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by Terry Lamb, M.A., C.A.

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New to astrology? Read on and ignore the technical bits. There's plenty here for you too! Why don’t I write horoscopes for each sign?

EVEN MORE THAN IS BELIED by the usual boxes of chocolates and bouquets of flowers, February is about love. A rare planetary convergence brings the very highest of love energies to us during the month. Jupiter, the great magnifier, has been lifting our spirits from Pisces (sign of its rulership) since January 17. Venus moves into Pisces (its sign of exaltation) on the 11th and catches Jupiter’s tailwind, passing out of its orb just as the Sun makes contact. The Moon augments this process at just the right times to create magic, all together spinning a web of gossamer light that unites us all to each other.

In short, these planets of universal love connect in the very best sign for them in the very best way, with beneficial augmentations from other planets. I had to pinch myself to make sure I was reading this correctly. Did I miss something? (No.) Did this happen regularly? No. The last two times that Jupiter was in Pisces (1986 and 1998), Venus was nowhere near it. When you consider that Uranus is in Pisces too, it’s a mixture that can awaken us to the wonders of love or show us the pain of attachment — usually both. Only if we can endure working through our tendencies to get attached while also experiencing the heights of spiritual connectedness will we be able to keep this love in our lives in a personal way.

It’s tricky, but not impossible. In fact, we have to build love while letting go of attachment in forming any love relationship. In society, we learn all about romance and heartbreak, but we don’t learn how to build and maintain love. Early in a relationship, we engage in negotiations with our beloved that form the basis for the agreements we have with each other. The more of these agreements are conscious, the healthier is the relationship. The key process is trust-building. In modern Western society, we are quick to become intimate before trust has had a chance to develop. As we engage a new partner, all our hurts from old relationships resurface — rejection, abandonment, control — and we have to dispel the fears that result. As we learn to trust our new partner, this occurs. Intimacy that comes before trust is established creates a reaction that is often hard to work through. While many relationships make it through this period with premature intimacy, others do not. The couple wonder why they can’t make it past the six-month or two-year mark. It has to do with those early negotiations.

The fact that Saturn is in Libra, the sign of relationships, underscores the importance of this process and reinforces the theme. It means that many of our lessons come to us through our bonds with others. This includes bonds of all sorts, from family to friends to work — not just that “significant other”.

With Jupiter in rulership and Venus in exaltation, any situation has a greater chance of turning out well. This is true in more than love. It may feel as though, in some areas of our life someone has showered us with fairy dust!

The Tangled Web
In other areas, we may not feel so blessed. There is another set of factors that brings out attachment issues. We have more than our fair share of quincunxes (a 150° connection between planets) in February, which results in feelings of confusion, awkwardness, and anxiety/guilt, when no clear solution to our quandaries presents itself.

Quincunxes are about timing. With each quincunx we feel tension and the urge to act because we are near the time for action (in the planetary cycle in question). However, we don’t have a complete, congruent picture, so actions taken under these circumstances do not have the desired effects.

When we experience quincunxes, we feel anxiety (fear about the future) or guilt (regrets about past actions). Situations feel unresolved and to ease our tension we try to put them in a box, resolve them even if they are not ripe. If we can accept ambiguity in our life and wait until the path of action is clear, we will be acting in harmony with the planetary cycles.

The quincunxes of February are active on the 10th-21st, reaching their maximum on February 14. (See Chart A.) They create overlapping yods, a triangle (isosceles) created by two quincunxes with a sextile at the base. These make things feel complicated. We try to analyze what’s going on, but clarity eludes us. This can result in feelings of ambiguity, complexity, and confusion on Valentine’s Day, a day when culturally people are expected to declare their love and make commitments in relationships.

At the same time, Moon, Venus, and Jupiter are coming together in Pisces for a peak of idealized or spiritual love. This combination could produce unexpected results. While it is possible to wind our way carefully through the landmines planted by our fears and expectations, it is also possible that we could be unrealistic about the footing of our relationship. We may be rushing it, we may be hesitating overlong, or it could be in perfect timing — which is it? We’ll have a better idea of what to do if we tune into our deepest nature, our true self. There is no right or wrong, only what feels right to you. With Pisces, it’s what we feel. Sometimes with quincunxes it’s necessary to wait patiently until the path clears. It may be wisest just to let the relationship “be” what it is without having to define it. It is good to be open with each other to the extent that we feel safe doing so, but our relationships may not benefit from the “where is this relationship going” question.

