Author Archives: Len Wallick

About Len Wallick

Besides endeavoring to be of service to all of you here at Planet Waves, Len strives to live in Seattle while working as a professional astrologer. To contact him for an astrology reading you can send an e-mail to: lenwallick@gmail.com. His telephone number is 206-356-5467. In addition to his profession, Len contributes to the Seattle community without monetary compensation by serving as a Reiki practitioner and teacher through classes and outreach offered by the Seattle Reiki Mastery Series modality.

Close Enough in Time

It’s unusual for a New Moon and the beginning of a Mercury retrograde to take place within 24 hours of each other, but that is how next week is going to start. Shortly after 12:13 am EDT (4:13 UTC) Monday, the Moon will briefly share 26+ Taurus with the Sun. Soon after 9:49 pm EDT the same day (01:49 UTC Tuesday), Mercury’s apparent motion will reverse at 13+ Gemini.

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Taurus and Gemini are adjacent on the zodiac, which raises an interesting situation. When the luminaries (Sun and Moon) conjoin to define the upcoming Taurus New Moon, Mercury at its Gemini retrograde station will be more than 16 degrees away.

Even with the Moon moving at a rate of more than 14 degrees a day (which will be the case at the time of the Taurus New Moon), it would really be stretching astrology’s definitions to say Mercury will be part of the luminary conjunction.

For example, William Lilly (the great 17th Century English astrologer who promulgated many astrological guidelines still in use today) wavered between 15 and 17 degrees for the Sun’s widest plausible orb of influence, writing “I sometimes use the one and sometimes the other.”

Neither will the New Moon and Mercury at its pivot be far enough apart to be considered in any meaningful aspect other than conjunction. Yet, the two events will be close enough in time to be considered functionally concurrent. In essence, both will occur on the same day.

So maybe that’s how we should consider this unusual co-incidence of a New Moon and Mercury at a defining point. Instead of wrestling with degrees and geometry, perhaps we should consider the two events close enough in time to be indicative of something in combination.

Assuming a temporal perspective in relating the Taurus New Moon and Mercury’s retrograde station, it would be consistent to proceed with a temporal analysis. The period between one New Moon and another may be referred to as a ‘lunation’. It is a consistently regular, familiar and fundamental time frame of something less than 30 days. Lunations give rise to the nearly universal calendar sub-division known in English as a month (a word derived from the Moon).

Lunations are useful time frames. You can work with them. They are regular enough to set up schedules. They are long enough to show most trends and contain many changes, but also short enough to be of minimal challenge to recollection.

Mercury retrogrades are less well defined in terms of time. Yes, the actual period of retrograde motion is always in the neighborhood of three weeks long. Still, there is a demonstrable potential of events corresponding to retrogrades beginning when Mercury first enters the corridor (or ‘shadow phase’) of zodiac degrees it will ultimately retreat back through.

Additionally, a second shadow (or ‘echo’) phase commences after Mercury resumes direct motion to retrace that same corridor of retrograde degrees a third time. Finally, when retrogrades take place entirely within the bounds of a single sign (as is the case this year), one might consider Mercury’s entire tenure in that sign to have a retrograde cachet.

One thing for sure however, is that both the Taurus New Moon and Mercury’s station retrograde can fairly be construed to represent a beginning of some sort. So why not see it that way yourself? Why not start next week as if whatever you initiate has the potential to extend even further than a week if need be?

Perhaps that’s where you can begin deriving (rather than asking for) meaning from the unusual astrology of a New Moon concurrent with a Mercury retrograde station. You can seize it as an opportunity to initiate something you have been putting off. You can take it as a chance to give yourself as much time as you need to complete what you start, within the boundaries of reason astrology provides.

Most of all, you can bring astrology off the page or screen where it appears through symbols, charts and words. The cycles and timeframes delineated by the Sun, Moon and Mercury starting something together can become their reality for you.

That way, distant celestial objects can become close enough in time with you to be as much a part of your life as the people you share time with. Luminaries and planets may become as familiar as the places you spend your time. That way you may begin to bring both the greater and lesser lights of the sky quite literally down to Earth. Could be that’s part of the reason you are here. Why not begin next week as though that were true? 

Offered In Service

Len is available for astrology readings. You can contact him at lenwallick [at] gmail [dot] com.

While Consciousness Catches Up

Venus has settled into the waters of Cancer after splashing in last week. Mars took flight into airy Gemini yesterday. Last night, the Moon got wet in Pisces, where it will be until Wednesday segues to Thursday. Next week will begin with a New Moon (when the Moon and Sun will share the same degree of Taurus), and Mercury’s station retrograde.

