Thursday 2/15/2018: New Moon in Aquarius; Solar Eclipse; Mars-Neptune Scandals…

The New Moon in Aquarius begins at 4:05 PM ET, offering us an opportunity to re-set  intentions and goals for the next lunar cycle.

Aquarius is a airy (mental), fixed (organizing) energy. Where Leo, its opposing sign, is concerned with personal creative expression and recognition, Aquarius needs to focus on the expression needs of a particular group or group consciousness. Keywords for Aquarius include innovation, eccentricity, friendship, humanitarian, unconventional, rocket scientist and/or mad genius. If you were born with the Sun in Aquarius, you have the energy to innovate and intellectualize with others. If your Moon is in Aquarius, you need to be socially significant — and dare I say appreciated for it.

The chart for this New Moon set in Washington DC has Uranus right on the Midheaven and in a cooperative connection with the Aquarius Sun, Moon and Mercury. Here in the U.S., we see the suggestion of a visible disruption to the status quo. Those cooperative connections suggest innovation in thought and communication — perhaps in the way the message is dispersed to the masses. There’s another cooperative connection between Venus (women, money, art, social expression) and Saturn (structure, cuts, control, discipline), exact at 6:19 PM ET.

These harmonies may seem at odds with the potentially scandalous and bewildering square between Mars and Neptune, exact on SATURDAY at 6:21 AM ET.  Mars (action, war, anger) and Neptune (vision; fog) suggest spiritual warriors; fanatical or sublime vision; bewildering violence and prurience — just to name a few.  However, one apt manifestation of the sum of these patterns would be yesterday’s tweet from Bess Kalb (Venus)  a writer (Mercury) for  Jimmy Kimmel (comedy; ergo, Uranus). In the wake of the latest bewildering (Neptune) and horrible school (Mercury square Jupiter) shooting (Mars),  Ms. Kalb responded to the usual “thoughts and prayers” gobbledygook (Neptune) from Certain Politicians with an itemized list of exactly how much money each had received (Venus sextile Saturn — get real about cash, dudes) from the NRA (Mars). Scandalous, no?  And this all happened on social media (Mercury sextile Uranus). Coincidence or conspiracy?

If you have a planet around 13 degrees of Pisces, Virgo, Gemini or Sagittarius, your horoscope is affected by this weekend’s Mars-Neptune square.  You may find yourself a wee bit provoked or irritable, without fully understanding why.  This too shall pass. Don’t know where your planets are? Then why not order an Astro-Basics Report, so you can make this forecast even more meaningful.

But wait — there’s more. The New Moon is also a solar eclipse. This is an interruption of the normal flow of light and whatever else beams to Earth from the Sun. Picture a river meeting a dam. A bottleneck of energy is created,  that must eventually find a release, usually over the course of a few months.  Upside: the interruption of flow creates space for something new to be born. Downside: the rush of energy eventually expressed wipes something out. Wherever the eclipse falls in your horoscope,  that’s the area of life where something needs to get started or be brought to a close. If the eclipse falls on a planet or angle of your horoscope, you’ll feel it more.

Secrets are often revealed around an eclipse. Consider that when following the news.

Today’s eclipse is not a total solar eclipse, like the Great American Eclipse we had last August. It won’t be visible in the U.S. or much of anywhere else.  Still, it activates the August eclipse, and the horoscopes of anyone who has a planet or angle around 27 degrees of Aquarius, Leo, Scorpio or Taurus.  Therein lies its potency.

As he is the current occupant of White House, it is useful to look at P45’s horoscope for additional insight on how this eclipse may affect the nation. We see that it falls right on his Descendant, opposite his Mars. Immediately we think: relationship, aggression/assertion — brought to a close or otherwise interrupted, to make way for something new. Mars rules P45’s 9th House — which refers to messages to the masses, international  and legal affairs. Stormy weather during this cycle, perhaps?

