Up in the Air

As months go, July lends itself to jumping off the hamster wheel of life and into the road less traveled.  This is not only driven by gentler weather patterns in the Northern Hemisphere but school vacation schedules and yes, nurturing Cancer the Crab energy.  Warm, compassionate, nourishing Cancer rules the stomach, breasts and womb. The first water sign of the zodiac, Cancer focuses on family, house and home, food, ancestry and nation. 

The slow feel of July is particularly noticeable this month as three planets will turn retrograde.  It is a welcome change after the gangbuster action of May and June.  Cosmically, July is a busier month than the past few months; but we are downshifting out of overdrive in the fast lane and on to the lazy, winding scenic route in first gear.

And: One of the most fortuitous aspects in all astrology welcomes us as July begins.  The Sun and Generous Jupiter are tightly paired offering comfortable familiarity and abundant security.  Think big comfy couch, a heartfelt hug, your favorite delicious home-cooked meal, or coming home after a long trip away. This is expansive Jupiter joining with the Sun in Cancer the Crab.

Their combined warmth stays with us through the July 4^th weekend, lending hope that despite appearances to the contrary, all will be will at home, whether local, national or global. In the best sense, Cancer offers reliable, time-tested wisdom.  She is the trusted counselor we turn to when the chips are down or we have an achievement to celebrate.

She reminds us to take deep comfort now, that there is so much more than meets the eye, so much more happening behind the scenes, divinely orchestrated, beyond our comprehension, working out for our highest potential and fullest well-being, if only we trust.  Will you?

Our call to trust is amplified by Spiritual Neptune turning retrograde on Friday, July 4^th.  We tend to feel the outer planetary gear shifts far less than those closer to the Earth, such as Mercury, Mars or Venus.  Still, it is worth noting Neptune’s reversal of motion, especially as it is so tightly joined to Taskmaster Saturn.  In fiery Aries, take care with matches, stoves, grills, engines, campfires, or fireworks, of course. 

In Neptune’s wake, Change Agent Uranus enters communicative Gemini on Monday, July 6^th.  It has been 76 years since we’ve experienced this planetary combination during Uranus’ last tour through Gemini from 1941-1949.  So most of us alive on the planet have not experienced this energy which will last until 2033. 

Infinitely more comfortable in Gemini than earthy Taurus, Uranus heralds breakthroughs and awakening en masse.  How we communicate and use technology will be seismically different in seven years when Uranus moves out of Gemini.  Television was a significant development of the last Uranus in Gemini cycle.

Fortunately, Uranus aligns seamlessly to Pluto in Aquarius for the next few years, easing our experience of this shift. How we gather, integrate, share and use ideas, language, and information will be dramatically altered over the next seven year Uranus cycle.

Think of how you communicated before cellular phone technology or the internet came along.  Whole generations cannot imagine life without these communication devices.  That gives us insight into how unimaginably we will exchange information by the mid-2030s when Uranus enters Cancer the Crab. 

Along with communication, Gemini also has to do with ground transportation, siblings, community, sales and marketing.  So expect developments on these fronts as well.  Helpful to remember now that in the name of progress, the only constant in life is change.  

Uranus enters Gemini under the waxing light of the Full Moon on Thursday, July 10^th.  In practical Capricorn, the Full Moon aligns to Motivating Mars and the South node in efficient Virgo, grounding us and offering reality based solutions.  These earth energies serve as a counterweight to the otherwise lofty, heady planetary placements in air and fire signs.

Just two days later, Task master Saturn turns retrograde.  Serving as a bookend to its counterpart Neptune, Saturn retrograde in Aries puts life on the backburner to simmer.  What was urgent or emergent now does not seem quite so immediate.  Instead, you might rather feel the urge to go to the beach.

Relaxation mode sweeps us up fully in its grasp on Thursday, July 17^th when Messenger Mercury turns retrograde.  The third of three planetary retrogrades in just two weeks, Mercury in Leo turns our minds toward vacation and play.  No matter your budget, now is the time to take a day, long weekend or extended time off to re-set and refresh.  Fertile and festive Leo beckons us to take a chance, to explore with childlike creativity on canvas, paper, day tripping down the road, making sand castles or mud pies.

Manage your expectations about how much will be accomplished the second half July and the first part of August.  People are out of the office now so do not expect prompt replies.  Best to wait until after August 11^th to make significant purchases, including houses, cars, appliances, booking vacations, or buying electronics, especially communication devices. As always, if an urgent large-ticket item must be replaced (such as a washing machine, cell phone, laptop, refrigerator), make sure you buy the extended warranty as you may need it down the line.

The Sun enters Leo on Wednesday, July 23^rd towing the Moon in its wake to deliver the New Moon in Leo on Thursday, July 24^th.  Opposite Pluto in Aquarius, the Leo Sun and Moon draw distinction between our individual needs versus the group and community. Where do you end and others begin?  The New Moon aligns helpfully to Saturn and Neptune in Aries, meaning that creatively, we are on fire.  For every problem, there is a solution if only we look around. Now is the time to experiment, to see what works and what does not.                                                                                                                     

Leo says:  No dream is too big; no ask is too great.  So hand write three to five wishes you seek to manifest over the following weeks, months and seasons.  Plant these intentions in the ripe earth or set safely alight.

Soon enough, your time is going to come.  Meanwhile, make some popcorn, put your feet up and enjoy the show.

Of Special Note:

Are you in search of a healer?  Don't know where to look to find excellent, vetted alternative and metaphysical practitioners?  Check out The Seekers Field Guide!! I am so thrilled to now be a guide and offer my services with this groundbreaking resource offering a directory of the best healers in the business. Visit:  www.seekersfieldguide.com to learn more!

