“What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly.”
 Richard Bach

Retrogrades and Illusions

If Venus retrograde hasn't thrown you around enough, we have another four retrograde planets on their way this month. Venus will go Direct on the 15th but won't be out of the shadow phase until  May 18th. Mercury retrogrades on the 9th.  Jupiter has been Retrograde since February 6th and will remain until September 6th.  Saturn will turn Retrograde on April 5th and go direct December 1st ( long haul). Uranus enters the shadow phase April 15th then retrogrades from August 2nd to April 2018. Neptune Entered its' shadow phase February 23rd and will Retrograde June 16th to March 2018,  and finally  Pluto on the 20th and goes direct fully January 2018.  
We have a retrograde storm !

Retrogrades happen all the time. Many of us will be born with some planet in retrograde as well. But to have six planets retrograde synchronistically isn't an every day thing at all. It is a number  one vibration this year and yet all this energy turns us inward, slows us down, makes us reflect and set things straight in our lives. This year is an excavation. Some may even say this year is a time of karma being settled.

The overall vibration I feel from 2017 is slower and more grounded than usual. This doesn't feel like  a year of rush or hyper excitement.  It feels more like a year of planting our feet back into the soil and remembering you have a body, mind and a spirit to take care of. 

So why the title of retrogrades and illusions ?  Time itself and how fast or slowly things happen can be an illusion in and of itself.  However I see that as we begin to settle into the pace of this year there will be a lot of frustration and facing of buried material that we haven't really wanted to acknowledge for a long time. There is a backlog of things to process that are cluttering your mind , body and heart.  There are layers to undoing all of that numbing and running from things - and this is personal AND political.  We have hit a culmination point and all the bravado and out running the bear have run out.  

We are going to see massive disappointment and outrage at the way things are being handled in the world - ad yes we already are outraged, but this is different - it will be felt and very REAL to everyone this time. It' s more than a concept on a page or a TV show. 
We are in  awake up call kind of time. A wake up call kind of year. It isn't just happening outside of us to others - it is affecting our energy too - because we aren't separate.

What this means is that we are all going through our own personal wake up calls too. We all have some aspect of not facing the music to look at. Some of us who are more awake, or take better care of themselves and those around them can experience a greater depth of purpose and healing. But if we've been avoiding and running then the retrogrades will show us its' time to clean up the closet.

This being said I think these kinds of times are beautiful. Crisis often shows us who are true friends are and that's a beautiful thing. Crisis often awaken old desires and talents and memories that make us feel alive again - connected to your story again. That is a beautiful thing as well.

Being numb is the worst thing.
Being apathetic and hopeless and victim minded and weary is the scariest thing.

Awakening to your real feelings will give you the drive to make changes and decisions. It will wake you up to use your will again. It will help you sort through the fake from the authentic.  It will put you back on path, and show you the path - not by magic!  By really knowing deep in your bones what you want and what to do.

Your only job is to feel it, seek support and move through it.
Walk through the water.
You got this !