Astrology of 2/8-2/14: The Revision of Enchanted Castles

This week includes a Full Moon Eclipse and plenty of positive aspects to the Sun. Many of you may be familiar with the way that people talk about Eclipses – usually about big change! I have been watching the Eclipses carefully and they always manage to surprise me. They are not ordinary New and Full Moons. They feel like one door closing as another opens. Eclipses are especially eventful when they aspect angular parts of your chart (ascendant, nadir, descendant or midheaven), or personal planets. Eclipses involve the nodes of the Moon – the North and South nodes which in a natal chart tell us the secrets of our past incarnations (the South Node) and a magical north star – the North Node – that we can directionally head to (though some mitigating factors may apply, such as when you have planets squaring your nodes). The nodes are the tail and head of a great dragon, speaking to seductive, repeating karmas of the past, gifts and crafts we’ve honed over lifetimes, and some would say the North Node speaks to a desire for more, for greatness, for power, for fame. If you imagine the power and potency of these points in the sky: collected, vortex of past and glittering, mysterious futures, being activated by a New or Full Moon in their midst; this is where we get so much storyline around the power of Eclipses. This is a wide-orbed Eclipse, with the Nodes actually in the signs of Pisces and Virgo. In the section for the Full Moon, I’ll detail some of the implications.

I can’t play down how solar this week is. Not only is the Full Moon in Leo, the sign ruled by the Sun, but the Sun is aspecting Uranus, Jupiter and Saturn this week. The Sun is where we experience ourselves as the center of the Universe (and the majority of people, excluding those who are so depersonalized and having out of body experiences and the like, are perceiving the Universe with self as the constant center). Narcissism is not just an evil quality that some possess, but it’s a spectrum: everyone runs “narcissistic process”. Selfies, self-portraits, navel gazing, are all narcissistic process. In of itself, there is nothing shameful about it. It is regal and necessary to shine and to self-actualize. The shadow is when one’s self-actualization is perceived by that individual in such a way as though others are inferior. This week, those themes come up for review. My brother is a Leo and in response to the building of self that Leo represents, he has coined the phrase, “Well, there’s Mufasa and then there’s Scar…” I also refer to it as having the lights on or the lights off. One can choose not to shine, but all their manifest potentials will be in a “lights off” or shadow zone, which isn’t a humble or noble alternative to shining. In Leo and the solar field of consciousness, one has to rule their realm. We love Beyonce, you know?

(Top Image: Gustavo Fernandes)

February 9

Sun in Aquarius sextile Uranus in Aries: 1:15 PM PST

• The Sun in Aquarius can highlight a basic issue of how the self-concept is formed: is it individualized or is it collectivized? Do we feel a sense of self intrinsically or based on how we are received? This is not so black and white – both lenses have truth. A limitation of Aquarian or Uranian process is to judge the receptivity of one’s character based on what already exists, without experimenting with what would happen if one put their individuated self out there to be received. As a teacher explained to me once, the trees do not wait for the insects and animals that inhabit their branches to start growing: the tree grows and the ecosystem collects around the trees. Who one IS and how one relates with their environment is reflexive. The feeling of being misunderstood, non-actualized, or like one is a misfit may be a signal that one has new territory to traverse. If you have ever tried to fit in and failed, you know from experience that neither you, nor the matrix you were trying to fit into, wanted that. Importantly, radiating one’s uniqueness and finding out how to relate to others from that space is individuation, and since Uranus is in Aries currently, it highlights the courage that this process inspires. Some experiences might only enter existence when the path has been forged against the so-called odds.

