"A Midway Check-In with Venus Retrograde in Leo: Allowing Love to Find a Way" is an article available to Willow's Web Astrology patrons.
Showing posts with label venus in leo retrograde. Show all posts
Showing posts with label venus in leo retrograde. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 2, 2023
Friday, July 28, 2023
Venus Rx in Leo Conjunct Black Moon Lilith: Activist Art, Punk Art, Outsider Art, and Art with an Edge
Venus is currently retrograde in Leo (July 22 - September 3, 2023) conjunct Black Moon Lilith, the lunar apogee. These astrological symbols indicate themes around "art with an edge," activist art, punk art, outsider art, and art that expresses something uncomfortable or even repugnant to the mainstream. Venus Rx in Leo conjunct Black Moon Lilith also indicates review or reflection on these themes. In light of the astrology, I thought I would look back to a darkly hilarious experience I had in 2019/2020: The scrappy little photo above documents dual forms of censorship. It also illustrates how regular people censor each other so that "uncomfortable and inconvenient" information never makes it to the broader public. I did a "5G Dangers Awareness" postering campaign on public bulletin boards in Castlegar, British Columbia in 2020 and 2021. Each time I put them up (in multiple locations), the posters would be ripped down within days. Each time, I would replace the posters. This little game went on for months. Under the anti-5G poster, you can see a poster for Castlegar's Open Mic Night. I was the main organizer of this open mic in 2019, spending many unpaid hours doing the legwork and promotion to get it up and running. This involved encouraging and promoting the other performers. I shared some writing from my zines at the first three open mics. The third reading involved a folk punk song I had written about fluoroquinolone antibiotic poisoning and the maker of the drug that harmed me, Bayer. I also talked about the recent Bayer-Monsanto merger and the upcoming worldwide march against Bayer-Monsanto. Afterward, some of the other performers went behind my back to try to have me censored because what I had read made them uncomfortable. At the open mic I organized. At my own open mic! "I Was Censored At My Own Open Mic...and Other Tales from the Plutonic Punk Underground!" I can laugh at this experience now as the absurdity that it is, but it was quite traumatic at the time. None of the other performers/founding members stood up for me or for my right to perform. I wrote an article about it on my blog at the time, and the jist of it was: Art doesn't have to make you feel comfortable! Art doesn't have to be all warm and fuzzy. That's entertainment, and there's a difference between art and entertainment. Punk art and activist art are just as worthy as teenagers singing rock-and-roll cover songs.
* mic drop! *
Related Articles:
The Nazis Got Me With Fluoride Pills!
Venus Conjunct Uranus, Open Mic Censorship, and the Apolitical Arts Scene
Mercury-Black Moon Lilith Contacts, Censorship, and Reporting From the Fringes
Stop Bayer-Monsanto's Crimes Against Humanity, Animals, and the Environment!
Pluto Stationing Retrograde in Capricorn: From Millions Against Monsanto to Billions Against Bayer
WWA articles on Ciprofloxacin, fluorquinolone antibiotic poisoning, and Big Pharma
Monday, May 15, 2023
Mars and Venus in Leo: Opening into the Full Creative Power and Potential of the Pluto in Aquarius Transit
"Mars and Venus in Leo: Opening into the Full Creative Power and Potential of the Pluto in Aquarius Transit" is an article available to Willow's Web Astrology patrons.
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
Mercury Retrograde in Libra and Wrapping Our Minds Around this Summer's Big, Bold Venus Retrograde
Mercury retrograde September 17 - October 9 from 15 to 0 degrees Libra
Venus has just gone direct at 14 degrees Leo (September 6), and we begin in earnest a new eight-year cycle pertaining to love, relationships, values, aesthetic, and money.
This is a complex one, however, with Venus forming squares to Saturn and conjunctions to Jupiter. Getting this new cycle off the ground successfully is going to take a little more time and a little more effort. There are layers upon layers here.
The summer of 2015 was very intense and very concentrated. As with most Venus retrograde periods, it was also bittersweet. An eight-year relationship cycle was coming to a close, and many relationships were coming to a close with it. Many break-ups were announced and acted upon, including, with the strong influence of Saturn, long-term couples. In my community of less than 300 people, three long-term married couples separated over this Venus retrograde summer.
This is an excerpt from the article, "Mercury Rx in Libra and Wrapping Our Minds Around this Summer's Big, Bold Venus Retrograde." It is available in its entirety to Willow's Web Astrology patrons.
Monday, August 10, 2015
Venus Retrograde Square Saturn And Purchases that Require Some Extra Elbow Grease
I live in an apartment in an old character building up a long, winding staircase of about 30 stairs that has many awkward angles to navigate.
