THIS MONTH’S ASTROLOGY
The building intensity many of us have been feeling in recent weeks comes to a dangerous and combative peak at the start of this month, in the form of a super-powerful grand cross — arguably the most difficult of astrological constellations. As the name implies, it is made up of four points, each either directly opposing another or squaring the other two. This particular grand cross involves the four fixed signs — powerful, dogged, and at times inflexible — creating a pressure cooker that will intensify various global struggles and squeeze our inner relationships to Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius.
A contrasting influence is that we also start the month with the Moon conjunct benevolent Jupiter in Gemini, sending out a spray of expansive aspects. Along with a positive aspect to Uranus, this offers some welcome release valves from the intensity described above.
So, we can expect a month oscillating between these extremes.
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Looking at this, I can’t help but feel some sympathy for Taurus — and for the Taurean part within each of us — that longs for a stable, peaceful, creative, and secure life. Yet it is being “monstered” by the two most powerful agents of death, rebirth, transformation, and purification — Pluto and the Black Moon — both of whom specialize in dredging up any psychological baggage we haven’t yet faced.
Pluto and the Black Moon squaring each other is like Hades and Persephone — or Shiva and Kali — locked in a major power struggle. It’s easy to see this dynamic playing out both geopolitically and psycho-spiritually.
The Taurus Sun squaring Mars in Leo represents a classic struggle between fire and earth. It suggests personal conflicts that can bring up a great deal of anger, awakening the Minotaur beneath the normally loving and passive Bull. Meanwhile, Mars, freshly liberated into fiery Leo after a long emotional trawl through watery Cancer, may be deeply frustrated.
Fortunately, the Sun is gradually moving out of the exact grand cross alignment and into more favourable territory. It will soon join two luscious goddesses as it heads towards a liberating conjunction with Uranus around the 15th, bringing new challenges — and opportunities.
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It’s not just Taurus frustrating Mars. Although Mars usually thrives in dynamic Leo, his opposition to Pluto pits personal, ego-driven desires against the deeper will of transformative forces beyond our control.
Both Pluto and the Black Moon represent archetypal powers that render our personal will puny when resisting the inevitability of change and the cycle of death and rebirth — including that of our egos.
Mars doesn’t stand much of a chance against these forces — but in Leo, at least, he has the courage to try, or to rage openly against the gods. This dynamic offers all of us feedback about the maturity level of our inner masculine — an aspect that, in many people, can still be reactive and adolescent when seriously challenged.
Mars squaring the Black Moon is another tough challenge to the ego. In The Astrology of Fate, astrologer and psychotherapist Liz Greene describes Greco-Roman myths where the masculine naively thinks it is in control, while it is clearly the goddess who holds the ultimate power.
Whether we go willingly or get dragged kicking and screaming, these transformative agents demand that we become more psychologically astute, willing to undergo underworld-style purification processes, and humble in the face of deeper wisdom and truth.
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Mercury is once again flying through the signs, entering Taurus on the 11th. Curiously, he is initially unaspected — a kind of free-floating zone while awaiting connection with other parts of the self.
Things start to get interesting around the 5th, when Mercury sextiles Jupiter in Gemini — a bubbly, dynamic energy that lifts our thinking with optimism, expansiveness, and positivity.
Simultaneously, Mercury sextiles the sharp and intellectually brilliant conjunction of Pallas Athena and Lilith in Aquarius, adding perceptual clarity and sharpness to Mercury’s fiery Aries mind. This three-way link brings passion, assertiveness, and vision — a true convergence of masculine and feminine warrior energy.
A day later, Mercury conjuncts Chiron, the Wounded Healer, bringing focus to the healing of earlier wounds and heightening our ability to use language, thought, and focus as vehicles for healing. Their connection may not come neatly wrapped, as it can trigger unhealed places so we can address them.
It helps immensely that Chiron is still sextiling Jupiter and the Pallas Athena/Lilith conjunction, offering strong support for healing old wounds and claiming more of our unique brilliance.
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Venus, the goddess of love, slipped from dreamy Pisces into fiery Aries just minutes after midnight, signalling the end of her repeated crossings with the North Node and beginning her separation from Saturn, the tough-love teacher. This conjunction traditionally challenges relationships, forcing necessary reviews and boundary setting in the service of ultimately deepening true connections.
As Venus moves closer to the nebulous but spiritually expansive Neptune, the fine line between relationship expansion and self-delusion will be very thin.
Venus is currently sandwiched between Saturn and Neptune — two very different layers of reality — reflecting a period of significant general instability (even more than usual!). There is potential for profound heart openings, but Saturn’s presence warns that turbulence may accompany these.
However, Venus is not powerless: her sextile to transformative Pluto taps her into deep tantric potency. She also steps into a trine with her traditional consort, Mars, early in the month, which may help smooth some of the edges off the challenging Mars-Pluto opposition mentioned earlier.
The Venus/Pluto connection is mirrored by a square from Venus and Neptune to the Shiva asteroid in Capricorn — an energy signature similar to Parvati, the divine consort of Shiva, whom we will touch on below.
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Against the backdrop of heavy collective energies, here is a point of great light: a joyful, playful, even frivolous combination that offers much-needed emotional upliftment.
This expansive lunar energy encourages generosity of spirit and playful movement. While not the most maternal Moon placement, it holds a connection to nurturing goddesses like Ceres. It’s a reminder to dance, create, and play — important forms of non-traditional self-care and emotional healing this month.
Where emotional challenges arise, Jupiter’s influence lubricates the wheels of healing, injecting grace, goodwill, and benevolence.
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After months of action around the visionary North Node, Saturn has been loitering nearby, acting like a cosmic Doubting Thomas. His question: “How much of this is actually real?”
For all the expansions, intuitions, and creative potentials, Saturn demands practicality: What is truly wise, doable, and sustainable? What structures must we build to ground our spiritual and creative expressions?
Saturn conjunct the North Node offers (or demands) that we step into deeper self-responsibility, integrity, and authority to claim our authentic paths.
His sextile to Uranus adds creative dynamism, helping stabilize Uranus’s innovative brilliance and anchoring positive change.
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…avaliable in premium memberships…
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…avaliable in premium memberships…
Let us welcome this profound depth and wisdom into what will emerge from this current radical deconstruction and reconstruction of our society and selves!
With love and blessings,
Daniel