Spirit Made Visible
Dates and times are given for U.S. Pacific Time zone.
Fall From Grace
Aquarius tends to feel that its aims are objectively in the best interests of all and that they delineate the very best path to a fair and equitable future. But there is a potential shadow side to Aquarius’ view of progress, and our investment in seeing ourselves as the saviors of freedom and liberty will benefit from a reality check.
Enter the Last Quarter Moon in Scorpio (Feb. 13, 2023, 8:01 am PST, 24º40′ Scorpio), injecting a healthy amount of self-examination. Scorpio is the sign most likely to engineer a hard fall from grace if our ego gets out of hand, so it’s a good time to reflect with honesty: are we driven entirely by altruism, or is there a touch of power and control in our motivations?
With the Last Quarter Moon opposed Uranus in Taurus -and the Sun square both – it’s time to be honest about whether we sometimes demand that others change, while staying entrenched in our own ways and mindset.
Conduit
In my earlier incarnation as a singer, I enjoyed my time onstage, singing for an audience, more than any other part of my life. It wasn’t applause I was looking for – it was the feeling of being connected with a roomful of people in a pleasurable exchange of emotion, as though I were simply the conduit for the song I was singing.
That’s the feeling, I think, as Venus conjoins Neptune (Feb. 15, 2023, 4:25 am PST, 24.04 Pisces): as though we’re just the thing that love uses to manifest. Embrace any moment around Feb. 15 when you find yourself feeling “in the flow,” happily engaged in doing something you love for the sheer ecstasy of it, and because it somehow dissolves the barriers between you and someone else. Remember that feeling, as we enter rougher waters.
Spirit Made Visible
As many readers know, my late father, a textbook Capricorn, was a farmer. He was never happier than when he was riding a tractor, tilling the soil in neat rows. He loved the dirt, the heat, the humidity, the bugs, all of it, and when he came home for dinner he was exhausted and as tranquil as a Capricorn ever gets.
I don’t mean to romanticize hard labor. But one thing’s for sure – humans aren’t designed to sit still indoors for hours every day under artificial light. We may enjoy what we’re doing during those hours, and may not even consider ourselves very physical beings; but our bodies beg to differ. Just think of the glow of well-being and relaxation that follows a vigorous workout.
As the Sun makes its annual conjunction with Saturn this week (Feb. 16, 2023, 8:48 am PST), we may feel confined, regimented, achy, tired, or disgruntled – especially in the day or two leading up to the exact aspect. The physical body can be an uncomfortable, Saturnine container for the bright spirit of the Sun, especially when it’s suffering from disuse. But the Sun’s union with Saturn reminds us that our bodies are spirit made visible, that it’s a privilege to be alive, and that we owe it to our bodies to give them as much use as we give our minds.
Season of the Thaw
The Sun entering Pisces (Feb. 18, 2023, 2:34 pm PST) ushers in a month of thaw, as icy winter begins to slide toward slushy spring. I seem to remember it, from my farm days, as mud season, when the good earth was in a amorphous state – somewhere between the comforting solidity of winter’s ice and spring’s freshly tilled soil.
This year’s watery Pisces season – with Saturn poised to move into Pisces in just a few weeks – does have the reassuringly solid earth feeling a little more like quicksand. But as you’re struggling to move through the muck, remember that resistance builds strength; and that even if it’s hard to feel you’re getting anywhere, you’re in fact covering a vast internal distance. Have faith, and keep moving.
All’s Right With the World
You wake just before dawn. The desert is chilly in February, and you can see your breath; the fire’s gone out overnight. You dress quickly, pulling on your favorite, tattered sweater, comfortable jeans, and boots. Expertly, you build a fire, then set the coffee going and feed the dog. For yourself, bacon, eggs, and toast, eaten at the kitchen table. You like eating alone. You enjoy the silence of this time of day; you don’t turn on music or look at a cell phone. You don’t own a television. You have no desire for background noise.
The sun is up, and you enjoy the view of vast, empty scrubland, tinged sepia in the morning light. You hear the distant bleat of a neighbor’s goat. A bird settles on the porch railing, and you stare at one other in companionable silence.
The day spreads out ahead of you, and you tick off the chores: Bread to prepare for the next day’s baking. A hole in the roof to patch. A leatherworking project. Beans to soak. Wood to chop. Your hands almost tingle, eager to tackle all of it.
You might not see another soul today, and that suits you just fine. You feel a rush of satisfaction – a feeling of wealth, almost – as you contemplate your quiet, simple, self-sufficient life.
Venus is in Aries (Feb. 19, 2023, 11:56 pm PST), and all’s right with the world.
Note: the Pisces New Moon will be included in next week’s forecast!
Writing and images © 2017-23 by April Elliott Kent
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