Sun and Mercury in Aquarius

The current big news is that Mercury and the Sun are about to enter Aquarius. But first let's review some events of the past week -- this has been a transitional moment for partnerships, including marriages and marriage-like relationships.

Mercury as seen by the Mariner 10 spacecraft. Photo by NASA.

Through the past weekend and into this week, Venus, Juno, Saturn and Pluto have been dancing around in an aspect pattern. There is a gentle push for what might feel like immediate change -- though really, it's a confrontation with long-pent-up feelings about the way we are conditioned to be in relationships.

This is not just about the relationships themselves; it's about the cultivation of a certain sense of being, or self, or existence, that makes us able to be in relationships that don't work for us -- and when we start to grow, the relationships can be strained. That's been happening, and there has been a long discussion brewing in the planets, which peaked this week, about the nature and meaning of marriage and associated models of relating.

As for Aquarius -- this is the sign of groups, and of group thinking -- this is to say, the dynamics as they change when an individual meets several other people. Mercury ingresses that sign on the 19th and the Sun a bit later the same day.

Note that just before Mercury and the Sun change signs, they form a conjunction in Capricorn at 3:56 am EST on Jan. 18. This can lend itself to the ability to convey ideas to others, especially in a teaching situation. However, Mercury conjunct the Sun can also contribute to a lack of perspective, as ego-consciousness (the Sun) gets right up in the mind's eye (Mercury). Light can blind as well as it can illuminate.

If you've found yourself in a situation where tempers and egos are getting in the way of clear perception and thinking, consider taking a step or two back away from the immediate action. Things could cool off as Mercury and the Sun enter Aquarius, allowing for some damage control -- and an open, airy space for new ideas.

Simplified chart showing the Sun at its moment of ingress to Aquarius, with Mercury (green critter with horns) just ahead of it. At the top are Venus (blue 'female' symbol), Juno (purple asterisk) and Pluto (red golf tee) in Capricorn. Mars (red 'male' symbol) is approaching a conjunction to Nessus (aqua glyph), a centaur planet in late Aquarius.

Mars is already in Aquarius, and it's going to be making an aspect to a slow-moving point currently there, which could trigger some emotional material in group environments. The upshot of all of this is to pay attention when you're in a group of three or more people. Make sure you preserve your individuality. I don't mean by being an annoyance or antagonizing anyone, but by being true to yourself and what you believe. Being true to yourself means not giving up your power to others, for approval or acceptance or any other reason.

And what about the Moon? It leaves Aries for Taurus at 8:36 pm EST on Friday, Jan. 18. Taurus Moons highlight our sensual and material natures, bringing questions about value (including the quality of our sensory experiences) and resources to the forefront. As the Moon opposes Saturn in Scorpio the next day, notice whether you feel any sense of limitation in these areas -- especially if it seems to be coming from another.

That Taurus Moon will be making favorable aspects to the Venus-Juno-Pluto grouping mentioned in Capricorn. It may feel easier this weekend to sense how any insights you've had recently about relationships, marriage, jealousy and love can allow you to act in better alignment with your overall values. A Moon-Mars square in the fixed signs Taurus and Aquarius could give a stubborn edge to any emotional flare-ups in groups this weekend.

On Monday the Moon moves into Gemini at 9:04 am EST. Those working on Monday can look forward to a mentally focused (or perhaps distracted) and communicative day.


To purchase the signs individually please use this link.
Reader Feedback on LISTEN, the 2013 Annual Readings

Dear Eric,

Just got through listening to Capricorn Listen. It was remarkable and so healing to listen to! The Pluto transit can bring a lot and it's hard to wrestle it down into words unless you're in therapy perhaps. But you did just that and in the end gave us a focus as we pass through our personal underworld into the light. Thank you for your persistence, patience and brilliance.

– L.

Dear Eric,

I am weeping with happiness right now after reading and “listening” to your Aquarius reading. Tears are running down my face and I am sobbing. But that is a good thing.

I don't know how to express my gratitude for your reading of Aquarius. I am thinking that you should attach happy rabbit ears to the picture of you in your hoodies. I feel understood, and APPRECIATED for who I am at this point in my life.

Love you Eric, and Thank You and All at Planet Waves.

Love,
E.

