Horoscopes to unlock the stars, not to be locked down by them.

“Just as I am”

 

I blame Robert Wright, whose book I mentioned I was listening to last week, for getting an ear worm of a gospel song stuck in my head. It’s “Just as I am.” Chances are you’ve heard it if you grew up in a Protestant evangelical community in the 70s or 80s. One place, other than at my church, I heard it was at the “call to salvation” portion of Billy Graham’s crusades. You can listen here, if you want to risk having the worm ringing in your ears. (Though I hooked you up with Mahalia Jackson’s version rather than the one sung at Graham’s events.) Whether you listen or not, the song is about Christ/God accepting you for redemption and salvation “just as you are.”

Of course, I’m not hooked into that message of redemption anymore, and you likely aren’t either. But I find some sentiment of the song apt for this week as Venus spins out of her retrograde to go direct on Friday. (On a day “named” for her, of course.) Mercury goes retrograde on Saturday. Since I’ve talked quite a bit over the last 45 days or so about Venus’ retrograde, I’ll say a word about Mercury’s first.

Connect the dots back to yourself

I’ve talked before about how crazy it is to freak out when Mercury retrogrades. To do so is comparable to wigging out just before every New Moon, something you likely didn’t do. Mercury’s going toward a rebirth when he retrogrades. And that means it’s generally a time to revamp all the ways we normally connect the dots in our lives, especially as it concerns the three Coms: commerce, communication and commuting. Pay attention to how you’re doing business, speaking and connecting with others, and getting around, especially if you’re traveling in an infrequent way or to an unusual location. But that doesn’t mean panic or prohibition. When I first started learning astrology, an astrology-loving friend would effectively become a shut-in when Mercury would retrograde. That’s no way to live.

In fact, as I reveal in an article at Horoscope.com, this Mercury in Sagittarius retrograde, the last of the fiery Merc retrogrades for 2018, is a time to come back to who you are. To be just as you are. As I say in the article, “[t]his retrograde certainly will highlight ways we’ve not honored our individuality, principles, and beliefs.”

Venus Redeemed

A similar message rings out from Venus as she straightens herself out in Libra, one of her home signs. She is on a path toward redemption, but more on her own terms. Redemption might be better seen as a form of healing after a wound. But the wound is now part of what’s healed. It is a new kind of wholeness, different from the wholeness that was there before the wound. Sin, in the oft-cited religious sense, means “missing the mark.” Venus’ story of redemption is how she’s missed the mark and then got back on target. Yet, she considers what she learned in the missing.

So, how are you coming back to yourself? What nearly have you lost, figuratively or literally, in the last two months that you’ve come to appreciate in a new way? Likewise, as I mention in the Horoscope.com article, how are your thoughts aligned with your actions and beliefs? Are you speaking your truth and learning your lessons, or are you trying to crib answers from someone else?

Avoid Confusion

If it’s hard to answer these questions, then between Venus and Mercury going forth and back, you probably will go through several changes with your relationships and beliefs. Carve out time to reflect accordingly. Otherwise, you could endure and exhibit a lot of confusion. But it’s likely starting with you and whether to thine own self you are being true. You can live the soul’s life just as you are. Nothing extra needed.

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How to read and use these affirmations

You could choose to read these only for “your sign.” Perhaps that might be your Sun, Moon, or ascendant sign, if you’re familiar with those terms and your chart. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend that, though.

I would skim through them all and see which affirmation affirms your life this week:

• Pay careful attention to the affirmation(s) that you resist. You probably need to meditate on and say those aloud often.
• Speak your affirmations aloud and preferably to yourself in the mirror. Address yourself kindly and respectfully, always. Bullying, even yourself, doesn’t usually yield long-term change.
• These affirmations are written for this week, but many of them might speak to you for longer, even a lifetime.

You might not know at the top of the week what you need to affirm. But you might have a sense from the previous week, from a dream or something that happens right on Monday morning. You can also visit this page later in the week to see what resonates. You might also discover I write more for another planet or sign in your chart. I talk more about this here.

My desire is to prompt you to read more for your whole chart, not just what you know or understand your birth chart to be. It’s also possible that none of what I write here speaks to you, and that’s okay. The goal is to open and to explore. That’s the only way we ever truly know anything.

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The Signs of Saturn

Planets or Ascendant in Capricorn and/or Aquarius

Capricorn (Cardinal, Earth sign)

Affirmation:

I am crazy enough to feel sane to do what I know is the right thing for right now.

 

Aquarius (Fixed, Air sign)

Affirmation:

I experience more of what I know in the script of my own heart rather than wait for my eyes to read it.

Don’t know what planets or points you have where in your chart? Learn what to do about it here.

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The Signs of Jupiter

Planets or Ascendant in Sagittarius and/or Pisces

Sagittarius (Mutable, Fire sign)

Affirmation:

I only need to step toward empathy to understand someone else’s journey, not compare it with my own.

Pisces (Mutable, Water sign)

Affirmation:

I testify to the truths I know rather than spin stories about the possibilities I hope for.

Don’t know what planets or points you have where in your chart? Learn what to do about it here.

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The Signs of Mars

Planets or Ascendant in Aries and/or Scorpio

Aries (Cardinal, Fire sign)

Affirmation:

I coast steadily and sensibly into new highways of self-discovery and knowledge.

Scorpio (Fixed, Water sign)

Affirmation:

I redeem part of my past to make better use of the present.

Don’t know what planets or points you have where in your chart? Learn what to do about it here.

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The Sign of the Sun

Planets or Ascendant in Leo

Leo (Fixed, Fire sign)

Affirmation:

I am a wiser and better student of my pleasures.

Don’t know what planets or points you have where in your chart? Learn what to do about it here.

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The Signs of Venus

Planets or Ascendant in Taurus and/or Libra

Taurus (Fixed, Earth sign)

Affirmation:

I bear witness that the Inner Witness sees me when I’m convinced others do not.

Libra (Cardinal, Air sign)

Affirmation:

I clear myself out of the way to let what’s true and present come through.

Don’t know what planets or points you have where in your chart? Learn what to do about it here.

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The Signs of Mercury

Planets or Ascendant in Gemini and/or Virgo

Gemini (Mutable, Air sign)

Affirmation:

I become a better person by how I learn to treat others better.

 

Virgo (Mutable, Earth sign)

Affirmation:

I perceive my intuition and inner wisdom as the eye of a hurricane.

Don’t know what planets or points you have where in your chart? Learn what to do about it here.

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The Sign of the Moon

Planets or Ascendant in Cancer

Cancer (Cardinal, Water sign)

Affirmation:

I act and speak more from my experience rather than believe and do as I’m told.

Don’t know what planets or points you have where in your chart? Learn what to do about it here.