Last call for Saturn in Aquarius! The new moon put a black light-spotlight on the planet of directives and organization, which sits in a place of cerebral strength. You may find two weeks following the new moon pressurizing in good ways and bad; ideal for considered-but-sweeping reform, Saturn in Aquarius both asks and offers a lot from those it touches. If there are grand designs you’ve been meaning to seed and bear water over to, it might be time to fertilize or get off the pot.

To that end, we have a Mercury-Mars trine today, which should help with administration, delegation, research, and generally accomplishing tasks with the weapon of information. This tool can easily be misused though, and there is a higher-than-normal chance of cutting words and shit-talk. Be aware that your tongue may have been sharpened by imps in the night, lest you cut down those undeserving. This is especially true since Mercury will make harsh contact with Uranus, master of revelations and revolution. There may be unpleasant surprises in store. Stay loose and ready to go limp in the wake of any bombshell truths.

Still, there should be a lot of positive to focus on today. The Moon in Aries is sandwiched between both benefics in the day time, lending a positive auspice to efforts at self-betterment and healthy competition. By evening, the moon will run across Chiron, so try not to take any setbacks to heart. Even bitter lessons hold wisdom.

This week also sees the Sun locking into the nodes, and in fact, this is a continuation of the new moon’s configuration to them. As I wrote in my Pisces Season piece, this is “calling us to look hard at what doesn’t fit the plans and pictures we see for our futures, and thus must be ejected, and to a more limited degree, what should be added.” The Sun’s trine to the South Node and sextile to the North Node will be exact on Friday.

There is little to track but the moon for the rest of the week. Thursday (2/23) sees the moon square Pluto, and may leave some feeling chafed by issues of agency and control. On Friday (2/24,) on the day that the Sun is exactly configured to the nodes, she will also be conjunct to the North Node, a point of manifestation – possibly a good day to bring something real into the world, to cook or construct or otherwise make something physically happen. She then applies to Uranus overnight into early morning, possibly creating a very bizarre Friday night and/or Saturday (2/25) morning. Saturday night into Sunday (2/26) is interesting too, with the moon making contact with Neptune, then Saturn, and finally Pluto. This sounds like a fun night gone wrong: Neptune creates opportunities for artistic immersion, fantasies, delusions and altered states; a square to Saturn implies consequences; a trine to Pluto creates potential for both deep emotional exploration and for debauchery. Your mileage may vary, and I wish you a pleasant night!

By Monday (2/27,) Venus will have crept up close enough to be conjunct to Jupiter, though the exact conjunction will not be until 3/2. Now, there is something of a pile-up happening in Aries, involving the planets Venus and Jupiter, as well as the asteroids Chiron and Vesta. With this much all smashed together, it can be difficult to pick apart the effects. I wrote about them extensively in the Pisces Season piece. To try and sum up: we may find it more difficult to connect to what we desire with Venus in Aries, or even to know what it is that we want, and the efforts made toward this may be considerable. This pile-up offers Venus a glimpse at what she may hold sacred, a north star to guide her, may show her the ways to grow strong and healthy, and how to move past insecurity and heal from trauma. The latter may involve some of the unpleasantness reemerging, if only as a hurdle to clear. Meanwhile, Venus offers Jupiter’s drive at improvement some spunky grace, perhaps some artistic growth or some brash-but-useful contacts. While all this is going on, the moon is running over Mars in Gemini, throwing some extra pepper onto this simmering steak.

Finally, Tuesday (2/28) sees another important conjunction begin to tighten in earnest. This is yet another exclamation mark on Saturn, provided by his conjunction with Mercury. The moon will also make contact by trine here, lending more emphasis still on this pair. They won’t be exactly conjunct until 3/2, the same day that Venus-Jupiter are partile. A bit more on this conjunction from my Pisces Season piece: “Mercury’s winged-feet are heavier under Saturn’s influence, though as a consequence, his truths are usually more dense and cutting as well, a heavy scythe wielded with surgical precision. Mercury represents the young and Saturn the old, and interesting results are birthed from this combination. I most often think of a Maron-esque stand-up comic, turning grief into levity without letting you forget its weight. There is satire at play under this combination. Mercury’s psychopomp status is at play here too; he’s the last planet to touch Saturn in Aquarius before it ‘passes on,’ ferrying it on across the sign boundary into Pisces.” As a consequence, the day may have a touch of the sardonic. But having Mercury focused in on Saturnine issue may also yield innovation, solutions that might not have been reached had the messenger been free to fly high and daydream, only possible while pounding the pavement. It may be a good day to take a walk and allow the solutions to percolate up to you organically.

Until next Hump Day!