Category Archives: Forecasts

Weekly Forecast May 30: New Moon Eclipse in Gemini, Jupiter Enters Taurus

Bend in the road, Colorado National Monument. © Jim Parkin for Dreamstime.com.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Much love and courage to all,
Aquarius, the sign of astrologyPat

Weekly Forecast May 23: Venus Conjunct Mars

© EJWhite for Dreamstime.com

On Monday, Venus conjoins Mars, symbolic marriage of the divine feminine and masculine. True love is returning to the world, but we’ve still got some work cut out for us.

I’ve written a lot in these pages about the split between men and women, which goes back thousands of years. I see this split as our deepest wound, and the resulting imbalance between masculine and feminine energies on the planet as the underlying source of the cruelty and violence that humans perpetrate on each other, the animal kingdom, and the Earth herself.

And yet, I see signs everywhere that the balance is being restored. The world is changing as the collective and each of us as individuals heal our core wounds. Our healing process intensified under the recent conjunction of Chiron and Neptune, which is separating but active for another year or so. For many of us, healing has required reopening or at least revisiting deep wounds, many of which we carried with us into this lifetime. It has been an exhausting and painful (obviously) process that appears to be nearing completion.

For true love to stand a chance, both partners need to come into a relationship in wholeness. If you’re looking to fill in a missing piece of yourself, you’ll eventually run into serious problems when the other person fails to deliver. No one but you can find those lost pieces and bring them home.

It is possible to work on this within a relationship, and if your partner is on a similar track (it does happen), then you can grow together, and love grows, too. Indeed, being in a relationship can speed up your personal and spiritual growth considerably, because your “stuff” is usually right in your face. The irony is that resolving personal issues can be fatal to the relationship. That’s no doubt why so many couples have an unspoken pact that they will play their self-assigned roles and not rock the boat by growing and changing.

Monday’s Venus-Mars conjunction occurs in a favorable trine to Pluto and a jarring inconjunct (quincunx) to Saturn. This tells me a few things.

First, Pluto has been at the apex of a cardinal T-square with Saturn and Uranus since last year. This puts the planet of death, rebirth and transformation in the hot seat. Translated, that means we’ve been under tremendous pressure to change.

Trines provide an easy path for energy to flow, and so, this week, transformation comes via a romantic relationship (regardless of your sexual orientation). If you’ve recently extricated yourself from a difficult union, you may realize that, rather than feeling like you left a piece of yourself behind, you feel more whole and stronger than ever. You are now equipped to find a healthier and more fulfilling partnership.

That’s the good news. The not-so-good news is that Venus and Mars form a very close inconjunct with Saturn, which happens to be retrograde in Libra, the sign of relationships. Now, this is interesting, because Venus rules both Taurus and Libra. I read this as a sign that feminine energy, long suppressed and overpowered by the masculine, is making its weight felt. Mars is in his detriment in Taurus, and naturally, a lot of men aren’t happy that they’re losing the upper hand. I hope they will come to understand why balance makes them stronger, not weaker.

Anyway, the discordant angle to retrograde Saturn is a reminder that there is still a lot of work to do, and transforming may require that you grit your teeth and try to move through the obstacles to love. And for all that, you may find yourself in a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” situation. Pluto says we must transform, but choosing that path may lead to a breakup. It’s a tough choice, but most people I know who chose to detach from a lopsided relationship have had few regrets.

Mars and Venus are conjunct on Monday, with Venus inconjunct Saturn on Tuesday and Mars inconjunct on Wednesday. The Mars aspect is even more complicated in that Mars and the Moon in Pisces will create a Yod, with Saturn at the apex. Often it’s not what’s said that sabotages a relationship, but what isn’t said. It takes a lot of trust and courage to be completely honest with your partner about how you feel.

On a completely different note, the Sun in Gemini sextiles Uranus on Wednesday. Watch the news headlines for surprising developments, probably of a positive nature. Now that would be news!

The following day, the Sun squares Chiron and then on Saturday forms an inconjunct with Pluto, bringing the theme of the week full circle. As hard as we try to serve the cause of True Love, as willing as we are to confront our own demons, we are fighting stubborn, deeply ingrained patterns that have existed for millennia. But just remember, it’s that last grain of sand that brings the scales in balance.

Much love and courage to all,
Aquarius, the sign of astrologyPat

Weekly Forecast May 16: Full Moon in Scorpio, Sun Enters Gemini

© Snizhanna for Dreamstime.com

This week is the festival of Wesak, honoring the birth, death, and enlightenment of the Buddha. A portal is opening.

