Astrology Forecast for Creatives | let's take a look at 2018 - reality bites back, part I

I Found The Silence by Martin Stranka

I have been hesitating to look too closely at 2018 until we get through this month's Mercury retrograde on Saturn and Saturn's ingress into his home sign of Capricorn. Because we don't know what we don't know yet.

Some things are best viewed/felt from a closer perch. That menacing blob in the corner that looks just like the deadly Brazilian Wandering Spider we saw on the Discovery Channel last night from 20 feet away (one has never been spotted in New Jersey, but who knows I am sure they call the tenacious little fellow 'wandering' for a reason, right?) can turn into the rolled up sock we lost doing yesterday's laundry as we get within spitting distance. Of course, there is always that light in the distance that turns out to be a train, too ... so it can pay to be prepared.

Since I am out of a certain size rivet until today's UPS delivery and am pretty much at a production standstill with the donut-making aka locket business, for a few hours, let's take a brief look ahead.

I got back into astrology during a time I was feeling very uncertain about the future (wait, has there ever been a time I didn't feel this way ... uh, probably no!) and wanted to know what was going to happen. What I have discovered is there is not a 'thing that is going to happen'. The future isn't something waiting out there for us to meet up with it - it is more like a collection of possibilities.

Instead of buying into the idea that the future (Age of Aquarius) is either something like a utopian heaven or something like a dystopian hell, maybe we need to be more accepting of the idea that we are living in a magical, unfolding universe that we are influencing but not controlling. We don't get to know "what is going to happen" because there isn't a thing that is "going to happen". Yet.

Now through Astrology, which is a language that speaks through archetypes and patterns, it can seem that it is possible to look ahead because a good puzzle-solver can make some pretty good and often pretty accurate guesses, but guesses are still guesses.

If a dreamy Neptunian person is about to have stabilizing/restrictive Saturn transit her first house an astrologer could know she is about to be 'sobered up' in some sense.

But her lifetime of thoughts and decisions and actions will dictate what this 'sobering up' looks like.

If she is an artist using her Neptunian skills to illustrate a children's book maybe she will pull the book from the bedroom closet (where it had been gathering dust while Saturn transitted her 12th house) and get serious about finishing it. If she has been hiding empty wine bottles in that same dusty closet maybe she will get serious during a DWI arrest. Maybe both things will happen during the transit. Or maybe something else altogether. So we can see the 'sober up', but not so easily the way this sobering up will play out until we get to a closer perch.

That said, let's take a look at 2018 and see what we see while understanding we will get to a closer perch later and things will be clearer.

In or near 2018, four slow moving planets will change signs (very unusual) as well as the Nodes of Fate. Both Venus and Mars will go retrograde (not so common during the same year). We will have five eclipses instead of the usual four. The Aries point will be hit again and again by Saturn and Chiron. Multiple energies move into earth signs. Earth replaces fire. So we see lots of change, lots of feminine energy.

What we know:

Jupiter will be in Scorpio for most of 2018 - deep conversations, radical honesty. We can see what this transit is about within the collective as sexual harassment and unbalanced/corrupted power issues (Scorpio) expand (Jupiter) until the elephant in the room can no longer be ignored. Any similar imbalances within our own lives (intimate and financial) will do the same thing. If you have planets or points in Scorpio, Jupiter will conjunct them in 2018 (if he hasn't already) - if you have planets in Taurus, Jupiter will oppose them, planets in Aquarius and Leo will be squared. You can see how everyone will be impacted by this, but some people to a greater degree than other people. The lessons for this transit will be about authenticity and real power - not being afraid to speak up. Relationships are rock 'n rolling.

Saturn will be in Capricorn in 2018. Saturn was last in Capricorn in 1989 (what was happening in your life then?), he rules Capricorn and is very strong here (he is also the ancient ruler of Aquarius his next stop, so he will be strong for at least five years!). I am writing a big post about this, by sign, for later this month, so am not going to go deeply into it here. This is the 'winter is coming' energy. This is structure, boundaries and limits. Dad's home. So, yes, the party's over (why didn't anyone tell me there was a damn party, why do I always miss the damn party?) and we have to knuckle down and be in by curfew and study for the exam and mow the grass. On the other hand alot of really stabilizing things can get done when dad's home. It can feel good to get enough sleep and be prepared to ace our test and come home to a fresh cut yard.

Uranus will move into Taurus in May 2018. Taurus rules our 2nd house of what we own - our self esteem, our values, our possessions, our money, Mother Earth. Uranus will shake this stuff up for the collective. There could be some kind of shock to the banking system/money markets and/or the planet around mid-May 2018 when Uranus ingresses into Taurus. Over the next seven years the way we use and value money will be totally revolutionized. Over the next seven years the way we use and value Mother Earth will be changed and revolutionized, too. Since we are all part of this collective energy we will be impacted by these changes. Uranus's change of signs will also impact us personally as he shifts into a new space and interacts differently with our natal energies. Wherever he goes we can expect change and a need for greater freedom.

