WWA Article Featured on the Aloe Cadabra Blog

My recent article, "Saturn in Sagittarius, Dispositor Jupiter in Virgo, and Puncturing Corporate Spin on GMOs" has been featured in its entirety on the Aloe Cadabra blog. (Yep, they even included "corporate dicks.")

Organic lube ftw!

GMO Labeling is Not Fully Effective: Puncturing Corporate (and Activist) Spin on GMOs

Photo: Saskatchewanian

Taurus season is still in full swing with the Sun, Mercury Rx, and Venus currently in a woolly bully conjunction. Asteroid Vesta is also in late Taurus at this time. As we open out of the Taurus New Moon May 6 (16 degrees) and into the following 28-day lunar cycle, farming, ranching, agriculture, and food issues are highly pertinent.

These issues are certain to heat up even more as Ceres, the dwarf planet associated with agriculture, grains, and the fertility of the Earth, transits warrior sign Aries until July 17, triggering the Uranus-Pluto square.

Ceres in Aries squares Pluto in Capricorn on May 31 at 17 degrees of the signs. It then moves to a conjunction to Uranus at 23 degrees Aries on June 23. This creates a very potent window of time between late May and late June that involves battles (Aries) around food and agriculture (Ceres), especially as they relate to biotechnology, chemicals, and the bloated institutional spin coming from both corporations/governments and pseudo-alternative scenes like some of the big anti-GMO and organic organizations.

As a complement to my recent article, I've done a YouTube video explaining why the unintentional and unknowing contamination by genetically modified crops - especially alfalfa - has made GMO labeling only partially effective, if not almost entirely null and void:

YouTube Video: GMO Labeling is Not Fully Effective: Puncturing Corporate (and Activist) Spin on GMOs 

This video includes information about the real situation. It is the potent truth - a truth that much of the organics industry and many of the big anti-GMO organizations are not fully admitting or working with in their own messages.

Despite the rhetoric, labeling foods produced with genetically modified organisms is not fully effective. Foods can be labeled non-GMO while still including genetically modified material. The video outlines how this is happening.

The message I'm putting out has been shunted aside and sloughed off by major farming groups, government officials, and anti-GMO organizations in Canada for years now. I have been ignored by newsrooms across this country. I have had a person held up as a leader for anti-GMO discourse in Canada attempt to censor my message, telling me not to use the term "Franken-hay" because her group didn't like it. At the time that I spoke with this woman three+ years ago, she did not understand what alfalfa really was, believing it was only alfalfa sprouts, and said she had a hard time explaining to the public why they should care. This was a woman considered by many to be one of the leading voices of opposition to GMOs in Canada! After I sent her my own Stop GM Alfalfa literature, she co-opted the information and then offered a watered-down version - and a watered-down response - from her own substantial platform.

Most recently, a major Canadian anti-GMO Facebook group removed the link I posted to this video.

I share these delightful anecdotes to illustrate the ineffectiveness of the "people behind the curtains" at many of the large anti-GMO organizations.

The reality of the matter is: these groups are most often not putting the full truth out to the public. Major anti-GMO organizations have dropped the ball on GM alfalfa, and they continue to drop the ball. They are far too late to the game and continue to put forth a much weaker effort on the subject than they should, especially considering their substantial platforms and public followings. These institutions are not our leaders. Instead, they stifle, censor, and attempt to control grassroots activists like me who do not come under their umbrella. 

Saturn in Sagittarius, Dispositor Jupiter in Virgo, and Puncturing Corporate Spin on GMOs

Recent announcements by several major processed food corporations - including Kellogg's, General Mills, and Campbell's - that they will start labeling genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in their products bring up some issues that are highly pertinent during the transit of Saturn through Sagittarius (December 2014 to December 2017).

What follows is an excerpt from an article I wrote on the transit, which appears in Issue #2 of Hexagon Astrology Magazine.

"During this Saturn transit, we will be working with a number of suppressed (Saturn) truths (Sagittarius) within our cultures. This involves some of the knowledge we absolutely must master in order to be successful from here on in...

The spread of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and the continued infiltration of the food supply are major "suppressed truth" subjects on which we must get a strong handle during the transit of Saturn through Sagittarius.

