Tag Archives: Neptune

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 Current Taste: Birthdays and Planet News

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

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

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


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 the Managers: Birthdays and Planet News

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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


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 Spirited Energies: Birthdays and Planet News

If Your Birthday is Sept. 16
The Day of Spirited Energies | Order 2019-20 Virgo Astrology Studio | All Other Signs

You have an opportunity to commit to a particular path of growth, healing and self-discovery. This is in part based on work you’ve already done, which has perhaps bolstered your sense of personal freedom to stand out and make ripples. Your next step will likely be to consolidate what you’ve gained; there may be moments when you have the chance to express yourself more openly, or to take a discerning viewpoint in contrast with the crowd. All of this contributes to honoring who you are.
— 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

Few planetary influences seem to be much of a match for the fog-and-illusion-spinning Neptune, especially when it’s in watery, dreamy Pisces. But the focusing influence of Chiron might be one of them. Today’s opposition between Mercury in Libra and Chiron in Aries suggests you might encounter someone who’s able to help you home in on some facet of yourself or a relationship — or may provoke you into seeing it in a new way.

With the minor planet Salacia in a long-running conjunction to Chiron, there could be a theme of sexual energy or sexual identity underscoring this particular interaction. The more secretive, allegedly controversial or ‘salacious’ side of sex could be central. Is there something about yourself you’ve been trying to ignore, and which it might be time to claim more fully? The Virgo Sun today makes aspects that highlight themes of belief and survival. No matter what illusions and lies you’ve been fed about yourself, know this: you presence here at this time is proof of your resilience. You are a survivor, and you can draw strength from that no matter what you are facing.
— 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 Mastery: Birthdays and Planet News

If Your Birthday is Sept. 15
The Day of Mastery | Order 2019-20 Virgo Astrology Studio | All Other Signs

As you were growing up, it’s highly likely your caregivers or family had some expectations on who you were to become, and how you should live your life. As an adult, you have a free choice on how far you will stick to that narrative, though depending on the pressure this isn’t always easy. This year, you have an opportunity to strike out on your individual path more decisively, regardless of anyone else’s preconceived ideas or wishes. Follow your desires, and don’t worry about going off-script.
— 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

Mercury and Venus are now in the early degrees of Libra, beginning to renew emphasis on slow-moving planets early in the cardinal signs. (Though King Neptune’s fluidity is still diffusing everyone’s impressions.) Keep your antennae tuned for certain echoes of events and themes from a few months ago, and of familial material.

For example, today watch for the ways your emotional life and approach to relationships might be at odds with multi-generational family patterns. What roles have these issues played in your sense of identity? The Moon moving through early Aries in the wee hours of the morning may heighten less conscious feelings along these themes. Dreams, if you can remember them, could offer a layer of insight.

On a related note, Juno in Virgo, Ceres in Sagittarius and the centaur Nessus in Pisces are all in strong contact with each other. You may be noticing tension between specific relationship needs (including material around jealousy), your sense of nourishing others and what makes your own spirit feel fed, and old emotional patterns whose time is up (possibly around sexual or energetic boundaries). If you were to hold yourself to the highest standards of intellectual and psychic hygiene, what might that look like? Even if it seems like there are two or more ways you could go, chances are you can identify the option that leaves you feeling clear. If someone is pushing your buttons, that’s a good clue that your own reactions and expectations around the energy you’ve been giving them could use a closer look.


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 the Perceptive Critic: Birthdays and Planet News

If Your Birthday is Sept. 14
The Day of the Perceptive Critic | Order 2019-20 Virgo Astrology Studio | All Other Signs

Your birthday this year plays host to the Pisces Full Moon amid some eventful astrology. You may well find yourself both unusually busy, and in an especially good position to make things happen. It’s likely you’ll easily figure out how to turn an idea into a concrete reality or a practical application, or set a long-term project in motion. The only thing to be wary of is if you have a tendency to self-doubt. If so, keep an eye on your state of mind, and check in regularly with people you trust.
— 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 Pisces Full Moon peaking early this morning (12:33 am EDT), hopefully you’ll start noticing some relief if this week has felt a little crispy around the edges yet soggy in the middle. Planets are still opposing Neptune, but the Moon is easing off from its role as emotional intensifier/polarizer. You’ll still want to beware of mind-altering substances this weekend, particularly if you need to drive, do anything physical, or handle hot or sharp items. Easy does it today. There is still a ‘things may not be as they appear’ undercurrent to many interactions and circumstances.

Mercury and Venus are traveling together in a conjunction for a few weeks. They begin the day in Virgo, square the centaur planet Pholus in Sagittarius. Then Mercury enters Libra at 3:14 am EDT, and Venus follows suit at 9:43 am EDT. One thing this could represent is a revelation — either something is revealed to you, or you reveal something (to yourself or to another).

Whatever it is could have effects well into the future, or could point you in a new direction. Mercury and Venus entering Libra may describe an increasing sense of balance or spaciousness in thought processes, and in the emotions that influence them. You can let that buoy you, though stay aware that with Jupiter and Neptune still moving toward their exact square, the reference points for what counts as ‘realistic’ remain nebulous and shifting.
— 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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