Hi Everyone

Hope you had a wonderful April and are continuing to enjoy the lovely dance that the Moon and Venus are doing.

Venus will go retrograde on May 15th.  She will be at 23 degrees Gemini and will continue “backwards” until June 27.  In June she will also transit the Sun, but more about that next month.  A planet in retrograde is often experienced more inwardly and can have more difficulty expressing itself freely.  I believe one of the most positive uses of this retrograde is to be more loving toward ourselves and to contemplate (always a good retrograde word) how that changes the world around us.  It’s also a time to think about how we relate to each other and to Mother Earth.  I believe this celestial dance of Venus and the Moon is very signifiant as it calls us to better balance our masculine and feminine sides and masculine and feminine energy in general.  This can be a time to strengthen our own inner Sophia.  Those with planets from 18-28 degrees Gemini, Sagittarius, Virgo, Pisces, Aquarius and Libra will be most affected by this change in Venus’s direction.  All this in prep for her transit across the face of the Sun (male principle) on June 5. Continue reading →

Hi Everyone

I hope you all will continue to enjoy the lovely dance between Venus, Jupiter, the Moon and the Pleiades this month.  It’s quite the display!

Three planets change direction in April, which means they are moving very slowly, sort of standing around — hanging out, if you will. Continue reading →

Hi Everyone

Hope your February was all that you’d hoped — unless of course you were hoping for snow in the Albany area, as some of us were.  All right — as I was!  March ushers in spring – in theory anyway — with the Vernal Equinox on March 20, when the sun enters Aries at 1:15 a.m.  This is the astrological new year — so Happy New Year!  Two days later we have a new moon in Aries — more new beginnings.

Everyone’s favorite retrograde — Mercury, in case you hadn’t guessed — occurs on March 12 at 3:49 a.m.  He had just gotten into Aries and will retrograde back into Pisces, to join the Sun (until March 20) and Neptune, who arrived in her own sign to stay last month.  Mercury will go direct in early April — before you submit your taxes.  As you know, a Mercury retrograde can confuse computers, communication, travel and it can seem that you have to re-do everything.  It’s a great time to re-treat, re-think, re-group and re-adjust. Continue reading →

Hi Everyone

Can’t believe that January is almost over, but February starts this week, so here’s what’s happening in the heavens.

Saturn:  Our friendly taskmaster, guide, Dweller on the Threshold changes directions (goes retrograde) on February 7th at 9:30 a.m.  He’ll be at the very end of the sign Libra (29 degrees) and he’ll be there for the rest of the month.  All those with planets in late degrees Libra, obviously, Aquarius, or Gemini will experience this as a fairly easy (if Saturn is ever easy) transit.  By late degrees I mean from about 24 to 29/30 degrees.  Also those with planets in early degrees Scorpio, Cancer or Pisces will be affected by this change of direction because Saturn is so close to Scorpio.  (He’ll enter that sign in October.)  People with planets in Aries, Capricorn, Aquarius or Leo will also notice this change.  A planet in retrograde motion is experienced more inwardly and Libra seeks balance (think of a teeter totter), fairness and relationship.  When a planet changes direction it takes it a while to get moving in the new direction, so it just pulses energy until it starts moving.  That’s why we may feel this more strongly than at other times.  Saturn will change direction again in June. Continue reading →

Hi Everyone

Happy New Year!  Hope you all had wonderful holidays!

2012 is going to begin quietly — at least astrologically speaking.  All the planets continue to do their thing and move through the heavens without major events.

Mars is the only planet that changes directions in January and he does so on January 23rd at 7:54 p.m.  He’ll be at 23 degrees Virgo and will continue his retrograde motion until April.  For those with planets or luminaries (Sun or Moon) at 15-29 degrees Gemini, Pisces, Sagittarius, Taurus or Capricorn will feel this change in direction more than others. Mars will be conjunct (i.e. next to) Neptune in the US natal chart (dreams, illusion, film industry, collective yearnings, mass confusion and/or conformity). This occurs in the US’s 9th house of religion, belief systems and taboos.  Should be interesting to watch how this plays out on the national stage. Continue reading →

Hi Everyone

Hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving, survived Mercury’s retrograde and the solar eclipse the day after Thanksgiving without any difficulty.  December promises to be equally exciting as we exit 2011 and on to 2012!