Damage to animal health has been shown in multiple scientific feeding trials of GMO diets published since 2012. The Seralini study, the Carman study, the Kruger study, the Italian study on GM soybeans and goats: all indicated animal health damage from GM diets. Reproductive damage, digestive damage, liver and kidney damage, tumors, DNA changes, immunity issues, low weights, and premature death were just some of the problems observed.

If animals are exhibiting this GMO-related health damage, it is almost certain that the humans eating the animals, animal products, and GM crops will eventually experience similar problems.

Despite bans on genetically modified seeds and crops, genetically modified canola has been found growing wild at four sites in Switzerland. (These represent four “scientifically documented” cases, not the full extent of the problem.)

Conventional canola is now so contaminated by genetically modified versions that GM canola plants are spreading wherever canola is transported or planted. This means that even nation-wide or continent-wide bans cannot stop the spread of genetically modified seeds and plants.

Here, we see the challenges of living in a world of global trade where decisions made in one country can negatively affect other countries halfway across the world (a Saturn in Sagittarius theme).

The labeling of foods containing GMOs, often touted as a solution, is also not fully effective. The truly insidious problem is the unintentional and undesired spread of GMOs into natural crops. Labels would cover only those foods knowingly produced with GMOs. Unintentional contamination – a widespread problem – would continue to fly under the radar.

Grand Earth Trines and a Solid Dose of Bovinian Energy Provide Us With a Breather

 Moo.

 
There is currently a very strong grounding influence in the zodiac with the Sun, Mercury, and soon Venus (in its own sign as of April 29) transiting fixed earth sign Taurus. This is farmer-ly energy. Sensual energy. Earthy energy. It follows a natural and routine course. It's matter-of-fact and sturdy in a nurturing and comforting way. It is fairly unshakeable, fairly unflappable.

This Taurus energy, which will include Lesser Benefic Venus in its domicile, slows things down to real time in the physical world, and this is something most of us need in the days of constant technology and artificially sped-up nervous systems.

This Taurus has a nice feeling of putting one foot in front of the other in very basic and simple ways, anchoring us in the physical world and in the five senses.

Taurus doesn't get too worried about what lies beneath. It isn't all that interested in research or psychological context or the unseen realms. It's more than content to work with what's right in front of it, with what it can see, feel, taste, hear, and smell. It's more than happy to work with the magic of concrete, physical, Earthly reality.  

All this Taurus is highly welcome after a month of (potentially) frayed nerves, emotional breaking points, and/or Plutonic meltdowns, outlined in earlier articles.

We've been through some stuff, folks. The astrology shows it. A heavily karmic Pisces eclipse season, followed by the jingly-jangly, overloaded synapses of strong Uranus energy with multiple activations of the Uranus-Pluto square by the personal planets in Aries.


This is an excerpt from the article, "Grand Earth Trines and a Solid Dose of Bovinian Energy Provide Us With a Breather." It is available in its entirety to Willow's Web Astrology patrons.

Frictional Growing Pains and Emotional Catharsis As the Moon Grows Full in Scorpio

I’ve written on the blog about the upheaval, sudden changes, and emotional shocks we may experience as we navigate the current lunar cycle, kicked off by the 18-degree Aries New Moon conjunct Uranus in Aries and square Pluto in Capricorn on April 7. 

The Moon is now in Cancer and will square the Sun in Aries, marking the First Quarter Moon phase of the lunar cycle on April 13 (10:00 p.m. CST). The Moon in Cancer also triggers the Uranus-Pluto square at this time, drawing those themes into the First Quarter Moon phase and into the surge of necessary action that this phase indicates. 

Suffice it to say, we have opened into a month of quite unstable energies and now head to another over-the-top point at the Full Moon. 

The April 7 Aries New Moon opened a 28-day lunar cycle characterized by a series of changes (some startling) and emotional shocks that must be metabolized and used as fuel to propel us beyond standard rhythms and patterns that will no longer get us where we need to go 

(Please see the April 5 article “New Moon in Aries Conjunct Uranus - Emotional Shocksand Experiences of Structural Bullshit Bust Things Loose” published on the blog or the March 29 article “Sun-Mercury in Aries Stirs the Uranus-Pluto Square:Calling Out the Nuclear Gatekeepers, Shills, and Establishment Schmucks” to pick up more on the themes we are experiencing now.) 

