The Astrology Blog – w/b 14 April 2014
So here we go, it’s time to fasten our seatbelts for the most feverish week of the year, culminating with the Grand Cross – Mars opposite Uranus/Jupiter opposite Pluto – moving into exact alignment over the Easter weekend. I summed up last week as the lull before the storm, this week is the storm itself.
However, let me say straight off that there is no need to hit the panic button. Life is full of “crosses to bear” and for some there will be issues that are unavoidable and horribly heavy. But more generally this week is one of those times when we have to choose how to shoulder the weight – of a problem, a relationship, a job, that thing you’ve been putting off for weeks or months, or longer. The easy option is probably not a real answer and this week is the acid test for authenticity. There’s nothing new under the sun. It was Socrates who said that the unexamined life is not worth living. So this week’s scenario is not just about some weird “energy” – as if the universe is somehow cooking up some brew that will make you wired, vulnerable, conflicted, extra psychic or powerless. It’s about YOU and your life now, here, on planet Earth, what you do or don’t choose to do, or how you do or don’t handle what is thrown at you.
Yes the political situation is tense, possibly critical, but no matter what week I may be writing this blog there will be some awful scenario being enacted in some part of the world. It’s important to stay informed and, astrologically, to see how world events reflect the “as above so below” principle at work. Yet I am also ever conscious of making this blog applicable to all of us in our daily lives. Getting too hooked into “the end of the world” alarmism is not what I am about, or what astrology is about, and being in a state of War is not representative of this blog’s readership. Being in a state of “war” – small w – is more to the point.
So, let’s start to unravel this complex picture. Mercury is the forerunner as he works his way through the four planets in the Grand Cross from Monday to Wednesday – here’s the sequence:
Monday Mercury square Jupiter (19.33 BST)
Tuesday Mercury conjunct Uranus (00.16) and Mercury square Pluto (05.13 BST)
Wednesday Mercury conjunct Mars (12.16 BST)
It’s as if he is being sent on ahead to check out a situation, maybe stir things up a little, test the water, gauge people’s reactions, get a glimpse of what could be. Remember that Mercury is the mischief maker as well as the planet of communication. A debate, a conversation or even a first division shouting match, a vital piece of information that shocks you and makes your mind reel, someone’s throwaway comment, mulling over the events that unfolded over the weekend, the rumblings of discontent … these are the sort of things that could be responsible for a huge mind shift, that wakeup call that leads to a change of attitude and the forming of renewed outlook, resolve and the subsequent receptivity to new possibilities. It may be someone else’s drama that makes you value your own life more, that enables you to see what needs to change and you’ll feel the fear but be ready to do it anyway. There may be some almighty bust up in a significant relationship or with/for someone you’re close to, probably along the lines of “ne’er the twain shall meet”, but whether it’s on your own doorstep or removed the impact is pretty much the same.
The bigger picture message is that whatever is at full stretch will now snap. It’s like an elastic band – you can’t stretch it forever. At some point it will ping back in your face. Tension cannot build and build without something eventually happening.
Is this good or bad? Well it depends on your point of view. Personally I have never been a believer in maintaining the status quo for its own sake. As a truth freak Sagittarian I’d rather deal with a hurricane than batten down the hatches and hide. With Jupiter in on this act, the planet of justice, truth, freedom and liberation, the optimist in me thinks that whatever explodes (Uranus) and engenders rage or action (Mars) will ultimately bring total change (Pluto) that will be for the better (Jupiter). Easy and pleasant, no. Challenging or scary, yes, but what do you want your outcome to be? Keeping an end result in mind will help you to fight your demons, defy your critics, or get to grips with a situation that is not going to sort itself out no matter how much you have willed it to do so.
