Saturn Return Can Bite Me

Today's horoscopes

Michael Lutin is keeping it short: (not a permalink)

TAURUS AND TAURUS RISING

LET THE PROSPECT OF PROSPERITY BE STRONGER THAN SELF-CRITICISM

OR SELF-ABUSE (THE BAD KIND).

SCORPIO AND SCORPIO RISING

A RARE COMBINATION OF THE PASSION OF ADVENTURE
AND THE ADVENTURE OF PASSION.
FEAR NOTHING.

astrobarry:

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Please start getting used to this mushrooming degree of social interactivity. Not only is your increased presence as casual companion, chit-chat partner, brainstorming contributor, friendly devil's advocate, and all-around member of the local chorus continuing to be deeply desired amongst your immediate scene, Taurus, but it's also a sign of things to come. Much of your best luck, in the months ahead, is likely to present itself circumstantially, serendipitously, based upon your stumbling into the place where the right people will just happen to be talking about the right thing at the right time, opening up avenues which otherwise would've been inaccessible to you had someone not happened to made such mention. Of course, none of this will just 'happen' if you don't continually situate yourself in the social environments necessary for such serendipity. Should you feel that faint (or less-than-faint) intuitive sensation of knowing, without rhyme or reason, that you should be out-and-about, joining along, saying yes to the invitation, doing your reading or writing in a local coffeehouse or watering-hole (rather than home, alone, again), please please follow that feeling. Give it a try this week, and repeatedly, for the next year or so.

SCORPIO (October 23-November 21): A cloud, which has been casting a certain all-encompassing shadow over your view on everything (whether by coloring the facts in too blindingly an either unrealistic or depressive tone), is really starting to lift. And along with it, Scorpio, your feelings on just what's possible for you in the foreseeable future should also be lifting… but only if you actually look out on the horizon, way ahead of where you are right now, and see exactly what it is out there that stirs a giddy excitement in your tum-tum. The biggest danger in how you engage this now-in-effect transition—and, therefore, the biggest threat to that rise in mood that's due you—stems from the possibility of your having become so habituated to this particular filter that you forget to explore your options, resigned to things apparently always continuing along this trajectory (or is it a rut?) they've been on (or stuck in?). Please remember you have choices… many more, perhaps, than you're even aware of. The worst lens through which you could presently view your life is that you're in any way stuck. I would much rather you feel slightly overwhelmed by the possibilities than boxed in by a single circumstance. From the overwhelm, you can begin to hear your heart singing more loudly and clearly once again.

Yeah... I am definitely in that funk that the last one mentions. I am so utterly stuck and overwhelmed that I can't see a way out.

Astrology Zone for Scorpio in June:

Money money money money:

Some signs are a little uncomfortable with dealing with complex, big money deals, but not you, dear Scorpio. You are known for being skilled at making money multiply while you sleep, and others wish they had your talent for these types of things. This all is fortunate, for you have a big money month coming up, so you can use the full extent of those financial talents, and prove to one and all, when it comes to negotiation, you do know exactly what you are doing. It looks like you will leave the month a good deal richer than when you entered it.

The part of your chart that will be brilliantly lit will be your solar eighth house of other people's money, associated with money needed to fund a big dream. Often the individual could not have all the money needed in savings to cover the large outlay you would need for a dream as big as you seem to have in mind. You may want to buy or renovate a house, go for your law degree, or start your own business. Eighth house money is often money associated with a bonus, large commission, mortgage, venture capital, legal settlement insurance payout, credit, and bank loan such as for a home improvement or car loan or as a line of credit, as some examples.

 If you are "shopping" for money, or expect come into money (like a trust fund when you turn 21) this would be the month it would likely happen. You may receive an inheritance that has been tied up in the courts, or receive a sum you applied for, such as for a sizeable tax refund, mortgage, student loan, or infusion of venture capital. Indeed June would be the month where everything financial comes together for you. If anyone owes you money, chances are, you will see that money now, whether you force that payment through the courts, or because the person has the money to pay you and calls you to give it to you.

Well, that would be nice....but I wouldn't practically expect this, you know? I don't have any money to inherit, no tax refund this year...no real reason for anyone to give me money.

This trend will be set in motion at the new moon, June 8, and in the ten days to follow. Be ready with a business plan or other documents to present just a few days after that new moon. In your solar eighth house this month will be the Sun, new moon, energetic, determined Mars (your ruler, giving Mars greater weight), and Jupiter, the great planet of good fortune. The fact that Mars is involved, your ruler, tells me that you may be spending a lot of money this month, but that does not worry me - sometimes you have to spend money to make money.

I don't want you to sign papers on the new moon June 8 or make any big applications that day because Mercury in Cancer and Uranus in Aries will be having quite a row off stage on June 8, and that's terrible for seeding new, important ventures. You need a sturdy, happy Mercury, not one involved in a food fight with Uranus when you take your first steps. Sign nothing and buy nothing on June 8.

