New Moon in Taurus After All Day in the Dark and Broken Record Time

The Moon and Sun come together at 23 degrees Taurus tonight and we have a New Moon (7:04 p.m. MT) after spending all day in the Dark of the Moon. And boy, do we ever need some renewal with this earthiest of earth signs.

This New Moon in Taurus is square Neptune in Aquarius and hearkens back to this time last year when the personal planets in Taurus were squaring the uber over-hyped "triple Aquarius conjunction."

I was talking then about the dangers of getting caught up in intoxicating Neptunian illusions related to the future, technology and the "Aquarian Era" and overlooking the practical fundamentals of life on Planet Earth. With Jupiter involved, over-reaching on this front and blowing "the promise of the future" way out of proportion was recipe for wounding and devastation (Chiron).

And as Chiron dips into the zero degree of Pisces and Uranus bookend transits the final degree of the sign, we have a gaping reminder of these dynamics - and the massive failure in successfully dealing with the requirements of physical, Earthly reality - with the gushing hole at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico still spewing 200,000 gallons of oil per day into the sea. Pisces is associated with both oil and oceans.

In a hearing being conducted by the United States Coast Guard and the governmental Minerals Management Service in Kenner, Louisiana, Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Michael Odom testified May 12 that the type of deepwater offshore oil drilling being conducted by companies like British Petroleum is basically unregulated.

"Odom said many of the regulations are based on near-shore operations and are not providing the best guidance for the latest deepwater systems.

"The pace of the technology has definitely outrun the current regulations," Odom said."

In another thumbs up to the awesomeness of globalization, because the deepwater oil rig was flying a foreign flag, governmental agencies could not certify the materials the pipes and rig were built with or the blowout preventers that could have potentially stopped the disaster from happening.

"Like the Minerals Management Service, the U.S. Coast Guard inspects vessels, including drilling rigs, checking the non-drilling related systems on board. It's control over Deepwater Horizon was somewhat limited because it flew the flag of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and foreign flag states have some monitoring using a non-governmental group of inspectors called a "classification society."

Summing up the situation as far as safety regulation, Coast Guard Captain Hung Nguyen said, "We have self-certification of critical equipment and safety notices that are not enforceable..."

This leaves the companies to declare their own operations safe - highly inadvisable considering BP's record on this front.

In a fit of black hilarity, BP executives were actually on board the Deepwater Horizon celebrating the project's safety record when the explosion happened. They escaped unharmed, but nine rig crew and two engineers died in the explosion, which is being reported as having been caused by a massive methane bubble.

British Petroleum's first scrambling-after-the-fact attempt at containing the flow of oil was building a huge coffer dam (dome) and then lowering it to the sea floor to place over the spewing pipe. That attempt failed when the coffer dam became clogged with sea crystals, and now they are planning to lower a smaller coffer dam in the next few days. Basically, there is no protocol for this. This type of deepwater offshore oil drilling is going on without any sort of plan for a worst case scenario disaster like the one now going on.

As online commenter Leonard33 puts it:

"It would be an exciting time to be a BP engineer. Any cockamamie idea is probably given full consideration. Maybe a giant diaper could be placed over the leak -- new diapers are remarkably absorbent."

Executives from BP, the oil services company Halliburton and the rig operator Transocean have now been called before the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and are all pointing their fingers at each other. Side-stepping responsibility on all fronts is the name of the game. Shifty, shady Pluto in Capricorn.

It's a broken record, but these are the master Piscean lessons. Twenty-ninth degree stuff being triggered by the neglect of duty and responsibility with this sign from the very get-go, from the very first degree of the sign of Pisces (Chiron on zero Pisces).

We don't move forward successfully into Aquarius without mastering this, or at the very least doing a whole hell of a lot better job with it, and collectively, there is still a massive amount of work to do here. That's putting it mildly.

Let's recall that Chiron will be in Pisces for the first eight years of the official astrological Aquarian Age. Not dealing with these Piscean themes and using this wisdom and understanding as a guiding mechanism for our decisions puts every living thing on this planet at risk. That's not fearmongering. That's fact. We see this reflected in this initial Chiron in Pisces event - the gushing oil leak in the Gulf. This isn't just a problem for Louisiana or Mississippi or Florida. This is a problem that has the potential to destroy the world's oceans altogether. And we've got 16 more operations, more than likely just as shoddy and slap-dash and unregulated, currently drilling at depths below 5,000 feet in the Gulf...

It's broken record astrological dynamics we're dealing with currently, also. (You see why the old souls are so fed up?)

This year, instead of the triple Aquarius conjunction, it's the hyping of the "Cardinal Climax" and overemphasis on the dynamic, masculine, yang energy with so many people already looking ahead to Uranus in Aries.

Well, folks, we've got a whole heaping pile of problems with the 12th sign of the zodiac - the sign most prefer to ignore and keep invisible. Uranus may be dipping into Aries for a couple months, but it's back at this degree of Pisces (the Gulf degree) mid-August and stays in late Pisces all the way until March 2011. Jupiter Rx will also conjunct Uranus Rx at 28 Pisces in September.

Believe me, getting too caught up in Jupiter conjunct Aries (June 8) is not wise. We're not staying there (neither Jupiter nor Uranus is), and the outpouring of excitement this aspect will generate in people who don't understand the retrograding action cannot be spared at this time as wasted energy.

Jupiter conjunct Uranus at zero Aries is significant, yes. It's an official Aquarian Era marker and a potent seed time. What happens now and over the next five years as Uranus and Pluto repeatedly square off is the make or break. It's a very pivotal time, direction-wise.

But just take a quick look back at all the neglected, unresolved Piscean Era problems we're collectively trying to drag along with us. Neptune, Uranus and Jupiter are all going retrograde this spring/summer to help us do just that. None of this cardinal square stuff is coming up out of the blue. We've been working on all this for a good, long while now.

Just like last year at this time, we've got the Sun and Mercury in Taurus - grounded, real, physical reality - and we can no longer stuff this down into the collective subconscious. At the tail-end of the tail-end astrological Piscean Era, the collective subconscious is plumb full. It's stocked. It's overflowing. And we see it overflowing in that three million gallons of oil (and counting) advancing on the Gulf Coast shores.

