This week is activating. We have an impressive lineup of planets in Aquarius, and a good number of them are squaring Mars in Taurus at the moment. Mars by nature brings activation and emphasis, sometimes aggressively/forcefully. Aquarius relates to the nervous system, to trauma, and to freedom. Aquarius relates to the process of contacting downloads, revelations, epiphanies, insight. At a basic level, Mars in Taurus squaring these Aquarius planets could relate to increased amounts of agitation, anxiety, or stress, but not just about one, localized thing – more like a zzzzpp! sensation on tender spots – whole patterns (or traumas) experiencing moments of confrontation. Really plucking a nerve here and feeling the whole system buzz. While not the most pleasant news I could bring you, it’s real, so let’s talk about it!
Watch this forecast on YouTube with added commentary, or continue reading below.
If you think about raw nature, birth, war, etc. it’s a reality that Earth holds a share of brutal experiences. Everyone is scathed by life, and thus everyone has trauma. Aquarius as an archetype houses both the concept of trauma as well as freedom. Exploring this, let us consider that transmuting our trauma is a pathway to freedom, or that on the pathway of freedom, we have to face our past traumas.
Okay, but what is freedom? Let’s consider freedom as an energetic – the capacity to feel how one wishes, to make decisions/choices from a place of intention and clarity. If I want to pursue happiness, I am relatively free to do that. Relatively free in that I have to confront how I relate with external limitations in my reality and my relationship to those limitations. Relatively free in that I have to confront my internal limitations to happiness, such as the traumatic thought pattern that the other shoe is going to drop just when things start to turn up for the better.
As a spiritualist and a mystic, my favorite place to pursue freedom is at the internal level. I recognize that I cannot control other people. I can try to manipulate others, but in so doing only create violence and bind myself to suffering. The deepest change and power that I recognize is the change that we do within – yet this does not imply being out of touch. This change naturally reverberates into how we participate with the external world, in relationships, and with society, yes? This generativity of internal freedom can happen alongside being involved in real efforts to bring care, value, love, social change, etc. into the world. I think it is radical to take responsibility for ourselves at ever deeper levels.
When I talk about personal development week to week here, I’m not just talking about shining up the vessel or the ego. Often it’s a deconstructive process, a letting go process. These days, when I’m activated (aka triggered) I feel less overpowered by it, and even – in the midst of intense bodily sensation – excited that I’m on a cutting-edge, on the wave of a breakthrough. I mainly feel empowered to work with trauma/activation in this way because I have tools for working with it.
Aquarius relates to technology – spiritual, intellectual, scientific, social, and all the kinds. In a complex, stimulating, uncertain world such as ours, having some technology to deal with trauma or nervous system activation is a major life upgrade. I personally like EFT/tapping (YouTube it), but this is one of many.
Wherever you are, you can bring about positive change in your life by being kind and compassionate with yourself when you are in distress. Instead of shaming or reprimanding yourself for having a hard time, soothe yourself, assert that you love and fully accept yourself, and be with the emotional charge lighting up your system. The less panic, the less need to immediately do something, the more resilient we grow in ourselves. Similarly my friends, when life is good or you are feeling immense amounts of pleasure, love, and ecstasy… see if you can grant yourself the space to hold and receive that, too.
Welcome back! Or in case this is your first time here, I’m Sabrina Monarch and I’m a soul-centered astrologer. I love providing perspectives on the opportunities of transits and putting into words what the zeitgeist feels like at this moment in time, to support you on your path & open a dialogue between us and the cosmos. If you would like to receive these weekly forecasts to your inbox and be notified of upcoming educational opportunities, sign up for my mailing list here.
Here’s our week after a few announcements:
Pillars of Creative Mastery: The Grand Fixed Cross: I’ll be speaking through the Washington State Astrological Association on Feb 11! This is an online event, so tune in from wherever you are! I’ll be sharing ideas on the fixed signs of the zodiac. See Facebook event & ticket page.
We come into this life with a cosmic inheritance, one that we are tasked to discover and cultivate. The fixed signs of the zodiac each correspond with elements of a creative life. Taurus relates to our cultivation of our individual essence, resourcefulness/wealth, and our self-worth. Leo is how we radiate this essence outwardly, play, and allow our light to shine forth. Scorpio is how we connect with the depth of our unique soul imprint and raison d’etre, through the language our deepest desires. And Aquarius is how we attune to the greater intellectual context of it all, and how we align our minds to channel brilliance.
