The stellium is breaking up.

On 12th February, we had a six-planet Aquarius stellium. When a sign is occupied by more than two planets, the birth chart of that moment buzzes with the energies of those planets, filtered through the accent of that sign.

Aquarius, a fixed air sign, is about honouring your individuality and the gifts your individuality offers your communities. Ruled by authoritarian Saturn and the rebellious Uranus, Aquarius calls us to accept the weird shit that makes us uniquely ourselves, the inconvenient truths that make us human, our most treasured truths that we stash away at the back of our closets if we are to be part of “polite society.” The fear of upsetting “polite society” comes from a legit place: keeping up appearances in polite society is how we get jobs, how we graduate from university, how we avoid our parents’ disapproval, how we maintain our professional reputations, how we find prospective mates. 

Living in fear of upsetting “polite society” is also the best way to get into a long-term relationship with heartburn and peristalsis.  

The Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn were together in Aquarius for a hot minute – and there were moments that sighed possibility.  The temptation to believe you really could be who you wanted to be, to be someone who didn’t have to hide. The ability to know and communicate your deepest longings, clearly and courageously. The wise management of boundaries around risks are worth taking, the clarity of purpose that enables you to discern which generous offers of the universe are worth accepting. 

Mercury stationed retrograde in Aquarius on 31^st January. Mercury retrograde is one of the most intense transits – or maybe it just feels that way to me because my natal Mercury is in my 7^th house, and rules my Sun. In popular astrology, Mercury retrograde is the worst time to sign contracts. During a brief stint as a comedy producer, an artist once begged me not to sign our contract with the venue during the mid-2017 Mercury retrograde. That is the level of panic this transit brings. 

Your Internet connection will be fuzzy. Your best intentions towards others will not come across as such, and you will misread other people’s intentions towards you. You might find yourself typing up the best Facebook post ever – only to accidentally hit the backspace button on your browser and lose an hour’s worth of essay gold. Your website might look horrible on mobile even if it pops on desktop view. Your undergraduate students will fill your inbox with panic about LMS and university website technical issues. You will probably not get paid for invoices you send during this time. 

Mercury stationed direct on 21^st February, but only emerges from the post-retrograde shadow (AKA Mercury ‘retroshade’) on 13^th March. Try not to sign contracts or enter into long-term business or collaborative deals until then. If you absolutely must proceed on these fronts, read everything multiple times and have a trusted devil’s advocate review terms for you. Back up everything you write. Take as many breaks as you can. I am the worst person to give this advice because I suck at taking breaks, but the true lesson of Mercury retrograde is to honour cyclical time. Capitalism forces us to always be hustling, to push our minds and bodies beyond what’s reasonable for the sake of making money for already-rich people. Contrast this with the fact that all wisdom systems from ancient cultures were based around cycles – of the harvest, of the body, of community life. 

The Sun is now in Pisces. Pisces is a mutable water sign, ruled by Jupiter and Neptune. Pisces is associated with depth, interiority, sensitivity, and spiritual growth. People with strong Pisces signatures in their chart (Sun, Moon, Rising, or a stellium) are always about the bigger picture – dare I even say, the multi-galactic picture. The little daily details, the borders between possible and impossible, are not important. High expressions of Pisces revolve around detaching from petty matters, in favour of immersive, intimate merging with universal questions. Just look at famous Pisces: Albert Einstein, Lupita Nyong’o, Kurt Cobain, Whitney Houston, Victor Hugo, Edna St Vincent Millay, Naoko Takeuchi.

The late civil rights leader John Lewis was a Pisces Sun. At a 2020 speech in Selma, Alabama, he said, “Get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and help redeem the soul of America.” He also wrote, “Nothing can stop the power of a committed and determined people to make a difference in our society. Humans are the most dynamic link to the divine on this planet.” How Pisces is that? 

Venus has also just moved into Pisces, the sign of its exaltation. Venus in Pisces understands that erotic energy is sacred. Erotic energy can be about sex, but it is more importantly about creating from a deep place. Whether the sex is casual or beyond casual, you’re creating something together. You’re becoming somebody you weren’t before the moment you moved together intimately. You’re validating the light and the dark within each other. You’re melting borders and making cell-level contact – and that is such a Piscean thing to do. 

Brief meditations for all signs during Pisces season: 

WATER SIGNS (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces) 

Grace is such a cleansing state of being. Where in your life can you cultivate a state of grace? An ease of movement, a stillness that gets you unclenched and playful. Grace doesn’t mean cheap forgiveness or forgetting. Grace is recognising that your depths are not for everyone. What you’ve cultivated has to be earned by those who want to profit off your compassion and empathy. You are worthy of self-preservation. 

EARTH SIGNS (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn) 

Root yourself in what you know to be real. You’re a natural bullshit detector; don’t let anyone distract you from your nose for authenticity. Clear, practical, strategic thinking are sometimes undervalued in elite artistic communities that tend to attract people with pretty CVs, high theory-based education and poor leadership ability. Honour your talent for building beautiful things that stand the test of time. Work on projects that give you a sense of dignity and balance. 

AIR SIGNS (Gemini, Libra, Aquarius) 

The people you keep in your life indicate the themes that will dominate your life. The family and communities you choose are your making and unmaking. Your intellect and your instinct for justice alone will not get you further than the way your energy levels are impacted by your relationships. It is tempting to think that being highly educated and articulate will balance out your decision to keep toxic people around – don’t fall into this trap. You could lose years of your life to unsupportive energies and people who don’t share your high-minded values and vision.  

FIRE SIGNS (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius) 

The feelings you don’t express will electrocute you from within. The emotions you’re most uncomfortable with are the ones you have to put into the world. Communication doesn’t have to be complex, it just has to be clear. Sometimes all you need is a GIF – or a wisely worded two-sentence e-mail. When your intensities are handled and your energies centred, it will be easier for you to tolerate yourself, and your fire sign charm and charisma will attract people and projects that are good for you. Lead from a place of deep worthiness, and you will find yourself on a path that works.