Remember too that Jupiter loves sowing seeds, especially when you’re not looking. You may hark back to this week as the time when something really changed and shifted. Something you didn’t attach much importance to at the time could prove to be pivotal and future events may date back to this time of outbursts and awakening so don’t be afraid. Fear is a straightjacket. It pins our arms and legs to our body, it pins our beautiful spirit to the world of “should” or “can’t”, and it sucks our creative juices to feed the dysfunctional. Courage is not easy, but isn’t that why we love heroes?
In the middle of Mercury’s antics are two more major astrological features that underline that something major is going on:
Tuesday Pluto turns retrograde (00.45 BST)
I don’t normally make a Big Deal out of Pluto’s stations (turning retrograde or direct) as he is so slow moving and each station marks the beginning of several months of his going either one way or the other. However, on this occasion, Pluto is part of the Grand Cross so this turning point is very much part of the picture.
What does Pluto symbolize? Change of the “no going back kind” is his hallmark and his most powerful symbol is the Phoenix, arising from the ashes after the ordeal by purifying fire. Remember the Chilean miners? Their rescue capsule was called the Phoenix. What better story exists than that, to capture the “rebirth” message of Pluto, uncompromising god of the underworld, to endure a life and death situation and to be reborn, with all of your old values turned inside out and to look at your life stripped back to the absolute basics of what really matters, and what doesn’t. As my sister said to me last night, in a totally non astrological conversation, “the older I get the less material things matter to me.” That feels on point.
Think of it this way. You don’t have to spend 69 days trapped in a mine in order to reach the “I get it now” moment.
Incompatible, unhappy, unhealthy or even destructive relationships are very much at the top of the change list. This is underlined by the second other major event that follows Pluto’s turnaround:
Tuesday Total Lunar Eclipse in Libra (08.43 BST)
Some astrologers refer to eclipses as power points, others as omens of disempowerment. Either way, they tend to play a role in revealing new pictures. A shadow is thrown but lifts again and some changes may be linked to bringing things out of hiding. Triangular setups, such as affairs, also feature as eclipses are about the intricate relationship between the three bodies of the Sun, Moon and Earth. Someone may be overshadowed while another emerges in a new light. As this eclipse is in Libra, THE sign of partnership, this is the time when you can’t ignore the fact that two into three simply doesn’t go.
The love planet Venus is active too on the run up to the Easter weekend:
Friday Venus trine (harmonious) Jupiter (02.20 BST) and Venus sextile (harmonious) Pluto (10.25 BST)
Remember that Venus is currently travelling through the highly sensitive water sign of Pisces, her sign of exaltation, so Thursday evening feels like an oasis. Events unfolding around these Venus contacts should signal where life is peaceable and pleasurable as compared to the battleground of the rest of the week!
The Sun’s arrival in Taurus is almost lost in all the hoo-ha but the ingress is on Sunday (04.57 BST), followed by the formation of the Grand Cross. Here’s the sequence:
Sunday Jupiter square Uranus (04.57 BST)
Monday Jupiter opposite Pluto (00.06 BST) and Uranus square Pluto (19.39 BST)
Mars aligns with the other three planets in the Grand Cross throughout Tuesday and Wednesday so the full force of this picture extends into the early part of next week and I’ll be talking more about this next time.
For now, stay safe. If you don’t have to travel, don’t. Jupiter rules long distance travel so holiday chaos on the roads or at airports is a big possibility. Last minute changes of plan are also on the cards and try too to anticipate family tensions, the ones that simmer away but which are notorious for reaching boiling point at holiday times. But above all have some fun and, let your hair down and enjoy the Easter weekend to the full.
The Greek Island Summer School starts next month and there are still places available on the tarot week 19 May and the astrology week 22 September. There are links above to the website for more info or visit the new Facebook page – I’d appreciate a Like while you’re there, thanks!
https://www.facebook.com/tarotastrologycourses
Apart from doing a tarot or astrology course, Lefkada is an idyllic place for a holiday. If you want somewhere special to stay check out the beautiful Palm Villas in Sivota, about twenty minutes out of Nidri. They’re now on Facebook and you can contact me direct for special rates: