Today it’s Mercury’s turn to station, shifting into direct motion (aka ending this current retrograde period).

Look for communication, transportation, bridge building, and the exchange of goods and services to be strong themes.

When speaking of Mercury retrograde, it’s often noted how it’s important to be diligent regarding communications. I would assert that this is one of the ways in which this time period can be of benefit. This is especially true if we take the extra care/responsibility we practiced during Mercury retrograde as related to dialogues and information exchange and carry it forward, practicing it regardless of Mercury’s direction. If day-to-day communication as a whole is “easier” when Mercury isn’t retrograde, imagine how much more successful it could be if we adopt a more earnest and dedicated approach to having the ideas we are sharing with others find a common ground of understanding.

For more on Mercury stationing direct, see this post.

P.S. As a way to honor moving-forward-in-life Mars currently being in organized and detail-oriented Virgo, I thought on this day of the Mercury station to point out all the Mercury retrograde periods for 2012.

They are:
* March 12 – April 4, 2012 (from 7 Aries to 24 Pisces)
* July 14 – August 7, 2012 (from 13 Leo to 2 Leo)
* November 6 – 26, 2012 (from 5 Sagittarius to 19 Scorpio)

Astro-Atlas*
8:05 am: Moon (Cancer) square Saturn (Libra)
8:05 am: Moon void-of-course
1:48 pm: Moon enters Leo
2:56 pm: Moon (Leo) square Jupiter (Taurus)
2:59 pm: Moon (Leo) trine Uranus (Aries)
5:43 pm: Mercury stations direct
8:53 pm: Moon (Leo) trine Mercury (Sagittarius)

* all times are PST

Astro-Atlas*
12:26 am: Moon (Aquarius) sextile Uranus (Aries)
1:50 am: Moon (Aquarius) square Jupiter (Taurus)
12:0 pm: Moon (Aquarius) sextile Sun (Sagittarius)

* all times are PST

For more on the New Moon, including wellness suggestions, see this post.

Given that the Moon in steady Taurus makes no aspects today, there’s some celestial support for taking things slowly and just letting things unfold. As Taurus is the sign of sensuality, try nurturing yourself through experiences that inspire your senses. Buying some fresh flowers, listening to music, taking an essential oil-infused bath, or getting a massage are just some ways to help ground and steady yourself if you’re feeling you’re moving through a swirl of heightened and bristling energy.

February 18, 2010: Aquarius/Leo Full Moon (exact at 12:36 am PST)

During an Aquarius/Leo Full Moon, issues involving individuals and their relationship to the collective assume center stage. If you are involved in any groups or associations, you may perceive a heightened sense of tension as the organization strives to accommodate the needs of its members along with its own overarching identity and goals. Yet, if outstanding issues are worked upon, there can be great breakthroughs in group dynamics and team building.

An important strategy for attaining and maintaining group alignment today can be to infuse activities with a sense of Leonine playfulness and fun. Levity can help to release rigidity and enhance a sense of coalescence. It can also catalyze a creative process of thinking that can inventively spark the clarity needed to identify the group’s shared vision and the path that can be forged to bring it into manifestation.

One of the questions that this Full Moon poses is how we can authentically be ourselves while at the same time being part of and contributing to something lager than our individual selves. There’s a drive to really connect to this experience today as the Full Moon aligns with assertive and expressive Mars as well as healing Chiron and inspiring Neptune.

With the Sun conjoining Chiron the places within us that we view as weak, or as our emotional Achilles’ heel, may be activated. It’s not only important to embrace ourselves very compassionately if this happens but also to realize that the pain that we may have experienced in life has very likely made us stronger. And while we may never be able to fully release it, we can transmute some of it into wisdom that can help to support and guide others. It therefore can serve as one of the gifts we have to inspire our friends, family, and communities in their healing journey. The Neptune tie-in further reinforces this as it infuses within us a stream of great empathy, a desire to help, and a sense of unconditional and universal love.

