New Moon on Zero Leo: Go Fly a Kite!

A beautiful customer in her beautiful Weeping Willow Design - and it looks fabulous with her tattoo!

We're currently moving to a zero-degree New Moon in fiery and fantastic Leo on July 23 (2:46 a.m. PDT). This New Moon will be conjunct blazing Mars, which is transiting Leo as of this morning. 

The Mars effect on this zero-degree New Moon amps up what will already be a smokin' hot lunar cycle within a smokin' hot summer of 2017. (Literally and figuratively where I'm from - we're experiencing way above normal temperatures as well as terrible forest fires.)

I know the astro scene is buzzing about the second Leo New Moon this summer - a total solar eclipse at 28 degrees Leo on August 21 - and it has been for a while now.

But! We can't look at any astrological event as an isolated thing. Nothing exists in a bubble.

The energy around the 28-degree Leo New Moon eclipse on August 21 (11:30 a.m.) is very, very juicy, to be certain. But the entire summer of 2017 is very juicy! We can't put too much focus on a single event, lest we lose sight of the big picture and the ripe opportunities that are opening right in front of our faces. 

And this zero-degree Leo New Moon conjunct Mars is the opener. It's the motivator. It initiates situations, connections, and turns-of-event that take us into the full-on social and creative splendour indicated by the astrological aspects of the summer.

This zero-degree New Moon may appear more low-key and small-scale, a little less impressive than the Total Solar Eclipse Leo New Moon!!! in August. But underestimating the creative potential of this one would be a mistake. Skipping the social event, passing on the show, holding back on the release of your own creative output or expression - this would all be a crying shame under the powerful initiatory energy of this New Moon conjunct Mars on the very first degree of creative powerhouse Leo.

Small, creative connections, low-key bits of fun, entertainment or art produced to a little less fanfare, some everyday glam, some everyday style, the injection of a little humour or playfulness - these are all seeds to be sown now, in the immediate, right where you stand. Keep it a little more small-scale, sure, but don't hold back. Don't focus all your mojo on that eclipse just because you know it's up ahead. Doing that generally has a bit of a build-it-up effect followed by a let-down, not to mention - eclipses are often quite karmic with a bit of an edge or a bite to them. Trying to make something happen in alignment with an eclipse may have unexpected results - the universe has a mind of its own!

This zero-degree Leo New Moon conjunct Mars certainly opens us (in a more low-key and perhaps accessible way) into the juiciest part of the summer of 2017, and oh boy, is this summer juicy!

For all the details, I've covered these juicy-as-a-perfectly-ripe-raspberry astrological aspects in this patron article, which includes the broader context of the North Node in Leo transit: "The North Node Enters Shiny, Happy Leo, and There's Almost Too Much Goodness to Contain in One Article!"

We have Grand Fire Trine configurations forming all summer with the personal planets (conjunct the North Node of the Moon) in Leo, Saturn in Sagittarius, and Uranus in Aries. 

Jupiter in Libra will then make the Grand Fire Trines into dynamic kite formations in August and September, forming an opposition to Uranus in Aries and sextile aspects to Saturn in Sagittarius and the personal planets in Leo. The 28-degree Leo New Moon total solar eclipse on August 21 activates one of these kite formations, kicking off a very powerful lunar month for creativity and social connection.

The involvement of Jupiter in an air sign (Libra) provides dynamism and friction for the Grand Fire Trine formations, increasing their energy and productivity, especially socially and within relationships. The kite formations indicate that we are building and developing the social fabric in highly beneficial ways this summer, particularly in August and September. There is an emphasis on teamwork, mutuality, common ground, and finding ways that work for all involved.

Air (intellectual, social) and fire (creative, passionate) elements will be feeding each other and playing off each other this summer, boosting energy, creativity, inspiration, and action. In short, good things will be happening! It shouldn't be arduous to get things moving, especially when plans involve other people. The air is ripe for creative and social flowering.

The zero-degree Leo New Moon on July 23, conjunct Mars, occurs with communication planet Mercury in Leo in Grand Fire Trine formation with Saturn in Sagittarius and Uranus in Aries. (Jupiter is not yet within range of the kite.) This flowing Mercurial influence at the time of the New Moon indicates a month of beneficial networking - "being seen," making connections, and sharing ideas in ways that lead into the full creative and social blaze indicated in August and September. 

This summer is a great time for creative self-expression of any kind - art, speech, writing, media, social media, humour, style, fashion, comedy - and it can all be done in an everyday way, bringing some Leo glam and colour into the scene.

The Sun in Leo will follow Mercury through these dynamic and high-spirited aspects, activating the first kite formation August 10 - 20. 

Action and direction planet Mars in Leo will activate the kite formation yet again August 20 - September 2. There will be a huge amount of energy coursing through this kite as we close out August and begin September. We'll have to watch the dick-swinging egos a little here, as well as any unintentional slights or insults. Hurt pride is a strong possibility when energy and personalities are running this high. 

Lesser Benefic love planet Venus is in Leo as of August 26 and moves into kite formation September 12 - 17. At the time, Greater Benefic Jupiter in Libra will be forming the final conjunctions to highly fortunate fixed stars Spica and Arcturus. Venus and the Moon - the two feminine planets of the zodiac - will also form a potent and creative conjunction at 27 degrees Leo on September 17, within kite formation. 

All kinds of good stuff going on mid-September...

Just remember, though - with Jupiter transiting the Via Combusta (protected September 5 - 16 by the fixed stars), there is also a potential edge to our social scenes and relationships. Things can become socially combustible quite quickly under these heightened and colourful energies, and we'll have to draw on the full social wisdom, knowledge, and grace we've gathered during the Jupiter in Libra transit (since September 2016) to maintain peace and harmony.

There are strong cultural influences involved with these aspects, also, particularly artistry that is drawn from our ancestry. Artistic pursuits are one way that we can bridge cultural and social divides, as the appreciation of art, music, and beauty knows no particular nationality or race. Whether it be painting, carving, pottery, song, dance, drumming, writing, beading, quilting, weaving, leather work, the spiritual arts like astrology, tarot, or tea leaves - every culture has its own rich artistic history. Many of these artistic traditions overlap, even without the cultures having come into physical contact with each other. Acknowledging and appreciating this shared human artistic history connects us at the hearts across time, space, location, and cultural background.  

Taking back our own artistic pursuits and our own artistic heritage, as well as the shared enjoyment of these things, rather than accepting the pre-packaged versions spit out for us by the multi-billion dollar "entertainment industry," could prove very healing and joyful this summer.  

