2014 Virgo New Moon and Mars Conjunct Saturn in Scorpio – The Conjunction Junction & The Function of Your Life

The 2014 Virgo New Moon (a.k.a. the Sun-Moon conjunction in Virgo) occurs at 7:12a PDT today, the 25th of August 2014 (2°). This conjunction presents a wonderful opportunity to implement workable plans for practical new beginnings in the areas of your life which most support the healthy functionality of your everyday life and being.

The key here is the functionality of your everyday life and being. Virgo is the 6th sign of the Zodiac, and its purpose is to make sure that you are addressing the mundane elements of your day-to-day life. It makes sure that you are applying the effort you need to apply in order to attend to your ability to live the lifestyle you choose to live – lifestyles which were determined by the presence and/or influence of Taurus in your chart(s).

Virgo’s presence in our lives helps us solve problems; heal physical, emotional, and psychological wounds; and create and implement systems, processes, and routines in order to assist us in establishing and maintain the practical workability of our daily lives. It makes sure we address our personal responsibilities for our livelihood. For you specifically, this 2014 Virgo New Moon may represent the emergence of new ideas and/or a new way of going about how you live the day-to-day of your life in one or more areas of your life. If you want to make a lifestyle change, this is the influence under which to create it, plan it, and begin making it real.

This 2014 Virgo New Moon is also unique in that major life shifts could happen today as another conjunction also occurs on this day – Mars conjunct Saturn in Scorpio (17°). Though it does not make an exact major aspect with the Virgo New Moon, it does create a minor aspect – a wide quintile (a 72° aspect, but I use a 3° orb for all aspects). This indicates that these conjunctions do strengthen each other’s power and influence, and this could make for some very interesting activities and events throughout the day.

The range of influence for the Mars-Saturn conjunction is the 20th through 30th of August. This gives us a 10-day window of intense activity in which actions may be taken to establish clear and undeniable personal emotional-energetic boundaries. Continue reading →

Mars Enters Virgo 2013 – Practical Actions to Release Impractical Plans

Mars is the planet of initiative and action. It waits for no one, yet in Virgo, it makes sure that its actions serve a practical purpose. Mars in Virgo is not action for action’s sake – it is action with a purpose, and in most cases, with a plan.

Under this Mars in Virgo influence, it is a great time to move forward in any area of your life that you want to make progress in simply by taking actions in alignment with your desire to make things work and get things done. However, Robert Burns said it best in that, “The best laid schemes of mice and men often go awry.” You can plan down to the tiniest detail, but when you put that plan into action in reality you may find that your plans need to adjust slightly, change significantly, or possibly even be discarded completely.

If and when your plans go awry, you may find yourself getting caught up in some self-generated emotional drama. This may be due to your perspective of things not coming along as you planned or intended. Mars will oppose both Neptune Retrograde in Pisces (now through October 24^th) and Chiron Retrograde in Pisces (October 26^th through November 5^th) during its run through the sign of Virgo, and the degree to which you act-out your drama reveals the degree of your emotional attachment to the process of reaching your outcome rather than the outcome itself.

Mars in Virgo in opposition to these Pisces elements may also reveal how you may be sabotaging yourself in the design or facilitation of your plans. In some cases, you may find yourself becoming angry, fighting, and lashing out at others because things aren’t going the way you want them to or think they should. This is that feisty Mars energy in action in the sign of Virgo operating out of fear that you won’t get what you want the way you want it.

However, by simply taking practical, real-time actions to move your plans forward, you bring tangibility to your plans and move yourself closer to your desired outcome. Mars in Virgo brings a dose of practical reality to plans that may be rooted in idealism and delusion. If you look at matters objectively, you may realize that all of those specific details in your plans may be what you are putting up to protect yourself from being emotionally hurt or disappointed. They are escape hatches so that when one of those details doesn’t come to pass, you can be justified in ceasing your actions and bailing out of your plans.

Yet if you take a deep breath and look for a way to move on instead of a way to jump ship when things don’t seem to be going as planned, you may find that your actions reveal your true beliefs and motivations and bring you down to earth so you can actually fulfill your plans in the real world. Taking actions to move yourself forward may even help you face and discard your delusions and false beliefs to configure a new plan that aligns with where you want to go from where you really are right now. There can be great emotional healing in this process as you begin to recognize, acknowledge, accept, and take practical actions to heal the emotion-based behavior and belief patterns that have held you back from achieving your dreams and goals.

