Astrology Highlights for Feb. 12-18, 2024: Annoy the Right People

Annoy the Right People

Mars enters Aquarius this week (Feb. 12, 2024, 10:05 pm PST), and stays through March 22. Mars prescribes what to work and fight for, and how. While it’s in Aquarius, don’t be afraid to be a little bit shocking or controversial, even if your own Mars sign has a different style. Take your work, which is ruled by Mars, in a new direction. Speak up about your convictions; it will annoy all the right people.

Aquarius is distinctive, unusual, and opinionated. It’s both the voice of the people, and unlike anybody else. And when Mars is in this sign, freedom, equality, nonconformity, and independence are among the things that seem worth the fight. Take some inspiration from Mars in Aquarius individuals like poet, playwright, and Civil Rights activist Maya Angelou, the anarchically funny John Belushi and John Cleese, and writer, inventor, and environmental activist Margaret Atwood. Use your distinctive voice, and don’t be afraid to ruffle feathers in order to get your point across.

Plutonium in Your Backpack

A day after entering Aquarius, Mars makes a conjunction with Pluto (Feb. 13, 2024, 10:06 pm PST) at 0º46’ Aquarius, on the Sabian symbol, An old Adobe mission. When Mars comes together with Pluto, the irresistible force meets the immovable object. Radical impulses are inflamed, and the impulse is strong to impose opinions onto others. Mars in Aquarius walks a fine line between fighting for one’s beliefs and trying to force others to believe the same as we do (the missionary zeal evoked by this conjunction’s Sabian symbol). But as determined Mars pushes against implacable Pluto and the forces of control and power, Pluto responds, “Push all you want; it will get you exactly nowhere.”

If what you’re fighting for is in tune with the zeitgeist, if the whole world seems to be shouting in unison a similar message to yours, Pluto can help you move mountains. But it’s important to handle this power combination carefully. It’s like running around with plutonium in your backpack, and efforts that are not for the highest good of all can backfire.

Mars is such a physical planet, too, that when it’s in combination with Pluto, it’s wise to get some exercise. Not too much – when any planet is together with Pluto, there’s a tendency to overdo it. But a good hike or workout is just what Mars needs, to avoid imploding from the pressure of Pluto.

Act at Once

The mandate of a First Quarter Moon is to take action, however tentatively, toward a goal. This week’s Taurus First Quarter Moon (Feb. 16, 2024, 7:01 am PST), conjoined Uranus, reminds me of something my husband’s uncle used to say: “Whatever you do will be wrong, act at once!” We can’t always wait around for the right time, or for a predictable outcome, before we act. In fact, taking instinctive action without an assured outcome is the entire point of a First Quarter Moon.

By the end of this week, five planets will be in Aquarius, demanding change and offering new prospects. But the First Quarter Moon in Taurus symbolizes the inertia and love of comfort that have to be overcome in order to take advantage of those opportunities. The Moon’s Sabian symbol, A woman pursued by mature romance, could be a woman of later years, happily alone and enjoying her independence, who finds herself pursued by a suitor. It sounds lovely, this chance for love and companionship – but to seize the opportunity means risking her comfort and contentment.

This feisty, unpredictable, Uranian-flavored First Quarter Moon is a turning point in the Lunar Phase Family cycle that began with the May 19, 2023 New Moon (28°25’ Taurus), on the Sabian Symbol Two cobblers working at a table. Look to the Nov. 15, 2024 Full Moon and the Aug. 15, 2025 Last Quarter Moon for the final critical installments in this story of companionship and collaboration.

Crackle

Venus symbolizes what is loved and pleasurable; while it’s in Aquarius (Feb. 16, 2024, 8:05 am PST through March 11), that list includes dear friends who maintain the perfect blend of closeness and distance. It also favors gadgets and electronic gizmos, quirky art, and the kind of music that wakes you up and could never be simply “background music.”

As Venus circles the zodiac, she familiarizes us with pleasure in all its forms. What does she want for us, while visiting Aquarius? She wants people and things and experiences that crackle with excitement and electricity, that wake up and make us pay attention, that feel new. You don’t have to throw away what’s treasured, tried, and true; but for the next few weeks, you might want a little extra breathing room to explore new connections, and bring excitement and novelty to existing ones.

A New Story

There’s a story we tell about ourselves, starting from our earliest experiences and encompassing all the milestones up to the present day. The experiences we choose to highlight in that story – and most importantly, the way we frame ourselves as hero, victim, victor, or loser – are up to us. As Mercury, the storyteller, squares Uranus (Feb. 16, 2024, 7:52 pm PST), it’s time to change that story.

Mercury and Uranus are at the same degrees of last week’s Sun-Uranus square (on Feb. 8), so that’s the story they’re telling. It’s the story of how different we’ve become, not only from other people but from the person we were a decade ago, last week, or yesterday.

Conception

There is a moment at the beginning of a new romance when you’re so besotted with the object of your desire that you can’t think of anything else, can’t eat, can’t sleep. Want nothing more than to crawl into their embrace and just stay there, luxuriating in their fragrance and nearness. It’s both ecstatic and overwhelming. This level of intensity doesn’t last forever, but it’s the almost narcotic infatuation that binds us together with another and seals our connection.

This is one example of the symbolism of Venus conjoined with Pluto (Feb. 17, 2024, 00:48 am PST). Even in coolish Aquarius, this is a passionate aspect of potential conception – not literally, necessary, but perhaps the conception of a relationship or a creative project. Unless the planets involved are connecting strongly with something in your own chart (they come together at 0º51’ Aquarius), the focus of desire may not last long. But if stronger influences are also present – if the time is right for you to give everything you have to a person or an idea – this is the moment, the planetary aspect, that can seal you together through whatever comes next.

Rest, Heal, Purify

As the Sun changes sign each month, the spotlight shifts to a new area of life. This week, the Sun enters Pisces (Feb. 18, 2024, 8:13 pm PST), the last sign of the zodiacal wheel. The ice of Aquarius is melting, leaving Pisces to splash around in the waters of the thaw. We’re on our way to something new – but for now, it might just feel as though everything we were sure about has been washed away.

In Pisces, we live between the ice of Aquarius and the fire of Aries. The Sun’s Pisces season is a bit like the Moon’s waning crescent, or “balsamic” lunar phase, but for the Sun; a time to find solar joy through rest, healing, and purification. It’s the month of letting go, embracing the faith that sustains us in uncertain circumstances, and preparing ourselves to charge into the energetic new season.