“Almost wholly unappreciated is the magnitude of the force that will be generated by the achievement of unity, an influence “so powerful,” in Bahá’u'lláh’s words, “that it can illuminate the whole Earth.”*

For many of us on Earth last Friday was a bit rough and tumble as those aspects of ourself that we have invested with consolidating our emotional security, Moon in Scorpio, and distributing our wealth of ideas, Mercury in Taurus, opposed one another challenging the fixed signs, Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius, to negotiate a harmonious balance between differences of opinion, which a discerning eye might readily discover as a mere shading of perceptual tone. What complicated matters even more was that the Sun in Gemini and Saturn in Virgo made an exact square in tandem with the Moon and Mercury opposition, challenging the mutable signs, Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces to take notice of crystallized thought patterns and stagnant boundaries of conditioned thinking that are preventing a fresh perspective of our  view of reality. Gathering a fresh perspective seems very much in the mind and heart of the current celestial transits noting that the last aspect the Scorpio Moon made before engendering the lush ripening of the Full Moon was a square to Jupiter in Aquarius amplifying the possibility of a radical shift in our perception requiring objectivity coupled with self-honesty.

Today, the Gemini Full Moon illuminates our potential awakening in a new self-awareness which reflecting in the sign of Sagittarius suggests to me an enthusiastic embracing of a broader perspective of our world. When we are under the influence of Sagittarius we are seeking to know the significance of our life and the deeper meaning of the kaleidoscopic patterns of perception which we continually project onto the world. That aspect in each of us expressed through Sagittarius is intuitively integrating our body with our mind through our spiritual journey in unity with something greater than our conscious self. We are certain to experience the best that Sagittarius has to offer when we allow ourself the freedom to travel unencumbered by fear or apprehension into the future unknown.

This Full Moon delivers a powerful punch as the Moon in Sagittarius translates a square to Saturn to an opposition with the Sun culminating with a grand finale square to Uranus. It is worth noting that both the Moon and Uranus are under the beneficent tutelage of Jupiter in Aquarius hinting at the humanitarian scope of potentialities awaiting our conscious awakening if we are willing to revolutionize our perception of the institutions that structured our social traditions and contoured many of the beliefs we hold near and dear to our heart. We have the week ahead of us to pay closer attention to our beliefs and a precious opportunity of airing out the staleness of our thinking by allowing the sweet freshness of our enthusiasm for venturing into the unknown to perfume our perception of the world.

* “The Prosperity of Humankind”, Bahá’í International Community United Nations Office

]]> http://laurenlesko.com/2009/06/07/perceptual-tone/feed/ 2 laurenlesko Sagittarius http://laurenlesko.com/2009/05/31/precarious-balancing/ http://laurenlesko.com/2009/05/31/precarious-balancing/#comments Mon, 01 Jun 2009 05:05:35 +0000 Lauren Lesko http://laurenlesko.com/?p=5454 ]]> click on the image to read about the art

The current New Moon cycle is reflecting the mutable signs Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces; and as we follow the unfolding of the Sun and Moon relationship, keeping in mind that every lunation cycle heralds a potential conscious awakening of an unfamiliar aspect of our self, our attention is drawn to the inter-playing between this New Moon cycle and the approaching Saturn and Uranus opposition; an opposition that always delivers a challenge to the precarious balancing between tradition and innovation, restricting and liberating, the status quo and the unorthodox. With Saturn in Virgo opposing Uranus in Pisces we are asked to improve society by breaking apart stagnant social structures and traditional ideologies that are preventing us from a more inclusive engaging with the diversity offered in life. Yesterday, the Moon in Virgo squared the Sun in Gemini creating tension accompanying the green light to embrace the rich diversity of life as we search for a safer and more secure belonging in our global community. Today, the Moon cautiously joined forces with Saturn and reflecting  our emotional maturity we acquired the opportunity to spend the coming week working on practical solutions that  will nourish the health and well being of our society. This is a good time to avoid emotional retreating or withdrawing because we feel insecure and fearful. Tomorrow, the Moon discreetly opposes Uranus and reflecting our emotional independence and originality  we have the  unique opportunity to invent unusual ways of improving the quality of daily life. It is important this week to resist the temptation of becoming  frustrated by any imperfection we may experience that unexpectedly appears with a defiant stance manifesting as a hyper-critical viewing of our self and the world surrounding us.