Mars in Virgo will also trine Pluto in Capricorn during its run. This will be a very telling influence as you will have another prime opportunity to clear out whatever (and whomever) does not align with the functional truth of your day-to-day life. Though you may want to get angry and fight for your plans to go the way you want them to, you may just as easily find that Mars in Virgo puts you in a position to take actions which finally release your attachment to those details or things that have not served you well for a very long time. Clearing out what no longer serves you well can powerfully transform your life – you only need to find the courage to make the necessary changes.

In fact, there is a Grand Sextile configuration on October 31^st under introspective Scorpio 7 Sun energy that could make quite an impact on the trajectory of your life. This Grand Sextile involves Mars in Virgo, North Node conjunct Sun conjunct Mercury in Scorpio, Pluto in Capricorn, and Chiron Retrograde in Pisces. This Grand Sextile is a great opening for you to step into real-world clarity, and through it, to begin communicating decisively about what you are choosing to discard or hold onto in your life in order to heal your long-held emotional wounds.

Saturn in Scorpio sits just outside of my preferred 3° orb for me to include it in the configuration on the 31st. However, within 24 hours of the Grand Sextile’s peak and on the first day of intense Scorpio 8 Sun energy, Saturn moves within orb with all of the components including Mars in Virgo (except Chiron Retrograde) to help you stabilize and/or solidify your life through new functional and healthier daily practices that can completely transform your life. It can provide you with dependable structures for success…if you choose to take actions to build them and put them in place.

Mars in Virgo is a call for you to take actions to serve yourself and to establish the lifestyle you want to live. Yet it also calls upon you to do so in a practical, realistic way. Ask yourself the following now through December 8^th:

Where are you now in the matter at hand, and what can you do now from where you are now to move closer to your goals? Do it without delay. Start conditioning yourself to take the little steps that can move you toward a big difference.
Can you trust that The Universe (unseen forces, synchronicity) may know better than you how to bring your desired outcome into manifestation? Can you forgo your attachment to your detailed plans of how it should happen by letting go of some of the details that get in the way so that the things that really count can come forth?
Can you see where you get in your own way with your detailed plans, and can you get out of your own way to allow things to happen for you in the way you say you want them to?
Can you trust that The Universe will support you when your heart and mind and actions are in alignment with your intentions and plans?

Let your answers to these questions guide you through the next 7-8 weeks. If you allow yourself to get real with yourself and others through awareness of your motives behind your actions, you may experience profound and positive changes in your life as result.

Thank you for reading and sharing Signs and Numbers. Until next post…

~ Light, love, and Blessings,

Grace

Full “Harvest” Moon in Pisces – Reality-Inspired Fantasies

Not only is it the “Harvest Moon” – the Full Moon that is closest to the transition into the autumn season. Exact as of 4:13a this morning, September 19^th, this 2013 Full Moon in Pisces is also reflecting the Virgo Sun’s light back onto itself, bringing us into awareness of just how all of our work over the last few months is paying off…if it’s paying off in the first place.

With this Full Moon in Pisces being the Harvest Moon, it is a perfect time to notice the fruits of our labors since the Aries Sun cycle in late March/mid-April. How have “the seeds” we planted during the spring grown? If they have grown, what have they grown into? How are they affecting us now? Did we do the work we needed to do in order to nurture, protect, and support them to have an abundant harvest now?

If you have done the necessary work, congratulations! This Full Moon could very well make you aware of just how much work you’ve done and how much you’ve accomplished since the spring. Look at where you are now compared to where you were six months ago. How does it feel for you to have something to show for your work?

If you haven’t done the necessary work, your inclination right now may be to avoid or run away from the fact that you haven’t done the necessary work to nurture your seeds. That fact may bring you to your emotional desire to escape the realities of your life, and you may be creating dreams or fantasies that help you avoid the practical truths of the day-to-day situations and circumstances you are facing. This Full Moon reflects back to you what you haven’t taken care of in the day-to-day of your life, even though it’s become rather urgent to address.

A large part of this avoidance mechanism can be disguised as being of service to others. Pisces is so sensitive, selfless, and good-hearted that it is known to give its own security and well-being up for that of others.

Yet Pisces is also known for using its eager willingness to serve others as a way of being an escape artist. By keeping yourself busy with the business and wellness of others, you may think that you don’t have to deal with yourself and how you aren’t doing the work for yourself that you do for everyone else. Keep in mind that by avoiding your own work in the name of service to others, you may think that you’re getting away with your avoidance by playing saint to the sinners you get to “save” through your efforts.