Food fight?!

 This month, it's clear you are on a mission to develop a pipeline of money, and you know what you are doing. The better you have handled money in the past, the greater this new moon will help you now. All aspects are that way - past actions that you have already made will always provide the platform for your future. You can always improve on what you have already done, too, as everyone makes mistakes sometimes, and we become wiser for having made them.

 That would be nice.

Uranus may be arguing with Mercury but he will be outstandingly helpful to this gracious new moon, something to bear in mind. Gemini energy is very fast energy as it is, and so hold on to your hat, because Uranus brings lightning bolt surprise energy, so when things happen they will jolt you out of your chair, in a good way.

 ?

 It will be imperative that you are ready to act if you do need to find money, for this will be the only new moon of the year to fall in this part of your chart. New moons can move mountains, for they open new paths. As my Little Mom would say (who taught me astrology while I was a teenager and in college), you can have the best planets, such as you've had with Jupiter in your financial house while it toured Gemini since June 2012, but without the proper new moon, it's like seeing a gleaming pot of gold through your binoculars from the other side of a cliff, and being separated from it by a very deep and treacherous ravine, with no clear way to get across. A new moon provides access in a way no other heavenly body can do. When that bridge appears this month, you must be ready to walk over it.

Hmmmmm.

What if you are not looking for any money? Are you left out? Money may find its way to you anyway, which is a nice thought. There is another way things may manifest. You may have surgery, for the eighth house, so lit up, rules transformations through surgery, where your doctor (or dentist) removes the part of you that is hurting you, or fixes something in you, so that you can be well again. Mars is in Gemini, so if you don't absolutely have to have your hand, wrist, shoulder, elbow, or clavicle bones operated on, you may want to wait until the end of July. (Astrologers usually shy away from operations when Mars is touring the part of the body that the sign - Gemini in this case - rules.) If you broke your bone, go ahead, have the surgery. One of the things we soon learn in life is that we can't always have things perfect. Life happens and we go with the flow.

 Oy.

There is more good news! Jupiter is about to move into the wildly compatible sign to yours, Cancer, on June 25 to stay until next year, July 16, 2014! This is the first time in twelve years that Jupiter has visited Cancer, so the benefits to this trend will feel new and exciting.

Moreover, Jupiter is exalted in Cancer and that means Jupiter can now express his gifts of good fortune in an exceptionally beneficial, broad way to promote growth and expansion. Jupiter in a cardinal sign allows him a big and wide canvas, pointing goodness north, south, east, and west as far as the eye can see. In fertile Cancer, you can give birth to new ideas, ventures, creative expressions, and important new relationships - including the possibility for one very romantic one that takes sturdy root in your life - and yes, to the idea of giving birth to a baby, too.

Uh....yeah, I don't think so there. New ventures and ideas would be good, but I won't hold my breath on the rest. 

 October-born Scorpios will be the very first to feel the good news, but every Scorpio, of every birthday, will have their turn at this wonderful energy. Jupiter will not retrograde until November 7, so you have an open road ahead, dear Scorpio! (This is exactly the same forecast for you if you have Scorpio rising. You would only know your rising sign if you have had your chart done with your day, month, year, city, and time of birth. The rising sign is the same as the ascendant.)

 And that's why I print Scorpio-only on this one.

Once in Cancer, you will expand your influence overseas, and your thinking will turn from "think local" to "think global." If you have ever wanted to work, live, or study abroad, this would be your time to do it, in the coming nearly thirteen months. Matters related to immigration, passport, citizenship, green card, and visa would become easier to navigate. If you've wanted to sell your goods or services overseas, your wish can now come true - start focusing on that goal. Anything having to do with study or travel will go very well from now on, so if you hope to get a grant or do special research overseas, the world will be your oyster.

 I'll be honest with you: I don't have a lot of interest in abroad. It's not that I'm a homebody so much as travel is just kind of hard for me to do in general. Look, it took me to age 35 to go on a trip alone to the other end of the state--foreign travel is waaaaaaaaaaay out of my current league and finances. It would take a lot to get me to leave North America, and I don't have the burning desire on my own to save my pennies for years or whatever to go in the first place. If someone gave me a free trip, I'd probably go, but I don't care enough to get off my ass and go alone. And I'm not overly hyped to go to places that are colder climates, where I don't speak the language, where there's skeevy men, etc.

I am apparently quite weird for this.

 Because the ninth house, so lit up for you as of June 25 and in the coming months, will be where all your personal growth will take place, and this house has to do with the taking in of ideas and concepts, as well as giving it out, such as a professor or reporter would do, you will also do well in the publishing and broadcasting fields. Intellectual debate takes place in this house too, so you may be asked to be on a panel in your industry, or write and publish an important book on your viewpoint that gets a lot of attention.