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Now is a good time for you to catch up.

What you might want to envision catching up to is more than a new lunar cycle and Mercury retrograde. You should think bigger and envision more, and not just for drill.

To really capture the big picture of the astrology for the rest of this month (and probably most of June) you should make like Mercury is in the process of doing. You should slow down. You should hearken back to how the astrological year started.

For tropical astrologers, a new year initiates with the vernal equinox. It begins with the actual Sun crossing directly overhead at Earth’s equator (appearing to move North with its subsequent risings and settings), and the symbolic Sun simultaneously crossing from Pisces into Aries. It is the cycle of seasons and the cycle of the zodiac starting over together.

This year, unlike any vernal equinox going back to at least 1700, the Sun’s ingress to Aries was preceded by less than 24 hours with a New Moon and total solar eclipse in the very last degree of Pisces, on March 20.

In a way, catching up with that unprecedented solar eclipse (and its complement, the Libra Full Moon and total lunar eclipse of April 4) is what you have been doing ever since. For the most part you have been doing it through the most fundamental objects in astrology — the Sun and Moon. In all probability, you are not done. Provided that’s true for you, it’s better to continue catching up with even greater awareness than you have had up to now.   

You have been catching up through the Sun and Moon precisely because of what they represent – the two major components of your consciousness. The Sun, inseparable from day and light, corresponds to the daytime version of consciousness. Each day, as the Sun transits your personal astrology, its aspects and corresponding expressions make up part of what might be called the light in your proverbial attic. That light shines out to let the rest of us know you are with us, along with who and how you are in the world.

The Moon, on the other hand, correlates with the private sector of your consciousness that many others never get to see. Transiting lunar manifestations in relation to your personal astrology are felt more than thought. Through those expressions you grow to know yourself as surely as others get to know you through the Sun. As both the Sun and Moon transition away from a typical pair of eclipses, the nature of what came with them is gradually revealed through illumination and reflection.

For one of the fundamental things to know about a typical pair of eclipses is that it takes a while to become conscious of what happened in between them. Months later, sometimes years later, your life tends to come full circle in one way or another. Eventually, your consciousness catches up with either what initiated or what came to pass between the first eclipse and its complement.

If you think about it, that’s probably what you have been doing since the vernal equinox. While the Sun finished its traversal of the second half of Aries following the lunar eclipse of April 4, it’s very possible you had only yourself as the most dependable reference point for making sense of things. Ever since April 20, with the Sun in Taurus, it’s even more likely that you have been able to rely on your physical body for visceral guidance and intuitive information.

Since the eclipses that ushered in our current season, the Moon has also been doing its part. By cycling through new and full phases which were not eclipses, the Moon has helped you recycle. The coming and going of familiar lunar phases have corresponded with the hidden side of your consciousness finding a way to reacquaint you with yourself — both as you were before and what has emerged after ecliptic shadow.

The process is almost certainly not over for you. It would be fair to say that neither the solar nor the lunar side of your consciousness have fully caught up. It is probable that you are still in the process of becoming aware of what you wrought in collaborative alignment with the Sun, Moon and lunar nodes — as Earth and the Moon took turns in each other’s shadow.

Seen in that way, aspects of the planets this week, this month and possibly for the rest of this season may fall into place as guidelines and stepping stones for you to follow until consciousness catches up.

Challenging aspects (like squares and oppositions) might become fulcrums, which tell you it’s time to apply some pressure rather than just feel it — after which you might very well consciously evolve. More supportive aspects like sextiles and trines allow you to get your groove back.

Every conjunction (like the Taurus New Moon next week) will somehow avail consciousness of a chance to start over. Even the Mercury retrograde, with its undeserved reputation for frustration and futility might become your second and third chances to understand your place in the solar system’s continuum.

Until your consciousness catches up, take every event in your life (and its corresponding astrology) as a means rather than an end. In that way, astrology (and your life) will have the potential to be more than just one thing after another. You will give your own awareness something whole to be part of. You will gift both your solar and lunar consciousness with something more to become.

Offered In Service

Len is available for astrology readings. You can contact him at lenwallick [at] gmail [dot] com.

The Act To Follow

Mars will enter Gemini shortly after 10:40 pm EDT Monday (02:40:12 UTC Tuesday). In doing so, Mars will symbolically be following the act of Venus, which is departing Gemini for Cancer later today (as discussed here earlier this week). The allegory of a following act is appropriate, because when a planet changes signs it is as if a performer were changing costumes, and (implicitly) roles.

