Cosmic Calendar
By Salina Rain

Spring 2001 brings more opportunities for effective, long-term, powerful transformations than we have experienced as a species in a very long time. The mid degrees of the mutable signs are the most affected÷Sagittarius, Gemini, Virgo, and Pisces. With Pluto's recent station in mid-Sag in the company of Mars and Pallas, and with Mars' retrograde pass in Sag culminating at that same degree this season, the energy of profound, shape-shifting change is upon us full force. Look to your own astrological patterns to find where these points are located, the areas of life affected, the planetary and asteroid energies most engaged in your personal transmutation. Passionate devotion to truth, exposing false beliefs, deepening and empowering idealism are a large part of this paradigm shift in the making. More than ever before we realize our capacity to make choices that deeply affect our reality on all levels. There's a weight of responsibility hanging in the air along with wide-open opportunities laid out before us. Of course, extremist views are up for consideration, and there's plenty of those to go around as we're required to navigate a vast field of ideas or possibilities to find our way, while at the same time one hundred percent allowing everyone else their own version of "truth." It's a paradigm shift to end all paradigm shifts, with a major component being the concept that there's room for each and every authentic individual in all their glorious nuttiness and eccentricity. Indeed, we're reaching the very long-time-coming conclusion that we need the extraordinary diversity of world-views, lifestyles and modes of self-expression to create a healthy, functioning world.

Aries Sun in April brings new life on all levels of existence, as the full energy of Spring surges forth in the natural world and through our very blood. With Venus retrograde in Aries through the 19^th it's necessary to review the essentials in relationships, creative priorities, and in re-positioning ourselves in the financial realm, individually and collectively. There's a new direction we must take in our collective values, quite visibly reflected in the financial markets and their continued instability. We simply cannot sustain the old values and expect to survive as a species, but that's not to say that we can't create a far richer and more rewarding reality to share. Venus is extremely powerful this Spring as old man Saturn makes his way through the last degrees of Venus-ruled Taurus along with her slower and longer movement through Aries. Taking responsibility for the collective condition and owning up to our true desires for ourselves will be necessary to reach the balance that will work best.

Sun enters Taurus April 19^th marking the beginning of its annual 30-day frolic through the sign of Nature in all her glory, and our own earthy, animalistic qualities. The life of the senses is more immediate and vivid in Taurus' realm, with the very air we breathe so laden with the sweetness of life. It's a good time to immerse in the scents, sights, sounds and sensations which can connect us with the divine nature of life on Earth, to do our work persistently as we keep an eye on the larger vision of what we're doing it for. The first 3 weeks of May continue the Taurean energy field, with Mars changing directions on the 11^th, moving retrograde to help us review and re-align our uses of aggressive energy.Ê Neptune and Uranus also pivot in May, as we move into late Spring with 4 planets in retro motion.

Libra Full Moon shines her harmonious light on April 7^th at 8:23 PM, with the Sun and Vesta trine Pluto and Pallas (who are less than 1 degree conjoined) and Mars within 5 degrees. This is the lunation where we see our connections with each other more clearly, our roles in our relationships of the personal and professional kind. This year the fire element informs our observations with extra passion and unbridled enthusiasm. We're dancing with the energy of clear choices as we prune away the unwanted alliances, or aspects of our alliances, with almost brutal precision. Jupiter can add perspective in opposition to Pluto-Pallas, but can also influence us to jump overboard with excessive speed when drawing conclusions. In the larger picture, as well as in our personal lives, we need to call upon the calmer, more forgiving perspective of Jupiter trine Neptune and Venus and Mercury joined in a sextile to both Jupiter and Neptune, to negotiate peaceful settlements that work for everyone. There's expansive vision here that can lead us into the future with greater hope and more beautiful scenarios of cooperation than we may have dared to entertain before. Be wild and bold in your dreams for a more harmonious future, instead of reacting to problems in the same old ways, and remember that cooperation and harmony do not really imply that we all must think and act alike.

