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Category Archives: current events in the sky

10 April 2019 Shadows, Implications, and Hard Corners

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‘A Sunday on La Grande Jatte’ By, Georges Seurat 1884 {{PD}}

The big news is that Jupiter stations retrograde in the AM Pacific time at 24 Sagittarius 21, right as the Gemini Moon opposes it. I’m expecting a bit of an emotional wrench, a spasm of the heart, as optimism, opportunity, or a source of knowledge is withdrawn–and we fear, in a too-literal way, that we’ve missed our chance. Or maybe it will be a scenario where we reach out–and can’t seem to reach out far enough, never making contact–or one where we learn something, some set of facts, as the curtain is pulled aside. In any case, disorienting, with the chance that we’ll blurt, run off at the mouth, or insist on sharing, and this is likely something we’ll wish we’d have kept to ourselves (Gemini Moon). Just be prepared, and allow yourself room to process.

The rest of the day is all shadows, implications, and a few hard corners. We may find ourselves improvising on the fly, with only the past as reference, and it may be an open question as to whether what we learn is worthy and transformative, or illusive or even destructive. Proceed with caution, with an eye to those real-world edges, restrictions, and barriers, as those will cause damage if we insist on driving into them–use instincts and acknowledge what you ‘know but don’t know’ to avoid problems all together.

(Mars sesq SN, Venus parallel Neptune, Mercury sxt Pluto, Sun sq Saturn and parallel Sedna)

Setting the table for your year ahead. Art by Peter Ilsted {{PD}}

For those who have the natal Sun at 20 Aries. Check your natal chart for the correct Sun degree (you may want to read both the degree number and the one that follows, if you have minutes on your Sun position–that offers a more complete picture of your year ahead). Reality is making some demands on you right now, dear Aries, that you’d be wise to face and deal with; the pay off will be a genuine command of your own life, and that sounds pretty good, right? This may involve dealing with the most mundane of matters, the real nuts-and-bolts of the work and living pictures, but will be worth it for the way it frees you, about half way to your next birthday, and offers you a crack at an actual dream come true. So, do the hard work, visualize what you want in detail, be optimistic (you can’t really aim TOO high), and you could reach next year having attained one of your most treasured goals. Good luck!

And thank you to all who wrote to me to make sure I was all right, to support me, and to encourage me to get the rest I needed. Your kindness was very much appreciated. I’m still not 100%, but I’m getting there 🙂

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9 April 2019 Come Together

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‘The Baths at Caracalla’ By Lawrence Alma-Tadema 1899 {{PD}}

A note for today, the 8th: Saturn squares and Mars sesquiquadrates Pallas, almost daring us to do something unwise or impractical–obviously the answer is, just don’t! What pushes us is the way we feel our power and mobility threatened by the social order or ‘the facts’, or by an outright power struggle with our opposite number (Jupiter opp Juno)–but we should all know by now that being reactive is a poor way to go through life. Do your best to pull yourself together–the danger is we’ll go down a mental or emotional rabbit hole it will be hard to extricate ourselves from, as it will seem like reality–and try to be proactive in some reality-based arena that doesn’t rely on our interpretation of events, that instead has objectively measurable standards by which we can judge our efforts.

For the 9th: Perhaps strangely, considering the influences, objectivity is enhanced today–we cut to the chase, internally and in dealings with others, and the result is we are likely to get somewhere much quicker than we thought we could. Take advantage of this by strategically not looking the proverbial gift horse in the mouth; plow forward, enjoy the serendipitous breezes and beneficial surprises (and they will be beneficial, even if right now it seems they are not), and don’t try too hard to make sense of things for the conscious mind–that’s the one practice that can slow you to a crawl. Instead allow things to come together, respond from and to them, and enjoy the ease with which some things are, almost miraculously, accomplished.

(Pallas conj Zeus, Chiron conj Vesta, Venus conj Neptune and semi-sq Uranus, Mercury nov Uranus and trine NN, Sun opp Pallas-Zeus and contra-parallel Zeus)

Setting the table for your year ahead. Art by Peter Ilsted {{PD}}

For those who have the natal Sun at 19 Aries. Check your natal chart for the correct Sun degree (you may want to read both the degree number and the one that follows, if you have minutes on your Sun position–that offers a more complete picture of your year ahead). Aries, your ambitions and desires come under direct scrutiny this year, by yourself and by others; it’s your job to recognize what’s wise in your aims, and what misses the mark and is impractical or just plain not worth pursuing. Though you may feel discouraged by this vetting of goals, ultimately it will weed out what’s wasting your time and resources, and so leave you more than ready to implement ambitions and wishes in real-world terms. Assets this year include emotions that will support your choices, making actions that much more effective, and instincts that, if you listen to them, will tell you just when and how to deal with those less pleasant facets of life that really shouldn’t be ignored. Good luck, Aries–the dream awaits!

