Full Moon in Libra - It's Not All Venusian Lovey Dovey, But We'll Do Our Best

Today the Moon is in Libra all day moving to fullness at 8:25 p.m. MT. This Full Moon happens within the cardinal t-square formation with the Sun in Aries and stationing (so very potent) Pluto in Capricorn.

Coming from the Moon's conjunction to Saturn Rx at zero Libra early this morning, it's going to take some sustained effort on our part to stay on an emotional even keel today and over the next few days.

The scales are dipping very low and then swinging higher in a rapid see-saw dynamic right now.

We're just past the midpoint of about two weeks of rapid, energetic spikes and voids with lots of aspects going on one day, making us feel as if things are finally smoothing out and getting on with it, and then an immediate dip into a much more difficult void period. Yesterday was one of the bottoming-out dips, and today we see more movement, lifting our spirits and emotional states a bit. Tomorrow, another dip, and so on. This pattern should ease up by early next week.

This see-sawing has a definite wearing effect as we're emotionally up, then down, up, then down, like water freezing and thawing in the cracks of a rock. Just as the rock will eventually bust apart, we'll eventually break down whatever deeply ingrained and crystallized stuff Pluto has its sights set on, but it sometimes feels as if we're going to break along with it.

At this point, we're being forced to go so incredibly deep in such short time frames that it's often impossible to be aware of what these dynamics are even working on. The collective dynamics being brought to the surface seem to have only the most tenuous root connection to the personal, at times. It doesn't seem fair (Libra) somehow that we're having these massive processes going on through us, being ripped up through our DNA, when we haven't had an opportunity to consciously deal with the issues - or couldn't deal with them effectively due to their collective nature. "It's not just my crap to deal with, dude!"

This has the effect of making things feel even more out of our control, which can lead to exasperation, overwhelm, loneliness and morale-erosion. It's a struggle right now, and we just have to keep our heads above water however we can, helping others do the same.

The dispositor of the Libra Full Moon is Venus in late Aries, so we have to fight to stay alive emotionally here. Stay active, keep moving, bob and weave.

Pluto is stationing retrograde at the moment on 5 degrees Capricorn, heading retro April 6, so it's all but standing still from our perspective on Earth. There's even less room for avoidance now as we stew in the Plutonic juices, keenly aware of the destruction we've just witnessed, lived through and are now expected go BACK over to make some sort of sense of during Pluto's retrograde (April 6-September 14). Pluto seems to have even more potency in our conscious, day-to-day lives when it's retrograde, and this is going to be an intense and challenging retrograde period, as we head to that partial lunar eclipse exactly conjunct Pluto Rx this summer.

As far as some context on the increased intensity and velocity we've been experiencing and the extreme emotional ups and downs:

I was reading Robert Phoenix's excellent site and found some information from a gentleman named Carl Johan Calleman on the Mayan calendar. Calleman puts the end date of the Mayan calendar at October 28, 2011 and says the December 21, 2012 date is phony and was set so that the birthdays of the originators of the modern Dreamspell version of the calendar would be given the the “master numbers” 11 and 22. HA! Hilarious.

The October 28, 2011 date makes more sense to me, considering the increasing intensity of astrological aspects and energy. It sort of boggles the mind how deep we're going and how fast things are flying, and 18 months until the "official" era-shift feels like more of a fit to me. Not to mention that this means the official start of the "Aquarian Era" begins during Scorp season! Sounds about right, all things considered, no?

From a purely astrological standpoint, there is debate over where the boundaries of the sidereal constellations actually lie, so it's probably impossible to set an exact date for the point when the Vernal Equinox moves from the constellation of Pisces into Aquarius.

There is some grounding relief ahead, though:

Venus enters a sign of its rulership, earthy Taurus, on March 31, and Mercury follows April 2. This should have the effect of smoothing out the wildly swinging emotions and moods after a whole lot of feisty Aries within that pressurized cardinal t-square.

Venus and Mercury in Taurus will trine Pluto in Capricorn just as it stations retrograde, and this will help solidify things considerably, grounding the intense Plutonic vibes and easing the spikes and voids.

Pluto in Capricorn: All Hands On Deck

Photo: Willow

And next up: the Pluto in Libras.

Since Saturn (Capricorn's ruler) entered Libra at the end of October 2009, it has begun to call on the Pluto in Libras to take their full, adult places within the Capricornian structures so as to further the Plutonic process in that sign. People with Pluto in early Libra (1971-1974) have more than likely felt the weight of this responsibility being placed squarely on their shoulders in the past few months, with an understanding that this is just the beginning.

Libra is a cardinal sign, and this Pluto generation is a pivotal one in maintaining a balance and a modicum of harmony and decorum throughout the cardinal t-squares over the next decade (with Uranus in Aries and Pluto in Capricorn). Within this generation lies important new leadership.