The 3 Wise Women is off and running!  Our community is about to celebrate its first anniversary. Join us!  We are three veteran metaphysical practitioners offering community, conversation and connection via zoom every first Tuesday of the month @6 pm eastern.  For just $10/session, feel safe among like-minded seekers to ask your wildest woo questions and learn from each other.  To enroll:  www.cathyripleygreene.com

Mystical Messages features my monthly astrology forecasts if you prefer listening via podcast.  Also featured are cutting edge healing arts practitioners.  Tune in and listen through Youtube, Apple or Spotify or hear previous episodes:  www.hilaryharley.com

 

Firing on All Engines: Pistons Working Overtime

Honestly, the word that best captures the energy of June 2025 is piston.  I grew up in a mechanically inclined household but still had to look up the meaning of piston.  From the Cambridge American Dictionary:

piston

noun

 /ˈpɪs·tən/

an engine part, usually a short, solid tube or round, flat object, which moves up and down or forward and backward inside a cylinder, and causes other parts of an engine or machine to move

In short:  The piston causes the engine to move.   Why this word this month of June?  Because we are the piston in the engine of life, driving forward now. We are totally engaged this month. Every single part of us is switched ON, working and in continual, almost perpetual motion.  There is nary a cosmic pause, glitch, retrograde or eclipse disturbing the energy or standing in our way.

Described in seasonal terms, by June 1^st, nature is fully blooming. Tree leaves are completely out; flowers are opening; fruit is beginning to mature on the vine.  And so are we.  Ripe, ready, like high noon under a full moon all at once.

May’s fiery threads continue into June. Four planets now cycle through Aries and Leo as the month begins. These are innately creative signs charged with inciting action. Aries instigates, is the veritable initial spark that gets the fire going.

How this translates into our personal lives varies. Collectively, June heralds a call to action. Our free will steers how we answer the call.  Yet all of us feel massive motivation. To DO. To barrel forward. To accomplish, to check boxes, to change.  Obstacles on our path ahead are seen and considered but will be powered through, gone around, over or under.  Nothing will stand in the way of our mighty engine steaming ahead. Fully eight out of 10 planets cycle through fire and air signs during the first week of June.  These do not take NO for an answer much less know the meaning of the word.

Not until Friday, June 6^th do we come back to earth in any substantive way. Valuable Venus moves into its own sign of Taurus.  She tussles with Pluto over old versus new ways of tackling the issues at hand, vying for practicality, the tried and true rather than different or alternative tactics.                                                                                                   

Help is on the way just a few days later.  Messenger Mercury shifts into nurturing Cancer the Crab on Tuesday, June 9^th, joined the next day by Generous Jupiter on June 10^th, marking a distinct pivot for our energy and how we move forward. The titans Jupiter and Saturn have been dueling since early April and continue to do so through mid-July.  In Gemini and Pisces, the duo created a thick, hazy spin of smoke and mirrors, treacherous, deceptive, manipulative illusion to wade through.

Saturn has already shifted into Aries and now its Jupiter’s turn to move on. Jupiter’s entrance into Cancer the Crab marks the fourth of five outer planets changing sign within eight months’ time, a very short stretch given cosmic movement. It’s been twelve years since Jupiter has cycled through this maternal sign. The planet of abundance, prosperity and expansion is considered exalted, or especially effective in Cancer.

There is a reason that Jupiter, Titan of Abundance, relishes its tour through Cancer.  Where modern life often relegates Cancerian energy to the back burner as passive, Jupiter recognizes the legendary icon of compassion that Cancer really is:  the cradle of civilization, the initial nurturing impulse. Think Mother Mary, Mother Theresa or Quan Yin.  Heaven knows, humanity needs every ounce of this blessing and grace now.  Jupiter delivers. 

The first, primal water sign of the zodiac, Cancer is compassion and care.  The Crab rules home, family, the Mother and mothering instinct, food, ancestors, housing, real estate, diet, breast and stomach, our country of birth, psychological roots and biological inheritance.  In other words, everything from your deepest subconscious patterns to how (or whether) you set the table, to Aunt Betty’s pearl earrings.

As Jupiter enters Cancer joined by Messenger Mercury, both challenge spiritual Neptune and taskmaster Saturn in Aries, feeding our continous call to action.  Yet in a notably different way than May or early June.  Now, we seek nourishment, to assuage a nurturing yen related to house and home, family, food, ancestors and nation, our homeland.  Notice the difference in energetic quality.  If ever there was a time to get things done and knock off your task list, this is it.

This momentous shift occurs as we approach the Full Moon in Sagittarius on Wednesday, June 11^th highlighting our grand life adventure.  The fiery Sagittarius Moon searches for the truth, through learning whether academic or daily living, exploration, travel and spirituality.  Full Moons represent culmination and fruition. Expect examinations and tests now.  Make sure you prepare and study well. 

It all comes down to how well you have integrated life’s lessons.  Full Moon tests are nothing to fear but rather afford an opportunity to demonstrate your mastery of a subject.  What have you learned? That it is better to forgive than to hold a grudge; better to tell the truth than to deceive; better to honor your responsibilities than shirk them.

Reverberations quake and shake in the aftermath of the Full Moon.  We are awakening, literally and metaphorically.  Change agent Uranus is now in the final degrees of earthy Taurus.  An uncomfortable pairing to begin with, Uranus and Taurus make for strange bedfellows. Taurus rules the Earth, what you can see, feel and touch. Taurus manifests.  Uranus pivots, redirects and surprises.  Uranus awakens. Their combined effect prompts us to realize what is truly of value, whether our time, energy, skills, talents, money or other resources are used wisely. 

Enter the great ah-hah moment.

Sometimes, it can take an earthquake or dramatic life event to tear off our blinders.  From June 12^th to 18th is such a time. Just as Uranus finishes in the final degrees of Taurus, Motivating Mars concludes its tour through dramatic Leo.  Both Uranus and Mars are agitating, unsettling and disruptive.  They drive us to pay attention.  And boy, do they get our attention now. When these two are at an impasse of epic proportions, expect the unexpected.  Watch for unpredictable, sudden and seismic events.  This is not necessarily unhappy or unfortunate energy.  It can represent ground breaking discoveries and eureka moments.  But it may also hold disruptive climate and resource shifts.

Uranus-Mars continue their uneasy stand-off even as the latter moves into Virgo on Tuesday, June 17^th.  The remedy is to pause and take a break from anything holding you tightly in its grasp. In other words, stop worrying or obsessing over that which you have little control.