However, neglecting your own dreams and goals doesn’t make you selfless – it makes you selfish! You are selfish because you aren’t doing what you need to do to sustain yourself. You cannot be there to support others if you’ve compromised your own health, wellness, and life functionality to “be there” for others. You’re selfish because you may not be supporting yourself and who you get to be in the world. If you aren’t being yourself in the world, those you “serve” aren’t able to connect with you in ways that fulfill both you and those who receive your service.

The 2013 Pisces Harvest Moon helps you recognize where you are trying to hide from your reality by using your beautiful and romantic reality-inspired fantasies of selfless service, which may actually show up as selfish service, martyrdom, and self-sacrifice. And if you choose to be awake and aware of what the Universe is telling you through synchronicity (or for some of you, coincidence), you may find some answers to exactly what is holding you back in any areas of your life in which you feel stuck or disappointed with your outcomes to date.

Use the light of this Full Harvest Moon in Pisces to seek and find the truth about the last six months of your life. See what the fruits of your labors are showing themselves to be. Also notice where your dreams and fantasies may be inspired by your avoidance of the reality you may not want to face. The power of the Harvest Moon will be felt most strongly through Friday, September 20^th.

Thank you for reading and sharing Signs and Numbers. Until next post…
~Light, Love, and Blessings,

Grace

Full “Harvest” Moon in Pisces – Reality-Inspired Fantasies

Thank you for reading and sharing Signs and Numbers. Until next post…
~Light, Love, and Blessings,

Grace

New Moon in Virgo – Plans Worth “Dying” For

In the wake of the Virgo Sun trine Pluto Retrograde in Capricorn earlier in the week, the Virgo New Moon arrives at 4:36a PDT on Thursday, September 5^th, to help us starting putting our new plans to work.

The shallow explanation of New Moon in Virgo is that it is an opportunity for you to set plans in motion that help improve your life’s functionality.

The deeper explanation of New Moon in Virgo is that it is an opportunity for you to set plans in motion that help you to heal old wounds and bring forth solutions to long-standing problems.

It is my observation and experience that Chiron – “The Wounded Healer” –is the ruler of Virgo. That said, when the New Moon occurs this sign, there is an opening for emotional healing to occur. Couple that with the fact that the Moon will also trine Pluto as it approaches its maximum New Moon phase, and there is especially transformative emotional healing potential available during this 2013 Virgo New Moon.

But in true Plutonic fashion, the healing can only occur when something is released or destroyed in order to clear the way for the healing to begin. Transformation is a process of dying in order to be re-born, and in the case of this particular Virgo New Moon trine Pluto Retrograde in Capricorn, there is a phoenix that gets to rise from the ashes of the old standards and transitions of living. This phoenix energy is what is at the core of the intention and/or plan you’ve hopefully created to help you move forward on your life’s journey.

By just solving your problem on the surface, you may ease present tensions, but those tensions are bound to arise again because the root cause of the problem has not been addressed and dealt with. The next time something pokes at the root of the problem or wound, those same old tensions will surface again.

Through the deeper healing and problem-solving process, you are facing, dealing with, and healing the problem at its roots, you can ensure that they will not be able to be triggered again. Instead of it sucking you back into the depths of darkness and/or a disorganized and dysfunctional day-to-day experience of your life, you are able to overcome that past and build a more reliable daily operating system for your life based upon healed wounds and the absence of the problem. You have a clean slate to build upon.

Of course, the phoenix process is challenging to most of us for one major reason: in order to be re-born, a part of us must die. This is where things get complicated.

When considering what needs to go, you may want to consider what Virgo represents. It represents how you go about being of service to yourself and others on a daily basis. It deals with the details of your basic operating systems – mentally, physically, and worldly – and health and wellness are priorities in this area simply because your physical body and your whole being have to be functioning well in order to support your functionality in day-to-day life.

That said, when applying New Moon in Virgo trine Pluto Retrograde in Capricorn to your own life, you may want to look at which standards, structures, or traditions are you living by that are outdated or otherwise no longer serve you well. Especially if you notice that your own physical health and well-being are compromised in your day-to-day life, you may consider withdrawing from things that drain your energy or remain the same despite your efforts to change them. You may also look to some of your emotional issues as your physical health challenges or your difficulties in attending to certain matters in your life may be rooted in those.

Once you identify what is causing the challenge, then comes the hard part – choosing to let go of the struggle. You may be saying, “Of course I want to let it go! It’s holding me back!” Yet when you’ve grown accustomed to living with a particular wound or a problem, it may be quite a task to imagine living a life without it. Releasing it or letting it die can be very confronting when you’ve identified yourself with the pain and suffering for such a long time.

However, is the symbolic death of your old, dysfunctional everyday reality worth the new, healthy, and functional daily life that emerges from it? That is the question you get to answer for yourself as you step into the energy of this 2013 New Moon in Virgo. You may find that the simple and practical plans you have made in order to move forward in your life may well be worth dying for.

Thank you for reading and sharing Signs and Numbers. Until next post…

~ Light, Love, and Blessings,

Grace

Full Moon in Virgo – Mud is Thicker Than Water

Ah yes! Today at 12:26p PST brings us a Full Moon in Virgo, and along with it a much needed dose of substance and reality.

We are in the midst of an unusually water-logged Pisces Sun cycle with 7 major influences in water signs – there are 5 influences currently in Pisces (Sun, Mercury, Mars, Chiron, and the sign’s ruler Neptune) and 2 influences in Scorpio (Saturn and North Node). To add to the strangeness, both Mercury and Saturn are also in retrograde motion, awakening us emotionally from within as well as affecting us through our outer environments.

This 2013 Pisces Sun cycle is a time where our dreams, visions, emotions, and intuitions are the powers that be – a very liquid energy that demands that we go with the flow of its energy and allow ourselves to be guided to what we need to be, do, and know at this time. We are being asked to let go and let the Universe guide us from our inside out, even if it has to come from the outside first. Yet it all feels rather elusive if not downright imaginary – there isn’t much for us to hold onto or count on right now.

In fact, the only two influences currently in earth signs and giving us anything of substance are 1) Pluto in Capricorn, which is usually good at extremes, either strengthening or destroying the structures and systems in place, so it’s not a sure bet for keeping anything stable or secure; and 2) Juno in Capricorn, which is committed to getting results and achieving success, yet in this excess of water is having a really tough time figuring out just what those goals and ambitions are and/or how to go about achieving them.

Yet in the midst of all of this intangible emotional-spiritual ebb and flow, this Full Moon in Virgo helps us gain some sense of tangible reality. Not a lot, though. After all, we are dealing with moody and emotional Moon energy, and Virgo is a mutable earth sign, and the earth it provides is more like thick mud rather than really solid earth. Nevertheless, Full Moon in Virgo gives us something thicker than water, and that emotional substance is a very welcome presence in this ethereal Pisces wonderland right now.

The effects of the Full Moon in Virgo can be felt for a day or two before and after the Full Moon is exact. Make the most of this energy to make some markers to define your path. Of course, you may want to remember that you’re sticking these markers into mud – they are subject to change position.

That leads us to another reminder: The only true constant in life is change. So in the midst of the changes that are happening for each and all of us, now during this Full Moon in Virgo is a good time to ask yourself what you are awakening to about yourself and others as you move through this Pisces Sun cycle.

What are you learning about your dreams, your visions, your emotions, and your spirituality?
How are your feelings, thoughts, and visions changing in these areas of your life?
And what are you realizing that you want or need to change in these areas your life now?

And one more thing: Even though it’s been very fluid, the water has been relatively clear. Even though your emotional-spiritual energy has been flowing very quickly and may have been overwhelming at times, it has also been providing you with great emotional-spiritual clarity in doing so. The mud of the Full Moon in Virgo may make the water rather murky, but it should remain just clear enough for you to recognize what is really changing in yourself and in your life. That recognition is the first step in embracing and allowing these changes to occur.

Let go and allow yourself and your life to evolve. Use the mud of the Full Moon in Virgo to help you slow your trip down the river rapids a little, and use the change in speed to actually shift your position and as result, your life’s direction.

It may not feel like it now, but mud can be very therapeutic and you may find that the changes happening for you now may be bigger blessings than you could possibly imagine.

Thank you for reading and sharing this post. Until next time…

~ Light, Love, and Blessings,

Grace

Venus in Virgo – “The Ideal”or “The Real Deal”?

Venus is the ruling planet of Libra, our current Sun sign. Therefore, the themes of relationships, balance, equality and beauty continue to be extremely present in our daily awareness. Venus on its own accord also represents matters of unconditional love, abundance, and feminine power and energy.

