Today Venus leaves Taurus, one of the signs it rules, for Gemini. The waxing Moon, on its way to a Full Moon on Friday, enters Virgo today conjunct Mars, which is still retrograde. With Mercury stationing direct in Pisces, the message from all these mutable-sign planets is to be flexible and use discernment. This is easier said than done, though as today’s fast-moving astrology develops, it will be very helpful.
For many, the sensuality of Venus in Taurus over recent weeks has been the main point of contact, centering and grounding in the midst of two personal planet retrogrades (Mars and Mercury). It’s also been a gorgeous light in the sky, making a long and easily visible conjunction with Jupiter during this time.
Venus in Taurus has offered a counterbalance to the recent sparky happenings in early Aries (equinox, New Moon and conjunctions to Uranus). But we don’t actually ‘lose’ the power of Venus when it moves into Gemini; it shifts to another vibration that complements the rest of the setup. Venus in Gemini is lighter and airier than Venus in Taurus. It is charming, witty, expressive and understands passion, but it sifts emotions through the mind rather than through feelings and the body. Venus in Gemini is the picture of emotional intelligence.
Notably, Venus will be in Gemini well into August, an unusually long time to spend in one sign. The reason for this is that Venus will be stationing retrograde about six weeks from now, and in a sense this is the first stage of that process. This is a long story about cultivating emotional intelligence, which is another way of saying thinking with both sides of your mind.
As Venus enters Gemini, it’s in a square to three different planets — Neptune, retrograde Mars and Chiron. Today the Moon will be right there too, conjunct Mars. Then all of this is collected around the lunar nodes, so all the mutable signs are involved.
This is a tense setup, a kind of classic alignment for overreacting, plucking strings on a number of levels. Squares can be tense and push us to act, however, with this much mental and emotional activity, action could be clouded by questionable judgment. Make sure you get your facts straight — which could take a little while. It will be worth the time, effort and patience it takes to do that.
The Moon tends to amplify emotions; conjunct Mars in Virgo — especially Mars retrograde — this can be a little nit-picky and overly self-critical. The solution to you feeling better about yourself is not ‘fixing’ your relationships; the ‘feeling better about you’ thing starts with you.
Meanwhile there is plenty of feminine-masculine push and pull, most of which is inner tension. If this spills into your experiences with others, it could get hot and prickly, and in the middle of a Mercury station, it ramps up the possibility for either misjudgments or tempers flaring as a result of miscommunication. You may find that you or others are feeling a bit bipolar, that is, prone to exaggeration or lack of awareness about ‘the other side’ of your personality. So, the thing to work for is balance between emotion and reason; between feeling and logic.
Keep reminding yourself to slow down your reactions and be circumspect and discerning as you figure out what any given situation calls for. Noting that Venus is square Neptune and Mars is opposite Neptune, the most useful thing you can give yourself is being honest with yourself. These words mean something different to everyone; make sure you know what they mean to you.
Be: thanks for the backtrack. I’m neck-deep in the development of a civil rights opera about the 1963 March on Washington, so 1960 is swirling about me. I’ve thought about the astro in that year. Decisive turn of the wheel when you consider the story of Kennedy’s campaign.
If I recall correctly, MLK had Uranus at 0+ Aries. Ain’t that a kick? When I told the astro-skeptical librettist of Uranus’ 2010 initial return to Aries (after 84 years), he was blown away. It was the very month he pulled Parting The Waters (Taylor Branch’s Pulitzer Prize winning account of King’s life during the early 60’s) off his shelf and decided to write the opera. And yes, 3/4 of the opera’s creative team were all born in ’68.
“…now my obsession is to expose others to what can be an understanding of certain connections to the past and how it can explain a lot about our now.” (and all that followed…)
This is fascinating Be… All of it. In various ways, I always go on about this idea of what came before us. But not on that level of detail. And I’ve read about it a lot (here in fact, right?) but I guess it’s really slamming on my head now.
(Aside: I always wonder but have never explored, except in brief conversations recently, the relationship between Canada and the US. On my list of “things to do” once the Big Thing is done.)
@ Amanda… That’s quite an interview…
@ a word… Yeah.