A very good thing then that the Sun moves into Cancer on Saturday, June 20^th, marking the annual summer solstice while joining Generous Jupiter. Together, the duo rush in where angels fear to tread.  Every year, the Sun makes its annual conjunction, or pairing, with Jupiter. In any sign, this pair is the one of the most fortunate aspects in all of astrology. During June of 2025, we are very blessed as they unite in nourishing Cancer the Crab.  Help, guidance and assistance abound if we only just ask.

The grace afforded by Jupiter and the Sun is further enhanced by the New Moon on Wednesday, June 25^th.  The trio challenge Neptune and Saturn in Aries, emphasizing the call to action underscoring the entire month.  Moving deeper into the watery sign of Cancer, we are called to tend to ourselves, our loved ones, and our home environments with great care.  Yes, we can lavish money and resources where asked; but if we’ve learned anything this year, our devoted time, energy and skilled attention are what is actually needed most.

 

Of Special Note:

Are you in search of a healer?  Don't know where to look to find excellent, vetted alternative and metaphysical practitioners?  Check out The Seekers Field Guide!! I am so thrilled to be a guide and offer my services with this groundbreaking resource offering a directory of the best healers in the business. Visit:  www.seekersfieldguide.com to learn more!

The 3 Wise Women is off and running!  Our community is about to celebrate its first anniversary. Join us!  We are three veteran metaphysical practitioners offering community, conversation and connection via zoom every first Tuesday of the month @6 pm eastern.  For just $10/session, feel safe among like-minded seekers to ask your wildest woo questions and learn from each other.  To enroll:  www.cathyripleygreene.com

ZENATHON is back!  Please join me for an amazing day of learning, healing and peace on Sunday, September 14, 2025 in Sharon, MA.  To learn more or buy tickets:  www.zenathon.org. Contact me directly for discount code.

Mystical Messages features my monthly astrology forecasts if you prefer listening via podcast.  Also featured are cutting edge healing arts practitioners.  Tune in and listen through Youtube, Apple or Spotify or hear previous episodes:  www.hilaryharley.com

  

Bonfire of Vitality

May links us to planting season. We till the soil of our lives and focus on what we want to grow, to see blossom and eventually harvest.  May is inevitably entwined with Taurus, the first earth sign of the zodiac.  It rules resources both tangible and intangible, such as our skills and talents harnessed to acquire fuel for our survival as well as our material comfort.

Yet while the Sun moves through Taurus this month, it is the fire signs, especially Aries that prevail. This energy is most helpful to drive us forward to build momentum after the protracted wintertime inner planetary retrogrades of Mars, Venus and Mercury.

Aries doesn’t hesitate, ask around or look for permission.  It leaps into action. And on May 1^st, so does Valuable Venus boldly entering Aries straight out of the gate. Though the goddess of love is not particularly comfortable in this fiery sign, Venus does direct our energy to get on with life and quickly. 

She joins Neptune, both aligning to Mars in creative Leo with Venus aligning helpfully to her counterpart Mars the entire month to boot! The glamourous power couple loops Messenger Mercury into the Aries brigade and you can fairly hear the cosmos calling out:  Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines. If the second half of April found us waking up like bears emerging from hibernation, the beginning of May finds us on the move and actively in the hunt. Slackers:  stand aside.

Our initiative, spark and spunk is bursting. We’re high on rocket fuel. There’s zero room for hesitation now. Those hesitating aren’t just lost, they’ll fall leagues behind. Feel the power surge, that we can topple skyscrapers in a single bound. There is no one and nothing to stop us. Let them dare even try. Headstrong, bold and brazen, you may not listen to others who try to reason. Think reckless teenager taking his parents car for a spin when they’re away for the weekend…a classic case of a rebel without a cause, on a mission but to where exactly?

All ideas may not be great ideas now. 

So how do we direct this bonfire of raw vitality? Pacing. Pacing is critical now.  Be completely honest with yourself and others.  It is essential not to burn yourself out by taking on more than you can reasonably manage. Be selective. Refuse to bite off more than you can chew.  Only commit to people and projects that you can attend to. Evenly parcel out your tasks.  If you experience a flood of business, ideas, or demands, ask for help, assign tasks to a schedule, and above all delegate. You can say yes and figure it all out later as long as you have a plan to show up, do what you say you were going to do, and honor your commitments.

The last thing you want to do is drop the ball and become known as feckless.

The great news is, what you already have going on in the hopper has more than enough gas to see your efforts through.  Anything waiting in the wings will take off now.  The first week of May is the time to sprint. 

There’s really nothing to slow us down, save for Powerful Pluto turning retrograde on Sunday, May 4^th, though we do not feel these outer planetary reverse gear shifts as we might with Mercury, Mars and Venus. There’s not much of a cosmic brake pedal to speak of to hold us back until the second weekend in May when Messenger Mercury enters methodical Taurus and challenges Pluto in Aquarius. 

This aspect is a blessing in disguise as it gives us momentary pause to consider our options amidst our urge to rapidly charge forth.  Especially as it falls under the waxing light of the moon which reaches its apex on Monday, May 12^th. In secretive Scorpio, all the dirt and grime comes up and out to be revealed under the spotlight of this Full Moon.

It follows that mid-month holds some very dicey days.

The Scorpio Full Moon aligns to the lunar north node and Saturn in Pisces.  We are in the flow and in the know.  Feel your intuitive spidey senses tingle.  They are indeed accurate. While others may talk and persuasively convince you that your feelings are misguided, do not take the bait. You are being tested now. Trust yourself.  Do not doubt or dismiss what your gut informs you under the spotlight of this powerful Full Moon. 

Hit the pause button before replying or committing to anything or anyone.  This is essential. With three planets in fiery Aries, we want to rush in where angels fear to tread.  Indeed anger and violence are brewing and brimming to overflow. People are easily triggered and trigger happy. To agitate things further, the Sun conjoins Radical Uranus from May 15-19^th signaling a sea change in values.

How we assign and prioritize value is shifting monumentally now.  With whom and how we spend our time and energy, how we earn our living, apply our skills and talents is under careful scrutiny.   In the wake of such a revelatory Full Moon, this is peak shake up and shake down energy. Expecting the unexpected is an understatement.   

Take a walk, take a breath, and definitely hold your tongue now.

