Mercury Retrograde: Jan 14 – Feb 3
Astrology
Reflections on Venus Retrograde in Capricorn:
Venus Retrograde – 25° – 11° Capricorn, Dec 19 – Jan 29 2022
Capricorn, ruled by Saturn, is a yin, earth sign. At first, it appears yang but it’s actually yin, which makes you think that the sign has been distorted or appropriated to some extent. It has lost some of its dark, slow, earthy, downward-seeking nature and instead, has become so associated with what is harsh, hard, structural and upward-seeking, all yang aspects.
Ruler of the 10th house of career, status, authority and rules, Capricorn has taken on some contexts and meanings attributed to it through patriarchal distortion in my humble opinion. Saturn represents your time and space reality, your orientation and understanding of your three-dimensional world based on your house and sign location in your natal chart. And depending on how Saturn currently transits and what planet(s) transit Capricorn, we can understand how our time and space orientation will personally and collectively be affected.
There are so many things a Venus in Capricorn transit reminds me of, especially one that is retrograde within Capricorn, i.e. systems, structures and limits. One can harshly feel the head-butting between the two. How can Venus, as ruler of Libra, representing harmony, balance and justice, possibly achieve its’ aims here?
I recently had my left ovary and fallopian tube taken out. They were frozen to the left of my pelvis and my doctor spent 2.5 hours removing them and all the endometrial growths grown in my pelvic area. He said it was really bad. And then had the medical students watching my procedure reiterate the same while I was still in a daze of anesthesia in the hospital. As I left and sat in the car, I could see my father’s eyes were slightly watery and worried. And relieved. In the big scheme of things, losing an ovary and tube is not a big deal. Countless others have lost worse. I can still function (to a certain point). But there’s grief around it.
I love my doctor. He’s semi-retired and white and I actually wouldn’t trade him for a woman. He is kind, sensitive and gives big hugs. I am lucky in this respect.
I remember one summer in India as a teenager. I was staying with my aunt, Nani and same-aged cousin who I had stayed with before many times but this time my mother had gone to the south on a business trip. She left us for two weeks and I couldn’t have been happier. Afternoons spent inside the house apart from the outside heat playing Contra and Tetris for hours on end obsessively trying to get to the next level and being up to all sorts of mischief with my sister and cousin was the best time of my life. We were good kids overall, very good as the Indian community at large will attest to, but something was nagging at me that summer.
I don’t know whether it was the normal teenage angst of a 13 year old but I was feeling limited to say the least. I was feeling constrained and frustrated and unfortunately decided to test those limits one careless summer afternoon against my better judgment. Actually my teenage mind contained no better judgment and only that I would gain some sort of reward out of what I was going to do next. This is an infamous story within the family.
I went to the backyard and walked up to my cousin’s bike, which always lay against the wall at an angle. I had learned from him how to step on the seat and climb up the wall and walk on the wall like a trapeze but this time I grabbed the bike, wheeled it through the house quickly, and started biking my way onto the street and around the sector. I cycled fast so no one I knew would catch me. This was the first time I was by myself without anyone I knew by my side outside of the house in India. It was exhilarating. There was no mom to tell you what to do or what the rules were, no uncles to tell you how far you couldn’t go, no pre-plans or instructions or familiar eyes looking at you for whatever reason. It was just me, the bike and the road. I told myself as I started riding that I was going to ride all over the city, through so many sectors, and then boast about it later on.
The problem is is that although everything looked familiar, I had trouble getting out of the sector we lived in due to nervousness being on the main road, like the really main road, and lack of know-how. I realized I wasn’t going to be able to traverse the entire city in just a couple hours. Yes that’s how long I was gone without telling anyone. As I looked at the familiar signs, buildings, temples and people going about their daily business, I felt one with it all but was also terribly focused on controlling the bike. I didn’t want to fall or hit anything. Sadly one of these things occurred.
