We will go over all the Planets, their aspects to each other, the Houses and Signs in your chart and clearly explain the meaning of each and how it may be showing up in your life. I will send the recording to you via email so you can go back through it at any time for further insights.

Well, this is going to be interesting. This week as we head towards the NEW MOON we get a couple of major players go retrograde, shifting the energy to a more inward, restitutional and remedial vibe in a couple of major archetypal realms. SATURN and NEPTUNE are both essentially stationary in Pisces as each gets ready to backtrack in the sky over the portion they covered in the last few months. This week may unfortunately feel a little like wading through mud trying to get things done.  Perhaps we’ve been feeling tired and spacey and a little frustrated with the pace lately. We are being asked to slow down, allow the flow to be what it is and trust that the universe has things well in hand, timing wise. Retrogrades are a powerful opportunity to REview, REvise and REorganize. In this case it would be plans and structures we have begun to build and responsibilities we’ve taken on (SATURN) and the visions, inspirations, and delusions (NEPTUNE) we’ve experienced since the eclipses in April that might need some correcting before fully implementing them. We get a chance to tweak all this into a stronger alignment with truth and beauty until late Fall when they each again move direct. SATURN is hovering at 19 degrees of Pisces for many weeks giving us an opportunity to be in gratitude for all the simple blessings we actually do have in our lives. NEPTUNE is stationed at late 29 degrees Pisces sextile to PLUTO. It is flirting for the next year or so with crossing over into Aries and the next 165 year cycle of our collective idealism, visions, dreams, spirituality and perpetual struggles with delusion, confusion and deceit for humanity. Of course, this retrograde dance happens every year as the orbits of these planets do their thing relative to earth. It just seems like this year has been full of such initiations, changes and powerful aspects that everything feels heightened in significance.

MARS is sextile VENUS for the next few days which could open us to romantic passion except MARS is also half square to NEPTUNE, sapping some of MARS’s energy and focus. Perhaps just passion in a lower key for a bit, if not downright slug-a-bed laziness. Don’t worry it passes and MARS moves into sextile with SATURN by the NEW MOON which may light our fuse again.

MERCURY will be square CHIRON during the last days of the month likely poking our wounds a little, especially as CHIRON is also annoyingly half square to inflationary JUPITER. We are perhaps feeling more sensitive these days as the SUN, VENUS and MERCURY transit through touchy CANCER. Since the SUN will be squaring the MOON’S NODES of fate this week, in the best case this will be an opportunity to feel into and release some of our deeper and more repressed emotions around relationships or events. Another fucking opportunity for healing, lol. Lets not miss it, eh? Because by the 30th MERCURY moves on into a sextile with the planet of radical change URANUS indicating we will experience a smooth but quick shift in our consciousness that may resolve the way we think about the wounds recently activated.

On the 2nd Neptune stops and turns to go Rx just a couple of days after SATURN did the same. NEPTUNE will be exactly trine MERCURY on that day which augurs either spaciness or inspiration depending on which way you lean. Probably a good day to let yourself drift and dream a bit. But do keep focused on your highest ideals and do write down your dreams. Resist just spending the whole last part of the week mindlessly scrolling or escaping into getting high. MERCURY will also be opposing PLUTO then which could help with that focus being into our deep and penetrating into our collective and personal psyche. Be wary of engaging in communication that comes across as a little “Too deep and penetrating” though. PLUTO has a tendency to let the cat out of the bag in disturbing or destructive ways. Though finesse, restraint and diplomacy may be a bit elusive for the last few days before the NEW MOON, it will behoove you to watch your step especially with the SUN exactly squaring the MOONS NODES making this time a possible crux point in our shared destiny. Truth will out.
The NEW MOON is on July 5th , A new beginning with MARS sextile SATURN Rx which will help us with our determination to get whatever came up in the last week done and move forward more organized and disciplined.

P.S. I am traveling in Europe for the next couple of months with Phina Kemper. We’ll be doing our bi-monthly YouTube video forecasts as usual on the NEW MOON and FULL MOON and I will still be available for readings if you want to know more precisely and personally how these general aspects are going to be showing up in your life.

