Who’s Going Retrograde and What’s With This Weather?
THE COSMIC WEATHER OF THE MOMENT
Q:Who’s Going Retrograde and What’s With This Weather?
A: Upside down, Mercury squaring Neptune, boy you turn me. Inside out…and round and round. Anyone else feeling washing machine vibes? Is the current awareness of the acute complexity of challenging circumstances glaringly obvious to you too? And yet, is it also difficult to know which way is up? Same here. Although we’ve recently moved onto the shores of Cancer Season, this moment in time feels deeply mental, ripe with waves of confusion just murky enough to encourage pause from moving in any specific direction too fast.
So, let’s slow down and take this exploration to another level. If at any given time the planets are providing us with an external map of dynamics playing out in the cosmic sphere, what does this have to do with your or my inner life? My answer? As much as we want it to. And by this statement I am not being cheeky, rather I am pointing to the reality that our intention can shape our attention. If my intention is to know myself from the inside out, then tools and resources may reveal themselves over time to help me on that journey. Astrology is one of those tools and can provide significant understanding during difficult and blessed times alike as to the why underneath it all.
ASTROLOGY AS A TOOL FOR INNER WORK
From a place of deep respect and wanting to learn about the ins and outs of true reality, I can look to the planets and the stars as teachers, mentors, and even friends at times. Each one is a living myth, a hero or heroine, and also points to shadow elements that can be hard to access alone. By observing the shadows lurking inside my mind, I can begin the arduous task of reclamation of this part of myself. If I am too scared to look, I will miss the opportunity. In this way, self-discovery is so courageous and requires a depth of honesty that can at times feel brutal but in the end offers profound relief. Generally speaking, from where I reside in the astrological lounge of life, a planetary body is an archetypal mirror that reflects a very specific quality or series of characteristics that define a feature of one’s inner world.
PLANET VENUS
Venus, for example, exudes a deeply feminine energy that gives beauty and poetry. She is elegant and yet her shadow can be seductive. Depending on where she lives in your birth chart i.e. Virgo, Scorpio, Pisces, etc, she boldly permeates the chosen kingdom with her ravishing magnitude, incredible aesthetic sense, and highly regarded taste while encouraging a sobering attentiveness to finances and personal values. Her invitation is in “relationship” with the feminine within and also indicates the type of women one may attract into their life. Allure and grace follow this planet through the zodiac and when retrograde, Venus calls us into a deep review of our relationships of all kinds. This gives us the opportunity to align the misalignments and clear out the stagnancy to open our hearts and lives toward a more fulfilling direction of clarity.
To note: Venus goes retrograde July 22nd, 2023, and will go direct September 3rd in the sign of Leo. This will of course be a strong transit for all of our beloved Leos and also the Leo that lives within each of us. Where does Leo reign in your personal birth chart? Now is a good time to review this. It is here that you will be both challenged and rewarded (for doing the inner work) over the next couple of months.
MERCURY SQUARING NEPTUNE
And back to this moment now, I ask you - what is it that you are having to work through on the mental plane? With Mercury squaring Neptune, a very fleeting yet potent bite-sized transit of cosmic weather, is there anything that you thought you were clear about, originally appearing to look one way and now you aren’t so sure what to think? Have your plans run amuck, forcing a hand toward a deeper surrender than perhaps you’ve been comfortable with? Or maybe you are chewing on a larger problem and the solution is far from obvious. Neptune is there drawing a veil across the land of the mind to bring your focus deeper inward as opposed to seeking the answer outside.
I don’t know about where you live, but Neptune - also heading retrograde this week - has been bringing the negative ions and low-pressure system on strong here in NYC. A very slow start to the summer with an internal and reflective mood casting across this urban jungle encouraging a process of inner work rather than a time of high sun play. So, I’ve shared that I am not a cosmic weather reporter…but sometimes I do enjoy articulating the moment in a way that can benefit the psychological work that is the current invitation on any given day. It isn’t enough to just know what planet is retrograde or who is squaring who, astrology is an actual tool that also requires participation. If you are inspired to learn more about this, reach out anytime…clearly, I love sharing about this incredibly generous gift from the stars themselves.
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