Tag Archives: Relationships

What We Birth Amidst the Chaos

By Amanda Painter

On Saturday, the Aries Sun slides right into the square between Pluto in Capricorn and Eris in Aries. As was written about at the beginning of the week, this is part of a long series of era-changing and defining aspects covering the last ten-plus years. Chances are you can see a substantial amount of the change, stress, growth and discovery in your own life in that span of time as a reflection of this astrology; this week’s rumblings may be stirring up some uncertainty and tension — possibly with deep roots, along with great creative potential.

“Mystic Mountain,” a detail from the much more extensive Carina Nebula, which astronomers are studying the complicated physical processes that form new stars. Photo by NASA, ESA, and M. Livio and the Hubble 20th Anniversary Team (STScI)

“Mystic Mountain,” a detail from the much more extensive Carina Nebula, via which astronomers are studying the complicated physical processes that form new stars. Photo by NASA, ESA, and M. Livio and the Hubble 20th Anniversary Team (STScI)

One thing that could feel tricky about it, though, is getting a handle on how this energy is coming through for you personally.

Eris and Pluto move slowly; they tend to describe generational (or longer) processes.

Pluto, in particular, drives social (and, in Capricorn, institutional) evolution by breaking down what’s no longer functioning constructively. Eris adds a destabilizing factor: an element of chaos, subversion and (in its recent association with Uranus) provocation via the ways we define identity itself.

Another thing that might be challenging right now — yet easier to grasp — is the lingering effects of Mercury, and now Venus, moving through the focus-dissolving, imagination-distracting, and enticingly escapist field of Neptune in Pisces. Mercury is also still working through its post-retrograde shadow phase (it exits for new astrological turf on April 16). I’m hearing from a number of people comments about how this is still feeling a bit hiccup-y. It’s okay to continue taking things as slowly and deliberately as you need to.

Looking at Saturday’s chart, I noticed an interesting complement of minor objects in close contact with the Sun-Pluto-Eris aspect. I think they paint a fairly clear thematic picture, whether applied personally as you see fit, or culturally. I’m going to list them briefly.

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The Day of Excess: Birthdays and Planet News

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If Your Birthday is April 9
The Day of Excess | Order Your 2019-20 Aries Reading | All Other Signs

Employ your powers of reason and strategy to the utmost. You already have the passion, drive and willingness to work toward your goal. Now you just need to figure out how to get there efficiently and without having to take too many backward steps. A solid plan will be well worth the time and energy spent on careful crafting and double-checking details. Let your enthusiasm serve as fuel, without letting it run away with the process.
— By Amy Elliott

Written in the Planets

Small moves appear to count for a lot right now, particularly in the realms of sex, healing, teaching, being seen for who you are, and holding space for unorthodox relationships, desires and identities. So if you’re feeling tension around any of those topics, how might you express and release that energy just a little? It’s not that you can’t go bigger; it’s that you can probably accomplish more with less effort than you’d expect. The aspect pattern in question is the centaur Pholus (small cause, big effect) in Capricorn making a square to a triple conjunction of Vesta (holding space), Chiron (raising awareness) and Salacia (sex, especially if ‘scandalous’) in Aries.

If you’ve been actively trying to repress and ignore any tension related to one of these topics, how is that working out for you? Is it starting to come out sideways, or to feel even more overwhelming and messier already? Note that with Aries involved (a sign ruled by Mars), it would be wise to consider your anger, too. Do you have a safe place in which to express your anger and frustration (including sexual frustration)? Can you create one — such as shouting out in the woods alone, or asking a very grounded friend (or counselor) with good emotional boundaries to hold non-judgmental space, and to witness you as you rage? (Just remember not to direct your fury at your witness; that’s asking them to process your feelings for you, which is solely your job.)

We don’t have a lot of practice with this in Western culture, especially for men; and ranting on Twitter or Facebook does not count. If anger is not part of the equation for you, creating art, writing, ritual or masturbation could just as easily be part of your process. The idea is to find or create a space in which you can get to the root of whatever’s itching to be let out of the proverbial bottle. It might not turn out to be what you think it is; and that discovery could itself open the way to actual healing.
— By Amanda Painter

The Day of Conscience: Birthdays and Planet News

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If Your Birthday is April 8
The Day of Conscience | Order Your 2019-20 Aries Reading | All Other Signs

Be yourself openly and without apology. We all have responsibilities toward others, and a duty to consider them with compassion and empathy. However, you need not allow this to stifle your self-expression. In fact, more than anything just now, the world could do with people who have the courage to be honest about themselves, regardless of how others respond. In any case, it is simply your right to live freely, make your decisions and keep on growing and evolving.
— By Amy Elliott