This week starts off with another in an undeniably endless series of opportunities to be exercising and honing our clear discernment. This FULL MOON, just a day after the Solstice, is barely edged over into Capricorn. The SUN, in opposition, of course, is just squeaking into Cancer. This is combined with the SUN and MOON forming in a t-square with nebulous NEPTUNE as the crux affecting both luminaries. It looks like we’ll all be called on to use our innate sagacity to separate truth from delusion on this one. NEPTUNE might give us a bit of an “Alice in Wonderland” feel for the whole Summer.

Capricorn where the MOON will be is ruled by stodgy SATURN and so has a certain impatience with any tomfoolery or emotional distractions from The Mission while the SUN in Cancer ruled by the MOON has its moth antenna fully extended to fully feel all the feels. It’s an interesting mix for sure, as opposing signs usually are. Yet when combined well they can create a mission that is practical, ambitious, loving and safe. Combined poorly; Stubborn, neurotic and fearful dramas may ensue. With NEPTUNE doing its murky push/pull t-square thing this week we may have trouble deciding which story we are in; the best or the worst. We my even have trouble rousing enough chi to focus because NEPTUNE loves to sleep and drift and dream.  This could be a long-term theme for this summer onwards as NEPTUNE is a major player for the next number of years. As I’ve pointed out previously, it is locking into a synergistic sextile with PLUTO, lord of the underworld and also sextile to URANUS, the planet of innovation and radical change until the late part of the decade. So as many of us as can manage it are going to need to become expert at the wisdom game to not let our worst shadows decide our fates.

Speaking of PLUTO, It will be in a brief but vexatious Quincunx (aka: 150 degrees or inconjunct) with the SUN on the 21st after doing the same disturbing aspect with VENUS and MERCURY last week. This may be indicating some subtle and deeper issues showing up around power dynamics in our personal lives, either as the perpetrator or recipient. It’s a fleeting but potentially revealing window on some usually hidden or repressed dynamics.

On the 22nd the MOON moves into an opposition with he messenger, MERCURY, and so into a Grand Cross with the MOON’s NODES of fate. In consequence the next couple of days may lend themselves to conversations or contemplations about important aspects of our collective or your personal past and future. Perhaps some debriefing about whatever PLUTO has been stirring up for us lately.

VENUS moves into a square with the MOON’s NODES on the 25th while MERCURY trines SATURN, lending us some determination to deal with any stagnant issues in our relationships or finances. On the 27th that VENUS vibe gets a push to assertive action as MARS moves into a synergistic sextile with VENUS around that same time. Be aware this could potentially create some more volatile reactions if progress feel blocked. Also, our aim for that progress might be less precise than we would like because MARS is also awkwardly half square to spacey NEPTUNE at the same moment, tempting us to shoot a bit wild.

The MOON arrives at its WANING QUARTER square to the SUN on the 28th centered between the NORTH NODE and CHIRON wrapping up what may feel like a sort of personal “make and mend” week after so many big aspects in the last few months. A chance to wrap up some loose ends.  Don’t let it just drift by in a summer dream. There is plenty of deep work ahead of us this year to hold our vision clear amidst all the distractions and misdirection.

astrology forecast

As the MOON makes it way towards full and comes into square with the SUN on the 13th we will have an unusually synchronized conjunction between the SUN and MERCURY the planet of communication, mind and travel. Seems like we’ve had a lot of these unusually coincidental conjunctions lately, eh? The universe is certainly reflecting the profundity of these times here on Earth.

The WAXING SQUARE MOON always indicates a time of feeling pushed to complete the next step in whatever we consciously or unconsciously initiated at the NEW MOON. Having MERCURY right there this time adds a mental angle to it: Cogitation about our progress with plans and projects. When a planet is exactly “combust” the SUN it is also said to lose its power until it is past that point, so with MERCURY there we may be briefly spaced out on the morning of the 14th (9:22 AM Pacific Time). Check it out for yourself and let me know what you experience that day. The other close aspect at the QUARTER MOON will be CHIRON sextile to the SUN/MERCURY. CHIRON directs our attention to our deeper problems, dis-ease or chronic patterns. The sextile helps this flow with ease.

