Category: Astrology Transit Updates

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December Astrology Forecast 2021

A Venus Retrograde-y Christmas

A dream came true for me when I was invited to be a guest co-host on The Astrology Podcast for the December 2021 forecast with legendary astrologers Chris Brennan and Austin Coppock!

The astrology of December features Venus stationing retrograde in Capricorn conjunct Pluto, a Solar Eclipse in Sagittarius, and the third and final exact Saturn-Uranus square alignment (although Saturn and Uranus come within 1° square to each other in October 2022 and the transit stays in orb through 2023).

Jupiter also departs from Aquarius and moves into Pisces late in the month, while Neptune stations direct, there is a Full Moon in Gemini, and Mars ingresses into Sagittarius on the same day Mercury ingresses into Capricorn. At the beginning of the episode we review some stories that happened in the news which correlated with the astrology of November, and then dive into the astrology of December.

For those who haven’t yet seen my last appearance on The Astrology Podcast, I discussed the archetype of the planet Venus with Chris Brennan, which was such a pleasure and an honor to do!

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Transits for the Aries-Taurus Lunation

The plum and cherry trees are bedecked by white and pink blossoms, the branches laden with the potential of summer fruit. Warming sunlight calls forth new growth from the Earth, and the thick green grasses are bedazzled with daffodils and narcissus flowers. The spindly elven branches of the delicate dogwood trees are just starting to show forth the star-like white blossoms that bring the forest to enchanted life. Spring really is here, and Taurus season is nearly upon us.

The zodiacal sign of Taurus is full this lunation cycle, with Venus coming home to her domain and playing host to the Sun and Mercury, and to the lingering outer planetary guest Uranus. While this February a stellium of planets in Aquarius squared Mars and Uranus in Taurus, now a stellium of planets in Taurus forms the reciprocal square to Jupiter and Saturn in Aquarius. The tensions between Saturn and Uranus continue to be the dominant archetypal complex shaping our zeitgeist, the old making way for the new—sometimes with unexpected schisms and breaks and sometimes with awakened maturity and responsibility. Orient towards creativity and innovation, but do not forget the lessons of the past, for it is only in the synthesis and integration of the two that a sustainable and regenerative future can be conceived.

“The Promise of Spring” by Charlotte Gibb: www.charlottegibb.com.

Transits of the Aries-Taurus Lunation

*April 11 @ 7:31 pm PT* The New Moon in Aries aligns with Venus in a square to Pluto in late Capricorn, impelling a powerful infusion of sensuous, erotic, and aesthetic energies into the birth of a new celestial cycle that will ripple forth into the next lunation.

*April 13 @ 4:09 pm PT* The Sun in Aries sextiles Mars in Gemini, as the Moon conjoins Uranus and squares Saturn. The impulsive force of will to achieve and get tasks done may have to contend with feelings of heaviness and emotionally erratic behavior. Take action, but also tend to the emotional body with care.

*April 14 @ 11:22 am PT* Venus sashays into her home sign of Taurus, draping her gossamer gown over the flowering grasses, and settling into a throne woven of apple blossom branches. A crystal bowl of fresh strawberries and white rose petals rests by her side, while a glass of rare champagne sparkles in her radiant diamond light.

*April 15 @ 9:59 am PT* The Sun in Aries sextiles Jupiter in Aquarius, bringing warmth and joy, quiet celebration and subtle excess, an exuberance of being in the golden glow of life’s elevated heights.

*April 16 @ 6:27 am PT* The Sun in Aries squares Pluto in Capricorn, while Mars in Gemini forms an airy trine to Jupiter in Aquarius. The boxer comes charging into the ring of life’s competition, and while good sportsmanship may prevail and darker, hidden contention may come to light in uncomfortable, shadowy ways.  

*April 17 @ 9:00 am PT* Mercury in Aries has a highly active day, forming sextiles both to Mars in Gemini and Jupiter in Aquarius, and a square to Pluto in Capricorn. Digging to the bottom of the well of ideas may bring a great expansion of insight, but arguing the point too fiercely might lead to ostracization rather than a change in perspective.

*April 18 @ 6:50 pm PT* The Sun and Mercury conjoin in late Aries, directing the light of insight and awareness clearly and potently towards actions, activities, and activations of intellect.

*April 19 @ 11:59 pm PT* Both Mercury and the Sun ingress into Taurus, with fast-paced Mercury just ahead of the Sun by a few hours. A minute before midnight, the Moon in the first degree of Leo forms its waxing square to the Sun, making the opening move in a game of chess where thought and feeling play each side of the board.

*April 22 @ 6:01 pm PT* Venus conjoins Uranus in Taurus, and the Moon in Virgo forms the waxing gibbous trine to the Sun, marking Earth Day’s celebration of our life-giving home planet. Unanticipated desires may arise romantically and relationally, the heart beating with the pulse of dazzling fireworks, and eccentric aesthetics revolutionizing the way beauty is perceived.

*April 23 @ 4:49 am PT* Mars splashes into Cancer, and sizzling steam hisses off the warrior’s armor as the planetary archetype of action and fiery will cools off in the emotional waters of the Moon’s zodiacal domain. Find assertion through gentle paths and relational avenues, aligning actions with the emotional flow of life rather than trying to swim fiercely upstream.

*April 25 @ 3:19 pm PT* Mercury, Venus, and Uranus all conjoin in Taurus, forming a square to Saturn in Aquarius. Communicate relational boundaries with precision and clarity, lest unexpected cracks and schisms arise. Talk honestly about change, implementing it intentionally and with integrity, rather than after you have crossed the breaking point.

*April 26 @ 8:32 pm PT* The Full Moon in Scorpio marks the last full day all the planets are seen moving direct, for Pluto stations retrograde the following day and appears to traverse in reverse for the next several months. The multi-petaled lunar flower blossoms to its fullest, but the petals are a deep hue, tinged with shades of secret intimacy and yearning.

*April 29 @ 7:27 pm PT* Mercury in Taurus sextiles Neptune in Pisces, sanguinely singing poetic passages of heavenly harmonies, saturating the symbolic skull surrounding the mind and flooding it with fantastical images and symbols.  

*April 30 @ 12:54 pm PT* The Sun and Uranus conjoin in Taurus, awakening the ingenious insight, igniting the impulse to revolutionize change, and striding forward heroically into a new and brilliant dawn of awareness.

*May 2 @ 3:38 pm PT* Mercury in Taurus trines a Moon-Pluto conjunction in Capricorn, while Venus in Taurus sextiles Neptune in Pisces. Dreamy and fantastical webs weave from heart to heart, deepened by profoundly vulnerable emotional dialogue and communion.

*May 3 @ 12:50 pm PT* The Sun in Taurus forms the waning square to a Moon-Saturn conjunction in Aquarius, while Mercury in late Taurus squares Jupiter in Aquarius. By day’s end, Mercury leaps into its home sign of Gemini, opening up channels of abundant communication and rapid dialogue. The intellect may be active, but with Moon-Saturn square the Sun a more introverted, introspective, quiet space may need to be nurtured in order for conversation to feel welcome.

*May 6 @ 4:25 am PT* Venus in Taurus forms an earthy trine with Pluto in Capricorn, as the waning balsamic Moon in Pisces sextiles the Sun. As the Moon’s light declines into a sliver, Bacchus’s dryads dance in the dark woods, sensually swaying amongst the silvered shadows.

*May 8 @ 6:38 am PT* Venus in late Taurus squares Jupiter in Capricorn, before crossing the threshold into Mercury’s domain of Gemini. Graciously crowned in all the glory of her home sign, Venus takes a final celebratory bow before stepping into the more intellectual and airy realm of her cousin Hermes’ home.

*May 11 @ 12:00 pm PT* The warming spring soil of the New Moon in Taurus invites the planting of fertile seeds of blossoming intention, while Mars in Cancer forms a sextile to Uranus in Taurus. Sparks of impulsive energy move the soul to action, initiating the unfoldment of the next lunation cycle into motion.

