02 Apr Wilde At Heart ~ April 3rd-April 9th, 2017

 

Just like when dark storm clouds suddenly roll in, this first week of April will feel a bit ominous due to a heavy emphasis on planetary retrogrades. In the middle of the week, Saturn in Sagittarius will turn retrograde while locked in a square with Venus which is also in the midst of a retrograde.

This is an unfortunate aspect in many ways as it will force you to make some sharp critical reassessments of your love life, your relationship to money, and above all, your moral integrity. Getting dosed with cold hard reality is not entirely pleasant, but it is absolutely necessary for building the future that you want to live in.  

Expect life to present lessons through very high contrast, with bright iridescence cast against deep, dark shadows. Then over the weekend, Mercury in the slow moving sign of Taurus will also turn retrograde, plunging you into an inertia of indecision.

To imagine what the revelations of this week may be like, consider the Oscar Wilde poem, Harlot’s House. This poem is an illumination of truth wrought from the darkness of cold hard reality.

We caught the tread of dancing feet,

We loitered down the moonlit street

The poet narrates the observations made standing just “beneath the harlot’s house.” For whatever reason, on this night the glamour and illusion of the nightlife cannot hide its dehumanizing shadows. The reverie inside full of sex, drugs and music is nothing but a mechanical facsimile of human relationships.

Sometimes a clockwork puppet pressed

A phantom lover to her breast,

Sometimes they seemed to try to sing.

Sometimes a horrible marionette

Came out, and smoked its cigarette          

The flirtation, the pleasure and the intimacy is revealed to be completely hollow and dead. These are the kind of existential crises that can come through when Venus and Saturn are squared in retrograde motion. A very familiar scene in your life may suddenly reveal its gross artificiality.

Then, turning to my love, I said,

‘The dead are dancing with the dead,

The dust is whirling with the dust.’    

As the poet continues to behold the living dead, his love is tempted to wander inside the house of lust.

love passed into the house of lust.

then suddenly the tune went false.

Lust without love is like a symphony turned into a digital ringtone. Just because the notes have been played does not mean that its spirit has been expressed. The raison d’etre dissolves. The burst of light and heat withdraws and all vitality is lost. This is how any situation in life can become when the heart and soul are sacrificed for a mere performance. Without love there is no art, there is no beauty, and life loses all of its flavor.

The Harlot’s House reveals a sad truth about humanity, that even something as vivifying, primal and intimate as sex could be rendered lifeless and artificial. And if music and beauty and sex can be hollowed of feeling, imagine what can happen to humanity’s lesser passions!

The modern world is a great lesson in how many human qualities can be hollowed out and exploited. Like the harlot’s house, this world is fueled by lust without love; a mechanized system of habits; a machine devoid of sympathy.   

Thus, this week is a time to allow some darkness to close in, ruminating on how you can strengthen your integrity and remain alive in your senses.

Monday/Tuesday: Down the Moonlit Street

The waxing Moon will be transiting through Cancer at the beginning of the week, opening you up to a fountain of strange moods and intuitions. As the Moon opposes Pluto in Capricorn it will also square Jupiter retrograde in Libra and Uranus in Aries. Recollections and issues from last week’s Jupiter/Pluto square will arise now infused with an added feeling of rebellion.

You may respond to this array of feeling with the desire to remain somewhat secluded. Words may fail to articulate the complexity of your feelings, leaving you feeling frustrated by long-winded conversations. This is the week’s first gravitation pull towards a quieter more meditative pause. Thus, allow the Cancer Moon to guide you to whatever kind of sanctuary you may need.

Wednesday/Thursday: Dust Is Whirling With The Dust

The middle of the week brings the start of Saturn’s retrograde, a motion that will extend until late August. There is always a dramatic tone to the times when a planet stands still and changes directions. Thus expect a slow motion effect to overtake you. You will naturally take more time for deliberation and examination.

This may be frustrating to your sense of excitement but will also help you to resist impulsive decision making.

Concurrently to Saturn’s shift into retrograde, Mars in its debilitated placement in Taurus will trine Pluto in Capricorn. As this is a flowing and benenficial aspect, you will feel a ferocious desire to unearth secrets and delve deeply into mystery.

Your insight into matters will be especially penetrating and your senses sharpened. Thus, you may find that you begin to claw your way out of a hole that you have long been stuck in. Your thoughts may grow dim with the added awareness of an aching hunger and sadness inside, but a thrashing instinct will forcibly pull you back towards the light.

Use the middle of the week to make some kind of unbreakable promise to yourself. If it is time to grow, vow to yourself that you will allow it. If it is time to stop doing something, vow that you will stop it now.

Friday/Saturday/Sunday: Down The Long And Silent Street

On Friday, Mercury will be slowing down, offering you a protracted but methodical thought process to follow. As Venus retrograde inches closer to Chiron in Pisces, whatever cup of delusion you’ve been drinking from will finally dry up, leaving you thirsty for an antidote of truth. Under this influence, lies and deceit will not be so easily swallowed.

The Sun in Aries will oppose retrograde Jupiter in Libra, creating a t-square with Pluto in Capricorn. This is a reignition of last week’s themes with an additional drive towards finding equilibrium within power struggles and conflict. This t-square aspect provides the structure you will need to harness the overwhelming intensity of these planets and direct them towards a humongous leap in development.

If all goes well, the Sun and Jupiter will enliven your sense of possibility, imbuing you with enthusiasm and the squares to Pluto will enable you to rapidly clear away any obstacles that may remain in your path. This is a perfect time to set the intention that: “The way is clear for me to move forward!”

On Saturday, Venus retrograde in Pisces will make an exact square to Saturn retrograde in Sagittarius. “O heavy lightness.” This is a moment where a great clash between your romantic ideals and the reality of things can occur.

The project may be a wonderful idea, but there really may not be time for it this year. The relationship may seem like a fairy-tale, but there really is no future for you two. The investment opportunity might look great on paper, but if it sounds too good to be true…it probably is!

The stress of a square between Venus and Saturn ultimately improves your senses and instills you with much more integrity towards yourself and others. Venus teaches Saturn that all work and no play makes for a very dull life indeed. And Saturn teaches Venus that it is completely unethical to make promises that can not be kept. While the square aspect endures, you may be quite challenged to follow any of this wise council.

On Sunday, Mercury turns retrograde in Taurus, which is going to feel like inconvenient timing. The other aspects this week seem to be pushing you towards some kind of obtuse apotheosis, and yet this Mercury retrograde will decelerate your ability to make decisions, slackening your grip on any cohesion of thought. Try not to be disquieted by the slowness in which things are developing. Take the extra time to consider your options very carefully.

Read and re-read things. Ask for an extra day to think about the offer. Wait for the important call without succumbing to anxiety.

This period of retrogrades is allowing you to till the soil, taking the extra time to stir up the fertile Earth that will birth your long term plans. Take pleasure in the sweetness of doing things slowly and carefully for it is in these moments that a higher quality of life can return. With so many sense attuned to the present moment, you will be relieved of the pressure to act as an automaton.

Set the intention to use this period to become more fully embodied, seizing back the power of your natural senses that are so hungry for truth and authenticity in the world. Don’t settle for mechanical reproductions of life and love. Instead, let yourself be wild at heart.