NEPTUNE gets involved over the next few days as it starts to square the oncoming conjunction between MERCURY and VENUS and begins to square the SUN. Our dreams may have become more vivid and personal during as these aspects come into orb this week. NEPTUNE can also signify a wide range of characteristics: deception, confusion, lethargy and spacey-ness or inspiration, imagination, ideals and spiritual revelations. Notably, the last few degrees of signs (where all 4 planets involved are right now) is noted for being a particularly influential (anaretic) degree. So, right? It can go either way for us all as we use those days to contemplate our relationships, finances, aesthetic choices or travel plans with those in mind.

On the 17th both MERCURY and VENUS cross over together into deep feeling and sensitive Cancer, followed by the SUN on the Solstice June 20th. That should mellow things out a bit and bring our focus more inward and increase our sensitivity to the subtleties. Hopefully nurturing, comfort and peace will be a bigger priority with Cancer and not its extreme shadow side of hyper-sensitivity and emotional dis-regulation. As with all transits, it will probably manifest in some mix of both.

Don’t overlook that PLUTO Rx in Aquarius is as ever, pushing our evolution without consent (Cue maniacal laugh). Its extended sextile to NEPTUNE is still in effect signaling years of true epiphanies and false prophets. This week PLUTO moves into an awkward Quincunx (Inconjunct, 150 degrees, whatever) aspect with VENUS and MERCURY just as they enter Cancer, indicating a temptation to the more neurotic, obsessive and/or controlling expressions of those planets for a few days. Then it does the same aspect to the SUN right on the FULL MOON on the 21st giving us a crux choice to dance with the dark or the light forces in our personal and collective psyche. Doing the deep work to become consciously aware of our shadows is the only way to ride that dragon otherwise it just shows up in our lives as “bad luck” or fate and PLUTO is the archetypal signifier of all that. Just ask Carl Jung. Stay sober and awake through the FULL MOON this time and watch what you let in to your field. Shields up!

new moon forecast june 6 to june 13

I gotta tell you all, I’m pretty consistently getting  my mind blown by all the ongoing astrological epic-ness nowadays. Every week is bringing such an unusual intensity to the times that is reflected in the stars that it feels consistently mytho-historical/archetypal. This what a real apocalypse (from apokaluptein ‘uncover, reveal’) looks like, and because of the dualistic balance intrinsic to existence, this can manifest in our lives in a polarity of ways, positive and negative; in actuality a bewildering mix of both. This NEW MOON on June 6th is another fine example of this.

Though the conjunction between the SUN, MOON and VENUS is majorly beneficent, auguring love, beauty and good things all around, they are simultaneously aligning disconcertingly with a couple of heavy hitters and synergistically with a couple more, that deepens, darkens and clouds the warm turquoise lagoons of this close connection between the three sky objects representing our self, our emotions/intuitions and Love and the desirable things of life. It still has the potential to be a lovely time, but how you handle this now will also likely go on your permanent record. So, stay awake!

PLUTO Rx in future oriented Aquarius, has been trine to one thing after another lately and so dropping its heavy “death and rebirth” vibe at our doors. It is now exactly trine to inflationary and exuberant JUPITER. It is simultaneously in a disconcerting and irritating square-and-a-half (sesquisquare) to the NEW MOON/SUN/VENUS conjunction. This is likely to bring dramatic challenges that can only be handled gracefully with truth, courage and impeccable principles. These may have been brewing for a while and will be pretty obvious if we can step back and really look at our circumstances. It may be an sneaky shove to get things moving ready or not. We can measure the degree to which we stuck the landing of all this by the sense of looming chaos remaining in the areas of our finances, relationships and our emotional lives over the next few weeks. BTW, Underneath all this PLUTO is in its long-term sextile to NEPTUNE which will be strongly opening a portal to the sublime metaphysical and tragically delusional realms for the next few years. Intuitions, genius, revelations and awakenings are already amplified now though hard to notice in the concurrent floods of Orwellian doublespeak and materialist chicanery. Its mycelial. All of this is in NEPTUNE’s wheelhouse as it lurks in the intensified last degree of its power-sign Pisces. URANUS moves into the early degrees of Gemini starting in a year or two, where it will sextile NEPTUNE too and trine PLUTO until the end of the decade. I humbly predict we will have to deal with an abundance of charismatic spiritual messiahs, convincing political charlatans and snake oil totalitarian movements of all stripes appearing to rescue us from or plunge us into our nightmares when the real answers will be surreptitiously emerging from deep within courageous millions or hopefully billions of us. “Don’t follow leaders, watch your parkin meters”.

