For the next few days Mercury in Pisces conjoins Neptune. This continues the vagueness and confusion currently in the air with communication of important facts. You see this playing on the world stage with Coronavirus: who has the ventilators, where are they, they're being stolen, they haven't arrived, we're getting mixed messages, federal government says one things and local government another. In the same daily briefings you have people saying polar opposite things within a matter of 5 minutes. There is a haphazard and sloppy communication that is not always fact based. Thought, based on feeling, is not a bad thing in many instances, but not when you need clear, scientific facts and information so others can take actions based upon sound information coming over the air waves. While Mercury remains in Pisces through April 10th we will continue to receive blurry data. The lens isn't refocused to 20/20 vision until that time.

Mercury in Pisces conjunct Neptune does have a very positive manifestation during this crisis. That's all about our nurses, doctors and civil servants doing their best to do their jobs in a compassionate manner. They are there on the front lines making sacrifices and surrendering their personal safety to a higher cause. Mercury in Pisces along with Neptune is about healing hands, healing words and compassionate service.

For all of us stuck at home Mercury in Pisces wants to communicate through non-verbal ways: listen and play music, meditate, sing, write fiction, poetry and keep a journal of your experiences. Take a class on line that uplifts your soul. Bond over the airwaves in more spiritual ways like taking a yoga class, cooking class, photography class or any educational format that uplifts your soul. Allow Mercury to empower you to explore new paths of learning.

This powerful aspect has much to do with taking action to fight and restrict the COVID-19 pandemic.  Saturn's job is to restrict and restrain while Mars desires to fight and do battle.  The combination is like a body builder who slowly, steadily and consciously focuses power on building muscle and pushing one's body to the limit.  We will push our limits to fight in the current situation.  The conjunction means there's a new beginning to fight the battle and Aquarius is about team efforts, group consciousness and mass communication of a global kind.  Conjunctions are always about birthing new energy.  The moment this energy peaked the floating hospital, USNS Comfort, docked in New York City.  The Navy is coming to help us do battle and fight.  

Mars also can cause anger and rile up the public and everyone's temper because of the restrictions and limitations being placed on society right now.  

Jupiter and Pluto form a conjunction on April 4th.  We are already feeling that in tandem with Mars and Saturn.  Saturn/Mars is trying to restrict, and limit while Jupiter/Pluto is growing and spreading death and destruction.  It's the never ending battle of Jupiter/Saturn as one planet likes to constrict while the other likes to expand.  Society is trying to balance itself out and these two energies very much correlate to the phrase we are constantly hearing right now to "flatten the curve".  

Direct your energy towards fighting this battle through the group effort of "staying home".  Stay in place and limit your movements.  It may seem as if your freedom is being restricted but if we do battle now in the long run we will regain our freedom.  

Another important thing to note is that the Mars/Saturn conjunct is at 0 degrees Aquarius.  This will be the same degree as the upcoming Saturn/Jupiter conjunction on December 21, 2020.  That says to me that this pandemic will be with us in one shape or another at least till then.  Saturn/Jupiter rules the economy and the end of the year signals a new economic beginning.  Whatever tools and resources we are now using to fight this virus will deplete our economy and at the end of the year we will know what needs to be done to start rebuilding it.  

New Moons are always a time for new beginnings.  Aries is the sign of birth, beginnings and making a new start, so this particular lunation is even more powerful in terms of awakening and forceful action.  Aries is a very personally conscious driven sign, and deals with things confrontationally, openly, bluntly and honestly. It doesn't hold back.  So we have the birth of spring and the beginning of the New Year astrologically speaking.  