When I moved in, I furnished the place with funky garage sale finds and hand-me-downs, and I was very happy with the results, even though I only had two ancient easy chairs as living room furniture. If worse came to worse, I could get every item of furniture I owned down the stairs by myself.
Over time, though, I started hankering for a couch to stretch my legs out on and maybe for a little extra seating for guests. I imagine it's a bit odd these days to walk into someone's place and find that it has room to seat only two people. Not great for socializing!
Still, I could not gather the nerve to ask anyone to help me haul a couch up those stairs. I certainly didn't want to have to ask my poor, hard-working senior citizen father. Despite the fact that he is still strong and agile with "rancher pipes," it just didn't seem like a good thing to do.
(Where-oh-where is my strong-backed husband, universe? *snicker*)
So for the past two years, I've stuck with the Easy Chair Duo. And I haven't invited many people over.
I did spot what appeared to be a great deal on a second-hand love seat and chair on a garage sale site a few months ago. The set was in great shape, it was in the area being sold by people I knew, and it was a great price. But still, who would help me bring it up those stairs? I really hate asking anyone to help me do anything like that (though I would generally not think twice about helping someone do something similar), so I didn't make a move on it at the time.
The post was taken down a little while later, and I assumed someone had snapped it up.
But at the end of July, months after I saw the original post, I saw the woman advertising it again.
This time, I couldn't pass it up.
Now, I'm well aware of the astrological caution not to make big purchases when Venus is retrograde. It's a karmic time for money and physical possessions, and if you can avoid it, you should.
But I also understand that some people are never without karmic conditions around these things (your anarchist astro-reporter being one of them with a tricky Venus placement in the natal chart).
And sometimes things do seem to naturally come together during a retrograde period. You can't fight it.
So I called the seller to tell her I would come look at the set and that I would take it if it would fit up my stairs.
I knew my Dad would lend me his truck and help me load the furniture into it, but I tried to find a local strong back to help me get it up the stairs to my place. I offered to pay $25 or whatever the person thought was fair, but I had no luck, so I had to draw my strong-yet-seniorly father into service, after all. What's a girl to do? I couldn't exactly haul a love seat up the stairs strapped to my back.
So my Dad and I went to pick the love seat and chair up, and as per the photos on the garage sale site, the set was in great shape. Thankfully, it was also quite light. I did notice that the couple had a dog, and I have allergies to pets, but in the past, a good vacuuming and the use of packing tape to pick up errant hairs had done the trick, so I didn't think it would be a problem.
We loaded the love seat and chair into the back of my Dad's pick-up, brought it into town, and wrangled it up the winding stairs.
I got out the vacuum and gave it a good going-over. I actually had to pull the dog hairs out by hand under the cushions, as they were so embedded in there. But I finally removed the hair of the previous owners' beloved Pug.
I thought all was well post-vacuuming and dog-hair-removing, but I did notice that the furniture had a bit of an "air freshener" scent to it. It was fairly faint, and I didn't immediately think it would be a problem.
I was wrong.
Every time I sat on the couch or chair, I would have an allergic reaction to that scent. My lungs would start to tighten and fill, and I would get the standard itchiness going on.
Uh-oh.
Was Venus retrograde karma striking?
The furniture seemed so perfect! The price was so great! We'd wrangled it up those stairs in the heat of summer, grunting and sweating! Was it too good to be true, even after two years penance of living without a couch?
I had a pretty strong suspicion that the offending scent was Febreze, a chemically spray advertised to "get rid of odours." The well-meaning previous owner had likely sprayed the couch and chair down with Febreze hoping to get rid of any dog smell. However, I have intense chemical sensitivities, so her good intentions had some unintended results.
I started doing research online. Apparently, it is somewhat difficult to get rid of Febreze.
Uh-oh again.
Not to give away the ending of this absolutely scintillating little story from my life, but, in honour of Mercury transiting Virgo (detailed, specialized, and kind of anal), here are my Tips for Getting Rid of Febreze on Second-Hand Furniture. This set is micro-suede, but this may work on other fabrics, as well:
I started with vinegar and water solutions. The first couple times did not eliminate the Febreze odour, so each time I wiped the couch and chair down, I used progressively stronger solutions until I was using one part white vinegar, one part water. (You can probably just start with that concentration.)
I wiped the furniture down with a wet cloth soaked in the vinegar-water solution three separate times, saturating the fabric but not making it dripping wet, and let it air dry completely with the windows open each time.
This process definitely helped matters. The Febreze smell was growing more faint. However, the sniff test and my continued allergic reactions told me I was not quite getting to the root of the problem with the vinegar and water.
