Category Archives: Forecasts

Weekly Forecast June 24: Jupiter Enters Cancer, Mercury Retrograde

Solstice Sunset. Looking northwest on Puget Sound, 9:20 p.m. © Pat Paquette, 2013.

When I was in kindergarten, I refused to drink my milk.

My teacher, Mrs. King, made me sit alone at a table in a dark corner until I finished it. For everyone else, it was playtime. When this strategy failed to work, she sent me home with a note telling my mother I had a problem with authority.

I lived out in the country, an hour’s bus ride from school. Every day on the way home, while all the other kids played and shouted, I leaned my head against the cold glass. I never mentioned it to anyone – probably because I had no idea that I had a headache or that this was abnormal. One day, it was so bad that I about passed out when I got home. I remember my mother carrying me up the stairs. Still, no one thought it unusual. Back then, milk was considered the perfect food, and I lived in the second-largest dairy state in the nation (behind Wisconsin). My father was a dairy farmer. No one suspected that I was allergic to milk.

I finally figured it out at 21, still well before dairy allergies were studied and publicized. As a child, all I could say was that it was “yucky” and I didn’t like it. Adults, however, had all the power, and I was forced against my will to do something that was bad for me. It likely was one of the defining moments in my childhood development.

It’s no coincidence, then, that I sympathize with protestors around the world who are rightly upset with tyrannical governments who insist they know what’s good for the population better than the people themselves. Instead of being forced to sit in a corner, those who don’t go along with the program get water cannons, tear gas, and rubber bullets. They get thrown in jail. And right now, it seems that they are overpowered.

As a child, I didn’t have the knowledge or the vocabulary to fight the appropriately named Mrs. King. Even if I had, I doubt she would have listened, as the notion that milk could be bad for a child was simply too outrageous to believe. I knew instinctively that something was wrong, but that didn’t count. Collectively, we know instinctively that something is very wrong, despite what we’re being told and what many of us have believed for so long. Whistleblowers like Bradley Manning, Julian Assange, and Edward Snowden are supplying knowledge, and yet the truth is too outrageous for many people to believe. For many, it’s easier to believe outrageous lies.

By now, even people who don’t believe in astrology must be wondering whether there is something going on “up there” to account for the increasing number of protests and riots around the world. That something, as you know, is the Uranus-Pluto square, with Uranus in volatile Aries and Pluto in domineering Capricorn. Police in riot gear are a perfect image for Pluto in Capricorn.

And yet, Pluto is also about revealing hidden secrets – all the more so with Pluto in mutual reception with Saturn in penetrating Scorpio (mutual reception occurs when each of two planets is in the sign ruled by the other). Snowden’s revelation of NSA spying on U.S. citizens is a manifestation of the same energy as the massive anti-government protests in Brazil and Turkey. In Brazil, the spark that lit the fuse was a 9-cent increase in public transportation fare. In Turkey, it was a plan to turn a city park into a shopping mall. I often wonder what it would take to light a fuse under this country. Apparently, being spied on isn’t enough.

Last week, I was listening to an interview with Ralph Nader, a longtime consumer advocate and former presidential candidate, talking about a federal minimum wage.

“Thirty million workers in this country are making less today than that workers made in 1968, inflation-adjusted,” Nader said in an interview with Aaron Maté of Democracy Now. “… [T]he question is: Is our society so inert, is our society so surrendering of any kind of civic sovereignty, that we cannot get a minimum wage equal to 1968?”

Nader goes on to denounce President Obama, asking whether there has been “a bigger con man in the White House.” Whatever you may think of Nader, you have to give him credit for a sense of humor in the title of his latest book, I Told You So. He has made many predictions over the years that were ignored or dismissed. As an astrologer, I know how he feels.

[headline h=”4″]This week’s forecast[/headline]This week, we have two major shifts, both in Cancer, a sign very much concerned with security and patriotism. On Tuesday, Jupiter enters Cancer, the sign of his exaltation. The following day, Mercury turns retrograde in Cancer.

When I think of Jupiter entering Cancer, Gustav Holst’s Planets suite inevitably takes over my brain. (You can listen online or download a very fine version for free here. Be sure to read the copyright notice.) Jupiter has been in detriment in Gemini and so not as jolly as his big, expansive character would like. He’ll more than make up for it in Cancer, although I wouldn’t put it past him to stir up some massive storms. He may get overly patriotic, too, and he’ll definitely be big on national security, especially when it comes to foreigners. These less desirable qualities may come to the fore in August, when he forms a T-square with Uranus and Pluto. But for the next month, he forms a rare and highly favorable grand trine with Saturn and Neptune, and there will be unprecedented opportunities to make some much-needed changes. We’ll have to act fast, because the window is short.

Mercury turns retrograde on Wednesday at 23 degrees Cancer. This is a good time to look at your past, particularly in terms of how your childhood and early home life shaped you as an adult (thus, the personal anecdote above). Ethnicity sometimes comes into play. I also like to consider past lives. Conventional psychoanalysts like to pin all of our complexes on bad potty training or inadequate bonding with mommy and daddy. We come into this incarnation with a chart, which can express itself in unlimited ways. For some of us, being born at that exact moment can be traced to our karmic past.

Mercury turns retrograde just a degree shy of natal Mercury in the chart of the United States (Sibly) and will be in close conjunction with the U.S. Sun when he turns direct on July 20. It’s likely that any discussions of Snowden’s revelations will occur in the context of damaging national security. Most of our political leaders, including the president, say Snowden is a criminal and should be extradited for prosecution. There likely will be discussions about how to prevent future leaks.

Also on Wednesday, we have a lovely grand water trine with the Sun in Cancer, Saturn in Scorpio, and Neptune in Pisces. Keep your antennae up, and you’ll get some hints about the good things to come when Jupiter steps into the Sun’s place in mid-July. In the meantime, deep feelings may surface by day or night this week. Pay attention to your dreams. Write down your goals and aspirations. If you’re a writer or artist, this is an incredibly fertile time for you. Have a notepad handy wherever you go to write down flashes of inspiration.

On Thursday, Venus leaves Cancer and enters Leo. This is a showy, flashy Venus who loves bling and being the center of attention. She’s glamorous, but unfortunately more into style than substance. But sometimes style is what we want. I have to say that I’ve always had great haircuts while Venus was in Leo. If Venus is in Leo in your birth chart, you’ll soon have your “Venus return.” The Venus return chart can be a great tool for looking at where love or money (or both) will show up in your life over the next year or so.

On a final note, in case you missed my announcement last week, I’m offering a Summer 2013 transit report in place of StarGuide, which I’m not going to be able to prepare for at least two weeks, possibly longer. If you don’t want to wait, you can order your transits now, I’ll apply the cost toward the full report once it becomes available. (Click here to view a sample.)

Wishing you all much love and courage,
Pat

Weekly Forecast June 17: Sun Enters Cancer, Full Moon in Capricorn

Mommy Deerest. © Pat Paquette, 2013.

We have an eventful week ahead, with the summer solstice and the biggest Full Moon of the year.

By “biggest,” I don’t mean astrologically, but literally. Next Sunday’s Full Moon in Capricorn occurs just 22 minutes after the Moon reaches its closest point to Earth in 2013. It actually will appear larger in the sky than usual. This is the closest the Moon will get to the Earth until August 2014.

You can find a terrific article about it on EarthSky.org. I love that the author discusses the history and meaning of the term “supermoon” without dissing astrology.

Rather than breaking down the week by individual transits, I’ll discuss the week’s astrology through the Cancer ingress and Full Moon charts. That will be plenty, I’m sure. Starting with the Cancer ingress, I’ve set the chart for Washington and will base my interpretation on the United States, with apologies to my many readers around the world. I have to set the chart for somewhere, and this happens to be where I am. So, with that caveat, let’s have a look.

The Ascendant is 27 Pisces, with ruler Neptune in the twelfth house. The Ascendant in mundane astrology represents the general condition of the nation. This combination smacks of secrecy and deception. Neptune and Pisces also are related to epidemics and mental health. Before declaring that the whole country is going stark-raving mad – or, legitimately, that we have a serious mental health crisis on our hands that could well be called an epidemic – I decided to look up the Sabian symbol.* As it turns out, it’s quite a lovely image: A fertile garden under the full moon. (Gee, could that be Michelle Obama’s vegetable garden?)