Wesak takes place at the Scorpio Full Moon, with the Sun in Taurus. There is some confusion about this, as Eastern religions use sidereal astrology, which means that Wesak sometimes is in June, by which time the Sun in our Western tropical zodiac has advanced to Gemini. This year, they happen to coincide; in our tropical system, the Full Moon occurs at 26°13 Scorpio, while in sidereal astrology, it falls at 2°12 Scorpio.

To help understand the connection between Taurus, Buddha, and Wesak, I suggest Ruth’s excellent article, from the perspective of soul astrology. “The highest vibration of Taurus is about revelation, illumination and enlightenment,” she writes. “It is a very mysterious sign, associated with the opening of the third eye.”

The third eye, located between the eyebrows, is our center of higher consciousness, the ability to “see” into the energetic realms. When it gets activated, we’re said to be enlightened.

Ruth also notes the connection between Aldebaran, the brightest star in Taurus, and the third eye. One of the four Royal Stars of Persia, Aldebaran is known as the “eye of the bull.” In ancient mystery schools, it was known as the “Eye of Illumination.”

Death, rebirth and transformation are Scorpio keywords. Substitute “enlightenment” for transformation, and you understand the theme of this Full Moon. Humanity is evolving toward higher consciousness and enlightenment. More and more of us are aware of our soul’s purpose, and we’re trying to find a way to align ourselves with it.

At Wesak, a portal opens for light to enter the world. The more of us who are aware of it and who actively call upon the forces of enlightenment, the more the world will get – and not a moment too soon.

The Full Moon at 26 degrees Scorpio ironically falls with the Sun conjunct Algol, considered the most malefic star in the sky. Algol is associated with Medusa, the snake-headed woman in Greek mythology who turned men to stone if they looked at her. The symbolism and psychology of this myth is complex and speaks a lot to the cosmic split between divine masculine and feminine energies. In ancient times, snakes were a sign of wisdom, a direct connection with the unseen energies of the universe, and they were associated with women until patriarchal religions took over. Since then, the energy on the planet has been completely unbalanced.

The snake symbolizes our connection to source energy – what some might call the Mind of God. Have you ever noticed that some Scorpios seem to have unlimited energy? It’s as though they’re plugged directly into a cosmic battery. And most of them don’t even realize it, because the connection is deeply integrated. They operate on “instinct” and often don’t even have to think about what they’re going to do next. This power can be scary, and it’s one of the reasons Scorpio is feared and reviled.

Could the Full Moon conjunct Algol signal a rebirth of the ancient, wise goddess? Will her vibration be part of the light stream that enters the world?

The Moon reaches peak fullness on Tuesday at 7:09 a.m. EDT on the East Coast of the United States. If you’re on the West Coast and don’t want to get up at 4:09 a.m. to participate in the Wesak invocation, you can set a bowl of water outside and drink it in the morning. Just be sure to cover it. As far as I know, ingesting bugs and bird poop is not a path to enlightenment.

In the Full Moon chart, the Sun and Moon are in a wide, out-of-sign square with Neptune at 0 degrees Pisces. The Sun and Jupiter are in a tight semi-sextile, which means the Moon and Jupiter are inconjunct. We’ll need to make sure we’re not too busy or too preoccupied with acquiring material possessions to stop for an hour or so, quiet our minds, and tune into the stream of light. So many people don’t know what they really want anymore, especially in a world with a glut of consumer goods and a dearth of information about how to be truly happy.

After the Full Moon, we begin the countdown to the eclipses. There will be three eclipses in June and July – two solar and one lunar. It’s also interesting to note that next year’s Wesak festival will fall on June 4, which coincides with an eclipse and the 2012 Venus transit.

Speaking of Venus, she rules this Full Moon. All of the planets except Neptune now deposit to her, whereas for the past several weeks, they’ve deposited to Mars. With Jupiter and Uranus in Mars-ruled Aries, there still will be some tension and conflict, but for the next few weeks at least, peaceful solutions may be found.

Here’s how the rest of the week shakes out:

Last week started out with a conjunction of Mercury and Venus in Aries. The two have been tracking very close to one another, and on Monday this week they conjoin again, but in Taurus. Then they both sextile Neptune in gentle Pisces. It’s a whole different atmosphere now. Word are kinder and softer, and we should be able to find some time to dream. Do watch your cash, though. If you make a large purchase, a few days from now you may wonder what you were thinking.