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Transits for the Pisces-Aries Lunation

The arrival of spring has felt imminent in my forested corner of the world, with small green leaves beginning to unfurl and dark purple buds forming upon the long naked tree branches. Yet just to remind us in our mountain abode that Pisces season is not yet over and springtime has still to arrive, a sudden blanket of snow descended yesterday to turn the world once more into a wintry spectacle. On a walk this afternoon along one of the pathways by my home, I could perceive the Sun-Venus-Neptune gossamer veil drawn over the world, Venus-Neptune’s ethereal beauty shimmering through the beams of sunlight itself. The Pisces New Moon will align on the same day as the exact Venus-Neptune conjunction, bringing the essence of sacred love and spiritual beauty into the next lunation’s quiet seeding.

The unfolding lunar cycle is marked by themes of subtlety, harmony, and forward initiative. As we approach Aries season and the dawn of spring, not a single planet is retrograde in the sky. Nothing inhibits the archetypal expression of each of the planets at this time—except, of course, dear Saturn, who always reminds us of the importance of not being hasty. Furthermore, the month is marked by numerous sextiles between planets: gentle 60° alignments that tend to express themselves with confluence and support, a gift offered to us that we might take it and make the best of what is given.

As we reach the anniversary of the coronavirus lockdowns, there are many complex feelings arising as we take stock of the transformed and still changing world around us. May the gentler alignments of this next lunation support each of us as we figure out how best to walk forward and step into the potentials of spring.

Transits of the Pisces-Aries Lunation

*March 13 @ 2:21 am PT* The New Moon aligns in Pisces in a stellium with an exact Venus-Neptune conjunction, initiating a new lunation cycle in the midst of an exquisite, ethereal romantic fairy-story in which mermaids sweetly sing songs of sacred seduction and the wholeness of our being dissolves into the divine union of love.

*March 15 @ 3:26 pm PT* Mercury swims into the sign of Pisces after a long sojourn in Aquarius, loosening the grip of mental acuity and slipping into a stream of consciousness dialogue with . . . pardon, what did you say again?  

*March 16 @ 11:26 am PT* The Sun in Pisces sextiles Pluto in late Capricorn, illuminating the shadowed realms that still tug at our attention, asking to be seen, transmuted, and transformed.

*March 18 @ 1:40 am PT* In alignment with the waxing crescent Moon in Taurus, a humble trine forms with Sun-Venus in Pisces sextile to Pluto in Capricorn, Pluto trine the Moon, and the Moon sextile Sun-Venus. Rumblings of desire echo below the surface of sweet platitudes, disguising deeper impulses than might be recognized at first glance.

*March 20 @ 2:37 am PT* The Sun alights into Aries, marking the Vernal Equinox and ushering in spring with International Astrology Day. The inauguration of the spring season lights up new energies to initiate action and take steps forward into life.

*March 21 @ 7:40 am PT* The waxing quarter Moon in Cancer opens a day of heightened astrological activity, with Mercury in Pisces sextiling Uranus in Taurus, Venus ingressing into the sign of Aries, and Mars in Gemini forming an airy trine with Saturn in Aquarius. Mind, heart, and will pull in varying directions, the first alight with new ideas, the second entering heated territories, and the third quelling the impulse for action until tangible measures have been taken.

*March 23 @ 8:26 pm PT* Mercury in Pisces squares Mars in Gemini, threatening disgruntled disagreements and furtive argumentation. Scream into a pillow or burn an angry letter—and let the energies dissipate with the ashes.

*March 25 @ 11:58 pm PT* The Sun and Venus at last conjoin in Aries after dancing in a close tango for many weeks. The cazimi marks Venus’s transition from the morning star to the evening, where we can soon adore her diamond beauty at a reasonable hour once more.

*March 28 @ 11:48 am PT* The Libra Full Moon opposes the Sun-Venus conjunction, directly perceiving the tender hidden realms of the Lunar unconscious and inviting them forth to illuminate the sweetened pathways of the heart.

*March 29 @ 8:24 pm PT* Mercury and Neptune conjoin in Pisces, drowning rationality within the wet pools of dream consciousness and allowing the symbolic whispers of transcendent intimations to seep through our thought patterns.

*March 30 @ 8:47 am PT* Venus in Aries sextiles Saturn in Aquarius, tempering the heart’s affections with reminders of loves gone by, perhaps to close the gates of intimacy and perhaps to dwell in bittersweet reminiscence.

*March 31 @ 2:04 pm PT* The Sun in Aries sextiles Saturn in Aquarius, emphasizing organization and discipline, but hopefully only with gentle reminders of one’s responsibilities and commitments, rather than a punitive judgement from the superego.

*April 1 @ 11:04 pm PT* Mercury in Pisces sextiles Pluto in Capricorn, subtly driving the inquiry deeper, making sure no stone has been left unturned and no idea uninvestigated.

*April 3 @ 8:41 pm PT* Mercury ingresses into Aries, warming up and drying off after a swim in the Piscean sea. What tasks are now at hand that need to be attended to with swift action and mental initiative?

*April 4 @ 3:02 am PT* The waning quarter Moon in Capricorn squares the Sun in Aries, reminding us of what practical tasks must be concluded in service of the lunation’s intended achievements.

*April 6 @ 4:18 am PT* The Sun-Venus conjunction in Aries sextiles Mars in Gemini, while the Moon in Aquarius creates a humble trine with a sextile to Sun-Venus and a trine Mars. Subtly mirroring the humble trine with Pluto on March 18, rather than Plutonic rumblings of desire the libido instead steps forward with more fiery, yet caring assertion.

*April 9 @ 12:18 pm PT* Mars in Gemini squares Moon-Neptune in Pisces, irritating the sensitivities with rash intrusions from the outer world, leading potentially to passive aggressive and evasively defensive responses.

*April 10 @ 8:09 am PT* Mercury in Aries sextiles Saturn in Aquarius, while Venus in Aries sextiles Jupiter in Aquarius. While the heart opens generously, the mind may sit in discerning judgement over the matter, questioning whether opulence and luxurious taste is really the most responsible approach at this time.

*April 11 @ 7:31 pm PT* The New Moon in Aries aligns with Venus in a square to Pluto in late Capricorn, impelling a powerful infusion of sensuous, erotic, and aesthetic energies into the birth of a new celestial cycle that will ripple forth into the next lunation.

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Transits for the Aquarius-Pisces Lunation

The lunation cycle begins with six celestial bodies—the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn—aligned in the sign of Aquarius, a potent stellium fusing together a wide array of archetypal energies. Polarities are constellated as the heart contracts and expands, and the mind explores widely before honing in on a concrete but ambitious vision.

The most significant alignment of the month is the first exact square of Saturn and Uranus, a major world transit that will be in the sky until 2023. Great tensions are at a breaking point as many opposites are constellated; the potential for sudden and unexpected crises arise and demand to be handled with both authority and innovation. The times cry out for structural change at every level of society, which will either come through careful and intentional revisioning or through irrecoverable cracks to the foundation that may lead to the crumbling of institutions that can no longer weather the tests of time. In such times we must each examine our instilled habits and assumptions, taking neither tradition nor revolution for the final answer but rather walking the knife’s edge between the old world and the new.

Transits of the Aquarius-Pisces Lunation

*February 11 @ 11:06 am PT* The New Moon in Aquarius occurs simultaneously with the exact Venus-Jupiter conjunction in the same sign. A dazzling array of celestial bodies graces the sign of the water bearer, spanning from Saturn, Jupiter, Venus, Mercury, and finally the Sun and Moon in their monthly coniunctio. A new cycle begins under the auspices of expansive and generous love, rich indulgence and luxurious opulence, and a celebration of the beautiful and complex artistry of life.

*February 12 @ 11:48 pm PT* Retrograde Mercury and Venus conjoin in Aquarius, bringing sweetness and gentleness to conversation, honeyed communications, and perhaps even declarations of love. But be cautious of superficial talk, when shallow words block more genuine, heart-felt connection.

