
Studying with Mercury in Aquarius. © Pat Paquette, 2012.
There was a lot of weirdness going on last week, and then the energy suddenly shifted on Friday. Did you notice? I attribute the shift to Neptune’s entry into Pisces and hope that life will return to some semblance of sanity, despite the craziness of Mars retrograde.
Neptune’s shift occurred at 2:03 p.m. EST on Friday. The final two days of Neptune in Aquarius were totally out of control – at least for me. My computer crashed again, and then my backup machine failed. I was without a computer for two critical days in my class work and am now nearly three weeks behind in my assignments. I had to post a notice on my order page that I’m not accepting new report orders or consultations until I’m caught up at school. From an astrologer’s point of view, all of these events are a perfect manifestation of Mars retrograde in Virgo in the tenth house: computer failure, work overload, behind in deadlines, etc.
It also seemed that people were bumping into each other more than usual, and there certainly was a spike on the anger/frustration scale. That said, I got a good reminder on Friday about the beneficial side of Mars anger. When you vent your anger properly, it’s like having a good cry. The explosion clears a lot of blockages and gets your energy flowing again – yet another great manifestation of Mars retrograde in Virgo.
By Saturday, the energy had totally changed. My take on this is that outer planets in the last degree of a sign, poised to enter a new one, send out an intense vibe that contains all the lessons of that planet/sign pair. And since Neptune was in Aquarius, which is ruled by Uranus, and Uranus is in Aries, which is ruled by Mars, the intensity of Neptune in the last degree of Aquarius was channeled through Mars, the planet of anger, action, and conflict.
What was even more interesting, though, is that once Neptune moved into Pisces, the release of anger and frustration cleared the way for a tremendous creative flow. Real magic can happen in rare moments like these. On Saturday, I had an 18-hour film shoot. First of all, I was surprised that I was able to work from 6 a.m. to midnight with few breaks. Secondly, I was amazed by how smoothly the project went. Disagreements were easily managed, and the discussions that arose over artistic differences improved the project. That is Mars energy at its best! Of course, Neptune rules film, so we might also have gotten the first sip of “pure” Neptune in Pisces.
So now let’s turn to this week, which has the potential to be quite dramatic. Tuesday is weighty, with the Full Moon in Leo just as Saturn turns retrograde in the last degree of Libra and Venus moves through the final degree of Pisces. Relationships definitely are a key theme this week, and what transpires may shock and surprise.
Saturn has been in the final degree of Libra since the middle of January, and he’ll remain there until the first week of March. With Saturn in Libra, we’ve been learning lessons about love and commitment, about how to relate to each other fairly and to make compromises that everyone can live with. As Saturn approached the end of Libra, we began closing the books and preparing for finals. What more do we have to learn?
Apparently, a lot …
It’s one thing to learn lessons, but quite another to apply them. And you may find that you end up testing out what you’ve learned with someone other than who you’ve been with up to this point. That’s especially true if you learned your lessons the hard way, through a relationship that was painful but that helped you grow and evolve. Still, I don’t discount the possibility that you will go back for another lesson with the same person.
I can’t help but wonder if one of the big lessons will have to do with anger. I say this, because Venus is about to enter Aries, with Mars retrograde. It is not uncommon for couples to grow apart due to unresolved conflict. There are lots of reasons people prefer to “go along to get along” instead of hashing out the real issues. This strategy may work in a professional environment, but in an intimate relationship, stifled anger not only can destroy the relationship, but it can make the partners physically sick.
On Thursday, Venus conjoins Uranus in Aries, a pair favoring surprises in love and finances. I expect there will be a lot of impulsiveness, which could backfire – either that, or you may have to wait several weeks to see the results of an “instant” attraction. One thing is for sure, though: whatever occurs will be unusual and possibly groundbreaking.
I have more I’d like to write, but I’m depleted from too much work and not enough sleep, and I’m coming down with a cold, so I’ll stop here and hope it’s enough food for thought for you until next week.
Until then, wishing you much love and courage,
Pat