Winter 2022-2023

The winter season begins on the 21st as the Sun exits Sagittarius to enter the Cardinal Earth Sign Capricorn at the Winter Solstice [4:48 PM EST]. As the Sun enters Capricorn, the Sun squares Jupiter. The question of what we want as opposed to what we need may be engaged. Limitations and restrictions could impede our personal intentions and our ability to put our individual mark upon things.

The movement of the Sun into Capricorn increases the influence of the Earth Sign Stellium as the Sun joins Mercury, Venus and Pluto in Capricorn. No matter the weather, we could be in for a long cold winter. Instead of the wide breadth of expansion, we might be experiencing compression and contraction. The liability of shortages and reduced supply may force us to focus on necessities more than luxuries. We may be able to stave off the wolves at our door thanks in large part to the plastic we all carry with the rallying cry of ‘charge it’.

In the northern latitudes, the Winter Solstice harkens the birth of light, as we reach the darkest point of the year and from here the days grow in light.

Unlike city dwellers, those who live in rural communities are used to interaction with their neighbors with a reliability and dependability of assistance. When one person or family faces hard times, rural neighbors often rally around. We might evidence the ability of drawing upon someone, even someone we would not expect, on the 22nd when Venus trines Uranus. While these disruptive, tumultuous times seem more contractive than expansive, there is magic afoot with mini-miracles evident on a regular basis. Even if we are feeling thwarted by circumstance, the 22nd could afford a wondrous incident that helps us realize that life is good, no matter how much we might try and muck things up.

The 23rd has the Capricorn New Moon when the Moon conjuncts the Sun [5:17 AM EST] and influences the next two weeks up to the Full Moon on the 6th of January and also impacts the winter season. Perhaps we are in for a cold, hard winter when the dysfunctionality of old systems and old institutions become increasingly apparent with detrimental consequences for us as a group and as individuals. This New Moon has five planets in Capricorn but is offset by the Venus Uranus trine on the 22nd and the Mercury sextile Neptune on the 24th. Even if conditions and circumstance seemed geared towards a dystopian future, it is essential for us to realize that what appears to be is often an illusion and that more significant fundamentals are percolating below the surface with the eventual upwelling being a blossoming and flowering. In truth, the phoenix rises from the ashes. And we, whether sooner or later, come out from under the darkness.

The Mercury sextile Neptune on the 24th, Christmas Eve, allows us to blend critical analysis with heightened intuition. While our ‘culture’ seems to be on a runaway train of postmodernism with its gobbledygook of the subjective becoming the objective, fiction replacing fact, and the empirical dismissed to bizarre fantasy; our ability to ‘see’ through the miasma of these times is heightened. We can draw upon our sense of a higher power[s] and realize what is truly going on amidst the constant bombardment of stimuli of sounds and sights that tend to denigrate rather than uplift.

The latter part of this month of December could be a time when we reconnect with the spiritual characteristics of our being and of the true meaning of our life on the earth plane. From even a small impulse of the force behind the form, we may reinvigorate a sense of putting our spirit into action. We might even be more aware of the magic operating in these times.

The 28th has Venus sextile Neptune. Relationships may be close to idyllic, as we appreciate the connections that we have with people on a soul level.

An interesting thing about this paradigm shift is that we are moving from the fourth dimension into a fifth dimension. We are crossing a threshold from the limitations of the three spatial coordinates and a measurement of time, and ascending into life’s continuum of NOW where past, present and future are all NOW. A sense of familiarity with someone we have just met, flashbacks into prior historical periods, and glimpses of what could be can increasingly be part of our life experience. It might be unnerving at first, but the more we relax into this kaleidoscope of past, present and future we can come to realize the truth to karma and the importance of our doing life with depth, honor and integrity. For in truth, what goes around comes around, and we may not have to wait lifetimes for it to come around, or in the words of John Lennon:
“Instant Karma’s gonna get you
Gonna knock you right on the head
You better get yourself together”

We close out the month of December with Mercury turning retrograde and Mercury conjunct Pluto on the 29th. With Mercury being in the third decanate of Capricorn [Virgo], Virgo creates the sub-influence of this Mercury retrograde and suggests we tie up loose ends, deal with outstanding matters and make certain that we have taken care of even the most minute particulars. We are ending 2022, about to enter 2023, likely to be a year of significant change and challenge, and the more we can have a clean slate to draw upon, the less encumbered we shall be and the better able to address our life conditions effectively and successfully.