The travesties being committed by irresponsible Pluto in Capricornian agencies are coming out into concrete physical reality, with help from Mercury and the Sun in Taurus and Saturn in Virgo, where no one can deny them. Pushing up to the surface, just like that oil is, despite all attempts to hide the extent of the damage by dispersing it with chemicals or burning it off.

We've just had a challenging Mercury retrograde period in Taurus trying to reinforce these very issues.

And looking back to last spring, the planets and the dynamics and themes they're indicating are almost a mirror image.

At that time we were experiencing a Mercury retrograde in Taurus while the personal planets in Taurus squared Jupiter-Chiron-Neptune in Aquarius. Pluto was in early Capricorn and Saturn was stationing direct in Virgo, just as it is now.

From the Saturn in Virgo Direct post in May 2009:

"We're meant to take the vision out of the realm of rhetoric and live it. To take it out of the hands of criminal so-called leaders, disconnect from their version of the future, and determine what it really means to us personally.

This is the radical Aquarian break. The line we draw in the sand. Where we take back the "revolution," the "vision," the "future" from those who have co-opted these terms and used them against us. This is where we say enough is enough and demand real freedom, for everyone. To live with that goal at the forefront. This is where we are no longer willing to accept the version of false freedom that is packaged and sold to us. This is where we wrestle our intellectual independence away from the people and institutions that corrupt it.

Or we choose to go along with it. It's a personal choice each individual has to make.

Revolution is a trendy word these days, used by advertisers to sell cars and body spray. Self-declared visionaries run around, a new one every day, it seems, trying to get people on board their particular vision and version of the future.

This is why the use of personal discernment and judgement required by Saturn in Virgo is so important right now. Define these things for yourself.

Cut away the noise and excess. Pare down to what is basic, simple, necessary, meaningful, real to you in your life. The more we sever ties to toxic structures and energy dynamics, the better we feel. Refuse to play the game. Reconnect with simple pleasures and the appreciation you have for what is real and good in your life. Guard that carefully.

It's important that we have our feet planted firmly on the ground now, stripping away falsity to more fully understand the conditions we are working with.

If we don't personally make the choice regarding which version of the "future vision" we wish to bring about, the choice is made for us...

Taurus is a sign rooted to Earth. It's the sign where we commit to making progress in the physical realm. Slow, methodical, sure-footed progress. In Taurus we lay a solid foundation - one that will physically support our grand dreams and goals.

Taurus knows that what is really valuable doesn't just miraculously come into existence. There is effort involved to bring about the quality of physical life it desires. Taurus is a fixed sign, and once it gets going, it wants to keep going. There is nothing it dislikes more than shoddy workmanship. It doesn't want to go back over a crappy job later on. It wants to do things right the first time, and it's willing to put the time and effort into things initially to make sure things are on a solid footing. No movement unless it's the right movement...

We must determine what is required from us in the here and now, in our conscious moment, and take the next step. Taking even the smallest of concrete steps, when we know it's right. Enduring through resistance. Severing ties to anything that does not truly reflect our personal values. This is how the widescale change gets it's legs and digs in in a way that is going to be meaningful over the long run.

So our vision is coming into check by physical-reality-based circumstances. And some fucked up physical-reality-based circumstances they are.

At the same time, the Aquarian part of the square ensures that we push for our preferred future as we see it. Our freedom is at stake. We can't get bogged down in tradition and history (Taurus) and talk ourselves out of what is possible. We know we're in new territory, creating something that hasn't previously existed, and we have to maintain the integrity of that vision."

So yeah. There we have it. It's make or break time.

Our so-called leadership has failed us - politically, socially, spiritually. It has been corrupted in the most egregious manner. We have no leaders among the current crop.

And so we're our own leaders.

Again, I would urge you to give up driving or to drive only when absolutely necessary, with due respect and reverence. Those aren't just dinosaur bodies you're fuelling up with. ;-) Share a car. Start a mini car co-op with family or friends. Just do something small to lessen the pressure on this situation.

It really feels as if those of a certain sensitivity and awareness and spiritual understanding/lineage are hanging by a thread. The situation on this planet, at times, feels at the brink of untenable, and that saddens and scares me. I want the spiritual lineages I know, love and respect to continue on this planet, to carry forward. I don't want people (or animals or plants) who are among the last of their kind being driven to extinction. This is a difficult subject to really delineate, but perhaps those reading know what I mean here. We're all hoping for the best, but it's not enough to hope. Every last decision, action, word seem to count now.

Earth Trines To Ease Our Minds...

Photo: Willow

The Moon in Taurus conjuncts both Venus and Mars tomorrow morning (Friday) and then trines Saturn in Virgo. All this happens between 7:00 and 11:33 a.m. MDT.

The next morning, Saturday, the Moon moves to 26 Taurus and squares the Aquarius triple conjunction while sextiling Uranus in Pisces (also at 26 degrees).

These Moon aspects connect us emotionally to astro events just up ahead. We can feel them and start to get an emotional handle on them before they happen...

In Taurus, the Moon has an emotionally grounding and stabilizing influence. Thank goodness.

The astro events the Moon is preparing us for are the Venus-Mars conjunction in Taurus, the subsequent trines of Venus and Mars to Saturn in Virgo, and the squares of Venus and Mars in Taurus to the Aquarius bodies (Chiron, Neptune and Jupiter - all moving retrograde) while also sextiling Uranus in Pisces.

First off...the Venus-Mars conjunction in Taurus.

You'll recall that we have recently experienced a Venus retrograde period in Aries, which started a new 18-month Venus cycle. At the same time, we started a new 8-year cycle.

During its retrograde, Venus moved back to 29 Pisces, the final degree of the zodiac, for some relationship closet-cleaning. We turfed out old, dusty relationship dynamics and ghosts of relationships past that were taking up subconscious space.

As Venus was just moving direct again on that 29th degree of Pisces, Mars came along on April 21 and conjuncted it. 29th degree Pisces conjunction of Venus and Mars. Hmm...clearing out layers and layers of relationship dynamics and etheric impressions through spiritual/ancestral lines. Looking for a clean slate in the biggest, most all-encompassing way.

