Starman
Venus and Mars make a conjunction in Aquarius this week (Feb. 21, 2024, 11:14 pm PST) on the Sabian symbol 7 Aquarius: Child born of an eggshell. This combination reminds me of the sci-fi romance “Starman,” in which an extraterrestrial entity, summoned by a Voyager probe, takes on the form of a woman’s late husband. Desperate to return home, the “starman” enlists the aid of the widow, Jenny Hayden, to journey with him to the other side of the country to rendezvous with his mother ship.
Initially wary, Jenny gradually warms up to the Starman’s innocent curiosity and childlike wonder about Earth. Their bond deepens over the course of their road trip, and gradually, Jenny begins to see the Starman not just as an alien, but as a being who’s capable of empathy and understanding. Their adventure proves to Jenny that, for the first time since she lost her husband, she’s capable of new love, and to the Starman that he’s not alone in the galaxy.
Whenever Venus and Mars meet, they tell a love story. In recent weeks, Venus and Mars in Aquarius, the sign of the strange visitor from another planet, have each done battle with Pluto, like Jenny Hayden recovering from personal loss and Starman losing his way home. As Venus and Mars make their first conjunction in two years, they sink gratefully – if a little the worse for wear – into a tender embrace.
The conjunction of Venus and Mars is a resetting point in the life cycle of relationships. In the somewhat detached realm of Aquarius, Venus and Mars reawaken the love in us, beginning with a meeting of the minds and a feeling of deep friendship. And where the light of close relationships may have dimmed, this is a chance to make them burn bright again.
Dreaming with Your Eyes Open
It was a little chilly in San Diego, so I built a fire and plopped down on the couch to write this column. After scribbling a couple of lines on two different sheets of paper before wadding them up and tossing them in the fire, I sat for a little while and stared vacantly out the window. I enjoyed watching the trees, the sunlight shifting in and out of cloud cover. Thinking of nothing much. Letting my mind unbend in long, relaxing yoga poses.
I’d been trying to write about Mercury entering Pisces (Feb. 22, 2024, 11:29 pm PST, through March 9), and of course this is pretty much how Mercury works in that drifting, imaginative sign.
Mercury in Aquarius, the previous sign, is mentally vigorous and clear-eyed; it might simply document what it saw, or be so laser-focused on a task that it overlooks the scenery altogether. But Mercury in Pisces works a bit like daydreaming: What you’re looking at is not really what you’re seeing. When I gaze off into the distance, my mind is a million miles and often many years away. I’m reviewing memories. I’m imagining the future. I’m dreaming with my eyes open. That’s how the planet of perception works, often, when it’s in Pisces.
Untangling
Each year as the winter solstice approaches, I think, “Hey – let’s wrap some twinkly lights around the front porch posts!” I pull open the drawer in the hallway that contains a giant rat-king tangle of strand lights, so jumbled and hopelessly knotted that my heart sinks at the sight of them.
And then I close the drawer for another year.
At each Full Moon, we’re revealed to ourselves. This Virgo Full Moon (Feb. 24, 2024, 4:30 am PST, 5.23 Virgo/Pisces) stands in opposition to the Sun and Saturn, together in Pisces; and what’s revealed are the ways in which our lives are jumbled and knotted, in need of order. Look to the Pisces house of your chart – that’s where you’ll find the tangle of strand lights. And then, look across the wheel to Virgo’s house, because that’s where you’ll find the key to untangling the knots. Taking a big old amorphous, Pisces blob of overwhelm and patiently picking away at it and soothing it into order is one of Virgo’s superpowers.
Of course, the world itself seems to be hopelessly tangled and overwhelming some days. The Virgo Full Moon is on the Sabian symbol 6 Virgo, A merry-go-round, and that’s how it is in Virgo’s world – going around and around, performing the same tasks again and again, each time trying to do it better. But to expect perfection of ourselves or anyone else is to misunderstand Virgo, which just wants to improve and to be useful. And this Saturn-tinged Full Moon offers the grit and discipline to do just that.
Enough (Plus a Little Bit Extra)
How much do we actually need in order to be happy? It varies from person to person, of course. But happiness studies have shown that beyond what is needed for necessary expenses, plus a little bit extra, more money doesn’t really bring more happiness. It can provide more pleasure and comfort, but that’s not really the same thing. Many people on their death bed who would give everything they own for a bit more time.
As the money planet Venus in Aquarius squares Jupiter in luxury-loving Taurus (Feb. 24, 2024, 8:01 pm PST), take some time to consider how much of your freedom, how many hours of your life – the most precious commodity of all – are exchanged for things that don’t bring you all that much happiness. Venus in Aquarius is a reminder of how delicious it can be to feel liberated from excess stuff, and to reclaim the time that’s traded for buying and maintaining it.
Writing and images © 2017-24 by April Elliott Kent
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