Last gasp before we get in our feelings

Roster:Sun: AquariusMercury: Capricorn (for now)Venus: PiscesMars: Gemini (still)Jupiter: AriesSaturn: Aquarius (for now)

On February 11, Mercury shifts into Aquarius, where it will be for a whopping 3 weeks. It's been in Capricorn since December 10, so due to retrogrades, it's erratic when it comes to being in and staying in a sign. Air can detach. It's the mode that's best at separating. Enjoy the pragmatic and logical atmosphere because it's going to be short-lived.

Saturn arrives in Pisces March 7. It's been in Aquarius, which it co-rules, since 2021, though it did a brief stint in 2020 as well (due to retrogrades, it ingressed and then backed out). Planets in the sign they rule or co-rule function well. Saturn's not particularly happy in water signs: Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces. Pisces is co-ruled by Jupiter and Neptune, which are Saturn's opposites in different ways. Saturn is constrictive while Jupiter is expansive; Saturn is about reality while Neptune is about unreality.

Some Pisces themes are service (talked about this already—beware 'service' as a catch-all term), phobias, transcendence, and suffering. No, I did not just say everyone will suffer with Saturn in Pisces. Here are some questions you may find yourself asking over the next 2.5 years:

• What should I do, given that I have mixed feelings about my reality?

• A lot of people are suffering—how do I make a tangible difference?

• How do I maintain my sanity when it feels like everyone is in their feelings all the time? (I feel guilty for not doing more to help!)

• How can I heal my emotional/psychological hangups that have plagued me for years?

• How can I be happy when I'm presented with situations I can do nothing to change? (I feel guilty again!)

• Why am I responsible for problems I did nothing to create? Wait, AM I responsible? (Jury’s out)

Of the water signs, Cancer is the easiest energy to understand, because the emotions are simpler and more straightforward, and I'm counting "hungry" as an emotion, by the way: you have a feeling, you decide whether to act on it or not, the feeling passes, and you move on with your life. Scorpio feelings are complicated in the Plutonian/occasionally diabolical sense: the faint of heart should not ask people with a lot of Scorpio energy why they're doing what they're doing (though I doubt they'd provide a comprehensive answer). Pisces feelings are fucking weird, and that's me being generous, because they are THE definition of 'mixed.' Pisces people and Neptunians will say they won't be happy until all orphans everywhere have homes and moments later be posing for photos, all smiles. They meant what they said, too. Rather than calling them hypocrites, understand that emotionally, Pisces is a world of contradictions. It just is.

Some of you may find yourself managing chaos—"managing" is the Saturn part and "chaos" is the Pisces part. I have Neptune on the midheaven which is a marker for doing this for my entire life, but most of the rest of you only have to do it for 2.5 years right now (...tradesies?). My advice: take some improv classes. Improv forces you to react only to what is in the moment, not lament that the opportunities of yesterday or last week are no longer available. I've worked with a lot of people who yearn for options that are no longer on the table and hold out thinking they can revisit a past that has vanished. Living in the moment is an adaptive measure, and letting go of what no longer exists is THE key to your sanity. If you have no sense of humor, you might try some mindfulness meditations. The point is being nimble and reacting to what's actually happening, not what you'd prefer happen. You'll see people doing the latter and you can feel free to email me your stories if you'd like, and I will commiserate.

That said, you may remember from my earlier email that Pisces LOVES nostalgia (fun fact: Neptune loves it more). Unless you're working for a historical society or archiving photos for a family project or something, please do not put yourself in situations where you have to lament or cling to realities that have long since passed.

But for now: detach. Enjoy logically looking at situations and imagining optimal outcomes. Because ya'll are going to attach to some stuff shortly and be asking yourself "why do I care so much about this?"