Love and Peace Aspects for the week beginning 15 February 2009

If Valentine’s day came and went without a declaration from the object of your affections, without wishing to raise your hopes unduly the card may still be in the post. This is not due to any retrograde motion from Mercury, but the fact that Mars is still chasing Venus for a sextile and will get there in a few days, Jupiter also sextiles Venus this week, and the much-hailed conjunction of Mars and Jupiter is still to come this week. As for the Moon in the 7th House, this happens once a day throughout the year, and this week is no exception. And if like me, the card arrived but you are still waiting for the flowers, there is still hope that they will arrive. You have another 3 days or so before you give up. Today Mars is conjunct the North Node, and you could be feeling decisive today, and all fired up with enthusiasm for your karmic mission. Others may have other plans though based on their own life purposes, so you may have to go boldy alone. Venus sextiles Jupiter on Tuesday 17th in the U.K. and Australia (16th in the U.S.) which would be a great day to throw a party with Aquarius as its theme. Mercury, Mars, North Node, Jupiter, Chiron, Neptune and the Sun are all in Aquarius, which means that we will all be feeling Aquarian, no matter what our Sun sign. We will all be social idealists, passing the canapes of our homespun solutions for the problems of the world, bearing and dispensing jugs of our own brand of spiritual holy water. But the atmosphere will be convivial, wherever you are, be it on the train, in the office or stuck on the line in-between due to the wrong kind of snow. It is a day when universal or unconditional love and compassion can manifest, but you may need to wait a little longer for more personal connections. Venus is surveying the field before choosing a suitor. Meanwhile the two gentlemen (Mars and Jupiter) are vying for her attention or having a lad’s night out. Yes, we have arrived at the famous line of the song: “and Jupiter aligns with Mars”, around mid-afternoon in the U.K. What do we do with this special moment? Sing, laugh, cry, observe, or raise a sceptical eyebrow? Jupiter and Mars together can raise the roof energetically and (seriously now) we need to be conscious of how we express the high spirits. After all, we don’t want to waste the dawning of the Age of Aquarius, do we? We want no more falsehoods or derisions, we want the energy to push the Aquarian Age into birth: an era of equality, freedom and enlightened politicians. That Mars/Jupiter/Aquarius energy is certainly helpful for pushing social justice, and righting wrongs, especially with the North Node still close by. For those still waiting for the romantic declaration or the bunch of flowers, your moment finally arrives on the morning of Wednesday 18th, with Venus finally engaging in the sextile with Mars (just a peck on the cheek, mind), and the Sun entering Pisces at around Noon in the UK adding a little more sentimentality to the occasion. Hopefully, everyone will be kept happy this week, with every line of the song fulfilled. Then what? A good few days of reflection and integration: are you living the dream, did it live up to its promise, is it all an illusion…? All these thoughts and more can occupy us and incubate a new sense of realism but with a more profound level of understanding which reaches us on Saturday (21st) with the Sun sextile Pluto. The events of earlier in the week will be weighed up and seen in truth, conclusions will be drawn up, and life will proceed on a new basis which will take into account the more serious concerns of the world and personal responsibilities, in a new balance between the light of what has been fulfilled and the darkness of what still needs to be done.