Artistic & spiritual inspiration amidst shocking revelations! Venus & Mars sextile Neptune! Mercury square Uranus! US’ Pluto return special feature! Collective horoscope (February 21st-27th)

Dear NightFall Astrology readers,

As the title of this horoscope (or rather, astrological feature article from what you’re about to read) indicates, this week’s celestial events are both contradictory and controversial.

On the one hand, we’ll be having this dreamy, inspired, and spiritual energy with the planet of love and diplomacy (Venus) and the planet of passion and drive (Mars), making a positive aspect to ethereal Neptune. On the other hand, we’ll be witnessing shocking news, communication (we’ve already started doing so with this Monday’s recognition by Russian President Putin of Ukrainian breakaway regions), lighting bolt realisations and revelations, with the tense square between messenger Mercury and revolutionary Uranus.

For my U.S. readers (and anyone interested really), this article will include a special section on the country’s Pluto return, a very rare astrological event in a Nation’s life as it happens every 248 years (Pluto’s cycle around the zodiac).

So, let’s dive in, shall we?

I. General weekly horoscope:

• The Venus/Mars sextile to Neptune:

As I’ve mentioned in last week’s horoscope, Venus and Mars will be in conjunction in Capricorn until the end of February, and they will meet again in early March. This excellent blend of desire and strategy will be making a positive aspect (sextile) to Neptune – the planet of imagination, dreams, illusion, photography and media, high spirituality, unconditional love and compassion – in its own sign of Pisces. This positive aspect will continue to play out the entire week and become exact on February 24th.

Sextiles always bring opportunities, but contrary to a trine (the most auspicious aspect in astrology), we’ll usually have to look for the opportunities ourselves or put some effort to make things happen. With Neptune in the mix, this certainly lessens the cold and dryness of Capricorn. So, if your Valentine’s Day wasn’t as bubbly and romantic as you hoped it would be (it felt more like a business meeting, huh?), this transit infuses the Venus/Mars conjunction with some movie-like love magic. Be careful not to get carried away with the rose-coloured glasses effect, though! Neptune is also the planet of illusion and deception, remember?

In all cases, this energy is perfect for taking your artistic and spiritual endeavours alongside your relationships (personal and business) to the next level. People will naturally be more open-hearted, so if you were hoping for a marriage proposal (or would like to propose to a special someone), seal a very lucrative deal with a mind-blowing presentation, or make a wish come true, this is the right time!

This transit will be most supportive of Pisces, Cancer, Scorpio, Taurus, and Capricorn. 

• The Mercury/Uranus square:

The word ‘shock’ has been the order of the week with the recent developments (that have been escalating since late 2021) between Russia and Ukraine, hasn’t it? Whether it’s in your personal life or worldwide, the Mercury and Venus retrogrades and their conjunctions to Pluto in Capricorn alongside the South Node entering Scorpio on January 18th have been revealing unsettling secrets and scandals coupled with power struggles.

Well, fasten your seatbelts, for Venus is getting ready to make a third and final conjunction to Pluto next week (this time in a direct motion with Mars by its side), adding fuel to the fire. But we’ll discuss this aspect in detail in my next horoscope.

Let’s go back to the shocking news and revelations for a second. So, we’ve started the week with the Moon entering Scorpio (its fall and weakest position) on Monday, February 21st, and it will remain in this sign until the 23rd. The Moon rules our emotions and the people in mundane astrology. On both February 21st and 22nd, it’s making two T-squares (very challenging astrological configuration) to Mercury and Saturn in Aquarius (the humanitarian sign) and Uranus (the planet of sudden and unexpected events) in Taurus (the sign ruling resources).

On a personal level, this could translate into extreme emotional reactions due to sudden, limiting, and upsetting news regarding our long-term goals and finances.
On a mundane level, well, we’ve already seen Putin’s unexpected declaration of independence (on Monday night) of the so-called Donestk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic — two separatist-held areas in eastern Ukraine. As I’m writing this article, Germany pulled the plug on Nord Stream 2 pipeline (an undersea pipeline meant to ferry natural gas directly from Russia to northern Germany) and the crypto market has hit a new low; there’s the Uranus in Taurus part of the T-square (natural and financial resources). With both Mercury and Saturn in Aquarius, the sign ruling humanity at large, these developments will affect all nations (see the U.N. and NATO responses).

