The Profound Self-Exploration of February Astrology

The Astrology of February features Mars, Venus, Mercury, Saturn, Chiron and Neptune, together with a Pisces line-up of planets that takes place in coordination with the February 9th Aquarius New Moon. All month, from the evening of February 1st on, Mars is in the very interesting and mystical sign of Pisces, where there is definitely a softer and more subtle approach to his feisty and normally outer-directed energy. It's as though that energy were turned inside and tuned to distant dimensions – more appropriate to poetry and music than to the active and assertive nature bordering on aggression that is normally associated with the fiery Red Planet.

Mercury joins Mars in Pisces around the time of the New Moon, and closely conjoins Chiron as it does so, making a tight triple conjunction, which is additionally within orb of conjunction with Neptune in the early degrees of the sign. Saturn is stationing in the mid-month time frame, in trine with these three planets, and in bi-quintile to revolutionary Uranus, to which the stodgy and conservative energy is antithetical. Revolution is in the air, as it has been for these last few years, and there is also a considerable conservative backlash that is becoming even more intense as this second climactic year in a row – 2013 – gets underway.

Jupiter is also nearly stationary in the sky at this time and therefore more powerful, having recently completed its station to direct motion as the month begins. This would be a celebratory time frame were it not for the Saturn emphasis and the square between Jupiter and Chiron that is quite close as the month begins, and that remains with 2 degrees of exact until April. The Virgo Full Moon takes place on February 25th with the Sun conjuncts Chiron and the Sun and Moon make a T-square to Jupiter.

In the final weekend of the month, on Saturday, February 23rd, Mercury Retrogrades in Pisces, in conjunction with Mars. The Mercury Retrograde period of time, famous for missed connections and mechanical breakdowns, is thus underway just as the extremely powerful Virgo Full Moon also appears on the scene. We are drawn even more to the inside. The retrograde lasts five weeks or so, even past the station to direct motion on March 17th, since it has still at that point to make up its lost zodiacal longitude. This entire period is a great time for reflection and looking within, not so great for direct action.

We are facing enormous change, both as a culture and individually, as we struggle to keep up with what is going on in the society that surrounds us, and in the light of further revelations that we keep encountering. We are getting more conscious, and it is a spiral, so that we continually return to the same place that we started, but with a little more awareness.