*February 13 @ 6:13 pm PT* Mars in Taurus sextiles Moon-Neptune in Pisces, drawing forth emotional sensitivities and relational permeability, with an edge of irritation and perhaps even passive aggressive response. The little jellyfish may have no spine, but beware its subtle sting. 

*February 14 @ 1:40 pm PT* Retrograde Mercury and Jupiter conjoin in Aquarius, leading to verbosity, pontification, and logorrhea. Extreme loquacity may arise in response to missed communications, creating the need for long-winded, wordy, and retroactive explanations.

*February 16 @ 4:17 pm PT* The Aries Moon sextiles the Sun in late Aquarius, after sweeping across the Saturn-Mercury-Jupiter-Venus stellium the previous day. The Moon subtly communicates the changing dynamics of the Aquarius stellium to the emotional body, bringing forth a sequence of expansion and contraction in communication and feeling all within the space of but two days.  

*February 17 @ 11:08 am PT* Saturn in Aquarius forms its first exact square to Uranus in Taurus, just as the Moon conjoins Uranus as well. The outer planetary alignment that will dominate the skies until 2023 brings the opposites together in dynamic tension: between tradition and innovation, between generations old and young, between conserving the past and reforming the future. Find flexibility, be not overly rigid, lest the lightning strike crack the stone walls that have stood for centuries. Awaken to responsibility, and envision structural change in every arena.

*February 18 @ 2:44 am PT* The Sun splashes into the mutable water sign of Pisces, submerging into the liquid dreamworld of fantastical visions and imaginal reveries. Winter’s snows begin to melt as consciousness dissolves the solid boundaries of reality.

*February 19 @ 10:47 am PT* The Moon in early Gemini forms its waxing square to the Sun in Pisces, just as Venus in Aquarius squares Mars in Taurus. The painted form leaps off the page into a dance of action, gracefully asserting the will to make life beautiful, initiating social connections amidst friction and competition.  

*February 20 @ 4:52 pm PT* Mercury turns direct in Aquarius as the Moon in Gemini forms a trine to Saturn, Mercury, and Jupiter in succession. Time to pause and deeply breathe in the sharp winter air, before gathering up the scattered leaves of thought, putting them in order, and moving forward with joy and pragmatic enthusiasm.

*February 24 @ 5:52 pm PT* Mars in Taurus forms an earth trine with Pluto in Capricorn, bellying forth intensified levels of energy and assertive will. Charge ferociously up the steep climb before you, trusting that you have the warrior’s will to transmute lingering feelings of shame into deep empowerment. But be cautious of burns given or received along the blistering path.

*February 25 @ 5:11 am PT* Venus ingresses into Pisces, the sign of her exaltation, soon followed by the Sun in Pisces sextiling Uranus in Taurus. Liberate the individuating self, following the call of one’s unique spark of brilliance, while allowing the heart to luxuriate in the exquisite gossamer waters of the dream realm.

*February 27 @ 12:17 am PT* The Virgo Full Moon opposes the Sun in Pisces in the heart of the dark night, Venus tinging the bright lunar hues with a beautiful, loving glow. The culminating Solar-Lunar polarity orients inwards into the boundaried container of the Virgin’s home, containing sweetness and love within the night sky’s cosmic dance.

*March 3 @ 7:30 pm PT* Mars strides into Gemini on the same day that Venus in Pisces forms a sextile to Uranus in Taurus, initiating a period of forceful dialogue and assertive communications, a quick-witted banter that sparks back and forth between new or unexpected relations.

*March 4 @ 7:27 pm PT* Mercury conjoins Jupiter in Aquarius once more, languidly lengthening sentences into long, drawling narratives that may exaggerate the truth or uplift the mind to greater and more expansive heights of insight.

*March 5 @ 5:30 pm PT* The Sagittarius Moon forms its waning square to the Sun in Pisces, bringing tension between the desire to expand through adventure and the impulse to diffuse softly into the introverted veils of a dreamy cocoon.

*March 10 @ 4:01 pm PT* The Sun conjoins Neptune in Pisces, while the Moon conjoins Jupiter and Mercury in Aquarius. The ego dissolves into utter translucency, the Solar self shimmering through the eternal waters of divine symbolism, while a panoply of emotions spill over the tongue, narratively spinning the tale of unification with the sacred whole.

*March 13 @ 2:21 am PT* The New Moon aligns in Pisces in a stellium with an exact Venus-Neptune conjunction, initiating a new lunation cycle in the midst of an exquisite, ethereal romantic fairy-story in which mermaids sweetly sing songs of sacred seduction and the wholeness of our being dissolves into the divine union of love.

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Transits for the Capricorn-Aquarius Lunation

As we enter the first lunation of the new year, the transits could not be more potent, complex, and dynamically volatile. The primary planetary alignments of this time are the lingering Jupiter-Saturn-Pluto triple conjunction, which dominated the skies throughout the transformational year of 2020, and the quickly tightening square of Jupiter-Saturn to Mars-Uranus. A heightened sense of rapid change, restless rebellion, and unpredictable breakdown of old structures is currently rattling the collective zeitgeist. Time may feel as though it is accelerating as contradictory energies pull the tension of the opposites to intensified extremes.

As we withstand the onslaught of eruptive energies, it is important to attune ourselves to how we might consciously participate in the most life-enhancing ways with these complex archetypal principles. When anger or fear grips us, where do we turn to transmute and express these energies? What practices can support us in cultivating healthy relationships with the planetary archetypes? How can we incarnate a harmonious world in the midst of this cosmic cataclysm that is driving our collective evolution of consciousness?

May these short transit updates provide you with some guidance throughout this lunation cycle. I recommend printing out a copy and affixing it near your calendar, your desk, your bed, or your altar, so you can check in each morning and evening to see what the day and night hold in store. These transit updates can be used to plan your day, week, or month ahead, and also in retrospect to reflect and even journal about how these archetypal powers have unfolded in your personal life.

Transits of the Capricorn-Aquarius Lunation

*January 12 @ 9:00 pm PT* The New Moon in Capricorn conjunct Pluto comes in the midst of an intensely potent set of transits: Mercury aligned with the Jupiter-Uranus square, Mars making its final square to Saturn, and Venus forming an earthy trine to Uranus. Amidst the transmutational turmoil, new breakthrough ideas can be implemented with rigor and discipline, while awakening to how the practical can also be beautiful allows for more intelligent design to flourish.

*January 14 @ 6:19 am PT* The Sun in Capricorn conjoins Pluto, bringing the dramatic descent of the Solar hero—both the inflated ego and the radiant self—into the broiling pits of the underworld. Confront the dragon, face the shadow, extinguish the lights, and burn with newfound brightness in the dark. Uranus also turns direct in Taurus, carrying forward the impulse for rebellion, revolution, and change.

*January 16 @ 9:02 am PT* The Moon in Pisces touches the midpoint between Venus trine Mars-Uranus, which may bring some relational softening to the explosive fervor of combative energies. However, these gentle soft aspects from the Moon and Venus may not be cooling enough to temper or quell the flames.

*January 17 @ 6:19 am PT* Jupiter in Capricorn forms an exact square to Uranus in Taurus, a transit which entered the orb of influence in December—although it did linger within 10° in April and May 2020. Radical breakthrough and sudden revolutionary change are amplified and uplifted, however, with Saturn in close range the powers of constraint, restriction, and reason bring a sense of reality to more rash, puerile tendencies. Jupiter-Uranus brings both the awakened impulse for overturning the status quo, and the sigh of relief at the unexpected blessing.

*January 19 @ 12:40 pm PT* The Sun ingresses into Aquarius, forming a stellium with Pluto in late Capricorn and Saturn and Jupiter in early Aquarius. The change of signs brings a fresh gust of new airy energy, yet the Sun’s planetary aspects highlight the lingering realities of this past year when the Capricorn stellium dominated the skies and the world was swept up into an ongoing crisis.

