Category Archives: About astrology

Saturday Extra: Where Do We Start?

equinox-crocuses.jpg

Did you notice that the first day of spring is early this year?

The dates of the equinoxes change from one year to the next, which means that the dates of the astrological Sun signs also change. If you’d like the scientific explanation of this phenomenon, there’s a great article on Live Science.

The equinoxes and solstices are the cusps of the four cardinal signs — Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn. But the cusps of the other signs change, too, so if you were born around the dates when the signs change, you can’t rely on the dates given in newspaper horoscopes to get your correct Sun sign. Not that any our sophisticated readers would do such a thing, but I just thought I’d mention it, as this is a bit confusing.

For those born around the dates that the Sun changes signs, including the equinoxes and solstices, the only way to be sure of your Sun sign is to have your chart done. Fortunately, there are some good online astrology sites that let you do this for free. By far the best is the Swiss Astrodienst, which I highly recommend.

What if you were born on a day when the Sun changed signs? Hopefully, you know what time you were born. If not, you may want to get a chart rectification, a technique astrologers use to try to determine or fine-tune birth times. Then you will need to test it over time to see if it corresponds to current transits.

Can you imagine going through you life thinking you’re a Libra, only to discover you’re really a Scorpio? Just think of the psychotherapy you’d need to undo that trauma …

Happy Equinox!

Aquarius, the sign of astrologyPat

Image: Spring crocuses. Neith captured these little lovelies turning their faces up to the equinox sun yesterday. I found this bit of trivia on Wikipedia and thought it was appropriate: The financial community sometimes refers to companies or economic sectors that rise early after an economic downturn as “Crocuses” in reference to the flower’s ability to thrive in the late winter or early spring.

Ask Real Astrologers: Freaked Out by Pluto

This week’s question comes from Danae in Wellington, New Zealand:

I’ve been quietly freaking out re: this whole Pluto in Capricorn thing and how it affects me, especially the relationship I’m in at the moment — intense, to say the least. Any advice or insight on what’s in store? Although I must say, I am struggling in so many areas of my life at the moment. Am I doomed?

Aquarius expounds . . .

Pat’s response:

Danae, it does look like you are getting hit doubly hard by this Pluto transit, but it certainly does not mean you are doomed!

Pluto currently is opposite your Sun in Cancer, although he will not form an exact opposition until next January. He’s about to go retrograde and will back off from your Sun until then. Still, he’s too close for comfort, and you apparently are feeling this.

The good news is that, unlike some Pluto transits, you do have a large degree of control over a Pluto-Sun opposition. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to ruthlessly monitor your own behavior to make sure that you are not trying to force other people to live on your terms. We can fool ourselves into thinking it’s “for their own good,” but more often than not, it’s because we want to remain in control, for whatever reason. Sometimes this transit can work the other way around — in other words, someone is trying to force you into their box. In this case, your job is to fight back, but in a way that allows you both free expression of your life purpose and highest potential.

Pluto also is creeping up on your Descendant, which is the beginning of the seventh house of intimate relationships. He’s currently a couple of degrees away, and once he turns retrograde, he’ll back way off and won’t cross your Descendant until 2011. However, you gave your birth time as exactly on the hour, and it’s rare to be born that punctually. I’m wondering whether you may have been born a few minutes before the hour. If so, Pluto indeed may be crossing your Descendant, which indicates that relationship issues are coming to a head.

Astrologers can use this kind of information to do chart rectification, a technique for determining your exact birth time. Unfortunately, in your case, Pluto opposite your Sun mimics some of the effects of Pluto crossing the Descendant, so we’d have to look for other clues.

In any case, there’s no need to freak out. This is a power transit, so use it wisely!

Libra ponders . . .

Neith’s response:

Danae, I’m going to respond with some thoughts about your relationship and the synastry aspects I believe are the source of the most contention.

As you may know, Pluto in Libra is square your natal Mercury in Cancer, bringing all his usual control issues and inclination to be obsessive with him. So when your sweetie’s Pluto is within a couple degrees of yours, his Pluto reinforces what is already happening in your chart.

Sure, his Pluto is exactly sextile your Venus in Leo – very good for passionate encounters – but his Saturn is also conjunct your Venus. This can result in a lot of mixed signals coming your way. On one hand, he obviously finds you very desirable, while on the other, he may be uncomfortable with your style. Venus in Leo does go for eye-catching after all. Your Pluto also falls right in there with his natal Pluto-Mars conjunction, adding to the powerful draw between you.