From Wednesday to Friday, Mars, Mercury and Venus form a sextile to Chiron in Pisces. Healing can happen on many levels. How many of us beat ourselves over the head for what essentially are wounds? Would you blame a child for falling and breaking his nose? Even if he did something stupid, you’d at least use the occasion to provide some gentle instruction about the consequences of bad judgment. Be just as kind with yourself and others as you’d be with that child.

Also on Friday, Mercury conjoins Mars, and the two trine Pluto. Rather than getting angry and giving someone a piece of your mind, you can use this influence to understand the source of the conflict. Venus trines Pluto on the following day. If you and a loved one had a “discussion,” now you can make up in a way that should leave you feeling much closer than ever. The loving feelings will continue to build as Venus and Mars move closer to conjunction on May 23.

The Sun leaves Taurus on Saturday and enters fast-paced Gemini. However, Gemini’s ruler, Mercury, is in Taurus, and so placid Venus continues to be the dominant influence. I am a bit concerned that peace may be confused with repression of emotions. In mundane terms, this could mean squelching valid complaints in order to reach an agreement. Repressing feelings and failing to address underlying causes of problems never works, as all of that negative energy eventually surfaces. And when it does, it’s usually with a vengeance.

The last major aspect of the week is a Sun-Neptune square. For some, this could manifest as the combined urge to accomplish many small tasks and the lack of energy and motivation. My advice is to rest while you can, because June and July may bring fast and furious change.

Wishing you all love and enlightenment,
Aquarius, the sign of astrologyPat

Weekly Forecast May 9: Mars, Venus and Mercury Enter Taurus

Bull vaulting. A fresco from the Palace of Knossos, Crete, c. 1500 B.C.

We’ve got only a few more days of Mars-dominated skies, and then we can exhale. If sound waves carried in space, our collective sigh of relief would be heard all the way to Pluto.

After weeks of Mars-dominated skies, Mars and Venus will rule together from Wednesday on, when he enters Taurus. They’ll be in mutual reception – he’s in her sign and she’s in his – until she enters Taurus on Sunday. There’s still a buildup of planets in Aries – in fact, if you’re willing to get up early, you’ll be able to see them – so it would appear that Mars retains the upper hand. However, he’s willing to share the throne with Venus until Sunday, when she takes over the whole show, and he settles down for a heavy meal and a long nap. I don’t know about you, but I’ve had enough of this rough-and-tumble Mars stuff. There have been times when I’ve felt like a car moving along in the middle lane, with traffic flying by me on both sides and a tailgater in the rear-view mirror.

We start the week with a conjunction of Mercury and Venus in Aries on Monday. It would be nice if kind words came tumbling out of everyone’s mouth without their having to think twice, but that’s probably wishful thinking. Venus in Aries can be demanding and competitive, and instead of words of love and kindness, you might get explicit instructions for meeting someone’s expectations, complete with checklist. On a completely different level, this aspect favors opportunities to earn a fast buck. If you get an offer today, jump on it. Likewise, if a bargain lands in your lap, don’t just stand there, or someone will grab it right out of your hands.

Wednesday is the big day, when Mars enters Taurus and both Mercury and Venus conjoin Jupiter. Financial markets no doubt will get a boost (I’m off to read Ray Merriman as soon as I finish writing this post), and turnarounds could come quite fast. To find out where you might get luck and opportunities, check to see where you have early Taurus in your chart.

On Thursday, Mars sextiles Neptune in Pisces. This is great for meditating, and it might actually lead to some enlightenment.

On Sunday, Venus and Mercury enter Taurus within an hour of each other. The pace will slow way down – I half expect to hear the gears of the universe grind as the cosmos puts on the brakes. We should see some resolution to some of the world’s hot spots, too. Taurus is the sign of money, so I expect we’ll also hear some important financial news. There’s no better time to take charge of your personal finances.

The Moon enters Scorpio on Sunday and will oppose Mars. Mars in Taurus may not get riled up very fast, but if you push him too far, you’ll regret it. If you find yourself butting heads with someone and neither of you wants to give an inch, go to your room and sulk, then get over it.

Next week is Wesak, the festival honoring Buddha’s birth and enlightenment. Hopefully, things will slow down enough so I can write a post about it. In the meantime, you can watch the planets line up in the dawn sky. StarDate has a neat video showing you where to look from May 9-12.

Wishing you all much love and courage,
Aquarius, the sign of astrologyPat

Weekly Forecast May 2: New Moon in Taurus

Rhododendrons, the essence of spring in full bloom. © Pat Paquette 2011.

The biggest news this week – the only news, really – is Tuesday’s New Moon in Taurus (late Monday on the West Coast of the United States).

