Starting Friday the 13th, don’t count on luck as this week holds an urgent Mercury-Mars conjunction in Pisces on Sunday and a heartfelt, puddle-like new Moon in Pisces on Wednesday, all under a fog-inducing retrograde Mercury. We can count on creative vision, kindness, and sensitivity, and need to apply a healthy dose of critical thinking to anything we hear. Friday 13ths are notoriously synchronous with snafus in the material world but also carry the potential for sublime, heart-centered, spiritual openings. Tread carefully and keep the compassion gates wide open. Be particularly mindful about words, actions, and declarations this week. Unthoughtful decisions can boomerang and produce the opposite results to what we desired, as our country may find. With mental Mercury now retrograde in Pisces, the sign opposite its rulership, and creeping closer to Mars, our minds can feel like it’s caught in a wet muddy road replete with strange emotional swirls and eddies. Winds and weather can spin out dangerously, just like our moods. Stay alert to find solid ground, know when to hold still. Saturday, March 14: Lean into community and communal voices as the Moon enters Aquarius and sextiles Neptune and Saturn. Encourage the lights; listen to those speaking from compassion or seeking connection. Find odd common ground with dear ones and also with the least likely people, if even for a fleeting moment, to build allyship. The day may grow more serious, if a problem arises around dinnertime deal with it directly as the Moon conjuncts Pluto, but don’t make it a power struggle. Tonight, it’s too easy to be preoccupied or irritated, so prioritize safety and kindness as Mercury approaches an overnight conjunction with Mars. Sunday, March 15: This Ides of March is tricky. Calm down and don’t take the bait on an artificial sense of urgency but do stay on task. Focus on peace, equanimity, safety, and good balance as Mercury conjuncts Mars. Check headlines for physical or verbal explosions, collisions, or radically unwise comments, and let's not make the same mistake ourselves. Lean into a diplomatic Venus-Moon sextile this afternoon which can soften our hearts and help us work together to handle emergencies or build mutual awareness.

If our hearts feel like they are on fire this week, let's make it a smudge offering, pour out our love for the world as a healing incense. Emotional Venus conjuncts Neptune and Saturn all in sparky fire-sign Aries and provide bountiful astrological fuel. This can be dangerous as Mercury retrogrades through March 20, making it hard to get the real facts or to make patient wise decisions. Which can leave a right mess. Check the headlines in the morning because most of the major aspects this week occur at night. With Mercury retrograde, the wise make short-term decisions and do not trigger long-term problems. Decisions made now may be second-guessed later, need to be reversed, or could be regrettable. Just look at the mid-east. So, keep yours short-term, tend to work already on the table. and think through long-term consequences before making any move. When in doubt, hold still and let the smoke clear before proceeding. Saturday, March 7: Most of today’s aspect occur before dawn, so check the headlines. Our perceived vulnerability, as a person or a country, can provoke astounding defenses. On one level, we can understand and speak about our deepest feelings as Mercury conjuncts the Sun in sensitive Pisces and forms an introspective grand trine with Jupiter in Cancer and the Scorpio Moon. If we need to express, write, paint our life story, grieve, this flow helps. But objectivity is challenging under this grand trine in water signs, it could exacerbate jealousy and revenge. If people seem lost in their inner world, and anyone might need time within, don't take it personally but do let them know they're loved and wanted when they return to shore. Allow for room to wander whether within or without this afternoon. Grounding helps. Sunday, March 8: Insecurity or resentment can flash, but so will appreciation for those who really show up, who do what they say they will. Whether it's to ourselves or others, we could deal with a fear of being disappointed or disappointing. Venus conjunct Saturn can make people feel they have something to prove. Instead of letting this get us into trouble, let’s show off our best. Don't withhold, do offer honest and rounded feedback. It’s therapeutic to practice our art form- writing, cooking, drawing, singing, carving, or building Legos. Tonight, we can get that uncomfortable chip off our shoulder and connect more comfortably as Mercury trines optimistic Jupiter. It may be tempting to crack a joke at someone's vulnerability, but don't.