While Venus was in Leo, you got to see your relationships under the bright exposure of Leo’s stage lights. Almost everything in your relationships was exposed for better and worse. In some cases, you may have found yourself blinded by the Light, believing that some or most of your relationships and partnerships were wonderful, warm, and glamorous. They could have been exciting and fun with their low points and high points, much like a rollercoaster – exciting and fun for some, horrific experiences for others, and either way quite a ride.

But Venus moved out of dramatic and theatrical Leo and into practical and purposeful Virgo at 11:59p PDT on Monday, October 2^nd, 2012.

Virgo brings your perception of your relationships firmly back to earth. It gives you a chance to see if your relationships give you solid ground to stan upon once the theatrical drama of Leo is gone (for now). It is a healing energy – Virgo strives to make things as healthy and well, and does its best to be as efficient and effective as possible in that process. It is very pragmatic and detail-oriented, and often creates plans, routines, and systems to get matters at hand taken care of. It tends to be focused on the day-to-day operations of one’s life, making sure everything runs smoothly and properly.

That said, Venus in Virgo is not a glamorous placement. It’s a practical one. With the bright lights of Leo gone, you are left with Virgo’s practical routine – grocery shopping, paying the bills, taking out the trash, getting the dishes done, sharing the bathroom in the morning, etc. There is a reality of life that has to be accounted for, and you find yourself having to deal with that truth.

During this time, you become more aware of the practical and purposeful roles of the relationships in your life. You’ll notice that some of your relationships really help you get through your daily existence with ease and joy. But you may also find that some of your relationships may have served their purpose in your life and may now be holding you back rather than helping you move forward at this point in your life’s journey. The point of this 2012 Venus in Virgo cycle is for you to figure out who actually works in your life and who doesn’t – literally and figuratively.

Beyond the glow and hype of the ‘honeymoon’, do your daily routines blend well together? Are your lifestyles and values really compatible or complementary?
Do you truly feel unconditional love for these people to accept them however they may show up for you in your shared everyday routine?
Do you feel unconditional love for yourself where you feel confident and comfortable in bringing these people into your life for them to see you in your everyday routine?
Are you really ready to share those everyday parts of your life with them? Are you ready to witness the everyday parts of their lives?

In other words, you are being called upon to find out if your relationships are “the real deal” that help you get through the day-to-day successfully, or simply grand “ideals” that look really pretty but aren’t able to hold up to the workload and serve you well.

As challenging as the prospect of realistically assessing your relationships and partnerships may be, this discerning presence of Venus in Virgo and the need to answer these questions for yourself could not come at a better time.

Mercury and Saturn are still in Libra until Friday, so there will still be some objectivity in assessing your relationships…for a bit. However, both planets move into Scorpio at week’s end, making for some very powerful all-or-nothing energy. You’ll likely find yourself wanting to make some very decisive choices, and these choices will likely be rooted in some very deep and extreme emotions, not nearly as balanced, objective, or disciplined as they have been under Libra’s energy.

Mars moves from Scorpio to Sagittarius on Saturday, so you’ll definitely find yourself inspired to take actions that will enable you to grow and expand your awareness and experience of life. But once again, you’ll need to be aware of the emotional extremes that will be influencing your choices and therefore, dictating your course moving forward. It will be important for you to dig deep, to start facing your dark side, and to continue honoring your deepest emotional truths in these next few weeks.

It’s going to be quite a time of profound energy and changes – another crazy ride, only a different (and probably bigger) type of rollercoaster. You’ll appreciate having the earthy and grounding presence of Venus in Virgo as you ride this one through. Use its energy to help you distinguish and establish your “real deal” relationships, and allow these connections to help you and the people you are connected to get through what is sure to be quite a transformative time. It will be important for you to know who will really be there for you when the going gets going.

Thanks for reading and sharing. Until next post…

~ Light, Love, and Blessings,

Grace

Mercury in Virgo – Keeping Your Eyes on the Prize

Mercury enters Virgo this evening, August 31st, 2012 at 7:33p PDT. With it comes a shift in our mental and communicative focus – away from the attention we draw to ourselves and what we reveal ourselves to be, and toward the implementation of the plans we have been creating to align our lives with the Truth of who we are.