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That’s one way to anticipate what Mars in Gemini might offer for you. It will be a chance to grasp Mars and its role in your life as it takes on the raiment and role being relinquished by Venus.

Mars is not Venus, even when wearing the same metaphorical costume of expression through a given sign. For that reason, we can expect the Martian tenure in Gemini to correspond more with a departure from, rather than a repeat of, what Venus has been expressing over the last month or so.

Nether, however, can one consider Mars to be the opposite of Venus. Rather, the two astrological energies of Mars and Venus are complements.

As with all complementary principles, Mars and Venus can be fully understood only in relation to each other. Daylight would not mean as much as it does without the experience of darkness. Yin is only an abstract concept without the context Yang provides. Every coin requires two sides to be tangibly real.

Hence, perhaps the greatest opportunity while Mars is in Gemini until June 24 will be a chance to observe and compare how Venusian and Martian energies manifest in relation to you and your life.

Of course, not all things will be equal in Gemini or in the sky. While Venus traversed Gemini, it was getting brighter and higher in the sky with each successive night. The Martian tour of Gemini, on the other hand, begins just as Mars is disappearing into the glare of the setting Sun, not to become visible again until August.

Mars will also share outfitting with Gemini’s ruler, Mercury, which will be moving through its home sign in one of its famous retrogrades at the same time. Indeed, Mercury and Mars will meet in conjunction while moving in different directions at 10+ Gemini on May 27. Nothing like that happened for Venus as the act preceding Mars.

Nonetheless, Gemini remains much the same as any and all planets pass through. It remains an air sign. It continues to be a mutable sign. Its orientation to the other signs of the zodiac never changes. Mercury will always be its ruler. Mars will not alter any of that, any more than Venus did. Instead, it will be a question of what Mars will bring out of its role in Gemini garb. Also, and probably most importantly, it will be a matter of what you must bring in as a responsive and responsible child of the universe.

A lot will depend on how Gemini is placed in your personal astrology. Even so, there is one general guideline that will apply to almost everybody.

That guideline has to do with the fact that Mars is undeniably more about action than charismatic Venus. Therefore, expect doing to upstage being as regards to the field of Gemini’s expression for the remainder of this season. Just to cite one example, that field would include the use of words for communication. With Venus in Gemini, it was the value of what you said that probably mattered most.

With Mars in Gemini, expect a shift to prioritize the tone of your communication. Accordingly, you should make allowances by resolving to be even more careful with your expression than with your words. Even if you feel Mars in Gemini goading you to be brash, consider the advantages of occupying higher ground as opposed to including yourself among the unsavory things that tend to roll downhill.

Correspondingly, you should be prepared not to take overly energetic or assertive communications from others personally. For to do so would only perpetuate a vicious cycle counterproductive to the free and resilient exchange of ideas that represents some of the best of what Gemini is about.

Indeed, if you can remember just one thing about your role while Mars is in Gemini, it would be the time-honored proverb “It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it.” If you can be as careful with your own words as you are in observing and making allowance for the possibility of careless communications from others, the act (and actions) that follow should work out to complement rather than undo all that has transpired before.

Offered In Service

Len is available for astrology readings. You can contact him at lenwallick [at] gmail [dot] com.

Mediation and Moderation

For most of human history people very much like you have known how act in participation with cycles of the Earth and sky. That knowledge comes down to you in the form of proverbs, which have been perpetuated in story and song. For every thing there is a season. Make hay while the Sun shines. Shine on harvest Moon.

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Astrology also provides a clue for your place in participation with cycles of the planets. We are now entering a period when it would be to your advantage to heed those clues so as to mediate with the times and moderate less-than-optimal conditions.

The period in question might be said to begin in earnest when Venus leaves Gemini behind to enter Cancer (the sign of the Moon’s dominion) at 6:52 pm EDT (22:52 UTC) on Thursday.

Indications of the period now commencing are evident through what you can see of Venus with your own eyes. It is also evident through the metaphorically interpretive and contextual milieu of astrology.

With every evening now, Venus appears a little higher above the Western horizon, remaining visible later into each successive night. You can see that with your own eyes. The gradual and steady ascending will continue until Venus reaches what will be its highest point (what astronomy calls the “greatest eastern elongation”) on June 6. Meaningfully, that will be the night after Venus leaves tropical Cancer to enter Leo.

Those of you with binoculars or telescopes to augment what you can see with your own eyes will also note that the apparent area of the sunlit part of Venus (what astronomers call “brilliancy,” as discerned from “brightness”) is growing in size. In other words, Venus is waxing much as the Moon recently did before reaching fullness less than two days ago.