5 April 2019 A Healthy Amount of Doubt

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Les Laveuses à la Laïta (Laundresses at the Laïta River) By Paul Sérusier 1892 {{PD}}

It’s in our own best interests to tread carefully, to hold a healthy amount of skepticism and doubt, particularly when dealing with those in power, and in relationships where the other individual may discourage our instincts or our notions of what supports us–and why would anyone do that? Because to present an empowered Self is to threaten the power structures all around you. It’s like making a statement to the Universal energy: I’ll do what’s best for me, and I don’t need permission–and if that doesn’t throw the powers-that-be into chaos and emergency mode, I don’t know what will! All power structures run on the assumption that each individual must acquiesce, and that that facilitates maintenance of the power structure itself–from which each individual garners some benefit, but with most of the reward going to those at the top, those who use others’ individual energies to their own ends. But you know this, right? That being a cog in the machine keeps you out of the rain, but requires that you move when the other cogs do–and only so far as the whole mechanism allows. So avoid entanglement, but don’t do anything to bring yourself into the focus of the mighty eye of the power structure, either. It’s a fine line, but one worth walking.

(Hygeia sxt Black Moon Lilith, Juno qnx Pluto and SN, Venus semi-sq Hygeia and contra-parallel Sedna)

I’m sick and have been working through it, but find I must take a few days off–it’s been too much. I’ll be back as quickly as possible. Scroll down for the New Moon report.

Setting the table for your year ahead. Art by Peter Ilsted {{PD}}

For those who have the natal Sun at 15 Aries. Check your natal chart for the correct Sun degree (you may want to read both the degree number and the one that follows, if you have minutes on your Sun position–that offers a more complete picture of your year ahead). Why is it that there seem to be more and more challenges, tangible and intangible, to your stated goals? I’m sure, Aries, it feels unfair–and in a way it is. You deserve to have your dreams, and to work toward making them realities, just like everyone else does–but what you’re not getting is that these challenges are about two things: refining your dream, so that you can better create what you truly want, and showing you how to get there. It may be that right now you’re pursuing a path that won’t take you where you want to go–and the Universe is kindly pointing that out. Take the message, or find yourself soon enough in a situation that forces you to change, like it or not. This year also promises to show you how it takes your personal action to heal wounds–that healed state won’t be magically handed to you, you have to do something to achieve it.

New Moon in Aries 5 April 2019 Spirit In All Things

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‘The Storm Spirits’ By Evelyn De Morgan c1900 {{PD}}

The New Moon occurs at 1:50 AM PDT at 15 Aries 17. The Aries New Moon always feels like a fresh start, doesn’t it? Our personal energy and drive are renewed, it falls more or less at spring in the Northern Hemisphere and sees autumn in the Southern (those fall days their own kind of renewal), and as such it’s reasonable to look at this Moon as a personal new beginning, a statement of ‘I Am’ in the sign of the individual viewpoint. The Sabian for this NM is, ‘Nature Spirits Are Seen At Work In The Light Of Sunset’. This points us in an interesting direction when we consider the ‘I Am’ new start nature of the New Moon itself. The Sabian suggests an ending, an abating of light–which of course is a new beginning of its own as night encroaches–and maybe suggests this New Moon is a reminder that spirit/ the Universe/ the Unseen is active in all circumstances, not just in shiny new beginnings, the bright light of day, or in those areas where we’re focused on subjects we approve of and see as ‘spiritual’. When we define certain things in life as spiritual and denounce the rest as less than, we set up a dynamic that fails to recognize spirit in all things, so we repeatedly end up confused by the experiences we’re having and the results we’re getting. Life is not experienced piecemeal, and it shouldn’t be interpreted that way, either.

As my regular readers know, I like to keep orbs very tight for New and Full Moons. This time around that gives us only two aspects, a trine to Ceres and a novile to Sedna. The picture is one of Self-possession, autonomy, personal authority, that aligns us with all we need to know to act and choose appropriately, if we trust our instincts and are conscious of our blind spots. That may be a big ‘if’, but a willingness to be Self-aware (as opposed to a pick-and-choose awareness that simply ignores what we don’t like or don’t want to change in ourselves) is key. What starts at this New Moon may be a fresh, crisper image of ourselves, one that is much more confident as it is both more responsible and more responsive. We see that moving through life takes much less of a power stance than we thought, much less outright assertion, and much more pure competence and openness to instinct and all that we know but don’t know.

