Flirty at Thirty? OK, Well, at Least it Rhymes...

Fun Astro Facts:

The youngest members of the Pluto in Libra generation (born October 1971 to August 1984) just hit 30 years old at the end of August 2014. This means that every member of the Pluto in Libra generation is now 30 or over!

And simultaneously, the oldest members of the the Pluto in Scorpio generation (born November 1983 to November 1995) are turning 30. 

Welcome to the fabulous 30s, baby members of the Pluto in Libras and senior members of the Pluto in Scorpios! You have hit a major milestone astrologically. Coming out of your first Saturn returns, you are now officially adults according to the astrological system. And coming of age with transiting Saturn in Scorpio in mutual reception to Pluto in Capricorn along with the Uranus-Pluto square series is certainly not for the faint of heart...

The Pluto in Libras and the Pluto in Scorpios are entrusted with the responsibility of purifying and transforming human relations, justice, love, sex, and power dynamics on this planet. A tall order!

We are now moving into highly-charged Libra and Scorpio seasons (September to November), complete with powerhouse eclipses. We experience an emotionally edgy and potentially aggressive Full Moon total lunar eclipse at 15 degrees Aries conjunct Uranus and the South Node on October 8. From there, we move to a simmering, smouldering, drawing-from-the-depths New Moon partial lunar eclipse at 0 degrees Scorpio on October 23 as the Sun and Venus move to exterior conjunction in Scorpio October 25.

Eclipses generally bring backdrop changes of one sort or another, and there is a strong "changing of the guard" feel as we move through fall 2014 - not necessarily out of desire but definitely out of necessity. New players will be (and must be) added to the current scenes. Fresh ideas and fresh ways of doing things merge with the established order to create new opportunities, direction, and energy for all involved.

We aren't who we once were as we move into this new astrological era. Change is required.

And we need all the talents and skills of both Pluto generations out in full force, taking on new leadership roles and providing alternatives to the standard way of doing things, which are now falling far short.

Welcome to Official Grown-up Status. Time to dig in!

The Sun Enters Libra Marking Equinox With a Strong 'Lord of the Underworld' Infusion

Pluto stations direct at 11 degrees Capricorn tonight (6:36 p.m. CST), just as the Sun enters Libra, marking equinox.

The daytime hours and nighttime hours are in perfect balance now, but it's definitely going to require some effort on our part to see that sort of balance reflected in our own lives, selves, and relationships as we move into fall 2014 in the northern hemisphere.

If we expected a breather as the personal planets moved into lovely Libra, we may have to reconsider...

"Intense" is the word most often associated with Pluto and the sign it rules, Scorpio, but that may be a bit of an understatement for this fall.

Pluto is basically stopped in the zodiac at the moment as it completes its standard six-month retrograde period, which began in April. As Pluto stations, some of its inky, edgy, uncomfortable energy and themes permeate the scene and every interaction we have.

Let's just say: socially taut with multiple tripwires. 

Pluto is associated with all the darkest emotions on the human spectrum - including experiences of hell - and we can expect moments during this station (with effects felt into late November) when the conditions we face seem simply intolerable.

(This is exacerbated, of course, by ongoing attempts by the Global Governors to start World War III...) 

Rage, anxiety, fear, nausea, paranoia, obsession, emotional triggers, a feeling of energetic moulting - all these are Pluto terrain, and they are often intensified around stations.  

Pluto has been dredging the bottom for six months. Now, it turns direct, bringing some emotionally dicey issues, some hidden subtext, and some potentially poisonous power dynamics to the surface.

Young Whippersnapper Mars Finally Outpaces Old Man Saturn

Photo: Willow

The planet of will, goals, physical energy, and movement, Mars, is just moving out of range of a conjunction to Saturn that has been in effect since early August.

Mars is the planet that wants to go. Saturn is the planet that puts the brakes on, demanding a sober second look. So our movement toward goals (including goals related to sex life) has been under a certain degree of necessary restriction and limitation for over a month now.

Prior to the Mars-Saturn conjunction, which was exact August 25, Mars spent more than eight months transiting a sign it doesn't love transiting - Libra. Mars finds it difficult to get things done in Libra, especially with the speed and directness it enjoys. Taking other people into consideration, as is required with Libra, is not tops on Mars' list.



This is an excerpt from the article "Young Whippersnapper Mars Finally Outpaces Old Man Saturn." It is available in its entirety to Willow's Web Astrology patrons, or it can be purchased via email money transfer or PayPal for $5.50. 

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Mercury Moves Into Potentially Volatile Territory: the Dangerous Job of Justice-Fighting on an Unjust Planet

 Photos: Willow

Messenger planet Mercury is entering some feisty and potentially explosive territory in Libra as we move to the Pisces Full Moon conjunct wounded healer Chiron on September 8 (exact 7:38 p.m. CST).

Words and information are charged, and the opinions and perspectives voiced - perhaps after long periods of silence - could cause the scales to swing wildly before finding a new balance.

But find a new balance we will, and this goal is something to keep in the front of our minds as we move through some tense Mercurial aspects just before Mercury enters its next retrograde shadow at 16 degrees Libra on September 13. (Mercury will be retrograde October 4 - 25.)

The upcoming Pisces Full Moon conjunct Chiron heightens emotional and psychic sensitivity to the max from September 7 to 9. We're all in need of a little healin' under these astro influences, as the current state of the planet seeps into our personal emotional states, and the Pisces Moon's rays illuminate the unbreakable connections we have to the struggling lifeforms on this struggling planet.

Nowhere is the struggle more apparent than in the Pacific Ocean, which has now been contaminated every single day for three-and-a-half years (and counting) by radioactive fallout from the Fukushima, Japan nuclear disaster while elected officials, business leaders, and media did and do next-to-nothing. 