There’s no doubt that we’re starting out the season with a debate on the surveillance state, which is described perfectly by Pluto in Capricorn in the tenth house. See last week’s forecast for more on that topic. We also find Uranus, planet of rioting and rebellion, in the first house and still in a fairly close square with Pluto. It’s hard for me to imagine people rioting in this country over privacy issues or even low employment, which also is a tenth house issue. Be that as it may, there does appear to be some serious discontent on the way in the next few months.

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It’s interesting to note that the Sun in this chart is in the fourth house, closely conjunct Jupiter on the fourth-house cusp. In mundane astrology, the tenth house represents the party in power, while the fourth house represents the opposition. The Sun represents the country’s leaders, especially the president. According to the rules of mundane astrology, the leaders of this country, including its president, are more in the camp of the Republicans than the Democrats. Then, as John pointed out in an excellent comment on last week’s post, there’s not a whole lot of difference anymore. And, as it also so happens, Jupiter in mundane astrology represents banks and bankers. I don’t know how they could be any more in cahoots than they’ve been in the past, but this chart suggests an even closer relationship – or, at the very least, a significant event on the way rooted in these shady connections.

We also see a very tight inconjunct (technically, a quincunx) from the Moon to Jupiter and the Sun. The inconjunct says “nothing in common.” You don’t need an astrologer to tell you that our political and financial leaders are totally out of the touch with the people. It’s not so much that they don’t have their interests at heart, but that they don’t even know the meaning of the word “public interest.” However, the Moon and the Ascendant are in perfect harmony, so even if those at the top don’t “get it,” comprehension may be dawning within the public at large. Yes, hope springs eternal.

Despite the “fertile garden” image, there are several indications in this chart of death and sorrow, whether from epidemics, severe weather, or some other cause. Planets on the fourth-house cusp can indicate weather patterns. Jupiter suggests very big ones, and in the air sign of Gemini, we’re probably talking violent winds. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration already has said that we can expect a extremely active hurricane season in 2013. This chart would seem to reinforce that assessment, and I think it’s also possible that the summer’s spectacular grand water trine also could make for some massive storms involving flooding. I concede that weather astrology isn’t my forte, so we’ll have to wait and see.

Venus and Mercury are conjunct by exact degree. Venus represents peace and diplomacy, while Mercury represents commerce and the media. This would seem to be indication of positive developments, but Mercury is stationed, about to turn retrograde on June 26, and neither planet makes aspects to other planets in the chart. Moreover, they are in the fifth house, a sort of “light-weight” placement. Whatever these two have to say likely won’t be taken seriously this summer. However much we value programs to educate and protect our children, it may be that other issues are going to take precedence.

There is more I could write about the ingress, but let’s turn now to the Full Moon, which occurs on June 23. The Moon is in her detriment in Capricorn, but the Full Moon in Capricorn always falls with the Sun in Cancer, the sign the Moon rules. This gives us a week or so of inner angst and collective tension. The word “lunatic” derives from an old belief that people acted crazier at the Full Moon. With the Moon at her closet to the Earth and the motion of the Sun “stopped” as perceived from Earth, I’d say it’s a good bet there will be a lot of craziness. Add to that the connection to the 2010 cardinal T-square by degree, and we’ve got the makings of a perfect storm, be it symbolic or literal.

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As you can see in the chart, the Sun makes a lovely grand trine with Saturn and Neptune, an early reflection of the rare configuration about to take place with Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune. The trine with the Sun will be more exact toward the middle of next week, and then the trine with Jupiter will be exact on July 17. I’ve written before that this astrological phenomenon indicates a window of opportunity to make headway in some of your most cherished goals. You should know by now what they are, and hopefully you’ve been doing the work. In world affairs, this is also a time to make some progress on issues that have been at a standoff. However, the political will to do so must exist, and I’m not sure I’m that optimistic.

At the most fundamental level, Cancer and Capricorn represent mother and father. It’s no accident that throughout history, people have referred to their countries as the “fatherland” or the “motherland.” Governments and their leaders often represented parents, with an expectation that those parents would take care of their children. Many of us still have those expectations, although they vary wildly. At the most basic, we expect our government to protect us from foreign enemies. But it would seem – in this country at least – that what we’ve got is more like Saturn devouring his children. Lest you find this metaphor somewhat morbid, remember that in the Greek version of the myth, the children were saved by mother goddesses Rhea and Gaia, who hatched a plan with Zeus (Roman Jupiter) to give Cronus one hell of a bellyache so he would vomit the children back out. They then overthrew him and became the twelve gods of Olympus.

I’ll end on another personal update, since I know that many of you are still waiting for reports. Also, a couple of readers have written to ask whether there will be a summer StarGuide. I have started writing reports again, but it’s very slow going. I’m hoping I’ll continue to improve, but I’ve learned that I need to stop making promises, because I never know what to expect from one day to the next. I feel better today than I’ve felt in a long time, but I could wake up tomorrow with a splitting headache. In order to get through the backlog, I’ve posted a notice on my report order page that I’m currently not accepting new orders. Of course, I’ll post a new note when that changes.

That means I won’t have the summer forecast up before June 21. It could be two or even three weeks before I have the time to do the prep work. In the meantime, I’ve decided to offer the transit section of the report at a reduced cost of $19 for those who want to know what’s ahead. I can produce these fairly quickly. I’ll post a sample shortly so that you can see what you’ll get. Just so you know, there will be no Full Moon or New Moon interpretations, no “best days” graphs, and no fancy formatting – all the things I do that distinguishes StarGuide from other transit reports you can find online. But for now, it’s the best I can do, and it seems like a workable compromise. [UPDATE: Click here to see the sample report.]

Wishing you all much love and courage,
Pat

* From The Sabian Symbols in Astrology, by Dr. Marc Edmund Jones. The author, an astrologer, channeled this work in 1925 with the help of Elsie Wheeler, a gifted psychic. There’s one symbol one for each degree of the zodiac, and we can use them to gain insight into charts.

Weekly Forecast June 10: Saturn Trines Neptune, Venus Opposes Pluto

The Boston Massacre. Detail of an engraving by Paul Revere, March 1770.

In my down state, I’ve been watching a lot of movies, borrowed from our terrific local library. Last week, I found the seven-part miniseries John Adams, which first aired on HBO in March 2008.

Despite historical inaccuracies typical in Hollywood productions, the miniseries is a decidedly unromanticized version of history and rightly won several awards. Based on the biography by David McCullough, it’s an excellent portrayal of the conflicts among colonial leaders, not all of whom were ready to take up arms and fight for their rights. There were those who strongly preferred negotiations to war and who feared that uprisings in Massachusetts would subject all of the colonies to a deadly crackdown by the British.

The first episode begins with the Boston Massacre, in which a crowd agitated by the growing tyranny of England provokes British soldiers into opening fire. The soldiers are charged with murder, and the only lawyer who will defend them is John Adams, who goes against his countrymen on the principle that everyone deserves the right to a fair trial.

If you’ve been reading my blog, you know where I’m going with this, yes?

The Boston Massacre occurred on March 5, 1770, with Pluto in Capricorn. The Uranus-Pluto square had occurred more than a decade earlier, in late Pisces and Sagittarius. Incidentally, the square in March 1758 occurred with Pluto conjunct the Galactic Center – just a bit of interesting astro-trivia there. I mentioned the Boston incident in a post in August 2011 that actually was about a Michael Lutin presentation at the National Press Club in 2008. But I’m getting ahead of myself…

The HBO miniseries was broadcast less than two months after Pluto’s entry into Capricorn in January 2008. Talk about synchronicities. Michael Lutin’s Press Club speech (which you can watch in my August 2011 post) followed an article he wrote for Vanity Fair magazine about the implications for the United States of Pluto in Capricorn. What I remember most from his speech – which has reverberated in my mind many times over – were his words, “You’re all under surveillance.”

Well, well, well.

Mikey predicted it would all go down in 2011. He was off by a couple of years, but so what? His predictions ring uncannily true, including his opinion that it didn’t matter who won the White House in 2008. Of course, we already were under heavy surveillance when he gave that presentation, and it didn’t take a rocket scientist or even an astrologer to know it. The bomb dropped by The Guardian on Wednesday, followed by even bigger ones, wasn’t really news to anyone who’s been paying attention.