Most of us will be fine, but the headlines could be dramatic. Prepare to slog through logistical snafus, strange events, or maybe just edgy nerves this week, set off as Mercury retrogrades (more on this below), Mars squares Uranus, and the Moon is eclipsed Tuesday at 4:37 AM, MST at 12 degrees Virgo-Pisces. Play it dynamically safe. To soften it a bit—as the weekend beings, retrograde Mercury runs next to Venus in intuitive, sensitivity-inducing Pisces, where it encourages us to slow down and review our life. Speak kindly, poetically. Kick in basic Mercury retrograde skills: confirm appointments, have a plan B, drive defensively, and check the weather. But things will still get exciting, as we’re right in the middle of an action-packed, distracting, tumultuous square between militant Mars and electrifying Uranus. This aspect can give us energy or blow us out of a rut, but could also instigate accidents, explosions, mechanical or electrical tangles, fires, flashes of anger, downed power lines, and generally make life interesting. Saturday, February 28: Check the news and family stories. This is an event-filled time, and we may feel like dramatizing our story to explain how much we're feeling but could actually be resonating with world events in the best and worst of ways as the Moon enters Leo, trines Saturn and Neptune, then opposes Pluto. Afternoon and evening are calmer and give us a chance to clear, clean, repair, enjoy and share. Sunday, March 1: : On this strangely disjointed and emotional day, we can either focus consciously or let our attention wander as the Leo Moon makes no major aspects. Use this time to catch up with what makes life comfortable, catch up on friends’ stories, and listen to the history of the world unfolding. Tension arises when we try to push. If we feel an ambient anxiety or excitement, it’s probably the world’s heartbeat; let’s not read our personal journey into it, though this buzz may be triggered by events in our life. Monday, March 2: The Moon and Mars oppose each other, the Moon enters Virgo and Mars enters Pisces- all before breakfast. Our scanners turn inwards towards a sensitive introspection, nervousness, or fresh vulnerabilities with Mars in Pisces. It's important to stay responsible for our own happiness; don’t get brittle, avoid the blame game unless it’s to protect real victims, though protecting the truly vulnerable could suddenly become urgent. Tend to personal health and boundaries, as we may feel permeable to germs and vibes. Support people doing their own personal work. Pay attention to issues around bodies of water and water flowing where it shouldn't ought to be

The Sun, Mercury, and Venus are now in sensitive Pisces, a time which normally marks the low-energy dregs of winter where we cuddle up to seed catalogues, dream of travel plans, take care of our health, and wait for spring to begin. That dreamy sensitivity does underpin this time, we could long to hit that neutral button, particularly as Mercury appears to slow down to turn retrograde late Wednesday. Already our thinking can feel like wading through deep snow, demanding we slow down and become more mindful. Saturday, February 21: Don’t tell other people what to do this morning, make them curious Spontaneity is essential to our soul under this self-directing Aries Moon. The Sun, Mercury, and Venus in Pisces whisper to us to lounge in bed, drift, and dream, while the Aries line-up demands we both be more spontaneous and activate towards some deeper longing. Our future needs action now. Find a balance between. The mood stabilizes and grows more practical this afternoon as the Moon enters Taurus and can grow positively cuddly and delicious over dinner. Late night grows more thoughtful, subdued, as the Moon squares Pluto. Sunday, February 22: A most romantic, loving, Venus in Pisces trines expansive Jupiter in Cancer; invest in art, affection, aesthetics, and compassionate action. People love being loved. But stay in the present and stay proactive, not passive; this aspect can inflate our expectations or longings and bring a subsequent disappointment with our lot in life. We can notice both women in leadership roles, and resentment towards women from those who do not know how to deal with their own Venusian nature. We can long for the world to come romance us when it's really time for us to take loving action and care for our world. Monday, February 23: Our thoughts can be as hard to corral as a bowl of puppies this morning as the Moon conjuncts Uranus then enters nervy, verbal Gemini tonight. It's important to assess the week ahead and tie up loose ends now. Multitask but be careful not to drop important threads. Prioritize following up dangling emails and messages, all important communications. People may have a harder time talking about their feelings, but it can leak in around the edges; acknowledge the emotions, do not try to talk them out of it but know that logic and heart are syncopating, not waltzing.

This busy week holds Saturn’s entrance into Aries on Friday the 13th, Valentine’s Day, and a Solar eclipse on Tuesday morning, which triggers the Chinese New Year and inaugurates the year of the Fire Horse. As Saturn enters Aries for the next 2.5 years (it dipped last summer), it can feed some ongoing storms or conflicts as well as spark healthy new initiatives. This week could be hot stuff; let's value and activate what brings love and dynamic stability into our lives. Saturday, February 14: This Valentine's Day, we can love the theory of love, love our community, but it could be hard to just sit and be emotionally present to our dear ones. People may just refuse to play the role we assign them or miss their cues. Enjoy the concrete solutions of the competent Capricorn Moon and work on a home project or domestic policy with one another. Or engage in the collective Aquarian Sun aspects of this holiday and dance with community, join an event that shares love with the world. Honor primary relationships but consider postponing romantic dinners until after Tuesday’s eclipse. Sunday, February 15: We can feel out of it, spacey, distracted, with haunting undertones, aware of loss or what causes us to feel alone as the Aquarius Moon conjuncts Pluto this morning. Contemplate the changes in work, publishing, politics; the world is shifting, and we can feel it acutely without being able to see what is down this river. Know that other people may also be feeling alone and could really appreciate a hand extended. Connect in the depths and share the love. Monday, February 16: Notice a certain wacky brilliance and opportunity to think outside of the box as Mercury quintiles Uranus and trines Jupiter. But we could also feel chafed, harassed by difficult circumstances where we felt confined or oppressed by systems that just aren't making sense. Look for liberating information or conversations, let the mind wander, and take a circuitous but ingenious approach to problem-solving. Clear the air with beloveds and make important contacts before tomorrow morning's eclipse. The less precarious our understanding is, the easier tomorrow will be.