Mercury Conjunct Mars ... again | headstrong, argumentative, pushing the conversation, pushing the idea, the review is over and we are ready to get started

Odyssey by Vertu Design

Mercury and Mars have been dancing together for weeks (highly unusual!). They met up on September 3rd when Mercury was moving backward (retrograde). They meet again today with both energies (our head and our ability to act) moving forward - we are post eclipse, eyes wide open.

So what are we going to do? The review, the reflection - is over.

Maybe we get a second shot at something from early September. Maybe this is another argument (Mercury/Mars is great energy for a rip roaring confrontation) or more likely the same one being rehashed - last time Mars was strong and direct in a fire sign and Mercury was still retro in Leo. Now Mercury is strong in Virgo, a sign he rules and Mars is not quite so flashy. So Mars is a little less powerful now and Mercury is a lot stronger. There is greater potential for a cool head to win this round.

Maybe we need to have the uncomfortable argument to find where the blockages are. The bigger the blowup the older and deeper the pain.

Or maybe we need to walk away from unproductive discussions and focus on how to get what we thought we needed from the other person from ourselves. Maybe we need to just let it go.

We are more likely to be comfortable expressing anger OR sorrow, but not both (the Course in Miracles teaches they are really both fear in disguise). So we will be more comfortable with anger and repress sorrow (hubs) or be more comfortable with sorrow and repress anger (me).

We'll push whatever we are not comfortable with onto other people for them to act out for us. This is mostly done unconsciously, but when we get conscious about this stuff - well, first our world is majorly rocked then majorly ripe for real change. Alot of this past season has been about family dynamics, old stories that need to be put to bed - we will know what these are by the way they trigger our bodies and emotions. This isn't so much a time of progress as a time for healing ...

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(I decided to take an hour beach-break yesterday morning and enjoy a little "local-summer" now that the tourists are mostly gone. I am sitting in the front of a long line of cars making a left turn at a red arrow waiting for the bridge to close and the gates to open. This arrow is new and I'm sitting there thinking it's a smart new addition because when the gates come down, and block the traffic in front of the bridge, everyone used to pile up in the intersection and the traffic going straight through (not over the bridge) used to get stuck, too.

We are sitting for a bit. Bridge openings on this road can take a while. Suddenly someone behind me beeps their horn. Then someone else. Soon at least a dozen people are beeping and yelling out their windows at me. I am not sure they can all see what I see, but I am still looking at a red arrow and the bridge rails closed. I am thinking WTH. Well maybe I am thinking WTF. Well maybe by now I have my arm out the window with my middle finger extended.

And yes, I am thinking to myself that I must be really pissed off to be attracting this much "pissed off" in my direction.

I inch up a bit, so the tractor trailer behind me can get around me and into the empty right lane (there is an empty right lane next to me for cars going straight and not left over the bridge) - maybe he wants to avoid the bridge wait and drive straight? But no, he swoops around me to the left, along with four other cars, blocking the intersection and piling in front of the gate.

I was thinking about Mars/Mercury (Mercury also rules transportation) and about how this could have, in the past, triggered old stuff for me the way traffic situations tend to do to us - other times in life we have been cut off, left behind, out-maneuvered - but it didn't this time. I kept a cool head - well, my left middle finger got a little hot and itchy, but as a person more comfortable with sadness than anger, that anger had to come out. It felt appropriate to the situation (plus I live in Jersey).

I could see the red arrow and the closed gates. Maybe the other drivers could, too, but maybe they couldn't. Maybe they got around me and said to themselves "oh, so this is the hold up".

With the Mars/Mercury energy peaking today knowing that other people don't have the info/view/background knowledge that we have can help avoid a tussle. It can also show us our triggers.)

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Maybe we push (Mars) the idea/conversation (Mercury). We decide (Mercury) we take action (Mars).

We still have the Black Moon Lilith (the uncontrolled woman, sexual freedom) story in play, the Venus (love, money, values) story in play, the Moon in fun-loving Leo, the Sun in practical Virgo shining a light on our harvest AND all the ways we screwed this harvest up (damn nit picky Virgo) and all the ways it was screwed up for us (not everything is under our control) and all the ways we freaking got lucky.

