Goals & Daily Life

“I see that I’ve become a really bad correspondent. It’s not that I don’t think of you.
You come into my thoughts often. But when you do it appears to me that I owe you a particularly grand letter. And so you end in the “warehouse of good intentions”:
“Can’t do it now.” “Then put it on hold.” This is one’s strategy for coping with old age,
and with death–because one can’t die with so many obligations in storage.
Our clever species, so fertile and resourceful in denying its weaknesses.”
― Saul Bellow

 

The week begins with the Sun in Virgo and the Moon void of course in Libra until it enters Scorpio late Monday evening. Monday is a (parenthesis) before the week officially begins and an opportunity to sharpen our tools for the work that lays ahead of us. A necessary period of inner refinement, adjusting our compass and vision as we find ourselves oscillating between our instinctual-desire-nature and our rational-pragmatic-intellect.

Constructive actions in tandem with inspired insights permeates this week. There is a lot of juicy momentum and it could even feel as if things are moving waaaay too fast for you to catch a break. Productivity is high on the list right now, and as a result procrastination hangs like a shadow over our game plan.

The soul craves synthesis while the mind dissects every aspects of existence.

The Moon will travel in Scorpio until late Wednesday night/early Thursday morning when it enters Sagittarius. The Moon in Sagittarius all day Thursday (Jupiter’s day) applies to a conjunction with Jupiter. The First Quarter Moon happens at 13º Sagittarius this month when it squares the Sun at 13º Virgo.

The First Quarter Moon is a time of action or crisis when the plans that were laid at the New Moon in Virgo on the 30th of August are being challenged or are starting to gain traction. This First Quarter Moon brings attention to our big idea or vision and the execution of this particular vision or idea. We have to trust that we will get there but we also have to put in the efforts required to get there.

Perspective gets lost when we spend too much time on the details (Virgo). However it can also be hard to execute a big idea if we don’t delineate a practical way to get there (Sagittarius). You could feel overwhelmed by the amount of preparation necessary for the execution of your idea/goal, losing perspective on where you were going it in the first place. Or it could be that you are so taken by your big project that you totally brush over the details and neglect some important steps in the process.

The Moon in Sagittarius will be next to Jupiter at the time of the First Quarter Moon on Friday September 7th – giving us a huge boost of confidence and faith that ”everything will turn alright”. We KNOW what we have to do, but it doesn’t mean we have the discipline to do it. It’s one thing to know, it’s another thing entirely to repeat the process day after day to install a new routine, a new program that will lead us to a new helpful habit. There is a conflict between knowing and executing, between an idea and the implementation of that idea into a tangible process. Time and patience is required as nothing is born overnight and it’s a good idea to keep that in mind as you navigate Virgo season and find yourself going over everything that remains to be done. Be patient and be happy for the process, because every step of the process is what eventually leads you to the desired result.

The Moon enters Capricorn Saturday morning, and here we are again, back at the working bench, at the drawing table with our plans and our to-do lists, and the burden of all that remains to be done. Time is slipping away so fast, and there are still too many details to deal with. We are not quite as healthy, productive, efficient, and successful as we could be, and it could all be too obvious next weekend. The Moon travels in Capricorn next Saturday and Sunday, convincing us that there are vegetables to harvest and preserve, fire wood to split, renovations to do, and all kinds of work left to be done. Not the most relaxing weekend but a productive one I hope.

Most planets traveling in the Earth element (Taurus – Virgo – Capricorn)  means it’s a great time to get stuff done, but terrible for anxiety around status, work, income, discipline, and habits. Don’t compare yourself too much. You are exactly where you are suppose to be; trust your process.

“You have to believe. Otherwise, it will never happen.”
― Neil Gaiman

Get lost and find your flow. Week of March 4, 2019

This week, we have Mercury stationing retrograde on Tuesday at  1:17pm EST. Mercury is retrograde for most of the month of March and even though there is no need to freak out about Mercury retrograde periods (since it happens 3 times a year), this one will be particularly ”foggy” as it is happening in Pisces (the sign of Mercury’s detriment) and Neptune will be quite active all month. Chances of missing important details increases and so are the chances of getting distracted. This month will be excellent for creative flow without too many rigid structures.