Combine that with almost immediate squares of both Mars and Venus in Aries to Pluto Rx in Capricorn, and we had a potent force designed to cut the crap in our relationships and in how we went about having our needs and wants met within those relationships. Nuclear meltdown time for any relationship detritus holding us back from our most vital, sustaining relations. Including entire relationships that we had outgrown.

As I said in a previous post, relationships that could no longer handle who we really were (or that were never quite right to begin with, all things considered) had to be left in the dust.

So throughout the second half of April, May and the first three weeks of June, Venus has trailed just behind Mars in the zodiac. They moved from the 29th degree of Pisces through Aries and half of Taurus in this formation.

And now Venus finally passes Mars in Taurus. They come together at the 15th degree on Sunday, June 21 at 7:09 a.m.

This has been a long-awaited union. It is with relief that Venus finally meets Mars here, and it should take some of the edge off. We've had a lot of battling, willful energy of late, and now Venus should soften the edges a bit. Here's the love, with Venus in its own sign. Earthy, practical, real, loving. Relaxing into the relationship changes we've made (including with the relationship to ourselves) and seeing that yes, they were all for the better. Getting a handle on where we are now, post-Arien battles and Plutonic meltdowns, and appreciating the new foundations we're building.

Big emphasis on maintaining boundaries. We've just learned a lot about ourselves and our relationships, and now we have to put what we've learned into practise. No falling back into old, habitual patterns.

Just after this conjunction, Venus and then Mars will trine Saturn in Virgo. A nice support for those Saturn in Virgo things we've been struggling with - health, daily work and service, habits, analysis, details, personal discernment, preferences, stripping away the unnecessary, making things right, staying on the right track, creating healthy, functioning systems, etc. If the weight and pressure have become almost unbearable on this front, these trines should offer assistance.

Things have been an immense struggle on the material/physical front for a lot of people. Money, employment, security, stability, trying to get things going in a concrete way...lots of stuck feelings, frustration and dead ends.

But the Sabian Symbol for the degree where Venus and Mars come together is encouraging:

An Old Man is Attempting, With a Degree of Success Unsuspected By Him, To Reveal The Mysteries To a Motley Group.

To me, this, combined with trines to Saturn in Virgo and in light of the Aquarian vibes, suggests that our efforts have not been fruitless. We are making more progress that we can see toward a better future for all.

Venus trines Saturn just after midnight, and Mars trines Saturn at 8:44 a.m. on Monday, June 22.

And all THIS goes down during the Dark of the Moon in Gemini, on its way to the New Moon at 1 degree Cancer at 1:35 p.m., June 22. Some nice, earthy, supportive aspects as we finish the lunar month and begin a new one...

But it just wouldn't be these times we're living in if it were too nice, would it? :)

Immediately after the New Moon in Cancer, the Moon opposes Pluto (2:22 p.m.). And during the wee hours the next morning (1:42 a.m. on Tuesday, June 23), the Sun in Cancer opposes Pluto in Capricorn at 2 degrees of the signs. Yet more Plutonic shedding related to emotion/decision-making, inner wisdom/external progress, home/business. Old school Capricornian structures and old school emotional habits getting the Plutonic meltdown treatment. Breaking down what will no longer sustain along those lines. Letting go of the structures of the past and the emotional ties that bind us to them.

The Moon's movement in Taurus over the next two days is also preparing us for the squares of Venus and Mars in Taurus to Neptune, Chiron and Jupiter in Aquarius.

Venus and Mars are moving toward these squares now, and we should experience some pressure building toward the end of June. Venus squares these bodies July 1, and Mars does July 6 - the day before the lunar eclipse at 15 degrees Capricorn (trining Saturn in Virgo). A lot of earth energy involved here, which makes me think there will be more concrete progress involved. (Fingers crossed!)

We've already experienced the Sun in Taurus and Mercury in Taurus (three times due to the retrograde) squaring the bodies in Aquarius. This Taurus energy is the grounding, "keeping it real" influence on that triple conjunction - which hasn't been an easy function to play. That triple conjunction has an intense agenda of its own, and staying in the here and now, feet on the ground, has been a challenge, to say the least.

But now, all three bodies in Aquarius - Neptune, Chiron and Jupiter - are moving retrograde. We go back over the territory we've covered since these bodies first came together. This is a good thing because I'm not quite sure just what ground we have covered. haha! So much of it was related to the unseen, energetic realms. A lot of dreamy, dreamy future-oriented stuff, but also with a wounded dystopic vision mixed in there at times. The dangers of not keeping it real were very apparent with this one.

Anyway, I think the Venus-Mars squares will now be able to hold their own with this triad. The earthy, grounded influence should be able to dig in more substantially now that these three bodies are in retrograde motion.

Not only that, but Uranus in Pisces (semi-sextile the Aquarius bodies at 26 degrees) goes retrograde, as well, on June 30. Uranus in Pisces disposits the Aquarius bodies, and Venus and Mars in Taurus will sextile it around the same time they square the Aquarius triple conjunction.

Making the promise of these times a reality. Keeping a realistic, practical outlook and taking concrete steps instead of being swept away/off course by the possibilities and the dreams.

So yes, this means that all three outer planets (Uranus, Neptune and Pluto), as well as Chiron and Jupiter will be moving retrograde by July 1. We've got a lot of processing and recalibrating to do related to what we've just experienced. (What WAS that all about? hahaha) There are a lot of pieces we missed the first time over these zodiac degrees (especially with Neptune and Chiron involved), and we need these retros so that we don't get too far ahead of ourselves. Don't think of retrogrades as a negative thing. It's very important that we stay on track, and we now take a sober second look at things while all these bodies are in retrograde motion.

Mercury Re-enters Gemini Tonight...

At 8:47 p.m. MDT.

So today, Mercury is on the 29th degree of Taurus, and I have a headache. :) I've had one off and on since the final squares to the Aquarius triple conjunction.

The Moon at 29 Aquarius squared Mercury at 29 Taurus at 3 p.m. before it entered Pisces. A nice dissolution vibe.

It has been a difficult Mercury retrograde in a lot of respects. A lot of quite demanding mental processing with three sets of Mercury squares to the bodies in Aquarius. It's been hard to keep a handle on "where we are," even with the earthy Taurus influence. I've struggled with maintaining mental boundaries during this time and keeping unwelcome influences away. Unwelcome, invading thoughts had to be brought under control.

