Happier Planets = Happier People

4.28.08


Nobody likes wearing clothes that don't fit well, nor hanging out in places with 'the wrong kind of energy'.

Planets are no exception. They're most at ease in the zodiac zones that best fit their temperament. When they're elsewhere, they just feel uncomfortable.

The week ahead promises to turn two of our favorite planets—Mercury and Venus—into happier beings, as they both move into signs they rule. Off come their burdensome drag costumes, that 'stranger in a strange land' sense of non-belonging. And naturally, happier planets often mean happier people… or, rather, at least ones better able to roll with the punches.

On Wednesday (Apr 30), Venus leaves fiery Aries, a sign where she's peculiarly vulnerable to accusations that she's only in it for herself. (As I explained in my last article, Venus is in detriment in Aries.) Now, everybody knows that Venus is supposed to be all about bringing things together, creating compromises and unions. In Aries, she's just a bit too spunky, impatient and impulsive for too much of that—though, in her defense, she really knows how to get things heated up.

Upon entering Taurus, Venus becomes immediately calmer and better able to find mutual grounds for common experience, a great tool that favors peace over confrontation. With Venus in Taurus, the pleasures are simple but profound: a good meal, a picturesque scene, a meaningful touch. Through our bodies and our senses, we reaffirm our connection to the earth… and use its pure experiential paths to connect with others. We slow down enough to appreciate the fruits of our labors, to smell the flowers and hug our adored ones. We welcome the beauty and love with open arms.

While Venus is in Taurus, it's a good time to reestablish our link to quieter, more receptive physical rhythms, so we can wisely reserve our energies for when we might need them later. This valuing of potential future needs also links Venus in Taurus with financial security, making her visit an ideal excuse to solidify our personal money situations with plans, programs or the pursuit of additional wealth.

Thursday (May 1), the traditional 'May Day' (or Beltane), is an especially fertile day for Venus in Taurus. She enters a grand earth trine with Saturn and Pluto, mirroring their recent meetings with the Sun and Mercury. Everything undertaken that day—the engagements, the enjoyments, the intentions—comes with extra helpings of stabilizing realism and potent pungency.

By Friday (May 2), it becomes Mercury's turn to enter greener pastures, departing the sluggish stubborn conservatism of Taurus for the variety and versatility of Gemini. In its ruling Gemini, Mercury is a master multi-tasker, brainstormer and message-massager. He brims with a multitude of new ideas (some smart, some silly), as well as the stimulating social finesse to work every last connection. He'll try anything once, with the knowledge not to sink all hopes into any single entity, dare it go south and leave him up the creek without a paddle. Mercury in Gemini always has a spare oar or two up his sleeve. Need another suggestion? Just ask.

Mercury's recent foray through Taurus wasn't a bad thing, seeing as how desperately we'd needed an injection of practical thinking after months of feeling stuck, Mars-retrograde-style. But soon enough, we'll be able to build much more upon the basics we recommitted to over the past few weeks, thanks to the diversity of possibilities—and people to help make 'em happen—that Mercury in Gemini fosters.

Give Mercury until next week, though, before counting on his overdrive mental machinations and delightful chatterbox attitude to start yielding its best bits. Over the coming weekend (May 3-4), Mercury must first contend with a Saturn square and a Pluto inconjunct… cautionary aspects which may momentarily cause us to doubt that, yes, there are as many open windows as we imagine there to be, since we might first meet a few bolted-shut gates or finicky doorknobs. Don't let 'em rain on your parade. Within a few days, that passing buzzkill will barely remain in your memory.

There's no rush to identify every last piece of potential brilliance coursing forth, since Mercury will be hanging in Gemini for an atypical two months (thanks to his May 26-Jun 19 retrograde). You'll hardly believe how quickly we'll be moving from feeling like there's no way out to having so many options we can barely keep up. As always: Be careful what you wish for.

One more soon-to-be-happier planet on the horizon: Next Friday (May 9), Mars finally moves out of Cancer… and into life-of-the-party Leo. ('Hallelujah!' indeed.)