This month’s Full Moon falls at 29 degrees of Aquarius (Sun) and Leo (Moon). While everyone experiences the energies of a Full Moon, if you have planets or pivotal points (i.e., Ascendant/Descendant or Nadir/Midheaven) around this degree in Aquarius, Leo, or the other fixed signs—Taurus and Scorpio—it may impact you more intensely.

Full Moon Apothecary Suggestions

Aquarius is associated with the calves, ankles, peripheral circulatory system, and the body’s bionergetics while Leo is associated with the heart, spine, and hair. Pay extra attention to these areas of the body around the time of this Full Moon.

Mineral bath: While not a water sign per se, Aquarius is symbolized by the Water Bearer, a figure that delivers the offering of this aquatic elixir–a symbol of illuminated wisdom–in service of humanity. During this Full Moon, why not offer yourself a healing service by taking a relaxing bath. Adding mineral salts—such as Epsom Salts—to the water can enhance your body’s bioenergetic field while including essential oils into your bathing ritual can add a fragrant therapeutic to this nurturing experience. Use your favorite scent or consider ones such as neroli, lemon, and cypress that are especially good for circulation, a wellness focus of this Full Moon. (Rather than putting a few drops of oil directly into the bath, mix it first with some of the mineral salts as this helps enhance the oil’s dispersion in the bath water.)

Yarrow flower essence: Neptune infuses an openness that allows us to be porous to all that surrounds, while Aquarian energy gives us a greater ability to connect and network with others on many levels. To channel these energies best, we need to ensure that we can be open and yet contain and circulate them, rather than have them overwhelm our own circuitry and psyches. If you are notably sensitive to your environment—both physically and emotionally—in a way where you feel vulnerable rather than empowered, yarrow flower essence may be of benefit. It helps to bolster the aura, reinspiring the radiance that glows within, while enhancing compassionate awareness so that we can feel at once connected and protected. (Flower essences are made from flower-infused water and work energetically to restore emotional and mental balance. You can find them in natural food stores and holistic pharmacies.)

Some of this may be triggered by the women in our lives. Or, if we are female, it may be related to our own connection to and experience of our femininity. If we are male, it may be related to our connection to the feminine part of ourselves, or our anima. The reason being is that today not only is there an occultation of Venus by the Moon but Venus and Chiron (which represents the Wounded Healer) align symmetrically around the Aries Point.

Monday, September 6

Today the Moon is in Leo, a lunar placement that yields a sense of wanting to embrace joyfulness and celebration. Given that it is Labor Day in the U.S., a holiday that marks a three-day weekend filled with regaling and socializing, the astrological energy seems somewhat apropos.

Yet, with the Moon opposing Chiron and Neptune, the day may be also filled with a sense of vague sorrow, or disillusionment caused by desires not fulfilled. This may be related to this holiday unofficially marking the last day of summer, or to something else that we may be experiencing.

If you drink alcohol today, be aware that given Neptune’s boundary-blurring effects, it may have a greater impact on your psyche and body during this time. Take precautions knowing that your judgment as well as how you feel the morning-after may be more clouded than usual.

Tuesday, September 7

With the Moon entering Virgo preparing for tomorrow’s New Moon, we now have three celestial bodies (Luna plus the Sun and Mercury) in this pay-attention-to-the-details sign.

When there’s concentrated Virgo energy we can harness an ability to refine and systematize. Note though that with Mercury still being retrograde, the path to this today would better involve reflecting and re-doing than creating something from scratch. Watch out for a tendency for going after a goal of ultimate order that it not necessarily attainable, as it can unleash a storm of self-criticism, let alone frustration; instead, as Jeff Jawer noted at a recent talk that he and Rick Levine gave, focus on perfecting instead of perfection.

Wednesday, September 8

It’s a busy day in the sky, which will likely translate into it being an engaging for us.