Wednesday, Uranus officially enters the sign of Taurus signalling a new era of technology, innovations, and breaking away from the status quo. Think back on how far you have come since 2011 to now (the time it took Uranus to travel through the sign of Aries) and how in may ways, you are starting a new chapter that is taking you further and further away from the person you were 8 years ago. Uranus ingress into an Earth sign can also bring some surprises this week; expect the unexpected.

Wednesday afternoon, a New Moon in Pisces will conjunct Neptune. This week is filled with impression and hunches as we get lured by half conscious visions of our hopes for the future. A New Moon signals the beginning of the Lunar Month. The seeds and intentions planted at this time will become visible around the Full Moon in Libra on the 21st of March. What is being fertilized/conceptualized at this time for you? Look at the House where Pisces sits in your birth chart for clues of where confusion and inspiration are likely to show their faces for you.

Thursday, the Sun conjunct Neptune; the fog machine is turn on high as we slip between fantasy, irrational fears, and wishful thinking. Neptune dissolves the shapes and boundaries of hard materialism. Is it all there is to reality? Or is something bigger at work here? Neptune gives a desire for transcendence; it makes us want to believe that there is more than meet the eyes. Neptune is the muse or the ghost. Neptune at its worst can turn the anxiety on high as we feel riddled with ungraspable fears, something just beyond our conscious awareness. Pisces season can also be a time of empathy, compassion, confusion or sadness as we can feel more vividly the pain of the world. A good season for generosity and compassion.

On a mundane level, ”fake news” will surely be a big thing this month so be careful about the information you ingest and be discerning! When possible, it’s a good time to tune out and practice meditation, mindfulness or simply go out in nature to bring you back to centre.

Have and excellent week and enjoy those Piscean Waters! 

NEW MOON IN AQUARIUS: Revolving Doors

“Do what he will, he [the profane man] is an inheritor. He cannot utterly abolish his past, since he himself is a product of his past. He forms himself by a series of denials and refusals, but he continues to be haunted by the realities that he has refused and denied. 
― Mircea Eliade

The second of two eclipses this month comes with the New Moon in Aquarius on February 15 at 4:05pm ET.

It takes place at 27º of Aquarius, only a few days before the Sun’s ingress into the Water sign of Pisces. This partial eclipse is near the Dragon’s Tail aka the South Node of the Moon which is in part connected to a dissolution process.

In the last few weeks, Venus, Mercury and the Sun all met with the South Node of the Moon. This had the effect of dredging up all sorts of gunk from the bottom of our psyche which is ready to be cleansed and expelled back into the void.

“There is a face beneath this mask, but it isn’t me.
I’m no more that face than I am the muscles beneath it, or the bones beneath that.”
― Steve Moore, V for Vendetta

Aquarius is a Fixed Air sign traditionally ruled by Saturn. The purifying Waters of the water bearer cleanse the heart and clarifies the mind. Since the beginning of February, residues from past emotional burdens have been floating around on the surface of our awareness like dead skin on the surface of water. The dim light of the Sun in the sign of Aquarius allowed for a sort of detachment in regards to these afflictions, and perhaps the ability to find rational solutions for twisted emotional conundrums. The rays of the Sun are pale in the midst of Winter, and illumination comes from within.


The Full Moon in Leo on January 31st, served to highlight what weighs heavy on our heart but also connected us to our heart’s longing. The New Moon in Aquarius on February 15, stirs in us the potentialities of ideas born from these longings which in turn conjures new creative impulses deep inside of us. We can imagine a new trajectory for ourselves; will we have the courage to follow through?

Although still in their abstract forms, we can intuit the shape of things to come. New seeds are now being planted in foreign soil as we gaze on the vast territories of future promises. We must accept estrangement and embrace this liminal space for the time being as we fuel on the creative fires. The eclipses on the Leo/Aquarius axis ask that we have the courage of our ideals and the willingness to break our own rules in order to reach them. Nothing new is born in conformity and we must depart from the known if we are to realize what our heart longs for. We must also be willing to walk away from our love of approval and this is perhaps the most difficult task.

Unbelonging looms large in the uncharted Aquarian world, and seeking ”likes” and acknowledgment will only lead to disappointment. The resolute heart must find support within himself.