I actually ran into a little boy, something I feel guilty about to this day. I was stupidly staring at a temple to the right, my eyes away from the road, and hit his leg. He was insistent that he was not hurt but I offered to take him to the doctor or at the very least pay for his medical fees.
I also had a nineteen year old celebrity look alike who lived down the street and who supposedly was an aspiring actor stalk me. In India, guys do really weird things like stare at you with their friends behind bushes while you’re walking down the street. Or send recorded music on tapes to you through their middle man. It’s frightening and hilarious at the same time. So on this excursion, the look alike ended up finding me cycling on the road despite my inner hope that I would not come across this person.
And of course on a residential street I was not often on, I felt headbutted as he rode up unexpectedly next to me asking me what my name was. I wasn’t terrified but I was too scared to give my real name so I came up with ‘Seema,’ a common name. Any coincidence that Carrie’s new Indian friend on ‘And Just Like That’ right now is also Seema? Yes actually that is probably a coincidence. I was shocked by this guy riding up next to me with no warning and with lots of questions.
Needless to say, my family was not happy with me. My cousin was infuriated I took his bike and worried him and received angry talks from my aunt and mother on the phone. My grandmother was not happy but she was generous. Why oh why did I do that?! A teenager on the loose and in a country she doesn’t know that well. Blasphemous isn’t even the word.
Was it only the year before that I had failed a sex-ed test because I would do my math homework during class and not listen to the lectures? I didn’t care to know the technical definitions involving the nether regions. I just knew that I had to finish the math homework before it was due. Thankfully I got to retake the test and was shocked to learn of some things. Why is that we are only allowed to retake sex-ed tests? And of course there was dissatisfaction learning about Alexander the Great’s approach and my increasing fear of cactus plants. I couldn’t help but be aware on some level that I was a female, even if just thirteen. My Venetian brain wanted to test the limits, the authority, as a human and a female. She didn’t think twice about it, her hormones led her on.
And disturbing thoughts come up in the present day, 27 years later. Not all Venetian thoughts are necessarily beautiful especially since they are colored by the ‘constellations’ they transit. Equality takes on a different nature. Maybe a testicle should be taken out in exchange for an ovary? And also crushed in a lemon juicer so the pain felt is equal. Maybe this is what systemic equality should look like. I would like to know how many testicles are currently being taken out worldwide cause I assure you a hell of a lot more ovaries are taken out. Let us somehow harmonize this necessity.
I have shed a lot of tears these last couple months but still probably not as much as a true Cancerian heart would. The sheer anger and depression, and felt so physically, is enough to have wanted me to fucking kill something. But thankfully, my saving grace in life is some talent around art, around Venus. If I didn’t have this ability to process the gunk and grime in my psyche then I would be a drug addict. I have no judgment against drug addicts, I love them so much because they are me, I see that truly and they are also my mother, who had her hysterectomy years ago. My fond memory around that is sitting in the hospital cafeteria and basically having a Thanksgiving dinner. Boy was that delicious.
Related post: The Little Ovary That Could
Velvet Evenings: A Poetry Collection
Really excited to have self-published my first poetry book entitled “Velvet Evenings” on Amazon 
Get your copy this holiday season 
“This collection explores what we uncover when we get in touch with the dark and light aspects of the feminine, love and chaos. Delve into dark emotions, inspiration and stillness and probe into the mystery of experience with eventual acceptance. I invite you to take this journey with me full of passion, despair and yet Joy.”
~ Happy Holidays!✨ 🌠 ~
Venus Rx in Capricorn and the Taurus/Scorpio eclipse cycle – What will it bring?
