All We See is the Magic
For forty-five minutes on the morning of August 7, 1974, Philippe Petit walked, danced, and lay down on a high wire suspended between the unfinished towers of the World Trade Center – a quarter of a mile above the streets of Manhattan.
Like most astonishing acts, this one was years in the making. It required hours of research, a team of compatriots, and the refinement of Petit’s natural grace and balance through hours of practice. Not to mention the audacity to defy law enforcement to make it happen.
Mercury trines Jupiter (Feb. 3, 2025, 1:51 pm PST, 11º16’ Aquarius-Gemini) this week, and in airy Gemini, Jupiter pulls us toward the clouds, urging us on to spectacular adventures and impossible dreams. But nearly every dazzling Jupiterian undertaking begins with Mercury, who wonders: How is it to be done? What will I have to learn, and what skills must I acquire, to accomplish this audacious feat?
As Mercury trines Jupiter, breathtaking performance achieves the miraculous: Making hours of perfecting and planning disappear, so that all we see is the magic.
What Do You Lack?
What do you want out of life that you currently don’t have? And what’s keeping you from having it? It’s tempting to blame external circumstances for what we lack. But while there are plenty of obstacles we might have to overcome along the way, we can nearly always find a way to get closer to what we passionately desire.
At least, that’s what Venus in Aries (Feb. 3, 2025, 11:57 PST through June 5) says. The spirit of any planet in this sign is determined and courageous. It’s not that Aries doesn’t know fear – it’s that it tends to find it motivational rather than paralyzing.
What do you lack? Pick one thing. It should be something that you enjoy, something that brings you delicious, Venusian pleasure; a particular bank balance, a date with someone you find amazing, a trip to the place in the world you find most thrilling. And for the next few months, put Venus in Aries on the task of helping you get it.
What the Rest of the World Thinks
Retrograde since Oct. 8, 2024, Jupiter stations direct this week (Feb. 4, 2025, 1:40 am PST). As someone born with Jupiter retrograde, I’ve had a front-row seat for its strengths and weaknesses. On the plus side, there is strong confidence in one’s own convictions and knowledge; you may have experienced some of that during Jupiter’s retrograde. But on the downside, there can be resistance to the teachings and advice of others.
When Jupiter turns direct by transit, the confidence we gained through its retrograde season makes us more open to outside opinions and input. Take a trip, enroll in a course, host a book club. Share your own thoughts, but welcome what the rest of the world thinks, too.
A Baking Lesson
It’s early one Saturday morning, and you’re watching a cooking show. A talented pastry chef is preparing blueberry scones, and they look so delicious you’d like to leap through the television screen and gobble them up. “That looks easy,” you think. “I can make those!”
As you begin to assemble the ingredients, you realize that it’s been a pretty long time since you baked anything. You don’t have quite enough flour, and no heavy cream; will 2% milk work? It calls for unsalted butter; yours has salt. What’s the worst that could happen if you use frozen blueberries instead of fresh?
The First Quarter Moon always wants to jump in and try its hand at something. And this First Quarter Moon in Taurus (Feb. 5, 2025, 12:02 am) is conjunct unpredictable Uranus, so it begins with a sudden impulse: I want that, and I can make it happen! But it’s also sextile rule-following Saturn. Uranus is going to argue that you can substitute some of the ingredients with other things, and you probably can. In fact, you might come up with a scone you like even better. But if it were me (and it definitely has been, from time to time), I’d at least put Saturn on the case first, to google around and see what others have done. It might slow you down a little – but it’s still easier than going to the store, and the end result will still be uniquely your own.
Faith is Our Ally
Neptune makes a conjunction with the North Node in Pisces this week (Feb. 6, 10:11 pm PST), for the first time since January 1858 – 167 years ago. One notable event that happened within a couple of months of that conjunction was the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Dred Scott case, which declared that African Americans, whether free or enslaved, could not be U.S. citizens, and that Congress had no power to prohibit slavery in the U.S. territories. Pisces is the ruling sign of minorities and immigrants, so it would not be surprising to hear about citizenship in the news around this conjunction, which I think we have been hearing a little bit about already.
For individuals, this conjunction represents a choice between floating along with what’s safe or actively sailing your ship into unknown waters. There is no way to be certain ever, when we’re doing something new, that it will work out. But taking a new route will feel exactly like the right path to take. Faith will be our greatest ally.
The Sabian symbol for the conjunction is 29 Pisces, A Prism. This suggests that in order to really see the truth in its entirety, we need to look at things from all angles and points of view, and then ultimately, we do a bit of a gut check on what is real.
Beauty is Power
Years ago, on the eve of my first book launch, a very successful colleague advised me to lose weight, positing that my physical attractiveness would help promote the book. I’ve shared this story before and received comments that were angry on my behalf. But from a strictly practical point of view, this advice wasn’t wrong. Beauty is a powerful tool, and in this highly visual age not even a writer can avoid the public eye.
Venus is the astrological symbol of this kind of magnetic beauty, the siren call that brings others close enough to appreciate what else we have to offer. Venus expresses herself through the bright plumage, beautiful colors, and captivating forms that attract the eye. She is present in all the ways we fascinate others and pull them into our orbit, and visual appeal is one of them, from the attractive book cover to the beautiful author.
Venus’s sextile to Pluto later this week (Feb. 7, 2025, 4:14 am PST) is a simple reminder that beauty is power. This week, it’s available for you to access in whatever form is available to you – words, actions, or pretty pictures.
Sidekick in the Spotlight
When I was a very young Leo, I was shy and quiet. I was very close to a cousin who was (and still is) a more conventional Leo – bold, extroverted, and charismatic. And I can’t tell you how comfortable I felt in her shadow, without the pressure of being noticed.
But every now and then, I found myself in the spotlight for a moment. Even alongside my spectacular cousin, I suddenly stood out for something – usually my musical skills, or a funny, stinging remark.
Look for such a moment when Mercury conjoins the Sun (Feb. 9, 2025, 4:08 am PST) and experiences a cazimi period (from Feb. 8, 2025, 7:09 pm PST through Feb. 9, 1:03 pm). This occurs when a planet is within 17 minutes of arc of a conjunction with the Sun. And this week, it’s when Mercury – the jester, the sidekick, who enjoys standing next to the royal Sun and making smart-ass comments – suddenly takes his own place in the spotlight. And if you’re the witty sidekick type, so can you.
What Your Soul Wants to Get Done
Mars trine Saturn (Feb. 9, 2025, 5:15 am PST) is one of the very best aspects for getting things done, combining personal will, discipline, and perseverance. When it occurs in earth signs, we measure completion in quarterly revenue goals, building projects, and stacks of folders placed in the “out” basket; in air, by additions to our social network; in fire, by exciting projects implemented.
But with these two trine in the water signs of Cancer and Pisces, we measure accomplishment by heart connections and intuition. We see this combination in the determined man who succeeds in bringing together warring family members to the matriarch’s sick bed; the musician who composes a song; the private detective who solves the case with both reasoning and intuition; the priestess who summons magic.
At this trine, forget about improving the bottom line, getting more likes on your posts, or putting on a show in the barn; what is that your soul wants to get done?
Writing and images © 2017-25 by April Elliott Kent
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