Tag Archives: self-awareness

The Day of the Great Leap: Birthdays and Planet News

If Your Birthday is March 12
The Day of the Great Leap: | Order Your 2019-20 Pisces Reading | All Other Signs

Focus on tying up loose ends before moving on to the next phase of your life. You can make your journey much smoother the less you leave unfinished; it can take energy to deal with matters you would prefer to be over, especially if they crop up unbidden. Sorting this out includes asserting your freedom from other people’s agendas. You can learn a lot by noticing who is willing to respect your boundaries, and who isn’t.
— By Amy Elliott

Written in the Planets

As the Pisces Sun moves into its square to Jupiter in Sagittarius (exact tomorrow), you may want to give yourself a reality check. Are you sure you’re being completely honest with yourself about a certain matter — especially something about yourself, which you may be unknowingly expressing? The flip side of this aspect is that it’s offering significant creative and spiritual energy right now. How will you use it to move something forward in your life?

Also, today Ceres in Sagittarius opposes Juno and the object Altjira in Gemini; Altjira was named for the Aboriginal creator god of the dreamtime. Overnight into tomorrow, the Gemini Moon will sweep through this aspect pattern. You may wish to pay particular attention to your dreams tonight. Anything related to your relationship needs, communication with a partner, certain friendships, or mentorship could try to get your attention in subtle, subconscious ways — or might be reflected back to you by someone else. Between this aspect pattern, Sun-Jupiter, and Mercury being retrograde in Pisces, it may be wise to fact-check what seems to be intuition before you barrel forward with it.
— By Amanda Painter

The View from the Other Side

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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

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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Working Your Edge: Mars and Uranus

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By Amanda Painter

As has been mentioned elsewhere — and as you’ve probably been feeling — we’re in a rather ‘edgy’ phase of astrology. This could be coming through several ways — such as needing to express something but never getting the right opportunity; or waiting for key information that feels like it will never arrive; or wanting to get moving with a plan or project but seeing no clear path forward. You can probably describe your own version of it — then again, perhaps struggling to identify and articulate what’s going on for you is a primary factor in the sensation (or maybe it’s just not that strong for you).

Photo by Amanda Painter.

We can look to Chiron in the last degree of Pisces and Uranus in the last degree of Aries as the prime suspects for the edginess. To a lesser extent, the asteroid Pallas, in the last degree of Libra, is surely contributing to this overall atmosphere.

Really, though, slow-moving Chiron and Uranus are calling the tune. Chiron will be the first to make its move, entering Aries in just a week and a half, on Feb. 18. Uranus will enter Taurus on March 6. Yet I suspect it may be Uranus that’s generating the stronger buzz right now.

Mainly that’s because Mars is sidling up to it. The Mars-Uranus conjunction won’t be exact until Feb. 13 — almost a week from now. But these are two high-voltage planets in a fiery sign where Mars is strong — and Mars aspects often have a way of making themselves known well in advance of when they’re exact.

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Thinking Forward, Crossing a Threshold

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By Amanda Painter

How are you feeling now that we’ve exited The Eclipse Zone? Or, perhaps I should ask: how are you thinking, and what are you thinking (and communicating) about? I ask, because this morning Mercury leaves Capricorn and enters Aquarius — which means that it steps into the position the Sun just held during the lunar eclipse that began the week.

Collection of heart-shaped rocks outside the window, electronics collection inside the window; Stromness, Orkney, Scotland. Photo by Amanda Painter.

Collection of heart-shaped rocks outside the window, electronics collection inside the window; Orkney, Scotland. Photo by Amanda Painter.

Not only does this ring the bell of the eclipse degree, it also activates all the same slow-moving minor planets and points that were part of the eclipse aspect pattern (you can review them here).

Are you noticing a more intellectual angle to a subject that was speaking to you on a more emotional or unconscious level a few days ago, or which you found yourself expressing outwardly in some other way? I don’t know for sure that this is how Mercury’s activation of the eclipse territory will manifest, but it’s an idea worth playing with today.

That said, note that Mercury is moving fairly quickly right now; it’s going to breeze through the eclipse degree over the course of today. Taking notes on what enters your awareness might be useful.

We also have a few elements in the astrological landscape that appear to offer useful energy for moving forward with whatever the eclipses brought into view. For one, Mars in Aries is making a trine to Jupiter in Sagittarius (exact tomorrow).

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