Weekly Weather February 1, 2010 – February 7, 2010

Kathy’s 2010 astro-overview talk is available for $15 in mp3 format. To order, visit EmpowermentUnlimited.net or email kbiehl@fortunaworks.com.
now she will always know where the ring is. That’s the point we can reach this week with many of the trappings of our lives.

We’re just barely on the far side of the second Saturn/Pluto square, which became exact last Sunday. The archetypes of the teacher and the transformer will continue to bear down on us all week and into the middle of the month, and their tension is demanding that we deal with key, festering issues deeply and thoroughly. There are several pieces of good news at this point in the process. For one, each of us has a conscious understanding of the area(s) that are up for reworking. Second, reworking is already well underway for many of us. We’re less in the “Ack! I have to do something about this!!” phase and more in clean-up and follow-through mode. And third, cosmic beacons of hope and optimism are turning their light up, showing us that the changes in our lives have real and true potential to benefit us personally and collectively.

The Saturn/Pluto square is doing us the favor of exposing fundamental flaws that must be addressed for our lives to flourish (and in some cases, even continue) in the future. The favor has been a mixed blessing, not entirely pleasant in its delivery, I’ll concede. (The first two days that the square was exact by degree, Wednesday the 20th and Thursday the 21st, were about as bleak and hopeless as I can remember witnessing in a long time.) But the intensity and relentlessness of this aspect has made it imperative to address situations more thoroughly than ever before. Previous fixes aren’t working anymore. Quick fixes aren’t an option. We’re going back over territory and issues that we’ve addressed again and again and again; this time — or at least, this year — we are going to put them to rest, one way or another.

Each of us has her own individual area(s) to deal with; the common threads are the fundamental nature of the problem and the futility of resistance or escape. Relationships are one common turf, but for some people the impact has been even more immediate and personal. In my own extended circle alone, the past week has brought a flurry of events acting out the energies of the square: a death of a patriarch (whose condition had escalated breathtakingly quickly from sinus infection to systemic collapse) that released one survivor from an ancient promise to the decedent’s mother, a suicide without warning signs that has torn through the hearts of a huge family and community, the scheduling of surgery to correct a congenital and otherwise ultimately fatal defect, renegotiating credit card debt to free up cash flow for living expenses, a group of friends banding together for separate but equal detox programs, waterfall-simulating leaks returning in a roof that has already been repaired once for the problem, a law office exploding (!) and, my personal favorite in this symbolism parade, cleaning out a basement (not only that, but by sorting, giving away or throwing out the belongings of a spouse who died years ago).

If you’ll look back over your own experiences and observations, you’ll see that there’s not a trivial note among them. They are the focus of what we are dealing with now. This week may bring an after-shock or two, but even those will have a discernible connection to what is already before us, rather than coming out of the blue. Each of us is undergoing surgery of the psyche in some way. We’re changing our attitudes, our consciousness, our agreements, our relationships, our physical buildings and our bodies. The change isn’t cosmetic but fundamental, life-altering and ultimately life-sustaining.

This week, we’re beginning to suction up the post-surgery debris, pick up the pieces and put them back together, take out the garbage, live as if (because as if has become as is) — whatever idiom or metaphor fits your experience. Whatever you’re dealing with, especially if you’re feeling overwhelmed, look for the approach that is simple, streamlined, efficient and most true to your fundamental goals and priorities.

As Saturn and Pluto inch ever so slowly out of their square, Neptune and Chiron are almost as slowly moving into a meeting of their own. The planet of transcendence, enlightenment and universal love becomes conjunct by degree this week with the dwarf planet that represents our deepest acceptance of having physical form. (The conjunction will be exact on the 16th.) Their traveling companion of the last year, Jupiter, has moved into guardian angel position in the sign of Pisces, and the pair remains, as it has been since last spring, in a liberating and eye-opening growth aspect to Uranus the awakener. These machinations are bringing to light and awareness the long term benefit of the deep transformations we’re undergoing — and if developments are occurring in your life for which you can not see the plus side, this line-up is opening the channel to answers and explanations, if you will only ask for them. As painful as they may be, even distressing or devastating events have silver linings. They may be freeing us from situations or thoughts that have held us back. Their benefit may be as simple as shining a clarifying light onto matters that we have not seen clearly, or deluded ourselves about, or allowed others to lie to us about. (I’m putting in this category last month’s Supreme Court ruling striking down the ban on corporate political advertising, a decision that openly elevated corporations to more power and rights than individuals have, which some people would argue has long been unofficially the case.) When we see something for what it is, we can deal with it more honestly and may be spurred to action to remedy it.

