Category Archives: Forecasts

Weekly Forecast February 2: New Moon in Leo, Sun Sextile Uranus

Imbolc snowdrops. Wikipedia image.

Depending on which calendar you choose to follow, Monday is either the midpoint of winter or the first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere.

In our culture, the seasons begin at the four cardinal points: the equinoxes at Aries and Libra, and the solstices at Capricorn and Cancer. However, ancient cultures such as the Celts considered those points to be the peak of the four seasons. Midwinter occurred at the solstice, which in the Christian religion became Christmas. The Celts began their seasons on the cross-quarter days, which fall halfway between the cardinal points. They celebrated the first day of spring on the feast of Imbolc, the return of the light, which in our calendar is February 2 (some say February 1). Continue reading →

Weekly Forecast January 26: Venus Enters Pisces, Mars Sextile Pluto

Dancer Anabel Veloso in photo shoot for her 2009 Deje Flamenco production Nacidos del Mar.

Venus in Pisces: Dancer Anabel Veloso in a photo shoot for her 2009 flamenco show Nacidos del Mar.

This week’s astrological aspects are mostly favorable, but I don’t need to tell you that world events are getting serious and seriouser.

That trend is going to continue – and with increasing intensity – the closer we get to the seventh and final pass of the Uranus-Pluto square in mid-March. This astrological phenomenon is so strong that it overshadows just about every other aspect for the next four months. The one exception is the Saturn-Neptune square, which is working synergistically with Uranus and Pluto.

As I’ve written before, the final Uranus-Pluto square is different from the first six in that the others took place with Saturn in Scorpio, which reinforced Pluto in Capricorn so that we saw militarized police forces brutally suppressing movements for greater freedom and civil rights. There have been other Uranus-Pluto themes, but Continue reading →

Weekly Forecast January 19: New Moon in Aquarius, Mercury Retrograde

This week brings three major astrological events and a couple of lesser ones. There are bright spots and inspiring moments, but also a vague feeling of “ickiness” that we can’t identify, let alone figure out what to do with.

The ick factor comes on early in the week, with a conjunction of Mars and Neptune in Pisces on Monday. On Tuesday, the Sun enters Aquarius, less than four hours before the New Moon. On Wednesday, Mercury turns retrograde and will be in “reverse” until February 11.

For many people in the United States, Monday is a work holiday, in celebration of Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday. Astrologically, it’s not a bad day for commemorating Dr. King’s commitment to non-violent civil disobedience. Continue reading →

Weekly Forecast January 12: Mars Enters Pisces, Mars Square Saturn

The Tower of Babel, by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1563.

The title of this week’s forecast might well have been, “On How One Thing Leads to Another and Comes Back Full Circle.”

While looking at charts for Wednesday’s terrorist attack in Paris, I was listening to a YouTube playlist of recordings by English musician William Orbit. I instantly gravitated to his work after hearing a clip in the 2004 docudrama What the #$*! Do We (K)now!? but hadn’t kept up with his new releases. Until this past week, I wasn’t familiar with his version of “Nimrod,” Continue reading →

Weekly Forecast January 5: Mercury Sextile Saturn, Pre-Retrograde Shadow

Train trestle, Black Warrior River, Tuscaloosa, Ala. © Gretchen Friedrich, 2015.

Train trestle over the Black Warrior River, Tuscaloosa, Ala. © Gretchen Friedrich, 2015.

Believe it or not, there is only one major planetary aspect this week! Good thing, because most of the week will be colored by the Full Moon in Cancer, which is still ahead of us as I write.

Of course, there are always several lunar aspects in a week, and I’ll cover some of that below. Also, there are minor aspects between planets, including the inconjunct, which some astrologers consider major. For me, it depends on the planets involved. More on that below, too.

Otherwise, the only planetary aspect in the coming week is a snappy sextile on Monday from Mercury in Aquarius to Saturn in Sagittarius. Even though Mercury transits are quick and sextiles are breezy, this one contains some important information about events or circumstances Continue reading →

Weekly Forecast December 29: Sun Conjunct Pluto, Full Moon in Cancer

As 2013 drew to a close, many people were saying, “Good riddance.” I was sorry to have to respond with, “Careful what you wish for,” and a warning that 2014 wasn’t going to be a picnic.

I don’t know that I’d advise breaking out the wicker and gingham just yet.
There’s still plenty of drama on the horizon, along with continuing chaos on many fronts. Overall, though, we’re going to see a shift in the year ahead. We’ve identified undeniable patterns, we know what needs to change, and we know what hasn’t been effective in bringing about those changes. A collective wakeup call is on the way that hopefully will restore some sanity to the world. Continue reading →

Weekly Forecast December 22: Saturn Enters Sagittarius, Mercury Conjunct Pluto

Detail from Battle of Centaurs and Lapiths, by Piero di Cosimo, c. 1500.

Io! Happy Solstice, New Moon, and Saturnalia, and a merry Christmas!

According to ancient sources, Saturnalia festivities were punctuated with shouts of, “Io!” It was a sort of multipurpose exclamation, pronounced yo.

This morning I was reading comments on a HuffPo article about the solstice. A battle of sorts was raging between those who wished to remind others what the winter holidays “are really all about” and those who reminded the first group that the solstice celebration preceded Christmas by millennia, Continue reading →

Weekly Forecast December 15: Uranus Turns Direct, Solstice New Moon

White Solstice. © Gretchen Friedrich, 2014.

Events in the coming week, plus Saturn’s entry into Sagittarius the following Wednesday, make for a nerve-wracking, exciting, stressful, hopeful, overwhelming end to a year that has been “all of the above” and more.

Oh, and did I mention stressful?

I got a call yesterday from a friend who has been in the same administrative job for 20 years that, while hectic, has been predictable, for the most part. She told me that the past few months have easily been the worst in her professional life, largely due to a new computer system that was supposed to be the latest and greatest but turned into a nightmare. To give me an idea, she said Continue reading →

Weekly Forecast December 8: Venus Enters Capricorn, Mercury Trine Jupiter

There are a couple of significant shifts in the next few days, but the dominant aspect this week is the approaching Uranus-Pluto square, the sixth in a series of seven from 2012 to 2015.

There won’t necessarily be any new events related to the upcoming square, which is exact on Monday, December 15 (late Sunday in Western time zones). Events associated with outer planet cycles can occur days, weeks, and even months from the date when the alignments are exact. This pass of the square appears to have manifested in nationwide protests against police brutality, sparked by yet another grand jury decision not to indict a white police officer involved in the death of a black man. There are also ongoing protests around the world Continue reading →

Weekly Forecast November 24: Sun Square Neptune, Mercury Enters Sagittarius

The Hindu goddess Saraswati as Sagittarius. © Karen MacKenzie, 2013. Details below.

Gratitude is a wonderful thing in and of itself, but it also opens our hearts to abundance.

This week is Thanksgiving in the United States. How lovely it would be if giving thanks was the main purpose – if for nothing else, then for the lavish meal that’s traditionally served.

A few days ago, I saw this post on Facebook:

Black Friday: because only in America people trample each other for sales exactly one day after being thankful for what they already have.

Obviously, that’s the old version. It’s no longer “exactly one day,” but more like an hour or two. How did we get to the point where the mad rush to buy stuff starts on Thursday Continue reading →

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The astrology of world affairs, human evolution, the future, and the state of the universe.