Yet, each of these signs come with challenges. We experience scarcity/deprivation with Taurus. There is the possibility of shame and feeling unseen with Leo. We can experience painful obsession, power struggles, and addiction with Scorpio. Not to mention trauma, psychological fracturing, and dissociation with Aquarius! Because the fixed signs can be so stubborn – so “fixed”, many of these issues are also stubborn in our experiences. Yet, they are not impossible to work with, and we will discuss what helps alleviate them.We will explore some creative techniques for harmonizing these archetypes – like focusing on the positive or resourcing pleasure as a way to build resilience and magnetism and shift one’s vibration. Many of us have heard that what we focus on expands. Scorpio is this kind of intense focus. But do we value (Taurus) what we are focusing on, or are we focusing heavily on lack (Taurus)? Over time, these dynamics build fixed mental and biochemical pathways (Aquarius/Taurus) and we yet we can re-program these pathways to experience whole new worlds. One magical way to experience new realities is through the gateway of play (Leo).
We will explore these signs from a magical, empowering perspective to support you in making impactful connections on how you can facilitate your creativity. See Facebook event & ticket page. Photo of the mega Taurean Amanda Palmer.
I got together with Karla @karlapalomino__ to discuss shadow work in the midst of a Venus-Pluto sky! We discuss the feminine, how we engage shadow, jealousy, and things like the importance of cyclical ego deaths if you’re going to manifest your best life 😛🐍
Karla is an embodiment facilitator and a deep inspiration to me and soul friend. Tune into our convo where you listen to podcasts. ✨ Or on your browser here.
Astrology Reading Bookings Closed: My books are currently closed, but I am still taking new clients for ongoing mentorship/coaching (6 month – 1 year commitment). If you’re interested in working with me in that capacity, send me an email at sabrina@monarchastrology.com. And make sure you’re on my mailing list if you’d like to be informed of when my books open again!
Next Evolutionary Astrology Intensive: The intensive is currently in session. I will announce the dates for the next one in the coming months.
Here’s our week:
February 10, 2021
Mercury retrograde in 17 Aquarius square Mars in 17 Taurus: 4:15 AM PST
(Image: Mœbius)
- When Mercury and Mars form a hard aspect (conjunction, square, or opposition), argument and verbal battle are highlighted in the social field. Mercury-Mars is a debate energy. Some debates are friendly, and others are aimed more destructively.
- Naturally in our realities, certain tensions build up and go largely unaddressed. This can be bigger themes in the collective, or undertones/undercurrents in our personal relationships, or anywhere between. Tensions go unaddressed for a variety of reasons such as – we are picking our battles, there are power dynamics at play that make confrontation more complex, we are afraid, we haven’t yet reached clarity on the situation enough to feel confident addressing it, and so on. During a transit like this, it is more likely that unaddressed (or less addressed) tensions erupt out into the open.
- This transit can be uncomfortable to the nervous system, and to the ego and our personal defenses. It is, simultaneously, an opportunity for growth, discovery, and perhaps even invention. The greater our endurance is for holding dissonance and paradox, the more options we may find at our ready.
February 11, 2021
Venus in 12 Aquarius conjunct Jupiter in 12 Aquarius: 7:00 AM PST
- On its own, a Venus-Jupiter conjunction relates to an expansion of the pleasures of life – a fancy dinner, feeling so loved you’re overflowing, adventures with gregarious friends, giving and receiving gifts, and so on. But, this conjunction is part of the Mercury-Mars square detailed above, by being conjunct Mercury and square Mars.
- Social and relational discord is highlighted with both Venus and Mercury square Mars, with the exaggeration/expansive influence of Jupiter blowing up present issues. It is also a possibility that we will feel closer to people in our lives because of honest dialogues, and that we will feel quite bonded by having gone through an experience together.
- Related to Aquarius here, there is a lot of value in learning or interfacing with frameworks that help us understand ourselves and relational dynamics better. Aquarius can help us gain some intellectual distance from the direct dramas of our lives. It could be Aquarius that gives us the strength to breathe and feel self-regulated when someone tells us that they feel hurt by our actions – to be able to listen, and navigate that dynamic with spaciousness, without shutting down or going into defense or projection.
- Aquarius can teach us that we are all operating in life in accordance to the structure of our consciousness, be that our cultural conditioning, our belief systems, our traumas, our direct experiences and how they have shaped us, and so on. With so much of the astrology occurring in fixed signs right now (the Aquarius stellium including Saturn, Jupiter, Venus, Mercury retrograde, and at the time of this transit also the Moon and Sun!) and Uranus and Mars in Taurus, people (including ourselves) may be entrenched in position. And, it is also likely that we can feel this positioned challenged, by interacting with people who have different value systems than us.
