February 14th ~ 21st
“Silkie” by Arthur Rackham
Choose to fight only righteous fights, because then when things get tough, and they will, you will know that there is only one option ahead of you: nevertheless, you must persist. ~ Elizabeth Warren
Mars has slowed for its direct station on February 23rd at 17º of Cancer. And as it does so it makes a trine to Saturn in Pisces. It may still be out of bounds, pushing against limits, but the limits themselves are gently pushing back. There are reasons why Mars is considered to be exalted in the Saturn sign of Capricorn. Mars left to its own devices can be dangerous. We need the things of Mars: fire, energy, heat, motivation, movement, and passion. However too much fire can destroy, and too much passion can consume our senses.
But if you take that same energy and you channel it in a constructive way, much like the insulation around a wire guides the energy for a selective purpose, so we can use Saturn to channel our energy and our passions in useful ways. Retrograde and out of bounds Mars feels both stagnant and reckless at the same time. Like swimming upstream with your last ounce of energy, Saturn reminds us that there is only one way forward, and that is to persist. We don’t give up the fight when Mars is trine Saturn. We don’t throw our hands up in frustration, we persist.
Due to its station, Mars will continue to trine Saturn through the middle of April, at which time Mars will approach the last of its oppositions to Pluto. This is the stuff that requires courage and fortitude. The stuff that requires staunch determination. This is not about losing our way. This is about staying the course.
Use the Mars/Saturn trine for anything that requires patience, planning, discipline and persistence. And that is true even if your heart isn’t particularly in it. Set goals for yourself. Both long term and short term. And just through sheer determination you will make progress, even if it doesn’t feel like it is happening at the time. And before you know it, you will make it through to the other side. One day at a time, one foot in front of the other.
Be clearly aware of the stars and infinity on high. Then life seems almost enchanted after all. ~ Vincent Van Gogh
On Friday, Mercury dives into the diluvian depths of Pisces, followed by the Sun on February 18th, and so we enter Pisces season. With 4 planets, plus the North Node in the sign of Pisces we are being asked to have faith, even in the face of uncertainty. To have hope even when all else appears otherwise.
Soon, Neptune and then Saturn will enter Aries. But before they do so they are moving through the liminal void found at the very end of Pisces. Whenever the slow moving planets, like Neptune, enter Aries, it can almost feel like a revival or even a rebirth. But from where we are standing, with Neptune in the last few degrees of its 160-year-long journey through the whole zodiac, there is a sloughing off, a sadness, a bitt of ennui, and perhaps even some deep despair. We stand on the threshold of a new order, something that could even feel like a spiritual rebirth. We just have no idea what that is going to look like. We cannot yet see it. So as we stand here with Neptune in the last degrees of the last sign of the zodiac, we are all being asked to take this leap of faith as we progress out into the unknown.
Never are we more intuitive than when we immerse ourselves in the sign of Pisces, a sign of vast potential. Never can we feel more, see more, touch more hearts than through the sign of divine compassion. We may stand here waiting for the other shoe to fall into the apparent chaos of the abyss that is opening before us, but know that much of what we are seeing is confounded by so much smoke and mirrors..
Our homework for the next several weeks, is:
To be present even in the face of impermanence and uncertainty. That means focusing on what is in front of us. Do not ignore it or pretend it away. See it for what it is now, and know that we are in a state of flux and change.
To have faith that we are being led where we need to be, even if it doesn’t look like it, and even in the face of uncertainty.
To remember that we are all swimming in this Great Ocean that we call Life, and that there are others here with us. We are not alone. And if one falters, we will hold each other up.
To remember that within the sign of Pisces is a vast potential, uncommonly perceived at other times, but stronger now. Within that potential we are all planting seeds, therefore plant seeds of hope, plant seeds of compassion, caring and empathy.
To remember that together we are so much stronger, so much more powerful than we could possibly be on our own.
To recognize and connect to your own divine center, from which all potential emerges. Be aware of that still small voice that breathes into your conscience, and reminds you of who you truly are in your heart of hearts. For that is what will lead us more surely and more dependably than any other road map out there.
Through our scientific and technological genius we've made of this world a neighborhood. And now through our moral and ethical commitment we must make of it a brotherhood. We must all learn to live together as brothers ~ or we will all perish together as fools.~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
As a preview it might be helpful to remember that we are standing on the threshold of an awakening. Much of what we have been experiencing up until now is tainted with destruction. But as all the planets are changing signs this year, they are all going to be in approximately the same degrees of their signs. And as a result they will be speaking to each other in uncommon ways. Pluto in the early degrees of Aquarius will be sextile to Saturn and Neptune as they enter Aries. And as Uranus enters Gemini it will be trine Pluto and sextile Saturn and Neptune. This is incredibly creative energy which can open all sorts of innovative ideas and lay the groundwork for invention and technological breakthroughs.These too can change the world in ways that we might not even be able to fathom.
These can also be used to adapt to change in the best possible ways, which may require us to update our goals and strategies for the future. The alignment of these outer planets also asks us to bring our personal goals and strategies more in alignment with our ideals, especially where it can benefit a higher purpose, a cause, or the greater good of humanity as a whole. And so Dr. King also advised us back in those days of the early civil rights movements, to: Commit yourself to the noble struggle for human rights. You will make a greater person of yourself, a greater nation of your country, and a finer world to live in. So may it be.
For this week’s horoscopes, click below: