Category Archives: Forecasts

Weekly Forecast June 9: Neptune Retrograde, Full Moon in Sagittarius

Crossing. © Pat Paquette, 2014.

I’m B-A-A-A-A-a-a-a-ck.

Actually, I’m not entirely back. Even though I moved only a few miles from my former home, it feels as though I’ve been sent through the teleporter, and all the pieces haven’t reassembled yet on the other side. And with Mercury retrograde, there’s a transporter accident waiting to happen.

Moving with Mercury retrograde has been quite educational. Or maybe I should say, “reaffirming.” I’ve experienced most of the classic manifestations, including mix-ups and delays. I’d planned to be done by June 2, but it took until yesterday Continue reading →

Weekly Forecast May 26: New Moon in Gemini, Venus Enters Taurus

Begonias. © Pat Paquette.

This past week has been weird, almost like a Mercury retrograde period, but with more irritation.

Since Friday, Mercury has been in the “shadow” period before his next retrograde begins on June 7. Sometimes we experience the manifestations of the retrograde during the run-up. Many of you have noted that in the past. I think that will be all the more true this time, with Mars just coming out of retrograde and moving back toward a T-square with Uranus and Pluto. Both Mercury and Mars are moving very slowly (what it looks like from here on Earth), with corresponding events such as delays in transportation, missed and confused communications, errors in telephone and online orders, and so forth. Continue reading →

Weekly Forecast May 19: Mars Direct, Sun Enters Gemini

Beneath the Surface. © Gretchen Friedrich, 2014.

I’ve been double-teamed by Saturn and Buddha.

You’ll recall from last week’s forecast that Saturn was conjunct Wednesday’s Full Moon in Scorpio, which also was the festival of Wesak, an Eastern tradition in honor of the birth, death, and enlightenment of the Buddha. Normally I don’t schedule any activities on Wesak so that I can meditate in solitude. This year, I accepted a last-minute invitation to go for coffee and run some errands with a friend. I explained to her about Wesak and said we’d need to stop whatever we were doing at precisely 12:16 for a moment of silence.
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Weekly Forecast May 12: Full Moon in Scorpio, Venus Conjunct Uranus

In the flow, © Gretchen Friedrich, 2014.

There’s stress, and there’s stress.

As much as we might wish it weren’t so, some amount of stress pushes us to accomplish more and better, often beyond what we thought ourselves capable of. It forces us to go places we might otherwise avoid out of fear or complacency.

With too much stress, the opposite can happen. We can shut down entirely and become physically and mentally ill. Extreme stress can result in post traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. We usually think of PTSD as Continue reading →

Weekly Forecast May 5: Mercury Enters Gemini, Venus Opposite Mars

Apple blossoms. © Osk Ingad Alden, 2014.

Although we’re still facing the same ongoing challenges and will be for some time to come, the pressure of the past month and especially the past two weeks has subsided.

It’s not anything like a restoration of order or return to “normal,” whatever that is or was. Circumstances that may go back three or four years haven’t reached their logical outcome just yet. We still have more growing and stretching to do. However, we’ve just come through the worst of it and can stop to get our bearings.

To me, it feels like having just sailed Continue reading →

Weekly Forecast April 28: Solar Eclipse in Taurus, Venus Enters Aries

Hinode satellite image of the annular eclipse in January 2011. Credit: Hinode/XRT

This week’s solar eclipse in Taurus arrives as the cardinal grand cross is past its peak but still potent.

Solar eclipses can occur only at a New Moon. Tuesday’s New Moon (late Monday in Western time zones) is just short of 9 degrees Taurus, placing it at a favorable angle with Jupiter and Pluto, two of the planets in the grand cross. So, while the grand cross dominates the chart for this New Moon, there is a strong connection between the grand cross planets and the Sun/Moon conjunction. I interpret this as a relief valve for the extreme pressure associated with the grand cross formation.

Continue reading →

Weekly Forecast April 21: Uranus Square Pluto, Venus Trine Saturn

Frontispiece from William Blake’s Song of Los, 1795.

As we’ve approached this week’s powerful planetary alignment, pressure has been mounting – in our personal lives, in society at large, and in world affairs. This week, it reaches peak intensity.

We’ve been feeling the buildup in stages, starting with new developments in 2010 that reached a crisis point last summer. The tension intensified in late 2013, and by the end of March, it was at near-breaking point. After this week, the four-way alignment in the change-oriented cardinal signs begins to break up, and the pressure will begin to subside.

You likely know by now what area or areas of your life are under duress. You even might have had a breakthrough recently. If not, you should get Continue reading →

Weekly Forecast April 14: Full Moon Lunar Eclipse in Libra, Pluto Retrograde

Lunar Eclipse in 2000, image courtesy Fred Espinak.

Many years ago, I had a dream that I was hanging on to tree roots on the bank of a raging river. I was afraid to let go, but my shoulders were being pulled out of their sockets, and I was getting so exhausted that I couldn’t hang on any longer.

Once I let go, I was carried along by the current, which while dangerously fast, buoyed me up and allowed me to keep my head above water. I overcame my fear by trusting that I would land in the “right” place.

There are times when we need to fasten our seatbelts, hold on, and ride out the turbulence. Then there are times when being restrained is dangerous, and staying in one place subjects us to a terrible battering by Continue reading →

Weekly Forecast April 7: Mercury Enters Aries, Sun Opposite Mars

March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, 1963. In 2014, this march wouldn’t be allowed.

If last week was an indication of what’s to come later this month, we’re in for a wild ride indeed.

I wrote in my previous forecast that the Sun’s connections with Jupiter, Uranus, and Pluto mid-week might provide us with some hints about what to expect when those three planets form exact angles to one another starting on April 20, followed by close contact from retrograde Mars April 22-23.

Among last week’s major events were the mega-earthquake in Chile and the shooting at Fort Hood, Texas. A third event, which didn’t get much coverage, was an explosion at a gas plant on the border between Washington and Oregon. Continue reading →

Weekly Forecast March 31: Sun Opposite Uranus, Sun Square Jupiter and Pluto

Tuesday is April Fool’s Day, and while this week is anything but funny, the role of the iconic fool is curiously appropriate for the epic planetary alignment of our time and the concurrent madness here on Earth.

In a Tarot reading a few days ago, I drew The Fool. The usual interpretation of The Fool involves having faith that if you’re on the right path, the universe will support you. Knowing that gives one the courage to take risks and move forward despite uncertainty.

That’s not a bad image for this week’s tumultuous aspects. The winds are picking up as we head straight into the storm, and playing it safe isn’t an option. We’re being forced into new territory where few have gone before. The world is changing – socially, culturally, technologically, and politically – and we’re all explorers and pioneers.
Continue reading →

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