Saying Goodbye to the Old Dream

At long last the fixed sign fuckery is finally (almost) over. We're finally getting to close the door on things that began in the Fall of 2021 with the beginning of the Taurus/Scorpio eclipses, which in turn picked up the ongoing Saturn/Uranus square that began back in 2020, which itself had some things to say about those eclipses that shook up our identity and social connections back in 2017 and 2018 when they were happening in Leo/Aquarius.

And wouldn't you know it, we're a quarter of the way through a 19(ish) year nodal/eclipse cycle and just like with a quarter moon phase, we've got some associated challenges to face.

The Good

Venus is exalted in Pisces and brings the ability to relate, hold inspiration, and to transmit the beautiful vision in a way that brings good to Uranus's quest to change things forever more.

The Meh

Jupiter no longer has dignity by term which makes the early part of the day with when Aries is rising just a little bit harder. Mars picking up speed just adds more frenzy to the fire, which might be good if you desperately trying to shake the stagnant stuckness, but it's rough if you're already drowning in a sea of too much.

The Oh Fuck Me^:

The final few weeks of Saturn in Aquarius coincide with the Sun overheating our frigid sky elder. Saturn doesn't want to be under the beams of the Sun, but that's where they are nonetheless.

^please note: "oh fuck me" is my way of subverting the normalization of conventional beauty standards; I'm not at all suggesting these outcomes are guaranteed, or that everyone is going to experience these undesirable manifestation. Rather, that in the RPG of life, these would be the chaotic evil playthrough of the same energies described by the good and the meh.

Week in (wal)Nut Shell:

The week starts off with a Full Moon in Leo. The last in an interminably long series of lunations tangled up with those mother fucking nodes (and the Saturn/Uranus square).

We talked quite a bit about the Full Moon in Leo during February's live chat. You can watch that video down below.

Sunday: return of the mack truck of emotional baggage
Monday: slow and heavy
Tuesday: fiesty friction
Wednesday: woah, okay then!
Thursday: growth through deliberate
Friday: forensic fact finding
Saturday: clear thinking

Sunday the 5th

The Leo Full Moon is the big news for today. Especially in light of how significant this final Aquarius New Moon co-present with Saturn is for each of our personal stories with Saturn.

I talked at length about the Leo Full Moon in February's live chat (visit the member's page to watch the replay). I also talked about it in the February Forecast for The Astrology Podcast that I recorded with Chris Brennan and Austin Coppock last week. Click here to watch that episode on YouTube.

Early AM (midnight - 08:00, PST):

02:38 am - Moon at 12° Leo trine Chiron at 12° Aries
03:13 am - Vesta at 28° Pisces sextile Pluto at 28° Capricorn
03:24 am - Moon contra-parallel Mercury
07:08 am - Moon at 15° Leo square Uranus at 15° Taurus

This morning is a warm-up for the Leo Full Moon to come.

Midday (08:00 - 16:00, PST):

10:28 am - the Moon is Full at 16°40' Leo opposite the Sun at 16°40' Aquarius

As I've said around the other posts, there's plenty of words about the Full Moon to peep around the interwebs now. February's Forecast episode of The Astrology Podcast where yours truly was the special guest. There's also this month's live chat and the video which you can watch below.

And yes, you'll get a Fortnightly Lunacy, too. For those of you who want to nerd out on the tarot associated and finer details of the dignity of the lunation. Right now that page is just the video I recorded, but I'll circle back this week to flesh out the rest.

For those of you who prefer it short and sweet: this is really the Saturn and Uranus show.

It seems like it's about some showdown or big reveal related to ego, authority, or me vs. we kind of thing, but I think it's actually about how we make stay flexible and adaptable so that we can be innovative and inventive enough to emerge on the other side of groundbreaking change to the material conditions we all face (Uranus in Taurus), while at the same time acting in a way that has the integrity – ontologically, ideologically, philosophically, politically... – to grant both each of us me and all of us as we a chance at sustainability.

How do you remain adaptable without compromising your integrity?

For more on this theme, check out the links above.

Late PM (16:00 - midnight, PST):

There are no classical aspects among traditional planets. And no other ones either. In fact, the skies go quiet for nearly a full 24-hours after the Full Moon – to really let this one soak in.

The Sun Surmises:

The Full Moon in Leo is a lot of things, consequential among them. Moreso if you've got a chart chock full of fixed placements, but in some fashion for all of us, because of the way this Aquarius New Moon - Leo Full Moon lunation cycle ties into the eclipses we've not yet said goodbye to.

This day sets up the tone for the week ahead, and the transition into Saturn's ingress into Pisces. But that's a post for another day.

Monday the 6th

Thinking about Monday as a rollercoaster might help.