This is a generation that will not sit idly by and allow love, justice or human beings themselves to be diminished and consumed by mega-corporate machinations or global warfare. Pluto in Libras know how to go to the mat to keep people together. We know how to get down and dirty and fight for the crucial objectives of the soul within relationship. And when our best effort can't make a go if it, we know when and how to cut our losses and sever ties. There's method to our madness, even when it gets nasty.

Capricorn relates to concrete, collective progress. Rather than the glorification of the figurehead we associate with Capricorn these days (possibly due to the reign of the Pluto in Leos, currently begrudgingly exiting positions of power), the responsibilities and effort taken on with Capricorn are meant to further the group. Because of this group focus and the hardcore flipping mess we're in on this planet currently, we're going to need the whole team playing its A-game to accomplish the Herculean tasks of restructuring the way we do things.

It seems to me that Saturn's transits over the next decade, during the thick of the initiating cardinal squares while dispositing Pluto in Capricorn, do just that - activate the whole team, from the late Pluto in Virgos to the newest Pluto in Capricorn baby being born, and integrate them into the structural morphing process. We need a grand-scale effort to turn things around here, and the Saturn transits of late Virgo through Capricorn give it our best shot.

Leo is a fixed sign, and the Pluto in Leos have held fast to positions of power and their way of doing things. The Pluto in Virgos have often been employed, so far, to smooth things over and clean up messes and keep things functioning as the Pluto in Leos did their thing.

But now there is a massive power shift. There has to be. It's the only way we can right this ship as it heads rapidly for the rocks.

Pluto is a planet that enters a sign and brings with it a deep, often gut-wrenching process of excavation and examination, confrontation and release, digging and purging, stripping down and regeneration so as to completely transform constructs and dynamics that would hinder or stop human soul development on this planet.

Pluto enters a sign at the point when the expression of that sign has become so hideously constricting, toxic, soul-stifling and laden with energetic booby traps related to its past expression that without the Plutonic process, the continued corrupted expression of that sign would bring about soul death, or even literal death, within the collective.

Garbage sticks. And a sign gets so weighed down with detritus (held emotion and remembrances of betrayals of trust, nasty, underhanded dynamics, dishonesty, manipulation, abuse) that it can no longer express in a functional way. It can no longer achieve necessary objectives and gets stuck in the same loops, experiencing the same unpleasant set-ups over and over again until, with Pluto, we go right to the core of the situation and become fully aware.

The clear and true expression of the sign becomes more possible as we go through the Plutonic strip-down process where we burn away all that is false and regenerate the experience and expression of the sign into something with real integrity for the long haul.

Pluto rules a force of generational evolutionary commitment - what a particular Pluto generation is here to collectively accomplish.

Wherever Pluto lies in your chart, rest assured that after you and your Pluto generation get through with it (or it gets through with you), it will be stripped bare and transformed into something more suited to human soul development for the next 248 or so years.

Pluto triggers the alchemy of the soul, applying immense pressure to turn coal into diamond. Yeah, sounds empowering. Feels like hell.

Pluto's transformational process can be called many things: painful, brutal, hellish, cruel. It breaks down energetic constructs, often forcing us to emotional, physical and psychological breakdown in the process. But it's a process that must go on to facilitate the continued survival of human souls. We're here for a reason, for a limited amount of time, and Pluto won't do us the disservice of letting us forget it.

I don't completely know why Plutonic experiences have to be so brutal, and I hope this is not the case in the future. It's something I ponder quite a lot: why we have to go through such traumatic experiences in order to further this process.

All I can come up with is that trauma has a certain energy about it that makes us dig deeper within ourselves and reach further spiritually than we ever could or would without it. It makes us confront things we would often rather die than confront - including the inevitability of our own physical death. Being creatures that enjoy comfort, I suppose we would not willingly break down the energetic constructs or dig into painful emotional and psychological territory without Pluto's impetus.

So we all do the collective soul work of our Pluto sign - whether consciously or unconsciously. And those who have Pluto in close aspect to personal planets will generally be taking on more of the collective work personally and consciously. For example, I have the Sun in Libra loosely conjunct Pluto, so this is a constant in my day-to-day. My whole self-expression is thick with it. Just being me in the world (Sun) brings collective Pluto in Libra dynamics and the required energy work into my life.

And what are Pluto in Libra dynamics?

In basic terms, the Pluto in Libras are here to experience, examine, break down, and process out stultifying, abusive and "just not right" relationship and partnership dynamics, attracting many relationships (especially before we are conscious of this) designed as vehicles to do so.

We're here to create right human relations on the planet, and it's a big job.

We experience many nasty tricks through our relations with others. All the denied realities of relationship held in the collective come up for us to deal with. Pluto doesn't leave any stone unturned.

We're also here for justice, especially social justice, and equality. Many Pluto in Libras make human rights their life's work.

We're here to create a new balance of masculine and feminine energetic exchange within ourselves and within partnership, as well as a new balance on the planet, in general.

It's our job to find a point of harmony and balance even in the most tumultuous of times (these). To uncover and display the beauty in the ugliest of circumstances.