We begin January to start the New Year of 2023 with the Stellium of four planets in Capricorn and the Mercury retrograde and the liability of a hangover from having imbibed too much, ingested too much and/or spent too much during the holidays.

Although our new year may start off with us in a serious state of mind, we could tend to engage our ‘go to’ of the blame game. We might be critical of conditions and critical even of our closest friends.

Venus conjuncts Pluto on the 1st, and we have to be wary that we’re not looking for flaws and faults in our relationships. While the saying that a ‘strong offense is a good defense’, we have to avoid antagonizing other people by any nitpicky comments. We may feel uncomfortable in our own skins, displeased by the conditions in which we find ourselves, but we needn’t take out our frustrations on that special person, or those special people, as a safe harbor to vent our discouragements.

Even if we begin the new year a little grumpy, we can make amends on the 2nd of January as Mercury sextiles Neptune and Venus exits Capricorn to enter Aquarius [9:09 PM EST]. While we may have started the year with blinders on, we could soon remove the blinders, draw upon our intuitive sense to foresee better days ahead. We just have to determine better ways for brighter days.

With Venus entering Aquarius, we might throw wide open our social interactions. Many of our social engagements during the holidays may have seemed more like obligatory commitments than enjoyable encounters. Now, we are interested in connecting with those people marching to the beat of their own drum, doing their own things, and exploring realms beyond the usual mundane conditions. Interacting with unique individuals, even quirky characters, can instill in us the impetus to consider options and alternatives for our own personal trajectories. It is, after all, a new year, a time to leave the past behind and affirm ‘out with the old, in with the new’.

A sense of spreading our wings and finding avenues for our own unique individual expression could be reinforced on the 4th of January as the two ‘good guys’ of the planetary realm, Venus and Jupiter, sextile. Whether by osmosis of intriguing new contacts or generic to our own developing self, we may experience a new sense of our own being, a willingness to broaden our horizons and consider how we can best participate in projects that truly speak to our evolution and our desire to put our individual mark on our endeavors.

While we might have begun the year on the 1st a little grumpsome, we are able to turn the tables, change our attitude shortly after the 1st is over. The belief that the start of a new year also heralds for us a state of new beginnings can give advocacy for us to find new ways for us to demonstrate our personal transformations.

The 5th of January has the Sun trine Uranus. Not only could we reaffirm new trajectories for our year ahead, we might display changes in our attitude, in our dress, in our ways of acting. Not a case of new wine in old bottles but rather a countenance of greater maturity in our personal individualized style.

While we are looking to see this new year as a time when we can truly come out of the shadows of our past, the Cancer Full Moon on the 6th when the Moon opposes the Sun [6:08 PM EST] may suggest we use the coming weekend as a major cleanse, inventory taking our ‘stuff’, seeing what works for us now and in the future and what we need to be rid of, and then do a major clearing out and cleaning up. Just as we celebrated on New Year’s Eve, this Full Moon suggests we fully embrace by action ‘out with the old, in with the new’.

The weekend of the 7th – 8th of January would be a good time to bring resolution to various matters, completion to outstanding issues, and streamlining our operations in order for us to work smarter rather than harder. The Sun conjuncts Mercury on the 7th, followed by Mercury trine Uranus on the 8th.

If we would strategize our intended discards objectively and dispassionately and with no emotional attachment, then we could clear the decks. Although most of us prefer to hold onto our stuff, let’s keep in mind that the universe abhors a vacuum. As we do a major cleaning out, we provide space for the new and the different to come forward, new and different that may be far more in tune with where we are and where we are going rather than where we have been.