Okay, this is more my thing.

You may feel that after a month of negotiation and financial calculation, you need to get away and the full moon June 23 seems just made for a trip for you - it will also bring those month-long negotiations to a close. This is a very friendly full moon, for Saturn is standing by to lend stability, Pluto will be within touching distance to make you feel powerful and so very satisfied that you got things in your contract "just so," and Neptune will sprinkle this full moon with inspiration and vision. Wow, you can't ask for more!

 Scorpios born October 25, plus or minus five days, will especially love this full moon. If you have a natal planet in your chart at 2 degrees Taurus, Cancer, Virgo, Scorpio, Capricorn, or Pisces, you will benefit, too. Watch to see what happens!

 Yeah...a lot of stuff has been hitting me there lately.

 

This week's horoscope roundup

Michael Lutin:

"SCORPIO AND SCORPIO RISING The transition you are going through is life-changing. Like most members of your noble sign, however, you probably prefer to go it alone, bravely and in private. For you, transformation is actually an ecstatic process and you find such experiences both challenging and uplifting. Your current situation is not Unlike giving birth–the old-fashioned way. For many Scorpios the pain of change is a small price to pay for the orgasmic bliss of heading into the unknown."

What fresh hell "orgasmic bliss" is this, anyway?

TAURUS AND TAURUS RISING

Some people we could mention certainly seem discant, unavailable and even downright harsh and rejecting. That has got to hurt. Even if they do seem hard to read, slow to react and respond, or are intransigent, your best course of action is not retaliation. Generosity is the key. Share what you have. Know that you are rich and can afford to give gifts. Be charitable. You have to much. You have so darned much. Just look at your life. This is true wealth. besdies, who has everything?

Well, distant and unavailable is totally true of late.

AstroBarry is kind of the opposite of this:

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): It's high-time to spend the next several moments appreciatively experiencing all the sociable interaction available to you, Taurus, right here in this immediate neighborly environment you've comfortably ensconced yourself in. No need to strive, no need to look far and wide for the next great stimulating mind-opener… as if to discredit the fact that you've, not entirely accidentally, already surrounded yourself with a roster of wacky figures who hold more than enough ideas and opinions and topics for offhand armchair-punditry to keep you stimulated for a while to come. Should you become too compelled by pushing toward the so-called 'big payoffs'—the ideal relationship, the perfect job, the missing link to feeling as if your life finally has meaning—you will completely miss out on the underlying social-connectedness that cradles you into this already-pretty-ideal-if-not-utterly-perfect milieu of people who, even if they don't know you all that well, actually care. What a wild concept, eh? People who you're already acquainted with, who are already around and available to contentedly piss away a few spare hours in your company, actually caring about you… and actually noticing whether or not you are present. Maybe moment-to-moment satisfaction is a lot closer than you think.

Erm....?

SCORPIO (October 23-November 21): Where in the world are the rising tides of change going to carry you on your next adventure? Accepting the truth of your being, Scorpio, entails acknowledging your soul-need for periodic life-overhauls which, yes, create a lot of stormy perturbations in their wake… but which also, of course, ensure that you are absolutely making the most of your brief time here in this singular incarnation. You're at the dawn of an approaching influx of soul-searching contemplations, arriving at just the right moment to tap into your readiness for another something new: a new location to explore, a new set of ideas to sink your teeth into, a new cast of characters to perform your magical feats alongside, a new scenic hike toward that great goldmine-in-the-hills to set off on. Doesn't that sound exciting? As growth-inspiring a personal opportunity as this next adventure may indeed promise, there's also no denying that, to get from here to there, you'll probably need to deal with at least one very awkward exchange (if not, more likely, several) with someone apt to be displeased by how it'll affect them. No matter what you end up doing, I advise you to begin tackling such looming exchanges as quickly as possible. When the other person tries to characterize it as an interpersonal issue, keep rightfully reframing it as being about your own ongoing—and independent—evolution.

Hm....well, this is how I am feeling--along with being fucking stumped--of late. Though I fear my transition will just be a lack of transition, as usual.

Silverwheel Astrology:

Scorpio
24th October – 22nd November
Very interesting month for Scorpio; the dynamics of certain situations are complex, yet are likely to symbolise events that unfold smoothly and easily. You are not at the centre of events yet you have a sense of control, and also the awareness that trust in the unknown is essential to success right now. Others provide you with ideas and guidance that you’ve been waiting for but it’s you that turns it all into something you can really work with. From the 25th Jupiter (traditionally about luck and opportunity) is spotlighting your travel and learning chart, meaning the joy is in the journey for the next year or so.

Hmmmm....

Sagittarius eclipse today

Mystic Medusa:

So this Full Moon in Saggo Eclipse is like a circuit-breaker, rut-buster deluxe bit of astro-weirding. Yes radical candor but high chance it is mostly to your self.

