Astrology of 5/31 – 6/6: Pleasure is practicality’s only worthwhile fuel

“Experientially, as we’ve seen, pleasure is merely high energy.” – David R. Hawkins

We have a busy week of shifts ahead, with Mercury, Venus and Mars each changing signs after Venus in Aries activates the Saturn-Uranus trine by transit. Remember the Saturn in Sagittarius – Uranus in Aries trine includes innovation within the status quo, or innovative/brilliant ideas which can be integrated into reality in a structural way. This transit can be likened to upgrading our hardware, if we should go along with that! Another potential is to become more radically controlling in an attempt to maintain status quo. Venus in Aries will first trine Saturn and then conjunct Uranus, so this week part of what is being upgraded is our value system & our ability to innovate and commit.

I’m writing this after coming back from NORWAC (Northwest Astrological Conference in Seattle) and feeling deeply nourished by the community of amazing astrologers! I also want to thank you for helping me nearly double my Patreon campaign since i asked about it last week. Once I hit my first goal, I will release a free e-book about how to approach the study of astrology (advice and theory) – you can read more about it and pitch in at my Patreon page here.

My name is Sabrina Monarch and I’m writing to you from Olympia, Washington this week. Sign up for my mailing list if you haven’t already to get these weekly forecasts sent directly to your inbox!

Here’s our week:

May 31

Mercury in Taurus trine Pluto in Capricorn: 5:00 AM PDT

(Image: Alberto Pancorbo)

• The consideration of what basic structures can expand us past our limitations. Mercury holds within it a potential for the experience of overwhelm, such as being too busy, having a cluttered environment, and any kind of crisis that emerges from disorganization or a lack of self-accuracy. When Mercury is in Taurus, its cleverness and skillset may be directed toward the Taurean dimension of life – our basic necessities and pleasures. Taurus relates to our sense of tenderness, appreciation of beauty and here, it also applies to the way we value the things we are in possession of. With the trine to Pluto, we may consider how holding our physical environment in esteem (or making adjustments so that we do) allows us to expand our consciousness. The fruits of an expanded consciousness on the earth plane in earth signs such as these may be something like recognizing the spiritual value of food, or finding that one’s internal emotional environment shifts because of beauty in one’s space.
• This transit may also represent how we work within our means on the plane of physicality and money/currency exchange, as well as how we define resource. If we are sure of our internal or transpersonal resources, for example, we may feel more comfortable making investments rather than feeling the need to save.

June 1

First Quarter Moon in Virgo: 5:42 AM PDT

This Moon is opposite Neptune, forming a T-square between Neptune, the Sun and Moon, with the Sun in the middle. The Sun will not quite be at the 90 degree mark from Neptune, making their alignment a crescent phase square, and the Moon will be an exact square and entering the First Quarter phase. (Each of the planets form phase-cycles to one another, like the Sun and Moon.) The Moon will also be gibbous opposition to Neptune (not quite Full, like the moment before a Full Moon).

(Image: Kim Jongsook)

• Among a stimulating array of possibility in life, in ourselves, in places we can go (Sun in Gemini) – it becomes clear that some kind of organization, routine, or overall discernment (Moon in Virgo) will facilitate the birth of these new opportunities we have come into contact with.
• The cleverness and agility of mental faculty with these two Mercury-ruled signs Gemini/Virgo is an ally within this, but perhaps more as strategy of carrying something out or even perceiving the opportunity in the first place, but not necessarily in the decision-making of which path to take. With Neptune influencing this alignment, the role of higher inspiration also comes into play.

Venus in Aries trine Saturn in Sagittarius: 8:23 AM PDT and Venus conjunct Uranus in Aries on June 3, 12:31 AM PDT:

(Image: Natalia Vodianova by Steven Meisel)

