It’s May 15, 2012. You and your main squeeze are waiting for dinner to be served at your favorite restaurant. You’re chatting about nothing special. This scenario is familiar, it’s comfortable, you’re happy enough.

Then s/he says, “There’s something we have to talk about.”

Your heart starts a manic drumbeat. Panicked, thoughts tumble into your mind: “What did I do wrong? Is there someone else? Is it over?”

But your sweetheart smiles, takes your hand, and adds, “It’s okay. I love you. But I think we’re taking each other for granted.”

Dinner arrives and you eat without tasting. The main course is kind but radical honesty. A review of where you’ve been. A reassessment. A revision of some of the ways you’ve been relating. How to improve on what you have together.

Venus retrograde: The great lady of relationships, values, connection, paused in her starry dance on May 15 to help you look backwards. Venus, speaking in the voice of curious Gemini, asks, “What have you gotten lazy about?” “Where did you make assumptions that were never discussed?” “Are your values the same as they once were?” “Are you playing fair with one another?”

Through June 27, 2012, when Venus again twirls into direct motion, you have the chance to renegotiate. To reveal what you’ve been holding back. To release old relationship patterns that get in your way. But you’ve gotta open your mouth and share what’s in your heart.  Be diligent about pruning and weeding out what prevents you from deeper intimacy during this 6-week period. Plant trust, truth and a commitment to talk things through as they come up. If you do, Venus then hits the reset button on June 27 and things are better than good. You’re bonded in a way that wasn’t possible before.

If you’re lazy, or shut down, stagnation can choke the life out of what you hold precious and dear. This doesn’t have to happen-but it’s up to  you.

Single and looking? Do research. Ask good friends why they love and value you. Then ask them to tell you, straightforwardly, what they really thought about someone you’d once been involved with. This will help you make more self-aware relationship choices in the future. Personally, reflect on what made you happy with a past paramour as well as what got in the way. As a result, you’ll gain a much clearer perspective (Gemini) on what you want–and don’t. Use this time to fertilize, compost, prepare the soil for the right relationship, one of give-and-take, one of compromise.

Express rather than repress what you must say, to your partner, a friend, anyone you truly cherish. Love is the blood in our emotional veins.  Love is all there is.

Welcome to the new state of normal-altered states of consciousness. You’re being flooded by the mystical waves of Neptune as it merges with its own sign of Pisces, the dreamer, on February 3, 2012 at 11:03 AM PST.

Don’t fight it or you’ll be in over your head (which isn’t working so well anymore). Go with the flow. Let yourself be absorbed into expanded depths of consciousness. Kick logic out of the driver’s seat and put intuition at the wheel-then you’ll never lose your way. Listen to what the angels are whispering in your ear.

Neptune in Pisces will dissolve barriers-between races, cultures, languages (do take a minute to listen to your cat. You might have an inspirational conversation with her that is utterly impossible yet quite real). Ponder where you need to let go of cynicism and surrender to faith.

As the dividing line between the five physical senses and God/Goddess thins, you’re invited to become a channel for cosmic intelligence. Holy portals are opening. Be swept off your feet and enter therein. Ecstasy? Or madness? The choice is up to you.

With a shimmy & a shimmer,

Joyce

On 12/25/11, generous Jupiter went direct in Taurus until 6/11/12. Taurus is the Earth Spirit, the Pagan and the Gardener.  Doors are open now that, if you choose to walk through them, lead to greater happiness, abundance and meaning. Be practical. Stay grounded. Calm down. Hitch your dreams to a star, but stay rooted in the present moment. Believe more in what is possible than current reality suggests.

Jupiter in Taurus has a shadow: excess. Beckoning a crooked finger of temptation, it croons, “Too much of everything is just enough.” (Thanks, Jerry Garcia, for that line).

So bathe in simple pleasures, roll each precious moment on your tongue, trust your instincts. Then, when you’re certain that you’ve got both feet on the ground, take a leap of faith.

Jupiter holds the holy grail containing the alchemical ingredients of diversity, honesty and faith. Mix in the passion and assertiveness of Aries and this brew comes to full boil.