At the NEW MOON the SUN-MOON-VENUS cluster will also be moving into a series of squares with SATURN, the lord timing, discipline and karma, seeming to force crux choices on us. The trick here is to keep an eye out for opportunities to make wise moves to stabilize things for the wellbeing of your relationships, prosperity and goals with the control, finesse and poise of a samurai monk. With right timing it will go unexpectedly smoothly, if you slack or hesitate it gets harder and harder to get things on course.

That NEW MOON cluster of objects will also just be coming off synergistic aspects of a sextile to the NORTH NODE (future) and a trine to the SOUTH NODE (past), which is indicting this is a vital moment in our life trajectories and should be given appropriate attention for our growth and sense of purpose. All this all unfolds and unwinds over the next weeks in Gemini, the air sign of open-minded but possibly superficial communication and ideas, with lots of swirling mental winds and counter winds. Its likely to continue to feel like we are riding a wild whirlwind, at least all the way through the upcoming FULL MOON when we get to more inward and deep feeling Cancer.

MARS will move into Taurus on the 9th which will show up as a more determined, stoic and stubborn vibe after the recent dramatic impulsivity of Aries. It will unfortunately also be immediately moving through a perilous square with PLUTO for a week or so. This will be reflected in the urge to fight, dominate or act out in anger, though even this has the possibility to be turned to a passionate and indomitable commitment for the Good, The True, and the Beautiful with the right guiding principles. Be cautious when you pull out the blade for it cuts both ways even when drawn for “good reasons”. Squares, though challenging and compelling, are powerful choice points where our wisdom will show through and where the future circumstance of our lives are seeded.

Coincidentally, SATURN will be square to MERCURY around the 12th as SATURN is still separating from its square to the SUN and VENUS, auguring a choice between a bit of welcome focus and mental discipline or a perception of unwelcome blocks and frustrations aided by a developing irritating half-square with MARS.

CHIRON the wounded healer/mentor will start a sequence of smooth sextiles starting with VENUS on June 10th, the SUN on the 12th and finally MERCURY on the 13th lending a therapeutic undertone to the week. A good time to commit to some self-development and insight tools (such as having your birth chart read..eh eh? Nudge, nudge).

That brings us to the WAXING QUARTER MOON on the 13th where the MOON will move through square MERCURY, then the SUN, then VENUS and oppose SATURN. Might be a good day to work alone on your domestic to-do list before the parade starts into Cancer next week.

As always, this is all a reading for the general collective and your experience will be majorly dependent on the placements of your birth chart and your level of consciousness development. It’s just another test in the eternal school of life. Do your best and don’t take anything too personally. Reality is just showing us where we are in or out of alignment with natural law and our true purpose. Keep in mind that this is true for each day week month and year of your life and its never over. Though it’s true you can’t get to East Street from here, the ride is as beautiful and sublime as it is harrowing.

may 30 astrology forecast

HEADLINE! “Pesky PLUTO Ruins Everything!” Lol. Ok, PLUTO is far more intense than the word “pesky” implies and of course what Pluto augurs is not necessarily negative. It actually represents the force of evolution, spiritual and material, in action. Though that energy is particularly present now, it might feel comforting to know it’s not that we somehow missed the bus on all the good stuff promised by JUPITER entering Gemini and conjuncting VENUS on the last FULL MOON. MARS in Aries has been adding its half square irritations to the vibe as well. So while we may feel quite off at times, some really good things are happening. It’s been a mixed bag for sure.

As we head into the week preceding the NEW MOON we are still dealing with the parade of trines formed by PLUTO with planets as they each pass into GEMINI. PLUTO deserves a lot of respect for signifying the dredging up and transformation of the darkest energies. We understandably do not like or want to experience its process, though from the big perspective it is a necessary part of the universe. Check out this partial list of PLUTO’s attributes from the brilliant Richard Tarnes, who has, among other extraordinary creations, developed the art and science of archetypal astrology:

