This is a pivotal week, with a solar eclipse at the New Moon, Mercury and Jupiter changing signs, and Neptune turning retrograde in otherworldly Pisces.

In my New Moon post, I wrote about the fixed star Porrima and its symbolism of turning a corner. Many of us have spent months preparing to leave something or someone behind, without knowing why or where it would lead. Once we go around the bend, the past will fade into the distance in our rearview mirror, and the road ahead will be clearly visible.

Monday and Tuesday are heavy like the air before a thunderstorm. The conjunction of the Moon with Mars and Venus accentuates physical relationships, not just with romantic partners but also with money and possessions. When we know we need to let something go but keep putting off the inevitable, it weighs us down. And even when we do let go, for a while we feel the loss as a heaviness in our hearts.

The Sun and Moon in Gemini both trine Saturn on Wednesday before the eclipse, when the Moon will pass between the Sun and Earth. Since I’ve already written a long post on this event, I won’t elaborate here but simply will repeat my view that this eclipse signals an acceleration of new patterns manifesting in our lives. You’ve laid the groundwork already, so all you need to do now is pay attention, keep your hands on the wheel, and steer a little to the left or right to stay on the road.

The day after the eclipse, Mercury enters his own sign of Gemini, and suddenly the sky no longer belongs to Venus. The Sun and Moon now deposit to Mercury, except for the two days this week when the Moon is in her own sign of Cancer. There will be a noticeable pickup in communications and life in general. Those of you who can type 80 words a minute (not me) will fare very well. It’s also a good time for negotiating business deals.

Mercury squares Neptune on Friday, just minutes before Neptune turns retrograde. I don’t need to tell you to keep your antennae up, because they will be virtually buzzing with information. The problem with this configuration is that some of the messages you receive will be confusing and perhaps not even true. Be sure to keep your dream journal by the bed; dreams are a major source of inspiration and enlightenment. On Saturday, Mercury aspects electric Uranus, sparking still more ideas that seem to come “out of nowhere.”

The biggest news this week is Jupiter’s entry into Taurus on Saturday. The last time Jupiter was in Taurus was in 2000, when there was a dramatic build-up of planetary energies in the sign of the Bull. For a few hours on May 3 of that year, seven of ten planets were in Taurus. Astrologers at the time were predicting all sorts of dire earth events that never came to pass, although it was noted that ripples might be felt for 20 years.

The first thing that comes to mind with Jupiter in Taurus is banking and finance. Ray Merriman, my go-to guy for financial forecasting, sees a multi-year bear market on the way. One would think that the planet of expansion in the sign of the Bull would be a sign of growth in global financial markets, but Ray has crunched the numbers and points to historical data that show otherwise.

Next week, Saturn turns direct, and many of us will see still more progress. Finally, we seem to be getting somewhere.

Much love and courage to all,
Pat