storyteller's guide to the night sky

The presence of darkness reveals that the hero is on the way to a greater truth. A transformation always occurs, but only after the hero undergoes an opportunity disguised as a crisis.

A mighty week is upon us, inaugurated on Sunday by the opposition between Mars and Pluto that will occur two more times in the coming months due to Mars’ impending retrograde motion.

In every two-year orbital period, Mars makes one retrograde loop that takes about 80 days, which means it travels three times through one region of sky ~ in this case, it’s in the region of Gemini twins.

and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars aparti carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

This week is all about hidden mysteries, in the celestial world and in the festival calendar.

Now comes the season of Venus’ greatest altitude, which means the opportunity is at hand for seeing the goddess of love and beauty in broad daylight, while the Sun lingers above the horizon to greet her.

In the woods of northern Michigan the trillium bloom is about to burst forth and everything seems to be in a state of tremulous anticipation, while overhead, the planet Mercury has just made its inferior conjunction with the Sun.

I suppose you could say that because they’re all moving around in the sky above us, the planets are always traveling together, but the history of art and literature reveals that the celestial beloveds are always Venus and Mars, and this week, the Moon builds an ever-brightening bridge of light between them, looking west after sunset.

Venus is so beautiful this week, moving up the sky through the starry region of Taurus, and joining the Pleiades, known as the seven sisters, especially on Tuesday night.

We’ve come to the point in the cycle of the year when the two great lights, Sun and Moon, trade places in the celestial hemispheres.