The period between June solstice and September equinox 2017, involving Grand Fire Trines as well as air/fire kite formations, appears to be a very socially beneficial time with plenty of creative inspiration and strong potential for collaborations. Things should be coming together in some pretty wonderful ways. 

And all this gets its initiatory boost as we move through the zero-degree Leo New Moon conjunct Mars on July 23.

If there's one thing all these juicy astrological aspects want us to keep in mind, it's this: celebrate who you are, exactly who you are, and do it right now, right where you're standing!

Put yourself out there a little in small-but-satisfactory ways. Smile. Crack a little joke. Dress up a bit. Don't wait for an audience. Don't wait for the spotlight to swing your way. Don't wait for that souped-up (yet likely over-hyped) eclipse next month. Start now. Create and encourage the things that make your heart sing, and, with Jupiter in Libra strongly involved, this includes lovely social dynamics, mannerly exchanges, and productive teamwork. 

Shine on, fire spirits! Inspire us with your fun and fierce selves. The light of your blaze leads the way.

The Push for Standardized Astrological Education As a Pluto in Capricorn-Era Control Mechanism

I only recently learned, after 10 years as a professional astrologer, that intuitive astrology is looked down upon by the astrology establishment.

Honestly, this explains a lot.

I've always known that I did not fit in with this particular crowd for some reason.

All the astrology conferences and courses and schools and lectures - it all costs money I don't have to spend and is therefore inaccessible to me and to any other poor or working class astrologer or student. But even that didn't tell the whole story. There was just something off about me even attempting to interact in that world.

And now I know.

Self-taught astrologers, intuitive astrologers, astrologers who haven't jumped through the particular hoops set out by this astrological establishment, are considered secondary - possibly (possibly) serviceable at what they do, but not among the best and brightest, not members of the Big Deal Astrologers club.

OK, good. Glad to have that clarified.

I don't really mind being considered a second class citizen or being snubbed by the astrology establishment. The thing that bugs me is when I'm treated that way without fully understanding the underlying motivation or reason.

From early on as an astrologer, I picked up on the push for standardized astrological education for practising astrologers. (I'm intuitive, right? You can't get a control mechanism past me.)

Many of the current astrological associations and groups have been built around this push for standardized education. In other words, in order to call yourself a professional astrologer, you have to have certain certifications, take certain approved courses of study, and be tested on your knowledge by certain other establishment-approved astrologers. (And again, this all takes $$$, so it's a pretty middle and upper-middle class-dominated scheme.)

If you don't jump through these particular hoops and learn these particular pre-approved brands of astrology, receiving the piece(s) of paper that says you're a legit professional in the minds of these establishment astrologers, you pretty well aren't welcome in their clubs. You're shut out of "the scene," as well as the many opportunities for professional advancement enjoyed by those in these particular (quite insular) clubs.

Well, to be honest, they can have it.

I don't think any of my regular readers, patrons, or readings customers would argue when I say I'm a professional astrologer, and I'm very skilled at what I do. I would place my own body of astrological work against any astrologer's body of work, no problem.

I like astrology that is wild, untamed, soulful, intuitive, anarchistic, willing to call a spade a spade, willing to go into "controversial" territory. This is the astrology that speaks to me, and this is the astrology I practise. And to be honest, for those with the oldest of souls, this is often the only kind of astrology that does the trick. The lighter or more standardized stuff doesn't cut it.

I can't write to fit anyone else's standards, and I can't practise astrology that way, either. I never have been able to. It would exhaust me to even try. It just doesn't work that way.

I don't want professional astrology being put in a little box with dimensions pre-determined by certain select astrologers (who are generally from a more mainstream perspective and from a more materially-comfortable class).

The push to standardize astrology and to make it mainstream is also a push, in my opinion, to homogenize it, to sanitize it, to "weed out" the true individuals, the cutting edge astrologers, the spiritual artists. The astrologers like me.

Unless of course, those astrologers agree to submit to this pre-set programme for learning and practising astrology.

The groups using their public platforms to push for standardized astrological education subtly (and not-so-subtly) de-legitimize the type of astrology I practise. They marginalize intuitive astrologers, making them a fringe element of the more "respectable" astrological scene, setting them up firmly in the category of "Other." And I don't appreciate that one little bit.  

I don't believe astrology is a hard science. I believe it's a spiritual art.

Do all artists now need to graduate from pre-approved art schools in order to call themselves professional artists?

I mean, does imposing that on everyone not go against the entire spirit of art and the organic nature of the creative process?

There are many ways to learn, including outside standardized educational channels, and I'm a perfect example of this.

(In fact, after I got a university degree in journalism, I thought to myself, if they had the right textbooks, people could teach themselves all this stuff and skip the massive student loan debt...)

The push for standardized astrological education is a true Pluto in Capricorn-era symbol - another control mechanism designed to force people into a pre-set way of being and a pre-set way of doing business that is easier for the mainstream to digest (including mainstream astrologers). It puts everyone in a nice, neat, little pecking order according to how many designatory letters they list behind their names and what Super Impressive Astrologers they have studied under.

And you know what? Sure. You take your courses and get your accreditations and go to your conferences and collect astrology lectures from Big Name Astrologers like notches on your bedpost.

But hands off my sacred art. Hands off my practise of astrology, which has helped so many people by being wild and untamed and controversial and intuitive and honest and raw.

You can run your scene according to these pre-set rules and requirements. But don't believe you have the right to impose them on all astrologers. Don't believe you have the right to impose them on me.

You don't. 

I answer to a higher power than the likes of you.

To be honest, the fact that people think they can impose their ways on a precious and sacred art like astrology is narcissistic to me, if not a little crazy.

Not jumping through these standardized hoops certainly leaves me (and others) on the outside looking in. It shuts us out of certain professional advancement, watching opportunities go to less-deserving astrologers with less potent bodies of work via cronyism.

But I'd rather do things the way I know is right and suffer the consequences.

Isn't that the way? To do what you know is right even when it won't "get you ahead?" Even when you have to watch as the hoop-jumpers reinforce more hoop-jumpers and the monied reinforce more monied?

C'est la vie. 

This is an article excerpt from way back in 2009, just 18 months after I started the blog. The writing was on the wall then as far as this push for forced standardized education in astrology, and it has been outlined in Sharpie since then...

From October 19, 2009, "DIY Astrologers Vs. Standardized Astrological Education":

"So I'm a self-taught astrologer. It's been a relatively short but (sometimes brutally) intensive course of study/practise.

