By Pierre-Auguste Renoir – Renoir, peintre du bonheur : 1841-1919, de Gilles Néret, Köln, Taschen, 2001, p. 332. ISBN 9783822857410, {{PD}} https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=14861163

Think it, and you can make the change you value happen; that’s today’s recipe, and luckily for us, our thinking and communications are aligned, without any special effort on our part, with our highest values, with due respect for our relationships and financial needs, and in perfect harmony with our ambitions and desires–though this is all based on our true feelings and attitudes, so may not reflect those we declare as our own. It’s a Willy Wonka Golden Ticket, without all the scary factory stuff or the menacing Oompa-Loompas. I know, I know, the irony of having this kind of power during a retrograde is extraordinary, but I suspect this is a mechanism to protect us from ourselves: make the strength and impact potential of this kind of energy fully conscious and fully controlled by a non-retrograde mentality, and it could be a prescription for overdoing, even annihilating, what we only mean to improve, a Pandora’s box of our own making. So, be glad that at least some of the possible implications of what we do will not be obvious to us–the knowing might only hold us back, or maybe just keep us up at night after the fact; one thing we need to accept is that sometimes our not knowing precisely what we set in motion is the only way to get us from point A to B. Brace yourself for the transformation that you will facilitate; look for inspiration or aid on the social scene, from learning and so working with ‘the facts’, and/ or by seeing right before your eyes how beliefs drive results. Navigate these influences wisely, my friends, and don’t allow doubt concerning your own worth or the worth of your goals to waylay you. (Venus semi-sq Juno, Mercury nov Vesta and Jupiter and parallel Pluto and Venus, Sun sxt Zeus)

Today’s word image is a giant monster crab roils an Italian bay. I need to explain: this was part of a dream last night (and boy, hasn’t the dream world been rife with odd symbols and unusual scenes?) This particular part of the dream pointed me toward next July, when the Sun moves through Cancer–interestingly enough, also reminding us that that’s where the Earth is, right now. So, something with origins this month may lead to some monster-size outcome in late June-July. July 9th, for example, shows heavies Saturn, Earth, Pluto, and Black Moon Lilith in Capricorn, facing only the Sun and Pallas in Cancer, just as we enter Dark of the Moon territory and deal with Venus in Leo at 29 highly stressed degrees, and with Merc on the way to forming apex to a Finger of God with Earth and Neptune as the base (and as a perfect combination of Earth and Sea), with this formula suggesting the material world is either ideal, deluding us, or we’re manifesting the creative, and it results in thinking/ reasoning/ a ‘message’ (Mercury in Leo) that is purely and completely who we are. Just something to keep our eye on, and watch for timing and synchronicities concerning.

‘Angels at Mamre (Holy Trinity)’ by Andrei Rublev 1420 {{PD}}

The two most prominent aspects are difficult for two entirely different reasons: with Neptune trine Vesta it’s about how easily we are confused about the nature of our own highest values (they are affected by hidden or destructive issues, shown by Vesta in Scorpio), and how Venus sesquiquadrate Uranus may see relationships or financial arrangements, especially those we ‘have faith in’ or rely on for ‘the facts’ (Venus in Sag), reacting to us or surprising us with unanticipated events or Willfulness on the part of others or ‘the group’ (Uranus in Aries), even as we (eventually) realize that what occurs is actually positive (Venus novile Mars). In the midst of such tumultuous and disorienting energies it could be hard to see how this will all, and I mean all, be to our benefit, but if we let the noise fall away what we find is that we are being directed to put our attention and efforts into empowering ourselves (maybe asking for cooperation, but not bothering with permission), exercising our prerogatives (using what we have to best effect), and consciously building what we want in our future, in part by bringing forward what’s good from the past (Sun novile Juno and trine the North Node). Focus on this and you’ll go farther than you expect. Encapsulating today’s energy, this quote: “Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.” Abraham Lincoln

Photo by Georg Slickers Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic

Today’s word image is a wildfire burns on the coldest day of the year. Who says fire and ice can’t coexist? Look for the life area where something is burning hot and out-of-control, and consider that just because whatever it contacts is indifferent doesn’t mean that fire (anger) won’t cause damage.