- Venus Retrograde – 25° – 11° Capricorn, Dec 19 – Jan 29, 2022
- Lunar Eclipse 27° Taurus – November 19, 2021, Solar Eclipse 10° Taurus – April 30, 2022, Lunar Eclipse 25° Scorpio – May 16, 2022
- Solar Eclipse 2° Scorpio – Oct 25, 2022, Lunar Eclipse 16° Taurus – Nov 8, 2022
So recently, my dad and I went over to a close family friend’s house for Thanksgiving (my parents are not divorced. My mom is helping take care of my niece and twin nephews who were recently born. She’s been gone practically all year). Our friends have a daughter who is basically like my cousin. We have loved cuddling all our lives, talking about Netflix and humming ‘Beauty and the Beast.’ There was just one other family invited whom I didn’t know very well – a very nice auntie who had to leave early cause she had to work, uncle and son. But it turned out that even with very few people, it was a very entertaining evening.
We started off the evening with pleasant conversation, delicious snacks and champagne. The three ‘kids’ played games beginning with cards while the parents sang Hindi karaoke songs, loud and clear. We played Rumi and Texas hold ‘em poker. First off, I can’t stand it when people bully you by betting abnormously high in the beginning (and I was forewarned by the uncle who pleasantly boasted about his son’s constant winning streak in life. He honestly was very nice to talk to, exuding warmth, smiliness and gratitude). Well guess what, I’m just gonna end up taking my money back, its equivalent from you and generally end up with more. And then everyone has to quit the game because it’s time to eat. Muaaahhahhhahhahhha.
We moved on to Scattergories for a short period of time because we couldn’t use our brains due to food coma. How are you supposed to come up with food items starting with ‘W’ or ‘D’? Very difficult. We then of course moved on to Monopoly. I have not played this game in so long and enjoyed being the laptop who got to traverse the board numerous times due to rolling doubles a lot and acquiring properties, even ones I didn’t want but ended up buying anyway cause I landed on them repeatedly. I enjoyed collecting small amounts of rent, but not as much as my cousin collected due to her numerous properties, and from guess who, from the beloved son who only had two of them AND it turns out, the uncle, who I realized was also playing.
I thought he was singing with the others but suddenly how many spaces we all had moved in relation to the dice was being thoroughly checked by him. His face turned very serious when his son handed $120 over to me, and respectfully so, because I owned the Electric Company and the other utility. They repeatedly landed on Chance and contributed to Free Parking. I was also laughed at by guess who because I needed change and suggested exchanging a 50 in the parking for some change from the bank. Somehow we aren’t allowed to do that. He kept laughing and looking at me and I quietly questioned in my head yet again how I end up in these situations. I just smiled at the other player, sharing in the understanding of this totally absurd and insane moment.
Needless to say, I should have expected an Indian uncle whose family is in the top 1% highest income category in the United States to be incredibly and visibly upset that his son had little money and not enough properties. If it was ten years ago, I would have been really irked by this team offering to buy one of my properties for $200 when I just bought it for $180. Really how much work must you be really doing in life and how hungry could you possibly think I am that I would just want a $20 ‘profit’ from this exchange. Sometimes those with more just don’t understand the correct exchanges. I counteroffered by saying he could buy it from me for a $1000 and for the other player it would be $600. The suggestion was also enthusiastically made to do a trade with the other player and collect rents, but it reeked of money laundering and I went into shock.
After having our necks breathed down on and only a couple glasses of alcohol because you’re around family, it was time for the game to end and certain people to leave. What was once a warm, smiley uncle turned into a low energy and concerned one but who left amicably and who we nevertheless had compassion for. Even being annoyed, I was unable to control my inner laughter, sending emojis and texts to my cousin afterwards. We wanted to send him sore loser gifs like ‘Don’t be Upsetti, Eat Some Spaghetti’ and that handsome black guy doing a crying face.
This is how the Universe works. It brings scenes into the grand play of your life of what’s about to unfold and what will come up. A lot of people will be excited.
