The theme of this week is about intimate inner planets (Venus, Mars and Mercury) encountering slow-moving mighty outer planets (Saturn, Chiron, Neptune and Eris).

Even when just one of the local, personal planets (such as Venus) encounters one of the “gods of change” (as they’re sometimes called), it’s noticeable, and there can be a personal revelation: a limit reached, a phase begun, a decision made, a turning point arrived at.

Fractals by Barbara Lane.

From Sunday, through the Memorial Day (U.S.) holiday and well into the week, this happens dependably and repeatedly, so you can expect actual movement in the human realm: lots of shuffling, feelings expressed, people to respond to, and resolving to finally do what you want to do.

Then soon after, Mercury, Venus and Mars all change signs. In the most personal realms of life, there are finally some changes coming, and how you handle them can shape your experience of the next few weeks.

You or others might be feeling internal pressure, impatience, or resolve to finally make some progress, try something new, or even conduct a wild experiment or two. The most important thing is that you not assume everything is done moving and shaking; we’re in the midst of a long series of shifts that persists for nearly two weeks.

Continue reading →

In the play Constellations by Nick Payne (which I saw Friday night), the two characters depict some of the many possible ways their intersecting lives could evolve depending on the countless variables at play at any given moment.

Photo of Chicago’s O’Hare airport, the busiest in the world, by Eric Francis.

The plot’s structure is based on the concept that infinite multiverses exist in parallel, and the one we live depends on the choices we make. In each scene, the characters only have to reconcile their own two viewpoints on that particular shared experience — unlike the audience, who witnesses the entire gestalt.

Yet you don’t have to go all sci-fi to get a taste of something similar — you can just tune into some Gemini astrology. In contrast to Payne’s play, Gemini suggests that perhaps we can indeed occupy parallel realities — or be two people — at once.

Gemini is also about reconciling these different viewpoints. Step out of the mindset that there’s only one way to see and think about something. And stop pretending that your shadow is not just as much a part of you as your light.

We’ll get a prime opportunity this Thursday, when the Sun (which entered Gemini on Saturday) conjoins the Moon for the Gemini New Moon. This is exact at 3:44 pm EDT (19:44 UTC) on May 25.

Continue reading →

We’re now in the last several days of solar Taurus. Fittingly, this week’s more prominent astrology is keeping some focus on the body; specifically, the role your body has in keeping you informed of the less tangible facets of your being — and your body’s ability to point you in the direction of healing and growth.

A Taurean’s paradise. Photo by Amanda Painter.

For instance, your solar plexus might heat up or feel ‘tingly’ or tight in certain types of interactions — such as when you’re giving up your power; or when you’re taking on someone else’s emotional baggage via guilt, self-criticism or the need for their approval.

Or consider chronically tight trapezius and neck muscles: while it might be due to bad posture at the computer, this could also manifest from a pattern of living someone else’s expectations and the tension that induces. Other examples abound, such as difficulty breathing or an upset stomach.

The Sun enters Gemini — a more mentally oriented sign — at the end of this week, on Saturday at 4:31 pm EDT (20:31 UTC). Gemini is the last sign of the current season. But before we get there, the Taurus Sun makes an auspicious and potentially very useful aspect to Chiron in Pisces.

Continue reading →

With the Moon building toward full phase on Wednesday, it’s possible that you’re feeling something regarding physical pleasures and the emotions that go with them building to a head. This may take the form of a question: if you’re craving a specific type of physical or sexual contact, what is standing in your way of reaching out to initiate it?

Luna photographed in 2011 by Anthony Ayiomamitis.

True, you may still be getting a feel for Mercury in direct motion after an especially challenging season of inner planet retrogrades. It’s like debris is being removed so the stream can flow freely and things can gradually settle into their normal pace again.

Against that backdrop, the Full Moon is like a window: suddenly we can all see the other people around us again.

Yet the Taurus/Scorpio axis is about the body, and the sensations and pleasures of the body. That means being conscious of what you’re experiencing physically as well as emotionally; noticing your body’s responses to stimuli, and not ignoring them; noticing how others are responding to you — which is another way of saying empathy.

The Scorpio Full Moon, which is the Moon in Scorpio opposing the Sun in Taurus, is exact at 5:42 pm EDT May 10 (21:42 UTC). In the Full Moon chart, the Sun is making a trine to Pluto and Juno in Capricorn.

