‘Harem Women Feeding Pigeons in a Courtyard’ Jean-Léon Gérôme {{PD}}

The AstroEssence: This can be a crazy good day, facilitating creativity, bringing gains in power and influence, and excellent for communication, signaled by a pile-up of fortuitous indicators–as long as we honor our highest values, our commitments and causes, and our partners and mates. Simple enough, right? Except that our inclination may be to skip, ignore, or compromise on our standards, believing that’s what’s needed to get to the good stuff; it’s not only not necessary, what we get if we stick to our values is way better than what we get if we sully or deny them (Pluto semi-sq Juno, Mars nov Neptune, Venus trine Ceres, Mercury nov Jupiter, parallel Hygeia, and contra-parallel Vesta, Sun sxt Pluto)

Today’s word image is a dove in the rain, hiding her head under her wing. Sometimes the peaceful way requires retreat, with inclement conditions urging us to ‘sit it out’, allowing others their way or command of the situation; other times we actively retreat, using the tactics of passive resistance in order to maintain personal peace in a formidable situation where we might otherwise actively aggress. Be sure you know the difference between the two, and if you choose retreat, consciously choose which one.

By Michelet B – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1061296

For those born with the Sun at 15 Scorpio: Emotional conflict over real-world changes you want to make this year, between now and your next birthday, are likely the centerpiece of this period. On the one hand, you actually know what you’re doing, and should have confidence in those changes you seek to make; on the other hand, you’re not as clear on the actual wisdom of what you want to do, and may have neglected truly thinking through the emotional impact to yourself and important others. Of course, now that’s it’s brought to your attention, you can examine your choices much more effectively, before going forward. Good luck, Scorpio, and Happy Birthday!

Today, we float some consideration of what it means to be healthy. Self-portrait in a balloon gondola, Konrad Brandel c1865 {{PD}}

The AstroEssence: Do we take measures to make changes to our own health, or is it that we’re seeing changes in someone else’s? Or does this apply to a more general perception of the positive (or at least, noticeable) nature of recent changes around us? Our level of Self-focus is probably what drives the form for manifestation today; if we’re centered on our own uniqueness or original expression, we could harm relationships or even our financial situation, but if we’re outer-focused, we may see erratic behaviors (our own or others’) that injure or otherwise take a toll on our vanity. It’s a day when we may find ourselves thinking in very specific channels, our thoughts curlicues that fold around on themselves, our psyches far too sensitive to give proper proportion to events, whether they’re internal or external–but if we do try to improve things, especially health-wise, our reformations should stick (Pluto sxt Hygeia, Venus sq Chiron and trine Uranus)

The eventual flower. Photograph of paperwhite flowers
2 December 2006
Source Own work
Author Beezhive
GFDL, cc-by-sa-2.5,2.0,1.0

Today’s word image is the green tips of paperwhite bulbs being forced in the winter indoors. Forcing something isn’t always a bad thing; sometimes initially we need to create an artificial condition in order to get something started. Is there some small beginning you’re seeing, that you’d truly like to watch bloom? Give it what it needs to flourish, and then allow Nature to do the rest.

For those born with the Sun at 12 Scorpio: You’ve set yourself on the Path you want to follow, but are your choices working to take you where you want to go? Health matters and other real-world conditions may limit your way forward until they’re attended to; dealing with what you already know to be a problem (but probably thought you could ignore until later) is the only way to get to a space that allows real, significant change, and offers you the influence in your own life that you want to have. Good luck, Scorpio, and Happy Birthday!

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By Hans Andersen Brendekilde – 1. wallpaperweb.org2. Sotheby’s New York, 28 Januar 2011, lot 238, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=34007466

The AstroEssence: Go on instincts–but be really sure those are instincts, and not desire or blind spot material masquerading as primal knowledge. If you need some help, relationships offer wisdom in one form or another (sometimes they show us what not to do, no?) and follow the money and asset flow in order to identify the smart trends. If you know yourself (and so are able to identify impulses correctly) this can be a very good day for you (Mars trine Sedna, Venus sxt Pallas)

Sculpture ‘Body to Soul’ by Mary-Louise Browne in the Wellington Botanical Garden in Wellington/New Zealand Photo by Felipe Skroski CC BY 2.0

Today’s word image is a three-word text–use the first three words that pop into your head–what does it say? Consider this a message from the Universe.

For those born with the Sun at 11 Scorpio: Luck and opportunity come your way this year, but obliquely, through the pursuit of the every day and the well-intentioned. It’s not glamorous, and it will test your ability to recognize genuine chances at making your name or making a buck, but in either case the opportunities will be there, most likely found through partners, through the Arts, and/ or through matters of the Houses in the natal chart ruled by Jupiter (Sagittarius or ancient association with Pisces) or through which Jupiter is currently transiting (Libra). Good luck, and Happy Birthday, Scorpio!