~ Happy Holidays ~
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The Little Ovary That Could
I recently had an ultrasound (no I’m not pregnant. I will not be going that route in this life. It’s also a vaginal ultrasound – it’s so fun having a long wand with a magical light at the end of it stuck into your vagina. The only thing you want at the end of it is a hot chocolate from Starbucks and some self-cuddling on the couch under a blankie), which shows a big endometrial cyst, also known as chocolate cyst or endometrioma, on my ovary which needs to be removed asap. I have endometriosis, which is where the blood in the uterine lining grows abnormally elsewhere as cysts or lesions in your pelvic region and less commonly in other areas of the body. I also have two smaller chocolate cysts (delicious, I know) and small uterine fibroids, at least what we can see from the ultrasound. It all makes sense now with the wretched discomfort the last couple of years.
Having endometriosis is extremely painful and burdensome – it’s a state in which you have to be as still as possible, otherwise, the precise corner of a heavy wooden dresser weighing down on you will finally cave into your ovary and crush it into nonexistence. Or the insanely precise edge of a metal bar will do the same. You learn to develop a heightened awareness and with it a stillness and drudgingly accept for the moment that your desires and wishes in life will somehow and hopefully manifest.
I’ve had routine ultrasounds to monitor this current cyst which has to be monitored like a bomb about to detonate but this last examination showed it grew dramatically within a couple months. Years, or a lifetime, ago and ten days before my 23rd birthday, I had a large ovarian cyst which had to be removed immediately for fear of it bursting or internal bleeding, etc. I was told I would likely lose my ovary and was in surgery the morning after seeing my doctor. Fortunately the ovary was saved. I had to take the semester off from law school due to a three month recovery and plowed through the last year and a half of school to ‘graduate on time’ and not incur additional costs I guess.
Needless to say along with the other horrors of life, my 20s were awful but thankfully and haphazardly found acupuncture (after going off the birth control pill because I wanted to find alternative methods) to help me manage my pain and symptoms. I found much relief and healing through it and Chinese herbs, going off pain medication (Naproxen, Vioxx, tons of Advil – gotta have my m&ms and there is still little relief. Padma Lakshmi was on Vicodin), anxiety and I feel, lots of procedures. My perspective on this is that with the pain relief provided through acu, maybe we can avoid multiple procedures. I had an outpatient one six years ago to remove an ovarian polyp. Plop plop, fiss fiss, oh what a relief it is. The exhaustion never leaves you though.
I also give credit to the Pluto power the Divine has gifted me as I learn the journey of healing through death and rebirth, realizing it’s all a part of my destiny. I am grateful for it all. If it wasn’t for this disease, I would have never learned what balance in life looks like, a learning mandated by my 8th house Libra stellium, how to self-care with discipline (a constant struggle) with my Cancer north node in the 6th and draw boundaries (Taurus Moon).
For many of us, covid has been a trying time. I felt something major was about to happen and during went into observation mode of the virus with acceptance, providing astrological explanation to those looking for answers. But then I noticed the precise corner of that metal bar grinding into my lower back and spine, a pain getting worse. And even as I knew that the Pluto-Saturn conjunction of January 2020 heralded covid as well as other changes to come, I had trouble coming to terms with its conjunction to five degrees of my 12th house south node in Capricorn, simultaneously squaring my Pluto-Libra Stellium. Some balance issues including around my health were coming on.
I was unable to see my acupuncturist for six months of 2020 and ended up having minor and major bleeding for two months straight. How can someone who has had a monthly appointment for something that helps her function for over eleven years have it taken away for half a year?! Thanks a lot, communist China. The number of pads you go through starts numbing your mind and senses. I was so exhausted, and felt like I had been whacked with that stupid metal bar over and over again. It took me over a year to get somewhat back on track with another month of horrific bleeding in between. I am the eternally leaking faucet.
With endometriosis, there are so many moments you numbingly wonder why you exist and what the heck you’re supposed to do with your Saturnian time-space reality. You want to barf all the time and hate food. I just want to go to the mountains somewhere, preferably the Himalayas and sleep, do Yoga Nidra and drink tea for all of time. Good god how much can life revolve around food even to the point of your entertainment involving food and restaurants. I know you’re not supposed to hate but sometimes I can’t stand food so I eat it like it’s garbage and thus my subsistence on cookies and tea.
