For a while now, astrologers have been looking at the transits of late summer 2017 with mixed emotions: some with dread and some with awe, but all with great respect. Uncle Sam singled out The Great American Eclipse, so called because its path of totality highlights the USA from coast to coast, coincides with the New Moon of August 21st. This tells […]

Mars sets off the Cardinal Cross this month, igniting our gnarliest issues. Problems that have been dogging us for years make themselves known, daring us forward. If we’re smart, we’ll dive right into them. “Can you cook and sew, make flowers grow?” (1) Mars is now in Cancer (6/4-7/20), a moody, close-to-home placement. In this sign […]

There are five planetary ingresses in June. Nearly half the solar system is moving from one sign into another. On the 6th Mercury moves into Gemini, and Venus into Taurus. Each is entering the sign of its rulership. Our mental functioning (Mercury) will be especially quick and active for a couple of weeks. Aesthetically and emotionally (Venus), artistic […]

A week and a half into May, the god of surprise may appear at our window and set it rattling. Mercury conjunct Uranus is meant to unsettle our opinions and communications. It often does so by lobbing something unexpected our way. This is a cosmic trick, to force us to think differently. If we could suspend our fear of […]

As buds pop from barren trees in the Northern Hemisphere, April is popping with planetary activity. First and foremost, the Sun is setting off the Jupiter-Uranus-Pluto T-square. As it moves through the key cardinal degrees April 8-14th, it ignites our Cardinal Cross issues (see last month’s and February’s Skywatches). By now, these issues should be pretty familiar. […]

As the month begins, the transit that puts 2017 on the map(1) reaches its peak. On March 2nd and 3rd, the second of three Jupiter-Uranus oppositions is exact to the minute of arc. Jupiter retrograde Jupiter is retrograde at the moment; conventional wisdom says this is not the time to launch big projects. Until this big […]

Mercury kicks off the Uranus-Jupiter opposition on the first two days of February, igniting the year’s big cardinal T-square. (1) Whatever arises during these few days is a statement about the key lessons facing us. Whether the event is inner or outer, respond to it with awareness. If you find yourself reacting, instead, that’s okay. […]

2017 begins with a lesson about the fictional nature of reality. The Mars-Neptune conjunction on New Year’s Day asks us to accept that the world is slippery and unknowable. The best approach is a bemused spiritual detachment: to stand outside of events, in observation mode. If our behavior (Mars) vacillates and equivocates right now (Neptune), […]