Opportunities improve as Mercury goes Direct!
Mercury is one of the most important planets which rules each and everyone of it. It controls many things from reason, common sense and rationalism, to the verbal communication and negotiation. In short, Mercury can make or break an important career move, a romantic relationship or even a huge financial decision. So understanding what ‘The Messenger’ is doing at all times is extremely important.
If you are the type of person who gets nervous each time Mercury goes Retrograde, you can soon relax for while. As Mercury’s Retrograde phase ends and Mercury goes Direct again you will start to experience vast improvements in your daily life. That means enough of the drama and miscommunication of the last few weeks. It’s true that when Mercury goes Retrograde it is the time to slow down, to notice changes you’d like to make, in short to make your preparations for when Mercury goes Direct. During the Retrograde, your time is best spent looking back in review – not looking forward. Mercury Direct, however, is the time for new beginnings, setting the record straight, for making plans and commitments. Now is the time to use this wonderful transit to your advantage! It’s an ideal time for clearing up any disagreements you’ve had the past few weeks. It’s time for clearing the air and making plans for a better future and then putting these projects into action. It’s a time to take steps toward financial self-sufficiency and to deal realistically with your debt.
You would have found that things such as applying for a loan or going to an interview or asking out a crush did not work out during the latest Mercury Retrograde. What’s more you would have found your romantic adventures less than successful too. You shouldn’t begin a new partnership during the Mercury Retrograde either. Mercury Retrograde isn’t the time to break up or otherwise decide on a new Direction in relationships either. Choices made in a Mercury Retrograde transit will come back to bite you, it’s always best to wait!
Things will begin to straighten out as Mercury passes the point where it first turned Retrograde, and you can pick back up where you left off before it went Retrograde. The energy that you will feel from Mercury Direct is going to give you a boost in all areas of your life as you are more able to communicate your desires, fears and aspirations. Opportunistic will be revealed to you over the coming few months without a doubt, it’s just the way Mercury Direct is.
Love Horoscope for the Week
Over the years, I have come to the conclusion that astrologers secretly love Mercury retrograde. That phenomenon — which makes planning, communications, signing contracts, commerce, and such trickier and more prone to failure — is (when combined with a healthy dose of imagination) pretty much the perfect “get out of jail free card” for things not going right. Besides, Mercury is all about logic and stuff, and who needs that sort of thing when there’s love? This week the “love planets” — Venus and Mars — both get a lot of play. So you can be forgiven for the occasional lapse in logic. Give us love, not a contract!
Venus is strongly placed in Taurus, and spends the week under the influence of two of the Solar System’s heavy hitters. In the first part of the week Venus is sextile Neptune, with the exact aspect on Wednesday. A Venus-Neptune contact is always dreamy, and it’s hard to imagine a combination more dreamy than Venus in Taurus and Neptune in Pisces. You may find your heart all a-flutter over someone and, if not… find someone to get fluttery over you.
Meanwhile, Mars continues to press on forward through Libra. Although it doesn’t reach the exact degrees to be interacting with Uranus and Pluto this week, it’s certainly getting closer. Think back to what was causing you agitation in the last third of April, and don’t be surprised if those issues return in one form or another. This time though, Mars isn’t retrograde — so you may have a much better chance at finding a satisfactory resolution.
Since most of the planets are located in the first half of their respective signs, this week we once again encounter a couple of epic-length Void of Course Moons. This does not necessarily make Tuesday and Friday this week completely useless, but don’t expect to get decent long-term results with any new projects that are started or completed on those days. If possible, bump the important stuff a day back or ahead.
The weekend dating scene is a mixed bag, with Moon in Libra throughout, but Void of Course most of Friday and the second half of Sunday. Saturday’s the day that Mercury goes retrograde, but as previously discussed, don’t go blaming everything on that alone. You also have Moon square Mercury, Moon square Pluto and Moon conjunct Mars on Saturday upon which to blame any dating blowups. Then again, handled properly, that kind of passion can be pretty intense.
Sun in Capricorn, Moon in Leo Compatibility
Sun in Capricorn’s focus on rules and responsibility will clash with Moon in Leo’s need for sparkle. Capricorn will be busy working, and Leo could end up sitting at home alone, feeling neglected. However, both want status and are willing to pour their energy into a long-term commitment, which could be a commonality that keeps them together.
Sun in Capricorn is one of the more ambitious signs. He uses his focus, discipline and business savvy to achieve considerable success. His partner should be prepared to share him with his career, because as much as Sun in Capricorn will commit to building a relationship, his purpose is rooted in manifesting external social position. He’ll give his partner everything she wants, but it will be her responsibility to nurture the relationship’s emotional content.
Moon in Leo> needs a partner who treats her like a queen. She has love and loyalty to burn, but the lover who activates it will be the one who puts her on a pedestal and keeps the romance alive (expensive gifts always help). Satisfied Moon in Leo can be a fiercely proud, domestic goddess. But when she feels ignored, bored or unable to express her feelings, she can become demanding and childish.
