Valentine’s Day drips with many-layered expectations which can be a minefield if we let it trip us up, but a gift if we use it to look for the real meaning and source of love in our life.
St. Valentine, martyred in 269 for illegally marrying Christians, is the patron saint of engaged couples, bee keepers, epilepsy, fainting, love, plague, and young people, all the elements of Valentine’s Day. He was celebrated on Feb 14th to replace a Roman holiday that honored Juno Fructified, patron of fruitful marriages, and Lupercalia, a wild-boys party for the she-wolf that founded Rome- with ties back to the wild Greek Pan. All these holidays apparently replaced Februa, an even earlier mid-month celebration of spring-cleaning renewal to prepare for the fertile year ahead.
What these holidays have in common is an invocation of the ideals of love and life-force. Not necessarily romance, but an abstract ideal of love. The perfect thing for us to hold ourselves up to and wonder why we can’t compare; something too many people do every Valentine’s Day.
Valentine’s is an Aquarius holiday, and the only thing that Aquarius likes better than an abstract ideal is a collective experience, like giving out cards to the whole class in second grade, loving up puppies at the pound or attending single’s night at the hockey rink. Or we could engage both and meditate on loving kindness towards all sentient beings. It will be so much easier on the heart, because ordinary human affairs will be all over the place on this moody, rapid-cycling week.
Our emotions have a lot of torque this week, the stuff that great tortured love songs are made of: longing, and attachments, feeling trapped, break up, and longing again. Memories haunt us. If we can stand back and look at the story-lines of our life and those around us, we may be amused. Life can feel like an old country music song, but it’s hard if we’re the subject.
Even if we’re living in a nice quiet ordinarily life, we can feel the storm-tossed quality around us as Venus in the rebelliously passionate but intimacy-conflicted sign of Aries conjuncts electrical Uranus as this weekend begins, and moves in a squares with broody Pluto just in time for Valentine’s. All while Mercury moves into dreamy, not- so-realistic Pisces and conjunct intuitive Neptune. This is a real Romeo and Juliet meet the underworld line-up. Though Mars in Virgo stabilizes the mood if we keep busy, it tends to turn this angst inwards and ask if we’re lovable enough. We are. This moodiness is not about our inherent worth.
But like diving below choppy waves on a storm-tossed sea, the waters get calmer when we dive deep, deeper into what really matters.
This emotional torque applied to whatever we’re doing. Valentine’s Day just gives us an excuse to project it onto our love life. But it may have much more serious ramifications around the world. Anywhere we see a shocking loss clash with ideals expressed, expect rebellion and reaction. Keep an eye on Syria and the Maldives. Luckily Mars in Virgo can also let us vent in words and improving action. But the worse the perceived oppression, the more volatile the situation will be. Remember that when negotiating with teenagers this weekend.
A Libra Moon over the weekend, and Scorpio Moon early in the week, emphasis the romantic moodiness, and it will help to have some charitable or creative place to put the energy. Relationships can be deliciously complex under this aspect if we take them seriously but keep our expectations out of the way, which is not easy to do around Valentine’s Day, as a love of romance competes with a real allergy to expectations.
Early next week our intuition and imagination will be working overtime as Mercury enters Pisces and conjuncts Neptune, the trick will be to tell the two apart. We may feel overwhelmed or underwater. Because Mercury also trines stabilizing Saturn at the same time, we can use this will if we conjunct up something with Neptunian creativity and then build it with Saturnine competence, which will really help us make those last minute presents or pour our feelings into creative outlets.
This Piscean empathy helps; if we do want to honor the season, we can imagine we’re them to know what to give, and remember to interpret their gestures in their emotional language, not ours. That fishing pole or opera ticket may mean a lot coming from them.
Friday, Feb 10: A positive, friendly surface brings pleasant casual interactions, but when we scratch the surface we can feel a strategic or anxious edge that needs to be put to work in order to stay out of trouble. Let’s give our minds some necessary problem to chew upon as Mercury semi-squares Pluto. Relationships need attention but not obsession this morning. Don’t let concerns simmer midday, take action, don’t procrastinate. Later the mood effervesces eccentrically as the Libra Moon opposes Uranus; it could be a great wild night out if we drop excitations and enjoy what’s here.
Saturday, Feb 11: Things will not go as planned, so roll with the spontaneity and make the most if it as the Moon form minor but irritating aspects to the Sun, Pluto, Mercury and Uranus and Neptune. Work through some disappointment midday; let’s own up where we set ourselves up. If uncertainty washes through later, bring a sense of adventure. Appreciate the trust that builds when camaraderie is more important than specifics.
Sunday, Feb 12: Morning is thoughtful: we take other people’s needs seriously as the Moon conjuncts Saturn in Libra. Our choices may be safe, tried and true; traditions soothe us. We’d rather not take emotional risks, but can learn new skills. Afternoon we become less cooperative, more private as the Moon enters Scorpio opposes Jupiter.
Monday, Feb 13: Memories test us as Mercury conjuncts Neptune and trines Saturn. Our minds are working but check for emotional blocks. Intuition and imagination are both strong, but we tend to confuse the two. We can be inspired and make it happen, imagine an art project and construct it well. People care but their hearts are guarded. It is a good day to adversarial situation situations, investigate a mystery, or get a logical point across, as long as we are honest with ourselves first. Feel the moody undertow and don’ let it distort perception.
Tuesday Feb 14: Morning has a broody atmosphere; we’ll tend to assume the world will disappoint us. Do not second guess; stay in the moment and make it work. Reach out to help others if lonely, and know that just about everyone will be at one point or another today as Venus squares Pluto. If our past, our dreams, our missing loves and might-have-beens are too present with us, take a moment to honor them, there will be more room in the heart afterwards. The mood lightens around dinnertime, drop the crap and take on the challenge to create joy and move the body as the Moon enters Sagittarius. Confusion is likely, but may be the best thing to help us shift gears.
Wednesday, Feb 15: Repair and redirect. Strong emotional currents can inspire us or tick us off, feel the charge and give it a good place to go. Don’t take out residual tension on those close at hand. Fighting for a cause or caring for a real problem can help us let go of the personal woes and feel part of something larger as Mars semi-squares Jupiter. A good pillow fight might clear the air, but keep it recreational.
Thursday, Feb 16: Feelings slosh back in to place after a high-tide week; we can look back and wonder what the fuss was about as Mercury sextiles Jupiter today. It’s all about getting a better perspective, not about proving oneself or one’s point. People are not cooperative because their heart is elsewhere, not just because they disrespect. It’s time to take a risk for the future, but examine with heart and mind first. Business-mind returns later as the Moon enters Capricorn; accomplishment helps the whiff of depression, but keep compassion connected to brain.
Starcodes 