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A couple of months ago, I wrote about the ongoing square of Neptune and Saturn and how our rational minds and our intuitive ones are currently engaged in a long, creative talk. Collectively we are invited to aim for the integration of our capacity for reason and our capacity for spirituality. We need to allow each of these modalities of thought and perception to have equal time, to encourage them to support each other as good friends do—with hard questions, helpful criticism, and unexpected insights. We observed that under this Saturn-Neptune aspect any cherished, but ungrounded spiritual beliefs we held would be challenged by pressing Saturnian reality. We could deny that challenge—and choose to live in a spiritual fairyland. Or we could accept it and become far wiser.

Equally—and a lot more fun to say—we recognized that our attachment to “grounded reason” would likely be humbled by inexplicable experiences: miracles, acts of grace, and visionary moments.

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February is Black History month. So in this edition of the newsletter, we’d like to honor a couple of folks who braced themselves against our racist culture and overcame their obstacles to achieve success. These two may not be as well celebrated as Rosa Parks or Martin Luther King, but their stories take us into some revealing cultural detours.

We’d also like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and commend a few bright stars in our astrological community who will be featured speakers at this year’s NORWAC conference in Seattle: our very own “Forrest Trained” Cheryl Hopkins, Marie O’Neill, and Vernon Robinson. Congratulations! Can’t wait to see what you cook up for us.

And a shout out goes to Samuel Reynolds, returning to NORWAC for his second year. Reynolds is the co-founder of the International Society of Black Astrologers and can be found at UnlockAstrology.com.

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by Steven Forrest

The current square between Neptune and Saturn has been a weird elongated one, long-foretold but only now flowering. Technically, the aspect made first “partile” (exact) contact just a few weeks ago—on November 26, 2015. The reality is, we’ve all been living with it since December 23, 2014, when Saturn first crossed into Sagittarius. Neptune was only in about 5 degrees of Pisces then—thus, well within the orbs of a square. The aspect has gone on, stronger or weaker, since then—and it will continue through this year, as two more exact squares form on June 17 and September 10.

Saturn teaches patience. In eternal Saturn fashion, the square seems to be taking longer than it needs to.

All square aspects are about tension, but this is a particularly tense one because of the antithetical natures of these two planets. In other words, there seems to be a “natural square” between Saturn and Neptune, just in terms of their basic energies.

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by Steven Forrest

Light soon returns to the world. Hallelujah, hallelujah . . . but you have heard it all before and it’s not exactly shocking news. Of course I am talking about the Winter Solstice.  And you might be yawning already.  You don’t have to be an astrologer to know that the season of ever-lengthening nights is now about to turn.  Yet, buried beneath the veil of numbing familiarity, this yearly turning of the tide of light still holds some riddles for us.

For us in the northern hemisphere, the coldest parts of winter still lie ahead, but at least there’s a reason for hope.  As the eloquent jazz pianist, Bill Evans, put it, “You must believe in Spring.” If you are in the snow-belt, there’s a lyric to tape to your refrigerator!  Even here in the southern California desert where I live, I am looking forward to the days getting longer again. Who can reflect even for ten seconds on the notion of “the return of the light” without a little whisper of optimism arising? Who can think of it without hope?

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by Tony Howard

The Saturn-Neptune cycle is fairly common - we experience a major aspect between the two planets (Conjunction, Square or Opposition) every 9 years. But that frequency doesn’t diminish its important role. Metaphorically, interactions between Saturn and Neptune can express on the high end as “sobering up.” And with Neptune currently in Pisces, we could probably use regular reminders to come back into balance. Because one shadow side of Neptune in Pisces is a weakness for succumbing to the pull to binge on things that give us the feeling of escape. And that doesn’t just apply to the usual suspects, like alcohol, drugs (legal or otherwise), or food.

Binge-watching TV shows became prevalent as Neptune entered Pisces, with online streaming services like Netflix and Hulu making it easier than ever to sit on the couch for hours at a stretch. We no longer talk about this week’s episode of a show over the water cooler, we talk about the entire season we watched over the weekend. Andy Samberg's pre-filmed skit for the 2015 Emmy Awards offers a hilarious take on this.

