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Today Mars ingresses into Capricorn, the sign of its exaltation, joining Jupiter, Pluto, and Saturn. Mars describes our drive and pursuit of that which we desire, and Capricorn is the cardinal earth sign, focus on diligent work, focused effort, and long-term achievements. As Mars moves into Capricorn, we may experience an urgency to define and initiate that which we hope to accomplish in whatever area of our chart Capricorn occupies. The Moon in Sagittarius makes a trine to Venus in Aries, a fiery, adventurous aspect that could heat up the love in our lives and invite us to embody the liberation of our own desires. As Annie Sprinkle has written, “Let there be pleasure on earth and let it begin with me. Never forget that when you receive pleasure, you will be contributing to the pleasure in the world … The best way to learn about love and sex is not be reading about it but by practicing it, by trial and error. Be brave in love. Be brave in sex. Be brave in your ecstasy. Be brave in your orgasms. Be brave in being who you truly are.” What kinds of pleasures can you bring into the world today if you trusted yourself to explore and act on your most expansive desires? Mercury stations retrograde in Pisces, drawing us into a time of reflection and review for the next several weeks. Communication may become distorted or delayed, so this is an opportune time to practice patience with ourselves and others as we try to express the things we are feeling. Finally, the Moon in Sagittarius makes a square to Mercury as it is stationing retrograde. Misunderstandings between different experiences or points of view seem likely. Remember, no matter how expansive you feel your perspective might be, you cannot fully understand what it is like to see the world from another position, centered within different horizons. What if you approached others today with the humility to know that you do not know the world in the same ways they do? 
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Today the Moon in Scorpio makes a trine to Neptune in Pisces, a dreamy aspect for journeying across or beneath the waters of our conscious and unconscious feelings. The Moon then makes a sextile to Pluto in Capricorn, another aspect that pulls us toward our depths, for working with the buried or forgotten powers of mystery. These aspects offer support for healing work, for working with ancestors, and for connecting to our past and future selves. Then the Moon makes a square to the Sun in Aquarius, entering the waning quarter phase. Think back to the New Moon in Aquarius on January 24: whatever process was initiated at that time is moving toward completion, and in that process, we may be re-evaluating or integrating the lessons that emerged into consciousness during the Full Moon in Leo last weekend. Finally, the Moon makes a sextile to Saturn in Capricorn before ingressing into Sagittarius in the final minutes of Saturday. Saturn supports us in devising and establishing structure and discipline, so we can ask: what habits or ways of organizing my life do I need to put into place in order to hold myself accountable to the lessons I’ve been learning over the last three weeks? While Saturn emphasizes structure and boundaries, Sagittarius turns our attention toward the horizon, toward what we now see is possible that perhaps we could not have imagined previously. The depth and dreamwork from earlier in the day seems to propel us into the excitement and adventure of realizing our own expansive potential.  Today the Moon in Scorpio opposes Uranus in Taurus. What would a revolution erupting from your emotional depths require? What throughout your material reality would have to change if you truly accepted, trusted, and honored the validity of your own feelings—however inconvenient or unsettling they may seem? How much of the comfort or stability of your day to day life depends upon the repression or abandonment of what you feel most deeply? The Moon then makes a trine to Mercury in Pisces, and we may find ease and flow in coming to express or put into words what has previous only echoed throughout the hidden places of our own bodies. Audre Lorde writes, “I have come to believe over and over again that what is most important to me must be spoken, made verbal and shared, even at the risk of having it bruised or misunderstood … What are the words you do not yet have? What do you need to say? What are the tyrannies you swallow day by day and attempt to make your own, until you will sicken and die of them, still in silence?” This trine is inviting, asking, perhaps even begging you to put into words that which is most important. Finally, the Moon makes a sextile to Jupiter in Capricorn. Both planets are in their fall, which can be challenging placements, but in this sextile, they can offer support to one another from whatever resources they have. Sometimes the limited resources that are available become more than enough when we create opportunities to share them.  