Highlights for Feb. 10-16, 2020: Something Undiscovered

Something Undiscovered

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Breaking away

Imagine a young woman from a tightly controlled, rules-driven background; a family, say, in which female children are less prized than males. In which females are not encouraged to seek an education, in which their choice of mates is strictly supervised.

Let’s say she rebels and announces that she doesn’t wish to get married at all. It may seem she’ll have a long, lonely life without a partner, without her family who have washed their hands of her. But instead, she buys her own home, decorates it as she pleases, learns to do simple repairs herself. She has a close group of friends over for casual, boisterous dinners, with music and laughter and pets and children running around. Each day finds her happier and more contented than the last – and none of it could have been possible had she not broken away and forged her own path.

This week, as pioneering Venus in Aries comes into conflict with the Lunar Nodes (Feb. 13, 2020, 5:13 pm PST), independence motivates us along the evolutionary path from society’s expectations to the true north of authentic emotional connections. Let yourself be pulled away from the comfort of following the rules, so that you can move in the direction of what truly nourishes you.

The REM sleep of the soul

Deep in conversation, you’re stopped midsentence by a name or fact that you can’t for the life of you recall. After a brief period of intense frustration, you move on to another topic and forget about it…until your eyes fly open at 3 am and the piece of information has floated to the top of your mind and bubbles on your lips.

Mercury stations retrograde this week (Feb. 16, 4:54 pm PST, through March 9), and this is a bit how it works during its periods of apparent backwards motion…and particularly so in the fathomless waters of Pisces . It’s as though we’ve been walking around in a state of agitation trying to retrieve some important bit of knowledge, or with the haunting sense of something undiscovered, and this is the deep REM sleep of the soul. Deep beneath the surface of rational thought, your mind is rapidly and creatively processing sensory input. As much as you’re able over the next few weeks, leave your mind alone to do that work. When we spend too much time in the waking world of what’s already known and accepted, creativity and brilliant insights can’t bubble up. That’s what Mercury’s Rx periods are for… processing.

The Last Quarter phase of the Moon reminds me a lot of Capricorn, regardless of its sign. It’s the phase of overarching ambition, regrets, and determination to wring the last drop of value out of any experience. This Last Quarter Moon (Feb. 15, 2:17 pm PST) is in Scorpio – and of all the signs of the zodiac, I award Capricorn and Scorpio the highest marks for tenacity. They tend to see things through to the bitter end, but usually for quite different reasons. For Capricorn, it’s simply a question of how they’re built. If there’s a mountain to be climbed, they can’t see any point in stopping before they get to the top. But for Scorpio, the motivation is personal.

Scorpio naturally holds the “10th house” position relative to Aquarius; that is, if you draw a wheel and place Aquarius on the cusp of the first house, then place the rest of the signs around the cusps in order, Scorpio will be on the 10th. This gives some insight into what will characterize Aquarius’ path to achievement, and what will help us gain some preliminary success in the next week with what we began at the Aquarius New Moon – and that’s Scorpionic passion, loyalty, and/or a good, old-fashioned grudge. Believe me, you haven’t had a grudge held against you until a Scorpio has held it.

Aquarian ambitions are epic in scope. To achieve the Aquarian dream of liberty, equality, and brotherhood, one has to be willing to relinquish popularity. Aquarian President Franklin Roosevelt once famously noted that the enemies of his New Deal policies were united in their hatred of him, and added, “I welcome their hatred.”

To achieve what was started at the Aquarius New Moon, you may have to be willing to risk the… well, not necessarily the hatred of those who oppose you, but certainly ruffling a few feathers. Fortunately, the Last Quarter Moon in Scorpio promises that if your intentions are noble, you’ll also attract ferocious, loyal allies who will help you reach the finish line.

Mars in Capricorn (Feb. 16, 2020, 3:33 am PST) is sort of the molecular opposite of Mercury Rx in Pisces. Disciplined, pragmatic, and resourceful, Mars in this sign is like a highly-trained soldier. Its instincts and reflexes are carefully trained. It knows the rules of engagement. When Mars is transiting Capricorn, the heavens favor structure, rules, and a plan.

If Mercury Rx in Pisces ushers in an extended dream time, how can Mars in Capricorn get his work done? An insight came to me this morning in a conversation with a friend, when it came up that we both have our bills set to be paid automatically; that way, we don’t have to remember a lot of due dates or pay late fees if life gets busy and we forget to pay our electric bills. Which is a pretty good example, actually, of how to use this transit of Mars in Capricorn in a helpful way. Establish and refine an infrastructure that keeps your life organized and on track even when your mind is sleepwalking its way to the Pisces seashore.

Notice what’s slipping by you and making your life complicated, and then find a way to provide a protective, practical structure around it with calendars, recurring phone alarms, to-do lists, automatic payments, or whatever works. Imagine – no more getting in the car to go to work and finding an empty gas tank. No more late fees for your missed credit card payment. No more forgetting to buy your mom a birthday gift. Put Mars in Capricorn on the task of managing your affairs… and then your brain can enjoy this floaty, Rx in Pisces season.