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

Sun Square Saturn | meet the wall (no, not THAT wall)

the wall by alice faux

The Moon, still in multi-tasking and communicative Gemini has some nice aspects this morning with both Venus (sextile) and Jupiter (trine) - this would be a good morning for communicating with a partner, teaching, some kind of PR opportunity, social something or other.

Before going void, she sextiles (opportunity) Uranus (the unexpected, the future, freedom). Uranus is in Aries for a few more months and her interactions with our Moon today could have us feeling ambitious and looking for something new. 

At 2:35PM EDT the Moon goes void until dinnertime. We'll be left dangling with that sextile to Uranus pushing us to close up early and make a run for it. The Moon will enter Cancer at 6:12PM EDT leading to a couple days where we would all prefer to hunker down at home or with people and places that feel like home. Our emotions will naturally be soothed by what nourishes us and its lack will be more strongly felt.

The Moon is in the last quarter phase of her monthly cycle. And Mercury is getting ready to begin covering new ground next week - this is the time to put any finishing touches on projects started before late July or follow up with any appropriate situations from before that time.

With the Quarter Moon happening in fast moving and "too many irons in the fire" Gemini we could be feeling rushed, under-appreciated or over-worked. The Moon is winding down now. Find some time this week to unwind a bit, too.

In the meantime, back on the ranch, the Sun (in Virgo) is hitting her exact square with Saturn (in Sagittarius) at 21 degrees. These two will be close enough to have this tension/stress in play all week.

This is Saturn's 2nd square (due to his retrograde) with the Sun since we started our new Saturn cycle back on December 10th at 18 degrees Sagittarius when these two power players met up.

This is that wall, or obstacle, we talked about in the weekly (ie fire breathing dragon). There are GROWING PAINS.

The Sun will shine a spotlight this week on whatever this is for us. Our life force/creativity is blocked somehow. There is pressure, tension, frustration. Maybe too much work or too much service is being required of us. We could doubt our own abilities and any space we "don't have what it takes" could be right in our face and possibly even on view for others.

Maybe we'll get a "no". Maybe something that stabilizes us comes to an end or something requiring additional responsibilities/work could begin.

Whatever this wall is for our egos in this cycle - we hit it. "DAM!" said the fish when she did. Ack!

Patience and diligence (sorry!) are the only antidote to a Saturnian wall. We'll get through this. Time is on our side here.

(September is a big decision month and no one is going to feel like they have enough time/facts, etc to make the best decision. In October, Jupiter - higher thinking and remember Saturn is answering to him! - will move from Libra where he can see both sides and wants things to be fair, and into Scorpio where he will not be dealing with any crap.)

This square could be most strongly felt by the mutables - Gemini, Sagittarius, Virgo and Pisces - and anyone with planets or points around 21 degrees Sagittarius or 21 degrees Virgo. But since this is the Sun we are talking about we will all be feeling blocked somewhere.

The way through this tangle (since the Sun is in practical Virgo) is working with whatever is right in front of us in the current moment.

Don't look too far ahead or too far back. Saturn likes things to stay exactly as they are, but that opportunistic sextile between Uranus and the Moon today tells us something new needs to happen here. The square makes any move challenging since we are between a rock and a hard place. Just do your Virgo and get through the briar-patch - small, practical steps, focus on quality, don't get caught up in a 'perfectionist/criticism/mired in the details' trap. Keep moving. Do your best. If you don't know what to do - there is probably some weeds to be pulled or dishes to be washed somewhere. 

Doing something for someone else (very Virgo-like) can help bring us out of any depressive funk - Saturn can be heavy-duty. Of course, if this over-doing is part of the tension, this would be the thing to ease up on a bit. Virgo also rules our health - if this is the space we are hitting the wall - take things seriously. Make the difficult changes. Do it one step at a time.

Tomorrow, we have Venus crossing the North Node - she is on a roll people! Whatever it is we are doing to bring more beauty to the world is ripe for a BIG PUSH in the right direction.

xo all