Today the Moon in Libra makes a square to Pluto in Capricorn, a trine to the Sun in Aquarius, a square to Saturn in Capricorn, then a sextile to Mars in Sagittarius. Attempts at meaningful connection with others may be hijacked by difficult feelings lodged beneath the surface of who you are trying to be. Burying whatever darkness or shame you may be feeling will not make it go away; it will make itself unavoidable until it is addressed. Bringing that which is hidden into the light will allow you to move toward that which is life-affirming for yourself and for those around you, when you are no longer giving so much of your energy to concealing or repressing whatever feels like it will cost you love. The square to Saturn describes encountering hard limitations that refuse the direction in which we thought we were moving, barriers that require us to find another path. But the sextile to Mars in Sagittarius activates and inspires us to redirect and journey outward toward other trajectories. What paths become apparent or available to you because the way you thought you would go is now closed? Finally, the Moon ingresses into Scorpio, the sign of its fall, and we may feel immobilized by the density of our own feelings. There’s a lot to process today. What if rather than trying to make big moves, we took the time to feel the reverberations of all that has been uncovered and expressed, the directions that have been abandoned and the paths we are just starting to consider as possibilities?  Today the Moon in Libra opposes its ruler Venus in Aries. Venus in Aries can describe the passionate charge to pursue that which we desire—sometimes without the stamina to follow through—and it can also describe the tension between our tendencies toward union and our impulses to individuate. Opposing the Moon, we may be challenged to co-create interdependence that does not elide our differences. Audre Lorde writes, “Difference must be not merely tolerated, but must be seen as a fund of necessary polarities between which our creativity can spark like a dialectic. Only then does the necessity for interdependency become unthreatening. Only within that interdependency of different strengths, acknowledged and equal, can the power to seek new ways of being in the world generate, as well as the courage and sustenance to act where there are no charters.” How might you forge interdependencies with others that rely on acknowledged and equal differences as a source of creative power, where interdependency need not threaten any one’s personal sovereignty? The Moon then squares Jupiter in Capricorn. Jupiter is in its fall in Capricorn, but hurls its rays back to support and affirm the Moon as it cultivates connections with respect and harmony, holding different perspectives, needs, and desires in balance in order to sustain our bonds.  Today the Moon in Virgo makes trines to Pluto and Saturn in Capricorn and a square to Mars in Sagittarius before ingressing into Libra. However we have been moving with the Moon’s transit through Virgo the last couple of days—inflected heavily by its ruler Mercury in Pisces—Pluto will likely intensify those feelings. Pluto can push toward obsession and fixation, and with the Moon in Virgo, we could easily find ourselves sinking into perfectionism and overly-critical approaches to ourselves and those around us. Saturn, however, reminds us of our limits and our boundaries, the discipline to decide that something may not be perfect, but it is good enough. Saturn can also point to our feelings of inadequacy as well as the past, so if you find yourself feeling that you are insufficient, take this opportunity to look back and ask: when did I first receive this message? Who or what made me feel that I was not enough, and can I tell myself a different story today? As the Moon squares Mars, we may be challenged to decide what needs to be cut away and left behind in order to move beyond that constraints of our own horizons. What is no longer yours to carry? What heaviness or burdens have been distributed to you within unjust systems, and in what ways might you refuse to comply with such expectations? The Moon ingresses into Libra, a sign associated with balance, harmony, connection, and justice. We may find ourselves drawn to finding how our lives can fit with others in a balanced way. However, Venus—the ruler of Libra—is currently in antithesis or detriment in Aries, so don’t be surprised if in the process of seeking out connection or even union, fiery needs for independence assert themselves. The challenge will be to hold our desires for connection with others together with our drives for autonomy.  Today the Moon in Virgo opposes its ruler Mercury in Pisces. Today we may feel pulled between moving efficiently through our tasks and to-do lists and the kinds of conversations or self-reflections that allow us to wade into our emotional depths. Like attempting to manage meticulous work while holding back tears or organizing your schedule when you feel swept away by joy or heartbreak, today balance may come from giving yourself time be in your feelings rather than working to push them aside. How might you direct the impulse for optimization and productivity toward responding effectively to your own emotional well-being? What if getting back to work today means getting to the work of slowing down and holding space for your feelings to be recognized, appreciated, and honored—both with yourself and with others? The Moon in Virgo then makes a trine to Jupiter in Capricorn, and we may get a sense of how the small steps we are taking today are part of the larger, slower, deliberate growth we are nurturing this year. As adrienne maree brown writes in Emergent Strategy, “How we are at the small scale is how we are at the large scale … what we practice at the small scale sets the patterns for the whole system.” Wherever Capricorn sits in your chart, Jupiter is spending the majority of this year encouraging and supporting diligent, focused, sustainable growth in this area of life. As the Moon makes this trine to Jupiter, we can observe how the growth we are experiencing at larger scales is being generated and practiced at the scale of the details of today.  