Virgo is about organizing, systematizing, and practical implementation. It is also about healing and wellness, clearing out what is toxic to us and bringing things back into integrity and good health. Its practical and purposeful nature often associates Virgo with your works, service, and daily routine.

Mercury joins the Sun in the sign of Virgo for an amplification of this practical and purposeful energy. With our minds and communications now shifting into this realm, you are likely to see a stark contrast between the theatrical drama of Leo we’ve been experiencing over the last few weeks and the nuts and bolts approach of Virgo. Things will almost suddenly become pretty simple and straight-forward, and there will be a more cut-and-dried approach to getting things started and/or done. There won’t be much tolerance for drama or excess over the next few weeks. If it isn’t effective or efficient, it’ll probably be discarded or ignored. The intention in the next couple of weeks is to “keep your eyes on the prize”.

That said, Mercury’s journey through Virgo this time around will be a quick and useful one – it will be in direct motion its entire time in Virgo, moving into Libra on September 16^th. Ideas and thoughts and our communications of them will likely be clear, concise and very deliberate. They will also serve the dual purpose of 1) helping us implement plans and intentions, and 2) healing the wounds that may surface as we start letting go of all that no longer serves us well.

This Virgo 5 Sun-Mercury cycle is a time of clearing away who and what distracts, discourages, or otherwise detriments us in the pursuit of our goals and dreams. We clear away the negatives to create space for all that is practical, tangible and positive to come into our live to assist us with the manifestation of our plans and intentions. Though there will be some tangible and physical actions taken, the majority of this work done during Mercury in Virgo will be done through words more than any other means.

Some questions to consider over the next 16 days:

Who and what supports you in “winning the prize(s)” in your life…and who and what seems to distract you or take you away from it?
What do you need to get what will support or encourage you in manifesting your goals and dreams? What and/or who stands in the way of getting what you need?
Is it really someone or something else, or it is your own beliefs and behaviors and thoughts that need to change?

We aren’t done with Leo entirely. Venus enters Leo on September 6^th, and will bring a little drama back into our lives as others begin to respond and react to the communications we make. We are likely to have our ‘drama moments’ as well – after all, we aren’t the only ones who are making changes.

Everyone in our lives is under the influence of this Virgo 5 Sun-Mercury combination. So we’ll need to deal with our feelings and thoughts about being on both the giving and receiving end of the changes we are all undergoing. For some of us who are already well-aligned with our inner Truths, the changes we are called to make may be small and barely noticeable. But for some of us who have found ourselves to be more out of alignment with our inner Truths than we may like, we may find ourselves called upon to make some pretty major life changes in these next few weeks. And of course, as we make these changes, they inevitably have an effect on not only us but those closest to us. Our relationships will be affected, and the relationship effect will only be more pronounced once Mercury moves into Libra on the 16^th.

But for now, we focus on implementing the details of our plans. We focus on getting ourselves and our lives cleaned, cleared and organized for the new and wonderful people and things we are bringing into our lives – all of whom will help us “keep our eyes on the prize” so we may manifest and fulfill our goals and dreams.

Thanks for reading and sharing. Until next post…

~ Light, Love and blessings,

Grace

Full Moon in Pisces/Virgo – Your Extraordinary Ordinary

At 2:26a PDT on Monday, September 12, the Moon is Full in the sign of Pisces. With the Full Moon in Pisces opposite the Sun in Virgo, this is a time in which you awaken to the full emotional impact of your daily practices and activities. You can realize the influence of your emotions, beliefs, choices, and behaviors. You can come into awareness of how your everyday and ordinary can be powerfully extraordinary.

Your emotions are most often at the root of the choices in your life. They are also the result of choices we make in your life. There’s definitely a “which came first – the chicken or the egg?” principle at play here as you make choices to which you have an emotional response or reaction which may affect your next choice(s) at hand which, in turn, create(s) more emotional response.

The two points to be made are…

The things that you do to have your life work each and every day actually have an emotional impact.
Your emotions can impact your choices about and behaviors in regard to the matters and circumstances of your everyday life.

We often fail to recognize that if we are don’t feel good about who, what, when, where, or how we choose to spend our time and energy on and with, we have choices we can make to change those aspects of our lives. If we aren’t doing things in our lives that make our lives productive and practically functional, our emotional well-being can be compromised.

We may also find that when our emotional well-being is compromised or otherwise under duress, we are often less productive and practically functional. We may feel less motivated to take on the work or to apply the effort or to make the choices we need to make to create the experience of our lives that we crave.