Books, internet, astrology message boards, practising on people (sorry people!), and daily observation of transiting planets were the main avenues I took.

The ideas and techniques of other astrologers have certainly influenced the development of my own astrological take (as I've influenced others), but there is no one who can take credit for my personal astrological analysis or perspective. I worked hard for it, and it's mine.

I haven't learned from any one astrologer or any one course of study and didn't take formal courses or classes from other astrologers - not necessarily because I didn't want to (at least in the beginning). I was open to the idea. It was more so that it just wasn't in my stars, so to speak, to learn that way. Initially, I didn't have the money to take classes or courses, so I learned on my own. Then I realized this was the way for me to go - choosing my own course of study, bit-by-bit, and letting my particular practise of astrology come into existence on its own terms.

I think for people who are meant to access it, astrology is inherent in a lot of ways. One day you start to read it or hear about it and it just means something to you. From there, a process is triggered by which it is drawn to the surface, into conscious, day-to-day life. But it feels as if you've always had the knowledge inside. It just takes a while to develop the language used to access and express it.

I think a do-it-yourself (DIY) style is fairly common among astrologers. At the same time, it's also fairly common to take a specific course of study under specific astrologers as teachers.

My view is that it depends entirely upon the individual which way of learning is preferable. To each his/her own. I wouldn't suggest one way of learning astrology is better than another or makes a person more of an astrologer. A mix of formal classes and self-study would be a potent way to learn, but again, it depends on the case and the means available. It depends what's in the stars. It depends what you have access to and whether you have the expendable fiat currency to throw down for it. (The demand for standardized education for astrologers has a really strong classist reek to it, and I would bet money it's coming from middle and upper-middle class astrologers...)

There is a push in some astrology circles these days (including in Calgary) for standardized astrological education. I'm, of course, opposed to this because I feel this is not necessary across the board, and I think it would be quite stifling to the creative side of astrology - the spiritual art aspect - to have this imposed.

I understand that people who want standardized education want to weed out the fakes. They wish to make astrology more accepted in the mainstream by making it necessary for astrologers to have a certain standardized education before practising professionally.

I just don't think this is the way to go, for aforementioned reasons, but also, I've never been a mainstream-accepted kind of gal, and I don't think mainstream acceptance is something we should demand all astrologers strive for.

Mainstream acceptance, if it comes about, should be based on the stellar work of astrologers impressing people to such an extent that they say, "Hmm...there might be something to this." Acceptance and respect in the mainstream could naturally come about as a byproduct of excellent astrological work, but just as I found out that it wasn't in my best interests to try to get in with the popular kids in high school, I think making mainstream acceptance an across-the-board goal is not a good idea.

I think this push is biased to the scientific/psychological side of things. I don't consider astrology a hard science and I don't consider myself a psychologist, so again, this is not something I can personally get behind.

And let's be honest - this also has to do with money and the desire for a broader clientele. There's nothing wrong with that. I just don't think imposing standardized astrological education on everyone is the way to go to achieve that. (A little control freak-y, no?)

Yes, there is a basic system of astrology, and to call yourself an astrologer, you need to know and use that system.

But even what that basic system is depends on whom you ask.

I was shocked when I first found out that some astrologers don't use signs or houses! They use only aspects between/among the planets in their analysis. Other astrologers don't use the outer planets at all - meaning no Uranus, Neptune or Pluto. Then there is the choice between tropical and sidereal (the two major branches), the choice of house system (there are many - and again, some astrologers don't use any!), what planets/bodies you consider important enough to include in your analysis, and then the variations in interpretation among astrologers.

There are so many choices to make over the course of developing one's practise of astrology. I really feel that there are as many ways of practising astrology as there are astrologers.

And yeah, that leaves astrology open to watered-down versions practised by people who have not really put the time and effort into it. People who practise "soft" astrology and deal in textbook generalities or who water astrology down with a lot of other concepts to the point where it's more of a token kind of thing. This bugs the hell out of me, too, at times. I totally get that...

It's irritating as fuck when you've personally put the time and effort into something, really committed to it, lived it, and then people latch onto the label of "astrology" or "astrologer" in a very watered-down sense to sell a few more readings. 

[I've personally come into contact with that phenomenon on more than one occasion. The Insta-Astrologer.]

This definitely could be damaging to the credibility of astrology in the mainstream. But I can't personally stop people from selling watered-down astro-babble, as long as they're keeping it legal. All I can hope is that the proof will be in the pudding and these shortcut-takers will eventually reap what they sow.

The other side of the coin is enforced standardized astrological education, which bugs me just as much. Because who determines what the "standardized" astrological education is? Who determines what we all "have to know," how we must come to know it and how much we must pay to learn it? Who determines what is important to teach and what isn't? Which astrologers have their work included and which don't? Which versions of astrology are the accepted ones? And which ones aren't? From whose perspective is it taught?

Outside the very, very basics, it's up for debate.

I couldn't promote a standardized way of learning astrology. What I can get behind is - do what's right for you. Follow your passion and what interests you at the time. Certain areas will draw you in and just make sense, and there's your personal track. This is how people get to the astrology that pours out of their souls. This is how they get to the astrology only they can practise, from the perspective only they can bring."

And this is the perspective of your unaffiliated anarchist astro-reporter, Willow. My techniques, writing, and interpretations would not make it into those standardized astrology textbooks and classes. Thank-you for reading. 

Saturn in Capricorn: An Astrological Overview for Long-Term Strategic Planning

Zucchini plants getting ready to produce in the hedge garden

This 6,800+-word document is an astrological overview of the three-year Saturn in Capricorn transit and is being released under the Full Moon in Capricorn (exact tomorrow night). It is available to Willow's Web Astrology patrons, or it can be purchased by email money transfer or through PayPal for $11.25.

Included in the article:

- detailed interpretation of the three-year transit of Saturn through Capricorn

- Chiron ingress of Aries

- Uranus ingress of Taurus 

This will be my major offering for the transit. 

Remember: you can become a WWA patron for as little as $35 Canadian per year, and you will receive the current patron article, as well as all other patron articles for the following year (or as long as your patronage is up-to-date). 

We are currently moving to a Full Moon at 17 degrees Capricorn (exact at 9:07 p.m. PDT on July 8), tightly conjunct Lord of the Underworld Pluto Rx at 18 degrees.

Issues of institutional power, control, and violence (Pluto in Capricorn) in relation to the public (Moon) are coming to a head.