The disrupting news and communication don’t stop here. Mercury in Aquarius will be squaring Uranus in Taurus from February 23rd until February 26th (exact on February 25th). This challenging aspect will bring a lot of nervousness, unpredictability, sudden friendship or social breakups, anxiety, and worry in our personal lives. If you’re presenting an idea, organise your points and research statistics. While it’s great to be original, you don’t want to be so far from the centre that nobody understands your concept! Choose clarity over cleverness.
Worldwide, this can translate into sudden divisions of international and/or institutional/organisational alliances, influencing our long-term vision for our lives collectively.

The Mercury/Uranus square will be most challenging for Taurus, Scorpio, Aquarius, and Leo. They should carefully evaluate any commitments they might be making, go several times any documents they’ll have to sign (make sure to read the fine print), and avoid hasty decisions due to their nervousness. 

• The Capricorn stellium of February 27th:

February 27th marks a particularly serious and stern day this week. We’ll be having a stellium of 4 planets within tight orbs (2-3 degrees) in Capricorn: the Moon, Venus, Mars, and Pluto. Capricorn’s energy is all about discipline, stability, top-down hierarchy, perseverance, sacrifice, career projects, obstacles, and restrictions. On an emotional level, this stellium brings very intense emotions that remain hidden. They won’t stay hidden for a long time, though, with Mars getting ready to conjoin Pluto next week and paving the way for anger and conflict eruptions.

Overall, February 27th will be a strange day, to say the least. Do your best to stay in control of your emotions and words, so you wouldn’t regret anything you say or do later. Practising relaxation and mindfulness is the way to go about your Sunday.

Capricorn, Cancer, Aries and Libra should avoid getting into conflictual situations. 

II. A few words on the U.S. Pluto return:

For those living in the United States, this week marks a couple of historic astrological moments. This past Sunday, February 20th was the official “Pluto return” of the United States, and this Tuesday, February 22nd (yep, 2-22-2022) marks the Nation’s Neptune opposition. What exactly does that mean?

Using a birthdate for the Unites States of July 4th, 1776 — the day the Declaration of Independence was signed — we cast a natal chart for the country. When the U.S. was “born,” Pluto was at 27º33’ of Capricorn, and Neptune was at 22º of Pisces.

Now, if you’re familiar with astrology, you might have already heard of the concepts of “solar” and “Saturn” returns for people’s birth charts. A solar return is the return of the Sun to the same position it was when the person was born (this usually happens on their birthday). The Sun represents our identity and vitality, and in that its significations are reinforced, giving a celebration of the ‘self’ on a solar return.
A Saturn return is the return of transiting Saturn to its natal position. Here, Saturn’s significations are reinforced; it engrains maturity; it asks you to step up into responsibility. In all cases, a planet’s return is a conjunction aspect (0° angle) between its transiting motion and its static natal position.

So, with the Pluto return, Pluto is reinforced, and it is exponential transformation accompanied with either a gain or loss of power. Pluto rules the hidden, crisis, the occult, taxes, banks, the stock market, death and rebirth, other people’s resources, depth psychology, and manipulation. Pluto has been transiting Capricorn (the sign ruling governments, big corporations, and the establishment in general) since 2008. None of us needs to be reminded that the global financial crisis started that year in the U.S. (the bursting of the real estate loans bubble) before it spread internationally. Also, we don’t need to be reminded that after WWII, the U.S. has been pretty much the world’s supreme power.

On February 20th, Pluto returned to 27°33’ Capricorn for the first time in 248 years, reaching its exact “home” degree in the birth chart of the United States, dated July 4th, 1776. This will mark America’s first Pluto return. On February 22nd, Neptune, the planet of illusions and dissolution, arrives at 22° of Pisces, making its second opposition to the USA’s natal Neptune at 22° of Virgo. This rare planetary aspect only occurs every 165 years. The first one dates back to 1857, precluding the Nation’s Civil War, an era that coincided with the emergence of transcendental philosophy and the burgeoning Spiritualist movement.