The question I have for you is this: what expectations do you and he have regarding this relationship and each other, and what expectations do you have of yourself? If you two can clearly define what’s going on here and continue to practice being as open as possible with each other, it will help! And I will add my usual caveat regarding Pluto, which is to work on detachment – always.

I would like to add, Danae, your overall synastry with this man is not bad at all. Good luck!

Got a quick question? Click here to contact Ask Real Astrologers. We are getting some really great questions but unfortunately can’t use many of them, as they are missing information. If you’d like us to consider your question for this column, you must include your day, month (spelled out), year, and place of birth, and time if you know it. If you don’t, indicate “time unknown.” Also, we must have your current location. This is not optional. Thanks!

Real Astrologers Poll: What ‘Caused’ This Accident?

A friend called last week to catch up and mentioned that he’d hurt himself chopping wood. He’d been cutting up a tree with a chainsaw, and as he was cutting off the last small branch, it flew up and hit him between the eyes, leaving a fairly deep gash.

“Pat, it was really stupid,” he said.

“Did it knock any sense into you?” I asked.

“None that I could tell.”

Of course, being an astrologer, the first thing I did after we hung up was to look at his chart. This happened the day of the Full Moon, which was highly charged, so I figured that was the end of it. However, I saw at least four other possible explanations and started laughing, because I knew that five different astrologers would find five different “causes.”

Many of you have a fairly sophisticated knowledge of astrology, so I thought it would be fun to ask you which explanation fits the best — remembering, of course, that the planets don’t “cause” anything to happen but are indicators of the forces at work in our lives. Since the full explanations are too long to fit into the poll text, I put them below.

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Explanation #1:  It was the Full Moon, which triggered the Saturn-Uranus opposition on his third and ninth house cusps.
Explanation #2:  Transiting Mars was opposite his natal Pluto by less than 2 degrees.
Explanation #3:  Transiting Mars triggered his natal T-square in the fixed signs (Moon in Taurus, Pluto in Leo, and Saturn in Scorpio).
Explanation #4:  Venus was retrograde in Aries, which rules the head, in an exact square with his natal Mercury, which rules small appliances. Moreover, Venus is transiting his ninth house, which is associated with trees and the outdoors.
Explanation #5:  Pluto is exactly conjunct his Sun at 3 degrees Capricorn.

Or maybe he just needed a good knock on the head? What do you think?

Love and blessings to all …
Aquarius, the sign of astrologyPat

Wednesday afternoon upate: I ran into one of our readers on the street today and he said he didn’t vote because I didn’t include “all of the above.” If it had been all of the above, the chainsaw probably would have lept out of his hands and chopped him into bits, but if anyone else would like to answer “all of the above,” please leave a comment!

Weekly Forecast March 16: Spring Equinox

Statue of a ram from ancient SumerWe’ve had snow here three days in the past week, but the rhododendrons are budding, so spring has got to be on the way!

The big news this week, of course, is the spring equinox (fall for our many readers south of the equator). This is the moment that the Sun enters the sign of Aries, the first sign of the zodiac. It’s the beginning of the astrological year and time for new projects, fresh beginnings, renewed optimism … in short, getting off your butt and getting moving.

In theory, anyway. People everywhere are telling me that they are just plain tired. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of energy for new projects. Then, maybe a shift to Aries is what we all need to get some motivation and enthusiasm.

The equinox isn’t until Friday, so this actually is a great week for finishing up anything on your plate. I have a couple of projects that feel like great weights, and I’m going to make a concerted effort this week to get them done, once and for all.

Venus continues on her retrograde path, making this a good time to go back and focus on certain activities, particularly those involving relationships, money, or what we value. Questioning what you value could be a fruitful exercise in the next few weeks, especially if you’re having difficulty getting what you want. Do you really want it, and why? Are you getting it at the expense of what you hold dear?

Otherwise, there’s not a lot going on this week — which may turn out to be a good thing if you’re trying to get old stuff out of the way. You may feel a blip on Wednesday, when Mercury in Pisces opposes Saturn in Virgo, and another on Sunday, when Mercury conjoins Uranus (late Saturday in western time zones). Events associated with this alignment won’t necessarily be disruptive. To the contrary, you may get some great ideas for solutions to the issues you’ve been facing with the Saturn-Uranus opposition.