The end result of this Plutonic processing will be a more free and true exchange of love. Creating deeply satisfying, soul-nourishing relationships - the most beautiful, deeply loving and meaningful relationships this planet has ever seen collectively. And not just the romantic ones.

Yes, we've set our sights high, but these are epic times. As they say, we're the ones we've been waiting for, and if we work our little hearts out and achieve our goals, we bring forward human relations and love relationships truly befitting us and this beautiful planet - ones that allow for our further mutual soul growth, rather than following patterns and forms that bring misery and dissatisfaction.

In order to get to those relationships with that beautiful level of trust, openness, and soul-sharing, we have to figure out what is keeping us from that - the areas that lack integrity and honesty. And there are a lot of those.

Many of our parents have Neptune in Libra, a placement that set them up for rosey, Neptunian idealism around love and romance and then massive disappointment and disillusionment when the reality of their relationships didn't measure up.

Being able to tell reality from illusion in relationship is a big thing for Pluto in Libras. Getting to the nitty gritty and then working from there, stripped clean of false expectations and realities left unspoken.

And as our generation brushes away the ashes left from the breakdown and razing of relationship constructs past, we find the raw potential for something real. We understand what it really means to love and be loved when it's not easy, when the chips are down, when things are crumbling all around us. And through this Plutonic process, we heal the crushed hopes and dreams of every disappointed lover who came before us. We connect at the raw, vulnerable, immensely strong collective heart, through the ages, and start again.

Saturn transits Libra until early October 2012, and Saturn conjunct Pluto will be the beckoning call for Pluto in Libras to fully enter the fray.

Summer 2010 Eclipse Season: G8, G20 and Martial Law A-Plenty

I keep having my attention drawn to the upcoming eclipse season (June - July 2010), and when I draw up the chart for the Full Moon partial lunar eclipse in Capricorn on June 26, I see that it's being drawn for good reason.

This eclipse chart is almost unbelievable in its potency. It's unnerving, considering the energy and events related to the past two eclipse seasons along the Cancer-Capricorn polarity.

And considering the G20 Summit (you know, that unelected "global government" body put in charge of all world economic issues under martial law in September of last year) has been scheduled to coincide with this eclipse in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on June 26-27, 2010. Still think astrology is a bunch of mumbo-jumbo? Your pseudo-elected officials don't think so.

I missed this at the time (since it was announced one day before I became poisoned by Cipro), but the G20 meeting in Toronto will be happening at the same time as the G8 meeting in Huntsville, Ontario, Canada. How's that for Pluto in Capricorn agenda-merging and obscurity from the public? Now they can call martial law into southern Ontario for just one week this summer (maybe) to get their behind-closed-doors agendas passed. A logistical breeze!

The National Post is reporting that the "Integrated Security Unit" (more Pluto in Cap) policing the event will need 5,500 hotel rooms over nine days (June 20 through 28) for members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Ontario Provincial Police, Toronto city police and Canadian Armed Forces. Yep, they're calling in the army on this one. The official number of police and soldiers involved will not be released prior to the event, but according to this report, the accommodation costs alone could be over $8 million.

This is what a police state looks like.

And under the proposed "Security and Prosperity Partnership," the United States' armed forces and police could be called into Canada to enforce events such as these...or anything, really. Only a matter of time? Let's hope not.

Anyway, the June 26 eclipse chart is the classic kind of chart that an astrologer would caution people about. The Moon is currently in Cancer, briefly creating the cardinal t-square dynamics so prevalent this summer and beyond, so here's the cautionary post...

This is not meant to scare anyone, but those who read this blog regularly have more than likely already figured out for themselves that humanity has entered some pretty dicey territory. We're in very strong spiritual territory, as well, but let's not forget the practical realities of what is going on right under our noses.

Pluto entering the early degrees of Capricorn has coincided with many a bomb (Pluto) going off in our business and government structures (Capricorn), bringing to light grand-scale corruption, manipulation, criminality and greed. The best interests of the people are not in the driver's seat here. We had the collapse of the rotten-to-the-core world economy - right on schedule - brought about primarily through predatory mortgage/derivatives schemes, speculation bubbles and various pyramid schemes built on nothing but the hot air of the sales schmos selling them.

Pluto in Sagittarius was ripe for corruption related to big ideas (Sagittarius), no matter how excessively grandiose and detached from common sense practical reality, and when times are ripe for people to take advantage of the situation, there has never been a shortage of those who line up to do so.

So the dominoes were set with inflationary Pluto in Sagittarius, and once Pluto entered Capricorn, the first one was flicked. Plutonic chain reaction.

This triggered the shedding of multi-millions of jobs, now considered unnecessary for the increasingly stream-lined corporate machine. People's lives have been devastated and their emotional well-being is on very shaky ground. Let's not forget this - though the stories of "economic recovery" parroted in a constant loop through the mainstream media are attempting to make us do just that. Those who missed the culling this time around are most certainly being lulled into a false sense of security.

