Did you fly your kite today?

A fiery Grand Trine formed by a Moon-Uranus conjunction in Aries, the North Node in Leo, and Saturn in Sagittarius has been coaxing us to take action of late. Today that trine became a kite, thanks to a Sun-Mercury conjunction opposing one point of the trine (Saturn) and sextiling the remaining two (Moon-Uranus and The North Node). Perhaps you felt a dynamic shift?

A kite is meant to fly, to move, to go places, to soar, to be a thing that inspires, but to get off the ground it requires an intact spine. This kite’s spine is the Sun-Mercury opposition to Saturn. The issue is tension between communication and belief. 

How do we deliver difficult news when we feel conflicted? How can we muster the courage to have uncomfortable conversations when we’d prefer to hide or escape? How can we put a positive spin on a challenging situation when we’re afraid? What kind of bridge can we build to keep lines of communication open and honest?  These are a few of the questions that are up for us to explore today. 

Being true to our word will ensure the spine of the kite has integrity. It’s ability to get off the ground depends on it. In some ways, “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.”

The body of this kite wants to create something that embraces freedom and independence and allows us to shine. Old habits are sure to be shaken up in the process, emotions may be volatile, angry, defensive, and our sense of security may initially feel threatened as we recalibrate.

We could, of course, flat out refuse to engage and stay hobbled on the ground cringing under that great wide expanse of possibility beckoning above. Such is the fear of flying. 

Pray for an uplifting breeze, gird yourself for a change of scenery, and dare to take flight!

Unpacking Pain: Neptune’s Rx station

We should’ve seen it coming, though perhaps not with Neptune’s fog impairing our vision. Since its 2011 ingress into Pisces, opioid addiction has become part of the collective conversation here in the USA.  In Colorado, for example, every year since 2011, more people have died of opioid overdoses than have died in homicides.

It’s a public health crisis that does not discriminate. After all, who doesn’t want to escape pain and suffering?  The wake of the opioid epidemic has grown to tidal wave proportion in places, wrecking lives and communities, and draining both human and economic resources. http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/06/05/the-addicts-next-door?mbid=social_facebook

During the middle years of this long (2011-2026) Neptune in Pisces transit we’ve moved on from the early years of denial towards active engagement in many sectors.  Colorado is using cannabis tax revenues to fight the opioid epidemic. At the Colorado University’s Anschutz Medical Campus, faculty members and students developed new technology allowing physicians to see, with a single click, if a patient is at risk for mis-use/abuse. Even the glacier-slow FDA is taking action, just this week asking Endo Pharmaceuticals to remove a painkiller ten times more potent than morphine from the market.

With wounded healer-Chiron making headway through Pisces ahead of Neptune, we see more and more interest and research into the causes of chronic pain, like the work of my favorite Aussie, Dr. Lorimer Mosely, whose findings show that “pain is modulated by many factors across somatic, psychological and social domains.” Check out BodyinMind.org, a collection of research into the role of brain and mind in chronic pain. It’s refreshing 21st century science. If pain is indeed part of the human experience, we couldn’t be at a better point in astrological time to unravel its mysteries and discover better ways to treat ourselves than by dropping into addiction.

During our previous experience with Neptune in Pisces in the 1850’s, poverty, inequality and hardship were woven strongly into the social fabric.  How many of our public health problems exist today because we failed to address them during the last cycle? If new pain treatment protocols require us to “reconceptualis[e] pain according to modern pain science,” surely we must cure the social conditions which contribute to the pain. Enacting Neptune in Pisces’ other qualities: compassion, forgiveness, open hearts, unselfishness, empathy, acceptance, peace, hope, and visualization can certainly be part of the solution.

Neptune’s five month retrograde period is an opportunity to unpack our experience of pain, untangling the thoughts-emotions-beliefs that have become its fabric, making space for new perception and understanding.

 

 

 

 

A new Super Size Me chapter of US History is is about to unfold.

The truth-telling opportunities available as the Moon approaches fullness in Sagittarius are downright monumental. With Jupiter stationing direct, we’re hungry for a little justice. Get ready for a hefty meal. Leave ample time for digestion.

https://www.google.com/amp/www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/amp/live-blog-former-fbi-director-james-comey-testifies-about-trump-n769451

The aftermath of a Venus-Uranus weekend. No surprise!

Box office records set this weekend when Wonder Woman hit the silver screen and broke the glass ceiling at the same time should come as no surprise to those who knew Venus in Aries (feminine warrior energy) was conjoining Uranus (breaking free, something new or inventive) on Saturday.

Even Wonder Woman‘s audience broke tradition, 52% women is not the usual tally for super hero films! Hollywood moguls, did you read Variety’s report? Earnings of “$100.5 million in North America and an additional $122.5 million internationally, made Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman the biggest-ever opening weekend for a film directed by a woman.” The film-going public is apparently ready for more women directors and more women super heroes!

With Venus about to enter profitable Taurus tomorrow, Wonder Woman will no doubt continue to rake in the dough.

I need some air, it’s rather hot in here

Saturday’s Venus-Uranus conjunction in Aries has all the makings of an unpredictable wildfire. Short-lived and hot, it’s fed by no fewer than three planetary pairings in air signs: a Sun-Jupiter trine, a Moon-Jupiter conjunction, and a Sun-Moon trine. So if it’s air you need, there’ll be plenty on hand to fan the flames.

The energetic grand trine created by Venus-Uranus in Aries + North Node in Leo + Saturn in Sagittarius could bring more wealthy leaders, like Michael Bloomberg, out of the closet to flout authority and use their wealth to make political statements with force and conviction. A billionaire activist class?  Anything’s possible.

Stepping out of the box tomorrow may be political for some, professional or social for others. Venus-Uranus is attracted to risk in an avant garde sort of way. Whatever your weekend theme, it’s time to enact ingenuity, learn something new, take your inner wild child out to play, create a fashion trend, run a road race with friends, design something totally awesome for the future, go on that internet date.

Rest assured, whatever you decide on, it won’t be boring!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Duty calls as June begins

The 1st of June has duality written all over it, which is pretty right for the launch of Gemini’s month, even if it feels all wrong.

Messenger God Mercury wakes up on the wrong side of the bed, when he hears the Sun and Moon squaring off on Gemini-Virgo turf.  Travel and communication may be uneasy today. The heart wants to go in one direction, the mind somewhere else.

The Mars-Chiron square exacerbates the frustration and restlessness. Mars is ready to throw in the towel while Chiron lays on the guilt.

Leave it to a fiery, short-lived Venus-Saturn trine to dictate that any action taken today emerges from a sense of duty. 

Do you feel conflicted yet?

Just remember there’s a tomorrow to hope for, and what a day that’s gonna be!