Here's a gif of a point of view perspective of being on an old-fashioned wooden rollercoaster, for those who like the eye candy:

If visuals aren't for you just consider this: we go heavy low in the morning post Full Moon hangover. (If you've been having haunting memories of the eclipses from 2017 and 2018, that tracks too and I'm sorry.) We go from sad stroll down memory land to potentially imagination bypassing. Then we're off drifting on that cloud until tomorrow's Moon-Mars square.

Bummer, fantasy escape, angry backlash. At least, for those who experience this as unexpected outside forces, rather than external manifestations of things that are also occurring inside.

Early AM (midnight - 08:00, PST):

06:15 am - the Moon at 26° Leo opposes Saturn at 26° Aquarius

The first aspect the Moon makes after fullness, and one made while still under the bond of the Sun. This is likely to carry at least the echoes of whatever Saturn's heaviness has held.

Saturn in Aquarius folks, even if Saturn has long since separated from your exact return, it's still not done until Saturn leaves the sign. And even then, you'll not have fully moved into the next phase of your Saturn cycle until the sextile begins when Saturn enters Aries.

For the rest of us, this might be a confrontation with the parts of our Saturn/Uranus story (which began in 2020) that we don't actually have control over, asking us to sit with the things we have to accept, whether we'd like to or not.

Midday (08:00 - 16:00, PST):

10:25 am - Mercury at 23° Capricorn sextile Neptune at 23° Pisces
12:01 pm - Moon parallel Uranus
1:13 pm - Moon enters Virgo
2:50 pm - Moon contra-parallel Sun

Mercury's sextile to Neptune is interesting. Consider the relationship between Mercury and Neptune: our words, and imaginative faculties, respectively. The sextile: a supportive aspect, particularly the overcoming one that always entails one planet or point in 11th relative to the other. Here Mercury is dextrously handing the material... matter, and Neptune is in the idealized realm where the limitations of physical reality are as ephemeral as fog.

So we're able to think concretely about the immaterial or transcendent, and possible communicate it practically too. That's nice.

If you're an artist, thinking on a lifelong time-scale, and considering your body of work in whole, then you could look at transits like this Mercury/Neptune sextile – that in and of themselves are relatively insignificant – and consider them as part of a much more detailed narrative. This year's minor Pisces transits act as precursors to the great creative works likely to be born when Venus and Saturn link up in Pisces ahead of the Saturn/Neptune conjunction in Aries. I first mentioned this thread of influential works being born in the (very brief) contribution I made to The Mountain Astrologer's article on the Jupiter and Neptune conjunction in Pisces.

Seen in this light, are there things you've finally figured out how to articulate that help you to more precisely express the visions and ideas that have been coming to you since that Jupiter/Neptune conjunction in Pisces back in April of 2022?

Late PM (16:00 - midnight, PST):

11:06 pm - Moon contra-parallel Saturn

There are no classical aspects among traditional planets. And the Moon's contra-parallel to Saturn is likely to feel like an echo of the Full Moon, and the Moon's opposition to Saturn that started off the day.

Monday's More or Less:

The Moon's ingress into Virgo begins the pocket of the week that I think provides the best skies for those micro elections, last minute b-sides, and dire betterthans.

Tuesday the 7th

There are comparatively few aspects today, relative to how many there can be, but today is otherwise in keeping with the week's pattern: a few noticeable events in the sky, and then the better part of day to marinate in that energy until the next little cluster of sky vibrations.

Early AM (midnight - 08:00, PST):

There are no classical aspects among traditional planets.

Midday (08:00 - 16:00, PST):

1:04 pm - the Moon at 11° Virgo square Mars at 11° Gemini

And just like that, Mars takes off like a bullet train. After weeks of hardly leaving the degree of the station, Mars is rapidly gaining speed. With all the planets direct in motion too, it's off to the races.

Just uh... watch out for being a cranky grumpy asshole. And for cranky grumpy assholes – especially if you drive somewhere with a fair amount of traffic. Also, careful of things that might cause inflammation or that don't agree with your digestion. It could be a real belly telling you how you really feel kind of day if the escapism of the Mercury/Neptune sextile swept you away yesterday.

Late PM (16:00 - midnight, PST):

7:01 pm - the Moon at 14° Virgo opposite Venus at 14° Pisces
7:16 pm - the Moon at 15° Virgo trine Uranus at 15° Taurus
8:43 pm - Vesta enters Aries
9:28 pm - Venus at 15° Pisces sextile Uranus at 15° Taurus

The end of the day brings some delightful weirdness that could inspire some cool art or other ways of relating things to one another – whether the relations be between people, places, things, ideas, moods... you get the idea.

