Tensions & Upgrades
This is a week of shifting energy, transitions, boundaries being crossed and reestablished. There are themes of death and rebirth. There is also themes of confusion and for some, perhaps enlightenment. The week begins with the opposition of the Sun and Moon, which leaves us feeling less illuminated, but indeed ungrounded. The end of the month brings an opportunity for an update to our whole system, our mind and our direction gets a reboot, but first we must hold the tension.
All week long we will feel this building up and at times you may feel disoriented, chaotic and confused. You may be craving a change, a revolution, and yet not quite certain which way to turn. You may also feel unbridled, a mind a tad messy, yet your normal ways of cleaning it up and organizing just fall short. In short, you may be teetering on a threshhold, and uncertain whether to keep tuning into the regularly scheduled program or change the channel all together.
From New Moon to Full Moon, Pisces to Virgo, we try hard to find the earth and communicate our thoughts, our ideas, our vision. We are seeking order, but everything may feel tangled in confusion. The Moon reaches full culmination in double-bodied Virgo, Mercury ruled lunation, on February 24th. Mercury has just slipped into the slippery sea of Pisces. This placement is a challenge for Mercury who easily becomes enmeshed into too many options, no limits, no boundaries. Mercury is not only in both detriment and fall, completely lacking resources or allies, but also sits under the beams of the Sun for a few days. This depletes Mercury’s faculties and organizing principles to almost nonexistent. When the Moon reaches full illumination we hope to find some sort of conclusion or synthesis, yet I think what we may feel more is tension and opposition to what we attempt to accomplish, conversations we try to have. We may just have to sit here a little longer, with the light of the Moon as company but not solution.
Even Saturn who loves to build walls and establish order, is at a loss as he is just days from his own death. Saturn sits under the beams of a Pisces Sun, awaiting the final death blow, and preparing for his rebirth on February 28th.
The only illumination we may receive this time around is really a confirmation that things are plain out of order, and this can cause anxiety or a general feeling of unrest. Like the speed of the Moon, this emotion will shift quickly by the end of the week. Mercury who rules the Full Moon will be in a better position to receive enlightenment and establish better boundaries by the 28th.
Yet so much happens astrologically between the 24th and the 28th.
Pairing with this lunation, we also have both Mars and Venus in Aquarius squaring off with Jupiter, between the 24th and 27th. This again gets reflected back to the Piscean house, since all planets there are under the rulership of Jupiter.
These aspects can have us looking at a greater need for independence, a change around the old ways, seeking a revolution of heart and of mind. This square aspect comes days after these two planets, Mars and Venus aligned at 6 degrees of Aquarius. This square aspect is a continuing conversation between the two forbidden lovers, Ares and Aphrodite, like the golden net that caught the two lovers in a forbidden affair, judgement is laid. Yet even judgement cannot keep them apart. This square may bring tension to the relationship front as well as the collective, realizing values are misaligned, dishonest gestures are exposed and we just cannot keep carrying on like we once did. On the collective level, we may seek adjustments to technology, how we communicate, what triggers us and our collective values.
How we once played the game, we see rules are changing and our own values and way of doing things demand a system update, whether it be in personal relationships or community values.
Mars and Venus in a progressive air sign can be quirky, creative, and brave, yet it can also blur the lines of what is helping progress and what is hindering. We may act impulsively, passionately, but missing the social cues that help dictate receptive problem-solving. I envision a protest that begins peacefully, but erupts with unbridled passion that drowns out any sense of orderly sembalance. Both planets seem to be in search of greater independence, but at what cost and the judgement lies on the shoulders of Jupiter who sits in Taurus. This is a slow judgement, one that looks a both side of the issues and casts forward verdict after careful inspection.
We are left with more questions than answers, and as the week progresses it will be the Pisces sector that starts reworking the narrative. We have two planets dying off and awaiting rebirth, Mercury and Saturn. They both sit wasting under the beams of the Sun, on the 28th both will enter the heart of the Sun and be reborn.
Mercury first receives cazimi early morning on the 28th. This may be a real moment of revelation, important information surfacing. Considering this is occurring in the sign of Pisces, I would even suggest paying attention to dreams and what messages are coming through there. This is also a good time for quiet meditation, listening intently to what the subconscious is seeking and saying. Mercury is after all the demi-god that can traverse thresholds and mediate between the conscious and subconscious.
Mercury will then hit Saturn through conjunction just before Saturn hits the heart of the Sun. Saturn and Mercury hitting could be a knock back down to reality, and if you were feeling too lofty, dreamy and unrealistic this conjunction may feel like a sucker punch. It could also be the appropriate container for all the chaos that swirled earlier in the week, and provides the perfect bridge to goals and the path forward.
The Sun and Saturn together can be sobering but it can also establish a better routine, better boundaries, and a more realistic and mature approach to whatever ails. The Sun/Saturn alignment can also be viewed as an electric fence that you may not visually see the threshhold, but when you cross you know you have gone too far. This is a call-back to reality and perhaps a well heeded call.
On the 29th Mercury and Jupiter meet through sextile- a gentle, compassionate aspect. This is leap year day, an additional day in the calendar, and one we should see as a gift to not be foresaken. The Sun will also sextile Jupiter the following day. This is lighter period that provides relief, mending of fences, and allows us to digest and absorb all the new information that has been granted. Use this time to build bridges around mind and heart, communication of ideals and helpful paths forward will be easier to access.