So I upped the ante with Dr. Bronner's peppermint castille soap. Dr. Bronner's is a natural liquid soap. I don't have any allergic reaction to the peppermint scent, but people with bad allergies should test it ahead of time.
I made a strong soap solution of about 1/8 cup peppermint Dr. Bronner's and 3 cups water. I had one pail with the soap solution and one pail with clean water (and a separate cloth).
I shampooed the couch and chair with the soap solution first, scrubbing every part of the fabric with the soapy cloth, and then went over it with the wet cloth and clean water to remove the soap.
Again, I let it air dry overnight with the windows open.
And again, the Febreze smell was still faintly apparent. (It really is somewhat difficult to get rid of that stuff!)
So I upped the ante again by adding peppermint essential oils into the soap solution and also into the rinse water.
I repeated the shampooing, scrubbing, and rinsing process and let it air dry again.
That did the trick. The Febreze smell was gone. But now I had a fairly strong peppermint essential oil smell with an underlying smell of vinegar. Not bad, definitely better than Febreze, but still not the preferable smell for a couch and chair.
So the final step in the Febreze-ridding process was to use unscented Dr. Bronner's soap in a solution, repeating the shampooing and rinsing of the furniture fabric. After that had dried, I was left with a tolerably slight scent of peppermint and vinegar, which I hope will fade over time.
(Editor's Note: Hot weather seemed to re-activate the faint Febreeze smell from beneath the couch and chair cushions, so I gave them one final dousing with full strength vinegar and allowed it to dry. I followed this with another shampooing with Dr. Bronner's unscented soap in water mixed with some Thieves essential oil. This has eliminated the smell, but I will repeat the process if the Febreeze rears its ugly head again!
Editor's Note Part Deux: the Febreeze did rear it's ugly head again, so I rubbed raw onion slices on the problem areas and then left the onion slices on them overnight so as to absorb the smell. Yes, raw onion smell is preferable to Febreek (the reek of Febreeze). Any natural smell would be, to be honest! So far, the raw onions have done the trick. I will re-apply later if necessary.
Editor's Note Part Trois: onion juice ftw! If you prefer the slight whiff of onions to the whiff of Febreek (and I do 100%), raw onion juice and slices will overpower the Febreeze smell, and eventually the onion smell will dissipate.)
Overall, I do think it's a good idea to avoid making big purchases during Venus retrograde if at all possible.
However, it's not always possible to avoid buying during this time frame, and it is also potentially a time when things will fall into place on their own, offering you opportunities that are too good to pass up. This is especially the case if you have an overly karmic Venus placement of your own, as I do. It's almost as if the Venus retrograde motion negates the usual "bad luck" and screwiness around these issues for folks like us.
If you do make purchases during a Venus retrograde, especially a Venus retrograde in square aspect to Saturn, and particularly a Venus retrograde in square aspect to Saturn in Scorpio, you can avoid frustration by expecting that your purchases may be more work that you imagined! (Venus has been within range of a square aspect to Saturn since the end of June. The final Venus-Saturn square occurs October 10.)
But with a little extra elbow grease (or a lot, as the case may be), you can come out on top with a bargain purchase you are happy with.
(Though this particular bargain purchase might need another shampooing or two to be completely acceptable...)
Not to be gushy about it, but with this new-to-me furniture, I feel as if I can settle into a real home. After a whirlwind of moving 45 times in 17 years, putting roots down in my own home was something I didn't know if I would ever experience.
Owning grown-up furniture feels pretty darned good, and the fact that I got a bargain makes it even better. Now I can sit on my (slightly pepperminty, slightly vinegary) furniture and feel that I'm home. Very grateful for that.
Just one further note on the "Venus Rx Purchases That Require a Little Extra Elbow Grease":
I'm an intense bargain shopper. I can only really be certain that something is for me if I get it on sale. I'm a huge fan of Winner's, Dots, and other clearance places.
I've written before about my take on over-priced jeans way back in 2009 when I was working at Art of My Heart: "Tales from the Retail Frontlines Episode #2 - the Value of a Dollar."
But secretly, I always wanted a pair of rich girl jeans. Just one pair. I wanted that soft, stylishly-distressed-to-look-lived-in fabric covering my ass just like it would cover a rich girl's ass. Don't ask me why I coveted these ridiculously over-priced appropriations of working class culture. I just did. But I knew I would never, ever be able to justify the price tag.
Well, friends, I now own not just one pair of rich girl jeans but three pairs. And I got them all on sale at a local store (in a town of 1,500 people, no less) for $20 per pair. Yes, I got a pair of jeans originally marked a staggering $264.00 for just $20. Truly amazing.
The Venus retrograde hitch?