Mercury is still passing through the retrograde shadow, but it will enter new territory on Monday, June 15, at 1 degree Gemini.

Today is a day to just relax, cease any worrying or analyzing, and let Mercury finish doing its thing in Taurus.

I've had some neck and shoulder pain and stiffness in the last week (since the squares), and this has also been reported to me by other people. Pain and stiffness in these areas are to be expected with Mercury-Uranus contacts - Mercury in Taurus sextiled Uranus in Pisces and then squared Neptune-Chiron-Jupiter in Aquarius, which is ruled by Uranus.

Mercury-Uranus contacts relate to the difficulty of processing the sometimes blinding, lightning-strike insights of Uranus through our minds (and in Taurus, our bodies, as well) and integrating them in our day-to-day mindset, communications, ideas, interactions. Uranus uses our spines like lightning rods, and this seems to sometimes cause pain and stiffness as we attempt to process the energy and insight we're being infused with through the tops of our heads on down. Some sort of sticking point between the crown and throat chakras that we have to work out...

So with Mercury on the 29th (anaretic) degree of Taurus, we're challenged to really ground ourselves and mentally place ourselves on the Earth. Allow the understanding of where we are now to take its place in our tired, overloaded brains. :)

Final Mercury Squares to Chiron-Neptune-Jupiter in Aquarius

Mercury in Taurus squared Chiron Rx in Aquarius early this morning (around 7 a.m. MT). It sextiles Uranus in Pisces (3:46 p.m. MT) and squares Neptune Rx in Aquarius (3:53 p.m. MT) within minutes today, as we experience Mercury's final pass of squares from Taurus to the triple conjunction of Chiron-Neptune-Jupiter in Aquarius.

Mercury squares Jupiter in Aquarius tomorrow at 9:34 a.m., and Jupiter goes retrograde June 15...the same day Mercury leaves the retrograde shadow.

Even though Mercury is now direct, communication is still slow. There's not a lot of chit-chat for the sake of chit-chat. I noticed a major decrease in people's Facebook activity all during Mercury in Taurus. Our minds are focussed on creating momentum and dealing with the practical, here and now necessities so as to not overwhelm ourselves with the big, grand vision of what we're hoping is to come.

And Mercury in Taurus has its work cut out for it these days keep all pairs of feet firmly on the ground...

A sextile to Uranus in Pisces followed immediately by a square to Neptune in Aquarius has the entire Pisces-Aquarius shift involved. Digging in, grounding, being realisic about the conditions we're working with on Earth...these are all things the Taurus energy of the day must continue to bring to the table, with the utmost patience and diligence.

These should be the "getting the show on the road" squares as far as Mercury is concerned, post-retrograde. (Pretty please!) The pressure here should get something going for real, getting our brains on a solid, concrete track. At the very least we can start talking about things to come and making the connections we need to make to get the ball rolling.

Mercury has squared the Aquarius bodies from Taurus three times now. Once when it was direct but in its retrograde shadow (end of April). Once during its retrograde period (May 20). And now (June 9 - 10) as it moves direct passing through its retrograde shadow.

These Taurus-Aquarius squares are important, remember, because the Sun in Taurus was squaring the Aquarius triple conjunction as Saturn in Virgo turned direct (May 16), showing us the themes and challenges of Saturn's movement direct.

We continue with the themes of those squares all through May and June, through the first part of July, as Mercury, Mars and Venus all follow the steps of the Sun and, in turn, square the Aquarius triple conjunction. Venus in Taurus squares the Aquarius bodies July 1 and Mars does July 6.

I think a lot of people are tired of how slowly and arduously things seem to be moving. I know I am. Beyond tired. The strong Taurus influence, especially in square formation, is an indicator of the vibes we're dealing with.

Although, I'm not sure how much of this arduous, pressured feeling is personal and how much is collective - since I have some harsh stuff going down natally.

But I do know a lot of people are experiencing similar conditions...possibly a case of birds of a feather. :)

I always think of the square as a Saturnine aspect. To me, there are similar themes - pressure and a sort of make-or-break feel, taking responsibility for the successful interaction of the energies. It's an adult-feeling aspect where we're dealing with combinations of things that are sometimes difficult and uncomfortable to deal with. Where we have to accept certain conditions and do the best we can to make progress with them. It's not in our best interests to shirk the responsibility of the square aspect - similar to Saturn. (Though many try!)

People with a lot of squares in their charts often have a Saturnine vibe to me. They deal on a daily basis with the weight and difficulty of those squares. All the while, people around them are often none the wiser! I think squares do make you a much better person for it in the long run. The pressure matures and refines and hones us into the best we can be, potential realized - or that is the intention.

On the other hand, there are masses of people who try to shirk the responsibilities of their squares! There is little I dislike more than people who live their entire lives running from the responsibilities inherent in their birth charts. It causes so much chaos...

Mercury re-enters Gemini this Saturday, June 13, one of the two signs of its rulership, and that should grease the wheels a little. Mercury is very comfortable and freely-functioning in Gemini. It knows what to do. There is no resistance. So communication should be flowing freer. By next Monday, June 15, Mercury is out of its retrograde shadow. New mental territory.

I still don't have the information I need to know what the hell is going on in my work life, and that could not be more frustrating...so come on, Mercury! Let me in on what the heck is going down in my own life, will ya?

Saturn in Virgo Direct: Withdrawing Misplaced Allegiances and Removing Poisoned Arrows - May 2009

Aspects for May 16-20, 2009 - colouring Saturn direct (done for Mountain Time)

May 16
Sun in Taurus square Jupiter in Aquarius - 2:45 a.m.
Sun in Taurus square Chiron in Aquarius - 3:30 p.m.
Saturn direct at 14 degrees Virgo - 8:06 p.m.
Sun in Taurus square Neptune in Aquarius - 11:05 p.m.
May 16/17
Moon in Aquarius conjuncting Jupiter, Chiron and Neptune in Aquarius and squaring Mercury Rx and the Sun in Taurus - 11:47 p.m. - 4:40 a.m.
May 18
Sun conjunct Mercury at 27 degrees Taurus - 4:02 a.m.
May 20
Mercury retrograde in Taurus square Neptune in Aquarius - 3:21 a.m.
Mercury retrograde in Taurus square Chiron in Aquarius - 3:00 p.m.
Mercury retrograde in Taurus square Jupiter in Aquarius - 9:45 p.m.

