Dear Chronogram Reader:
“Let Love Rule” is a catchy slogan, and the title of an old Lenny Kravitz song. Yet putting it into actual practice belies its surface simplicity to reveal how much work and adjustment and self-awareness it can take.
On the one hand, we humans are designed for it; on the other, we often do not choose to let love rule. Or we try to, but so much can get in our way, not least of all ourselves.
As we head into the weekend, the astrology seems to suggest both that we let love rule, and that we do the requisite ‘housecleaning’ and adjustment to allow that to happen.
We just experienced a beautiful Full Moon on Tuesday with the Sun in Cancer and the Moon in Capricorn, each late in their signs. So domestic cleaning/restructuring might already be in the works for you, though that might only be a metaphor.
The Moon is currently in Aquarius, and on Friday at 4:35 am EDT, it ingresses Pisces -- a sign of deep emotion and sensitivity. Just less than an hour later, while the Moon is still in the first degree of Pisces, the Sun will enter Leo at 5:30 am EDT.
This puts us in the heart of summer, the peak of the season. It’s fitting, since Leo is said to rule the heart (this sign also relates to pride, drama, compassion, gold, courage, consciousness of self and leadership -- Leo is associated with kings -- among other things). Additionally, Leo is the only sign represented by a star: our Sun, the heart of our solar system.
Yet the heart is not always as simple a place from which to live we would like it to be -- or as straightforward as pop songs would lead us to believe. We often have to adjust our expectations around love and compassion when we deal with the wider world, and also within ourselves. How often have you felt like you’ve come up short in your ability to offer or receive gifts from the heart? How often have people you care about, or humanity as a whole, disappointed you in that regard?
In Planet Waves FM this week, Eric Francis describes the Pisces Moon in conjunction to asteroid Pallas and centaur Nessus as shining a light on the way political dramas are reflecting our personal dramas. He suggests that we take care of our ‘stuff’ (that is, personal emotional baggage and abusive patterns) and then take care of each other.It’s a perfect illustration of why ‘letting love rule’ is often not simple or straightforward. We make up our minds to live open-heartedly and compassionately, and to lead generously, and then seemingly out of nowhere we get tripped up on disappointed expectations; or on the fear (or reality) that it’s not being returned to us. We get blind-sided by a blind spot leftover from our childhood (Leo is also the sign of children) and react harshly. And so on.
We run up against our emotional and social limitations despite our golden intentions, and it’s disheartening. It’s also completely human, though people often forget and waste energy beating themselves up about these ‘failings’ -- rather than forgiving themselves, getting some therapy if necessary, and trying again with their new self-knowledge.
Yet what I’ve just described also illustrates the relationship the Sun and Moon will have (if briefly) on Friday: one of adjustment, as the Moon continues to reflect a good deal of the Sun’s light back to us. The Leo Sun and Pisces Moon will be quincunx each other; that is, one sign off from an opposition. It’s a fairly useful aspect -- less about direct confrontation or intense internal pressure, and more about acknowledging what you learn and shifting accordingly.
Additionally, in the first degree of Leo with the Sun is an asteroid named House. Taking its name at face value, you might consider what kind of housekeeping -- both literal and figurative -- is calling your heart this weekend.
To borrow from Marie Kondo’s book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, what brings your heart joy? Obviously the things, people, ideas and interactions that bring you joy are ones to keep and surround yourself with.
But just as we all have material stuff we keep but don’t really need, and which gets in the way of enjoying our living spaces fully, so too do we all have emotional patterns, baggage and blind-spots that clutter our hearts. They can be very difficult to recognize and release without help; and even harder to accept as part of the complex, whole selves that we are, deserving of love regardless.
Sometimes letting love rule means admitting there are some corners of the ‘house’ that need to be put in order, and that will repeatedly ask you to shine a little more light on them. It’s okay -- the Sun has plenty to spare, no matter what sign its in.
Yours & truly,
Amanda Painter