Written in the Planets

Although the conjunction of Venus and Neptune in Pisces is not exact until Wednesday, it has been building these last few days. Chances are it’s being reflected in subtly increasing ways through your general mood, your ability to focus, and your feelings toward those you care about most. At its best, you might notice this as a sense of selflessness toward, or soulful union with, someone you care about. But everything in astrology can also describe a less constructive dynamic, too; in this case, you may wish to check the expectations you have of loved ones. Setting them unrealistically high could lead to disappointment — since, after all, we are mere mortals. If you have the time and space to linger in daydreams, go for it; just stay aware that they are, in fact, fantasy and not reality. Using this energy for some inspired creativity could be ideal, since art tends to flourish where we suspend or soften our judgment. Things like finances and the nuts-and-bolts of relationships tend to require a little more discernment.
— By Amanda Painter

Pairing Up with the Aries New Moon

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By Amanda Painter

Early on Friday the Sun and Moon conjoin in Aries for the Aries New Moon. This is occurring right at the midpoint of the sign, in a rather interesting chart. The sky right now features a strong mix of Aries and Pisces; and while that often occurs at the very beginning of this season, the mix is feeling especially striking to me this year.

Simplified chart section for Friday's Aries New Moon, showing the four pairs of conjunctions. From top: Nessus & Venus, Neptune & Mercury, Vesta & Chiron, Sun & Moon.

Simplified chart section for the Aries New Moon, showing four conjunctions in Pisces and Aries. From top: Nessus, Venus, Neptune, Mercury, Vesta, Chiron, Sun, Moon.

I chalk that up partly to the fact that the Mercury-Neptune conjunction is still going strong, its influence seemingly all the more potent due to its level of exactness when Mercury stationed direct a week ago.

Related to that, for the last week I’ve been repeatedly confronted by a mix of my intuition being right on some things, and other thoughts and feelings — sometimes related to the same topic — being completely wrong. Heightened awareness of energetic, emotional or spiritual boundaries, particularly when I’m starting to overstep them, has been another prominent theme for me.

What has your week been like? Your personal experience of the energy may vary considerably, yet Mercury-Neptune is the background against which tomorrow’s New Moon occurs, so it’s worth considering. I sometimes think of the Aries New Moon as kind of the ‘other shoe’ to the equinox. It’s a ‘restart button’ for a shorter-term cycle (lunar rather than seasonal) that invokes, concentrates and then releases into the same energy of newness, growth and initiative.

Yet what caught my eye about this New Moon chart is that the Sun-Moon and Mercury-Neptune conjunctions are only two of four conjunctions in effect right now across Pisces and Aries. There’s also Venus conjunct the centaur planet Nessus in Pisces, and Vesta conjunct the centaur Chiron in Aries.

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The Day of the Idealist: Birthdays and Planet News

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If Your Birthday is April 2
The Day of the Idealist | Pre-order Your 2019-20 Aries Reading | All Other Signs

Be bold about showing who you really are. You have intrinsic power and depth in abundance, and you are also full of unique ideas, which deserve to see the light of day. You are under no obligation to conceal these qualities for the comfort or convenience of others; you have a right to express the fundamental essence of your being. Those around you might also learn a thing or two from your courage.
— By Amy Elliott

Written in the Planets

What holds more influence in your life: your drive to evolve as a person (such as on a deep or soul level), or your need for attention, recognition or power? That might be one way to think of today’s square between Pluto in Capricorn and Eris in Aries. Squares represent energy that needs to be expressed — preferably consciously. When we try to suppress square energy — such as by ignoring our frustration or tension, or through the denial of the urge to take action — it can come back to bite us in some way.

With Pluto and Eris also in contact with the lunar nodes (in Cancer and Capricorn) and the asteroid Pallas (in Libra), you may even be at some kind of karmic/dharmic tipping point. Which of your options to take action feels like a step into real growth, and which one has the markings of feeding your ego or insecurities? Although refusing to choose is a form of choice, it’s not the choice that’s likely to express this energy constructively.

Bear in mind that also exact today is Mercury’s conjunction to Neptune in Pisces, the third conjunction in a series related to its recent retrograde. The Pisces Moon will join them (and a couple other objects that are making contact) briefly today, amping up the emotional and/or unconscious ripples. There’s some potential here to overreact to what you’re perceiving, making it extra important to hang loose with whatever it is you think you know. A sense of clarity might not be fully trustworthy right now.

Can you trace a path between what you were thinking about (and how you were thinking about it) on or around Feb. 19, March 24 and now? What seemed to get confirmed, and what has been disproved? If you wiggle around to consider it from a new vantage point, does everything still line up clearly, or does the shape or emphasis change? If information is still missing, what have you learned about how you tend to account for that, process it, or move ahead without it? By all means listen to your higher guidance, but perhaps save final conclusions for down the road.
— By Amanda Painter

Have you tried the Astrology Readings Channel?

Planet Waves offers readings for all the signs and rising signs. These readings are must-haves among a core group of people who love them, though perhaps you have not heard what Eric is doing. We’ve taken many readings from 2018 and put them on a 24-hour audio stream, which anyone can tune into. Whatever your sign, you will find it interesting no matter when you tune in. If you’re up late and want something soothing and informative to listen to, or if you’re curious about astrology, tune in here. No login is required.