And it’s square Neptune so there is also a strong sense of delusions cracking, omg psychological insights unavailable to you during normal transmission and a haute degree of awareness around any addictions.

Moonkissd:

Neptune, like Twelfth House planets, is accompanied by that vague and fuzzy, dazed and confused feeling. If we want to nail down anything, a relationship or health problem, we won’t be able to. We can’t see very far into the future. Nay, we may only barely be able to see the next few feet in front of us.

Sagittarius is the sign of overarching perspective, of the big picture, and Gemini is the sign of information, data, questions and more questions. We may want more information, to have our questions answered, and maybe we even think if we had all the right answers and puzzle pieces in place, the answers would save us. But Neptune, square this “searching for answers” axis, doesn’t work that way.  At this full moon, there is no one right answer, because what’s required in order for our confusing situation to shift is not a solution or answer per se, but an expansion of consciousness. This doesn’t arrive via email, Amazon.com or another person; you can’t clear things up with a big relationship talk, at least not right now. Instead, it’s a sloooow inward process of surrendering and opening. We may want to make a move but feel immobilized, paralyzed, uncertain about the future. At this moment, that’s exactly as it should be. Sometimes the only answer we can trust for sure is, “I don’t know where to go, what to do.”

Oh god, this is so how my life is going right now. It's freaking terrible. Or at least, I am so incredibly sick of being a slow, late, non-bloomer that I could vomit. I'm angry that my prediction didn't fly, and I got told recently that I cannot find true love until I am 40 years old--I specifically have to be older and wiser, with an older man (I have had heinous experiences dating older men and I DON'T WANNA).

I don't want to believe it, but let's face it: that's how my life is going, that's how my astrology goes, and even though I doubt most of what this psychic told me, that's probably the one super true thing in there for sure.

I am definitely not going to know what the hell I'm doing by the end of May. I don't know anything other than here I am, stuck beyond stuck, slow beyond slow. I want out of this, I want out of being me, and I don't know how to do that and don't think I ever will know.

Planet Waves (plus monthly horoscope)

As such it may relate to an old question that’s coming up again. To me that question is: what do you believe in? The answer to this question has more influence than you might think. In many ways our beliefs are the filter through which we perceive very nearly everything.

The problem with beliefs is that they are often driven by security needs rather than by what we perceive as real, or as necessary. If you eat meat, you have to believe that eating meat is OK. If your husband is a staunch conservative, you may need to believe in conservative values in order to meet an emotional or environmental need.

My take on this eclipse is that it (that is, the circumstances it describes) may prompt you to question something you thought was true, or that you thought mattered to you. You may find yourself unable to believe in what you know is not true for you. If you follow that in (as they say in some kinds of therapy) you may find yourself with an actual question on your hands — a question of faith.

Plus monthlies...

Taurus (April 19-May 20)
Seen one way, the focus of your life is on communicating your feelings, and slipping into a way of being where that comes more easily than you might expect. By ‘feelings’ I mean your point of view, your desires and the sensation of what it’s like to be alive. By ‘communicate’ I mean with others, though more significantly, with yourself. While I would not want to deny anyone consciousness, it often seems like we live in a world where many people have no idea what they feel, and I would say that most humans would be a lot better off if they did. You may, at first, experience the transits this month as magnification or exaggeration. If so, that’s an invitation to pay closer attention to the nuances and the cycles that seem to run your emotional experience. You still seem to have a disagreement with yourself over something, a potential grudge, judgment or inner dilemma where there may indeed be two sides of the story. If so, I suggest you get those two sides into a discussion, perhaps even a negotiation. Do your best to understand both points of view. Neither is strictly true; neither is incorrect; the two added together don’t tally up to the truth. Yet a new depth of understanding can emerge from an extended inner dialog, particularly if it’s gentle and emotionally grounded. This is as much about what is true as it is how you feel about it. Listen to your mind and your body.

 

This week's Michael Lutin

TAURUS AND TAURUS RISING

When you have a yen, naturally you’re want to go after it. Gotta wait sometimes, however, mainly because the people you are depending on to deliver are often taking their damned sweet time to get around to dealing with whatever they have to do to satisfy your yen. And THAT can be frustrating. What happens when the Moon is Full in Sagittarius at the end of the week? Then you see you’re not going to be thrown to the wolves after all. Quite the contrary. You’re actually comfortable. People CAN be generous.

That is totally on the nose about how sick I am of waiting on others....

SCORPIO AND SCORPIO RISING You yearn for a deep and moving, profound emotional connection. Ok, but how can you have that though when you idealize people in the beginning and then reject them because they don’t meet your romantic standards? You need relationships but you have to be alone too. You do have to fulfill your responsibilities to yourself. The constant Scorpionic yearning continues, and there doesn’t seem to be signs of any letup either. You’ve got the punch and the magnetism, and the crowd does seem to need what you’re offering. But is it worth it?