The early part of a new year allows for a blank slate upon which we can draw both our resolutions and all our hopes and wishes for the year ahead. This first week of January provides us the impetus to do just that.

We may have to get rid of certain matters, bring things to conclusion, all the while that we are considering the wide realm of limitless possibilities. Such a thrust of future thinking can be strong on the 9th of January as Venus trines Mars. We needn’t be limited by the ways, hows and whys. Not in this environment of paradigm shift where things can occur suddenly and unexpectedly and in the most inexplicable manner. This is a time for us to throw wide open the consideration of all our dreams and goals.

We can have an added burst of energy on the 12th of January as Mars ends its two plus months cycle of being retrograde. Mars turns direct and much welled-up energy can be released. We do have to be wary with Mars turning direct the tendency not only to have a major push of energy but also trying to juggle too much. With Mars in Gemini and aggravated by the retrograde cycle, you might have noticed people being recklessly impetuous such as shooting from the lip, saying things without thinking them through, or driving crazily by zipping in and out of lanes, or observing stop lights and stop signs as optional. We shall have Mars continuing is transit of Gemini until late March when Mars exits Gemini to enter Cancer. Let’s be careful of rash and impulsive actions, reactions.

If we can harness the energy and not get caught up in the ratcheted energy releases, then the 13th of January provides us the energy to put our spirit into action as the Sun sextiles Neptune. From a grounded sense of optimism, we can give thought to our resolutions for the year ahead, affirm our ability to accomplish our goals, and accept the mysterious ways of the universe that can assist in making our dreams come true.

People tend not to like change, even though we are going through tumultuous, disruptive times when what was no longer is and what is cannot be relied upon as future conditions.

The liability of someone discounting our plans even to the point of putting a kibosh on our dreams may arise on the 14th of January as Venus squares Uranus. Should we give any indication of making changes to how we are doing our life, we might encounter a naysayer trying to clip our wings. People don’t like change. They see us based upon their experience of us. As we change, we’re changing our definition of who we are in their eyes, even forcing them to look in the mirror to see if they are required to change as well.

As we may have experienced in the recent dichotomies between the political ideologies of individual rights and statist edicts, between objective fact and subjective opinion, between enforced ‘science’ and scientific enquiry, and many other dichotomies that accentuate the forking in the road; people are reluctant to let people BE and walk their personal, individual path.

With greater awareness comes an awakening and an ascension in consciousness. Once we acknowledge our individual destiny, there is hardly any turning back. Transition moves into transformation and with it the effect of leaving certain elements of our past behind.

The 18th of January has the Sun conjunct Pluto and Mercury turning direct. This is a time when we can solidify our resolutions for this year of 2023. We may have considered a wide range of possibilities over the past two weeks, but now we are ready to concentrate on the truly meaningful, start to lay solid foundation stones for our future, and concentrate on what we would consider to be quality of life for ourselves. With Mercury turning direct, we have to be careful that the shift in energy does not trip us up. It often takes a day for us to get the rhythm and pace whenever Mercury changes direction.

The Sun exits Capricorn and enters Aquarius on the 20th of January [3:30 AM EST], just before the Aquarius New Moon on the 21st. The Sun’s change in Sign brings closure to the Capricorn Stellium and creates a Stellium in the Fixed Air Sign as the Sun joins Venus and Saturn in Aquarius. Increasingly, we may be more interested in our future with a greater desire for autonomy in our affairs. Many of the restraints we may have felt by the powers-that-be are lessening, even more so towards the end of March when Pluto first enters Aquarius for a brief introduction to the Fixed Air Sign before fully entering Aquarius early in 2024.

The New Moon on the 21st [3:53 PM EST] when the Moon conjuncts the Sun truly engages the Sun’s transit and the Stellium in the Fixed Air Sign of Aquarius. With Uranus, the co-ruler of Aquarius, turning direct on the 22nd [5:59 PM EST] we have a strong indication that change is not only in the air, but that change is being implemented. Venus conjuncts Saturn also on the 22nd.