]]> http://laurenlesko.com/2009/05/31/precarious-balancing/feed/ 2 laurenlesko Prognostication 1502 http://laurenlesko.com/2009/01/10/sun-down-yellow-moon/ http://laurenlesko.com/2009/01/10/sun-down-yellow-moon/#comments Sun, 11 Jan 2009 01:50:36 +0000 Lauren Lesko http://laurenlesko.com/?p=1514 ]]> click on the image to read about the art

The fullness of our unconscious motives are reflected in the face of the Cancer Full Moon looming brightly above our head and reflecting back to us the face of our tender vulnerability. Because this Full Moon is visible in daylight as well as in nightlight it seems to be publicly exposing our emotional need to feel safely secured in the life of our making. Every month the Moon enters the sign of ruler ship in Cancer but only once a year when the Moon is full in Cancer do we experience a powerful illumination of our emotional vulnerability.  Couple this with the fulfilling bright promise of the waxing Moon in Aries and a  luminous Cancer Full Moon reflects our courage and stamina to reveal the depth of our emotional vulnerability to ourself and to others. When we are under the influence of Cancer we can be excruciatingly self-protective and our fear of emotional rejection makes it difficult for us to reveal the fullness of our emotional needs. It is important remembering that the Moon is that aspect in each of us seeking the emotional nourishing which gives us the necessary substance to sustain a deep sense of security and contentment in our life. One distinct aspect of this Cancer Full Moon is the harmonious aspect the Sun and Moon make to Saturn stationed retrograde offering us the possibility to creatively give substance and form that can support our vulnerability; but not without first making a committed effort to taking the time to make it so.

The Moon embodies our earliest memories of mothering which we unconsciously mime throughout our life and depending upon the quality of those early experiences we either attract or repel the emotional nourishing we have craved since infancy. When the Full Moon is in Cancer opposing the Sun in Capricorn it is a celestial wake-up-call to accept our individual responsibility for emotionally nourishing ourself. The inclusion of Saturn into the cosmic broth becomes a celestial mandate to embrace our adult authority and if necessary parent ourself. The time has come to stop projecting our emotional needs onto others or deflecting our emotional needs by taking care of the needs of others.

When we are under the influence of Capricorn our sense of duty to others is a major theme and shining the illuminating light of our individuality in protection for those weaker than ourself rarely leaves us time to nurture ourself. Capricorn is the stoic face we wear to justify sacrificing our self -pleasure and self-care in exchange for achieving external ambitions.  When we find ourself basking in the moonlight glow of a Full Moon in Cancer the time has come to turn our protective gaze within and offer the care and nurturing we give to others to ourself. This is an essential passage of growing into adulthood that requires self-acceptance and self-confidence that we have something of value to contribute to society.

]]> http://laurenlesko.com/2009/01/10/sun-down-yellow-moon/feed/ 2 laurenlesko Cancer Moon http://laurenlesko.com/2008/12/21/celebration-of-lights/ http://laurenlesko.com/2008/12/21/celebration-of-lights/#comments Mon, 22 Dec 2008 04:55:40 +0000 Lauren Lesko http://laurenlesko.com/?p=877 ]]> click on the image to read about the art

When the Sun reaches its lowest point in the northern hemisphere at 00 Capricorn those of us living in that hemisphere experience Winter Solstice: the seasonal demarcation heralding the birth of solar vitality without which our life would cease to be. Our ancestors well understood the significance of this celestial event as a festival of lights harbored in the sacred flame of candles and the burning of yule logs. On December 21, Winter Solstice punctuates the longest night of the year and the Sun dramatically accentuating this event stands still for three days before ascending upward insuring the lengthening light of day and affirming that life has prevailed the deathly darkness of the long nights passing. From an astrological perspective one meaning for this deathly darkness is our preparation for an illumination in consciousness. This Winter Solstice is spectacular with the promise of just that because for the first time since the Winter Solstice in 1762 the Sun and Pluto conjoin on the solstice point. Their momentous meeting is launching a cosmic torpedo guaranteed to bring to surface a deeply rooted anxiety shared by our collective unconscious that will illuminate an overwhelming fear of loss in power and control.

