The Astrology Blog 5 April 2021
All times in BST
“I don’t think necessity is the mother of invention. Invention, in my opinion, arises directly from idleness, possibly also from laziness – to save oneself trouble.”
Agatha Christie
https://www.astrotheme.com/astrology/Agatha_Christie
“Instead of thinking outside of the box, get rid of the box.”
Deepak Chopra
https://www.astrotheme.com/astrology/Deepak_Chopra
ARIES/FIRE – CREATIVITY & INSPIRATION
Yesterday I was reading an article on the BBC entitled how procrastination is linked to creativity, but actually the feature was less about putting things off and more about the behavior patterns that get the brain working in creative and inspired ways. Guess what, it isn’t about slog and pushing ourselves relentlessly.
https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20210319-why-procrastination-can-help-fuel-creativity
So many of us are brought up with such a strict work ethic that we equate taking time off with laziness, and in turn we equate laziness with something bad and shameful. After all, Sloth is one of the Seven Deadly Sins and links not just to normal idleness or time off but a disgraceful lack of effort. Hands up if you’ve never beaten yourself up for not getting on with something, for feeling that you’ve wasted time or under achieved?
The feature started with a quote from Mozart, who stated that, “It seems to me impossible to say whence they (melodies) come to me and how they arrive; what is certain is that I cannot make them come when I wish.” In other words, it wasn’t a matter of effort, quite the contrary.
It continued with the Agatha Christie quote at the top of this blog, revealing that her powers of invention sprang from idle moments, and she recorded in her autobiography that she got her best ideas when doing the menial tasks of either washing up or taking a bath. Given that Guinness World Records list Agatha Christie as the best selling fiction writer of all time, with her novels having sold more than two billion copies in 44 languages, she’s got a point that bears real scrutiny.
And this is the point that grabbed my attention as I nearly always get my good ideas in the bath (winter months) or gardening (summer months). I referenced this a couple of months ago when talking about my “how to work from home” guidelines, the things that evolved naturally for me over the years. One of these is to notice when you’re slowing down or stuck, and then to change element – eg writing is air (the intellect) so if you’re staring at a screen with a blank mind you can switch to earth (the physical) and do some cooking or household jobs. This has a way of removing blocks.
Going back to the feature the real thesis was that tests and trials revealed that really powerful creativity and inspiration didn’t spring from idleness in the sense of doing nothing at all but idleness in the sense of doing tasks that don’t require full concentration. Doing something that requires “just enough” effort to get a job done leaves the brain free to wander off down other avenues, free to ponder and make its own discoveries.
MERCURY – MARS MUTUAL RECEPTION
So creativity isn’t just about the arts – such as music or writing – but is also more essentially about the way we think, how we take an idea and then run with it, how we create positives out of negatives, how we problem solve, how we tune in to other people and the world around us.
The mind planet Mercury’s arrival in Aries (yesterday) is picture perfect for making fresh starts in the way that we think. As the first sign of the zodiac 0 degrees of Aries is always a powerful starting point, the element of fire is linked to intuition, immediacy and sparks of inspiration and Mercury is at full speed, whizzing through the whole of Aries from 4th – 19th April.
Also at the moment Mars, the planet who rules Aries, is travelling through Gemini (until 23 April) which is Mercury’s sign. In other words, Mercury is in Mars’s sign and Mars is in Mercury’s sign. Two planets in each other’s signs is called a Mutual Reception, they work as a team and indicate the possibility of a swapping over, of reaching mutually beneficial agreements and arrangements. Back to the point about pondering, whatever has been taking shape in your mind over recent weeks is now ready to take off. The mutual reception suggests that this may also be linked to the right person appearing or stepping in with the help that you need, between now and the 19th.