But there are some old attachments, sticking points, frictions, and fears that must be purged before we're free to go. 

There is a strong desire to move into new territory now. There is a desire for fresh energy and for re-invigoration along our paths. In fact, these things are full-on emotional needs at this point. 

The raw and blazing potential of the Aries New Moon builds to a potentially cacophonous crescendo at the Scorpio Full Moon (2 degrees) on April 21 (11:24 p.m.)

This is an excerpt from the article, "Frictional Growing Pains and Emotional Catharsis As the Moon Grows Full in Scorpio." It is available in its entirety to Willow's Web Astrology patrons. 

New Moon in Aries Conjunct Uranus - Emotional Shocks and Experiences of Structural Bullshit Bust Things Loose

We have a strongly Uranian New Moon in Aries busting things loose on April 7 (5:24 a.m. CST), with a shake-up of standard rhythms and patterns continuing for the following 28-day lunar cycle.

This New Moon officially propels us out of winter 2016 in the northern hemisphere and beyond the sticky, clinging tendrils of the massive Pisces stellium we've been treading water through throughout March and early April.

Love, values, and relationship planet Venus has just moved into fresh-and-fiery Aries, as well (April 5), with Mercury setting up shop for a transit through earthy Taurus this evening.

So as the Sun and Moon come together at 18 degrees Aries in New Moon phase on April 7, all the personal planets have moved on from late Pisces and their conjunctions to Ceres, Chiron, and the South Node.

The transit of communication planet Mercury through Taurus is particularly protective now, indicating helpful mental grounding and reinforced mental boundaries as we move through the rollicking and up-and-down energies of the month ahead.

We actually get an extra dose of this pragmatic and mentally-grounding Mercury in Taurus energy, as we also experience our next Mercury retrograde in the sign (April 28 - May 22 from 23 degrees to 14 degrees Taurus). This transit works to insulate us from the raw and over-excited synapses associated with strong Uranus energy. Mercury enters its retrograde shadow on April 14 and will not exit the sign of the bull until June 12.

So as of April 7 and the New Moon, we've officially waded out of the swampy-swirly-weepy-dreamy mist of winter 2016, and the Arien blaze is drying us, warming us, and revving us up for whatever it is that comes next.

This New Moon indicates a string of emotional shocks and electric realizations throughout the following lunar month that must be metabolized as we move beyond old stepping stones and comfort zones in ways we may not have previously imagined.

We're initiating some pretty radical changes over the next 28 days that will rattle some cages and break down some old barriers - including our own. Surge onward! Forge ahead!

This Uranian New Moon in Aries is the official entrance into new life, new energy, and new vigour - and this may come from unexpected sources over the next 28 days.

The Uranian influence indicates the possibility of some radical growth, changes, and re-direction as we come into contact with structural deficits that simply cannot be tolerated or shouldered any longer. This Aries New Moon triggers the Uranus in Aries - Pluto in Capricorn square, just as Mercury in Aries did March 30 - 31, and the insights we gain as we move through the New Moon portal indicate that there's no going back to old forms, old structures, or old ways. These have simply had their day.

For those who do not know astrology (and even for many who do), the upcoming lunar month could kick off identity crises as well as a certain degree of anxiety as old forms, old desires, old directions, and old versions of self break down and start to shift. 

Change is required - quite radical change in many cases - and with the personal planets in Aries, it's coming from us personally. There is no pattern to follow or leader to emulate. We are the driving force, no one else. It is our personal direction and re-direction that spur the necessary changes within the collective scene.

The Aries New Moon is disposited (strongly influenced) by Mars, which is currently stationing retrograde at 8 degrees Sagittarius (April 17). You can read more about the Mars retrograde in this patron article: Mars Retrograde 2016: A Re-Direction of Passions

We are entering a fresh, new two-year goal cycle. A new personal direction is about to unfold - aligned more closely with our own personal truth - and this new direction strongly colours the next two years of our lives, at the very least.

