Editor’s note: this is the full PW members’ edition, featuring your weekly horoscopes, the Create feature, Planet Waves FM and more.
Dear Friend and Reader:
We’re moving into the last half of Mercury’s current retrograde in Aries — and the contacts Mercury has been making this week seem to be stirring things up for many people. If you’ve been feeling a sense of pressure lately, this astrology could be why.
By Amanda Painter
We’re moving into the last half of Mercury’s current retrograde in Aries — and the contacts Mercury is making this week seem to be stirring things up for many people. If you’ve been feeling a sense of pressure lately, this astrology could be why.
Photo by Amanda Painter.
A combined square between Mercury in Aries and Mars and Saturn in Capricorn continues to be in effect today. Mercury square Mars was exact on Wednesday, and Mercury square Saturn is exact today — though they are really one event.
This aspect pattern is an image of tension — especially with Mercury in a hot, fiery, action-oriented sign, and its retrograde motion describing an inward direction (for at least some of that energy). If you’re feeling frustrated, you might notice how much of that energy is directed at yourself, versus how much of it you’re projecting (or unleashing) onto others.
Lots of people fall into negative thought loops when they have trouble expressing their anger and annoyance; that said, it’s also becoming more common for people to seek an outlet on social media. If that tends to be your go-to, you might notice whether people’s comments in response actually help you to transmute your frustration, or whether it serves to amplify it. There are reasons why social media is often referred to as an ‘echo chamber’ — though sometimes we do truly just need to say what we have to say and know that we’ve been heard and empathized with.
By Amanda Painter
Are you feeling both determined and frustrated this week? The sky is not only building to a Full Moon in Libra on Saturday, there’s some additional astrology that may be testing the balance between what you desire, what you feel obligated to do, and what’s actually reasonable to try to accomplish.
Tropical flora on Grand Cayman; photo by Amanda Painter.
The good thing about this kind of setup is that when there is friction or opposition from others, it can actually help you get clear on your priorities.
When everything is easy and everyone is mellow, it can be harder to get focused or fired up for what needs to happen. That said, even if you think you know what you want, current aspects suggest it’s wise to try on different perspectives, to listen closely to what others are expressing (including reading between the lines), and to move ahead with a measured pace.
The chart for this week’s Full Moon speaks to all of these factors, in multiple ways. Exact at 8:37 am EDT on March 31 (12:37 UTC), it has the Moon in early-mid Libra opposite the Sun and retrograde Mercury in Aries.
Straight away, Mercury both retrograde and so close to the Sun (they form a conjunction on Sunday, marking the midpoint of the retrograde), signals that checking one’s perspective is wise. Particularly in Aries, are you sure you are seeing beyond yourself and what you want?
By Amanda Painter
Coming close on the heels of Tuesday’s equinox (the Sun’s entrance into Aries, beginning a new season and astrological year), tonight at 8:19 pm EDT (00:19 UTC Friday) Mercury stations retrograde in Aries. So, despite this being a natural time of year to want to take action in starting new things, you may be experiencing some hitches in executing your plans.
Is this what it looks like inside Aries? Maybe. The more important question is, what does it look like inside you? Photo of the “Man pavilion” at Burning Man 2012 by Amanda Painter.
If that’s the case, you have some options. Sure, you can insist on plowing ahead, damn the torpedoes. Chances are, however, that’s not going to be the most efficient or smooth approach.
Every Mercury retrograde is an opportunity for review and introspection. With Mercury in Aries, that inner consideration could well have to do with your sense of who you are (your identity), your relationship to what you want (desire), your relationship to anger and how you express it, or your sense of agency in your life (whether you feel like you can make your own choices and actions).
Now, while you could go the full-meditation route, I’m not sure that really meshes well with a Mercury retrograde in Aries, either. Particularly not this one.
I say that because the sky is currently dominated by planets in Aries making square aspects to planets in Capricorn. (I’ll touch on a couple of the specific squares in a moment.) These Aries-to-Capricorn relationships are calling the theme for the Mercury retrograde chart, which you can think of as a question:
Where are initiative and individuality running up against what is codified or institutional?