As I type, the whistleblower has come forward. Edward Snowden, a 29-year-old employee of a contractor for the National Security Agency, is inevitably being compared to Private Bradley Manning, who is on trial for leaking classified information on the war in Iraq. Rather than being hanged for treason – the punishment of choice in colonial America – Manning has been imprisoned for three years awaiting trial and, by all accounts, tortured by cruel and inhuman means. We have, after all, progressed toward a more civilized society, especially here in the United States, land of the free and home of the brave.

Back to John Adams, he eventually became the new nation’s first vice president and second president, although history sort of seems to have forgotten him in favor of more classic heroes such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and even his own cousin, Samuel Adams. John Adams was by all measures conservative. Yet, he called a spade a spade, and he was one of the most vociferous supporters of fighting for independence, once it became apparent that negotiating with the British would solve nothing – and he figured that out early on. That, I believe, is the critical lesson for us now.

In an interview with The Guardian, Snowden said he would have gone to the media sooner, but he was waiting to see whether President Obama would curb some of the abuses of the NSA. When he not only failed to do so but expanded the program, Snowden made his move. To an astrologer, it’s no coincidence that the revelation came with Uranus in a close square to Pluto. The big question now is how the American public will react. Very clearly, this isn’t an abuse that can be remedied by voting out one political party in favor of another – a point, by the way, that I made several years ago and for which I was soundly flamed by Obama supporters.

I don’t know precisely where this is all going to lead, but I do know that we have more explosive times ahead. As I’ve remarked before, the influence of the Uranus-Pluto square will last for another five years at least. After that, we’ll march steadily toward the Pluto return of the United States in 2022. In the meantime, we’ll also experience a conjunction of Saturn and Pluto in 2020, and in 2026, Saturn and Neptune conjoin in Aries. I have extensive thoughts on what these transits will entail, but I’ll save them for another time.

Surveillance of the citizenry is very definitely a signature for Pluto in Capricorn, and it’s interesting to note that publication of the extent of the abuse occurred with Mercury in opposition to Pluto and square Uranus. Also, warrior Mars in Gemini made a square to Neptune, planet of fog and deception. Note, too, that Mercury was approaching conjunction with the United States Sun, and the Uranus-Pluto square isn’t far from making contact with the U.S. Sun (exact in April 2014). From an astrological perspective, it makes perfect sense that the news broke last week. I confess that I couldn’t have predicted it exactly (especially in my current condition), but I did note in last week’s forecast that we’d likely have some shocking headlines:

Collectively, I think we’ll see more jarring headlines – not that anything could shock us anymore, but the extent to which we’ve been deceived and lied to could be a revelation to many.

Looking at the week ahead, Venus follows on the heels of Mercury by opposing Pluto (Tuesday) and squaring Uranus (Wednesday). Venus in Cancer is a soft influence, and yet in a T-square with Pluto, she can’t be expected to do much to soften the recent blow. If anything, the powers responsible for this gross invasion of privacy may try to further defend the program on the grounds of national security: “We’re keeping you safe from terrorists,” etc. Internet companies such as Google and Facebook also may try to reassure their users. We’ll see how many people buy it, and how well the government will be able to persuade its citizenry to fight among themselves instead of aiming their anger where it rightly belongs.

The other big aspect of this week is the trine of Saturn and Neptune, second of a three-part transit. The first occurred in October 2012, and the third and final pass will fall on July 19 as part of the grand trine with Jupiter. Trines in general are highly favorable, and grand trines even more so. My only worry is that storms involving precipitation and flooding could be exaggerated; after all, nature doesn’t share our subjective notions of “good” and “bad.” An unimpeded path for us also can be an unimpeded path for a hurricane. But do make what you can of it, starting now. Don’t wait until July to decide how you want to use this rare gift of cosmic energy.

Speaking of energy, mine is still low, but the good news is that I feel like I finally bottomed out this past week. It’s been a very hard place to be, and I don’t feel like I’m out of the woods yet. The demons are following me out of hell and nipping at my heels. Short walks, doing little tasks in my apartment, and lying on the couch watching movies have been my best strategies. Chocolate is nice, too, but unfortunately, all this lying around has exacerbated my weight and blood pressure – issues I’ll need to address once I have the strength to get out more. If you recently ordered a report and have not heard from me, expect an e-mail in the next day or two. My deepest apologies, and my heartfelt appreciation for those of you who have been so patient, understanding, and concerned for my well-being.

Wishing you all much love and courage,
Pat

Weekly Forecast June 3: Neptune Retrograde, New Moon in Gemini

Collapsed bridge on the Skagit River, Washington. Photo courtesy Washington Department of Transportation.

It seems it’s human nature to believe the latest disaster is the worst ever and that more catastrophes than ever before are befalling the planet. I’m not sure this is true, but it’s safe to say that we’re living in unprecedented times.

Skeptics would say we simply have more reporting than ever before, that being connected to the Internet 24/7 results in a barrage of disaster stories from around the world. Still, given the headlines, one might reasonably conclude we’re in the middle of the Apocalypse, even though that was supposed to have come and gone in 2012.

I’ve written a lot about breakdowns, both collective and individual, and in an attempt to present the positive with the negative, I’ve also broached the subject of rebuilding. Otherwise, all this talk of breaking down gets depressing, especially when plans for rebuilding keep falling through or changing without warning.

However, the truth is that we can’t start rebuilding until the breakdown is complete. That, I believe, is the message of Pluto in Capricorn in mutual reception with Saturn in Scorpio. Saturn, remember, is the planet of structure and careful, step-by-step progress. But Pluto is about breaking down and transforming. You might think of it as trying to rebuild a house on a worm-eaten foundation. The only way to ensure the integrity of the structure is to pull out everything and rebuild from the bottom up. In societal terms, we’ve got a patch job on top of a patch job on top of another patch job. It’s no wonder that the whole thing is crumbling.

Saturn and Pluto remain in mutual reception until December 2014. During that time, Uranus continues to form a square with Pluto. The last exact alignment will occur in March 2015, but we’ll continue to feel this far-reaching aspect for another two or three years after that. Uranian energy is volatile, explosive, and unpredictable. When you combine these energies, you get … well, exactly what we’ve got.

In addition to the deadly tornadoes, fires, and floods, recent protests around the world have turned violent, with the police backlash that is the hallmark of the square between Uranus in Aries and Pluto in Capricorn. Uranus rules Aquarius, the sign of equality, and many of the protests have their roots in inequality and injustice. In fact, this isn’t the first time we’ve had a society based on such vast disparity. I’m constantly reminded of medieval Europe, when the nobility taxed the peasants and took food off their plates to support wars in the Holy Land – the Middle East. It really does make you wonder if the energies of the universe are in an endless spin cycle, manifesting the same patterns over and over again.

There are some significant differences this time around, though, which is why I say we’re in unprecedented times. At the end of the Crusades, world population was about 6 percent of what it is today. News traveled by messengers on foot and horseback, if it traveled at all. With our instant connections, news now reaches large portions of the world’s 7 billion people instantaneously. Our polluted environment also is unprecedented. Although cities in the Middle Ages were crowded, filthy, and disease-ridden, there was always somewhere else to go where the air and water were clean. We’re running out of somewhere elses and are now talking about terraforming Mars.

How could anyone not be anxious, tense, and depressed? As far as I’m concerned, stress is an appropriate, healthy response to what’s happening in our societies. You have my permission to be anxious and stressed out.

I know that I’m not the only one experiencing a physical or mental breakdown, and I have to believe that this is all part of the cosmic pattern. The collective is made up of individuals, and so unfortunately, we have to break down along with the social structures. As I’ve mentioned in the past, this process is not unknown. Alchemists, shamans, and healers have known for millennia about this mysterious subconscious phenomenon. In some cases, it can be induced through ritual and artificial means, but that’s the exception rather than the rule. Normally, this process takes place over time, and there’s no way to force it, speed it up, or otherwise control it. It’s Plutonic, and that means you have to give in and let it have its way. Trying to hold on just prolongs unnecessary suffering. There are times when we need to hang in there, but other times when it would be better to just give up.

We have an excellent opportunity to look back at the lessons of human history when Neptune turns retrograde this week. As I write, he’s stationed at 5 degrees Pisces, preparing to shift motion on Friday. Among other things, Neptune rules dreams and the deep psyche. This is also where past-life memories live. Destructive patterns often keep repeating themselves until we become aware of them and take active measures to change. Yet, sometimes the underlying source is so deeply ingrained that only a Plutonic transformation can crack it. Either way, I’m optimistic that we can make deep changes in the coming two months, given the positions of the outer planets. Neptune turns retrograde in a trine with Saturn by exact degree, which I think will help us identify and work with the old, outdated patterns that keep us stuck.

