It’s a tough week to be an Olympian or football player in the Super Bowl. Our past is present, we’re sensitive, questioning, looking ahead but dealing with confusion.
We get to wrestle with our ghosts, with our fear of loss, our doubts and dire hopes as Venus conjuncts Pluto over the weekend. Our minds turns poetically inwards which is lovely for writing novels or living like we’re in a good one, but can make practicalities snag, minor accidents increase, and negotiations bog down as thoughtful Mercury enters artistic Pisces, conjuncts imaginative Neptune and turns retrograde by the end of the week. All while old lava flows underneath, both political and geologic, as Jupiter opposes Pluto.
Though most of us will be just fine, if a little moody and absent-minded, athletes getting ready for the competition of their life may have a rough week. Hopefully they’ll be able to channel that lava into healthy muscular effort, and that introspection into safely contemplative action. That’s our cue as well.
Expansive Jupiter opposes transformative Pluto exactly this week, and will again mid-April (in an exact grand square with Uranus and Mars, more on that in months to come). As it does, it gives us energy just when we need it, but also stirs the pot. Like Mt Kilauea in Hawaii, material may erupt from underneath; old resentments or ambitions, fresh hopes and new fears, whatever has been buried within us. If our tempers feel lava-like, it’s better we spill a little regularly, like Mt. Kilauea, than stuff it down to build up for a pyroclastic blast.
Today our attention is drawn to world news and to our community or family responsibilities under the New Moon in collective, political Aquarius. The Sun and Moon together in fixed air sign Aquarius bring out our system stubborn theoretical side. People engage in debate with panache in communal Aquarian public forums from Facebook, to the Senate floor, to the family dinner table. Trouble rumbles in odd corners, though the usual hot spots may be quiet, and much will hinge on how willing people are to breach across a divide in communication and dare to hope.
As this weekend begins and Mercury enters Pisces, we may drop some of our belligerence and feel our vulnerabilities. The last few weeks have been a time of remembering and letting go as Venus retrograded back to conjunct Pluto; many of us had to let go of someone or something we loved or had to make some major emotional adjustment.
But Venus leaves retrograde and turns direct today. We’re at a pivot point and not just for the traditional animal auguries on Groundhog’s Day. We have the chance to complete the cycle, let go of an emotional burden or accept a new assignment and head down a different road. While we may need to re-examine these decisions over the next few weeks (as Mercury retrogrades), most of our heart-based plans will hold. So let’s make sure we mean it and step forward.
With both Moon and Mercury in sensitive Pisces this weekend we may feel squishy and sensitive, vulnerable. Our heart may feel stretched and tears come easily. It’s a wonderful time to dream and read, or exercise our creative nature, but hard time to face stiff competition or deal with conflict. If, by any chance, we’re in the Super Bowl (or facing an equally competitive situation) we can reach down to that Jupiter-Pluto opposition and bring the lava of our deepest strength and ambition up to the surface.
But the new week begins with a charge as the Moon enters feisty Aries, conjuncts erratic Uranus, and sparks unrest. We can use that discontent to light a fire under us and get a lot done quickly, as long as we don’t trip on one another’s egos. People are still feeling really sensitive so rein in the natural brusqueness. Let’s use the impatience on Monday and Tuesday to get our ducks in a row, get organized and get important missives written while Mercury is still moving forward.
Midweek is more stable, a good time to follow through and make sure our projects reach a conclusion. Seal the deal if it’s ready, but don’t stumble into a bad deal just to have it done. What we don’t complete now may have to be renegotiated or refined over the next six weeks, but who’s counting.
Towards the end of week we need to speak from the heart. Consider this time to learn, share and process, not time to decide. Over the next few weeks we have a chance to uncover layer after layer within. It is a beautiful time to pierce the veil of understanding and take a three-dimensional view of our work. If we’re not concerned with perceiving the truth, it can be a time where we just hibernate for a few weeks, or justify what we want with our imagination and begin to distort what we see. This defenses subjectivity will fuel ongoing arguments between people determined to find the other wrong. Let’s choose to look for the truth with our mind body and soul instead.
Friday, Jan 31: Our intuition and imagination are stimulated today, but we may think we’re being objective when we aren’t. Tend to serious work first thing; nail down details while the Moon squares Saturn and we have a scrap of logic. Mid-day can bring up surprising emotional whirlpools as Venus turns direct. Afternoon drifts more amiably, but it takes extra effort to focus or complete. Tonight we may avoid intimate questions because we’re feeling too much as the Moon enters Pisces. Kind gentleness furthers, art needs to touch the heart.
Saturday, Feb 1: Sleep in, swim in the dream-realm this morning as the Moon conjuncts Neptune in Pisces. If we listen, our deepest psychic pools share advice and process hopes and fears; we have to differentiate between that two. Time seems to slip sideways and schedules become abstract; if we absolutely have to be on time, it helps to set several alarms. We may feel as tender as a peeled grape, and get prickly to cover. Tend the heart inside, realize others are feeling vulnerable as well, and keep demands minimal. Hold hands helpfully instead.
Sunday, Feb 2: Let’s ask the groundhog when the winter ends, and while we’re about it, ask the cardinal about our love life, an orangutan about the Super Bowl, or a spider about our work on this traditional day for animal auguries and with our intuition cranked up under the a sensitive Pisces Moon. It’s just ordinary humans we’ll have a hard time understanding. The afternoon starts slow, we may want to drift into an alternate reality, but the steam picks up as the day wears on. Make efforts to understand one another before sparks fly as the Moon enters impatient Aries tonight.
Monday, Feb 3: Ride the rollercoaster as a restless Aries Moon conjuncts Uranus, squares Jupiter, Venus and Pluto. Emotional swings try to convince us that the situation is more dire or wonderful than it is, stocks may be volatile, historical events activate. Poor impulse control is cuter in kids than adults, but nobody wants to be told what to do. Some people just want to struggle, but we don’t have to be one of them. Take on bigger challenges instead, or a range the day’s work as a series of simple challenges and celebrate minor victories.
Tuesday, Feb 4: We laugh, we cry, we emote easily but may have little patience. Keep interactions short, sweet, and to the point, and don’t bother anyone with inconsequential. Early morning is productive, but pad the schedule with extra time for delays midday. Smooth ruffled feathers or fight cleanly this afternoon as the Moon opposes Mars. Be honest about the problem, but speak up while diplomacy is still possible; we make less sense when where ticked off. Tonight the mood is funny, pointed, and impatient; we need our individuality recognized.
Wednesday, Feb 5: The mood is steadier, mundane chores can offer a reprieve. Rest and catch up. Problems that began earlier in the week will still play out, not disappear, but new inflammations are quieter. It helps to keep a good steady rhythm, because when we stop it will be hard to get going again. Negotiations also need a steady pressure, but don’t step into an adversarial pose unless absolutely necessary; people dig in their heels when pushed but are open-minded and sympathetic otherwise. Tonight, a return to something familiar can be healing as Jupiter trines Chiron, share warmth and simple comforts.
Thursday, Feb 6: The mood lightens, though technical glitches thicken as the steady Taurus Moon trines Venus this morning. Gentle intuition can help us share kindness below the verbal level; if someone’s words are awkward, look to the light in their eye instead. Technical glitches and poor timing thicken as Mercury retrogrades tonight, so keep the lines of communication open to make adjustments, and don’t wait until the last minute.
Starcodes 