On another note, a bit of twisted humour :
http://www.newyorker.com/humor/2012/03/12/120312sh_shouts_handey
Sometimes I wish there was such a thing as the “good” Borg. It might make the acquiring of vast oceans of knowledge just a wee bit easier.
Now off to write 200 meaningful words that involves all of this somehow.
wow. just went from here to reading Genevieve’s Moonshine Horoscope for Pisces. Ya. What Genevieve said. The closet. Deep. But not dark. Not hard to understand. But complicated to explain. You know, “normal”.
All good.
xo
Michelle, agreed – that is, Rx always feels more “normal” to me than not Rx…maybe something to do with so many natal planets in Retro. Dunno. Or maybe just that sensation of the world standing still and going into DejaVue mode. Although this time around I am definitely and for sure in a past-present-future time-meld.
Trains. Ya. Like the Trains.
xo
On another note; I think I know why I dreamed about the old boyfriend. I have been listening to an 80’s pop station at the computer and in the car. This was the soundtrack of my 2.5 years with that guy; the only other guy I lived with that long. I lived with my ex husband only a year and one month (and disco was the soundtrack of our relationship) and my second husband not at all (for reasons I will not divulge here). So aside from Dave (my current husband) that old BF was the other longest relationship I had. The music I am hearing puts me back into those times as surely as if I were seeing the movie of it. I have been listening to this music because it sounds good (compared to today’s angsty, instrumentally challenged pop music).
Sure, it could be some other reason; I called his number (the one listed for him) and got a message machine (that he even HAS a phone is an amazing thing; he never had one until I paid for us to have one). He has not called back if it is his number.
:::scratching head::::
btw, Mercury is stationing direct in the same degree where it was when Trayvon Martin was shot. should be interesting to see if any “subtle truths” come out about that situation with the station.
and also, Democracy Now had Van Jones, Obama’s former green jobs advisor on the show today.
http://www.democracynow.org/2012/4/3/van_jones_on_trayvon_martin_racial
he had some interesting things to say about race issues, and esp how Obama has and has not addressed them:
AMY GOODMAN: It took President Obama a little time, and a lot of civil rights leaders were calling on him to say something, but he did address the death of Trayvon Martin last month.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: I think all of us have to do some soul searching to figure out how does something like this happen. And that means that we examine the laws and the context for what happened, as well as the specifics of the incident. But my main message is to the parents of Trayvon Martin. You know, if I had a son, he would look like Trayvon. And, you know, I think they are right to expect that all of us, as Americans, are going to take this with the seriousness it deserves and that we’re going to get to the bottom of exactly what happened. All right, thank you.
AMY GOODMAN: Van Jones, your thoughts on what President Obama had to say? And then take us back, as we’re spending the whole hour, to your early activism around this very issue and your thoughts about how far we have come, or have we?
VAN JONES: Well, first of all, that comment from the President really should be seen as the third act in a three-act play on race for this president. You remember with the Reverend Wright situation, he stepped forward, and he gave a speech on race, probably the most profound speech on race by anyone seeking the presidency in the history of the republic, changed public opinion about him 180 degrees and probably secured his run for the presidency right then and there. Courage, candor, speaking grown folks’ talk. Act I.
Act II, now he’s president of the United States. Skip Gates is arrested.
AMY GOODMAN: The Harvard University professor.
VAN JONES: African-American Harvard University professor, the only Harvard professor ever—Harvard is older than the United States—ever to be arrested in his own home for anything. He’s arrested just for being there. The President of the United States now—
AMY GOODMAN: He had come home from a vacation.
VAN JONES: Sure.
AMY GOODMAN: And someone had called the police. The police came in, and even when he showed ID, when he said, “What are you doing? You’re in my house,” they arrested him.
VAN JONES: Right, they arrested him. So now you have probably the most famous professor at Harvard, Skip Gates, African American, arrested in his home. Here’s Barack Obama, President Obama. Now, the most powerful man in the world, president of the United States, steps forward and says, “I think the police behaved foolishly.” The right wing and the law enforcement establishment brought the wrath of God down on the White House. I was there. And suddenly, he’s forced to do a beer summit, to sit eye to eye with a racist police officer. As a black man, even the most powerful man in the world cannot speak about race. And if he does, he’s then forced to sit humbly across the table from a racist police officer.
