A little bit of a powder keg

Glorious news: Mercury is not retrograde. I'll give you the normal caveat I always offer: you might want to give it a couple of days to pick up speed if you're trying to do important Mercury-related things (like contracts and an overhaul house-cleaning in which you discard lots of stuff), but the messenger of the gods should resume normal behavior soon.

Jupiter changes signs to Taurus on Tuesday night, where it will be for a full year. You know what people with Jupiter in Taurus tend to be good about? Moving at their own pace, enjoying experiences that indulge their senses, and sometimes splurging on the finer things in life. So for the next year, we have this energy at our disposal, too. Go buy some fancy foreign cheese or something. Or get a massage. Jupiter's about expanding your horizons and Taurus is about peace, stability, and the five senses, so use your imagination with how those concepts might combine. Get grounded, enjoy some fine wine, and make yourself comfortable.

I already wrote about the Mars-Pluto opposition squaring Jupiter. I think you'll see/hear a lot of other astrologers talking about this, because it's happening this week. My secret when I'm writing these things I think about what advice I would give a person born with this energy. In this particular case, I would say the following: you have a tremendous amount of energy at your disposal, and if you don't use it wisely, you'll attract people who will antagonize you by showing you how *not* to use it. When you have a lot of energy at your disposal, I recommend the following: work out, dedicate yourself to specific projects, be as productive as possible, and take irritating factors and use them as inspiration instead of allowing them to get to you. My old weightlifting buddy and I would encourage each other to push through fatigue and pain by saying  "summon a demon!" Use this concept in reverse: if you encounter a demon this week, find an outlet that's appropriate and healthy (and that doesn't involve yelling at people who don't deserve to be yelled at). This is not the sky to let yourself get agitated with no options to diffuse tension.

Stay safe out there.