February is going to be a pivotal month, with a number of significant alignments. In typical Aquarian eccentricity we start with a massive stellium, multiple conjunctions between eight planets and asteroids in the sign, followed by a convergence of the Indian festival of Shivaratri, a total solar eclipse and the last exact conjunction of Saturn and Neptune in early Aries, all in the third week.
| Sun in Aquarius conjunct Vesta, Medusa and Shiva |
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As an air sign, Aquarius is known for its incredibly versatile and dexterous intellect, its capacity for thinking outside the box and for its humorous sociability. This all comes with a tendency to be excessively mindful at the expense of emotions in ways that are not always grounded. Spiritually it leans towards upper chakra detachment, a capacity which is heightened by the presence of the yogi god Shiva conjuncting the Sun exactly, a combination that does enhances an openness to the higher realms of the intellect and exalted forms of knowledge and consciousness beyond the rational.
However, the Sun is also connected to two earth based goddesses, the priestess of containment Vesta and the fierce feminine warrior Medusa, both of whom will draw the Aquarian down into the realms of the earth, of the body and of the deeper emotions.
| Venus conjunct Mercury in Aquarius |
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Traditionally joining the goddess of love and the mercurial mind planet is a good combination for human relationships, enhancing the quality of communication between people. Mercury adds the urge to communicate clearly, to understand the other person’s perspective, to seek a meeting of minds, while giving voice to one’s feelings.
Venus responds with a harmonising diplomacy, taking the edges off points of potential conflict, while seeking to share more heartfelt feelings that enhances the connection.
| Mars conjunct Pluto in Aquarius |
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The power potential in a conjunction of Pluto and Mars is quite difficult to put into words, as it is arguably the most dangerous of combinations and, one of the most transformative. Archetypally here is the often raw and instinctual masculine warrior joined with an ancient god of death and rebirth, which can go either way and sometimes, even both ways at the same time, depending on the consciousness of who is directing it.
On a more personal level, we have the opportunity of being able to use our conscious will to direct the power to make significant changes in our lives, whether deep work on ourselves or instigating new creative projects that emerge out of the rubble created during this Saturn/Neptune period of our lives. Running well, we can draw from tremendous levels of stamina to achieve some remarkable results.
| Hygeia in Gemini sextiling Chiron in Aries |
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Given the intensity and the significance of all the challenges above, having an increasingly exact sextile between the healing goddess Hygeia and the Wounded Healer is good news. The two combine the penetrative actions of this form of the Divine Masculine into our woundedness and, the organic, grace and power of the Sacred Feminine reflected in the healing intelligence embedded in our own bodies.
While still retrograding, the benevolent giant will start to slow up in the course of the month, moving from 17 to 15° of the sign, in preparation for going direct in mid-March which will be a significant turning point, a positive one for all of us.
As a major enhancer of the nurturing, deeply maternal and protective aspects of Cancer, he reminds us of the necessity of taking care of ourselves on every level in these times of huge change and turmoil.
| Total Annular Solar Eclipse February 17 th, 11:12 pm AEDT Sydney time, 8 :12 pm AWST |
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Every eclipse is a powerful event astrologically, one that often triggers a fair amount of chaos, peak experiences and awesome opportunities for breakthroughs in our spiritual and healing lives.
This one is even more extreme as the eclipsing Sun and Moon at 29° of Aquarius squares the radical, unpredictable change agent Uranus in Taurus. Given the long-term collective instability across the planet, this is more than a bit alarming. Given that this is not long before midnight in Australia, it’s probably not a good night to go out partying for instance.
In this respect, I encourage you all to make use of your preferred meditation or any other spiritual or energetic practices to make yourself available to the liberating possibility of this eclipse. Otherwise lay low, avoid potentially dangerous situations, and take care of yourselves and your nervous systems!
All the best, with love and blessings,
Daniel
