Full Moon in Cancer- Unchained

Tortured victim screams in pain by Emerson Quinn, CCL

Peace is a lie.

Not the most optimistic way to start this festive Full Moon, but allow me the chance to explain why this is a good thing, and how the philosophy that Darth Vader and the Sith followed is your map for success this lunation. That’s right, this is a Star Wars thing. Deal with it.

Anyways, “Peace is a Lie, there is only Passion”. This is the start of the Sith code, the antithesis of the Jedi code, which starts out: There is no emotion, there is Peace. That may be a great ideal to strive for, complete control over one’s emotions, but it is one that is difficult to say the least. Even more dangerously, this way argues for stasis, the status quo. When you are in that mentality, you are against the forces of the universe- You resist change, growth, and the natural order and flow of life. You cut yourself off and remain apart. You lose ground to Time and Change every day, and that is a fight that you cannot win. When you reject Peace, your enemies become complacency, stagnation and outdated mentalities. You live a more energized life, far more in tune and aware of your surroundings and the natural energies of the cosmos, like this current Astro. On the surface, it feels dull and peaceful, boring even, but undeneath, things are brewing, threatening to bubble over…

The Sun and Moon- As we gather together to celebrate a myriad of holidays, all of which are offensive to someone out there, you must not lose sight of yourself and your needs. Your situation no longer feels like it is sustainable, because it isn’t. It is unraveling around you, in ways visible and invisible. Part of you knows this, but you are more than willing to write it off as holiday blues or some such nonsense. NO! That is your Passion, crying out to be heard and acted upon. The next part of the code, “Through Passion I gain Strength”, echoes this- When we ignore our passions, we sap away our vitality, which weakens us daily. The cumulative effect of this is crippling. We subjugate our passions, denying our deepest wants and desires to continue our banal, mediocre lives. Why? Why do we accept this as our reality when we could become so much greater, so much more than what we are? When did you give up on your dreams? And what would it take for you to believe in your ability to bring them into form again?

Mercury, Venus, Mars and Jupiter- “Through Strength I gain Power”- At first glance the third line of the code seems to be at odds with the grouping of stars in this segment, but give it some thought. Yes, the line is simplistic at first, but is it really? Through your strength, and its continued use, you gain more power to affect change in your life and the world around you. Strength is your path to change, and you must constantly seek to improve yourself and grow your strength. This is fortuitous, as this stellium is all about power, whether it be Mercury’s mental prowess, the tsunami of broken hearts Venus leaves in her wake, Mars’ militaristic might, or Jupiter’s  place at the head of the pyramid, looking down onto the rest. Right now you must find and honor what makes you stronger as a person, and you need to work and hone that until it is your weapon to affect change in this world. It is also time to look toward the future- you have to make changes in your life, drastic ones. If you stay on your course you will die, a little more each day until there isn’t anything worth living for. Everything here already sucks so much, why in the seven hells would you want to drain your life of any joy and vitality as well? Let your passion lead you to new paths, which will remove less than ideal factors from you and your life, which will only make you stronger. The clarity from this will make the way forward much easier to see. Caution is advised however: now is not the time to be implementing these changes, it is a time of reflections and plotting. Action comes later.

Saturn and Neptune- These two have been dominating the recent Astro, and don’t expect that to change anytime soon. No, we won’t wake up from their hangover until we hit the summer and get tossed straight into the insanity that I have been talking about all year. But another time for that. Your next precept is “Through Power I gain Victory”- Again, another seemingly simplistic idea that belies its true nature. Over time, as you honor who you are as an individual, having found what separates you from others and allows you to excel and honing it, helping you to find your place in the world, you achieve your goals and win, shutting up those hateful voices trying to tear you down, both within and without. More important in this precept, and with the code as a whole, is the embracing of strife as a factor for growth and change. Think of it like a pearl. A bit of dirt gets under the shell of an oyster, and irritates it. The oyster tries to insulate itself from this, as it hurts like hell! The oyster is hurting where it is most vulnerable, and it tries to cover the pearl in its stomach juices, which harden and over time, become a pearl, smooth and perfect. To get there however, you need that speck of dirt which gets past your armor, and you need to suffer for a while. Hell, I don’t need to tell you anything about suffering- We have all been there. Some of us still are there, and can’t see a way out. What this precept and the Astro behind it are telling you is that the end goal is to improve your worth. Now, I preface this by saying I am wholeheartedly against the idea of suffer now to be rewarded later- that isn’t what this means. This is Saturn and Neptune telling you that one day, this will make sense and you will see why things had to be the way they were. To your part, Victory at all costs is only to be used as a last resort- there is far more value in a worthy victory, in which you prove what exactly you are made of. The conditions are set, and your path leads you forward…

Uranus, Chiron and Pluto- And straight into the biggest challenge, and the end of the code- “Through Victory my chains are broken”. I get chills every time I read that line, it is so crucial. Through this lens, it is revealed that victory and success are not the end goal- it is our freedom, our ability to live on our own terms, without being subjected to the whims and wishes of others- Working toward your own dreams, your own goals and plans, instead of building their monuments. In the end, this is the only thing worth doing, because it is whatever YOU want it to be. Doing this allows you to reach your fullest potential, unfettered by anything that would hold you back. This is the Cardinal Crisis in a nutshell. The worst may be over, but all of the pieces are still there, and you can still use them to affect change, but without the sword of Damocles (or lightsaber in this case, I suppose) hanging over your head! There is still time on this clock! You are not locked into anything yet! You can still say fuck it, drop everything, and run as fast and far as you can to build a brand new life. Sure, there are consequences, but there are also consequences to NOT living life on your terms. Which will you be more regretful of on your deathbed?  When your life flashes before your eye as your breathe your final breaths, will it be worth watching? Only you can make this call.

