February 14: Venus-Ceres in Aries Make a Tense Juno Day Connection To Pluto. Unfinished Business? Baby, You Ain't Kiddin'

The lovely ladies of the zodiac are up front and centre in the chart for this February 14, Juno Day. This is a day for soul mate relationships of all kinds - not just the romantic ones - and an observation of the shit we all go through to complete our relational soul work together.

Is there a greeting card out there with this sentiment? If not, there should be.

My parents were married 35 years ago today on February 12, 1977, and with synastry like: Sun square Sun, Mercury square Mercury, Venus square Venus, Juno square Venus, Mars-Saturn conjunct Sun, and Chiron conjunct South Node-Neptune, they're pretty much the poster couple for the underlying meaning of this day. (You'd expect nothing less to spawn such a lass as Willow, right?)


On this fair Juno Day 2012, Ceres - the asteroid related to the harvest and fertility of the earth, symbolized by a sickle - is in tight conjunction with love and relationship planet Venus, in detriment in Aries, and both bodies square Pluto in Capricorn. Feminine bodies Ceres and Venus joining forces in the sign of the warrior, squaring off with masculine body Pluto in the sign of hierarchy: the underlying battle rises to the occasion.

Ceres squares Pluto February 14; Venus squares Pluto February 15.

You'll recall that Ceres and Pluto have a long and brutal history between them involving kidnapping, rape, hell, and the utter destruction of life on the planet. Every time these two meet, especially in tense aspect, you can expect things to get a little frictional along the male-female, masculine-feminine lines. And in Aries and Capricorn, that might just be an understatement.

"Let's get real here, shall we?" Ceres purrs.

"We shall," drops Pluto.

Ceres and Pluto are now on astronomical equal footing, both having been scientifically re-classified as dwarf planets. Despite Ceres being far more down-played in the astrology of the day, they always have been equals. Their power - both for growth and generation/regeneration as well as for death and destruction - are evenly matched.

Ceres and Venus are flanked by Uranus in Aries and the true placement of Black Moon Lilith in Aries in this Juno Day chart, adding unpredictability and charge. The feminine is infused with raw, radical Uranian energy as well as on-the-edge, on-the-verge Black Moon Lilith, and Ceres, now included in modern astrological ephemerides with the other major bodies, leads the way.

The feminine, sensing Uranian freedom from previous forms in the air, exerts itself, forging ahead and stirring deep, structural unfinished business with the squares to Pluto in Capricorn. Some hot button male-female, masculine-feminine issues are being pushed to the surface, to say the least.

At the same time, quick temper and burning anger can trigger us to go too far - a distinct possibility with Black Moon Lilith involved in Aries - and this must be kept tightly in check to head off self-destruction. Anger acts as an instinctual guide and as impetus to action and self-exertion here, but it's the erratic warrior nature - dodging and weaving, ducking and moving, advancing then retreating, appearing then hiding, here and then not here - that keeps us safe within the battle and the rebellion from that which oppresses and snuffs out life. The fears of rejection and forced exile are founded ones when Black Moon Lilith is strong. We must ferociously rise to the occasion when it's required but just as quickly douse our flames.

Black Moon Lilith in Aries does lend her beautiful punk presence to the proceedings with the conjunction to Venus and Ceres on this February 14, but it's a loose conjunction, and she's not all that interested in getting involved. She's played this game before - and been played by it. For the most part, she's happy to do her thing from the outskirts of this one, and in Aries, so are all those fierce and independent who couldn't give a rat's ass about the expectations and manufactured importance of this day.

Still, this day for the sweethearts has been implanted pretty deeply in the collective psyche...

Squares abound in this Juno Day chart, meaning lots and lots of "growth opportunities." Don't we all just love those? Perfect for the day of the soul mate, but not so cool for those who like to keep their relations on the soft-lit, romantical side. There's tension beneath the lovey dovey.

With Neptune, Mercury, Pallas Athene, and Chiron conjunct in early Pisces, people are going to be giving it their all to keep the glossy, glowy Neptunian mirage of the Standard Romantic Love Relationship afloat. Illusions swirl as people fight to maintain Piscean era ideals about love, romance, and togetherness. A lot of these are on life support at this point, but they're still being played out and often quite sincerely.

Still, there is some Piscean magic to be had on this day.

Vesta in late Pisces opposes illusion-puncturing Mars in Virgo and says, "Hey, bud. No getting too nasty here. We don't want anyone falling down a black hole depression spiral from a too-severe love blinder removal."

But with Chiron edging the party, if not careful, people do set themselves up for disappointment.

Our celestial body of the day, soul mate asteroid Juno, squares the early Pisces party from telling-it-like-it-is Sagittarius and gains effect from the Sagittarius North Node. Juno square Neptune, Juno square Pallas Athene, Juno square Mercury, Juno square Chiron: on this Juno Day, the Piscean era love story cliches are straight-out played. The truth about love and relationship, much more attractive to Juno in Sadge, will prevail nicely, naughtily, or both.

The Moon in Scorpio squares the Aquarius Sun at mid-day on the 14th, and this is the friction between friendly detachment and airy, social, live-and-let-live on an outer level and an inner, emotional bottom line of "the same old bullshit ain't gonna fly." Emotions run deep here, and any crossed etheric lines related to lovers past can create major and potentially incendiary insult. With such caked-on collective love karma as this day has, those crossed lines are a major possibility. Be very careful to be fully present with the one in your life right now, body, mind, and psychic space. No replaying old scenes from Juno Days past with current loves.

The Moon leaves Scorpio for Sagittarius by 7 p.m. Central, just in time for things to get underway. The Moon moves to a warm and spicy conjunction to Juno by the wee hours of February 15, but also through those clashing squares to the bodies in Pisces.

The night leaves us with a warm, loved-up buzz, but only if we remain aware of how things are changing, staying ahead of the curve...

With so many frictional aspects involving the feminine bodies, this is not a day to mess with people's emotions. Anyone doing the Valentine's thing had better show up on time, well-dressed, probably with flowers, and it had best go off without a hitch. Mars in Virgo disposits love planet Venus, irritated in Aries, and the details matter. If you're going to do it, put in the effort to get it right.

If the current astro dynamics find you without the funds for entertainment (or the inclination to be an acquiescing consumer), the good thing about Mars in Virgo is that appreciation can be shown by anyone for anyone in inexpensive and practical ways: clean the house to a spotless shine, make a lovely dinner, offer a well-deserved massage, spend the evening in conversation without distraction. The simple things keep desires stoked, as long as we appreciate and acknowledge the offerings.

All in all, February 14 is a day that has seemingly been designed for people to build themselves up only to be let down. Maybe they eat more chocolate that way?

"The snub" is a Juno theme built right into the day, pricked the very first time we didn't get a Valentine from someone we hoped we would in elementary school. There has always been an underlying edge to this day, and it's made crystal clear under these particular astrological aspects.

There's a symbolism related to this day that by default makes a lot of people outside the confines of a relationship feel at least a little lonely and left out. (Or annoyed? Disgusted?) The possibilities for this are greater than usual under these cosmic energies unless people can puncture the illusions right from the get-go, refusing to be sucked into the tail-end Piscean era collective love undertow.

I have to say that with Saturn retrograde on the anaretic (29th) degree of Libra and the restructuring around love and relationship a prevailing theme, busting this particular day loose from its rigid, existing forms would be one mighty fine use of the astro energies.

Happy Juno Day 2012 to all you lovers and fighters out there, whether coupled up or flying solo. And Happy 35th Anniversary, Mum and Dad!