 

4 April 2019 Against

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‘Boxing’ By Maurice Denis 1918 {{PD}}

It may feel as if energies are being pitted against one another in various, tense combinations. Power clashes with Power, and many of those dances will resemble the past; the reality picture points out every conflict we have in trying to realize ambitions or fulfill desires; actions are inadvertently destructive or are power grabs that we may not immediately recognize; and we may have trouble believing what we’re seeing, which is a classic trick ‘they’ use to ‘get away with it’ right in front of us–or at least, that’s how it may feel, as if the world and its varied components are against us.

So where to go from here? What tack to take when every push out into the world meets its own special resistance? For some the best course is to lay low, stay out of it, especially if being more assertive is just your thing–to jump into things with that attitude now will only buy trouble; for everyone else, it’s a chance to review what worked to bring you power in the past and then to transform it, to re-frame it with today’s knowledge into the ‘perfect’ (that is, the best way to work it) response to the environment and its events.

(Pallas contra-parallel Ceres, Pluto conj SN, Saturn sq Zeus, Mars contra-parallel Pluto, Sun contra-parallel Neptune)

Setting the table for your year ahead. Art by Peter Ilsted {{PD}}

For those who have the natal Sun at 14 Aries. Check your natal chart for the correct Sun degree (you may want to read both the degree number and the one that follows, if you have minutes on your Sun position–that offers a more complete picture of your year ahead). This year, Aries, you will get to see how you handle the world as a sheer force of Nature–and this goes well or not depending on how in tune you are with your own elemental qualities. The more you can embrace your personal authority, your wildness, and at the same time take complete responsibility for your domain within your world, the better. Health is a factor in all this, and will be affected by your ability to accept your own power and the consequences of its exercise. Re-visiting the past may be tempting, but could result in stripping away illusions you’ve come to depend on. It’s a year to enjoy things, to really live, but to remain as aware as possible of the real-world picture and the effect you can have on it–and of course, the effect it can have on you.

3 April 2019 Take Charge

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‘ La Femme en blanc’ By René Schützenberger 1895 {{PD}}

We’re more than suited to take charge today–‘wisdom vision’ is ON and with a little effort we can mend just about anything, even ourselves–so what gets in the way? Our own minds, and the real world! That sounds like a lot, like there’s nowhere we can be meaningfully effective, but it’s really about a couple of things to be aware of or avoid. One is to make sure our actions and choices don’t ignore the material reality–that’s the essence of things, it’s not that there are actual obstacles, it’s that when we act without attention to reality it’s natural that things don’t work–and if we’re avoiding responsibility, we see it as the world stopping us, instead of seeing the unworkability of things as being rooted in our choices. Second, too much of our attention will go to the words of others, agreements we believe we have with them, and we may treat our own minds with too much reverence. We may be demanding that others words and even their thoughts support us, our viewpoint, and our goals, and we may demand they say so openly–and that’s unreasonable, by any measure. What we need to keep in mind is that, with Vesta now in Aries, we can easily become too enamored of our own autonomy, or may treat our Will as sacred–and that can bring about all kinds of blow back. Go easy on others for what they communicate–it will be riddled with imaginings, flights of fancy, distortions and deceptions, and your communications will carry the same. Don’t let emotional reactions lead you down a ‘wrong’ path. Concentrate on expressing yourself in territory you know to be your own, mind your own beeswax, and you may end the day having done some of your finest work/ living ever.

(Pallas trine Juno, Vesta enters Aries, Mars contra-parallel Saturn and sxt Chiron, Sun contra-parallel Mercury and trine Ceres)

Setting the table for your year ahead. Art by Peter Ilsted {{PD}}

For those who have the natal Sun at 13 Aries. Check your natal chart for the correct Sun degree (you may want to read both the degree number and the one that follows, if you have minutes on your Sun position–that offers a more complete picture of your year ahead). You have a year ahead of you, Aries, where you get to show your true strengths, your true authority and ability, where you get to be the authority in ways that could be truly life changing. Do you feel ready for it? I’m hoping you won’t suffer a crisis of confidence. Your imagination carries an emotional charge, and could be easily misread as threatening, it could deceive–so make a point of staying tuned to the facts, even as you reach out and make your ideals and dreams realities. You have an excellent chance of creating the life you actually want–don’t wait for permission, and don’t be afraid to do the hard work–because the influences for your Solar Return say that whatever you put out there, comes back to you bigger, ‘badder’ (in a good way), and providing more rewards than you ever thought possible.