Two of the pairs needed to be hemmed. (Are rich girls' legs longer than the rest of ours? Because I'm five foot 10, and they were still almost three inches too long for me.)
And one pair had to go back a second time because they were left too long after the first hemming.
But again, with a little extra elbow grease (by the tailor, sure) and a bit of extra driving to and fro, Rich Girl Jeans Dreams have come true for Willow.
(Please note: I'm definitely poking fun at myself here. I realize these "jeans dreams" of mine are shallow and silly. But still...they came true during Venus retrograde!)
And now, I get to wear my rich girl jeans to my job slinging beer at the honky tonk dive bar.
Couldn't be more excited about that!
When I moved in, I furnished the place with funky garage sale finds and hand-me-downs, and I was very happy with the results, even though I only had two ancient easy chairs as living room furniture. If worse came to worse, I could get every item of furniture I owned down the stairs by myself.
Over time, though, I started hankering for a couch to stretch my legs out on and maybe for a little extra seating for guests. I imagine it's a bit odd these days to walk into someone's place and find that it has room to seat only two people. Not great for socializing!
Still, I could not gather the nerve to ask anyone to help me haul a couch up those stairs. I certainly didn't want to have to ask my poor, hard-working senior citizen father. Despite the fact that he is still strong and agile with "rancher pipes," it just didn't seem like a good thing to do.
(Where-oh-where is my strong-backed husband, universe? *snicker*)
So for the past two years, I've stuck with the Easy Chair Duo. And I haven't invited many people over.
I did spot what appeared to be a great deal on a second-hand love seat and chair on a garage sale site a few months ago. The set was in great shape, it was in the area being sold by people I knew, and it was a great price. But still, who would help me bring it up those stairs? I really hate asking anyone to help me do anything like that (though I would generally not think twice about helping someone do something similar), so I didn't make a move on it at the time.
The post was taken down a little while later, and I assumed someone had snapped it up.
But at the end of July, months after I saw the original post, I saw the woman advertising it again.
This time, I couldn't pass it up.
Now, I'm well aware of the astrological caution not to make big purchases when Venus is retrograde. It's a karmic time for money and physical possessions, and if you can avoid it, you should.
But I also understand that some people are never without karmic conditions around these things (your anarchist astro-reporter being one of them with a tricky Venus placement in the natal chart).
And sometimes things do seem to naturally come together during a retrograde period. You can't fight it.
So I called the seller to tell her I would come look at the set and that I would take it if it would fit up my stairs.
I knew my Dad would lend me his truck and help me load the furniture into it, but I tried to find a local strong back to help me get it up the stairs to my place. I offered to pay $25 or whatever the person thought was fair, but I had no luck, so I had to draw my strong-yet-seniorly father into service, after all. What's a girl to do? I couldn't exactly haul a love seat up the stairs strapped to my back.
So my Dad and I went to pick the love seat and chair up, and as per the photos on the garage sale site, the set was in great shape. Thankfully, it was also quite light. I did notice that the couple had a dog, and I have allergies to pets, but in the past, a good vacuuming and the use of packing tape to pick up errant hairs had done the trick, so I didn't think it would be a problem.
We loaded the love seat and chair into the back of my Dad's pick-up, brought it into town, and wrangled it up the winding stairs.
I got out the vacuum and gave it a good going-over. I actually had to pull the dog hairs out by hand under the cushions, as they were so embedded in there. But I finally removed the hair of the previous owners' beloved Pug.
I thought all was well post-vacuuming and dog-hair-removing, but I did notice that the furniture had a bit of an "air freshener" scent to it. It was fairly faint, and I didn't immediately think it would be a problem.
I was wrong.
Every time I sat on the couch or chair, I would have an allergic reaction to that scent. My lungs would start to tighten and fill, and I would get the standard itchiness going on.
Uh-oh.
Was Venus retrograde karma striking?
The furniture seemed so perfect! The price was so great! We'd wrangled it up those stairs in the heat of summer, grunting and sweating! Was it too good to be true, even after two years penance of living without a couch?
I had a pretty strong suspicion that the offending scent was Febreze, a chemically spray advertised to "get rid of odours." The well-meaning previous owner had likely sprayed the couch and chair down with Febreze hoping to get rid of any dog smell. However, I have intense chemical sensitivities, so her good intentions had some unintended results.
I started doing research online. Apparently, it is somewhat difficult to get rid of Febreze.
Uh-oh again.
Not to give away the ending of this absolutely scintillating little story from my life, but, in honour of Mercury transiting Virgo (detailed, specialized, and kind of anal), here are my Tips for Getting Rid of Febreze on Second-Hand Furniture. This set is micro-suede, but this may work on other fabrics, as well:
I started with vinegar and water solutions. The first couple times did not eliminate the Febreze odour, so each time I wiped the couch and chair down, I used progressively stronger solutions until I was using one part white vinegar, one part water. (You can probably just start with that concentration.)