We begin today with the Full Moon going exact in Leo during the early hours before dawn. Then the Moon in Leo makes a trine to Mars in Sagittarius. What feels as if it is simmering beneath the surface of your skin, quickening to a rapid boil, waiting to be expressed or let loose? The Moon trine Mars, both in fire signs, bolsters our courage and confidence, igniting our passion and determination to take the actions we know that it’s time to take. Then the Moon ingresses into Virgo, shifting our attention to the pragmatic matter of taking that which we learn and putting it into practice. With Mercury, the ruler of Virgo, in antithesis and fall in Pisces, the details may not feel clear, but we are being given the opportunity to trust that there is utility in attending to our personal and collective emotional lives. What if your feelings are not getting in the way of what needs to be accomplished? What if your feelings are actually sensible guides to that which requires our attention and that which needs to be done? The Moon then makes a trine to Uranus in Taurus, activating our resources for both adaptability and innovation. As you translate the lessons of your own emotional tides into tangible, material processes—“this is what I feel and this is what then needs to be done”—it may be that there are patterns that need to be broken, conventions that are no longer useful, or sedentary circumstances that are no longer in service to that toward which your feelings are guiding you. Be willing to do things differently if that is what your emotional well-being requires.  Today the Moon moves through Leo with no major aspects as it approaches the Full Moon on Sunday. The Moon will appear to be at its fullest tonight as the opposition goes exact in the early pre-dawn hours of Sunday. So, if you do any work with the Full Moon—rituals, spells, meditations, communion with the sky, reverence for cycles of change—tonight will be opportune for these practices. As the Moon moves toward fullness, it does so in the sign of the Sun and with reception from the Sun. However, the Sun is in its antithesis or detriment in Aquarius. While Leo calls us toward blazing authenticity, the sustained radiance of allowing our full selves to be seen, celebrated, and loved, the Sun itself is in a sign in which it has less resources for illuminating that which it signifies. Aquarius is ruled by Saturn, and in this sign, the Sun is limited, constrained, or even made marginal in some way. This Full Moon may be a time to find how we are capable of shining brightly not in spite of the ways we have been limited or marginalized, but because of those challenging experiences. How have repression, regulation, or constriction introduced you to parts of yourself for which the world is most in need? What if the qualities and facets of who you are that have been the least supported or affirmed are the ones that those around you most need to see and celebrate? For this Full Moon, how might you not only lavish attention and affection on your whole self, but also specifically honor, acknowledge, and affirm the parts of your experience of yourself that you have been most conditioned to ignore, conceal, or minimize? What if doing so is not only in alignment with your own well-being, but also that which you have been given to offer to the well-being of others?  Today the Moon in Cancer opposes Pluto then Saturn in Capricorn. What if, as Elizabeth Gilbert has written, “We are all walking repositories of buried treasure.” Inasmuch as Pluto may describe our hidden traumas, the tragedies entombed in our underworlds, such dark places no doubt also hold some of our greatest gifts, the treasures beneath the traumas and tragedies waiting to be unearthed. How can you feel your way beneath the systems and social norms that structure your relationship to both your own body and the harm that you carry in order to uncover the riches within you? Venus ingresses into Aries—the sign of its antithesis or detriment. Venus is the planet of love, beauty, and union. Aries, ruled by Mars, is a sign associated with individuation and impulsive assertion, always prepared to meet conflict head-on. As Venus moves through Aries, it may be more challenging to avoid conflict in our relationships. If things heat up or become enflamed, use this as an opportunity to clarify what each person wants, staying curious about what needs and desires are driving the conflict, and potentially responding more effectively once those drives are in the open. The Moon then ingresses into Leo and directly into a trine to Venus. Leo reminds us to show up fully in our blazing authenticity, shining brightly in our dazzling brilliance. How might you experience love more fully if you were to share more of yourself with those around you? The Moon finally makes a square to Uranus in Taurus, and how we have been willing to show up as and for ourselves in the past may no longer be sufficient. We may find ourselves propelled into more honest authenticity than we had yet imagined, requiring more trust and more courage.  