Whatever Pluto touches, it either empowers it or destroys it before it transforms it into something new. Generally speaking, Pluto has started reaching its critical degrees in Capricorn since February 1st, ushering in a worldwide governmental and financial crisis (the whispers of which we’ve been already seeing since the January 2020 Saturn/Pluto conjunction that brought a health and economic crisis with the COVID19 pandemic). The U.S. has natally Pluto in a critical degree in its second house of home finances (or what we call the monetary system, see the chart down below). This Pluto return is also opposing the Nation’s natal Mercury in the 8th house of taxes, banks, the stock market, foreign investments… All of this put together suggests the revelation of political and financial secrets and data that will slowly plunge (Pluto will officially leave Capricorn and enter Aquarius for the first time since its discovery in 1930, on March 23rd, 2023, until June 11th of the same year, before it officially settles in revolutionary Aquarius on January 21st, 2024) the country into a destructive crisis. This will change its public status as a world power no more for the long haul (here’s the transiting Neptune in the USA’s 4th house of its foundation opposing its natal Neptune in its 10th house of public status).

Does this mean that the USA will be destroyed and wiped off the face of the Earth? Of course not. However, its Pluto return will be deeply transformational, and the loss of power will be exponential in the international arena. After all, historically, 248 years have often been the mark of either the fall or consequent transition of Empires such as Rome, for example.

The United States has its roots in many Plutonian secrets. It’s well-documented that many of the Founding Fathers, including George Washington and Benjamin Franklin, were members of the Freemasons, a fraternal organisation responsible for the construction of the Nation and its civic landmarks, many of which, like the Washington Monument obelisk, directly reflecting the architecture and spirit of ancient Egypt.

One of America’s preeminent astrologers, Benjamin Franklin, published his Poor Richard’s Almanack annually between 1732 -1758. It contained a detailed astrological ephemeris (calendar) that tracked monthly moon phases and motions of the known planets, along with predictions based on their astral interactions—the Colonial American equivalent of an agrarian daily horoscope.

Given Franklin’s daily observation of the zodiac, it’s self-evident that he selected July 4th, 1776, as the United States of America’s official birthdate (rather than July 2nd) because of favourable astrological alignments: On July 4th, the transiting Sun would station at 13° Cancer, allowing Franklin to symbolically represent each of the thirteen original colonies with the first thirteen zodiac degrees of maternal Cancer—an indelible and illuminated solar degree for each of her thirteen colonial children.

One of the most respected and renowned astrologers, philosophers and occultists of the 20th century, Mr Manly Palmer Hall, said that the U.S. mission is to spread democracy and high moral values around the world, but it will have to go through self-destruction before it can transform into this type of nation/country, for its leaders and people have fallen too deep into scientific materialism. That’s what marked the fall of the Roman Empire, too, by the way, i.e. its fall into hedonism after the end of Marcus Aurelius’s reign.
Maybe, this Pluto return is the golden opportunity for the USA to finally and truly transform into this beacon of hope for the world. This won’t happen without the necessary suffering, though. That’s how the law of cause and effect (karma) operates, after all.

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For the sake of brevity, I’ll end this article with the four key dates when the USA’s Pluto return will become exact (that’s when the energy is the most potent):

• February 20th, 2022;
• July 10th, 2022;
• December 28th, 2022;
• September 19th, 2023 through November 1st, 2023 (by one degree).

When Pluto enters Aquarius, France will go through its first Pluto return since the French Revolution (the storming of the Bastille) on July 14th, 1789. I guess it is a time of the American and French Revolutions 2.0!

The U.S. Pluto return chart:

Have an incredible week!

Your astrologer – Theodora NightFall

Bear in mind that this is a general horoscope and is in no way your personal horoscope. If you’d like to know what your birth chart says about your personality and your life’s purpose or discover what the upcoming astrological alignments mean specifically for you, you can book a consultation with me.

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