The Day of Dignity: Birthdays and Planet News

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If Your Birthday is April 1
The Day of Dignity | Pre-order Your 2019-20 Aries Reading | All Other Signs

Keep your moral compass and your spiritual sensibilities as honed as you can get them. You may be on a special mission to help point the way for others, amid all the confusing stimuli of this age. Make sure you set aside enough time for yourself to meditate, reflect and/or cultivate your personal relationship with the divine, however that manifests for you. You deserve to have that space and those moments.
— By Amy Elliott

Written in the Planets

Vesta in Pisces is currently in a square to the Galactic Core (GC) and the centaur Ixion in Sagittarius. Although Vesta-GC looks like a need to integrate the ways you tend your inner flame with how you serve the greater good of humanity, Ixion highlights how that process can get complicated or corrupted. This looks like a great reminder to watch your boundaries — especially the subtler ‘spiritual’ or energetic ones, though they all count.

Do you know the difference between ‘holding space’ and transgressing it? When you’re excited about helping someone, are you able to stay clear about your motivations? (In other words, are you unconsciously being driven by unmet needs of your own, or some ego-related idea of what you can do?) It’s possible that any situation you encounter fitting this theme represents a ‘second chance’ of sorts to make a course-correction if you overstepped sometime in the past. Remember that asking if you have permission to give what you have to offer is a good way to stay accountable. This could increase in importance after the Moon enters Pisces later today.
— By Amanda Painter

Introducing the Astrology Readings Channel

You’re Not Actually About to Float Away

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By Amanda Painter

Are you feeling like a total space cadet this week? Or maybe like you’re beaming in somebody else’s daydreams? How many times have you absentmindedly suffered a minor injury / locked yourself out / thought it was a different day? Are your efforts at sensitive, empathetic communication just not landing anywhere near your intended target (especially online conversations)?

A giant Pinocchio balloon above the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade in Manhattan, probably during the 1930s. Photo by Walter Kelleher / NY Daily News Archive.

A giant Pinocchio balloon floats above the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade and its many handlers in Manhattan, probably during the 1930s. Photo by Walter Kelleher / New York Daily News Archive.

Is the world an ever-morphing mix of crazy-beautiful and scary-surreal?

Okay, I’ll grant you, that last sentence has been applicable for a good three years now — or perhaps for all time. But from my perspective, all those other questions appear to have been peaking in this last week — described by Mercury traveling in apparent retrograde motion in a tight conjunction to Neptune in Pisces.

Mercury makes its direct station today at 9:59 am EDT (13:58:41 UTC). It does so (cozied up to Neptune) while making a T-square to the asteroid Juno in Gemini and Ceres in Sagittarius.

This image just came to me as I was writing that sentence: that Juno and Ceres are kind of like a couple of handlers from the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, each holding a line to one of those giant cartoon-character balloons high in the air. (I know, I know: wrong season. Just bear with me.)

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The Day of Integrity: Birthdays and Planet News

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If Your Birthday is March 26
The Day of Integrity | Pre-order Your 2019-20 Aries Reading | All Other Signs

Aim at strengthening your connection with your spirituality this year, in whatever form that exists. In this busy age, make a point of setting aside some time for quieter moments, in which you can ground and center yourself. This may mean actively overcoming social pressure to maintain constant motion. Recognize that you, along with everyone else, deserve to have space to wind down, and to cultivate peace of mind within you.
— By Amy Elliott

Written in the Planets

Have you ever spent the day walking around in business attire at work in the winter, and then you get home and slip into a warm bath? That might be one way to think of Venus entering Pisces later today. Venus is still Venus, just a little more relaxed and open, and better able to be sensitive to others’ needs and emotions. Yet Venus is also moving into aspects with Uranus in Taurus (exact tomorrow) and Pholus in Capricorn (exact Friday). Be on the lookout for romantic flights of fancy that offer an exciting break from routine, and for stimulating friends and new acquaintances. Caring gestures — given or returned — have the potential now to offer lasting positive benefits to the recipient (which is always a solid cosmic law to follow). So why not extend a little love (in the sense of agape) for love’s sake?

Just be aware that Mercury stations direct in Pisces, conjunct Neptune, in two days. This means we’re currently in the pre-station ‘storm’ phase of this process. If you’re experiencing an element of choppy psychic waters, general absent-mindedness, or difficulty keeping track of whose emotions are whose (yours or the other person’s), Mercury’s situation definitely describes all of those. If you’ve been doing your inner-awareness-honing homework and healing for quite a while, it’s possible you’re accessing higher planes of intuition this week. Even in that case, however, it’s best to confirm your hunches a couple of ways, rather than launching straight into action. The mental realm is slippery right now; these are key days to watch your step (and the road), think before you speak, and mind your mind.
— By Amanda Painter