Sun in Capricorn will be unimpressed with Leo’s dramatic temper tantrums (usually triggered when she feels that he’s spending too much at the office). Even though he’ll work to provide Moon in Leo with all the comfort and status she can handle, he won’t rush to provide sparkly romance or indulgent displays of affection. But if she can understand that Capricorn shows his love by honoring his responsibilities — and if he can comprehend that the occasional bouquet of flowers (for no reason) will stoke her fire — these two might be able to make it work. They both want the best in life, and together they can have it.
The Karma Trap: Past-Life Relationships to Avoid
Ah, the lure of the karmic relationship. It’s not just the magnetic connection that pulls you in, it’s the knowledge that the two of you were involved in a previous life. You are fated lovers. You’ve reconnected in this life because (as all the karma-savvy folks know) you have unfinished business to complete. It’s more than a mutual attraction; it’s your karmic duty. But what if it’s not? What if every past-life relationship you encounter is not meant to be explored?
The Karma Trap
Almost every significant relationship in your life is based on a past-life connection. The reason you’re reconnecting is because something happened in that past life, and it was most likely unpleasant. Hence, the unfinished business. Past life partners with whom you’ve had an idyllic, tension-free connection will have no reason to cross your path again. What might have happened between the two of you covers a very broad spectrum: One of you died, one of you was abandoned by the other, you were both killed by disease/war, you weren’t allowed to marry. And so on. Sometimes, that unfinished business is particularly painful for one of you. You might have been a victim (of your partner). You did something to make your partner very, very angry.
Fast forward to this life. You meet your partner, the attraction is overwhelming, but the relationship is non-stop pain, drama and heartbreak. But that’s OK, because you’re ready to push through in order to tie up those loose ends from the previous life. This is what I call the “karma trap” – being devoted to a current life relationship that causes you pain, because you believe it’s fated. You wouldn’t have met each other if it wasn’t meant to be. Right?
Wrong. Just because you cross paths with a past-life partner does not mean you must pursue that relationship. With some people, you feel a gut level sense of distaste within minutes of meeting them; you don’t even need to look at the charts to know that (in a previous life) things went very poorly. You’re more than happy to steer clear of each other now. But with others, it’s not so black-and-white. There may have been a romantic connection in a past life, but that wasn’t the whole story. Maybe your past life partner (who you were desperately in love with) was simply not a nice person, and continues to be … not nice. Since you do not have total past-life recall, you can’t know exactly what happened. You still feel the connection, and that’s what powers you forward. But that connection does not always mean it’s in your best interests to pursue the relationship.
The Same Story
So the big question is, how do you know if a karmic relationship is worth your time and energy? First of all, know that past life dynamics will be repeated in this life. The same story will be told, although some of the words will be different. Synastry can give you some clues as to what those dynamics were, and will be. Conjunctions or squares between Mars, Saturn, Uranus and Pluto to the natal or Composite South Node suggest past life dynamics that were especially harsh. These examples are not absolutes. They are more likely to indicate unpleasant past-life connections (that you might want to avoid) but how those connections play out depend on the people involved.
One partner’s natal Mars conjunct the other’s South Node (or one partner’s personal planet conjunct the other’s Mars/South Node conjunction) can suggest that violence was part of the past-life relationship. The scenarios are endless, but here’s an example, based on some charts I’ve worked with: Your partner was injured, and you made a promise to save their life. But you failed. In this life, you are drawn to them because of the promise you made. They feel the draw as well, but it’s mixed with anger and betrayal (you let them die). In this life, you may keep trying to get close to them, only to have them manipulate and push you away. They are punishing you.
Not fair! It wasn’t your fault they died, and you did your best to save them. But past-life connections are not about fairness or logic. The echo of the feelings are acted on. All your partner will know is that they feel a mix of anger and fear whenever you’re around; you bring up the past life memories of their death. If they’ve done the work required to evolve, they might be able to push past this. Or not.
A Saturn/South Node connection between partners indicates past-life responsibility and restriction. Let’s say your partner was forced to marry you in a previous life (an arranged marriage). They had money and power, and this marriage was your ticket to a better life. Your financial security, your status and your survival was their responsibility. In this life, they’ll still feel that obligation. But if the rest of their chart is set up so that obligations feel suffocating, you’ll also feel like a lead weight around their neck. They are not prepared to shoulder that responsibility again, which is why they go AWOL when you broach the subject of commitment.
The next step is to look at what actually happens between the two of you in this life. This is obvious, but people overlook it when they get caught up in the idea of karma. If the current life relationship drags you down, or spins its wheels without progressing, it’s not meant to be explored. If the object of your desire tells you they just want to be friends, or they don’t want to commit to you, this is a clear indication of how they’re handling the past life dynamics. None of these South Node contacts are deal breakers. But, it doesn’t matter how evolved you are, or how much love you’re pouring into the relationship. The other person must be ready and willing to work through the karma with you. If they’re not, that’s the biggest sign of all that you should give this relationship a pass.