The Taurus New Moon represents the fertility of nature and the full bloom of spring. This year, it falls close to the Celtic cross-quarter day of Beltane, celebrated with bonfires and an anything-goes spirit similar to our Mardi Gras. Taurus, the Bull of Heaven, was the divine consort of the Mother Goddess, who in very ancient times was associated with Venus.

As ruling planet of Taurus, Venus rules this New Moon, but unfortunately she’s not at her best, so I don’t foresee a week of dancing, drinking, fine-dining, and lying around on the couch. To start with, she’s in Aries, sign of her detriment. She also is fresh out of a cardinal T-square with Saturn and Pluto. If even goddesses can get stressed out and exhausted, what’s that say for the rest of us?

Still, I’m expecting this week to be better than most of last month, as we’ll certainly get a little bit of relief from all that fast and aggressive Aries energy – not much, mind you, as most of the planets are still depositing to Mars. There will be an edginess to life until the end of next week, when Venus moves into Taurus and takes over the show. In the meantime, take any opportunity for a small break, as it will help you hang in there for another couple of weeks.

Also, pressure on relationships will drop a notch as Venus moves beyond the cardinal T-square and gets well out of the way of an opposition with Saturn. What’s done can’t be reversed, but it’s easier to accept the fact and move on.

For those whose relationships reached a new level of duty and commitment, you can begin to settle into a new routine – although, again, it may be the end of next week before you feel substantial relief from the pressure.

The New Moon in Taurus highlights what we have and urges us to be mindful of how and what we manifest into reality, and why. I was reminded of this message many times over as I watched the royal wedding last Friday. The clothes, the jewels, the cars and carriages – do they support personal growth or hinder it? What’s important is how each of us uses the gifts we were born with. Learning the appropriate role of money and material resources in our personal and spiritual development is an important lesson now.

This concept is reflected nicely in the Sabian Symbol** for this New Moon: a man handling baggage, with the keyword INDUSTRY. Ultimately, we have to depend on our own strengths and resources to fulfill our purpose in life, and there may be many ways to do so, all of which are equally important. Some people need a lot of money and material wealth to fulfill their role, and some don’t. How much is enough and at what point material desires start getting in the way of spiritual growth is a big lesson for Taurus.

Sunday is Mother’s day, with the Moon appropriately in Cancer. There may be some tension at family gatherings, as the Moon forms a temporary cardinal grand cross with Saturn, Pluto, Uranus, and other planets in Aries. The worst is over on Saturday, though, so hopefully everyone will be able to rise above dysfunctional family dynamics and appreciate one another’s uniqueness.

Wishing you all much love and courage,
Aquarius, the sign of astrologyPat

P.S. I don’t need a diamond tiara to be a decent astrologer, but I’ll nevertheless be writing my abundance check!

** 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 April 25: Venus Opposite Saturn, Mars Conjunct Jupiter

Stargazer lily. © Pat Paquette 2011

What a week it has been! Everyone I know was going through some kind of crisis, many of them relationship-oriented. Here’s an excerpt of an e-mail I received from a client on Friday:

“My plan for Easter brunch has turned into HELL!! SOS! My sister and her partner have been fighting like rabid dogs. She’s been saying for months that she’s leaving him but is STILL living there! She hurt his feelings by not inviting him to service on Friday or Sunday brunch … he’s never even been interested in church or God, he’s simply grasping at straws, at this point. I told them, that given the situation, I was uncomfortable with him coming down for Easter … that I wouldn’t sacrifice my family for his ‘hurt’ feelings. Harsh, but necessary. It looks like my husband and I will just take his mother out to brunch.”

The expensive ham she bought for the occasion is sitting in the refrigerator. I reassured her that things are going to calm down this week, and she can throw a party next weekend.

Amazon and Sony had a rough week, too. Both corporate giants had computer network crashes that affected millions of customers worldwide. Sony said its PlayStation Network was attacked by hackers. Mercury’s station certainly didn’t help. As I’ve noted many times in these pages, some of the worst problems happen when Mercury is at a standstill. I was at an information session on Wednesday that got a late start because the instructor’s assistant hadn’t shown up and there was no one to staff his office. Turns out she had a flat tire on her way to work. And on and on …

Violence in the Middle East is on the rise. What initially seemed like a sweeping revolution has turned into a bloody suppression. In an excellent article on CounterPunch, award-winning journalist Patrick Cockburn writes, “From Libya to Bahrain and Syria to Yemen, leaders are clinging on to power despite intense pressure from pro-democracy protesters.”

