Astrological Winds for Week of 11/14/11

This is a very calm week astrologically - very little to report on, but with the intensity of last week's Full Moon and Mars action, perhaps we all need time to pause and reflect on the roller coaster ride of our lives in these times. Indeed, with Mercury now in its retrograde shadow, a turning to the inner world and some contemplation is in order.

Wednesday has one of the two most significant aspects of the week as Mars, now in Virgo, trines retrograde Jupiter in Taurus. Normally, putting these two together can jack up energy to new highs, but in these two more conservative earth signs and Jupiter moving backwards, actions may be more well-tempered, and thus quite possibly much more effective in the long term. We can make an incredible amount of progress in any endeavor we choose to spend our time on this week, as long as we pay attention to the details and remain grounded in our decisions. A confident mastery of your skills makes you effective in changing/influencing your environment and should give you an optimistic boost. This is a time of working towards goals enthusiastically. Energy is high and lucky breaks can occur if you use this energy well! The only danger is pushing a bit too far in regard to others or finances as Mercury/Venus sesiquadrate Jupiter may have us overextend somehow or get too self-aggrandizing with our statements/decisions.

Sunday has the other major aspect of the week: Sun square Neptune. This could lead to lowered physical energy, being deceived by self or others, being overly idealistic, escapism, alcohol & drug binges, a sense of discouragement/disenchantment with your life. This is not a good weekend to make any major decisions as your judgement is likely to be fallible in some way. This is an excellent day to take a quiet retreat somewhere, even to your yoga/meditation mat, and focus on the spiritual/metaphysical side of your being; take it easy physically/sleep in/lay around and relax. Ambitions will be tempered/dampened, but that's OK for the day.

Enjoy this rather mellow week and prepare for Mercury Retrograde next week, and a Sag New Moon/Solar Eclipse on Thanksgiving Eve, plus a load of Venus aspects all week long!