*January 20 @ 1:02 pm PT* Mars and Uranus come into exact alignment in Taurus just as the waxing quarter Moon in the same sign forms a triple conjunction with the two volatile planets and squares off to the Sun in early Aquarius. The zeitgeist could not be more explosive, with Uranus radically igniting Mars’ ire and tendency for violence, and the square between the luminaries activating the Jupiter-Saturn-Pluto stellium that still has more of its story to tell. The world is caught in a vice grip and the lit fuse is burning towards more fuel, but we hold the potential to rebel against violence and allow justice and balance to prevail. 

*January 22 @ 11:49 pm PT* Mars in Taurus forms its final square to Jupiter in Aquarius, enflaming peppery confidence, bravado, and swagger. Good sportsmanship and healthy competition may prevail, but there is just as much potential for anger and even violence to become inflated and enlarged beyond reasonable proportion. Step confidently, but also with respect and care…

*January 23 @ 7:01 pm PT* The Sun in Aquarius conjoins Saturn, while Venus in Capricorn sextiles Neptune in Pisces. Hard realities and concrete truths, consequences and judgements, finality, endings, and the death spiral of the ego—Saturn’s painful foot comes down, although the dreamy romantic pall of Venus-Neptune may offer some soft soothing, if not a beautiful escapist delusion.

*January 26 @ 4:48 am PT* The Sun in Aquarius squares Uranus in Taurus, further unleashing restless impulses for radical change, while Saturn still in alignment with the Sun, Jupiter, and Uranus pulls back on the reins to bring restraint wherever it can.

*January 28 @ 11:16 am PT* The Full Moon in Leo opposes the Sun-Jupiter conjunction in Aquarius, just as Venus conjoins Pluto in Capricorn. Exuberant and joyful light blossoms in winter’s darkness, the lunar lion roaring grandly, while the hearts beats molten red blood that pulses with intensified desire.

*January 30 @ 7:52 am PT* Mercury in Aquarius turns retrograde and will traverse back through Saturn’s airy winter sign, thoughts whistling like cold wind in swirling patterns doubling back to retrieve what was forgotten, lost, misplaced, misunderstood, and misinterpreted. Cultivate the meditative mind, lest you find your thoughts scattered like pages of a half-written novel released unexpectedly on the wind.

*February 1 @ 6:05 am PT* The Sun in Aquarius forms a square to Mars in Taurus, while Venus ingresses into Aquarius to join the lineup of Saturn, Jupiter, the Sun, and retrograde Mercury. Having so many planets in the sign of the water bearer reminds us each to carry our own spiritual burdens, rather than turning to external heroes or saviors, while the square of the Sun to Mars emphasizes how these energies must be put into tangible action.

*February 4 @ 9:37 am PT* The waning quarter Moon in Scorpio squares the Sun and Jupiter in Aquarius, while also forming a T-square with Mars in Taurus. The fixed signs are strongly activated and will likely be felt most in the emotional body, the home, and one’s family dynamics. Sweep out the old volatile energies by giving the house a good scrub, directing your fervor into caretaking and nurturing service for self and others.

*February 6 @ 7:33 pm PT* Venus conjoins Saturn in Aquarius in the earliest hours of the morning, before squaring Uranus in Taurus in the evening. The loving heart may feel caught between the impulse for security and the desire for change and novelty, while aesthetic expressions might bridge between classical beauty and eclectic and unique taste.

*February 8 @ 5:48 am PT* The Sun conjoins retrograde Mercury in Aquarius, emphasizing the need to speak clearly and perhaps even repeatedly so as best to be understood, and to clarify information and ideas whenever necessary.

*February 10 @ 4:16 am PT* Mercury in Aquarius squares Mars in Taurus, just as the Aquarius Moon conjoins Saturn, squares Uranus, and conjoins Venus and Jupiter in succession. Mercury-Mars can easily lead to a heated argument or debate, and the Moon’s impressionable state could lead to emotional withdrawal, outburst, or even heartbreak. Tread lightly, and find words to express one’s genuine feelings that do not cut like bitter swords.

*February 11 @ 11:06 am PT* The New Moon in Aquarius occurs simultaneously with the exact Venus-Jupiter conjunction in the same sign. A dazzling array of celestial bodies graces the sign of the water bearer, spanning from Saturn, Jupiter, Venus, Mercury, and finally the Sun and Moon in their monthly coniunctio. A new cycle begins under the auspices of expansive and generous love, rich indulgence and luxurious opulence, and a celebration of the beautiful and complex artistry of life.

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Transits for the Sagittarius-Capricorn Lunation

The year 2020 will be a pivotal line in the sediment of history, remembered centuries after the plagues and pestilence have passed. As the year comes to a close, the Great Stellium of Jupiter-Saturn-Pluto culminates with the exact conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn on December 21, synchronistically aligning with the Winter Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere. Jupiter and Saturn have not been this visibly close to each other since the conjunction of March 4, 1226, and they will form what appears to be a shining double planet—the mythic Christmas Star that led the three wise astrologers to the birth place of Solar Consciousness incarnated into human form.

This lunation cycle opens with a Solar Eclipse in Sagittarius, and numerous planets change zodiac signs during the course of the month: Saturn and Jupiter ingress into Aquarius, the Sun and Mercury enter Capricorn, Mars departs Aries at last, and Mercury and Venus both switch signs on the same day. While the opening weeks of 2021 may not bring the respite and restoration of normalcy that so many desire, the winds of change are blowing and a new season dawns as the darkest night of the year passes and the days begin to lengthen once more.

Transits of the Sagittarius–Capricorn Lunation

*December 14 @ 8:17 am PT* The New Moon in Sagittarius is a potent Solar Eclipse, occurring on the same day as Venus in Scorpio sextiles Jupiter in Capricorn, and Mercury in Sagittarius trines Mars in Aries. Moon and Sun conjoin in their sacred marriage, renewing their vows in daylight darkness, expanding their love to new heights, and igniting the noosphere with the fire of passion.

*December 15 @ 8:21 am PT* Venus forms a sextile to Saturn in late Capricorn, hours before alighting into Sagittarius, bringing bittersweet heartache and tender love, a sense of separation and longing for beloved community, and a recognition of the beauty of mortality.

*December 16 @ 9:04 pm PT* Saturn ingresses into Aquarius at last, leaving the sign of Capricorn where it has dwelt since late 2017. The Moon graces the Jupiter-Saturn-Pluto stellium, helping to usher Saturn into its new domain, and bringing the intense and magnanimous feeling of the great Capricorn stellium into our bodies for one final time.

*December 19 @ 5:07 am PT* Jupiter follows Saturn’s footsteps into Aquarius, while the Sun conjoins Mercury in late Sagittarius. The impulse to grow and expand enters into new territory, although it still must contend with limitation, structure, and discipline for some time to come. Nonetheless, clear focus of thought can expand the reaches of the mind, leading to the incarnation of grand possibilities.  

*December 20 @ 3:07 pm PT* Mercury crosses the threshold into Capricorn, taking on a more serious and grounded attitude, forging plans and laying intellectual foundations on which thought castles can solidly be constructed.

*December 21 @ 10:21 am PT* The Winter Solstice, when the Sun ingresses into Capricorn, aligns with the day that Jupiter and Saturn perfect their exact conjunction, while the waxing quarter Moon in Aries further marks the opening stages of a new cycle. A great turning of the tides is underway, the end of an era, a fall from inflated heights and a stabilization of new growth. Justice weighs out her scales, and every action has the potential to tip the balance towards failure or success.

*December 23 @ 6:53 am PT* Mars in Aries forms its third and final square of 2020 to Pluto in Capricorn, just as the Moon in Aries illuminates this potent alignment with pearly hues. The lionness roars and bares her fangs, and the volcanic blood of the Earth boils forth in tempestuous rage and titanic passion.

