This singular object encountered today on my beach walk with the dogs caught my attention. In fact, aside from the intense need for love, it was the only thing that has caught my total attention all week. In other words, it is really hard to focus one’s attention at the moment. We are being pulled in a multitude of directions all swinging from the axis of one planet, Jupiter, the expanding leader.
Mercury (retrograde now for three weeks until May 3) is conjunct Uranus in the sign of Aries the warrior, adventurer, explorer and risk taker. Mercury in traditional astrology has to do with communication in all forms and in the classical world was the messenger of the gods. He is our thinking realm, as well as what we say or sing or play or write. And Mars, our energy, direction, ambition and drive is in Mercury’s sign, Gemini. So there is some transference and a lot of processing of where we are or not (home with Ceres or elsewhere?) and our need to express that. Uranus, planet of freedom and independence, snuggled up to Mercury this week, supports and encourages an exploration to other dimensions, as well as promoting restless minds. Whether in reaction to Trumpism or off with space shots, we are looking beyond our usual boundaries. We are entering a new world and whether we want to go there or not, we are forced to go.
The current planetary stresses are complex and multiple. Ideology confronts stability at home. The urge to move into other dimensions of mind (i.e. the internet - the current drug of choice for the millions) is hard to ignore. And yet this past month has also reignited our need for love and sharing, for community and connection in an actual physical reality, as Venus joined the planet of healing, Chiron.
This image of a seedpod lying on the beach today somehow encompassed what is going on. We are in the midst of renewal here in the Northern hemisphere. However, spring appeared to be late, and it did not feel like renewal, it has felt tough and hard and battered. April in Paris was confrontational, not romantic. But within the hard carapace of the external, there is always the soft tissue of new life. It needs nurturance and personal devotion and our being alert. Our future is not washed up on shore - that was the past. Our future is as partners moving into the new cycle.