In the ensuing chaos, those desiring pyramid-scheme one world government and corporate oligarchy have driven hard to the net. The mergers and alliances have gone on with Uranian lightning speed, completely obscured from the traumatized public, just trying to be OK with life.

So let's just say that the orchestrated circumstances on this planet are stretching people pretty damned tight - to the breaking point and, unfortunately, beyond.

It turns out the Nazis didn't really lose that war, after all. That was just for show as they retreated, changed tactics and then embedded their armies and ideologies in the day-to-day.

Now, they're tightening the vice ever-so-slowly, and even the people still "safely" in their positions within the system are starting to sweat - if only because they are now expected to do the work of two or three people and to be grateful to do it.

Those attuned to the underlying dynamics have always known things weren't right. We could feel it.

But the majority of people couldn't define the word tyranny, let alone understand how it has permeated their daily lives. To them, this is the territory of paranoids, conspiracy theorists and other assorted wack jobs.

But I see it so clearly. I grew up in a rural farming/ranching and oil area. This is still what people are doing to "make a living" - though I'm not sure how much of a life it is anymore. Farming and ranching have gotten increasingly corporatized and chemicalized. Small farmers have been pushed out of business en masse. Getting bigger and faster, they are told, is the only way to survive if you're playing ball in the corporate system. It's ironic that people who wanted to live a life on the land as their own bosses are now completely caught up in the chemicals, massive, computerized machinery and genetically modified organisms of Agri-business.

Or then you have the people pulling in the real money - those working in the soul-eroding oil fields. And who could blame them, really? We've all had it drilled into our heads since childhood to get that money, no matter what. And they have. Generations have leapt ahead dramatically in the class system - from below the poverty line to comfortably middle class, complete with new homes, new vehicles, campers, snow machines, Harleys, quads. Even the kids have their own quads, dirt bikes, snowmobiles.

So seeing these scenes, reading on Facebook about their home renovations and trips to the Dominican, again I wonder...am I seeing things?

It's very possible all this epic-ness is going down without even ruffling the feathers of the norms. But seeing the eclipse chart, I'm not sure that will be the case post-summer of 2010.

The Full Moon lunar eclipse in Capricorn on June 26 happens at 4 degrees, exactly conjunct retrograding Pluto - Lord of the Underworld, the Great Transformer.

This takes place within a massively potent, almost-exact cardinal t-square at the early degrees - the same t-square that will remain potent during the cardinal seasons with Uranus in Aries and Pluto in Capricorn for the next decade.

If you include Saturn retrograde in late Virgo as the fourth leg in the eclipse chart, it's a Grand Cross. Two oppositions. Four squares. Mucho tension.

So Pluto will be exactly conjunct the Moon. Heavy emotion. In Calgary, these bodies will also be exactly conjunct the Part of Fortune and the Part of Spirit - very fated quality to this eclipse for the city that Big Oil built.

This exact Pluto-Moon conjunction is opposite the Sun in Cancer, which is conjunct Mercury and Juno.

The nodal axis is also within range at 11 degrees, as the North Node moves ever-closer to a conjunction with Pluto in November, just one degree off this eclipse at 3 degrees Capricorn. (November is another potent month, but more on that later...)

Jupiter and Uranus are within two degrees of each other in warrior sign Aries, forming the almost-exact t-square.

Jupiter will have just conjuncted Uranus June 8, dramatically increasing the disruptive potential of Uranus in this eclipse/t-square. Uranus is the planet that brings shocking, unexpected events that leave things forever changed. Events that trigger rebellions, revolutions, radical movement.

So we have this great disruptive potential with Uranus on the very potent zero degree of Aries, a sign ruled by Mars which relates to, among other things, masculine energy, war, anger and aggression. And this energy is made bigger and more expansive post-conjunction to Jupiter, which makes everything it touches broader-reaching. Squaring Pluto in Capricorn, which is known for traumatic, hell-ride experiences designed for complete personal and collective gutting and transformation (ie. not good times). Along with the extra disruptive potential of an eclipse going down exactly conjunct Pluto. Sounds like fun, huh? :-) Very, very volatile.

Martial law in Ontario, Canada with surrounding areas on high alert.

We don't need another Kent or Jackson State this summer, so let's hold our intent for the safety of the protesters and urge the utmost caution with the demonstrations. No uneccessary risks. Mars will be exactly conjunct Vesta in Virgo, so temperance is key. Again, not something you would associate with Mars, but here, we must apply it.

We've also got Chiron at zero Pisces conjunct Black Moon Lilith - so here's that denied, vilified, segmented, feminine spiritual aspect of human life on Earth and the deep wounding we carry because of its enforced invisibility and abuse. Here's the perspective the protesters will be bringing to the scene, speaking out about the destruction and devastation of these enforced agendas. They'll be kept marginalized by fences and police, far from the negotiating tables (BML), but their energy will not go to waste.