This week's Aquarium Age

Weekly frequency:

Taurus April 20-May 20
Call it a crisis of faith or a test of spiritual nerves--whatever you name this process doesn’t matter. You’re being asked to discard belief systems that are no longer congruent with actual experience. 

Scorpio October 23-November 21
Communication is the heart of the matter, especially sharing what you need from those that matter. Remember: Vulnerability is the core of emotional strength.

Well, those certainly fit my week...:/

This week's astrobarry

Here.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Set off on multiple approaches to meeting your immediate practical goals, Taurus, rather than putting all your eggs in one basket. Don't rest with too much satisfaction if you've only sought a single person's guidance, when you might as well ask everyone for their opinions (since it's pretty easy to just ignore whatever you find unpromising). If you're looking for jobs or seeking further education, it makes no sense to wrap up a day's good effort after filing only one application. Increase your chances! Put feelers out there, left and right! Why settle for 'merely acceptable' when you can shop around at different locations around town, grabbing one bit from one source and another from someone else, patchworking together what'll perfectly suit your needs? Yes, there's a heightened chance of colliding with some not-neatly-resolved contradiction, should you follow this many-all-at-once I'm suggesting will presently work best: Your willingness to compromise too strict a list of non-negotiables could leave you momentarily doubting whether you've stayed in line with your stated values. Allow that tension to hang out there. It's too early to discern whether one of these multiple approaches is actually ethically problematic—or whether it's your too-severe ethics needlessly limiting your opportunities. Try this, try that, try the other… then judge based on results, not abstract notions.

Uhhhhhhh.....???

SCORPIO (October 23-November 21): Pay non-judgmental attention to every time you behave in a way that seems to go against everything you earlier claimed to feel about that situation. Harsh self-judgment scares away these revealing expressions of psychic complexity, Scorpio, in much the same manner the hunter's rifle's gunshot noise frightens the tender bunny back into its hole where it must hide if it hopes to survive. That transgressive act you're compelled to carry out knows its very survival is in jeopardy, if it faces a direct confrontation with your contradictory claim of what you more rationally intend to do. It will shamefully crouch in shadows, praying to avoid conscious detection… only coming out in the dark of night, where it can play naughtily with other willful miscreants. But when you can't see what it's up to, it's likelier to cause you greater harm, threatening to create all sorts of undesired side-effects that you may have to carry along with you for some time to come. Instead, just notice the inconsistencies. Wonder what may be behind them. Allow them to emerge far enough so that you can study their character, with genuine curiosity about how you might eventually grant yourself whatever pleasure they're rousing you to seek… and, at the same time, still stay in line with your stated intentions.

Uhhhhh.....?????

Horoscopes for the week

This week's Michael Lutin:

TAURUS AND TAURUS RISING

Can a person be strong and weak at the same time? Is it a sign of true strength to reveal your vulnerability? Or, is it a sign of real weakness to flex your muscles and appear tough and independent, merely to compensate for your insecurity? When Mars and the South Node conjoin in your Sign, personality quirks such as these reveal the paradoxical feelings swirling around inside you at this time. The good news is that when you are relatively free from financial worry, even for a moment, life is good. You feel generous and bathed in the luxury of good fortune.

SCORPIO AND SCORPIO RISING People can really be heartbreakingly disappointing sometimes. It’s not always clear, however, whether you got fooled or your expectations were too high and unrealistic. Whatever the real story is, you’ve been clobbered before and you will probably be clobbered again. Now you have to make peace with the promises and oaths that are NOT likely to be fulfilled the way you hoped, but reorganize relationships to continue to be successful. Be the grownup when dealing with a child. As for grants and funding, good chance. As for sexual opportunities for those in the market, hold on to your hat.

And the Daily Fix is also quite appropriate to my psychic fail:

monday 13 may

HOW TO RECOVER FROM A CASE OF IDIOCY

Hey, once you learn the law of the Universe, it's really easy. At least that's what they say.

Something all about balance, which you need desperately this week.

Anger on the one hand, generosity on the other.

May have to tear yourself away from something you think you
still don't have enough of.

It's mostly anger at Self, which is even a stupider waste of time.

than any stupid thing you've been doing.

But Mars at the node could be irrational acting out.
(see astrology class)

Besides, over the next week or So,

Venus will touch Jupiter

so find a Gemini and enjoy yourself.

for the week check out

 

This month's Astrology Zone

I haven't checked out Scorpio for this month yet...