• Many of us have been conditioned to see a split between our passions and what is practical. Venus graces us here with an illumination of how our passions are actually a major energy generator in our lives, powering us up to live and thrive and improve the circumstances of the collective on all emotional, physical and spiritual levels. However hopeless one’s outlook on the current state of events in the world may be, may also be a reflection of the lack of connection to one’s passions, which do inspire courage. We are pushed to be small when we believe our existence itself is not a virtue, that our inner-reserves of creativity and inspiration are not necessary or practical. It is radical to pursue a life of truth with one’s passion, one’s destiny, in a world that asks you to fit in. There are masses of yet unknown friends, colleagues, and community in the waiting, who only appear as one gets in alignment with their destiny rather than trying to fit in. Inventors who have improved the conditions of all of humanity often did not “fit in” until they became themselves. There are larger things at stake than lukewarm social acceptance in a social paradigm in which every person is supposedly an isolated body, not affecting one another yet collectively enmeshed in a grid of persona-obligation of the false self. If we view ourselves as one organism, as each of us having a field which permeates the fields of others, personal awakening is collective awakening. We come to know our own creative potentials by being inspired by the courage of others. And our own courage gives others permission to access the pieces of their psyches which mirrors you and what it is you stand for.
• A high function of Venus is listening – and in Aries, in can be the time of listening to the underdog. Within and without. Trining Saturn in Sagittarius, this underdog can and wants to climb to a state of elevated circumstance. Listen to your inner-guidance as well as what your environment is trying to tell you. Are you being asked to step forward with courage, to exist? Are you being asked to encourage the emergence of others?
• “Ours is a society that idealizes the pleasureless – hard work, stoicism, self-sacrifice, restraint – and condemns pleasure in most of its simplest forms, frequently even declaring these illegal. (Politicans, whether secular our ecclesiastic, understand this phenomenon as well. Part of the standard repertoire of local politicians to gain headlines these days is to publicly announce their intent to prohibit erotic magazines in prisons, for instance, or deny the inmates tobacco or TV.) In our society, unfulfilled promises and enticements are legitimized, but satisfaction is denied. Commercialized sexual allure, for instance, is used to sell products endlessly, but the enjoyment of actual commercial sex is forbidden as immoral.
• “Historically, all ruling classes have achieved status and wealth by controlling society through some form of puritanical ethic. The harder the underlings work, and the more meager their pleasures, the richer the ruling system will be, whether it be a theocracy, aristocracy, oligarchy or corporate industrial barony. Such power is built upon the forfeited pleasure of workers. Experientially, as we’ve seen, pleasure is merely high energy. The energies of the masses have been co-opted over the centuries to produce in the overclasses the very wealth of pleasures denied the underclasses.
• “In truth, the pleasures of life energy are mankind’s basic capital; robbing man of this has resulted in the wide division between ‘haves’ and the multitudes of ‘have-nots’. What working classes envy in the lives of upper classes is, appropriately, their pleasures, from the joys of exercising power in its various forms to the beautiful trophies of self-indulgence. The realization that the delights one is denied are being enjoyed by others begets the outrage of revolution or, sublimated, the repression of restrictive laws against the pleasure of one’s peers.” – Power Vs. Force by David R. Hawkins
• I share the above quote mostly to illustrate the point that passion and pleasure are capital, and a true source of wealth. This need not be a secret – utilize it. See the ways in which it fertilizes your life path, to plant seeds of pleasure, to build structure around what it is you deeply value, to commit to pleasure rather than the repression thereof. We could philosophically argue that one can advance or succeed (Saturn/Capricorn) not simply through external channels of hard work but also through the internal channels of pleasure and erotic life force. The social conditioning that suggests one’s passions are not profitable is deeply unfortunate; while to live a life beyond this is radical.

 

June 3

Venus in Aries conjunct Uranus in Aries: 12:31 AM PDT (see above)

Sun in Gemini trine Jupiter in Libra: 9:12 AM PDT

• The luck and expanded opportunity of social encounters at this time and communicating your wishes. The air signs often encourage us to “put out in the air” our thoughts and ideas, which other humans tend to spread to their networks. Don’t underestimate the value of networking, and making new friends and connections under a transit like this.
• Synchronicity is extraordinarily validating, and it can be kind of like a magic carpet ride stopping at our feet and offering us a ride. The appearance of accelerated synchronicity does not always mean to step on the carpet when it shows up as one can also get carried away by believing the signs past their actual, sometimes fleeting, meaning. Following all synchronicity without discrimination is a quick way to have a shamanic reality bender, and many people on a spiritual path have been drawn to go to excess here. Synchronicity is a harmony of the Universe, with multiple threads of reality coming together to make a song, rather than being a jagged series of disconnected notes. Synchronicity is quite natural. In this greater harmonic is also your intuition, your higher calling, and your deeper sense of self, which can know when to appreciate the beauty of the music and when to join in. These words of discernment aside, you only need to really listen to know which dots you’d like to see connect, and which magic carpet ride is yours.