*December 24 @ 11:05 pm PT* Mercury in Capricorn trines Uranus in Taurus in the dark of night on Christmas Eve. The soft jingle of silver sleighbells awakens the mind to impossible thoughts, liberating reason to play in realms of surprise and delight.

*December 27 @ 7:25 pm PT* The Sun in Capricorn trines Uranus in Taurus, awakening restless impulses for new experiences and unbound freedom as the spark of genius shines forth in eccentric flashes of unpredictable brilliance.

*December 29 @ 7:28 pm PT* The Cancer Full Moon opposes the Sun and Mercury in Capricorn, illuminating the relational interconnectedness of all beings, our minds and bodies intertwined in a great cosmic network of conscious matter and incarnated soul.

*December 30 @ 2:19 am PT* Venus in Sagittarius squares Neptune in Pisces, draping a gossamer curtain across our vision of the world’s beauties, enchanting the senses with the sweet dew of love’s potion, clouding the eyes to see naught but the divine soul of the beloved reflected on every shimmering surface.  

*January 1 @ 3:18 am PT* The New Year dawns with Mercury in Capricorn sextile Neptune in Pisces, subtly singing in mythic tunes and timbres, humming softly to the dulcimer tones of an inebriated mind awash in spirit-song.

*January 4 @ 4:58 pm PT* Mercury conjoins Pluto in Capricorn, empowering the capacity for deep thought and voracious knowledge-seeking, while driving forth suspicion and paranoia from the secret depths of darkened intellectual discourse.

*January 6 @ 1:37 am PT* Mars finally departs the sign of Aries after its six-month sojourn and settles into Taurus, just as the Moon in Libra makes its waning square to the Sun in Capricorn. No longer in its sign of rulership, Mars has to surrender to the grounded realm of Venus’s earth sign, learning to slow down and attend to sensate needs. How shall we integrate each event that has ignited since late June 2020 into the practical, relational structures of our lives?  

*January 8 @ 8:53 am PT* Mercury and Venus change signs in quick succession, Mercury entering Aquarius and Venus entering Capricorn within a few hours of each other. The Sun in Capricorn also forms a sextile to Neptune, while Mercury squares Mars in early Taurus. The mind catches fire with argumentative fervor, while the heart turns serious and somber—yet a dreamy pall washes over all, blurring the edges of being.

*January 9 @ 7:53 am PT* Venus in Capricorn trines Mars in Taurus, while Mercury conjoins Saturn in early Aquarius. Thoughts may grind in frustration as Mercury is caught in a hard angle between the mortar and pestle of Saturn and Mars, alluring the desires into a dance with the archetypal lovers instead. When the mind reaches a dead end, perhaps the heart and body can take the lead instead?

*January 11 @ 9:19 am PT* Mercury conjoins Jupiter in Aquarius, leading into a square to Uranus in Taurus that will perfect early the following morning. Expansive awakening may shed dazzling insights where not long before frustration and mental irritability dominated, leading to the potential for radical and exuberant innovation.

*January 12 @ 9:00 pm PT* The New Moon in Capricorn conjunct Pluto comes in the midst of an intensely potent set of transits: Mercury aligned with the Jupiter-Uranus square, Mars making its final square to Saturn, and Venus forming an earthy trine to Uranus. Amidst the transmutational turmoil, new breakthrough ideas can be implemented with rigor and discipline, while awakening to how the practical can also be beautiful allows for more intelligent design to flourish.

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Transits for the Scorpio-Sagittarius Lunation

Transits of the Scorpio-Sagittarius Lunation

*November 14 @ 9:07 pm PT* The New Moon in Scorpio forms a sextile to the Jupiter-Pluto conjunction, highlighting great ambitions, the impulse to strive for excellence, for high achievement, for power and influence. Seeds planted in such rich soil may grow to extraordinary heights, but growth without integrity will ultimately lead to an untimely withering and a fall of the crowning flower. Strive for the sunlight, but stay connected to the deep roots that nourish as well.

*November 15 @ 11:43 am PT* Venus in Libra perfects its square to Pluto in Capricorn in the morning, and then Jupiter in Capricorn in the late evening. The heart beats with warmth and intensity, with growth and transmutation. Whether through drama or depth, disturbance or surrender, relationships are called to stretch and transform, to encompass both light and shadow in their movement towards wholeness.

*November 17 @ 12:07 am PT* Mercury in Scorpio opposes Uranus in Taurus for the third time this season, sparking new insights and revelations, bringing to the light of the mind’s eye realizations that may have been passed over during the previous two oppositions.  

*November 19 @ 8:30 am PT* The waxing crescent Moon opens the next phase of the lunation cycle as the Sun in Scorpio forms a sextile with both the Moon and Saturn in Capricorn, and Venus in Libra squares Saturn as well. The desire may arise to withdraw emotionally into a safe relational container, protecting the heart, and holding one’s feelings with tender maturity.

*November 21 @ 8:45 pm PT* The waxing quarter Moon in early Pisces occurs the same day as the Sun alights in Sagittarius and Venus descends into Scorpio. The call to mutate, shed, deepen, sensitize, feel, soften, and open, all initiate the season of late autumnal adventure. Amethyst mist clings to twilight spiderwebs, and the light dwindles into piercing beams of subtle warmth.  

*November 23 @ 8:40 pm PT* Mercury in Scorpio trines Neptune in Pisces, dissolving the mind into the eternal wellspring of images that upwells from the ceaseless celestial seas of the dreamworld.

*November 26 @ 7:43 pm PT* The Moon ingresses into Taurus, the sign of her exaltation, after spending the day squaring the Jupiter-Saturn-Pluto stellium in Capricorn. Complex emotional dynamics arise, dramatic feelings, over-stimulation, isolation, the need to withdraw and the need to feel connected. The evening may bring an unexpected softness, an opening to heart’s contentment.

*November 27 @ 9:11 am PT* Mercury in Scorpio forms a sextile to Pluto, while Venus in the same sign opposes Uranus in Taurus. Deep and meaningful conversations awaken the heart to new desires and attractions, a dazzling sparkle of fireworks alighting from heart to heart, and mind to mind.

*November 28 @ 4:36 pm PT* Neptune in Pisces swims direct after spending half the year retrograde, now joining all the planets except Uranus in their forward orbital journey through the solar system. Mercury in Scorpio also forms a sextile to Jupiter, broadening the intellect to encompass new philosophical perspectives and birth grand ideas from the realm of potentia.

*November 30 @ 1:30 am PT* The Full Moon initiates eclipse season with a Lunar Eclipse on the Sagittarius-Gemini axis, while Mercury in Scorpio sextiles Saturn in Capricorn. Pivotal conversations may transmute the unfolding of destinies, opening unseen possibilities and whispered potentials, while also narrowing the focus on what realities can actually be manifested.

*December 1 @ 11:51 am PT* Mercury leaps into Sagittarius, and the tongue of the storyteller tells long tales of grandeur and adventure, exaggerating the successes and downplaying the failures, weaving a narrative of high achievement and abundant celebration.

*December 5 @ 8:53 pm PT* Venus in Scorpio trines Neptune in Pisces, while sirens sing and mermaids swoon, and gentle butterflies alight on the heart of the enchanted lover who has fallen in love with a dream.

*December 7 @ 4:37 pm PT* The waning quarter Moon in Virgo squares the Sun in Sagittarius, bringing in the harvest of the lunation and separating the wheat from the chaff to see how much abundance really came to fruition.

*December 9 @ 11:41 am PT* The Sun in Sagittarius squares Neptune in Pisces, pouring symbolic waters in the soul of being, the fountain of self overflowing and saturating the cosmos with idealized visions and fantasies. The world becomes a scrying mirror, and the reflections echo from eternity to the heavens in a single moment of infinite concrescence.

*December 10 @ 3:52 am PT* Venus in Scorpio sextiles Pluto in Capricorn at the start of the day, and the Sun in Sagittarius trines Mars in Aries at day’s end. Morning dawns with deep passion, the rich auras of the world coloring the potency of existence, before the warrior steps forth with fire and certainty, the heroic sword in hand catching gleams of the setting Sun.