The difficult role of these two is the equivalent of telling an oil exec clutching his inflated paycheque about the spiritual and soul-level destruction being caused by the oil industry, for example. He'd laugh you out of town, if not punch you. Or warning a Monsanto executive about the damage chemical and GMO farming are doing to the entire ecosystem, the animals, the people, the spiritual and physical health of the whole. The complete affront to nature. Again, not heeded, and more often, ridiculed and criminalized.

Chiron-BML in early Pisces is a powerful placement here. The Goddess weeps in this chart, but her depth and strength presiding over the proceedings are undeniable. Chiron-BML will be in tight trine to the Sun-Mercury in Cancer and sextile the Moon-Pluto in Capricorn. The feminine is righteous here, and she knows it.

These themes go on every day, in every way, and those who truly respect and heed feminine wisdom and live Piscean spiritual understanding carry a big burden for a collective that prefers to look the other way. You can't really explain it to people who don't understand. And then you have to watch as they continue the destruction...

The Sabian symbols associated with the eclipse also tell a cautionary tale:

Sun in Cancer - "At a Railroad Crossing, An Automobile is Wrecked By a Train"
Mercury in Cancer - "An Arctic Explorer Leads a Reindeer Through Icy Canyons"
Moon and Pluto in Capricorn - "Indians - Some Rowing a Canoe While Others Are Dancing a War Dance"
Chiron in Pisces - "A Crowded Public Marketplace"
Black Moon Lilith in Pisces: "Heavy Car Traffic Linking Two Seaside Resorts"

These are powerfully fated, grand-scale collective dynamics going on. Nothing is going to stop these energies from doing what they need to do, so it's best to go with the path of least resistance this summer, sidestepping as much of it as possible. Being caught at cross-purposes with an aggressive Grand Cross of this nature would not be a good thing. Be aware that people and situations are going to be pulled very taut at this time and the smallest of provocations could trigger volatility.

We're in a cardinal season now - Aries - and what is triggered now is lead-up to this summer's cardinal season - Cancer.

As a series, this definitely relates to the summer of 2009 triple eclipses/double New Moons in Cancer. (The eclipses were in Capricorn-Cancer-Aquarius.) That was an extremely emotional set of eclipses (I think we now understand why) that unhinged and uprooted things in a big way related to past-present-future and the gut-wrenching necessity of finding new soul homes and new emotional anchors within the burgeoning Aquarian paradigm.

The second set of eclipses on New Year's Eve, 2009 and January 15, 2010 coincided with the devastating earthquake in Haiti that left at least 200,000 people dead, possibly as many as 500,000, and a couple million more homeless.

Now, the summer of 2010 is the third set of Cancer/Capricorn eclipses, and there are more big shake-ups possible.

The energy and events kicked up by this third set of Cancer/Capricorn eclipses should have the effect of shifting us into new positions and settling us on new foundations, in a much different set of circumstances than we've been in previously. These shake-ups will click the initial positioning at the beginning of the cardinal degrees into place.

The old situations (emotional, physical, spiritual) have been shattered by the process intensified by the previous eclipses, and now the puzzle pieces are back together to the point that we can start to make out a picture. A potent starting point for the events of the next decade on this planet - for both people living for true freedom and autonomy and those paying lip service to that while attempting to lock nefarious Pluto in Capricorn agendas into place. This is why our actions and the directions we take are so important now.

In such tight formation, the energies associated will be working with surgeon-like precision, carving out the placements. There's no room for error now. Again, this chart has an extremely fated quality to it, soemthing you do not want to be at cross-purposes with. If any of your plans meet resistance, please take heed.

The follow-up New Moon solar eclipse in Cancer happens July 11, and it is total.

Sandwiched between both these eclipses we have Canada Day (July 1) and Independence Day (July 4) in the United States. Both these countries are Cancer Suns, and these eclipses are, unfortunately, probably going to coincide with a final push toward merger - without public knowledge or consent.

And as previously noted (big surprise!), the upcoming meeting of the G20 will be held June 26-27 in Ontario, Canada, alongside the G8 meeting. If I recall correctly, the original date of these summits was actually changed to land on this weekend.

So you can see the agendas within the agendas here.

Let's just keep our fingers crossed that the extremes we've been experiencing with Pluto in Capricorn and the Cancer/Capricorn eclipses have stirred the people into taking a stand and creating an alternative, rather than heading full-on into unelected one world government structures and corporate compliance.

All this and Sarah Palin's getting a reality TV show. Jesus. :-)

Astrological New Year, Spring Equinox and International Astrology Day

I just want to post something to shift things a little after all the watery, surrender-requiring, in-the-void Pisces we've been experiencing. It feels as if we've been dealing with it for decades now (more like millenia?).

Anyway, today the Sun passes through the final degree of the zodiac. The anaretic to end all anaretics - 29 Pisces. This marks the end of the zodiac year and the beginning of a new one as the Sun enters Aries (11:32 a.m. MDT tomorrow).