Healing the Hidden Heart
All of this provides a new theme for the healing process that we have been experiencing since 2007: healing the hidden heart. Our hidden heart is our true heart, that for most of us lies buried under a protective shell, safe from hurt — but is it really? The price of hiding it is losing touch with it, of perhaps feeling it only for fleeting moments or being numbed out to the joys of life and love. To open the hidden heart is to risk pain but also to know exquisite joy and connectedness. Since Pisces (the sign of Venus and Jupiter) is the sign of universal love, we have the opportunity to feel connected to all things and all people. We catch a glimpse of that in the movie “Avatar”, when we share the indigenous peoples’ spiritual bond with nature (and each other).

This healing process reaches a peak on February 16 as Chiron the Wounded Healer finally makes contact with Neptune, planet of spirituality and the hidden realms. This represents a peak in our healing experience, whatever form it takes.

Although we have been healing ourselves in many ways other than through our relationships over the past three years, love is a sacred and possibly the most challenging path of transformation. As these two planets come together in mentally oriented Aquarius, our healing experience is further intensified when the Sun “lights up” these planets on February 14. This starts two new yearly cycles that bring the lessons of Chiron and Neptune to us in a personal way. Through them we ask, “What do I need to heal to be able to pursue my heart’s path?” “What causes me pain?” The answers may be about physical ailments, but they are more likely to relate to emotional, mental, or spiritual pain.

This of course increases the planetary tension on Valentine’s Day. The universe is saying it over and over again — it’s time to heal our heart, heal our love, heal our relationships. If we can get our unions with others straightened out, we will not be distracted from our other priorities, whatever they are. This is a time to rise above small differences to find the deeper truths that unite us so we can work as a team to lift others, be they family, friends, or the community beyond our doors. Although we may feel the healing in many other ways and situations, love is a theme that could be threaded through every circumstance we puzzle over during this time.

What Do You Want to Grow This Year?
The Sun catches up with Jupiter on the 28th, starting a new cycle of expansion and enterprise. If we can answer the question “What do I want to grow this year?”, we are setting our intention for how to use Jupiter’s energy during its 13-month cycle. Our answer will be conditioned by where Jupiter falls in our birth chart, but it will also carry a Pisces theme, of connecting with loftier principles, a visionary ideal of what can exist, and ways that we can bring the vision down to earth.

There’s Still More to Learn About How and When to Act.
Since December we’ve been learning something about the way we approach life — when to act, how to deal with conflict, and how our inner reality influences our perceptions of what is going on in the world around us. This in turn influences the actions we decide to take in the most profound ways. This is a general delineation of the Mars retrograde experience, which started in December, culminated at the end of January, and will be completed in March.

Until late January, we had difficulty articulating exactly what the problem is, but that is no longer the case. Now we know precisely what’s happening, see the obstacles clearly, and need to find ways to solve them. Once we know the ways, we wonder how we can endure the process. Always, the solution to any dilemma involves gradual development which results in progress, and eventually the conditions that precipitated the dilemma shift, and it dissipates. This requires patience, one of the primary lessons of Mars retrograde. Where at other times we may find it easier to call upon the steadfast part of our nature, our current difficulties seem to hit us in a particularly sensitive spot, making it hard to stay with the situation until it clears up. Knowing the timing involved in the Mars process helps us to stay with what is challenging in our lives until it is resolved.

Lighten Up!
January’s last half was intense and ponderous, full of Saturnian seriousness and Plutonian explosiveness. It was a good time to purge old, negative ways of thinking until the energies loosened up a little. In California, El Nino carried a string of storms on the jet stream, pounding the state, flooding the coast, and loosening homes from their hillside perches. Haiti continued to suffer, even as more people were incredibly pulled alive out of the rubble. It was a time to pause in awe and gratitude for what we have. It’s worthwhile to remember what happened in your life during this period, because what you learn now will help you resolve situations that arise in August.

In February, the pressure to be serious and transform is off. We feel lighter, like we somehow made it through a near-death experience — which symbolically it was. This energy will return, and we not only need to face it down in August but we need to learn to deal with it when it arises every 9 years. For now we get a breather, but it is worth using this time to dispel our fears — this is the best way to use Saturn-Pluto interactions.

A Full Moon to Remember
All of the sweet energies of February culminate on February 28, when we reach the Full Moon. (See Chart B.) The quincunxes have dissipated, and with the Moon opposing Sun-Jupiter, then Venus- Uranus, there is a lightning-bolt of illumination, then a thunderclap of awareness. This could be a wake-up call about a situation where fantasy has taken up too much space. This reckoning with reality is good because knowing the truth makes it easier to resolve it. Yet, we need to stay in touch with the “feeling truth” of our experiences, because what we feel inside is fodder for the next burst of creativity in the situation, which fuels growth. Imagination and fantasy play a useful role if we can shine the light of common sense on them.

