"O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. "

— Francis of Assisi
The Life and Prayers of Saint Francis of Assisi

We are riding an rather intense wave of emotional intensity this week in the wake of last Saturday's Libra Full Moon (April 16 11:54 AM PDT 26° Libra/Aries). If we have insisted on staying exclusively self-reliant, we could be in for an extremely bumpy ride this week. We need to recognize our need for others or risk finding ourselves isolated and unable to follow through on our commitments. The challenge is to maintain a broad enough perspective to see more than material accomplishment and acquisition. The need to balance material and spiritual/emotional values is paramount. We find numerous opportunities to re-balance our load, clear space, and initiate [...]

"Every one is worthy of love, except him who thinks that he is. Love is a sacrament that should be taken kneeling."

— Oscar Wilde, De Profundis

A Mars-Saturn conjunction increases the pressure this week and has the potential to feed paranoia, especially when Mars passes Saturn and conjuncts Juno, later in the week. A sense of entitlement has the potential to lead us far astray if we begin to believe that we aren't getting our 'fair share'. The impetus from last Thursday's Aries New Moon (11:24 PM PDT 11° Aries) has encouraged us to express our unique, independent, individuality but we may have difficulty balancing that impetus with something approaching humility and gratitude for [...]

"I do not ask the wounded person how he feels, I myself become the wounded person."

— Walt Whitman
Song of Myself

The energy that is stirred this week by a Mars-Uranus square is extremely uncomfortable, making it difficult to relax. The Sun's arrival in Aries at the beginning of the week increases the impact of Mars and suggests militant determination. There are weighty burdens and responsibilities to contend with which makes determined effort even more powerful — for better or worse. Mercury in Pisces conjuncts both Jupiter and Neptune, which has the potential to produce powerful inspiration and remarkable [...]