This includes overt physical violence, but it also includes more hidden and insidious (Pluto) forms, including the intentional economic violence being brought down that is hurting and killing people en masse on Planet Earth. 

The G20 Summit - the closed-door meeting of the facade leaders of the wealthiest countries on the planet - is occurring in Hamburg, Germany this weekend (July 7 - 8), just as the Moon reaches its peak, conjunct Pluto.

It's very doubtful that this is a coincidence.

The G20 Summit held June 26 - 27, 2010 in and around Toronto, Canada was also planned to coincide with a Capricorn Full Moon conjunct Pluto. That particular Plutonic Full Moon was a partial lunar eclipse, falling within a remarkably potent cardinal t-square (Jupiter-Uranus in Aries, Sun-Mercury-Juno-South Node in Cancer, Moon-Pluto-North Node in Capricorn). Saturn in late Virgo made the blisteringly powerful formation a Grand Cross. From March 23, 2010, "Summer 2010 Eclipse Season: G8, G20 and Martial Law A-Plenty."

In the days preceding the meetings, there was both an earthquake (extremely rare) and a tornado that hit close to the lake country where the Global Governors were staying at the time. From June 24, 2010, "Cardinal T-Square Eclipse: Dicey at Best." This indicated some geoengineering hijinx, as well.

The astrological framework laid out in the patron article is, without doubt, being tapped and utilized by the current powers-that-be. (And I would certainly hate to carry the soulmark of being a hired astrologer helping these yahoos to plot their vicious schemes...)

The epic police-state force of 20,000 officers - all with various weapons at their disposal - has been unleashed on the estimated 100,000 protesters in Germany. The police set a highly aggressive tone right off the jump, unloading a water cannon on a peaceful dance party on July 5, injuring five people. Water cannons may sound fairly innocuous. They aren't. They can severely injure people, picking them up and throwing them many feet. They can also put people's eyes out and have in the past. 

They are trying to normalize these headlines: "Police Use Water Cannon to Break Up Protest."

But this should never become normal to us.  

In the days following, it has been reported that 160 police officers have been injured in clashes with protesters. I'm certainly very sorry to hear this, and I truly hate to see anyone being injured. But I do have to ask: how many protesters have been injured by police? Why are those numbers not as important to report in mainstream media channels? And how many of these "clashes" could have been avoided with less aggressive policing tactics/stances?

Remember, at this moment, it is still legal to assemble and protest.

The focus continues to be on "Black Bloc" protesters, who generally have an agenda to create property damage, not human injuries.

These groups often throw bottles and stones to try to drive police out of the area of the protests. (Generally, police are in full riot gear with shields and are protected from this barrage.)

It is also well-known that police forces embed agents provocateur into protests and into groups like the Black Bloc in order to incite more violence and illegal acts. An instance where police were caught red-handed on this front occurred in Montebello, Quebec in 2007. Police officer agents provocateur implanted to stir the shit were captured on video by legitimate protesters at the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) meetings involving Stephen Harper, George Bush, and Felipe Calderon. The agents provocateur were picking up rocks and being aggressive. They were called out by protesters and then dove into the police line. At that point, it is visible that the aggressive "protesters" are wearing police boots - the same boots worn by the police officers.

If you have ever been to one of these protests, you would know that only a small percentage of protesters are non-peaceful, and again, most of that non-peaceful element is intent on a display of anti-capitalist property damage, not human injury.

But because of the aggressive tactics of the Black Bloc (some of whom are undoubtedly plants), the media is now able to paint all protesters - all 100,000 of them - as potentially armed thugs, which then justifies excessive police force and brutality against protesters in the minds of the public.

"Well, if they weren't doing anything wrong, they wouldn't get sprayed/gassed/injured/locked up."

This is very dangerous (and false) thinking, but it is the type of thinking being manufactured in the minds of the public by the current media narrative.

I can provide a firsthand account that peaceful protesters who are doing nothing wrong are gassed, pepper sprayed, and sprayed with water cannons for no legitimate reason. This has become a regular occurrence. And again, this has become a normalized thing in the minds of many, and that sets a very dangerous stage. 

These major summit protests have been going on since the 90s, but there has been an inching forward in the increase of force and weaponry used by police each year. 

I've written about this in previous articles, including this one from the G20 protests in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 2010:

From June 3, 2010, "Staying Safe in Toronto During the G20 Summit."

I've also written about the escalation of weaponry - including energy weapons - being brought in to use against (predominantly peaceful) protesters:

From August 25, 2014, "The Age of Aquarius: a New Era of Energy Weaponry Used Against the People." 

All Willow's Web Astrology G20 articles can be found here. 

Suffice it to say, this Full Moon in the sign of its detriment conjunct laying-shit-bare Pluto is not exactly sugar and spice and all things nice. But its energy can certainly be used to position ourselves successfully from a strategic perspective, bringing us into control of our emotional and psychological domains.  

Stay safe, friends. But don't turn a blind eye to the unjustified violence being brought down upon us during these times. This is both overt physical violence and insidious economic and money-related violence. There are very good reasons for the 100,000 people protesting in the streets of Hamburg right now. They represent hundreds of millions more voices of dissent, opposed to the violent and inhumane schemes being orchestrated from behind those closed doors.

WWA Etsy Sale

Until July 4, use the coupon code VENUSIAN2017 to take 20% off your order at the Willow's Web Astrology Etsy shop.

Mercury in Gemini Square Stationing Neptune in Pisces: the Grenfell Tower Fire, Unheeded Warnings, and the Impenetrability of the Money-Driven, Authoritarian Establishment

A fire at Grenfell Tower on June 14, a 24-storey public housing high rise in London, England, has killed at least 79 [edited] residents who became trapped in the building. The real number will certainly be higher, as the mainstream media and authorities are being accused of covering up the true number of casualties.

What should be understood about Grenfell Tower is that it is a low-income housing tower located in North Kensington, on the western edge of Inner London, surrounded by rich neighbourhoods. 

Grenfell Tower residents had already organized as an association called Grenfell Action Group and repeatedly raised fire safety concerns with the property management, Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organization (KCTMO), for years before the fire. No action was taken.

In 2013, a series of terrifying power surges was experienced for weeks in the building to the extent that smoke was coming out of electrical appliances and light fixtures. Many electronics and appliances were destroyed by the surges, and the issue was never resolved to the residents' satisfaction. Ongoing complaints and calls for fire safety improvements were ignored by KCTMO.

