Insights for Aquarius 

January 20   
Sun enters Aquarius: 04:00 AM EST
Venus square Neptune
To be human is to have hopes and ideals, to wish and aspire. To believe sometimes against all odds that things could and will be better. My grandmother, Sadie, used to say, “If wishes were horses then beggars would ride.” I always thought she was small minded and judgmental because clearly everyone who wanted one, should have a horse. As I grew up I came to realize that what she might really have meant is that we can’t get what we want simply by wishing. And that makes us all beggars. I’m not sure it is possible to invest my grandmother with deeper wisdom but I will anyway. As the Sun travels through Aquarius it reminds us that every architect must have a plan and we should remember that the actual building is not nearly the same as the idea we started with. Such is the nature of Aquarius.

Venus and Neptune add to this add their two cents to this as together they promise the world and deliver absolutely nothing. I have always found it fascinating that the State of the Union address from the president to the citizens of USA occurs in Aquarius. No surprise there.

January 21
Full Moon: 00 degree of Leo: 00:16 AM EST Lunar Eclipse

Another zero degree full moon, and a super one, at that. This time in the fixed sign of Leo.  Look around. This is your world. Not that we can possess it but only in that we are it. We are each a cell in the Great Body of life. Each of us a little world, a microcosm. A world in ourselves. The world: within you and without you. It’s a stunning, profound simple realization, the same for each and every one of us. An even so it is still true that if you stub your toe it hurts. We can ‘oh joy oh bliss’ even as we are mired in circumstance, all the while marveling at the Great Open Spaces of our ongoing existence.

January 22  
Venus conjunct Jupiter   

You couldn’t want a better day for expansive grace. Let your giddy wisdom include the simple joy that knows we, like the Sun, Moon and planets above, are always in transition. We say they make transits. Nothing stays the same (for long). 

January 23      
Mercury square Uranus

Mistaken perceptions trigger chaos not change. Be slow to enact your reactions.   

January 24
Mercury enters Aquarius

The rational mind is trying to break through. Science thinks it is rational yet it cannot, with ease, have the conversation with those it perceives as irrational. And yet there have always been those who bridge the gap.

January 25
Mars trine Jupiter

There are people and days that tend toward pessimism. This is not one of them. Anything is possible. A person’s reach should exceed her/his grasp, or what’s a heaven for? 

Look to the moon by sign and phase, to guide our journey.

January 29
Sun conjunct Mercury

The Sun and Mercury get together six times a year: Three when Mercury is retrograde and three when it’s direct. If you plot it on a wheel you get a Star of David: Geometry in action. Mercury always dances close to the Sun. It is only ever seen on or quite near the horizon close to sunrise or sunset. We might say that Mercury is the god of magic. Particularly the magic and power of words. The Sun is the Great Heart of our solar family. The giver of fire that gives life. At the conjunction Mercury is infused with heart. What magic will it take or can you make that will improve the lot of your ideals?

Look to the moon by sign and phase, to guide our journey.

January 31
Saturn sextile Neptune

Whose side are you on? The mega corporations? The organic gardeners? The independents? The political parties? It matters but, even so it seems that nothing changes the way we want. There is nothing to count on. Dig deep below the battle of good and bad, right and wrong. Find solid ground in the constant change and transitions which make up this life, this world. In celebrating or at least acknowledging the ever-changing nature of life we transcend, yet include all circumstance.

February 1  
Mars square Pluto

A (big) part of our human nature is about aggression (Mars). But there is so much more. We have the capacity to transform the pure, raw vital energy of Mars into so many wonderful things that open our minds and hearts as well as as heal our bodies. Today is especially thick with the challenge to turn reaction into response. It’s a choice we make separately and benefit from collectively.

February 2
Venus trine Uranus and square Chiron     

Venus has a parting message as she prepares to leave Sagittarius for the sign of Capricorn. We are addicted to progress. What kind of change opens us to a life enhancing world rather than a bigger and better one? Truly life would be a lot more livable if we stopped trying to suppress and improve upon nature’s gifts. She is our best teacher.

February 3   
Venus enters Capricorn
Mercury sextile Jupiter

If it doesn’t really matter but you are spending time on or with it you might want to investigate your deeper reasons over the next while. There is no lack of interesting ways to do just that. Philosophy, psychology, art and maybe even the wild world of politics.

February 4   
New Moon: 15 degrees Aquarius: 04:04 PM EST 

When the Sun and the Moon conjunct at the new moon we are reminded to set our intentions. This one in particular is the strongest intention setter for 2019 in that it falls in the sign of ideals (Aquarius) on the day that is precisely midway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. We are half way through the intense season(s); could be winter in the north, might be summer down below. Our intentions need to ask the question or pose the possibility of building bridges from here to there, from us to them, from past to future.

February 7     
Sun sextile Jupiter
Mercury sextile Mars

If this planet is a school for learning what are you studying? Do you learn from reading, watching and listening, or do you jump in to the book of life and participate. Some say experience is the best teacher and love, the best fuel. F

February 9
Mercury sextile Uranus  

We need to talk to each other about things to really understand what we are thinking. Today’s conversation can turn on light bulbs. It’s a Eureka! day for those who listen, even if they are also the one speaking. It’s important to hear yourself as well as others.

February 10
MercuryentersPisces

Mercury in Pisces is said to be in its detriment as well as its fall. Ancient astrologers were definitely making a point with this. The mind has no business diving into the realm of deep feeling and the ever-confusing waters of paradox which accompanies them. But that was then. Here we are in a world that has gone too far perhaps into logic and rationality and has left many behind, swimming in the waters of paradox and ambiguity; a world that is rich in image and defies definition and categorization, like dreams, the thought fish who swim up to meet us as we sleep: Sometimes caught, sometimes glimpsed, sometimes missed altogether. And these strange fish, if we do catch them, tease us with the secrets of their meaning. If we find the key they often reveal something we need to know. Play around in the waters of dreams and the dream like quality of life while Mercury is here. Tell the truth, but tell it slant.

Look to the moon by sign and phase, to guide your journey.

February 13
Mars conjunct Uranus

Actions do indeed speak louder than words and can leave marks that last a lifetime. May our actions create breakthroughs of the best kind. It’s a ‘you go girl…’ kind of a day. A culmination of sorts reminding us that we are the change.

February 14
Mars enters Taurus     

Mars is not at home here. He holds his ground defensively. He bullies and can blame others for the consequences of his bullying. Our task while Mars is here (until March 31^st) no matter what else is going on, is to act courageously and with determination for the benefit of the incarnated world. Which is to say count to 10 before taking action. Actions have consequences and are best when they harm none.

February 17
Venus sextile Neptune

What matters most, matters because of what it means to us. Life itself is the gift.

February 18    
Sun sextile Uranus
Chiron enters Aries
Venus conjunct Saturn

We are always standing on the edge. Radical change happens between an inhale and the next exhale. More subtle change happens through time. All change depends on many conditions both in and out of our control. We may find this a cause for joy or sorrow. Today is a day to bow and respect the joyful sorrow and the sorrowful joy of life. Such is the root of great wisdom.

Sun enters Pisces: 6:04 PM EST

Pisces is the beginning of the end of winter: In many ways neither winter nor spring. As the Sun journeys through Pisces it will conjunct Neptune, square Jupiter and sextile Mars, Saturn and Pluto in earth signs. Before the Sun leaves Pisces, Mercury will go retrograde in Pisces. All of which might remind us to hold on tightly and let go lightly: To resist as best we can, the manic pull of the culture around us. Even as we marvel at its beauty and horror. L