"As the month opens, a gathering of heavenly bodies in your opposite sign of Taurus is about to take place. The "guests" - the planets to this grand party in Taurus - have already arrived, including the Sun, Mars, and Mercury, and they are all awaiting the new moon solar eclipse in Taurus to set off the festivities on May 9 / May 10 (depending on your time zone). They are all meeting in your partnership sector, where all your attention will be drawn. Scorpio likes to have ultimate control, but this month that won't be possible, not with so much energy in signs opposite yours. This month, it's clear you may have come to realize that one plus one equals more than the sum of the parts - in other words, more than you could ever do staying in solo mode.

You now have Saturn in your sign, so you are taking just about everything seriously, for Saturn is urging you to stabilize you life and to develop a plan for the future. Mars is opposite Saturn, so the buildup of cosmic energy in your opposite sign seems to have you wondering if the idea of collaboration or commitment to a partner is a good one. As the month starts, you seem temporarily stopped in your tracks, because you are thinking deeply about how best to move forward, or even if you should do so. That's because Mars is all about taking action, but when opposed to Saturn, now in Scorpio, you might freeze temporarily. Mars will move on, and that feeling should pass, but there is certainly no harm in going slowly and thinking through all you need to do. From where I sit, forming a partnership seems to be the right idea, dear Scorpio, but you can know for sure.

Eclipses are very important to pay attention to, as they work differently than other aspects. Their job is to get you moving, to shake you out of complacency, and to help you find the weak links in your life, whether that will relate to an important relationship, or to certain conditions or your own assumptions. The May 9/10 eclipse will affect you if you have been dating and you hope to marry - it appears that your partner is ready to commit if you are, and you might be, too. Eclipses mark big life events you long remember and that form the structure of your life.

I'll bet...though the relationship thing is not a factor here.

You just had a lunar (full moon) eclipse last month on April 25 in Scorpio 6 degrees, and if your birthday falls on October 29, you likely felt the effects of that eclipse quite directly. Saturn orbited close to that eclipse, so your mood may have been somber, or the message that came may have been weighty and serious. If your health is not good, you must see a doctor this month to keep you feeling your best, as occasionally an eclipse will show up a latent illness that you had no idea you had, and should go to a doctor for advice (only a small portion of Scorpios will feel that manifestation of the eclipse.)

Ergh....of course, I'm reading this while I wait to hear back from the HMO about a prescription snafu that I hope isn't as bad as it could be. I have woken up too early the last couple of days freaking about it, but of course you can't do shit about it on the weekends. Plus I got the "Thunderbolt" (yup, Tower again) card as a daily draw in tarot, so...gaaaaah.

As for the 25th, my mood wasn't somber, anyway. Though like I said, someone else Taurean had a hard go of it.

That eclipse of April 25 also had you seeing yourself in a new light, from your talents and desires, and asked you to think about what would you like to do in the future. Part of the mission of an eclipse is to shift your perspective and see conditions, and your own capabilities, in a new light. Often a puzzle piece comes out of the sky, and once put into your overall puzzle, changes the whole complexion of what you know - and suddenly certain mysteries make sense. Eclipses bring a big floodlight of truth.

 Good!

f you are in a relationship, you began thinking late last month about your future together, and whether you are ready now to commit. The partner you thought about, and will continue to think about this month, could be a partner from your career, say, a business partner, collaborator, writing partner, agent, or other expert you work closely with to do your job, and hopefully, to get ahead. A solar eclipse brings your career strongly into the conversation because Leo rules the Sun, and Leo is the ruler of your solar tenth house of career. It seems you do need a partner of some sort this month to get ahead professionally - a lawyer, headhunter, or other human resources expert.

That figures...I've had people indicate as such to me before. No wonder I'm stumped-nobody's been around for that sort of thing so far. 

Maaaaaybe soon?

 "Eclipses speed up timetables, so no matter what you had planned on previously, you may have to change that now. If you see no future, you may have left last month as a result of the April 25 eclipse, plus or minus five days. If you needed more time to think, you will likely make up your mind before May is finished."

Oh good.

"Still, if you planned to get engaged, say, next year, something may come up to make that happen much faster. Here is an example: your fiance gets a new job in a foreign country - such as London, England - and wants to marry sooner so that you both can go together. Eclipses make us make up our mind, even when we don't feel particularly ready to do so!"

 I am not worried on the sudden elopement thing, but...yeah, making up my mind when I don't feel ready...erk...but probably necessary at this point.

"I like this new moon solar eclipse for you. Arriving May 9/10, in Taurus 20 degrees, it will open a door on a new era for a close, committed relationship, whether you hope to join forces for business or for personal reasons, such as marriage. "

Score!

"Within the days that follow that eclipse, if the relationship is strong, and you feel there's a future by joining together, talk will come up concerning those serious plans. Mars, of your two rulers, will reach the same degree as the eclipse (20 degrees Taurus) on May 17, so it's a day to watch, for Mars rules action, and things may fall into place rapidly."

Hm.... I guess we'll see.  20 degrees isn't a hot spot for me (it's in between mine).