February 10

Mercury in Aquarius sextile Venus in Aries: 1:18 PM PST

It’s not my taste to follow traditional “detriment” astrology but Venus is said to be in detriment in the confrontational sign of Aries. I can acknowledge certain placements being more difficult than others, but I’m not a fan of stopping there. In my opinion, each planetary alignment has its divine beautiful purpose and it’s a spiritual path to unlock that, rather than to settle into explanations which sell these opportunities short. I see here with this alignment between Venus in Aries and Mercury in Aquarius a potential for necessary, challenging content to come up to the surface in relationship. Especially anything which has been brewing for a long time and has a flavor of inevitable impasse. Look for –

• When speaking up or saying things that are difficult to say is unsettling, it’s also a path to freedom. Freedom isn’t easy but comfortable bondage isn’t either. Venus in Aries (the sign in which it is to go retrograde in March) can speak to things being shaken up. Connections can also be vitalized by this fierceness, but typically when the bond can withstand that heat.
• Venus is a possessive planet – it likes to have nice things and to have people, too. There is a shadow to this, obviously. How do you relate to that which you own, versus how do you relate to that which you respect the autonomy of? When Venus is in Aries, a love language is passion and freedom, and specifically individualism. Aries is the polarity of the sign of Libra, which rules relationships (and is ruled by Venus). Naturally we may enter into relationship with people because we like who they are as individuals. Venus in Aries needs the vitality of each individual to be honored, for the relationship to be vital, rather than for the relationship as a construct to take over the individuating drives of either individual. This is the simplicity – but matters of the heart can make the storyline seem way more complicated.
• This can be a time where romancing self and one’s perception of destiny may be a very important piece of the relational configuration of one’s life. When will is applied toward oneself and one’s dream, the relational, mirroring field (aka who you meet and interact with) ups the ante, too.
• The possibility for the exchange of harsh words.
• When people enter our lives who represent something we’ve never seen or experienced up close before, they are external signifiers of an emerging dimension of self – either that which we are perceiving in the other, or the aspect of self that relates and interacts with that energy.
• Venus in Aries understands it has choice, and can initiate new impulses. A person who has always been afraid of public speaking can decide they want to be someone who isn’t, and sign up for a public speaking class. Venus in Aries can be unfettered and bold.
• The love language of confrontation… my Venus is in the 1st house (Aries ruled house) and my favorite definition of love has easily become “sacred combat with a worthy opponent”!

Full Moon Lunar Eclipse in Leo: 4:33 PM PST

• With the Sun close by the South Node in Pisces, and the Moon lighting up the North Node in Virgo, it may be the case that we need to detach from some fantasies or things we have shrouded in glamor (including tragedies we’re addicted to) and to make a more discerning choice for how we want to shine, what quality of experience we think we are worthy of (Virgo/Leo).
• Many astrologers have noted the gravity of planets around the South Node that correlated with the last US election. The South Node in Pisces, if made a navigational direction, can point to defeat, despair and self-undoing. It is not just by chance that many of these recent events have highlighted past storylines around fascism, totalitarianism, and mass tragedy. The South Node is loaded. We may have noticed in our own personal lives, how certain events will trigger a giant list of baggage. This is not to say we are doomed to repeat the past – we are compelled not to. However, the psychic dragon at the gate saying “do not go in this direction” can be overwhelming and terrifying, especially when you don’t have the star map guiding you. It just seems like, shit – this is happening again! If we don’t want these problematic dynamics to play out yet again, look at the North Node and the values of that. In this case, it’s Virgo: which means showing up for the real work, and no more excuses. It means attending to the maintenance and purification of one’s reality, rather than practicing avoidance. It means giving up an ideal of perfection, in order to take the most relevant next step. It means discernment. Note how much overwhelm and despair is kept at bay just by taking small, practical steps in the right direction. That alone begins to erase the feeling of impossibility or of being lost at sea.
• With the Moon highlighting the North Node, it can bring up the message that self-actualizing is not simply self-indulgent, but is an act of service. Truly to understand the nobility of one’s Soul, to become one’s inner Emperor and inner Empress (I really do mean get that anima/animus too) makes the world a brighter place. As I will be going over in more detail in the upcoming Saturn-Chiron article I’m working on, becoming great should not just be left for shadowy corrupt people or “delusional” people. We all possess greatness, and it is not an act of service to hide that away just because some who do become great are also what we would call evil. If those peeps are going to rise to the top regardless of what you do, why should you not also rise and take a seat at the table? Why not embody your inherent inner-royalty? This Eclipse may highlight whatever avoidance tactics are set in place that are in the way of your self-actualization, and can be a powerful time to let them go. The focusing vision may be the brightness of your dreams, the ones you don’t feel you are “allowed” to have. How can you better align with that vision that is your birthright?
• Watch for the potential to see more clearly something which you had pedestaled or built fantasy around (Sun in Aquarius on the South Node in Pisces). Disillusionment might itself set you free. If something you had put so much energy into was all a farce, what remains? Your own dazzling soul, which had projected its own brilliance onto something else. We sometimes do need these external forces to remind us of who we are for a time – and a time comes when the caccooned caterpillar, absorbing soul food from the outside, is ready to flourish in its own right.

