Full Moon in Virgo, February 27th, 2021

The Virgo full moon that takes place in Pisces season draws our attention to the relationship between our reality and our dreams.

Recently on a snowy walk, I took these two pictures thinking about when I would be writing this horoscope:

I had walked out to a trail on a creek near me that requires me to walk past some of the ugliest intersections in Toronto, IMHO. The trail is lovely, and snow-covered it was particularly magical, but the walk to get to it is pretty long and depressing. On the trail I was thinking about the beauty of Pisces season, that I was taking my time and getting a bit absorbed in the walk and the pretty snow and colours.

On the way back, I felt pretty bummed out to be going through such a bummer (and literally stinky) spot, but when I saw this billboard I had to laugh thinking about the fact that Pisces’ opposite sign is Virgo, and that the full moon in Virgo was coming up.

Pisces is all dreams, all romance, but also, illusion. Pisces is the glamour of a spell and the unattainable, whereas Virgo is the boring drudgery of our day-to-day – but Virgo also teaches us that the day-to-day is sacred. It’s what we have.

The ugly shopping complex subtly named for the slaughterhouse that used to be in the neighborhood and houses a lot of affordable grocery stores and a few hardware stores is extremely Virgo. It’s practical, it’s efficient (if you have a car), and it’s not particularly exciting. Passing this perfect mountain illusion made me laugh because of course the illusion is beautiful, but it’s just that.

I can get lost in the reflected waters of this poster or I can scan out and live where I actually am. Both are valid, and we need time in each. This full moon describes that dichotomy, and illuminates the sides of ourselves where we live intensely in our reality or in our dreams.

Find your full sun and rising sign horoscopes after the jump!

JUMP IN AND READ MORE

New Moon in Aquarius, February 11th, 2021

There is nothing to talk about right now other than Aquarius.

On the day of the full moon, the Sun, the Moon, Mercury (retrograde), Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn were all in Aquarius. For context: that is A LOT.

Lately I’ve been a bit bewildered by Aquarius. This sign is at once about chaos, but also about system. It is about individuality and rebellion, but also about community. Lately, however – this is how I have come to understand Aquarius:

In ancient astrology, before humans knew that the invisible planets (Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto) were in the solar system, we only knew about the planets out to Saturn. Saturn was the furthest out and the dimmest in our sky. So ancient astrologers accorded planetary rulerships to the twelve signs using only Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, the Sun, and the Moon. Ancient astrologers assigned Saturn to Aquarius – Saturn is about discipline, order, and structure: Aquarius and Capricorn, the two signs in the coldest months of the year, had rulership from the coldest and furthest planet from the sun known to astrologers at the time. Aquarius’ association with emotional distance, and interest in large systems of thought are Saturnian.

In the 1700s, humans first noticed that Uranus was there. This period in western history is also characterized by social upheaval and revolution, but also by the rise of the scientific method and the enlightenment. So when modern astrologers began according the newly-discovered planets to signs, Uranus went with Aquarius. Aquarius’s association with rebellion and upheaval are Uranian.

So: throughout my study of Astrology, I’ve often been confused by Aquarius. At once innovative and disciplined, at once rebellious but structured, at once humanitarian but emotionally distant. But recently as I’ve thought about how Aquarius got a change in planetary ruler, it makes more sense to me: Aquarius is a side of ourselves, a side of our culture that is complex. It describes the human reality of being connected to each other while also being isolated from each other at all times. It describes that innovation is bred of discipline, that growth follows restriction.

This current astrological moment lasts for most of February: by the time I write the next full moon horoscopes it will be over. But it means that this Aquarius season is extra Aquarian. So this months’ horoscopes are some encouraging words to help you lean into your own Aquarian side. They are written to help affirm the parts of yourself that are the most uniquely your own, while also the most connected to community.

And one last thing – whatever you have read, this is *not* the dawning of the age of Aquarius.

Find your horoscopes after the jump!

JUMP IN AND READ MORE

Full Moon in Leo, January 28th, 2021

The January full moon in Leo draws our attention to the Leo-Aquarius opposition, while the sun in the sign of the water bearer opposes the moon in the sign of the lion.

Astrological oppositions fascinate me. They’ve taught me that opposites are not necessarily things that are diametrically opposed to each other, but rather concepts that are linked through their difference: up and down are related through direction, light and dark are related through lamination, and Leo and Aquarius are related through groups. Aquarius looks at the groups, wants to understand the groups, but knows itself to be fundamentally outside of it: Leo looks at the group and wants to bring a part of itself forward for recognition. Both Leo and Aquarius teach us that relating to a group means engaging with our individuality.