What are we going to do with all of this?

I am about to hit a local flea market and then clean the pool, so we can close it up for the season (sniffle). I hope everyone enjoys their Saturday.

We'll use Mars/Mercury to move forward. We'll watch for Mars/Mercury triggers.

.... xo all

Venus Sextile Juputer | increased expectations, opportunities for more love/more money, shop smart, drive safely, watch your tongue, play with the kids

kids by Joa Gna

Today, Venus (in Leo) sextiles Jupiter (in Libra) at 24 degrees. There is opportunity for expansion/celebration/to get lucky. Personally, the opportunity will be between your late degree Leo and Libra houses.

Collectively this will be about love, money, self-esteem, our values, women, beauty, children, recreation, romance, fun jiving (all those Venus and Leo themes) finding their happy places through our groups, social activities, chance encounters (Venus is still conjunct that North Node!), women, travel, education, foreign, weddings, higher thinking.

I know this sounds like a word salad. Because it is. Take what you need!

This would be a good time to begin a new relationship - personal or business. With Mercury so close to Mars (exact tomorrow) there could be some bickering, maybe quite a lot of bickering, but it might be worth it!

Watch your wallet because Venus/Jupiter is good for spending money and might not care if we actually have any. On the other hand funds spent on our appearance or our relationships is probably not a bad thing. Just keep your eye on the benjamins today and through the weekend.

Jupiter brings increased EXPECTATIONS.

In this case it would be around our relationships, love and money. And because we often seem to get what we expect we are going to get this can be very helpful. Hence, his reputation as a kind of astrological Santa Claus.

Keep in mind though that Jupiter is a planet made up entirely of hot air (gases). Not everything will pan out in huge ways. Some things will just kind of fade away like a dream. Venus is moving toward an inconjunct with wounded healer Chiron, so some of the promise of this energy will need to be fine-tuned. Something might trigger a previous wounding.

With Venus in Leo new doors will open (North Node!) fastest with a Leo attitude - optimistic, happy, generous. There are multiple opportunities here and we simply can't screw this up.

The greatest opportunities for our collective will come through our belief that things can get better for all of us.

The Moon is in Cancer. It opposed Pluto just about the time of the London bombing. And we have Mercury (transportation) moving toward an exact conjunction with Mars (violence) tomorrow. What we see in the collective is always at work in our own lives, too. So take care with machinery. Drive safely. Passionate conversations and arguments can be dropped like bombs so don't initiate confrontations. Think before you speak.

By mid day the Moon will be sextiling (opportunity) the Sun - in Virgo, so opportunities for a light to be shone on detailed work, service or our health. This is good for seeing both sides of a situation and for having alternate views work together. The Moon goes void at 5:23 EDT. With an interaction with unexpected "out-of-the-blue" Uranus as her parting shot - we could have some unexpected emotions (ie a reason for unexpected emotions) later in the day. After the Moon gets into Leo late tonight would be a good time for fun, romance, kids.

Don't plan to get to sleep early! xo all

Venus Conjunct the North Node | affirmation we are moving in the right direction, wild women make history plus a warning about too many green bean casseroles

If the dream flies away by Julie-de-Waroquier

This week we have seen Venus (in Leo) trine (brakes off) Saturn, then the Sun moved into an exact square with Saturn (brakes on) and now Venus (love, money, self-esteem, our values, women, beauty) in Leo (creative work, children, romance, recreation) moves into an exact conjunction - at 23 degrees - with the North Node (our future).

Pay attention to what comes to your attention now.

There should be an affirmation that you are moving in the right direction - or a nudge in a new one! This will involve the themes I have listed above and/or the theme of your natal Leo house - yes, this is the same house/theme we have been talking about for weeks via that total Solar Eclipse in Leo.