This is always the case this time of year, but passes of the Sun through Pisces are even more poignant now than usual as we rapidly near the end of the entire astrological Piscean Era. The endings are deeper and more all-encompassing and a little more teary as we say goodbye to an entire 2,000+ year phase of human spiritual development on this planet. And to many of the spirits who helped bring it about. Honour.

The entry into Aries is also more potent than usual. It triggers the most cardinal of cardinal points as we gear up for much longer-term t-square action in the cardinal signs over the next nine or so years - massive amounts of initiating energy. We head into something new.

The Sun enters Aries late tomorrow morning, marking the Spring Equinox and a new zodiac year. (This day has also been declared International Astrology Day!)

After all the Piscean end-of-the-cycle, end-of-many-cycles energy, tossing us this way and that in the name of era-completion, we really desire some freshness, some movement, a new thread of a new direction - and something it feels as if we, personally, have a say in for a change! We want some life breathed back into us because the fin-de-Piscean-Era Pisces we've been dealing with packs a real wallop.

We've definitely got some cardinal fire energy representin' right now. Venus, Mercury and the Sun are in the sign of the ram, ready to bust forward with all their might into some less stifling territory.

But on the other hand, we've got that cardinal t-square keeping all movement in tight check. The tightest of checks, with Saturn and Pluto putting the squeeze on.

Venus led the way into Aries March 7 and into the cardinal t-square involving Saturn Rx in Libra and Pluto in Capricorn - that same cardinal t-square that will be initiating massive restructuring and new relationships in almost every arena over this next year and beyond.

Mercury followed Venus into Aries March 17, opposing Saturn Rx in Libra, and it will square Pluto in Capricorn early tomorrow morning, just before the equinox.

So we've got these planets heading into the first sign of the zodiac, all raring to go, ready to burst forth into a whole new cycle. We want ac-tion, satisfac-tion, and all that.

But as soon as a planet hits Aries, it has an opposition to Saturn Rx in Libra and then a square to Pluto in Capricorn with which to contend. The freedom of movement, strength and vitality planets in Aries are used to is being heavily filtered.

Not so fast there, partner! There is a very tenuous balance going on here, and too much Arien shooting from the hip could lead to some pretty diastrous results. We're not just in happy-go-lucky springtime here (are we ever, really?). The context of our Arien fresh starts this year is just a touch on the deadly serious side. 'Careful' is not a word usually associated with Aries, but we're having to apply it.

Combine that with trines to still-sluggish Mars in Leo (dispositor of all the planets in Aries), hanging out just direct on the first degree after its three-month retrograde, and you've got more speed bumps. Purposeful speed bumps, of course, but Aries doesn't much like anything that slows it down when it's wanting to get a move on.

This will, of course, make any movement and progress we do manage much more long-term meaningful. All these checks and balances ensure that we're heading in just the right direction now - the path is quite narrow, sometimes severely so, so being squeezed through this cardinal t-square is helping us avoid going off half-cocked and wasting any of our very valuable raw, primal energy. The new directions initiated by Aries now have much deeper, more long-term effects than we can even imagine at the moment.

The personal planets doing their thing in the sign of the warrior are setting a longer-term stage for the epic battles of Uranus in Aries square Pluto in Capricorn, as well as for the final opposition between Saturn and Uranus (on those super potent zero degrees of Libra and Aries) July 26 and the final square of Saturn in Libra to Pluto in Capricorn August 20. It's a big summer.

The long-term Uranus in Aries - Pluto in Capricorn square series (June 2012 - March 2015) relates to broader, collective tensions: human beings fighting for autonomy, freedom and survival in the face of corrupt, hierarchical control structures and an increasingly tight (though decreasingly effective) stranglehold by corporate oligarchy.

A narrow path, it certainly is, to freedom. But here are the clashes between those who desire a truly free humanity on this planet, those who desire to BE a truly free humanity, and those doing everything in their power to ensnare and enslave in order to energetically and physically prop up same-old, same-old pyramid-scheme hierarchies.

The battles will continue to be physical, unfortunately, as ongoing power struggles and direction-clashes on the world stage spawn new "leadership," enforcing their rules with armed might. But they will also be spiritual, and those are the battles invisible to most people.

It's important to note that those working to further the same old control mechanisms will not be speaking in blatant Pluto in Capricorn terms, either. That will be the underlying push, understood by those fully trained in deep Pluto lessons.

The false Aquarian leaders will be speaking the language of Uranus in Aries - "freedom," "community," "fighting for change." Obama territory. The agenda is to turn people on with pseudo-fresh, "wave of change" language while wasting people's time and energy with the left versus right paradigm long enough to lock down nefarious Pluto in Capricorn agendas.

It's a many-headed beast with many names - one name for the political machine being communitarianism.

So the Uranus-Pluto battles will be going down on all fronts. Free and autonomous human beings struggling with a sucking, Plutonic vortex of control and manipulation. Powerful stuff. This is why our training in these areas has been so thorough. Our vigilance and awareness is crucially important as we demand, and keep demanding, freedom from the tentacles.