"Pluto will be friendly to this eclipse too, and Pluto is your other ruler, so that's significant. Marriage and business relationships are serious, contractual deals, and fortunately, Pluto is in your third house of agreements and contacts - another good sign of good things to come. It's so hard to get Mars and Pluto to agree on anything, so now that you have both in sync, you really do have an excellent outlook for forming an alliance."

Oookay then!

"An eclipse will always fall on a new moon or a full moon - two weeks apart. New moons are always (without exception) a solar eclipse, and similarly, all full moons are lunar eclipses. Full moon lunar eclipses are much more emotional than a new moon eclipse, as they bring things to a conclusion. Lunar (full moon) eclipses end things, while new moon solar eclipses like you have on May 9/10 begin things. I find solar eclipses (like May 9/10) to be exciting, and lunar eclipses, because they finalize things, sometimes make us a little sentimental.

What is the difference between a regular new or full moon and one that is eclipsed? A monthly, regular new moon or full moon would be powerful in their own right, but when eclipsed, they become much more so, with at least three times the power. Whoa! They become super strong! I have found that memorable marker dates tend to come up at eclipse time: engagements and marriage, births, promotions, the start of a new business, major surgeries, publication of an important new book, purchase of a house, the day to defend a thesis - you get the idea. Big life events, ones that become the pillars that form the very structure of your life, come at eclipse time.

As my mother, who taught me astrology, used to say, you may have wonderful aspects, but without a new or full moon to unlock its energy, it will just be lying dormant, but you won't feel it until you have a new or full moon in a significant angle to unlock its treasures. Typically there are only four eclipses in a given year, but this year we will have five - and three are happening within four weeks, now! As said earlier, you have already come through the April 25 eclipse, and now we have May 9 (or May 10) and one more - May 25. This is a month of great change and adjustment!

The May 25 full moon lunar eclipse in Sagittarius 4 degrees will bring a financial matter to a close. The house that is so strongly lit is your eighth house of income and possessions. You may get a large increase in salary or see your income stem from a new source. You may buy something important - like a house or a car you've been saving up to buy."

That'd be interesting on the car bit.

"You may pay out a sum, too, such as for back child support or a large amount of money you owe a relative, or see it come in, such as a large commission or royalty check. An inheritance may be finally settled, and a check may be dispatched to you. Eclipses tend to bring important events, so paying your regular monthly credit card bill would not fit here - it seems bigger and more important than that."

Hah, what inheritance? Sadly, no tax money is coming in this year, so that ain't it either. Lottery? If I ever actually played it?

"I am not saying that anyone will deliberately deceive you, but with Neptune sending vibrations to your money house, confusion may happen innocently. This is just another reason you need to see all facts and go over them carefully."

Sounds like my usual (Neptune in 2nd) when it comes to that sort of thing. Same diff.

"On the flip side, Uranus will be very friendly and may bring a source of income to you suddenly, quite out of the blue. This would be wonderful, and seems likely, but it will be up to you to respond quickly, to take full advantage! If you are in your own business, a new client may come in, and if you work for others, you may be asked to do a freelance project on the side (as long as that is OK with your present employer)."

Yeah, this would be more likely for the unlikely...hah, there's a sentence for ya. But yeah, I'll keep an eye out!

"Only two days after the eclipse, on May 27, Mercury will join with Jupiter in your house of other people's money, so that is a day you are likely to get superb financial news. That day, May 27, is the Memorial Day holiday, so most people are not working in the US. This day has a little halo around it, however, so you may hear news before the long weekend, on May 24, or just after, on May 28.

Speaking of May 28, Venus will meet with Jupiter on that day, an exceedingly rare aspect, making it divine for making a promise to your one-and-only sweetheart, or for hearing good news about money. You may win a contest, for example, or receive a beautiful, expensive gift. There are many possibilities, but the point is this: when it comes to month's end, Scorpio, you will have the Midas touch!"

Hmmm...I rarely remember to check these things later to see if anything actually happens around those days, but I should.

Today's astrobarry

Eclipse talk:

New moons provide us a monthly opportunity to reset our intentions and plant the seeds of that which we'll watch develop… and solar eclipses are the hyper-charged superhero version, bringing an extra life-transforming potency to whichever intentions we ritualize a commitment to shepherding into material being over the months to come. Thursday's Taurus eclipse is conjunct the lunar South Node, indicating that this one carries an energy of past habits culminating.

In the two weeks since Apr 25's Saturn-heavy lunar eclipse, we have become more acutely aware of how our long-repeated behavioral patterns have reaped certain results, which can only accrue over time... and of whether these results have left us delighted or disgruntled. Our recent attempts to alter the less desirable patterns likely reactivated them with renewed potency, as our inner stubborn-reactionary seeks to compensate for the discomfort of change. There is uncanny familiarity to this straddling of past and future. We have been here before. As we feel the attraction of that path-of-least-resistance pulling us backward into old habit, we can passively choose to succumb to its magnetic power—or we can stubbornly affirm our refusal to fall back, no matter the potential losses.