The increase in violence is hardly surprising, with Mars dominating the sky. The bigger trend is the approaching square of Uranus to Pluto. Many astrologers, myself included, have predicted rebellion and authoritarian crackdowns. The situation in the Mideast is just the beginning.

Before I get into this week’s forecast, I’d like to note that two greats left us last week, both as a result of multiple organ failure. Internationally renowned guru Sai Baba, whose followers include many celebrities, was 85. The man who invented CDs, former Sony president Norio Ohga, died at 81.

Overall, this week will be less frustrating, and relationships should fare a little better, too. The Sun in placid Taurus will help decrease the noise level, and Mercury’s return direct will go a long way toward repairing misunderstandings. That said, some relationships that ended in the past two weeks are over for good. If this is your situation, you likely are better off, even if it’s too soon to recognize it.

There’s not much going on in the sky on Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday, Venus squares Pluto. The usual warning with these two in hard aspect is that power struggles can erupt in relationships, especially regarding sex. Using sex as a means of control over another person is a no-no, and it likely will backfire. What goes around comes around. Depending on where Venus and Pluto are transiting your chart, you also may have to be mindful not to get dragged into jealousy and possessiveness.

Working with this aspect should be a little easier, thanks to an easy trine later in the day between the Sun and Pluto. You can express yourself directly and tell the other person what you want and need, rather than resorting to underhanded tactics. The challenge, of course, is that first you have to be honest with yourself. If you’re willing to do that, you’ll have cosmic support.

The only aspect on Friday is a conjunction between the Moon and Uranus in Aries, which might generate some emotional fireworks, but in general lunar transits are mild and fleeting. Good thing, because this is the day that Prince William and Kate Middleton will be married. Even if you’re not into all the hoopla, do check out Helene’s series on the royal couple. I found it surprisingly refreshing.

Another relationship will be in the spotlight on Friday. Gabrielle Giffords, the congresswoman who was shot in the head in Arizona in January, plans to attend the launch of the space shuttle in Florida. Her husband, Mark Kelly, is one of six astronauts who will be on the flight. The presence of Giffords surely will eclipse the event itself, although it’s doubtful she’ll appear in public.

On Saturday, Venus opposes Saturn. Usually this isn’t a happy aspect for love relationships, but it is stabilizing, especially with Saturn in Venus-ruled Libra. Of course, both also are square Pluto, and while the angle is fairly wide, it nevertheless counts as a potent cardinal T-square. You may need to insist on your boundaries, as my client had to do with her sister’s partner. Although it will be difficult, try to do it with love and kindness.

Sunday is exuberant, with a three-way conjunction between the Moon, Mars, and Jupiter. Get out and play! Throw a party. Take a long walk or bike ride in a beautiful natural setting. Taurus is the sign of beauty, including the beauty of nature.

Speaking of the beauty of nature, I leave you with this amazing video by Norwegian photographer Terje Sorgjerd. To me, there is nothing more breathtaking than the night sky. (For a larger version, click on the link below the image.)

Much love and courage to all,
Aquarius, the sign of astrologyPat

The Mountain from Terje Sorgjerd on Vimeo.

Weekly Forecast April 18: Sun Enters Taurus, Mercury Direct

© Pat Paquette 2011

The cardinal T-square continues to make itself felt this week as Mercury and Mars oppose Saturn.

I don’t expect many of us will face new issues at this point. More than likely, it will be more of the same old stuff. However, we may have to make a few difficult decisions in order to get out of circumstances that have been weighing us down. That includes difficult relationships.

I alerted you last week to this Monday’s Mars-Saturn opposition. Although it isn’t as vicious as the Mars-Pluto square we just went through, it’s the day after the Full Moon in Libra, sign of partnership and balance. If you’ve been in an unbalanced relationship, and especially if either of you have been sitting on a lot of anger, this may be the day you finally decide that enough is enough.

If you’re concerned that you may change your mind after Mercury returns direct on Saturday, then by all means hold off making a decision until after the weekend. I’d also advise taking a big step back on Tuesday, when Mercury conjoins Mars in Aries. The risk of saying something you can’t take back is too high. You might want to plan on being unavailable for the day.

In some cases, yelling and screaming might not be inappropriate. Sometimes it’s the only way to release pent-up anger and restore the peace. Fights – even the unfair ones – don’t necessarily break up relationships and can even move them forward, whereas not expressing anger or expressing it passive-aggressively can damage a relationship beyond repair.

