mercury retrograde

How do you say goodbye to the old Capricorn?

Anjali Soi Astrology , , , , ,

Pluto in Aquarius: January 20 – September 1, 2024, November 19, 2024 – March 8, 2043

Pluto transits last couple degrees of Capricorn: June 12, 2023 – January 21, 2024, September 2nd – November 19th, 2024

Venus Retrograde: 28 Leo – 12 Leo, July 22 – September 3, 2024

Mercury Retrograde: 21 Virgo – 8 Virgo, Aug 23 – September 15, 2024

Venus’ current retrograde in Leo brings attention to what our hearts’ desires are and our creative instincts (Leo) and where or how we need to find balance. Retrogrades are time periods where you take a step back and reevaluate and reflect on the sign’s topics. In this case, Leo also involves children and romance so depending on where the later degrees of Leo fall in your chart and if you have planets there will show how much attention these get during the retrograde.

Currently, it also makes a tense square aspect to Uranus’ long-term transit through Taurus, signifying how we might need to compromise our heart’s wants with our personal needs or the needs of someone else or a particular situation. Maybe due to financial strain, we need to become more creative with how we are using our resources to manifest what we want. Developing a relationship with money and how we create our foundations might shift from doing it routinely through old values and habits to new ones. There could be new relationships or changes in current relationships (Venus) developing underneath the surface, which would help facilitate this shift into the future.

Mercury’s upcoming retrograde through Virgo will also have us reflecting and possibly making changes around our health, how we can be of service, and where we could practice more humility. Venus and Mercury retrograding together for about ten days in August could have us possibly thinking about how we can merge our creative instincts with how we are of service. Are we serving the whole in a way that truly comes from the heart? We may also have to look at where our subjective ego (Leo) may need to become a bit more humble. Do we need to do some self-analysis without becoming too overly critical on how we relate and work with others? Mercury will be in its own sign this time so it has an advantage here to make positive improvements more easily.

I saw Barbie a couple weekends ago and thought of this picture of me. I’m 16 years old, standing straight, hands folded, carrying a serious, resigned and focused look. I know how I’m supposed to look, it’s ingrained in me and so natural. Maybe I knew what my future would hold at that time and it would be the usual: a professional woman ending up in a warped Capricornian, male-dominated or dysfunctional world where I would function without knowledge of her feminine and tortured with it. And personally with a partner who is deranged in nature and happy to be with his princess (barf). If I ever get married, will I be able to eat two or three ladoos in front of my in-laws or will I have to hide in the kitchen to eat them?

It’s neat that this movie came out during Pluto’s transit through the last couple intense degrees of Capricorn. It was quite the cinematic display of power dynamics and blinding superficiality in our systems as well as the extra unneeded attention given to Ken in the film. I’m so glad Barbie was able to finally feel her feels and shed a few tears. I’m also glad she didn’t get hounded by a nurse who was astonished to learn that you chose to keep your uterus (at least in the film).  

I’m at a point in life where I haven’t taken a shit in four days. This is the first time this has happened and as a Plutonian and Punjabi person, this does not make me proud. Ever since my surgery last year, I’m having difficulty shitting. Pluto is for good churning and refining our futures. What am I having trouble letting go? Capricorn represents our fate, past and karma, and the rewards and consequences of what we reap. Will my efforts from the past trying to connect with the feminine and true self reap rewards for this life? What will I shit out? What is having trouble coming forth? How much smooth-move tea can one drink without becoming addicted or miserable?

I have become a different version of Barbie 25 years after this picture was taken. This new Barbie is evolving a different power dynamic with what exists, one where she can finally say no to what doesn’t make her feel comfortable, yes to her passions and most importantly, yes to her body and yes to her psyche. Her body is no longer a machine or a nail in the machine that holds the parts together without herself having any concern for her own well-being. She now works with consciousness and from the heart and has decided it is up to the systems and people out there to respond and compromise. I’ll be inventing (Aquarius) a clearer picture of my ‘heart’s ground’ during these retrogrades and seeing how I can be of more authentic service to the world from this ground especially as Pluto moves into Aquarius. And let’s hope I can also find my routine again..

