Brief acknowledgement of retrograde planets in 2020.

by with 4 Comments Astrological InsightsInner life

 

2020 seems to continue to be a very busy astrological year indeed!

Venus will be moving retrograde in about a month until the 24 of June.

On 29 of May Mercury will move to Cancer, and on the 18 of June it will be going retrograde at 14 degrees Cancer, going all the way back to 5 degrees Cancer. Mercury will move forward on the 12 of July.

Neptune goes retrograde on the 23 of June at 20 degrees Pisces.

Before that, on 26 of April Pluto goes retrograde at 24 degrees Capricorn, then Jupiter goes retrograde at 27 Capricorn on the 15 of May,  and a few days earlier, on 11 of May, Saturn goes retrograde at 1 degree Aquarius popping back into Capricorn from July 2 until 17 of December when finally moves to Aquarius for good. (the Saturn and Jupiter conjunction happens on 21 of December!)

On the 10 of September Mars will go retrograde at 28 degrees Aries.

That’s a lot of information to process but my purpose with bringing this all up is to have a general look at this info.

It seems to me that for the next few months there will be a lot of pondering and rethinking. Retrogradations in general are looked at as something negative but I usually find them enjoyable (sometimes painful) periods of contemplation and reflection.

Where are we in our journeys?

My idea was to write about Venus going retrograde and the possibility of reframing our values but with most of all the other planets somehow also going retrograde in the next few months period, it feels like something larger is at stake here.

This seems like a turning point. Collectively and, at the same time, Individually. Perfect for reassessment before taking action to move forward. May we use our time wisely!

 

 

An Astrologer’s wishes for 2019

by with 2 Comments Astrology and meInner lifeSearch for home

The heat in Brazil is so strong that for most of the day I cannot do much. Sometimes it feels like my brain is melting.

For the last five or six years I consciously went through a Pluto transit to my natal Moon and this is the first time that I came back since. Everything looks and feels strange and familiar at the same time.

That strange familiar feeling of not belonging strongly remains.

I miss my home in England.

I am enjoying some things here, but after couple of weeks its clear to me that many of the structures, customs, opinions, ideas, ideals, cultural identity… have all changed to me? Sao Paulo somehow feels largely small?

Since 2012 I went through multiple transits, I’ve had my first Saturn return and transits from all 3 outer planets to my personal planets. I’ve been dissolved, dismembered and initiated into adulthood. Much pain and suffering was met on the way, but looking at myself in the mirror I can see that it was worth it.

I believe that if we don’t adapt to the seasons we can’t make the most of it. The idea of intermittent happiness to be pursued in life is a fallacy. But being stuck in a loop of sadness for too long can also be damaging.

Nature and its cycles have much to teach us. Accepting and taking action that is aligned with our personal cycle is one of the biggest lessons that I’ve learnt in the last 5 years. (Not that it was easy or that I have ceased to struggle with it. But I feel incredibly aware of it now.) Even if the action is by not taking any action. (something that can also be very challenging in a society that emphasises doing and achievement so strongly!)

So in this New Year Eve, close to a New Moon in Capricorn, my wish is that we can all learn how to be deeply rooted in ourselves, how to feel, trust, and follow the natural wisdom of our cycles, and, in this way, develop more authenticity in a mature and solid manner.

Then, and only then (I feel), we are going to be able to, genuinely, have a positive impact in our society, planet, cosmos, universe… whatever needed.

Happy new year!

 

Updates of plutonian times..

by with 2 Comments Astrology and meInner lifeSearch for homeTrip

I’m hanging out at my friend’s kitchen now.

As usual he has woken me up at 7:30 am with his idiosyncratic routine. He is renting both of the bedrooms in the flat so we share the living room when I’m around.

I’m back in London again. I’m still traveling quite a bit even though I’m just getting more and more tired of it.

Last week I was at the forest of Dean which was lovely.

The man I’ve been seeing came to visit me and again we had an intense fight on the third day that we spent together. That’s also the third time this happens.

The Venus square Neptune part of my psyche really can’t seem to be able to discriminate and see this relationship clearly.

On one hand he challenges me a lot, which is great. I’ve never been with a guy who would confront me like he does. On another hand our encounters are becoming very stressful when we fight (even though we also share intense positive moments) and I can’t help but think that perhaps I would be better off on my own.

Since Pluto started transiting my natal Moon I’ve gone through so much strife and crisis. So much destruction has happened and now I just feel like rebuilding myself. Moving into my new home, focusing on saving up some money to buy myself a laptop again (pretty hard to keep writing on this small tablet.), sticking up to a good daily routine.. loving myself…

I’m also sure that he is a manifestation of this transit as I’ve met him when Pluto was retrograde making the third exact square to my moon in July.

Old manipulative tecniques, emotional blackmail, victimisation.. old unconscious patterns of relating in general don’t feature in my interaction with this man.

It doesn’t work. (Not that I consciously want them to work)

He always challenges and questions my communication a lot. He has Venus in Scorpio in the third house and is a lot more direct and talkative than most Scorpio in Venus men that I’ve been with in the past.

He is currently at a 10 day meditation retreat and we agreed not to talk to each other for those days.

Today I’m officially counting down the days to move in to my new bedroom in Bristol. 7 days to go. (And Pluto will be direct when that happens..)

Saturn is also making a trine to my MC and I’ve had a few unexpected requests for astrology work. That’s truly great because I’m not putting much of my energy into my passion at the moment (domestic issues are feeling more urgent with this Pluto/Moon stuff)  so I can only imagine how it will be when I do focus on my work.

Internally I already feel different though. More confidence is available as I’m stepping more and more into my inner authority without feeling scared.

Empowerment.

Also yesterday I did my first head stand.

I’ve been patiently and slowly working towards that since January. I wanted to do it with control and equilibrium rather than by throwing my legs against the wall.

Respect the timing..

(This also works as a symbolic reflection of all the work that I’ve been doing on myself with those multiple transits in the last few years..)

Astrodance of synchronicity

by with One Comment Astrology and meSearch for home

It’s so interesting to observe how the planetary movements do symbolically reflect what goes on.

Cycles within cycles.

For the brief moment that transiting Pluto popped into my 3rd house I started discovering what a real pleasure blogging is. I felt inspired by so many ideas and the whole process of publishing and feeling acknowledged as well.

What a delight to be read by other people.

To feel heard and to be able to share thoughts and feelings.

Then, as Pluto went retrograde and backwards into my second house, my focus has naturally switched back into practical matters.

My new job and the potential for making a more consistent amount of money after at least 5 years of living on a very low budget. The house hunting (yes it is also making the last square to my natal Moon) and the prospect of settling down again, even if just for a few months.

I’m gonna have my own space again!

Put up my pictures on the wall, light up incenses and candles, create my sacred space.

Yesterday I’ve given a reading to a client and at the end was left baffled.

This is one of the things that I really love about astrology, it never bores me. It’s just amazing how much precious information can be accessed and how accurate most of the time.

And how in tune with personal cycles.

And I’m becoming less and less inclined to believe that the planets are “doing” something to us.

We are one and the same, what happens up there is synchronised with the inside here.

No blame and no victims.

Only a beautiful dance of the same elements in different scales..

Astrology of individuation.

by with 8 Comments Astrology and me

I have to confess that I’m not so much into the astrology of general forecasting.

My virgoan mind finds very difficult to make or take in general affirmations about planetary positions without considering the individual that experiences it.

Yeah, right, Saturn is making a square to Neptune in the sky and that could be about a reality check of some kind, but to who? And in what format or in which dimension of life? And what if that Saturn-Neptune square activates my natal angular T-square or is sitting exactly on my Ascendant-Descendant axis?

Same with the lunar cycles. Yes we can be collectively more emotionally charged under the full moon but there is always gonna be a very unique level of experience. That’s what I find most fascinating.

Yes there are many archetypal traits in the Gemini-Sagittarius axis that I could think of, but to me is only when I place that full Moon into someone’s chart that things start to make more sense. Is it about the flourishing of new ideas or opportunities to heal your difficulty in communicating with your partner?

How can you set your intentions with more self-awareness?

To me Astrology is a bit like detective work, you go on following leads. You bring down to the most personal level of experience in order to empower.

Yes, Saturn is about walls and restrictions, limitations or mastery, but how do I relate to that principle?  How do I tend to experience this archetype in my psyche? Which house Saturn falls in and which house does it rule in my horoscope? What aspects does it make?

All of these are symbolically representing a complex that gets activated every now and then (reflected) by transits or progressions. Under a Saturn transit I might get a promotion at work instead of feeling lonely and miserable, or something else.