New Moon in 23 Aquarius: 11:06 AM PST
(Image: from A Ghost In A Shell directed by Mamoru Oshii)
This New Moon occurs after both the Sun and the Moon have touched Saturn, Jupiter, Venus, Mercury, and Pallas Athena, on their way through Aquarius. By stellium, the Sun and Moon are connected to each. This lunation also squares Mars in Taurus. The Saturn-Uranus square is also notably tight, and relevant here, given that Saturn is Aquarius’s traditional ruler and Uranus is Aquarius’s modern ruler!
Here are some Aquarian themes you might consider as you either set or discover your intentions for the lunar cycle ahead. For what it’s worth, I do not set intentions every single lunar cycle – sometimes I am just surrendered to the flow of life. Sometimes I set an intention for the day, or a spontaneous one arises. You don’t have to set or not set intentions at the new moon. The power of setting intentions at the start of a cycle is that you are participating with the newness of a cycle, where there is so much possibility ahead.
- FREEDOM: Aquarius relates to two kinds of freedom consciousness. One is freedom-from and the other is objective freedom. Freedom-from defines itself by what it is in opposition to. Objective freedom taps into the energetic of freedom itself, and can be a place we visit in our most peaceful, meditative, ecstatic, and/or visionary states.
- Freedom-from consciousness can be problematic in the sense that it often engages with an enemy. Some creative or visionary agency may be sacrificed in the process of identifying with being against something, instead of working toward invention of something new. Freedom-from consciousness, because of its identification with being against something that already is, is visibly connected to reality and social constructs and contracts.
- On the other hand, objective freedom consciousness can appear to bypass current reality, or be out of touch with current reality. Navigating this type of freedom poses different kinds of challenges when it comes to ethical participation with reality or social belonging. Being able to tap out of group-think and be a “free thinker” is a gift. Yet, we can bounce right back to freedom-from consciousness if from a place of “free thinking” we identify with our opposition to the group-think! True freedom may be more mysterious, and more of a discovery, than we ever thought.
- NONLINEARITY in this process: sometimes it is through tapping into objective freedom (in a spiritual, mystical, visionary, mediative state) that we gain insight on how to make changes in our lives – detachment brings us back to connection and on-the-ground activity. Sometimes it is through noticing we are against something that we come into awareness of what we value at a more transcendent level.
February 12, 2021
Venus in 14 Aquarius conjunct Mercury retrograde in 14 Aquarius: 11:48 PM PST
(Image: 11th Sense)
- Mercury-Venus contacts relate to beautiful ideas, eloquent language, and ease with communications. (Again, still square Mars here, which relates to conflict and challenge.)
- Given that Mercury is retrograde, which emphasizes going back over information, consider the possibility that it may be through our revisions or rethinking that we connect with deeper layers of aesthetic or harmonic beauty. Sometimes it is only after writing a dream down or writing about the day at the day’s end that we realize something significant happened.
- We have the opportunity to notice what kinds of stories we are telling, and consider if there may be other vantage points of perspectives worth considering.
February 13, 2021
Mars in 19 Taurus sextile Neptune in 19 Pisces: 6:13 PM PST
February 14, 2021
Mercury retrograde in 13 Aquarius conjunct Jupiter in 13 Aquarius: 1:40 PM PST
- There is a simultaneous impulse to speak the truth, as well as to revise our perception of what the truth is by collecting more information or reflecting on various paradoxes/conflicts that are at the moment unresolved. Consider keeping space in your own experience and in your relationships for changes of mind, or unfolding dialogue around complex topics.
Thank you for meditating on the planets with me this week! If you would like further guidance, I have been increasingly focused on longer-term 1:1 work with my students and clients, in the form of mentorship – helping people form a depth relationship to their natal chart and personal transits over time, to develop themselves, to heal, and to reach their goals, all through the soul-making lens of evolutionary astrology. If you’re interested in working together in that capacity, I am currently accepting new clients. Send me an email at sabrina@monarchastrology.com to start a conversation and set up a free consultation call.
Find me on Instagram @sabrinamonarch, get on my mailing list to stay apprised of all upcoming offerings and events, and I’ll see you next week!
With love,
Sabrina Monarch
(Top Image: Roger Dean)
No Comments