2 April 2019 Misled

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‘Whispering Noon’ By Lawrence Alma-Tadema 1896 {{PD}}

There’s this whispering–is it coming from the walls, the wind, the gods, a demon, is it in our own minds? Whatever its source, it’s urging us to ignore our own instincts–and that’s just wrong–we need them more than ever, as reasoning, communication and the mind (Mercury) once again contact the illusive, the deceptive, the confusing, the inspiring (Neptune). Even worse, relationships we might usually rely on are nowhere to be found, transformed into something shimmering, ephemeral, hard to pin down, and if we prod them, looking for answers, they (or rather, the interaction) can turn destructive. Here’s the most effective approach: channel that Neptunian mist into creative forms, and then, when you’ve got that funneled somewhere, make all your actions, choices, and moves with an eye to the future, and to where you specifically want to go. That should do it.

(Black Moon Lilith sq Sedna, Mars parallel and Venus sesq NN, Venus semi-sq Pluto, Merc conj Neptune)

Today’s word image is dressing up as your alter-ego for a party, you must put on a name tag; what does it say? That is, how do you want to present yourself to the world, when what you’re doing is simply bringing forward a part of you others don’t often get to see, but which is vital to your own concept of your identity?

By © Derek Ramsey / derekramsey.com, GFDL 1.2, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1612827

For those who have the natal Sun at 12 Aries. Check your natal chart for the correct Sun degree (you may want to read both the degree number and the one that follows, if you have minutes on your Sun position–that offers a more complete picture of your year ahead). What fateful move will you make this year, Aries? You know, there’s no need to be so tense, so sure that each flap of your butterfly wings will bring down a civilization. I hate to be the one to break it to you, but in spite of your Aries Solar status, you are just not that powerful–except in those ways you can affect your own life, so concentrate on that. If you can adopt that more humble approach, this year you’ll find you are deeply in touch with your instincts, and they’re easily accessed, if only you can get the drumming thoughts and imaginings out of the way so you can hear those instinctual prompts, as well as allowing that info that lurks just below consciousness to surface. It’s a year when a subtle approach and more introspective mentality can be truly beneficial.

1 April 2019 Caught

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Why is it that we think we need to turn every frog (read project, idea, potential mate) into a Prince? ‘Es war einmal’ By Franz von Stuck 1891 {{PD}}

We may feel caught in relationships and/ or finances, feeling like there’s no way to play it smart. We’re aware of all that we’ve (guiltily) been avoiding, and we see how our instincts and what we ‘know but don’t know’ have created blind spots in our outlook, but that’s not enough to enable us to find the wise move. One thing we might want to ask ourselves: what is this fixation with being slick, with feeling like we’re out-thinking and outsmarting everyone else, as if we need to behave that way for our own protection? Here’s all you really need to remember:as the Beatles taught us, “It’s a fool who plays it cool, by making the world a little colder.”

(Venus sesq Pallas, Sun at the midpoint of the square between Sedna and Black Moon Lilith)

The looks on these two just slay me, like the cats that each ate their own delicious canary. ‘Self-portrait with Sicilian woman’ By Edward OkuÅ„ 1913 {PD}}

Today’s word image is a pomegranate. I’m going to speed right past the usual mythic citations and go straight to the heart of it: there is something, a custom, a rote behavior, in deference to another, an acquiescence, that is holding you ‘captive’. You’ve willingly committed to this, but somehow that put the power around this commitment into the hands of others–and now you may be chafing at the restriction, even regretting the commitment in the first place. Nothing is set in stone here, it just feels like it, and others may have a vested interest in keeping you within this dynamic. They get something out of it, and maybe you’re done giving, or you need that energy for yourself, or circumstances have changed–you just don’t feel the same. Whatever the reason (and the reason is irrelevant–this is your energy, you owe no one a justification for withdrawing it), now is the time to express your wish for change. Don’t be surprised at how deeply entangled you prove to be, and don’t let the need to exert yourself to extricate yourself stop you from going forward.

Please note: the Sun reached 11 Aries so late on the 31st (just before 6 PM Pacific time) that there will be no listing for the 1st of April; see the post for the 2nd if your Sun is at 12 Aries. Check your natal chart for the correct Sun degree (you may want to read both the degree number and the one that follows, if you have minutes on your Sun position–that offers a more complete picture of your year ahead).