June 4

Sun in Gemini square Neptune in Pisces: 9:14 AM PDT

As Neptune in Pisces and Jupiter in Libra are currently inconjunct (meaning a little bit at odds, seeking better integration), notice the Sun in Gemini coming through to converse with both of these planets and loosen things up.

• One thing being loosened up here is our sense of expectation of reality and how we are in relationship to it, as well as how we are in relationship to other beings, and where these expectations are delusional. Delusion and suffering go hand in hand. A tension like this can reveal that beyond our expectations is a truth which is more fulfilling than the expectation. If we engage our curiosity and sense of wonder with whatever is happening, we can find the divinity in anything. This does not mean we cannot have preferences or cannot strive, but it does allow us to enjoy the journey and for our states of transition to be sacred experiences in themselves.

Mars enters Cancer: 9:16 AM PDT

Mars will stay in Cancer until July 20, 2017. For whatever reason, this is a planetary placement along with Mars in the 4th house that I think about quite a lot. Take note of where you have Cancer in your chart, as this is where Mars will be transiting for you.

• This speaks to a vitality by being among family and close friends (presumably people you feel cozy with, so biological family and/or chosen family applies), as well as the potential to run away from such things. Or the potential to run toward this experience, by being quite an active holder, active caretaker of loved ones. These influences can be quite unconscious as Mars and Cancer both represent instinctual forces within us. When this experience is unconscious, we may always be at war with something no matter what is happening – we can love unavailable people and run away from affection that’s offered to us, further making us feel like being comfortable or being safe is something that has to be fought for or defended once ‘won’. When this experience is conscious, we tend to lean in to life, being present with the love within ourselves and the love we feel present around us. To be conscious here, Mars also develops an understanding that extending will towards another is an active form of love. This act can be intrusive when the motives are murky, or this act can be so deeply courageous, the kind of love that really brings people to tears (“you cared enough to….”). Mars in Cancer speaks to the spectrum of a struggle along the path of emotional intuition, as well as that being a talent and a developed strength.
• You may expect or notice more emotional defensiveness than usual – each of these experiences being a gateway into a more consciously developed love in action.

June 6

Venus enters Taurus: 12:27 AM PDT

Venus will be in Taurus until July 4, 2017. Take note of where you have Taurus in your chart, as this is where Venus will be transiting for you.

(Image: La Piscine, 1969)

• Venus rules Taurus. This side of Venus (the other being Libra) is about our self-esteem. Everyone talks about self-love these days! And that’s great. But what does that mean for you? What does it really mean to fall in love with yourself? In Taurus, these are not often going to be abstract concepts. Abstraction may point the way in, but the experience itself is very earthy and rooted in the body, the pleasure centers, and the physical dimension of life like our possessions/environment.

Mercury enters Gemini: 3:15 PM PDT

Mercury will be in Gemini until June 21. Again – take note of where you have Gemini in your chart, as this is where Mercury will be transiting for you.

• Like Venus, Mercury is now entering sign of one if its rulerships. Our thought processes may appear to quicken at this transition from Taurus to Gemini, but this may be because we are moving from the density levels of earth to air. We are picking up different information in the air signs than we do in the earth signs.
• Gemini is able to play with ideas without placing a premium on one being the truth – it may be difficult for Gemini to pinpoint philosophical truths since Gemini can see the validity of multiple sides. Gemini can often however, define patterns or data streams. Gemini has a spirit of research – this is a good time for inquiry and collecting information, and engaging in that spirt of research, in which new information inevitably leads to more new information, and a trail of curiosity can be highlighted.
• Words are magical! Picture for this moment all of the communications, verbal and written, body language and more – circulating on Earth at this time. When we say something or someone is “all talk” we forget the shamanic quality of communication, and the way it has the power to shape reality. While you can’t control your thoughts or the chatter of your mind, you certainly can will yourself to say certain mantras or affirmations and thereby create synchronicity or deeper grooves around certain concepts of your choice. You can choose to communicate your inner-thoughts externally as though to project a holograph of your mind outward as to let others interact with it. You can also choose to lie and obscure yourself behind the mask. How do you use the inherent magic of communication while the possibilities are literally endless?

Thank you for meditating on the planets with me this week! It is truly a pleasure to share the love of astrology with you.

~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 kundalini and ashtanga yoga, hiking and creative writing.