Well, so much for returning to some semblance of sanity.

Due to my heavy academic schedule, I’ve had to cut way back on consultations and reports, and I don’t have a lot of time for the weekly forecasts, either. Talk about Mars retrograde in the tenth house! Rushed to write last week’s forecast, I overlooked all of the inconjuncts – Thursday’s inconjunct from Mercury to retrograde Mars was especially jarring – all happening as Saturn was stationed retrograde. That explains a lot, and it also gives me hope that the wildly fluctuating energies of the past couple of weeks will even out this week, helping us regain some order in our lives. It sure would be nice to go an entire week without another computer crash!

We also make a big shift from Aquarius to Pisces this week. Aquarian energy is like an unstable electrical current, while Pisces is more like the constant motion of the sea. On Monday, Mercury enters Pisces, followed by the Sun on Sunday. Neptune, Chiron, and Pallas already are in the early degrees of the Fishes, so by this time next week, we should all be feeling a lot more Zen.

Before moving into Pisces, Mercury makes a trine to Saturn. With both planets in intellectual air signs, tasks that require concentration and heavy thinking should go well. I have a couple of projects on my plate that fit that description and will appreciate all the help I can get! I recommend taking advantage of this aspect first thing Monday morning, because the vibe will be gone once Mercury changes signs on Monday evening.

With Mercury in Pisces, we’ll have access to the collective conscious and everything beyond. Deep insights are possible; the difficulty is in trying to explain it to anyone. Words fail. Do keep a journal and pen by your bed to record your dreams. I expect that some of us will have some real whoppers Monday night and into the wee hours of Tuesday. If that happens for you, please leave a comment and tell us about it.

On Tuesday, Jupiter in Taurus sextiles Chiron in Pisces, with the Moon in Jupiter’s sign of Sagittarius. Healing can take place, and it can happen big. In some cases, we stay wounded and stuck due to our beliefs about ourselves. The key to healing old wounds – be they physical or emotional, from this life or another incarnation – is not in trying to fix them or make them go away, but in accepting them as a unique part of who we are. The root word of “heal” is to make whole, and it’s Jupiter’s nature to expand the scope of our understanding so that what we have thought of as disparate parts or even polar opposites become parts of a greater whole.

Sometimes, all we need to see the bigger picture is one important detail that has been missing. We can find it when Mercury conjoins Chiron and sextiles Jupiter within a couple of hours on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Venus squares Pluto on Wednesday, one of the not-so-nice aspects of the week. I read this aspect in a couple of different ways. The conventional approach is that Venus in Aries can be selfish and impulsive, while Pluto in Capricorn demands that everyone toe the corporate line. So, for example, if you’re in the middle of a key project at work, don’t even think about asking for a day off because your best friend from high school blew into town unexpectedly and you want to spend the day together. Friday’s Capricorn Moon keeps this dynamic alive through the end of the week. Do your best to keep your nose to the grindstone.

However, I see another possibility here (at least one; I’m sure there are many others). Ceres, planet of environmental consciousness and embodiment of Mother Earth, is also in Aries and makes an exact square with Pluto on Tuesday. That means Venus and Ceres are in close conjunction when they square the symbol of corporate authority. Watch the news headlines for stories of women of all ages standing up to multinational interests backed by governments and military might. Or, it may be Earth herself who fights back in some way. Ceres and Pluto go back a long way. In mythology, she’s his mother-in-law and one of the few characters he knows better than to talk back to. If you’ll recall, Ceres and Pluto were closely conjunct in the chart for the BP Horizon explosion. Regardless of how much power they have, corporations are still bound by the laws of nature.

The Sun enters Pisces on Sunday and immediately conjoins Neptune. Finally we should be able to get some quality downtime. Stay home and watch your favorite film. Why not several, back-to-back? Meditation would be a good activity, too. Schedule a retreat if you can. If nothing else, go down for a delicious afternoon nap. Once again, keep that dream journal handy. Dreams take on significance now, and it’s time to make them come true.

Wishing you all much love and courage,
Pat