Should ‘newspeak’ try to cancel the people’s voice, their voice will be heard by their feet in the street.

People may have obeyed and complied with the edicts handed down by the powers-that-be, much of it from people’s fear and anxiety generated daily, but like the saying goes: ‘fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.’

This New Moon also signals the Chinese New Year on the 22nd, this one being the year of the yin water Rabbit with its promise of a year of hope with the opportunity for peace and prosperity. During this Rabbit year, we can take the time for observation, introspection, and realization of the spiritual growth we have attained through the difficulties and challenges of our recent past. We could better recognize the transformation we have gone through as an individual and see the same in other people, in our society.

The 24th of January has the Sun sextile Jupiter. We can feel optimistic, confident with the sense that nothing can prevent us from realizing our ambitions. We are looking forward with not even a glance in the rearview mirror. What has occurred is like water under the bridge. We may have learned lessons from our challenges, but we have survived them, and now we’re moving with intent onto greener pastures.

This end of January into February may be a time of radical advances. Technology could show the way of transformational operations in business, education, medicine, culture, and government. We have left the past, not looking to recreate the past, but stepping forward into the unknown with conviction and enthusiasm.

Venus exits Aquarius to enter Pisces on the 26th of January [9:33 PM EST], and in so doing ends the Stellium in Aquarius. Our sensitivity is heightened, and our compassion engaged. We may have a philanthropic desire to assist and help out others. What we have to be wary of is being of service only to become self-sacrificing. We can help someone lift their burden, but we cannot carry it for them. To do so would be to intrude upon their karma and their opportunity to resolve their karma.

The 29th of January has the Sun trine Mars and Mercury trine Uranus. If we would be receptive to insights and momentary revelations, we could devise the most expeditious means to advance our interests. By altering our patterns and accepting our role as co-creator with the universe unfolding, we may get signals, like clues on a scavenger hunt, regarding the best ways for us to proceed effectively and expeditiously. This is a day when we might get those ‘ah-ha’ moments that like flashes of genius give us the answer to perplexing problems and impel us quickly forward.

We end January with a thrust of energy and a belief that all is right in our world. If we haven’t bought into the conditioning of negativity and see only all the ills in the world, we could realize that everything works the way it is supposed to, even when we don’t fully understand the ways or the direction ahead.

We may stumble into the month as we come into February. Perhaps during January, we got too cocky, too full of ourselves and ran too far ahead.

Now, as the saying goes: ‘if you dance to the music, you must pay to the piper’.

Early February could prove a little dicey. The 3rd of February has the Sun square Uranus, followed on the 4th by Venus square Mars, and then the Leo Full Moon on the 5th [1:29 PM EST] when the Moon opposes the Sun and triggers a Fixed Sign T-Square with the Sun Moon opposition square Uranus.

Too far, too fast, too soon. Whether we forgot to do our due diligence and skipped over significant details in our rush of exuberance or we are laid low by unanticipated circumstance that we could not possibly have considered, we could find ourselves hitting the wall. Despite our confidence and our enthusiasm for our new directions, we might discover that we just don’t have the resources for our planned great exploits.

Whenever we hit a speed bump or, even worse, hit a wall, the experience enables us to regroup. If we choose to, we are able to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and start all over again, and this time a little wiser, perhaps more moderate in our advances and astute to the resources we have available with a cushion for contingencies.

Although the beginning of February could prove humbling with curveballs, disappointments, and blows to our ego, things turn up on a more positive spin as we come into the second week of February, almost otherworldly.

The 6th of February has Mercury sextile Neptune. Our thinking can be spot on as we draw upon critical analysis and heightened intuition. We could know without knowing and with the ability to figure out the most perplexing problems. We may have a visionary sense with all the right ingredients to accomplish even the most arduous tasks.

