Category Archives: Columnist

The View from the Other Side

By Amanda Painter

At last, the major astrology of this week (this month, really) has occurred: Mercury is retrograde in Pisces as of Monday; Uranus is in Taurus as of yesterday, and the Pisces New Moon is separating. As I write this, it’s all so fresh that I’m still getting a feel for whether the edginess and sense of anticipation I’d been experiencing has dissipated.

Utility poles in Orkney, Scotland, the day after Uranus — the cosmic light socket — ingressed Taurus in May 2018. Photo by Amanda Painter

I’ve tried to think back to last May, when Uranus first dipped into Taurus, to compare how I felt and what was going on for me, to see if there are any correlations. I have to confess, though, I feel like last year’s ingress was easier somehow.

That could be more the result of time softening the edges of memory than an actual contrast. But I’m curious to hear whether anyone reading this has a similar sense of it all.

I know that last year, like this year, I was involved in a theater production; immediately after, I traveled to Orkney, Scotland, for an intensive workshop on voice and breath for theater. It was during that workshop that Uranus entered Taurus. I recall feeling busy before the trip; maybe a little overwhelmed; but when Uranus actually made its move, I was simply focused completely on the workshop and on exploring my surroundings when I was not exploring my own breath and voice.

So I’ve been wondering: was it partly being in a strange place, on an adventure of self-discovery, that aligned with the energy of Uranus and therefore seemed to smooth the change? Are my situation and activities somehow less in harmony with Uranus this year? Was it the resonance of a voice class with the sign Taurus (which rules the neck and throat)?

Or does this year’s edginess in the lead-up relate more to the succession of other planets we’ve had hanging out in the final degrees of signs? Maybe having Chiron in the sensitive first degree of Aries, conjunct Salacia, is providing more agitation than I’ve been giving it credit for?

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Merging with the New Moon; Uranus Makes its Move

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By Amanda Painter

I feel like it’s been weeks now that I’ve been experiencing and mentioning some kind of edgy or energized sensation to the astrology; I do sometimes wonder if it’s just me, but I’m pretty sure that’s not the case. With only six days to go until Uranus leaves Aries and enters Taurus — and only five days until Mercury stations retrograde in Pisces — I think it’s reasonable to call out again an undercurrent of agitation or instability, mixed with a little mental and emotional fuzziness or diffuseness.

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Echoes of Uranus: Venus Meets Pluto and Eris

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By Amanda Painter

Now that Chiron is in Aries, we have one more era-defining planetary sign change left this year: Uranus entering Taurus on March 6, just under two weeks from today. There seems to be a general sense of vacillating or vibrating pressure in the air. Maybe it’s just me, but I get the feeling a lot of the social and political surprises that make the nightly news — the way so many things seem to be teetering on an edge or hanging by a thread — have small-scale, personal-level echoes or complementary events.

Rosemary in winter; photo by Amanda Painter.

Obviously that’s for you to decide for yourself. Yet this week, we do have a ‘personal planet’ — Venus — moving into an outer-planet aspect pattern.

It’s those outer-planet configurations that tend to reflect the larger social currents and upheavals we’ve been experiencing. Then planets like Venus, Mars and the Sun sweep through to involve us more directly or internally. Venus will not be coming into contact with Uranus, but it is entering the square between Pluto in Capricorn and Eris in Aries.

Pluto, Eris and Uranus are the three planets that perhaps most signify the last ten years: first through the Uranus-Pluto square, then through the Uranus-Eris conjunction. So those bells of upheaval, revolution, the need to change and media-induced identity chaos are all getting rung by Venus — by the planet that represents the feminine, our relationships, and the ability to receive others’ gifts (whether those be love, empathy, compassion or something more material).

Although Venus conjoins Pluto tomorrow in Capricorn and then squares Eris in Aries on Saturday, it’s really all one event. And it seems to be asking some rather interesting questions.

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Chiron in Aries: Where to Start?

Working Your Edge: Mars and Uranus

Venus, Mars and the Ongoing Quest

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By Amanda Painter

We’re approaching the Aquarius New Moon on Monday, which happens at the midpoint of Aquarius — and therefore at the midpoint of the current season (the ancient Pagan cross-quarter celebration known as Imbolc). Yet despite the tone of ‘winding down’ that a waning Moon often brings, we’re in the midst of some other astrology that’s urging action and self-expression.