THE BIGGER PICTURE
One of the main themes to emerge over the last year is an awareness of how linked we all are. Never have we all felt so connected to the rest of the world, even though it’s for the worst of reasons. The importance of events at a collective level have shown in the more rare and major alignments between the slower moving planets –
- Saturn – Pluto conjunction in January 2020 (once every 34 years)
- Jupiter – Pluto conjunction (once every 13 years), which happened three times throughout last year
- Jupiter – Saturn “Grand Conjunction” (once every 20 years) at the end of last year
- Saturn square Uranus (once every 22 years), an aspect that is also forming three times, the first one in February and two more to come in June and December
So the world struggles on as many countries, including many in Europe, are either experiencing or bracing for new waves and facing the challenges of rolling out their vaccine programs. Yesterday’s headlines included how the pandemic was peaking in Eastern Europe in particular and had ruined Easter.
In Greece we’ve been in lockdown since last November and, with Easter still to come (Easter Sunday here 2 May), it looks as if we’ll stay that way until at least then. Easter is massive in Greece, akin to Christmas in the UK, and trying to keep Greek families apart and out of church at this time of year will be one of the biggest headaches for the government. So lifting lockdown before then seems unlikely in the extreme, BUT the beginning of May is also the recognized start of the summer season so it’s head spinning to think that tourists could be arriving while locals remain confined to home. Watch this space.
THE PERSONAL PICTURE
In spite of the depressing backdrop, when I started looking at the astrology for this coming week the first thing that struck me was how much more lively and personal it felt, with four of the personal planets Mercury, Venus, Mars and Jupiter all putting in an appearance. With three planets now in Aries (Sun, Mercury, Venus) the element of fire that was noticeable by its absence up until the Spring Equinox is back in abundance and we also get the monthly Moon – Jupiter conjunction this week, a lucky hotspot in itself.
This all feels like a reminder that life, love and work go on and that the time is right to watch less news, to be less fearful and to shift our focus this week to more individual needs, desires and goals. Look out for themes of starting again, even if this means having to ditch certain ideas or work already done. Starting from scratch can now speed us up, as will new ways of thinking/working. And wherever we’ve been barking up the wrong tree should now become increasingly obvious.
MESSAGES FROM MISTAKES
This might include discovering or learning from mistakes, but as far as astrology is concerned there is no such thing, not in the sense of “I should never have done that” type thinking. Astrological interpretation offers us “takes” on things so a “mis-take” is something that can turn out to be wrong in one sense but still a “meant to be” or a vital part of a learning process.
This sometimes shows in the way that astrology unfolds for an individual. I had a great example of this last week when I discovered, the night before a consultation with a new client, that I had drawn up and worked on the wrong chart. I had written down the day before the actual birthday. Obviously I had to start again but the fascinating thing is that the wrong chart had yielded an unaspected Moon (unintegrated into the rest of the chart) whereas the right chart placed the Moon tightly conjunct Jupiter. I was sure that this would point me to the most important matter and it did as living (Moon being home) abroad (Jupiter) and other foreign themes were paramount.
If you want to read more about the phenomenon of “the wrong chart working” read Geoffrey Cornelius, The Moment of Astrology – https://tinyurl.com/74ezu8yp
VENUS & THE ARIES NEW MOON
Let’s start with Venus – planet of love, relating, money and life’s pleasures – who is the dominant planet this week with a series of three aspects, the last one of which falls in the early hours of next Monday morning less than an hour after the New Moon, and which is also Venus’ last aspect before changing sign –
Tuesday 6 April
- Venus 19 Aries sextile Mars 19 Gemini 12.19
Saturday 10 April
- Venus 25 Aries sextile Jupiter 25 Aquarius 19.54
Monday 12 April
- New Moon 22 Aries 03.32
- Venus 26 Aries square Pluto 26 Capricorn 04.19
Venus is said to be in “detriment” in Aries, sign of the individual as opposed to the partnership themes of the opposite sign of Libra. But detriment doesn’t automatically translates into “bad”. We just have to be more mindful of how our own wants might be in conflict with someone else’s, or of how ego issues might be working against us, but so often Venus in Aries can simply bring us up against our insecurities. Watch out for lessons in loving yourself and approving of yourself rather than looking to others to give you approval or permission.