Now at age 40 (a month in, help), I’m waiting for a call back from my gynecologist’s office to schedule a laparoscopy to remove this wretched cyst. I’ve left two messages and wondered where I went wrong in managing my endo. How did this reoccurrence happen? Of course my 8th house Pluto will probe into the why and nature of this but I’ve also come to a point in life where I’ve stopped asking why for too long. I think part of the unfathomable power and meaning of what Pluto brings is an understanding that it directs you, you can’t direct it. You have to work with its’ power, learning when to activate it and when to hold back, or just be with it for some time. Power is not just yang it’s yin. You have to let Pluto take its’ course.
You do shed some tears (shocking, how did those tears come out of me) feeling that you’re not an Empress yet, one who is abundant, healthy and elated. You always envision yourself having a ‘clean 2nd chakra’ and being a total Goddess, Queen or Princess. Actually don’t call me princess, I can’t stand that. But then you accept that even though you feel like a Queen on some level and look good wearing your Indian outfits, matching jewelry and decent make up, you see blood everywhere, underneath your dress and in the perimeters around you, at gatherings, meetings, all around the house. You feel beautiful but it’s a marred beauty. Something is never whole.
I guess you can’t keep complaining if you’ve come to a point not liking the results and complaining about how things should be ‘better,’ ‘cleaner,’ and ‘healed.’ Because what’s in front of you regardless of how you perceive it is Healing. These heavy rocks in my 2nd chakra are part of my Pluto path and it’s all necessary. It’s my pattern, my power and powerlessness, and if Lord Shiva wants to smash my ego into smithereens with harsh waters to get to the next pattern so be it. There is cataclysmic change and destruction, at least that’s how we as humans have defined it.
Pluto is the Soul and the Evolution. Transformation, regeneration and power dynamics are the themes and as ruler of Scorpio, it guides the understanding of your psyche and the nature of growth. Pluto is also the Unconscious desires we have yet to manifest and exhaust.
My shocking experience in law school thrust me into a different and unexpected path in life, a path I’m still years later coming to terms with. Instead of becoming a 9 to 9 lawyer with a controlled uterus who does her dance stuff on weekends, I became a conflict resolution professional, astrologer and educational something who plunged into spirituality, psychosomatic healing and trauma work within a wild schedule and with one too many naps over the years. And performed and arranged dance events with fellow artists in artsy-fartsy Pittsburgh. Basically, I am poor, waking up to panic and dark moments after my naps over my slim winnings, having had to move home to build this dream. WHAT?!?!
The force of Pluto makes you do things you would have never consciously chosen. The conflict and inertia it creates can be completely unbearable at times. I am in no way anti-establishment or any path that can help assist the female body or life. To each their own. But I am constantly scared into choosing what I view as an authentic life even when I don’t want to for fear of something worse at times, choosing an ‘alternative path’ that feeds both my mind and body wellness. How much scaring into submission can one take? That is a choice for every Soul to make.
And through all of this, you learn compassion and love for others and yourself because you know what it’s like to be almost completely submerged under heavy furniture and threatened by the various metals surrounding our existence. This is not easy whatsoever. As Jupiter transits Pisces in 2022, I hope my sense of compassion deepens and that I can feel further Surrender into Love and Oneness. And I hope that whatever it is the Divine wants to Create through me and my Ovary, I come into further Acceptance and Joy.
~ Love and Peace ~
For more about endo, visit: https://www.endofound.org/endometriosis
To donate menstrual products to those in need, visit: https://www.endofound.org/periodnow
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Mercury Retrograde in Gemini: May 29 – Jun 22
Once again it’s eclipse season and we have another pair of eclipses in Gemini/Sagittarius. In between them, Mercury retrograde (Rx) begins in Gemini giving us a time period of intense Gemini flavor! Mercury naturally rules Gemini so while in its own sign, we can harness its’ natural ability to communicate effectively and also receive what others are saying even during difficult interactions. A Venus/Mercury Rx conjunction during Memorial Day weekend could initiate a moment of needing to find a balance point around a particular communication after experiencing a bump in the road.