During this same stretch, Motivating Mars challenges Messenger Mercury, rendering particularly stubborn energy.  Watch for people digging their heels in and refusing to budge an inch, looking for fights, or throwing obstacles and roadblocks in your path.  The best case implies you will not receive any response to your inquiries. Watch for those drawing lines in the sand with real attitudes of this is mine and that is yours.

Fortunately, this impasse abates by May 21^st when the Sun enters flexible Gemini aligning to Powerful Pluto. Overnight it seems we can move mountains.  People are receptive to our ideas and want to hear more.

The cosmic gear shifts are just getting warmed up. The planets are ready to roll.

Late on Saturday, May 24^th, Taskmaster Saturn enters Aries.  Joining inspirational Neptune at the creator degree 00 Aries, Saturn takes the concept of cosmic power couple to the next level. Where Neptune dreams, Saturn builds.  In trail blazing Aries, this dynamic pair is an unstoppable force.  Together, they refuse to take no for an answer and will climb over, go around or barrel through any impediment to their mission.  They are brazen and see no reason to adhere to traditions or customs just because something “has always been done that way”.

Saturn and Neptune will travel together in Aries until the end of August.  Bold, brash and pioneering, they fearlessly try anything new simply for the experience.  Their motto is leap and the net will appear.  What is the worst that could possibly happen?  You will find yourself forging new paths, engaging with new people, experimenting with fresh ideas and methods, and more.

Just make sure you keep an end goal in sight.  Aries energy is easily distracted. Watch for tempers flaring and surging anger.  Avoid raging just to rage. Use this dynamic influence for good.

Heading into the end of May, we make our way to the New Moon very late on Monday, May 26^th.  The Sun and Moon in communicative Gemini tightly conjoin the sign’s ruler Messenger Mercury.  A powerful trio form our very own personal public relations and advertising agency. They will sign, seal and deliver your deepest desires.  So take the cosmic cue to set your intentions.  Carefully hand write three to five goals or wishes you seek to manifest over the coming weeks and months.  Then bury these in the softening earth or set safely alight.

The heavy winter months are behind us; the long slog is over and done.  Point yourself toward the future and watch the road open in front of your eyes.  You can fairly hear the theme song “Ain’t no stoppin’ us now…”playing as we step forward. We are on our way.

Of Special Note:

Are you in search of a healer?  Don't know where to look to find excellent, vetted alternative and metaphysical practitioners?  Check out The Seekers Field Guide!! I am so thrilled to now be a guide and offer my services with this groundbreaking resource offering a directory of the best healers in the business. Visit:  www.seekersfieldguide.com to learn more!

The 3 Wise Women is off and running!  Our community is about to celebrate its first anniversary. Join us!  We are three veteran metaphysical practitioners offering community, conversation and connection via zoom every first Tuesday of the month @6 pm eastern.  For just $10/session, feel safe among like-minded seekers to ask your wildest woo questions and learn from each other.  To enroll:  www.cathyripleygreene.com

Mystical Messages features my monthly astrology forecasts if you prefer listening via podcast.  Also featured are cutting edge healing arts practitioners.  Tune in and listen through Youtube, Apple or Spotify or hear previous episodes:  www.hilaryharley.com

                                                                                                                    

 

The World Keeps Turning

As April begins, it is helpful to remember now the phrase “be in the world, not of the world”.  Of course that isn’t so easy when so much chaos reigns around us.  If you feel as though you are wandering around in a stupor, you are in very good company, especially the first full week of April.  The initial month of spring carries over into it the recent March eclipse energy while both Messenger Mercury and Valuable Venus still cycle retrograde.

Our intuition is working overtime now with Motivating Mars in Cancer aligning to three planets in Pisces (Saturn, Mercury and Venus) plus the lunar north node. This greatly helps cut through any confusion stirred up by the ether. Find a moment of quiet and tune into your center self.  It knows the way. What is it showing you?

Neptune, the ruling planet of intuition has just shifted signs at the tail end of March.  As this rarely happens, it is worth spending some time looking at what this means for us.  Neptune changes signs every 15 years, with the last time being 2011.  From then until now, soulful Neptune cycled through its own sign of Pisces, the final sign of the zodiac.  Look back and remember who you were, where you were during those teenage years of the 2000s. Whom did you surround yourself with?  What occupied your days?

And just look at how far you have come!  I can certainly say that I was living a life very different to the one I am now. Not better or worse. But definitely more soulful and aligned to my true self now than years ago.

Pisces and Neptune rule the entire spectrum of human existence, distinct polarities of the soul and spirit and everything in between.  Fear to faith, fame to despondency and despair, saints and angels to villains and victims.  Depending on where Neptune has been cycling through your astrology chart and the aspects it makes to your planets greatly influences your lived experience. For sure, it guaranteed a journey like no other.  Neptune in Pisces offered us gentle waves lapping a lakeshore, a wild, rapid river ride or a tsunami of flooding rains.

Now in Aries, this watery, dreamy and spiritual planet, Neptune is on a mission.  Let’s talk about what that looks like.  Aries is the first, primal sign of the zodiac.  A fire sign, it is the Great Initiator.  Aries leaps into action and asks questions later.  Ruled by Motivating Mars, Aries signifies the warrior, the pioneer, trail blazer, executive and leader.  Its energy is notoriously fierce, fearless (and foolhardy too) impulsively letting others worry about the details. 

Enter Neptune.  Soulful, sleepy, hippy dippy, enchanting, depressed, fearful, angelic, inspirational, insane, saintly are only a few of the descriptors laying claim to the watery planet.

Combine Aries and Neptune together to see how the two energies merge. It is a study of opposites: Fire and water, action and rest, fearless and fearful, brash and flowing, utterly impatient and clueless about time. Their disparities couldn’t be more striking.  To boil down their energetic essences into one phrase, this will be a time of the Spiritual (Neptune) Warrior (Aries).

An outer planet, Neptune moves very slowly, beginning a new passage through the zodiac every 165 years.  So the last time it shifted into Aries was 1861.  Ring any bells?  In the United States, civil war broke out.

