Sun & Mercury Retrograde in Aquarius

Sun & Mercury Retrograde in Aquarius

Light. We are awestruck by the fervent light of sunsets. We are mesmerized by the quivering light of fire. We turn on electric lights to stretch our days, and make the night disappear into the forests and heavens. Light is pregnant with poetic impact. It conjures a sense of all things right, good and magical. We think of it as awareness - the “light of consciousness.” We can visualize light in our minds, but we don’t know exactly what light is... or what “mind” is. Light is made up of photons, but we don’t know if photons are particles (matter) or waves (energy) or both. Mind is made up of... thoughts? dreams? emptiness? consciousness? something as yet unnamed that may be matter or energy or maybe both? This month, the planets urge you to mind your thoughts, illuminate the shadows of your understanding, and screw some fresh light bulbs into your noggin.

A brief word from our sponsor:

My next quarterly workshop (3/1/15) on the planetary energies (eclipses and outer planet squares, oh my!) of the coming spring - and herbs to support an evolutionary path through said energies - only has a couple spots left. Sign up here, or contact Homestead Apothecary to get first dibs on the June 23rd class on summer’s planets (Virgo download and Venus retrograde) and herbs - and check out Homestead’s other fine offerings while you’re at it.

Sun in Aquarius: 1/20/15 - 2/18/15

Aquarius is a sign that enjoys surprise doses of the unfamiliar, the unusual, the unsettled and unsettling. With the Sun - our “light of consciousness” - transiting through this iconoclastic portion of the zodiac, it behooves us to stimulate our minds by expanding our community, meeting some new people, and shaking up our routines a bit. Your signpost this month is energy.

Do your activities energize or drain you?

Do the people in your life energize or drain you?

Do your ideas & perspectives energize or drain you?

Aquarius is a particularly frisky sign at the moment because its two rulers just went through some major changes around the winter solstice. Uranus, ruler of earthquakes, electricity and “Eureka!” moments, stationed direct then, which frees us to take tangible actions on our major insights of the past six months. Meanwhile, stodgy ole Saturn, ruler of boundaries, responsibilities, limitations, and authority, entered boundless and ebullient Sagittarius a couple days later. This means it’s time to climb some mountains, strive for some grander things in life, take a look at the big picture, declare our truth - and live by it. These major planetary changes are igniting Aquarius with renewed brilliance.

What is your truth?

What is your experience of reality?

Do you enjoy the reality you find yourself in?

Does your reality leave room for others - their truth, their perspective, their presence?

If your truth is inaccurate, how does that effect your reality?

Mercury Retrograde in Aquarius: 1/21/15 - 2/11/15

Too much smooth sailing would be boring, and so un-Aquarius-like. We need something to shake things up a bit. A Mercury retrograde cycle in the sign of Aquarius is just what’s needed to add a bit more mental voltage to our Aquarius month.

Let’s get the general Mercury retrograde advice out of the way: Mercury retrograde cycles are famous for disrupting the flow of modern life, but a few general precautions will help you get through this planetary bump in the road with a little more grace. First of all, as with any bump in a road, SLOW DOWN. If you slow down, you can be more flexible, catch some striking scenery you’ve been flying past without noticing, and thus appease our nimble trickster god. Some other Mercury retrograde rules of thumb are back up your communication devices (computers, phones, etc) and tune up your vehicles (bikes, cars, etc) BEFORE Mercury stations retrograde (1/21), and give yourself extra time to get around, and maintain a state of openness when miscommunications and transportation failures arise during Mercury’s retrograde.

As with any planetary event, there is something to learn during this Aquarian Mercury retrograde cycle. Learning is easy if you have an open mind, but we cannot learn if we are rigid in our perspectives. Aquarius is a fixed sign, ruled both by re-volt-ing, en-light-ening Uranus and conservative, limiting Saturn. If you wish to adhere to what you already know and believe, be prepared to suffer and cause suffering to others during this Mercury retrograde. The other option is to experience the liberation of allowing your mind to be blown apart by the illuminating insights available during this retrograde. Now more than ever, these insights come from our interactions with others. Then watch your creativity soar to exhilarating heights you never knew were possible.

The most basic principle of the planet Mercury is this: The quality and accuracy of our perception shapes our experience of reality. With Mercury in community-oriented Aquarius, we also enter into the territory of collective perception. We tend to seek out communities that support our current view of reality, but this retrograde cycle suggests it’s time to seek out people and communities that both challenge and recharge our view of reality.

What communication and perception issues have cropped up since the second week of January?

Do you feel stuck - in your life, in your creativity, in your relationships, in any way?