You can look at this as a both a question about a partnership issue and the assistance you need to answer it. Can you be forthright about your needs and desires without camping out in a place of want or lack? That is, are you willing to bring an offering to the table, and to listen to the expectations of others with an open mind (and heart)? You might be surprised how effective a generous gesture such as that could be.

Continue reading →

Many times reading natal charts, I’ve looked at the planets and thought: that must have been an interesting week to be alive.

We have just such a week coming up. The essence is that Mercury is stationing direct tucked right into the Uranus-Eris conjunction. The graphic to the right will give you an idea what that looks like.

Chart for Mercury stationing direct on Wednesday, May 3. Mercury is in green toward the upper right; Uranus in blue is to its left and Eris in red is to the right. Another way to say this is that Mercury has, for the moment, joined the Uranus-Eris conjunction.

Toward the top are three planets, one red, one green and one blue. The red one is Eris, which takes 558 Earth years to orbit the Sun once. (It’s also approximately 100 times the Earth-Sun distance from us — properly stated as 97 AU or astronomical units.)

The one in green is Mercury, which orbits the Sun in about 88 Earth days. In this diagram, it’s in its exact position of stationing direct. Then right next to that is Uranus, which takes about 84 Earth years to orbit the Sun once.

Note that Mercury is not merely passing through the territory. It’s doing a rare thing, which is stationing direct right in the crevice of Uranus-Eris. Before long this conjunction will be a memory, though we’ll still be living with its results for many years to come.

Yet this is a week when some of the underlying nature of the conjunction can manifest for us on the personal level. So while you might review all the usual precautions for how to handle Mercury retrograde, which can be especially intense the week of the station-direct, this is a time to keep your mind on large things.

Continue reading →

This week we reach turning points in Mercury retrograde, the recent Venus retrograde and Saturn square Chiron.

First, a reminder to take part in our spring reading event, INVOLUTION: The Revolution is Within. This covers how all the current astrology influences your mind, feelings and growth, reaching out to the Great American Eclipse of Aug. 21.

Fractal. Image: codewiz.org.

I’m planning to begin recording video this week, aiming for Fantasy #1, which is to have this done before Beltane. In a way similar to The Book of Your Life, your 2017 annual reading, I’ll be working under Mercury retrograde conditions, which may be challenging, but it produces an excellent result.

Mercury retrograde at its most productive compels originality and pushes a person to see the world from other viewpoints than normal. This is particularly true as it’s changing directions — and especially when it’s doing so conjunct one or more of the high-amperage outer planets — in this case, the Uranus-Eris conjunction.

Continue reading →

Portrait of Artemis, an artifact of the O+ Festival several years ago, looms above uptown Kingston. The artist is Andy Milford, also known as Gaia. To the left is Artemis herself, in Libra, heading for Full Moon.

Tonight before writing this, your Monday letter, my canine cousins and I took a walk around the block, one of those unusually wide blocks due to a feature in the landscape; and we got to walk through some interesting places. It was a perfect evening, just as Mercury had stationed retrograde in spring-like Taurus.

We walked to the edge of the neighborhood. I turned back around and noticed the Libra Moon rising, and then a representation of the goddess Artemis peering down from above the neighborhood.

Continue reading →

Over the weekend, Venus retrograded into Pisces. The retrograde began March 4 in Aries, which means that for months, Venus will be walking between the two signs, giving us some contrast between the extraverted nature of Aries and the introverted nature of Pisces. This is Part II of the retrograde: the last phase, which ends on April 15 with Venus stationing direct in an extended and meaningful conjunction to Chiron.

Fractal. Credit: Barbara A Lane.

Venus is one of the more palpable planets; we can feel her, and want to feel her. She carries a lot of weight in our culture, perhaps a little too much. Much of what we struggle with comes back to Venus, particularly our perception and experience of women, of beauty, of the attractive force, and most of all, of values. Values means priorities; the basis by which we decide what is important.

Now with Venus in Pisces, the emphasis is more on feeling and less on appearances; more on aesthetics and less on impressing people. In spiritual terms, more on soul and less on ego. And as Venus retrogrades back through Pisces, ending its retrograde in a conjunction to Chiron, we might feel all these matters come to a head.

Continue reading →