No, this isn’t a post about the upcoming winter season…brr, I don’t even want to think about that.

I just want to ask you–what was going on in your life during the last week of January?

Maybe you were digging your car out of the snow. But more likely it was a partner who was the focus of your energy back then.

Astrologers know that during the last week of January that Saturn, planet of structure and consequences, was standing still in that section of the sky we call Libra, sign of partnerships and negotiations.

Issues around partnerships, negotiations were coming to a head then. If you have planets or sensitive points at or near 17 degrees of Libra, Capricorn, Aries or Cancer, you experienced this kind of theme personally in the area of your chart where you find Libra. So it may have been a spouse or significant other if Libra is in your 7th house, but it was a work-related issue if Libra is in your 6th.

Then it moved slowly backward (as seen from Earth) until it did another U-turn in June (at 10 degrees of Libra) and moved forward once again.

Why am I boring you with this detail?

Because Saturn is about to travel over the very point where it stationed in January. And that means that the issues and themes going on then are going to reappear.

The difference, this time, is that you’ve had time to ponder and deal with it, consciously or unconsciously. And if the story-line is now complete, you’ll be bringing that issue to a close.

Look for a shift or an event associated with the themes you were dealing with in January.

Here is an actual example.

This individual does have Libra in her 6th house of work. At the point of the station, Saturn was making a harsh aspect by transit (square) to her Midheaven which deals with career.

She had started a new job recently that required a long training and probation period. During her training period she had to work closely with a training supervisor (Saturn also is associated with authority figures). She found it challenging to learn and absorb the large amount of material and she was struggling. Part of the problem was a mismatch between her learning style and the manner in which the supervisor trained. Relations between the two were strained. Things came to a head during the Saturn station in January when the supervisor had to decide whether she could be allowed to move forward or leave the program.

When Saturn touches your chart, you are tested in that area.

Now Saturn is returning to that point where she was tested. She can expect a development to come up related to her training and mastery of work related skills.

So what was going on in your life in January?

Happy Labor Day!

How appropriate this holiday honoring workers occurs during the time of year when our minds turn towards work–when the Sun makes its annual pilgrimage through humble Virgo.

Two weeks ago, the Sun sailed through its own sign of Leo and we enjoyed the laid-back, dog days of August’s heat and humidity. Not to mention the beach, bar-b-ques and swimming pools.

But as summer waned, the Sun moved into the mutable sign of Virgo, which it does every year in late August and the first three weeks of September.

The summer is clearly waning; darkness comes earlier and a new crispness is in the air.

Most of us think of Labor Day as the swan song of summer. A last chance to go down the shore or enjoy a bar-b-que and bid summer adieu. And that is in keeping with Virgo, which, as the last astrological sign if summer, bridges the outgoing season with Autumn, just around the corner.

Astrologically, Virgo is the perfect follow-up to Leo. Leo entices us to create, express ourselves and have fun. Virgo pushes us to take the raw creation of Leo and polish it up to make it useful and practical. To do that we have to get down to business–to get serious, to work.

And the calendar complies. In Philadelphia where I live, tomorrow is the first day of school for public school students. And for many of us, the holiday is a wake-up call to get down to business and put the shoulder to the grindstone. When you celebrate summer’s end and then buckle down to the work in front of you, you are making great use of the energy of Virgo.

This time of year, in the northern hemisphere, is the traditional time for harvest. So it is an excellent time to take stock of the time and effort you have expended in the year-to-date and assess what has come of it. Perhaps it is that reason that Virgo is associated with accounting, when we take an account of our efforts.

But Labor Day has a rich history, designed to honor the labors of all those who keep the trains running on time, police our streets, staff our hospitals, and keep business enterprises humming.

Labor Day was a creation of the Labor movement. First proposed in 1882 by the Central  Labor Union in New York, it was adopted by 23 states before being made a national holiday by Grover Cleveland, running for reelection as President of the US who wanted to appease workers after a period of bloody labor strife. Although I doubt he was aware that the first weekend of September falls squarely within Virgo’s domain, it is a delicious coincidence.

It was a time when the industrial revolution while bringing progress, created great wealth for a select few and terrible conditions for many. It was a time when striking was illegal and those who protested against those conditions were frequently met by gunfire from police and the National Guard.

Today, the gains of those who work for a living are again under attack. Since Pluto’s entrance into Capricorn in 2008, coinciding with the economic downturn, many people have lost jobs and find it difficult or impossible to get employment. Those who do have jobs, are more cautious, knowing that job security is no sure bet even in formerly secure sectors such as government. Up to a third of the workforce, according to the Freelancers Union, work outside of a formal employment arrangement as contract workers, freelancers, temps, self employment, etc, and have no access to traditional employment benefits such as paid vacations, group health insurance and unemployment.