This Aries New Moon is the very, very beginning of this new chapter, of these new goals and drives. It's the gateway, and we're about to take our first steps on new ground.

Take these new steps with courage and boldness. Put a little swagger in your step. Ooze a little machismo (sure, both men and women!). Don't look back, and don't second guess the need for change. It's right there in the astrology. This Uranus and Pluto-charged New Moon is dripping with potency and potential. Blaze on, friends!

There is an electric immediacy to the proceedings for the following 28-day lunar cycle. We're very much in the current moment, responding to any surprises, shocks, changes, or general upheavals with warrior-like focus and bravery.

It's time to forge into new territory on multiple fronts. The iron is hot, so strike away!

Look to the house where 18 Aries falls and the house where 8 Sagittarius falls in your natal chart to get a feel for this powerful "fresh start portal" that is opening in your life. The activities and themes of those two houses are connected now. You are looking to align those areas a little more closely with your own personal identity, with who you really are right now, right in this unfolding moment. You're looking to make those areas a little more "you."

The Sun in Aries forms a trine to Saturn in Sagittarius on April 5 (10:09 a.m.), as Venus ingresses Aries and Mercury ingresses Taurus.

The Sun will then square Pluto at 17 degrees Capricorn on April 6 (2:13 pm.), indicating the potential for experiences with hierarchical, structural hell that force us to make new moves.

The Sun and Moon come together in conjunction at 18 degrees Aries on April 7, marking the New Moon at 5:24 a.m., which triggers the Uranus-Pluto square. Shake, rattle, and roll!

The Sun forms the exact conjunction to Uranus at 20 degrees Aries on April 9 (3:27 p.m.).

Sun-Mercury in Aries Stirs the Uranus-Pluto Square: Calling Out the Nuclear Gatekeepers, Shills, and Establishment Schmucks

I recently came across a great video from Dana Durnford, the Fukushima researcher who has been documenting the collapse of sea life along the British Columbia, Canada coastline for years now.

Dana has been put through the ringer for his good work, including being hauled into Canada's courts by establishment scientists whose faulty research is being promoted in mainstream media to assure the public that Fukushima fallout is really no big deal. 

I wrote about this, along with Canada's ties to the nuclear/uranium industry, in a November 11, 2015 article titled: Canada's Vested Interest in the Protection of the Nuclear Industry Via Continued Lies About Fukushima

The article was my own personal anti-war effort, published on Remembrance Day, the day of the year set aside for Canadians to remember the war dead and wounded.

The wars against humanity and against all life on this planet continue unabated, of course, and uranium is a major resource for all those who desire to continue war and depopulation on Earth.

Our bodies, our cells, our DNA are under attack due to the continuation of nuclear energy and nuclear weaponry, including depleted uranium munitions and bombs.

In his March 4, 2016 video, Dana calls out establishment scientist David Suzuki - a "science star" on Canada's state news channel, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation - for downplaying the real situation as far as the triple nuclear meltdowns at Fukushima, Japan. You can view Dana's YouTube video here: Fukushima: David Suzuki Fall From Grace

You may recall that your anarchist astro-reporter called Suzuki out for very similar reasons in December 2013! 

As Mercury and the Sun in bold and blazing Aries activate the Uranus in Aries - Pluto in Capricorn square (March 30 - 31) in a trine aspect to Saturn in truth-telling Sagittarius, it is imperative that we fight, fight, fight for the full truth and for non-manipulated information.

It is imperative that we expose the dirty roots of these establishment figureheads who lie and deceive while millions of lives are at stake. 

It is imperative that we fight (Aries) for non-polluted mental space (Mercury), free from the lies and the watered-down official lines coming from the Pluto in Capricorn oligarchy. 

You won't get any of that non-manipulated information from establishment channels or establishment figureheads. We're on our own. Uranus in Aries. And it's better that way.

Entering a Period of Beneficial and Inspirational Re-Structuring

** Happy Equinox, and Happy Astrological New Year! **

We're now entering a period of time when both malefic planets - Mars and Saturn – will put on the brakes and turn retrograde within a loose conjunction to each other.