My Rite Aid list

Anjali Soi Astrology , , , ,

We all know what time it is! The Rite Aid pharmacy is one of my favorite places. I only prefer Rite Aid and not the other ones. When I go there, I feel a sense of safety and relief like someone really cares about my well-being. Here is my receipt from a recent trip:

1 RA Epsom salt (they ran out of Dr. Teal’s!) – $5.69

1 Conair 51100VLV brush – $6.09

1 Eucerin Advance Replenish lotion – $11.49

1 Hello toothpaste antiplaque whitening – $5.79

1 Boiron arnicare gel 2.6 oz – $11.29

1 Natrol melatanonin FSTDS (a new experiment)** – $12.49

1 Reese’s peanut butter cup 1.5oz (I normally don’t eat peanuts but once in a while life is too rough to deal with so I enjoy Reese’s) – .88

1 Kidcents contribution (I don’t know how this happened and now every time I buy something I contribute) – .13

subtract $1.75 Eucerin coupon and $6.00 coupon (spend $40 get $6 off)

and the total comes to $47.00 including tax

** this turned out to be a no-no as per acudoc’s orders oops

Unfortunately, I no longer get an additional 10% discount which I enjoyed for quite some time (hence the coupon) but I will continue to support Rite Aid because they gave me 20% off for a long time too!

As I was sitting in Panera maybe like a year or so ago, I had the unfortunate opportunity of having to listen to a tirade by a barista, who I’ve known for quite some time. For a while, we were incredibly friendly with each other, enjoying nice conversations here and there as he came up to my table while I was working.

But then one day he noticed an evolutionary astrology book sitting next to my laptop and stared at it with his nose as if it was a weird looking rat of some sort. I wasn’t in the mood to talk about it but the next time I saw him, I learned he was an anti-Darwinist and mentioned something about human life beginning 5,000 years ago. Our interactions thereon became tense with him just nodding at me if I said hi. I don’t think he liked the look on my face either.

On another visit, I was stopped by him as he helped me with my trash and suddenly began ranting about how China is forcing abortions with their child limit policies and how Hinduism is not a nature based religion, making some point around the need for naturalism? and listening to the mental and emotional needs of a person, the whole person. I spoke up here and said no, you are misinformed. Hinduism is very nature based but was interrupted as he went on and on about this and that and expressed how he was going to get in trouble for ranting on and on but he couldn’t help himself. He just couldn’t shut up and I was trying to practice Silence. I listened too long as usual and eventually excused myself..

I hope my money at Rite Aid is not supporting anti-evolutionaries. Am I hoping this because RA and Panera are located so near each other? Is it because two objects sitting next to each other may have a connection? What?!

We still have an awkward relationship filled with empty stares and silences.

Is this why I am always afraid to go to the dentist? And the eye doctor at times? How many more Sally Hansen face wax strips must I buy!

Last month while at Rite Aid, ‘You Gotta Be’ by Des’ree started playing and I kid you not, I started tearing up. The same song I’ve heard before at RA and every time it just gives me that strength I need.

Yea Hunan Kitchen!

Mercury Retrograde in Gemini: May 29 – Jun 22

Anjali Soi Astrology , ,

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.

Transit update: Mercury Retrograde in Scorpio

Anjali Soi Astrology , , ,

One of my conference speakers @lisa.m.perez was asking about the impact of Mercury Retrograde this month (Nov 2019) and I have to say unlike maybe most people out there, this particular transit is giving me a sense of reprieve rather than fright and fear. It might be because I have Mercury retrograde natally in my chart and because I have a shit ton of planets in my 8th house, the house of Scorpio, so I’m used to the scary stuff and there’s not much that surprises me anymore. What I do feel the important element in this transit is that it will require us to above all else get real and honest. Maybe that will be the solution to dealing with the scary, intense energies and to cutting through the bullshit we are pervaded with in our lives.

