We have a couple of interesting planetary configurations now that will last for a few more days.

One is a Grand Trine that includes the Sun in Taurus, Pluto in Capricorn, and Saturn in Virgo that began a couple of days ago when all planets were at 1 degree. We are as close now to a trine as Saturn and Pluto will be until the year 2030, and this is a powerful trine that enables us to build structures (Saturn) that facilitate change and transformation (Pluto).

We are still seeing the effects of that as we move into today’s T-square involving an opposition between Mars in Cancer to Jupiter in Capricorn, both of which are square to Venus in Aries. Venus in Aries wants to approach relationships from a self-oriented perspective, and Mars in Cancer has a drive to express individuality through nurturing others. For the next few days there is a conflict here between those two modalities – how to maintain our independence in relationships while being sensitive to the needs of others. Jupiter’s effusiveness and occasional arrogance can get in the way here – it whispers in our ear and tells us that we can have anything we want. Perhaps it even encourages us to bait the enemy, as Condoleeza Rice did when she called al Sadr a coward.

Venus will have moved on in a day or so and will form a sextile (harmonious aspect) to Neptune which will help to smooth the interpersonal waters, but the Mars/Jupiter effect will last a bit longer, through the end of the week. There is more energy flying around than usual, but physical activity will help to keep that energy in check and make it easier to maintain balance. This is a great time for sports and anything that involves competition.