During the eclipse-dominated week ahead, Mercury and Mars will conjoin, an aspect that unites our mind (Mercury) with our might (Mars) for an unconflicted consolidation of personal energy. A Mercury-Mars conjunction means that our words will be undergirded by an attitudinal strength to carry through with what we say—an excellent influence with which to fortify our eclipse-inspired intention-setting. This conjunction also brings serious fighting power, should we need to demonstrate our unyielding resoluteness to those who may doubt us or threaten to obstruct our progress. Its Taurus tone permits us to be patient, should the situation demand that we restate our intent multiple times… but only up to a reasonable point. Once we cross that line to anger and/or discover the attempt to communicate our reality is falling on deaf (or just plain dense) ears, there will be no going back.

Just hours before the eclipse is exact, Venus will transition out of Taurus and into Gemini, a sign with a great deal more flexibility than its predecessor. (Venus stays in Gemini through June 2.) Considering that, as ruler of Taurus, Venus will serve as dispositor for the eclipsed Sun (as well as the Moon, Mercury and Mars), this dash of Gemini color promises to help us find alternatives in any circumstances where we have tired of hitting our head against an unmoving wall. Though our guiding resolve must remain firm if we hope to topple old habits and/or establish new ones, our relational methods of interacting with people who've been somewhat out-of-sync with our recent efforts to change could probably benefit from a bit of experimental tinkering.

During our roughest moments in the transformational process, according to Venus in Gemini, we might reach toward less obvious allies, folks with supportive sentiments we haven't already heard… try different modes of communication, diffusing any standoffs by adopting a 'side-door' manner of opening further dialogue… agree not to continue a dead-end debate, accepting instead the necessary partiality of certain interpersonal connections, learning to appreciate them for their areas of easier overlap while avoiding the touchier spots… and/or to simply turn the other cheek, focusing ourselves only on those social relations that help us get where we want to go and ignoring the others, temporarily or forever.

To consciously set a habit is to adamantly refuse to allow encounters with any complicating obstacle (whether an internal psychological knot to untangle or an external conflict to navigate through) to sap our spirit, discouraging us from believing we can succeed. To set a habit is to preserve our precious forward momentum no matter what it takes, even at certain collateral costs.

And horoscopes:

SCORPIO (October 23-November 21): This is a lot of energy to be expending on angling for position in relation to that certain someone else. Not that this an unfamiliar role to once again find yourself in, is it, Scorpio? It's almost like you're built for constant preoccupation with the ever-changing psychological state of whoever's co-starring with you in the latest epic… and for constantly bouncing your own varying efforts-of-engagement at them, from one dramatic angle and then another, to determine what might stick the best landing. Interpersonal engagement, of course, is one of the greatest blessings of being alive. The insights into the human condition which you possess, likewise, provide you a shrewd ability to feel into the specific zones where you're likeliest to strike the most charged connection with your target-of-interest. But does that shrewd insightfulness sometimes work against you in relationship? After all, too acute an awareness of what makes another person tick, tingle, or turn on can actually cause you to play to their reactions—as opposed to, say, just doing what you would do regardless of what they're up to. In other words, you could get so caught up in successfully generating desired responses in others, you overlook what you as an individual most desire. Remember your approach to relationships is now actively evolving. To help it along, consider energy conservation as a goal.

I want to make some comments on the Taurus one:

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Thursday's south-node-conjoined super-Taurean solar eclipse is an outstanding occasion for you to bid a firm farewell to self-identifications that just don't serve you. As you well know, Taurus, the mirror-reflection of your sign's steadfast reliability is a fierce resistance to too-much-too-soon change: Why make a move until you're damned sure it's the right one? Yet, after too long, the motivational self-talk about how you want to change your life (but only once this, that, or the other has been completely taken care of or solved) coagulate into hollow words you subconsciously start to doubt, much as a disappointed friend might learn to ignore that one more promise made to them when it's uttered atop a field of broken ones.

Hah. That is so very, very, absolutely true. I haven't the faintest idea how one flies by the seat of their pants on that! 

When I say there is no time like the present to actually make the change, I am not speaking idiomatically: This is literally the most excellent time to force those rooted feet out of the indentations they've eroded into their cushy resting-places, and onto unfamiliar terrain. Ritualize this moment with at least one risky step… an initiatory adoption of some behavior which, though it may go against the constantly-rerunning stories you tell yourself about who you are and what you do, is absolutely essential for enacting the change(s) you already know you want to make. To help this along, I strongly suggest physically removing some material item from your life that symbolizes who you aren't anymore.

Well, I don't have the time to worry about throwing things out of my house, but I am definitely doing one risky initiation step soon...