Laughing Sky Astrology

The light is returning, the seeds are stirring and buds have begun to pop out with great bravery and gusto! With the celebration of Imbolc last week, we have called upon the fiery goddess Brigid to let down her orange flaming hair as we light the candles to call forth the growing light. On the last full moon in the Jewish Calendar was Tu Bishvat, the new years for the Trees. This is the time of year we tune in with the rising of the energy that has laid dormant for the dar...k retreat of the long winter months. On Feb 11 we have a very potent new moon as we have the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn all stacked up in the sign of Aquarius. Times they are a changing!! Aquarius brings forth a revolutionary spirit, focus on community, and new horizons. For most of 2020 we had Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto all in Capricorn and the chaos that ensued was from the breaking down of the old structures (Saturn) conjunct Pluto (death/rebirth) and was experienced by most of the world. A new story is now beginning and in my opinion the story of 2021 actually begins with this new moon. In many ways it is a very beautiful moon with the moon aligning with Jupiter and Venus. Venus representing everything we love as well as money is meeting up with Jupiter (expansion, abundance). The only caution is to not overindulge as Jupiter can sometimes not know when to stop. The other thing to account for is that Mercury is in retrograde which can put a wrench in the smooth execution of our grand plan. Now while we have good reason to be excited about all the new potentials and possibilities that all the Aquarian energy can bring, we also have the approaching story of the Uranus/Saturn squares of which there will be three this year. On Feb 17 Saturn in Aquarius will make its first square with Uranus in Taurus. Squares create tension and can feel like the energies are at odds with each other and butting heads. Saturn in Aquarius is ready to write a new story that is more inclusive, humanitarian and revolutionary. However it is squaring Uranus in Taurus which is slowing everything down. Uranus (the awakening in the flash of a lightning bolt ) doesn’t like to be in Taurus because Taurus doesn’t like change, although it comes to realize that change is inevitable. It just means that we all get to practice our patience even more so. This new moon is also the Chinese New Year! We survived last year’s year of the rat (rat=carrier of disease/plague) and now we are entering the year of the Ox! We get the opportunity to work hard, sow our new seeds for the future and reap the harvest. Blessings and may the forces be with you.

Breath of Fire, burning desire, life on a wire! These are some of the themes rearing their head this month as mars goes retrograde from September 9th-Nov 13 2020. Mars only retrogrades every 2 years, the inner planet that goes retrograde the least frequently, which can make it more significant. Mars went retrograde in fiery Aires, where it will be hanging out for 6 months! Mars themes include a severing, puncturing, conflict, confrontation, catalyzing and taking action w...ith courage! As we've been seeing with the wildfires, political polarization, natural disasters, feelings of frustration, inflammation are all a part of this coming into manifestation. Mars is squaring Saturn within 5 degrees over the next two months. Saturn restricts and puts limits on what's possible, while mars wants to forge ahead and walk boldly through the fire. This square can be summed up by one word...FRUSTRATION. We may be feeling more blocked by walls being put up around us. On the positive side of things, we now have the opportunity to face our demons head on, jump on and ride the dragon, take a leap and catalyze new patterns. Mars loves action, so it's a great time to make sure we are getting our heartrates up, getting out on that run or taking those cold showers. When we show up to meet the challenges with courage and determination we can really break some old habits and clear the path ahead for the future. Recharge, rebuild and reclaim your will! I believe in you!! If you want to know where this is happening in your chart, please reach out and we can set up a reading and go deeper. These are the times we've been waiting for!

The stars have aligned, it’s time to take flight, set our sights and dream big. The Grand Conjunction it is being called! When Saturn (structure) aligned with Jupiter (expansion) at 0 degrees Aquarius on winter solstice on Dec 21 2020, this marked a massive turning point. We are being invited to widen our perspectives and use our owl eyes to see 360 degrees, above and below, without and within and go further and deeper than we ever have before. We are finding new pathways... to wholeness and inciting new neural connections and opportunities to think outside of the box. While Aquarius is still traditionally ruled by Saturn ( yes we are still under the cold grip of Saturn’s claw) there is a slightly less heavy feeling to this air sign. There is now more opportunity to innovate, find community generated solutions, and to individuate and move closer to our dreams and visions of the future. Aquarius rules social change as well as humanitarian efforts which we should be seeing much more of in 2021. Saturn governs rules, governments and tradition and met up with Jupiter which can endow a blessing and a spiritual insight. Saturn will show us how we need to step up and will be rewarding us for a job well done. So if you’ve been doing your Saturn work (look to where Saturn is in your chart) this could be a time of reaping the rewards through Jupiter’s blessing. Now is a time we can let go of the old rigid ways and welcome in new insights, and revelations. It is an interesting balance to be both experiencing expansion (Jupiter) and contraction (Saturn) at the same time. The fact that this conjunction occurred at 0 degrees marks a new beginning. Let us move into 2021 with wide open eyes and warmth in our hearts.