I wiped the furniture down with a wet cloth soaked in the vinegar-water solution three separate times, saturating the fabric but not making it dripping wet, and let it air dry completely with the windows open each time.
This process definitely helped matters. The Febreze smell was growing more faint. However, the sniff test and my continued allergic reactions told me I was not quite getting to the root of the problem with the vinegar and water.
So I upped the ante with Dr. Bronner's peppermint castille soap. Dr. Bronner's is a natural liquid soap. I don't have any allergic reaction to the peppermint scent, but people with bad allergies should test it ahead of time.
I made a strong soap solution of about 1/8 cup peppermint Dr. Bronner's and 3 cups water. I had one pail with the soap solution and one pail with clean water (and a separate cloth).
I shampooed the couch and chair with the soap solution first, scrubbing every part of the fabric with the soapy cloth, and then went over it with the wet cloth and clean water to remove the soap.
Again, I let it air dry overnight with the windows open.
And again, the Febreze smell was still faintly apparent. (It really is somewhat difficult to get rid of that stuff!)
So I upped the ante again by adding peppermint essential oils into the soap solution and also into the rinse water.
I repeated the shampooing, scrubbing, and rinsing process and let it air dry again.
That did the trick. The Febreze smell was gone. But now I had a fairly strong peppermint essential oil smell with an underlying smell of vinegar. Not bad, definitely better than Febreze, but still not the preferable smell for a couch and chair.
So the final step in the Febreze-ridding process was to use unscented Dr. Bronner's soap in a solution, repeating the shampooing and rinsing of the furniture fabric. After that had dried, I was left with a tolerably slight scent of peppermint and vinegar, which I hope will fade over time.
(Editor's Note: Hot weather seemed to re-activate the faint Febreeze smell from beneath the couch and chair cushions, so I gave them one final dousing with full strength vinegar and allowed it to dry. I followed this with another shampooing with Dr. Bronner's unscented soap in water mixed with some Thieves essential oil. This has eliminated the smell, but I will repeat the process if the Febreeze rears its ugly head again!
Editor's Note Part Deux: the Febreeze did rear it's ugly head again, so I rubbed raw onion slices on the problem areas and then left the onion slices on them overnight so as to absorb the smell. Yes, raw onion smell is preferable to Febreek (the reek of Febreeze). Any natural smell would be, to be honest! So far, the raw onions have done the trick. I will re-apply later if necessary.
Editor's Note Part Trois: onion juice ftw! If you prefer the slight whiff of onions to the whiff of Febreek (and I do 100%), raw onion juice and slices will overpower the Febreeze smell, and eventually the onion smell will dissipate.)
Overall, I do think it's a good idea to avoid making big purchases during Venus retrograde if at all possible.
However, it's not always possible to avoid buying during this time frame, and it is also potentially a time when things will fall into place on their own, offering you opportunities that are too good to pass up. This is especially the case if you have an overly karmic Venus placement of your own, as I do. It's almost as if the Venus retrograde motion negates the usual "bad luck" and screwiness around these issues for folks like us.
If you do make purchases during a Venus retrograde, especially a Venus retrograde in square aspect to Saturn, and particularly a Venus retrograde in square aspect to Saturn in Scorpio, you can avoid frustration by expecting that your purchases may be more work that you imagined! (Venus has been within range of a square aspect to Saturn since the end of June. The final Venus-Saturn square occurs October 10.)
But with a little extra elbow grease (or a lot, as the case may be), you can come out on top with a bargain purchase you are happy with.
(Though this particular bargain purchase might need another shampooing or two to be completely acceptable...)
The Willow pad
Owning grown-up furniture feels pretty darned good, and the fact that I got a bargain makes it even better. Now I can sit on my (slightly pepperminty, slightly vinegary) furniture and feel that I'm home. Very grateful for that.
Just one further note on the "Venus Rx Purchases That Require a Little Extra Elbow Grease":
I'm an intense bargain shopper. I can only really be certain that something is for me if I get it on sale. I'm a huge fan of Winner's, Dots, and other clearance places.
I've written before about my take on over-priced jeans way back in 2009 when I was working at Art of My Heart: "Tales from the Retail Frontlines Episode #2 - the Value of a Dollar."
But secretly, I always wanted a pair of rich girl jeans. Just one pair. I wanted that soft, stylishly-distressed-to-look-lived-in fabric covering my ass just like it would cover a rich girl's ass. Don't ask me why I coveted these ridiculously over-priced appropriations of working class culture. I just did. But I knew I would never, ever be able to justify the price tag.