Every month the full Moon will be casting it’s light into a personal area of your horoscope that, even though archetypal, is unique to you.

 

 

Clarity takes its time 2…

by with One Comment Astrology and meInner lifeSearch for home

I’m back to write a little more on the clarity that I seem to be achieving, especially since Mercury went retrograde.

Speaking about that, I just want to say that even though many people dread when Mercury goes retrograde I’m specially fond of those times. They are really good for going within to revise situations and things that have been bothering you. I see it as an opportunity for rethinking, for gaining yet another perspective in whatever matter you’ve been thinking of. Mercury retrograde is good for introverted kinds of activities, which is probably why it is so misunderstood.

Anyways, Mercury went retrograde while I was at that festival near Brighton. And yes I started having a few insights into myself, the self that I am becoming, and things to let go of.

My vision seems to be becoming clearer and clearer.

The first synchronicity happened with the girl that went to pick me up at the train station, right in the beginning.

When I was just about to get in the car I spotted a bag from the same yoga school I just came back from in Thailand.  The place where I had a boom of purification and purging. It turned out that she also just came back, (she remembered seen me at the library!), and from a powerful transformative experience as well. I haven’t seen her astrological chart, but she told me about having a stellium in Libra and about how much heavy transformation she’s been going through in the last few years.

That was a magical way to start the festival.

Then right after meeting yet another Libra, a girl started putting up her tent besides mine. She was from Portugal and as we were talking we found out that  she lives in a community near the forest of Dean where I was living last summer. That girl knows pretty much all the people that I got to work and share very especial moments last year.

That was it, another one, just like that.

I was amazed to be hit by two strong synchronicities like those in such a short period of time.

It felt like a confirmation, like a big yes from the universe.

I was right about going there on my own. I was right.

I did meet many interesting people and felt very different from last year’s experience. It was like a very subtle feeling of belonging. The beginning of what seems to be a massive change of lifestyle for me.

I’m not entirely sure about where I’m heading, but seeing all of those beautiful colorful people just felt right. Engaging with them in creative and unique ways just felt right. Being able to be myself without struggle, without feeling the looks of criticism or puzzles from others was amazing. It was like being part of a circus, but in a good way.

(I somehow have always fantasised about belonging to a family in a circus, always traveling and performing)

I felt like being part of a conscious community where people care about each other and at the same time give space for each other to just be.

So many smiles and hugs. So much truthfulness. (And it was a drug and alcohol free festival!)

The message that I want to give with this post is a reminder. No matter how much struggle, confusion, destruction and death you are going through while having an important transit from any of the outer planets (by that I mean Uranus, Neptune and Pluto), don’t forget that clarity takes its time.

But when it hits you, during or after those times, no words to describe, it’s a bit like divine light.

It is powerfully mysterious and yet easy to recognise..

Clarity takes its time..

by with One Comment Astrology and meInner lifeSearch for home

Once more I’m back in London.

Just went to work at a festival near Brighton. The same one I’ve worked on my birthday last year, just before I left the country in search for myself.

Last year there was a full moon on the day of my birthday and Neptune was making its last exact opposition to my natal Sun. That was intense. Not a plutonic kind of intensity, but a neptunian one.

I was lost. I couldn’t see myself clearly. There was a terrible sense of longing for something that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. I was about to leave the country to one of my biggest adventures but somehow couldn’t feel excited. There was a strange sense of not seeing myself. The strangeness of not having form.

As a result I couldn’t socialise very much during the festival. I was in pain for most of the time. I felt hollow.

Now, after lots of transformation and growth in my travels, being at a festival felt like a different experience. I was there, more grounded in who I am becoming. I now have a sketch, the outline of a bigger me.

It felt great to have a sense of belonging. (The whole Pluto-moon thing going on for me). Amazing to be part of a community. (natal moon in the 11th house…)

I’m in some serious need for rest, so will leave to write about the synchronicities that happened there tomorrow.

Layers of meaningfulness

by with No Comment Astrology and meInner lifeSearch for home

One of my greatest discoveries about astrology happened when transiting Neptune was opposing my natal Mercury couple of years ago. It happened when I could not concentrate to read one single sentence in a book but was having astrological lectures through my dreams instead. Obviously, as expected with Neptune’s symbolism, it took me sometime to clarify and understand this new way of interpreting the symbols.

