Tag Archives: cardinal T-square

Weekly Forecast August 1: Mercury Retrograde, Mars Enters Cancer

Waiting in line. © Pat Paquette, 2011.

As if the dog days of August aren’t hot enough, astrological aspects in the first three weeks of the month add to the frustration and irritation.

Mercury turns retrograde on Tuesday and will stay in “reverse” until August 26. If you’ve got a teaching position or some other job that allows you take this month off, I strongly encourage you to get out of town and go on a nice, long vacation. That is one of the things Mercury retrograde is good for, especially in fun-loving Leo, where he’ll spend most of his retrograde phase.

If you have to stay at your desk or shop and slog away, be prepared for tasks to take longer and possibly require revision. The exception is editing, which is another activity that can be more efficient during Mercury retrograde. Transiting Mercury’s position in your chart indicates what areas of your life will be most affected this time around. If you’d like more information, I recommend my StarGuide Monthly Forecast for August. Not only will it tell you where Mercury is retrograde in your chart, but you’ll get an idea of how the Full Moon and New Moon will affect you.

You’ll also know where Mars is transiting your chart, which may turn out to be even more significant, as he’ll trigger cardinal T-square and grand cross points. You may know what those are already, since they’ve been active for more than a year.

Mars is cranky enough in Cancer without the conflicting aspects to Uranus, Pluto, and Saturn. I suspect we’re going to see a lot of events in the headlines based on anger, paranoia, and an excessive need to protect loved ones and personal property, although that’s more likely to occur next week and the week after.

Other aspects this week reinforce conflict, but there are a couple of mitigating influences that hopefully will help keep the peace, at least for now. Taking the week chronologically:

Venus forms a trine with Uranus on Monday (late Sunday night on the West Coast of the United States). Unexpected opportunities come up for love, money, and a good time – again, depending on where these two are transiting your chart. Just keep in mind that sudden developments may be temporary. The Sun’s square with Jupiter could lead to inflated expectations about how big the opportunities are or what they mean in the long run – in other words, don’t start planning your wedding just because the cute guy down the hall asked you out. The Moon is in Virgo on Monday and conjoins stationed Mercury, so I think we can avoid getting carried away, and we might even come up with some good ideas for how to take advantage of new opportunities toward the end of the month.

Mercury turns retrograde on Tuesday, but we’ve been experiencing the effects since late last week. I woke up on Thursday to news reports that I-5 South out of Seattle was completely blocked due to an overturned semi-truck that spilled its load of fuel all over the roadway. The driver apparently fell asleep at the wheel. Mercury was in an applying opposition to Neptune, which rules petroleum. Both Mercury and Neptune play a role in sleep.

On Wednesday, Mars enters Cancer, with the Moon entering Libra less than an hour later and immediately forming a square with Mars and crossing the cardinal T-square points. Minor irritations throughout the day provide hints about what’s to come, so keep your antennae up. Mars also trines Neptune, who retrogrades back into Aquarius on Thursday. More extreme weather may occur, although it would be hard to pin it to astrological phenomenon.

Speaking of weather and stars, did you know that the term “dog days” has its roots in the night sky? In ancient times, the hottest days of the summer coincided with the rising and setting of Sirius with the Sun. Sirius, also called the Dog Star, is the brightest star in the night sky and one of the stars forming the constellation Canis Major (Big Dog). The Romans believed that the earth received heat from Sirius, which appeared even brighter in those times due to lack of city lights and air pollution. (Thanks to James Weythman for the link on Wilstar.com.)

Continuing with our week, Venus squares Jupiter on Friday, fueling a tendency toward pie-in-the-sky dreams and overindulgence. Then, I’m not against going overboard with food, drink, sex, or the substance of your choice once in a while, especially if it relieves unbearable tension. Invite your co-workers to happy hour after work on Friday and have some fun. Just be sure to agree in advance who’s going to pay, and make sure you have a calculator.