A rapid series of aspects like this can either be a chain of events within one story or it can be a variety of different events. The first two aspects are lovely, the sextile being harmonious (being formed when two planets are exactly two signs apart). Venus and Mars together are the love planets so when they’re in happy alignment this bodes well for being in step with a partner, for all compatibility concerns or for meeting someone with whom you instantly “click”, someone who speaks your language.
Note that affairs or questions around someone’s actual availability take on extra significance as Mars in the double sign of Gemini can often signal the issues and complexities involved in running two relationships at the same time, and ultimately the road to choices. Look out for duality themes in all work and money matters too, such as taking on extra work as another string to your learning or earning bow.
The Venus – Jupiter sextile is arguably the highlight of the week as these planets in traditional astrology are the two Benefics – bringing joy or blessings in the shape of people or events who are good for us, who benefit us. Jupiter is also the opportunity maker and bringer of luck, sometimes of the 11th hour variety, so keep an eye on what unfolds for you too on Wednesday morning when the Moon joins in –
Wednesday 7 April
- Moon conjunct Jupiter 24 Aquarius 11.06
After the weekend Venus makes her final aspect while travelling through Aries (will move into her own sign of Taurus 14 April, middle of next week) which is an aspect of finality in itself, the square (friction, conflict, tension) to Pluto (endings, loss, powerlessness, matters that are taken out of our hands). Don’t fight whatever dies on you at this time, better to let it go. Ultimately Pluto is symbolic death and rebirth, the transformative process, and as this final aspect coincides with the Aries New Moon this message is strongly underlined. No matter how hard a setback, disappointment or loss might be there’s clearly a new journey starting with immediate effect.
WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING THIS WEEK?
The end of the week is the trickiest part of the picture as Mercury makes his annual conjunction with Chiron the Wounded Healer, before aligning with a strong Saturn, and Mars squares up to Neptune –
Friday 9 April
- Mercury conjunct Chiron 9 Aries 08.07
- Mars 21 Gemini square Neptune 21 Pisces 20.20
Saturday 10 April
- Mercury 12 Aries sextile Saturn 12 Aquarius 16.10
Mercury so often signals the general things that live under the “communication” umbrella – news, appointments, information, key conversations and so on. Chiron can signal health related matters or healing in other ways too, such as mending a rift. Again, with this conjunction falling in Aries, try to take too much ego out of the equation, eg resolving is more important than being right.
Mars square Neptune is a misty picture and emotional tides are likely to be high. With the obvious exclusion of events that are genuinely upsetting, the biggest trap with this combination is escalation – eg someone making a mountain out of a molehill, dramatizing, blowing something out of proportion, being more upset than a situation really warrants and so on. Keep calm and keep a clear head. Not a great aspect for drowning your sorrows by the way as Neptune rules the booze, but if you’re lucky enough to be somewhere where a Friday night out can happen then enjoy, but make definite and safe transport arrangements.
Also on the practical front, as always with god of the seas Neptune in trouble, water problems can loom large. Already in the news this morning is the state of emergency in Florida where emergency crews are working to fix a potentially catastrophic leak in a large reservoir of toxic wastewater. Even worse, flash floods in Indonesia and East Timor have led to fatal landslides. If you’ve got plumbing problems don’t ignore them (I still haven’t fixed the kitchen tap that fell apart a couple of weeks ago …) and I personally wouldn’t buy new water appliances until this square has cleared.
Next week is equally busy as it will be the turn of both the Sun and Mercury in Aries to make that same string of aspects to Mars, Jupiter and Pluto, with a finale of the Sun and Mercury coming together in the last degree of Aries and Venus changing sign. Get ahead where you can, stay on top of things and stay creative!
Until next week
With love from Greece
Joanna