Tag Archives: Pisces

Of Retrogrades and Gratitude

Dear Friend and Reader:

Mercury is stationing retrograde in Pisces on Sunday (early Monday in some time zones), which puts us in its ‘storm’ phase now. That’s the big astro-news you need to be most aware of. Yet perhaps apropos of Mercury’s stationary status — as it hovers seemingly in one place before appearing to reverse direction — I think I need to begin where I was originally planning to end this essay.

This will be my last weekly column for Planet Waves, at least for the foreseeable future. After 10 years of working for this incredible little astrology-website-that-could, and growing in immeasurable ways in the process, it is time for me to seek new adventures.

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Not Your Typical Aquarius New Moon

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By Amanda Painter

Tomorrow is the Aquarius New Moon, exact at 4:42 pm EST (21:41:52 UTC). Aquarius is a curious sign, at its best when blending the structuring abilities of Saturn with the liberating impulses of Uranus.

Photo by Amanda Painter.

In that sense, it seems a perfect sign to host the first lunation after the Jan. 10 eclipse: eclipse periods generally feature a process of liberating oneself from some facet of the past, in order to take greater authority in directing the next steps forward.

The slowly separating Saturn-Pluto conjunction underscores these themes, connecting them to long-term processes. Whatever ‘new start’ Friday’s New Moon represents for you should be familiar, perhaps even expected.

Chances are you’ve been involved with some form of drawing something to a close this week, or resolving one phase of a process. Today and the first part of tomorrow still carry that signature.

Yet life is not simply ‘business as usual’ right now, thanks to a couple of factors. The first is that the Aquarius Sun is square Uranus in Taurus, exact today.

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The Day of Abandon: Birthdays and Planet News

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If Your Birthday is Dec. 8
The Day of Abandon | 2019-20 Sagittarius Astrology Studio | All Other Signs

Draw upon the wellspring of inspiration bubbling up from your psychic depths to help dispel confusion or uncertainty. You’re on the verge of a conscious breakthrough, and clarity will emerge soon enough. Creative work of some kind looks promising, in terms of your quest for greater financial security, just don’t waste time chasing rainbows. Your open heart works best with open eyes.
— by Victoria Emory

If you have a Sagittarius Sun, rising sign or Moon and could use some insights on such real-life matters as work, relationships and career, your 2019-2020 Sagittarius Astrology Studio reading by Eric Francis will cover your ruling planet Jupiter’s conjunction to the Galactic Core, a preview of Jupiter in Capricorn, and many other potentially life-changing facets of your astrology.

Written in the Planets

All week, the Sagittarius Sun and Neptune in Pisces have been in a square aspect, exact today. Neptune, especially in Pisces, is a diffusing and dissolving agent. It can obscure, mislead or embellish. But it also represents the kind of universality at the heart of concepts like agape: unconditional, divine love. The Sagittarius Sun is open in spirit and forward thinking in its most evolved forms.

Generally speaking, Sun-Neptune squares can describe deceit, disillusionment, and an inability to see clearly where emotions are concerned. However, this aspect can also describe something that stimulates your idealism.

With the Sun and Neptune in aspect to the Great Attractor — a deep-space phenomenon that’s pulling everything in our region of the universe toward it — we get an image of consciousness in contact with something too big to comprehend. Yet it’s strangely attractive or compelling. Consider this an invitation to explore some of the mysteries you contain, and how they relate to the greater mysteries of existence.

If that feels too broad or ‘woowoo’, you have another option. Chiron in Aries* is square Pholus in Capricorn. These two centaurs speak of multi-generational patterns — and how you differentiate yourself from them, while owning how they’ve influenced you. A modest step in this process could release more tension than you’d expect. If you think of it in terms of ‘traditions’ that no longer fit, you may see the pieces more clearly.
*(Eric wrote on Chiron in Aries in a section of this essay.)
— by Amanda Painter

In 2020 we have not one but two conjunctions that mark the turn of a generation, and of an era in history. On Jan. 12, Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn form their once per 33-year conjunction. Then on Dec. 21. 2020, Jupiter and Saturn, both now in Aquarius, form a conjunction in the first degree of that sign. Read more here…