The Future is waiting for you. Are you ready to meet it?

New Moon in Scorpio- Savages

big savage tunnel 1911 by Nessie Grace, CCL

These are some psychotic skies, you guys.

I mean, limiting Saturn in expanding  Saggo, while broad-strokes Jupiter is in nitpicky Virgo, Uranus moonwalking backwards on the shag carpet, shocking everyone; and Neptune vaping up a storm, making everyone else choke and so it’s impossible to have any idea what the hell is going on (we get it bro, you vape!)… it’s enough to make a lesser AstroBro hand in his official Augury card! Luckily, you are in the hands of a professional.

Now, for this round the thing is fear. You have a unique opportunity this go-around- You will be aware of your fears, in crystal clarity- But for one brief and shining moment, you will not be a slave to them. This time around, you can make new choices, set new patterns, and break free where you have been held back before. It will be extremely tempting to give in to the temptation of following the same old paradigm, but I swear to you, this is the opportunity you have been waiting for and you will never forgive yourself if you miss it. Hell, the Cardinal Crisis did not spend so much time breaking you and reforging you in its fires to have you go back to the same old rut! No, it did what it did with purpose, and direction- To bring you up to a level that you have never seen before, and to unleash the full potential of what you could become, here and now.

And that’s to say nothing of the trial that is to come…

The Sun, Moon, Jupiter, Chiron and Uranus- Okay, so I love this Astro, I really do. Reminds me of that orgasmicly Aries-Uranian energy we had going, god I wish I could bottle that. Anyway, the main thing you want to look at here is the interplay of Jupiter quincunx Uranus. Now, most readers would see this as an awful and trying aspect- and it is, but only if you aren’t creative enough to see the potential inherent in the challenge. Chiron is also in the mix with those two, as is Eris- now typically these four would be a recipe for disaster, but somehow this particular blend gets it just right. With this Astro, Uranus drops a blessing disguised as a problem in your path and you pause before reacting; Chiron gives you the awareness to see where you have made the mistakes before- Jupiter helps you see what you should do instead, a better way, and Eris gives you the guts to step out of your old ways and into a better you. All the discordant parts moving in harmony for once, and just for a second, you get a glimpse of how your life could be. Make that change, take that plunge- stop relying on your old tricks and get a new one already! Find a better way, and actually make some headway toward your greater goals instead of sitting on your ass and complaining about how you are trapped and not going anywhere! Do better!

Mercury and Pluto- And this is how you do it. When these two get together, it’s pure dead magic; Literally, it’s usually Necromancy (or at the very least, Alchemy). These two are the ones to look for when you want to change everything around and/or within you. Think your way out of your problems, rely on your wits for once- You know exactly how to, think back to when you used to be more desperate and had to make something out of nothing. Make it work. Spin that straw into gold, you know you can do it again! Also, just because All Hallows is over, that doesn’t mean those loved ones who have passed cant still teach you a thing or two, point you in the right direction, if you only honor their memory…

Venus, Mars, Saturn and Neptune- Finally, good relationship news! Venus is no longer dead to me, because frankly I no longer care what she throws at me. This is a very calm and composed Venus we see, not like the bitchy and vindictive one we’ve been treated to as of late. She is riding the afterglow of her conjunction with Mars, so I’m sure that helps. But she’s also getting some good advice and tea from Pallas Athene, and miracle of miracles, our girl is actually LISTENING to what she is saying for once! I honestly never thought I would see the day.  Saturn and Neptune are in the mix as well, Neptune urging her to give up on these booty calls and find the ONE, and Saturn nonchalantly deleting her dating apps while she isn’t looking. The interesting player here is Lilith. She is not sowing chaos for the hell of it, as per usual, but this time she is actually taking the chaos and helping you to synthesize it within yourself so that you can… you know what, it doesn’t matter. What I just realized is that this Astro boils down to one thing- You have a second chance. The failures and setbacks you endured in 2009-2012, the first half of the Cardinal Crisis, before Saturn went into Scorpio- That is what you have a chance to correct. Right now, in 2015-2016. This window will not last forever, so move NOW! Get your shit done, do whatever you have to do- This is your moment to reclaim what you lost, reset your score.

Make it count, guys.

Mars in Aquarius- Unconventional Tactics

Alright Hellraisers! Mars is officially into Aquarius, and there are some things you need to know to rock this out.

Since Uranus is in Aries, this is yet another mutual reception, which means the planets work together to support actions taken, to varying degrees of efficiacy. With Mars and Uranus, you can definitely believe there is going to be some action here, and it will be FAST! The trouble is, its going to be very hard to predict and prepare for it.

With this, Mars helps to discipline Uranus' insanity a lot, and channel his brilliance where it would actually be productive. For his part, Uranus lights a fire under Mars' ass and opens him up to whole new worlds that he had never cared to explore before. Its good for both of them.

What it isnt is stable. These two do not lend themselves easily to anything that might help make it last, so your job is to capitalize on the moment and put in the work to use these crazy skies for your own benefit.

How do you do this, you ask? Easy- You have to know your chart though, for maximum effect. Wherever these two are in the chart is about to be lit up like 10,000 Christmas trees. For me, its the 2nd and 4th houses, so money and security are the focal points right now for your not-so-humble Astrologer. So go buy some consults, and help me feed my legal team (seriously, they're about to riot, or at least demand to be paid...). Once you know your chart, just do Mars and allow for the insanity of Uranus in those particular areas, and watch the awesome transpire!

Today and tommorow are the absolute best days to get on top of this, as the transit will be exact then, but these two will be in mutual reception til February starts, so youll have some time. But start now, and prepare for awesome!

-The AstroGeek