Either way, there is a direct correlation between how we feel and the choices we make in our lives.

Here are some examples:

A woman is so angry and upset about a matter that involves one of the children she has with her soon-to-be ex-husband that she publically posts a comment about it on Facebook which brings their recent marriage separation to light. With his high-profile position in his profession and in their community, her comment now brings what was a private matter into the public eye. Now they both have to deal with commentary and feedback and gossip from others that they may not have had to deal with (yet) had she not felt the need to lash-out emotionally.
An employee speaks negatively of a client in a moment of frustration, only for word to get back to that client. That client is so upset with what they hear, they choose to dissolve their business relationship with the company. The business loses the account as result of one employee’s emotional vent.
A child overhears her parents arguing over a matter that involves her, but that is not directly about her. However, she is so upset about what she hears, she decides to run away from home, blaming herself for their disagreement. Her disappearance terrifies her parents who find her after a few hours, but are shocked when they hear their daughter say that she left because it she believed it was her fault that they fighting with each other.

Pisces is a water sign, and an emotional energy. However, it is an emotional energy rooted in the principle of how we are all interconnected. It is the sign of philanthropy, spiritual or moral-ethical practice(s), and recognition of self as an extension of All-That-Is. The selflessness and compassion of Pisces is legendary in its healthy and positive expressions. However, in its unhealthy and unbalanced expressions, Pisces can play the victim or martyr in day-to-day matters, claiming its “willing” sacrifice of self for the good of the greater whole. Pisces energy is often where we experience regret, resentment and/or blame because we refuse to take ownership or responsibility of the choices we have made for our own lives or because we take responsibility or blame for others when it it not ours to take.

Virgo attends to the practical day-to-day of our lives. It’s what we tend to choose for ourselves and our lives so they are functional and purposeful on a rather mundane and routine level. Virgo represents the systems we put in place to provide for our daily existence and physical wellness.

Virgo is the tangible and practical practice, or the practice of life from the inside-out, serving and practicing from what is needed to attend to our everyday needs – it is self-love. Pisces is the emotional and spiritual practice of life from the outside-in, serving and practicing from what is needed to make sure everyone’s needs are attended to – it is selfless love.

This parallel and paradox is what makes the Full Moon in Pisces opposite Sun in Virgo so fascinating – this questions of 1) whether or not you take responsibility for who you choose to be in your life (how you choose to love and serve yourself) and 2) whether or not you choose to hold others accountable and responsible for their choices and their lives (how you choose to love and serve others).

These are profound considerations because many of us often take for granted that our emotions, choices, and actions have an impact not only on us, but on those around us. In fact, our choices may have an impact on people and matters that we don’t even imagine would be affected by our behavior or expressions. Whether or not we own up to the effects or results of those choices is paramount in this polarity, as our everyday lives and the lives of those around us can be forever altered in a single moment driven by emotion…and/or our emotional well-being can be forever affected by a single, seemingly unimportant choice in an everyday matter. Many times, people refuse to acknowledge the power of their choices and/or emotions. They deny or avoid the fact that their actions produce consequences, for better and worse. Yet they often give away their power by taking the blame for matters when they don’t need to, or by trying to deflect blame onto others when something is clearly their choice or behavior to be accountable for.

These considerations are also profound because our choices and behaviors reflect the degree of love and service we have for ourselves and others. The Virgo-Pisces axis is very much a matter of how we feel about and choose to serve ourselves, and as result, it is very telling in regard to how we really feel about and serve others around us.

You may find that you are very good about serving yourself, and not so great about being of service to others…or vice-versa. Or you may find that being good to and feeling good about yourself frees you up to be good to others, or that not being good to or feeling good about yourself has you be not good to or not feel good about serving others.

So during these next couple of days, I invite you to be aware of how your choices may affect not only you, but those around you. Recognize the impact of your emotions and choices on not only yourself, but the people around you. In turn, recognize the impact of others’ emotions and choices on you. Also recognize the reach of who you are and can be in the world simply by who you choose to be in your everyday activities and behaviors. Recognize how extraordinary your ordinary is.

Enjoy the week. Until next time…

~ Light, Love and Blessings,

Grace

Retrograde Retrospective

Retrogrades call upon us to revisit, review, and sometimes re-do what we thought we were committed to or in some cases, stuck with. Retrograde periods tend to be rather introspective times in regard to whichever planet is moving in retrograde, though not always.