The Day of Confidence: Birthdays and Planet News

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If Your Birthday is Dec. 5
The Day of Confidence | 2019-20 Sagittarius Astrology Studio | All Other Signs

Opportunities to generate essential, material support in the coming year are indicated by Jupiter joining the planetary crowd in your zone of resources and security. Understand these will come wearing work clothes. Focus your efforts and practice delaying gratification. You’re playing the long game, here. Discipline is your key to creative satisfaction and joy.
— by Victoria Emory

Written in the Planets

After picking up on some deeper insights from Mercury in Scorpio in the wee hours, the Moon slides from Pisces to Aries this afternoon (around 2:44 pm EST / 19:44:20 UTC). With Mercury nearing the end of its post-retrograde echo or shadow phase, this contact describes some intuitive-level reminder of something you thought about or investigated in late October or early November. Info could come through a dream.

Aries Moons describe emotional impulses leading to action. Other objects in early Aries and Capricorn offer the themes and context for this. Namely, Chiron and Salacia in Aries bring in an element of sexual healing and identity integration; Pholus and Quaoar in Capricorn suggest some familial or ancestral material that you need to push against or integrate. Although the Moon will pass through these aspects fairly quickly, they set the tone for the last half of the day. How does it all connect to the broader project of applying your vision and faith to the practical tasks on your agenda?
— by Amanda Painter

Seeking without Hiding, to Stand on New Ground

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By Amanda Painter

I completely missed Neptune’s presence in aspect to the Sun (a square) when writing the daily Written in the Planets segments for the second half of this week. Neptune often has this property of slipping under the radar and evading notice, so it’s not entirely surprising.

Exploring the Campuhan Ridge Walk in Ubud, Bali, Indonesia last month. Photo by Amanda Painter.

Yet Neptune’s an important factor to consider, not least of all because its little disappearing act in my awareness this week demonstrates part of why it matters: what we fail to notice can make a difference — in what we choose to do, in what we think our options are, and in how we feel about all of it (and about ourselves).

Although the Sagittarius Sun does not exactly square Neptune in Pisces until Sunday, Neptune has a wide orb. In other words, its influence on consciousness has been part of the picture all week.

With this square happening right at the midpoint of the signs involved, there are two very interesting things to be aware of. One is that the Sun is conjunct a deep-space phenomenon called the Great Attractor. The Great Attractor (GA) is the focal point of a supercluster of about 100,000 galaxies stretched out over 520 million light years. Everything in our region of the universe seems to be contracting toward it (though overall, the universe is expanding).

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The Day of Fortitude: Birthdays and Planet News

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If Your Birthday is Dec. 4
The Day of Fortitude | 2019-20 Sagittarius Astrology Studio | All Other Signs

Honor your emotional sensitivity this year, and respect urges for privacy or introspection. Yes, there’s a lot on your plate, and business to take care of; action directed toward financial security will help you create the personal sanctuary needed to feed your spiritual well. Processing issues from the past or from your family, and tending your living space, are important to your evolutionary path.
— by Victoria Emory

If you have a Sagittarius Sun, rising sign or Moon and could use some insights on such real-life matters of work, relationships and career, your 2019-2020 Sagittarius Astrology Studio reading by Eric Francis will cover your ruling planet Jupiter’s conjunction to the Galactic Core, a preview of Jupiter in Capricorn, and many other potentially life-changing facets of your astrology.

Written in the Planets

Today’s Pisces Moon squares the Sun and asteroid Pallas in Sagittarius for the lunar first quarter. Symbolically, you’re turning the initial corner in whatever you invoked or began with the New Moon a week ago. In this case, the romantic dreaminess of the Moon in Pisces is pushing (or squishing) against the forward-thinking political strategy of the Sun and Pallas. Where do you feel pressure to do the right thing toward a specific goal, rather than just escape into the fantasy version?