Serendipitous encounters might occur on the 8th of February when Venus sextiles Uranus. One of the fascinating aspects of these times when we are moving from the fourth dimension of space time coordinates into the collapse of space-time in the 5th dimension when past, present, future is all NOW is familiar connections with people. Whether we have met them during this life experience, interactions with some people may harken to a deeper connection at a different time. We could have glimpses of past lives together, a sense of associations that have yet to form, and an eerie feeling that there is more, much more, to living than what we had perceived it to be.

Incidents of the otherworldly during this February may be but momentary glimpses but provide us with an affirmation that there is more to life and to living, so much more.

Mercury conjuncts Pluto on February 10th. Our mind can be incisive, able to dissect situations into their essential parts and then reconstruct them in a most appealing manner. Nothing is liable to escape us, for our thoughts can penetrate even the most well-conceived presentation. Fact supersedes fiction, objective truth wins out over subjective opinion. As we all go through an awakening, our eye and mind become keener, able to truly see the transparent even through the seemingly opaque.

Mercury exits Capricorn to enter Aquarius on the 11th [6:22 AM EST]. Mercury joins Saturn and the Sun in the Fixed Air Sign to create to short-lived Stellium in Aquarius for a week before the Sun exits Aquarius to enter Pisces the following Saturday, on the the 18th.

Five planets are now in the two most universal Signs of the Zodiac, Aquarius and Pisces, and tend to give us a greater appreciation and recognition of worlds beyond our own, a rainbow connection morphs into a cosmic connection.

Venus conjuncts Neptune on the 15th. Neptune being the higher octave of Venus, relationships can be close to idyllic, soul connections with what we might consider to be our twin flame. Or interactions can be dancing with the trickster, someone who is a type of Jekyll and Hyde, appearing one way, the reality being quite different. We do have to be wary of our emotions, for our compassion and sensitivity can be highly elevated, leading us down the path of a martyr savior complex with potentially devastating consequences. Let’s go for the idyllic and a soul connection.

On the 18th of February, the Sun exits Aquarius and enters Pisces [5:34 PM EST]. We have a two-day Stellium in the Mutable Water Sign as the Sun joins Neptune and Venus in Pisces before the Stellium ends on the 20th when Venus exits Pisces to enter Aries.

Pisces is the last Sign of the Zodiac cycle. While we might be in the dead of winter, there can be a great deal of sighing, an acceptance that the end of the cycle is near, with a desire for the astrological new year and its spring season to begin.

Before it exits Pisces, Venus sextiles Pluto on the 19th of February. We can harness our emotions and our compassion into practical implementation and put our spirit into action. If we are impassioned by some cause or movement, we may be able to virtually move mountains. There might be no stopping our persistence, perseverance and determination when our heart and soul are engaged.

The 20th of February has the Pisces New Moon as the Moon conjuncts the Sun [2:06 AM EST]. Shortly after the New Moon, Venus on the 20th exits Pisces to enter Aries [2:56 AM EST].

The sense of the old and the new may be in play with the different energies between the Pisces transiting planets and the Aries transiting planets. Increasingly, we may feel that we are done with the winter season and eagerly anticipating the advent of the spring season.

With Venus entering Aries, we now have the two ‘good guys’ of the planetary realm, Venus and Jupiter, in the Cardinal Fire Sign. Venus is in Detriment in Aries, for Venus in Aries has a greater tendency to be focused on self with less consideration of the other. These two planets in the primal ‘ME’ Sign could increase self-absorption and narcissism where we consider that everything is all about… ME.

One of my least favorite energy configurations occurs on the 21st of February as Mercury squares Uranus. Problems with travel, and especially air travel, computer glitches, Internet difficulties are all evidence of the miscommunications, misdirection and misunderstandings that often occur when Mercury squares Uranus.

If we don’t get ensnared on the 21st by any ‘misses’ that are liable to occur, then the 22nd when Mercury trines Mars provides us the energy to go full steam ahead in pursuit of our goals and our future plans. People may be talking a mile a minute and on all sorts of topics so it would be wise for us to think before we act. If we do so, then we can be highly effective in taking care of any number of things.