On Monday, Mercury trines both Neptune and Saturn. Mercury is in Cancer, which is a water sign and more intuitive. We like to think that our thoughts are rational and objective, but they more often than not are driven by feelings and fundamental needs. The mind can rationalize anything, but truth lies in the heart and soul. One of the ways we can be more authentic and true to ourselves is by allowing our true feelings to surface. Mastering your emotions emphatically does not mean stuffing them down, but allowing them to surface in a safe place so you can be aware of your motivations and adjust your actions accordingly.

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The rest of the week’s major aspects are reflected in the chart for Saturday’s New Moon in Gemini, so let’s have a look. The first thing you see is the big blue triangle. That’s a grand trine, with Venus, Neptune, and Saturn. The bigger grand trine will happen in mid-July, when Jupiter will occupy the position of Venus. But this week’s grand trine with Venus will be quite lovely, too. Even though there’s a lot more breaking down to come, and even though it may not be time yet to rebuild, we can start laying the groundwork. What do you really want? Are your thoughts, actions, and behavior consistent with what you most want? If not, what can you do to align them more closely? I make it sound easy, but it’s not. This is the work of a lifetime and probably more than one. The problem is that many of us think we know what we want, but when we get it, we discover it doesn’t make us as happy as we thought we’d be or that we really wanted something else.

The Uranus-Pluto square is still very active, and it becomes a cardinal T-square with Mercury in a close square with Uranus and opposition to Pluto. Venus is a few degrees shy of Mercury, but will form the same T-square next week. Throughout the week, try to be mindful of what you want out of your closest relationships. If you don’t feel supported, why not? If you could have an ideal family, team, or tribe, what would it look like and why? Would getting it require a few adjustments, or do you need an overhaul?

Collectively, I think we’ll see more jarring headlines – not that anything could shock us anymore, but the extent to which we’ve been deceived and lied to could be a revelation to many. I think we’ll see more protests, too, especially over women’s issues.

Mars squares Neptune in this chart as well, with the exact aspect occurring on Friday. In mundane astrology, Mars rules war, terrorism, and fires. However, with a trine from peacemaker Venus to Neptune, I think it’s possible that we’ll be able to avoid some of the most negative manifestations of this worrisome square. In any case, there’s so much going on in this chart that it will be difficult to associate events with a particular aspect. I’m not one to argue this point, because there’s simply no way to prove it.

The Sun and Moon in Gemini are otherwise unaspected, and even though Mars and Jupiter are in Gemini, the overall feel of this New Moon could be more like Cancer than Gemini. What we read, what we hear, and what we think is less important now than what we feel and our sense of belonging. Ethnicity, patriotism, and family values trump facts and figures. We’re all out of our comfort zone in a big way these days, and as much as I recommend accepting that reality, I can’t argue against taking comfort where you can find it.

Wishing you all much love and courage,
Pat

Weekly Forecast May 27: Mercury and Venus Conjunct Jupiter

Raindrops in the Sun. © Pat Paquette, 2013.

The astrological waters are still a little choppy, but we’ve pulled through the eclipse season, and this week we have some important shifts, along with a fortunate conjunction of Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter.

Venus and Jupiter are the “luckiest” planets in astrology, and while they conjoin every year, a triple conjunction with Mercury is rare. The conjunction occurs in Gemini, which is ruled by Mercury, so the areas that receive the most benefit are likely to be in the realms of finance, business, ideas, knowledge, and communications. Indeed, you might get too much of a good thing.

Mercury conjoins Jupiter on Monday, which is Memorial Day in the United States. Most business will be closed, and if you have to work, you’ll likely have a quiet day. Tuesday could more than make up for it, though, when Venus takes her turn with the Big Guy. The aftereffects will last into Wednesday and perhaps even Thursday.

With Venus in the picture, I think most of the news will be favorable. However, the eclipses could take a month or more to play out, and we’re still well within the hit zone of the Uranus-Pluto square. I truly hope that the Venus-Jupiter conjunction will bring a ray of hope to places in the world that have been ravaged with disasters, both natural and manmade.

Speaking of which, the bridge that collapsed was north of Seattle, so of course I’ve been following that story. Our Department of Transportation is notorious for passing the buck on just about everything, and it appears they’re trying to worm their way out of responsibility by declaring the accident a fluke and blaming it on the driver. The department is on the record as saying the bridge was safe, despite its rating as structurally deficient and functionally obsolete – a rating shared by more than 11 percent of bridges in the United States. Incidentally, the bridge that collapsed in Minneapolis in 2007 also was rated structurally deficient. No cause for concern whatsoever. According to the Federal Highway Administration, it would take until 2028 to repair aging U.S. bridges, at a cost of more than $20 billion annually. We’re not spending anything close to that, and while there’s been some talk that the Skagit River bridge collapse might generate a necessary discussion, I’m not holding my breath. Catastrophes are happening at such a frightening rate these days that we quickly forget the last one and move on to the next.

In January 2008, when Pluto moved into Capricorn, I wrote about the implications for the nation’s infrastructure (you can read in my archive). Saturn, ruler of Capricorn, is about structure, and one of Pluto’s functions is to destroy the rotten and outdated. With Pluto in Capricorn and Saturn in Scorpio, we’ve got a double dose of destruction – all with the purpose of transforming, but it doesn’t happen overnight. Uranus, meanwhile, is a volatile, explosive energy, and he also rules wind storms.

With Uranus in Mars-ruled Aries, it’s important to keep track of Mars. As it so happens, the planet of action and aggression enters Gemini this Friday. Gemini is an air sign, so I think high winds will continue to make headlines. On Saturday, the Sun in Gemini forms a lively sextile with Uranus, which should be mostly positive. This is a signature for still more bright ideas, flashes of inspiration, spontaneous self-expression, and random acts of creativity.

After Mercury and Venus conjoin Jupiter, they both enter Cancer – Mercury on Friday and Venus on Sunday. Cancer is far more touchy-feely than Gemini, which often confuses talking about feelings with the feelings themselves. Mercury in Cancer has the advantage of talking very effectively about feelings, and with Venus in Cancer, too, authentic feelings will surface. This is a nice combination for caring and kind words. You can never have too much of that. As they progress through the early degrees of Cancer, Mercury and Venus will form a grand trine with Saturn and Neptune (exact next week). The big trine comes in mid-July, when Jupiter forms a grand trine with Saturn and Neptune by exact degree, but in the meantime, we’ll get a mini version, and perhaps we’ll even get a taste of things to come. My take is that we’re about to have a wide window of opportunity to turn our big ideas into reality and maybe even make some dreams come true. All this breaking down has to clear the way for something new, right? It wouldn’t be a bad idea to start thinking about what you want in place of what you don’t want. I have been. It’s a discussion that should be taking place now.

In general, this week’s transition might feel something like my day. This morning, I awoke to the sound of rain hitting the leaves outside my window. It remained dreary until a little after noon, when the sun emerged from behind the clouds. Suddenly, it was if it had rained diamonds. And I’ve never heard such hysterically happy birds. I wish I could record them for you. I’m still in a dark place, moving slowly, with a mind that feels like it’s got a few loose wires. But it’s impossible not to respond to raindrops sparkling in the sunlight, birdsong, and the depth of the green after a storm. It’s not for nothing that Seattle is nicknamed the Emerald City. The sunshine didn’t last long (we call these quick appearances “sun breaks”), but it was just long enough for me to snap a photo. Raindrops in sunshine, such an incongruous image. But that may be the way it is for a while.

I leave you with this NASA video of the triple conjunction. If the sky is clear where you are, step outside at sunset and enjoy the show.

Wishing you all much love and courage,
Pat

Weekly Forecast May 20: Uranus Square Pluto, Lunar Eclipse in Sagittarius

This week is one of the most astrologically active of 2013, with an exact square of Uranus and Pluto and a lunar eclipse at the Full Moon, which also is the Buddhist festival of Wesak.

I can’t say that the rubber is going to meet the road, because we’re well past that point. For many of us, it feels like we’re spinning our wheels and getting nowhere. Others have been driving and driving, only to arrive at a dead end in the wilderness, wondering whether we’ll have enough fuel to get us back to the main road and moving in the right direction.