Fukushima researcher and YouTuber, Dana Durnford, has just begun a 60-day trip along the British Columbia coast to document sick, dying, and missing species of sea life and vegetation over hundreds and hundreds of kilometres of shoreline.

Before even starting on the trip, Dana received death threats and threats of physical violence from people who are not too happy about him blowing the lid off the effects of Fukushima nuclear fallout along the coast. These people would rather keep their heads (and the heads of the public, in general) buried in the radioactive sand than have Dana's information depleting their beautiful British Columbia businesses and property values.

The information and photographs Dana is collecting are critically necessary to gain a true understanding of the devastation going on with sea life and vegetation along the West Coast. There is a collapse of sea life underway that has establishment scientists "baffled" and "perplexed" - at least, in front of the cameras and the mainstream media journalists.

Dana and his crew are out there documenting the real story, complete with Geiger counters.

And there are many people who would prefer that the information Dana and crew are so dutifully digging up stayed buried. This is deep Plutonic territory, and Plutonic territory is known to be both potentially dangerous and explosive.

Mercury and Venus in Mutual Reception Bring the "Partnership Tune-up" Zone

Don't kiss any frogs during Venus in Virgo! (Unless it's a cute one like this.)

Photos: Willow

OK, busy beavers! Virgo season is in full swing, the time of year when we work to put everything in order, preparing - in the northern hemisphere at least - for the fall and winter ahead.

Virgo is associated with maintenance, work, projects, jobs, planning, and taking care of practical details that have fallen by the wayside. When the Sun moves into Virgo each year, we technically have another month of summer to enjoy, but with school starting, vacations ending, and the hot weather starting to cool, Virgo season brings a new seriousness and a practical, no-nonsense focus along with the chill in the air.

There's a lot to do, a lot to tune up, a lot to make orderly and functional - and we know it. If we let things slide now, we could be caught unprepared for the long, cold winter ahead - literal or figurative.

Virgo's ruling planet, messenger Mercury, has just entered Libra, the sign of relationship, beauty, and balance, for a transit that will last until September 27. Relationships and social themes are on people's minds, and thinking is geared more strongly to "we" than to "me." 

On September 5 (11:07 a.m. CST), Venus, the planet associated with love, beauty, money, and relationships, moves into crisp, clean Virgo for a transit that will last until September 29.

This means Mercury and Venus are in mutual reception from September 5 until September 27 with each planet transiting the sign ruled by the other.

So what does that mean?

It means that September 5 through 27 is a great time for relationship tune-ups of all kinds! We're applying the analytical and critiquing skills of Virgo to our relationships, determining areas that could use a little work, and we're also going over our own qualifications as "relationship partner" with a Virgoan fine-toothed comb.

September is a great month to hone in on the specific qualities we require in potential partners, friends, and business associates. It's also a good time to determine the qualities, habits, and lifestyles we simply cannot accept in the people around us.

With a strong Virgo influence, especially Venus in Virgo, we can be negatively affected by the habits and character weakness of the people we bring into our lives. Only the tightest of standards apply for potential candidates when Venus is transiting Virgo.

This month is a good time to "clean up" our relationships, setting things straight and setting things right, while actively addressing any problem areas.

But it's also a good time to determine how we stack up on the partnership front.

There is a lot of focus these days on "getting the type of partner and relationship you want," but there must be an equal amount of focus on being the type of partner we truly wish to be, and this is especially the case when Venus is transiting Virgo. 

Virgo is a sign associated with the quest for perfection, particularly the perfection of self through plain, old hard work and service. 

Relationship planet Venus transiting Virgo, as it will be September 5 to 29, has an associated theme of hard work and personal development in order to be the best possible partner we can be within the best possible relationships.

So already-existing relationships get a tune-up September 5 - 29, but we are also looking at areas that we could strengthen and improve personally in order to be better partners or to attract better partnerships.

Virgo is quite a no-nonsense sign, and it is generally very active and hard-working. It wants to identify a problem and then work to fix that problem as soon as possible.

So you could spend this transit of Venus in Virgo whinging and moaning about your faulty relationship or your chronic lonely-hearted single status. (This will be a particular temptation as Venus opposes wounded healer Chiron Rx in Pisces September 16 - 18.) But a far better use of this time is to actively work toward any improvements that are within your power, as well as fuller health and function, in general, whether in a relationship or out.

Are you moping around, letting your interests and life languish, as you wait for someone to notice you? Are you slacking off on hygiene, nutrition, or exercise because you think there's no one around to impress? Are you indulging in bad habits (including self-pity parties) because you figure, what's the point anymore?

That ain't the move.

There are some simple and specific things we can do to improve our partnership potential this September. These involve cleanliness, organization, and improved maintenance of body, home, and vehicle, trimming all fat. They involve improvements to mental health and overall perspective and outlook (again, Virgo is ruled by Mercury, the planet associated with the mind). This also involves getting away from a detrimental focus on our own personal problems (including relationship problems or being single), and one of the best ways to do that is by helping others.

What could be more attractive than someone who is helpful to others? Not much when Venus is transiting Virgo.

Now is the time to spruce things up and to make sure you are proud of yourself in every way as a potential partner. Pick up some new skills or hone existing skills that would make you even better.

The search for love and the search for improved relationships of all kinds is active this September. Limit your moping, and hold off on the self-pity parties, especially under the Chiron in Pisces influence.

Work hard and kick butt under this Mercury-Venus mutual reception, and all you practical, no-nonsense lovers out there will find yourselves in better position as the month comes to a close.