Also on Wednesday, Mars opposes Ceres, who has backed all the way up to the first degree of Virgo as she prepares to return direct in April. I’m still observing Ceres in individual charts and have to be honest with you that I’m not sure what this aspect will bring. I’d love to hear from you, especially if you’re a Virgo or have strong Virgo in your chart, if anything happens in your life around Wednesday that could be related to this aspect. Issues possibly related to Ceres include diet and digestion and how we serve others, whether formally through our jobs or informally through our day-to-day circumstances. With Mars opposing Ceres, we would expect some sort of flare-up in one of these areas. Examples might be a case of food poisoning or a severe allergic reaction to something you eat.

On Thursday (late Wednesday on the West Coast of the United States and points west), Mars sextiles Pluto. Unless this aspect hits personal planets or critical degrees in your chart, I doubt you’ll feel it. If it does make close contact, you should get some extra energy reserves to push forward with a pet project or plow through opposition. As always with Pluto, you need to make sure that your motivations aren’t purely selfish, or your efforts will backfire.

Love and blessings to all …
Aquarius, the sign of astrologyPat

Image: Ram Caught in a Thicket, statuette from ancient Sumer (modern-day Iraq) made of gold, silver, lapis lazuli, copper, shell, red limestone, and bitumen, ca. 2650–2550 B.C. This amazing artifact is part of the permanent collection of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. The sacrificed ram is repeated throughout ancient mythology. In the story of Jason and the golden fleece, the winged ram from which it came becomes the constellation of Aries.

Weekly Poll: Any Side Effects From The Full Moon In Virgo?

 The Full Moon is officially past but is still affecting our lives in part because while Saturn conjoined the Moon in Virgo yesterday, today is the exact conjunction between the Sun and Uranus in Pisces. We have a couple of days of diminishing fallout from this lunation to get through yet.

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Please feel free to comment on your experiences – or lack of them – we love hearing what you have to say!

Yes, Libra is an air signposted by Neith . . .

Weekly Forecast March 9: Full Moon in Virgo, Mars Enters Pisces

Photo by Carl de Souza for Agence France-Presse.

I found this photo some time ago in the news headlines and immediately thought, "Mars in Pisces!" I've been saving it, just for you. The man in this photo is walking by a poster in London's financial district — an optical illusion, specialty of Neptune, ruler of Pisces. Photo by Carl de Souza for Agence France-Presse.

Push comes to shove this week as the Full Moon activates the opposition between play-by-the-rules Saturn and freedom-at-all costs Uranus.

We begin the week with Mercury newly in Pisces and Venus retrograde in Aries. Whereas Mercury in Aquarius may have brought flashes of inspiration at lightning speed, Mercury in Pisces connects to the group subconscious and broadcasts information that may not make immediate sense to you. Alternatively, you may tap into a source of knowledge that is so vast that it’s too much to contemplate all at once. Pay attention to your dreams and visions, especially on Tuesday, when Mercury sextiles Pluto and opposes Ceres.

Retrograde Venus is turning up in various forms in my life and the lives of my friends. A check arrived for far less than expected, while a bill arrived for more than expected and earlier than anticipated. One friend got a disheartening letter of rejection but then received a glowing and totally unexpected acceptance letter from a different organization. Still, I think that in the weeks to come, the most noticeable effects will be on our close relationships. Please keep us posted on activities you think may be related to retrograde Venus. (Thanks to our readers who left comments on Neith’s Venus retrograde post on Wednesday.)

The Full Moon is on Tuesday, but if you’re like me, you’re already feeling it. The stage was set on Sunday, when the Sun opposed Saturn. Events will continue to unfold until Thursday, when the Sun conjoins Uranus. If you haven’t read Neith’s Full Moon report, check it out.

Those of us with strong Uranus in our charts bristle at the thought of restrictions and limits, which are the hallmarks of Saturn. We’d love to go off on our eccentric research marathons, investigating the secrets of the universe and searching for the thread that connects all the seemingly unrelated events in our lives.

However, at this Full Moon, we’re going to have to think of the collective good first. Most of us would love to be in circumstances that allow us truly to be ourselves and express our creativity to its fullest, but what we would like to contribute to the world may not be what the world wants or needs at this time. Moreover, Saturn in Virgo says we have to think about the bills that are piling up, the car that needs to be taken to the shop, and the project at work we’ve been putting off.

Work diligently, one step at a time, until your obligations are met. The fun will have to come later, but it will come.