As Saturn turns direct in earth sign Virgo on May 16, we have the Sun in Taurus (another earth sign) squaring Jupiter, Chiron and Neptune, which are all in conjunction at around 26 degrees Aquarius (air).

We also have the Moon in Aquarius conjuncting the bodies in that sign and squaring the Sun and Mercury (retrograde) in Taurus May 16/17.

The Sun and Mercury come together at 27 Taurus on May 18, and Mercury moves back over the Sun's steps, squaring Neptune, Chiron and Jupiter in Aquarius May 20.

These Taurus-Aquarius squares colour the challenges we face as Saturn turns direct and we get going on a new, better-adapted structural reality.

Our challenge here is to bust out and create something new...but to do it within a concrete, day-to-day reality. To advance our lives in the ways that most inspire us, making it a practical, daily, work-in-progress, with our personal understanding of what needs to come about so desperately in our communities as our guide.

We're meant to take the vision out of the realm of rhetoric and live it. To take it out of the hands of criminal so-called leaders, disconnect from their version of the future, and determine what it really means to us personally.

This is the radical Aquarian break. The line we draw in the sand. Where we take back the "revolution," the "vision," the "future" from those who have co-opted these terms and used them against us. This is where we say enough is enough and demand real freedom, for everyone. To live with that goal at the forefront. This is where we are no longer willing to accept the version of false freedom that is packaged and sold to us. This is where we wrestle our intellectual independence away from the people and institutions that corrupt it.

Or we choose to go along with it. It's a personal choice each individual has to make.

Revolution is a trendy word these days, used by advertisers to sell cars and body spray. Self-declared visionaries run around, a new one every day, it seems, trying to get people on board their particular vision and version of the future.

This is why the use of personal discernment and judgement required by Saturn in Virgo is so important right now. Define these things for yourself.

Cut away the noise and excess. Pare down to what is basic, simple, necessary, meaningful, real to you in your life. The more we sever ties to toxic structures and energy dynamics, the better we feel. Refuse to play the game. Reconnect with simple pleasures and the appreciation you have for what is real and good in your life. Guard that carefully.

It's important that we have our feet planted firmly on the ground now, stripping away falsity to more fully understand the conditions we are working with.

If we don't personally make the choice regarding which version of the "future vision" we wish to bring about, the choice is made for us.

With the Sun and Mercury in Taurus, Saturn in Virgo and Pluto Rx in Capricorn, there is a lot of earth focus right now...and neither Saturn nor Pluto (both demanding planets) will think twice about giving us a reality-check slap upside the head if we're too far off in the clouds.

Taurus is a sign rooted to Earth. It's the sign where we commit to making progress in the physical realm. Slow, methodical, sure-footed progress. In Taurus we lay a solid foundation - one that will physically support our grand dreams and goals.

Taurus knows that what is really valuable doesn't just miraculously come into existence. There is effort involved to bring about the quality of physical life it desires. Taurus is a fixed sign, and once it gets going, it wants to keep going. There is nothing it dislikes more than shoddy workmanship. It doesn't want to go back over a crappy job later on. It wants to do things right the first time, and it's willing to put the time and effort into things initially to make sure things are on a solid footing. No movement unless it's the right movement.

This is where we find ourselves in our conscious moment (Sun in Taurus), with Mercury retrograde (May 6 - 30) also in late Taurus, dispositing Saturn in Virgo, to make sure we've got it down. Mercury in Taurus (especially retrograde) slows our thinking, communicating and information-processing way down so our thoughts are grounded in practical reality. We're going back over intellectual territory to reinforce anything that seems a little shaky. We're collecting any information we might have missed or glossed over the first time around and making any changes necessary in the process of turning our Aquarian blueprints into a Taurean physical reality.

Taurus deals in the practical here and now, not in abstract intellectualism. So you can see the energy of the Taurus-Aquarius squares we're dealing with here as we take our first concrete steps with Saturn direct. Aquarius has the objective vision. It's tapped in there. But Taurus deals with the practical realities of bringing that vision to Earth. Grounding it. Making it real.

As is always the case with square dynamics, we're challenged to respect what both signs bring to the table. Each of these energies has a hard time working with the other at times. It can be tense. They don't approach things in the same way and come from very different perspectives. But work together they must in order to create a world in which we want to live.

You can think of it as the interior designer doing the visualizing (Aquarius) versus the tradespeople doing the physical work (Taurus) - equally important forces working for collective ends. The interior designer has the vision, and the tradespeople have the skills and know-how to make that vision a reality.

We're challenged now to ensure we're working on our own Aquarian blueprints here - no misplaced effort or allegiances.

We must determine what is required from us in the here and now, in our conscious moment, and take the next step. Taking even the smallest of concrete steps, when we know it's right. Enduring through resistance. Severing ties to anything that does not truly reflect our personal values. This is how the widescale change gets it's legs and digs in in a way that is going to be meaningful over the long run.

So our vision is coming into check by physical-reality-based circumstances. And some fucked up physical-reality-based circumstances they are.

At the same time, the Aquarian part of the square ensures that we push for our prefered future as we see it. Our freedom is at stake. We can't get bogged down in tradition and history (Taurus) and talk ourselves out of what is possible. We know we're in new territory, creating something that hasn't previously existed, and we have to maintain the integrity of that vision.

To start off in the wrong way means going back and beginning again - something Taurus would prefer to avoid. We have to determine what we can and cannot compromise on here. This is the setting of personal values and boundaries related to Taurus.

With two fixed signs squaring off, people/situations are going to be stubborn, frictional.

We've definitely got an infusion of Aquarian energy, with ongoing conjunctions of Jupiter, Chiron and Neptune at 26 Aquarius (from May 23 to July 22). We're tapped in and inspired by the Aquarian vibration and the feeling of the new. We can see the possibility of a future beyond murder, violence, oppression and coercion. Beyond unjust power dynamics and horrible struggle. A future where human beings can live freely as who they are, without threat. Where we use the higher functions of human intelligence to solve our problems. A planet that functions by the people, for the people.

