Tag Archives: astrology

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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The Day of Creative Isolation: Birthdays and Planet News

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If Your Birthday is March 4

Order Your 2019-20 Pisces Reading | All Other Signs

Stretch into your visionary abilities: the power of your intuition and the breadth of your perception. There will always be moments when you are tempted to respond with a hot head, or to confuse emotion with philosophy. The present environment encourages that behavior. However, if you can keep in mind to pause and check in with your ethical compass, you will have access to a profound, wise and accurate source of inner guidance.
— By Amy Elliott

Written In The Planets
How’s your energy level — physical, mental, emotional, sexual, psychic? There are some agitating factors in the sky currently; yet we’re also just two days from a New Moon. So if you feel under pressure but also lack the ‘oomph’ to deal with it head-on (or in any way productively), there are correlations in the astrology. Namely: Mercury stations retrograde in the last degree of Pisces tomorrow; Uranus leaves the last degree of Aries to enter Taurus on March 6; and later that day the waning Moon meets the Sun for the Pisces New Moon. The New Moon is also square the polarizing Great Attractor (a deep-space phenomenon in mid-Sagittarius).

One way to deal with all of this is to go inward — to make a little space for yourself to settle down, settle in and take inventory of where you’re really at. Yet Jupiter is making a conjunction today to Varda, an object named after the deity associated with light in J. R. R. Tolkien’s legendarium. If you feel more called to express yourself outwardly, it appears that any offerings of light will probably go big. Just take your time to think everything through carefully, and mind previously identified boundaries. Mercury is entering trickster mode. Double-check all emails and texts before you click send.
— By Amanda Painter

The Day of Design: Birthdays and Planet News

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If Your Birthday is March 3

Order Your 2019-20 Pisces Reading | All Other Signs

Remember that what you decide to bring to the world is entirely your call, and therein lies much of your power. If you choose to, you can create beautiful expressions of thought and substance. That can range from a fully fledged artistic masterpiece to simply brightening someone’s day with a kind word — on the surface very different things, but each necessary to making people’s lives easier on this rock we call Earth.
— By Amy Elliott

Written In The Planets

Today the Pisces Sun opposes Rhiphonos in Virgo. We don’t know a lot about Rhiphonos (a centaur), but there’s a suggestion here to be precise and firm in your boundaries with others today. It could also be that you discover someone else to be holding a much-needed perimeter for you, especially if you may be overstepping in subtle ways. There’s a lot of planetary emphasis on watery, all-welcoming, empathetic Pisces right now; that includes Mercury, which is slow, powerful and a little agitated currently, prior to its station retrograde on Tuesday. Few things truly require rushing around the way we usually do, and this would be a particularly good time to shift to a lower gear — no matter how much you feel like you might burst if you try. Some focused physical activity could help to discharge whatever electrical current Uranus is generating from the very final edge of Aries.
— By Amanda Painter

The Day of Undying Loyalty: Birthdays and Planet News

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If Your Birthday is March 2

Order Your 2019-20 Pisces Reading | All Other Signs
Consider that you likely have more options than you realize in terms of shaping your reality. Thinking outside the choices immediately before you can offer a wider perspective, but when was the last time you truly did that? This is one of those instances when your intuition, synchronicity or dreams could offer the most useful insights. What would the ideal scenario look like to you? Ask yourself, then play with the metaphorical Crayola box of 64 crayons in your mind to envision the answer. This may do more to show what is possible than anything else.
— By Amy Elliott

Written In The Planets

Mercury stations retrograde in Pisces in three days. Have you backed up your computer yet? Even with this event happening in a watery sign like Pisces, which indicates some review of — and possible confusion in — more emotional facets of communication and creativity, it’s never a bad idea to begin following basic retrograde tech protocols, just in case, a few days ahead of time. Note that Mercury is in a square to Ixion in Sagittarius, and will still be so when it stations. How are your fantasy versions of a particular scenario matching up to the actual ethics involved? If you’re facing a second chance to behave with clear boundaries, are you taking it? Or can you already feel certain lines getting blurry? If ever there was a time to mean what you say and only say what you mean, this appears to be it.

— By Amanda Painter

The Day of Artistic Sensibilities: Birthdays and Planet News

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If Your Birthday is March 1

Order Your 2019-20 Pisces Reading | All Other Signs

Growing into the person you wish to become is more often than not a lifelong process, and there will be the occasional stumble. Take it easy on yourself. The key is perseverance: you will make it through so long as you keep heading in the right direction. At this moment, you are likely to see that path clearly, and have the opportunity to progress substantially along it. All you really need to do is maintain your focus.
— By Amy Elliott

Written In The Planets

How flexible are your closest relationships (especially the more intimate kind) when it comes to new experiences? What do you need to get out in the open with a partner? In what ways are you itching to make a bold declaration, indicate your interest, or otherwise spark up your interactions? All of these questions (and their related offshoots) appear to be on the table today. So how can you answer them with action rather than just more thinking and imagining and wishing?

Even though Venus is in a relatively reserved sign (Capricorn) as it makes a square to high-voltage Uranus in the final, restless degree of Aries, it’s still prompting activity to ease some of the tension. By late morning (Eastern time) Venus will move into cooler, calmer ‘friend zone’ Aquarius — though it will still be within friction-distance to Uranus, and Uranus rules Aquarius. You might find that your need for stimulation shifts more to groups and acquaintances, rather than primary partnerships. Whether that’s true or not, keep tabs on what, exactly, you may be provoking in others (and whether it’s truly the reaction you’d prefer). Supplying a little extra warmth than you might automatically offer looks like a useful approach.
— By Amanda Painter

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?

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By Amanda Painter

Now that the Mars-Uranus conjunction is beginning to separate, it may feel easier to look ahead to the next major astrological event: Chiron entering Aries on Monday, where it will stay for the next seven years or so. Also on Monday, the Sun will enter Pisces, the last sign in the cycle. So Chiron begins its new zodiacal ‘year’ (metaphorically speaking) just as the Sun begins to wrap up its own.

On Dec. 19 and 20, 2004, the Mars Opportunity rover used its panoramic camera to take the images combined into this mosaic view of itself. During Chiron in Aries, curiosity about, and willingness to explore, who you are may be a good starting place. Photo by NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell

Dec. 19-20, 2004, the Mars Opportunity rover used its panoramic camera to take the images combined into this mosaic of itself. Chiron in Aries should provide ample opportunities to explore who you are. On Wednesday NASA announced the rover had stopped operating after nearly 15 years. Photo by NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell

Between the significant themes that Chiron in Aries will be highlighting, the Sun entering Pisces, and some of the interesting specifics of Monday’s chart, I’m having a little trouble deciding where to start as I write this.

So I think I’ll start with this: Chiron last visited Aries for a brief five-month stay on April 17, 2018; it retrograded back into Pisces on Sept. 25, 2018. Those five months were not that long ago, even if they feel a world away to you now, thanks to a long series of overlapping inner-planet retrogrades (starring Mars) and a couple of eclipses in the mix last summer.

You might find it worthwhile to check your journal or calendar (or similar) to see what exactly was happening for you in mid-April. (This April 15, 2018, Planet Waves essay is worth re-reading, too.)

What you discover could offer some clues to what Chiron will nudge you to begin paying attention to in earnest. While many planets have moved quite a distance from where they were in April, some of the slower ones have not moved far at all. So we’re not going to get a do-over a la Groundhog Day, but there may be some useful echoes.

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