Saturn throwing his weight around (& strapping on his retrograde shoes) can feel gloomy and dour. A compulsory cosmic colonic. Chocked with reluctant responsibility. Littered with solid lessons that will hold you in good stead forever but feel craptastic now, & maybe tomorrow too & at least until August.

Not attracting the hullabaloo of her mercurial neighbour, it is easier to overlook the obvious, significant effect of Venus Retrograde on our lives and loves. Our Lady Venus has been in retreat since early March - following a scented heads up late January - and mid April sees her official re-emergence.

There is so very much skycandy banging about this week but it would be remiss of me not to note, laud and generally cheer the Leo moon.

In the same way that things turn to shit sometimes in a heartbeat, the smoke can clear just as quickly. There are some fast tracks to clarity you can always rely on if you go back to basics.

He was by my front door just as dawn broke, a welcome sight after the long dark night. Mantis medicine is meditative and patient, biding its time and ever keeping a clear head. The natural state of this insect prophet who sees beyond the mundane world and its grievances.

If you are waiting for this tetchy energy to subside, we have a few more days to go yet. This ongoing power struggle between Captain Chaos himself (Pluto) and our cosmic enlarger (Jupiter) is peaking all this week, having first smashed into our lives last November.

Lady Luna has fairly stormed into Aries at the very end point of her cycle. She knows the New and Wonderful is just around the corner. So it makes revoltingly good sense that we have been rubbed the wrong way under fiery skies to show us in the clearest possible terms what does not deserve a place in our heads.

This is a trigger warning, darklings. And not just your particular flavour when the gun is cocked, oh my word no. Today is an across the board recipe for blown tops, epic frustration and the kind of sandpaper niggling that shreds even the thickest of skins.

When Uncle Pluto crashes the party, the ripples are tectonic. This no holds barred change agent employs chaos and disorder as his primary missile system, smacking his lips as our shadowselves come out to play. None of us are immune to his influence, though not all of us are charmed by his rumblings.

As fond of words as I am, there are a few that niggle. Closure is such a beast, cloaked in false promise and with an alarming propensity to hold us stuck or frozen.

The first day of a new anything is often dedicated to grand resolutions and audacious planning but we have really been spoilt this astrological new year.

Aries incoming, the tipping point is here and your next direction beckons. We stand poised at equinox. See that look in her eye? Aries determination, yours to drink in.

We are in the final throes of this super long Scorping and Lady Luna is now void of course. This is astrospeak for when the moon has no more aspects to make in one sign but has not yet moved on to the next. Tools down, in a lunar sense. Traditionally this is not a time to begin anything, make bold statements or take giant leaps.

The moon in Scorpio for more than two days (one down, more than one to go) is certainly causing a ripple in the matrix. Lady Luna is not at her most comfortable here and largely speaking, neither are we. The vibe is challenging as our shadow buttons are pressed and our little demons hanker to run about unchecked.

The equinox beckoning from the other side of the weekend and we are finally beginning to feel the clarity that comes with her balancing, or at least the promise of it. Some of the puzzle pieces are wafting into view and we can steal long moments to gaze on what we are pointing the bow of our little ship towards.

If the nitpicking, judgey-ness or finger pointing of the last few days is now seriously getting on your tits, you are still mired in the hangover of the Virgo full moon. The potential of its earthy balm and superpowered ability to at once declutter, order and streamline our life is unsurpassed. That's the high side well worth tapping into.
Equally powerful though is her critical shadow self.

This full moon peaks in the Virgoan realm of practical magic, a place of pragmatism and selfless service. She shines opposing her lover the sun still in dreamy Pisces, allowing us to marry clear thought and sight with our intuituve vision. Virgin energy is beholden only to itself and in its purest form is untainted by the projections of others.

In much the same way that life and death have their roots embedded in each other, our endings and beginnings are forever intertwined.