Dear Friend and Reader:
This weekend, Saturn and Pluto align in the first of three exact square aspects (from Libra to Capricorn). We're seeing this crash through the news -- for example, last week's Fort Hood massacre and its aftermath. This is the first major point of awakening in the United States wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Then there's the long overdue battle over health care in the United States. There are equally profound changes developing for each of us individually. They may be arriving in the form of challenges; reassessments; or the kind of system breakdown-rebuild that is characteristic of Saturn-Pluto aspects.
While this is happening, beware of an aspect developing in the background (and which has been cooking all year), which is the conjunction of Chiron and Neptune in Aquarius. If you want to know what this is about, make a list of the ways that our society lives on denial. Do you really want to know where your hamburger comes from? Are you sure you want to know what's in your flu vaccine? Are you really happy with how your friends or partner treats you? Everything developing in the planets right now favors awakening from denial and seeing your life for what it is. After careful assessment, you may even decide it was better than you thought. And you will undoubtedly see where there is room for improvement.
Closer on the horizon is the Scorpio New Moon, which is exact Monday at 7:14 pm. We've heard many times how the veil between the worlds is thinnest when the Sun is in Scorpio; this is the peak of that energy, when the veils that separate us from the truth will fall away, at least for a moment.
Yours & truly,
(March 20-April 19)
Many people are getting the message that it's time to break out of the monogamous shell. Clearly this is not for everyone, but it's a viable option for more people than attend polyamory conferences. The big excuse -- that there's no way one's partner would go for it -- may be obviated by the profound changes that any partner or potential partner in your life is currently going through. You're changing and so are they. We all know that the certified relationship model does not work for most people; one way we can tell is the high rate of misery and failure in our relationships. We try to resolve this by cycling through new people; but really the issue is more about the nearly-impossible-to-follow rules we try to play by. Be brave and lead the way.
(April 19- May 20)
It's time to do that Taurus thing again and get out of your head. One of the odd miracles of your sign is that yours is simultaneously the most physical of the 12 and also the one most likely to get trapped upstairs. You have options at the moment, and your mind will come in handy as far as determining what is healthy and what is not; what you actually want and what you don't. Notice when you're getting mixed up in a process of rationalizing. If you're having conversations with people who are not there, call them and work it out in real life. This will give you permission to explore the exceptionally interesting opportunities in your environment. Stick to who or what you actually want and you will be perfectly safe.
(May 20- June 21)
Mercury (planet Gemini) changes signs again, from Scorpio to Sagittarius. Look for a mirror effect: people will say what you're thinking, and you will say what you think they're thinking; even if you're right, it will more likely be about what's on your mind. Have fun with this; it's a form of harmony, but with enough tension in the equation to keep things interesting. For you, it's playful astrology mixed in with lots of simmering, passionate, verging on dangerous astrology. Playful plus dangerous equals kinky, which is another way of saying being experimental with desires you don't usually talk about. Start by talking about what you want or need, and seeing if, by chance, this is not mirrored perfectly in someone supposedly outside yourself.
(June 21- July 22)
I've been in a long email correspondence with one of the world's leading radical feminists; or at least she was when feminism was something that had a voice in society. What I've discovered is that she wandered off into the desert of denying pleasure; and worse, of denying that sexual reality is an influence in every other aspect of reality. At the moment you are poised for a sexual awakening that feels like thunder and lightning on a hot summer night -- the kind of night when you want to leave the windows open despite the pouring rain. Or, more likely, run naked in a field, even if that means taking the risk of getting hit by lightning. That's the spirit.
(July 22- Aug. 23)
The Scorpio New Moon takes place in one of the most sensitive areas of your chart, and you may find yourself on an emotional ride. You can make this easier if you notice when you're feeling someone else's feelings and when you're experiencing your own. Who is that someone else? Your mother comes to mind. She seems to have a lot to say lately, on that internal level where parents always end up. Who else? The younger person you were, years ago, back when you didn't realize you were in fact young. Her message to you goes something like this: remember that everyone feels old, because we've never been older than we are today. This logic also says you were just as old then as you are now. It's a matter of perception. Young is what young does.