Venus always goes through phases like the Moon. In many cultures, Venus and the Moon have also always shared a mythical correspondence with the divine feminine. However, astronomical and cultural correlations between Venus and the Moon have not always been metaphorically extended through, and synchronized with, the contexts of astrology as denoted by the period about to begin when Venus enters Cancer on Thursday.

Hence, the clues you should heed in order to participate in productive harmony with the beginning of a period implied by the sky. As always, beginning in actual practice will be a matter of you working with and on yourself.

First among the clues indicated by Venus entering Cancer is an implicit imperative to mediate with your own feminine (Moon) values (Venus) rather than resist them. Look to metaphorically give birth to what has been growing in brilliance within you. Seek to nourish the ascendancy of your light in the world.

Yet, the impending tenure of Venus in tropical Cancer will also require that you must honor the cyclical nature of being — for no growth or rise continues forever. Moderation will require you to release attachment to and relinquish possessiveness toward what you bear into the world, so as not to stunt or hold it down.

To keep the receptive nature of Venus and the emotional priorities of Cancer in balance will also sometimes mean working without receiving immediate gratification or credit. Nearly always, and perhaps most important, it will be necessary to lead without feeling the need also to dominate. Likely required of you in addition will be an open and selfless heart that knows within itself that all hearts can yet be made one.

Those are some clues — though not about what is in store for you. Astrology is not destiny. Rather, offered here today are some clues about what will be required of you so as to take a conscious hand in your destiny as Venus enters Cancer.

For with the ingress of Venus into Cancer you will be entering a period when the tangible evidence available to your own eyes and the subtly symbolic hints of astrology are in unusual concordance. What happens as result, however, will in large part begin with how well you perceive your place in the solar system and how appropriately you respond to fill that role. 

Offered In Service

Len is available for astrology readings. You can contact him at lenwallick [at] gmail [dot] com.

Motion, Midpoints and the Moon

The Moon entered tropical Libra earlier today. It will move on to Scorpio as Saturday segues into Sunday. Then, as Sunday transitions into Monday, the Moon will have moved far enough into Scorpio to oppose the Sun (which has been moving in Taurus, the sign opposite Scorpio, since April 20) for a Full Moon.

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This particular Scorpio Full Moon will be especially suited to help you literally grasp how motion in the sky matches motion on the zodiac circle, in the world and in your life.

Every Full Moon is the midpoint between New Moons. A New Moon is when the Sun and Moon briefly share the same degree of the same zodiac sign while moving through the sky alongside each other. That last happened back on April 18 with the New Moon in Aries.

You can’t see the Moon when it is moving through the sky alongside the Sun during a New Moon. In contrast, Full Moons are easy to see because the Moon is on the opposite side of the sky reflecting the Sun. That’s a direct correspondence to the Sun and Moon in opposing signs on the zodiac.

If weather permits, it will be worth watching both the Sun and Moon beginning with sunset this evening and for every night through the weekend. If you can do that, you will be able to actually see what it means for the luminaries to move into opposition at the midpoint of their cycle.

With a little imagination and some help from Jupiter, you will also be able to see with your own eyes and understand in your own body the solar and lunar motion through their respective tropical signs.

The Sun is now setting one to two minutes later every night in the Northern Hemisphere and a minute or two earlier every evening South of the equator. No matter where on Earth you are, the Sun is also setting a little farther North on the Western horizon at the end of every day.

Additionally, the Sun is approximately (not precisely, but close enough) at a midpoint of its own. Back on March 20, no matter where on Earth you were, the Sun was setting precisely to the West. That was the vernal equinox, when the tangible Sun was directly over the equator and the symbolic Sun was entering Aries on the zodiac.

Today the tangible Sun will be setting about halfway between precisely West and as far North on the Western horizon as it will ever get. Correspondingly, we are about halfway between an equinox and a solstice, and near the midpoint between seasons. In correlation, the symbolic Sun is about halfway through Taurus on the zodiac, at the midpoint between the first degree of Aries and the first degree of Cancer.

Should you watch the Sun go down over the next several nights, tell yourself “this is what the middle of solar Taurus looks like every year.” Then, ask yourself how it feels. You might sense an enhanced connection with the Earth. You could even experience a more visceral bond with life itself. What your body answers will give you a connection with and appreciation for what astrology tells you about the Sun at the midpoint of Taurus. Then, astrology will cease to be only abstract — it will become at least a bit more real. 

It is not every year that the Moon opposes the Sun in the middle of solar Taurus, but you can watch it move into opposition over the next several nights. Begin tonight. After you have finished watching the sunset, when it gets dark enough for the stars to become visible, look to the East. The waxing Moon will already be significantly above the Eastern horizon because it rose before sunset. Note the time.

