Astrology: Earth Signs Calm Aries Anger

       Venus is now in Aries, which isn't the best place for it, especially with the Cardinal Grand Cross still active.
       Aries isn't compatible with the planet of love. Aries is quick, efficient and can be harsh and outspoken.
       If you're sensitive, people's words could hurt. And Uranus continuing in Aries intensifies this, making outbursts more abrupt.
       Some of us may feel surrounded by landmines: with good reason as it's a time that can push us to the edge. Fortunately, Sun and Mercury now in Taurus provide grounding energy.
       Taurus can be comforting and slow moving while around us impatient people are saying "Go faster."  Here, in a harsh planetary landscape, it means surrounding ourselves with as much comfort, beauty, and luxury as possible, which will make the situation more bearable.

Astrology: Healing Body of Stored Tension

"Dancing is surely the most basic and relevant of all forms of expression. Nothing else can so effectively give outward form to an inner experience. Poetry and music exist in time. Painting and architecture are a part of space. But only the dance lives at once in both space and time. In it the creator and the thing created, the artist and the expression, are one. Each participates completely in the other. There could be no better metaphor for an understanding of the mechanics of the cosmos.” 
                                                                                                  -- Lyall Watson 

This quote, from Lyall Watson's excellent Gifts of Unknown Things  (a scientist's perspective of an island culture) is not meant to denigrate other arts, which I love and am, in some, gifted, but to express the need to release, at this time, the tense energy stored in most of our bodies.
       If you are a fellow dancer, you may know that unstructured dancing can always be a release, often placing us in a state of grace that relaxes the body and eases worry, therefore cleansing us physically.  
       With warnings of global disaster, a growing divide between rich and poor, increasing gentrification, repeated corporate and political corruption, and the astrological grand cross, we need to express ourselves and release tension in every way possible.
       Animals do this naturally -- by shaking after being frightened.  If they didn't do so before resuming normal activity, they would die. We, on the other hand, usually suppress the urge to shake when shocked or stressed. 
       Peter Levine says in Waking the Tiger, unlike animals, human bodies hold onto rather than immediately releasing stress.  This can lead to severe physiological and psychological imbalance and illness. Even a vacation can be stressful. As remedy, yoga works, or just a walk outside. But the arts, especially dance, take us out of ourselves.  
       There is so much more to us than what is understood, and Gifts of Unknown Things (a book written before its time) discussed some of this.  
      This is why I repeatedly mention creative release and tuning into the wisdom of dreams and intuition.
Dancing is one of many ways to do this.

Astrology: Cardinal Grand Cross This Week

The Moon is now at 8 degrees Libra, putting it in hard aspect (Square and Opposition) and forming a Cardinal Grand Cross with T-Square Uranus, Pluto, and Jupiter.  (See Previous Post)
     We've been feeling its vortex-like tension for the past several days, and this will only increase tomorrow and Wednesday and then begin to subside somewhat until another planet moves into position.
     It's best to do everything you can to be grounded and centered, taking the long view in planning your life, and trying not to let others or unexpected circumstances throw you.

Astrology: Tension Creates Music

With the Moon now in Taurus, and the continuing Cardinal Grand Cross, create.

Astrology: Cardinal Grand Cross/Taurus Moon

Although by tomorrow the moon will be moving from Aries to Taurus where it will be firmly positioned on Friday, there is still unpredictability in the wide Cardinal Grand Cross that remains.
     Chances are the predominance of transiting earth signs, including this Taurus Moon, will be better for those who have a strong earth natal chart.  Taurus is luxury and solidity. Unlike Aries, it slows things down. It loves comfort, and under the present sky, there might be a tendency to overeat, drink, or spend money lavishly. You may want to stay inside, relax, indulge, but with all the Capricorn earth also transiting, discipline will most likely kick in and prevent this kind of overindulgence.  At the very least, it will be easier to access will-power than under other Taurus moons. But at this time, indulging might be better than enduring too much stress.
      The continuing wide Cardinal Grand Cross is concerning.  It's like a roulette wheel: You never know what's going to happen.  The best you can do it throw the dice and pray for luck.