanity move forward. Aquarius can also be about a revolution in all senses of the word. The last time Pluto was in Aquarius was from 1778 - 1798 when social and political revolutions were happening all over the globe. To get a bigger picture, study the events and the outcomes of the Enlightenment, American and especially the French Revolution, which occurred the whole time Pluto was last in Aquarius. Many current systems may not only be challenged but revolted. Could this be the subsequent revolutionary era where our collective energy is going? If you know your natal chart and what house is ruled by Aquarius in your chart, then you can see where this Plutonian energy is occurring in your personal life over the next several years. If you need help understanding this energy, a private, individualized astrology reading can guide you on best working with what’s changing for you. We can explore this energy together, and you can learn how Pluto in Aquarius brings revolutionary changes to your life over the next several years. ~  With astrology, the most helpful advice is always individual and personalized based on your personal astrology birth chart and life situations. Contact me to learn more about scheduling an astrology reading to help you navigate your life in these transformative times. Book an astrology reading and find out how the full year ahead is looking for you! Saturn moves into Pisces: What structures will shift in your life? This month Saturn enters Pisces bringing its ever-present insistence on grounding, practicality, and need for structure into the transcendent, oceanic realm of the adaptable, flowing, and compassionate sign of the fishes—a significant shift in energy from where Saturn has been over the last five years. This is a potent astrological transition. When slower-moving planets like Saturn enter a new sign, it signals a new chapter. March 1-3 Venus Conjunct Jupiter Venus Conjunct Chiron March begins with a beautiful Conjunction between Venus and Jupiter In Aries. If you have been “looking up” just after sunset lately, you may have noticed these two planets' magnificence growing closer together each night in the twilight glory of the western skies. When Venus and Jupiter’s energy combine in conjunction, it creates a pleasant, heart-opening, and expansive experience. Venus influences relationships and the aesthetic aspects of life, and Jupiter brings opportunities for feeling positive and expansive. It’s a supportive time to get your visionary cap on and also get creative. Things may feel more at ease from the 1st through the 3rd. It’s a good time to move through obstacles and create more openness around any issues in your relationships that need working out. Some heart healing alignment may also open up as Venus comes into Conjunction with Chiron, the “Wounded Healer,” on the 3rd.  March 3-4 Mercury Conjunct Saturn Mercury and Saturn join their energies from the 3rd through the 4th, which can shift energies a bit from the aforementioned Venus/Jupiter conjunction and have you focus more seriously on life's practical matters. Saturn’s energy creates more constriction, the opposite of Jupiter’s expansiveness. The sober, sane, and settled energy of Saturn, in conjunction with Mercury, can help your thinking gain valuable focus regarding what are the truly essential things to be working on. Saturn’s influence removes the “noise” of the extra things you would typically get involved in that can feel distracting. You might feel overwhelmed on the 3rd and 4th by trying to put your attention in too many directions. Notice what is genuinely calling your attention, and let the rest be for now. This is a good time to create accomplishment and success with what you put your efforts towards. Therefore, if there’s anything you’ve been putting off, like doing your taxes or making an important call … Saturn and Mercury’s combined energy on these days would be supportive to get to work on those things. You’ll be able to put your mind to the task! March 7th Saturn moves into Pisces & Full Moon in Virgo This is a day of potent astrological transition. Whenever slower-moving planets enter a new sign, it signals a new chapter, this one is initiated with an attendant Full Moon! Saturn brings the need to restructure whatever areas of your life it influences by transit (relationships, home, career, you, etc.). It spends about 2.5 years in one zodiac sign before transiting to the next. It has been in its comfortable and rulership signs of Capricorn (modern rulership) and Aquarius (ancient rulership) for the last five years. On March 7th, Saturn enters the sign of Pisces, which will be a significant shift in energy from where it has been for the last half a decade. Saturn is grounded and realistic and aligns us with creating structure, boundaries, and orderliness. The zodiac sign it is in describes how these aspects get created. Pisces is flowy and idealistic and can be more uncomfortable energy for Saturn’s predictable nature. As Saturn enters Pisces on the 7th, a 2.5-year odyssey of restructuring your ideals will begin to evolve slowly. This could bring up fears if you are attached to the structures you are called to change. If you know where Pisces resides in your natal chart, you can hone in on this area of your life and notice if you feel a change is on the horizon. Saturn is grounded in reality, and Pisces offers an ability to flow outside your normal boundaries and imagine or dream into other ways of creating your reality. If you work with the Piscean energy of being in flow with what’s changing over the next 2-3 years, you may experience a more beautiful structure for your life than you thought possible. Imagine bringing your dream visions into grounded reality! That’s the highest vibrational potential that wants to emerge from this period of Saturn transiting Pisces. On the same day the portal opens with Saturn entering Pisces (March 7th), we have a Full Moon in Virgo, the sign 180° directly opposite Pisces. It may be a more emotional day as you navigate the flowy Piscean sea of opening boundaries with earthy Virgo's practical, structured, and organized energy. When Planets are in opposites signs (such as the Sun and Moon in this case), the best way to handle the pull to one side or the other is to find a way to integrate and allow both energies to come to play. What is the balance for you? How can you embody your grounded, practical presence here and now, with your inner dreamy ideals seeking to manifest and be known? The Virgo Full Moon adds emphasis to the hands-on attending that is required to midwife this Piscean loftiness into reality!  