*December 13 @ 3:38 am PT* Mercury in Sagittarius squares Neptune in Pisces, drawing the veils of illusion across the rational intellect, gossamer potentials trilling in mental waterfalls off cliffs of rationality and into pools of unreason.

*December 14 @ 8:17 am PT* The New Moon in Sagittarius is a potent Solar Eclipse, occurring on the same day as Venus in Scorpio sextiles Jupiter in Capricorn, and Mercury in Sagittarius trines Mars in Aries. Moon and Sun conjoin in their sacred marriage, renewing their vows in daylight darkness, expanding their love to new heights, and igniting the noosphere with the fire of passion.

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Transits for the Libra-Scorpio Lunation

The deep rhythms of Mars square the Jupiter-Saturn-Pluto stellium continue to sound the bass notes of this next lunation cycle that unfolds in the heart of autumn. As the cycle begins with the Libra New Moon, Mercury is already retrograde, traversing through the sign of Scorpio. Mercury retrograde reminds us to slow down, be mindful in our speech, not to try to rush ahead with plans and ideas but to contemplate what we may have missed and how we can be more conscious in the ways we use our voice.

Two Full Moons grace the month of October, with the Full Moon in Taurus aligning with Halloween and leading towards the Day of the Dead. The ancestors may feel especially present on this most potent Full Moon, as the night hours are brightly illuminated and shadows sway in a mysterious flickering dance.

These transit updates are meant to be both a guide to dancing with the archetypal energies and a poetic homage to the iridescent array of their manifestations. They can be used when you plan your day or your week ahead, or they can be drawn upon for retrospective reflection as you review how your week or month has unfolded. They can be seeds to inspire small ritual actions, or they can simply give you a moment to pause and reflect on how your soul is interwoven in the great archetypal warp and weft of the cosmic loom.

Transits of the Libra-Scorpio Lunation

*October 16 @ 12:31 pm PT* The New Moon aligns in Libra, still carrying the dynamic energies of the T-square with Mars and the Jupiter-Saturn-Pluto stellium. Seeds need darkness to germinate and take root, and although the night may feel long and foreboding, the dawn always comes at last.

*October 18 @ 6:58 am PT* The Sun in late Libra squares Saturn in Capricorn, while Venus in Virgo opposes Neptune in Pisces. The dreamy, romantic fantasy conflicts with the focus on hard, practical realities, perhaps leading to a sense of dissonance and the desire for exquisite escapism.

*October 19 @ 12:35 am PT* A potent sequence of astrological events unfolds as retrograde Mars in Aries squares Jupiter in Capricorn for the second time since August; Venus in Virgo trines Jupiter; and retrograde Mercury in Scorpio makes its second opposition to Uranus in Taurus. Exuberant, heated, and potentially explosive energies and a frazzled, easily distracted, erratic mind may need some kind of luxurious indulgence to smooth off the edges. Imagine a thick slice of cake at the end of a work day in which tempers flared with every technological glitch and miscommunication…

*October 20 @ 8:38 pm PT* The waxing crescent Moon in late Sagittarius forms its opening sextile to the Sun, while also forming a T-square with Venus opposite Neptune and a trine to Mars. Perhaps put the heated energies to use by scrubbing clean your home, before allowing yourself to dissolve in a rose petal bath and drift into an array of unrealistic fantasies…

*October 21 @ 2:42 pm PT* Venus in Virgo forms a trine to Pluto, deepening sensual desire, dressing the dangerous in gorgeous guise, and flirting with the edges of the taboo underworld. For whom would you willingly tear out a piece of your heart?

*October 22 @ 4:00 pm PT* The Sun ingresses into the watery realm of Scorpio, autumn’s fixed sign, and our attention is invited to dwell below the surface and explore that which often chooses to hide or remain obscured. The days continue to darken, the air to chill, and the veiled denizens of the otherworld begin to wander among the shadows of the trees.

*October 23 @ 6:23 am PT* The waxing quarter Moon in early Aquarius makes its opening square to the Sun in Scorpio, potentially leading to embodied tensions, internal conflict, or a sense of being at odds with oneself or one’s community.

*October 24 @ 8:41 am PT* Venus in late Virgo trines Saturn in Capricorn, bringing order and precision to beauty, and an appreciation for the old and antique, the precious object that has endured through time. The heart may ache softly with remembrance of shattered loves.

*October 25 @ 11:23 am PT* The Sun in Scorpio conjoins Mercury retrograde while the Moon in Pisces forms a trine to both celestial bodies. Speak subtle words in metaphor and poetry, as direct communication may be futile. The emotional body is more attuned to the whispering winds of the world.

*October 27 @ 6:33 pm PT* Within minutes of each other Venus ingresses into the beginning of Libra while retrograde Mercury traverses back into the end of the same sign, the two innermost planets drawing closer to one another once more. Venus is home in her rulership and Mercury becomes her guest for a spell, sweetening the tongue with honeyed words and graceful locutions.

*October 31 @ 7:55 am PT* On the night when spirits freely walk the world, the Full Moon conjunct Uranus in Taurus waxes in opposition to the Sun in Scorpio. The unexpected surprise, the spark of brilliant insight, the embodied awakening—the precocious trickster steals fire from the heavens to bring new consciousness to humanity.

*November 1 @ 11:06 am PT* Mercury in late Libra squares Saturn in Capricorn once more, passing back over the tracks it laid in late September. Think over decisions carefully, weighing all options, balancing negative opinions with tangible facts. Think each detail through to the end.

*November 3 @ 9:50 am PT* Mercury stations direct in Libra, although do not expect communications, decisions, ideas, or plans to move forward smoothly yet. Mercury will take some time to pick up speed, and its hesitancy is reiterated by its close proximity in square to Saturn.

*November 6 @ 1:12 am PT* Mercury in Libra makes its final exact square to Saturn in Capricorn, having lingered within orb of the senex planet during the length of its slowing and stationing. Rethinking, reviewing, mulling over, checking for mistakes, revisioning, heavy conclusions and hard concepts are all weighed in the balance.  

*November 8 @ 5:46 am PT* The waning quarter Moon in Leo makes its closing square to the Sun in Scorpio, emphasizing the tension between the desire to take up space with one’s feelings and the impulse to obscure one’s light in the shadows.

*November 9 @ 8:08 am PT* Venus in Libra opposes Mars in Aries, the opposition amplifying the polarity of rulerships between these two cardinal signs. Fire and air, the lover and the beloved, Venus allures while Mars leaps, aggression and passion enflaming both anger and desire.

*November 10 @ 1:55 pm PT* Mercury ingresses back into Scorpio, while the balsamic Moon in Virgo forms an opposition to Neptune, and the Sun in Scorpio trines the ethereal planet. Emotional and relational edges may be blurred, feelings permeating the soul in an alchemical osmosis. Soak the imagination in a bath of luminescence, and watch the mind spiral down the drain’s whirlpool.

*November 12 @ 1:39 pm PT* Jupiter and Pluto makes their third and final conjunction in Capricorn, an alignment that has defined 2020 with its high drama, moral polarization, and the globalized amplification of destruction. The scales of justice weigh heaven and hell in the balance.

*November 13 @ 4:36 pm PT* Mars at long last stations direct in mid-Aries, although it now has one more slow journey in a square to Jupiter, Saturn, and Pluto to traverse. Archetypal echoes of this spring and early fall resound once more as the warrior steps forward with sword in hand. Which way will the sword swing? How deep will be the cut? And who is called to wield the blade?

*November 14 @ 9:07 pm PT* The New Moon in Scorpio forms a sextile to the Jupiter-Pluto conjunction, highlighting great ambitions, the impulse to strive for excellence, for high achievement, for power and influence. Seeds planted in such rich soil may grow to extraordinary heights, but growth without integrity will ultimately lead to an untimely withering and a fall of the crowning flower. Strive for the sunlight, but stay connected to the deep roots that nourish as well.