Pluto: Elemental power, depth, and intensity; that which compels, empowers, and intensifies whatever it touches, sometimes to overwhelming and catastrophic extremes; concern with survival, sex, or power, the lower chakras; the primordial instincts, libidinal and aggressive, destructive and regenerative, volcanic and cathartic, eliminative, transformative, ever-evolving; the biological processes of birth, sex, and death, the cycle of death and rebirth; upheaval, breakdown, decay, and fertilization; violent purgatorial discharge of pent-up energies, purifying fire; situations of life-and-death extremes, power struggles, all that is titanic, potent, and massive; Freud’s primordial id, “the broiling cauldron of the instincts”, the powerful forces of nature emerging from its chthonic depths, within and without, the intense, fiery underworld and underground in all senses: elemental, geological, instinctual, political, social, sexual, urban, criminal, mythological, demonic; the dark, mysterious, taboo, and often terrifying reality that lurks beneath the surface of things, beneath the ego, societal conventions, and the veneer of civilization, etc.”

We are experiencing a kind of precursor with these trines of PLUTO’s upcoming synergistic and epic geometry with URANUS and NEPTUNE that really gets going next year. In my opinion it looks like an ongoing process for the next three or more years of powerfully airing the basement of our personal and collective psyche in order to force us to evolve “or else”. Yeah, that’s heavy. I see it as analogous to having to “get well” in a medicine ceremony; unpleasant, ofttimes wrenchingly so, but necessary, and you feel much better after. If you manage to resist and restrain it you will suffer, and have to do it all over again. Imagine the whole world “getting well” somehow over the next 5 years. Whoa!

Of course, that is just one long bass note of the full symphony of life the planets are reflecting right now. We do have VENUS delightfully conjunct the SUN and MERCURY ingeniously conjunct JUPITER, all in airy and sparkly Gemini this week to add the balance of buoyant optimism, inspiration and love to the tune. Its never all gloom and doom in the universe, no matter what the news cycle focuses on to limbically hijack our vulnerable attention and sell us the next big thing.  It is just business as usual for PLUTO to keep things evolving.

NEPTUNE has been sextile to expansive JUPITER this moon cycle, amplifying our dreams and imaginations, for good or ill. That’ll get a boost just before MERCURY passes over into Gemini on JUNE 3rd and makes its exact trine to PLUTO. We might be having a lot of vivid dreams lately, especially about the past or love or money. We may feel occasionally burdened by generalized fears or conversely it is possible to feel inspired and empowered to go for our dream life right now. Probably both in waves. There is a lot of potential in the air. Perhaps it would be good to journal your divine inspirations or share them with close friends. It is the kind of time where we can choose, to a certain degree, to grow with the challenges or stay asleep and be suffering to no good purpose.

The MOON enters Gemini on the 5th and rapidly conjuncts all the benefic planets in the early degrees there. We have the NEW MOON conjoining with the SUN and affectionate and sensual VENUS around mid Gemini on the 6th. Hopefully that will set the tone and lift the vibe for the next 2 weeks but PLUTO may once again impede that. We are far from out of the deep dark woods yet. We’ll see next week what is in store for us.

Well, here we go, lol. A FULL MOON in Sagittarius that will likely feel more expansive, optimistic dreamy and romantic than we are used to after the months of intense inner and outer work. Of course, everything has its shadow possibilities so let’s not go overboard. The world is still in the turmoil of the slow-pocalypse and not everyone has been feeling a lift, many just the opposite. Such is the way of the world, the rhythm and the inherent duhkha of the world. Onward the wheel turns.

For the FULL MOON on May 23rd , with VENUS conjunct JUPITER in Taurus, the focus is on upgrading relationships, finances, home, sensuality, beauty and the good things in life.   The Sagittarius-Gemini axis is pretty enthusiastic and open minded as it is, and since the SUN is almost exactly trine to, and the MOON sextile PLUTO in Aquarius we will hopefully feel powerful, charismatic and ready to do something inspired to an unusual degree around this FULL MOON. We also have NEPTUNE supporting our imaginations and dreams through its synergistic sextiles to JUPITER+VENUS and PLUTO. PLUTO will also be trine to the MOON just before it gets full. You may have noticed a lot of interesting dreams all this week as these powerful aspects come on since the lord of dreams, imagination and delusions NEPTUNE is hovering at the powerful, anaretic, 29th degree of its home sign Pisces.

