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Hello again for our very first monthly preview. I'm also proud to announce that my astrology website is finally up and running. Spirit World Center clientele and podcast listeners can use code BERKANO for 30% off your booking. Frequent podcast listeners may be excited to note that I'm offering a $30 Podcast Follow-Along report which is specifically for you. Now, on to business!
February will be the last month of uncomplicated forward motion on our terms. Once March begins, we'll have a lot of big energetic shifts that will disrupt the sensation of having one's feet on familiar ground. For now, we still have a solid feel for the rules of engagement.
February's themes are all about relearning our own deep feelings. Many have been living in the theoretical as a way to keep their guard up. As some planets stay in aloof Aquarius, others will transition us back to embodiment, intuition and deep-seated feelings, bringing a natural tension to light.
1-10 February: Finding equilibrium.
Our feelings and our actions are seemingly at odds to start out the month. This period is the start of a dance that will continue throughout the year highlighting tensions between Mars and Venus as they travel through the zodiac. When Mars in Gemini squares Venus in Pisces on 4 February at 21:28 (chart) we will be feeling the dissonance and friction in the spaces between our intellectual pursuits, the actions we've been taking, our desires, and our deep emotions. This may not immediately make sense, but try to find some unity here. Or, it will be found for you when the Full Moon in Leo peaks on 5 February at 12:28 (chart)
This full moon will expose the core tensions between our passionate feelings (Jupiter in Aries, Venus in Pisces, Moon in Leo) and our dispassionate intellectual undertakings (Mercury in Capricorn, Sun and Saturn in Aquarius). For many, especially those with personal planets in Leo, this will be a natural "Look at me!" lunation full of pride and self-love. We'll want to be heard strongly enough that we will find ourself initiating the conversation, even if the opportunity doesn't elegantly present itself.
In general, we think of Full Moons as culminating events, times of fulfillment, renewal, and generally increased magickal activity. This would be a great time for workings related to our hunger, to our primal, fierce desires, and to those things that aren't formalized, but that we want to scream about and tear from the world.
"[February's Full Moon] was called the Hunger Moon by many different peoples in many different languages, but always for the same reason. When you depend on the land where you live for food, and the land has been frozen for months, you are likely to be hungry," -Dorian Winslow, Horticulture
We're going to be feeling this sort of hunger in the early days of February, but emotionally. This may be the first bubbling through moment that will kick off a pattern which continues throughout the year.
10-11: One last dispatch from the dark
When Pluto conjoins Mercury on 10 February at 11:15 (chart) it brings a dark seed of a thought, just as Mercury is about to leave Capricorn. This one moment brings something deep, dark and likely not wholly understood which will blossom throughout the month. Pluto is a planet of revelation and fear that brings things bubbling to the surface. These two together looks like a making or receiving a strong communication that will impact you in the Capricorn area of your natal chart. It will be one last thing we have to learn from Mercury--a message of intuition--from the pressures and darkness of Capricorn.
When Mercury enters Aquarius on 11 February at 5:23 (chart) it brings a shift in our interests and communications from the depths of winter, our ancestor work, and the wild hunt into the hunger of spring and concern for the collective.
15-19 February: Tensions between our dreams and our reality.
When the Moon in Sagittarius opposes Mars in Gemini on 15 Feb at 2:05 (chart) we may experience a little hiccup in our emotional state. Especially, when Venus and Neptune conjoin in Pisces later that same morning at 6:25 (chart). These moments will contrast deeply with the Saturn and Sun conjunction in Aquarius on 16 February at 10:48 (chart). Together, these days will surface the friction between our own wishful thinking and the practical realities of why those dreams may not be practical (or in our best interests in the long term). Take a look to where Pisces and Aquarius fall in your chart to see where you'll be doing some wishful thinking and getting a little reality check, respectively.
This pattern plays out over the next two days as Jupiter in Aries sextiles Mercury in Aquarius on 17 February at 20:13 (chart). With Jupiter in Aries, we'll be feeling the pressure to brute force manifest our goals. This Mercury dispatch (straight from a sign-based conjunction with Saturn and the Sun) will be another major reality check. Try to glean what's possible from this transit before the Sun enters Pisces on 18 February at 16:35 (chart). The Sun's sign-based conjunction with Neptune and Venus will intensify the big dreams (and possibly delusional thinking) that kick started this period. For some, this will be a relief. For others, it may reveal the true emotional weight of our goals.