There was a single staircase running through the entire 24-storey building, 120 apartments, with one entrance and one exit. There was no sprinkler system, fire extinguishers were outdated, stairwells were filled with garbage and old mattresses, and residents reported hearing no fire alarms to alert them to the fire.

The only instructions residents had ever received from property management was to stay in their apartments in case of a fire.

Recently, the building was given a 8.7 million pound "facelift" so the area's rich residents wouldn't have to put up with an eyesore. New paneling was put on the exterior of the tower to "prettify" the building, and it is being said that the type of paneling used contributed to the fire, spreading it along the outside of the building and ensuring that residents became trapped inside.

It has since been revealed that the flammable paneling used is actually banned in the U.S., Europe, and the U.K. The flammable version was used to save money. 

These are the unfortunately, tragically, prophetic words from the Grenfell Action Group in a post from November 2016:

"It is a truly terrifying thought but the Grenfell Action Group firmly believe that only a catastrophic event will expose the ineptitude and incompetence of our landlord, the KCTMO, and bring an end to the dangerous living conditions and neglect of health and safety legislation that they inflict upon their tenants and leaseholders. We believe that the KCTMO are an evil, unprincipled, mini-mafia who have no business to be charged with the responsibility of looking after the every day management of large scale social housing estates and that their sordid collusion with the RBKC Council is a recipe for a future major disaster."

A list of previous blogs by the Grenfell Action Group has also been posted, outlining its multiple calls to property management to take action on safety issues, all of which fell on deaf ears.

This tragedy at Grenfell Tower is yet another horror show symbol of the Pluto in Capricorn years. Many homes, businesses, and communities have been destroyed by the gentrification steamroller, creating surface-level appeal for the ultra rich and pampered at the expense of those with less wealth and fewer resources.

In this most tragic of cases, the exterior of Grenfell Tower was made to look pretty for the area's rich residents while covering up the rot, neglect, and corruption going on within. This is a common Pluto in Capricorn theme. This rot, neglect, and corruption, this crumbling and inadequate infrastructure, are allowed to fester (beneath the beautified surface) until a devastating event happens like this fire.

Not a penny of that 8.7 million pounds was spent on a sprinkler system, proper fire alarms, fireproofing, or fire escapes. (A sprinkler system for the entire building would have cost 138,000 pounds.) None of it was put toward fixing the electrical or replacing appliances in the building, with that terrifying history of power surges and unknown damages caused.

It was a superficial change covering up chronic neglect and corruption by management and government in order to please the people who really matter - the affluent. It was a superficial change attempting to cover up an entirely corrupt power structure, which failed repeatedly on multiple levels.

It is rarely a single corrupt and reckless action that leads to a tragedy like Grenfell Tower. It's a series of corrupt and reckless actions spread over years, coming from multiple layers of illegitimate hierarchical authority. It's an entire culture of so-called authority figures dropping the ball, looking the other way, making devastating and dangerous decisions that adversely affect others. It's an entire culture of people just plain not caring about anything other than the bottom line, while being compensated handsomely for bringing down misery on others.

It's this entire culture, this entire pyramid-scheme of illegitimate power, that Pluto in Capricorn is exposing for those who wish to see:

In addition to the criminal neglect and mismanagement from KCTMO, the City of London under Mayor Boris Johnson closed three fire stations in the area, part of a broader programme of fire station closures in the city which compromised safety.

Again, there were warnings about these horrific decisions.

From Fire Brigades Union regional secretary, Paul Embery:

"Mayor Boris Johnson will have blood on his hands. It will be only a matter of time before someone dies because a fire engine did not get to them in time. You cannot close 10 fire stations and slash nearly 600 firefighter jobs without compromising public safety.

These proposed cuts are dangerous and wrong.  If they are implemented, they will undoubtedly jeopardize the safety of Londoners and firefighters alike."

The Conservative government in power at the federal level, headed by Teresa May, sat on a report for four years that said low-income tower blocks were safety hazards.

The Conservative government also voted down a recent amendment that would make it law for landlords to make their rental properties fit for human habitation. Seventy-one of the Conservative Members of Parliament who voted the amendment down are landlords themselves.

Here we see a group of low-income residents that did everything within its (too limited) power. The people organized into the Grenfell Action Group and made relentless petitions to property management over the course of years to improve fire safety.

Just as the Mercury in Gemini square to stationing Neptune in Pisces became exact (June 13), the fire broke out. Despite all the communication and prior warnings to property management (Mercury/Gemini) about fire safety problems, the building residents and the City of London itself were left with a mass victimization (Neptune/Pisces).

This was the culmination of multiple communication blockages that occurred simply because the residents' words were chronically ignored, downplayed, and not taken seriously by the people with power who were in positions to do something about it.

The words (Mercury/Gemini) of those who are powerless (Neptune/Pisces) within the current power schemes. Their words (Mercury/Gemini) being scattered and nullified, made invisible, unheard, like screaming under water (Neptune/Pisces). Difficulty in making oneself heard or understood (Mercury square Neptune) - in this case because the people in positions of authority simply do not want to hear or understand.

Under the current system, those without money and the (false) power it brings are easily shunted aside, swatted away like an annoying mosquito buzzing in one's ear...

Mercury in Gemini square Neptune in Pisces.

Words take work. They take energy. Often painstaking work and energy. So does organizing. And all that precious energy and effort was wasted by an impenetrable authoritarian establishment that does not listen, does not act, does not adapt its ways to the feedback from those directly affected by its decisions.

This type of establishment, unfortunately accepted widely as the best way of organizing ourselves, is insane, plain and simple. To take the decision-making power away from the people who are directly affected, putting it in the hands of people who don't understand and won't understand, who ultimately don't really give a damn, is insane.

Neptune and Pisces are associated with devastation, victimization, contagion, and karmic accidents/tragedies that have a broader collective root. They are associated with institutionalized living, such as this low-income tower block. And they are also associated with proliferation and dispersion, including into the collective psyche. I hope this Mercury-Neptune square indicates that the words of the residents will now proliferate and proliferate and proliferate until the public knows with no uncertainty the horrible injustice that was allowed to happen here, until those responsible are held accountable, including via criminal charges, and until the necessary changes are made to buildings around the world. This did not need to happen. It should not have happened.

We are connected around the world by blogs, media, and social media (Mercury/Gemini), and the warnings and words of the residents are now spreading far and wide (Neptune/Pisces). 