Well, friends, I now own not just one pair of rich girl jeans but three pairs. And I got them all on sale at a local store (in a town of 1,500 people, no less) for $20 per pair. Yes, I got a pair of jeans originally marked a staggering $264.00 for just $20. Truly amazing.
The Venus retrograde hitch?
Two of the pairs needed to be hemmed. (Are rich girls' legs longer than the rest of ours? Because I'm five foot 10, and they were still almost three inches too long for me.)
And one pair had to go back a second time because they were left too long after the first hemming.
But again, with a little extra elbow grease (by the tailor, sure) and a bit of extra driving to and fro, Rich Girl Jeans Dreams have come true for Willow.
(Please note: I'm definitely poking fun at myself here. I realize these "jeans dreams" of mine are shallow and silly. But still...they came true during Venus retrograde!)
And now, I get to wear my rich girl jeans to my job slinging beer at the honky tonk dive bar.
Couldn't be more excited about that!
Friday, August 7, 2015
A Magical Leo New Moon Brings Beautiful Blessings and Big, Bold Love
Photos: Willow
We are currently heading to a 21-degree Leo New Moon on August 14 (8:53 a.m. CST), which will occur conjunct love-and-beauty planet Venus, moving retrograde in Leo at 23 degrees. This is a pile-up in the heavens of the Sun, Moon, and Venus. Two yins and a yang. Gorgeous.
This makes for a positively magical weekend August 14 - 16, as Venus Rx then backs into its interior conjunction to the Sun at 22 degrees Leo on August 15 (1:22 p.m.).
The August 15 Sun-Venus interior conjunction is an important point in the Venus retrograde process, marking the official kick-off of the next Venus (love, relationship, money, values) cycle, coloured strongly by Leo. We are truly leading with the heart - and being led by our hearts - over the next 18 months.
The Sun-Venus interior conjunction in Leo also marks the official conclusion of the Venus in Capricorn-flavoured themes, initiated by the last Venus retrograde, which occurred in steadfast and hard-nosed Capricorn in December 2013/January 2014.
The Venus in Capricorn themes were highly productive in setting new standards and rules in relationships of all kinds, setting ourselves up for long-term relational success for a new astrological era. We made major progress over the past 18 months as we re-structured relationships according to the true circumstances on Planet Earth. Realism in love and relationship were favoured over romanticized Hollywood ideals. Career progress and financial stabilization were also important themes, ensuring more egalitarian and less dependent relationship structures moving forward.
The Venus in Capricorn-flavoured themes for love, relationship, and money were also quite dry, however. Nose-to-the-grindstone, don't let up, keep working, no complaining, swallow your loneliness, outpace the competitors.
So the release of the Venus in Capricorn themes (while highly productive and necessary) comes as quite a relief for our lovely Venus.
To a great extent, as of August 15, the hardest structural work has been completed. The new-era relationship foundations have been solidified. Now we get to play a little bit more. We get to have a little more fun. We get to enjoy some personal style, some talent, some sass.
In short, we get to be a little more Leonine and a little less Saturnine for the next 18 months, and that is truly cause for celebration.
Leo loves a party!
The 21st degree of Leo, where the August 14 New Moon falls, is also the degree of the first conjunction (of three) of Lesser Benefic planet Venus and Greater Benefic planet Jupiter that was experienced on July 1, 2015. The 21-degree Venus-Jupiter conjunction in Leo was visible in the night's sky, and there was certainly a feeling that we were witnessing (and living through) something amazing on Planet Earth at that time.
The blessings, creative mojo, and expansion of the heart that were
experienced under that gorgeous Venus-Jupiter conjunction July 1 now
come front-and-centre again.Whatever good stuff was happening in your life around July 1 will be picked up again at this Leo New Moon, and it will be carried through the entire 28-day lunar cycle until the Virgo New Moon partial solar eclipse on September 13 changes gears again.
Suffice it to say, this is a big, bold New Moon in Leo, which opens the big, bold, creative, and heart-centred 28-day lunar cycle that follows. We can expect a little drama here. Let's just hope it's the fun kind.
We are compelled to follow the depths and richness of our heart-of-hearts now. We are compelled to act according to the big love contained within us, just aching to burst forth in all its colour and glory.
The practical outlets for all that big, bold, love are on their way, as well...
If the fiery passion of all this Leo was just a bit much to bear (and it really was getting intense there for a while with those squares to Saturn in Scorpio, wasn't it?), never fear. Communication planet Mercury moves into grounded and clear-headed Virgo today at 1:15 p.m. This cools our brains a little with more practical and mundane considerations.