Chiron will move into Aries in 2018.

We'll talk about this in part II. In the meantime don't miss the monthly because December 2017 is a very important month and we don't want to be looking too far ahead just yet (says the girl who is looking too far ahead).

Time to make the donuts.

xo all

I haven't forgotten the personalized Uranus transit (starting May 2018) write-ups for everyone who volunteered - they are almost complete. I think they will be better read after we get through 2017's energies, too.

Mercury retrograde conjunct Saturn, Mars sextiles both | getting serious, thoughts become things, confidence needed, yes - you need a strategy

***by Daizy-M

Today we have a retrograde Mercury (news, information, communication) meeting up with Saturn (limits, responsibilities, authority, time) while both planets sextile (opportunity) Mars (in Libra).

Whatever Mercury retrograde has us - re-working, re-visiting, re-doing, re-thinking, re-leasing - will be front and center now.

Mercury conjunct Saturn is a repeating aspect. We had this on November 28th and it repeats again next month when both planets have moved into Capricorn - that's when we get the final, final.

In the meantime, whatever is happening now will be re-looked at. Maybe some discussion is dragging on. Maybe a firm commitment isn't looking quite so firm or a finish-line has been moved.

Today's sextile (opportunity) with active Mars in diplomatic Libra tells us headway can be made now. If we must deal, yes, one more time, with another tough problem/decision some progress can be made here - you are a General, you need a strategy.

What are your priorities? What are your responsibilities? Where are your boundaries? What action can you take now - remember the Universe can use whatever action you take to get you where you need/want to be.

While Mercury and Saturn are still in optimistic Sagittarius, the way through this is a type of confident and expectant fearlessness. 

And taking action from that space.

Thinking - "of course things are going my way" and then, before we know it, they actually are. Our heads/words (Mercury) are creating the concrete/foundation (Saturn) the next few years are built with.

Realize any delays or slow-downs now are part of the process. Where have our limiting beliefs about what is possible for us kept us boxed in?

There is some connection between that and whatever is happening now.

Notice the way our thoughts become literal things we can touch today - there is magic afoot people!

xo all

Chiron Stations Direct | feeling is healing, sharing what we have learned, make some chicken soup, clearing the ground for our future self to assert her will despite being awkward and feeling unprepared

hoping for a white christmas by photoflake

Chiron stations direct at 24 degrees Pisces (retrograde since July).

Especially if you have planets or points from 24-28 degrees of Pisces (the degrees he traveled during his retrograde) - or the other mutable signs - Virgo, Gemini and Sagittarius - you would be feeling this.

Read the Chiron myth. Remember what a 'myth' is - a myth is something that never happened that is always happening.

It would be a good day to honor the parts of ourselves/our heritage we have abandoned as unacceptable.

Chiron's direct motion today can indicate forward movement around a hurtful/difficult issue. Chiron doesn't heal the issue, but his station direct can create forward momentum. Remember the gifts of Chiron - once the wound is accepted - of compassion, empathy, a capacity to pass this hard-earned wisdom to other people in a way that penetrates them (since we have been there/are there) - we become magnetic.

(and speaking of magnetic - warning shameless plug ahead - I still have a few gazillion of these magnetic lockets to move from my house to someone else's this holiday season and they make wonderful gifts - blog readers get 25% off with the coupon code OliveReader)

Chiron's movement now could focus us, via whatever is happening in our lives, toward a space of vulnerability, a space that hurts, maybe a space where we have a little bit more to give.

Chiron is moving into brave and pioneering Aries in mid-April, so we could be feeling a push to get something wrapped up now to clear a space for that. Next year Chiron will require us to assert our will despite feeling awkward and unprepared.

In the meantime if you are feeling/healing this transit some ideas would be 1. share your journey/story with other people - what have you learned so far 2. be kind - with ourselves and with other people now 3. stay hydrated and get enough sleep - Chiron's station is a good time for physical illnesses to worsen a bit 4. honor the times we have overcome hardship - we are stronger than we think we are

Mercury and Saturn are approaching each other again - exact tomorrow - Mercury is retrograde - this isn't the time for big new moves.

The Moon is in Cancer - focusing us on home, family, real estate, home/family business, renovations, moves, our roots, mothering and trining Jupiter and Neptune. This is perfect energy to release any attachment to the past that is keeping us stuck as we dream and intuit a future of prosperity, security and kinship.

By this afternoon the Moon will oppose Pluto so interactions with other people could be complicated and difficult as we adjust to each other - time could be better spent cleaning out closets, in-boxes, etc. Pluto rules elimination - what needs to go?


xo all