Unfortunately, it seems there will be only a government-controlled inquiry of the Grenfell Tower fire, rather than a full public inquest. This takes another layer of power away from the public and from the surviving victims and families of the dead, keeping it all tightly controlled by the Conservative government in power.

The Sun in Gemini was forming a mutable t-square at the time of the Grenfell Tower fire, opposing Saturn retrograde in Sagittarius and squaring Chiron in Pisces.

This indicates a very immediate confrontation with the truth (Sagittarius) about the establishment (Saturn). The Sun in Gemini is shining a light on the outdated (retrograde) philosophy (Sagittarius) of the authoritarian establishment (Saturn), while also showing the acute pain, misery, wounding, and victimization (Chiron in Pisces) caused by this outdated authoritarian establishment.

The Sun in Gemini is shining its light on the corrupt will of the current power structures, a will that is forced upon people who must live under dangerous rules and decisions made by illegitimate and incompetent hierarchies.

These are bodies in mutable signs in tense and difficult aspect, illustrating the lack of adaptability, lack of movement, and lack of permeability within the current, top-down authoritarian structures.

With Neptune and Chiron in Pisces involved, there is an element of the ubiquitous. These are issues that go beyond location, beyond that North Kensington neighbourhood (Gemini).

The fact of the matter is - this isn't just an unfortunate and isolated event. This can happen anywhere, any time, and it will happen, it will keep happening, until action is taken, until the rot and corruption are overturned, until the entire Capricorn-run-amok, "money rules above all" mindset is eliminated (Pluto).

We have to wholeheartedly reject a mindset the prioritizes money over human life because we know that these are not the true rules governing life on Planet Earth. These are man-made rules, rules set up to benefit the few over the many.

We are on the brink of disaster as far as low-income housing almost across the board on Planet Earth. Bedbugs, vermin, faulty wiring, faulty appliances, inadequate heating and cooling, fire hazards, toxic mould, crumbling structures, safety hazards of all varieties. Homelessness is epidemic as rents and real estate prices remain ridiculously over-priced in many areas.

It's all designed for the highest bidder, and life continues to get more and more difficult for those without means. 

One of my first stories as a journalism student in the late 1990s was about a real estate corporation, aptly named Boardwalk Equities, buying up all the low-income housing around the university, doing cheap, superficial renovations, and then jacking the rents up. This company made its fortune that way and continues to hold a monopoly (again, you can't make this stuff up) on housing in many areas where low-income people live. When oil was in "boom phase" rather than "bust phase" (where it is now), Boardwalk Equities literally doubled the rents on their bare bones apartments in Calgary, Alberta, in order to cash in.

The same situation is going on pretty well everywhere, as low-income housing is bought up by private investors and converted into cash cows. But there are few areas where this money-driven transformation is more mind-boggling than in highly-inflated London, where Grenfell Tower stood among all the over-priced abodes. Low-income housing in London, called council housing, has been gobbled up by real estate speculators and converted into high-end homes for the well-heeled, reducing the already-inadequate amount of affordable housing in the city. Over the past 20 years, the population of London has increased by 1 million people while the number of affordable housing units has dropped by one third.

We need change. We need change everywhere. We need affordable, alternative housing options for people of any income level. Land needs to be affordable and accessible for people of all income levels. Existing landlords and property management need to care as much about the safety of their tenants as they do about their own family members.

But that's not what we have.

We have the standard stranglehold of fake, phony, fiat currency with people reinforcing and benefiting from a violent, unjust, and deadly system.

The primary way to make money in this type of system is to cut corners. So this is what they do, ultimately leading to something horrific like the Grenfell Tower fire.

It doesn't matter which party is in power. The entire money scheme, the entire establishment power structure, is rotten to the core. But it's the poor and those who lack resources who are victimized most by it, not those who are truly responsible for the way things are (dys)functioning.

I don't see the solutions coming from the establishment.

The methods to improve fire safety in all low-income tower blocks were there - they just weren't utilized. The methods to make low-income housing habitable and safer for the people renting it are already there - they just aren't being enforced or utilized. 

Solutions are already there for homelessness and the lack of low-income housing - tiny homes, cob homes, Earth ships, shipping container homes. You can create a home with a 3D printer for $10,000.

The technology is there. The political will is not. And under an intentionally-stratified system of Global Government, it never will be.

We have to keep working on the vision of what could be, even when our hearts are in the dust. Because the solutions are ultimately going to come from people helping themselves and each other, from people sharing ideas and techniques, from people using the power they have to build whatever they can. There's a critical mass that has to be reached before the momentum takes over and better ways start to become more accessible and available to people across the board.

Some of my vision involves:

- an understanding that as a human society, the basics of living must be accessible and available to everyone, regardless of income level. Until this is the case, the society is a failure.
- an understanding that fiat currency and wealth do not measure the true value of a human being and that income stratification/inequality is built right into the current system
- affordable land and basic housing that is available and accessible for people of all income levels: the basics are within reach for anyone; if you'd like more than the basics, you can work towards that
- the ability to work to pay for your home and land doing things that are beneficial to others/the community from within your ability, including work that can be done by people with disabilities
- tiny home communities, cob home communities, communities built with 3D printers, converted shipping container homes, other cheap and accessible alternative building methods made widely available
- options for people who prefer a more nomadic life; decriminalization of that way of living
- safe, clean, affordable, alternative energy that is controlled by individuals for their own homes/usage
- enough land area to grow/raise one's own food, if desired, or access to food from local farms or market gardens for those who do not wish to "do it themselves"
- investment in train networks and other public transportation, making public transit networks convenient, widespread, and appealing
- communities/neighbourhoods that are designed for people's preferences: some may be walking only, some may be walking/cycling/transit only, some may be individual vehicle only, or other mixes. Some communities could be completely private, others could have more interaction.
- communities that have options for natural human interaction: common areas, common kitchens or outdoor cooking areas, marketplaces, areas for music, dancing, or games, etc., all within walking distance

What is your vision as far as building better living/housing situations for the people on this planet?

Some Sustenance From the Vault as Neptune Stands Still in the Zodiac

 Photo: Willow

As outlined in the most recent patron article, we aren't in the easiest of astrological territory at the moment. Neptune is currently standing still in Pisces within a square aspect to Mercury in Gemini. We also have wounded healer Chiron slowing to station retrograde (July 1) in late Pisces, still within that blasted square to Saturn in Sagittarius, and this extra-potent Saturn-Chiron square is being activated by the Sun, Ceres, and Mercury in Gemini.

To illustrate the themes at play, I'm re-posting an article from the Neptune Rx station in 2013.