Is Astrology Fatalistic? A friend recently wrote me with an important concern when it comes to working astrology into our lives. His point was basically to wond...er if, by paying attention to forecasts such as last week’s, we dream it in or create a self-fulfilling prophecy, especially in terms of when astrologers say more negative or challenging aspects are on the horizon. I believe answering this is very personal, and it comes down to understanding and questioning of your own metaphysics. That's why astrology is like a meta-philosophy, in that it challenges us to really get straight about how we think the world works. On one extreme, it's the idea that everything that happens in our reality, we create and are responsible for. On the other, the idea that everything is fated, and we are subject to these winds without agency. As is usually the case, the capital T Truth probably exists most strongly somewhere in between, but even the thought one could nail it down and say, "that's for sure how reality works" is a stretch. Instead I like to look at it like an intertidal zone of archetypal power. We have our own agency, our consciousness, our ability to shape our own experience of objective situations, as well as potentially create new ones carte blanche. And, we have these forces of external agency, whose motives are hard to understand, whose shapes are like shadows. But whose power makes its mark on our lives all the same, through seemingly fated events. And we exist somewhere in between this spectrum, between the shore and the sea. "Free will is the ability to do gladly that which I must." CG Jung This quote from our boi Jung is in line with what Viktor Frankl discovered in the death camps. At times, it does seem that way, that these external forces are stronger, or pre-eminent. And perhaps that is true. At others, it seems that we have a lot of choice in the matter, not just in terms of how we react, but in what we make happen. When we look to the future then, and an astrologer says..."stormy waters ahead," it's similar to if we had been planning on going camping, and then tune into a weather report and hear it's going to rain all weekend. The fact is, archetypally, there's no getting out of these specific transits that are coming up. Just like there's no stopping a rainstorm. But we get to decide what we're going to do with that storm. Are we going camping anyway? Are we staying home and cowering in the corner everytime there’s a thunderclap? Are we using that time to clean out the basement or get to work on a creative project? You have a choice in how you respond, or react. Nothing can take that away from you, except yourself. This way of seeing assumes that you respect the astrology, that you respect the flow of archetypal energy like you respect an oncoming thunderhead. To ignore it is hubris, yet we so often see people do just that, and then play the victim. No, you're not a victim. You just weren't paying attention. In past times, we had respect for what "the gods" had to say and what they were planning. We knew these gods, had names for them, and knew what pleased or displeased them. Today, we've skewed toward the side of free will and conscious control. The idea that there's a pantheon of gods seems primitive. But there's a lot we've thrown out with that bathwater. Stuff astrology knows what to do with. Practiced well and with Soul, Astrology is supposed to give us intel on how to best shape our response to Life. We all know that Life is a vast unknown, and that anything could happen, at anytime. So with it as a tool, we can see when there's going to be more "froth," or when things will be smoother, and we can make choices accordingly. I've had times in the past where I looked at the astrology coming up and thought...wow, that's going to be amazing, so beautiful, magic. And while it was in some way, those amazing times can also be dispersive, over-indulgent, draining, unfocused. When we get these "tough" energies coming up, I don't think it's a reason to fear. They can really strongly teach us what we need to know. Questions we did not have answers for, especially in terms of who we are, what we're made of and what we're supposed to be doing on this planet from our Soul's perspective, can be brought to bear. We need that knowledge. We need it to become better people, for our people. People still have (justified) fears when taking in astrological forecasts. They fear for newly birthed relationships, for the health of parents, for the economy. The astrology becomes a scapegoat for their internal doubt. Looking at the example of a newly formed relationship, it's black and white to think that "tough astrology = relationships failing." Sometimes in the beginning of a relationship what we need most is a galvanizing challenge or issue, not even necessarily between us but in the world, in order to find out where our allegiances really lie. That can create bonds that are much stronger for the long term. A strong relationship is something built as much from the hard times as the easy and flowing. You need to know you can count on someone when the stakes are even higher than they are now. How do you find that out? It’s not from enjoying wild, cocaine-fuelled orgies on rooftop patios in exotic beach destinations. Although I’m sure that would be good for something in the long term (just not sure what exactly) It’s by going through fire together that real trust is formed. It’s deep. We only get that when we’ve seen some shit together. So to zoom out again - when tough energy is on the horizon, first, it may not even be as bad as you can imagine, and second, what if it's "for you" ultimately? Does your metaphysics imply random chaos that's meant to just fuck with you and make you unhappy? Or are there reasons for things, some evolutionary flow? Could it be your Soul knows something about this flow? The bottom line in all of this, I feel, is you. Where are you at as a person, and what control of your "frame" do you believe you have? To say that life is simply fated and we have no control is a cop-out. And to say we are responsible for and create every smidge of our reality is dangerously hubristic (Icarus comes to mind as an image). The best answer is this: it’s somewhere in between. And it’s up to you to figure out the exact coordinates of where you are in that blessed intertidal zone.