There is an alchemical axiom that says, “the tree wanting to send its branches to heaven must send its roots to hell”, and heaven and hell are as far apart in our consciousness as are the Sun and Pluto. Pluto, the planet furthest from the Sun is deprived of solar light and vitality, and any celestial contact between the two reflects a time when something alive needs to  die in order for something new to be born. Human death is but one form of the myriad of deaths we experience during our life time and the force of Pluto influences everyone of them. The physical size of Pluto is admittedly tiny in comparison to the enormity of its impact on human consciousness which is one reason why many astrologers compare the force of Pluto with an atomic bomb.* The magnetic pull of Pluto acts as a vacuum sucking the life vitality from the Sun into a vortex and placing this whirlpool of concentrated power at the disposal of a radical cosmic surgery we on Earth are insured of  an irrevocable change in our consciousness.

Pluto has been busy all on its own bringing to light the ruthless ambition and institutional corruption that created the faulty structures crumbling before our eyes. Our life has suddenly and irrevocably changed in ways beyond our control, and now, with the support of the Sun these two mega giants, in the sign of Capricorn, are insuring a profound transforming of the traditional structures that  because of a misuse in power have weakened over time. We need only look to the raping of the Earth by international corporations, the ravaging of nations and peoples in the economic interests of the elite seeking to control the Earth’s natural resources, and the wholesale killing at every corner of the globe in the name of Truth, to fully understand the depth of destruction and deprivation administered which now is in need of radical transforming.

The Sun and Pluto joining forces in Capricorn promise that new structures will replace the old but not without each of us assuming personal responsibility for making changes in our own life that support the changes made in society.  Capricorn is providing self-discipline, perseverance, and the tenacity to accomplish what at the moment seems like an insurmountable  task. The Sun and Pluto working together suggests that something obstructing our life force is ready to be eliminated so that our experiences of life are transformed into something entirely new and utterly unknown.

The planet Saturn rules Capricorn and has had its hands full since November 4 when it opposed Uranus igniting social unrest and upheaval throughout the world. It also ushered the historic presidential election in the United States in stride with President-elect Obama’s promises of a new humanitarianism. Saturn and Uranus will cross paths again in the new year, once in February and then in September, emphasizing the significance of the social changes taking place at this time.  On January 2 Saturn stations retrograde mixing disruption into the brew that will force us to re-evaluate our commit to the goal. During the first few months in 2009 we are well advised to expect circumstances in our life to challenge our commitment to achieve what we began in 2008. The somber influences of Saturn and Capricorn have definitely dampened the party atmosphere of the past years and heralded a time of social responsibility demanding that a public and private commitment be made to achieving prosperity for everyone not just for a few.

* The planet Pluto was seen for the first time in the 1930′s, and astrologers say that is was not by chance that the discovery of Pluto coincided with the creating of the atomic bomb.

The Moon, our celestial mother, has turned her dark face to earth, a momentary abandoning, preparing to embrace the Sun in their monthly cosmic marriage; uniting light and dark, father and mother, masculine and feminine, conscious and unconscious, self and other. Every month we have the opportunity to renew our primordial experiencing of union with our source of origin and for a brief moment release our hold on our conscious awareness of the world of duality and separation. This new Moon, the conjunction of the Sun and Moon, is in the sign ruled by the Moon, Cancer, offering us a double dose of motherly care and directing our attention to those areas in our lives that bring us emotional security, well being, and a sense of belonging. The question we are asking our selves this month, Mercury in Gemini trine Chiron in Aquarius, is where in our life do we need emotional nourishing in order to grow in self- awareness.

I dreamt last night that a woman offered me a gift of jewelry. She showed me some very beautiful rings but I was hesitant to accept any and she suggested that I wait until someone else arrived who could help me decide. I was holding a silver ring in my hand, silver is the metal of the Moon, which I unconsciously put into my mouth and began chewing it, something I was not aware of until I began to swallow pieces of the ring and consciously awakened to what I was doing. I felt that I had done something quite unexpected, and out of the ordinary and that I had to tell the woman that I had already received my gift and eaten it. I did have a moment of anxiety thinking about how my body would digest silver but I felt that everything was well cared for.

Each of us has our own unique way of ingesting the nourishing of our unconscious and feeling well cared for what is important this month is that we accept the nourishment. Not surprising, there are a couple of cosmic signatures suggesting that we may withhold nourishment if we wait for someone other than our self to nourish our self. This month we are encouraged to grow in emotional independence without succumbing to feeling emotionally isolated. Our celestial benefactors, Jupiter and Venus, are opposed in Capricorn and Cancer suggesting that if we are expecting emotional nourishing from others we may find our selves either responding to life as if we are waking through a winter storm, our bodies bent forward protecting our hearts, or our feet feel slow and heavy on the earth barely able to hold the weight of the world on our backs. Jupiter is encouraging us to expand our individual authority and take charge of our emotional responding to life, and Venus is asking us to value our capacity to emotionally nourish our selves and others.