Throughout the week, Mercury will be at a near standstill and in close opposition with Saturn in Libra. Normally, this isn’t an overly challenging aspect, as it favors critical thinking. As I always say, you can’t solve a problem if you don’t know what it is. Under this influence, you can pinpoint the problem and source, which will go a long way toward helping you resolve matters. The danger here is that you may think things are much worse than they are, and with Mars in close aspect, the frustration factor is high and tempers are short.

We’ll have Venus to help smooth things over until Thursday. After that, she’ll be in Aries, sign of her detriment, until May 15. In Mars-ruled Aries, Venus is less patient, kind and compassionate. It also means that we have a few more weeks of Mars dominating the sky. All of the planets will deposit to Mars except Neptune in his own sign of Pisces and the Moon when in Pisces or her own sign of Cancer.

The good news this week – yes, there is some – is the Sun’s entry into placid Taurus on Wednesday. Although we’ll still be under the aggressive Aries influence, we’ll get to catch our breath, and the frenetic pace will slow down a bit. The Sun’s first contact is an easy sextile to Neptune in Pisces. The pathway is open for inter-dimensional communications. Fleeting thoughts and visions may contain important messages. Pay attention to your dreams on Wednesday night.

On Friday, Venus conjoins Uranus. This one could go either way. It may bring you a pleasant surprise in love, money, or some other area of life, depending on where they’re transiting your chart. Conversely, there could be disruptive developments in relationships or finances. Whichever it is for you, I suspect that it will be related to events during last summer’s T-square in the early degrees of the cardinal signs. The Moon enters Capricorn earlier on Friday and moves through those degrees as well. I’m tired of all this heavy stuff and am going to remain positive that a happy surprise is on the way.

Mercury goes direct on Saturday, making for easy Easter egg hunting on Sunday. Just take it easy on the chocolate. We’ve got enough of a buzz from all this cosmic caffeine.

Wishing you all much love and courage,
Aquarius, the sign of astrologyPat

Weekly Forecast April 11: Mars Square Pluto, Full Moon in Libra

© Benis Arapovic for Dreamstime.com

Reading the news headlines this morning, I was struck by the number of words such as “angry,” “attack,” “hostile,” and “bomb.”

Maybe it’s just an average day on CNN and I haven’t been paying attention. But I’m going to go out on a limb here and suggest that we’re seeing manifestations of the Mars-Pluto square that began building up last week.

It’s not an overstatement to call this aspect violent. Mars in his own sign of Aries has his finger on the trigger and doesn’t need much of a reason to pull it, while Pluto just went retrograde and is at a standstill, making him more powerful than usual when the square peaks on Monday.

To an astrologer, it’s no surprise that police are shooting at protestors, while authoritarian rulers hole up in fear and international forces fire away at the wrong targets. When you’ve got this much angry energy surging through the collective, it has to have an outlet.

On a smaller scale, we’re at a higher risk of getting involved in power struggles this week, especially over money and control. It’s possible to channel Mars energy into physical work and vigorous exercise. However, with Pluto in the mix, it’s almost impossible to avoid getting caught up in anger and resentment.

Put another way, Mars in Aries might not be such a bad boy if he weren’t up against all these heavyweight outer planets. In a period of less than three weeks, Mars will have conjoined Uranus in Aries, squared Pluto in Capricorn, and opposed Saturn in Libra. Each of these aspects alone would be difficult enough to negotiate, but with all three together, it’s a wonder we’re not all killing each other. On second thought …

Mercury retrograde in Aries complicates matters still further. On Monday, right as he’s halfway through the retrograde phase, he crosses back over Jupiter. The previous Mercury-Jupiter conjunction was on March 15, while Mercury was direct. I recall having a lot of communications difficulties back then, too. Everything got worked out, but there were several issues going on all at once, each of which required several phone calls to straighten out.

When Mercury and the Sun conjoined this past Friday, I experienced a mix-up in connecting with someone that would have been comical if it was in a movie script. While I was e-mailing my contact afterward to find out what happened, my Internet modem suddenly went haywire, and I was without service for a couple of hours until my provider isolated the problem. I expect similar disruptions this week. By next week, when Mercury and Mars meet, matters won’t get resolved quite so easily or politely.

For the rest of this week, Mars moves away from Pluto and toward an opposition to Saturn, which is exact next Monday, right after the Full Moon in Libra. Relationships may be tumultuous. As intimidating as this sounds, there could be a silver lining. When anger builds up between two people and has no outlet for expression, the relationship is harmed, sometimes irreparably. As difficult as it is to deal with anger – yours or your partner’s – airing it could be just what you need to get back on track and become closer. The key is in being heard.