Tuesday's TL;DR:

Spice is the thing that gives variety to our experience of sustaining our life force (through eating). In other words: we need Mars. And we also can only handle so much hot, spicy, cutting... "fun." If yesterday's Mercury/Neptune sextile brought fantasy or escapist dreaming, then the Moon's square to Mercury can help us to cut through the foggy haze so that we can see the dream amongst the forest and trees.

Wednesday the 8th

The only Ptolemaic aspect amongst classical planets today is the trine between the Moon in Virgo and Mercury in Capricorn. This day has a handful of betterthans for making the best out of bad timing.

Early AM (midnight - 08:00, PST):

6:44 am - Moon contra-parallel Venus
6:44 am - Moon at 20° Virgo trine Hygiea at 20° Capricorn

There are no classical aspects among traditional planets, technically. The Moon's contra-parallel you can think of kinda like a subtle version of an opposition. Like dancing with someone, but awkwardly, not quite synching up your rhythm, or stepping on one another's toes. You're still dancing! But, it's not like.. graceful the way Venus in Pisces would prefer.

Pretty subtle vibes this morning though, unless you're really sensitive, looking for this, or at happens to tie in tightly to your activated parts of your chart.

Midday (08:00 - 16:00, PST):

8:10 am - Moon parallel Chiron
12:34 pm - Moon at 23° Virgo opposite Neptune at 23° Pisces
3:12 pm - Moon contra-parallel Vesta

The Moon helps us to metabolize (somaticize) the things that She* encounters. This time, the Moon is encountering the dissolving power of Neptune. Ideals can dissolve the boundaries of what's possible in reality by inspiring dreams that lead to the future's creative inventions. It can also dissolve the boundaries between consensus and highly subjective (or possibly non-existent) realms of reality.

Late PM (16:00 - midnight, PST):

6:29 pm - the Moon at 26° Virgo trine Mercury at 26° Capricorn
9:38 pm - Moon contra-parallel Neptune
9:59 pm - Venus contra-parallel Chiron
10:39 pm - the Moon at 28° Virgo trine Pluto at 28° Capricorn

The Moon's trine with Mercury can be great for processing conversations, especially those that concern reviewing what went down in the past. The contra-parallels with Neptune and Chiron suggest an irritation that chafes at our dreams and wounds. The Moon's trine to Pluto that sends us off to bed (or sees us dreaming) gives us the opportunity to take what we've experienced this week and turn into something transformative.

Ya know, like composting food scraps.

Mercury Might Say:

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What more could you ask for?

Thursday the 9th

Thursday sees the Moon enter Libra, and the consists just of variations of connections between the Moon and Jupiter. Jupiter is the planet that brings expansion and fertility into the equation. Associated with the law, and philosophy, Jupiter is a planet that's about the way that we organize the relationship between our values and the way we go about enacting them. (In other words, Venus is the moral intuitions and Jupiter is the ethical theory, if we're talking about moral philosophy in simplistic analogy.)

Early AM (midnight - 08:00, PST):

00:46 am - the Moon enters Libra
01:48 am - the Moon at 8° Libra opposite Vesta at 0° Aries
04:05 am - Moon parallel Jupiter

The Moon's entry into Libra is a bit tough – the Moon can't see Venus and doesn't have much in the way of dignity in the sign either. Then the Moon opposes Jupiter – not inherently bad, but not good except through dialectics either. All said, unless this involves activated planets or parts of your chart this is likely to just be a day

Midday (08:00 - 16:00, PST):

There are no classical aspects among traditional planets.

Late PM (16:00 - midnight, PST):

4:01 pm - the Moon at 7° Libra opposite Jupiter at 7° Aries
9:07 pm - Moon contra-parallel Jupiter

As the Moon dips from the northern to southern side of the ecliptic they oppose Jupiter. The affinity that the Moon had for Jupiter in the morning flips polarity over the course of the day. When the Moon opposes Jupiter – not inherently bad, but not good except through dialectics either – we get the possibility for overdoing it, or for experiencing the healing medicine of laughter.

All said, unless this involves activated planets or parts of your chart this is likely to just be a day when you might be a bit hungrier than usual, and otherwise wrapping up the bigger themes that came with the flashier transits of the week.

Just Jot this for Jupiter's Day:

The only Ptolemaic aspect the Moon makes today is the opposition to Jupiter in the mid-afternoon. The day begins in the wake of the Moon's opposition to the asteroid Vesta who has to do with the autonomy and agency that permit us the ability to focus in a way that facilitates generative creation.

The Moon's opposition to Jupiter is the last aspect we get to a benefic this week, so use this time to really focus on the good, joyful, and the things that you feel optimistic and inspired by. No need to worry about not being critical enough since there are still plenty of aspects with the malefics left to traverse before we enter week seven.

Friday the 10th

Friday brings some intensity, and breaks the pattern of long languid stretches betwixt pockets or planetary action.