Mars, the planet of action, is in Aquarius for this Full Moon, feeding the need for rebellion. However, he moves on into Pisces on Friday, which will help reduce the feeling of having one foot on the gas pedal and the other on the brakes. That said, Mars in Pisces has an icky side, as his ego nature is repressed. Direct confrontation isn’t always the right strategy, but avoiding it out of fear is rarely a solution.

Speaking of Mars, next week is the Spring Equinox, when the Sun enters Aries. There’s light at the end of the tunnel.

Love and blessings to all …
Aquarius, the sign of astrologyPat

Ask Our Readers: Venus Retrograde Time Again

Psyche at the Throne of VenusWe all know about Mercury retrograde. But what can we expect when Venus, planet of love and beauty, turns her back on us?

Fortunately, Venus only goes retrograde every couple of years like her partner Mars, instead of three times a year like Mercury or once a year like the rest of the gang. However, this time around she’ll be in Aries, not her happy place, for most of the retrograde period, March 6-April 17.

The impact of any given Venus retrograde varies widely from individual to individual. I’m betting if this retrograde is taking place in your first house, you will notice it! Those of us with a strong Venusian element in our charts — for example, Sun, Moon, Venus or Ascendant in Libra or Taurus — are more likely to catch the downdraft of Venus moving in reverse.

The two most important factors to consider in determining how Venus retrograde in Aries will affect you are where Aries falls in your chart and whether Venus is conjunct, square, or opposite any natal planets. For example, Venus will turn retrograde in my fifth house, exactly opposite my Libra Moon in my eleventh house. Since I’m a very married person, it will be creative projects that will need lots of “do overs” — such as dyeing some wool yarn to match color samples for a very particular client. Groan. You factor in the opposition to the Moon and, yes, my client is a woman!

Some general rules for the time Venus is retrograde: avoid impulse buying, be prepared to take a second or third look at any new lovers, don’t schedule cosmetic procedures, and stay away from the Easter candy aisle ‘cause all that chocolate is sure to look extra delicious right now.

What is a Venus retrograde good for? In this instance, it may tone down the Aries desire to burn bridges as fast as they are crossed and allow more time to evaluate a person or situation. As with all retrograde periods, we can use the time to finish up projects, particularly artistic and creative endeavors under Venus’s aegis. This is a great time to go on retreat to someplace calm and beautiful to restore one’s inner being and get back in touch with what is truly valuable to us. Most of us live in a fast-paced world and need the occasional reminder to slow down and breathe; Venus moving slowly in reverse offers this opportunity.

What about you? Got any big plans for Venus retrograde? Tell us about it!

Libra with Scorpio risingposted by Neith . . .

Image: Psyche at the Throne of Venus, by Matthew Edward Hale, 1883. I selected this image because Venus looks so wonderfully bitchy — a perfect expression of Venus retrograde in Aries.

Weekly Forecast March 2: Venus Retrograde

Hey, Joe, another Maxfield Parrish illustration :-)Two major themes run concurrently through this week, which I’m sorry to say may be trying for many of you but productive as well, especially if you work with these energies instead of fighting them.

Venus slows to a station this week as she prepares to turn retrograde on Friday. Venus isn’t at her best in Aries to start with, and her power to attract will be impaired during her retrograde period, which lasts until April 17. Along her retrograde path, she’ll go back into Pisces for a bit, where she’ll meet up with Mars next month in what I hope will be a happy ending for all of us.

In the meantime, what (and who) you want may require some rethinking. How many times have you caught yourself striving blindly toward some goal or desire, not stopping to think about whether it’s good for you or even what you really want? As with so many other dilemmas, knowing yourself is key. Venus in Aries is perfect for focusing on yourself, so work it to the hilt for the next five weeks and watch for solutions to your thorny dilemmas to start presenting themselves.

Throughout the week, Mercury, Mars, Chiron, and Neptune fuse into a powerful current of healing energy. Mercury in Aquarius generates inspiration and innovative ideas. With Chiron in the mix, you may need a painful experience to call your attention to the source of a problem. As much as we might wish it weren’t so, we humans generally don’t stretch and grow when life is easy. It takes a challenge to get us to rise up to our potential.

Neptune’s role here is to bring out our highest ideals and to get us to think beyond ourselves. That doesn’t mean putting everyone before yourself, but to start practicing enlightened self-interest. A small example of this might be changing your food-buying habits to include more sustainably grown products. Action-oriented Mars provides the physical motivation.