Greater Benefic Jupiter will also move into Virgo very soon, on August 11 (5:11 a.m.), waiting on Venus to catch up (along with Mars) for the final conjunction at 15 degrees Virgo on October 25.
Enjoy the fire, passion, and blessings of this very special Leo season while they last.
Thursday, July 23, 2015
Led By the Deep-Down Depths of Our Hearts During This Sizzling Hot (And Historical) Leo Season
Wild Roses and Tiger Lilies with Yellow Flower Photograph Grouping
Photos: Willow, on Willow's wall
The Sun and Mercury have just entered Leo, the sign of the rock star, the artist, and the local celeb, and these bodies form their exterior conjunction today on the zero degree of Leo (1:23 p.m. CST), squared by the Moon in Scorpio tonight (10:04 p.m.).
This Sun-Moon square marks a First Quarter Moon that is absolutely bursting with creative potential, and things have only just begun...
The fiery and passionate Leo influence doesn't fully let up until early October when Venus moves back into Virgo (October 8).
The fiery and passionate Leo influence doesn't fully let up until early October when Venus moves back into Virgo (October 8).
The Sun and Mercury in early Leo join Greater Benefic Jupiter (expansion, wisdom, benefits, luck) in late Leo, while Lesser Benefic Venus (love, relationship, values, money) prepares to retrograde into the sign once again on July 31.
This concentration of bodies in Leo indicates that things are about to get a whole lot more rock-and-roll.
Leo is flashy, bold, confident, stylin'.
Leo has star power, even if it's just local celebrity.
This year, I've have enough lettuce to feed myself, my parents and sister, my cousin, two friends, six seniors at the seniors complex, and some of their family members! I will have enough vegetables stored in the freezer to last two years, more than likely.
Yesterday, on another lettuce run, I stepped out of the car and the ground was alive with masses of little frogs jumping every which way. Frogs are considered a fertility symbol, and this, to me, was another indicator of the fertility and big creative potential of this special summer.
We're painting our lives and our world in bold new colours this summer and fall, led by the fevered and passionate fury of our hearts. This is catalytic creative power, spurring reactions and changes in whatever it touches. We could not possibly foresee the full effect. The ripple effects go on and on and on...
With Venus stationing retrograde on the zero degree of Virgo (July 25), we are being asked to determine precisely what we need to create: in our lives, in our selves, in our relationships, in our social settings, in our communities, in our world.
And with the squares to Saturn in Scorpio, we need to create certain things now. We need certain avenues and outlets for our passions. We need to inject more fun, more style, more heart, more sizzle, more sass, more rock-and-roll into our lives and social scenes.
This is not frivolous stuff. True art and creation are not frivolous things. This is a deep soul need, a need for creative propulsion and advancement beyond old, stagnant scenarios, relationship dynamics, and ways of being.
We need to release some of the old energy we've been carrying, and the only way we can do it is by being the full and true works of art that we are.
The way we do it is by taking some calculated risks, opening some rich new facets of our personalities, connected right down deep to the soul. The way we do it is by taking calculated creative risks, putting our personal stamp on things, injecting our personalities and style into the world around us, creating a life we love to live amidst collective chaos and difficulty, while the walls crumble around us, while we face collective annihilation.
This is the type of creative power that grabs you by the deepest depths of who you are, singing it or sculpting it or saying it or painting it in a way that makes it all undeniable.
We are helpless in the face of the tremendous creative power and potential of this summer of 2015. And we love it.
Create a life you love to live so that you would choose to do nothing different if this turned out to be our last days.
There is a New Moon in Leo at 21 degrees on August 14, followed by the Sun and Venus forming their interior conjunction at 22 degrees Leo on August 15. The percolating creative energy simply explodes into new life, new love, and new beauty at this point.
Mercury will be in Leo until entering Virgo August 7.
Jupiter leaves Leo for Virgo on August 11.
The Sun will be in Leo until entering Virgo on August 23.
Venus will be in Leo July 31 - October 8.
Mars will be in Leo August 8 - September 24.
Yesterday, on another lettuce run, I stepped out of the car and the ground was alive with masses of little frogs jumping every which way. Frogs are considered a fertility symbol, and this, to me, was another indicator of the fertility and big creative potential of this special summer.We're painting our lives and our world in bold new colours this summer and fall, led by the fevered and passionate fury of our hearts. This is catalytic creative power, spurring reactions and changes in whatever it touches. We could not possibly foresee the full effect. The ripple effects go on and on and on...
With Venus stationing retrograde on the zero degree of Virgo (July 25), we are being asked to determine precisely what we need to create: in our lives, in our selves, in our relationships, in our social settings, in our communities, in our world.