We know that so much is possible now. We're able to break the shackles of the past here if we're diligent and give it our all. If we keep our head in the game. This is why we're on the planet now, alive during these times. The rules of the past are losing influence and we're assisting this process. We're responsible for creating better for this planet and its inhabitants. To bring about true freedom. We have to feel this and know it. To live this and never allow ourselves to be talked out of the fact that individuals can and do create marvellous change every day through diligent and committed action. We must not allow anyone to talk us out of what we know about our lives and what we're here to do.

With Saturn just getting rolling in Virgo (combined with the strong Taurus influence), the momentum-building process is going to make slow gains. Earthly timing is often slower than we would like, but we have to make sure every step of the way is correct. We have to watch those Virgoan details, not missing a one. The second half of May will bring a little relief, but movement could seem infinitesimal for the first couple of weeks of Saturn direct. Our responsibilities are in focus. We're working with gravity here.

We also have Venus and Mars moving from feisty Aries to methodical Taurus - Mars on May 31 and Venus on June 6. So the Taurus-Aquarius square themes continue to be prominent into July. Venus and Mars don't square Jupiter, Chiron and Neptune exactly until the beginning of July (after Jupiter, Chiron and Neptune all, almost simultaneously, go retrograde), but the themes are there through May and June, into the first part of July.

To me, this practical focus always seems to be where those of a more Neptunian inclination get off the ride. They seem to be so depressed and discouraged by the idea of any physical limitations or that it is going to take some sustained effort and application to get where they want to go that they head off into the stratosphere, preaching about transcendence and maya and climbing the enlightenment ladder to get out of this physical reality.

With the Sun and Mercury squaring Neptune, this is a big theme colouring the entire Saturn direct process.

There is a misuse of the idea of maya out there these days that I've come across quite a lot. The misuse (as I see it) is the promoted idea that all physical reality is maya and that we must transcend maya. In other words, nothing really exists (it's all an illusion) so we shouldn't really give a crap about this plane. We're just meant to pass through it as quickly as possible, transcend it. "Enlighten" ourselves out of it.

This ideology is often attributed to Buddha and was a main reason I sort of thought Buddhism (as applied in 2009) was leading people in the wrong direction. From what I could see, it was being used as an excuse for inaction in the here and now.

In actuality, I've come to find out, Buddha directed his energy into work on the physical plane.

Early Buddha contemplated transcending the Earth plane, and this seems to be what a lot of people stick with.

But mature Buddha came to the conclusion that to transcend the struggle of Earthly experience, we must deal with physical reality in the moment in which we're living. That physical and spiritual are one and the same, and that the key to alleviating suffering on the planet (and transcending it) was to deal with the conditions of physical reality creating that suffering.

Apparently, Buddha told his disciples not to waste their time and energy in constant metaphysical speculation that didn't bring them any closer to the truth, directing them toward practical efforts instead.

A quote attributed to him: "Suppose a man is struck by a poisoned arrow and the doctor wishes to take out the arrow immediately. Suppose the man does not want the arrow removed until he knows who shot it, his age, his parents, and why he shot it. What would happen? If he were to wait until all these questions have been answered, the man might die first."

In other words, we have to get to work in immediate ways, taking out the poisoned arrows.

It's cool that this is coming up now because Buddha is considered a Sun sign Taurus and illustrates the grounded Taurean application of spirituality we so need to master right now.

All water signs (spiritual realms) have an equally important earth sign (physical reality) polarity. You can't choose one over the other.

Taurus is a sign of sensual pleasure - what is pleasing to the five senses. So the goal here is to create a physical reality on Planet Earth that feels good to live, physically and energetically/psychically. So that there is no need to desire the transcendence of the Earth plane so desperately.

Earth is not our enemy. Saturn is not our enemy. Physical reality is not our enemy.

Properly applying Taurus energy is sensual, earthy, sexy, and much more authentically feel-good than anything being sold to you on the market today. It lasts longer, too. ;)

With Chiron and Neptune coming together, under a Jupiterian spotlight, there will be a tendency to go too far into the promise of blissful Neptunian utopia and spiritual surrender - possibly as a reaction to the fear mongering of the day. Chiron conjunct Neptune in Aquarius shows the potential for pain resulting from the surrender of personal power to external authorities supposedly leading us into "the future." With Neptune involved, there is a tendency to be blinded by rosy idealism and transcendent fervour...to see only the supposed good and be carried along until it is too late.

The expansion of the agenda of the New World Order under Obama is a perfect example of the shadow side of these energies at work.

Also of the current earth element. The incremental (Taurus), systemic (Virgo) creation and takeover of hierarchical power structures (Capricorn).

People could buy into the spiritual glamour of these Aquarius conjunctions (and I'm sure a lot of New Agey astrologers are going to be working that angle for all its worth) and give up their personal power and responsibility in dealing with the application of the energy, resulting in painful disillusionment (and worse) in the long run.

The "and worse" is the Aquarius without Pisces part of the equation. The hatred toward humanity shown by much of the science of the day. Emotional detachment to the point of human beings being treated like robots, test subjects. Arrogant Atlantean throwbacks. Data chips. Depopulation schemes. Eugenics. One child laws. Elitist agendas using science (Aquarius) and spirituality (Pisces) to further the most horrific goals. A war against humanity itself.

These are not science fiction ideas. These are ideas held by some of the most "powerful" people of the day. 90% depopulation of the Earth is a number bandied about among many of these so-called elites. And no, not strictly through birth control.

But most people will reject this outright. It's too far out of their scope, I guess. I remember being at an all-candidates meeting in Carnduff, Saskatchewan about five or six years ago. I asked the candidates what they thought of George Bush's plan for One World Goverment. They thought I was nuts and said there was no such thing. I told them to check out the official website (it existed) before I was tossed out of the meeting for being "inappropriate." :)

I mean, we've been here before, right? History has repeated. As far as the supposed "ruling elites," we really have not progressed past the times of Stalin, Mao, Hitler, so to pretend otherwise, again, does humanity a disservice. Human beings are considered expendable by many of the people in "power" today.

(They're really quite weak when you get right down to it...but they play as if they're in charge.)

This is why humanity itself needs to surpass these fucks (and will)...and why it's so very important to keep a realistic head about us now, to reject the fear tactics and to learn from past over-inflated Neptune, heartless Aquarius, and the mistakes of surrendering to external authority. Inner alignment is key.