In the past few days we see a new world order beginning thanks to the Coronavirus that was birthed under the Saturn/Pluto conjunction of January.  On this lunation we see major action taking place in the USA with Congress passing a $2 trillion stimulus package to save and restart the economy and help workers and citizens make a new beginning.  The world realizes it is at war (Aries) with the hidden enemy.  We are all taking massive, decisive action to fight and conquer it.  Many of us are facing new beginnings with work, family relationships, illness, and many other things.  Everyone has to deal with this new reality in some way.  The Aries new moon will occur in a particular house in the natal chart.  That provides more insight and detail of what area of life is called into action in general, and specifically on how you might be dealing with the Corona Virus.   

This new moon also occurs triggers the solar eclipse degree from 12/26/19 so it takes to the next level the seeds that were planted at the top of the year and unfolds the story to the next level.  Often Solar Eclipse energy leaves us in the dark as the seeds are sewn for something more fated, and often at the opening square lunation (Aries), we are awakened and see more clearly what the fated event is and how to deal with it.  

Aries is a fighting sign and is militaristic.  It calls for quick, decided, brave and courageous action.  You have to stare your enemy in the face and smack her down so to speak.  Unfortunately while Mercury is still in Pisces we are definitely not getting all the facts, truth and information in clear and concise ways and Mercury the Messenger won't catch up until he enters Aries on April 11.  So it's up to you to digest and discern all the current information coming down the pike and separate fact from fiction.  Mercury in Pisces calls to battle our civil servants such as nurses, food workers, doctors and all those battling on the front lines of this war.  They are the ones making the sacrifices and surrendering their daily rituals in ways that may threaten their life.  

The Aries Sun conjuncts Chiron over the next few days and our identities are tied to the wounded and trying to heal the sick and ill.  A herculean battle is being fought.  Chiron is the wounded healer and all our medical people and first responders can be considered "wounded-healers" right now as they put themselves in harms way.  

Spring is here and with it a new beginning.  The dawn of a new age but I don't think anyone could have predicted it would come in this form.  Astrologers are great at predicting timing but often the form of the event can catch us by surprise.  Aries is a war sign and this time our battle is with a hidden enemy and not an open enemy.  Remember that this festered while Mercury was retrograde for a very long time in the sign of Pisces, the sign of hidden enemies, so we were blindsided and slow to respond, but the sign of Aries wakes us up and shakes the sleep out of our eyes and calls us to quick and decisive action.  It's time to play catch up. 

In your personal lives make the new beginnings and implement the tools and resources you need to move forward rather than taking a step backwards.  Fight to help others and fight to make a new personal start by taking action!

I have some random thoughts about the current astrology particularly as Saturn enters Aquarius on March 21.  Saturn is the planet of responsibility, focus and challenge and says it’s time to work on the issues that are blocked, stuck, stagnant and need to be made stronger and restructured.  He’s called Father Time because he looks back in time at what has been done, and signals his entry into the new sign by showing you what time has wrought.  He almost always shows the negative first to sober us up, and then his job is to start to fix things through hard work and effort.  He ain’t called the Lord of Karma for nothing!  Aquarius is the sign the Lord of Karma has just entered.  Here are some terms that are entering our consciousness in very pressing ways: Social Distancing, Social Responsibility, and Social Security. 

Saturn shows us our limits.  In Aquarius there are limits being placed on team and group activities.  No team sports, no meeting in groups and no large public gatherings.  Instead there is a stronger urge for the public to conform to do the same thing required by the collective consciousness.  What’s good for the group in Aquarius is what is good for the individual.  We must bring creative individuality to benefit the group and be a team player but not in the societal “norm” or traditional definitions of what a team is.  Physical distance will keep the team, collective and group together.  The question is how does the individual contribute their unique talent to the collective, which in turn brings a wave of mass communication that heals society?  And yet there must be a blending into the group and actually conform to herd mentality in order to benefit the individual.  In the time of Corona being a sheep and following the herd is important towards maintaining a healthy society.  Saturn in Aquarius will show us the current limits of our political infrastructure, social infrastructure, financial infrastructure and societal infrastructure.  What are the limits of democracy and how will this virus democratize our society as it crosses boundaries of class, race, money, gender and just about everything.  It doesn’t discriminate.  Corona is an equal opportunity pandemic and Aquarius prides itself on equality and democracy and Saturn will bring into question just exactly how we define those terms.  This is about global humanitarianism and linking governments hand in hand to solve a major problem.  Ultimately this should foster universal love and understanding but that’s a utopian ideal, and let’s see just how far we can eventually go with that concept. 