Particularly for folks in the US, as the Mercury conjunction to Pluto activates the US Pluto return. Revelations about the sordid underbelly of our history and the ways that each of us live and perpetuate it today are likely (whether through concerted anti-oppression action or complicity with the system). Given the cardinal placement there may be a few of them too.

Early AM (midnight - 08:00, PST):

01:24 am - the Moon at 12° Libra trine Mars at 12° Gemini
02:04 am - the Moon at 12° Libra opposite Chiron at 12° Aries
03:09 am - Moon parallel Neptune

The Moon's trine to Mars gives us the first taste of the increased speed of Mars.

Midday (08:00 - 16:00, PST):

08:10 am - Moon parallel Vesta
09:15 am - Mercury conjunct Pluto at 28° Capricorn
12:54 pm - Moon parallel Venus

Mercury's conjunction couldn't be any more "the power of words" or "knowledge is power" if it tried. There's power, and a teeming underworld of subtext in the words we say today. And a tenacious id to get to the bottom of things. Revelation – the kind that entail skeletons in closets getting discovered – is another thing this could look like.

Great for research. Probably good for finding those missing expense receipts for filing deductions on those taxes, or other types of tedious and high stakes financial forensics.

Late PM (16:00 - midnight, PST):

4:28 pm - Moon contra-parallel Chiron
7:05 pm - the Moon at 21° Libra square asteroid Hygeia at 21° Capricorn
7:38 pm - the Moon at 22° Libra trine the Sun at 22° Aquarius

The Moon's trine to the Sun is the only Ptolemaic aspect between traditional planets. The Moon's waning trine to the Sun in signs where their both in detriment isn't fun or particularly auspicious. With the earlier square to Hygeia think about the ways that cleanliness and hygiene (mostly metaphorically) could be suitable responses to whatever challenges and difficulties have arisen this week.

Venus Votes:

Sometimes taking time to clear up our thinking, or even just asking the question "am I seeing things clearly" is the best

Saturday the 11th

Mercury's entry into Aquarius marks a brief window of time where it's possible to experience both of the triplicity lords of Aquarius residing in that sign. We won't have that chance again for almost 30 years, so make the most of the clear and long-reaching mental prowess and leverage the mental organization for long-term strategy and sustainability.

Early AM (midnight - 08:00, PST):

03:22 am - Mercury enters Aquarius
05:07 am - the Moon at 27° Libra trine Saturn at 27° Aquarius

Mercury's dignity gets a big boost when they enter Aquarius.

Midday (08:00 - 16:00, PST):

08:41 am - the Moon at 29° Libra square Pluto at 28° Capricorn
10:02 am - Mars at 13° Gemini sextile Chiron at 13° Aries
10:34 am - the Moon enters Scorpio
11:26 am - the Moon at 0° Scorpio square Mercury at 0° Aquarius

This is a tender morning. Depending on how well our window of tolerance has tolerated the skyvibe this week it could be a morning of tough but necessary and productive conversations – the kind that facilitate restoration, repair, and healing.

Or, it could be the wound-y words and actions in the present that re-activate wounds and traumas from the past. If you find yourself experiencing the latter today

Late PM (16:00 - midnight, PST):

10:37 pm - Moon parallel Saturn
11:13 pm - Moon parallel Sun

There are no classical aspects among traditional planets to round out our week. Which is just as well after having been confronted with the woes and aftermath of the challenges we've faced over the last few years.

Those of you with fixed signs are certain to be aware of Pluto's impending entry in Aquarius. But until then, let yourself relax a little knowing that it's unlikely there will be much new introduced to the fixed sign story, at least for a little while yet.

Saturn's Summary:

If words are wounding, cutting or roasting us to a burnt crisp, it's likely they're dull and clumsy, just like holds true with knives made of steel and meant for cutting material things. You know, the whole s'word thing I wrote about back in November (which prompted by pen and sword tattoo pair I took on almost 15 years ago).

Have a question for Bear? Want to connect with other astrologers and astrology enthusiasts?

As always, I hope these words find and serve you well.

If you'd like to start a discussion or pose a question to your fellow members (and/or Bear) feel free to post down below!

If you'd like to reach out to Bear directly you can reach him at: contact@bearryver.com

Bear Ryver is a professional astrologer helping his clients hone strategies for grounded growth and embodied empowerment by bringing them back to the BASICS. Winner of OPA’s Most Promising Astrologer in 2018, Bear has lectured at conferences like NORWAC and ISAR. He holds certifications in Hellenistic, Electional, and Horary astrology, and specializes in Intersectional Astrology. He was a teacher for the Portland School of Astrology, and has volunteered as a mentor for AFAN. When he’s not talking stars, or pulling cards, you can find him climbing rocks and playing guitar.