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Astro Doings January – February 2025

Margaret Lassiter Leave a comment

Happy New Year, Everyone!

I hope you had wonderful holidays and that 2025 brings many blessings to you.

January and February bring some change in direction for a couple of planets and by the end of February there will be no planets in retrograde motion!

January

We begin the month with the Sun, Mercury and Uranus in earth signs – practical, deliberate, not rushing into anything. We have Venus, Saturn and Neptune in water – a lot of emotion and three planets are in Pisces, the sign of faith, addiction, illusion and disillusion. I should mention that Pisces is the sign of Venus’ “exaltation.” Sounds neat, eh? Well, Venus is the planet of love and in Pisces she has an opportunity to express her love beyond one-on-one relationships. At the beginning of the month we also have Mars in Leo opposed Pluto in Aquarius. Both planets are in fixed (read stubborn) signs, so the New New Year could start off with power struggles, the same as we saw at the end of December.  Mars will retrograde back into Cancer on the 7th, and while it will still be opposed Pluto, it won’t be as strong.

Finally we get some air in here on the 19th when the Sun enters Aquarius, joining Jupiter in Gemini and Pluto in Aquarius. Mercury goes into Aquarius on the 27th and we have a new moon in Aquarius on the 29th. She’ll be a 90. Aquarius is the sign of the innovator, rebel and visionary. It can also be said of Aquarians that they can be quite aloof, cold and disinterested. But air is the element of ideas, and Pluto promises the beginning of new ideas, as well as breakdown of old, deeply held ideas, and Jupiter in ever-curious Gemini will keep the conversation going.

Uranus goes direct at 11:22 a.m. on the 30th. He’ll be at 230 Taurus. Uranus is the planet of the higher mind and is also the ruler of Aquarius. We can hope that any new ideas that arise during this period will be beneficial to mankind and Mother Earth and that they will be practical (Taurus).

The Full Moon occurs on the 13th at 240 Cancer.

February

Jupiter and Mars change direction in February and by the end of the month there will be no planets in retrograde motion. So charge ahead with all the understanding and insights gathered during retrograde periods! It won’t last long. Two planets station retrograde in early March. . . . Otherwise February is pretty quiet.

On the 4th Jupiter changes directions at 110 Gemini, moving in the same direction as the Sun, Mercury and Venus in air signs. And on the 23rd Mars changes directions at 170 Cancer, going direct with the Sun, Saturn and Neptune in water signs.

Water and air generally make fog, but water can soften the seeming hardness of the airy realm of ideas.  It can also confuse the issue. We’ll have to see how this plays out. The US is a Sun-sign Cancer country with several placements in the sign in the area of foreign policy and foreign investments. It will be interesting to see how these planetary placements influence activities in these areas. Remember, the stars impel, they don’t compel.

The Full Moon occurs on the 12th at 8:53 a.m. She’ll be at 240 Leo. The New Moon occurs on the 27th at 3:46 a.m. She’ll be at 90 Pisces.

Hope you have a wonderful start to 2025.

Peace and abundant blessings, Margaret

Astro Doings November – December 2024

Margaret Lassiter Leave a comment

Hi Everyone

Hard to believe that this is the last Astro Doings for 2024. In the last two months of the year, Saturn and Neptune end their retrograde periods, Pluto changes signs, and we have the last Mercury retrograde.

November

The month begins with a New Moon at 90 Scorpio. At the same time, we have a complicated, closed figure, called a kite. Mercury, Neptune and Mars all trine (easy flow of energy) at very late degrees of their respective water signs (Scorpio, Pisces and Cancer), making a big triangle. And Pluto in Capricorn is sextile (opportunity) to the ends of the triangle, sort of “flying” the kite. There is a lot of emotion with this much water. Pluto in earthy Capricorn provides some boundaries although it could also suggest that emotions are impacting our values (Pluto in the 2nd house of the US chart) and institutions (Capricorn). Since all four planets are at late degrees of the signs they’re in (28-29 degrees) this suggests an ending of some sort powered by emotion. I would refer you to the Quality of Time article on the Astrodienst website (astro.com) for further information. Suffice it to say that when a figure is closed in astrology it generally means that the energy has a hard time expressing itself, sort of like a balloon filled with air that can’t get out. It can feel rather frustrating. Mercury will move out of orb, dissolving the kite, by November 10.

On the 3rd and 4th, Mercury and Mars move into fire signs (Sagittarius and Leo respectively). Fire is enthusiastic, volatile and inspired; it can warm you or burn you. This change of sign also weakens the kite although the planets are still in orb. But fire and water/earth don’t mix well, adding to the charged nature of the energy at this time.

On the 19th Pluto leaves Capricorn for good, entering Aquarius at 3:29 p.m. Aquarius is a fixed (aka stubborn) air sign and likes to operate in the realm of ideas, especially those that are visionary and potentially beneficial to all. We are in the Aquarian age of brotherhood. With Pluto entering this sign, we can anticipate (over its long transit through the sign – through 2044) changes, innovation and upheaval as we hopefully come to truly recognize that we are all one. Aquarians, by the way, are all about change as long as they don’t have to make any personal changes.

The Sun enters Sagittarius (another fire sign) on the 21st at 2:56 p.m. and Mercury starts his last retrograde of the year on the 25th at 9:42 p.m. He’ll be at 220 Sagittarius.

The Full Moon occur on the 15th at 4:28 p.m. She’ll be at 240 Taurus. This is the same day that Saturn stations direct at 9:20 a.m. at 120 Pisces. Pisces is the sign with two fish swimming in opposite directions unaware of the other one.  It is the sign of addiction and faith – quite a contrast. Saturn provides structure and limitation and asks us to examine our attitudes toward the sign he’s in. He represents the father and all authority figures.

December

Like November, December begins with a New Moon at 90 Sagittarius. Unlike November, December also ends with a second New Moon on the 30th. (See below.) The beginning of the month also features two planets changing direction: Mars and Neptune. Mars, the planet of war, stations retrograde on the 6th at 7:01 p.m. He’ll be at 60 Leo, opposed Pluto in Aquarius. On the 7th Neptune stations direct at 6:43 p.m. She’ll be at 270 Pisces, along with Saturn. When a planet changes direction, it stops and sits on the zodiac degree where it “stations,” aka stops before changing direction. It pulses there and if it’s near a point or planet in your chart it can really emphasize it.  Venus enters Aquarius on the 7th at 1:13 a.m., joining Pluto. It will be interesting to see how the planet of Love (Venus) works with the planet of the underground and deep-seated changed (Pluto). Pluto is named for the Roman god of the underworld (or Disney’s dog, whichever you prefer.) However, the energy of this planet of deep transformation is feminine. So we have two feminine energy planets in the male air sign, Aquarius.  Should be fun to watch, unless of course you have placements in early degrees Aquarius (or Leo or Taurus or Scorpio)!

Mercury ends his retrograde motion on 15th at 3:56 p.m. Yippeee!  He’ll be at 60 Sagittarius. The Full Moon is also on the 15th at 9:32 a.m. She’ll be at 230 Gemini.

The Winter Solstice occurs on the 21st when the Sun enters Capricorn at 4:21a.m. From then on the days get longer! Capricorn, an earth sign, is the sign of the status quo. The second New Moon occurs on the 30th at 5:27 p.m. She’ll be a 90 Capricorn.

I hope you have wonderful holidays and all the best in 2025!

Peace and abundant blessings,

Margaret