Author Archives: amanda

The waxing Moon enters home-loving Cancer today, making this is a good weekend to nest in. But Cancer is an emotional sign, so be prepared to feel anything that comes up for you a bit more deeply than usual over the next couple days, as the Moon picks up on considerable energy currently in Pisces. Note that the Moon is building toward the Virgo Full Moon on March 8.

Closer to the present moment, there are a number of aspects this weekend that point to turning points in relationships, including leaving behind one form of relating for another – or perhaps finding a new perspective on how your relationships can work. There are also some potentially volatile triggers in the sky, calling for awareness as to whether any conflict you may experience is actually located between you and another, or within yourself.

Today Mercury enters Aries, where it will conjoin Vesta and Uranus. Mercury in Aries is quick and impetuous anyway; add Uranus, and the potential for rashness increases exponentially. But this same alignment is also a source of potentially excellent ideas, and a drive for personal liberation.

Keep in mind how sudden decisions may impact your personal relationships, no matter how enthusiastic you may be about them. Anything you decide now is subject to revision, as Mercury is currently treading the degrees where it will be retrograde between March 12 and April 4.

Mercury conjunct Vesta is a reminder to be wary of any tendency toward self-sacrifice for anything that is less than what is right for you. But it’s equally a reminder to be alert for self-obsession. Vesta is about devotion, so we can take this aspect as a question: What are you devoted to?

Meanwhile there’s a T-square made up of the Pisces Sun opposite retrograde Mars in Virgo, and both of them square a deep-space point called the Great Attractor. The GA is in mid-Sagittarius, and it has the effect of polarizing people and situations.

With this whole setup, there are two kinds of tension: the square tension is felt internally and wants us to act on it to resolve it; the opposition tension seems to be located between us and someone else, and responds well to careful negotiation with each side separately. Mars retrograde (close to Psyche) suggests you watch out for self-criticism if your desire to ‘fix yourself’ seems at odds with the ‘you’ you’d like to be. If the goal looks unattainable, remember that picking on yourself won’t get you there any faster – and the first step is simply to envision how you’d like to feel.

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Did you know that the same company that has published Reality Check (your 2012 annual reading) also publishes a weekly astrology magazine called Planet Waves? In this week’s edition of Planet Waves, sent to subscribers last night, Eric Francis delves into the dovetail of the Chinese new year, which began Monday, with next week’s exit of Neptune from Aquarius to enter Pisces. This is a Water Dragon year, which brings some yin to a yang sign — and hopefully some good luck to our oceans. For that, it’s up to us to harness the energy available to us now. This week’s subscriber edition also includes your February monthly horoscopes for all 12 signs.

To read today’s subscriber issue as a single purchase, please use this link . For access to all of the Planet Waves weekly and monthly horoscopes, plus additional articles by Eric Francis, consider signing up for our weekly subscriber service for three months here, as you navigate these waters and create your own luck.