March 29th, 2010 - April 5th, 2010
Archives
Weekly Weather Report
by Stephanie Azaria
Significant Planetary Aspects for:
Join Kathy on Tuesday evening, April 13 for her talk “Hot Time: The Astrology of Summer 2010” at The Goddess in Eden, 74 Church St., Montclair, NJ. Info at http://www.thegoddessineden.com.
That burst of go-get-’em enthusiasm we’ve been enjoying is about to taper off. Now that we’ve been energized and reawakened, the skies are encouraging us to slow down a bit, take a good look at where we are, sink into the circumstances of the moment and actually enjoy them. Yes, it’s appropriate to keep pursuing goals and dreams, but neither ramrodding nor clock-watching is going to bring them into fruition any more quickly. Besides, we are still in a prep and warm-up phase for the summer, after Uranus moves into Aries at the end of May. Action aplenty is in store then, so much that we may well be longing for the simpler times of this spring. Take advantage of where you are now. You’re gathering fuel on all levels for the sprints to come.
The week treats us to one more big, fiery eruption before ushering us into more earthy pursuits. Monday’s Full Moon in Libra pits our responsibility and commitment to ourselves against responsibilities, commitment and fairness of exchange in our relationships — and then demands a re-alignment. This isn’t a minor adjustment; whatever comes to a head is not going to be insignificant. With the Sun in Aries, we’ll want instant gratification, quick fixes and our way or the highway, but the rest of the sky is not inclined to capitulate easily. Saturn standing by the Moon and stressing the Sun makes the evaluation weighty, serious and full of consequences and ramifications. Pluto squaring both ends of the Full Moon sets off a karmic alarm clock with the snooze button disabled. There’s no more leeway for putting off closet cleaning, structural repairs, demolishing collapsing buildings, pruning back deadwood — whatever cycle-ending transformation metaphor works for you, the time for implementing and living it is now.
The process doesn’t have to be painful (a scalpel can cut quickly), and it can actually be something we welcome, embrace and even celebrate. Nothing should be a surprise; we’ve been given plenty of notice, under circumstances that screamed for attention. Though some sledgehammer hints fell last summer, the process is tied most recently to the emotional developments, realizations and revelations of last New Year’s Eve, when the Cancer lunar eclipse took place. Monday’s Full Moon occurs within a degree of squaring that eclipse and delivers a giant shove in the back that propels us further ahead in our New Year’s themes. They’ll come back around again by the Cancer solar eclipse on July 11, when we’ll take all the relationship and security issues we’ve been chewing on and set out on a new long-term path. For more on the Full Moon, read my report on the site.
After we set our energetic remodeling in motion, three events happen to steady the pace. Venus and Mercury leave Aries for Taurus on Wednesday and Friday, respectively. Taurus is one of Venus’ homes, and this is the more earthy and sensual one, where textures, aromas and tastes encourage focusing on and reveling in the physicality of existence. In Aries huntress-mode, Venus dashes after an object of desire without the potential cost flitting across her mind; in Taurus, she is well aware of value and will not exert herself unless the payoff is worth it to her. Mercury is less boisterous when visiting her Taurus residence, too. He tends to maneuver with unaccustomed deliberateness and breaks his mental and physical movements into small bits, bytes and steps. Their joint stay in Taurus will bring relationships, money dealings, communications and all manner of travel into mundane focus. In her other home in Libra Venus may be fond of sweet words and gestures, but not in Taurus. She — and by extension we — will be choosing tangibles over promises and wanting to experience with the senses instead of feasting on dreams and ideas.
In the wake of Monday’s Full Moon, this means that follow-through will be immediately required on promises made and changes agreed to — or deals will be called off so the disappointed party can wander into greener, more comfortable and more nourishing pastures. Mercury in Taurus will disinclined us to forgive or overlook details. Instead, we will chew them like cud. So, no darting from point A to point Z in deliberations and discussions, for the time being. We’ll be thinking and talking about concepts in slow, steady sequence, possibly pausing along the way to admire their beauty or ingenuity. The experience of time can expand under this influence. Take advantage of it. Allow yourself to settle into a moment. Focus on sensations. Really taste, smell and feel the foods and drinks that you take in, even the simple comfort food that we’re all going to be succumbing to. Surround yourself with beauty, especially from the natural world. And notice and appreciate all the physical circumstances of your life — the sources of your food, the plants growing outside your door, the physical comforts within your own four walls. Become fully present — how often do you do that? — and simply take in the world.
Taurus time isn’t all stopping to smell the roses. One of Venus’ first acts as she returns home will be squaring Mars, which happens on Saturday. On the eve of the last summer solstice, she and Mars enjoyed a tryst in her Taurus boudoir; now she is lounging alone on her day bed and hollering at him to at least make something of himself out in the world, if he can’t come back and join her (which isn’t happening any time soon). This translates for us into flirting and sparking and issuing demands in relationships. Smiles may cloak the messages, but the insistence on action will be firm nevertheless. When she trines Pluto and Mercury follows Sunday night with his own square to Mars, we’ll get a follow-up round of “And I really mean it!”