OK, so where is the inevitable fly in the ointment? Well, as usual with all JUPITER aspects there is a danger of overdoing it, over confidence and bulling ahead despite warnings especially in Taurus. The Gemini SUN can sometimes be a little giddy and bubbleheaded as well. So, though you may feel lucky, brilliant and inspired, and you are, pump the brakes a bit this week by slowing down, checking in that everyone is on the same page and perhaps ask a wise friend’s advice before you leap.
Not so much of a fly, but still possibly a source of tension with this FULL MOON, we have some semi-squares and sesquisquares (half-square and square-and-a-half) to deal with from MARS to the SUN opposite MOON and also from JUPITER + VENUS to the MOON’s NODES, adding some unwelcome impatience, impulsiveness and a backstage push to make life-pivotal actions that may not be easy to modulate correctly.

Later on the 23rd the above aspects will continue with a slightly different beat as VENUS makes its entrance into Gemini chasing the SUN which is leading the parade into Gemini. This air sign brings open-minded, intellectual, clever, flirty, adventurous and/or superficial, flakey, gossipy vibe to the journey. Remember, VENUS is all about the quality of our experience and things we value; love, money, beauty and harmony. JUPITER expands, the SUN is ourselves and MERCURY is what we think and communicate. They have all been blending together this May with unpredictable and explosive URANUS in the mix. It has been quite a run for us all and not everyone has had a good time or tragically even made it through. We’ll likely feel some passion, intensity and life-or-death truth going for a week or two because PLUTO in URANUS ruled Aquarius is trine to the SUN, then to VENUS, then JUPITER, then to MERCURY in tight sequence as each planet enters Gemini over the next 2 weeks. Trines are usually nice smooth aspects but PLUTO doesn’t always play nice. All those planets now moving into Gemini will rev up the cosmic pulse and bring a mental emphasis after all the sensual and steady Taurus vibe we had in most of May. VENUS-May 23, JUPITER-May 26, MERCURY-June 3. With the SUN already there, It’ll be a noticeable change in frequency.

The ongoing MARS in Aries half-square to VENUS will continue to indicate tension and dissatisfaction with our Venusian themes. MARS has had that semi-square, first to the SUN, and then VENUS, all through MAY. It will be peaking as MARS conjuncts CHIRON on the 28th, and with PLUTO all up in the mix, despite all the possible yum, you may notice some disagreeable moments through May as old material or negative states of mind have been brought up to be dealt with consciously or unconsciously. As always, these uncomfortable aspects are necessary for developing the virtues of acceptance and allowance, so the requisite affection for self and others can move to the fore. It’ll thankfully chill that vibe out after June 1st.
AFOG…Another Fucking Opportunity for Growth
On the 30th the MOON reaches its last quarter square to the SUN just hours before she conjuncts SATURN early on the 31st , kicking off the waning week towards the NEW MOON which I will talk more about on the current YouTube forecast and in detail here next week. Search for Shivoso on YouTube and you’ll find my channel, Intimacy Arts with the video forecast and intuitive energy reading with Phina Kemper.

Things just won’t settle down, lol. I finally returned from my month-long travels around the Southwest and hit the ground running at home trying to weave up all the loose threads from April’s epicness. New place to live, new car, new collaborations and plans to be made for this summer’s teaching /travel schedule. I suspect that for a lot of you, things-to-do and opportunities just keep popping up while you’re still making adaptations to the big changes initiated last month as well.

This week on May 15th, as the MOON squares the SUN on its way to the FULL MOON the 23rd, we will be experiencing a continued buzz because the SUN (our collective and personal self, authority and creative ambitions) will be essentially conjunct expansive and optimistic JUPITER in Taurus. It is “continued” because the SUN just passed its conjunction with the disruptive and innovative URANUS last week (Interestingly but not unexpectedly, coinciding with the massive solar flares, hmmm). URANUS and JUPITER have been adding a lot of excitement to this post-eclipse time and they are not done yet. It’s a sign and reflector of the big changes happening in our lives and world values and conditions. We will be seeing all the various shoes drop over a long timeline, as this energy ripples forward.

More immediately, on the 15th MERCURY will change signs to Taurus, soothing out some of the agitation we’ve all been dealing with in our thoughts and movements for months. What a relief! But like coming down off a caffeine binge we may get a serious drop, such as getting sick or depressed for a few days (if we haven’t experienced these burnout symptoms already), from the overdraw on our chi. PLUTO will be squaring MERCURY too giving it a thrust towards the dark and serious cogitation for its first few days in Taurus. As always, consistent cultivation of our resilience, honesty and courage is key for navigating this era well, however that may look for you.