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I’m assuming Collins and Jordan were not married to each other. Photo By Lola’s Big Adventure! from Washington/Newcastle/Sunderland, UK – Flickr, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3830052

I want to say our hearts are in the right place, with actions guided by our highest values, but it’s more like our spirits are in the right place, as our hearts may be wedded to transformation in the positive, to reform, or may carry a bit of larceny or destruction in their warm and willing cockles (Mars parallel Vesta, Venus novile Pluto). We do, we choose, and we act in accord with those things we honor, and perhaps this happens because we are open to change to our loves and loyalties; being willing to walk away, to sacrifice, means that we are perpetually choosing to do things for affirming reasons, not out of obligation or a sense of being trapped–and a life rooted in the joy of choosing to is much more rewarding than a life of obligation.

Thinking, already riding through the retrograde fog, takes a turn away from believing in our own sense of personal authority, leaving us unsure, particularly in awareness of our own rights–somehow the social sphere jars our surety in ourselves, making us wonder if ‘their’ way is superior. Hint: it’s not. (Mercury contra-parallel Ceres and semi-square Jupiter). It’s a day to feel our way forward, to trust instincts, and to bank on our own good intents.

Awareness works better than a sword for the ghosts we’re talking about. Photo from “Hours with the Ghosts or, Nineteenth Century Witchcraft” by Henry Ridgely Evans, 1891 {{PD}}

Today’s word image is a distinct ‘form’, spotted repeatedly out of the corner of one’s vision, that is not, in any Saturnian sense, ‘there’. Is someone ‘haunting’ you, appearing just out of direct perception? Is this a Being from another dimension, a ghost of relationships past (or maybe even future), or someone operating on this plane in the Now and doing things that affect you but remaining out of your sight/ consciousness? The message may be simple: widen your attention, and be open to learning about what you don’t see–sometimes it’s hard to accept that something can be without our witnessing it–time to get more sophisticated in our perceptions. I know, Merc retro, yada yada, but this is a launch point, to introduce the concept–don’t expect immediate results, even though that’s certainly a possibility.

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By Rhbrakman – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=38497984

Our empowerment is found in following instincts, and at least somewhat in allowing ourselves to let the idea that we ‘know but don’t know’ dominate. What we do is highly effective, but whether we get the results we want or not is dependent on our own thoughts and perceptions: we get to see ‘where our head’s at’, with thoughts and ideas often literally appearing in solid form or creating the circumstances before us. It seems like magic, but it’s really just that we’re temporarily immersed in a hyper-concrete vein of Universal energy; stay positive, flow with it, and I guarantee that at some point today you’ll get direct proof of how important an optimistic and fearless attitude can be.

Today’s word image is: on the grounds of a lion tamer’s compound, a lion roams free. This image comes from a memory from my childhood (I may have told this before, and if so, apologies). We lived in a rural part of California, and down the road lived an actual, honest-to-god lion tamer and his wife. My parents were friends with them, and one day when I was 5 my mother took me to visit. As we drove up to the house, my mother turned to me and said, ‘Now watch out, because there’s an old lion that’s loose. Don’t think it’s tame, it will hurt you”–and then we got out of the car. I think that walk between the car and the house was the longest walk I’ve ever taken. Is there someone communicating things that are scaring the bejeezus (spell correct offered ‘bejewels’!) out of you? And if so, have you asked yourself what kind of person would want to scare another person so badly?

From today’s vantage point, just the idea that we can or should ‘tame’ a wild animal, caging them and using whips to force certain behaviors, makes those who see that as our prerogative barbarians. And in case you’re wondering, a few years later the lion tamer was killed, in the ring during a performance, by his own animals.

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‘Arrangement in Yellow and Gray’ James Abbott McNeill Whistler c1877 {{PD}}

What’s smart may contradict our expression of power or authority–but sometimes we need to keep a low profile and assets intact, in order to act at a more propitious time. That may be hard to accept, but a clear-eyed look at the reality picture shows us the score; from that we can see: restraint is all. Efforts that reflect a knowledge of and take off from acknowledgment of What Is succeed, while those mired in delusion, fantasy, or a misunderstanding of the world as it is falter.

Serenity Now! By Zach Dischner 2009 Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic

Today’s word image is a shade of green that brings to mind spring growth. What’s just beginning, fresh and not yet totally formed? Are you happy about it, and so willing to nurture it, do you see it as a complication, or do you want to nip it in the bud, right now?

A little something pertaining to Mercury retrograde, plus more!

‘Gentle Julia’ By Booth Tarkington {{PD}}

Our values, standards, priorities, commitments, what we find sacred, we experience them all today as a little tender; they’ve taken a pummeling of late, and we’ve seen repeatedly that they need re-shaping, in order to fit who we are now, and what we want to add to the world as it currently exists. It’s tough–values are inherently stiff, that’s just logical that they should be, why else have them?–but they’ve got to be flexible enough to grow and change with us, as we learn more and more about ourselves and the world. Re-frame them accurately, but handle them gently, to allow them to heal–and none of this will prevent you gaining today, especially as you pursue ambitions.

Some of the ways to handle Mercury retrograde—

Today’s word image is a white rabbit in the snow. Hard to see, right? What thing are you not noticing that’s actually right in front of you? And does it matter if you react or not? The white rabbit lead Alice on a merry (and often distressing) chase; do you want that kind of distraction in your life, or is an adventure exactly what you’re looking for?

This painting is like a memory, that perfect moment before the girls each went her own way, and ‘something happened’. Carl Vilhelm Meyer – ‘Landsbyens tre Gratier’ 1919 {{PD}}

Today we might feel haunted, by the disorienting push of change, by fears, by what lies deep and dark within us or out in the world, by something that lingers and stirs us at a primal level. We worry about our health–is that cough serious? was that lump there yesterday?–and this can’t help but influence our choices and actions, as we try to find balance in what seems to be a thoroughly capricious atmosphere. There is one direction we can take that will be rewarding: pursue ambitions and desires, particularly if they involve relationships, aesthetics, or assets. Pour your energy into those, and you won’t have time to contemplate the deep-dark, or dissipate forward motion with fear.

Oooh! Modern. 1972-73 model. Courtesy: LabguysWorld.com, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8135558

Today’s word image is an iPhone, and all other iterations of a mobile phone. A phone can represent information coming at us, which we can choose to be open to (‘answer the call’) or not. Have you ‘answered the call’, and if so, what have you done to make use of the information, and if not, what has made you ‘reject’ the call?

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Lightning Over Denver By refractor – Flickr, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1102592

Change comes to the Path; life direction will be modified, and the sooner we embrace this as a need, rather than something to resist and struggle against, all the better. This shift can come from external circumstances that present us no choice, or internal ones that say, ‘Enough!’ and see us setting out shed of some previous situation. If we take the initiative this energy can bring a bit of brilliant transformation, while if we try to avoid it, we may be undermined in significant ways.

By Parallelprogrammer – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=45435580

Undoubtedly this creates tension, and if it gets to us, escaping as erratic behavior, random acting-out, or in rebellion from what’s actually in our own best interests, we could cause serious chaos in our lives. Accept that life isn’t a static condition, and know that facing change willingly just makes it all that much easier.

Today’s word image is a piece of bleached muslin with a bright red embroidery on it. That’s very specific, but I think it can be boiled down to something red and white that will act as a cue, to bring us back to the present moment, to signal it’s time to be active in determining the matters before us, and to let us know that the Universe is receptive to our wants and needs, if we’ll only make those clear.

Have a great day!