The Moon will be in Libra for most of the weekend. In the hours following her entry into the sign of balance and harmony, she’ll make contact with all of the planets involved in last summer’s cardinal T-square. She conjoins Saturn late Saturday evening, and then on Sunday opposes retrograde Mercury and, finally, the Sun – her last contact before moving on to Scorpio.

The Full Moon normally brings endings, resolution, and culmination. I’m hopeful that the troubled relationships so many of you have written to me about will indeed find some resolution, even if it’s an understanding that it’s time to let go and move on. Hopefully, you can arrive at a mutual decision that leaves both people feeling whole and OK about yourselves. If that’s not possible, do what you have to do to restore the balance in your own life, and let your ex worry about his or her own.

These are difficult times, but we will get through. By the end of next week, some of the pressure will be released, and we’ll get even more of a break when Mars, Mercury, and Venus enter Taurus in mid-May.

In the meantime, let’s do our best to remain open-hearted, kind, and compassionate.

Wishing you all much love and courage,
Aquarius, the sign of astrologyPat

Weekly Forecast April 4: Neptune Enters Pisces, Pluto Retrograde

Spring explodes into bloom. © Osk Ingad Alden, 2011.

The Mars effect gets ratcheted down a notch this week when Neptune enters Pisces.

For the past few days, since Mars entered his own sign of Aries, he has dominated the sky. Right on cue, conflicts around the world intensified. Even Neptune deposited to Mars, which I have to admit I found hard to wrap my head around.

Hopefully, Neptune’s move into Pisces on Monday will be the chill pill we need to return from the brink of insanity. I can’t think of a better antidote to the overdose of aggressive Mars energy we received at the New Moon on April 3.

With his ego-denying qualities, Neptune could be considered the “anti-Mars.” Whereas Mars stands for war and lust, Neptune is about peace and love . . . well, maybe. It’s hard to know much of the time exactly what Neptune is about, but peace and love are in there somewhere.

Neptune is said to be a higher vibration of Venus, the planet of love, beauty, and harmony, so it’s better still that Venus in Pisces will feed into Neptune for the next three weeks.

The last time Neptune was in Pisces, from 1847 to 1862, the Transcendental Movement flourished in the United States, led by Emerson, Thoreau, Whitman, and others. Spiritualism became a trend, with séances to contact spirits of the dead. Edgar Allen Poe wrote his most famous poem, “The Raven.” The first oil well was drilled. The first surgical operation using general anesthesia was performed. The Opium Wars occurred during this time, and while the conflict wasn’t entirely over the drug, it’s still interesting to note that there was a major war named for a narcotic while Neptune was in Pisces.

This time around, I expect there will be a widespread spiritual awakening. I know I sound like a broken record – I’ve been writing this for more than five years – but I do believe we’re getting closer and closer to understanding what “spirit” is. There likely will be major developments in the oil industry, too. Given current trends, it’s likely that we’ll have to find alternatives due to a declining supply. Maybe the new Opium Wars will be the Oil Wars.

Back to the here and now, we not only have been under the red sky of Mars, but the warrior planet is now moving through the early degrees of Aries, activating the cardinal T-square of last summer. The alignment isn’t as close as it was back then, but it’s still intense, with the Sun and Jupiter conjunct at 16 degrees Aries on Wednesday, in wide opposition to Saturn. We’re being pushed relentlessly forward, no breaks allowed.

On Saturday, Pluto begins his annual retrograde, which lasts close to six months. I haven’t observed any particular trends in events during Pluto retrograde. However, if Pluto is transiting a personal planet in your chart – especially the Sun or Moon – you’re about to get the second pass, during which a situation could reach a crisis stage. The third pass, which will happen later this year or early next year, will mark resolution. The pattern is similar if Pluto is transiting a chart angle (cusp of the first, fourth, seventh or tenth houses).

Lastly, Mercury is in his second week of retrograde and conjoins the Sun on Saturday. This aspect favors revising plans for the future, revisiting an unresolved issue to exchange facts (remember to listen) and to try to clarify statements that may have been misinterpreted. If you have an opportunity to clear up a misunderstanding, do it early this week. Waiting until the weekend will put you in a no-win situation as a contentious square builds between Mars and Pluto.

We’re going to need a lot of love and courage to get through the next couple of weeks. Wishing you all a bottomless well of both,

Aquarius, the sign of astrologyPat

Weekly Forecast March 28: Mercury Retrograde, Mars Enters Aries

Monster solar flare. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this view of a powerful M3.6 Class solar flare during a 90-minute sun storm in February.