Mars in Virgo is approaching a conjunction to Saturn adding restriction to our desires to act life head on. This doesn’t have to be a bad thing if we understand that Saturn and Virgo are adding weight, grounding, to that aspect in our self that expresses through Mars so that we can have more fortitude in accomplishing our intended goals. Mars is that aspect of our self that impatiently acts, and reacts, without much planning but with the aid of the discriminating skills of Virgo we have the opportunity this month to put our energies toward improving some aspect of our self that we have emotionally neglected, shades of our rejecting lunar nourishing.

This is the month to take our clues from the Egyptian Earth Goddess, Nutt, and bring nourishment and sustenance to a vital aspect of our self that is demanding to be born. The Moon is that aspect in our self that can indiscriminately preserve our past, and the trine between Mercury and Chiron is offering us a portal to heal a wounding that requires expanding our perception of our past. Chiron in Aquarius is giving us the gift of an elevated world view and Mercury brings us the gift of conscious understanding. Together with the Cancer new Moon it feels certain that we can give the necessary care and consideration to the dark face of our self and become more fully conscious of who we are.

During the week, between the waning Moon and the new Moon, the wandering stars are silent as the Moon alone translates light from one planet to another. The Moon, that aspect of our self reflecting our need for emotional security and our emotional reaction to our experiences in life, is the fastest moving celestial body touring the entire zodiac in one month. If we relate this cycle with our natal chart we see that our emotional experiences for the first month of our life are repeated every month throughout our life. Until we have awareness of what is happening, we will experience the monthly lunar cycle as emotional fluctuation, perhaps even instability, and our security and comfort in life will feel determined by the tides of change.

The waning face of the Moon is the lunar phase heralding an ending that is preparing for a beginning. The Pisces waning Moon has taken us down into the deep waters of our unconscious to face our phantom fears, our monsters within. Pisces is that aspect of ourself longing to merge and be one with the source of our creation and we can feel a vague pricking of our discontent and unwittingly sacrifice our self to avoid feeling the loneliness of our separateness. The gift of Pisces is knowing that the seeker and the found is a single self-mirrored mystery reflecting the mystery of the manifest world. *

Knowing all about the manifest world is Gemini’s specialty. The Sun is in Gemini, the sign of Mercury’s ruler ship, and the rays of our conscious light are manifest in our rational thinking, impatient with the impressionistic intuition of the Pisces Moon. Even a false hinting of self sacrifice is an anathema to our conscious mind which diligently works to keep us isolated and segregated from others. This celestial combination mixes water with air which on the up side can give clarity to our emotions and soften the harsh contours of our thoughts. On the down side, the predominance of celestial bodies currently in the element of air, many in retrograde, coupled with the Pisces waning Moon, hints at our mental confusion about how we manifest our feelings and thoughts.

The first days after the Pisces waning Moon, May 28 – 29, we may have felt frustrated that our unique and original ideas were not appreciated and we could have felt rejected and emotionally isolated. As soon as the Moon moved into Aries it made a square to Pluto in Capricorn and a qunicunx to Saturn in Virgo adding a sobering tone to our emotions, coupled with the abundance of sextiles, we gained an awareness that certain forces beyond our control could be resolved if we used our creative thinking and made the mental space for inspired communication to freely flow. May 30 was a day spent by many correcting prior mis communication which had created misunderstanding.

For the next two days the Moon moves gracefully exalted in Taurus highlighting issues of security especially our emotional investment in our ideas about the world of form. The first aspect the Moon makes is a trine to Pluto and Saturn indicating that we are feeling more emotionally secure about our skills and talents and open to the challenge of achieving our gaols even under adverse conditions. However, this is not an auspicious time to put our thoughts or feelings into action it is much better to wait until after the New Moon, and until then, to spend our time contemplating our intentions for the coming month.

The New Moon in Gemini will translate the light of Venus first to the Sun and then the other planets suggesting that the coming lunar cycle will illuminate some aspect of what we value in life which will enhance our self esteem. This Gemini New Moon compliments the celestial landscape in air and it is possible that we will experience the coming month with more self confidence and assurance as long as we do not sacrifice our independence or amputate our emotions.

I will have more to say on the Gemini New Moon on June 3.