And with the squares to Saturn in Scorpio, we need to create certain things now. We need certain avenues and outlets for our passions. We need to inject more fun, more style, more heart, more sizzle, more sass, more rock-and-roll into our lives and social scenes.
This is not frivolous stuff. True art and creation are not frivolous things. This is a deep soul need, a need for creative propulsion and advancement beyond old, stagnant scenarios, relationship dynamics, and ways of being.
We need to release some of the old energy we've been carrying, and the only way we can do it is by being the full and true works of art that we are.
The way we do it is by taking some calculated risks, opening some rich new facets of our personalities, connected right down deep to the soul. The way we do it is by taking calculated creative risks, putting our personal stamp on things, injecting our personalities and style into the world around us, creating a life we love to live amidst collective chaos and difficulty, while the walls crumble around us, while we face collective annihilation.
This is the type of creative power that grabs you by the deepest depths of who you are, singing it or sculpting it or saying it or painting it in a way that makes it all undeniable.
We are helpless in the face of the tremendous creative power and potential of this summer of 2015. And we love it.
Create a life you love to live so that you would choose to do nothing different if this turned out to be our last days.
There is a New Moon in Leo at 21 degrees on August 14, followed by the Sun and Venus forming their interior conjunction at 22 degrees Leo on August 15. The percolating creative energy simply explodes into new life, new love, and new beauty at this point.
Mercury will be in Leo until entering Virgo August 7.
Jupiter leaves Leo for Virgo on August 11.
The Sun will be in Leo until entering Virgo on August 23.
Venus will be in Leo July 31 - October 8.
Mars will be in Leo August 8 - September 24.
Monday, July 20, 2015
Stationing Venus and Saturn in Extended Square Aspect: Money, Relationships, and Changing Values As We Get Older
Wild Tiger Lilies by the garden spot
Photos: Willow
This indicates a concentration of themes related to both Venus and Saturn, and these themes are inter-related.
Money and relationships, relationships and money. These are the areas of primary interest these days. (When aren't they the primary areas interest, really?)
The challenges here may seem intense, even impossible, but rest assured that there are some major and beneficial developments unfolding this summer and fall. These are the types of developments that cannot be rushed, however. They are foundational, structural, setting us up for either long-term success or eventual failure. In other words, they're nothing to take lightly.
This is an excerpt from the article, "Stationing Venus and Saturn in Extended Square Aspect: Money, Relationships, and Changing Values As We Get Older." It is available in its entirety to Willow's Web Astrology patrons.
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
A New Love, Relationship, and Money Cycle Begins With Venus in Leo…But First That Unfinished Scorpy Business
Photo: Willow
Renegade Heifer Photography
Renegade Heifer Photography
To understand the context of the months ahead, I encourage readers to review this article sent out to patrons in February 2015: Saturn Retrograde: the Final Resolution of Old Heartbreaks, Hurts, and Unfinished Business
The article outlines the connection between the current Saturn retrograde, now making a final dip into deep, dark, sometimes-disturbing Scorpio, and the new love, relationship, and money cycle we're entering, indicated by the Venus retrograde in early Virgo and Leo from July 25 to September 5.
Our successful advancement this summer and for the next eight years in the realms of love, relationship, and money is intricately tied to the successful completion and resolution of the Saturn in Scorpio transit. Setting underlying emotional, psychological, energetic, and power-based foundations straight this summer is key, and this will take more effort and more time on our parts. If something is unsatisfactory, now is the time to work it up to the surface. If something doesn't feel quite right, now is the time to work on it.
Impatiently jumping into new situations for short-term gratification will not be rewarded with hardass taskmaster Saturn so strongly involved in the proceedings. Keen strategizing must be employed.
Once we have done all we can do personally with a particular situation, sitting back and allowing things to unfold organically without interference will clear the way in many cases.
Love and money planet Venus just entered its retrograde shadow at 14-degrees Leo at solstice, June 21, and is now in range of the first of three conjunctions to luck, benefit, and expansion planet Jupiter in Leo (exact July 1). We’ve entered a very passionate summer season in the northern hemisphere (winter season in the southern) when emotions will be running high. Things get more spicy and meaty in relationships (both personal and professional) now that we are in the territory to which Venus will be returning during the retrograde, and the potency is ramped up even further under the Venus-Jupiter conjunction at 21 degrees Leo on July 1. Things start to break open here into a beautiful new spectrum.
This is an excerpt from the article, "A New Love, Relationship, and Money Cycle Begins With Venus in Leo…But First That Unfinished Scorpy Business." It is available in its entirety to Willow's Web Astrology patrons.
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