I was listening to some samba just now, a traditional kind of music from Brazil that I rarely listen to. To be honest with you, and that’s how I started to wonder, I rarely listen to any brazilian music at all. Not that I don’t like it. Brazilian music is pretty good. But there is something about the national identity that has always bugged me and since I’ve left Brazil eight years ago I’ve been somehow avoiding it altogether.

I guess that my Uranic nature never felt like truly belonging anywhere, but specially to a culture that has strongly been based, between other frivolous things like carnaval and football, in the sexual objectification of women.

That macho culture, perhaps present in most Latin countries, has always annoyed me tremendously. I didn’t want to be part of that and leaving the country seemed like a great relief. I could finally be myself. I could finally be free to interact in any way that I felt like with people from everywhere else in the world.

That was grand, but at the same time, when I look back, I think that with the urge of freeing myself from the caveman’s culture I sort of lost a precious connection with my roots.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m still not a big fan of nationalism. But there is something important connected with where we come from that perhaps can also give us a hand in the search for ourselves. I am not my country or plainly my nationality, but there are certain things that I grew up on that still speaks to my soul.

Im only mentioning it, now we get to the astrological point, because I totally see this as part of the Pluto transit to my Moon. There are so many different layers to it.

It’s amazing how astrological symbolism works with layers and layers of meanings.

Pluto is transiting my second house, it has a lot to do with changing completely the way that I make my money and, on a deeper level, transforming my sense of self worth. Pluto is making a square to my Moon in Libra, yes, it also has a lot to do with leaving compulsive, childish and less desirable traits that would come out in relationships. I am developing yet another level of self reliability and independency, maybe after that I can truly hope for partnerships based in equality. The Moon is also connected with mother and I’ve been dealing with my mother complex big time. My Moon is also in the eleventh house, one of the strong themes with this transit has been the search for a community of like minded people that can give me a sense of belonging. Then my Moon rules the ninth house and I have been traveling quite a bit in search for home.

Perhaps the second half of this year will have something to do with me going to Brazil for a little. Maybe I need to revisit and reconnect with my roots. Find that part of myself, the brazilian part.

I don’t know about that. What I really know, and wanted to make a point in this post, is that astrological symbolism has many levels and we should always keep that in mind I think. If we are too ready to interpret a transit or aspect or whatever for ourselves or clients we are bound to miss a lot of potential important information.

I see the astrologer’s work as translation but also as detective work. We need to do our best to stretch out the symbolism as much as we can in order to see the bigger picture. In order to help people finding their bigger picture.

Transiting me..

by with One Comment Astrology and meTrip

Alright, I thought maybe it is a good idea to write a little about transiting Pluto/Uranus over my natal Moon. (Perhaps I can get some perspective and peace of mind…)

I’m in Koh Phangan now, this is my second night here and I already got my room for the next 3 months. My tantric yoga course starts only in January but because is high season it was definitely a good idea coming earlier. Today has been my first official day here and I strangely managed to lock myself out twice. At the first time a random  guy helped me out but on the second time it was quite late and thunderstorming outside. I was surprised to notice the rush of fear running down my spine in such a silly situation. Of course, after struggling a little and almost falling out of the window, I found my way in again. Then, as I am talking to myself and recovering from the apparently “scary” situation I’m yet on another dreadful one: big brown spider inside the room. Obviously I couldn’t kill it and the creature is still roaming somewhere under my bed (hopefully staying down there).

I’m mentioning these two happenings in this post because is clear how much under powerful transits to our natal Moon the challenge of facing our childish fears becomes evident. In other words the challenge of becoming a self sufficient being. Mommy won’t protect you. The realisation that seeking mother under what seems a threatening situation isn’t appropriate anymore. You have to do it yourself. And more than that, also the realisation that many of those fears does not belong to you in first place. I thought about my mom when facing the spider, but my thoughts were really about how much she would be scared in my situation. About how much she is terrified of insects, and I could almost hear her voice in my head.

The process of separation from the “womb”state with mother is really a hard one and we all have issues with that. Without addressing those issues it is simply impossible to forge healthy emotional connections and relationships. And that’s where these powerful transits (by that I mean transits from Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto) reflect an opportunity for all of us, an opportunity to work on our mother issues and patterns of emotional dependency. If we take it as an opportunity, rather than focus on the emotional pain that usually is triggered during these times, we can do our best and work on ourselves, then, and only then, we can hope to have a relationship that is not based on fulfilling our childish needs. Equality is then a possibility.