Pay attention to the energetic qualities you feel at the beginning of April.  Do you notice anything different?  Just two days into its Aries cycle, Neptune hovers at the 00 degree mark, also known as the Creator Degree.  Think:  initial spark, the Sistine Chapel image of God touching the hand of Adam, or the first in breath of a newborn baby.

April is the “getting to know you” phase of this energetic combination.  So settle in as best you can, like trying on a new pair of shoes.  See how they fit when you walk around in them.

We’re getting our wheels under us by the end of April’s first week. Messenger Mercury turns direct motion on Sunday, April 6^th.  Tightly wedged between the lunar north node, Saturn and Venus in Pisces, Mercury cradles our intuition and refines our emotional certainty as these planets continue aligning to Mars in sensitive Cancer.  Trust and definitely follow your internal GPS as it is highly accurate now.

With greater light each day we’re thawing out from a deep and lengthy winter.  We’ve endured seemingly interminable interior planetary retrogrades beginning with Mars last December 2024 followed by Venus retrograde since March 1^st.  This protracted period of reverse gears afforded us ample opportunity to review, research and reflect on our current situation and where to go from here.

Now, under the spotlight of the Full Moon on Saturday, April 12^th, Venus stations, stopping altogether in the sky before turning direct motion on the very same day, April 12^th.  It is no accident that this Full Moon is in Libra, ruled by Venus. Libra is the sign of harmony, balance, equality and justice.  Meanwhile Venus is turning direct in Pisces, sign of unity and all souls. Make no mistake, the Universe is sending a message. 

There is no more me versus you, us versus them. As she emerges from the depths of the underworld, having disappeared from our night sky before being reborn under April’s Full Moon, Venus signifies a new world and new order of collaboration and cooperation.  We might not yet be ready to join hands and sing Kumbaya; but at least we know that’s the direction to follow.

On the Earthly plane, the April 12^th Full Moon marks a major grand push forward.  With both Venus and Mercury now direct motion, the time has arrived to move forward with your plans, sign on the dotted line, purchase large ticket items including cars, homes and booking travel, launch new initiatives and relationships, acquire new technology and communication devices.  If you have a big announcement, this is the time to share the news!

We’re bursting with pent up energy like a new born colt.  Messenger Mercury enters Aries on April 16th, joining Neptune.  Pay attention to key messages now as you will be heard. Engines are firing on all cylinders.  It’s GO TIME! 

Underscoring our zeal is Motivating Mars’ shift into Leo on Friday, April 18^th at the onset of Passover and Holy Week no less.  I cannot emphasize this sign change enough.  This is one energetic switch you will feel.  Mars has been cycling through sensitive Cancer the Crab since early September 2024!  For six and a half months, our drive and focus has pulled us toward all aspects of home, family, food, our ancestral inheritance including psychological programming as well as tangible assets.

While wintertime is convenient for taking inventory, it’s also been a prolonged deep dive we are more than ready to put behind us.  We are eager to step outside of our homes and explore.  There is no better way to do this than fun and festive Leo activating fiery Mars.  Bring on the party. Our divinely inspired creativity overflows.  Enjoy the moment.

Saturday, April 19^th the Sun turns into earthy Taurus bringing much needed grounded and practical solutions.  After all of the cosmic tumult and turmoil upending our lives, the real deal, values driven Taurus Sun feels like a warm hug and gentle maternal hand safely guiding us home.

Mother Earth has been awaiting our return.  Spring is the eternal season for planting what we want to grow.  She showers us with yet another glorious invitation on Sunday, April 27^th.  The New Moon in Taurus is nothing short of delicious.  Strong and beautiful, she promises a bountiful harvest. Over the long winter we’ve had more than enough time to think about what we want our future to look like.  And now the time is at hand.  What will you plant? 

Hand write three to five intentions and sow these in the ripening soft earth.  With tender care, watch how your garden of goals blooms and grows.

Of Special Note:

The 3 Wise Women is off and running!  Our community is about to celebrate its first anniversary. Join us!  We are three veteran metaphysical practitioners offering community, conversation and connection via zoom every first Tuesday of the month @6 pm eastern.  For just $10/session, feel safe among like-minded seekers to ask your wildest woo questions and learn from each other.  To enroll:  www.cathyripleygreene.com

Mystical Messages features my monthly astrology forecasts if you prefer listening via podcast.  Also featured are cutting edge healing arts practitioners.  Tune in and listen through Youtube, Apple or Spotify or hear previous episodes:  www.hilaryharley.com

                                                                                                                    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

The Only Way Out is Through

March should come with a giant warning sign:  The path to paradise begins in hell.  It is one of Dante’s more compassionate quotations.  His Inferno seems an appropriate text from which to quote given the energies awaiting us.  And while, abandon all hope ye who enter here, feels a bit too drastic a quotation, its sentiment does capture the essence of March 2025 rather effectively.

For anyone who knows me, I am a glass half full type of person and astrologer.  Yet, the month ahead is a cosmic minefield, a veritable battering ram of activity.  We will not be the same come April. So in the vernacular, I’m going to give it to you straight:

March isn’t messing around.  It pounces from the get go on Day One with Valuable Venus turning retrograde motion on Saturday, March 1^st.  This is a continuation of the interior planets (Mercury, Mars and Venus) back-to-back retrogrades that began in late November 2024 with Mars and Mercury shifting into reverse gear.  Our journey inward plundering our psyche continues now through March.

Venus is a helper wherever she cycles.  She rules the good life:  love, money, beauty and relationship, qualities we seek more of.  Her retrograde passage lasts six weeks, 40 days and 40 nights. Ring a bell?  This is the same number of days as Jesus’ wandering in the desert, his temptation by Satan and the season of Lent with which Venus retrograde is closely associated.  And it just so happens that Lent occurs on nearly the same days this year (March 5-April 17) as Venus retrograde (March 1-April 12).

This cyclical overlap rarely occurs; and it serves to underscore a primary theme of Venus retrograde:  temptation.  Temptation on all fronts:  relationships, values, resources, talents, and worth.  It is a very seductive time.  So a word to the wise:  use the following phrase when feeling tempted. Start by asking:  what and whom do you value, in yourself, in others, in life?