Aquarius is ruled by the planet Uranus which is currently traveling in Taurus through April 2026.  Taurus is a tactile, touch oriented and pleasure seeking sign and it also has to do with our values.  It manifests in the most obvious way over its rulership of money!  Saturn in Aquarius will answer to Uranus in Taurus and that emphasizes the concept of distancing ourselves from touching other people.  We will learn to reach out and touch someone via technology.  There’s a reversal in attitude towards sensual behavior and seeking pleasure.  How good are you at seeking those values through online group gatherings and technology, and if you don’t like that method, how will you think creatively outside the box to customize it to your unique sensibility?  Uranian energy is chaotic and rebellious, so our money systems will do a complete reversal and all that we hold valuable will be shaken up and volatile.  Material and financial security won’t be that stable for a long time to come.  Uranus is a procreative planet and in Taurus it's time to think of new ways to use your God-given talent.  Our innate, individual talents must explode into a new paradigm. 

Saturn will retrograde back into Capricorn this summer and not enter Aquarius again till December.  Jupiter remains in Capricorn all year as well, and enters Aquarius in late December at almost exactly the same time as Saturn.  Both these planets (which rule the economy) will make a conjunction at that point at 0° of Aquarius and that is the time of the new beginning when we will really see what time has wrought and the extent of the devastation of this disease to our society and economy.  We will then see just what the future looks like and exactly where we have to go.  Pluto is the ultimate planet we are answering to in this entire cosmic journey and she says it’s all about evolution and you have no control.  You will learn to build new constructs and structures to deal with the evolutionary change but it’s time to purge the old and make way for the new.  Saturn in Aquarius says one of the answers to this is to materialize our scientific geniuses in our society.  And on a spiritual level to connect the individual heart to the group heart. 

Aquarius rules outer space and aliens.  Corona is the alien enemy you’ve been waiting for. It’s not a Martian or E.T. or The Blob but a Virus! 
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So many have asked, when exactly does the Age of Aquarius begin?  There is no exact date of passage from one epoch to another.  It lasts several hundred years, but this pandemic and the conjunctions of Saturn and Jupiter at the end of the year at 0° Aquarius followed by Pluto entering Aquarius in 2024 are major steeping stones saying, “Wake up, It’s Here!”
 

Saturn is the Kosmic Kop, the Lord of Karma and forces us to take responsibility for what's wrong.  It's the parent who tells you to do your homework, fix things, make life better and more secure through hard work, effort and focused diligence.  It's not a planet of fun although the hard work that Saturn demands can bring great rewards and free up time so that you can have fun.  But fun is not the focus of this post.  It's about what Saturn means as it enters Aquarius. 

There's nothing like Saturn in Aquarius to make us realize we are connected to the entire human race.  Responsibility is global and the solution must be the coordination of a world wide humanitarian effort.  We will test the limits of technology, and technology will be where we can also find the answers.  If technology breaks down, at first, it's Saturn's way of saying "Fix your infrastructure!" and then following the breakdown we know what's broken and our responsibility is to rebuild.  It's a world wide group effort says Saturn in Aquarius.  How will we learn to pool our resources.  Remember Uranus is traveling through Taurus so world wide humanitarian resources and money is rather chaotic and volatile.  The economy will be forced to make a new beginning on the Saturn/Jupiter conjunction in Aquarius at the very end of the year on December 21, 2020. 