At the time of the New Moon, Saturn, the traditional ruler of Aquarius sextiles Venus in Pisces. This aspect speaks of calibrating our desires in a realistic framework, finding the sweet spot within our limitations and perhaps, the right measure of inspiration and work. Saturn in its home sign of Capricorn and Venus in the sign of her exaltation, dispense the proper tools for those who know how to utilize them. This aspect is also about maturity within our relationship and the realistic appraisal of our desire nature.

At the time of the New Moon, Uranus, the modern ruler of Aquarius sextiles Mercury in Aquarius.  This aspect speaks of an urge to break away from limiting through patterns and complicated situations/emotions that limits our vision. Mercury in Aquarius still squaring Jupiter in Scorpio is all about the honest appraisal of these complicated situations/emotions and perhaps unacknowledged desires that could be holding us back from truly breaking free from restrictions.

We must first clean out our basement before we can totally move out. Mars in Sagittarius applying to square Neptune in Pisces at the time of the New Moon, promises to blur and confuse this process. Ensuring that we are aiming at the proper target requires an honest assessment of the motivations hiding behind our arrows. Clarifying our intent is half the battle and our ability to differentiate the ideal from the real will take us a bit closer to the realization of our vision for the future.

Hula Hoop Light Painting Photography by Grant Mallory

Life is one big road with lots of signs. So when you riding through the ruts, don’t complicate your mind. Flee from hate, mischief and jealousy. Don’t bury your thoughts, put your vision to reality. Wake Up and Live!
-Bob Marley

 

 

SOLUTIONS AND DISSOLUTION

FOR WHEN THE SUN IN VIRGO OPPOSE NEPTUNE IN PISCES AND
THE MOON IN AQUARIUS CONJUNCT THE SOUTH NODE:

Can you discriminate between omens and wishful thinking?
Between poison and medicine?
Delusion and honesty?
Between a ghost and your own shadow?
Do you know your boundaries?

Still from the film ”The Dance of Reality” by Jodorowski

MERCURY RETROGRADE: Ordinary & Extraordinary

Small minds are concerned with the extraordinary, great minds with the ordinary
-Blaise Pascal

☿

Mercury retrograde always brings some form of revision either willingly or imposed on us by unforeseen circumstances. There is no reason to hop on the Mercury-Retro-Freak-Out-Train as this occurs approximately 3 times a year.

Mercury will be retrograde in the sign of Virgo and then Leo from August 12th to September 5th, 2017.

One of the striking aspect of this particular retrograde is the Mercury/Neptune opposition mere days before the beginning of the retrograde.

This means that the week leading up to the retrograde is somewhat foggy or tinted by wishful thinking and clarity is already lost. There could be confusion between facts and fiction. It could be that a situation is not seen for what it is and we are getting lost in glamorous thinking. Venus is also trine to Neptune and the Sun is in Leo after all!

Mercury/Neptune is not a terrible aspect in itself but decision making might not be anchored in reality. If you know this already, work it to your advantage and take into account that your perception will shift considerably by the time this retrograde is all said and done.

The Full Moon in Aquarius on August 7th was the first of 2 Eclipses happening this month and this also has to be taken into account. The liminal space between Eclipses can be thought of as a transitional period. Often the time surrounding Eclipses bring unforeseen circumstances which shake the foundations in our lives. Events pushes us to take a leap of faith or break with the old ways. Sometimes these events are forced upon us and the path we were until then walking on vanishes aligning us on a totally new and unforeseen trajectory.

Mercury retrogrades are best spent re-evaluating, sorting out, and revising what is already in place. Mercury retrogrades are not so great for launching major new projects and ideas. Since this retrograde begins in the Mercury ruled sign of Virgo, there is no better time to get down to the nitty-gritty details of your life and put them in order. Mercury will retrograde back into the sign of Leo on August 31st. The subject of self-esteem, pride, the desire for recognition, following one’s heart, dreams and passions will all be added to the mix.

*If the eclipses are already bringing major changes in your life, embrace them and apply a good strategy to insure your success.

Here are a few more tips to help you navigate the upcoming retrograde in Virgo & Leo:

☿-Don’t sweat the small stuff: Virgos can be hyper critical and self-loathing since they have such unreachable high standards for themselves. Give yourself a break and pay attention to your internal dialogues; keep it positive and guilt free.

