February Stargazing Awakens the Heart
By Catie Cadge, PhD
Welcome, stargazers, to February, the most romantic month of the year! Let’s face it. With all the storms and rain this year, we could use a little Valentine love and sensual pleasure. And the cosmic sky agrees! Full steam ahead this month with our strategic plans as well, as finally all planets are moving direct. The reassessing and the inner reflective process of our retrograde winter can now pay off with fiery gusto and passion. Happy Valentine’s Day!
The start of the month is a beautiful prelude to cupid’s mid-month holiday. February 4th is hot and heavy with loving exchanges and playful dreaming as Venus in Pisces squares Mars in Gemini. Our ideas and dreams about love may be changing! The Full Moon in Leo, 16°41’, occurs February 5th at 10:28 am Pacific time. The regal sign of the lion loves to express a generous and affectionate heart. Think of the song lyrics, “You are my Shining Star…don’t you go away!” Radiate love!
At this lunar Leo time, our partners, romantic or otherwise, need to feel their authenticity is respected and that you cherish them and their own way of sharing their talents and love. This Full Moon squares Uranus, the planet of awakening, in mid Taurus. We have been coming to terms with what we really value in regard to our resources and creature comforts that help us find peace and calm down. The Leo Moon says let me express what I feel, let me show you how much I have to share, what love I have inside. I value you!
Meanwhile, we have quite a bit of planetary action in Aquarius, the polar opposite of Leo. Mercury enters the sign of the waterbearer on February 11th and Sun conjuncts Saturn, in late degrees Aquarius, February 16th. Mercury sextiles Jupiter in Aries on the 17th. February stresses cosmic themes of camaraderie that honor independence, sharing ideas that support progressive change, and recognizing the authentic paths we all are on.
On Valentine’s Day, Venus comes close to a conjunction with Neptune at 24° Pisces (exact early morning on the 15th). What a nice celestial combination of Piscean compassionate love on a high spiritual Neptunian plane. All in tune with the air energy of Aquarius opening and awakening your mind to what can be. With the Sagittarius Moon on Valentine’s Day, look for a shot in some direction that broadens your horizons and takes you to higher places. “Got to try to see a little further.”
Sun enters Pisces February 18th at 2:34 pm February 19th, the New Moon at 1°22’ Pisces, 11:05 pm, and it is a time to plant a seed in your heart for creative visions and dreams or possibly growth in spiritual consciousness. Pisces, the sign of the fishes, dissolves boundaries and allows us to have psychic connections and to see beyond what our senses perceive. It can also be about escapism as we feel others’ pain and the psychic sensitivity can overwhelm us. Look to see where early Pisces falls in your natal chart. Be careful of trying to run away by numbing your mind and body.
On a positive note, this New Moon is great for making concrete our artistic fantasies and dreamy improvisation. “Inspiration, move me brightly!” Saturn is close to this New Moon by conjunction, and the ringed planet of discipline and hard work will soon move over this spot in March, asking us to make real these very Piscean dreams and hopes. Venus also enters Aries, continuing a desire for passionate connection; one that holds true to our own “selfish” enlightenment. Jupiter in early Aries reinforces fiery fun and opportunity if you take a chance.
On the 22nd, Mercury in Aquarius forms a lovely trine to Mars in Gemini at 16°45’. A great day to talk about our plans and explore new ideas for moving ahead with projects or cutting-edge innovative steps that might contribute to collective change. We all know we need a paradigm shift in moving humanity forward in our technological Aquarian age. And not just with technology itself, but through our partnerships, community work, or through our creative endeavors. New radical ways of seeing emerge. February blessings everyone!
(add Catie’s photo here)
Catie Cadge is Dean of the Forrest Center for Evolutionary Astrology. Classes and more information: forrestastrology.center. Read about Catie and her work at caraeveolutionaryastrology.com.
Featured composite image of the Full Moon in Leo by Catie Cadge
