Tag Archives: astrology

The Day of the Breakthrough: Birthdays and Planet News

If Your Birthday is Sept. 23
The Day of the Breakthrough | Pre-order pre-order the 2019-20 Libra Astrology Studio | All Other Signs

Think in terms of what you want to birth into the world. In a little over a year, a major new cycle focused on your personal creativity clicks into gear. This impacts you directly and, if approached with intention, can propel you far — in terms of both vocation and self-identity. Prepare the ground by tending to old business relative to aspects of your past or your home. All creations need a space within which to grow. That process inevitably creates an internal pressure that may register as anxiety or fears on a subliminal level. Fortunately, you seem to have just the kind of nurturing guidance that you need, and closer than you may realize.
— by Victoria Emory

Do you have your Sun, Moon or rising sign in Libra? If so, your sign is directly aligned with the single most significant astrological event beginning 2020. Eric will walk you through the most effective ways to approach your year in the 2019-2020 Libra Astrology Studio, now available for pre-order.

Written in the Planets

Today is the Libra equinox: the start of Northern Hemisphere fall (spring below the equator). At 3:50 am EDT (7:50:02 UTC), the Sun entered Libra to herald the new season. You can think of each seasonal shift as a kind of natural check-in point throughout the year: a moment to consider what has developed over the previous three months (or six), where you seem to be headed now, and how you’d like to recalibrate your trajectory. The equinoxes in particular — and perhaps Libra especially — focus the question of balance: through the visible, palpable equality of day and night at this time.

In early Libra, the Sun meets up with an interesting cast of minor-planet characters: Bacchus, Hidalgo, and a galaxy called M87 in Libra; Quaoar in Capricorn; and waiting just inside Aries, Chiron and Salacia. One theme coming through this cluster is the idea of being some kind of ‘maverick’, or of setting yourself free in some way.

After a year partially shaped by the expansive, slippery natures of Jupiter and Neptune, where are you beginning to recognize a bubble in your life that only you can pop? Does it relate to sex and relationships, family patterns, career or vocational calling, creativity, some deeper sense of self? All equinoxes and solstices represent a tipping point: either toward more daylight or less. Yet even though today’s ingress of the Sun into Libra represents the solar balance tipping toward more night than daylight (in the Northern Hemisphere), there’s no reason — and few excuses — to stay in the dark about yourself.
— by Amanda Painter

My readings offer a place of refuge, an opportunity to suspend self-judgment, and my careful reading of the charts. I offer you reasons to be motivated, and strategies for handling the strange complexity of society at this time. To this work, I bring all of what I have learned as a journalist, editor, astrologer, spiritual student and man of the world; and I offer it to you for an affordable price. Read more here.

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The Day of Restless Drive: Birthdays and Planet News

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If Your Birthday is Sept. 22
The Day of Restless Drive | Order 2019-20 Virgo Astrology Studio | You can also pre-order the 2019-20 Libra Astrology Studio | All Other Signs

There is a time for work, and a time for play. You can surely rely on your innate sense of responsibility to carry out what has to be done. The chances are you would benefit from erring on the side of pleasure, hobbies and social contact. Make a point of setting aside regular periods to relax and recharge. Spend lots of time with friends who get you laughing from your diaphragm upwards and, if you so desire, lovers who bring you delight in even more places than that.
— by Amy Elliott

If your Sun, Moon or rising sign is Virgo, you are heading into a most unusual solar year, set up to do the thing Virgo is designed for: integrate the elements of your being, find your direction and purpose, and act on it. Eric lays it all out in your 2019-2020 Virgo Astrology Studio, now available for instant access.

Written in the Planets

With the Sun in the last degree of Virgo (it enters Libra for the equinox tomorrow), notice whether there’s any sense of ‘edginess’ to the day. That can sometimes be a feature of the Sun in the last degree of a sign, especially at the end of a season. If you’ve been plotting and planning and trying to get some vision off the ground, know that we’re moving toward a time of initiative and enactment. But you might not be quite at the starting line yet.