31 March 2019 Turn Away

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‘Holandka’ By Ivana Kobilca 1886 {{PD}}

Today the formula for successful response is simple: turning away from those things we’ve ignored or denied, or those things that enrage us, is the smart thing to do. Surprising, right? We’d normally find wisdom in tackling all those neglected issues, but not today. I suspect this has to do with a couple of things: though Merc is direct, it’s moving toward conjoining Neptune, and rather than lessening our uncertainties, it may be making them worse; Saturn is quincunx Juno and square Zeus, suggesting that reality both requires adjustment from us to hold on to what little sense of power we have, and denies our ambitions, at least for the moment; and Pallas is square Pluto and the Nodal axis, suggesting that our frustrations could result in throwing up our hands and saying, ‘F*ck it! Burn them all’, and that would have unintended and ultimately negative consequences for our life direction–so just turn away, immerse the mind or your whole Self in something pleasant, and don’t worry at all about anything, just for today.

(Perfecting today: Pallas contra-parallel Black Moon Lilith)

By Õ‡Õ¸Õ©Õ¡ ÕˆÕ½Õ¯Õ¡Õ¶ÕµÕ¡Õ¶ – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=32785928

Today’s word image is two puppets, controlled by two people, through which the people are able to speak, saying things to each other that they can’t, won’t, or were unable to formulate previously. In what way is face-to-face communication not accomplishing what you hope it will? This is likely applicable in a relationship where you get a lot of face time but don’t seem to be hearing each other anymore. It calls for finding another medium through which to send your message, and it requires that you see the other party is just as frustrated as you are, because their message isn’t being heard, either.

Please note: the Sun reaches this point so late in the day (just before 6 PM Pacific time) that this will serve as the listing for the 1st of April, as well, resuming new degree posts on the 2nd. Check your natal chart for the correct Sun degree (you may want to read both the degree number and the one that follows–that offers a more complete picture). For those born with the Sun at 11 Aries: What you haven’t attended to, what you’ve ignored, denied, or rejected despite the reality of its presence in your life, will rise up and bite you this coming Solar year, now through to your next birthday. Your saving grace, though, could come in two forms: being open to spontaneity, and being open to Higher Mind. Be willing to renovate, innovate, and look for the original–a too-strenuous exclusion of these has gotten you to where you are now, and reincorporating a certain wildness or the unexpected could go a long way toward reviving your zest for life, and putting that life on a really rewarding track. If you’re currently already happy with your environment and accomplishment rate, adding spontaneity and Higher Mind will only make it better. Have a great year, Aries!

30 March 2019 Attention To Healing

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Yes, give–your attention to healing yourself. World War I Red Cross Poster, By Albert Herter via The US Library of Congress {{PD}}

Our attention today will be repeatedly drawn to areas that need healing in our lives; the difficulty will be in us registering what’s happening, and then recognizing what and even why something before us needs to change. Mars into Gemini helps us think before we act, helps us see what about the reality and ambition pictures needs modifying in order to payoff (and this leads to the evolution of what we consider wise)–and by evening we find ourselves much more empowered than we started our day, and possibly reaping some tangible benefits from it.

(Sun parallel Chiron, Juno trine and Venus sesq Zeus, Pluto sq Pallas, Mars enters Gemini, Venus semi-sq Saturn)

By Barancanbag – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=45006792

Today’s word image is a beautiful vine that appears to be smothering a lilac, until you get up close and see that the lilac is still blooming, and actually seems to like the presence of the vine. This seems to be a theme, lately, that things are not always as they appear, and that what seems detrimental from your point-of-view might be seen quite differently by someone else. Just keep in mind the illusory nature of observation over all, and when making a judgment, consider how many filters you might apply that are based on assumptions that don’t necessarily carry through.

Setting the table for your year ahead. Art by Peter Ilsted {{PD}}

For those born with the Sun at 10 Aries (check your natal chart for your Sun degree!) Emotional harmony is yours this Solar year, through to your next birthday, as long as you are willing to take the high road, to bring a dispassionate note to your emotional interactions, and to make understanding, rather than judgment, a goal in assessing both situations and individuals. The past may exert one of two influences: either a destructive one as you carry on past practices, believing they give you power, or a transformative one, as you see the toxic nature of old beliefs and habits and let them go. You have the chance this year to move beyond that Plutonian loop that has kept a good part of your essence tied up for so long. Clear it out, retrieve your spirit, and you can have your best year yet.