Saturn (structure, long-term progress, delays) stations retrograde at 16 degrees Sagittarius on March 25 for a retrograde period that lasts until the direct station August 13 at 9 degrees Sagittarius.

Mars (action planet) stations retrograde on April 17 at 8 degrees Sagittarius for a retrograde period that lasts until the direct station June 29 at 23 degrees Scorpio.

As stated, Mars and Saturn will station retrograde within a loose conjunction to each other, and this fusion of energy and themes colours the next few months.

Mars is not too happy about this traveling companion through the zodiac, however. Saturn often brings with it blocks, delays, and obstacles - albeit necessary ones - while Mars likes quick, unfettered movement and direct action toward goals. Saturn can be a bit of a damper on the blazing will and activity of Mars, and because of the potential frustration associated with this, we may be looking for any sort of movement that we feel will bring temporary relief.  


This is an excerpt from the article, "Entering a Period of Beneficial and Inspirational Re-Structuring." It is available in its entirety to Willow's Web Astrology patrons. 

Warning: Way Too Much Pisces Up Ahead

 Photos: Willow

We have a massive Pisces stellium forming in the skies at the moment, which will cluster around the karmic-as-hell Pisces South Node.

At its peak, this stellium will involve the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Ceres, Chiron, and Neptune, along with the South Node of the Moon, all transiting the sign of the fishes.

Wounded healer Chiron is tightly conjunct the South Node at the moment, and this positioning continues through early May. 

We are also heading into eclipse season and will experience a New Moon at 18 degrees Pisces, closely conjunct Chiron and the South Node, on March 8. This New Moon is a total solar eclipse, and we can expect the associated events that are spun up to be particularly powerful.

We need a new chapter quite desperately as far as the sign of Pisces and its associated themes go, and this New Moon total solar eclipse provides a strong opportunity for that.

Unfortunately, with Chiron conjunct the South Node in Pisces so strongly involved, it also provides the opportunity for wrong turns, blind spots, weaknesses, naivete, and general confusion that we then have to work our way out of (Virgo North Node)... 

This Pisces New Moon total solar eclipse sets the tone and the trajectory for the 28-day lunar cycle that follows, and suffice it to say, this is one karmically-loaded lunar month on Planet Earth. Expect some chaos, some overwhelm, and some screwiness - but also expect the tools and the support you need to navigate it.

I know many astrologers will be waxing poetic about how spiritual and dreamy and transcendent all this Pisces is, but I'm here as the cautionary astrologer to tell you that this far into the end-of-Piscean-era, a large amount of Pisces energy like this can be dangerous. This far into the end-of-Piscean-era, a large amount of Pisces energy like this can be nasty as fuck, to be entirely honest.

You see, there's a version of reality that is in the process of going down the drain. The plug has been pulled. And as things start to swirl, we have to make sure that we (and the ones we love) don't go down the drain with it. 

We're beginning the astrological Aquarian era with the utter destruction of the Piscean era constructs. This destruction is intentional, diabolical, and has been intricately planned and executed by the powers-that-be for their own benefit and profit.

Mass unemployment, homelessness, money woes, poisonings, health problems, mental health problems, extreme stress - all these things and much more have been built right into the current systems.

And when we're identifying ourselves too closely with structures and systems that are in the process of disintegrating and going down the tubes, we can get taken down by it, too.

We may feel we have a handle on things, but this degree of collective psychic pain (Chiron-South Node in Pisces) can potentially take us under very quickly.

Pisces and its ruling planet Neptune are known for some fairly funky emotional and psychic states involving punctured illusions, feelings of extreme isolation, delusions, disappointment, depression, devastation, hopelessness, listlessness, inaction, despair.

The inertia and passivity and "just roll over until it goes away" characteristics of Pisces can take us into extremely low (and ultimately karmically dangerous) places, and this can happen almost without us being aware of it.

Sensitivity and vulnerability are heightened under these transits.  

Drugs, alcohol, junk food, shopping, gambling, romantic fantasizing, or any form of escapism may be used to numb the pain of a disappointing and dissatisfying reality, but this only increases the danger of getting too far out there, too far out into the abyss to return.