As a mutable sign, Virgo teaches us the benefits of adapting to change, a trait we will all need as we find our way during these times of great change.

Tensions are high and tempers flare today and tomorrow as Mars sets off the Uranus/Pluto square.
It is a time for upsets and breakdowns, but maybe a breakthrough or two.

Keep the acetylene torches packed and out of sight and just chill.

Today Mars squares Uranus–watch for crazies on the highway and chill if you tend to be accident prone.
Tomorrow Mars opposes Pluto; buried resentments erupt out of seemingly nowhere.

But for the creative and enterprising, this period is a time to burst through blocks.
It is also a time when great strides can be made if you are doing deep inner work.

Mercury is the most underestimated of planets.

After all, he moves so quickly that when he greets a planet or sensitive point in your chart, you may just notice an uptick of activity that seems part of the normal ebb and flow of ordinary life.

But then, he’ll go retrograde and then even folks that know little more about astrology than their sun sign will rant about him.

Mercury rules functions of the mind–how you take in and process information, how you learn, how you think, how you strategize, how you communicate, talk and write. Your view of the world and your place in it is formed in large part by the way Mercury functions in your chart.

In Greek mythology, Mercury was known as Hermes–it was the Romans who gave him his name ‘Mercury.’ Hermes was known as the messenger. He did not act on his own, but at the behest of the Gods.

He was son of Jupiter, king of the Gods, and Maia, Goddess of clouds. There are many stories of Mercury acting as guide for people traveling through dangerous domains. He is best known as the guide of dead souls to Hades and so is known as the patron of travelers.

But he is also known for his tricks and his reputation as trickster made him a patron of thieves.

In Tarot, Mercury is associated with The Magician. When poorly placed in a spread, the card can indicate someone too glib for his own good or not to be trusted.

Certainly it seems that Mercury is particularly prone to trickster behavior when he is moving retrograde.

The Rider Waite Smith Magician card shows The Magician arm raised in the air, other arm pointing down, using his focus to manifest all four suits: cups, swords, wands and pentacles.

A lesson can be learned. When you take what is envisioned in your mind’s eye, bring it down to earth through focus (and appropriate action), you can manifest your dreams.

Mercury in trickster mode warns us that the tools of communication can be used for deception. Perhaps, as Mercury is wont to act up, as it often does in its retrograde phase, the lesson is to pay attention.

Mercury will turn retrograde form August 2nd through August 26th. It is now slowing so you may already begin to feel its effects. I will be speaking about Mercury retrograde in my astrological overview of August 2011.

Join me on Wednesday evening, August 3rd at 8:30 pm Eastern and get a heads up on August and learn more about Mercury the trickster.

If you want to understand what makes you tick, look to the planets in your astrological chart.

The planets represent the dynamic energies that shape your character and describe the ease and challenges you face.

Each represents a different component of your personality. Its sign will describe how it expresses itself and it location in your chart – its house – will describe the area of your life it is most strong.

Lastly, the relationships it makes with other planets and the patterns they form describe how well they ‘play together.’

Astrologers work with 10 planets.

The Sun and Moon, the seat of your consciousness and ego, and unconsciousness and instinct, are very central to shaping the person that you are.

Mercury describes how you process information and communicate. Venus describes your sense of style and how you attract what you need into your life.

Mars describes how you go after what you want and need, handle anger and passion.

Jupiter shows the place where you find faith and hope. No matter how rough it gets, you always have Jupiter.

Saturn describes your backbone. It describes structure, limits and discipline–how you incorporate it and how it is imposed on you. It is also the place of your greatest potential.

Uranus is where you are truly unique. It is where your genius lies.

Neptune is where you seek transcendence and also where you create illusion and find disillusion.

And, last but not least, Pluto is where you can transform, truly heal and be transformed.

There’s much, much more. You can learn more by joining me tonight at 8:30 pm Eastern, online, in the first of a four part class, as we explore this fascinating subject. If you’ve ever wanted to understand astrology on a deeper level than the sun sign column in your newspaper, here’s your chance.

Check out The Planets now and open up a whole new understanding of how and why you tick.

Do you remember the children’s rhyme?
“Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”

The idea was to enable children to deal with those who would taunt them. And which child was never the butt of teasing?

