February 2016 Forecasts

Moving on from Mercury Retro! How did your year start?

What an intense start to the year. Mercury Retrograde in Capricorn shone a light on all themes Capricorn, including the loss of David Bowie (a Capricorn), and Alan Rickman who although not a Capricorn, had reached the top of his field and exuded Capricornian wisdom and experience. Capricorn is a zodiac sign that teaches about limits and restrictions. With the loss of David Bowie, Alan Rickman and other prominent stars we were faced with contemplating the non-negotiable limit of human mortality and the importance of using our time well while we have it.

What Capricorn themes captured your attention over January? Planning the year’s goals, catching up on tasks, perhaps even working through the holiday period – these fit a Capricorn tone, as do reflecting on ambitions, commitments and the best use of time for greater goals, especially life purpose goals. Mercury went Direct on 26 January, and is slowly moving forward as February begins, until picking up positivity and momentum by mid-February and shifting into Aquarius on Valentines Day!

The passion of Mars in Scorpio continues

Mars will be spending February in Scorpio after already being there all January. The Scorpio zodiac archetype is about depths of passion, drive, desire and focusing our life force to break through the impossible (including the ghosts and demons of our own subconscious minds) to claim our full power and potential. Both Alan Rickman (in the roles he played, eg Snape in Harry Potter) and David Bowie highlighted Scorpio themes throughout their lives.

Mars is masculine and Scorpio is associated with death and also rebirth. The videos that David Bowie released with Black Star had a strong Scorpio flavour with death/resurrection themes. What an amazing chance we each still have in February to courageously put old parts of ourselves to rest and be born afresh. More often than not, Scorpio is about ‘psychological death’… letting old parts of the self/ psyche/ identity die off, as Bowie role-modelled many times in his life with identity changes and Rickman through the characters he played.

Mars in Scorpio in January and now February asks us to take a chance on deep transformation and growth. When we do this, we gain genuine confidence and inner strength to ‘feel the fear and do it anyway’ from a reservoir of self-belief and self-worth, rather than exhaust ourselves with superficial bravado. Mars in Scorpio also asks us to open our hearts to intimacy, safe vulnerability and authenticity in all our love scenarios. Deep wounds can be healed and new love, trust and joyful passion achieved.

More chances to wish upon Jupiter and the North Node

Even though the exact dates of the bright Jupiter North Node conjunction were in January (and one more in June), these two are still tightly travelling together throughout February, which means we have all month to keep making wishes on our biggest dreams for our future destiny pathways. From 23 to 25 Feb, coinciding with the Full Moon in Virgo, the Jupiter North Node pair is particularly strong so these are very good dates for wishes/intentions.

If you’re an early bird, you’ll notice Jupiter blazing above in the morning skies just before dawn, but you’ll need to imagine the North Node next to Jupiter because the Nodes are energy points, not actual celestial bodies. Of course, wishes/intentions need to be followed through with action, and this is especially important with both Jupiter and the North Node in practical zodiac sign Virgo. It’s time for us to sort our health, nutrition, diet and fitness priorities, plus streamline domestic matters and improve routines.

Jupiter and the North Node remain in loose conjunction throughout March, April and May before making a final exact conjunction in June (21 June – the Solstice!) This gives us time for various try-outs to test if paths we’d like to follow will practically fit into our daily lives. We might make a wish on a certain dream, then dash after it, only to find that it’s unsustainable and doesn’t fit with our Virgo daily habits. This is where we get a big reality check… if it is our true dream why are we not changing our lifestyle to fit it in? What blocks need to be shifted?

Grab these positive alignments to Jupiter & North Node

February has some great energies we can grab onto. Some days these will arrive like bouquets of flowers on our doorsteps. Other times we’ll need to put effort into changing our moods to meet them. If life is getting you down, grab onto the following alignments to rebuild your motivation.

Mercury makes a positive trine alignment to the exciting Jupiter and North Node conjunction from 5 to 9 February (exact on 7 Feb). Then Venus follows suit by also trining this conjunction from 9 to 14 Feb (exact on 10 Feb).

These are great days for reaching out to anyone you need to communicate or network with to support your dream to go to the next level. You might need to conquer some fears and make a leap into the unknown, or seek some motivational support around these days. Chances are you might also be seeking financial support or get a savings program or vision plan in place.

Year of the Fire Monkey followed by Valentines Day

A big burst of power and positivity arrives with the Chinese New Year of the Fire Monkey coinciding with the New Moon in Aquarius on the 9th. Fire is an exuberant element, bringing spontaneous inspirations and action. The Monkey energy is enterprising, flexible, curious, clever, resourceful and does not give up easily. This syncs well with the Jupiter to North Node alignment which helps us innovate and go out after our wishes, dust ourselves off if we bang into stop signs and try things from other angles. The Jupiter North Node alignment stays active even until early September, and the Fire Monkey energy this year helps us shake off our troubles and keep going.