For the next six weeks, watch for old relationships surfacing, including memories of past relationships.  This is a classic time for your childhood friend to reach out or an old flame to reconnect.  It is also a time of buyer beware in capital letters.  This is especially true given Venus turning retrograde in fiery Aries an impulsive sign to begin with and typically lacking self-control.  So ask yourself whether you really need that luxury item, that designer handbag?  That very expensive, latest gadget?   Venus retrograde is the most notorious time of buyer’s remorse, whether for actual material goods or relationships that were better left on the back burner.  Better to think about it and see how you feel come late April.

To be clear, it is not the best time to:  start a business; make new investments; buy homes, cars or luxury items; go on a first date or initiate new relationships.  Generally avoid or delay anything to do with resource investment in general, whether money, relationship or skill development.  This is the time to ask:  how do I want to spend my time, energy, money or talents?

It is the perfect time for Spring cleaning and to practice the RE words including:  research, review, retreat, renew, recalibrate, restore, rest, and more, especially the second half of March when Messenger Mercury is also retrograde.

Which is where we head next:  into the middle of the month and the heart of darkness.  Good to remember now that it is always darkest before dawn.  Control what you can and surrender anything else. The first eclipse of 2025 occurs on Friday, March 14^th.  A total Full Moon lunar eclipse in Virgo opposite the Sun in Pisces, its themes are control vs. surrender, expectation management, and deep cleansing with healing potential.

A reminder that eclipses are neither bad nor good; however, if the coordinates impact your astrology chart, you will feel the effects.  With Sun and Saturn aligning to Motivating Mars during the eclipse, trust your intuition.  It is a saving grace and will show you the way forward.

We need all the guidance we can handle as the very next day, Messenger Mercury turns retrograde on the Ides of March, Saturday, March 15^th.  This is a one-two cosmic punch.  The planets do indeed have our attention now.  In the wake of the total lunar eclipse, expect some very big messages. 

The stretch between eclipses is a notorious time with the energetic quality of a black hole.  Trust me, you do not want to go in there alone or without a light by which to see.  The darkness is magnified and intensified by the overlapping Venus-Mercury retrogrades.  Think Mississippi mud.  We are spinning our wheels now.  Expect little to no traction. 

How to best make use of the second half of March?  Plan and prepare; surrender what you cannot control; double down on the RE words; add music to your life, in your home, car and at work; use water therapy of all kinds:  steam, frozen, or liquid. Combined with exercise, such as walking around water, swimming or boating, use water as a tool to mitigate excess energy or change your scenery.

Now is the time to clean house, both literally and physically. The Virgo Full Moon eclipse directs us to look at our health, wellness, work and lifestyle routines and habits.  Where do you need to clean up your act?  Aligned helpfully to change-agent Uranus in Taurus, this practical moon keeps our efforts grounded and real.  Dream. Vision forward. Then prepare to build.

What are you building?

A few days later the Spring Equinox occurs on Thursday, March 20^th.  Always a time of fresh starts, this is especially true now as the Aries Sun is tightly wedged between Venus-Mercury,  Neptune, the lunar north node and taskmaster Saturn in Pisces.  The latter mandates a deep clearing and clarifying to make way for the brand new to unfold.  We are at a tipping point, the threshold of a portal.  There is no going back, returning to old days or previous ways.

March is aptly named for our perpetual march forward.

Thursday, March 27^th Valuable Venus rolls back into Pisces, joining dreamy Neptune, the north node and Saturn.  Here Venus shines compassion to unify disparate forces.  Heading into the New Moon eclipse in Aries on Saturday, March 29^th, we need all the love we can get. Watch for illusion and the delusional as well as pristine insight and understanding.   There are those who are irretrievably lost along with those who guide, guard and protect us.  Take care with whom you align yourself with now.

Words and language have rarely mattered more. With Messenger Mercury at an attention-getting degree, choose your words wisely as you will be heard now.  Set your intentions.  Handwrite three to five goals that you aim to work on over the next month, season or year.  Be sure to include prayers for peace and calm in your community and the world at large as we are in great need both individually and collectively.

As if the cosmic stew of March were not enough, the month departs with a swan song, an epic crescendo.  Notably, spiritual Neptune shifts into the sign of Aries.  An outer planet, Neptune moves from one sign to another about every 15 years or so.  The last time it changed signs was in 2011, when she turned from Aquarius into Pisces.  Think about where you were, who you were, what occupied your life back then.  How far you have come!

Post Covid pandemic, you are probably living a different life based on choices you may not have ever conceived of in 2011.  Imagine where and who you might be in 2038 when Neptune changes signs again, into Taurus. 

A spiritual, watery planet in a fiery sign of action at 00 degrees Aries, Neptune makes a statement.  Take heed.  This is not a time for the faint of heart.  April holds the light at the end of the tunnel.  But we do indeed have miles to go before we sleep.  As Winston Churchill said: If you are going through hell, keep going.

Of Special Note:                                                                                                           

The 3 Wise Women is off and running!  Join us!  We are three veteran metaphysical practitioners offering community, conversation and connection via zoom every first Tuesday of the month @6 pm eastern.  For just $10/session, feel safe among like-minded seekers to ask your wildest woo questions and learn from each other.  To enroll:  www.cathyripleygreene.com

Mystical Messages features my monthly astrology forecasts if you prefer listening via podcast.  Also featured are cutting edge healing arts practitioners.  Tune in and listen through Youtube, Apple or Spotify or hear previous episodes:  www.hilaryharley.com

 

 

Glow, Grow and Flow

Fresh off a New Moon in Aquarius and Radical Uranus’ turning direct motion at the tail end of last month, February greets us with its signature motto:  change and change now.  Resist at your peril.  Delaying the work only digs us deeper into the trenches of what must eventually be embraced.

Underscoring the relentless spark to change are the lunar nodes that have now shifted signs, from Aries and Libra to Pisces and Virgo; the north and south nodes of Earth’s moon define a narrative:  the north node indicates what grabs our attention and urges us forward.  This has now moved from fire and air to water and earth elements.  For the last 18 months we felt a call to action, to design collaborations and fearlessly wander into new territories.