☿-Sweat the small stuff: Mercury retrograde in Virgo is a great time to revise and organize. A great time to tackle all the menial jobs that you have been putting off. Paper work, writing, editing and organizing could really put you ahead of the game. Re-evaluate the processes in your life and find solutions that will help you be more efficient.

☿-Find activities that help alleviate anxiety: Over-thinking and the endless quest for perfection is a modern diseases. Step-away from it all with activities that help you disconnect from the over-achieving mind. Go pet a goat.

☿-Find healing

☿-Be easy on yourself: You are where you are suppose to be. Trust the process.

☿-Get in touch with your procrastination: The more you put things off the tighter the grip will get. Maybe your to-do list is to big? What can you do to alleviate the pressure?

☿-With Mercury going back into the sign of Leo, issues of pride and self-esteem could come up. Following our heart is always a work in progress. Practice asking for what you need directly and without shame. Allow your heart’s desires to express themselves in a healthy way.

☿-Understand that success is a state of mind.

☿-Do not let your pride get in the way of the hard work needed to succeed.

☿-If you know your chart, look at where Virgo and Pisces are located. Do you have important planets or is your Ascendant in Virgo or Pisces? Perhaps some organizing is called for in those areas of your life.

☿-Since this Mercury retrograde is weaved in with the 2 eclipses in August, look at where Leo and Aquarius fall in your chart. Do you have any important planets or is your Ascendant either in Leo or Aquarius? Events surrounding the next two months will bring opportunities to break away from an old way of being. This could be subtle or dramatic depending on your natal dispositons.

---

                              Jack Kerouac (Virgo rising and Moon in Virgo) on Self-Loathing
                                                          

“The rucksack sits hopefully in a strewn mess of bottles all empty, empty poorboys of white port, butts, junk, horror … ‘One fast move or I’m gone,’ I realize, gone the way of the last three years of drunken hopelessness which is a physical and spiritual and metaphysical hopelessness you can’t learn in school no matter how many books on existentialism or pessimism you read, or how many jugs of vision-producing Ayahuasca you drink, or Mescaline take, or Peyote goop up with – that feeling when you wake up with the delirium tremens, with the fear of eerie death dripping from your ears like those special heavy cobwebs spiders weave in the hot countries, the feeling of being a bentback mudman monster groaning underground in hot steaming mud pulling a long hot burden nowhere, the feeling of standing ankle deep in hot boiled pork blood, ugh, of being up to your waist in a giant pan of greasy brown dishwater not a trace of suds left in it – the face of yourself you see in the mirror with its expression of unbearable anguish so haggard and awful with sorrow you can’t even cry for a thing so ugly, so lost, no connection whatever with early perfection, and therefore nothing to connect with tears or anything.”

 

 

 

Sun in Pisces/Moon in Capricorn: Inspired Discipline

The Sun is in Pisces conjunct the Tail of the Dragon and the Moon is in the sign of Capricorn. We might be revisiting time-tested ideas that prove to be better than their modern versions. Something from the past could come back for revision or be revived. We could also find ourselves appreciating the craftsmanship of our ancestors and be inspired by the quality of objects from the past.

With the Moon in Capricorn, it’s a good day to get work done and find some discipline. Since the Sun in Pisces and Neptune will receive a sextile from the Moon in Capricorn, work that requires a certain amount of creativity and inspiration should benefit.

Ghosts in the Machine

Music by Pantha du Prince – Im Bann

“Aberrations of the human mind are to a large extent due to the obsessional pursuit of some part-truth, treated as if it were a whole truth.”
― Arthur Koestler

♏︎ ♒︎

The Moon will be making an interesting sequence of aspects in the next few days which is worth breaking down.

Thursday, the Moon enters the sign of Scorpio and almost immediately will trine the South Node of the Moon in Pisces. This could be thought of as getting a glimpse of the past, something hidden in the deep end resurfacing or finding ourselves obsessing over a memory we thought was buried forever.

*Since we are between eclipses (the next one being on February 26)  a more intense dream life is possible and revelations could come during your sleep.

