As we come into February, the energies shift dramatically once more. We began the winter with a strong emphasis on the Cardinal Earth Sign of Capricorn and the ability to ground our intentions with a best practices approach. The mid January period into early February highlights the Fixed Air of Aquarius with a focus on what could be and the embrace of increased diversity within groups and expressed by individuals. February through much of March experiences more of the Mutable Water of Pisces.
On February 1st – 2nd, Venus exits Capricorn to enter Aquarius and Mars exits Aquarius to enter Pisces.
Similar to the earlier Aquarius transiting planets, Venus sextiles Uranus on February 6th, Venus trines Jupiter on the 6th – 7th, and Venus squares Saturn on the 10th – 11th. Social occasions can be fun events with us looking to engage people different from ourselves in background, experience and philosophy. We are far more interested in people who are marching to their own drummer, embracing their uniqueness and walking their personal journey.
The Aquarius New Moon on the 9th – 10th also begins the Chinese New Year of the Water Snake. In Chinese astrology, this year speaks to transition and transformation. Just as a snake sheds its skin, the interpretation for this Chinese New Year suggests corrections to some of the excesses that have gone on in years preceding. There may be various shake-ups and unexpected changes. Some of the historical events that have occurred during the years of the snake have been: 2001 – Terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon; 1989 – Tearing down of the Berlin Wall; 1977 – Restoration to power of Deng Xiaoping in China as the Gang of Four is expelled from the Communist Party; 1965 – US Troop build up in Vietnam; 1953 – Josef Stalin dies, Dwight Eisenhower becomes US President and the Korean War ends; 1941 – Attack on Pearl Harbor and the US entry into World War II; 1929 – Stock Market crash and the Great Depression; 1917 – World War I and the Russian Revolution. Snake years promise snake-ups and shake-ups and extreme measures.
The movement in February of planets into Pisces, first with Mars on the 1st – 2nd, then Mercury on the 5th and later in February the Sun on the 18th and Venus on the 25th, ratchets up our emotions. We have to be wary of losing the fine line between service and self-sacrifice, and we need to avoid the no-win game of playing savior or martyr. The Pisces-transiting planets will initially conjunct Neptune, square Jupiter, sextile Pluto and trine Saturn.
February is likely to be a highly squishy month, with our sensibilities off the charts and precipitations with storm systems liable to be extreme, with flash floods and blizzard-like conditions.
Although the emphasis in February will be on the two Universal Signs of Aquarius and Pisces, there can be a great deal of confusion, too much information and a sense of overwhelm with all that is liable to be going on. This is a time for us to bump up our immune system not only to forestall the influence of whacky weather but also because our sensitivities will be strong with many of us being like dry sponges taking to water, soaking up the feelings and emotions of the people around us and the collective unconsciousness.
We may see a strong pull towards spiritual revival in February with many of the religious institutions offering solace and comfort to those despairing of the ways of the world and the circumstances of their personal conditions.
With Mercury in Pisces and Jupiter in Gemini, we again have a Mutual Reception, for in traditional astrology the 7 ancient planets rule two Signs, one Positive Sign and one Receptive Sign. In traditional astrology, Jupiter rules both Sagittarius and Pisces, which it now co-rules with Neptune. With Mercury in Pisces and Jupiter in Gemini, each of these planets is in Detriment, where they are uncomfortable and ill-fitting, and in the Sign ruled by the other, a Mutual Reception. The likelihood of too much information, miscommunications and misunderstandings is increased during this month of February and increased even further with the Mercury retrograde cycle through Pisces beginning on the 23rd of February and continuing until the 17th of March, close to the end of Winter.
As the Pisces transiting planets go through the Mutable Water Sign, they will conjunct Neptune, square Jupiter, sextile Pluto and trine Saturn.
February can be an anxiety-provoking month, whether we are on overload with so much on our plate that we feel we can hardly handle it all or we have the sense of merely being able to react, and not all that effectively, to all the curveballs thrown our way. Misinformation, disinformation; we may not know whether we are coming or going. Our decisions may be made more from wish fulfillment than factual data on which to judge the merit of any situation.
The more we can keep grounded, focused and not be diverted by senseless distractions that have no real impact on our individual lives, the less thrown for a loop we are likely to be in February. We still may not fully be aware of what is going on. It would be wise for us not to rush to judgment nor make definitive decisions without a backup exit strategy.
The mood swings can be wild during this February time. It can be a time of spiritual awakening, epiphanies of consciousness and startling understanding. It can also be a time when the hucksters are out in full force, persuading us convincingly of their ‘truth’, statements that belie reality and only serve to deceive.
People may seek forms of escapism, whatever the escape of choice might be. It would be suggested that we get off the track now and again in order to have a fresh perspective and some distance from the immediacy of circumstance. Doing so could avoid us from engaging other forms of escapism that might be less productive.
On the day that the Sun exits Aquarius to enter Pisces, February 18th, Saturn turns retrograde. There is a great deal of water, some of it stagnant, some of it rapid currents. There may be water, water everywhere with emotions all over the place — seething, percolating, boiling, vapid.
The tendency to excess cannot be discounted. We may desire a scavenger hunt, going from one situation to another, always justifying our movements and our actions as though some type of clue is being provided that will eventually lead us to a trajectory that launches us on a right path.
During this end of February into mid-March, we have to be aware of all the varied emotional dramas that might occur. With emotions all over the place, some people may be enablers, others the walking wounded. The recourse is to recognize that the ways of the world are no longer as they have been and for us to use these times to reconnect with our soul and re-ignite our spirit.
During the chaos and craziness of these volatile times, we can choose a spiritual reconnecting, a soulful reawakening and an en-lightening along our way.
February 2013… spiritual awakenings amidst the volatility…