We come into March with our creative juices flowing, our head in the clouds and our feet held to the ground by a trusted confidante.

The 2nd of March has Venus conjunct Jupiter, Mercury conjunct Saturn, and Mercury entering Pisces [5:52 PM EST]. While we might be feeling our oats, able to take on the world and put our individual mark on our creative pursuits, we could also be a little too full of ourselves, assuming that everything will go the way we wish it to. The concept of ‘moderation in all things’ would be advised, liable to be neglected. This is a time when we can be geared up to go for the gold and then some. Either we are able to rein in our enthusiasm or someone may help us to quell our overconfidence. It will be essential that we do not overreach but rather stay grounded in our approach, taking things step by step. Otherwise, excessive force or excessive exuberance could have us hitting the wall and falling into a depressive state as our greatest intentions all fall down.

Mercury’s entry into Pisces on the 2nd recreates a Stellium in the Mutable Water Sign as Mercury joins the Sun and Neptune in Pisces. Mercury is in Detriment in Pisces for our thinking process prods the heart to rule the head. We are likely to be thinking from our emotions rather than utilizing critical analysis, and we could be easily swayed by emotional appeals.

The challenge for each of us in late February through mid-March, a time when both Venus and Jupiter are transiting Aries, is not to allow our ego to get the better of us. We might assume that everything is all about us, that we are masters of our destiny and able to will circumstance to our whims. Certainly, a mindset in which we have been conditioned, the belief that we are in control of our environment, of our conditions, and of our life path. Such a mindset in this day and age of the paradigm shift is archaic and can only bring wrack and ruin until we change our attitude, our belief, and our mindset to accept our role as co-creators with the universe unfolding rather than believing that we are the dominant force.

The 6th of March has the Sun sextile Uranus. If we would work with the signs of unexpected development, we might realize that we can make changes that allow us greater autonomy in our daily affairs. Even slight changes can trigger an unfolding that generates major transformations. Like a snowball going down the mountain gathering speed and becoming an avalanche, even subtle shifts to our habitual patterns could lead to major changes and a greater sense of liberation from constrictive routines. We may be looking to create a new sense of self, a different identity, and that journey like every journey begins with the first step.

The Virgo Full Moon on the 7th [7:40 AM EDT] when the Moon opposes the Sun brings us a major Sign change as Saturn ends its two and a half year cycle through Aquarius and Saturn enters Pisces [8:35 AM EDT]. Saturn will be in Pisces through May of 2025 and again from the end of August 2025 until mid-February 2026.

It is interesting to note Saturn’s Sign change coming at the time of this Virgo Full Moon. While its nascent entry into Pisces might not fully reveal Saturn’s influence in the Mutable Water Sign, some of the areas for us to watch for that are likely to be major issues for us over the next three years include:

• Drugs both prescribed and recreational with concerns about big pharma and a drugged up society
• Religion and religious institutions with issues revolving around sexual, financial, political abuses
• Weather patterns with stalled atmospheric storms with extremes of intense precipitation in some areas, severe drought in other areas
• Mental depression as people have a dystopian future drummed into them with consequent increased suicide rates
• Acceleration of people leaving the planet
• Spiritual practice as people seek alleviation from the daily pressures of earth life and seek a reconnection with higher powers
• Change in work patterns with many people opting out of the labor market to rely upon basic universal income, others telecommuting
• Restraints on hedonistic expressions with stricter morality reconsidered
• Karmic reaping with a sense of past lives and obligations to be resolved as the paradigm shift moves us from the 4th Dimension of space-time into the continuum of the 5th Dimension where past, present, future are all NOW

There will be other areas triggered by Saturn in Pisces, but the above provide a thumbnail sketch of what we might experience with Saturn in Pisces.