It's going to take a lot of courage to go forward aware. It always does. But this is how we're potent and effective - the only way we are. And this is how we get to real change - the change we've risked so much for generation after generation.

The directions we take initially as we get this astrological Aquarian Era off the ground as well as the particular version of the future we are personally willing to fight for are important themes.

The Uranus-Pluto squares in Aries and Capricorn come to exactness seven times between June 2012 and March 2015 and are most potent around then.

However, we get a taste of this square beginning May 28 when Uranus hits the zero degree of Aries, just before it retrogrades (July 5) and dips back into Pisces (August 14). Uranus will enter Aries for good March 2011, and the effects of the Uranus-Pluto squares will be full-on until Uranus enters Taurus completely (no retrograding back into Aries) in March 2019.

This is not to say that we're going to be in a constant state of clashing and battling - because that's a trap, too. As always, understanding the broader astrological transits helps us understand the context of the times in which we are living, the themes, and, hopefully, helps us understand and better navigate the circumstances of our personal lives. Our personal directions are connected to the broader shifts and vice versa.

Freedom, baby. It's what we're here for.

So take a deep breath. It's going to be quite the decade, and we're just now underway.

Beware Those Ides, Yo: Pisces New Moon Conjunct Uranus and Liberating Your Ghosts

The New Moon in Pisces happens on March 15, the Ides of March, and weird psychic/emotional experiences abound between now and then. The ghosts of years and eras past are floating around as the Sun, Moon and Mercury come together with future-oriented Uranus to give us some probably unexpected, possibly shocking insight on how to shift from past to future in our present moment.

The New Moon happens in late Pisces (25 degrees), so we're in the Dark of the Moon period - involving Aquarius and Pisces - all through the weekend until 3:01 p.m. Monday afternoon. The Moon conjuncts Neptune in Aquarius within this period, as well. A lot of wispy, ethereal, timeless, dark Neptune/Pisces with us until the light cracks through Monday.

Stillness is called for during this Dark of the Moon as we act as intermediaries for psychic energy requiring our assistance in its quest for freedom from this just-about-post-Piscean Era plane. Stay clear and let it flow. Despite any psychic or emotional discomfort this could cause, passing this stuff through us (as long as we feel akin to it in some way) is in our own best interests. Psychic and emotional freedom from pains and traumas past. We all want it.

At the tail-end of the astrological Piscean Age, we find that many of the forms of the past no longer work. The previous set-ups no longer sustain, and we truly find ourselves in uncharted territory. This is what I've come across personally - any pre-existing way of doing things just will not stick with me. It's like your Grandma's plastic-covered couch coated in baby oil.

While tiring and aggravating, this does keep us moving and innovating as we shift gears between eras. No falling into old, stagnant forms because they are just not there to fall into anymore.

I have my fingers crossed this New Moon for a much-needed renewal of Pisces energy and those who embody it. A Pisces-for-the-Aquarian-Age Pisces. A renewal for those who speak and live Piscean understanding along with new messages, crackling with relevance for these odd, odd times we're living in (Mercury conjunct Uranus). I wrote more on that topic here.

Mercury and Uranus conjunct just 39 minutes after the New Moon, and here we have a blending of personal intellect and communication with the wider universal insights of Uranus.

The possibilities of this Pisces New Moon conjunct Uranus are major. Here's the ghost liberation. Widows and widowers, both actual and psychic, can find love again - and when they least expect it. Those who are haunted can finally liberate their ghosts - and be liberated. And those who are mourning lives unlived and hopes unfulfilled can find a new, vital thread that takes them into something fresh, something miraculous, something they wondered if they would ever feel or live again. And all in a split Uranian second.

I really do hope it's just that major for all of us. I've been trained not to rely too heavily on hope, but we very much need something to shake loose in a good way here - in a very, very good way. So fingers AND toes are crossed. Because I, for one, am sick of rattling around this world as if I'm already a ghost...

Venus Shows Us How Far We've Come Since Last Spring

Venus conjuncts Uranus at 25 degrees Pisces tonight and it then traverses the last degrees of Pisces, which, of course, are the last degrees of the zodiac, in general.

The interesting thing about Venus' path right now (other than the sudden and shocking relationship shake-ups associated with the Uranus conjunction) is that it is heading into the degrees of last year's Venus Retrograde.

I wrote a lot of posts on that retrograde (click the "venus retrograde in aries" label to read them). It was a very feisty, often incendiary, time, especially regarding our relations with others, with three squares to stationing Pluto in Capricorn. (March 5 - April 16, 2009)

Some of the main themes then were: getting in touch with our anger as a guiding force and impetus to action, false karasses that force us to compromise ourselves, exerting our wills in relationship, the importance of individuality and being true to ourselves within the group, passive-aggressiveness and other underhanded ways of interacting, speaking up and standing up for ourselves in relation to others, creating a healthier balance of masculine and feminine, especially related to the feminine exerting itself.

From a previous post:

"We shone our identities into full-on radiance at that point and burned away what was false. The process wasn't always Venusian pretty, either.