Tomorrow night, the Moon will rise about an hour later and be correspondingly lower in the sky as compared to the same time tonight. On Saturday night, the Moon will rise approximately an additional hour later yet. On Sunday night Moon will be rising at about the same time the Sun is setting.

What you will in fact be watching as the Moon rises later every night is the Moon moving through Libra and into Scorpio. That’s the symbolic translated into the real. That will be your real-world correspondence with the symbolic Moon taking about two and a half days to move through a sign on the zodiac. It will be your in-the-body experience of the Moon moving into the midpoint of its cycle with the Sun even as the Sun is moving into the midpoint between seasons.

That does not happen every year. That is what will make this particular Scorpio Full Moon special. That, and Jupiter near the midpoint of Leo.

To make the Scorpio Full Moon even more special, Jupiter will be visible at the midpoint between the opposing luminaries. If you are in the Northern Hemisphere, after spotting the Moon tonight, look straight up, then slightly South. Jupiter will be the steady (non-twinkling) light brighter than any star. It will correspond to tropical Leo being the sign halfway between Taurus and Scorpio. Then, you will have a representation of half the zodiac circle before your very eyes.

By Sunday, you will be able to point one hand at the setting Sun and say “Taurus, illuminated by the Sun in what I see.” You will then be able to point your other hand at the rising Moon and say “Scorpio, reflected by the Moon in what I feel.” With your hands thus extended, you will then be able to look up with the perfect bodily posture to embrace what Jupiter is all about and say “Here’s a hug!”

After several nights of observing the Sun and Moon moving toward their respective midpoints, Sunday night should be a very special experience. While in your posture of embracing Jupiter even as your hands are physically extended towards the opposing luminaries, take a moment and think about your relationship to each corresponding point in the sky and where your life, and the world, is in relation to it all.

Ask yourself, “What is rising?” “What is setting?” What is at its highest point?” and finally, “What is halfway through?” Allow your answers to convey astrology off the page and into your life. Words at that point will not be necessary. In and through your body, this Scorpio Full Moon will allow you to understand its meaning precisely because you will be standing under it with awareness and (hopefully) appreciation. 

Offered In Service                   

Len is available for astrology readings. You can contact him at lenwallick [at] gmail [dot] com.

Moonshine Horoscope — Scorpio Full Moon Edition

Dear Friend and Reader:

Sunday, May 3, is the Scorpio Full Moon, exact at 11:42 pm EDT (15:42 UTC). (View full chart here.) This is the Moon in Scorpio opposite the Sun in Taurus.

To read these horoscopes, it helps to know your Moon sign (where the Moon was at the moment of your birth), which you can find out by entering your birth data into Serennu.com. If you know your birth time, that will ensure accuracy — but often you can still be sure of its sign even if the exact degree is fuzzy. You can also read these horoscopes for your Sun and rising signs for additional insight.

 

By Len Wallick

 

Aries (March 20-April 19)

Aries (March 20-April 19) — You can’t go home again. It isn’t the same, much less what you remembered. Even if a place of residence or origin could somehow be preserved without change, your own continuous evolution while away would alter your perception upon return. Yet, there is a continuum in the sense that you know where you feel at home when you find it. It’s a sense you carry with you, like a key. Unlike a conventional key, however, your sense of home has evolved with you so that it might fit many locks and open may doors besides the fixed portal for which it was made. Grasp that, and your future will open before your very eyes.

It’s Your Birthday, Taurus!

Venus Retrograde, and Three Conjunctions to Mars

If you’re Taurus or Taurus rising, your astrology this year is sending a message about specific projects, goals or healing missions. Specific is the opposite of general. That means it’s time to refine and focus your agenda.

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True-color rendition of Venus, a planet similar to Earth.

There is a crucial issue of how you handle self-criticism — particularly of your creative endeavors, and of yourself as a lover. The usual options in this world, which are blaming oneself for everything or letting oneself off the hook for everything, don’t count for much now.

What matters is that you recognize the extent to which you critique yourself unfairly, that you discover how that developed, and that you make some adjustments to your psychology.

This is all designed to give you an easier time living within your own mind (which you and I know is a very busy place). Taurus is one of the most mentally active signs of the zodiac. It’s just that, unlike Gemini, you don’t always express yourself.

This year’s Taurus astrology has several distinctions. I’ll go over these in some technical detail (not too much!) and then add additional interpretation.