1st House Synastry Overlays: The Partner at Your Door
Synastry overlays to your 1st House create an immediate reaction. If someone’s planets fall in this house, they are standing at your front door, insisting that you let them in. Or, they might insist on remodelling your front door. Maybe they leave flowers, treating it like a shrine. Their energy impacts your external identity and social mask. They actually have a say in what defines your public persona. How you respond depends on what’s happening with your 1st House, and which of their planets are involved. You may welcome the planet person into your life, or you may treat them as an unwelcome intruder who challenges your identity. These overlays do not guarantee romantic attraction, but for this article we’ll assume that an attraction already exists.
Your Ascendant is the most sensitive point in your 1st House, because it represents the gateway to your identity. A partner’s planet that falls within 5 degrees of your Ascendant will have the most powerful impact. If their planet falls anywhere in your 1st House, you’ll still feel their influence, but a conjunction to your AC is the most potent. Note that I am not including planets that fall behind your AC (not even by 1 degree); these are technically in your 12th House, which is a whole different category of synastry overlays.
The Partner Who Improves You
With the right overlays, a partner’s planets can bring out your best side, or make it even better. If your partner’s Venus (how they give and receive love) conjuncts your AC, your physical appearance and style fits perfectly with what she finds attractive. Simply put, you look good to her. And she probably make you feel pretty good about yourself. When you’re together, you feel more appealing and flirtatious. This is a lovely contact, but Venus (a passive planet) doesn’t push you into developing the full potential of your AC. In order to stimulate that, a more active planet on your partner’s side would need to be in play.
Let’s say his Sun (ego) falls in your 1st House. His solar energy acts like a spotlight, bringing you out of yourself and boosting your confidence. The Sun person emphasizes the qualities of your AC. Being with him is like having the transiting Sun in your 1st House. Or, maybe his Jupiter (expansion and optimism) falls in your 1st House. Talk about a boost! Not only does he accentuate your 1st House qualities, he exaggerates them. He may encourage you to step over a few socially acceptable lines, or take some risks that would never have occurred to you if he wasn’t around. He has faith (Jupiter) in who you are (1st House) and his faith feeds your will to be yourself.
Your partner’s Sun, Moon, Venus and Mars conjunct your AC are contacts most commonly associated with attraction. They can, under certain circumstances, trigger physical attraction. But there needs to be other romantic contacts to guarantee a full-on relationship.
The Partner Who Challenges You (or Are They Improving You?)
Some 1st House overlays are a mixed bag of tension and positive energy. If your partner’s Saturn falls in your 1st House, he applies his rules and limits to your identity. If his Saturn conjuncts your AC, he feels some responsibility for you. Is this a good thing? Well, if you have Cancer Rising, Capricorn (ruled by Saturn) is on your Descendant. The Descendant represents qualities you admire in a partner, which are also your projected qualities. How have you dealt with responsibility in your life? Your partner’s Saturn could help you grow up, or he could act like an overbearing father figure. Much depends on how he wields his authority, and if you’re ready to own your natal Saturn energy. If you have Sagittarius Rising, you may find his Saturn to be a wet blanket. Maybe he tries to get you to tone it down in public, because he’s embarrassed by your jokes.
A Mars overlay (action and energy) can spur your competitiveness, or it can feel annoying and intrusive. If you have Capricorn in your 1st House, with natal Mars there, you’re already openly ambitious. Capricorn’s focused determination takes Mars’ energy and makes you a powerhouse. But then you meet Mr. Capricorn, and his Mars conjuncts yours. There will be sexual attraction (Mars plus Mars equals heat) but there will also be rivalry. Whenever Mr. Capricorn is around, he’s stepping on your turf. He pushes you to excel, but his relentless, in-your-face challenges make you angry. Whether you thrive under this onslaught — or find it too tense — depends on the rest of your chart and his chart.
A Pluto overlay (power and transformation) can be especially tricky. Your partner’s Pluto may push you to open up much more quickly than you’re accustomed to. Your outer identity is probed, and there’s nowhere to hide. Transformation is almost unavoidable, because that’s how Pluto works; she zeros in on what’s weak or hidden, and ferrets it out. You may embrace this radical evolution, or you may push the Pluto person away. Again, it depends on how she handles her Pluto. She’ll be compelled to question who you are (especially if her Pluto conjuncts your AC) and that questioning may or may not devolve into manipulation. This can feel frightening, overwhelming and/or essential for you. Maybe you need someone who pushes you to examine why you act a certain way in public. Or, maybe you have natal Saturn in your 1st House, and her Pluto conjuncts it. Power struggles are a given as force (Pluto) meets an immovable object (Saturn). Do you freeze the Pluto person out, or does she find a chink in your armor? With this (and any) 1st House overlay, your partner is treading on your territory.