After denouncing Mercury Retrograde’s effects for the longest time, I’ve had to retract some of my indifference to it since I purchased a car during Mercury Retrograde, and had all sorts of problems with the car out of the gate only to end up having to do the paperwork all over again a month later because the finance guy forgot to call me to get a piece of information they needed to process the car loan. We actually had to re-do the deal!

And on Friday, I finally left the ‘day job’ I’ve been in for the last 9 months, and starting different ‘day job’ tomorrow. However, the retrograde element here is that I was supposed to have left a month ago (approximately July 8^th) during a direct cycle. Though I will be starting a new job in a retrograde period (and I’m wondering how that’s going to turn out), I can’t help but chuckle at the idea that it feels like a “do over”.

Those are a couple of my personal examples of the effects of retrograde.

However, for all of us, this is a VERY unique time.

Currently, there are five – that’s right! Count ‘em! – FIVE planets moving in retrograde right now! That’s a whole lot of revisiting, reviewing, and re-doing.

– Mercury started its retrograde on July 28^th, currently moving through the sign of Virgo and going back into Leo on the 8^th. This affects our communications and the quality and frequency of the information being communicated. Mercury will be moving in retrograde until August 26^th.

– Pluto is currently in Capricorn on its planetary backstroke. This affects our perspectives about life and death, about right and wrong, good and bad. With Pluto in retrograde, there is a LOT of gray area right now. Since its retrograde began on April 9^th, things have not been as cut and dried as they’ve seemed…or maybe as we may have liked them to be. The events of this time period are forcing us to stand in that gray area in which neither extreme is a good place to stand. Pluto will be moving in retrograde until September 16^th.

– Neptune just moved back into Aquarius after visiting Pisces briefly. It’ll be back in its native Pisces in February 2012. Until then, this affects our visionary spirit and our creative and inspired expression. Is what we are envisioning really in the best interests of our individual self-expression and our being of service to others? Does it serve both purposes? Neptune’s retrograde motion began on June 3^rd, and it will continue moving in retrograde until November 9^th.

– Chiron is in retrograde in the sign of Pisces. This affects our health and wellness, which in turn affects our practical resources (what we need to get by in our everyday lives). After all, if we aren’t well, we cannot serve ourselves or others well in an everyday or practical way. This is likely to show up as many of us quietly recognizing how we put our service to others and others’ health and wellness before or in a higher priority than our own. It is likely that many of us are considering new or different choices regarding these matters right now. In retrograde since June 8^th, Chiron will be moving in retrograde until November 10^th.

– Uranus is currently moving through Aries in retrograde. This affects mass media/communications and social media. What actions are we taking to express ourselves to the world? Do we like what we are getting in response? Are we sharing or promoting ourselves in healthy, productive and unique ways? Uranus has been moving in retrograde since July 10^th, and will continue to do so until December 10^th – the last of these five planets to shift out of the retrograde motion.

These planets are essentially asking these questions of us:

– What information are we communicating, and do we like what we are saying?

– Where are our boundaries? Where do we draw the tolerance lines in the important matters of our lives?

– What gives life and inspiration to our dreams and visions for ourselves and our lives?

– What heals us? What has us feel healthy and well and ready to be of service to ourselves and to others?

– What are we willing to put ourselves out there for? What are we willing to be known for in a very public and very social way?

The Universe is giving us time to re-think our positions in all of these matters, to be sure that we say we want is what we really want. It’s an opportunity for all of us to really look at the past and present and ask, “Is this what I want for the future?” This is happening not only on an individual scale, but on a community, national, cultural, global and transcendent levels as well. It’s affecting each and all of us.

And all of this is occurring during a 3 universal month! A month in which the energy is about growing and expanding with a child-like enthusiasm. The choices we make about these matters are likely going to be influenced by the question of what gives us the best opportunity to grow and expand ourselves and our self-expressions in our lives? What gives us the best opportunity to give expression to our “inner children”? What gives us the best opportunity to serve others authentically while honoring our unique self-expressions?

This mass retrograde period is our collective retrospective – one of the last major reset opportunities before “the Great Awakening” of 2012. (We’ll talk a bit more about the Great Awakening in a later post.)

For now, I encourage you to acknowledge these questions being asked of you by the Universe. See where and how they are showing up in your own life…and answer them for yourself.

And enjoy the week!

~ Light, Love and Blessings,

Grace

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