Jupiter entered territorial, warrior Aries on 1/22/11.  Passionate truth boils to the surface. Ask yourself if you want to act or react? There are more than 6.8 billion people living on earth, and swords are clashing–verbally, mentally, philosophically, physically.

But what is truth? It is in the eye of the beholder. Most wars are begun due to philosophical differences. Wake up in San Francisco, and two people of the same sex slow-dancing together won’t get a second glance. Place that same couple in Houston, and there might be trouble.

Can you take a stand without bloodletting? Can you imagine a peaceful outcome without giving up your position–and letting someone else having theirs? Mahatma Gandhi said, “Victory attained by violence is tantamount to a defeat, for it is momentary.”

So is it really no pain, no gain? Or can you take a step backward, hold your tongue, loosen your fist, look your “enemy” in the eye and see their humanness? This is how war is won. How peace is made. And how, in these volatile and uncertain times, you can stand on opposite sides of the same fence and, even if you disagree, allow. Take this stance and you find freedom.

All you can do, dude, is chill.

The journey begins in industrious Capricorn, a sign that actually gets excited about meeting deadlines. But because you’re incommunicado-and grabbed the wrong file from the office-you’re kinda stuck. Give up control and reconsider your priorities. ‘Tis the season, right? Think Santa, not Scrooge.

On 12/18, Mercury leaps backwards into try-anything Sagittarius, now in the conductor’s seat and taking you for a Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride along familiar turf. You’re re-experiencing territory you traveled from 11/9-11/30. What to do? Review and rethink. Remember where you’ve been and what it means. Shrug off mistakes and rework ideas, ideals and plans. Recharge your batteries.

Reinvent your schedule. Make time to ho ho ho. You can’t get as much done now anyhow, so why fight it? Relax.

On New Year’s Eve, celebrate! Mercury goes obediently direct on 12/29. Your watch starts working again. Details fall into place. And if you’ve done it right, you feel refreshed. After all, ain’t it grand to take a break? Maybe it will have been kind nice to having a respite from being a slave to time.

So climb aboard! You have no choice, so might as well rejoice.

In good cheer and high spirits,

Joyce

I was struck by my friend’s courage and love. In the face of challenge and the very real possibility of loss, she has the courage to face whatever may come with faith and openness. Very recently, friends, clients and community offered their support to her family. Part of her grace is the willingness to receive–to set aside pride and accept what others wish to give.

As Warrior Mars soars into meaningful action in Sagittarius until 12/7/10, ask yourself what it is that you must confront. What is the challenge to your balance? Where are your fears stored and how to you pray to them to show you the light? Mars likes to win. It needs to act. If you do nothing, you lose. Take the warrior’s stance and hit the open road. There is no map that to show you the way, so blunder well and wildly.  Keep an eye out for signs, omens and synchronicities , because information-bearing Mercury, also in Sag through 11/30/10, is leaving you clues and cues along the way. Learn as you go; there’s no better way to be prepared.

Sagittarius represents hope. It wants you to make a direct bull’s eye in the direction of your desires. Coupled with Mars, it encourages you to get messy and make good mistakes. Otherwise, there is a danger of collapsing into rhetoric, chasing your philosophical tail and wandering aimlessly off the trail.

Your blood is coursing now. You smell both danger and opportunity in the air. In Chinese, crisis translates into both opportunity and danger http://www.living-chinese-symbols.com/chinese-symbol-crisis.html Whuffle it up and get a move on. There are adventures to be had. Get started now!

See you on the road!

Joyce

It’s a mountain you’ve gotta climb. If not, good luck–you’ll find yourself stuck or sliding on silt. So put one foot after the other and look ahead, not back.  Saturn is at its best in relationship-driven Libra–but sometimes the scales tip too far one way or the other. You need to remember that you’re not alone and prove it.

Some of the stories I’ve heard lately: “I was thinking of riding my bike out into the street,” said one 13-year-old. “Mom moved in with us,” says a dutiful but distraught daughter of 38. “Now my husband sleeps on the sofa.” A marriage of nearly 30 years comes to a close, especially challenging because both husband and wife are in business together.