The third astro-event that slows the pace as the week grows on is Pluto stationing to go retrograde, which begins on Sunday. He turns retrograde on Tuesday and travels backward until the middle of September, after squaring Saturn one final time for this go-round at the end of August. Pluto does not return to his current position until the first days of January next year. Once the slowest moving major body goes retrograde, the atmosphere will take on the sense of big, big machinations occurring outside our line of sight — and it may feel like every movement hangs slightly in the air before locking into place. Even when the pace of life speeds up, the sense will remain of something on a much deeper level proceeding very very slowly, deliberately and unavoidably. This nearly 10-month retrograde will afford many an opportunity to go deeper and deeper into examining the condition of infrastructures, personal as well as collective. Take the time. Each of us is responsible for the state of our own security. You might not like what you see, but better to know what’s down there than hurtle along with your safety and security collapsing out from under you. Once the threats are exposed to air and light, you can see them for what they are and do something about them.
Monday: You can’t run or hide from relationship issues, all day long. They won’t all be unwelcome; in fact, some very good news is in store. A development demonstrates how far you (or a particular relationship) have come. Any insight into or sudden switch in a situation will only serve to jettison you from trappings that do not fit or suit you now. It shouldn’t be hard to talk things through; each side of a conversation is speaking the same language today, particularly when it comes to love or money. People will be hearing each other out more than usual as well. There will be plenty to hear and to talk about, and the tone and content will become more and more serious and significant as the Libra Moon builds to fullness late evening. The backbone is at your disposal to say anything you’ve needed to get off your chest. No take-backs or do-overs will be allowed, and you may hear more blunt and frank words flying from your mouth than you consciously intended.
Tuesday: It’s a quieter day, suited for sitting with yesterday’s messages and wrapping our hearts around them. The aspects do not support follow-up conversations just yet. Attempts in that direction will meet with confused or confusing responses. Confronting yourself mentally about yesterday likely yields the same fuzziness. Check in with your heart, and don’t talk yourself out of how you’re feeling.
Wednesday: Have you been hearing stories of weird connections — links between people coming to light that you would never have guessed and would have considered a strain if they’d been written in a novel? (Top of my list: a patient learning in his first session with a new psychiatrist that they have been dating the same woman — for months.) That sort of information should be popping today, showing us how closely connected we are, even if we aren’t always aware of it. This kind of information swirls through our dreams overnight; note who’s on your mind as you awaken and you’ll have some idea who you were cavorting with last night. Venus and Mercury dominate our waking hours. No aspects occur for more than four hours after Venus returns to her Taurus home early in the afternoon. She puts us to a choice late evening: are we committed to ourselves or to an obligation we’ve agreed to? No matter what you think in advance that choice is likely to involve, two aspects of it will play out differently than you expect. Your attitude toward it will shift before the moment of reckoning, when a completely different slant or option occurs to you. And, after the choice, a more compassionate response will be available to you than you currently consider possible.
Thursday: Just as Tuesday brought anything but clarity on the heels of Monday’s communication fest, so today erodes yesterday’s compassion and understanding into discord, distrust and discomfort. These reactions are a choice; you do not have to fall prey to them. If any disconcerting information comes your way, compare it to what you previously thought and think about how it came to pass that you were confused or misled.
Friday: Charge into the day at your own risk. Little will come of effort and striving, with the Moon void of course most of the morning, until just before 1 PM EDT. She pushes off from Neptune, enhancing the formless quality — and contemplative possibilities — of the void. Brainstorm; day dream; stare out the window; that’s what you’re supposed to be doing. No rushing is also the message of Mercury moving into Taurus, where he will slow us into concrete, practical thinking and approaches. Once the void clears, think before speaking. Perceptions will be easily clouded, particularly where something appears to involve or affect you, and desires to indulge will be strong. Statements and mental decisions lead to choices with staying power, so be deliberate.
Saturday: Compromise is not in today’s vocabulary. Venus squares Mars and the desire for gratification rules. The sparking flying off the cosmic lovers can translate into fun down here on earth — flirting, hot dates, trysting. Venus is nearing a trine to Pluto, exact tomorrow night, so cravings will be compelling — and a third party is likely in the picture, somewhere. Not that we’ll care. Just remember that, though.
Sunday: Romantic fantasies fill dreams overnight, which may also play out alternate viewpoints on whatever went down yesterday. Prepare for quite the chatty day, then settle into relaxation as the afternoon winds down — well, more like relaxation with an edge. The Moon is void of course from a minute before 5 EDT until just after 9 PM. The tension of two building aspects colors the void and become exact on either side of midnight. Venus trines Pluto and makes your personal object of desire the most attractive, alluring and tempting morsel in the universe, while Mercury squares Mars and triggers taunting and argumentativeness. It’s the formula for a screwball comedy script, only this one’s not likely to pass the approval of the Hays Office. And there’s a price, a catch, something in the wings that will require dealing with or hiding from. I’d ask to see divorce papers, if you are concerned about that sort of thing.
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.
