As Pluto prepares to move from Sagittarius to Capricorn, cultural shifts abound.  I was recently reading an article in O magazine that was a perfect example of this energy shift.  The basic premise was that the idea of high self-esteem being the cornerstone to a good life is outdated.  In fact, according to the article, having high self-esteem doesn't do "much of anything for you."  It goes on to list the things in life it doesn't improve, such as career achievement, incidences of violent behavior, or other people's opinions of you.  Instead of self-esteem, the article says, the best thing is to develop the ability to take criticism, acknowledge your shortcomings and work to overcome them.  It's not a system of values (what a Sagittarian word!), it goes on to say, it's a toolbox (Hello, Capricorn!).

The emphasis is no longer of Sagittarian things like happiness, optimism, and inflated (Jupiter) self-importance.  Now we have to learn Capricorn's skills to be successful.  Enough of your floating in the clouds!   Get to work!

Well, since Mercury is finally direct, I thought I would tally up the damage.  This particular cycle has affected my life much more noticeably than previous periods, and I have quite a list of irritations.  Here goes:

1.The electric at my house went out for hours for no reason.  This happened twice within two weeks, and had never happened before that.
2.Hooligans in my boyfriend's neighborhood knocked the side mirror off of my car (to be fair, this happened during a Mercury retrograde period a few years ago too)
3.My cable and internet were knocked out for several days as we took the carpet up in my house.
4.When my internet was finally hooked up again, my computer glitched and needed to be restarted several times before it would work correctly.
5.I began to have strange dreams about travel, both near and distant (this Mercury phase opposed my natal Neptune in the 9th)
6.One of my ex-boyfriends contacted me out of nowhere and wanted to talk about old times.
7.I reconnected with several old friends, including one that I though I had lost contact with permanently.
8.I rediscovered my old jewelery box and reminisced over old plastic rings for hours (Mercury retrograde in Cancer equals nostalgia!)
9.Many old emotions that I thought had been effectively put to rest resurfaced with a terrible vengeance.
10.Those old emotions prompted me to dress in a way that I had not dressed in since high school.  That ended quickly, though. XD
11.I was laid off from work for several weeks.  My job is doing telephone surveys for my university, and apparently their communication with their client was so off that the survey had to be delayed a few weeks.  How Mercury Retrograde is that?
12.The History department at my university canceled several classes that it had planned to offer, including classes that I was signed up for.  I now have to completely redo my schedule for the fall semester.

How's that for Mercury Retrograde?

Is anyone else absolutely loving Venus in Leo?  Considering that I have four planets (including Venus) in Leo natally, it's pretty safe to say that Venus in Leo is one of my all time favorite transits.  I have spent every day since Wednesday (when it entered Leo) either sitting outside enjoying nature or celebrating.  Today I took an hour long shower with music blasting though the house.  I spent at least a half hour trying on clothes in front of the mirror, all while singing along to Shakira (who was a Leo moon).  I felt fifteen again!   Today was also the commencement ceremony for my fiance, who just received his Associate's degree.  We got to celebrate his achievement, which was so wonderful, and in true Leo fashion, his parents gave ME flowers in thanks for emotionally supporting him.  And after several months of very difficult times, my fiance and I are finally reconnecting in a big way.  And Venus is still only in the first degree!  If this is any indication, this summer looks to be amazing.  Let the good times roll!

As a parting gift, here's Shakira singing "Ready For the Good Times", a very Venus in Leo song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BAlah9Prkw

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm very enamored of Saturn.  I love to work and learn and grow.  To me, if you're not growing then you're not living.   So it's no surprise then when I got Fiona Apple's new CD Extraordinary Machine, I fell in love with the title song.  Here's a selection from the lyrics:

I still only travel by foot
And by foot it's a slow climb
But I'm good at being uncomfortable
So I can't stop changing all the time

If there was a better way to go
Then it would find me
I can't help it
The road just rolls out behind me
Be kind to me
Or treat me mean
I'll make the most of it
I'm an extraordinary machine

How Saturn is that?  Is even has the Capricorn symbolism of climbing!  To hear the rest of it, go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsMZkCLxfkM

So how do the rest of you feel about Saturn?  Are you good at being uncomfortable?

So, being a person with a fairly strong Neptune, I often find that music provides a clearer form of communication for me than words alone.  I am always finding songs to send to people, and I have a playlist in my iTunes for almost every person or major event I've encountered over the past several years.  And, of course, I'm developing a playlist for every planet.  One song has really stood out for me.  It's "This Is Your Life", from the Fight Club soundtrack.  It seems to me to be a perfect song for Pluto.  Fight Club is a pretty Plutonian movie anyway (with a bit of Uranus thrown in for good measure.)  Here's a link to the song. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APxdNIKEAvE

 I'm so excited to finally be starting an astrology blog!  I've been reading other blogs for what seems like forever, and I figure its about time to start one of my own.  I hope that by creating a place to solidify my daily thoughts I'll learn even more about astrology.  And hopefully other people will be to learn a bit as well!

One thing in the skies that has really been affecting my life lately is Mars' triggering of the most recent eclipse.  The eclipse in Pisces occurred almost exactly on my 11/12th house cusp, and was also in loose conjunction with my North Node in Aries.  In essence, I lost my mind and began demanding all sorts of freedom from my very sweet boyfriend of three years.  It culminated in something very near to infidelity, and also in my boyfriend and I deciding to have an open relationship, at least temporarily.  Now that Mars is transiting the eclipse point, I feel that the dust is finally settling and that the fog has lifted.  I can finally work on learning the lessons that I needed to learn from this.  I've discovered that the freedom I craved is an internal thing, and running to find knights on white horses isn't going to help.  This seems to be the lesson of my life, and I guess I'll keep learning it until I finally get it. 

How is the eclipse affecting everyone else?