Good Morning!

A double dose of earthy, steady Taurus energy kicks off the work week, as the Sun enters the sign of the Bull at 5:42AM ET and joins the Moon — currently void until 7:28PM ET. Perhaps you will need an extra push to get you going this morning. Or your plans may be subject to a higher than average “flake factor” of twists, delays and “crises” that later prove to be much ado about nothing.

Once you do get started, however,  you are likely to find an easy flow of applied action and resources, driven by some big idea. Why? Because mental Mercury and expansive Jupiter are making exact contact just past midnight on Tuesday. By happy hour Tuesday, Mars (action) and Pluto (resources) will also make contact. Got it? What are you working on today that will build upon your need for material security?

At 7:28PM ET, there may be plenty to talk about, as the Moon enters pixie chatterbox Gemini. Tuesday looks productive, for reasons noted in the preceding paragraph. Get the word out — gather the facts — for your New Moon plans for world domination.  On Wednesday, the Moon will be void all day, suggesting you resist the urge to formally launch anything you wish to be of consequence. Planetary patterns on Wednesday do favor serious research and resourcefulness, however, as Mercury moves on from Jupiter to potent Pluto and then Mars. Or we may see a lot of talk, but no action.

The only other Moon void this week happens on Friday at 1:04PM ET….until 9:13AM ET on Saturday. Overall, a week that begins with solid enthusiasm, backed by brainpower, resources and good cheer. If your unique horoscope is experiencing more challenging transits, call or shoot me an email and we will make an appointment to talk about it. Astrology is a wonderful tool for gaining clarity, whether you’re struggling to make sense of your own life or others around you.

And now, the news.

More headlines cropped up in the “big is beautiful” vein, courtesy of last week’s charged connection between Mars (action) and Jupiter (big).  Big money in politics received another  tax break from our elected representatives in Congress. Do not despair, as George Lucas demonstrated what Sir Isaac Newton first determined: that “for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction”. With that Mars in Taurus (building and maintaining material security) and Jupiter in regal, generous Leo,  he announced he’d build and finance 224 units of affordable housing on his own land, “because we’ve got enough millionaires here,” thank you very much.

Power, resources and status quo disruptions are of course what we expect in the wake of the seven Uranus-Pluto squares. I love this one — the most-emailed article in Sunday’s NYT: “Solar Power Battle Puts Hawaii at the Forefront of Worldwide Changes” — guess who prevented one homeowner from installing solar panels that would have saved him $12,000 in one year? Meanwhile in California, a battle over another resource is brewing, as residents consider whether it makes sense for a private company to export bottled water for profit when they are being asked to reduce water consumption because of a drought. The San Bernardino Desert Sun did some investigative reporting and found that Nestle’s bottled water business “has been taking water from some of California’s driest areas on permits that expired as long as 27 years ago“.

Update on Meryl Streep, whose horoscope was last written about here in mid-February. Planetary patterns suggested themes of empowerment and emancipation, along with a fresh start in matters of career and reputation. Over the weekend, on that big Mercury (writing) – Jupiter alignment, laced with a dash of Venus (women) square Neptune (charity, arts), her “significant” contribution to an initiative supporting women screenwriters over 40 was announced.

Update on Jon Stewart, also last covered here in mid-February:  in a lengthy interview published in The Guardian, he explains what motivated him to leave The Daily Show — and it all sounds exactly what you’d expect to hear from someone going through a heavy period of Neptune, followed by Saturn. Translation: feelings of dissatisfaction, lack of purpose and bewilderment….followed by ambition and gravitas.

Update on Monsanto, which was written about here last week:  U.S. regulators announce they “may” start testing food for glyphosate, the active ingredient in Round-Up, Monsanto’s ubiquitous pesticide, which was labeled a “probable carcinogen” in a recent WHO study.

Update on John Harrison, a British clockmaker who has never been covered here before. He made news, as his horoscope suggested he might, despite having died over 200 years ago. Mr. Harrison’s has Sun at 14 Aries, conjunct Mercury at 16 Aries, and if you’re an avid reader of this forecast, you know that any planet or point at 14-16 Aries would likely be pushed into prominence or celebrated for its uniqueness — big time — thanks to two eclipses and the seventh Uranus-Pluto square all happening in that part of the zodiac.  Here’s an excerpt from the whole piece in The Guardian:

One of Guinness World Records’ more unusual awards was presented at the National Maritime Museum yesterday. After a 100-day trial, the timepiece known as Clock B – which had been sealed in a clear plastic box to prevent tampering – was officially declared, by Guinness, to be the world’s “most accurate mechanical clock with a pendulum swinging in free air”.

It was an intriguing enough award. But what is really astonishing is that the clock was designed more than 250 years ago by a man who was derided at the time for “an incoherence and absurdity that was little short of the symptoms of insanity”, and whose plans for the clock lay ignored for two centuries.

I appreciate the “maritime” theme of this story, given Neptune (ruler of oceans, fish) being so prominent in the weekend’s planetary patterns. Neptune also refers to refugees. With Neptune in a loose square to Saturn in Sagittarius (travel, foreigners), it is not surprising to read of an ocean tragedy: an estimated 700 migrants presumed perished while attempting to cross the Mediterranean from Africa to Europe.

On a lighter note, I appreciated the timing of Sunday’s NYT piece on trout-fishing — in the sports section — which included this dreamy Neptunian prose:

We stand in the stream and we become part of the circulatory system of the planet — the rivulets, brooks, streams and rivers that pulse throughout our lands and connect the land to the sea, and those seas to other seas (and through water vapor and clouds, and migratory birds and fish, those seas back to the land). Through fishing, we can, for brief moments, achieve a kind of immortality when we step into this perpetual flow, and see our reflection in the water, and become part of it.

Isn’t that lovely?

For another transporting experience, I submit this breath-taking and thought-provoking illusion: a time-lapse recreation of the evolution of the New York skyline — from 515 years ago to the present. It’s what visitors to the new World Trade Center Observatory during the elevator ride to the top.

Your horoscope is also awesome. If you’ve never taken the time to learn about its mystical patterns — and been amazed at how they have manifested in your real life, I invite you to do so now. Checking in with your  astrologer every six-twelve months will help you plan, prioritize and keep things in perspective. You can also use astrology to build better relationships with family, colleagues and friends.

Thank you for reading this forecast — and for sharing it with the rest of the Free World.