Now, it’s true that Mars and Neptune generally don’t get along very well. That’s because Mars is all about ego — “me first” — whereas Neptune is about merging into the One, which requires losing the ego. This tug-of-war normally might be unproductive and even disruptive, but since Aquarius is the sign of the collective and humanitarian causes, I think Mars will come through as a defender of higher ideals.

Indeed I see a real possibility that this four-way conjunction will bring more people into the sphere of enlightened self-interest, and that in turn could have far-reaching implications for the planet. One way I see this energy manifesting is in the recent announcement that several labor unions (ruled by Aquarius) are in negotiations to heal a four-year rift and reunify into a potentially more powerful voice for workers. Of course, the corruption in trade unions is legendary, and this is a perfect expression of the dual nature of Neptune. The new organization can use its increased power either to improve the lives of working people or to consolidate more money and influence in the hands of the union bosses. Enlightened executives will know that their wealth and happiness depends on unerringly dedicating themselves to the good of the collective.

After he’s finished playing negotiator, Mercury leaves Aquarius on Sunday and enters dreamy Pisces. Depending on where you have Pisces in your chart, you might notice a sudden fogginess in your thinking. Shortly after that transit, the Sun in Pisces opposes Saturn in Virgo, pitting the need for creative self-expression against forces concerned only with whether the job gets done, in the fastest and cheapest way possible.

The Sun’s opposition to Saturn also is the opening salvo in a highly charged Full Moon on Tuesday, March 10 (March 11 in the Eastern Hemisphere). Neith will have more on Saturday, so stay tuned.

Meanwhile, Sunday is the beginning of Daylight Saving Time in the United States. Don’t forget to set your clocks forward!

Love and light to all …
Aquarius, the sign of astrologyPat

Image: A Study in March, by Maxfield Parrish. Spring is just around the corner!

Saturday Extra!Documentary Film Explores Growing 2012 Debate

The latest offering in the growing 2012 craze, 2012: Science or Superstition, is intelligent enough to make it worth recommending.

The documentary film, released on DVD by the Disinformation Company (Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price, Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journalism, Bush Family Fortunes), takes on the question of whether there is any significance to the year 2012, specifically the date December 21, which according to some scholars is the end date of the Mayan Calendar.

Does it settle the question its subtitle proposes to answer? Not really. Is it the best film on the subject to date? I don’t know, because I haven’t seen all of the others. Is it worth laying out $10 for on Amazon.com? Absolutely. Be the first in your condo complex to see it. Better still, invite your friends over and make it a party. You’ll have an evening filled with lively discussion about a topic that does matter, in the grand scheme of things.

The filmmakers no doubt are hoping to capitalize on the 2012 hype, which will increase by galactic proportions with the release this summer of a big-budget Hollywood disaster film using 2012 as a theme. But hey, anything that injects some rational debate into the subject and entices mainstream audiences to think more deeply should win a public-service award.

The panel of experts featured in 2012 is impressive, but it could have done with fewer New Age writers. The film relies heavily on well-known author Graham Hancock, who makes a case for the end of civilization as we know it, and John Major Jenkins, a recognized pioneer in Mayan Calendar research. Jenkins comes across as bombastic and at times ridiculous. Maybe it was the editing, but I had a similar reaction several months ago when I happened upon an Internet debate between Jenkins and Carl Johan Calleman, another 2012 researcher. Actually, “debate” is giving it too much credit. It was more like two males egos in a cosmic pissing contest — hardly the kind of enlightened behavior one would expect from individuals claiming to have special knowledge about the evolution of human consciousness.

Among other things, Jenkins and Calleman disagree about the end date of the Mayan Calendar, with Jenkins promoting the Dec. 21, 2012 date and Calleman arguing for October 28, 2011. You’d hardly know, watching this film, that the exact date wasn’t carved in stone.

The film’s token scientist, Dr. Anthony Aveni of Colgate University, makes the predictable observation (of which he is very certain) that the world is not going to end in 2012. But at least he has a sense of humor.

Fortunately, the filmmakers also found Alonso Mendez, an archeo-astronomer and researcher at Palenque. Speaking with quiet conviction, Mendez makes perhaps the wisest observation of all: “The concept that this end date or completion date of the Mayan Calendar has some relevance to the world in a global sense I think is a fallacious thought, because this system is a particular system that was developed for and by Maya, for their particular ideology, for their particular place in the world. It would be a mistake to rally around a philosophy that has its place in its history and in its world and appropriate it as something that belongs to a global sense.”