Saturn stares you grimly in the eye and says, “Get real, bro. Stand up for yourself, sister. This is about love. And family. And connecting. Prove it or things will get ugly.” Yep, there’s that boulder poised to fall on unsuspecting you as your girlfriend runs off with your best friend. Why, you plead? “You took me for granted for too long,” she says. You do a mental re-run of the past 6 months and realize you remember more about TV shows you’ve watched together than memories you’ve made.

It’s time for true grit, darlin’. No wimps allowed or you’ll fall off the mountain. After all, you don’t build emotional muscle without feelin’ the burn. Saturn doesn’t stand for  slackers or there are consequences. So do those crunches and pay attention. Otherwise you might find yourself all alone on a romantic moonlit night. Or feeling bored out of your skull by keeping company with someone you’ve simply gotten used to.

Saturn is the planetary CEO and has assigned you the job of honoring others as you would like to be honored, capiche? Libra gently reminds you that you have to bend to give, but not break your back.

So take some time to really see and hear your amour/partner/spouse/child/parent. Look deep into their eyes and ask them not only how they are but who they are. Through October 6, 2012, Saturn in Libra is the testing ground for love . And hey! If the world is really gonna end like some prophets claim, make the most out of it. After all, love is what makes the world go ’round.

Y’see, we’re all flaming balls of energy. So are the planets. Human beings need a break. So do the planets. When you’re off the job, it’s a good idea to turn off your cell and put off finishing that project. You need to recharge, refuel, rethink, reconsider, take a time out. Sip the nectar of r&r.

Sweet Venus reviews the love scene beginning October 8 until November 18. Make nice and smooth out the wrinkles. That  fog on the road is thanks to Neptune in Aquarius. Recycle worn-out dreams so that new ones arise when it goes direct on 11/6/10. Let the headlights of truth from Uranus shine into the mists of imagination as it goes back into visionary Pisces until  12/5/10. Jupiter, the planet of all Things Good and Great and Possible, also looks backwards. You’ll win big at the tables of  luck if your bets are more restrained until 11/18/10.

So settle on in for a spell. Let your head nod and drift off into dreamland. Morning comes, you’ll be bright as a shiny penny and rarin’ to go. But for now bide your time. Freshen up when you’re tired. Wiggle toes liberated of shoes. Take in some sun. Take in some shade. Ponder where you’re headed and what it’ll feel like when you’re there. Jot down a few thoughts. It doesn’t have to be hard. Consider what a wise man once said “When you get to the end of all the light you know and it’s time to step into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing that one of two things shall happen: either you will be given something solid to stand on, or you will be taught how to fly.” Edward Teller

So you know more now than ever before. And the planets are inviting you to hang with them in a state of chill. And when you’re still, when you take time to re-read that passage, to re-work that plan, you come out ahead. And that always feels pretty damned good.

Tense and intense strological energies are gathering, building up to peak pressure from June 26 to August 5 (and most potent on July 29th). Somethin’s gotta blow. It’ll be stinky, but it’ll also be a helluva relief.

Four planetary forces will be facing-off, forming a Grand Cardinal Cross http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_cross_(astrology)  Shamanic Pluto in exacting Capricorn summons forth a part of you that’s been banished in the shadows. Own it consciously and claim your power. Be in your truth, no matter who stands in judgment of you, as extremist Uranus in “me first” Aries gallops sidesaddle with Jupiter the Preacher.  Pioneering Mars in relational Libra impatiently taps the accelerator, while passenger Saturn gets focused on how to get where you need to be. Act with integrity and learn to love the word “no.” Lastly, acknowledge and release where you’ve been too tentative, sensitive or reactive (the South Node in Cancer) and focus on where you need to develop your inner authority (the North Node in Capricorn).

This may sound like a ten-car pile-up (and parts of it will be messy), but this is the kick-off point for positive change. Let’s be frank: what part of your life needs to be opened up and cleared out, like an attic suffocated by dust? Take the risk. Open the door. Be realistic–don’t horde what’s familiar but no longer has value. Dump what keeps you small or limits your aliveness. Shine the  light of awareness on forgotten treasures.  Be the judge of  your own truth, stick by it and don’t fail your dreams. You’re some kind of special. Admit it.

So go get ‘em, ladies and gents. The curtain’s about to rise. And guess who the star is? You are, of course.

Big Storm a-brewin'