Whether on a personal, professional or societal level, it will be incredibly important to take personal responsibility for what we are saying to each other while also asking clarifying questions so as to avoid ugly misunderstandings, intense anger and anxiety. If you find yourself in a stalemate situation, the help of a third-party facility or counselor could help in moving things forward. Gemini and Sagittarius are all about learning and under this Retrograde we will definitely be learning some new and essential communication and interaction skills.
But why? Because Gemini needs movement. We need to move the dynamics of interaction and explore while talking with each other. We need to move around in general to find out what’s out there and what we can integrate into our consciousness. The Jun 10th Solar eclipse tightly conjunct within one degree of Mercury Rx signifies a big rebirth and reevaluation around these learning and movement themes. How do we actually move around physically now and interact with our local environment and how can we further evolve? For example, if you’re working from home now and wondering if and how you will operate in the long term, you’ll probably get a better idea. If you aren’t driving to work, in what other ways are you moving your mind? Is there something else that gives you an energy change or feeds your intellectual curiosity?
Movement of course does not always have to be through a vehicle. It is first a bodily process. This Rx would be an excellent time to explore a new way of moving the body especially with long transiting Uranus in Taurus in the mix. Maybe health requirements might propel you into exploring different forms of movement or exercise. There’s nothing more literally Geminian than learning movement! Maybe we may even have epiphanies around how we learn and synthesize and how our body might function better.
The sabian symbol keynote for this Solar eclipse degree is “the assimilation of multifarious knowledge through the synthesizing power of the mind.” Part of assimilation is exercising discrimination around what exactly we need and don’t need in our minds. Instead of learning by collecting, we might need to learn by deleting, throwing out ideas and dynamics that aren’t helping us anymore. Maybe we need to do some major spring cleaning.
Testing Beauty Standards w Rell Rushin
Really enjoyed my conversation with Rell during this New moon in Taurus 🌙♉ on how prevailing beauty standards affect black women, brown women and diaspora in America.
View the full presentation at https://www.patreon.com/posts/51152675
Learn more about Anjali Soi on Pittsburgh’s Hotlist:
Learn more about Conflict Resolution Courses for Youth @ 20:00 in Pittsburgh Hotlist’s Interview with Anjali
Uranus in Taurus: Stunned in Despair
Over the last few months, as much as I have tried to pull myself out of a bottomless pit of despair, hurt and woundedness, I regrettably have not been able to get out of it. My body has also suffered through one too many extra pastries, lack of exercise, the usual hormonal imbalances and an idly stagnant mental health scene. Until I reached out to my life mentor who as usual put me straight in her firm yet gentle and compassionate way (she is a Goddess), I was not able to pull myself decently together and reevaluate what the heck I was doing (or not).
Of course you can always look to the intense transits in the sky and one’s evolutionary karma to understand why there is a ton of gunk sitting in front of you, there from whatever reason, through your fault or another’s. Because I am not yet an enlightened monk, I unfortunately cannot dissolve it with the laser focus of my inner light so I need the help of various methods to help me through and astrology is at the end of the day, a big one of those methods.
The pain I’ve been feeling has been so literal, so in the body. Uranus in Taurus has been one of the main culprits with it transiting my Moon sign, and Taurus, in addition to Aries, is the body. Taurus is the physical and emotional needs of a person from which it relates with itself and others and which contribute to survival. It teaches self-sufficiency, foundation-building and learns to draw boundaries. The evolutionary journey starts in Aries, when the Soul is propelled from the womb and experiences the initial spark of life and instinct but it then forms attachments with its surroundings through Taurus, coming to some understanding of what is a part of Its survival and values.