March 10-12th Venus Sextile Mars Jupiter Conjunct Chiron Mercury Sextile Uranus March 10th-12th brings some optimistic and stimulating weekend energy from several planetary interplays. Venus and Mars make a Sextile with each other, activating positive dynamic energies around relationships. Jupiter and Chiron combine their energies in conjunction and open with an expansiveness around opportunities for healing. Mercury and Uranus also make a Sextile with each other stimulating your creative and visionary mind and helping you break out of mental blocks. The 10th through the 12th is a favorable time to socialize, ask that special person out on a date, open your heart, and play creatively with your artistry and in relationships. As you flow with these fun Sextiles between Venus/Mars and Mercury/Uranus and allow these movements to bring new and refreshing energy, it can feel healing with the blended energies of Jupiter and Chiron in the mix. This is a particularly opportune weekend for creating good connections with partners, friends, and family… all your loved ones. March 14th -19th Mars Square Neptune Following the wave of stimulation energy occurring 10th-12th, Mars and Neptune come into a Square aspect with each other. Squares can be more challenging to navigate as the planets are located 90 degrees from each other, creating frictional energy between the two planets. This can be experienced as internal conflicts where one part of yourself feels impeded by another aspect of yourself. Mars activates our will to move towards the things we want to be doing. Neptune allows our souls to open and connect to the larger universal forces at play. When Mars and Neptune come into a Square aspect on the 14th through the 19th, your physical energy might feel lower, and you may need to surrender your will and listen to your soul if it’s calling you to move in a different direction than you intended. You may be more drawn to a walk, music, meditation or reading a book than checking off that to-do list. That is A-OK! Permit yourself to go with the flow of your energies during March 14th-19th, or else you might spend too much of your time in conflict with yourself regarding how you are going about your day. Neptune has a way of serendipitously bringing us right to where we need to be for something meaningful to happen in our lives, and sometimes this is more possible when we get out of our way. During the Mars Square Neptune transit, I recommend GOING WITH THE FLOW! ~  With astrology, the most helpful advice is always individual and personalized based on your personal astrology birth chart and life situations. Contact me to learn more about scheduling an astrology reading to help you navigate your life in these transformative times. Book an astrology reading and find out how 2023 is looking for you! What Influences your Thoughts? In this mid-Feb blog, I am highlighting the transits of Mercury, the planet that influences mental processing and communication. Mercury is the fastest-moving planet in our solar system. It orbits the Sun in 88 days and spends about 2-3 weeks in each zodiac sign (except during retrograde). Planetary transits with Mercury are brief and worthy of our attention as they influence everyday life by governing the ever-changing sphere of our consciousness and cognition that we process and experience through language. 2/17 - 2/19 Mercury Sextile Jupiter Mercury influences our mental processes and communications, and Jupiter optimistically expands our approach. When Mercury and Jupiter move into an opportunistic Sextile aspect from the 17th through the 19th, it creates more capacity for optimistic thinking. A positive outlook naturally comes wherever you find yourself. It’s a supportive time to expand your mind and think outside the box. If you feel stuck in a particular way of thinking, this Mercury/Jupiter transit may allow you to open to broader perspectives. I encourage you to take note of new thoughts coming in and write your ideas down during these dates. It’s a potent time to harness the power of positive thinking.  2/19 - 2/21 Venus Sextile Pluto With Pisces New Moon 11:06 pm PST (2/19) Just after Mercury and Jupiter create an opening for more expansive mental energy, Venus and Pluto will also make a positive, Sextile aspect with each other from the 19th through the 21st. Venus influences aspects of yourself that connect to relationships, social life, and your aesthetic senses of bringing beauty into your life. Pluto’s energy influences change and transformation, taking you below the superficial levels of your experience to bring forth the power of deeper layers of being. Its influence can bring to the surface the things you may not have been conscious of and need to see to transform your experiences and grow more profoundly as a human being. Pluto and Venus together stimulate a need for connecting with others and opening up the depths of love and intimacy. You may notice stronger attractions from the 19th-21st and a need to transform your love relationship(s) to the next level. The Venus/Pluto Sextile is a positive and supportive time to move through any existing complicated layers and shift into new spaces. This Venus/Pluto energy is connected to the New Moon in Pisces on the 19th. Pisces opens your senses to yourself at a soul level as a being swimming in the big sea of the Universe. This expansiveness can help you break through old limitations and tap into new experiences congruent with Pluto and Venus's positive Sextile of transforming power and the areas mentioned above in your life it may influence. 