Not that dead ends are bad. We often need to go all the way down the “wrong” road in order to learn something, recover a lot piece of ourselves, or just explore and experiment. In the great cosmic lab, as in real-life labs, not all experiments are successful. Indeed, most of them fail. But in failing, we learn what doesn’t work, thereby putting us a step closer to what will.

As I wrote in last week’s forecast, the Uranus-Pluto square is exact on Monday. This will be the third of seven exact alignments between 2012 and 2015. The last one occurred on September 19, 2012, and the next will fall on November 1, 2013. The November square also will be near an eclipse and likely more intense than this week’s. Still, we’re in turbulent waters, and even those who love a wild ride may be getting more than they bargained for. We’re being forced to accept fast and continual change, and it seems that once we embrace it, circumstances come along that force us to accept still more changes. It’s hard for me to give advice these days about how to cope, except recommend doing whatever works best for you in the moment. If balance isn’t possible, do your best to remain standing. If that doesn’t work, crawl on all fours. Or just stay down.

I’m surprised by how people I know (myself included) have gone into a shutdown phase. As bad as that sounds, it may be a good thing. At least in my own experience, I’ve realized that shutting down may be necessary for internal changes to take place. Really, it’s not much different than metamorphosis. The caterpillar has to be entirely shut down for the magical changes to take place. Some don’t make it through, but die in the process. In the alchemy of the soul, this process is called solve et coagula – dissolve and congeal. The idea is to identify the parts of ourselves that need changing and then to “dissolve” them – a process that often involves entirely breaking down. During the breakdown phase, we’re in an extremely vulnerable and even dangerous place. It’s the classic “dark night of the soul,” where fear, hopelessness, and despair can get the best of us. But once the breakdown is complete, we can start to rebuild, with greater strength, clarity, and wisdom. Those of you who have been through this process know what I’m talking about. If you’re going through it now for the first time, try to have some faith that there is a purpose to your struggle.

Breaking down is a big part of the Uranus-Pluto square. Uranus in Aries is a disruptive force that blasts structures apart, often literally. Pluto also is a destructive force, but the point is to release bound-up energies in order to create something new. This concept also was part of alchemy. It takes energy to stay stuck in old patterns. When we break out of those patterns, we release the energy to create something new and stronger. This is true for individuals as well as for organizations and societies.

Click on image to enlarge

The chart for this Saturday’s lunar eclipse (late Friday in Western time zones) powerfully reflects this process. The Sun and Moon are in a close square with Neptune, the planet of dissolution. This also happens to be the last eclipse in the Sagittarius-Gemini series, which began at the solstice in December 2010. The last eclipse in a series represents a close to a chapter, a final outcome. Since this is a lunar eclipse, it does suggest dissolution and endings. However, dissolution is not really the end. It’s just the end of one event, situation, relationship, or phase of life, and in all likelihood, the ending is necessary in order to free up energy for to create something new.

The “something new” is represented by Saturn, the planet of form and structure. As you can see in the chart, Neptune and Saturn are in a very close trine, a positive aspect representing a non-resistant path along with energy can flow. This tells me that whatever breaks down will quickly be able to reform. Moreover, Saturn is in mutual reception with Pluto, so even though there is no apparent “outlet” for the Uranus-Pluto square in this chart, there is an invisible and very powerful one. The difficulty, though, is as I stated earlier: new forms come into being and may quickly disintegrate, keeping us in a constant state of anxiety.

The ruler of this Full Moon is Jupiter, who is close to finishing his year-long tour through Gemini. Jupiter is in detriment in Gemini but next month will enter Cancer, the sign of his exaltation. Moreover, he’ll form a grand trine with Saturn and Neptune, so we’ll have even more opportunities to create what we most want and need, especially in terms of what connects us with each other and sustains us emotionally.

Mercury, the ruler of Gemini, is in his own sign, and he’s conjunct Venus and approaching conjunction with Jupiter at the eclipse. This is a vibrant configuration that favors intellectual creativity of all kinds, but especially writing. It’s also a good opportunity to examine the stories we tell ourselves about our lives. With an eclipse squaring Neptune, this is a great time to release illusions and delusions. Whether you’re underestimating yourself or misjudging your limitations, now would be a good time for a reality check.

Wesak occurs at the Full Moon in sidereal Scorpio. Sometimes this is the same as in the tropical system, which is the form of astrology most of us in the Western world use. This year, however, the dates are different. You can read more about sidereal and tropical astrology in a recent Q&A post. Wesak is a major “download” time, when a portal opens to higher consciousness and enlightenment. It’s my belief that a big part of the turbulence happening in the world now is related to awakening consciousness in large groups of people. Just as giving birth is painful, waking up can be painful, too. When we understand how connected we are, depending on how we’ve structured our lives, we might suddenly realize that we need a complete overhaul. Humans are hard-wired to maintain the status quo, so being in a constant state of flux can rock us to our very foundations.

Personally, I’m going through a difficult process that in hindsight began well before I got sick last week. As many of you know from reading my blog, I experienced adrenal fatigue last summer as a result of a grueling academic schedule. I never fully recovered, and it appears I’ve had a relapse. I saw my doctor last week, and we’ve formulated a plan, but healing is going to take many months, especially since I’m not able to eliminate the worst causes of stress in my life. All I can do is give in to the process and have faith that, as in past situations, I’ll come out of it stronger and wiser. After all, it was through similar circumstances in 2001 that I became an astrologer. We’ll just have to wait and see what’s next. In the meantime, I offer my sincerest apologies to those of you who have written e-mails and ordered reports and who haven’t received a response from me. For the past two weeks, I’ve spent most of my time sleeping or lying down. I don’t know how long this will last. In the meantime, my mind is working very slow, and it takes me all day to write what I used to be able to do in an hour or two. It’s humbling, to say the least.

Next week is going to look a lot better on many levels, so hang in there with me, all of you.

Wishing you all much love and courage,
Pat

Weekly Forecast May 13: Mercury Enters Gemini

Apalachicola Bridge. © Gretchen Friedrich, 2013.

It has been a tough week here. I started coming down with something about a week ago, and it flattened me. Surely it was no coincidence that last week’s eclipse was in my sixth house, with Mars in conjunction. It’s not uncommon for sixth-house Mars transits to correspond to colds, flu, and viral infections.

It appears that I’ll live this time, but I’ve been drowsy and mentally very slow. Or was that just Mercury in Taurus? We’ll find out this Wednesday, when the Messenger enters his own speedy sign of Gemini. Isn’t it just grand being a guinea pig in the great cosmic lab?

I’ll get to Mercury in a bit, but the bigger news this week is the approach of the Uranus-Pluto square on Monday, May 20. As I write, the square is half a degree from exact – as they say, “close enough for government work.” Actually, we’ve been feeling this influence for months already, as events associated with outer planetary transits happen over time, and they often are part of unfolding trends. If we look back to the Uranus-Pluto conjunction in the mid-60s, we find that events continued to unfold for two or three years following the last exact alignment in July 1966. Indeed, the year from that era we most remember for changing civilization as we knew it was 1968.

So, this is both good news and bad news. The good news is that we don’t have to fear that the world is going to blow up in the next couple of weeks due to the exact square of Uranus and Pluto. The bad news is that some idiot could blow it up independent of Uranus and Pluto. OK, just kidding. The bad news is that we’ve still got two more years of exact alignments of the square, followed by another couple of years of aftershocks. In other words, the turbulence we’re going through now is going to remain a major trend for a long time. Of course, that doesn’t mean that life is going to suck for each and every one of us. Many will find new opportunities and prosper. And many will face challenges that are reflected in their individual charts and that have nothing to do with the Uranus-Pluto square.

There are two messages from this square that I try to keep in mind at all times. First, recent events are reminding us that we are all connected, not just with each other in this incarnation, but with the collective unconscious throughout all time. When a garment factory goes up in flames in Bangladesh, we’re connected to those workers, whether or not we just bought a bargain T-shirt at H&M that was made in Bangladesh. When I lived in France, I was constantly impressed by how well the family I lived with knew where everything on their table came from. I used to joke with them that they knew the name of the goat that gave the milk for the cheese they were eating.