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Transits for the Virgo-Libra Lunation

The world is an interplay of illumination and shadow, and the intermingling of darkness with light creates the dazzling spectrum of colors we know. As the seasons turn, the balance of day and night are equal, showing us the value and necessity of both diurnal and nocturnal consciousness.

The next lunation cycle begins with the Virgo New Moon, before the Sun enters the sign of Libra and the cycle continues through the cardinal signs. The dominant alignment through the entire month is Mars retrograde in a square to the Jupiter-Saturn-Pluto stellium, which will be highlighted at hard angles by both Mercury and the Sun as the weeks progress. There is no denying the times are difficult and filled with uncertainty, and finding grace and equilibrium in the midst of the turmoil and heaviness can be challenging. Libra is a Venus-ruled sign, and if we find ourselves struggling or down-hearted, it can be important to remember our connections with loved ones and community.

Transits of the Virgo-Libra Lunation

*September 17 @ 4:00 am PT* The New Moon in Virgo offers a fertile, mutable soil in which to plant the new seeds of intention. Mercury in Libra aligns in a square to Jupiter in Capricorn, calling forth grand ideas, inflated thoughts, philosophical musings, and an optimistic perspective on the growing potential of the newly seeded intentions. Plant kernels of hope in abundance now, for although not all may come to flower, some of these ambitious ideas may grow to great heights.

*September 21 @ 11:13 am PT* As the Moon in late Scorpio forms a sextile with the Sun in Virgo, Mercury in Libra squares Pluto in Capricorn. Gossip and intrigue, paranoia and slander can taint and corrupt the thinking mind. Who pulls the strings of our thought patterns, and do we have the power to think for ourselves?

*September 22 @ 6:31 am PT* The Sun enters Libra with the autumnal equinox, marking the shift of seasons and the fading of light. A Venus-ruled air sign, Libra oversees the fall winds scattering many-colored leaves in complex patterns across the dappled ground. The elves are on the road in autumn, and some may hear the call to adventure echoing in their hearts.

*September 23 @ 6:55 pm PT* The waxing quarter Moon in Capricorn squares Libra Sun, while Mercury simultaneously squares Saturn. Hard problems, difficult conversation, misperceptions and miscommunications can make nuanced communication challenging. Saturn negates the voice, calling for silence and quiet contemplation instead.

*September 24 @ 3:53 am PT* As Mercury still lingers in Saturn’s and Pluto’s rays, it perfects an opposition to Mars in Aries, bringing heightened tempers and argumentative debate into an already frustrating communicative environment. Instead of getting caught in a shouting match, writing a rage-filled letter and burning it to ashes may help to release and redirect the fiery energies.

*September 25 @ 12:11 am PT* The Moon in Capricorn spends the entirety of the day traversing the Jupiter-Saturn-Pluto conjunction, and forming a T-square with both Mercury and Mars. If it all feels like too much and your emotions boil over and break down, know that you may be feeling not only your own emotional whirlpool but that of the collective as well.

*September 26 @ 6:30 am PT* The Gibbous Moon in early Aquarius forms an airy trine with the Libra Sun, which may offer some breathing room and a little perspective on the previous day’s emotional turmoil—although the Moon’s simultaneous square to Uranus may still lead to unexpected and erratic emotional outbursts and sensations.

*September 27 @ 12:41 am PT* Mercury descends into the underwater grotto of Scorpio, the sign in which it will turn retrograde in a fortnight. What hidden and obscured information and ideas have been secreted away within these caves of the mind, and what is the measure of your impassioned desire to know?

*September 28 @ 6:01 pm PT* Venus in Leo forms a fire trine with Mars in Aries, taking the next steps in the erotic dance initiated just three weeks prior when these two planets formed a dynamic square. Perhaps this relational dance can express a greater harmony, a balancing between the allurement of Venus and the initiatory desire of Mars.

*September 29 @ 2:50 pm PT* Mars in Aries perfects its square to Saturn for the second time, just hours after Saturn stations direct. These stubborn, frictional energies are pulling in opposite directions, grinding action to a halt and enforcing patience with an aggressive hand. If no forward motion is possible, how instead will you plan for the long game?

*October 1 @ 2:05 pm PT* The Full Moon in Aries opposes the Sun in Libra, culminating the lunar cycle initiated with the Virgo New Moon. This highly activated Full Moon in Mars’s home sign reflects the agitated state of the world, currently dominated by the archetypal principles of the red planet. How to cultivate Libran balance and harmony when so much needs to be done?

*October 2 @ 1:48 pm PT* Venus steps into the earthy realm of Virgo, bringing a logical and measured approach to love and aesthetic sensibilities. Everything has its right place, and all that is beautiful must also be practical, while all that is practical ought to be aesthetically pleasing as well. As a Mercury-ruled sign, Venus in Virgo desires to be expressed through carefully chosen words. What words would you choose to write a love letter to your own heart?

*October 7 @ 2:18 am PT* The Disseminating Moon in Gemini forms a trine with the Sun in Libra, while Mercury in Scorpio opposes Uranus in Taurus. Mental activity may accelerate, taking on an electrified, frenetic pace that can at times disturb sleep as sparks fly off of new insights and realizations.

*October 9 @ 5:40 pm PT* The waning quarter Moon in Cancer forms its closing square to the Sun, as Mars perfects its second square to Pluto. Volcanic intensity drives the instincts, and simmering tempers may ignite over pools of shame and rage. The power to take action resides within, but directing this ferocious warrior energy takes self-awareness of unconscious tendencies.

*October 10 @ 4:08 pm PT* Venus in Virgo forms an earth trine to Uranus in Taurus, bringing forth unusual desires and unique aesthetic tastes, sparking unexpected heart connections, friendships, and love.

*October 11 @ 6:34 am PT* The Sun in Libra squares Jupiter in Capricorn, beginning its angular sweep across the Capricorn stellium. While the focus may be on the need for growth, expansion, and the cultivation of joy, the problematic sides of Jupiter may also be highlighted: grandiosity, arrogance, and an inflated sense of one’s egoic identity.

*October 12 @ 9:39 am PT* Jupiter in Capricorn makes its third and final sextile of the year to Neptune, while Mercury perfects its own sextile to Venus for the second time since they came into this configuration in late August. In the midst of this season’s intensified turmoil, these alignments may offer a diplomatic perspective and capacity to perceive a broader, unified vision.

*October 13 @ 4:26 pm PT* The Sun in Libra opposes Mars in Aries, the same day as Mercury stations retrograde in Scorpio. The flow of information slows into quagmires of confusion, bringing the need to review and reflect critically. With the Sun highlighting retrograde Mars, encounters with misinformation may inflame the frustrations and ignite the temper.

*October 15 @ 3:15 am PT* The Sun continues its angular journey to the Capricorn stellium, squaring Pluto next and intensifying the awareness of the shadowy underworld dynamics of power and corruption. Following the path of descent can bring profound regeneration and rebirth, but only after the outworn ways of being have been dismembered and composted.

*October 16 @ 12:31 pm PT* The New Moon aligns in Libra, still carrying the dynamic energies of the T-square with Mars and the Jupiter-Saturn-Pluto stellium. Seeds need darkness to germinate and take root, and although the night may feel long and foreboding, the dawn always comes at last.

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Transits for the Leo-Virgo Lunation

Smoke fills the air as I write these words, the archetype of Mars igniting the Earth’s landscape with extreme heat and lightning strikes. The year 2020 has been defined by the great conjunction of Jupiter-Saturn-Pluto, and now that Mars is square to the Capricorn stellium an already inflamed and feverish world catches fire once more. Whether fires in Australia or California, the heatwaves rippling across the globe, or the fevered foreheads and burning lungs of those struck by the crown virus, the world is expressing the intensity and heat of the archetypal zeitgeist in myriad ways.