"Neptune Stations Retrograde and the End-of-Pisces Disappointment and Futility Drop Like a Veil..." (with updated transit information): 

"Hollow-gut disappointments hang around us like stale fumes. End-of-era love relationships are a confusing, disorienting mess. The idea that our dreams are not special, that we're not special under egalitarian Aquarius, can erode us at the heart. The discrepancy between where we hoped we'd be at this point versus where we really are is staggering at times - both personally and on a broader societal or collective level.

Anyone aware of the circumstances of humanity on Planet Earth at this time will find them humbling, to say the least.

The Moon entered Pisces early this morning (June 15) and forms a conjunction to Neptune tomorrow morning at 6:10 a.m. (PDT), just after the Neptune retrograde station at 14 degrees Pisces at 4:10 a.m.

The Pisces Moon will square Mercury in Gemini tomorrow at 5:29 p.m.

From there, it squares the Sun in Gemini and Saturn Rx in Sagittarius in the early morning hours of June 17.

Some lingering depression, disappointment, disillusionment, despondency, or a sense of utter futility about carrying on from here can be expected over the next few weeks as Neptune (and then Chiron) stations and starts moving backward through the zodiac. There's an unfulfilled sadness in the air, in the collective psyche, so watch to make sure you or your loved ones don't tip too far into the psychic bleak.

The new guy wasn't who you hoped he was. The new job that seemed so interesting turned out to be more of the same. The daily grind seems increasingly dull, painful, pointless, hopeless. Reaching for the bottle, for the bong, for junk food, or for the credit card are all possibilities to dull the pain, to desensitize.

This is standard end-of-era backwash, however. More end-of-Pisces clearing. Fool me once, shame on you, Neptune. Fool me twice, shame on me.

Keep moving, keep flowing, and keep laughing at the insanity of the situations with which we are faced in this foul year of our Lord two thousand and [seventeen].

It's the sensitives, the creatives, the Piscean/Neptunians who hold the true weight of where we are right now. They're the ones holding the energy of Pisces, the energy of the spiritual whole, where every last detail matters and nothing can be conveniently amputated or ignored without problematic future repercussions. They're the ones potentially being crushed under the cruelty, the inhumanity, and the dysfunction of the current scenes. Yes, it's that serious.

But it's also funny.

Isn't it?

To be set up with these seemingly impossible clusterfuck scenarios during our lifetimes on Planet Earth?

It didn't start with us, and it doesn't end with us.

But we do have a prime and shining opportunity to direct things now.

Neptune stationing, like prominent Neptune in the natal chart, can create a sort of stoner effect on even the most sober among us. Air-headed and flaky. Forgetful. Dreamy. Wistful. Pie-in-sky. Avoiding. Self-pitying. Indulgent. La La Land-living.

Stay on track and stay focused on your own Aquarian-era ideals, despite the Neptunian fog tempting us to go down maudlin back alleys or to take diversionary, wishful-thinking detours."

Remember - we've come a long way and cleared a lot of crap since this article was written, even if it doesn't feel like it in this exact moment. The stationing themes are still there, still threatening to dunk us under, but we've advanced the scene well beyond where we were. Don't let this Neptune-Chiron-Saturn triple team convince you otherwise. We've been very productive. And it all matters.

Some Pressurized Mutable Squirreliness On the Horizon: Working to Keep All the Balls in the Air

Lettuce growing in the hedge garden

"Some Pressurized Mutable Squirreliness On the Horizon: Working to Keep All the Balls in the Air" is an article available to Willow's Web Astrology patrons.

Concentrated Consolidation and a Moment of Anticipation Ahead of New Growth

The North Node of the Moon, newly in Leo, is currently forming beautiful trine aspects to Venus and Uranus in Aries (conjunct at 27 degrees on June 3) and to Saturn Rx in Sagittarius.

This forms an energetic Grand Fire Trine formation (energetic because the North Node is a calculated astrological point, not a physical celestial body), which is extra specially gorgeous because it propels us into an absolutely magnificent set of astrological aspects that carry us through the summer of 2017. These aspects will involve multiple Grand Fire Trines with some of those morphing into air-fire kite formations with the addition of Jupiter, soon to be direct in Libra (June 9 direct station at 13 degrees).

Grand Fire Trines indicate time periods characterized by intensified creativity, artistry, inspiration, passion, excitement, enthusiasm, exuberance, fun, and movement. These formations indicate a time of general encouragement and high spirits.

The involvement of Jupiter in Libra within kite formation indicates that we are building and developing the social fabric in highly beneficial ways this summer, particularly in August and September. There is an emphasis on teamwork, mutuality, common ground, and finding ways that work for all involved.

(More on the splashy and colourful summer of 2017 can be found in this patron article, "The North Node Enters Shiny, Happy Leo, and There's Almost Too Much Goodness to Contain in One Article!")

The energetic Grand Fire Trine involving the Leo North Node opens us into a new creative chapter that picks up speed as we move through the first part of June. Consider this the first activation at the heart in a series of activations at the heart. We're channeling some very powerful joy over the next few months...

At this point, we just want to have some fun with it all, and with the North Node transiting playful Leo for the next 18 months, we can do just that.

At the same time as all this firey goodness starts to be revved up (and it's only the beginning!), we have three personal planets shifting signs, which indicates a refreshing change in themes.

Action planet Mars enters Cancer on June 4, and our desires turn decidedly homey. We want to be around familiar people and familiar settings, comfort food, and rootsy experiences. We're sticking fairly close to home. Family and people who feel like family. The soul clan. Those who stir our ancestral sense of belonging and loyalty. Those with whom we feel naturally comfortable. There will be some fierce (Mars) nostalgia (Cancer) in the ethers throughout this transit, which extends to July 20, and anything that reminds us of the past, of our family/kin/clan, or of a "simpler time" (were the times ever really all that simple?) will be attractive. Parades, summer activities, ice cream, eating fresh-picked berries in the back yard while watching the fireflies - you know, all that (North) Americana crap!

With the aggression planet in the sign of the family, there is also such thing as too much familial closeness, however, and we'll have to watch this, injecting a little space and detachment if tensions start to rise. As fierce as its devotion is, independent Mars can feel a little claustrophobic or suffocated by all that togetherness. This could especially be the case around the times of the Mars in Cancer square to Jupiter in Libra (June 24), opposition to Pluto in Capricorn (June 29), and square to Uranus in Aries (July 17). They don't call it the crusty crab for nothing, and Mars in Cancer can be particularly crusty at times, as Mars is in its fall in this sign. Not the easiest of energies to mix - the never-say-die warrior with the nurturing and caring mother. All edges and angles and battles with soft and gentle and sweet.