*Joseph Cambell, The Hero With A Thousand Faces

]]> http://laurenlesko.com/2008/05/31/194/feed/ 2 laurenlesko The Monster Tamer http://laurenlesko.com/2008/05/02/mercurial-shape-shifter/ http://laurenlesko.com/2008/05/02/mercurial-shape-shifter/#comments Sat, 03 May 2008 02:38:11 +0000 Lauren Lesko http://laurenlesko.com/?p=163 ]]> click on the image to read about the art

Mercury is our cosmic messenger, our rational intruder, our fanciful drifter, our mercurial shape shifter miraculously translating our every thought from our unconscious to our conscious awareness. Winged heels and helmet propel Mercury forth, no resting for the weary, our thoughts entangled and endlessly forming. Meditation is the practice of observing the mind, and my first experience with meditation was to close my eyes and observe my thoughts forming, dissolving, and forming anew to endlessly drift across the open spaces of my mind like bellowing clouds moving across a crystal clear sky. It didn’t take long for me to realize that my mind is never still; never without a thought. In astrology the planet Mercury is that aspect in ourselves constantly engaged in every aspect of our mental activity, and in the words of a noted astrologer, ” As soon as you open your mouth, Mercury slips out.” *

Today, Mercury left the stable influence of Taurus and inhaling the fresh, spacious breath of Gemini is gliding with the wind promising a whirlwind of social activities, breezy conversations, and an increased appetite for experiencing the unknown. Mercury in Taurus had feet of clay and if we on earth are cleaver we will honor the tenacity learned from Taurus and temper the frivolity of Mercury in Gemini. Mercury sits upon a throne when traveling in Gemini majestically expressing the breadth of our curiosity to know everything in life. The difficulty arises when Gemini is tempted to superficially pollinate our curiosity without a depth of inquiry; there is just to many things to do and people to meet!

When under the influence of Gemini we are the perennial adolescent resentful of having to mature and take responsibility for ourselves. The first aspect Mercury makes in Gemini is a quincunx to Pluto in Capricorn and a square to Saturn in Virgo, suggesting that it is time to assume responsibility for our thoughts and deeds, and if we don’t we could experience forces beyond our control enforcing responsibility upon us. If we are overly worried as suggested by Saturn in Virgo then Mercury in Gemini can offer us the perspective of seeing both sides of any situation and trying to find a middle way. Admittedly, neither Mercury nor Gemini are seeking balance, that is Venus and Libra’s concern, but Mercury in Gemini does give us the objectivity to take a different perspective and see the situation with new eyes, that is, if Mercury in Gemini can stay engaged without loosing interest long enough to reach a satisfied resolve.

Mercury in Gemini bestows an agile mind easily absorbing and assimilating new information which can be a ready asset in times of change, and it seems certain as Mercury stations retrograde at the end of May one thing needing change is our method of communicating ( I will write more on this later in the month ). Mercury in Gemini is a time for opening our minds to new ways of thinking about ourselves and the world. If people are not honoring what we say this is a good time to ask ourselves how patient and sensitive we are to the thoughts and ideas of others. There is always room for improving how we communicate with each other and, at the very least, Mercury in Gemini brings us the gift of curiosity to try something new.

* Adrian Ross Duncan, Astrology Transformation & Empowerment , published by Weiser

Welcome to this very bustling month of May heralding a time of creative re – productivity with Venus enthroned in Taurus, Saturn stationing direct, Jupiter, Mercury and Neptune stationing retrograde, and Mars ending many months under the influence of Cancer and entering a simpatico relationship with fiery Leo. As if all this activity were not enough for one month, the Moon will recycle in an unusual re-occurrence and we on earth will experience a second Scorpio Full Moon under the gaze of this Blue Moon. I will have more to say about what all this activity could mean as the month of May unfolds and the different energies are expressed in turn. Yesterday, the planet Venus entered Taurus and today the first aspects made are a harmonious trine to Pluto in Capricorn and Saturn in Virgo. Because Saturn is stationary ready to move direct in the morrow, the trine with Venus foretells of our ability to successfully give form to something we have been working on since September 16 2007.