• There’s a New Moon in Virgo. For wellness suggestions and insights into the archetypal energies of this New Moon, see here.
• Venus sashays from diplomatic Libra into sultry Scorpio. Venus will have extended flings in both of these signs this year. Her affair with Libra occurs August 6-October 8 and November 7-29 while her tryst with Scorpio will happen October 8-November 7 and November 29-January 7, 2011. This months-long dance between the Libran let’s- get-along perspective and the Scorpionic let’s-[really]-get-to-know-each-other approach should be interesting, to say the least.
• Jupiter re-enters Pisces. For more on this celestial event, see here.

Thursday, September 9

Relationships that offer lasting and impenetrable connections may be a focus of the day. It’s important, though, to double-check any romantic or idealized notions we have about another, especially those involving the men in our lives. If you are questioning how to proceed with a plan, listening to your intuition—that voice within you that you can hear when you are quiet and take refuge within yourself—may prove to be very helpful. Once we find the path to pursue, we can harness an incredible amount of illuminated energy that is available today.

Friday, September 10

There’s a strong drive today to make nice. A sense of courtesy may prevail in such a way that it feels like mission. While being polite and helpful may have its value, if we or others choose this route it’s important that’s authentic and sincere; otherwise, it can lead to waves of passive aggressiveness, which is a sure-fire path to discord and disharmony.

Saturday, September 11

For the past nine years, September 11 has become a day that catalyzes an array of intense emotions including grief, sorrow, anger, frustration, and many others. In addition to the emotions that may be stirred by this marked day, today the Moon is in deep-feeling Scorpio, itself a time each month when we may be awash in tides of powerful emotions.

Some of this may be triggered by the women in our lives. Or, if we are female, it may be related to our own connection to and experience of our femininity. If we are male, it may be related to our connection to the feminine part of ourselves, or our anima. The reason being is that today not only is there an occultation of Venus by the Moon but Venus and Chiron (which represents the Wounded Healer) align symmetrically around the Aries Point.

Sunday, September 12

Today, Mercury goes direct, ending its current retrograde cycle. Yet, as the planet still appears to be moving really slowly for the next several days, don’t expect communication to suddenly become crystal clear. Try to still be extra diligent when exchanging ideas with others, especially through mid-week. This is especially important today given that the Moon is in prefer-to-keep-things-under-wraps Scorpio squaring affinity-for-illusion-and-idealism Neptune. For more on what Mercury retrograde entailed, see this post.

And like she has experienced the past few months, when Luna steps towards and into the sign of the Mountain Goat she is met at the doorway by the planets residing around the beginning of the Cardinal signs. While last month (July 23) had her first meeting Saturn, then Uranus, Jupiter, and Pluto, this month it is Uranus (now in the late degree of the mutable sign of Pisces), then Jupiter, Saturn, and Pluto that spells the order of those archetypes with which she meets. Therefore, the early day’s energies may take on the following patterned flow:

Unexpected activities lead to opportunities that are then tested by their realistic coherence, which once they take upon a form may lead to transformative reflections within.

During the past week, I have been focusing on this, notably when considering the style of my blog writing. As you know I have been writing poetry for some weeks now. This is the form of expression that has felt right to me as a means to capture the abundant energies that are emanating right now. I have gotten some very lovely feedback from readers about the poetry.

And yet, recently, I have also felt that the poetry doesn’t allow me to get at and express some of the astrological insights that I am connecting to. Synchronistically, at this time, I have also gotten letters from other readers who expressed similar perspectives.

The question of what to do, how to proceed, has been within me. And then I realized that I didn’t necessarily have to choose . Like with the Saturn/Uranus opposition, the answer doesn’t necessarily have to be an either/or. Rather, they can both exist in relationship.

So, beginning this week, I am going to give myself the creative freedom to express in both prose and poetic form.  I will go back to the Weekly Astrological Insights in prose style and also during the week add in some poetical expressions as well. I am uncertain as to the frequency of the latter and how the interplay will manifest, and where this will all go. With the energy of Uranus–the planet of change–running high in the cosmos, I am going to give myself permission to be fluid and flexible creatively. But for now it feels really right to me, and I hope that it will serve you.

On this Leo/Aquarius Full Moon, I want to thank you dear readers/friends for being an elemental part of  my creative process and self-expression. I am filled with gratitude.