(9 February 2025)  The planets this week look a bit unsettled.  Key in this respect are the early week square alignments of the Sun and Mercury with Uranus.  While not in common use in Vedic astrology, Uranus is associated with exciting or radical ideas, sudden developments and unusual situations, not unlike Rahu and Ketu.   Planets in soft aspect with Uranus (60 or 120 degrees) are said to bring more constructive and creative developments, while planets in hard aspect (0,90 180 degrees) bring increasing risk of disruption and chaos.

Well, I think we’ve already had a significant amount of disruption and chaos after the first three weeks of the new Trump administration but this week could bring some more.  As if to punctuate the alignment, there will be a Full Moon on Wednesday morning (EST) around the time the Sun-Moon opposition forms an exact T-square with Uranus.  Tuesday and especially Wednesday therefore don’t look like suitable days for initiating new ventures, unless perhaps if they are technology-related which is ruled by Uranus.  Mercury forms its square with Uranus on Monday and could coincide with innovative communications or unexpected events relating to computers and transportation including power outages, viruses and detours.  In terms of financial markets, it is unclear what effect these Uranus transits will have.  We could say, however, that Wednesday’s Full Moon looks somewhat more disruptive than Monday’s Mercury-Uranus square, however.

At the same time, there is the ongoing 120-degree Mars-Saturn alignment.  This pairing connotes hard work and difficult or onerous responsibility.  As Mars continues on its retrograde journey, this alignment is separating this week and could be on the wane.  While not really conducive to carefree social engagements, this alignment could be useful for overcoming obstacles and getting things done no matter if it ruffles some feathers.  Friday’s Moon-Saturn opposition will highlight this alignment and may bring an increased sense of difficulty and burden to some tasks.  Having a Moon-Saturn opposition on Valentine’s Day isn’t exactly the stuff of happy romantic moments, however, as Saturn’s tendency towards seriousness and pessimism could block the flow of emotions as symbolized by the Moon.  Fortunately, the exact opposition occurs in the morning (EST) and should weaken by the evening, thus lightening the mood in time for dinner and afterwards.

The weekend of Feb 15-16 looks smoother.  The Moon will transit through sidereal Virgo and thereby will form alignments with Venus in Pisces and Jupiter in Taurus.  This double dose of benefic energy should boost matters associated the Moon including women, home/real estate, fertility, and emotional well-being.  Interestingly, Venus and Jupiter have been in a condition of mutual reception for the past two weeks as each is transiting through the sign ruled by the other planet. The mutual reception of benefics is said to be auspicious for most things, especially areas governed by these two planets including luxuries, wealth, the feminine, art (Venus) and wisdom, rule of law, correct behavior, optimism (Jupiter).  This dual benefic influence should offer some support to many new projects, particularly those that exhibit some connection to the portfolios of Venus and Jupiter.  Due to the approaching retrograde cycle of Venus (starts March 1), this mutual reception will last until early May.  Although this may not be very strong in its effects, it should be seen as an underlying positive influence on collective sentiment for financial markets, government actions and military matters.