The path may be snowed over, but it’s still there. Photo by Amanda Painter.

Namely, the ‘personal planets’ Venus and Mars are both in squares to slow-moving outer planets (Eric discussed some of the broader themes of these squares in Monday’s essay).

Mars, currently in its home sign Aries, is making a square to Pluto in Capricorn (exact tomorrow), and is moving toward a conjunction to Eris. I know at least a couple of Aries folks who have been feeling this square pretty strongly, namely as a deep need to get moving and ‘do’ that is being frustrated in various ways.

There’s a lot of energy in a Mars-Pluto square, and you, too, may be feeling a need to get things done (and perhaps you’re accomplishing them). But Pluto, being the Lord of Change, tends to disrupt plans or make it clear where you’ve skipped steps and left loose ends. Having to adjust your course of action is not necessarily a bad thing, even if it’s inconvenient; there may be important lessons involved. With Eris in the neighborhood, however, the mandate to avoid any tactics that are ruthless or underhanded is underlined in the face of frustration.

Venus, for its part, is making contact with several planets and points over the next few days. Just before it leaves Sagittarius and enters Capricorn on Sunday (at 5:29 pm EST / 22:29:07 UTC), it makes a square to Chiron in Pisces. This would seem to bring some impetus and awareness to whatever your healing path currently is — perhaps especially in regard to your relationships, or to how you offer and receive love.

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Thinking Forward, Crossing a Threshold

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By Amanda Painter

How are you feeling now that we’ve exited The Eclipse Zone? Or, perhaps I should ask: how are you thinking, and what are you thinking (and communicating) about? I ask, because this morning Mercury leaves Capricorn and enters Aquarius — which means that it steps into the position the Sun just held during the lunar eclipse that began the week.

Collection of heart-shaped rocks outside the window, electronics collection inside the window; Stromness, Orkney, Scotland. Photo by Amanda Painter.

Collection of heart-shaped rocks outside the window, electronics collection inside the window; Orkney, Scotland. Photo by Amanda Painter.

Not only does this ring the bell of the eclipse degree, it also activates all the same slow-moving minor planets and points that were part of the eclipse aspect pattern (you can review them here).

Are you noticing a more intellectual angle to a subject that was speaking to you on a more emotional or unconscious level a few days ago, or which you found yourself expressing outwardly in some other way? I don’t know for sure that this is how Mercury’s activation of the eclipse territory will manifest, but it’s an idea worth playing with today.

That said, note that Mercury is moving fairly quickly right now; it’s going to breeze through the eclipse degree over the course of today. Taking notes on what enters your awareness might be useful.

We also have a few elements in the astrological landscape that appear to offer useful energy for moving forward with whatever the eclipses brought into view. For one, Mars in Aries is making a trine to Jupiter in Sagittarius (exact tomorrow).

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Making Your Moves: Leo Full Moon and Eclipse

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By Amanda Painter

We’re entering the home stretch of the current eclipse season: on Monday, Jan. 21 (Jan. 20 in some time zones), we’ll get the Leo Full Moon and a total lunar eclipse. This occurs one day after the Sun enters Aquarius — which happens at 3:59 am EST (8:59:25 UTC) on Jan. 20.

Lunar eclipse between the statues of Hera and Apollo in Athens, Greece, July 27, 2018. Photo by Aris Messins

Lunar eclipse between the statues of Hera and Apollo in Athens, Greece, on July 27, 2018. Monday’s event will be visible from North and South America, Europe and western Africa. Central and eastern Africa and Asia will see a partial eclipse of the Moon. Photo by Aris Messins

So there will be a shift in tone accompanying this event — fitting enough, given the way modern astrology views eclipses as times for releasing what has run its course and for moving into a new pattern or toward a new phase of development.

This is also the last eclipse on the Leo-Aquarius axis for the time being. In whatever way it relates to the eclipses of this past summer for you, there may be a sense of closing a chapter or springboarding into new territory.

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