(Aug. 23- Sep. 22)
You're discovering that the structures, rules and policies you maintain are in the way of actually existing. When it comes time to renovate, it's necessary to determine which walls are load-bearing and which are simply dividing space. This is a metaphor for certain structures in your life. A few actually hold up the framework of your existence, others merely compartmentalize. One of the compartments involves money, and how you think about it. Part of why you struggle in this area of life is that as a child you were denied the space to dream. As an adult this developed into an obsession with practicality, which as you know isn't always so practical. This particular wall is not actually holding up the house. It's just getting in the way.
(Sep. 22 - Oct. 23)
You have reached a moment where you cannot deny your emotional reality, and part of that reality is saying that the present must be different than the past. This holds logically: the past is over, but if that is so, why does it have so much influence? The reason is that instead of burning our karma, we pile it up like cordwood. That, or the whole forest catches fire. This is a karmic moment for you, where you come to a revelation such as, "I am a different person than my family expected me to be," or some form of "I've outgrown my life and it's time for something new." But as I've said before, you don't need to make this change all at once; whatever you do, or whatever you attempt, the change will come in distinct phases; this is phase one: awakening.
(Oct. 23- Nov. 22)
All of the interesting astrology this weekend involves your sign and your planets, Mars and Pluto. Some of it is so enormous it's spinning the world on its finger. Some of it is so personal that you feel like you're in a burning building, or more accurately, like there's a fire burning in your belly. Like most civilized people, you wonder if civilization would not come crashing down if you acted on your deepest needs and urges. The question is, how intellectual do you want to make this conversation? You can do your usual thing of analyzing till the passion ceases to exist (or at least until it's safely contained); or you can take a ride on the Scorpio New Moon and be exactly the person that you are.
(Nov. 22 - Dec. 22)
If you've been keeping any secrets from yourself, they are about to burst into your awareness with a passion. If you've been feeling lost, murky or depressed, you're about to wake up, and wake up rather suddenly. If you've been feeling bored, get ready to feel extremely curious. You will benefit from encouraging yourself to be extra passionate or expressive, to the point of what may even feel like lewd; that's the hot zone. This is the moment when you discover how ridiculous it is to maintain an image. You've been feeling held down because you're holding so much inside, and that includes what you cannot admit in polite company. So get yourself into some inappropriate company as soon as possible, and check your judgments at the door.
(Dec. 22- Jan. 20)
Most people would say it's inappropriate to view anyone as a potential sexual liaison, but I would say it's more in touch with your authentic nature. Said another way, you're someone for whom the line between friend and lover is more of a gray area, and now is the time to explore this potential. Your world will not unravel in a storm of anarchy and chaos. You will not go on a crime spree or become a prostitute. If you draw criticism, it's all about envy. The truth is, the world is awash in pheromone communication, the level of awareness where we're all sizing one another up all the time. Take a moment and explore how good it feels to be honest about this.
(Jan. 20- Feb. 19)
This is a beautiful time for a crisis of faith. While you're in there, consider what, exactly, you feel moved to have faith in. We usually associate faith with God. Yet we do so with no tangible concept of what God is, which gives us a foggy concept of what faith is about. Your current situation is more personal, or needs to be. You're not being called upon to have faith in something outside yourself, but it's not strictly about you, either. What you are looking for is an intersection where your purpose connects to a larger purpose; where faith in yourself is akin to faith in a creative force that is at once contained within you and greater than you.
(Feb. 19- March 20)
In your personal mythology of relationship there is the partner you want, and the partner you want to be. Both are undergoing a revolution. It's possible that someone currently active in your life is going along with this wave of progress, and it's possible you're figuring out that you need to move on. Either way, there remains the fact that your notion of what a relationship is and what it is for are evolving rapidly. This is so fundamental to your identity and sense of belonging on the planet that I suggest you honor it with every cell in your being. The trajectory of your life does not follow any story you were read as a child. Who or what is appropriate for you has nothing to do with the failures of your parents.