April 19^th-20^th bring some momentous shifts as Venus pivots to direct motion at 1 degree Aries, Sun enters Taurus and Saturn leaves Venus-ruled Taurus after a 2 year sojourn, entering mental Gemini for a prolonged term of setting limits on the information overload we've had to deal with over the last few years. Definitely Venus' influence makes it easy to know what we're passionate about, and Saturn has been teaching us to go for what's real and abiding in our lives rather than what will bring the most money and the quickest gratification. We're starting to remember the delicious rewards of delayed gratification and a slower pace of life and are entering a phase where we're far less willing to remain on the super-stressed information highway for such a huge chunk of our precious time. Problems emerging from this unnatural lifestyle of being "plugged in" so much of the time and being so dependent on massive uses of non-renewable energy sources are part of Saturn's lessons. This is a moment in time to go for what we really need, before the next shifts in direction in May.

New Moon at 4 degrees Taurus on April 23^rd joins with Mercury and Juno, all in a trine with Mars and Chiron in Sagittarius, and square Neptune, for fairly intense experiences drawing more attention to environmental concerns, changing people's ideas about how they use resources, how we affect weather patterns, and how we need to work in partnership for a healthier future. The feminine perspective gets more consideration as the Jupiter-Pluto, Pallas opposition moves closer to perfection and Juno, Mercury conjunct the lunation make us more receptive to the "female" voices speaking out. Venus, Taurus' ruling planet is at the 2^nd degree of Aries, squaring Chiron and Mars in a highly energetic challenge to shift our priorities or pay the consequences. Relationships are in need of special care and patience with this aspect, and financial moves require extra caution too, but if we've done our work leading up to this New Moon well, we have the opportunity to make far-reaching and rewarding moves in both theses areas.

May begins with Jupiter applying to its potent opposition with Pluto and Pallas, exact on the 6^th, having last opposed Pluto Sept. 4^th and Oct. 13^th, 2000. Whatever was most prominent then is back to be resolved, completed, fully owned, as the energy of these planets in opposition must be integrated and balanced in our lives now or cause us great distress. What must you be rid of in order to fulfill the task at hand? This aspect can bring gross excesses and over-reactions, especially with our most cherished beliefs being confronted. Resist the tendency to overdo, overload, over-react, and be mindful that this is a golden opportunity to face ourselves honestly and grow.

May 7^th brings the Full Moon in Scorpio at 18 degrees, fast on the heels of the Jupiter-Pluto opposition and most certainly powerfully infused with that energy. Pluto rules Scorpio so the god of the underworld is especially represented, not only in his face-off with expansive and optimistic Jupiter, but in the emotional intensity of the lunation as well. Mercury and Saturn join in Gemini for some serious thinking and responsibleÊ communications, as we decide what ideas work for us and which ones must go. Juno joins the Sun, while both trine Ceres, helping us stay grounded through this pressurized energy field. Resistance is useless, so let go and say a prayer for the best outcome.

Neptune, a planet connected to the great beyond, turns retrograde on the 10^th, then Mars makes its pivot on the 11^th. Dreams, delusions, intuitive insights, and spirituality are highlighted even as the god of impulse and action makes his own pivot, emphasizing the realm of desires and what we're willing to do to fulfill them. Mars and Venus only move "backwards" every 2 years or so, and this year they both make their retro pass in fire signs, giving us an extra long period this year where we're working more with the fire element in everyday matters.Ê No room for ambivalence with this set-up, yet Neptune's influence won't let us forget that place of unclear boundaries, blurred scenarios and the other reality we call dreams. The importance of this moment may lie in being able to surrender to a "higher" calling as we pursue our heart's desire with courage and passion, being able to re-frame the personal in our lives to line up more with the good of the whole. We may be totally delighted in the results if we follow where spirit is calling us.

Uranus takes center stage as May winds down, making its pivot to retrograde motion on the 29^th at 25 degrees of Aquarius, beginning its 5 month long re-tracing of its steps over the last few months. Uranus brings shocks, of the positive and negative, wherever it's doing its volatile dance, so attention to its House position in your chart would give you forewarning of where your life is being turned upside down. This is highly creative energy if we channel it well, if we don't it produces chaos. The latest technological advances will be needing "re-wiring" of one kind or another, our nervous systems will likely be a bit over-taxed, and new developments in science and progress in social reforms will probably catch our attention as Uranus changes directions.

As we move towards Summer this year there's a necessity to join together in work and play and problem solving, to pool our resources and collaborate creatively. We're truly entering a whole new reality. Enjoy!

Salina Rain is a resident of Humboldt County California and has been a student of metaphysics for the last thirty years. Salina can be reached at (707) 443-1912; serain@htan.org; or PO Box 571, Arcata, CA 95518.ÊÊÊ