Adding to this process are contacts from both Mercury and Venus to Uranus, which promise to make those silver linings easy to spot. Messages, information and communications open doors to new understandings and innovative and practical solutions; when Mercury semisextiles Neptune at week’s end, a new comfort with intuition, guidance or hunches is possible. After all the shifts of the past few weeks evidence also surfaces that relationships are evolving into new, freer territory, a shift that’s also affecting cash flow and attitudes about our resources, possessions and values. We’re moving out of mutual dependency into cooperation and collaboration. Watch for that theme in new connections — or existing ties that you’ve newly restructured.

Monday: Minds go into overdrive as the sun is rising on the East Coast. One idea leads to another to four or five to legions of them. Let them mushroom. As the day progresses, your heart will sift through them. The ones that flow easily are the ones to follow.

Tuesday: Relationships and values take the focus today. Old ways aren’t going to sit well; neither will walls, restrictions, constrictions, or obligations that take the joy out of a situation. Power issues and desires rumble below interactions; you may find yourself compelled to pursue an alluring target involving the heart or wallet. Keeping your priorities in focus will help you discern whether the allure is because the temptation’s forbidden fruit or because it matches a heart’s desire. Be alert for physical sensations that signal you don’t want to take or put up with something.

Wednesday: Enjoy an uncommonly smooth day. Our hearts and wills are in sync, and the general mood blossoms into good humor and good company. Let your heart lead, especially as evening unfolds. We don’t have to be dealing with pivot point events and decisions day in and day out. Take a breather; make a point to seek out people who are dear to you. If you are seeking an answer or guidance, ask for it before you go to sleep tonight.

Thursday: We awaken into a void of course Moon, after gentle, escapist, early morning dreams — and equally gentle downloads of guidance, so write down those inscrutable dream fragments, please. They may make sense as the day goes on. Though the void ends just before noon EST, a complete absence of aspects promises a quiet, languid afternoon, free of cosmic interference with scrying the deep waters of the Moon in Scorpio. The evening is pleasant, grounding, jovial, productive. When you wield your personal power responsibly, especially with regard to yourself, it’s not boring; it’s satisfying and sanity-making. Enjoy the sensation it produces of solid ground beneath your feet. And put writing materials by your bedside.

Friday: The bulk of the day’s aspects occur before the morning gets underway on the East Coast. The dreamtime shakes us out of complacency with a stirring of passions, restlessness and possibly anger. An either-or choice beckons overnight and we cast our lot with one side, whether we are consciously aware of it or not. One path brings the walls in closer with increased restriction and burdens, while the other opens into the expanded possibilities that come from commitment and acting responsibly. As with yesterday afternoon, the daylight hours are free of aspects. Growing awareness of our overnight choice gives way to a heart/mind conflict, which could infect interpersonal dealings as the evening ages. Beware blaming another person if you feel constrained, put upon or embroiled in a battle of wills. The other is a reflection, which happens to inhabit a body with feelings and the ability to strike back. If you sense a situation is escalating, pull back and consider what’s going on inside of you. And put paper and pen by the bed again.

Saturday: It’s a night of “Eureka!” dreams, erupting with alternative approaches, insights and solutions. If you bolt upright in bed during the night, write down whatever is running through your head, even if it doesn’t make sense. Unless you enjoy confrontation, hold off acting on any brainstorms until the atmosphere smoothes (midmorning at the earliest). Still, don’t push; perceptions are cloudy and intentions misunderstood when the Moon squares Neptune on her way into a void that lasts from late morning to early evening EST. The most beneficial place to spend the day is within. A Jupiter/Pluto sextile within the void dominates the day and facilitates streamlining, simplifying, pushing through transformation and amping up your personal power. After the void, a Venus/Uranus contact blows the carbon out. Opt for a change of pace, especially if it’s out of character for the old you.

Sunday: Another active dream night pushes us into balance, right use of power and a higher, bigger-picture perspective on our lives. After an energized push into the morning, the skies leave us to our own devices for most of the day. Four relatively quiet days in succession have given us the space to live with, internalize and work on our end of the restructuring that’s going on in our lives. Do not let the enormity of what you’re undergoing overwhelm you as evening falls. It’s still the weekend. It’s still Sunday. Be gentle with yourself.

Visit Kathy’s site EmpowermentUnlimited.net for podcasts, mp3s, a discussion forum and more on the eclipses, the Aquarius/Pisces traveling party and the Saturn/Uranus opposition. To join her mailing list, send e-mail to kbiehl@fortunaworks.com.