By Amanda Painter

Although the Scorpio Full Moon came and went last night and there’s other astrology brewing, you might still be feeling some ripples (or navigating some rapids). Sometimes a little framing after the fact can be very helpful in getting grounded enough to meet what’s next on the horizon.

Photo by Amanda Painter.

I’m writing this just a couple of short hours after receiving a surprise email that has thrown me a little off-balance — and just one day after the White House’s announcement Tuesday that it had fired FBI director James Comey, in the midst of the investigation into Trump’s ties with Russia. All of it fits bizarrely with the theme of secrets and “something coming to a head” that last night’s Scorpio Full Moon suggested. It also fits amazingly well with the themes of “expect the unexpected,” “digital communication,” and “chaos/subversion” that go with Mercury — slow and powerful — still in close proximity to the Uranus-Eris conjunction.

Have you experienced your own personal “surprise news” this week? Is your head spinning from each newly revealed detail of Comey’s firing, or from other TV news?

Hopefully you’re finding ways to get your bearings and proceed forward. Yet the astrology from today into tomorrow is a mix of “challenging” and “supportive” aspects that ask you to stay fully aware of your choices and your motives.

That awareness could prove elusive (and possibly has been for a few days now) thanks to a square between Mars in Gemini and Neptune in Pisces that is exact today (at 1:52 pm EDT / 17:52 UTC, but with a wide orb of influence). On a very basic, practical level, this is a reminder to be very judicious around alcohol, drugs and anything that feels like “temptation.”

Granted, sometimes giving in to temptation is exactly what we need. The thing about a Mars-Neptune square, however, is that it can easily compromise your ability to be honest with yourself — and therefore, with others.

This could be especially true if, as astrologer Robert Hand suggests, you find yourself “unpleasantly confronted by the consequences of past actions that you hoped would simply go away.” He adds, “The challenge is to confront them without caving in and feeling hopeless.”

Don’t think for a moment that you can take the “easy” way out by avoiding the issue forever. (Do you hear that, Trump?)

It won’t go away; you will at some point have to address whatever needs your attention. But clarity at this time would seem to include realizing there’s more than one side to the story, and that you might not have all the info you need. Before you can confront anything that has been brought to your attention, you need to confront it within yourself. And that can be a slippery prospect.

Hand also cautions that with a Mars-Neptune square, taking the “easy” way out is very unlikely to be easy in the long run; if deceit is involved, it definitely will be more trouble than it’s worth. Whether you choose to act or speak now, or to hold out for more information, ask yourself what your motives are. Maybe run it by your favorite human bullshit detectors (other than yourself) just in case.

Mars is also opposite the Great Attractor in Sagittarius (a deep-space feature with considerable pull on our galaxy and its neighborhood). This looks like strong convictions and opinions intensifying to the point of being polarizing, which has been the general cultural environment for far too long.

Yet, as mentioned, there’s supportive astrology out there, too. Mercury in Aries is trine Saturn and the Galactic Core in Sagittarius from today into tomorrow.

Mercury-Saturn trines are considered good for serious thinking and important decisions — especially in terms of fitting details within a bigger picture — and good for organizing your environment (which might include your “spiritual environment,” whatever that means to you). Are you feeling at home with certain universal truths, or with the sheer “unknowabiltiy” of it all? That could be a way to feel some much-needed ease.

Also on the “supportive” end of the spectrum is a trine between Mars and retrograde Jupiter in Libra (exact Friday at 6:19 am EDT / 10:19 UTC). Known as an energetic aspect, it may mitigate any sluggishness associated with Mars-Neptune, and could help with seeing the bigger picture where Neptune might try to obscure it.

Yet the greatest potential benefit I see with Mars trine Jupiter is the favorable climate it engenders for growth of all kinds, as well as for your sense of justice and responsibility. With Jupiter retrograde, there’s a greater emphasis on “inner work,” self-understanding and getting a fuller view of past choices.

It’s also worth noting that with Mars in Gemini and Mercury still in Aries, those two planets are in what’s called mutual reception. That is, they’re each occupying a sign ruled by the other. This means they can seem to trade places, or to act like each other.

Drive and intellect; body and brain; primal-desire urges and higher-level analysis: these elements may be playing switcheroo between the aspect of foggy confrontation and the more supportive aspects, or between an intellectual filter and a more visceral one. It could make it hard to know which impulses or thoughts to trust.

Keeping things simple and aboveboard is key. Giving yourself time to process what you encounter before leaping to conclusions or into action seems to be the name of the game. That, and tuning up your bullshit detector.

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