(Image: Anders Rokkum)

• The South Node in Pisces may want to be held in such innocence, without looking at how things really are. What happens when that radical innocence coexists with being informed? It is not enough to be good at heart and to passively expect others will be too – it is better to understand how reality functions so that one is not rudely surprised by the awakening of sleeping beasts. We can be tricked and deceived by that which we refuse to see, and yet to rise above that, to see outside of that – is not to become jaded or excessively guarded: it is to become a member of Reality with a fierce heart willing to show up for what is really there. If the heart is only open in a fantasy land under fantasy conditions, that is a guarded heart, conditionally loving. Exiting a space of preferred, blissful ignorance is not just leaving the nest, it’s leaving an enchanted castle. One has to know, fiercely in the heart, that such paradise may be consciously regained and that it will be more real the next time.

• To continue this metaphor over to the North Node, one who has freshly left the enchanted castle is not in the know, of the mechanics of the rest of the world. This is the danger that kept one inside the castle for so long. A protection is discernment (North Node in Virgo) and keen observation. If you know that you love so devastatingly deeply, that you surrender your very heart and soul to another, then the Virgo discernment that would apply is to choose more carefully who you surrender to and to be more incremental in exploring intimacy. If you know that you’re a fanatic and you are prone to connecting dots and getting sucked into vortexes of conspiracy theories, then maybe you decide you’ll read more sources of information before getting so committed to one viewpoint. Whatever it is, you have to choose that you are worth more (Virgo) than always being lost at sea, seduced by some call of your own particular kryptonite. The Moon in Leo may consider it a regality to choose this next level of life, even though it is unfamiliar and not immediately promising. The external events will magnetize around the transformation of Psyche and Soul; but we have to leave the castle, we have to leave the swamp.

• Humbling of a diva: A weak spot for Moon in Leo Eclipse is perhaps the glamor that is more readily accessible in tragedy and dysfunction, a kind of glamor that deeply suits the radiance of the Leonine soul and its desire to be the star of a beautiful drama. To take small steps out of a deep vortex of tragedy may be a simplicity not in Leo’s immediate perception of tastefulness. That’s why it can be so hard. That’s why it can take total disillusionment, real danger or rock bottom to snap this kind of consciousness into the direction of Virgo – first crisis then small, incremental improvements. Aligning with a better future may not be glamorous right away – one has to have faith in the collected harvest of aligned actions. Anyone who watched Rugrats, remember the Junk Food Kid bully who ruled the playground by force and got humbled by Tommy and the others taking her down? She used to chew gum like a status symbol, it was her thing. Then when she was humbled from her seat of shadow-power she started eating carrot sticks instead. That image comes to mind so strongly. It feels mega-humbling to come down from a bad Leo trip and to start doing something not as bully glamorous as blowing bubble gum and messing up other kids hair with it, but to chomp on carrot sticks instead and actually be nice to people. And I just did the research and the bully in this episode’s real name is PRUDENCE, which only comes to light after her humbling experience. So Virgo I’m dying!! Anyways, moral of the story is that shining more brilliantly does not always seem like fun at first. A corporate executive misses being able to bark at people and get them to do whatever he wants, but learns that cooperation and teamwork creates a better relationship and work environment than routine intimidation. At the threshold of change, he misses the power of his old rulership; but eventually he settles into a new kind of fulfillment which turns out to be more luminous: he actually has friends and camaraderie and a fulfilling interpersonal life because he has purified himself of being a jerk. We too, can purify ourselves from being victims, self-saboteurs, the one who loves too much, you name it. Where is it so associated with glamor that it’s all good, like “yes I love people who don’t love me as much, but the passion!!” (read: the simultaneous avoidance of actually being loved & vulnerable.) This Leo Moon’s greatness may not be as outwardly aspirational as it is motivated in purifying that which obscures the inner-light one already possesses.