This week is potentially volatile. New doors open, with seemingly unlimited potential to move in new directions, but something or someone could get in the way, resulting in anger and conflict.

The overused cliché “one foot on the gas and one foot on the brakes” applies, but with the added complication of the person in the car behind us flipping us off and laying on the horn.

Some of us may feel a surge of electrifying energy so powerful we’re overwhelmed and totally disoriented – like overdosing on caffeine and sugar. This will be especially true the closer we get to the New Moon on Sunday, April 3. Do your best to stay centered and keep your bearings.

Globally, there are several ticking time bombs in the headlines. When you think about the circumstances that led to the past two world wars and the events that lit the fuse, it’s hard not to be concerned that we may be headed in that direction again. Regimes are failing in the Middle East, “allied forces” are bombing Libya, thousands of people are still missing in Japan, and the damaged nuclear reactor isn’t entirely under control. These events are so severe that other serious situations around the world are barely a blip in the news.

That’s the state of the world as we head into this week’s high-intensity astrological configuration.

On Monday, the Sun in Aries squares Pluto in Capricorn, just as Jupiter in Aries opposes Saturn in Libra. Although the degree between these two patterns is wide, they’re still close enough to constitute a cardinal T-square. That, I believe, is the signature behind the global turmoil. Outer planetary aspects like these are major considerations in world events, with Saturn representing government and military, Pluto representing wealth and the power it conveys, and Jupiter representing religious beliefs and banks. The Sun is associated with national leaders. With all of these quarters pitted against each other, it’s no surprise the world is such a mess right now.

In our personal lives, transits to planets in the natal chart carry more weight than aspects between transiting planets, but we nevertheless need to look at where these patterns fall in our charts, because if one planet in the T-square is transiting a natal planet, it means the others also are in hard aspect, and that changes the interpretation considerably. It also makes it extremely difficult to predict how things will turn out for you, because the range of possibilities is increased exponentially.

The one thing of which we can be relatively sure is that nothing is being handed to us on a silver platter. We’re all facing challenges of varying degrees, and even when these tests and trials are for the best – they build character, make us stronger, open doors, etcetera, etcetera – getting through them requires all of our strength and awareness.

On Tuesday, Mars at 27 Pisces squares the lunar nodes, which are very close to the Galactic Core. I wrote about this rare phenomenon in last week’s forecast. For the most part, I think it represented a shift in consciousness, a subtle but ultimately positive development. But no growth occurs without change, and change is disruptive by definition. When Mars reaches this degree, it could set off events that will bring you closer to your goals and desires – as well as the inevitable tests you have to go through first.

Mercury turns retrograde on Wednesday, at 23 degrees Aries. I’ve experienced events related to this retrograde already, which isn’t surprising, given the buildup of planets in Aries. As he moves backwards in the sky, he’ll make second passes with Jupiter, the Sun, and Mars over the next four weeks. Usually, the positive way to channel Mercury retrograde energy is to slow down, think things through, research and revision. However, I doubt those activities will be possible this time around, as we’ll be in a constant state of flux.

It’s hard to imagine how life could be moving any faster, but we’ll find out when Mars enters Aries on Saturday. I always like to point out the good side of Mars, which is a lot of energy to accomplish even the most difficult of tasks before us. I hope that will be the case, but I don’t think it’s realistic to think that there won’t be an increase in war and conflict, both globally and in our personal lives. Not only will Mars be in his own sign, but he’ll be “fed” by four other planets, including giant Jupiter. That’s a lot of anger and aggression.

Sunday is the highly charged New Moon at 13 Aries – very close to the Saturn-Jupiter opposition – and a conjunction between Mars and Uranus. I’ll try to write a post on the New Moon this week, but I’m still backlogged and am getting several new requests a day. (For those of you on the wait-list, please know that I’m working as diligently as I can to get to you as soon as I can.) For now, I’ll just stay that I see in this New Moon more potential for a giant leap in consciousness, especially among men.

Later in the day, Mars conjoins Uranus, a tense combination that in the past has coincided with literal explosions. Then, there’s so much of that going on already that it would be hard to attribute any increase in activity to a Mars-Uranus transit, not unless it’s something major and unrelated to current news.

Whenever there’s a lot of movement afoot, as there is now, it can be scary. Evolving as a species and birthing a new world is a turbulent business, requiring much love and courage.

Wishing you all plenty of both,
Aquarius, the sign of astrologyPat