Today the Moon in Cancer opposes Jupiter in Capricorn. How can you trace the ways in which you aspire to grow and establish yourself all the way back to your origins? How have your earliest experiences of safety and security—which may have been stable or unstable, reliable or unpredictable—shaped the kind of life for which you are working and your access to experiences of abundance? What if you could locate abundance within your body right now, in this moment, and send it back to your youngest, most vulnerable self, the feelings of: “You are more than enough. There is more than enough.” The Moon then makes a trine to Neptune in Pisces. Waves of inspiration may flow easily today, and you may find yourself returning to the moments, people, and experiences that set us along your path. Allow yourself to revisit the nourishing waters of those who have inspired you, in memories and visions and dreams. You may find that those wellsprings continue to offer resources for the life that you are bringing into being.  In the very first minutes of Wednesday, the Moon in Gemini opposes Mars in Sagittarius. This aspect challenges us to find balance between our inquisitive, nurturing, receptive instincts for caretaking and our grand, expansive, assertive, willpower. Can we temper our own relentless striving with curiosity, with sensitive listening to our own bodies and how others are expressing their needs as well? Mercury in Pisces makes a sextile to Uranus in Taurus, and we may anticipate news, messages, or ideas that cannot actually be anticipated in advance. Notice what words or exchanges come into your life today that potentially disrupt what you were thinking and open up new possibilities for how to proceed. The Moon in Gemini makes a square to Venus in Pisces. In Hellenistic astrology, this is a condition of bonification, the Moon overcome by exalted Venus, and we may find immense support from those around us or those we love. If there is a challenge to this aspect, it may take the form of asking for what we need in order to feel safe and secure. The Moon then ingresses into its domicile of Cancer, moving swiftly into a sextile to Uranus and a trine to Mercury. In Cancer, the Moon has the resources needed into order to nurture and nourish. We may feel more sensitive and capable of caring for others and ourselves. Revolutionary Uranus may inspire radically innovative practices of care. In Revolutionary Mothering, Alexis Pauline Gumbs writes, “In order to collectively figure out how to sustain and support our evolving species, in order to participate in and demand a society where people help to create each other instead of too often destroying each other, we need to look at the practice of creating, nurturing, affirming, and supporting life that we call mothering.” What revolutionary approaches to creating, nurturing, affirming, and supporting life might you put into practice today? Mercury in Pisces trine the Moon in Cancer invites us to share the wisdom of our feelings, to translate and transmute our practices of care into practices of self-care, to learn from our practices of self-care what we can ask for and offer to others.  Today the Moon in Gemini makes a trine to the Sun in Aquarius. This is a time to get curious about that which enlivens you, that which nourishes and supports your capacity to shine brightly and offer that which is life-affirming to others. This could be a topic of conversation with trusted friends and loved ones, or it might be a prompt for your own journaling or reflection. The Sun is in its antithesis or detriment in Aquarius, which means that it may not have all the resources in needs in order to fully illuminate that which is meaningful in our lives, but what brilliance it has to offer is coming to support the Moon in Gemini this morning. Today may bring the embodiment of purpose with ease, which could also be posed as a question: what am I doing today that is easily in alignment with my purpose? The Moon then makes a square to Neptune in Pisces. We may find our thinking becomes clouded or that our sensitivities to non-ordinary states of reality intrude upon the practical tasks of the day. If you find that the invisible interferes with the manifest, consider how you might adjust your activities to accommodate the presence and influence of the unseen. Intuition may supersede reason, as the expanse of feelings—your own and the collective’s, which may not be separate—flood rationality. You may get further if you allow yourself to be carried on the tides of mystery, although the destination may remain uncertain.  