"The past is not simply the past, but a prism through which the subject filters his own changing self-image.'"

— Doris Kearns Goodwin"

This week presents us with a bit of a 'roller-coaster'. Our sense of self-esteem and our self-image is beginning to be shaken up quite a bit. Saturn is already retrograde in Pisces, suggesting lessons about 'faith' — in ourselves, mostly. Venus is slowing down to turn retrograde in Leo, setting markers during the shadow phase as it makes the first of three trines to Chiron and the first of three squares to Uranus — putting our self-esteem and self-reliance up for review. And by the end of the week, Neptune turns retrograde in Pisces, perhaps helping to clear some lingering fog away — but with no guarantees about [...]

"Don't believe what your eyes are telling you. All they show is limitation. Look with your understanding, find out what you already know, and you'll see the way to fly."

— Richard Bach

The Moon 'decreases in light' all week, ahead of Saturday's Gemini New Moon (9:36 PM PDT 26° Gemini), which is conjunct Juno and in a tight square to Neptune. We continue to deal with ripples from last month's Mars/Jupiter/Pluto fixed-sign T-square but the effects wane, along with the waning lunar cycle, replaced with a somewhat nervous impatience and uncertainty. Mercury arrives in it's home sign of Gemini at the beginning of the week, which certainly encourages us to talk but, in this environment, we don't seem to have many filters and our focus is likely to scatter. Although there are various moments of seeming upheaval or disruption, we are essentially [...]

"They may call you Doctor or they may call you Chief
But you're going to have to serve somebody, yes indeed'"

— Bob Dylan - "Gotta Serve Somebody"

Last week's powerful Fixed T-square with Mars, Pluto, and Jupiter — as it approached the North Node — has fostered this week's intense, determined, ego-driven desire for independence and self-reliance. Mars, now in confidence-boosting Leo, has escaped the initial challenges of the opposition to Pluto but now faces a tricky quincunx from Saturn in Pisces. Essentially, the challenge from Saturn asks us to consider and balance the needs of others with our own personal ambitions and aspirations. Such challenges and considerations effectively block any sort of expedient resolutions. The issues of blending the demands of the material world with spiritual reality are at the heart of [...]