At the moment, we are in a whole heap of Aquarius energy, about to be even stronger when Venus joins the sign on February 1st. Jupiter and Saturn are there, Mercury too, now preparing to station retrograde, and the Sun as it’s passing through Aquarius season. A total of four planets plus the sun sitting in this freedom and knowledge-loving fixed air sign.

When four or more planets are close together in one sign like this it’s called a stellium. They signify exactly what they look and sound like like – a large focus on the energy of one sign. We’ve had a significant focus on this energy since Jupiter and Saturn shifted to Aquarius in December, where they will stay together for the majority of this year – but this February calls an extra level of attention.

So with this full moon highlighting the relationship between Aquarius and its opposite sign of Leo, I encourage you to think of individuality and creativity. To seek knowledge from the groups you are a part of, and to share a part of yourself with them.

Find both your Aquarian side and your Leonine one and see how they relate. It’s one of the more fun oppositions in the Zodiac, and we sure need every opportunity for fun we can find these days!

Find your sun and rising sign horoscopes after the jump!

JUMP IN AND READ MORE

The arbitrary significance of a year makes us wish for new beginnings and mark time recurrently. So many people scoff at the idea of a new year’s resolution while also celebrating the arrival of midnight. We’re a couple weeks out of that moment now, the precise dripping over into the year having a particular weight this time around, but now in the wake of our first new moon I am feeling the energy of beginnings still. We always get to choose to start again, whether according to a random marker of approximately a sun’s journey, or because we feel we need a fresh start. Every day could have the intentional weight of the hungover morning after new year’s, if we wanted it to.

I don’t think anyone actually thought that it was specifically 2020 that was making things so difficult. It wasn’t 2020: it was centuries of white supremacy, it was environmental collapse and neglect, it was raging capitalism and it was these three things hitting each other in the face at the same time. But it matters to us that we can package our experiences up into a particular calendar year. That we can say: ok, things will continue being shit after that year, but I commit to new coping mechanisms, or new kinds of patience, or the same old coping mechanisms and patience that will help me pull through this next round of slogging.

2021 keeps the lessons going. The year is characterized by a series of squares between Saturn and Uranus from the fixed signs of Aquarius and Taurus respectively. Saturn describes our collective need for security, while Uranus describes our collective need for freedom, while squares are a hard aspect between two planets: so when our desires for security and freedom are at odds with each other, humans tend to not know what to do.

The first of these squares happens from the end of January until mid-March, and begins alongside a Mercury retrograde also in the sign of Aquarius. The second is particulately tough, from the end of May into the beginning of July, and encompasses what I am noticing to be two of the most astrologically challenging moments of the year: June 4-8, when we have *another* Mercury retrograde as well as a heap of other squares, and July 1-4 (eep) when we have a T-square between Mars and Saturn to Uranus. The last closes our year off and begins on December 13th.

So what do we do with this information? On a global level, Saturn and Uranus in tough aspects to each other often correspond with times of mass instability — Uranus was last in Taurus during the Second World War, and was conjunct Saturn in 1941 and 1942 corresponding with many key events of that time.

I’m not here to make predictions, but it’s pretty obvious from our current context that the things happening to us right now will almost certainly be studied in the future and looked at as a Fucked Up Time. For the purpose of writing horoscopes that I hope can help and affirm my readers, I’m going to talk about what houses the Saturn-Uranus action of 2021 is going to take place in for you, and some words to hopefully offer some suggestions for how to work with that.

For all my readers, I advise that you pay close attention to whatever is going on for you in early February and mid-June: these two parts of the year will see the first two of three exact hits of the Saturn-Uranus squares, so whatever goes on in your life here will constitute the major lesson of 2021: they might not be the same occurrences or details, but the thematics will likely resonate.

For these horoscopes I talk more about specific degrees than I usually do because they’re for a whole upcoming year. Lots to talk about! I know that degree placement is real inside baseball, but to quickly guide you: first, check your chart. Your planets will have a little number beside them with a degree: that number is what I’m referencing when I mention them in the horoscopes.

Over on my Instagram I have a highlight talking about checking the degrees of your chart: click through if you want to learn a bit more about astrology today. Otherwise, read on and know you’ll get the gist.

Happy 2021!
Amelia

Find your sun and rising sign horoscopes after the jump!

JUMP IN AND READ MORE