AMY GOODMAN: Skip Gates was, also.
VAN JONES: As was Skip Gates. That was one of the most terrifying, shocking revelations about where we are in a racial discussion in this country that I had ever seen. And so—
AMY GOODMAN: Well, what—I mean, you were there. So keep going, what you were saying inside.
VAN JONES: Well, Amy, I’ve never spoken about the things that I said when I was there, because I think if you’re going to be in an adviser, you’ve got to be able to give advice and not feel like—have people feel like you’re going to go out and tell tales out of school. What I will say is that it felt like somebody dropped a bomb on the place, and we had to respond. That was the perception. And then, for two years, not a word from the President. If you were a blind martian, you wouldn’t even know our president was African American, if you just listened to what he had to say. And then this horrific tragedy. And the President steps forward. And—
AMY GOODMAN: Well, he waits a bit.
VAN JONES: Well, listen, nothing should move fast in these situations. It’s important to—I mean, you don’t want to rush the president out there, and I don’t blame him for waiting. But once the facts were in and the American people’s hearts were broken, this president stepped forward in the third act. He comes back to himself, and he says, “Listen, I get it.”
I think this is an important moment in the history of the country, in that we went into this bizarre reverse reality where the only people who were racist were the people who were fighting racism. If you’re an African American and you say something about racism, you’re the racist. And so, and you had the moral voice and the moral witness of the black community fall silent for two, almost three, years. It was very hard, with a black president, to speak about issues of race. I think this case ends that silence and inaugurates a new period. Certainly we are a much better country than we were 10 years ago, 100 years ago, but we are nowhere near where we should be. And Trayvon’s death, I hope, and the President’s willingness to speak about it forthrightly opens the door for the kind of grown folks’ conversation we thought he was going to be able to lead when he was a candidate—well, that he did lead when he was a candidate, that hopefully we can see now going forward.
“the most useful thing you can give yourself is being honest with yourself”
Ding ding! That’s it. Thank you, PW. 🙂 Thanks for the reminder.
Read something a day or two ago, a friend quoting someone else – talking about not feeling guilty or inappropriate for securing one’s own oxygen mask first. Just like they say on airplanes, please secure your oxygen mask first, then help others. You can’t help others if you’re gasping for air, and certainly if “air” is right there, take care of yourself first, then other people. (I know I mangled that, but I think you all know what I mean).
Thanks mystes! Meant to say that Neptune was in the OPPOSITE degree that Jupiter was in on the day Trayvon was shot, not the same degree. (will this Merc rx EVER end?)
be
Be! Lawdy!! I am *so* glad you are in the catbird seat. Thank you so much for re-stating (backed with charts & figures!) the fact of this strange and somewhat convulsive evolutionary journey we (Americans, specifically) are on. Very helpful.
michele, Hi! It’s my “normal” too, in that my Venus is in Gemini, but aside from that we are in an anything-but-normal period. If there is any delusion for you and the rest of us it has a purpose I believe.
I’m also prone to obsessive interest in certain things (explained by my personal astrology), and recently I got hold of a tiger-by-the-tail and now my obsession is to expose others to what can be an understanding of certain connections to the past and how it can explain a lot about our now. It could explain much of what is specific to your life, but it is an example of our society that has grabbed me like a magnet to see and learn about the nature of humanity. You may have had an interest (or not) in the Trayvon Martin shooting, but this sad event is also symbolic of the the life, death and re-birth of this country. Bear with me I implore you; there is a remarkable chain of events that many readers here will relate to over a period of 50+ years.
Summarizing what has already been expressed on PW, Trayvon Martin was shot and died on February 26, 2012. Charts provided by PW give us information about the moment of his death, his own natal chart and that of his killer. Connections between them have been discussed on various threads, but what sticks out most from the incident is the grief and anger it provoked in many throughout the U.S., and the defensive reactions of supporters of the killer.
A remark by Fe in her 3/22 piece led my curiosity to look at the astrology of 1960, which led me to July, 1960 (probably because it’s my birthday month), where I saw that Neptune was powerfully stationing direct in the EXACT DEGREE AND MINUTES that Jupiter was in on the day and moment Trayvon died. During the following days I was to discover more that was happening in 1960 that related to what is happening now in 2012.