The Moon in Scorpio will then trine Neptune in Pisces late Thursday night/early Friday morning. We can imagine this aspect as swimming through an underwater tunnel and coming across a sea monster and having to find the courage to get past a deep instinctual fear in order to swim through. There is a fine line between trusting our intuition and being carried away by delusional or irrational fears. Since the Moon in Scorpio and Neptune in Pisces are both Water signs, things could escape our conscious awareness as we are led by involuntary or visceral undercurrents. Do not get discouraged by things which are outside your control: work with what you have.

Friday morning or afternoon (depending where you live) the Moon in Scorpio will square Mercury in Aquarius while Mercury square Mars in Aries (ruler of the Moon in Scorpio) and briefly after that, the Moon will sextile Pluto in Capricorn before going void of course.

How we handle information and how we decide to communicate what we know could be challenged in some ways. How information is used to manipulate will be more obvious than usual and it could be a good time to assess what we let in and how we use it. Getting to the bottom of something in order to have more control over it can be a positive thing as long as we are clear about the specific motivations behind our actions. There could be an obsession around truth and technology which somehow lies beyond our immediate comprehension. The relationship between information and power is sure to be highlighted. These aspects could bring forth surprising tactics used through technology in order to control and dominate. Pay attention to what arises as we are heading towards dynamic astrological aspects in the last 10 days of February.

This tension could challenge us to think outside of our comfort zone in order to come up with innovative ideas that will help us move forward.

---

AQUARIUS 29

The sound of dripping water echoes through a great stone room.
The most unusual and distinctive of inward conditions. You are held within a mode of awareness that is from another time and place altogether. You have nothing to say and nothing to do. There is no power of individual life-force. Instead you see as the ancient ones see. Utter unworldliness to a point of dissociation from surface experience. A part of the mind transported by a reverie of timeless, effortless realization. Everything is clear. The subtlest, most refined things are obvious. It is all a matter of perspective, and here the perspective is that the only thing that matters is how the inward resonant echo registers and where it leads you in choiceless awareness, in communion with the Gods.

Inside Degrees-Chandra Symbols by Ellias Lonsdale

---

The Sun enters the sign of Pisces February 18 at 6:31 Am EST

For when the Moon is in Pisces

Today’s Moon in Pisces conjunct Neptune and the Tail of the Dragon (South Node of the Moon) speaks of foggy circumstances. Reasoning and rational abilities might be at an all time low as we are swayed by psychic emotional tides. (particularly coming from social media.)

The upcoming Full Moon in Taurus (earth) ruled by Venus in Capricorn (earth) next week will be a good opportunity to anchor and re-group.

Neptune’s conjunction to the South Node will be exact on the 17th, Mercury will square Neptune on the 18th and Neptune will station direct on the 19th of November. The month closes with a square from the Sun in Sagittarius to Neptune in Pisces. That is a lot of Neptune.

Neptune rules beyond mundane material reality. Boundaries dissolves as we become susceptible to all sorts of impressions. Some are accurate while others are delusional. Here we meet anxiety and escapism or inspiration and bliss depending on where we put our attention. One of the side-effect of Neptune in Pisces could be a tendency to feel like a victim or like things are happening to us with little control over them.

A good idea is to disconnect from the information tide. Without escaping, find space, silence and stillness for true insights to emerge.

There could be missing elements from the picture we are looking at right now.
All things will come to pass, dissolve and disappear back into the void.

A good thing to keep in mind as we navigate these foggy waters.

 

”A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep.”― Saul Bellow

 

A Sun-Neptune Poem

 

The light of the Sun shimmers
on the surface of eternity

Bringing to life
countless soulful diamonds

Each one of them
with a unique sparkle

And for a moment
we believe in this design

and delineate the limits
of the boundless

So that we can celebrate
the formless and the eternal

Universal Truth/Healthy Boundaries

by Chemical Sister, found on The Church of the Nervous System

The Moon is in Pisces conjunct Neptune today. Difficulty concentrating, knowing which is which, what is what and who is who are possible side effects. The boundaries between us dissolve to reveal a bigger truth. Intuition and imagination collide to bring a new level of understanding. We can heal the rift between us by tenderly witnessing. We can help without taking on the pain of others. We can guide without wounding ourselves. It is a matter of knowing where one ends and where others begin.