Today Mercury moves into Pisces, the sign of both its antithesis and fall. Whereas Mercury is adept at managing and communicating detailed information and clear ideas, Pisces is the mutable water sign ruled by Jupiter: oceanic, expansive, never simply one thing, always flowing in other directions and possibilities. It can be a difficult sign for Mercury. Pisces is also where Mercury will station retrograde on February 16, so this area of our charts and lives will undergo review in the days ahead. Just as Mercury ingresses into Pisces, the Moon enters Gemini in an exact square to Mercury but with reception. In Gemini, the Moon stimulates our curiosities, our desires for social connections, and for exchanging ideas, but the square from a challenged Mercury may describe being overwhelmed by too many ideas or feelings, perhaps such an abundance that it’s difficult to follow any one direction well. Finally, Venus in Pisces makes a sextile to Saturn in Capricorn. Venus is in its exaltation and Saturn is in its domicile, so both planets offer one another considerable strength—effulgent love and the stability of commitment. Judith Butler writes, “Commitment would not involve inflexibility, but would entail an agreement to make oneself anew in light of the unexpected demands that challenge one’s commitment. If one is committing one’s love, one is not making the commitment once … if the commitment is to be alive, that is, if it is to belong to the present, then the only commitment one can make is to commit oneself again and again. ‘I love you and I choose you again and again.’” How might you commit your love again and again in ways that remain renewable, adaptable, and responsive—in agreement to make yourself anew in commitment to this love?  Today Venus in Pisces makes a sextile to Pluto in Capricorn. Pluto draws us toward the intensity buried beneath the surface, and sextile Venus, we may be given the opportunity to make love in the underworld, by which I mean to practice loving those parts of ourselves or one another that we have hidden, repressed, rejected, or ignored. How can we invite the healing waters of Pisces into those places we have abandoned or rejected? What are the relationships in which we can trust another to love what we ourselves have struggled to accept? The Moon in Taurus makes a sextile to Neptune in Pisces, a dreamy, supportive invitation into softening our edges and finding where bodies blur at their boundaries, flowing in and flowing out from one another. Then the Moon makes trines to Pluto and Saturn in Capricorn. What roots you deeply into your own sources of power? Audre Lorde reminds us that the erotic is a resource of power within each of us “firmly rooted in the power of our unexpressed or unrecognized feeling … The erotic is a measure between the beginnings of our sense of self and the chaos of our strongest feelings.” As the Moon trines Pluto, how can you follow the roots of your unexpressed and unrecognized feelings to access the depth of power available to you in the interval between your initial sense of self and your strongest feelings that exceed order or reason? As the Moon trines Saturn, we can also ask: what are the containers or structures we need to put into place in order to access such erotic power within our bodies, in order to support our ongoing experience of pleasure, safety, and well-being?  In the earliest hours of the morning, the Moon in Taurus makes a conjunction to Uranus in Taurus. This is a quaking and disruption of the felt and material body, a moment of crisis and transformation. Alkistis Dimech writes of dancing as a magical art, describing, “I hurl myself into the unknown, I encounter the other in my body.” Uranus may break open some dimension of your body or your body schema today. What freedom might become available if you were to hurl yourself into the space of that breakdown or breakthrough? Then the Moon makes a square to the Sun in Aquarius, entering the waxing quarter phase of this lunation cycle. Something new is coming into view, a way of being and becoming a body in a world to come. When you feel down into the hidden places of your body, what Dimech describes as the “occulted body,” what is beginning to emerge? What seeds or sensations that were planted at the New Moon are sprouting and insisting on another way of seeing or understanding yourself and the world? Finally, the Moon makes a trine to Jupiter in Capricorn, reminding us that even the small, subtle shifts to which we can become aware hold the potential for substantial growth and expansion in the days ahead. How might you celebrate abundance within what might seem limited, the immensities within the miniscule?  