First, and this is very important, in July 1960, Pluto was in Virgo at 4+ degrees all month, the same degree where Mars is now. That means that we have TWO outer planets from “then” that connect to “now”. Also that month, Jupiter was passing over the degree where the Galactic Center was then and where it has moved to now. Jupiter is about understanding, expansion, law and sometimes good fortune. The GC is about universal truth. Jupiter was retrograde and in review mode so as to get a better grasp on what was happening in the larger picture of society.
In 1960, there were eclipses and equinoxes as there are every year, including this one. In March 1960 there was an eclipse of the (full) Moon at 22 Virgo, with the Sun at 22 Pisces. A week later there was the Equinox, as the Sun entered Aries. I’ve not looked at the exact charts but it looks like the Moon was hovering somewhere between the GC and 0 Capricorn, so either way the Moon ( us the people) was getting the exposure to Universal Truth and the rest of the world via the Aries Point of zero Cap. Pluto was at 4+ Virgo then too. Jupiter at the Equinox AND at the Lunar Eclipse was at 1 to 2 degrees of Capricorn, therefore conjunct the Moon (the “people”) in the Equinox chart, and conjunct the Aries Point in the Eclipse chart.
These degrees connect to “now” and they also connect the “outer” or societal and universal, to the “inner” or personal. They also connect to the USA. Specifically, the Sun in the 1960 lunar Eclipse was conjunct the USA (Sibly) Neptune at 22+ Virgo and also to the U.S. President of “now” by way of his natal Mars at 22+ Virgo.
These things happened in the real time of July, 1960: Hawaii was officially recognized as a State by the addition of the 50th star in the American flag, a year before Barack Obama was born. The novel To Kill A Mockingbird, which is a story about prejudice against blacks in the U.S. and how it had reached the legal “law” level, was published in July 1960. John Kennedy, who would later become the first Catholic President of the U.S. was nominated by the Democrats, and Woolworth’s in North Carolina served a meal to it’s first black customer after demonstrations and riots forced the issue to the consciousness of the country. These changes in the status quo of life in the U.S. would not be resolved in 1960. What they did do was to initiate a population into the reality of changes in their beliefs and values, especially relating to prejudice against different races and religions.
My final point worth mentioning here is that the degrees of the north and south nodes of the U.S. birthchart are square the 1960 Scorpio Neptune and the 2012 Taurus Jupiter. Neptune and Jupiter are the “new” and the “old” rulers of Pisces. In 1960 the moon’s South Node was in Pisces and now in 2012 Neptune and Chiron are in Pisces, and recently, Sun, Venus, Mercury and a host of newly discovered astral bodies too. It signifies the end of an era and the preparation or clearing for a new era. It is very important that the world, through the experiences of American citizens, fully grasp, absorb and accept the changes begun in 1960 that define the on-going evolution of humankind. What you sense happening in your own lives is partly due to those global and societal imperatives to grow in consciousness, and a recognition that you are part of the solution, and therefore part of the whole. It is a wonderful opportunity to be part of History in a really, really good way. Thank you for letting me express myself here.
be
“This is a long story about cultivating emotional intelligence, which is another way of saying think with both sides of your mind.”
I am usually pretty good at that.
“Make sure you get your facts straight — which could take a little while. It will be worth the time, effort and patience it takes to do that.”
I do need to work on that. Thanks, PW. Excellent advice.
Thanks PW writers! Very helpful indeed, and advice very warmly given.
Appreciated always,
HS
Thank for the heads up !
I don’t know. This just feels like my normal. I can’t really track the astrology at the moment.
It felt like I had a reprieve from that “normal” for a couple of months. I am well-trained to handle this energy. But Mars retching on my own Venus has pulled the brakes. And the train is going back and forth over the spots. Right? That’s what trains in a station do. Track switching and whatnot.
I made it to this station. I’m not about to miss the next station.
Words of wisdom, anyway, PW. Thanks for those. Here’s hoping I’m not so delusional that I can’t make out the subtleties of self-honesty.