From an astrology standpoint, the film uses fabulous special effects to explain the precession of the equinoxes, and for that reason alone should be in the library of every astrologer or serious astrology student. I’ve mentioned this phenomenon often in my writing about the coming Age of Aquarius, but explaining the reasons gets complicated and tiresome. With these brilliant visuals, you get it right away.

Aquarius, the sign of astrologyPat

2012: Science or Superstition
Documentary presented by The Disinformation Company
Available on DVD
Directed by Nimrod Erez
Written and produced by Gary Baddeley
78 minutes, no rating
Featuring interviews with Graham Hancock, John Major Jenkins, Anthony Aveni, John Anthony West, Walter Cruttenden, and several other writers and leading experts.
Official site

Ask Real Astrologers: Feeling the Weight of Pluto

This week’s question comes from Manda in Naples, Italy:

I’ve been told that I’m going through some very difficult transits which will continue into 2011, and I’m certainly feeling the weight of them. Apparently, one of the most difficult transits I’m experiencing is Pluto in my twelfth house squaring my natal eighth-house Sun. As I understand it, these are the two most intense houses in the zodiac. Although I’ve been researching the different aspects independently, I’m not sure how all of the energies are working together. I would be so grateful if you could give me some insight into how my current transits are impacting each other. What I can say is that all areas in my life seem to be in dissolution, and I’ve recently started seeing a counselor because I’ve been unable to cope with all of this on my own.

Aquarius expounds . . .

Pat’s response:
Manda, this could be a case of a little bit of knowledge being dangerous. Sure, a Pluto-Sun square is a difficult transit — when taken by itself. But there is never just one thing going on at a time in a chart, and your intuition is right on to suspect as much.

First of all, I see that the current series of eclipses in Leo and Aquarius have been hitting your first and seventh houses. I am going through this right now, too, and I don’t need to tell you that it has been disorienting. A lot of changes have been taking place, and they are hard to keep up with. Moreover, your chart ruler, Saturn, is in the seventh house and has been activated by the eclipses, adding to feelings of inadequacy and inability to cope.

This series of eclipses will continue until August 2009, but in the meantime a new series will begin that will also take place in your first and seventh houses, along with your twelfth and sixth. So you can expect more changes to come. I always tell my clients that eclipses are accelerators. The changes are often upsetting simply because they are so fast that we feel destabilized. Once the dust has settled, you’ll likely find that you’re in a new and much better place. It’s just bumpy getting there.

That said, you’ve got a lot of cosmic help right now, too, as Jupiter is also in your first house. I know Neith will have something different to say, as she and I don’t always agree about how “lucky” Jupiter is, but I do believe the Big Guy acts is a shield, and note that he’s also going to be in a trine to all of your Libra planets, which will go a long way toward easing some of the stress.

As for that Pluto-Sun square, I believe it, too, is ultimately going to be beneficial, in that you will get to know yourself on a much deeper level. Most of us have demons we don’t want to face, but going boldly into those places is always well-rewarded. This is a great time, incidentally, to be working with a therapist. I strongly encourage you to take full advantage of this opportunity. From looking at your chart, your work will be most productive if you focus on how you interact with others in your closest relationships.

Wishing you many blessings. Do stay in touch.

Libra ponders . . .

Neith’s response:
Manda, you have a lot of planets in fair minded, peace loving Libra as I do, so it comes as no surprise to me you are finding this Pluto transit challenging. Pluto always plays by his own rules and pretty much demands we face the darker aspects of our beings, something Libra is not always comfortable with.

Your Moon is flanked by Venus and Mars in Libra emphasizing your need to be surrounded by beauty and civility. However, all the transits Pat mentioned in her response have to making it difficult for you to find the tranquility you need to keep your emotional balance. When those of us with Libra Moon’s are being constantly thrown off balance, we can feel very cranky.

Something else that may be operating here is your natal Sun-Pluto conjunction. Often the initial response for a plutonian type is to attempt to control rather than to detach. Take from one who has been down this road . . . it doesn’t work and is ultimately exhausting. Every day it seems I must remind myself to stay detached from any and all outcomes.

I agree with Pat this is a very good time to be sitting down with a professional therapist. You can benefit greatly from having a neutral party to bounce your thoughts and feelings off. With a preponderance of air in your chart, you need to consciously choose to explore your feeling nature.

When you look back at this time, I believe you will find you benefited very much from these transits. Good luck and hang in there!

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