20-22 February: A proper new beginning
With the New Moon in Pisces on 20 February at 1:05 (chart) we will have the Sun, Moon, Venus, & Neptune all in Pisces in a sign-based square against Mars in Gemini. The Gemini area of your life, then, may contain a hint to some friction you're experiencing that's currently shaping your thoughts. This lunation will be heavily impacting the area of your chart that is governed by Pisces. Read on for more examples of how this may impact you--organized by rising sign.
Though new and full moons are periods of focus for magickal activity and have ages-old esoteric associations, they're not always the best times for workings because of the aspects and planetary movements that may be occurring at the same time. This lunation, however, looks to be a powerful one for workings associated with fresh starts or new initiatives related to the Pisces area of your chart. Because Saturn & Mercury are in Aquarius, this could be the time to create some long-lasting, productive sort of plan or communication related to our deep feelings.
If you're wondering where you'll be experiencing this fresh start, look to the table below (or your natal chart!) to see where Pisces falls in your chart.
Pisces risings: Pisces rules your 1st house and indicates the self, the body, the personality, and the character. This lunation will be a new start relating to who you are.
Aquarius risings: Pisces rules your 2nd house and indicates finances, income, your earthly/material possessions. This lunation will be a new start relating to what you own and your income.
Capricorn risings: Pisces rules your 3rd house and can indicate daily travel, schooling, our relationships with our siblings, and our communication in general (but also communication specifically about 9th house topics like spirituality, higher education, and travel). This lunation will be a new start relating to how you communicate your big ideas as well as potentially your relationship with siblings or daily commuting.
Sagittarius risings: Pisces rules your 4th house and indicates your domicile and your private life as experienced inside the home. This house also carries significations for our relationship with our parents or what may be going on in their lives. This lunation will be a new start relating to your home and private life or, perhaps, big changes in your parents lives.
Scorpio risings: Pisces rules your 5th house and indicates creativity, pleasure, hobbies, and sexuality. This house can also speak to children of our own or our interactions with others' children. This lunation will be a new start relating to your creative passions, your sex life, or, potentially your relationship to children.
Libra risings: Pisces rules your 6th house and indicates illness, injury, and hard labor. This lunation will be a new beginning related to illness or sickness or the grind of your daily work.
Virgo risings: Pisces rules your 7th house and indicates romantic partnerships, long term relationships, business partners and, to some extent, enemies that are openly known to you. This lunation will be a new start in your romantic relationship or business partnership or perhaps a new chapter with a long-term rival.
Leo risings: Pisces rules your 8th house and indicates death, inheritance, legal matters, and the assets of others. This lunation will be a new start related to a legal matter, your debts or investments, an inheritance or may activate the topic of death in your life.
Cancer risings: Pisces rules your 9th house and indicates travel abroad, higher education of any kind, and our spiritual or religious beliefs. This lunation will be a new start related to spiritual beliefs (an initiation, perhaps?), travel abroad, or may kick up some dreams of higher education.
Gemini risings: Pisces rules your 10th house and indicates your career and public reputation. This lunation will be a new start relating to your career or public actions.
Taurus risings: Pisces rules your 11th house and indicates your social circles, friends, groups you're a part of and is called a place of "good spirit". After the year you've had(!) this lunation will bring fresh starts into your relationship and standing in social groups, among friends, and a general tide of good spirits.
Aries risings: Pisces rules your 12th house and indicates sickness, seclusion, isolation, loss, and enemies that are not yet known to us. This lunation will bring a new start related to feelings of loneliness and isolation as well as your self-destructive habits.
20 - 22 February: Some agency
When Venus ingresses into Aries on 20 February at 1:56 (chart) it marks a fortunate time for taking action (especially as it enters into a sign-based conjunction with Jupiter). Aries is major fiery, risk-taking, action oriented, firestarter energy. This time is particularly suited for a nighttime working that involves the balance or combination of Venusian & Martian energies. Particularly with Jupiter in Aries, this looks like major celestial favor to whatever actions you're wanting to take in the Aries-governed area of your life (check your chart!). It may be rough and ready, it might be raw, but trust the process!
This is underscored when Mercury in Aquarius trines Mars in Gemini on 22 February at 14:13 (chart). As with other Mercury transits this month, we have the planet of communication and thought in the aloof, collective-oriented sign of Aquarius lighting up our passionate planets. This looks like evidence and thought bubbling up from the Aquarius-governed area of our charts to undermine our brash actions and wishful thinking in other areas. Try to listen to Mercury as he is, after all, only the messenger!
Be warned, things start moving in March. These changes aren't inherently positive or negative--for some, they will be like a surge of fresh air!--but they will be large shifts that aren't necessarily on our terms, including some large scale cultural and generational shifts. February is the last month we really have to move through things with some semblance of control. Seize the days!