Rolling over and playing dead - no matter how tempting Pisces makes that seem - will simply not do the trick. Living in a world composed of dreams and ideals will also not do the trick. We have to be working actively and diligently (North Node in Virgo) right where we stand to build our preferred reality.

The last time we experienced something of this magnitude was in March 2013, as the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Neptune, and Chiron (along with the Moon) formed an extended stellium in Pisces. Mercury was also retrograde in Pisces (the sign of its detriment) at the time, which dragged the themes out even further.

That Pisces stellium took a dear friend of mine, and I don't want it happening again.

Pisces energy has a great way of convincing us to let things slide.

But March is not a month to let things slide.

With Jupiter conjunct the North Node of the Moon in Virgo, participation is not optional.

March is a month to reach out, to connect, to stay in touch, and to cheer people up, even when they seem to be closing you out or choosing isolation.

March is a month to stay active and to plan healthy activities that involve others.

March is a month to work hard and to work diligently - at even the smallest of tasks.  

March is a month when we have to actively bring people back into the loving fold, especially if they've forgotten they're loved at all. The Piscean/Neptunian fog will do that to a soul. It can make us forget who and what we really are. It can overwhelm us, swallowing us up in self-pity. It can make the void appear oh-so-tempting.

We can be fooled under these transits and fooled badly. Fooled in a way that takes a lot of time and work to correct.

Wishful thinking is at a high this month, especially during the transit of Mercury through Pisces (March 5 - 21), and especially as Mercury crosses Chiron and the South Node in Pisces March 17/18.

Again, with the influence of wounded healer Chiron conjunct the South Node, March is not a month to let things slide.

If you've been thinking about someone, let that person know. If you can lift the spirits of someone you come into contact with, do it. If you have a chance to be kind, any chance, take it. This is a month to appreciate the kindness of strangers and also to be that kind stranger when an organic opportunity for loving kindness presents itself.

Now, the currently forming stellium in Pisces does not appear to be quite as mean or as drawn out as the one in 2013. The current Pisces stellium is in effect now and will be at its peak March 12 - 21. At that point, the Sun and Mercury will move into Aries, marking spring equinox in the northern hemisphere and a return to the light. We also do not have a Mercury retrograde in Pisces this time around to extend the agony, and for that we can be grateful.

There is a powerful new expression of Pisces emerging during this lunar cycle - a successful expression of Pisces for the astrological Aquarian era.

But we have to make our way out of the muck and mire, beyond the siren songs and karmic loops and self-sacrificial tendencies, in order to get there. We have to puncture our own illusions and update our own energetic flow. We have to break the grip of it. And we have to help each other with all this, as well.

This March, we all have to do our part to hold the love and to hold people in that love when they've forgotten it's there at all. That's beautiful Pisces. We all have to do our part to make this a profoundly healing lunar cycle, rather than a devastating one.

And Jupiter and the North Node in Virgo will not tolerate any slacking on that front!

Uranus in Aries is here to lead the way, breaking the identification of precious human beings with dissolving structures that have been set up to fail.

Uranus in Aries tells those dissolving structures - the ones teaching people that they are redundant, unimportant, unnecessary - to just plain fuck off.

Listen to Uranus in Aries. It won't lead you astray.

Mercury transits sign-of-its-detriment Pisces from March 5 - 21, indicating some potential for brain fuzz and confused or deluded thinking. Plans may be difficult to nail down or solidify during this transit.

Venus transits Pisces, the sign of its exaltation, and spreads some of that pure, unconditional Pisces love, from March 12 - April 5. Because this Pisces stellium involves benefic planet Venus (rather that malefic planet Mars as in 2013), we can expect some softened edges with this one. The people who most need to catch some breaks may catch some under the influence of lovely Venus in exaltation.

As stated, the 18-degree Pisces New Moon total solar eclipse activates the Chiron-South Node conjunction in Pisces on March 8. The Sun in Pisces will conjunct Chiron and the South Node exactly March 10/11. Mercury will activate this karmic point March 17/18. And Venus will come behind, spreading some healing love balm on some old wounds, on March 29/30.