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by Steven Forrest

If you have been watching the evening sky this year, you’ve witnessed a lovely minuet of bright-eyed Venus and much dimmer Mars. They’ve pulled apart since their spectacular conjunction last February, but they are now racing back toward one another’s arms. Their final embrace will happen on November 2, in just about exactly 24°Virgo. Over the next four weeks, on their way to that happy rendezvous, the two planets first do a line-dance with Neptune and then a sexy slow dance with Jupiter—two events in the heavens whose fingertips we will all feel in our intimate lives.

Most of my language here in this newsletter will reflect the classic Mars-Venus terrain of intimacy in a “partnering” sense of the word. But really, these configurations have broader meaning, affecting all of our various relationships. With just a little translation, all that we explore here is relevant to those kinds of connections too. Even if you are single, there are people you love. You also probably think about relationship—and these planetary patterns will underlie your thoughts and meditations.

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In planetary transit news this month, Venus goes direct, Mercury goes retrograde, and Saturn settles into Sagittarius. That's a lot of shifting energy, perhaps fitting for the "back to school" season.

Venus will station direct on Sunday, September 6 at 14° Leo. Check your chart for any planets close to that degree of Leo, Aquarius, Taurus or Scorpio. You folks will likely notice the station the most. Take note, and if you have any good stories to share after the station, Tony would love to hear them. Email tony@forrestastrology.com. If you track the shadow periods of retrograde cycles, Venus will remain in the shadow through October 9, when it passes the degree at which it stationed retrograde, 0° Virgo.

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by Steven Forrest

In pop astrology, Jupiter is celebrated as the lucky planet. So if you are a Virgo, lucky you! Jupiter enters Virgo on August 11. And all you Leos better drink up because your year of glory is drawing to a close. Jupiter’s sweep through Virgo will run for about thirteen months, finally bringing sunshine to all the world’s Librans starting on September 9, 2016.

We will have deeper things to say, fear not! But for a moment, let’s contemplate the phenomenon of plain dumb luck.  Who knows what that wild card signifies in the larger scheme of the universe?  Is it random—as simple as saying “every dog has his day?” Is it good karma coming home to roost?  That’s my own guess—I’ve never had much faith in the “random universe” model.  But whatever dumb luck’s origins may be, it’s a real phenomenon.  We all recognize it when we see it.  And when it raises its lovely head in your life, there’s a good chance that Jupiter has stepped into the spotlight of your chart.

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by Tony Howard

Since Venus stations retrograde later this month, I planned to write about it in this newsletter, but I can’t resist talking about the memorable events of last week instead. For some interesting Venus retrograde insights, check out Nick Dagan Best’s excellent video download. Venus is still on my agenda though - via the current Venus-Jupiter conjunction that is gracing us with positive vibes and opportunities for growth. What makes this cycle so special though, is that Venus and Jupiter are also parallel by declination, making this the strongest kind of conjunction. To top it off, they are both in shiny, solar Leo while in a fire trine with Uranus in Aries. This combination holds the potential for sudden liberation, genius creative innovation, breaking free of constraints, unleashing creativity and growth, and unblocking restrictions to fairness, justice and equality. And that’s just for starters.

Reflecting the high potential of this transit, the Supreme Court announcement on the morning of June 26 legalizing gay marriage came at a time when we really needed some good news. Just a week before, a tragic shooting took the lives of several innocent people in a Charleston church on the evening of June 17, at 9:05pm. 

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Transiting Pluto is sitting right smack on my Sun. The “god of hell,” right up my nose. And yet, despite all doomsayers, I am still alive. When I was a young astrologer, I might have seen that transit coming and bet anyone five dollars that it would kill me. That was my training. I would have lost five dollars too.

Funny how fear gets in one’s blood as we learn astrology. There’s so much of it out there. Many of my private clients come to me knowing a little bit of about the planets—enough to be dangerous. I mention an upcoming transit of Pluto or Saturn in their charts and they grow pale, as if it’s some kind of death sentence. As most of you know, I constantly preach against that kind of astrology. Am I immune to the fear? I’ve got a student who adds a cool little colophon to her emails—“Start listening to your own lectures.” That’s a good reminder . . . for me, as much as for the rest of us.

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