The Planets Continue to Cluster.
You’ll notice in both charts for the month that the planets are tightly bunched together again. This signals a time of relative myopia in our understanding, just because the planetary energies are hard to separate from each other. Once they spread out, we can see more clearly. This occurs gradually until they reach their maximum diaspora in July and August.

February In Depth

February 1-4
We’re still feeling January 29th’s Full Moon, but more challenging is the Saturn-Pluto square, which is now at its maximum intensity for its entire period of interaction. The more we can dig deeply into our unconscious and release the fears and misconceptions we have buried there, the more we will gain from this potentially beneficial period, which lasts through August. The alternative is to stay stuck and in pain about something(s) in our lives. There is no shame or blame in what we have buried there — these patterns were developed without good guidance in order to survive, but we don’t need them anymore.

February 5-8
As Jupiter sextiles Pluto, opportunities for expansion come in now. They are the result of our personal healing process may come back to us in whatever area of life we’ve been focusing on. The results of our self-work can be nearly instantaneous! The only caveat is that we have to be careful of what we focus on, because with both these planets what we ask for is what we get. If the 2nd-3rd are difficult, you are dealing with Saturn-Pluto. If you feel especially challenged on the 4th, you’re having working through Mars issues. Look at what fears or doubts are creating impatience, and it will be easier to decide with clarity when it is time to act.

February 7-10
There a strong focus on more self-healing, especially the release of illusions (or, more kindly, the images that reside only in the hidden realms). This as Venus connects with Chiron-Neptune and we head into the New Moon. In Aquarius, it’s about releasing old thoughts and ways of thinking more than emotion, but emotions are the hidden motivator of all things and are always involved. Our feelings tell the truth, but we have to understand what truth they tell.

February 11–17
Venus enters Pisces and fires up Jupiter to start the love energies flowing. This also has to do with finances, and money may be flowing freely as well — make sure it’s not overspending through grand gestures or a false sense of optimism. It is an excellent time to develop our plans for prosperity. Well-timed, business ventures started in the coming weeks can be very successful. The Moon is in Pisces and enlarges this energy on the 14th-17th. On the 12th, Mars energies are again featured, but we have the ability to bite the bullet and make wise decisions today too, if we are willing to permit them to penetrate our awareness. The overlapping yod pattern comes into greatest focus during this time as well, with the peak on Valentine’s Day (the 14th). The 14th also brings the start of Chiron’s and Neptune’s yearly cycles, so take note of events today — they are seeds of the year’s developments in healing and spirituality, and the healing of our Great Wound.

February 18–26
As Venus passes Jupiter and her contact wanes, the Sun picks up the gauntlet and continues the expansive glow as it moves toward Jupiter. Meanwhile, Venus heads toward Uranus to make love “sparkier” but also more volatile. We can feel incredibly, electrically connected with someone, but it can also end with a jolt, as suddenly as it began. When Uranus and love mix, rejection issues come to the forefront. Often, there’s a race to the end of the relationship, to see who can reject first, before they are rejected. The antidote is to develop the relationship slowly and build trust, the antithesis of rejection. The Moon periodically bring new perspectives during this period, grounding our understanding on the 19th-20th and opening doors on the 24th.

February 27-28
This is the Full Moon period, when the Moon in Virgo reflects our experience of the hidden realms, and we have the opportunity to make our dreams real. It is made more powerful because Sun reaches Jupiter and Venus is hooked up with Uranus. This is not an all-at-once, get-everything event, but a seed moment for something wonderful that will develop gradually over the coming year. Do the groundwork to prepare for this moment, and be where you want to be to plant the right seeds. Mars is near the end of its retrograde, and we can feel the shift to forward motion with great anticipation. Our new understanding of how to use our assertive energy — using patience and inner independence — should be carried forward to benefit us even when the pressure is off.

February opens new doorways for us if we can face our shadow side and shine a light in the dark corners. We are fortunate to have such easy access to a part of us that is usually mysterious and locked away, yet can keep us stuck in old behaviors and situations. Free you consciousness and you free your life.

Significant Planetary Events

Mars and Saturn are retrograde. Jupiter is in rulership. Saturn is in exaltation.

All dates are based on Pacific Time.
Blue = harmonious/Red or orange = challenging/intense/black = neutral
Events in bold are more significant.

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© Terry Lamb