The Sun exits Pisces and enters Aries, marking equinox, on March 19.


If you regularly find value in Willow's Web Astrology, consider becoming a patron. WWA patrons receive full articles that appear only as excerpts on the blog.

Happy Birthday, WWA blog!

Today, my blog is eight years old. One full Venus cycle is behind us. And when I think of all the amazingly brilliant, interesting, and kick-butt people I've come to know because of this blog, I'm a little mind-boggled.

I always had a feeling there were others inhabiting the far reaches. I had a feeling there were others working and living from their own outskirt outposts. And now I know it's true.

I couldn't have imagined, growing up as a square peg in a rural, conservative round hole, that I would one day be able to communicate with other people who saw what I saw and understood what I understood. The internet age is almost like a dream, something truly fantastical. But it's real. I'm real. This blog is real. And you are real.

What a bizarre and fabulous time to be alive.

Happiest of Birthdays, WWA blog! You have provided love, sustenance, information, and guidance through some very treacherous times. Please keep on keeping on.

Mars Retrograde 2016: a Re-Direction of Passions

Mars is referred to as the action planet, relating to physical energy, personal direction, goals, will, anger, aggression, sex drive, sexuality, the way we move, and the way we do things, in general.

One of the primary astrological events for 2016 is a Mars retrograde period from April 17 to June 29 when Mars will appear to re-trace its steps in backward motion through the zodiac. 

Mars retrogrades occur once every two years. With the upcoming retrograde period from 8 degrees Sagittarius to 23 degrees Scorpio, the path we are actively carving through life will be changing - or at the very least, deepening - in 2016, becoming more fully aligned with our personal belief systems, faith, and truth.

Both Sagittarius and Scorpio are known as quite passionate signs, and this Mars retrograde period indicates a time of “passions directed and re-directed.” 

In Sagittarius, Mars is actively seeking meaningful experiences that boost inspiration, exhilaration, joy, and faith, as well as deepening our knowledge of the truth.  

In Scorpio, Mars desires to know stone, cold reality, right down to its deep, dark (and sometimes ugly) core. Mars in Scorpio leaves no stone left unturned.

This is an excerpt from the patron article, "Mars Retrograde 2016: a Re-Direction of Passions." It is available in its entirety to Willow's Web Astrology patrons, or it can be purchased for $9.50 via PayPal or email money transfer.

A New Moon in Aquarius Delivers Us From the Plutonic Grips

We experience a New Moon at 19 degrees Aquarius on February 8 (8:39 a.m. CST) that propels us beyond the Plutonic muck we've been wading through since the year began.

Celebrate good times, friends.

Even the Sabian Symbol for this New Moon has a bit of a relieving message: "A Large White Dove Bearing a Message."

Part of that message is: we're moving out of the gut-churning grips of Pluto in Capricorn! At least a little.

Having our nose rubbed in the dank and disturbing side of things has been fun and all, but honestly, let's bust loose from the muck and mire and set our sights on what's up ahead for a while.

The objective, detached, and future-oriented characteristics of Aquarius will be a very nice change as we deepen into Aquarius season with this New Moon. Mercury moves into Aquarius February 13, and Venus follows into the sign of the water-bearer February 16.

The Aquarius New Moon February 8 officially closes out the lunar cycle that began with the Capricorn New Moon, tightly conjunct Pluto, on January 9.

That entire 28-day lunar cycle was Pluto-infused, making the first month of the year a little heavier and more depressing than usual. (And yeah, January is generally pretty depressing!) Like perpetual Monday morning under the fluorescent lights of a soul-sucking office job...

The lunar month that is now coming to a close included Mercury (communication, intelligence, what's on our mind) retrograding back to a conjunction to Pluto and then stationing direct there on January 25. This kept us struggling with some of the paranoia, obsessiveness, and icy-grip fear related to Pluto for an extended period of time.

Coming out of the holidays, financial and job-security worries were preying on people's minds and emotions in some fairly intense ways, and this theme continues with a Venus (money) in Capricorn conjunction to Pluto on February 5.