How might your perspective be keeping you stuck?

Which people that you associate with support your current view of reality?

Do these relationships energize or drain you?

Which people that you associate with challenge your current view of reality?

Do these relationships energize or drain you?

The Aquarius Lunation culminates in Leo: 2/3/15

The Aquarius lunation begins on 1/20/15, with Mercury at a standstill, conjoined with Venus opposite Jupiter, Mars conjunct Neptune, and the South Node conjunct Uranus. These combinations suggest it’s time to expand our consciousness to include others’ perspectives, deepen our compassion for ourselves, and release perspectives that put us in fight-or-flight mode. This new moon would also be a great time for an intentional, cleansing and self-loving, candle-lit bath.

What is the difference between action and re-action?

What is true liberation?

If liberation begins in the mind, what perspectives might set you free?

How can you love yourself more?

By the Leo full moon on 2/3/15, Venus has conjoined Neptune, while Jupiter is conjoined by the Moon and opposed by the Sun. Hopefully, you’ve practiced self-compassion (foundation), and are now ready to feel deeper levels of compassion for others (castle). For best effect, make sure your castle is built on a good foundation. You may feel pulled between your joy and your responsibilities, between yourself and your community, or you may feel like your mind is being blown at every moment. At this point, we are more than halfway through Mercury’s retrograde period, signifying it’s time to start experimenting with some of what we’ve learned in the past couple weeks.

What and who brings you joy and energy?

What and whom do you love?

What and who do you feel loved by?

What and whom are worthy of your energy?

Sun in Sagittarius, Loose Water Trine & Cardinal Cross

Solar Month of Sagittarius, 2013

Sun in Sagittarius: 11/21/13 (PDT) through 12/21/13

What comes into your mind when you read the following word?

REWARD

Spend some time with your answers (aside from any answers involving wanted posters from old Western movies or desperate lost pet flyers).  I’ll ask you again in the spring, & you’ll then find your answers to be quite different - richer & deeper in meaning, & with a sense of a vaster timespan.

On a similar yet different note, one of the things I get asked the most as an astrologer is, “When will things get better?”  The only honest answer to this question is, “There is no such thing as better.”  I’m a professional, so I have a better bedside manner than to say that directly to someone struggling with the beasts of life.  But these planetary reports are truth time, so it’s safe to say:

Things will not get better because there is no such thing as better.  Things will change, & hopefully we will evolve both as individuals & as a species so that we perceive & experience these changes in a more open way.

But for now, we are many planets, eclipses, & sensitive points deep in truth-telling, transformation-inducing Scorpio, in the throes of an on-going tense configuration of outer planets, decades away from gaining our bearings after the 2006 discovery of Eris (named after the goddess of strife!), & about to enter into an inner planet retrograding bonanza.  This age we find ourselves in, friends, is challenging.  But the coming solar month may feel just a tad softer than the previous month & the proceeding months, so whoop up & enjoy your holidays - or your avoidance of them - as the case may be... because we’ll be entering a dense time this Winter Solstice.

The Sagittarius solar month begins on November 21st with a close alignment of the recently stationed retrograde ruler of Sagittarius, Jupiter, dark moon Lilith & the Moon in the lunar home sign of Cancer, all widely trine Saturn, Mercury & the lunar north node in Scorpio, & recently stationed direct Chiron in Pisces.  This is a loose grand water trine, reminding you to manage your emotions this month.  Here’s how this planetary set-up asks you to do just that:

Cancer conjunction:

What happens when I deepen my faith in the support of the Universe?

How do I see my needs evolving, & how can I plan to support my future needs, rather than my present desires?

What needs am I afraid of acknowledging?  Am I projecting these “unsightly” needs onto others?

Scorpio conjunction:

Am I responding appropriately to my needs, & to the needs of those I’m closest with?

Am I effectively communicating my needs, or am I expecting others to just know what I need & provide it for me, like a mother for an infant?

Where do my needs & my deepest desires meet, & where do they diverge?

What are the most important responsibilities in my life - those things that having attended to them will allow me to die in peace, when my time in this body comes to a close?

Chiron in Pisces insights:

Which situations in my life will shift with the salve of FORGIVENESS?  Hint: Consider those wounds that will never go away in your most intimate relationships, & in your family.  Forgive the unforgivable, & see what happens.

Am I being compassionate enough - with myself as well as with others?