VENUS RETROGRADE 2020 May 13-June 25th 2020, Venus will be heading into the underworld. Who will she meet on her dark voyage? Maybe an old love from the past ...will show up on her voyage. As with all retrogrades, this is an opportunity to re-visit, re-store, re-write, re-imagine, re-commit to all that we cherish and hold dear in our hearts. When the planet of love is no longer visible in the night sky we can wonder, where did the spark go? It might feel more challenging to connect with our greatest passions and joy. The retrograde is happening in Gemini and it's squaring Neptune which can create confusion, disillusionment and deception in relationships. Having perhaps been in quarantine with a partner, with no where to hide, and all the shadows surfacing, this might be a time of re-committing. We might ask what steps are needed to move forward in a loving way? It might also appear that the cracks are too deep to repair. In either case it's best to wait until after the retrograde is done to make any big decisions. Themes and patterns in relationships will be highlighted for us to look at, and post retrograde we can see more clearly how we want to move forward. In many religions and traditions 40 is a significant number. For 40 years the Jews were have said to wander in the wilderness, 40 days between Jesus' resurrection to his ascension. Some scholars believe the number 40 was originally sacred to the Jews and Muslims due to the fact that the planet Venus forms a pentagram in the night sky every eight years and returns to its original point every 40 years with a 40 day regression. In Yogic philosophy it takes 40 days to form a new habit. One practical way we can connect to the forty days that Venus will be retrograde is to give up something that we "love", maybe we love it too much and it has become unbalanced in our lives. The current Venus retrograde is happening in Gemini. Communication comes under the rule of Gemini, so perhaps this could be just the right moment to take a break from social media? Have those hard to have conversations with loved ones. Also look to your chart to see which house Gemini rules in your chart and this will inform which part of your life you will be experiencing this retrograde. If you want support with this, or curious to know more about your chart, I am here for you!!

Coming into Alignment Disaster in Greek means against the stars, a calamity blamed on an unfavourable position of a planet. The eclipse of Dec 26th 2019 had the Sun, Moon, Jupiter, Saturn, Pluto, Ketu, and Jupiter all in the sign of Capricorn. The first death from corona was documented during that period of time. Eclipses bring about major changes, catharsis, issues come to breaking point. This conjunction reflects a time where our limits are being tested (Saturn), faci...Continue reading

LOVE AND BE LOVED....(((VENUS IN TAURUS)) As of March 5 2020, Venus moved from fiery, unpredictable Aries into it's cozy home, it's ruling sign of Taurus. We are being invited to slow down, gather, ground, and settle. It's time to fill your cup with the sweet smell of cardamom, rose, and jasmine. Let us steep ourselves in vats of honey or money? Linger a little longer in the warmth of a tender embrace. Feel the power of your body temple as you dance, tune into the sensual... waves flowing through the cosmos. Send someone you love a personalized gift, a love letter, and be open to receive a new special ornament, alter item, power stone. Organize a clothing swap, art jam, or cooking party. Be careful to not overindulge as your appetite could be stronger than usual. Be weary of being overly possessive of people or objects. Now is a time to really listen to your body, enjoy the gifts of the gods, taking it in nice and slow, tasting all the subtleties that dance upon your senses. Venus urges us to connect with all that we love....so love generously....and enjoy...you are worth it! Art by Emily Balivet