Uranus forces us to rebel and become our Authentic self. It electrifyingly initiates our spiritual liberation in unexpected ways, being that it is also the planet of trauma and shocks. Its continued transit through Taurus means we have been jumpstarted into a journey of digging deep and uncovering the truth of what we need to physically and emotionally survive and be our True Selves. And if we aren’t aware of what our needs are or even the concept of having needs, especially in relationships, then we are up for some surprises.
A divorce, betrayal, loss of income or injury are just a few of the many examples of situations that would force us into learning about why what was didn’t survive and what it is that we will need moving forward to build solid foundations that will last longer. The Taurus bull sure loves sweets so instead of reaching for that pastry, we can focus on what is internally missing in the first place even if it’s painful, go for a brisk walk and make a smoothie instead.
Simultaneously occurring Chiron in Aries makes the stress on the body more difficult, especially the head area, where stress headaches, migraines and general inflammation in the body can become worse. Chiron is a comet similar to Uranus in that it shows us the nature of our wounds. The theme of these wounds is ever present throughout our lives but Chiron is known as the ‘wounded healer,’ so it becomes a great healer after transforming from them.
Aries instinct is masculine in nature, but it exists in everybody regardless of sex or gender, and where we have not been able to exercise our primal self produces pain. Pluto, the planet of intense death and rebirth, has drudged up a lot around our world systems through its transit in Capricorn so intense rage is sure to come up especially given the historical existence of patriarchy over thousands of years with many human beings repressed in so many ways. The collective effects of Chiron in Aries are violence, impulsive behavior and tremendous fear. Repressed rage and anxiety results from separation anxiety (initially from the womb), being cutoff from the primal psyche and unactualized identity.
And as we are uncovering ways in which our Taurean survival needs are traumatized, you can imagine the effect on the body and mental health. Are we not being forced into taking care of our physical vessels and reevaluating how we manifest our willpower? Do we still have a willpower? I myself have repeatedly imagined my natural brown-skinned self and how she would have felt surviving in nature, killing animals and collecting nuts for food, while adorning herself with natural paint colors taken from flowers, leaves, etc. Sure this imagery has a bunch of connotations but from my view, I get such a feeling of peace and sensual satisfaction from it. Alas, the only option I have is going into a pharmacy with rows of packaging and pick out a ‘beauty’ option to feel hopefully vibrant. I’d rather vomit.
In any case, the uncovering of our independence and earthly selves is paramount, especially if we are quite literally physically to survive and isn’t survival the primary concern in our world after all? These transits will continue for another five years. Instead of eternally saddened about the upsets currently in life or falling into despair, maybe I should realize that indeed there is a ‘basic’ part of my evolutionary journey missing and for much of humankind and it’s up to me to bring it into existence to fulfill the journey. There is no other choice.
You are more than your Sun sign
from Natural Awakenings magazine SWPA: https://issuu.com/…/na-pitt-0521_folder_na…/s/12216599
“Popular astrology often consists of knowing your Sun sign with many people stating ‘I’m an Aries’ or ‘I’m a Scorpio’ when a discussion about astrology begins. But many don’t know that they also have a Moon sign and other planetary signs. Reading your Sun sign horoscope or understanding your personality traits based on Sun sign astrology definitely has validity but this is just the very tip of the iceberg in the world of astrology.
When you were born, all of the planets including the Sun and the Moon were passing through certain signs, which are different than but related to constellations, relative to the human eye’s position on earth. Aries corresponds to the Aries constellation, Taurus to the Taurus constellation and so on. For example, if you were born in May, then maybe you have the Sun in Aries, the Moon in Gemini, Mercury in Aries, Venus in Taurus, Mars in Sagittarius, Jupiter and Saturn in Scorpio and so on with Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. These planetary signs will equally indicate your personality and aspects of your life just as much as your Sun sign.