2/20 Mercury Sextile Chiron In this month’s wave of planetary Sextiles, Mercury and Chiron are next in line on the 20th. Chiron is the wounded healer. You may find yourself in healing conversations that help you move forward. If you have been in situations recently where things need working out, I recommend taking the opportunity on or on the days surrounding Feb 20th to open dialogue. To help guide you, think back to the time around January 11th. This period would have been when Mercury and Chiron were in a difficult Square aspect with each other. You might have felt challenged by conversations, communication, or thoughts relating to a difficult situation. Perhaps you’ve been able to move through it since then, and on Feb 20th, you may experience having more positive thoughts about the situation's outcome. You might have that healing conversation and or be able to process the situation from a place of your higher mind. Pausing to tune into this Mercury/Chiron transit will be helpful for the following days when Mercury comes into another more challenging Square aspect with Uranus (see below).  2/21 - 2/23 Mercury Square Uranus As mentioned throughout this Mid-Feb blog, Mercury relates to our communications and mental processes. Uranus opens up the aspect of ourselves that wants to break out of old habits and patterns and get us into new ways of being that feel exciting and free. On Feb 21st - 23rd, Mercury and Uranus will be in a difficult Square aspect, challenging you to break out of stubborn thoughts or ways of communicating that keep you from having forward movement with others. During the 21st - 23rd, notice if you have upwelling new ways of thinking that challenge your old ways. Sometimes we can feel so attached to a long-held thought about something that we can’t imagine seeing it in any other way, much less letting it go. Doing so would be liberating, but do you feel ready to open up to a new way of thinking? With a square aspect like this, situations can show up as familiar patterns we find ourselves in that require us to shift out of these old ways of being. It can feel like a crisis, but it becomes a moment of personal growth if we genuinely make our way through it. Ultimately, this up-and-coming Mercury/Uranus transit can free you out of communication patterns that just aren’t working for you anymore. It’s like updating your operating system and upgrading your patterns and processing modes. Recognize if any crisis-type or tipping point situations are related to communication, which can help you understand what parts of your life are calling for new thought patterns. With awareness, you can use this time to open yourself to discovering new pathways in communicating from an authentic place that allows you more alignment with yourself. ~  With astrology, the most helpful advice is always individual and personalized based on your personal astrology birth chart and life situations. Contact me to learn more about scheduling an astrology reading to help you navigate your life in these transformative times. Book an astrology reading and find out how 2023 is looking for you! Welcome to February! In the coming weeks, I am happy to report that there are no planets in retrograde until April, allowing for more ease and forward movement in your life. In the presence of all our planets in direct motion, Chiron also has positive aspects, creating opportunities for moving through deep layers of healing past wounds. Feb. 1st - 2nd Sun sextile Chiron The first two days of February offer an opportunity to highlight and reflect on the ongoing processes of a more profound, long-term movement toward healing the roots of personal agency inside yourself. As the Sun makes a Sextile aspect with Chiron, “the wounded healer,” you have an opening for a harmonious pause to integrate with the deeper evolution of this time in your life. The wounded healer's energy relates to our ability to grow and transform through healing life’s wounds, and through this process, the healer that opens in ourselves can extend to helping others in the same way - a piece of what makes the world go around. We do our healing work because we have to; as we heal a layer of ourselves, we can help others find wholeness in relationship with that same layer of awareness. The more we heal and become whole, the more we can help. We can’t help others with layers that are unhealed inside ourselves - this is the nature of the journey of the Wounded Healer. Chiron has been solidly moving in Aries since March 2019 (with an additional Aries cameo during the summer of 2018). Aries influences a need for personal sovereignty and the ability to follow one’s path and life from a place of purpose. Notice the big picture in your life since the Spring of 2019 and possibly during the summer of 2018. Has a significant layer of healing allowed you to trailblaze a new path for yourself? What past wounds by the process of moving through them helped transform your life? What layers of Aries personal activation are still opening for you? These last 3-4 years have been a potent time of transformation for many people; this transit offers a pause to explore what individual sovereignty and strengths are healing and growing more active in this period. As the Sun shines the light on this energy during the first days of February, carve out some time to tune into this inquiry. Write it down, take notes, and pat yourself on the back for how far you’ve come. Taking some self-reflective time now will be a helpful guide for when Mars makes a Sextile to Chiron during 2/9 - 2/14, creating supportive energy to take more “healing action” on these over-arching themes (more on this below).  