February 11

Sun in Aquarius trine Jupiter in Libra: 7:25 AM PST

• The radical or individuated function of self can be mirrored back by others: does one’s radical essence create vitality and harmony and happiness, or does it spark fear and rebellion? When I talk about “be yourself, and the world will adjust around you” I am implying bring forth your radiant self. The false self exists as well, and often must resort to tyranny or control to exist; it is a self based upon control mechanisms. Balance is the theme here: while we cannot constantly adjust ourselves to meet the needs and wishes of others lest we have no sense of self at all or become a marionette doll to be controlled by the whims of other, we also need to listen to how our being affects other people. It is common to alienate other people or to feel alienated – it’s not just some who experience this. What is there to learn from meeting experiences of alienation with a genuine curiosity – like, what got missed in translation here? How can a bridge be built, or an existing bridge be strengthened?
• Relationship that resonates electrically is a form of peace; no relationship where there is not a connection is also a form of peace.
• Individuals who understand the mechanics of peace may find abundant support to share their intelligence and their ways at this time, when the world needs it. The world has always needed it, but now it’s of heightened demand and at the forefront of people’s minds.
• You don’t have to be in the limelight, to tap into the network and have a huge positive impact on humanity. (Or you can be, if you like the limelight – but you have a choice) Think about what communities you want to be interacting with. Driven by the heart, there will be great reward for all involved.
• The possibility to discover one’s latent superpowers (not kidding…) by being around others who inspire you or you actively want to learn from, or engaging a mentor or teacher of some kind. What we see in others but think we don’t possess, is actually a potential within. This of course, is another thread along the line of why self-actualizing is an act of activism: it awakens others in kind, and we are all in this awakening of the planet together.

February 13

Sun in Aquarius sextile Saturn in Sagittarius: 9:58 PM PST

• The potential of radical self-development wherein one commits to their potential by honing self, training, or conditioning. Commitment is an energy of restraint, however it is a restraint that specifies the channels of which something is going to be created. Here, restraints are a first step toward manifestation.
• This necessarily implies boundary and prioritizing. This is a chance to get scientific about progress, and to play it out, changing course and adjusting where necessary.
• Consider the authority of your visions and how they are realistically wanting to come through you or not. What judgements or restrictions are involved? How can this be changed? Who are you to dream – and who are not to? Are you dreaming someone else’s dream (and so will you pass on the message)? Can you commit to what is so unique and so special about you that you are literally the one standing at the gate to decide if it gets created or not? (P.S. We don’t even have to know what that is… we just have to strengthen the connection we have to Higher Self and to Soul, who are always leading the way if we listen.)

…And on February 14, Valentine’s Day, the Moon IS in Libra, sign of relationships. Adorable, maybe! The Moon will be forming oppositions to Venus and Mars in Aries. Depends on if you like fire 😉

(I grabbed this image from Elodie Miaow, the lovely astrologer at 9th House Astrology.)

Thank you for your presence in meditating on the planets with me this week! I absolutely love your company here and your feedback. Please leave your reflections in the comments! Thank you all so much for giving me the opportunity to make my dream of becoming a full time astrologer come true. If you’d like to schedule a reading with me, note that readings are just $30 and you can book one here, as well as read more about what my offering is. Another way to get a reading with me is to become a supporter of the weekly forecasts by becoming a patron. Donors at the $5/month level or more get an astrology reading for signing up – check out my Patreon page here to sign up. In other news, I’ll be in New York City to visit with family April 18-25. Trying to get a feel for who is local there – let’s connect!

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With love,

Sabrina Monarch
Sabrina Monarch is a soul-centered Evolutionary Astrologer who publishes weekly astrological forecasts. She has been collecting astrological experience for over a decade. She also enjoys yoga, hiking and creative writing. You can subscribe to receive her weekly forecasts by email here.

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