With Saturn entering Pisces, the Pisces Stellium is reinforced with Saturn joining the Sun, Mercury and Neptune in the Mutable Water Sign. Our sensitivity is ratcheted up. Each of us will have the choice, as we always do, to either lift our eyes to the far horizons of what could be heaven on earth or stare down at what is presented to us as a most challenging time with a negative mindset that stirs anxiety, concern and depression. Our choice, always our choice.

The 11th of March has Venus sextile Mars, and Mercury sextile Uranus. By maintaining a positive attitude, no matter how the conditions may appear, and by engaging with upbeat people, our disposition can make us aware of insights and ‘ah-ha’ moments providing us both the determination and the streamlined ways by which to accomplish our goals. This is a time when we might be operating on all cylinders and not a time to waste. We don’t have to push the envelope and try too hard but rather take advantage of the opportunities and the wonderful surprises that we might become exposed to.

The thing about life is that we deal with cycles and wave-like patterns. There are days when we may be riding the crest of the wave, other days when we are body slammed by the crashing wave.

The 11th of March may be a primo day for us, the 14th less so. Mars squares Neptune on the 14th of March. Perhaps we became so enamored with the energies on the 11th that we went into automatic, became oblivious to conditions, and pushed the envelope on the 14th. We have to be wary on the 14th of reckless behavior, rash actions, and trying to do what we want to do without considering the circumstances in which we are operating. The 14th can be a day when we are liable to be accident prone and a day for us to ‘slow down, you move too fast’.

The Sun conjuncts Neptune on the 15th of March. It would be wise for us to take the time to reflect, meditate, contemplate. Today is a day for us to consider what we need to pare down in order for us to be more spiritually attuned to what our true journey in this life experience is all about. One of the things we might have realized during the lockdowns is the fact that we do not need a great deal of distractions and diversions in our living. Living simply has its own rewards both in regard to a lower maintenance lifestyle so that we are not run by our possessions and in providing more space to spontaneously do activities that have true meaning for us.

The 16th and 17th of March have a great deal of energy but much of it convoluted. The 16th has the Sun square Mars, Mercury conjunct Neptune, and Venus square Pluto just before Venus exits Aries to enter its own Sign of Taurus [6:34 PM EDT]. The 17th has Mercury square Mars, Sun conjunct Mercury, and Venus sextile Saturn.

There are times when we go from the sublime to the ridiculous, and so it may be during this period of Mach 15th through the 17th. We might have figured what really speaks to us, done a mental or physical inventory taking, to focus on the truly meaningful. And then like a metronome, we might have swung back to stuff, feeling the need to gird our loins by acquiring more… stuff. Some of our choices might not be the wisest. Perhaps something is happening in the world that has scared the bejeebers out of us, and like preppers we are looking to satiate our fears and concerns with buying… stuff.

If we refuse to get caught up in the craziness occurring in the world-at-large and retreat emotionally and mentally, perhaps even physically, into our happy, safe space, we can look at what is happening in a detached, objective manner as Mercury sextiles Pluto on the 18th.

Instead of allowing our emotions rule our head, we might dissect what is being presented to us, cut to the core, to see what is really going on and then deal with the situation in a logical, rational manner.

Let’s keep in mind that our being ruled by our emotions, rather than our critical thinking, opens us to being preyed upon and manipulated.

As we close out the winter season, Mercury exits Pisces and enters Aries on the 19th [12:24 AM EDT]. Mercury is in Detriment in Pisces, where our thinking process is emotionally based rather than rational. Our heart rules our head. With Mercury entering Aries, followed on the 20th with the Sun entering Aries at the Vernal Equinox, we shall have a Stellium in Aries with an emphasis upon an astrological new year and a time for us to more fully initiate our new beginnings.

The last day of the winter season is the 20th, also the day when later in the day we end the winter season and enter the spring season at the Vernal Equinox. Before we get to Spring, the Pisces Sun sextiles Pluto on the 20th. Similar to the 15th and earlier days this winter season, we have the opportunity of considering the truly meaningful, our true life purpose and what we consider to be the quality in our living, before we launch forward into the new astrological year.

Winter 2022-2023… never more than we can handle…