Each nodal axis is laden with potent promise asking us to follow primal urges in a certain direction.   And by February, our directional true north now resides in Pisces with the south node in practical Virgo.  Their energy invites us to surrender to the divine universal flow of life, to dream and then take pragmatic steps toward creating our vision.  This is the promise of the Pisces-Virgo nodal axis.

The corollary caution is drowning in victimhood mentality, fearing rather than believing, not getting out of your own way, overthinking rather than following our intuition, needlessly suffering instead of dutifully serving, drinking and drugging rather than health and wellness routines, fighting instead of flowing.  The Pisces north node is the quintessential path of least resistance.  It speaks to us through imagery, intuition and imagination.

So it is important to pay attention to your dreams (both day and night visions), film, water, music, photography, video, the non-profit and charitable sector, what feels soulfully delicious regardless of what others say; knowing that:  use care with whom you share your dreams.  The invitation is to float now and February is the month to do just that.  Especially since what lies ahead in March is no picnic. Take up the cues offered now and swim with the tide, float along the gentle cosmic currents as February is fairly tame with few planetary bumps or grinds. Enjoy the relative calm while it lasts!

The first shifts to greet us occur on the same day, Tuesday, February 4^th when both Generous Jupiter turns direct motion in Gemini while Venus rolls into Aries.  Expect communication to flow more smoothly, forthright and clear.  This is enhanced by Venus which doesn’t have time to mess around now; in fiery Aries, Venus cuts straight to the chase.  The one caution is impulse control.  Definitely look before you leap with this energetic combo.

If you have been holding off on signing contracts or debating what technology or communication device to purchase, now is your time. With the tail wind afforded by Jupiter moving forward, seize the opportunity offered up by this giant cosmic YES!

We inch closer to the Full Moon in Leo on Wednesday, February 12^th . The Leo moon is endlessly creative, especially opposite the ingenious Aquarian Sun-Mercury pair. The possibilities for scientific, technology and creative breakthroughs are literally jaw-dropping now.  Yet while this is a highly innovative Full Moon with Mercury tightly conjoined to the Sun in Aquarius, it is also worth noting the stiff challenges posed by Radical Uranus in Taurus.  Fixed signs abound at the Full Moon and they do not budge easily.

Picture three heavyweight boxers in a ring, each in peak physical form, baiting and daring the other two, heels dug in, and you have an idea of what Sun-Mercury-Moon challenging Uranus looks like.  Uranus is finishing its passage through Taurus.  At an energetic crescendo, it demands we use resources more deliberately.  “Your fun and creative ideas are great and all that,” says Uranus, “but how are you going to pay for it?”

In other words, watch for obstacles on the financing front.  Admitted to your dream college?  Now you need to piece together several scholarships.  Finished that film script you’ve been working on for years? Now find a studio to produce it.  Develop a life-saving medical device?  Now find a company to mass manufacture it for a cost-effective price.  You get the idea.  Any resource hurdles we face now are NOT insurmountable; but they will require extra effort and ingenuity.

Fortunately the winds of change loom just over the horizon if patience allows.

Just two days later on Friday, February 14^th, Messenger Mercury moves into dreamy Pisces.  Over the next week, watch for smoke and mirrors, people selling you things you do not need, telling you one thing but doing another, and more.  Illusion is rife through Sunday, February 23rd as Mercury challenges Jupiter in Gemini, amplified by the Sun entering Pisces on Tuesday, February 18^th.  This is one time to ask the harder questions and look under the hood of any prospects on the table.  Let people show you who they are now and definitely believe them the first time!

The best news of February awaits us yet when on Monday, February 24^th Motivating Mars finally turns direct motion. HURRAY!  Although still cycling through Cancer the Crab until mid-April, Mars moving forward gives us a big breather, allowing for a major exhale.  Take advantage of the stretch of clear energy offered this week before more planetary waves stir the ether throughout March.  Sign key documents and purchase large ticket items now between February 24^th and March 1^st.

Set your intentions on the New Moon in Pisces on Thursday, February 27^th.  With five planets and the lunar north node in dreamy Pisces, it is essential to take reflective time to dial up your intuition and really listen.  Pay attention to lyrics in music, imagery that speaks to you through film, photos or video, ideas, messages and thoughts while you are in/on/around water including snow, ice and steam.  What are you hearing and seeing? 

With the deluge of water energies at month’s end, we can feel awash in emotion.  Grounding yourself is essential now. Focus your attention; move and speak with intention. Handwrite three to five goals or dreams that you seek to manifest over the next month or season.  Carefully set these alight or bury them in the earth. While still one month away from springtime; and heading into the very murky waters of March, it is imperative to practice life with the utmost kindness and compassion toward yourself and all others.

Of Special Note:

The 3 Wise Women is off and running!  Join us!  We are three veteran metaphysical practitioners offering community, conversation and connection via zoom every first Tuesday of the month @6 pm eastern.  For just $10/session, feel safe among like-minded seekers to ask your wildest woo questions and learn from each other.  To enroll:  www.cathyripleygreene.com

Mystical Messages features my monthly astrology forecasts if you prefer listening via podcast.  Also featured are cutting edge healing arts practitioners.  Tune in and listen through Youtube, Apple or Spotify or hear previous episodes:  www.hilaryharley.com

 

 

 

 

Going Where We've Never Gone Before

The word unprecedented is so overused these days; it is, however, accurate to describe how 2025 is to unfold.  Mankind is in the midst of the most pivotal growth spurt in history.  We are evolving from homosapien to homoluminous; meaning:  shifting to a heart and soul-centered way of living, where mind is the servant, the instrument and tool of the heart, rather than the other way around.

This is the most significant jump in human development since man evolved from Neanderthal to cro magnon.

What began notably in 2020 with the Covid pandemic continues to play out.  If we learned anything from that, hopefully we learned not to take anything personally, and to look for silver linings of which there were so many.  Likewise, the most helpful approach to 2025 is curiosity and wonder, rather than fear or its counterpart victimhood. 

And 2025 asks us to be intrepid, gentle and compassionate.