On the 18th the SUN exactly conjuncts JUPITER which will be peaking our self-confidence for better or worse. Uncertainty whether it is egotistical hubris or authentic self-assuredness will likely be present as it will also be semi-square to MARS and sextile to NEPTUNE. So don’t make any “too good to be true” deals with shady salesmen or impulsively join forces with charismatic characters (or act out any of those archetypes yourself) for at least the next week or so. We actually better practice keeping our heads on straight for the next few years. Neptune’s confusing influence is looming as it dances in and out and into the anaretic degree of its home sign Pisces for many months. Delusions of escaping, being saved or being the savior will be very possible. We’ll all get a reality check though in 2025 and 2026 when it slips into Aries and conjuncts hardheaded SATURN a few times.

For the next week or so the SUN+JUPITER will be in near orb of a trine with PLUTO, (More PLUTO muckraking! WTF?!) forming a grand trine with the MOON that completes a loose kite configuration involving all those planets: SUN, JUPITER, PLUTO, NEPTUNE, MOON. So one way or another this week has some deep psychological punch.
As the SUN moves on it will move into heady, adaptable and perfunctory Gemini and exactly trines PLUTO on the 22nd while JUPITER exactly sextiles NEPTUNE on the 23rd; the day of the FULL MOON in Sagittarius. I’ll go over what that might auger as we get closer to it, but you might be well advised to start planning a short ceremonial journey or a couple of days alone in the wilderness for that time. It will pay off.

OK, we are deep in it now. When the NEW MOON hits on the 7th (or 8th elsewhere) we will have plenty of PLUTO and SATURN energy going on as well as a good dose of CHIRON. Kinda a heavy start to MAY for all of us alas, but heavy bad, or heavy good is up to a lot of other factors. Factors you would find in your natal birth chart and also in your attitude towards shadow work.

At the NEW MOON we have SATURN, the planet of limits and responsibility and timing is in a semi-square (45 degrees) with PLUTO, the underworld, the unconscious, and hidden power as well as the great transformer: death and rebirth. Slow and ponderous as it always is, it is barely moving at all right now as it just turned retrograde on the 2nd. The SUN-MOON conjunction will be in sextile that day to SATURN as well, and in semi-square with MARS, making all this feel irritatingly personal and motivationally relevant to the usual initiatory energy of the NEW MOON. It may feel as if we are being held back in order to face some things we tend to overlook or repress in ourselves and in the world. Here is a synopsis of these energetics: Powerful dissatisfactions or frustrations with our collective and personal position and progress may arise from the depths (PLUTO), motivating us to lean in harder (semi-square), to use our metaphysical and psychic tools (Pisces) with patience and discipline to achieve the correct goals in the long run (SATURN). This SATURN-PLUTO semisquare happens 3 times in the next year due to retrogrades so it’s a repeating theme for 2024/25. It will likely have some sort of resolution when SATURN finally sextiles PLUTO in the summer of 2025 and the spring of 2026. The world change is slow but inexorable and this is just a foretaste.

CHIRON is conjunct MERCURY exactly on the 6th but is very much in effect all week. Chiron the wounded healer and mentor joined with MERCURY in Aries twice before and now we really get to clear some of those old wounds and/or serve someone in that process. A lot of pain has come up to be cleared in the last month and now we get to move forward with whatever we have accomplished.

We still have URANUS and JUPITER doing their generational liftoff dance Keeping things in a flux of change and it’s going to get reactivated as the MOON touches them both on the 8th. We will have 5 planets in Taurus while the MOON is there, bringing a focus on the Taureian themes of thoroughness, sensuality and perseverance which we will need to build something beautiful out of all the recent shakeups and shakedowns our world is going through.

