Tag Archives: Pisces

A Mercury Station, a New Moon, and You Are Enough

By Amanda Painter

Often misworded, the quotation “Do what you can, with what you’ve got, where you are” is also overwhelmingly misattributed to Theodore Roosevelt (Teddy did not come up with it; he quotes it in his autobiography, and attributes it to one Squire Bill Widener of Widener’s Valley, Virginia). Be that as it may, it struck me as perhaps a useful mantra for the current astrology as we head into the weekend. With Mercury stationing direct today, a New Moon in Sagittarius tomorrow, and various other planets interacting with those two events, you might be feeling a mix of push-pull on the one hand, and a lull in energy on the other hand.

Rocking chairs at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine. Photo by Amanda Painter.

If that’s the case, I suspect it would be useful to stay in touch with your actual circumstances, resources and honest desires. I’m not only referring to the seeming ‘limitations’ of What Is, but also to something that you may sometimes push aside or not believe: your inherent enough-ness; that is, the fact that you are enough, as you are right now.

But, I get ahead of myself. Let’s go over the astrology in a little more detail.

As mentioned, Mercury stations direct in late Scorpio today at 4:22 pm EST (21:21:59 UTC). I don’t know about you, but the last few weeks (most of which Mercury spent in Sagittarius) seem to have been marked by a number of interesting things coming to light — both in the public/political realm, and also in my personal life.

Given that Scorpio is the sign of secrets (among other things), I’m very curious to witness what shakes out as it stations direct today. See if you can keep your awareness tuned to that sense of something being revealed, and make a note of what you discover.

Tomorrow, at 2:20 am EST (7:20:15 UTC), the Sagittarius Moon and Sun form their conjunction for the month, for the New Moon. They do so conjunct a deep-space phenomenon called the Great Attractor (you can read more about that here) and square Mars and Neptune in Pisces.

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Big Thanks: Sagittarius, Jupiter and the Gemini Full Moon

Catching What Shakes Out of the Ethers

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By Amanda Painter

Today and tomorrow are busy days astrologically. The combination of events involved suggests that tracking your inner emotional and mental landscape (or monologue) is equally important as keeping tabs on what is going on around you personally and culturally — perhaps even more so; though the moments when external and internal intersect could also be key. Here are the main events:

No. 2 from Group IV of “the ten biggest ones”; tempera on paper over canvas by Hilma af Klint (1862-1944). Her “Paintings for the Temple” relate to inner processes as conveyed in meditation via spiritual entities.

Mars is leaving Aquarius after a long sojourn in that sign — about six months, thanks to its retrograde, not counting a few weeks in Capricorn this summer. It finally dives into Pisces at 5:21 pm EST (22:20:42 UTC) today. About eight hours before Mars makes its move, we get the first quarter Moon (Aquarius Moon to Scorpio Sun, late in their signs).

Tomorrow, Venus stations direct in Libra after its own month-and-a-half or so of retrograde motion, most of which was in Scorpio. Venus makes its apparent pivot at 5:51 am EST (10:50:58 UTC). About 15 hours later, Mercury stations retrograde in Sagittarius at 8:33 pm EST (1:33:06 UTC Saturday).

That’s a lot to have happening all at once with the so-called personal planets: the bodies that represent such attributes as our motivation, physical activity and sex drive (Mars); our emotions, receptivity and intimate relationships (Venus); and our thought processes, communication and communication technology (Mercury). And although the monthly cycles of the Moon (emotions and subconscious) are perhaps less striking, the sense of moving into gear that can accompany the first quarter is certainly coloring the background.

As a result of all this, it would seem that the first order of business for the next few days is simply to stay tuned in — to your experiences, to your responses to others, to any little insights or pieces of information that come your way, to any urges or tugs of intuition, to the sensation that you’re finally answering a question you’ve been grappling with a while, and to the arrival of new questions. Standard protocol for Mercury stationing is to notice when your attention to the task at hand has lapsed so you can refocus; but with all that’s going on, it could be just as enlightening to note what other thought your mind was occupied with at that moment.