Going too far with Neptunian (water) rosiness, idealism and spiritual surrender to the point of escapism, denying the practical realities of where we find ourselves on Earth and our responsibilities there, sets us up for painful reality checks (earth).

As does letting detached, scientific Aquarius energy run amok, unchecked by Piscean lessons.

The horrific reality of the Vietnam War has not much changed. Kissinger (another mass depopulation fan) is still in the White House, and we're living through another Vietnam in Iraq and Afghanistan. The photographs of babies born deformed from exposure to depleted uranium munitions affected me in a similar way as seeing photos of the My Lai massacre in Vietnam. My God, my God. What are these people doing? It's unfathomable.

Everyone is so ready to lose their heads over Barack Obama, The Great Hope. A figure who knows how to work the Neptunian fervour while speaking with an Aquarian silver tongue. Someone who uses the power and energy of the new, talks the talk of change and freedom, but then walks the walk of the old regime. He uses the hopes and dreams of the people against them - the most vile use of these energies possible.

(The White House HAS to have astrologers on staff working on his speeches. All the "hope and vision and egalitarian change" stuff is straight out of the Piscean to Aquarian Age handbook.)

Video of people losing their shit after Obama's election is so similar to the fervour surrounding a really charismatic pseudo-Christian evangelist. People crying, praying, looking to the heavens, on the verge of passing out, just begging to surrender themselves to this man. Ready to put all their hopes on this figurehead, to give him everything they have...when he's working for the same old scam.

Pisces/Neptune gets burned in this way, again and again.

And he's getting even further than the middle-aged, white, Good Old Boys from Texas did. People trust Obama...even antagonistic world leaders. People believe, falsely, that he is something new, something just, something inspiring. This is why he is such a dangerous figure. He is using this blind trust in his future vision (Neptune in Aquarius) to advance the same vicious, criminal ends. The same old agenda. How to explain that this goes deeper than race? Deeper than charisma and good speech-writing and oratorial skills?

He has broken every campaign promise he made, continued the warfare in Iraq and Afghanistan, and funnelled trillions of public dollars to international bankers by threatening Congress with martial law. The amount of taxpayer money funnelled to the international banks would have paid off every mortgage in America and then 50% of those again...

And all the while people talk about what a bang-up job Obama and crew are doing. Turn on David Letterman and you think the guy is a saint.

In Canada, we have old regime leaders in both major parties, all lined up and ready to hand over our country to the international bankers with the North American Union and "Security and Prosperity Partnership." This is the merger process of Canada with the United States that started with Brian Mulroney and NAFTA and continued through Paul Martin, Chretien and the Free Trade Area of the Americas to today with Stephen Harper and the NAU/SPP. As if they are merging corporations, not countries. Criminals, all.

(Although, apparently the Bilderberg group wasn't so pleased with Harper in 2003 when he was at the meeting as Opposition Leader and wouldn't swallow the Kyoto Protocol, which I believe is being used to impose carbon taxation - another NWO plan.)

Denial will not serve us here.

Find out what version of the future is being preached.

Do not follow blindly.

If you watched Alex Jones' documentary The Obama Deception, you can see that all the major players in the Obama administration are old regime. My Scorpionic spidey sense picked up on this from the appointments of Hillary Clinton and Rahm Emmanuel. But this documentary does an awesome job of laying it out and showing just how deeply it goes. It's complete. The takeover at the top echelons of U.S. government by international bankers/Wall Street has been across the board, leaving Congress, elected by the people, a mere formality.

All major appointees belong to either the Bilderberg Group, its offshoot the Trilateral Commission, the offshoot of THAT the U.S. roundtable group the Council on Foreign Affairs or all three. Collusion at the top.

Personally, I'm not sure that these group members are not puppets themselves and that the orders are being handed down from other sources (their spiritual leaders?). And then we get into the alien element, which, yes, turns a lot of people off. But I can't help but keep going back to the thought that continually runs through my mind that these people are not human (or are living out a viciously inhumane consciousness). They can't be. I remember talking in a previous post about the altogether disturbing element of spirituality running through the White House - not Christianity, as they were suggesting, but something else. I'm guessing that something else is an alien-based religion a la Scientology based on elitism and domination of other human beings? Divine right to murder and pillage?

But here's one layer of the situation to peel away, the political layer, at the very least...

The Obama-appointed Secretary of the Treasury, Timothy Geithner, is the former president of the Federal Reserve - the privately-owned banking institution masquerading as a governmental institution. It dictates government policy and the use of money in the United States, but it has nothing to do with the people of the United States of America or their interests. It is not a public institution.

Henry Kissinger is Obama's State Department Special Envoy. Kissinger was the National Security Advisor and Secretary of State under Richard Nixon and was instrumental in creating U.S. foreign policy during the Vietnam War.

This man has the blood of millions of people from a couple dozen countries on his hands, continuing to present day. A quote attributed to Kissinger: "(Soldiers are) dumb, stupid animals to be used as pawns for foreign policy."

He was the recipient of a Nobel Peace Prize in 1973.

This is the man who advised Bush and now Obama on vicious, murderous foreign policy regarding Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc.

He also pioneered the policy of detente - a relaxing of tension between previously warring factions through diplomacy.

In actuality, this is a ploy, as there is no underlying change in motive or agenda. More an attempted merging of agendas. We see this being employed on a grand scale with the Obama administration. Surface-level diplomacy designed to advance the underlying agenda. A mix of Libra and Scorpio.

And on and on it goes...Right in front of people's faces.

Hillary Clinton (also Bill Clinton), James L. Jones, Thomas Donilon, Paul Volcker, Dennis C. Blair, Robert Gates, James Steinberg, Richard M. Haass, Alan Greenspan, Richard C. Holbrooke...

All members of either the Bilderberg Group, the Trilateral Commission or the Council on Foreign Affairs or all three and all top ranking members of the Obama Administration.

Again, there has been a change of president, no change of regime.

Unfortunately, too many people are still preaching transcendence of maya, surrender and "creating you own reality," off on one New-Age-prescribed "spiritual" diversion or another, to really be of much use in the situation.

"All part of the divine plan; all part of the divine plan; all part of the divine plan," they repeat with glassy-eyed stares.