MARS, CHIRON, MERCURY and the NORTH NODE are still in Aries which will keep the heat at a simmer for now. There is also the possibility of screwing down the lid too tight (Taurus=stubborn) and things might blow up (Aries=impulsivity) but also getting some real progress on projects to improve our local environment and home too. MARS at home in Aries, and VENUS at home in TAURUS are both in their power spots, but I think VENUS will be getting its way more as it and the SUN both approach the JUPITER-URANUS conjunction zone.  You may have noticed it’s been pretty mentally agitated, stimulated and focused lately and it will remain so until MERCURY moves into TAURUS next week. Though it may feel hard to rest, we could all benefit from some time in quiet contemplation and walks in nature away from stimulation so our deeper inspirations and natural internal processing can catch up. This would be a great time to plan something like that for later in May as the FULL MOON approaches. More on that next week.

This week’s waning MOON square to the SUN on May 1st continues the PLUTO theme started at the FULL MOON in Scorpio square PLUTO, last week. Cleaning and tidying the basement and getting to know what’s down there, so to speak, or less cool, unconsciously acting out our stifled and lurking parts on ourselves and others. A grand opportunity to see the crowd that struggle behind the curtain to be pulling ours and others levers, both collectively and personally. MARS, the higher octave of PLUTO, spins over into its home sign of Aries on the 1st as it is sextile to PLUTO. More fire, more willfulness for getting things done, unfortunately likely more impulsivity, more impatience and more aggression too can be expected. As if we hadn’t had enough of Aries energy already this year. The whole 1st week of May really has PLUTO square to VENUS AND sextile to MARS, as it switches signs plus a crunchy half square to SATURN all at the same tiime. Anything we’ve been repressing about relationship, money and responsibilities are likely to come up: Fears, resentments, secrets. Unless you deal with all this up-front it will likely show up in your life as fate. It’s a hassle to be accountable and responsible, but avoidance is worse in the long run, and PLUTO is always doing us a favor by inexorably dredging this shit up, even though we will not like it. You can run but you cannot hide.

Fortunately, the 3 planets and 1 energetic point now in fiery Aries are tempered by the 4 planets now moving through, stabilizing and friendly, Taurus helping us to move towards the most beautiful and true direction for us with courage and power if we let it. The number of near conjunctions are demanding a lot of flexibility and creativity from us to blend and profit from all these dancing archetypal energies. It has, and will feel like being pushed a lot the time. Overwhelm or near overwhelm are just part of the gig right now. With so much is getting moved and initiated though, it’s totally possible to be excited and inspired instead. We all may be feeling all of the above in waves that come and go. In addition, with all the close clusters of planets in the sky right now there are consequently,still quite a few half-squares (semi-squares) and half sextiles (semi-sextiles) that will go on until the planets get spread out sometime later in the year. I’ll keep mentioning these “minor” aspects until they are less prevalent, but it’s also a good reminder that the standard aspects are far from all that are reflecting in our lives astrologically.

Semi-squares have the energy of push, friction and choice of squares but less overtly. Semi-sextiles bring the energy of two adjacent elements, in this case; Water (Pisces) and Fire (Aries) in two adjacent signs that have very different expressions and energies. Though it acts subtly and under the radar, it can often be a discordant energy if it isn’t noticed and handled correctly. Both aspects usually last from a few days to a week depending on the speed of the planet.

There is a Half-square on approximately the 3rd and 4th between The SUN and NEPTUNE asking us to look beyond just the 3d realms; dreams and imagination or irrational fears and nightmares may flare. Especially as the MOON passes NEPTUNE on the 4th.
The 6th has MERCURY exactly conjunct to CHIRON so there is that ongoing healing/healer theme peaking. Perhaps uncomfortable but familiar as this is the third pass for MERCURY this retrograde. Handling this with maturity will be aided by a SEXTILE between SATURN and the SUN. All that will still be in effect as the MOON conjuncts the SUN for the NEW MOON on the 7th.

It’s such a strangely epic time as I’m sure you all are aware. It is something beautiful, awe inducing and perhaps comforting to see our experiences down here reflected so consistently in the stars. The Law of Correspondence: “As above, So below, As within, So without” allows us to be a participant in this dance and not just a helpless mote. It really helps navigation and equanimity to know your own birth chart and follow along with that as well as the general astrology I give here.

I also hope that as you read these forecasts you begin to learn the language and archetypal meanings that make up the universe we live in and feel inspired to use astrology as a tool to connect yourself to the sacred cycles of nature.

FULL MOON TO NEW MOON FORECAST w/PHINA APRIL 23 TO MAY 8 2024