Uranus in Taurus is also about distancing ourselves from touching.  Taurus is the most tactile sign, and this planetary transit through this most sensual and body oriented of signs says we have to force a physical space around the individual.   We are already feeling the upcoming Venus retrograde in Gemini on May 13 having an effect on social distancing.  Let's see what turns around, changes or moves in a different direction regarding this new way of social interaction.  Facetime, Skype, Zoom and all those other ways of social interactions will be the only ways for some to stay connected as we are forced to be detached and isolated from actual human, physical sense of touch.   Not a fan of this Uranus in Taurus and Venus retrograde energy but we must do it at this time or suffer the consequences.  These are new ways to learn how to interact one on one with individuals and groups.  

Saturn in Aquarius and Uranus in Taurus will work in tandem.  How will we learn to balance and give equal charity, resources, money and aid to all groups and not just special interest groups.  This is a humbling of the democratic process.  Are we really all equal?  Saturn says put your money where your mouth is.  It's time for the Saturn in Capricorn leadership and authorities to stay focused on the immediate present with an eye towards ensuring our future Aquarian goals.  

Saturn likes to impose limits henceforth the limits on Aquarian themed matters:  large personal group gatherings,  no parades, closing large auditoriums where groups gather such as concerts, movie theaters, and stadiums.  The Airline Industry flies the sky and Saturn grounds anything that is airborne. It's grounding the planes and it's grounding this airborne virus.  There's sickness in the air with such an emphasis on Aquarius and Gemini in the next few months.  

Help, charity and aid starts with each government, each group doing what they can for the local community and then there must be a joining and meeting of minds to link and connect everyone.  It's important to be on the same page to ensure a more stable future.  Aquarius is the sign of Social Security.  That means more than just getting a check from the government once a month, though that is important.  We must focus on and rebuild the security of our society, its infrastructure, its youth and its elders.  We need a new deal, just like during the great depression.  Saturn in Capricorn has the individual going after their own individual goals for personal prosperity.  Saturn in Aquarius offers an opportunity to put aside our separateness and come together as one large group with a similar goal.  Democrats and Republicans must come together and not remain selfishly separate but work together.  That's a global example but there are millions of personal ones as well.  Time to put aside our differences.  Groups consensus.  There is that strange dichotomy in the sign of Aquarius - we must all come together for a common goal yet this pandemic is forcing us to keep social distance.  It's always been the Aquarian conundrum.  How do I stand apart from the group while remaining part of it.  

It's time to give back!  

May I suggest as Venus enters its shadow at 5° Gemini on April 10 in preparation for its retrograde on May 13, that it would be a good time to have a stack of books you’d like to read during imposed down time, especially when cabin fever sets in.

With the hustle and bustle of modern life, comes the loss of the simple pleasure of losing oneself in a great book. This would be a good time to reclaim this Gemini pastime that not only entertains but expands the mind through information, learning and being exposed to thought provoking words rather than so much of the superficiality of Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Our muscle mind needs a tune up. I would continue to use social media to stay connected but not as a constant 24 hour babysitter.

I’m not saying social media is bad, but Venus retrograde would really support old-fashioned books and activities more in line with evoking the past and pleasant memories.  A retrograde Venus in Gemini urges a more introspective listening and communication.  Take the time to really hear what others are saying in a thoughtful and more considered way.  
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Home schooling will be a source of keeping your educational values alive and thriving in an adjusted form, different from the normal way of schooling. Venus retrograde, if used beneficially, can help us relearn simple joys and truly understand what is of value and what isn’t in this precious life we lead.

The SaturnPluto conjunction in mid January very close to the degree of the lunar eclipse set the stage for a destructive i.e transformative force meant to purge traditions and world structures. The lunar eclipse brings something of the underbelly of society to light. It’s often unclear how to predict the exact form of events but the timing of things is what astrology does well. For instance, we all know that Saturn/Pluto in Capricorn is about death, destruction, transformation and rebuilding of social structures and traditions but predicting that a Coronavirus would be the instrument to effect that change isn’t necessarily so easy.
The outer planets set the stage for major shifts but the transits of the little guys play an important role in the details.

