The Sun entered Pisces today, joining Mercury (which entered Pisces yesterday), Venus, Neptune and Chiron. On Friday, the asteroid Juno will join the pool party. You may be noticing that last week’s edginess is softening, or feel a sensation like pressure has finally equalized.

Partly this is a typical shift after any eclipse, but it’s being emphasized right now by the cluster of planets in Pisces.

Floating ice near Antarctica. Photo by Oliver Dodd.

I realize as I type this that it’s also possible all the current water-sign activity might have you feeling more sensitive, a little overwhelmed or even desiring some measure of escapism in the aftermath of last week’s tragic, horrific and maddening school shooting in Florida. If that’s the case, rather than withdrawing completely, you might see if you can call on all this Pisces energy to shift into a more creative mode. That can include tending to your self-care.

Over the weekend, the Sun and Mercury entered Pisces, one day apart. They join Venus and long-term visitors Nessus and Neptune. On Friday, the asteroid Juno will join the pool party. The movement from Aquarius to Pisces signals a shift in emphasis from the intellect to the emotions; from groups as a political structure to the collective as organically unified; from disruption and pattern-setting to visioning and moving toward that vision.

As if to underscore the point, most of the more prominent aspects this week feature these planets in Pisces. The first of these is Venus conjunct Neptune, exact on Wednesday (and in effect now). Even when these planets meet in other signs this is an inspirational, dreamy, romantic, poetic, musical, psychically sensitive merging of energies. But in Pisces — a sign Neptune rules, and in which Venus has a special affinity — we may have the apotheosis of their combined expression.

That said, like any aspect with any planets, there can be a more functional side and a less functional side to it. At its best, this is a tremendously creative influence that orients us on beauty, and on selflessness in the highest sense toward loved ones. That said, it can be a little tricky in relationships; namely, if you’ve set your expectations of someone too high and have confused the ideal with the real. The reminder here is to stay grounded regarding the other people in your life, but to let your imagination soar if you’re involved in anything artistic (and that can include things as mundane as picking out a new set of bed sheets).

Yet, operating at the same time we have another interesting aspect pattern, also exact Wednesday: Mercury makes a conjunction to Nessus in Pisces, and they sextile Saturn in Capricorn. Before I offer some thoughts on this, it’s worth noting that the Sun makes the same aspect pattern at the end of the week. This indicates we’ll be processing whatever material this pattern represents first on one level of consciousness, and then on another.

A Mercury-Saturn sextile is said to represent a practical, disciplined, responsible frame of mind — one that allows a person to see what needs to be corrected and then do so, or to teach and be taught. Yet what’s up with Mercury conjunct Nessus?

Detail of photo by Zoltan Voros.

One quality of any conjunction is that it can represent a merging of the two planets’ energies.

With that in mind, it occurred to me that Mercury-Nessus might indicate a need to notice whether your thinking is overly identified with an abusive dynamic; for example, a victim mindset, or other habits of thought that perpetuate the effects of a prior transgression.

With Nessus’ theme of ‘stopping the buck’, perhaps Mercury-Nessus represents an ability to align your thought processes and communication with your ability to say, ‘I’m done with this’. Saturn in Capricorn looks like it not only offers some traction for this, but also the ‘safe container’, stability, attention to details and inner authority to do so.

As we move toward the end of the week, Venus and Mars come into contact (simultaneous with the Sun-Saturn-Nessus configuration). On Sunday Venus in Pisces moves into a square with Mars and Vesta in Sagittarius.

We’ll explore that pattern more later in the week; for now, you’ll want to track how you’re handling your passion versus your love. They’re not actually the same thing; and with Venus in a water sign and Mars in a fire sign, that difference could become very clear in ways that create some tension — or steam, depending on your circumstances. With Vesta in the mix, the questions of what do you devote yourself to, what are you sacrificing yourself to, and what else do you need to hold space for in your life might arise.

With so many planets gathering in Pisces, hopefully you’ll notice an increased ability to flow with any of the questions or challenges you encounter this week. You may realize you have more wiggle room than you thought, and greater buoyancy.