Saturday December 10th has two — not one, but two — significant astrological happenings.  First at 2:05 a.m. ET, Uranus stations (i.e. stops and changes directions) at 1 degree Aries.  Attention all with planets, rising signs, lunar nodes in late degrees (26-30) or early degrees (1-5) of Libra, Capricorn, Cancer or Aries, or late degrees Pisces, Virgo, Gemini, Sagittarius or Leo.  Uranus, planet of the higher/abstract mind, destroyer of old, out-dated patterns or institutions, can help free up stuck thinking patterns.  He rules electricity among other things, so these ah-ha’s often come out of the blue, like lightening bolts, but this energy can feel disruptive.  He really won’t start moving again until January.  He’ll just sit there an pulse energy at us all.  A wonderful time to do away with old thought patterns/forms that no longer serve. Continue reading →

Hi Everyone

Hope you all had a good October.  November will be busier, so I hope you enjoyed the “quiet”!

Planetary Direction Changes

Neptune:  will end her retrograde transit through Aquarius on November 9th at 1:55 p.m.  She will be at 28 degrees Aquarius, which means she’ll be pulsing at that degree for the rest of the month.  Attention all those with planets in late degrees Aquarius, Taurus, Scorpio or Leo, or Libra or Gemini.  The last two signs work well with Aquarius, so it may be a time of increased analysis paralysis (all being air signs).  Neptune will remain in late degrees Aquarius for the rest of  2012.  Neptune, as you recall, is the planet of illusion, fog, addiction and redemption — quite a lot of territory!  She helps us gain a higher perspective on things, but she has a tough time on this plane and may lead you into thinking that escape is the best method.  Escape she will but things like music, meditation, spiritual studies fit her well. Continue reading →

Hi Everyone

I was surprised to realize that I began this astrological update a year ago — so this is the 12th edition.  Hope you all had a good September.

October is going to be very quiet — no planetary changing of directions, no eclipses — sort of a regroup time.  By the end of the month we will have three planets in Scorpio (Sun, Mercury, and Venus).  Scorpio is a water sign so Cancer and Pisces folks will experience an easy flow of energy from these three planets. Continue reading →

Hi Everyone

You’ll be pleased to know that September will be quieter than August — which is going out with a great cleansing at least for those of us on the East Coast.  Hope you and yours came through Irene with no difficulties.

Yes, Mercury is now direct – so no more blaming your computer, communication and/or travel issues on his being retrograde.  He actually went direct on the 26th.  And something else we’ll watch in September (and beyond) is Jupiter’s retrograde motion in Taurus, which begins on August 30 at 5:18 a.m. at 10 degrees Taurus.  Attention earth signs (Virgo and Capricorn) and Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius folks with planets from 5 to 15 degrees in any of those signs. Great time to diet — Jupiter rules expansion including waistlines — but I also think its retrograde motion will impact the economy and people’s overall confidence– another Jupiterian trait.  We will probably just begin to see the financial implications of Irene which may send the markets into more worry than they’re already in.  Hard to imagine! Continue reading →

Hi Everyone

Hope you had a good July.  August features everyone’s least favorite retrograde.  Yep, you guessed it — Mercury!

Retrogrades:

Mercury: Mercury goes retrograde on Tuesday, the 2nd at 11:50 p.m. at 19 degrees Virgo.  (Perhaps Congress will have figured something out about the debt limit by then!)  Virgo is an earth sign, and according to many astrologers is ruled by Mercury. I don’t believe that flighty Mercury is too comfortable in analytical Virgo, which I believe is ruled by Chiron.  In any event Virgo is a lot about harvest — bringing together and organizing various parts of the self.  (Of course, you have to own them first!) Continue reading →