Dear Eric,

I just listened to Part 1 of the Capricorn audio; tears of joy as I absorb the truth of your interpretation as I am bathed in the bright sun coming over the golden gate bridge on the morning commute! It verifies my experience since the new millennium, celebrates all my hard work, releases me into the beauty, richness and privilege of this time. Love the music -- really icing on the cake. A magnificent start into the LISTEN journey! Just a little feedback for you.

Big virtual hugs,
L.

Plus a few more random bits of feedback:

Thank you for a brilliant, just amazing reading for the next two years, though I will listen next year as well. You are very generous of spirit.

Eric, just a quick note to say I am blown away with the relevance of LISTEN. I have to listen again and am still processing before I can really comment, but so far, it's astounding in it's direct application to the state of my life NOW.

The accuracy of this reading and framing of concepts is brilliant.

I just finished the first half of the audio. So affirming. It's like Eric has been living at my house these last few months.




Here is an audio introduction to LISTEN, the 2013 annual edition, which includes readings for the 12 Sun and rising signs. Each reading is about 3300 to 4000 words in length, plus two 40-minute audio readings. This half-hour audio explains how I did the work, and what is included with your purchase.

In the LISTEN readings, I cover a diversity of personal growth issues, relationships, money and professional development. Different signs have different emphasis; the written and audio readings are completely different, though there may be occasional overlap. The audio was all completed on Dec. 20 and the written was completed Monday.

Subscribers can get all 12 signs for the price of three. Individual signs are $19.95, which includes access to the associated articles and resources that are part of LISTEN. If you are not a subscriber, you can get a free trial subscription and still be eligible for the subscriber price.

Use this link to purchase the signs individually.




Your Monthly Horoscopes -- and our Publishing Schedule Notes

The January monthly horoscope was published Friday, Dec. 21. Inner Space for January was published Friday, Dec. 28. The December Moonshine Horoscope was published Tuesday, Dec. 18; we will be publishing the January Moonshine on Tuesday, Jan. 22. I recommend reviewing the monthly horoscope at the end of the month. Please note that the longer monthly horoscope is being incorporated into the Friday issue after the Sun has entered a new sign; a new Inner Space is still emailed on the following Tuesday.




Weekly Horoscope for Friday, Jan. 18, 2013 #934 | By Eric Francis

Our new zodiac glyphs are by Neisha Hirsch.

Late Capricorn Birthdays

You may have gone through an unexpected, rather thorough revolution in your values over the past few weeks, casting off ideas that have not served you, embracing other ideas that feel right and most of all, bringing yourself firmly into the present moment. That is the place to stay; that's the place to find your true purpose and your authentic pleasure. Venus in your sign is suggesting that you understand that your ideas about love are changing. Your ideas about commitment are going through a kind of modernization process. And you are developing an ability to see your insecurities for what they are. I suggest you stay close to your fear this year instead of running from it. Pay attention to what it's saying and see if you can figure out where it's coming from. In so doing, you can gradually cultivate your freedom. Note to Capricorns: I plan to have your birthday reading in one week. I also invite you to check out your LISTEN annual reading. They will be significantly different products.

Early Aquarius Birthdays

This is a visionary time in your life. That means it's a time for you to open your eyes and see who and what you are, and embrace who and what you can be. I suggest an actual, immediate and informed process of considering your potential. This would include any evidence (in the past or present) of your talents, any desires to accomplish something unusual that you may have kept to yourself or abandoned, and accounting for how you feel about the fact that you're alive and have a life to live. Most people look at their life as if gazing down the wrong end of a telescope. I have been there myself. What is near looks distant; what is large looks small; what is beautiful lacks detail or context. I suggest you turn the telescope around and consider where you may go. I suggest you use a wide-angle lens and see your life in context -- the widest possible context of you in a world that may be going through some chaos, but also one where anything is possible. Note to Aquarians: I plan to have your birthday reading in one week. I also invite you to check out your LISTEN annual reading. They will be significantly different products.