The new ground we've entered into personally since then, initiated by those Aries-Capricorn squares, has set the stage for the upcoming longer-term transpersonal cardinal squares between Uranus in Aries and Pluto in Capricorn. Exertion of will, identity, and new leadership on a global scale as our power structures continue to morph and merge - with the possibility of both open aggression and hidden destructive force.

Getting on top of these energies and themes personally is necessary in light of these huge, transpersonal forces that will be squaring off over the next six years.

If this [Venus transit of Aries] finds us with more work to do to get over the hump related to being exactly who we are in relation to others and in relation to structural institutional set-ups, it could bring some fiery, emotional moments forcing us to stand up for ourselves once and for all.

We must be willing to fight for the survival of ourselves and our true identities when necessary, in the face of people, situations and forces that would threaten that."

A lot of relationships that could not handle who we really were came to an end last spring. We went down to the quick - the soul quick. We simply don't have the time or energy for friend-collecting or for relationships with a degree of falsity that don't truly meet our needs right down to the soul level. Social artifice was stripped down in a major way and relationship rules re-written.

The current Venus transit of Aries should bring new energy and movement in our relationships, along with new relationships altogether, more fitting to our real identities. No painful bending or compromising of ourselves. New partnerships formed now will have a strategic element related to achieving goals we could not achieve alone.

Any ways in which we have kept out true selves/identities and our true desires and motivations hidden or subjugated in relationship (personal or business) since the last Venus Retro will most certainly come out now with hard aspects to Saturn and Pluto. We simply cannot subjugate ourselves to another or to a group or business at this point because with Saturn and Pluto involved, doing so risks losing ourselves altogether in the massive structural shifts we're a part of at this time in human history.

Though this is not comfortable territory for the planet associated with love, beauty and relationship, Venus takes a deep breath at 29 Pisces and courageously leads the way into Aries March 7, immediately creating the cardinal T-square that will be much longer-term when Uranus (May 27) and Jupiter (June 6) ingress Aries.

Venus in Aries will immediately oppose Saturn in Libra (March 9) and square Pluto in Capricorn (March 11). There is a huge amount of tension here, a masterful balance required between ourselves and others. Power struggles, emotional meltdowns and a rebalancing of power within relationships (personal and business) are to be expected. With Venus in Aries, we need to put ourselves first while balancing the needs of others. Not an easy task with Saturn and Pluto involved, and strong self-preservation will be necessary.

Mars in Leo is currently stationing at 0 degrees of the sign and will go direct March 10. Venus will trine almost-standing-still Mars on the 7th as soon as it enters Aries, adding tension and irritability to the pressure-cooker cardinal t-square. (Because we didn't have enough already!) Tempers are smouldering. The Sabian Symbol for this degree of Leo is "A Man is Under Emotional Stress and Blood Rushes to His Head." Pretty much says it all.

Venus retrograded to and then stationed on the anaretic degree of Pisces (the final degree of the zodiac) in April of 2009, adding a cyclical/spiritual clearing house flavour to the proceedings. Clearing out ghosts of relationships past - many not even from our personal lifetimes. Energetic/archetypal stuff.

I'm sensing some similar relationship spring cleaning in the air right now (Venus conjunct Uranus in Pisces) - even before the Vernal Equinox! Clearing dynamics and relationships that are connected to older versions of ourselves - or to people who are interacting with versions of us that exist only in their minds. Oh, Pisces. Oh, Neptune.

In my case, it's a final realization that I have assigned the term friend to people who are actually just acquaintances out of old soul loneliness and isolation. I'm now facing the fact that it is better to rectify this, regardless of a lack of new connections, rather than set myself up for further alienation and feeling like the odd one out all the time. It's definite Piscean territory to accept scraps, and this is a habit I've been conditioned into since childhood through bullying and ostracism. I've been clearing this layer-by-layer for years, so I'm hoping this is the final purge.

Venus passes through the potent 29th degree of Pisces March 6/7, so note anything coming up on the days before Venus enters Aries. There could be clues related not only to personal relationships but to the relationship we have with spirit and how that develops from here.

This transit of Venus in Aries will allow us to see the results of the effort we put forth last year with the retrograde and re-orientation in our relationships. Anything swept under the rug then will be forced to the surface now. Pluto's involved here, remember. ;-)

If we worked on building our Venus in Aries muscles then, while facing what Pluto kicked up, things will be much smoother now. We'll know what actions to take, and we should be able to stay out of the detritus kicked up by those who shirked their Plutonic duties last time around. (Fingers crossed, anyway.)

Staying out of it as a matter of self-preservation. That will be a big theme of this month with Pluto trying to draw us into the fray and Saturn in Libra activating our sense of injustice.

It will probably be impossible not to be touched by some of the angst - even if only on an energetic level. We have a strong stake in how things go down, after all. But these energies should be less difficult to deal with now that we've already had a big old dose last year. Remembering the Venus in Aries retrograde themes and the lessons we learned then will come in handy now.