Today the Moon in Aries moves through squares to Pluto and Saturn in Capricorn. These are challenging aspects that have the potential to describe the forces or structures that limit our movements, that diminish our agency or foreclose possibilities. We may find ourselves coming up against situations that feel impossible or immovable. The Moon then makes a sextile to Mercury in Aquarius, inviting easy communication and an active exchange of ideas. What thought processes are you developing and how might you share that thinking with others and invite new perspectives or voices into your process? This could be an opportunity to reframe the challenges from earlier in the day. Finally, the Moon ingresses into Taurus, the sign of its exaltation. With its ruler Venus also in exaltation in Pisces and on Venus' day, the Moon in Taurus brings our attention back to the body, to pleasure, to connection and love. How might you prioritize your own experiences of pleasure while also sharing those experiences with others and contributing to their pleasures as well? Audre Lorde writes, "The erotic functions for me in several ways, and the first is in providing the power which comes from sharing deeply any pursuit with another person. The sharing of joy, whether physical, emotional, psychic, or intellectual, forms a bridge between the sharers which can be the basis for understanding much of what is not shared between them, and lessens the threat of their difference." As the Moon moves through Taurus, may you create opportunities for deeply sharing physical, emotional, psychic, and intellectual joy, bridging experiences and lessening the threat of difference.  The astrology for today is bold and energetic as the Moon in Aries makes a sextile to the Sun in Aquarius, a square to Jupiter in Capricorn, and a trine to Mars in Sagittarius. The Sun offers illumination and the kind of direction that affirms life and vitality. Jupiter, in its fall in Capricorn, still encourages growth and abundance, working with what’s available to generate something meaningful. It may not be easy work, but the capacity to transform scarcity into possibility is a skill we will need in the days ahead. Mars, the ruler of Aries, impels us to take action, to stand up for what matters, and to make things matter because we are standing up for them. The optimism of Sagittarius offers us hope to sustain us in the midst of struggling against injustice. As Sara Ahmed writes in Living a Feminist Life, “Where there is hope, there is difficulty … Hope is not at the expense of struggle but animates a struggle; hope gives us a sense that there is a point to working things out, working things through. Hope does not always point toward the future, but carries us through when the terrain is difficult, when the path we follow makes it harder to proceed.” I have often quoted Angela Davis who has said, “Freedom is a constant struggle.” As the Moon moves through Aries, we may find that we are being pushed to struggle for freedom—for ourselves or for those who are marginalized within the world as it is. What is the hope that animates your struggle, that can carry you through the difficult terrain that constitutes the path toward freedom—if not the very practice of freedom? Ahmed writes that we “create other ways of being when we have to struggle to be,” and what is freedom if not the creation of ways in which our existence and survival—the existence and survival of all—become possible?  Today the Moon completes its time in Pisces and ingresses into Aries. With reception from Mars, the ruler of Aries, in Sagittarius, today we may feel driven to embark on a new adventure and energized to move beyond the familiar. After several days of strong Pisces and Neptune influences, Aries offers a quickening, with the heat of cardinal fire generating motivation for getting things done. There are no major aspects today, which could be a nice moment of clarity, focus, and direction. What is it that you feel motivated to accomplish, and how can you use today to take bold steps in that direction?  Today brings major emphases to Pisces and to Neptune in particular. The Moon in Pisces makes a square to Mars in Sagittarius and a conjunction to Neptune in Pisces before Mars perfects its square to Neptune. Mars describes our drive to take action, and in Sagittarius, there may be big ideas on which we’re ready to move. But Neptune in Pisces is swirling and oceanic; getting things done today may feel like wading through deep water or trying to take aim sideways through the moving tide. We may also find that we encounter conflict between how we imagine or desire things to be and the practical conditions of our circumstances. Making big moves today may just result in frustration. What possibilities might present themselves if you instead allowed yourself to drift, carried along the currents of daydreaming, meditation, or altered states? The Moon then makes a conjunction to Venus before moving through sextiles to both Pluto and Saturn in Capricorn. The Moon and Venus together is ideal for nurturing connection in mutually supportive ways. Pluto may magnify or intensify our feelings this evening; if your emotions are feeling overwhelming or out of scale with your current context, be gentle with yourself and ask how the magnitude of these feelings may be rooted in something deeper and older than just what you're experiencing right now. But just as Pluto shows us the deeper and older roots of feelings arising in this moment, Saturn reminds us that that deep, ancient structures are available to us, within our remembered and forgotten traditions, within our bodies, and within our bones. Saturn reminds us that when we feel unstable or in need of support, reach back and find it.  |
AuthorMichael J. Morris is a witch, an artist, a writer, and a teacher. Categories
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