Pluto is the ruler of Scorpio, an outer spiritual planet whose energy is atomic and obsessive, and governs good v. evil, the dark side, destruction, violence and of the like. In evolutionary astrology, Pluto is also the Soul that houses our unconscious desires that want to manifest in this life, the path of evolution that we may not be always conscious of but which nevertheless dictates our choices and manifests through Mars, the ego-drive and conscious desires. As Mars transits the later degrees of Libra during the entire Mercury retrograde, we are essentially being directed to take an honest look at how we are or are not manifesting harmony and balance in our lives and this may involve getting real about what our limits are or where we need to take more risks in life.

We have relationships with everything, from the people in our world to the paperwork sitting at our desks. Where do we feel isolated, disconnected, suppressed or over-involved? Where are we tolerating too much bullshit? Are we scared, even petrified, to change? With Mercury’s higher octave Uranus transiting Taurus for the next six years, we need to take a hard look at our finances and the resources we use in our lives. Money, debt and shared resources in partnership is a Scorpio topic so maybe it’s time to take advantage of this transit and reevaluate how these are constructed in your life.

Begin to at least think about a couple adjustments because it’s better to be proactive when the cosmic energies are supportive of such reevaluation and one’s intuition may be indicating so instead of being forced to do it later after a crisis occurs. Uranus is after all the planet of sudden surprises, the lightening bolt that shatters everything so that you become the real you, separate from the status quo. But its’ electric energy also provides those flashes of insight and genius that propel the necessary changes into action.

And if we aren’t getting what we truly need, even after we ask or strive for it, then it’s time to negotiate (Libra). This is how you strike some level of balance and achieve momentary levels of harmony. And let’s become clear about what our needs are, from the physical to the emotional and psychological. Take time to understand what those are because clarity is priceless. If we can’t be clear with ourselves then we can’t be clear with others. From a woman’s point of view, I can’t stress this enough.

Well it seems like I got serious by the end of this post. There is something definitely eerie to this retrograde. But it may be something eerily good if we are aware, probing and passionate, all Scorpio qualities that can easily be harnessed at this time.

Love and Peace ~ Anjali

Mars Heavy

Anjali Soi Astrology , , ,

Beginning now until end of April, an interplay between fire and earth elements tests us on many levels. Mercury begins its retrograde in Aries, ruled by Mars, on the 23rd until Apr 16 and Uranus covers the last couple of degrees of Aries before it enters Taurus in May. We also have the Sun in Aries, the north node continuing in Leo (fire), Jupiter continuing in Scorpio (traditional ruler Mars) and Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn (earth). Aries, an aggressive, instinct-driven energy, is closely connected to the physical body. Our thinking (Mercury) is aligning with Aries energy and the retrograde transit will encourage us to deeply reflect on where we are out of alignment with our instinctual natures. Observing where one’s intuition and gut instincts are repressed during the retrograde will indicate where peace and harmony need to be integrated.

Take advantage of this retrograde period to move in a healing direction particularly as a prevention measure because April becomes increasingly intense (and possibly ugly) with Mars drilling in Capricorn now until May 17th. Aries and Capricorn are energies that don’t easily merge or work well together and without consistent intentional effort towards positive productivity, they get scattered and frustrated. Mars’ hot-tempered nature doesn’t exactly provide warning as to what it wants but its’ severing energy wants to in fact break apart the existing structures (Capricorn) and systems in our lives. Mars throws tantrums because it wants to be human again and anything that blocks the expression of that humanness must be faced.

Energy expresses itself positively or negatively. Negative manifestations of Mars include violence, rage or illness such as headaches. Capricorn rules bones so aggravations of arthritis, bone diseases and inflammation are likely especially if you are already prone. April 1-3 brings a culmination point with a Mars and Saturn conjunction and Venus’ transit through Taurus in April emphasizes survival but brings a more supportive influence.

Mars whirls in another layer of energy April 17th, with a New Moon in Aries and Chiron moving into Aries for the next eight years. If you haven’t had enough of Mars yet, stay tuned.