Hi Everyone

Hope you had a good January and managed to stay warm!  Before I explain February’s astrological doings there are two events that happened at the very end of January that I want to mention.

The first is that Venus, planet of love, affection, beauty, how we take in love, changed from retrograde motion to direct motion on January 31^st at 13⁰ degrees Capricorn, right next to Pluto.  When a planet changes direction, it basically stops for a several days.  Venus adds her energy to Pluto’s transformative, powerful, secretive energies as part of the Grand Cross that I discussed in January’s Astro Doings.

The second is that January had two new moons, the last on January 30 at10⁰ Aquarius.  New moons are about new beginnings.  Attention all those with planets from 5-15⁰ of the fixed signs, aka stubborn, sustaining, tenacious.  They are: Aquarius, Leo, Taurus and Scorpio.  The other air signs will also be affected, i.e. Libra and Gemini.   February will not have a new moon.

So, now for February.  Since we’re talking about the moon, a full moon will occur on February 14^th at 26⁰ Leo.  Again, the fixed signs will be impacted and the other fire signs, Aries and Sagittarius.  Full moons are when the moon gives the greatest amount of reflected light and the fullest expression of what the signs, in this case Leo and Aquarius represent.  This is a time of balance between individual (Leo) expression and the group/mankind’s (Aquarius) highest good.  It’s a time to reflect on how what we do as individuals (Leo) impacts our world at large (Aquarius).

And it’s once again time for everyone’s favorite retrograde – yep, Mercury goes retrograde on February 6^th at 3⁰ Pisces, conjunct (next to) Neptune, planet of illusion, dreams, visions, forgiveness, and redemption.  So our thoughts (Mercury) may be clouded by fog (also ruled by Neptune) or we may also re-think (a fine retrograde activity) our dreams. Mercury also rules communication, travel, contracts and computers, so these activities may not go as smoothly during these three weeks. It is recommended not to start anything new during a Mercury retrograde. However, it’s a great time time to re-think, re-new, re-flect and generally slow down. When he goes direct again on February 28^th he’ll be at 18⁰ Aquarius, sign of the visionary.

Mercury will be conjunct Neptune for the first two weeks of February; then the sun will be. The sun moves into Pisces on February 18^th.  So let’s talk about Pisces. It’s a water sign, so anyone with planets in early degrees of the other water signs, Cancer or Scorpio, and the other “mutable” (that is, changeable, multi-talented, flowing) signs, Gemini, Sagittarius and Virgo may be more sensitive to the sun’s transit through Pisces.  Pisces in general finds this planet difficult to deal with.  Intensely psychic without boundaries to know how to deal with what they pick up, Pisces people are easily overwhelmed and generally seek to escape the energies around them. They are very sensitive to music, compassionate sometimes to their own detriment because they take on other people’s “stuff” often without realizing it.  Pisces is ruled by Neptune and desires to merge with something greater.

The Cardinal Grand Cross of last month is now a Cardinal T-Square, which is a little easier to deal with.  It looks like a big T in the chart but one side is open so there’s a way for energy to move around.  Currently Jupiter (expansion, good fortune, higher level thinking, optimism) in Cancer (home, hearth, mother, emotions) opposes Pluto (transformation, power, underground, manipulation) in Capricorn (status quo, big business, old age) and both are squared by Uranus (rebellion, higher mind, destroyer of outmoded forms) in Aries (rash, impulsive, headstrong, quest for Self). A square occurs when planets are in signs that have the same kind of energy, in this case cardinal.  (Hence the name of the figure.)  Cardinal energy starts, but doesn’t always finish; leaps and then looks, bores very easily and is male in its feel.  All these planets are around 10⁰ of their signs and continue to impact the chart of the US, as I described in January’s Astro Doings. With more Pisces energy being introduced in February we may see some softening of the hard lines. We may also be more in a fog than before – oh, dear!  And/or we may become more aware of the serious issues we all have around water, and the lack thereof in many places.

Hope you have a wonderful February.  Remember that the stars impel; they don’t compel.  We can always choose how we wish to use these energies.

Peace and abundant blessings,

Margaret