Mercury into Taurus | the essentials

walking like giant cranes by hellolikegoodbye
Today, Mercury (communication, conversation, thoughts, ideas) moves into steady, grounded (and fixed) Taurus.

Communications and thinking turn to practical things. The pace slows. It's back to basics.  

Taurus gets results through self-sufficiency, by bringing ideas and concepts 'down to earth', by being sensible.

This is not the time to enact complicated plans unless we want to make ourselves (and everyone else) crazy re-doing or rejecting them later.

Better to drill down to the fundamentals now.

Mercury is covering ground he will walk twice more - by the time we return to this space in a few weeks we will know where we stand having figured out just what we must have - what is essential.

When Mercury stations retrograde (in Taurus and then back into Aries) beginning April 9th the pace will slow down even more. Patience will be needed. There is a lot of retrograde activity in April and planets changing signs - so much will be in flux, hard to pin down and "re"-evaluated it will be uber challenging to stay on a complicated course. Are there things that we can do now to remove some obstacles from our path? Things will require extra time. Keep this in mind.

Rushing through ideas, conversations and decisions won't work well now. Take the time to think things through and get it right - life will encourage/force this process, so fighting it is futile anyway. If a person or situation is pushing us to make a decision we are not ready to make, events will conspire to give us more time. If we can't decide - we should wait. If we are the one doing the pushing we will be frustrated during this transit. Mercury likes to move lightning fast, but Taurus likes to stop and smell the roses. The upcoming retrograde will amplify this.

Straightforward ideas and communications are favored.

The fly in the ointment with Mercury in Taurus is its fixed nature. One of the reasons for the information slowing down is that everyone becomes entrenched in their position and digs in. Compromise becomes a four letter word and there aren't alot of choices. The answer is either yes or no, there is no maybe with Taurus. Our resolve is strengthened though.

The good news is we will all have more certainty by the time he moves into Gemini on June 6th. Have a nice weekend - so tired of the dreary rain here! xo all

Jupiter Square Pluto | dealing with those pesky power imbalances ... again

balance by JeanFan
Today's square (tension) between Jupiter (in Libra) and Pluto (in Capricorn) is the second of three we will be dealing with this year. The first was in late November, the next is early August.

This is the only one of the three squares where Jupiter is retrograde. 

When Jupiter is retrograde (about one third of the time) we are "re"flecting on Jupiterian themes - with Jupiter in Libra during this year's retrograde the shadow side of Libran energy (denial) is expanding (Jupiter) in proportion to our need to deal with it - or I should say in proportion to how much we have not been dealing with it.

Whatever situation Jupiter has us revisiting could be a bit uncomfortable. If something is moving too fast or getting too big too fast we will feel the discomfort of the stretch of that now. 

Problems/weaknesses may come to light around what is out of balance or what is unjust. Situations where we are doing too much or too little need a re-evaluation. Expansion could be tempered (maybe temporarily). A careful assessment of what is growing is needed nowFocus.

The shadow of peace loving Libra is denial so Jupiter is showing us that elephant in the livingroom (now through June) by feeding him peanuts. Lots of peanuts. He is, or soon will be, too big to tuck behind the living room sofa. Yes, even one of those five piece sectionals from Pottery Barn. Whatever the situation it will require ADJUSTMENT.

Question : WHERE'S THAT ELEPHANT? Hints below. Check sun and rising signs.

Aries - this imbalance is about equal partnerships
Taurus - this imbalance is about work or health
Gemini - this imbalance is about self expression
Cancer - this imbalance is about home and family
Leo - this imbalance is about self-expression
Virgo - this imbalance is about love or money
Libra - this imbalance is about you
Scorpio - this imbalance is about stuff that is hidden behind the scenes
Sagittarius - this imbalance is about groups, friendship, something public
Capricorn - this imbalance is about career, public image
Aquarius - this imbalance is about travel, higher ed, legal, relocation, publishing
Pisces - this imbalance is about shared resources, intimacy, loans, taxes, investments

Now - this is what the Jupiter retrograde is about (it is from an earlier post I wrote) and now today Jupiter is squaring powerful Pluto in powerful Capricorn.

There is a struggle here. Areas of black and white rigid thinking and beliefs are in for trouble. The more we stand for exactly this thing - the more the other person will stand firmly in exactly that. With Pluto, any extreme positions we take will scare people off or shut them down.

A more middle ground is needed. Something out of balance is being transformed.

Can we see how our controlling behavior is based in our fear of the future?

Libra and Capricorn are cardinal signs that launch new seasons - they require action. Maybe an old opportunity comes back around now for us to decide/move on again. We just can't take things too far or we'll shoot ourselves in the foot - maybe get what we want and then realize we don't really want it, maybe challenge the people/things/situations we are going to need later. 

The bottom line - Jupiter square Pluto is about the friction (square) needed to create BIG (Jupiter) transformation (Pluto). For some it only takes a little friction to get us moving, for others it takes a nuclear quantity. Life will supply what is needed here.

Remember everything in our life is a challenge to the degree we resist it. Everything. 

xo all

Mercury Trine Saturn | planning and concentration gets the gold star

old man by lash-upon-lash

Opportunities come through careful planning and preparation as Mercury (communications, conversations, ideas, thoughts) trines (opportunities) serious Saturn (time, stability, hard work) now.

Deliberate, thoughtful and sober words create the most impact. If we want to be taken seriously we need to take ourselves seriously. Conversations should be respectful. Do we know what we are talking about? If not, it's time to connect with someone who does. Lessons learned now stay with us. What are we learning?

Communications and conversations with authority figures go well now. 

This is great energy to work toward developing mastery of a subject. Saturn rules time, so this won't happen overnight. That's OK. We have more time than we think we do. We are in the energy of that fresh new Aries Moon encouraging us to start again; to take fresh action - especially if we have planets and points near 7 degrees of a cardinal sign, Aries, Cancer, Libra or Capricorn, in our natal chart.

This aspect (Mercury trine Saturn) offers us the perseverance and concentration that creates stability.

With Saturn in Sagittarius (an old wise man if ever there was one) we do (or most likely with Venus retrograde and ruling almost everything we "re-do") whatever it is we are working on with maybe not quite as much youthful exuberance and confidence that we are always right and will always win as we might normally associate with an Aries New Moon,

but more like the way an old person rises in the morning with achy joints and a grateful heart - another day and I'm still here! - unsure of the outcome or what is around the next corner but putting both feet on the cold linoleum floor and moving forward anyway.

This is great energy for paperwork that requires accuracy.

Four of ten planets change direction over the next four weeks - are we ready for this ...... xo all