by Will Harrison

I hope you’re having a wonderful week, fellow wolves!

With the New Moon in Aquarius last Friday, we’re in a new lunar cycle. This means we have tons of potential to grow in new ways and to learn new things about ourselves, life and the universe. The next two weeks will be a fantastic opportunity to explore who you are as an individual, what does and does not interest and fulfill you and how to live your life to the fullest. Experiment, be a little crazy and have fun! Life isn’t meant to be serious all the time, and during the next two weeks we’re meant to enjoy ourselves even if we’re facing tough challenges as well.

This week starts out with a bang as the Moon transits Aries. A lot of random emotions will be coming our way that really get us inspired, active or angry – try to work through that last emotion and not snap at people, my friends! For both Monday and Tuesday, a lot of energy will be at our disposal, so this is an excellent time to begin new projects and make headway. Don’t expect a lot of follow through, though, as Moon in Aries energy loves to start things, but not necessarily finish them. As the Moon will be conjunct Uranus, expect a little instability in the realm of emotions and some sudden changes as well – these won’t be the smoothest days, but they will be fun and they will definitely help us get past any obstacles that were challenging us before. Meditation would be an excellent tool to calm the frayed aspects of this transit, as would anything that inspires you. For example, on this day, I’ll most definitely be making art as that’s my personal key to calmness.

By Wednesday the Moon will be entering Taurus – this is a great time to finish anything you started earlier in the week as this energy is incredible with being practical and productive. It might be a little while for this energy to rev up, though, since Moon in Taurus can be a very relaxed, even lazy, energy as well. Once things get going for you on Wednesday, it will carry you through the week. Balancing work and play during this time would be incredibly effective and satisfying as well. This is a time to enjoy with loved ones or in solitude, according to preference, but enjoyment is definitely the name of the game for the middle to latter part of the week, so do your work, kick back and relax, friends!

By Friday the Moon transits into chatty, inquisitive and witty Gemini. This weekend is a great chance for all of us to meet some interesting new people or spend time with those friends who are so close they are like siblings – again, all according to preference. Knowing Gemini’s love of duality you might just meet new people while hanging out with old friends. No matter what your social configuration, this weekend has a lot of potential for thinking, conversing, ideation and making more connections than we can keep up with – again, have fun! That seems to be a theme for this week.

Looking at the overarching transits, Venus continues its conjunction of Pluto from the last couple weeks and, indeed, is almost directly conjunct Pluto this week. January and the first half of February have been and will be deeply transforming for all of us as we face the internal parts (Pluto) of our relationships (Venus) and seek to overcome any challenges, balance any disharmony (Venus) and ultimately grow past anything that is holding us back in regards to both loved ones and strangers (Pluto). Like I said in the last issue, there is an intensity going on with this energy, but it certainly has its uses as well – the more introspective and reflective we are in relation to our relationships, the more we grow as individuals and souls and create relationships that are healthy and that are truly mutually beneficial. This is a great time to clean up all the weeds that have grown in your social life and to start fresh. Exciting! Intense! Just follow your instinct and try not to be paranoid (Pluto).

Another overarching theme is Mercury – the famed transit of Mercury retrograde is happening this week! Three times a year Mercury goes retrograde, making the angle from the planet Mercury to the Earth roughly energetic and akin to a bad connection for a phone call. Indeed, that exact scenario is likely to happen. When Mercury goes retrograde, communication devices, daily transportation vehicles and conversations are likely to go a little haywire and not function as expected. I find that the greatest way to get through Mercury retrograde is to adopt a Mercurial attitude – enjoy the chaos even if it’s stressful, and just laugh it all off, friends. You’re going to survive if you miscommunicate something, if something breaks down or if you’re a little bit late for something. Everything happens for a reason, so no worries, friends!

Expect a lot of garbled communications and thoughts with others. Since Mercury is not only retrograde, but in spacey, dreamy Pisces and conjunct Neptune in Pisces, my goodness are communications going to get confusing! Embrace the confusion, gain from it and don’t take it too seriously. For the last part of this week and the beginning of next week, we will all be feeling this way, so we’re all in this together.  Let’s be patient and take each step at a time.

May we all have an absolutely wonderful, life-affirming week!

Will Harrison studies French and Spanish. He can be reached at opinion@http://archive.archive.nevadasagebrush.com.