But as Mars moves into Gemini tomorrow, I can tell you that words can hurt. Remember the propaganda stirred up by some Hutus in Rwanda broadcasted through radio prior to the terrible massacre in the 90′s?

Propaganda was one of the weapons of the Nazi rise to power in 1930′s Germany. It prepared the path for the Holocaust.

So, not only can words hurt, they can kill.

Mars is the planet of anger and war and Gemini is the sign of words, communication and information gathering. Certainly any trial lawyer worth her salt knows that words can be weapons.

And what therapist hasn’t had many a patient in his office speaking about the damage of ill-considered words.

Could that be why the Tarot assigns the suit of Swords to the element of Air.

Swords represent precision and logic. For that reason the RWS Justice card holds a sword in the air. But first and foremost, swords are designed as weapons.

And never more so than when Mars occupies the sign which it will do until August 3.

Less than 24 hours, Sun moves into Cancer bringing the summer solstice and shining its light on our feelings. Mercury already in Cancer and now Sun coming to that sign signals to you to pay attention to your emotional responses.

It won’t be so easy to hide the damage that words as weapons can cause.

Do be considerate.

The Moon is rapidly approaching to the longitude of the Sun. At 5:09 pm Eastern, they will be so tightly aligned that the Moon’s shadow will block a portion of the Sun’s surface if you are standing on the right corner of the Earth.

Such an alignment is called a solar eclipse.

Astrologers have long known that when eclipses take place, events are triggered.

To get an idea of what’s in store, think back to the events of June 1992. The same themes will come up again. Planets have moved on since then and you are a different person now, so this month’s events won’t be a carbon copy. But there will be a common thread.

But there’s more.

Neptune is motionless in the heavens ready to do an about face. As is Saturn.

Areas that have been stuck since January, when Saturn turned retrograde will begin to move again as pent-up energy is released. Only this time you are a little wiser now that you had the intervening months to reflect. With Saturn moving through Libra this probably involves a partnership of some kind.

Jupiter shifts to Taurus on the 5th and a lunar eclipse takes place on the 15th. Lunar eclipses, powerful full moons, are culminations. What has been coming to fruition and what is coming to an end?

And then there is the third eclipse of this trifecta on July 1st. This one is a solar and this one is a doozy. But more about that later.

In the meantime, for more information, listen in to my free June Astrological Overview. Tonight at 8:30 pm Eastern. Details at http://ellensays.com

This morning the Sun and Moon were on opposite ends of the sky. In other words, it was a full moon when the moon reflects back its maximum amount of light.

Readers of my ezine, Celestial Currents, got one interpretation of this full moon and what it means. But it also bears reminding that all full moons, like all oppositions are polarities – that is, a call for integration of two opposites.

The Sun, and a whole gaggle of other planets, is in Taurus which is of the Earth. It represents solidity, grounding, material things, simple things. But Scorpio, the moon’s location, describes what lies below the surface. It is also the door to other worlds, hence its association with the occult.

This is a good time for going inward and reassessing what is important to you and what is, at the end, excess baggage that needs to be purged. It is also a time for facing hidden truths so that you know what is really driving your motivations.

By lightening your load, you can soar that much higher when the moon moves into Sagittarius as it does later today.

In 2011, the planets setting the stage for action are, mainly, Uranus, Saturn and Pluto who are in harsh aspect to each other.

This is particularly true in April and the first half of May when a pile-up of planets in Aries emphasized the Uranus side of this outer planet configuration which astrologers call a “T-square.”

The most rapidly moving planet is the Moon whose transits last only an hour or two. The Moon affects emotion and mood. Its effects are transitory and are generally felt as the ups and downs of a given day.

Yet, the moon can act as a trigger – unleashing the energy of the outer planets in the form of an event or shift. This is particularly true of new and full moons and especially eclipses.

During May, the moon will set off harsh aspects to the outer planet T-square approximately once a week. This weekend, the Cancer moon squares Saturn, Uranus and opposes Pluto. Next Friday and Saturday, it sets the same planets off again as it does the following Thursday and Friday.

A great deal of energy is tied up in this T-square. In cardinal signs, it wants to take action. This is an excellent time to break through blocks and move out of a rut. But with planets in Aries, it is tempting to implement action that is rash, ill-considered. With Saturn in opposition to the Aries planets, there are consequences. So taking a little extra time to consider the impact on others is wise.

Also be aware that Pluto, planet of the Underworld,; the planet of power and deep transformation is in play, too. Not everything is apparent on the surface. Just take it for granted that you don’t have the whole story.