 

Venus Retrograde from July 25 through Sept. 6

First, Venus, the planet associated with Taurus (its ‘ruling’ planet) will be retrograde between July 25 and Sept. 6. Venus is retrograde the least of all the planets. It happens for about six weeks every 18 months. For this reason, every Venus retrograde is always a significant turning point.

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Venus of Willendorf, more than 25,000 years old, was discovered during excavation in Austria in 1908.

Venus will station retrograde in the very first degree of Virgo, then back up into Leo, where it will be for the duration of the retrograde. Venus will spend much of its current cycle in Leo — approximately five months, from June 6 though Oct. 8.

That puts a Leo emphasis on the next year and a half of your life. But in the midst of that, Venus will spend three weeks in Virgo. And it will be conjunct a slow-moving point that is about focus, overfocus and unfair self-evaluation.

So in the midst of a lot of Leo — seeing your beauty, taking pride in yourself and loving who you are and what you do — there is this three-week pause to reflect on the details. Notice them; see what you’ve been missing. This really is about observing the obvious.

Three Conjunctions of Venus and Mars

The other interesting factor for Taurus this year is three conjunctions of Venus and Mars. Mars is the planet symbolic of your relationship partners (whether you’re male or female).

One has already happened, in early January (in Aries). The next two are on Sept. 1 (in Leo) and Nov. 2 (in Virgo). This is the story of a relationship. It describes a series of phases that an encounter with someone is going through, on the way to arriving in a place of mutual understanding.

The relationship may go through ups and downs during that time. The thing to be cautious of is competition. Even beauty- and comfort-loving Taurus can be a fierce competitor. That would only complicate matters, where love and intimacy are concerned.

In many ways, doing something other than competition would answer just about any scenario or impasse you arrive at in a relationship. That could be on any level, such as scorekeeping, money, sex, sex appeal, success, whatever. Do your best to foster cooperation, and a sense of mutual assistance, not just with important partners but with everyone.

I will go over these and many other themes in the Taurus birthday reading, which is available now for pre-order.

PS, here is the Taurus reading for last year.

 

Taurus (April 19- May 20)

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — Being seen is one thing. Being a center of attention is another. Similarly, being the focus for others has its own double edge. There is quite a difference between having the rapt attention of a predator versus that of a lover. Even so, any such distinctions between different ways of being noticed should not be your primary concern right now. What you do need to think about is what you are paying attention to — or not. It appears that either your intense focus or chronic inattention is keeping you from seeing something you need to take care of before it becomes a relationship crisis. Look up, look around, and you will see it.

Gemini (May 20- June 21)

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — It’s time for you to improve your mastery of time. Begin broadly. Gather information. Read all the latest news about atomic clocks. Catch up with the fundamentals of how Einstein perceived time. Go window-shopping for timepieces of all sorts. Watch pots of water come to a boil. No kidding. If you invest some time in getting to know time better now, it will pay off, probably soon. This is no idle recommendation. The quicker you become more proficient with time, the faster you will attain some of what you have been waiting for. Don’t procrastinate. It’s later than you think. Find out what makes time tick for you.

Cancer (June 21- July 22)

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — What’s familiar has been a likely source of comfort for you for most of your life. Yet, even you may have recently started to feel contempt for that which merely meets your expectations. If a deeply felt need for the extraordinary has recently arisen for you, give yourself some slack. In all probability you have not been seduced by a sense of entitlement. It’s almost certain that you have not lost your sense of proportion. Instead, you are probably showing signs of having grown more mature and more responsible. Resist judging yourself as having become spoiled. Explore where the gusto goes.

Leo (July 22- Aug. 23)

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — Your generosity has not been misplaced. Even so, the wellspring that has enabled your magnanimity might someday run dry. This is not to say that you should suddenly become more selfish. There is no need to succumb to that old shadowy trance of scarcity, either. It’s simply an opportune time to cultivate greater awareness of longer terms and bigger pictures. Practice thrift. Meet your needs for sure, but first be sure those needs are actual and authentic. Also, be modest — especially in what you say. The biggest strain on your resources in the future might be words carelessly spoken now.

Virgo (Aug. 23- Sep. 22)

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — Begin something soon. What you initiate is not important. It could be a quilt, a novel, a diet or a romance — the more ambitious, the better. Indeed, the more audacious the better. If you feel resistance to beginning something, give that feeling a close look. What you see could very well be far more important than finishing anything you start. As a matter of fact, your whole (and holistic) objective for getting a new undertaking under way now should be discovery as opposed to a product. Nonetheless, persist. Maintaining an intention to finish what you start will be vital for you to succeed in unexpected ways.