With the Sun in Sagittarius, the glues that will hold you together this solar month will be to maintain your optimism, deepen your faith, & do some behind-the-scenes work on taking right risks on yourself & your future.  With Sagittarian ruler, Jupiter in retrograde, you may find it difficult to act outright until the spring, or if you do get big plans set in motion now, expect them to revise, revision & realign in the coming months.  November closes with Venus in the shadow of her coming retrograde in Pluto-tinted Capricorn, & Mercury out of his recent retrograde in Scorpio.  One in-depth chapter closes, & another one opens.

In the first week of December, things lighten up a bit as Mercury enters optimistic Sagittarius on the 4th, & Mars enters Libra on the 7th.  This follows closely on the heels of the December 2nd Sagittarius new moon, so you’ll leap into a more hopeful, fresh start feeling around then. 

Mercury in Sagittarius:

What happens when I “zoom out” the camera of my perception in the various situations/relationships in my life?

What philosophies glue my experience of reality together in a way that inspires me to feel a vaster faith in the Universe, in humanity, & in myself?

Mars in Libra:

Am I compromising when a need to relinquish is necessary?

Am I standing up for myself when it’s necessary to stay my ground?

Am I doing the above in direct, effective & appropriate ways?

On the December 17th Gemini full moon, electrifying Uranus grinds to a halt in the sky as he stations direct.  At this point, the on-going Pluto/Uranus square - that challenges us as individuals & as a species to evolve the greater structures of our lives & governments while also managing outbursts of revolt against constrictions & jolting insights that rock our sense of reality - is now a grand cardinal cross, with Jupiter in Cancer & asteroids Vesta & Ceres in Libra.

Uranus stationing direct:

How have my revolutionary visions shifted since mid-July?

What is my inspiration now?

What is my muse now calling me to do that requires a new level of courage?

The cardinal cross:

How can I better balance activating my personal vision with nurturing & tending my most important relationships?

What can I do to live in better harmony with the earth, tending & stewarding this precious home we share with many other beings?

Am I being disciplined in my attention to the vaster shifts I’m making in my life?

Am I acting on my insights, & bringing them into reality in a way that accounts for the greater context of our shared reality?

Phew!  That’s quite enough.  We’ll get into the Venus retrograde in Capricorn (December 21st, 2013 - January 31st, 2014) in next month’s report.

If you’re the gift-giving sort, please note that I now have sweet little gift certificates available for any of my services, or as credit towards art, both commissions and ready-made.  Instructions for purchase can be found at the bottom of the astrology, CoAlithesis & Alithesis pages.

For more personalized insight, you may go here to schedule a private astrological consult, a healing session ($45 special on first-time treatments until 2014), or a healing intensive.  Consults & healings are both available in person, over the phone, or via Skype.  If you enjoy these reports, please forward this page on & repost it as you see fit.  Until next time, wishing you an inspired & expansive month.  Thanks for reading,

Rae Diamond

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rae13diamond {at} gmail.com

Mercury Stations Direct, Grand Sextile, Sun in Leo: 7/22/13 through 8/22/13

The great summer sea voyage of 2013 continues with another watery month.  True, we have some islands popping up in our midst, enabling us to rest & replenish now & again in the warming sun as it creeps out from behind the drifting & shifting Cancerian clouds into its full & fiery Leonine blaze.  Now, more than ever, your heart is your compass, & synchronicity is your guiding star.  With Venus entering Virgo shortly before & the full moon exact only a couple hours after the entry of the Sun into Leo, the month promises to be full-throttle, with a need to push outwards & upwards, & all the while, managing both the details & the big picture.  Ready?  Set?  Here we go.

But first, a public service announcement: Come see my last art show in Seattle, up at the Columbia City Bakery through 7/27.  It’s a magical retrospective of my favorite works from the past decade.  I’m moving to California, so some prices just might be negotiable...

The mind grinds to a halt in the last few days of the Cancer solar month as Uranus (insight) stations retrograde on 7/17 & then Mercury (perception) stations direct on 7/20.  In addition, we have no major planets in air signs for a while, so we must rely on our emotions (half of the major planets are in water signs) to guide us.  Although we’re in the bright days of summer, we are feeling our way through the darkness of our subconscious.  As for Uranus’ retrograde (7/17 - 12/17), whatever your big push for freedom is, allow it to change form as needed, perhaps in sudden & even shocking ways in the coming months.  With Mercury’s shift into direct motion, you can expect things that have felt hung up to get rolling by the end of July.  The best question to answer as Mercury finishes his thrice-long swim in Cancer is:

In what ways are my perceptions based on my past experiences, rather than what is actually happening here & now?

