Are you feeling especially sensitive at all, maybe reacting to minor upsets and frustrations out of proportion to what has actually happened? The Moon in its home sign of Cancer is upping the emotional ante as it approaches its opposition to the Sun — with us here on Earth stuck in the middle — and Saturn is pushing against the Sun, too.
Add to that Mercury still in oceanic Pisces and moving slowly in retrograde motion, and it’s no wonder so many of us are having trouble finding our emotional/psychological bearings.
It may help to remember that water spreads to fit its container — much like consciousness and creativity. Once we can feel the boundaries of the container, we can push off against them and glide; touch our feet to the bottom to reassure ourselves; climb on top of the container’s edges to get a broader view. Eventually, we move on to a bigger container.
But all of those options require the combination of will and physical action. Sometimes it takes a lot of work and discipline.
Today at 2:57 pm EST, the Aquarius Sun squares Saturn in Scorpio. The Sun in Aquarius is all about repeated bursts of innovation and individuality breaking patterns that had crystallized; then those innovations begin to set until the next eruption. Saturn in Scorpio is in the midst of a two-year mission to dredge and clear a deep channel through our emotional bodies.
Sun square Saturn could feel very challenging today. You might notice that, if you’re already coming form a place of sensitivity, frustration, confusion or emotional turmoil, your more self-protective instincts take over — in the form of a kind of emotional stinginess.
Even though the Cancer Moon is doing its best to encourage us to nurture those close to us in classically domestic ways, we do best at that when our own wells are full. If you’re feeling strained or spread thin, those nurturing impulses are more likely to turn inward. Add Sun square Saturn, and downright selfishness might creep in.
On the more productive side, Sun-Saturn can indicate discipline and hard work. That’s the side of this coin to use as currency today if you can. Sometimes the only way out is through; it can take genuine work to process highly charged emotional dynamics. Therapy takes work; pursuing a path of healing and growth takes some discipline — along with tremendous compassion for oneself.
And it takes a safe container in which to process all that bubbles up to break the surface of consciousness while on that path. Saturn and the Sun are pushing us today; how we choose to push back (forward toward our goals, or back against others who might help us) is up to us.
Take heart that Mars in Libra is in a harmonious air trine (exact Friday) to the Sun. Action and will are working together, with great vitality, seeking constructive steps. With Mars in the sign of relationships and the Sun in the sign of groups, it seems we may very well get by with a little help from our friends. We just have to be willing to open a little space within the container.
If you’d like to chart the course of Mercury’s retrograde (as well as other major astrological events) for your Sun sign and rising sign, consider signing up for a three-month Planet Waves premium membership. Membership includes our twice-weekly mailings, weekly and monthly horoscopes, Eric’s in-depth articles and more.
I agree jinspace … the bit about containers giving a place to push off from makes sense to me … says the pisces girl, w a cancer asc, pisces mh and sun conj saturn, mercury and sitting around the mh, like a campfire, with chiron ….. definitely need a container !
“…water spreads to fit its container — much like consciousness and creativity. Once we can feel the boundaries of the container, we can push off against them and glide; touch our feet to the bottom to reassure ourselves; climb on top of the container’s edges to get a broader view.”
This is nice. 🙂
I learned yesterday that responding to a pressure to respond need not repeat old patterns. I can choose to respond or not, not just to be agreeable. I don’t have to have an opinion. I don’t have to jump on the conversational bandwagon if I really don’t give a shit. This is a good exercise in emotional authority, something Saturn will jump to assist with. I can learn efficiency and a conservation of energy by not participating even if that makes me unpopular. I can also set the tone for a direction I choose to consciously participate in, even if I am the only one there. It doesn’t matter. If that makes me selfish, so be it. What I welcome is perspective so that if I’m wrong, I can learn and grow. It’s a double edged sword.
dark night of the soul