Libra (Sep. 22 - Oct. 23)

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — You have not lost your way. Yes, to paraphrase an old lyric, it is a long road you are on, with many winding turns and an undefined destination. Yet, in your heart, you know the purpose of your life’s journey even if you do not know where on Earth it will take you. If you will now simply realize that your knowledge of what you are about is something uncommon, that understanding alone will be enough to sustain you to a point where you can better get your bearings and measure your progress. Until then, lighten your load. Not by discarding what you carry. Rather, try to truly love your burdens a little more.

Scorpio (Oct. 23- Nov. 22)

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — If you take the time to ascertain the astrology of any who are now attaining and overcoming in the world, you will likely find a disproportionate number born under a Scorpio Moon. So…why not you? If you do nothing else over the next couple weeks but remember to ask yourself that simple question, it might be enough to get you over some sort of energetic hump. It’s not like you have recently (or ever) been lazy. Laziness is not the issue. Don’t believe critics who say otherwise. Discouragement, and your vulnerability to it, are the issue. Defeat discouragement now so you won’t feel silly later.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22 - Dec. 22)

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — Allow wet cement to be your metaphor and mantra, at least for the near future. That’s because life is likely now providing you with an ample amount of wet cement in some sense of the phrase. What’s more, it will almost certainly be a long time (at least four months, probably longer) before any of what your options amount to eventually hardens. So, at least for the time being, do what you do best: play. But also remember that the highest purpose of play is learning. In your case, let playing with proverbial wet cement teach you what you can live with (and what you can’t) before things are set in stone.

Capricorn (Dec. 22- Jan. 20)

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — If you haven’t been yourself lately, rejoice. Living now, at this time, having been born under a Capricorn Moon, means one thing more than anything else — that you don’t want to be yourself forever. You want to change. You want to transform. No matter how happy or unhappy you may be now, what you are now will not be something you will forever be content with. Of course, there are some things you do not (or will not) want to become. That’s why it’s not okay to go overboard. Nonetheless, anytime you slip out of character, give that slip a chance to prove itself to be something else.

Aquarius (Jan. 20- Feb. 19)

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — Chose your inflammation. That’s right. Pick how and where in your life you want to feel or evince heat, tenderness, disturbance, even pain. Not just to reduce any probability of the types of aggravation you don’t want, although there is reason to believe how precisely that sort of fringe benefit might very well accrue for you. Neither is this to say you should injure yourself or be reckless with your health. It’s more a matter of intentionally getting some potentially destructive energy out of your system before it expresses with unintended results. In most cases, it’s better to incur a blister than suffer a scar.

Pisces (Feb. 19- March 20)

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — Don’t do what somebody else does just because it works. This does not mean you should be unreasonable or impractical. It’s just that what works today will almost certainly not serve its intended purpose forever. Those of you born while the Moon was traversing Pisces should understand more than anybody else that innovation is best employed before it becomes the last resort. Eschewing the tried and true will always be a gamble, but if you don’t take an innovative chance when nobody else will, everybody else might end up knowing regret. The future depends on you more than you depend on it.

 

Just Like Flying A Bicycle

This is a transitional week in a transitional year. Against a backdrop of slower-moving changes, as this week draws to a close, the Moon (now in earthy Virgo since late yesterday) and Mercury (now in earthy Taurus since April 14) will transition from earth to air signs.

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The Moon will leave its air sign, Libra, after only a little more than two days. Mercury, however, will enter Gemini for about two months just three short seconds before 10pm EDT Thursday (01:59:57 UTC Friday).

Two months? After just more than two weeks in Taurus? Yup, must be getting close to Mercury retrograde time again, but time enough for all that later. It would not be advisable to get all hung up on Mercury retrograde details now. It would keep you from getting off the mental ground you are on now.

Planet Waves will be here in a timely manner to guide you through Mercury’s retrograde with the Spring Report readings and other services. For this week, let transition be your focus.

To gracefully begin Mercury’s transition (initially in concert with the Moon) from a short run in Taurus to a long winding flight through Gemini, it would be appropriate to use your imagination. That’s because one of the ways versatile Mercury manifests in your life is through mental activities in general, and your own thinking specifically. The Moon’s own association with dreams makes an imaginative touch appropriate, at least enough to get you off the ground and into the weekend.

In this case, a useful mental construct would be to tell yourself that Mercury’s transition from Taurus to Gemini will be “just like flying a bicycle.” That way you combine a familiar and reassuring old saying (“just like riding a bicycle”) with what is still a relatively new activity for human beings, one that requires conscious awareness: flying.