With these watchwords in mind, let’s take a look at what is in store for the ever-unprecedented year ahead:

From the outset, the year demands (or invites) change.  With Powerful Pluto opposing Motivating Mars, we are pushed out of our comfort zones.  The old ways simply will not work.  Pluto joins the Moon in avant garde Aquarius from Day One. Now in Aquarius through 2043, Pluto prompts our invention, innovation and non-mainstream approach to life.

There is no rush. All three interior planets Mercury, Mars and venus will be retrograde, back to back, now through mid-April, giving us ample time to feel into how we can reinvent ourselves and rise to the demands posed by 2025.  Take advantage of these slow motion planets because by the end of April, shock and awe greet us at nearly every turn.

What makes 2025 so cosmically unusual is the planetary changing of the guard en masse.  Fully five outer planets change sign within eight months-time.  This is very rare indeed. Why?  Planets beyond Mars move very, very slowly, especially the outer three. From November 2024 through July 2025, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto will shift energetically.  We move from earth and water to fire and air elements, turning from practical, grounded and intuitive (earth and water signs) to creative, innovative, idea-oriented and communicative (fire and air signs). You will feel these shifts.

Our lived experience at the beginning of 2025 will be incredibly different than by the end of the year.

So it is really important to sink into the interior planetary slow-going afforded us during the first few months. January opens with Motivating Mars retrograde motion.  Mars is the gas pedal of the zodiac, the kick in the pants to get us out of bed in the morning.  Retrograde, Mars turns our energy inward, focusing on self-nurturing, home, family and ancestral patterns as it cycles through Cancer the Crab from January 4^th through April 17^th.  Deep in mid-winter, it is a convenient time for this passage.

Our energy feels sluggish through the end of February.  Watch for lack of motivation and general inertia.

Key themes with Mars retrograde in Cancer are:  food, family, self-care, diet and digestion, house, residence, home improvement projects, ancestors, hospice and life endings, maternal figures in your life (mom, sisters, aunts, grandmothers), psychological conditioning and programming, biological inheritance, nation, country.

Thursday, January 30^th:  Game Changer Uranus turns direct motion.  You may feel a marked gear thrust forward.  In Taurus, Uranus awakens our values, self-worth, skills and talents, relationship to money and all resources.  Notice where this is active for you.

February is a remarkably quiet month cosmically speaking.  I strongly recommend taking advantage of the calm before March madness descends!   Generous Jupiter turns direct motion in Gemini on Tuesday, February 4^th.  Jupiter is the titan of abundance, learning and expansion.  In Gemini, communication flows more easily; information you are seeking or sharing is readily available.

Monday, February 24^th:  Motivating Mars finally turns direct motion!  Notice how your energy picks up steam.  Where we felt lethargic, Mars now lights a fire under us, actively urging us to tend to our self-care, family, our home, elders, and how we cook and feed ourselves.

Enjoy the last week of February when all the interior planets are briefly direct motion to book travel plans, sign major contracts and documents, purchase large ticket items.

March Key Dates:   Very busy cosmic month

Sunday, March 2^nd Valuable Venus turns retrograde in Aries.  Watch temptation on all fronts: tempting love affairs heading nowhere and impulse buying things, especially luxury goods that you do not need.    Also watch for all variety of relationships from the past resurfacing:  old friends, relatives, romantic partners.  Venus is retrograde March 2-April 13^th and it is not a great time to initiate any relationships or launch businesses.

In the midst of this stretch, Friday, March 14^th delivers the first eclipse of 2025, a total lunar eclipse in Virgo.  Health, wellness, service, work, habits, practices and routines move front and center now.  We are asked to surrender what we cannot control.

The very next day, Saturday, March 15^th:  Messenger Mercury turns retrograde in Aries until Monday, April 7^th.  The great news is we get both Mercury and Venus retrogrades out of the way at the same time!  Watch for communication snafus, heated arguments and misunderstandings, overpromising things you cannot commit to, avoid signing major contracts or key documents, and hold off on booking travel plans or buying phones, tablets, laptops when possible until mid-April. 

Life kicks into overdrive with the second eclipse on Saturday, March 29^th, a partial solar eclipse in Aries.  Look where you are incited or invited into action?  Standing up for yourself, defending the vulnerable, and/or trying anything new to you, be it methods, exercise, travel, food, methods of thinking, and more are on the table now.

Underscoring the urge to explore the untried and new to us is soulful Neptune’s shift into pioneering Aries on Monday, March 31^st.  Neptune is the planet of the soul, dreams, the subconscious.  Ephemeral Neptune is not especially comfortable cycling through Aries, the first sign and first fire sign of the zodiac.  Its key phrase is I AM. Rules the head, identity, self, war, conflict, battle. Known for physicality, leadership, athleticism, initiative, impulse, lack of follow through, action, doing (not being), up for/willing to try anything.  Personality type:  the Warrior, the pioneer, the executive, the Great Initiator. The best possible combination of Neptune in Aries is pioneering solutions benefitting all of mankind; the downside is religious zealotry.

By the end of May, Taskmaster Saturn joins Neptune in Aries.  You will surely feel the fire under your fanny and your feet when these two join forces!  This duos inspires and commands our soul craving something brand new, what we’ve never done before.  What is that for you?

Monday, June 9^th Generous Jupiter moves into nurturing Cancer the Crab for the next full year.  Exalted in this maternal sign, Jupiter offers endless silver linings to any challenges we may endure.  Look for the helpers, as Mr. Rogers said.  Earth angels abound if you only ask for assistance.

Just after the 4^th of July holiday, change agent Uranus moves into communicative Gemini.  Aligning to Pluto in Aquarius, watch for smoother connections, proliferating idea exchange, technology developments, and surprising solutions to stubborn long-term problems.

It is important to remember that the planets impel, the do not compel; meaning, you have free will and choice how you respond to planetary stimulus.  Joy and light are my personal words for 2025 and offer a way for me to rise up and greet what crosses my threshold.  What are your words for the year ahead?

 Of Special Note:

The 3 Wise Women is off and running!  Join us!  We are three veteran metaphysical practitioners offering community, conversation and connection via zoom every first Tuesday of the month @6 pm eastern.  For just $10/session, feel safe among like-minded seekers to ask your wildest woo questions and learn from each other.  To enroll:  www.cathyripleygreene.com