We also have Venus in Capricorn square the asteroid Juno in Libra. Venus here describes ambition that does not want to look ambitious; it also values status and security via relationships, and the ability to care well for loved ones. Meanwhile, Juno in Libra tends to be socially competitive, tracking how people behave and becoming jealous if someone (especially a partner) gets more attention. With Venus flanked by at least six other planets and points in Capricorn, we have a striking image of all the ball guests flocking to one particular (and sophisticated) belle — leaving someone else feeling ignored.

Squares are about inner tension demanding action. Yet this one says to watch your scorekeeping (and related behaviors) in both one-on-one relationships and group situations. After all, the best way to be noticed for your social graces is to feel secure enough in them that you don’t need to point them out. Those who matter will notice regardless.
— by Amanda Painter

The Day of Ingenuity: Birthdays and Planet News

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If Your Birthday is Dec. 3
The Day of Ingenuity | 2019-20 Sagittarius Astrology Studio | All Other Signs

The passionate drive necessary to build greater financial security is yours to harness this year. To access it successfully, pay attention to what your inner-being tells you. Intuitive prompts will be fueled by desire that you need to acknowledge, so tune in. Trust your gut, but also use your head. A methodical, process-oriented approach to resource management is your winning ticket.
— by Victoria Emory

If you have a Sagittarius Sun, rising sign or Moon and could use some insights on real-life matters of life, work and relationships, your 2019-2020 Sagittarius Astrology Studio reading by Eric Francis will cover your ruling planet Jupiter’s conjunction to the Galactic Core, a preview of forthcoming Jupiter in Capricorn, and many other potentially life-changing facets of your astrology.

Written in the Planets

When the Moon enters Pisces today, it begins making harmonious aspects to all the planets early in the earth signs (Uranus in Taurus; Jupiter, Pholus, Ceres and Venus in Capricorn) and in the early water signs (Mars in Scorpio, Nessus and Neptune in Pisces). The Pisces Moon is an emotionally and energetically sensitive, creative, dreamy influence, and a conduit into the subtler realms of understanding. Those planets in earth signs can be a little dry and, shall we say, ‘sturdy’.

So this Pisces Moon offers a softening influence — like warming up your modeling clay, so you can use it more fluidly to create unlikely forms that will still stand. The Moon’s first aspect is to Jupiter — traditional ruler of Pisces. This describes some welcome lubrication for Jupiter in its new, more structured circumstances. Notice where your fantasies intersect with practical applications to form a unique opportunity — then take it.

Venus and Mars are themselves in a sextile aspect. Although in signs that tend to be fairly private in their passions, this pattern describes a useful resonance between feelings and actions. Giving and receiving might not be apparent out in public today, but one-on-one encounters behind closed doors or via secure channels should feel balanced, whether focused on erotic, social or business exchanges.
You can access your December monthly horoscopes by Eric here.
— by Amanda Painter

Tending a Grateful Space

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By Amanda Painter

Jupiter is currently making its way through the last degree of Sagittarius, bringing to a close this year in its home sign. Before you look ahead to what Jupiter in Capricorn is all about, you might take a little time to consider the area(s) of your life where expansion, broad or far-reaching vision, acquisition of new knowledge and experiences, adventure, distant travel, attainment and sharing of wisdom, increased optimism or faith, religious or philosophical zeal (including fundamentalism), or self-indulgence have been prominent.

Wind chimes and frangipani tree in Padangbai, Bali, Indonesia; photo by Amanda Painter.

Where have those themes intermingled in your life? What new vistas — inner or outer — have you encountered as a result?

What now feels like a distant daydream (emblematic of Jupiter’s long square to Neptune in Pisces this past year)? In what ways do you feel like you’ve mastered — or at least gained a foothold in — a new life-level?

I ask, because when Jupiter enters Capricorn on Monday, Dec. 2, the emphasis will shift to the practical application of whatever you have learned, envisioned and acquired.

Saturn rules Capricorn. And while Saturn/Cap can have a dampening effect on some of Jupiter’s traits, it’s also possible for Jupiter to infuse some optimism, humor and breadth of perception into the more conservative, rigid and dry realm of Saturn and Capricorn.

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