During this lunation cycle the inner planets Mercury, Venus, and Mars form an intertwining dance with the outer planets in quick succession. Neptune is in a soft sextile to the Jupiter-Saturn-Pluto conjunction, and Mercury and Venus form major aspects to the entire set of planets, with Mercury trining the stellium and Venus opposing it, and Mercury opposing Neptune while Venus trines it. Together they form an exquisite and rare mystic rectangle, a complex aspect pattern made up of two oppositions, two trines, and two sextiles. Mars joins the dance, continuing to square Jupiter-Saturn-Pluto, and finally squares his lover Venus on the same day Mercury sextiles her. One can perceive an image of archetypal forces weaving a sophisticated pattern around our Earth, drawing us all into the dance in one form or another.

Transits of the Leo–Virgo Lunation

*August 18 @ 7:42 pm PT* The New Moon in Leo comes at last, closing out the Leo lunation cycle instead of initiating it—as has been the case for every previous lunation cycle this year. Plant your seeds of intention in the sunbaked soil, and offer them the creative fertilizer of the Venus-Uranus sextile that also comes into exact alignment on this day. The heart awakens with new and unexpected desires, bringing breakthroughs, excitement, and experimentation in love, romance, and friendship.

*August 19 @ 6:30 pm PT* The Moon and Mercury both ingress into Virgo by the day’s end, bringing the thought and feel of late summer into our bodies and minds. Our needs must be met in certain and specific ways, following a familiar and logical pattern, as Mercury steps into rulership and enjoys the benefits of exaltation as well.

*August 22 @ 8:45 am PT* Virgo welcomes the Sun into the late summer sign, and the height of Solar dominance begins to dim slightly into the softer hues of a deepening afternoon sky. Virgo is a Mercury-ruled sign, but unlike Mercury’s other domicile Gemini—in which conversations dart back and forth in quick dialogue between the twins—the Virgin is “one unto herself” and thus holds the contemplative conversation within in a space of self-reflection.

*August 23 @ 4:35 am PT* Scorpio Moon forms the waxing crescent sextile to the Sun in Virgo, the first alignment between the luminaries in the Virgo lunation. The wheat stalks send forth their slim leaves, beginning to grow the seeds of intention planted in Leo’s hot summer soil. Deep emotions may feel balanced out by a logical approach to integrating their reasons for arising.

*August 24 @ 11:19 am PT* Mars in Aries squares Saturn in Capricorn, culminating the first of three sweeps across the great stellium. The ferocity that has been building throughout the month meets a firewall, containing and constricting the energies, building frustrations and stamina. But beware the dormant volcano, which may be accumulating greater pressures under the forces of negation.

*August 25 @ 10:58 am PT* As the Moon in Sagittarius squares the Sun in Virgo, Mercury forms a trine with Uranus while Venus opposes Jupiter. The archetypal dynamics are complex and multifaceted, as a quickening rational mind tries to make sense of Venus opposing the Capricorn stellium and Mars squaring it. The lovers Venus and Mars start their tango, while the fate of the whole world is seemingly caught in the balance.

*August 27 @ 2:13 pm PT* Venus in Cancer trines Neptune in Pisces, pulling four of the five outermost planets into major aspect with the principle of love and beauty. The heart may be opening generously and feeling tendrils of romantic daydreams, but the potential of challenge and intense transformation lies on the immediate horizon.

*August 29 @ 6:28 am PT* Mercury in Virgo trines Jupiter just as the Moon passes through the great Capricorn stellium. Emotions and intimate relational dynamics may be intensified, but perhaps Mercury can offer a means to express and interpret those feelings, bringing the insight of the storyteller to reflect on one’s innermost dynamics.

*August 30 @ 6:31 am PT* Venus in Cancer opposes Pluto in Capricorn, aligning at the midpoint of the stellium, while Mercury opposes Neptune in Pisces. The glistening beauty of the serpent coils around the bleeding heart, while the mind is awash in daydreams, delusions, and fantasies.

*September 1 @ 10:22 pm PT* The Full Moon in Pisces opposes the Sun in Virgo, while Mercury in the same sign trines Pluto in Capricorn, bringing in depth and power to the image-saturated mind. The roots may be planted in solid, fertile soil, but the Lunar blossom unfurls its petals in the realm of dreams. Seek to understand the hidden reaches of the dreamworld, unveiling the symbols that arise from the infinite wellspring of ideas.

*September 2 @ 5:18 am PT* Venus in Cancer opposes Saturn, culminating its journey in opposition to the Capricorn stellium. Bittersweet heartache, the poignancy of loss, the beauty of suffering, the commitment of love beyond death. Venus-Saturn is the withered rose whose scent may be even more beautiful in memory than reality.

*September 3 @ 12:23 am PT* Mercury in Virgo completes its trine to the Capricorn stellium with an exact alignment to Saturn, focusing the mind, bringing precision to the intellect, conciseness to the expression of words, and quiet to the whirling world of thoughts.

*September 4 @ 2:12 am PT* Venus in Cancer squares Mars in Aries, while Mercury in Virgo forms a sextile to Venus. These two alignments, each perfecting on the same day, show the different way that Eros relates to Logos versus the Warrior. Mercury and Venus never find themselves more than a gentle sextile apart, always maintaining a harmonious confluence between the mind and the heart. But Venus and Mars can form any dynamic aspect to one another, igniting the friction, conflict, and active allurement needed for passionate love-making or a burned heart.

*September 5 @ 12:46 pm PT* Mercury leaves its exalted home of Virgo to enter into Libra’s domain of balance, harmony, and potential indecision. Although now in Venus’s domicile, Mercury is charmed to be here, working the room with a honeyed tongue, bestowing pleasing compliments and sweet musings upon those who will listen.

*September 6 @ 12:22 am PT* Venus departs the Lunar realm of Cancer and ascends into the Solar domain of Leo, a shining beacon of beauty, style, and aesthetic taste. Allow your individual and radiant splendor to take up the space it deserves, acknowledging that there is room for everyone to be their gorgeous selves.

*September 9 @ 3:22 pm PT* Mars turns retrograde in the final degrees of Aries, increasing the potency of the square to the Jupiter-Saturn-Pluto stellium in Capricorn. Mars will be retrograde until November 13, thickening and coagulating the warrior blood and fire for more than two months. Mars may not be leaping ahead in its usual manner, but its deceleration amplifies and deepens Mars’s anger, assertion, aggression, and energized will to take action.

*September 10 @ 2:26 am PT* The Gemini Moon forms its waning square to the Sun in Virgo, reorienting the energies inward as the Lunar cycle makes its way towards the close. With both luminaries in Mercury-ruled signs, mental activities, conversations, exchanges of ideas, and internal contemplation may feel especially illuminated.

*September 11 @ 1:26 pm PT* The Sun in Virgo opposes Neptune in Pisces, dissolving the boundaries of the ego and identity, permeating the self with mystical images, visionary dreams, religious callings, symbols and signs, fantasies and mirages. The edges of one’s being become blurred, making it hard to differentiate what is yours, and what belongs to the rest of the world.

*September 12 @ 5:41 pm PT* Jupiter turns direct at 17° Capricorn, the first of the outer planets to return to its normal forward course across the starry sky. Jupiter will now move in closer once more to the Saturn-Pluto conjunction, crossing over each planet in the final months of the year before at last departing the sign of its fall.

*September 15 @ 8:29 am PT* Venus in Leo squares Uranus in Taurus, adding flair, sparkle, and experimentation to Venus’s already dazzling beauty. The heart wants to be unbound and unrestrained, breaking free from any constrictions, and bringing forth unexpected revelations of desire.

*September 17 @ 4:00 am PT* The New Moon in Virgo offers a fertile, mutable soil in which to plant the new seeds of intention. Mercury in Libra aligns in a square to Jupiter in Capricorn, calling forth grand ideas, inflated thoughts, philosophical musings, and an optimistic perspective on the growing potential of the newly seeded intentions. Plant kernels of hope in abundance now, for although not all may come to flower, some of these ambitious ideas may grow to great heights.