Here in Bakken oilfield territory, the rock-bottom price of oil has thrown many people out of work, and those who managed to keep their jobs have often had to take substantial pay cuts. You can certainly see the price of oil reflected in the patronage at the honky tonk dive bar where I work a couple nights a week. Once filled with rowdy, oil field-employed drinkers every single night of the week, we are now closing at 10 and 11 o'clock at night due to lack of customers.

This is just one of the collective Pluto in Capricorn stories as corrupt and unsustainable structures are manipulated and milked to the point of collapse.

Some re-structuring - mental, emotional, and physical - was necessary as we moved through the first month of 2016.

But as we move through the upcoming Aquarius New Moon, Mercury in Capricorn has moved beyond its conjunction to Pluto and has re-gained full speed direct, while Venus in Capricorn has cleared the exact conjunction to Pluto, moving into a nice, productive trine aspect to Jupiter and the North Node in Virgo, exact February 10.

We've received the Plutonic reality check loud and clear. Changes have been made or forced. Endings have been experienced. The dust has (somewhat) settled. And now, as we enter this Aquarian-infused lunar cycle, we're ready to look forward.

We can't simply step away from the things we've come to know, however.

This Aquarius New Moon falls in tight square aspect to Mars in Scorpio, indicating a tension-filled necessity to hold the emotional/psychological bottom line as we make our future plans. Holding the energy of that bottom-line reality - even when it's on the uncomfortable or unpleasant side - ensures that our future plans have the right grounding and less chance of falling apart at the seams.

Aquarius' detachment and icy objectivity have a way of hurting Scorpio's feelings.

And you know Mars in Scorpio will just fuck shit up if its concerns are not taken fully into consideration, right?

We can't simply sever our emotional state or intuition in favour of the future vision. It won't work.

We're balancing what we know and feel in our guts (Scorpio) with what our brains are telling us about the way forward (Aquarius), and this tension continues throughout the 28-day lunar cycle.

Stay at Emotional/Intuitive Ground Zero, but look ahead with interest and excitement, at the same time.

We can't pretend things are less messed up on Planet Earth than they really are. Taking the full shitshow into consideration ensures that we're moving on from here in a grounded, effective, and reality-respecting way. We aren't amputating our feelings or any aspects of our experience in an ill-advised attempt to lighten the load.

Juno is also in Scorpio at the moment, conjunct Mars and square the Aquarius New Moon, so our soul mates are those who also know the score - and live by it - on the emotional and energetic level. Our soul mates are those who've dealt with more than their fair share of shit sandwiches in their day, just as we have.

As we move into this more strongly Aquarian-flavoured time period, Uranus in Aries becomes a much stronger influence over us, indicating a drive to make changes and even radical breaks from the standard way of doing things. These changes may be taken on willingly, or they may be forced by increasingly unsustainable circumstances within our structures, particularly business/finance.

The influence of Mars in Scorpio at the time of the Aquarius New Moon indicates a fairly charged and unpredictable month of events in store for us.

There may be some anger as we run into clashing future visions or people who are looking out for their own interests to the detriment of others. We may have to fight our way through some dense emotional or psychological territory as we make strides toward a future we'd like to live through.

We may also have inflammatory issues popping up with the body (Mars) or physical energy. This is a good time to remind ourselves of transiting Jupiter conjunct the North Node in Virgo and the wisdom of being pristine with diet and health.

Look to the house where 19 degrees Aquarius falls in your birth chart to find the breath of Aquarian/Uranian fresh air coursing through your life and world. There are unconventional and unexpected solutions coming in this area of life as we open out of the New Moon February 8.

The Moon will move through Capricorn, the sign of its detriment, February 4 - 6. As we close out this uber Plutonic lunar cycle, the Balsamic Capricorn Moon will be very busy tying up loose ends. It will form conjunctions to Pluto, Venus, and Mercury in Capricorn as well as a vibe-shifting square to Uranus in Aries, all on February 6.

The electric zing! of Uranus/Aquarius is on its way for the lunar month up ahead, replacing the dense and concentrated energy of Pluto that we've been navigating intensely since 2016 began.

The Aquarian-flavoured lunar cycle that opens February 8 continues until the New Moon total solar eclipse at 18 degrees Pisces (conjunct Chiron) on March 8.