Friday through Sunday, the Sun and Venus form a happy sextile to Saturn in Libra. Love and commitment can progress, despite Mercury’s retrograde motion. Again, just be clear in your communications. If you have to, repeat your words back to each other three or four times so that you’re sure you understand. Otherwise, intentions could be badly misinterpreted, leading to embarrassment or worse.

Next week is tough, so have fun while you can and take time to make some backup plans, to the extent possible.

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

New Moon Solar Eclipse in Cancer, July 1

This image of the total eclipse of the Sun on July 11, 2010, was shot in French Polynesia by Terry Evans of Exmoor, UK, whose birthday was that day! The July 1 eclipse will be partial.

Another week and we’ll be out of the inter-eclipse Twilight Zone. It has been a strange trip indeed.

You’ll recall in a previous post that I said big changes were on the way for me, but I was going to wait until after the July 1 eclipse to take definitive action. Well, less than 24 hours after the June 15 eclipse, my plans for this fall totally fell through … or so I thought. A few hours later I received news that the original message had been an error. So it looks like everything is on track. Still, I’m waiting to make a final commitment until after the eclipses are well behind us.

At 9 degrees Cancer, the New Moon solar eclipse on July 1 is the last of the Capricorn-Cancer eclipse series and represents a wrap-up or resolution of a difficult situation that began in mid-2009. You may have another couple of weeks of “cleanup” to do – until the Full Moon on July 15. But overall, the challenge you’ve faced for the past two years will fade away in the rearview mirror, and not a moment too soon! Everyone is exhausted and ready for a break.

Tennis diva Serena Williams is a perfect example. With her Sun at 3 degrees Libra in the sixth house (health), Serena suffered one debilitating health problem after another, starting with a leg injury in April 2009. Last July, just as the cardinal T-square was approaching a peak directly on her Sun, she stepped on glass in a restaurant and required surgery. While in rehab earlier this year, she was treated for blood clots in her lungs. After a year of not being able to compete, she returned to Wimbleton last Tuesday, won her opening round, and broke down in a flood of tears.

“It definitely was so emotional for me because, you know, throughout the last 12 months, I’ve been through, a lot of things that’s not normal,” she said on her website. “So it’s just been a long, arduous road. To stand up still is pretty awesome.”

That pretty much says it all! Most of us have had a harrowing two years, complicated by the eclipses in cardinal Capricorn and Cancer. And while the last one forms a tense grand cross with Saturn, Uranus and Pluto, I still feel that it’s going to be a relief for us, and that the tears we shed will include tears of gratitude that we’re still here and still standing.

Chart for Eclipse

Click on image to enlarge

I have to admit that the chart for this eclipse is intimidating, dominated by a bright red grand cross. However, I remain optimistic, because there are two very clear “outs” – paths where blocked energy can flow and be put to positive use.

The first out is a trine between Pluto and Jupiter. This easy aspect supports transformation and positive change. Finding solutions to wicked problems (as a friend of mine calls them) requires expanding the mind. We can do that now. Both planets are in earth signs, suggest tangible, material results.

The second out flows between Saturn and Mars, the planet of action. In Gemini, it’s speedy action, too, although there’s a risk that there may be more talk than action. Still, with Saturn recently returned direct and Mars in an air sign, we can put on our thinking caps, come up with realistic plans, and do the hard work necessary to get the results we want. And it will be hard work. The inconjunct between Mars and Pluto suggests that acting without thinking things through could end up a total waste of energy.

The real difficulty I see here is the square from the Sun and Moon to Saturn. For many of us, moving in a new direction required leaving something or someone behind. Even though we may feel confident that we made the right decision, loss is sad and painful. Cancer is the sentimental sign of the zodiac, so we could be very emotional for a day or two on either side of the eclipse.

I’ll be back tomorrow with the Weekly Forecast. In the meantime, if you want a look ahead at what July will bring for you personally, I highly recommend StarGuide Monthly, my new transit forecast. Or, if you prefer, order StarGuide Seasons and get three months rolled into one at a discount of nearly 15 percent. Although I’m not writing reports from scratch anymore, I designed these forecasts to be 100-percent personalized, using your exact birth data. To see what you get with this report, check out my samples for George Clooney and Julian Assange.