Hello —
Just a quick note to Len Wallick’s regular readers that he has had to step back from writing for Planet Waves, for an undetermined length of time. My apologies for not posting a note sooner, but things were a little in limbo. We hope to have Len on board again soon. I am sure he would appreciate your good wishes.
Yours & truly,
Amanda Painter
By Amanda Painter
Saturday is the Pisces New Moon; it happens at 9:12 am EDT (13:12 UTC), conjunct the centaur Chiron and also square the Galactic Core in Sagittarius. This will be the last Pisces New Moon with Chiron also in Pisces; as such, it calls for a deeper or more focused level of review and introspection as you prepare yourself for a new phase of growth.
Students in the Granada Hills area of Los Angeles spelled out a message to lawmakers during a Wednesday walkout in response to gun violence, lying silently in the formation of “ENOUGH,” with 17 chairs lined up representing the 17 students killed in Parkland, FL, one month ago. Photo by NBC Los Angeles.
With Chiron having to do with raising awareness to facilitate healing, and Pisces relating strongly to the emotional-spiritual-creative nexus, and the Galactic Core often described as our ‘cosmic homing signal’, this configuration seems to pose some questions.
For example, what have you learned and how have you grown since 2010 (when Chiron entered Pisces)? You could also think in terms of your position within society and ask: Are we any closer to spirit/source/god/soul?
You might find that your answers to those two angles of questioning seem different. That is, you might feel like you have covered tremendous ground along your path of personal growth, and have worked hard to heal persistent emotional and psychological hang-ups and patterns; but then, when you look around you at the national and global news, it seems like the same chaos and pain is emanating from the same sources as usual. Maybe some (or many) situations feel even worse off than they did several years ago.
By Amanda Painter
Today Jupiter stations retrograde in Scorpio. Like most planetary retrogrades (Mercury being the best known), this signals a phase of review and integration.
Photo by Amanda Painter
But what are you being called to review, assess and integrate? In part, that will depend on what Jupiter has been increasing, expanding or calling your attention to while it’s been traveling through Scorpio since mid-October.
You might want to consider whether anything in your life has seemed to be under a magnifying glass in those months. In other words, is there some inner experience or outer dynamic that has consistently called your attention to it?
Or, you might think about particular types of growth you’ve experienced these last five months — emotional, professional, financial, sexual, spiritual, physical, and so on. Jupiter is the planet of expansion, so the word ‘excess’ might be another way to think of this, depending on whether you feel like ‘positive’ things or ‘negative’ things have been on the increase. Is there anything in your life that seems outsized compared to your ability to handle, understand or guide it?
Although there’s a significant concentration of bodies in Pisces this week, the focus shifts to other signs for the main events — specifically, Aries (planets changing sign) and Scorpio (Jupiter’s retrograde). You may notice a shift in tone, tempo or orientation as a result.
Photo by Amanda Painter.
Early in the week, Mercury and Venus both leave Pisces and enter Aries on Tuesday. Mercury makes its move at 2:34 am EST (7:34 UTC), and Venus follows suit at 6:45 pm EST (23:45 UTC).
At its most basic, this nudges emotions, thought processes and communication into more impulsive, inventive and enthusiastic (or possibly reactive) territory.
You might find that you need to make a little more effort to sustain your concentration at times, or to put yourself in another’s shoes and offer some empathy. Yet with several notable planets and the Sun still swimming in Pisces, there’s a natural softening and stabilizing influence to keep things balanced. We’ll be getting some good Aries initiative to pair with the dreamy visioning Pisces is so famous for — and that can be a recipe for getting really interesting things done.
Yet there’s another dimension to Mercury and Venus entering Aries: they’re landing on the Aries Point — that hot little parcel of zodiac real estate that connects your personal experience with that of the collective (such as through politically charged events and issues).
Not only that, but Mercury and Venus make aspects to three minor planets that have featured prominently in Eric’s Art of Becoming annual readings: Salacia in Aries, and Pholus and Quaoar in Capricorn.