Gemini is one of the two signs Mercury rules, along with Virgo. In other words, for Mercury, entering Gemini is like going home. Hence, you can safely anticipate Mercury’s ingress to Gemini on Thursday will be the mental equivalent of getting back on a bicycle after a long period of not having pedaled on two wheels. Your mind will likely adjust quickly and comfortably to the change. 

Yet, it’s inevitable that you will not be able to take this particular traversal of Gemini by Mercury unconsciously. Depending on how sensitive you are, you may have to shift from intuitive bicycle rider mode to being an attentive and intentional mental pilot as early as the first week of May.

That’s because Mercury’s apparent motion will begin to slow down rapidly once it enters Gemini, which is not a natural state for what appears to us as the fastest planet. Much like an airplane, greater speed provides what you could call greater lift for Mercury’s metaphorical wings. By the same token, slower speed implicitly brings up the possibility of stalling, even crashing.

In an actual airplane, a consciously aware pilot can often employ a counter-intuitive strategy to prevent a crash in the event an unexpected stall — by going into a dive to increase air speed and restore lift under the wings. Sometime before Mercury emerges from Gemini to enter Cancer, you might have to be something akin to a skilled pilot as regards to mental activities in general — and your own thinking, specifically.

For this week, however, it will be enough to know what you are getting into while accomplishing a smooth transition. It will mean relaxing and allowing your natural, unconscious mental reflexes to come back. It will also mean being prepared to calmly and confidently employ less intuitive and more intentional strategies if and when they are called for.

One other possible strategy to investigate now is getting yourself a co-pilot for the next couple of months. It’s an idea that fits with Gemini’s iconic representation as a set of twins. It’s also a practical concept that suits any ongoing endeavor that involves transitioning from one lifestyle or state of being to another.

So, relax and trust your instincts while also being aware and (ideally) arranging for a buddy this week. If you can do that, just that, you will be able to more easily transition into a near future timeframe — one astrology indicates will be just like flying a bicycle.

Offered In Service

Len is available for astrology readings. You can contact him at lenwallick [at] gmail [dot] com.

Dispersing and Possibility

Earlier this year the zodiac was a bit lop-sided. For example, during the March 20 solar eclipse the Sun and Moon shared the last degree of Pisces while Mercury, Venus, Mars, Uranus, Neptune and Chiron were all clustered nearby in a corridor of less than 60 degrees.

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That corridor spanned from Neptune at 8+ Pisces to Venus at 3+ Taurus. The Moon, of course, moved on quickly.

Only this week have the rest (Sun, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Uranus, Neptune and Chiron) gradually dispersed from each other to spread out over 90 degrees: from Neptune at 9+ Pisces to Venus in the middle third of Gemini today.

As result of the dispersing, the planets that were all so closely clumped together are now opening up to a greater range of major aspects with each other. That implies a greater range of possibilities in your life.

The major aspects begin with the conjunction, two objects occupying the same degree of the same sign at the same time. This is a temporary merger of energies beginning a new cycle between the two planets in question.

After the conjunction, the major aspects are sextile (a separation of 60 degrees on the zodiac and in the sky), square (90 degrees), trine (120 degrees) and opposition (180 degrees — on opposite sides of the zodiac and the sky).

We had a lot of conjunctions among the clustered planets earlier this year. You probably felt it. It was a lot of different energies mashing up. There was a sense of initiation, which was cool. There was also some frustration going around. A sense of confinement was common. The word “cluster” was frequently being used in a less-than-pleasant linguistic conjunction with another word, which (as Lenny Bruce pointed out) deserves a better reputation for its life-giving correlation.

You may remember all that. You might even have done some of that. You could even have conflated shaking the cage with escape. On the other hand, you might have seen reason for patience in the astrology and in your life.

Regardless, now the planets that were so recently so close together are dispersing. As the cluster spreads out, the conjunctions earlier this year are opening to supportive sextiles and maturing to challenging squares. Along with the dispersal there is a sense of greater possibility, an imperative to stretch or reach out, and a way of getting stronger.

That’s one trend in the sky. One question is whether you perceive how the trend might apply for you. There is bound to be a way. Surely some new possibilities have recently opened up that were not there for you earlier this year. Either that, or you can create a possibility for somebody else.

Even if some of your options are challenging, it’s probability better to stretch into them than pull back. Think about making an offer, or accepting one. You might even want to redeem that life-giving word you abused not so long ago. Be like the sky. For the time being at least, it would probably be worth your while to try.

Offered In Service

Len is available for astrology readings. You can contact him at lenwallick [at] gmail [dot] com.