Aries (March 20-April 19) -- Be conscious of group dynamics. That means knowing what group dynamics are: it's the peculiar way that people change when they get together with a few other people. It's not always pretty. Groups in many ways seem like an invitation for things to get weird, and for people to surrender their individuality. You're not likely to do that, but I want to suggest that you take a special advantage here, and become the facilitator. The thing is, you need to do this in a slightly subtle way; as subtle as you can muster up for an Aries, which means using your political skills. Get to know everyone and their point of view before you state your own. Take the temperature of the people around you, and figure out which way things are headed organically. You may need to do nothing more than to guide things in that direction; you may need to intervene. Proceed gently, slowly and carefully and avoid, at all costs, being argumentative, aggressive or even overly assertive.


Taurus (April 19-May 20) -- You have been through some kind of 'test of faith', which has changed you in some way. It may have changed your point of view on a relationship or on relationships in general. The thing about faith is, we don't usually know we have it until it's tested in some way. There's another way to look at it, which is as an experience designed to bring you into the present moment. You have your share of old, quaint ideas that don't work for you. And that not working is no longer working. You need, and you are searching for, something new. I suggest you begin your search with an understanding of the purpose you want to serve. Discovering your purpose will suggest specific goals, philosophies and an approach to life. Much of this will involve the purpose of your relationships, which are an extension of the purpose of your life. So, the most basic question is: are these two things in harmony?


Gemini (May 20-June 21) -- You are in a phase of working things out on the idea level, including figuring out who are the right people to have in your life. You also seem to be experimenting with concepts for what you might do in the future. I suggest that you focus this process, and be prepared to put your ideas into action. There is a short timetable on some rapidly approaching opportunities. The timing involves Mars, which is currently in Aquarius and which crosses the sensitive 10th house of your solar chart when it enters Pisces on Feb. 1. This is a point of decision, action or opportunity -- and you will need to recognize it when you see it. You will also need to be prepared for a few challenges early on, which will give you the chance to prove your dedication to what you're doing and what you believe. This opportunity may be subtler or more humble than what we see glorified in the world around us, and it's of no less importance to you for being so. It's what you make of it that counts.


Cancer (June 21-July 22) -- If we need an ethic for the next age of humanity, it's 'the greatest good for all concerned'. When you think of the shift in thinking and orientation that would be required to use that idea, it seems like a lot. But it starts with something simple, which is being able to see past self-interest. I believe it's necessary to take care of yourself so you can participate in taking care of others, but that's another way of seeing beyond your own life as the cosmic be-all. Now, in your life, it may be, and this is the thing that I'm suggesting you stretch: that you stop and before making any decision, consider the influence on everyone who is involved. Then consider your self-interest. You are making progress when you're able to keep both in your mind at the same time, and consider the facts until you get some pieces to a solution set that works for everyone. Such a thing actually exists -- though it will help if you believe that first.


Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) -- The Sun and Mercury enter your opposite sign Aquarius this weekend, which places an emphasis on your relationships and in particular your relationship to groups. You've already been on this page for a few weeks, and I would remind you that you've already worked out most of the challenging issues, the bumps, the grinds and the potential points of contention. Therefore, the Sun and Mercury coming along are a likely point of empathy, cooperation and progress -- I suggest you run with this opportunity, and set about doing all the things you know you cannot do alone. You understand the personalities involved, and you have a good sense of what you want to happen. Here is the key -- creative leadership. Initiate the ideas that focus the goals. Set the goals that actually constitute progress. Count on your intelligence, that of the people around you and be the one who openly has faith in everyone else. It's a great role to have on the planet, and you happen to be the one who has this assignment.

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Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) -- You are certainly managing to stay busy. The key is staying healthy. To this end, I suggest you note the close connection between your mental state and your state of health. You are the living incarnation of psychosomatic: the mind influences the body. This is associated with having Aquarius on your 6th house, the house of health and work. Mars is now moving through this region of your chart, and that's an indicator to take care of your mind, which means to observe your mental state and to back down from your efforts when you start to overheat. You may want to do this preemptively and focus on certain points of conflict that have come up the past few weeks, and work them out while they are obvious and are still motivating you. Over the next few days, you may get the feeling that you were missing something obvious. And if you get that feeling and get that something obvious into focus, then I suggest you do what you know you need to do about it.


Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) -- Controlling tendencies have a root, which is usually some form of insecurity. Right now, any such tendencies that you have are being challenged by circumstances that are offering you the opportunity to see that you don't have control, but you do have a significant influence. I suggest you assert that influence, which involves asserting your creative authority. I am saying it this way to give you extra faith that your ideas are good enough to be authoritative; you can afford to be confident in them. That means putting them into words and maybe pictures, and presenting them to whomever you think needs to see them. Trust your creativity. Trust your ideas. They may need some revision, true of any idea really, but they are strong enough to stand up to a review and you are strong enough to participate. Make sure that you stay with the process of anything being implemented through to completion. Assert yourself at every stage. This could be big.


Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) -- If you've been feeling insecure lately, or struggling with family members or housemates, you should see a turn for the better this weekend as Mercury and the Sun ingress the sensitive 'home' angle of your chart. The key to success with those you live with and among is communication. You happen to be extra sensitive to what I will call the tribal level of reality, though if someone can find that reference in an astrology textbook in the Scorpio chapter I will be impressed; it gets overlooked, maybe even by you. When you don't get along with people, or when you feel like an outcast (even a little like one) it tends to color your whole life; you really feel it. You can now make up for some lost time by both expressing how you feel in a gentle way, as well as hearing from others how they feel and not being threatened by what they think, feel or believe. You really do live in a safe world, and it's essential that you keep remembering that.


Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) -- You are in possession of an idea that could change your life, and could even change the world. To be fair, these things pop up all the time, and plenty gets in the way of their development or manifestation. The first thing, however, is lack of respect for one's own thoughts; the second thing is lack of discipline and the third is usually difficulty communicating the idea to others. So I suggest you work on these one at a time, beginning with honoring your thought process, focusing your discipline to develop whatever it is you've been thinking about, and finally, learning to communicate what you're doing and why it's a useful thing. This equation may be the direction that your whole thought process needs to go in order for you to be successful. They're not such difficult steps, but they require actual self-respect; they can be equally good at helping you create it. That is the master theme of your astrology in these years of your life -- take advantage of it.


Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) -- Pluto in your sign has been seeing a lot of action these days. You may feel like you keep getting dragged into emotional dramas, or like people come running up to you and pounding their fists on your chest. As it turns out, you are the force to be reckoned with. You don't even have to do much and the mere fact of your existence is leading others to rethink their ideas and re-feel their emotions. One theme coming up is the nature of commitment, which is getting a total overhaul. You have seen, and gone through, some truly remarkable transitions over the past week or so, and I suggest you make sure you are seeing the world in the present moment, and meeting people where they are right now. It's likely to be a truly different place from what it was a year ago, a month ago or even a few days ago. What is happening in your life is evidence that both people and circumstances change. That means that you change, and you can count on this happening now.


Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) -- With the Sun and Mercury about to enter your sign, you may be feeling a mix of apprehension and excitement. What you may actually experience is a sense of grounding, and the ability to catch up with where some of your desires have been going. It's true that they've been running ahead of what you think you're ready for; that's another way to say that you're making progress and are oriented on forward motion. Over the past few weeks you've been through some kind of inner odyssey. Remember what you've been through; commemorate it in some way, preferably in a way that preserves a few of the details that may not seem important now but which will be significant reference points as the weeks and months of this year unfold. Always remember your inner reality, even as you make your way in the world. Always remember that you're part of a community even in your most deeply introspective or solitary moments.


Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) -- One gift of the next few weeks is going to be the opportunity to understand your fears, particularly the ones that get chalked up to being 'unconscious'. You want to know about this dimension of yourself because when the energy ramps up, as it will certainly do over the next two or three weeks, all of your emotions will be amplified -- and you don't want any hangups to get in the way of the fun, the opportunities and the potential that are waiting for you. You're about to become a magnet for human contact, and that will give you choices in the matter of who you associate with. I have a suggestion: stick with people who have a healthy opinion of themselves and their capabilities, rather than those who are overly self-critical or hung up. Resist every urge to 'fix' these people and instead, focus on what feels right for you. If you have something to say to someone who experiences struggles that don't turn you on, be direct, clear and gentle, and maybe remember when you were held down by a similar affliction; then get back to doing what you've wanted to do for so long.



Listen is done and beautiful. Monthly horoscopes are done. It has been a busy week for this little fish! I am looking forward to my first weekend off in a while.