The Sabian Symbol for this eclipse is “a tree felled and sawed.” Sabian Symbol Blain Bovee wants us to know that “to be ‘felled’ is to be struck down…an archaic sense of ‘fell’ means cruel, deadly, as in a ‘fell potion,’ and from which the term ‘felon’ is derived.” I didn’t know that…did you? We are advised to be in a planning mode — stockpiling or renewing resources for future leaner times. Here’s more from Bovee on this challenging Sabian Symbol. Will someone please alert Scott Pruitt and Ryan Zinke,  whose championship (Mars)  of oil, chemicals and gas (Neptune) was one of the hot talking points in this week of Mars square Neptune?

What’s going on in your horoscope? How is it being affected by these eclipses? What opportunities are likely to come up for you this year? Wouldn’t it be wise to plan ahead?  Here is the 411 on reports and consultations.

And now, the news.

On Monday I promised you gender-benders, big ideas, technology and fantasy. I should have added “leaders,” with quirky Uranus in a harmony with the Sun (leadership). This post took over internet this week. What do you think?

Here’s the link to the full post. You can download your own gender-bending app by googling “Face App.” It’s free. Enjoy!

Meanwhile…

No shortage of Mars-Neptune scandals to report, starting at the top:

• WaPo’s Dana Milbank offers a brilliant mash-up of conflicting statements from the White House about what was and wasn’t known about Rob Porter. You’ve heard about Porter:  Harvard grad, Mormon, Rhodes Scholar and wife beater, now unemployed. In case you missed it, here is an op-ed by Porter’s first wife, detailing his abuse. Porter has a seriously challenged Aries Moon. We’ve seen a lot of challenged Aries placements in the charts of most of these outed sexual predators. Almost like there’s a pattern going on here. In other news…
• At least 100 White House staffers did not have full security clearances as of last November.
• P45’s lawyer Michael Cohen says he “facilitated payment of $130K” to porn star Stormy Daniels, and now her manager says Ms. Daniels is free to talk about the relationship.
• In Israel, police recommended that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu be indicted on charges of corruption.
• Back in the U.S., economist/pundit Paul Krugman declared P45’s budget proposal a total scam, especially with respect to infrastructure. FYI, I pay attention to Mr. Krugman because back in 2011 it was reported that his forecasts were more accurate than any other economic pundit.  Hard to argue with accuracy, even if you might not like what he says.  I did a write-up of his horoscope here.
• Another scandalous contract in Puerto Rico is revoked…these hits just keep on coming…
• In South Africa, its president — Jacob Zuma — resigned under allegations of corruption…
• Sex scandal at Oxfam — more resignations….including ambassador Desmond Tutu…
• “How $225,000 Can Help Secure A Pollution Loophole at P45’s EPA”.   Trucks plus pollution plus corruption — sounds like Mars with Neptune.
• Neptune refers to wipeouts. Remington, America’s oldest gun manufacturer, is filing for bankruptcy.
• Is it a scandal when New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is profiled in Vogue? Some find it so, though remember, Mars-Neptune also suggests pixie-dust, glamour and magnetism

Mars rules the head. Neptune refers to blood, Thus, “Concussions Can Be Detected with New Blood Test, Approved by the FDA.” 

Mars with Neptune suggests a heroic (Mars) fantasy film (Neptune). Is is any wonder that “Black Panther,” a superhero fantasy film, has such big buzz for its opening this weekend? Meanwhile, in Germany, female actors are being encouraged to ditch the glamour and heels and wear something comfortable to a Berlin film festival. Shades of Venus-Saturn in that one. Women and aesthetics get real.

Let’s end with a link to a photograph (Neptune) that boldly pushes boundaries (Mars in Sagittarius): it’s a photo of a single atom — yes, a photograph — of something you may never have thought you could ever see with the naked eye. Wow!

Thank you for reading this forecast.  And thanks to the Avid Readers who tuned in to Cosmic Tuesdays, hosted by Anthony Picco. We had so much fun answering listener-submitted questions. about Krakatoa and such. I’ll be back on the show on Monday, March 19th — at 9:30 PM ET/6:30 PM PT. Will post a link beforehand.