And that brings me to the second message. We’re not going to be able to fight “big bad government” the way it was done in the 60s – not that they had much success, either, but we’re definitely at a point where protesting is deadly. Some causes are worth fighting and dying for, but many are not, and getting together for an afternoon to smoke a joint, carry a sign, march topless, or dress as a vagina isn’t going to do much except get your photo in the news, which should not be mistaken for “doing something” about the problem. Saturn in Scorpio in mutual reception with Pluto in Capricorn favors big government, corporate domination, and wannabe tyrants, but it also favors coming up with practical solutions to build a more sustainable future. The thing is, each of us needs to decide whether we’re going to continue buying into the current paradigm, or whether we’re going to opt out. If we choose the latter, what does that look like?

We can’t wait for our leaders (sic) to do the work for us. They’ve screwed up the economy beyond recognition, so what makes us think they have the ability or the will to fix it – or, at least, to fix it in a way that benefits anyone but themselves? We’re going to have to make up our own economy, based primarily on used goods and local services. To do that, we need to shift our value system. What’s more important, having the latest fashion (dictated by someone else) for your friend’s birthday party, or looking fabulous in a dress you’ve worn several times and received many compliments on already? I know, that’s kind of a trivial example, and perhaps not anything I need to preach to readers of RealAstrologers, highly aware bunch that you are. But you get my point. I minored in economics in college and have been thinking about this a lot lately.

Of course, where we get our news is a big consideration, too. Joe and I have had an ongoing e-mail exchange about news sources. The corporate media in the United States have devolved into little but mouthpieces for government and can’t be relied upon to do any serious independent investigation. The alternative media typically have an agenda and are biased. And you have to be very careful about some of the so-called “news” sites on the Internet. Anyone can call himself a journalist. Believe it or not, being a good reporter really does require training and experience. I recently read a terrific article on the nature of journalism in America by Ron Unz. Ironically, he’s the publisher of a conservative journal co-founded by Pat Buchanan. Go figure. But he hit the nail right on the head. It just goes to show that neither political party has a monopoly on the truth.

And what better segue to get us back to astrology than news, which falls within the domain of Mercury, ruler of Gemini. Gemini likes a little information on a lot of subjects, and it wants it fast! When I think Mercury in Gemini, I think of The Huffington Post, which crams everything from breaking news to the latest congressional hypocrisy and celebrity cleavage onto one page. It puts me in overwhelm mode to the point of nausea. But my Mercury is in Capricorn, so there you go. Gemini people no doubt eat it up like popcorn.

Venus also is in Gemini this week, tracking slightly ahead of Mercury. They both square Neptune – she on Monday and he on Saturday. Normally, we think of Venus-Neptune squares as ripe for delusions about love and attraction, and that may well be true. However, there may not be much discernible difference between Venus in Gemini squaring Neptune and Mercury in Gemini squaring Neptune this week. In both cases, illusions or delusions – be they about love, picking winning lottery numbers, or selling your screenplay to Spielberg – will come and go so fast you may not remember them long enough to do yourself any real damage. News headlines may be confusing, and “facts” could change from one minute to the next. As Lou Reed sings in “Last Great American Whale,” Don’t believe half of what you see, and none of what you hear.

Also on Saturday, Venus sextiles Uranus. This is also a fairly fast and fleeting aspect, but it’s definitely more cheerful. Have a latte or a drink with a friend. This is a good shopping aspect, too, so do something different (Uranus) and visit a local consignment or thrift shop. One of my former classmates in film school got her entire wardrobe at Value Village. I’m not sure what I’d call her style, but it definitely was all her own.

Since I’ve made so much of the Uranus-Pluto square and all the seriousness it entails, I’d also like to remind you that we’ve have a rare and special grand trine coming up in July that will provide some temporary relief from all this depressing stuff. I mentioned it in my 2013 video, but I’ll have more about it in future columns. In the meantime, Ray Merriman had some interesting comments in his weekly forecast about how it might correlate to developments in U.S. politics and finance.

In case anyone missed the Thursday Q&A, I was too out of it to write this past week (I also am behind on reports and e-mails, so if you haven’t heard back from me, please be patient). I’ll have a new Q&A post this week … well, unless some idiot channeling Uranus and Pluto blows up the world.

Wishing you all much love and courage,
Pat

Weekly Forecast May 6: New Moon Solar Eclipse in Taurus

This week, we have the second of three eclipses in a row and the only solar eclipse among them, which is about new beginnings and, in some cases, dramatic and final endings.

The eclipse occurs on Thursday, with the Sun and Moon at 19°33′ Taurus. Mercury and Mars also are in Taurus, along with asteroid Pallas, which is conjunct the Sun and Moon by exact degree. Venus, the Bull’s ruling planet, leaves Taurus for Gemini earlier in the day, which means that Venus and Mercury will be in mutual reception. OK, that’s a head full of astro-babble, so let’s break it down.

Taurus is the most materialistic of all the signs. Of the three earth signs (the other two are Virgo and Capricorn), it is the most rock-solid, the most in the here-and-now, the most present on the plane of existence we call “reality.” People with strong Taurus in their charts often are materially successful, precisely because they place so much value on material possessions. While they have a well-deserved reputation for being slow and stubborn, they’re also patient and reliable – the kind of person you want around you in a crisis.

As I explained in the Thursday Q&A, eclipses occur when a New Moon or Full Moon falls near the lunar nodes. This eclipse falls very close to the transiting South Node at about 17 degrees Taurus, with the North Node at 17 degrees Scorpio. The South Node reminds of where we’ve been. Civilization as we know it arose during the Age of Taurus in ancient Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq). It’s no coincidence that winged bulls were potent symbols during that time and often associated with the king.

I don’t think it’s any coincidence, either, that we’ve managed to bomb Iraq back into the Stone Age. When the United States invaded Iraq, I immediately had the sense that civilization “as we know it” was coming to an end. Not that it was an original thought. Many of us have realized that our societal structures aren’t sustainable, and there’s no amount of fixing, adjusting, or voting out the scoundrels that will save it. No, it’s broken beyond repair, and we’re in uncharted waters, trying to figure out what to do next.

That’s where Scorpio comes in, with its modern ruler, Pluto. Among other attributes, Scorpio breaks down what is rotten and useless. But before that can happen, there needs to be some recognition of the problem. That’s also Scorpio’s territory. With laser vision, Scorpio can see beneath the layers of “reality” to the source of the problem.

I’ve written a lot about the social upheaval manifesting from the Uranus-Pluto square, which is approaching another exact alignment on May 20. I’ve also written about how the mutual reception between Saturn in Scorpio and Pluto in Capricorn is working in synergy with the Uranus-Pluto square to hasten the breakdown phase to clear the way for new, sustainable structures. I haven’t written much, though, about what that new way of living and being is going to look like or how we’re going to get there. Spiritual awakening is all fine and good, and “living spiritually” is a worthy goal, but what does that mean? The fact is, on this plane of existence, we have material bodies that have material needs. Indeed, it’s precisely in meeting these needs over many millennia that we’ve managed to screw up the planet and become, in the words of cultural critic Daniel Quinn “enraged, rebellious, desperate, stressed-out borderline psychotics being torn apart by crime, hatred, and violence.”

I like Quinn’s allegories and metaphors. For example, he writes that if the plane you’re on is in trouble, you won’t save yourself by shooting the pilot. You need to strap on your parachute and jump. “Parachute” isn’t the first image that comes to my mind when I think of Taurus, but there needs to be some place to jump to, and it is the job of Taurus to create new realities. Rather than continuing to complain about how bad the current reality sucks, we need to start doing some serious hands-on building. (I know that many of you already are, and I’d like to hear from you.)

Speaking for myself, I have to say that I long ago got tired of alternative news sites that day after day sound the alarm about corrupt leaders, bailouts for bankers, injustice for whistleblowers, the rise of the police state, etcetera ad nauseam. First off, I was a reporter in Washington, D.C., in the late 80s and early 90s and saw it for myself, so this isn’t news to me. Beyond that, I wonder how much of this stuff we have to read to be “convinced.” When I read these articles, I want to scream, “OK, OK! I get it!” Are we going to just keep sharing links in the social media and clucking our tongues about those horrible awful people leading us down a path of certain destruction, or are we going to start doing something differently?

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Of course, it’s legitimate to talk about it first, and that’s where I see the Mercury-Venus mutual reception coming in. Just keep in mind that Mercury and Mars conjoin on Tuesday, which is a recipe for arguments. Taurus is conflict averse, but unfortunately tends to stonewall to avoid it. Sometimes remaining silent is wise, but eventually real disagreements must be addressed. Venus in Gemini can help with that. Mercury is the planet of communication, and Taurus is, among other things, the builder of new worlds. As ruler of Taurus, Venus is about artful living. Having more, more-expensive toys doesn’t make us happier. How we communicate, how we share with each other, and how we co-create new worlds together is the message this pair brings.

