Elisa in the curio mirror. Photo by Eric Francis / Book of Blue.

Dear Friend and Reader:

Here’s a bit of Valentine’s Day astrology. I would say the theme of the chart today is to focus on the point of contact. If you’re in a relationship or you’re interested in someone, what is it you like? What is it that you want? If you love someone, what is it you love? That’s your point of contact.

Do you really know what someone loves about you? You might give that some thought, because that’s another helpful, necessary point of contact.

Taurus Moon opposite Scorpio Mars (exact at 7:13 pm EST) is a real meeting. There is some energy in that aspect, some passion, some urgency and a lot of yummy sexual desire.

If this aspect is describing conflict, it’s likely to be because someone is either projecting their stuff onto their partner (oppositions can describe projection), or maintaining an unnecessarily fixed position (these planets are both in fixed signs, that’s the clue).

It takes some maturity to say, “I could be more flexible.” It takes maturity for people to recognize that they are autonomous beings, and that a relationship is nothing if not about respect for the individuality of your partner. A couple is a group, and a group is the coming together of autonomous individuals.

Note that the Moon makes contact with Chiron in Pisces (by sextile) a few hours before the opposition to Mars, so there is an opportunity for awareness and healing prior to any conflict. In a sense, you get what you want. If you want passion, that’s your option. If you want healing, it’s available too. If you want to be stubborn, you will get friction.

If you want clarity, be clear and offer clarity and a willingness to compromise: to offer and to receive.

I recognize this word, compromise, has a bad rap lately, though semantically ‘compromise’ means “to make a mutual promise.”

If you want a glimpse at what might be lurking underneath any tension, look to Ceres in Pisces. This is about emotional nourishment. Or, said another way, it’s about people recognizing one another as people, with needs, and being willing to take that step and honor them.

Keep your emphasis positive. Keep the subject on life, not “the relationship.” There’s always the temptation to overemphasize the theory of an encounter rather than to actually experience it, to live it, as a celebration and most of all as an experiment. All relationships are experiments.

In any event, this is a chart that develops nicely. The Moon trines Jupiter at the same time it opposes Mars, so there is plenty of room to expand understanding, to learn, to share, to accept diversity of ideas. Then the Moon squares the Sun (first quarter Moon, almost always optimistic and clarifying) and finally trines Venus in Capricorn.

Moon trine Venus ends the sequence with a question. How much drama do you put yourself through before accepting what you want, or giving what others want that you have to offer? Venus in Capricorn can like to emphasize its purity and adherence to tradition, but really, that’s a cover story for the true feelings of a horny she-goat who just wants to get frisky and have some fun.

You might just start with that and skip all the psychologizing. You know what you want. Your body will follow along naturally.

w/love

Eric Francis Coppolino