Mercury entered its shadow on February 2 and turned retrograde on February 17 in Pisces. This kept us blind and in the dark about how insidious this virus was and how it was incubating, spreading and growing unbeknownst to us at a rapid pace like a hidden enemy we don’t see coming. We foolishly thought it was only on foreign shores. Only when Mercury entered Aquarius did we realize the global magnitude and it suddenly became much clearer how bad things were on our doorstep and that’s when leaders and people started to take more serious government, political and global action to deal with social security. Now that Mercury is entering its second shadow period and going over the same degrees of Pisces from February, we will uncover the unforeseen rate at which the virus is spreading and how much illness there really is. Get ready for more confusion, lies and deception as to what the truth might be in terms of the widespread rate of infection. We may have to wait till Mercury enters Aries on April 12th to get more rapid testing, accuracy and more honest transparency.

Remember that science fiction movie THE BLOB from the 1950s starring Steve McQueen? The Blob Represents Saturn/Pluto. This Mercury retrograde has that feeling where the insidiousness and growth of the monster blob is getting bigger and bigger while most everyone in the town is unaware and going about their daily business. Then, as Mercury turns direct, that which was incubating suddenly makes itself known in full blown ferocity and everyone bands together to defeat the horror of the menace that had been breeding in the background. The enemy is destroyed but society has been transformed in some way. We are brought to our knees and humbled.

Saturn leaving Capricorn and entering Aquarius is asking us to take responsibility for social interactions and for doing the hard work necessary to help all humanity. Of course if you don’t face your fears they become your limitations. And, if you don’t do the responsible thing like Social (Aquarius) distancing (Saturn) then fear can eventually take over. If things get worse the negative side of Saturn in Aquarius will make you paranoid of other social groups that bring out the worst in wanting to ostracize those groups. Saturn in Aquarius can represent healthy, responsible quarantine or autocratic herding of undesirables similar to concentration camps. Saturn in Aquarius is air travel bans and restrictions. Saturn in Aquarius eventually wants to strengthen social structures but first it makes us aware of their current blocks and limitations.

Venus turning retrograde on May 13 has the potential to reverse the social trend of pulling away from others, but if things don’t abate by May 13 then Venus retrograde will further force a social distancing. Gemini is an education and travel sign so let’s see what reverses in those sectors.

We really must be very concerned about the future and not be complacent should this virus seem to disappear over the summer. Mars turns retrograde on September 9 in the sign of Aries and that could bring back a contagion quickly, aggressively and rapidly and we must be prepared to do battle. The only way to do that is to have government prepare now in the probable lull of the summer months. If we do that we will be more than ready to fight this enemy within.
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Saturn in Aquarius is about the government taking responsibility and testing the limits of democracy. We must be cautious when Saturn retrogrades back into Capricorn in July that we don’t return to “business as usual”. That retrograde will present us with an opportunity to correct our wrong, strengthen our infrastructure and will be a major determinant as to how we use the Mars energy to fight.

The Scorpio Moon acts like a polarizing magnet emphasizing two very distinct sides to what's going on in the world with COVID-19.  On the negative side the fear and terror will be intensified as an understandable paranoia deepens because we are dealing with life and death matters.  We are still treading through muddy, unclear waters.  On the positive side, there is an intense passion to probe and investigate deeply in order to get to the bottom of things.  Scorpio is a determined and transformative sign.  It deals in black and white situations and the realms of death and rebirth.  The Moon rules the public and the mood and its obvious how the above description fits our current world situation.  We are taking an accounting.  