I want to explore this theme more in future posts and very much would like to hear what readers think. I have clients who have left untenable jobs in the past couple of years for situations that paid less but were more gratifying in other ways. Although this has been a nationwide trend for the better part of the past decade, I sense that many of you are moving beyond that into new ways of thinking about the world and your place in it. It seems like we’re all trying to find our tribe.

On that note, I’d like to express my deepest thank you to those of you who responded to my call last week for some show of support. Although in terms of numbers, only a small percentage of readers sent donations, those who did were incredibly generous, not just with donations and report orders but with notes of encouragement. It was gratifying and yet humbling at the same time to read how many of you rely on my weekly forecast to help you make sense of the turbulent times we’re in. It’s not overly dramatic to say that the human species faces life-or-death decisions. Because we are all connected, every decision we make in our individual lives ripples out into the collective and either hastens our demise or builds the equivalent of new “neural pathways.”

Wishing you all much love and courage,
Pat

P.S. For a cool graphic showing the path of Thursday’s eclipse, check out Wikipedia.

Weekly Forecast April 29: Mars Opposite Saturn, Trine Pluto

Then the Awful Fight Began, illustration of Ragnarök by George Wright, 1908.

As we begin this week, we’re well into the destabilized zone between eclipses, with Uranus moving toward an exact square with Pluto in May. Many of us are feeling unsettled, shaken, irritated, and anxious, with that “other shoe about to drop” feeling.

We can’t help but feel unsettled in a rapidly changing world – or, perhaps to be more precise, a rapidly disintegrating world. This is an important part of the rebirth process, and unfortunately, it doesn’t happen fast enough to suit the expectation of instant gratification that’s ingrained in industrialized societies. It takes place over time – many years, in fact – and if we hold our breath waiting for the other shoe, we’ll turn blue and faint. Which, come to think of it, might not be such a bad idea. A little consciousness can be dangerous, as one is tempted to think he knows what’s best for the world.

From where I sit, it looks as though events are unfolding in perfect harmony with planetary movements, which themselves are in perfect harmony with the rhythm of the Universe. We just happen to be in a turbulent, breakdown phase that feels anything but harmonious. Could we just get this over with and get on with rebirth? In a word … no. Just as individuals go through periodic breakdown and rebirth (some more than others), society as a whole goes through these cycles as well. It takes as long as it takes, and that can feel very threatening, especially when our survival is at stake.

In astrology, upheaval is most closely associated with Uranus, while Pluto is the planet of death, transformation, and rebirth. (For more on the approaching Uranus-Pluto square, I highly recommend the latest article by Barbara Hand Clow.) The Full Moon eclipse in Scorpio brought these difficult themes to the fore. Personally, I’ve had to confront serious issues in the past week that could change my course. I’ll share them with you in a moment, but first let’s look at this week’s aspects.

Throughout the week, the Sun and Mars remain in conjunction in Taurus by less than 5 degrees, and both oppose Saturn and trine Pluto. Saturn and Pluto are in sextile and also in a special relationship called mutual reception. Before Saturn entered Scorpio last October, these two hadn’t been in mutual reception since the American Revolution. With Uranus and Pluto also in aspect, the energy for radical change and upheaval is multiplied by orders of magnitude. By the time this is over two years from now, political boundaries likely will have changed, and the world will look different. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

The Sun and Mars both represent the individual – our personal identities, desires, ego boundaries, and self-expression. The most materialist of all the signs, Taurus tends to be placid and non-confrontational but also has a well-deserved reputation for stubborn resistance. Taurus doesn’t win by outright aggression but by outlasting everyone else in the fight. Long after others throw their hands up in frustration, Taurus is still plodding along, holding out, holed up, and prepared to hang in there until the very end. However, Saturn in Scorpio takes no prisoners and smokes out the resistance, and Saturn and Pluto are working in tandem, so there’s no refuge. If you’re still living for material goals and judge success – your own and others’ – by how much stuff you’ve got, you may be forced to rethink your position. As an example, there seems to be a feeling of entitlement (in this country, at least) to more stuff for less money. For some people, it’s their main goal, which is how we got Wal-Mart – a bargain with the devil, if ever there was one.

But there is a way out, and that’s through Neptune and the collective unconscious. Neptune dissolves ego boundaries. We spend so much time trying to figure out who we are and what makes us special that we tend to forget we’re supposed to be working together. The point of finding your true purpose in life isn’t to make you more competitive and marketable, but to give your special gift to the world and thus make the world a better place for everyone, yourself included. There’s a difference between selfishness and enlightened self-interest. At 12 degrees Pisces, Chiron also is in the mix, reinforcing the idea that healing will come through compassion, empathy, and seeing beyond material reality. Even those who are waking up to the energetic underpinnings of physical reality (my definition of “spiritual”) tend to think of the material world as more important and “real,” and the spiritual world as an afterthought. In fact, the reverse is true.

Mars opposes Saturn and the Sun trines Pluto on Wednesday. On the same day, Mercury enters Taurus, which may slow us down and help us focus on practical matters. Mercury sextiles Neptune on Saturday and opposes Saturn on Sunday, and he’ll trine Pluto next week. So the foregoing themes are going to remain in play right up until the New Moon solar eclipse on May 9.

As for my own eclipse experience, I’m being forced to confront two harsh realities. The first is my own mortality. Shortly after my birthday in February, my older sister died. We were estranged, so I’d already done the bulk of my grieving years before, and I bore her no ill will, not even for her fundamentalist viewpoint that I was practicing witchcraft. A few days before she died, I sent her a heart-felt note wishing her love, deep peace, and serenity. What hit me hardest was that all of my older siblings were gone, and of seven children, I’m now the oldest living. In other words, “I’m next.” Given the ages of mortality of my immediate family, I have another six or seven years – maybe ten, if I clean up my diet and start a sound fitness routine. Then, maybe not. My father’s doctor recommended that he walk more. He had a heart attack on an evening walk to the corner store and was dead before he hit the ground. I’m not afraid to die – provided, of course, that it’s quick and efficient. Dropping dead on my daily walk would be OK, second to going peacefully in my sleep. A protracted illness is quite another matter, especially since I have no health coverage.

The second harsh reality is more immediate (unless, of course, I drop dead on my daily walk this afternoon). As much as I value spiritual concerns, one does need to pay for food, shelter, Internet, eye care, and an occasional visit to the dentist. When I first began RealAstrologers, I had a five-year plan to create something resembling what Christopher Witecki has done with SoulGarden. Going to film school was part of my strategy. In the meantime, I’d hoped to grow the business with my unique “hybrid” reports, plus telephone consultations. I live very simply, and yet I’ve not been able to make it work. A few years back, I tried getting a day job to help support the site, but as many of you know, I suffered a serious back injury that makes it impossible for me to go that route again. And because of my age and the economy, it’s not likely I’d even find some menial office work.

This reality was hit home in a post on Willow’s Web (thanks to the reader who sent me the link) in which she responded to a reader’s comment that her blog wasn’t worth a donation equivalent to $2.50 a month. I’m sorry to have to say this, but most people come to my site for the free content and leave, perhaps to go to other free sites. As Willow wrote, if you continually come here and take what I offer without giving anything back, you are acting as an energy drain. Until now, that has been my choice, but I have a hard decision to make, and it will depend on your response. If you’ve recently ordered a report or sent a donation, please ignore what I’m about to say. For those who have not, I ask you to please use the donation button in the sidebar or click here. If you are blessed with relative plenty right now, please leave a little extra, because there are readers who truly cannot afford to pay (and not because they just remodeled the kitchen).

I know from the e-mails I receive that many of you love what I do and rely on my forecasts to help you make sense of these turbulent, unsettling times. But if there aren’t enough of you – or not enough who are willing and able to help me sustain the site – then I’m going to be forced to stop blogging. Sharing what I know is important to me, not because I have some deep-seated desire for followers or groupies but because it feels like a calling. However, if I see that not that many people value my work enough to pay for it, then I’ll have to face the harsh truth. Better to know now, while I’ve still got a few years left to do something else.

Wishing you all much love and courage,
Pat

Weekly Forecast April 22: Full Moon Lunar Eclipse in Scorpio

At this week’s Full Moon, we have the first of three eclipses in a row and potentially the most difficult. As I write this post, we’re already within the pull of its dark energy.