Don’t make the mistake of believing that because you’re angry, that means you’re right. Ludwig Knaus – Mein Napf ist leer (1886) {{PD}}

The AstroEssence: Thoughts are about achieving health through stripping away, detoxing, and by purging the emotions (Hygeia in Scorpio), and this offers an impetus toward genuine change; interactions and financial moves, however, are all about fulfilling ambitions and desires, so there’s some disparity between what we’re thinking about and where we’re putting our attention and resources. There’s a third prong to our intentions, shown by anger or a deep need to act that brings conflict with those in authority, and that may seriously detour us away from our intended life direction. The crux of the problem is found in how Self-absorbed we are, how insistent on having our way or making an impact, or how angry we are with those running the show–if we can find a constructive outlet, or even just contain our need to assert, we’ll gain enough time and space for reason to prevail. Bonus hint: don’t spend so much time trying to illuminate the past–the reasons why things were as they were are long gone, now, and that may be where a lot of the hidden anger, unnecessarily renewed by our examination, comes from in the first place (Mars sesq NN and sq Ceres, Venus sxt Zeus, Merc conj Hygeia and sxt Pluto, Sun trine SN)

Caroline Frederike Friedrich (attr) Weinlaubzweige late 18th-early 19th century {{PD}}

Today’s word image is: during a windstorm a man uses a leaf blower to blow nothing from the sidewalk. Where are you wasting energy? Creating useless noise? Pretending to do something productive that’s anything but? Where are you in denial about the true state of things? Answer this and you may liberate an enormous store of energy/ time that you didn’t know you had, as well as clear out the psychic ‘drains’.

For those born with the Sun at 10 Scorpio: The past seems to have an unreasonably strong hold on you this year, through to your next birthday; it may be that you spent this past year on a creative tear or with your head in the clouds, and so ‘woke up’ to changes you must now review and revise–or maybe you just didn’t want to deal with things, and now the mess left behind must be dealt with. In any case, look at it less for its janitorial duties and more for the possibility to shape what’s coming by modifying and clarifying meaning in what you choose to keep. It’s a powerful position, whether you know it or not, so move forward aware that your choices and actions really do matter. Good luck, and Happy Birthday, Scorpio!

Silence By Nikolay Nikanorovich Dubovskoy {{PD}}

The AstroEssence: With all our attention on the ideals, the creative, and the spiritual, we may miss the way our perceptions around these subjects are unclear–and yet we allow these fuzzy, illusory, or deceptive ideas and images to run our actions and dictate our choices. We are running partly on instinct, partly on ambition, and we somehow find serendipitous material circumstances to support our current direction. The issue comes later, when we examine in the cold, unobstructed light what we created in today’s present. We’re likely then to find 1) that though we did what we did out of mistaken understanding, or following an outright deception, it worked out okay because this was something in line with our instincts, anyway, 2) that one way or another we gained power by pursuing what we wanted, 3) that we may have unintentionally sacrificed our standards to preserve a relationship or financial source, and 4) that sticking to the facts is the wise course–and that latter suggests our best guideline for today is to judge, choose, and decide strictly according to what the facts support (NN parallel Sedna, Juno nov Zeus, Jupiter parallel Pallas, Mars semi-sq Neptune and nov Saturn, Venus sesq Vesta, Sun trine Neptune)

Lamps in Souq Waqif, Qatar 26 October 2013 Photo by Shyam Subhash Nair Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

Today’s word image is a beautiful but tarnished old vessel that, according to a child who shows it to you, may or may not contain a djinn. The image suggests something potentially magical within your reach, something it may take a childlike or innocent attitude to discover or make the best of. 

For those born with the Sun at 9 Scorpio: Your creative inspirations, ideals, or spiritual revelations dominate the year, through to your next birthday, but it’s up to you to use them in the highest form possible. Methods for making the most of these surging talents/ influences is found in the past, your own or in practices, disciplines, or modes devised by others and handed down through artistic tradition, in forms of service, or in spiritual practice and forms of worship. If you apply yourself to realizing your ideas, you are likely to reach your next birthday in some serious way transformed. Good luck, and Happy Birthday!

By Godromil – Own work, CC0, from the Venice Biennial 2009 https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=30000171

The AstroEssence: Today the past looms large, and our vision is filled with opportunities lost, what we should’ve known (whether that’s a reasonable assessment or not), and with remembrance of exaggerated episodes of both positive and negative experiences. Optimism about the future and our goals may be squelched by recall of past missteps. We indulge in so much thought about what was, we may forget that the point of memory is to make better decisions and choices now (Jupiter qnx and Mercury trine the South Node)

‘Mt Fuji Behind a Spider Net’ Katsushika Hokusai (葛飾北斎) 19th century {{PD}}

Today’s word image is a large spider web stretched above a busy highway. I saw this, and wondered, ‘What is that spider hoping to catch? A semi?’ The incongruity brings to mind when we lay out a plan, hoping to accomplish something, but fail to realize how inappropriate the ‘place’ (or venue, or method, or goal) we’ve chosen is. Or is it this: that an optimistic outlook serves us only so far, and that having a real chance at getting what we want requires a more practical, or perhaps more fully informed, plan?

For those born with the Sun at 8 Scorpio: Take care this coming year, Scorpio, as you may suffer a surprising amount of confusion between thoughts and feelings, often being unable to tell them apart. The reason may be that you are carrying some deep emotional perceptions that are trying to surface, and so inadvertently influence the thought processes. Doing some earnest excavation into the emotions will help, as will full-hearted acceptance of your creative urges, rather than the recent, socially-inspired inclination to tamp them down. Good luck, Scorpio, and Happy Birthday!