Know to Flow: The Energetic Forecast for Consciously Creating Life:

The moon continues to wane, inviting us to continue releasing what is still
​shaking loose, as we approach the new moon in Taurus on Saturday May 4th. 

The three days before a new moon are known as
the "dark moon".   

The dark moon is the time of deepest release, in the darkest hours
just before the new moon is exact - before the solar rays of consciousness again
begin to illuminate the lunar realm of the subconscious.  Between the illumination
and realizations of the full moon and when we arrive at the dark moon
this Thursday, when we turn inward and release during the deepest part of
the lunar cycle, we have or will have incurred some additional astrological shifts
that influence this dark moon release and upcoming new moon.​

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The past weekend has featured a Mars-Neptune square and moon in Aquarius. This occurred on the heels of Pluto turning retrograde in Capricorn last Wednesday the 24th, while also leading in to Saturn (aligning now with the karmic south node of the moon) turning retrograde in Capricorn this Monday, April 29th.  

The detached Aquarian moon combined with the Mars-Neptune energy could get us in trouble by sending us chasing delusional fantasy, or running to escape by any means possible.  Except that it is held in check, sandwiched between the two heavy-weights of the zodiac both turning retrograde in down-to-business Capricorn.

These shifts not only set the underlying tone for the next several months, but are part of something larger that is a signature of 2019, and will culminate in January 2020.

Pluto, Lord of the Underworld, has been in transit of Capricorn since 2008, and will continue for several more years.  Saturn, ruler of Capricorn, and faster-moving, spending only about two and a half years in each sign, joined Pluto in Capricorn in December of 2017, and since then the two have been on a collision course, as they will meet as Saturn passes Pluto in January 2020.  

Pluto moving through a sign represents a transformational force relentlessly grinding away at that energy and area of our lives, stripping it down to the raw truth so it can then regenerate.  In Capricorn, this means that since 2008 Pluto's focus has been, from a larger perspective, on political and financial structures and shaking their very foundations causing the weak parts, the rotten parts, the misaligned parts to crumble.  

Saturn is known as "the Lord of Karma", and the teacher and/or taskmaster.  Saturn is the last planet we can see with the naked eye from Earth.  Saturn represents rules, structures, systems, limits, boundaries, discipline, authority, and responsibility. Saturn rules Capricorn, so is happily on home-turf during this transit. 

On Wednesday, 4/24, Pluto stationed retrograde.  This planet, usually ruthlessly uncovering and exposing and stripping us of our false securities, now seemingly retraces its path for the next few months and gives us a little breathing room for reflection on what has come to light so far. 

On Monday, April 29th, Saturn will station retrograde as well, and as the Lord of Karma goes back over recent territory to allow us to truly review the lessons it has brought, it has the added weight of being on the south node of the moon, which is a point of the past, karma, and fate.  Saturn's retrograde is in square aspect to Mercury, bringing to light especially lessons around our thinking, words, and communication.  Any planet stationing retrograde creates a concentration of that energy and can be the most tricky time of the retrograde.  For Saturn, this is April 25th through May 2nd.  Given the square to Mercury, during these days pay extra close attention to detail, communications, and agreements. During this time getting professional advice in any legal dealings is the safest bet, as Saturn, governing rules and systems and responsibility, squares Mercury the Messenger as it stations retrograde.  Saturn is always asking us to create stable foundations and grounded action plans to manifest our ideas and dreams in this 3D reality.  Saturn will show us where we haven't kept our boundaries, stood in our authority, or been fully responsible and in our integrity. Saturn can feel to us like restrictions in our lives, endless hard work, negativity or even outright abuse and cruelty.  We can easily feel depressed with low self-esteem under a negative Saturnian influence.  With the square to Mercury, we may find difficulties in communicating with many misunderstandings.  We may find our desires and dreams met with crushing negativity.  We may be indecisive or procrastinate.  We will be asked to do real worldly work to achieve our dreams and desires, and to do it with responsibility and integrity, standing in our own authority - lies or any sort of below board behavior could come with serious consequences now.  With Saturn on the south node of the moon, the hand of fate may end up guiding us down the correct path.  And when Saturn turns direct at 13 degrees Capricorn on September 18th, expect to feel lighter and positive as we then move towards Pluto direct on October 3rd.  From the 3rd on, we will be building towards the Saturn-Pluto conjunction in Capricorn in January 2020, so we will be feeling forward momentum but also the tension building as these two powerful energies prepare to combine forces.  

The other big underlying influence now is Uranus freshly into a seven year transit of Taurus, where it has not been since its last transit from 1934 to 1941, covering most of the Great Depression and the beginning of WWII.  The last time Pluto was conjunct Saturn in Capricorn was January of 1518!  This interestingly enough coincided with Martin Luther's opposition to the Catholic Church.  When we look at these energies of the past coming together in our near future, we can see how the Great Depression gave way to a better economy, but that better economy came through the hardships and atrocities of war.  Luther's opposition of the establishment - the fortress of the Catholic church - eventually proved successful.  Maybe our current events will see us experiencing a crisis that forces some revolution or calling the establishment to accountability that finds us shifting in a new more successful direction as a whole. 

With Pluto already retrograde and Saturn stationing Monday, we head into this dark moon (leading to Saturday's new moon in Taurus with Uranus) getting support from the "big boys" in the form of possibly a little extra information and insight around what else to release before this new moon.

Thursday, Friday, and Saturday until the moon is new at 4:45 pm MST, is the time to turn inward, rest and nourish, and allow space for the deep stuff to emerge so you don't find yourself lugging that dead weight through yet another lunar cycle.  Now is the time.  Make the space and allow the process.  ​

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Following the moon through transits gives us a day to day guide of what energies or "vibe" will be dominating each day. 

Following the monthly lunar cycle from new to full to new again keeps us on the path of constantly growing and releasing, always renewing ourselves.

There are always other larger cycles operating in the background, some affecting entire generations, some matching up with points on our natal astrological charts so that we feel the energies quite intensely and acutely in our personal lives.

A main theme we can take from learning about and following astrology is the idea of balance.  Astrology interprets the movement of the celestial bodies as experienced and witnessed from earth.  We sit in the center of the zodiac system, and each sign has a sign that is always opposite it, and the planets move through at different speeds "weighting" the energy of one sign or another or pitting energies that don't mesh well against each other.  We sit in the center as this occurs around us and so it is our task to simply always be working to maintain a state of balance as the energies shift, like reading river currents or surfing waves.

As the "energetic weather" constantly shifts with cycles that change as quickly as day to day up to larger scale influences that last many years, one of the best ways we can achieve and maintain a sense of balance is to remember to ground - connect into the earth, be fully present in our bodies, and stay mindful - in that way we are able to consciously create our lives, always working with the energies at play.