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 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 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

Weekly Forecast March 14: Full Moon in Virgo, Sun Enters Aries

There's nothing like late-winter rain to clear the way for new growth in spring. © Pat Paquette 2011.


In light of the unimaginable devastation in Japan, it’s hard to write a forecast about the intensity of the next couple of weeks. One wonders how things could get any worse.

The one thing I find reassuring is that, as we saw during last year’s peak cardinal T-square period, events usually don’t happen on the dates when astrological aspects are exact. Often there’s a “trigger,” such as Mars passing over a critical degree, and events even can happen before the corresponding astrological signature. You’ll recall that I linked the mega-quake in Chile last February to an eclipse that hadn’t happened yet.

Still, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous about what’s coming up, starting with this week’s Full Moon. At 29 degrees Virgo, this Full Moon is in a close square to the powerful lunar eclipse on December 21, 2010. Eclipse-related events can happen within a couple days but often are delayed by 30, 60 or 90 days. The 90-day mark is the square, 90 degrees.

A few hours after the December eclipse, the Sun entered Capricorn, the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere. Likewise, the Sun enters Aries a day after this Full Moon, marking the spring equinox and the beginning of the astrological year. The transition from the last degree of a mutable sign to the first degree of a cardinal sign signals clearing away the old, outdated and unsustainable in order to begin a new growth cycle. This is especially true with Jupiter, planet of growth and expansion, in cardinal Aries.

Taking the week in chronological order, we begin Monday with the Moon in cardinal Cancer, the sign she rules. As she forms squares with Mercury, Jupiter and Saturn throughout the day, you may get a further glimpse into a new chapter in your life that began to unfold during last summer’s T-square.

Also on Monday, Venus and Saturn form a trine in air signs Aquarius and Libra. This combination favors coming up with solutions to old problems that are innovative – perhaps even radical – and yet balanced and realistic. If you’re facing a particular challenge in need of sound thinking and strategizing, this is your moment.

On Tuesday, Mercury conjoins Jupiter in Aries, bringing the message home that change not only is necessary but inevitable. However, it won’t come without some stops and starts, as Mercury enters his pre-retrograde shadow period on Wednesday in preparation to reverse motion on March 30. This means he’ll make two more conjunctions with Jupiter, on April 11 and then again on May 11. I don’t expect that issues you encounter on Tuesday will be new, but you may suddenly realize you have to change your approach.

On Friday, Mercury opposes Saturn, which injects a dose of reality into your thinking. Although this can be discouraging, it’s better to know what you’re dealing with so that you can plan accordingly. A solid plan might even help you get through the fits and starts of Mercury retrograde.

Saturday is the Full Moon in Virgo, which is going to be heavily laden with messages of letting go, cleaning up, leaving the past behind, and preparing for a new way of living, being, and doing. There won’t be time for long good-byes. The Sun enters Aries the following day, and again we head out on the next leg of our journey into new and unfamiliar territory.

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

Weekly Forecast March 7: Uranus Enters Aries

These babes have it right. The farmer rotates them about the neighborhood, where they mow overgrown grass for free and leave top-rate fertilizer. © Pat Paquette 2011.

The past three days have been a blur. A lot is happening, and it seems as though it’s not in chronological order – like reading an article on the Internet and clicking on links to other places. Everything’s connected, but trying to experience it all at once makes your head spin.

“Everything’s connected” is a very Piscean message, and feeling that connection is a very Piscean experience. More and more people are getting it, and it is changing the energy of the planet. We finally are starting to understand that we live in a participatory universe. Our interaction with the cosmos is a continual cycle of uploading and downloading. It’s no accident that the Internet evolved as it did. It simply mirrors larger energy patterns, what some call the “mind of God.” Continue reading →