Keep tying up loose ends, and checking your plan against what steps you’ve actually checked off your list so far. Small moves will likely count for a lot today and for the next couple days, as the Sun is square Pholus in Sagittarius. The Moon entering Cancer around midday EDT is another description of initiative — though it might actually be helpful for once to make like a crab and think in terms of lateral movement toward your goal. Often being indirect is an impediment, but it does have its uses — such as when you need to slide by your own resistance to fulfill a desire or responsibility, or when a clear move forward is not apparent yet.

With Mercury in Libra square Saturn and the lunar nodes in Capricorn, there might be some help in working out the practical details of your plan. You may have a choice between putting mental effort toward the unknown, or letting pessimism (or difficult communication) keep you in a holding pattern. Familiarity of that sort is rarely the entire picture. So why settle for it or let it bog you down?
— by Amanda Painter

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The Day of Current Taste: Birthdays and Planet News

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If Your Birthday is Sept. 21
The Day of Current Taste | Order 2019-20 Virgo Astrology Studio | You can also pre-order the 2019-20 Libra Astrology Studio | All Other Signs

You’re likely to be busy this year, possibly spending a significant amount of effort on a longstanding project. This may well require some grit and determination, and a little chutzpah here and there; yet you can cover a lot of ground. Faith in your own powers is an important, and often underestimated, contributor to success. Likewise, knowing that you’re getting helpful advice from others, as opposed to added confusion. Choose your companions and confidantes wisely.
— by Amy Elliott

Written in the Planets

Jupiter in Sagittarius and Neptune in Pisces make their exact square today. Although they’ll remain within an influential distance from each other for a while yet, you may find over the next few weeks that you’re able to sense the ground beneath your feet a little more solidly. This weekend, though, things could still feel rather floaty, kind of indistinct, surprisingly optimistic, or extra expressive in a vague-yet-charming way.

Note also today that the late-Gemini Moon squares the late-Virgo Sun for the last quarter Moon — incidentally, the last Moon phase before the Sun enters Libra on Monday for the equinox. Minor planets and points in contact with the Sun and Moon include: Bacchus conjunct the Sun in Virgo; Chaos conjunct the Moon in Gemini; and Cupido (Uranian point), the Galactic Core, Pholus and Ixion in Sagittarius.

One thing this appears to describe is an opportunity to start again almost from ‘nothing’ with a second chance of some kind. It could be one that allows you to make a more ethical choice, or may relate to freeing yourself from something, or is in response to a higher calling or broader cooperative and creative partnership.

There’s also a reminder here to watch your intake of alcohol and other mind-altering substances through the weekend. This has been an ongoing caution for the last few weeks as Jupiter and Neptune have moved into position, and now the last quarter Moon is highlighting it again. There are other ways to get free — whether creatively, spiritually, mentally or physically — at a time when something in your life may be ready for restructuring, and for more balanced forms of inspiration.
— by Amanda Painter

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The Day of the Managers: Birthdays and Planet News

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If Your Birthday is Sept. 20
The Day of the Managers | Order 2019-20 Virgo Astrology Studio | You can also pre-order the 2019-20 Libra Astrology Studio | All Other Signs

Who do you want to be? Who could you become? These questions are a fundamental basis for our highest aspirations. Any goal that involves bringing you closer to your full potential is a positive thing to strive for. Making this the cornerstone of your ambitions would probably help you immensely. If you decide you want something, perhaps consider your reasons, and where all that leads you in terms of self-development. You might benefit from taking a somewhat broader view.
— by Amy Elliott

Written in the Planets

What does it really mean to be of service? There are numerous ways to think of it, but try this idea on for size: allowing the ‘big truths’ of life and the universe (think love, compassion, the unity of everything, what goes around comes around) to spur you into action, but making those actions specific, local, tangible, physical. That is, you might not be able to dust everyone on the planet with universal love. But you can infuse the details of your interactions with the people you know with that spirit.

