Astrologer Bill Attride

Mercury Sextiles Venus (December 1, 2010)

Communicate your values with grace and clarity. The ability to convey your appreciation is well supported now. With Mercury in Capricorn, we are in a serious frame of mind; and with Venus in Scorpio, we are passionate about our tastes.

Loving thoughts are gracefully shared. Enjoy the beautiful within and without. Speak from your heart and celebrate what is good. Remember, the secret to happiness is "to walk in beauty".

Mercury Enters Capricorn (November 30, 2010)

Our minds turn to the practical now. Enough with theories and talk... what "works" is what counts. Logic reigns supreme. This is not the time for flights of fancy, you will only be dismissed or ridiculed.

Instead, bring your ideas into sharp focus, marshal your facts, and demonstrate the practical value of what you know. Some of the key words to use now are:

Responsibility, Tradition, Classical and Duty.

This is a time to be serious. Opinions do not count, we need proof.  

Mars Square Jupiter & Venus enters Scorpio (November 29, 2010)

Passions run higher and move deeper today so be especially careful about what you do and how you express what you need. Another busy day with Mars Squaring Jupiter and Venus moving into the sign of Scorpio.

Mars rules the desires and the actions we take to obtain them. Jupiter rules our principles which should guide our desires by defining how we relate to our world. But with a square aspect matters can be pushed to extremes. We might act too selfishly or resort to playing the role of victim to get our way.

Always with a square we are faced with a challenge, we are challenged by a choice. The waning square says what we face is a challenge to let go of an old way of meeting our desires. Jupiter in Pisces guides us to relate in a more compassionate and inclusive way. But Mars in Sagittarius believes it is "Right", that it is acting with "Truth" on its side already.  

Even though we may be "right", even though we might have "the law" on our side, Jupiter will ask us if we are merely acting within the letter of the law (of life). Instead Jupiter will remind us that we must act in accord with the Spirit of the Law instead. Right action is guided and informed by compassion, kindness and forgiveness.

Venus moving into Scorpio shifts our sense of value to a deeper plane. We want to feel one with another. We want the passion which comes from true union. But moving closer to another involves risk. We must overcome our fear of rejection and loss. To come together more closely requires trust and openness, but how do we do that? We must create a space of shared intimacy for us to meet in. It is a space that celebrates our vulnerability as a testament to our strength not of our weakness.

With Venus in Scorpio the joy of union is the prize we seek now....to experience it requires us to bridge the mystery of our separation and discover that we are one in spirit. The illusion of the physical body is separation. But we need to feel now the truth that we are connected, that we are always part of a greater life. Put aside the fear of loss and walk the path of life....together.

 

Mercury Sextile Neptune AND Mercury Square Uranus (November 27, 2010)

Saturday will be busy with not one but two Mercury aspects to guide and shape our experiences. Our mind is both swooning and jumping. Mercury Sextile Neptune provides insight and compassion to our point of view. Mercury Square Uranus will present a challenge to let go of an outmoded way of thinking.

Early in the day, Mercury and Neptune combine to help foster the expression of our creative and imaginative mind. We speak of dreams and inspire one another by our creative imagery. We find it easy to be appreciative of the beauty in and around us. This combination of thought and intuition can produce flashes of insight about some matter that we have been concerned with.

Later that day, Mercury and Uranus form a square that lays down a challenge. Patience will be a virtue here, as the excitability and eccentricity of Uranus can help us speak brilliantly but without regard for the feelings of another.

Mercury and Uranus encourage us to think "outside the box", so we could make progress if we harness this aspect and face the challenge to break up old thought patterns in ourselves and for one another.

But we can go too far, and be seen as just stirring up controversy for controversy's sake. We wish to demonstrate our independent mind, but we may do it with an overly strident tone, our argument could spin out of control.

Brilliance is a wonder to behold, but we always should remember that the advancement of true understanding requires mutual respect and tolerance. We cannot be both "right" and "rigid".

Consciousness is the result of shared experience. We lift our thinking by sharing our brilliant thoughts with one another. We can only do that in a space that respects each individual's contribution to the conversation.

Mercury Square Jupiter (November 25, 2010)

Watch what you say and be especially careful not to say too much.

When Mercury squares Jupiter, our thoughts and words can go too far, we may push beyond our normal and reasonable thought boundaries into an extreme position. We may end up having said too much as enthusiasm got the better of us.

With Mercury in Sagittarius we are passionate about truth. But if we go too far, because something is pushing us, like the square aspect, we could slip into dogmatism.

Jupiter in Pisces is a reminder to consider that there are many realities, not just our own. But with Jupiter Squaring Mercury we could go beyond what we know and end up confusing our facts with our wishes or fears. We may go beyond reason into fantasy.