As the United States and Canada are both Cancer Sun nations, the war planet transiting this sign could (unfortunately) indicate particular aggression or tension within the global war machine involving one or both of these countries. As usual, the subtext involved during the celebrations of Canada Day (July 1) and U.S. Independence Day (July 4) will be thick...

On June 6, we have a very nice propulsion into new energy, new themes, and new scenarios, as Mercury and Venus both enter new signs. Phew!

You may recall that Mercury and Venus both very recently come out of their retrograde shadows at the same time. Now, they are preparing to leave the aftermath of all that rehashing and review behind them, officially planting a flag in new turf. This shift in signs should be particularly refreshing, as both Mercury and Venus will be entering signs of their domicile, home-sweet-home territory they naturally rule and operate quite well within.

Mercury will move into its domicile of Gemini on June 6, joining the Sun in the communicative sign of the twins. The transit of Mercury through grounded, earthy, and materially-oriented Taurus was certainly a nice reprieve from the "brilliance blast" of the extended Mercury-Uranus conjunction in Aries we experienced beginning in March 2017. However, the winged messenger planet is more than ready to move into less dense intellectual and verbal territory. Words are a little heavier and a little harder to generate with Mercury transiting Taurus. The gravity of Mercury in Taurus kept us focused on the material here-and-now (gardening, in my case!), but with Mercury soon entering Gemini, our words gain wings and start to fly. We can expect things to get a little busier, a little more hectic, with connections, interactions, and social circulation starting to hum. The wheels are officially greased. The slightly frenetic Gemini buzz extends to solstice when Mercury catches up to the Sun in the zodiac, forming the Sun-Mercury exterior conjunction at zero degrees Cancer on June 21 to mark the official start of summer in the northern hemisphere and the official start of winter in the southern.

Possibly the biggest relief on the horizon is Lesser Benefic Venus moving out of Aries, the sign of its detriment, and into Taurus, the sign of its domicile. Love planet Venus first entered warrior Aries way back on February 3, 2017. The Venus retrograde (March 4 to April 15) extended Venus' stay in this edgy, uncompromising, and (for Venus) not-so-comfy sign, but we can say that the Venus retrograde of 2017 is officially complete as Venus moves into Taurus June 6. Earthy and sensual Taurus is much more familiar and easily-navigated ground for Venus, and Venus get a nice, supportive dose of the sign of the bull until entering Gemini July 4. Venus in Taurus will be further comforted and supported by a nice sextile aspect to Mars in Cancer on June 9.

In the days prior to the June 6 shift in signs, we can expect some fairly concentrated "wrapping up" of previous themes.

To illustrate: in late March 2017, just as Mercury in Aries formed a square to Pluto in Capricorn, it was announced that the neo-conservative Brad Wall government in Saskatchewan was eliminating the public bus system for the entire province in order to save one tenth of one percent of the overall budget. This was a shocking and horrifying announcement for many, including me. I literally couldn't believe that a decision this ass-headed would be allowed to go forward and wrote an article about it at the time, "We Get Knocked Down, But We Get Up Again: Regressive Transportation Policy Under the Mercury-Pluto Square."

Protests have been ongoing throughout the province from late March right up to the present time. There have been protests, signs, letters to government, court challenges, media pleas, and a strong social media presence demanding that this terrible, terrible decision be reversed.

Unfortunately, so far, it has been to no avail. The Wall government is intent on destroying this essential transportation lifeline in Saskatchewan so that it can put forth its facade of being a "no deficit, belt-tightening" conservative government.

The last day of service for STC was May 31, and honestly, our hearts are very heavy.

Six brave souls refused to exit the last STC bus to Saskatoon on May 31 in protest and were arrested for their trouble. (I absolutely love these people.)

I was compelled to do a YouTube video on the subject to express my disbelief that this is actually happening, that this bus service that has run for 70+ years is actually being dismantled by one short-sighted and mean-spirited government. Brad Wall was also employed with the Conservative government of Grant Devine in the 1980s, another Saskatchewan government that was hell-bent on destroying the publicly-owned Crown Corporations in the province in favour of your standard "free" market ideology. So this has been a dream of old Braddy Boy's for a good, long while. His dream, our nightmare. (Incidentally, the Devine government was disgraced and taken down in an expense-claim scandal involving a free-for-all of spending tax payer's money...)

YouTube: The Huge and Unnecessary Loss of Saskatchewan Transportation Company (STC)

Unfortunately, it appears that this really is happening - for now.

With a decision this horrible, you can be assured that the opposition and protest won't be stopping any time soon...

The video crystallizes some of the things that have gone on with this issue over the past couple months.

You may notice a similar crystallization process going on in your own lives with things that have been on your mind over the past months.

I was also compelled to do another video, this one on what I see as the destructive divisiveness of identity politics, in particular along racial lines. I was spurred to do this video after seeing a story about Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington where it was stated by an African American student that, "Whiteness is the most violent fucking system to ever breathe."

YouTube: Rejection of the Race-Based Agenda in Favour of the Common Struggle

This video, too, has a root to previous articles I've done on the subject and would be tied to both the Venus-Uranus conjunction in late Aries (identity/rights) June 3 and the Jupiter direct station in Libra June 9.

Jupiter goes direct at 13 degrees Libra on June 9, just as the Moon grows full at 18 degrees Sagittarius (conjunct Saturn retrograde). This indicates a spotlight on social dynamics and justice-related themes around that time, weaving in elements of culture, history, and truth (Sagittarius). There is a particular theme related to broadening (Jupiter) the currently established version (Saturn) of history, story, or truth (Sagittarius) to better reflect the true social realities (Libra).

So there's a fairly concentrated consolidation underway of the past few months. We're not in new territory just yet - but it's close.

Onions

Even my garden is holding form, preparing for a new burst of energy and growth. It has been exciting to watch things popping up, but the major growth is still on the horizon. The little seedlings are taking their time, readying themselves for what's ahead. And so are we.

As we move through the first part of June and close in on blessed solstice, we get a sense of the new energy that is available to us ahead of the exciting and joyful aspects we will experience between June solstice and September equinox.

Enjoy.

 Cucumbers

 Lettuce

 Bok Choy

Mr. Zucchini - he's the biggest so far, so he gets to be called Mr.  

Mr. Zucchini and friends