You can cultivate the core flame of your life force and creativity to be central to your everyday work — no matter how mundane, ‘non-spiritual’, intellectual or detailed it is. Today the Virgo Sun makes an exact square to the Galactic Core in Sagittarius; this is the action aspect. In this case, it could describe feeling a little overwhelmed by the scale of what’s either inspiring you or putting on the pressure. The Sun is also exactly trine the asteroid Vesta in Taurus. This is where the idea of service gets some earthy, visceral support.

Two things this particular idea of service does not encompass are criticism and sacrificing the core of who you are. In other words, it’s one thing to see what needs to be fixed or helped and then put your energy toward that goal; it’s another thing entirely simply to point at what’s wrong and complain (or to beat yourself up for not doing more). Similarly, putting yourself in service to a goal higher than self-satisfaction may entail a sacrifice of some time, entertainment or effort put toward other activities and tasks. That’s not the same as denying your own basic needs, your most cherished dreams, or the right to live a life that feels balanced (however you define that). And it’s definitely not about guilt or shame.

Even if you can’t enact what calls to you today, try to take some notes. Aspects to the Galactic Core can sometimes describe a rather fleeting sense of the bigger message, and having a reminder could be handy down the road. Jupiter and Neptune making their exact square tomorrow might be amplifying the sense of scale or the more nebulous qualities of what your antennae are tuning in to — making concrete documentation and steps that much more useful.
— by Amanda Painter

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The Day of Fine Appearance: Birthdays and Planet News

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If Your Birthday is Sept. 19
The Day of Fine Appearance | Order 2019-20 Virgo Astrology Studio | You can also pre-order the 2019-20 Libra Astrology Studio | All Other Signs

Pretty much anything is possible with enough devotion and passion driving you. The dream, the desire, are just the beginning; though they also provide the motivation to keep going when you need it the most. What’s important is that they are sincere. That is, you’re pursuing your own plans, rather than what you’re told or expected to follow. With enough determination, you can sculpt a whole new way of being from the raw materials of the present.
— by Amy Elliott

Written in the Planets

Mars in Virgo making a supportive aspect to Pluto in Capricorn today describes the willingness to work for what you want. If you’re experiencing a Thursday slump to your workweek, or if you have a project that got bogged down recently, this could be a good day to re-start your engines. Is there anything you’ve been trying to do but have lacked the right opportunity for?

Note that the Virgo Sun is moving into a square with the centaur Ixion and the Galactic Core in Sagittarius (Chaos in Gemini makes it a T-square). What actually serves your highest good, and by extension the highest good for all? It appears that a sense of tension might exist around this question, namely in the form of feeling like there’s a second chance to get something ‘right’. Can you let yourself off the hook if you feel like you got it ‘wrong’ the first time?

Self-criticism, especially in the form of guilt or shame, can easily get in the way of one’s ability to feel ‘worthy’ of trying again. But it’s never too late to make adjustments to your inner compass, and to orient more closely on ethical choices. It still might not feel easy, but it’s always your birthright to choose differently for yourself — and to learn from your mistakes, heal, and grow.
— by Amanda Painter

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Saturn Direct and Jupiter square Neptune — Or: What You’ve Learned Over Summer Vacation

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By Amanda Painter

Saturn is now in direct motion in Capricorn, as of Wednesday; this begins the final approach to its conjunction with Pluto in January. On Saturday, Jupiter in Sagittarius and Neptune in Pisces will complete their last of three exact squares this year. Both of these events seem to ask: what have you been learning about yourself?

