Dear Reader ‘Cars & Stories’ asked for a little on Venus meeting Pluto–and I failed to get to it in time. My apologies–life just gets in the way, you know? But I have a few observations that I’ll share here, late though they are.

My impression of the Venus-Pluto meeting at the 00 degree of Aquarius was one of learning the limits of Love. That sounds ominous, but I think it’s more of a touchstone where we saw circumstances, interactions, and exchanges that showed us the very real boundaries within situations and relationships; we saw that beyond particular points we couldn’t be certain of another’s feeling or our own. Though unconditional love is always held up as an ideal, I have no doubt that each of us has experienced relationships where exercising unconditional love would’ve led to destructive conditions, for ourselves or for others. There’s nothing loving about allowing another to cause harm to you, and I think that’s what the past few days have reminded us of: there’s a fine line between love and martyrdom, and crossing that line obliterates the love. I think we’ve been allowed to know this intellectually (Aquarius)–which makes me think it’s only a matter of time until we meet a real life challenge that tempts us to accept what we shouldn’t. This is where we thank the Universe for making us ready.

The Sun will shorty be moving into Pisces, putting the spotlight on the creative and the delusional. The big test is, can we tell the difference? No one wants to pour effort into something that lacks relevance, so how do we tell them apart, especially when sign ruler Neptune is in Pisces, strengthening both the creative impulse and the illusion? It doesn’t help that the Sun-Earth axis at 29 degrees squares Sedna, creating a T-square that strains every instinct we have. That, though, might be how we meet this: trusting instinct, even though we feel pressured and can’t put our finger on specifics. This may be a point when knowing we have the answers within has to proceed on faith alone, and a belief that we will not betray ourselves when making choices. The Universe doesn’t test us–we test ourselves, and that means that as long as we are honest with ourselves, we really can’t choose wrongly.

We may hesitate as right now the North Node conjoins Chiron and both quincunx Black Moon Lilith-Juno. This is a recipe for questioning our empowerment and abilities, even our right, to move forward–and it doesn’t help that the future looks like it will hurt! The questioning of the Self is actually a good thing, meant to, once again, prod us to be honest with ourselves. That’s really where the power lies–and can lead to clear thinking about our most important priorities (Mercury trine Vesta). So don’t worry about the future–it will take care of itself, as long as we face the present with our integrity intact, and our highest ideals in mind.