Daily Astrological Currents

The aggressiveness in today's atmosphere is hard to miss with the arrival of Mars into Sagittarius and opposition to Uranus. The independent streamers are flowing in all directions. The more that we have managed to ground our idealism, the more effective we will be today. There is powerful intuitive guidance that supports this action-oriented atmosphere. To some, this will seem completely unpredictable and out of control. Any loss of balance is likely to produce a great deal of defensiveness and expose an inability to ground our idealism with practical, responsible approaches and intentions. The Moon arrives in Taurus this morning, following an overnight opposition to Venus. The Taurus Moon can help us with 'grounding' but also increase stubbornness and defensiveness. The challenge is to recognize that true stability comes from inside.

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Weekly Summary

"Ego takes everything personally. Emotion arises, defensiveness, perhaps even aggression. Are you defending the truth? No, the truth, in any case, needs no defense. The light or sound does not care about what you or anybody else thinks. You are defending yourself, or rather the illusion of yourself, the mind-made substitute. It would be even more accurate to say that the illusion is defending itself."

—Eckhart Tolle
A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose

Venus rules this week's Taurus Full Moon (5:19 AM PST 13° Taurus/Scorpio) while crossing the degree of last month's Venus ruled Libra New Moon (October 21, 5:24 AM PDT 28° Libra). Clearly, the Venusian desire for beauty, harmony — and perfection — is a powerful, guiding force at the culmination of this lunar cycle. Venus squares Jupiter at the beginning of the week and also opposes Chiron. The idealistic desire for balance and caring connections to others is overwhelming. However, when this idealism is challenged by the reality of 'the facts on the ground', Venus may not really 'pack the gear' to determinedly dig in and resolve the challenges effectively. This week's idealism is compounded by a Mars-Neptune trine, suggesting deeply emotional, idealistic determination. As we approach the Full Moon, there is a great deal of potential to 'cut off our nose to spite our face' when we struggle to stabilize ourselves in the midst the intensely emotional environment. This week's emotional elements are extremely difficult to channel effectively. There are likely to be more endings than beginnings with Neptune at the last degree of Pisces and both Mars and Venus crossing the last degree of Scorpio and Libra, respectively. Mars arrives in Sagittarius just before the Full Moon, stirring aggressive independence in an unpredictable — and seemingly out of control — environment. Any loss of balance is likely to produce a great deal of defensiveness and quickly expose any inability to ground our idealism with practical, responsible approaches and intentions. The ingress of Venus into Scorpio on Thursday is followed up by the return of Uranus into Taurus on Friday, bringing forward an imperative to deepen our connection to those around us in order to reestablish our balance. Essentially, there is little or no room anymore for 'superficial' connections. Venus in Scorpio can help us to recognize that we need to "let your yay be yay and your nay be nay" — no more 'sitting on the fence'. By the end of the week, Mercury prepares to station retrograde (officially stationing at the beginning of next week) in Sagittarius. Mercury is poised to pull together an extraordinary amount of experience in order to draw profound new conclusions over the next few months. Uranus is now making a final pass through the last few degrees of Taurus while Saturn and Neptune have returned for a final pass through the last few degrees of Pisces. The impact of the upcoming retrograde Mercury period (November 9 - November 29) from Sagittarius back into Scorpio, is extraordinarily supportive, giving us an important opportunity to review past ideas and assumptions and begin to come to terms with what must be released and what can be salvaged — and ultimately transformed into useful new insights.

Sunday's powerful flow of energy and emotion is unmistakable and will continue to strengthen all week. We will need to find the 'courage of our convictions' on an individual, independent basis — and share that conviction with others. We may not initially recognize how deep Monday's emotional, idealistic determination actually is — but this idealism has pitfalls. There is a possibility that we may 'lose the thread' of purpose, stirred by too much impulsiveness and a lack of grounding. The aggressiveness in the air on Tuesday is hard to miss. The more that we have managed to ground our idealism, the more effective we will be. Surprising issues of self-confidence and self-esteem are lurking just below the surface on Wednesday and seem particularly hard to deal with. We may find ourselves stubbornly holding on to ideas and approaches that are well past 'viability'. We are encouraged to seek deeper connections with others on Thursday (and going forward). Essentially, there is little or no room anymore for 'superficial' connections. Friday's misunderstandings may actually bring forward issues that result in stronger connections. While this may feel like quite an uncomfortable environment, significant progress can be made. Although we have seen confidence waver at times this week, Saturday sets us on an entirely new course where our confidence begins to build around a powerful new sense of purpose and determination. We find ourselves on the threshold of an important process of review.