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Neptune on My Mind

From Neptune to the New Moon

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By Amanda Painter

Are you looking around this week wondering if you can believe what you’re seeing? I know, I know: for many, this has become the expectation, not the surprise. Yet as we wind down toward the Virgo New Moon on Sunday, your perception of the environment — and how that influences your direct interactions and immediate relationships — could use some attention and discretion.

Ridges on a caterpillar’s back mimicking the edges of the leaves it’s feeding on, making it hard to discern; photo by Amanda Painter.

I say that because one of the most important aspects between now and the weekend (and even beyond) is the Sun in Virgo making its yearly opposition to Neptune (which itself is taking a leisurely stroll through Pisces).

This is an aspect of slippery perception: one that warns us to be wary of deception, both intentional and the accidental kind that comes with being distracted by surface impressions and glamour.

This week’s social media brouhaha over Nike’s choice to feature Colin Kaepernick as the face of its latest “Just Do It” ad campaign is one example. Kaepernick, you may recall, is the NFL quarterback who began the trend in 2016 of kneeling during the national anthem as a silent racial justice protest.

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Sun in Virgo, Pisces Full Moon, Mars Direct: Let’s Get On with It

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By Amanda Painter

Today the Sun enters Virgo, the last sign of the season, at 12:08 am EDT (4:08:27 UTC). It does so as we approach a Full Moon in Pisces (on Sunday) and Mars stationing direct in Capricorn (on Monday). If you’re feeling a little bit in flux, or like you’re not quite sure if you’re coming or going, or like your impulses keep switching, these combined events might describe that.

Unexpected action: a seagull photobombs the 2015 Pisces Full Moon over Casco Bay, Maine. Photo by Amanda Painter.

Think about it: right now we have a combination of energy loosening (the season winding down), energy peaking (the Full Moon), and energy that’s waiting in potential, like a charged battery (Mars stationary).

I am writing this with the Sun in the last degree of Leo, and must confess that the storied ‘edginess’ of the last degree of signs is feeling very real to me. The frustration and stuck-ness of stationary Mars is feeling all-too-real to me today (hello, writer’s block — really, more like ‘writer’s rebellion’: I just don’t wanna!). And while the Virgo-Pisces axis about to be lit up by this weekend’s Full Moon is a very creative axis of manifestation, I’m not feeling tapped into it yet.

I usually try to keep this column less personal and just about the astrology, but damn: this whole summer of retrogrades and eclipses and whatnot has been an interesting trip. I’m still processing and plotting and questioning and dreaming and scheming and trying not to back away from the possibilities that are being pointed to by what I’m discovering. Some days, like this one as I write, it’s taken a lot of effort to get my head out of my own navel and do my job. So I hope you’ll bear with me — even more, I hope that if you’ve had any moments like what I’m describing, you can take heart in knowing that you’re not alone.

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We’re All Survivors These Days

Chiron and the Pisces New Moon: What Have You Learned?

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By Amanda Painter

Saturday is the Pisces New Moon; it happens at 9:12 am EDT (13:12 UTC), conjunct the centaur Chiron and also square the Galactic Core in Sagittarius. This will be the last Pisces New Moon with Chiron also in Pisces; as such, it calls for a deeper or more focused level of review and introspection as you prepare yourself for a new phase of growth.

Students in the Granada Hills area of Los Angeles spelled out a message to lawmakers during a Wednesday walkout in response to gun violence, lying silently in the formation of “ENOUGH,” with 17 chairs lined up representing the 17 students killed in Parkland, FL, one month ago. Photo by NBC Los Angeles.

With Chiron having to do with raising awareness to facilitate healing, and Pisces relating strongly to the emotional-spiritual-creative nexus, and the Galactic Core often described as our ‘cosmic homing signal’, this configuration seems to pose some questions.

For example, what have you learned and how have you grown since 2010 (when Chiron entered Pisces)? You could also think in terms of your position within society and ask: Are we any closer to spirit/source/god/soul?

You might find that your answers to those two angles of questioning seem different. That is, you might feel like you have covered tremendous ground along your path of personal growth, and have worked hard to heal persistent emotional and psychological hang-ups and patterns; but then, when you look around you at the national and global news, it seems like the same chaos and pain is emanating from the same sources as usual. Maybe some (or many) situations feel even worse off than they did several years ago.

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