The Lunar Eclipse that occurred on January 10 at exactly the time of the Saturn/Pluto conjunction in Capricorn has been triggered by Jupiter on March 3; a time when the virus started its expansive spiral in this country.  Jupiter is flaming the fire and expanding the rate of infection.  Mars will join the battle and trigger the January eclipse energy on March 16 hopefully acting like a warrior out to kick this virus in the ass.  The Sun triggers eclipse energy on April 10 and that will give a clearer goal and path towards recovery.  The Sun gives purpose and shines a light. 

Saturn entering Aquarius on the spring equinox is limiting our freedom, putting walls around group gatherings and focusing efforts on a global humanitarian effort to take responsibility to solve the problem.  Aquarius is a social sign and Saturn separates and puts distance, hence the term Social Distancing.  We may have to wait until Pluto turns retrograde on April 25 followed by Saturn on May 11 for the energy to reverse.  That will be when we turn back time, recalibrate and return to a more stable and normal energy.  

Mercury has stationed direct at 28 degrees of Aquarius.  The trickster planet will now be moving forward over the degrees in which he passed on his retrograde and first shadow from February 2 through March 10.  This is when the Coronavirus started its uptick and all the news started coming down the pike around this pandemic, particularly here in the USA.  Now and through March 30 as she passes back over the degrees we will see just how severe the situation is.  Communication and networking will become more clear concerning what strategy to take, but more importantly news will indicate just how serious the situation is and what will be done to contain it.  The first shadow and formal retrograde was about learning of the circumstances.  The problem came to light and possible solutions were started to be put in place.  Now we will see if the solutions will work and what more needs to be done.  

Today's Libra Moon is ideal for trying to bring balance to situations and weigh the pros and cons.  Tomorrow the Sun sextiles Jupiter, and with that comes opportunity to communicate wisely about global and foreign matters such as this pandemic.  There are options and opportunities to learn and gain information from a broad range of folks in order to solve problems.  The Moon will quincunx both Neptune and the Pisces Sun so the mood will still be colored by health matters, confusion and paranoia, but a trine to Mercury can help further deduce more logical conclusions and better implement  ways to solve problems.  

On February 12 I posted a brief observation in my blog that Saturn entering Aquarius around the spring equinox will have a strong impact surrounding our freedom.  Here's the direct quote, "You'll get a glimpse of what might happen to your Freedom when Saturn enters Aquarius on March 21."  Well, I think we're already getting a glimpse of that with the Coronavirus.  The transit of Saturn through Aquarius means many things, but because Saturn represents limits, boundaries and restrictions and Aquarius is a sign of Freedom we can see how this is playing out in world events very clearly around this virus.  We can learn about the meaning of major transits by just observing the daily news.  I'm particularly focusing on this right now because that's what's in the zeitgeist.  Saturn will want to contain things and protect because ultimately the job of Saturn is to restrict and make sure that everything is under control, but he often does it by policing, limitation and applying the rule of law.  Countries such as Italy are putting up boundaries and limiting travel.  All countries are thinking about their borders.  On an individual level so many are restricting travel and making important choices of whether or not to remain in the four walls of one's home and when, how and where to move beyond those boundaries when important to do so.  We still have our freedom but we have to be more cautious and adult in our choices.  

​Think of the positive side of Saturn as a parent who forces you to do your homework.  We all have to take responsibility for how we react. 

It's a day of adjustment as the Leo Moon makes five quincunxes today.  This is an aspect that is like a thorn in the side.  It's all about making adjustments.  That feeling you have when everything is just slightly off, irksome and always needs to be processed.  The archetype here is the mental processing of the sign Virgo and the emotional processing inherent in the sign of Scorpio.  Something always needs fixing.  The moon is a feeling oriented planet and this energy can make one feel like a hypochondriac.  A cough or sneeze  may make you jump to the conclusion of having caught the Coronavirus.  Every pain and ache will be felt and health concerns can veer towards paranoia and worry.  Pay attention if something is important but chances are it will pass when the weekend is over.  

It's a good day to edit and analyze on a practical level and have a good trusted friend to talk with on an emotional level.  There's a lot of complaining in the air!