On 14 February, Valentines Day, Venus makes a lovely sextile alignment to Mars. In fact Venus makes a sextile to Mars right from 1 February through until Valentine’s Day. ‘Sextile’ I hear you say! Coinciding with Valentines Day! The exact date of this alignment is 8 Feb, so perhaps Valentines Day will arrive early for some. Suffice it to say, sextile alignments are those that help bridge barriers and create enjoyable alliances. Sometimes Venus and Mars need a bit of help to bridge their differences, so if any of your love connections get stuck at this time, consider the right level of gesture to make for your situation to check you’re not being too hot, too cold or too lukewarm. Adjust the moves you’re making and hopefully that sextile will kick in.

Mercury adds a wildcard to Valentines Day

Valentines Day gets interesting when Mercury moves into Aquarius on that very same day. Only a few days later on the 17th Venus also moves into Aquarius and a less comfortable square alignment forms with Mars in Scorpio. Now we have a wildcard factor and a feeling of ‘don’t count your chickens before they’ve hatched’. It’s time to find the right balance between personal and relationship space. The Aquarius energy brings desire for freedom and independence, yet the Scorpio energy wants to hold on. Compassionate patient conversation with pauses for breathing space helps bridge differences.

Having both Mercury and Venus in Aquarius could go either way in love scenarios. On the one hand, someone sweet on you who might’ve been too bound by tradition or doubts might break out of the mould, follow the beat of their true feelings and happily surprise you. On the other hand, someone else might decide they need more space. That someone might even be you. Our closest love matches have greater capacity to help or harm us than other connections, so testing the waters with the right amount of closeness and building trust bit-by-bit are important at this time.

Deep Chiron conjunction with South Node

Chiron is in Pisces conjunct the South Node all month and trine Mars the first three weeks of Feb, indicating there’s a lot of emotional sensitivity about. This Chiron South Node conjunction also ties in with the Jupiter & North Node duo mentioned above. Because it’s a time when deep subconscious soul stories might cause people to judge each other wrongly and fall into negative attitudes and decisions, it’s important to stay practical and use the benevolent power of Jupiter and North Node in thoughts and actions to stop drowning in old Chiron South Node stories.

Because sensitivity is running hot, it’s important not to rush to conclusions about people based on how good or bad they are making you feel, or whether they seem to be caring for you or not. ‘They didn’t answer my text fast enough’ or ‘As my best friend they should do this or that’. Often we displace unresolved feelings about ourselves or people from our past onto others. Someone who is a true friend and really does care might inadvertently be triggering sensitivities, in which case sending the full force of unresolved feelings toward them is not going to be a solution!

Emotional sensitivity benefits from practicality

Chiron and the South Node in Pisces trining Mars help find ways to get some safe distance from those who keep pressing our buttons so that with the benefit of time, contemplation, meditation and reflection we can work out whether they really are the bad guy or not. In some instances after long efforts at kindness and patience, it might now become obvious that some ties really do need to be cut.

Jupiter and the North Node in Virgo remind us to look at what can be done practically in relationships. Small gestures might well win the day. Stay patient and resilient and dig deep to notice all the ways someone might still be showing up and present in your life even if their style doesn’t match your particular preferences or the way you’d do things. It might also help to shift your relating style to a level that works for the relationship at this time.

A rare opportunity – Five visible planets

To lift your spirits and marvel at the mysteries of the stars, getting up early this month (before sunrise) is rewarded by chances to see five planets visible at the one time. Check the weather forecast the night before to see if there will be clear skies, then see how you go for an early rise. Jupiter and Venus are bright and at 90 degree angles from each other. Here’s a quote from The Melbourne Planetarium and a link to more details to help you spot the hard-to-see Mercury, and less-bright Saturn and Mars:

“All five bright planets can be seen together in the sky before sunrise. They form a lovely line, with Jupiter over in the north-west, followed by Mars, Saturn, Venus and Mercury, which is low to the eastern horizon. Throughout the first week of February, you can watch the Moon travel past the planets. While a great morning to get up early will be Tuesday 9th, when the International Space Station will pass right through the line of planets at around 5:20am.” More Information by Melbourne Planetarium here.

Summing up with the Aquarius trio

The Sun is in Aquarius only until the 19th, then Mercury picks up the baton by moving into Aquarius from the 14th and Venus from the 17th for the rest of the month. These help us flick off any worries and burdens that carried over from 2015. From 14 to 18 Feb all three are in Aquarius, so these are great days to recharge, step out of the box and get together with friends. The Aquarius energy always supports us to break into experiences that are more spacious and free, especially when we do this with care for others’ needs and fulfilment. This is certainly a year for positive breakthroughs with the strong Monkey energy and the Jupiter North Node alignment freeing us onto new pathways.

Enjoy grabbing February’s chances to discover deeper depths of your passions and ways to direct your fire that are liberating and beneficial for self and others!

February’s New Moon

For information on the New Moon in Aquarius on 9 February, go here around that date. The interpretation will stay online until the next New Moon four weeks later.

February’s Full Moon

For information on the Full Moon in Virgo on 23 February, go here around that date. The interpretation will stay online until the next Full Moon four weeks later.