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The Day of Internal Mystery: Birthdays and Planet News

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If Your Birthday is Sept. 18
The Day of Internal Mystery | Order 2019-20 Virgo Astrology Studio | You can also pre-order the 2019-20 Libra Astrology Studio | All Other Signs

As a Virgo, it’s likely you have a number of friends who are constantly surprised at just how much you can get done. You have the ability to bring about profound changes in whatever area you choose to turn your mind to. This year, you could make considerable progress toward your long-term aims. That may require a big push at the beginning to get started, though once you’re underway, the momentum should help fuel your efforts, and you’ll find it easier to keep going.
— by Amy Elliott

Written in the Planets

Saturn — lord of structure, boundaries, responsibility and time — stations direct today in Capricorn, the first sign it rules. Planets stationing (whether direct or retrograde) appear to be more powerful, though this effect sometimes seems easier to notice with the more ‘personal’ inner planets. Planets in the sign they rule also enjoy a little extra mojo. So if you happen to know where Capricorn is in your chart, you may have a little clearer sense of what part of your life is playing host to changes or pressures related to some of the themes mentioned.

Even if you don’t know your birth chart info, consider for a moment whether there’s a particular facet of your daily life where you feel like you’re running up against a wall of some kind; or where you’ve felt compelled to clear out or restructure things in the last few months; or where you’ve recognized a need to take greater responsibility or set clearer boundaries. Note that some of these messages may be arriving via partners, colleagues, your community, or some other facet of your environment — in addition to the more internal parts of your psyche and experience. Saturn stationed retrograde back at the end of April, making that a worthwhile phase of time to reflect upon, in terms of changes you’ve been making or resisting.

Other aspects today describe an ability to understand some of the logic of how things came to be the way they are (possibly in a relationship). That said, Jupiter in Sagittarius and Neptune in Pisces are still moving into their exact square. Keeping checking your emotions, opinions, grand visions for the future, and flashes of presumed ESP and other psychic insights against the demonstrated behavior of yourself and others, and against verifiable facts. Everyone’s vision is still a little blurry and rosy at the moment.
— by Amanda Painter

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The Day of Perseverance: Birthdays and Planet News

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If Your Birthday is Sept. 17
The Day of Perseverance | Order 2019-20 Virgo Astrology Studio | You can also pre-order the 2019-20 Libra Astrology Studio | All Other Signs

Something fundamental would seem to be shifting within you, relating to the way you think about yourself, and about what is possible. You may be opening up to potential within you, of which you were unaware before. If pursuing this takes you outside your comfort zone, that could well be helpful. Dare to trust yourself; and if you have an aspiration you want to follow, especially one that feels unlikely, you might begin with the assumption that you can achieve it.
— by Amy Elliott

Written in the Planets

The Moon moving through early Taurus today brings it into contact with Uranus — The Great Awakener. Something new or unexpected could emerge into your awareness today; for example, something that calls for a change to a routine. Your physical body, emotional body, and sense of what you value are all prime areas of focus for this, with the insight coming through subtle channels.

Yet, it’s hard to be receptive to new ideas and feelings if you hold a great deal of fear. The fear might not itself be related specifically to certain thoughts or emotions, but could be more generalized — such as fear about ‘change’ or ‘safety and security’ or about the state of the world. Many people harbor fears about sex in general and their own sexuality specifically — which can make it that much harder to allow and accept even the types of sexual energy you actually say you want. If you tend to fear change of all kinds, it’s going to be challenging to accept new insights about yourself — regardless whether those insights come through your own introspection, or through some kind of confrontation/mirroring with another person.

Thankfully, many ways to examine fear, specific or generalized, exist; usually this kind of process is great for work with a therapist or someone in a similar role who can hold a safe space for your exploration and reflections. Tools such as Byron Katie’s “Four Questions” can be useful for solo work or in dialogue with someone to examine thoughts and beliefs.

Today, perhaps just notice if anything provokes you, intrigues you, or seems to arrive in answer to a question you’ve had about yourself. Then trace whether any particular emotions come flooding in around it, clouding your ability to sit with it. Venus in Libra opposes Salacia and Chiron in Aries today. Stay alert for inconvenient teachers — either in the form of someone else, or your own responses. It would seem that something is being brought into focus for you this week.
— by Amanda Painter