Mercury squaring Jupiter requires us to try and reconcile two approaches in our way of thinking. Mercury is "speaking" from the space of Sagittarius, that there is a "truth", but Jupiter is "shaping" that voice from the position of Pisces, that there are many "realities" to consider.

What we need at this time is to listen to Jupiter and bring more compassion into our thinking and communicating. We might be "right" given our point of view, given our reality, but we have to consider that there is more than one "reality".

If we really want to communicate, we have to try and understand where another person is coming from. We don't have to agree with each other, but we need to understand one another.

The Sun enters Sagittarius (November 22, 2010)

The Sun moves into Sagittarius today as we turn from our experience of how we feel about the mysteries of life to our need to explain and share our understanding with one another.

The "Archer" asks each of us to take up this task now, the task of truth. We have all had bestowed upon us by family, friends and early education our basic life prism, the lens through which we view our experience of the world. But as we go out and experience a larger life, we often find the need to refine, expand or even reject those first explanations.

We must then take up the task of the seeker, the seeker of truth. Hopefully, we realize, sooner than later, that this task, this journey, will not, must not end. The growth of understanding is accomplished through the experience of revelation.

But revelation does not mean that all is revealed, rather the mysteries of life are re-veiled. We get closer to truth, more comprehensive and inclusive in our understanding, but always between us and the truth remain other veils to pass through. That is why the fundamental spiritual injunction we must obey is "walk on".   

Scorpio Full Moon (November 21, 2010)

The Sun in Scorpio and the Moon in Taurus come to their opposition today. Their juxtaposition speaks to the tensional truth between Everlasting Value and the Impermanence of the physical world.

We find beauty in so many forms, in a sunrise or sunset, in the scent of a meadow or at the seashore, the twinkle in someone's eye or the touch of their hand. Yet, we all know that all these beauties are only for a time...and then they are gone. We want the good to last forever, but everything must pass away...so that it can come again... and pass away, so that it may come back again.

So, it is at this time of year, when all of nature is turning inward, dropping her fruits and seeds into the earth...when the days are growing shorter and the light is fading...It is now that we face our mortality, and our eternity in spirit. We have the gift of self-awareness and we know what is coming....Winter is coming.

Here at the Full Moon of Scorpio we celebrate the truth that all things must pass so that new things may come forth. It has always been so...it will always be so.

 

Mercury Conjunct Mars (November 20, 2010)

Mercury aligns with Mars today so watch out for quick thoughts and words....We might need to slow things down, to pause and reflect, rather than jump to conclusions or to speak too hastily.

Mercury rules thoughts and communications. Mars rules desires and actions. Their combination encourages us to speak about our desires and to act upon our ideas. We are eager to contribute to the conversation, our thoughts come fast and furious. But that means we can more easily say too much and/or not listen enough.   

All forms of communication are sped up. But, we must be careful not to be so quick, and seemingly "intelligent", that we lose the balance that comes with giving some time for reflection.

Sometimes quickness wins, but being thorough and steady is a truer sign of intelligence. We must also remember that our minds require mutual stimulation for true growth. Therefore, we must make an even greater effort now to listen to one another.

Sun Trine Uranus (November 18-19, 2010)

The Sun trines Uranus today, a positive push from the planet of invention, ingenuity and independence. Their last aspect was the opposition on September 2 at which time we felt the tension between our need for Freedom and Independence (Uranus) versus our need to be Loved and Appreciated (Sun).

Today we will find ourselves in a "sweet spot", where we can reasonably stretch our expression and show how we are different or unique, without losing the respect of those that matter to us. We can reveal a little more of our true self and be assured that it will be met with applause instead of shock.

Jupiter Direct & Venus Direct (November 18, 2010)

Thursday should prove to be a significant day since not one but two planets change direction, moving from retrograde to forward motion. Whenever planets change direction, we feel a shift of energy in our lives. So, having two shift on the same day should be interesting... and powerful.

Forty days ago we took a turn inward to reexamine our values when Venus went retrograde. As I pointed out in my post on October 28, the answer to our search for some new understanding with regard to our values was released on that date, the midpoint of the Venus retrograde cycle. Now we need to take up the challenge to renew our quest for beauty, grace and love as Venus moves direct. We have repaired and restored our personal aesthetic, now we must act on it.

Four months ago we began a journey within to reexamine our beliefs and principles when Jupiter turned retrograde. About 2 months ago, on September 21, we were given an answer to our prayer for guidance during the alignment of Jupiter with the Sun. Now we have to move forward and become the truth we wish to experience. We have questioned and sought understanding as regards our motivations, truths and aims. Now we need to expand outward with a newfound enthusiasm for the next part of our journey.