Eclipses can provide windows on the past and future, and that’s especially true of a lunar eclipse in Scorpio. Pluto, ruler of Scorpio in modern tropical astrology, was named for the Roman god of the underworld, which morphed into the Christian concept of hell. But for some cultures – notably, the ancient Celts – there wasn’t so much an “underworld” as an “otherworld,” not underground but behind a veil. Julius Caesar remarked in his famous commentaries that the bravery of Celtic warriors stemmed from their belief that death on the battlefield meant only a brief detour to the otherworld.

Death and destruction are on our minds a lot lately, with deadly events three days in a row last week. Monday was the horrific explosion at the Boston Marathon. On Wednesday, a fertilizer plant exploded in Waco, Texas, killing 14 people and leveling the surrounding area. There was also a major earthquake on Tuesday near the border of Iran and Pakistan. Although the Boston explosion had the fewest casualties of the three, it’s the one that has dominated the news and unleashed the largest torrent of hate, fear, and ignorance. After all, one can’t hate the earth for moving or chemicals for reacting. Never mind that the factory owners previously had been fined for safety violations … or, for that matter, that the FBI had previous contact with Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the older of the two brothers suspected in the Boston bombing.

I predicted that facts would surface as Mercury approached a square to Pluto, but it seems that the Neptunian fog in the bombing chart is just getting thicker. The FBI claims it dropped its investigation of Tamerlan in 2011 because it didn’t have the right to keep an open file on a legal immigrant. Since when did that ever stop the feds? It’s also interesting that they mentioned the connection only after the suspect’s mother spilled the beans. Were they really going to try to get away with that? My sensitive Pisces nose smells rotten fish.

As I sifted through the news articles, one of the things that struck me most was the degree to which we are all under surveillance in a growing police state. This is Pluto in Capricorn, aided and abetted by Saturn in Scorpio. Some say it’s a good thing, that surveillance cameras helped quickly identify the suspects and provided irrefutable evidence of their guilt. Predictably, a lynch mob was ready to kill them on the spot, with no investigation or trial, and the citizens of Boston readily agreed to stay inside, turn off their cell phones, and close their businesses. As a drill for future uprisings and rebellions, the Boston lockdown was a resounding success. Homeland Security (sic) must have been pleased indeed.

While I was contemplating this trend and the possible scenarios under the Uranus-Pluto square, I came across a curious comment by veteran Washington journalist Howard Fineman in an editorial for The Huffington Post. “As if we needed any further proof, this week in Boston proves that there is no ‘over there.’ Ours is not a planet in which distance matters; nor does the passage of time. It may be that centuries-old grievances are erupting worldwide like volcanic lava,” he writes.

In other words, we’re all connected, not only in this time and place, but across all dimensions of time and space. And the veil between these dimensions is thinning, about to get thinner still with the eclipses. It’s a safe bet that Fineman isn’t a fan of astrology, but he sure was onto more than he thought when he wrote that apocalyptic sentence. I mentioned in last week’s post that I suspected the eclipses would open up a window on time, and I’ve also written a lot about the true meaning of the word “apocalypse,” which literally means “unveiling” – the lifting of the veil. What veil are we talking about if not the boundary that keeps us separated from other dimensions of time and space?

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Fineman begins his article with the eerie connection between 26-year-old Tamerlan and the historical Tamerlane, a 14th century warlord born in what is now Uzbekistan. Often called a successor to Genghis Khan, Tamerlane was born on April 9, 1336. (My source for this information is Tamerlane: Sword of Islam, Conqueror of the World, by Justin Marozzi.) Tamerlane is the English corruption of his given name, “Timur,” which means “iron.” Yes, as in Mars. Tamerlan Tsarnaev most certainly knew about his namesake. Hang onto your seat, because it gets creepier.

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Converted to the modern calendar, Tamerlane’s date of birth is April 17. That puts his Sun at 27 Aries, less than two degrees from the Sun-Mars conjunction in the Boston bombing chart. Tamerlane’s Saturn was retrograde at 6 degrees Scorpio, just 3 degrees from retrograde Saturn in the Boston chart. His North Node was at 2 degrees Aries – precisely the degree of Mercury in the Boston chart – and he had Pluto at 3 degree Aries. Pluto on the North Node strongly suggests someone with a powerful mission to transform. Of course, he also left unfathomable death and destruction in his path, another signature of Pluto. Asteroid Pallas in the Boston chart is conjunct Tamerlane’s Mars by exact degree. Pallas is named for the Greek goddess Athena, whose attributes included military strategy. In his own time, astrologers would have noted Tamerlane’s Mars-Jupiter conjunction as the sign of a great military leader.

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Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s Sun is at 27 degrees Libra, the sign opposite Aries. As it so happens, that’s the exact degree of the Ascendant in the chart for the Waco explosion, as well as for a similar explosion that took place in Toulouse, France, in September 2001. I don’t know yet what to make to make of this synchronicity. In ancient times, Libra was considered the sign of generals, but there’s no obvious connection to an explosion at a fertilizer plant, and as far as we know, Tamerlan wasn’t commanding an army in any sense of the word.

In one last bit of trivia, you might remember Tamerlane as the title of a poem by Edgar Allan Poe. The collection in which it appeared was published in Boston in 1827, not under Poe’s name but by “A Bostonian.”

I’d like to hear your thoughts.

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Returning to our era, let’s have a look at Thursday’s lunar eclipse, which promises to be intense. The Full Moon is at 5°46′ Scorpio, opposite the Sun at 5°46′ Taurus. Mars is still in conjunction with the Sun by less than 2 degrees, while the Moon is conjunct Saturn by three degrees. Put another way, we have a Mars-Saturn opposition superimposed on a lunar eclipse. Although modern astrologers don’t look at Mars and Saturn with the same fearful eye as our medieval predecessors, we nonetheless can’t ignore the challenges implied in an opposition between these two bad boys. Mars in Taurus is less aggressive than Mars in Aries, and perhaps the worst tension will be due to stubborn resistance and stonewalling. In general, there’s a feeling of sorrow – not that we don’t already have enough losses to grieve, and that brings up the point that much of what has happened in the past week could correlate to the eclipse. Nothing says eclipse-related events can’t happen before the eclipse date. In some cases, they can occur months in advance. So, although it’s not a bad idea to stay alert, I don’t think we need to hide under the bed.

There are two strong energy outlets in this chart, which is some cause for hope that we can spin challenges into opportunities. First, the Sun and Moon make a harmonious sextile/trine to Neptune. On the positive side, this is a reminder of how connected we really are, and not just to those we sympathize with or agree with. Neptune and Pisces, the sign it rules, are associated with deep compassion and empathy. It is through Neptune’s idealism that we can strive for a better world, while Saturn injects practical considerations and Mars represents action. The downside of Neptune is the tendency toward escapism, whether through drugs and alcohol, compulsive shopping, too much television, or any number of other addictions. Sure, we need to give our minds a rest from all the dismal news, and I certainly understand the urge to drown our sorrows. Just don’t stay there for too long.

The second outlet is a trine from Venus in Taurus to Pluto in Capricorn. This is a lusty, passionate combination that typically is interpreted as good for your sex life. And it might be. But Venus and Pluto also are about wealth and finances, and Pluto is, above all, about personal power and transformation, while Venus is the planet of love. There is strong energy here for transformation through love. For clues about how you can best use this energy, look at where Venus and Pluto fall in your chart. If you don’t know where that is, you can find out by ordering your StarGuide Spring forecast, which is now on sale for 25 percent off. It includes interpretations of all three eclipses, plus the New Moon in Gemini on June 8. The monthly report for May also is ready.

As I mentioned last week, the festival of Wesak falls at the Full Moon in Scorpio. In Eastern countries that go by the sidereal zodiac, Wesak will be celebrated at the next Full Moon, which is on May 25 and also happens to coincide with an eclipse. Since Wesak is essentially an Eastern festival, I feel that it’s more appropriate to celebrate it according to the sidereal zodiac. I’ll explain more about the differences in the zodiacs in Thursday’s Q&A. In the meantime, I’ll be making preparations to make full use of the energies of this powerful Full Moon in Scorpio. I don’t say that lightly, as my experience last year shook me to the core.

But isn’t that the point?

Wishing you all unconditional love and infinite courage,
Pat