"If I have lost confidence in myself, I have the universe against me."

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

There are challenges to individual confidence this week that could easily put us on the defensive. Last Wednesday's New Moon (12:48 PM PDT 22° Gemini) has brought a swirl of conflicting thoughts and emotions that need to be tamed and somehow blended together. This is ultimately a process that will help us combine creative vision with intellectual acuity and move us toward making real, tangible progress. However [...]

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven"

— Ecclesiastes 3:1

Our ability to make forward progress or take direct action is dampened significantly by this week's Mars-South Node conjunction. We need to conserve energy and seek to open a variety of lines of communication in order to be effective in this environment. While we may be able to maintain the Big Picture perspective that gained focus last week, we aren't able to manifest very much on the ground in the tangible, material world. It may feel that the swirls of chaos and mountains of information will never settle down and the feeling of being seriously overloaded could be extreme. [...]

"Are we so lost in the dark of our hearts
That oh, oh, oh, oh
There's no light of day"

— Into The Wild
Patrick Bianco; Laura Pergolizzi

As we move through a dramatic period of change and an intense stream of new insights, we are likely to encounter a variety of emotional pressure points and possibly attempt some fear based manipulation tactics in an effort to establish some security. As Venus begins a transit through Cancer, we deal with some initial insecurities and some subconscious desire to crawl back into the womb and reverse the birth process that was initiated by last week's New Moon — not gonna happen! The challenge of the Cusp is on display this week [...]