So you're all going to swallow compulsory three-month military service for any United States citizen between the ages of 18 and 25 as "all part of the divine plan"? Because that's what Obama and Emmanuel are bringing into law.

This "all part of the divine plan" stuff just makes it more difficult for the people who have their feet on the ground - as is always the case when the collective chooses to deny a certain aspect of consciousness. It falls to those who cannot deny it.

And this is also why I'll continue to call out anyone who is promoting an unbalanced, unrealistic version of reality. (Much of establishment New Age.) Every brain counts at the moment, and if you're basking in false light, giving your's up to the groupthink of the New World Order's One World Religion (or any variation of that), and then attempting to promote that to other people, you deserve to be outed.

The goal of the Bilderberg group-Trilateral Commission-Council on Foreign Relations is One World Government - the ruling of the planet by a single world government made up of the wealthiest of "elites." This is what so-called leaders are referring to when they call publicly for a "new world order." (George Bush, Sr., George Bush, Jr. and Obama have all called for this through the mainstream media.) It sounds innocuous when they say it, as if it's a great big old planet-wide singalong. They're going to protect us! Let's hold hands and sing! But it's not innocuous at all.

These groups are attempting to achieve the consolidation of power in four areas to bring about complete domination. The four areas are: political, monetary, intellectual and eclesiastical.

So they're battling to control governments at all levels, the monetary system (through international banks, including the Federal Reserve, dictating governmental policy), the minds of the people (through corporate-owned media) and the spirituality of the people (through the spread of this New Agey mindfuckery called One World Religion).

At the same time, they far underestimate humanity.

More and more people are starting to trust themselves and their own feelings/intuition over these schmucks. People are developing intuitively/psychically. They're looking beyond spoon-feeding and are seeking out other information sources. They're starting to say no more to these criminals.

And then there are those of us who were born knowing this, who could never deny what we see and feel.

Once you see through this stuff, once you can feel the dirty motivations and understand the viciousness of these people and their agenda, there's no going back.

Those of us with this Scorpionic consciousness have more of a load to carry until the collective takes on its share...I guess we drew the short straws. ;)

So it's a battle. And yeah, every individual counts. But we're more powerful than they are.

I always go back to the conviction I have of inherent human freedom. Meaning, external sources can attempt to take away every liberty we have, but they can't get rid of our inner freedom, as long as we refuse to give it up willingly.

They're pulling out every trick in the book these days to get us to do so, and we have to be trickier. We have to stare it down and refuse to be drawn into this dystopic version of the future. We have to call them out on this stuff, to speak up when we know we should, and show them that they can't intimidate us into swallowing it.

Things have been twisted so deviously and enmeshed so thoroughly that many people can't tell real from fake at the moment. Certain truths have been co-opted and mixed with garbage so you swallow the poison along with. I have to go over and over my own posts with a fine-toothed comb and weed out any bullshit that might have found its way in from the collective mindset of the day. This is how entrenched these ideas are and how much they have permeated the collective. This false speech that says nothing of substance but creates false consent. False light doing dirty work. But once you can feel the energy of dirty motivations, you can follow even the most seemingly innocuous statements and ideas back to their dirty roots and reject them outright.

We must not give our power away.

We are sovereign beings. We are connected to our source/God/our spiritual faith. Nothing and no one can change that.

Anyway, the Pluto in Virgos who are truly aligned with change in an authentic, meaningful way (ie. not murdering 90% of the population) are here to trigger the completion of what was started in the 1960s regarding human rights and social progress. We're all here to do this, inter-generationally.

Recall that we're in the midst of a series of Saturn-Uranus oppositions designed to break down old structures and create better-functioning ones more aligned with the times. (Again, make sure you know whose "aligning vision" is involved...)

The Pluto in Virgos were born during the 1960s and thereabout, which was a time frame including the last Saturn and Uranus oppositions, in opposite signs. Uranus in Virgo and Saturn in Pisces.

We're here now to bring a paradigm of freedom and egalitarianism fully into existence - within the mainstream structures and systems - and to out the power players/structures holding us back from that.

It's a constant battle to strip away the garbage we're being fed and reframe it, ensuring we don't become hijacked by the energy and ideology of other agendas. The pitfalls are many, so we have to be smarter and more decisive about where we apply our energies.

The Aquarian revolution of this millenium really is a common sense one. The radical idea that people should live freely with access to the things they need to live decent, dignified human lives. That they have access to health care when they need it, they have decent homes to live in, meaningful work, access to education, access to good, wholesome food and clean water. That they live without discrimination, persecution, injury and death, injustice, oppression and abuse based on class, race, sex, sexual orientation, personal values, etc. That we exist beyond a system of haves and have-nots where the haves benefit from the oppressive circumstances of the have-nots.

And then making that a reality.

But this won't happen under the current world government regime - the Old World Order morphed into the New World Order.

It starts with us, and this is why it's so crucial that we start off in the right way, under the right circumstances.

This is also why the (real) Aquarian revolution will not rely on prominent world leaders for its momentum. The revolution is embedded. It's in all of us, and we all have a responsibility to live it in our daily lives. No more Piscean Age follow-the-leader. That's too dangerous, as we've seen with the assassinations of JFK, MLK, Jr., etc. and how that took the wind out of the sails. We can't set ourselves up for the same downfalls. We have to learn from the past and be smarter now.

We can live inspired and guided by our vision, but we have to first know which vision we're putting our energy behind, which vision we're working to bring about. This is where Saturn in Virgo hammering home the details is necessary.

This really is a very polarizing time...as were the 1960s. And for those of us who refuse to continue with the vicious brutality and crime of the current regime, here is where we take responsibility for our break from that regime.

It really is a matter of survival of the soul. To live falsely is worse than death, to me.

I wish more people understood this.

There are a lot of people living with little to no consciousness of the subtext of our times, I guess.

And I have to go back to endurance - a very Taurean concept.

Aquarius isn't about bells and whistles. It's pretty simple. This physical reality, as a whole, needs drastic improvement. We know this. Saturn in Virgo says so. So we have to dig in in a way that inspires us but also in a way that is going to get the job done in a real, concrete way. We have to get the poisoned arrows out. Identify them and pull them out. The alternative really isn't one we want to live, is it?