"Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose."

— Zora Neale Hurston

The week begins under a remarkably optimistic Leo New Moon (11:25 AM PDT 27° Aquarius/Leo) which sextiles a forming Mars-Jupiter conjunction. However, the optimism may not be terribly well grounded. Mercury stations to go retrograde just after the New Moon. As well, Venus arrives in Virgo. Perhaps most notable, Vesta is forming a trine to the stationary Chiron which will complete by the end of the week. The Vesta/Chiron interaction is quite mystical, slicing through old perspectives and opening us up to brand new ideas. As Mercury's retrograde journey begins [...]

"I claim to be a simple individual liable to err like any other fellow mortal. I own, however, that I have humility enough to confess my errors and to retrace my steps."

— Mahatma Gandhi

This week begins with a dramatic, highly pressurized Capricorn Full Moon (3:16 AM PDT 29° Capricorn/Cancer) that brings to a culmination the bumped-up intensity fostered by last week's Mars-Uranus conjunction. Mars trines Pluto just after the Full Moon and the interaction of these two 'malefic planets' increases the pressure to extraordinary levels. Nonetheless, the Full Moon sextiles Neptune and the Sun trines Neptune — suggesting more inspiration than clarity despite the highly pressurized [...]

"When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us."

— Alexander Graham Bell

We follow quite an intense, emotionally challenging, 'bumpy road' this week on our way to the activating 1st quarter Lunar Phase at the end of the week. Last Friday's Cancer New Moon (3:57 PM PDT 14° Cancer), in a trine to Saturn, pointed us towards responsibility and compassionate connections with others. But we aren't quite able to get a handle on which direction to take or what strategy to employ. Early in the week, we find ourselves struggling to balance responsibility with compassion. Ego vulnerability and emotional 'road blocks' make objectivity quite hard to [...]