The planets represent aspects of your psyche and activate the signs, or our needs and qualities. The Sun represents our well-being and what we come back to to feel whole again. The Moon represents our emotional and feeling body while Mercury shows our thinking and communicating nature. Venus shows how we can achieve balance and the nature of our relationships and Mars shows how we activate our conscious desires and ego. Knowing your planetary signs gives you a much more complete and accurate view of who you are and your life path. You will achieve a more holistic and integrated understanding.”
Dancing towards Uranus: Lessons in Freedom and Harmony
A Uranus and Venus conjunction happens once almost every year. What a conjunction manifests depends on the nature of the sign the planets conjunct in, or the degree of the zodiac they both ‘collide’ at. On April 22, 2021, they both collided at 10° Taurus. Traditionally ruled by Venus, Taurus energy is determined, devoted and materially creative and resourceful, often the sign of fashion, design, gardening and singing given that it rules the throat chakra and neck. Its’ Venus rulership merges it with Libra territory, giving it artistic ability, such as in dance, and skill in creating harmony, as art is an expression of harmony, symmetry and agreement.
Uranus still has another five years to complete its transit through Taurus. Uranus is an outer planet that guides part of your spiritual journey in evolutionary journey. Its’ mandate is to liberate yourself from the existing structures in your life and to innovate with a spirit of rebellion as you find freedom and new ways of expression. But Uranus’ lightening, electric energy often fulfills its mandate erratically, forcing radical and instantaneous changes and tipping you off your balance and routine.
I felt this transit more intensely because my Moon is in Taurus, it was inconjunct my natal Venus and I have a bunch of planets in Libra. I felt lots of creativity wanting to express itself but was having trouble getting it to flow. It felt as if something new and exciting was coming but hadn’t come yet and the friction kept brewing underneath the surface.
Classical dance is my Libran expression, specifically Indian classical dance, Bharatanatyam, and now classical Flamenco. Libra is also cooperation and collaboration and there’s nothing more I love than collaborating with others, artists and non-artists, in creating new works and ideas. This is really my life’s breath, and recently I had a chance to get back to my classical Indian dance roots as a couple dance colleagues and I were commissioned to do a video performance for an upcoming virtual convention this summer.
At first my colleagues and I thought we had a couple months to work on our performance but a couple weeks before the Uranus-Venus conjunction, a very early deadline was unexpectedly thrust into our faces and we found ourselves working day and night planning, choreographing, rehearsing and editing video. Having to coordinate the video recording of our performance during a continuing pandemic while a couple of us were still waiting to get our second vaccination shots was an additional challenge. There was venting and complaining along the way while feeling shock as we needed to complete everything with electric speed. I realized that the sudden nature of this whole event was Uranus at play and its conjunction with Venus in Taurus played out in my artwork.
Interestingly, after joyously dancing for two whole days outside amidst alternating shades of light and dark in the sky turned out be an otherworldly experience and we found ourselves feeling light and beautifully fulfilled afterwards. Professional and amateur dancers got a chance to work their artistic muscles and create together after a long time. Longstanding ideas were being exercised and inventions for the future were stirring. Friendship felt stronger and initial planning around creating with different resources such as film and media was occurring. Most importantly, we felt free.
Such is the nature of Uranus – this awesome planet wants you to do something unique and stand out in your authenticity as you experience liberation. It forces you into new experiences, painful and joyous, to experience the different. I had never worked with a drone before and was as happy as a delighted little kid when holding dance poses for a flying, buzzing camera above my head even though I couldn’t feel my legs and arms afterwards! Amidst the craziness of these unforeseen circumstances, I was gleeful with a newfound self. The lesson of Uranus is to attain your freedom with some fun. And with like-minded people.
Instead of focusing on the stress of something unexpected, we can focus on how the experience might lead us to a newfound self. Can we use it to manifest a different part of our selves and even dissolve an outmoded way of functioning? Can we evolve spiritually from it and step into our authenticity? If you can, then you’ve fulfilled a spiritual teaching of Uranus and that’s an accomplishment worth (Taurus) creating for.
Happy Dancing!
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