Feb. 3rd - 6th Venus square Mars Mars and Venus are both considered relationship planets. Mars enlivens the aspect of yourself that goes out and makes things happen. Venus connects you with others and to your capacity to allow life to come to you. (The doing aspect, Mars ~ The being aspect, Venus) When Mars and Venus come into a challenging square aspect with each other during the 3rd - 6th, an internal challenge might be brought to the surface around any unresolved tensions within your being/doing balance that need more intention and conscious awareness. This Mars square Venus aspect could show up in many ways, and things might get animated as the urge to shift an old pattern you’ve been stuck in arrives. A conflict could arise in your relationship, possibly pointing to a deeper conflict inside yourself. Before making “it” about the other person, look to see what aspects of yourself are emotionally responding to the situation and explore the roots of those feelings living in your native emotional terrain. Similarly, if you’re not being activated/triggered in a relationship with another, tune into your relationship with yourself. Are there parts of yourself that you are fighting? This Mars square Venus aspect might move you to witness how your “doing” and “being” requires balancing. Do you overwork yourself and have a hard time receiving help? Do you need to relax and “just be” more than you allow yourself? Are you overly relaxed and struggling to get yourself moving toward the things you need to do? Bringing awareness to our process can help to harness the deep internal forces for conscious evolution. The Mars square Venus transit is a dynamic force that can help you get clear on internal patterns that, when shifted into a new way of responding, can help you sort out relationship conflicts.  Feb. 9th - 14th Mars sextile Chiron Mars is the planet that influences your movement towards anything you want to be doing or are planning on doing. Whether it’s how you move through your day, week, month, year, and life - Mars is your get-up-and-go and directs your energy into action. From Feb 9th through the 14th, Mars will be making a sextile aspect to Chiron, the wounded healer (read more info on Chiron in the above Sun sextile Chiron section). A sextile aspect in astrology occurs when two planetary bodies or asteroids orbit and influence each other’s energy at a 60-degree angle — this mathematical angle creates an opening for activating each of the sky body’s highest and noblest qualities. As a guide, read back on the above section regarding Sun Sextiling Chiron during the first few days of February. Recognize the healing potential available for personal sovereignty with Chiron in Aries. The 9th - 14th of February will be an activating time brought by Mars, getting additional wind in your sails to move through another layer as needed. Notice what is showing up in your life and what activities are positively stimulating you to move forward in focusing and healing your empowered sense of personal agency. Feb. 9th - 11th Mercury conjunct Pluto While Mars and Chiron are in sextile, Mercury and Pluto will join their energies, making a conjunction in Capricorn. Mercury influences our thinking and communication, and Pluto, the ruler of the underworld, opens up the unconscious and gets us in touch with what’s operating behind the scenes of our feelings and actions. Things can seem more intense when Pluto’s involved in an astrological planetary equation. When two planets make an orbital conjunction, they come together in the same sign and degree. Their astrological influences join forces and unite. During the 9th - 11th, Mercury and Pluto are in conjunction, and your communications can become intense. You may find yourself confronting something hovering below the surface. I encourage you to have that deeper conversation. Let the depths speak; clear out the pipes. Mercury will have just gotten out of its post-retrograde shadow on the 7th. Forward movement with communication around things that need addressing may feel more active during the three days Mercury and Pluto are conjunct. Suppose you know that a coming conversion has the potential to become challenging or conflictual in ways that you truly want to avoid. In that case, I recommend waiting until after February 11th to have that conversation to avoid verbal power struggles that can also come up during this Mercury/Pluto transit. Here’s a place astrology can help you make an intentional choice about entering or delaying a challenging rite of communication. ~  With astrology, the most helpful advice is always individual and personalized based on your personal astrology birth chart and life situations. Contact me to learn more about scheduling an astrology reading to help you navigate your life in these transformative times. Book an astrology reading and find out how 2023 is looking for you! Mercury Goes Direct |
AuthorLaura Allmacher RN, LAc, has been practicing in the field of medicine for over 20 years, dedicating most of this time to the healing arts and natural medicine. Along with a current acupuncture and Chinese medicine practice, Laura also provides professional astrology readings as a form of a guide to help bring timing, meaning and perspective to deeper life patterns and situations so one can make the most out of their incarnation. Archives
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