The planet Saturn is our celestial protector guiding us on our path to self awareness which is unfortunately experienced, more often than not, as unwarranted limitations preventing us from enjoying our lives. When we enter the Saturn dimension in ourselves we come face to face with our deepest fear usually in the shape of a grotesquely deformed shadowed self verbally legislating our behavior, laying down the law, why all the while, desperately attempting to protect our vulnerability from ridicule and rejection. As you can well imagine this is not a comforting, nourishing relationship that we share with Saturn; on the contrary, we learn to develop a punitive, judging self prohibiting our ability to achieve success in our lives.

One gift of Saturn is learning to face our fears. Another is accepting responsibility for our lives. Saturn is the aspect in ourselves that is seeking self mastery which is achieved as we mature and develop self discipline. Saturn in Virgo is teaching us to discern the finer details in our lives and separate what has importance from what is superficial. Saturn’s rewards are bestowed after arduous work, and after many months of diligently working under the influence of Virgo, today, the voluptuous hand of Venus offers us the ripened fruit of our labor, reminding us that Saturn’s gift of self knowledge demands that we accept full responsibility for our choices in life and the myriad of forms that they take.

Least this all sound overly sobering on this lovely May Day, our waning Pisces Moon is spreading celestial harmony to Uranus, Jupiter and Mars insuring our emotional comfort to grow and change with the coming tides. Keep in mind that a waning Moon is a time of introspective self investigation as we await the beginning cycle offered with the coming New Moon. The promised action of Uranus, Jupiter, and Mars, none of whom are happy sitting still, is alive and well in our unconscious and working toward emotional change after the New Moon on the fifth of May. At the moment our time is best spent in contemplation aware of this cycle ending and observing how we manifests change in our lives.

If you are interested in reading an astrological sneak preview for the month of May I highly recommend Terry Lamb’s May Forecast.

]]> http://laurenlesko.com/2008/05/01/the-first-of-may/feed/ 2 laurenlesko Primavera http://laurenlesko.com/2008/04/27/156/ http://laurenlesko.com/2008/04/27/156/#comments Sun, 27 Apr 2008 06:00:07 +0000 Lauren Lesko http://laurenlesko.com/?p=156 ]]> click on the image to read about the art

Today, the waning Moon enters Aquarius at 12:27 pm CDT and so begins our week of introspection, a time when we internalize the illumination offered by the full Moon now passing. The time for taking action is temporarily on hold while we reconsider our actions of the last week. The lunar phase now ending began with an Aries New Moon and the entire month has been reflecting our unconscious will “to be” and our creative impulse to take action in the world. Tomorrow, the Aquarius Moon will square the Sun in Taurus alerting us to a conflict between our conscious and unconscious selves that has something to do with stubbornly holding onto ideas which have finely crafted our perception of who we are “way back when” but now are frustrating our creative impulse to grow and to change.

The Moon is our comfort our safety our sense of belonging in life and the Sun is our core identity expressing our unique and individual journey in life. When the Moon is in Aquarius we feel secure keeping our emotions cool and calm giving us the distance to intellectually understand what we are feeling. When the Sun is in Taurus our individuality is seeking physical expression through something that has value for us. It can be hiking in nature, changing the decor in our home, relaxing at the local spa, curled up in a corner reading a book, sipping a glass of savory wine, listening to our favorite piece of music. The choices are endless and one is not more important than another. What is important is that we are creatively expressing our individual value and self worth. Once, every year, the Aquarius Moon will make a square to the Taurus Sun and when that happens we on earth are made aware of the necessity to change a ridged emotional pattern that is defining our individual value and self worth.

The first aspect the Moon makes in Aquarius is a quincunx to Saturn in Virgo signaling the time to be discerning of what emotion is rigid, defensive and inhibiting our emotional fulfillment without falling foul of criticizing ourselves or others. The jewel in today’s celestial crown is the harmony between Mercury and Jupiter insuring we enjoy a day of intellectual expansion and ease of conversation. This contact is also softening the approaching tension between the Moon and Mercury suggesting that our minds may be wrapped too tightly around some idea that makes us feel secure but is in fact preventing us from being open minded and expansive. The Moon conjoins Chiron, North Node, and occults Neptune, all in Aquarius helping us become more comfortable with our uniqueness and less in need of approval from others. The last aspects the Moon makes before leaving Aquarius is a quincunx to Mars and a sextile to Venus reminding us that our self interests are not mutually excluding of the needs of our tribe, be it family or community, and to weary of the temptation to sacrifice our emotional needs as the Moon prepares to enter the sign of Pisces.

The Aquarius Moon is void of course on April 29 at 8:25 pm CDT and enters Pisces at 9:11 pm CDT.