Venus is going to hit the eclipse degree next week but we might get a preview now. There could be an opportunity to push a little further toward what "our heart" (Leo) wants. With Saturn playing a part in this week's story line working with Saturn's discipline, limits and responsibilities will be key here. Nothing works unless we do.

At the same time Venus is also trining Black Moon Lilith (the out of bounds woman, the woman who plays by her own rules, sexual freedom, power) in Sagittarius. Interesting that it is Margaret Sanger's birthday (Planned Parenthood founder) and Hillary Clinton has been in the news again lately. Black Moon Lilith will conjunct the North Node in a couple days, so there could be even more of a spotlight/acceptance for out of bounds women/women's issues or personal power.

Her trine to Venus as Venus conjuncts the North Node of destiny hints (not that BML ever speaks softly about anything!) the part of ourselves/the situation/the relationship/the creative project that might normally be in some way "out of bounds" or not conventionally accepted (even offensive, think - the things we don't talk about in polite society - sex, money, power, our flaws, our vulnerabilities) - will need to be included. If we leave the uncomfortable pieces of ourselves to wither on the vine now the whole orchard goes down, too. The trine should make this acceptance process move smoothly.

We might not even notice the trine, we'll just realize later on that some formerly unacceptable part of us has been merged into the whole and we are better for it. Or we take the new job and realize we didn't ask about the money! There is always a flip-side.

We don't want to be putting up with a "dis-empowerment" in whatever situation we are dealing with (although with Saturn involved we know everything won't be all sunshine and flowers). We are connecting with the fire of millions of female voices that have been dis-empowered. We have more power than we think we do. 

The Moon is in Cancer today and tomorrow so we will all be feeling more sensitive, more in need of nourishment and care. The Moon will have some nice aspects with Neptune making us more compassionate and more imaginative. We can hold a space for someone else without judgement more easily now. This is a good day for meditation or some kind of grounding practice.

Mercury isn't covering new ground yet and the Moon is waning - this is the time of tying things up, planning, not rushing into something new. As early as next week we'll have Mercury covering new ground and a New Moon in Virgo - we will be pushed into something new soon enough, trust me on this one.

We might want to push off those big decisions, and we likely can for a few more days, but they need to get resolved this month or life will force our hand anyway.

Decisions made now need to take into account the lessons we learned over the last few weeks. Then we decide. Then we decide to not look back. 

That's all that is required of us. Life can use whatever decision we make to get us where we need to go if we don't disrespect life by disregarding these last few weeks. Really. 

Save the big new moves for a few more days though. Let Mercury start covering new ground and the Moon to start waxing. For now, tie up loose ends. Plan. Do what is right in front of you.

The Moon in Cancer is squaring Uranus and hooking us into the next big aspect - the Jupiter/Uranus opposition on September 28th. That date and the following couple weeks will be challenging for many people (in the collective the Trump vs legal issues or Trump vs media story will be peaking). And Pluto will station direct in Capricorn the same day!

There are BIG changes ahead for all of us - both collectively and personally. By next April we will have 3 outer planets in new signs, including Uranus, who last changed signs on March 11, 2011 (the day of the Fukushima earthquake). And both Mars and Venus will go retrograde in 2018! It will be another big year to go over and over things.

We have October, November and December to make the big personal changes (and you may have already made them - many, many people have - but if you know you were/are supposed to make some kind of move/change, but haven't - this timing is for YOU, get something started with this). At the end of December Saturn comes home to Capricorn. Daddy's home. Things could get more stable but also more stuck. We might miss this mutable, crazy year.

How is that possible? Well, have I said before that winter is coming? 

We are still in the season of the harvest and we are all harvesting something. If you have a kitchen filled with green beans (like me) and really wish you had planted some eggplant and kale (actually the critters ate the kale) - well, it's too late to plant eggplant and kale now!

So stop obsessing over that and make what you can make with the green beans.

Figure out a way to use your green beans to get the eggplant and kale or you will be eating green beans all winter. Maybe you like the stability of knowing what you will have for dinner (green beans!) but most likely you will feel stuck with them.

And now I've made myself hungry ... but not for green beans. xo all