The grandest version of 2013’s Grand Water Trine is exact during the week of the 15th, further activated by Mars towards the end of that week, just before it morphs into a Grand Sextile at the end of the month.  This is a use it or lose it opportunity.  Maybe you’re trusting that everything will take care of itself, or day-dreaming a lot, or feeling swept up in shifting emotional tides.  That’s all well & good, but there are profound opportunities showing up during this time that do require action.  The general rules of thumb to follow are:

1, Think bigger.  Dream bigger.  Explore with & expand from your heart.

2, Put effort into manifesting what has deepest meaning to you, but be patient as this may require more time than you had anticipated, & you’ll need to stay open to surprising turns & detours.

3, Leave space & time for dreams & meditation.  Notice & welcome synchronicity, & above all, allow life to surprise you.

It’s a tricky balance of trust, effort & all the while leaving space for magic to come in to play.

7/27 through 7/31 are massively potent days with Mars activating a T-square with Pluto & Uranus, & the extremely rare occurrence of a Grand Sextile.  These two configurations offer a nice blend of the kind of discomfort that forces growth with the kind of ideal conditions that allow for growth.  Once again, I remind you to seize opportunities that come your way, & give them your all.

The Grand Sextile is a double grand trine, forming a six-pointed star.  Consider that astrology is based on how the planets appear from the perspective of the earth.  Hence, on Monday, 7/29, the earth will be surrounded by a six-pointed star - a potent mandala for those of you who enjoy meditating on images & yantras.  One triangle is the grand water (emotions) trine, made up of slow & fairly slow moving planets  (giving the configuration more potency because it lasts longer).  The other triangle, facing in the opposite direction, is a grand earth (manifestation) trine, lasting only that day.  The most basic interpretation of this energy is we are granted the ability to manifest our dreams.  Sounds good, eh?  As always, however, there is a potential dark side.  You must first make sure you are dreaming the dreams that are right for you:

Have I been ignoring my needs or the needs of my family in my strivings for personal freedom & attainment of major goals?

How can I advocate for myself & make sure I’m being nourished, even as I strive for freedom & for the attainment of major goals?

What are my Big Life Dreams, & what will it take to actually manifest them?

Are my dreams my own, or have I taken on the dreams of my family, of society, or otherwise obscured my true desires?

What is my body actually capable of doing from this point on, in regards to these aims?

Do my dreams, & my plans to manifest my dreams feel deeply nourishing to me?

Am I dreaming as big as I can, while remaining within the realm of what is actually possible to manifest?

Am I walking my talk?  How can I better walk my talk?

Is there anything (dream that doesn’t fit, a used-up relationship, work that no longer nourishes, etc) I need to sacrifice in order to attain those dreams that are truest & most important to me?

Let’s take an energetic look at the concept of sacrifice, which is a strong element in this grand water trine, & further potentized by that edgy T-square.  Sacrifice entails a massive release of energy - giving up something big, but also giving up the energy it took to hold onto & maintain that big thing - for the purpose of honoring something even bigger than that which was released.  There is, in this act, the opportunity to break a curse, to break free of bondage, & to open to a reality that may actually surpass the bounty & beauty of our dreams.  One final set of questions, then, to ask yourself throughout the remainder of July is:

What am I holding onto that is holding me back?

How do I feel bound, or perhaps even cursed?

What might happen if I gave up something/someone I never thought I’d give up?

What is the newness that is aching to emerge?  What nourishes that newness, & what squelches it?

What do I love that loves me back?  What stands in the way of that exchange?

In regards to this issue, you can keep that old saying in mind: If you love something, let it go.  If it comes back to you, it’s yours.  If it doesn’t return to you, it never actually was yours.  Sounds like another version on the theme of trust, eh?

The first half of August gives us an opportunity to assimilate the shifts instigated in the latter half of June & all of July.  How do you assimilate?  Rest!  Be present, & above all, BE.  There will be plenty to do in late August.  Take some time out in solitude at the New Leo Moon on 8/6 to connect very intentionally with your heart, perhaps through some creative outlet.  Express yourself to yourself, & see how you’ve changed.  Notice:

What brings you joy now that you are who you are in this particular time & place?

Well, friends, thanks for reading.  Next month’s posting will go into the nitty-gritty of another round of T-square activity, & more.  Until then, please wish me luck in my move to California, & drop me a line if you know of a nice cottage for rent in Oakland or Berkeley!

For more personalized insight, you may go here to schedule a private astrological consult, or an Alithesis healing session in Seattle (July 18th is my last available day).  In August, I’ll be available for phone consultations & for Alithesis house calls in the Bay Area.  By September, I’ll be practicing in Oakland, CA.  Until next month’s posting, carpe diem!  Please forward this posting on & repost it as you see fit.  Thanks for reading,

Rae Diamond

rae13diamond {at} gmail.com