February and the manifestation of inspiration

February looks like it’s going to be an interesting month! For a start we have Mercury about to turn backwards and as he does so he’s going to turn away from the vagueness of Neptune and Pisces and back into demanding more clarity in free thinking Aquarius. This means he starts to apply pressure onto Mars and Saturn once more. This comes to a head with the inferior conjunction on the 15^th where he is trine Mars – so the energy is running freely, and probably words and messages and journeys pick up a pace over this time too. The inferior conjunction forms as the Sun leaves a square to Saturn and Mercury starts to make one – looks like some hard work, restrictions and run-ins with authority need to be dealt with by Mercury acting as the mediator. The Sabian symbol for this inferior conjunction is telling:

28º Aquarius: A tree felled and sawed to ensure a supply of wood for the winter.
Rich contribution of nature to all who work with foresight. Intelligent preparation. Calm yet potent faith in Providence

What’s more this inferior conjunction of the Sun and Mercury takes place just after a full Moon, so something revealed at the time of the full Moon requires effective communication, making sure we are clear about meanings and willing to clear up misunderstandings. The Sabian symbols for this full Moon are rather inspiring – the Moon has

27º Leo: Daybreak – the luminescence of dawn in the eastern sky.
Transforming power of creative impulses as they bring ideas to concrete manifestation. Stirring to opportunity. Soul-power.

While the Sun in Aquarius gets

27º Aquarius: An ancient pottery bowl filled with fresh violets.
Reality of spiritual or aesthetic values, linking generations of seekers for the highest. Addition or commitment to value.

Meanwhile, all the way through February Venus is moving back through her shadow hand in hand with Psyche, our soul’s deep desire. Psyche was with Venus as she moved into the tense and deep vibrations of Pluto opposite Jupiter, and in fact Psyche moved through that opposition and as she did so caught up Venus and moved her on before she went into it completely. It was the deep unconscious, or the deepest motivations of the soul which really caught that tension rather than the manifestations of the physical world – as is fitting symbolism for Venus retrograde and also the myth of Psyche. Now they move forward together, moving out of the shadow and transforming those deep soul-stirring into the physical reality of the world.

Venus and Psyche finally come together again in exact sextile to Saturn, ruler of Capricorn, the sign they are moving through. This is a reflection of the energies at the time of the inferior conjunction of Venus which was also in exact sextile to Saturn. Saturn brings manifestation, reality, limitation – we start to see what our dreams can actually look like when they meet the mundane realities and limitations of the physical world. Plus Eros, who also brings form and substance, the natural bedfellow of Psyche, is on the exact midpoint of Venus/Psyche and Saturn.

All in all February is a time of realisations, highlighted by the full Moon; clearing up misunderstandings, indicated by Mercury retrograde and establishing how our true, soul-based values can become manifest in the physical world and our relationships, indicated by Venus and Psyche. It may be a testing time as these movements put pressure onto the heavy hitting and irascible energies of Saturn and Mars, both moving slowly as they head towards their own retrograde periods.