February begins on the heels of a powerful Full Leo Moon on January 30 that is full of fire with a conjunction to Mars , making it nearly impossible to ignore the necessity to balance our ideals (Aquarian Sun) with the urgency of our own needs (Moon/Mars in Leo). This powerful lunar event occurred on the very day of the square from Saturn to Pluto that has been requiring a realignment and recalibration of what we consider to be our reality.

This is the second phase of the square from Saturn to Pluto (the first one occurred back in November of last year). This combination is rather like the influence of a teacher who is gentle in his strong guidance, but who when crossed reveals a formidable temper. On a personal level this cycle can have the effect of forcing us to recognize what is real in our lives and what is illusion; on a global level it reveals all of the cracks and chinks in the structures upon which we rely for order and security.

To complicate matters a bit, we are also seeing Chiron and Neptune move ever so closer to their exact conjunction. As the month begins they are less than a degree apart, and their culmination will occur on February 16th. The opening of the heart and the soul and the flood of outpouring of emotion of this planetary combination can inspire us to the height of spiritual ecstasy if we allow the energy of emotion to flow through our physical bodies. If this emotional energy is uncomfortable or painful we may want to resist or repress the flow and this can result in a weakening of the immune system.

So the combination of the Saturn/Pluto square and the Chiron/Neptune conjunction is at its peak in February which is likely to intensify all of our experiences. The Chiron/Neptune cycle is all about healing and unfolding, and the Saturn/Pluto cycle is more about contracting and rebalancing. Don’t be surprised if you feel everything all at once under these two influences, and just let the energy of what you’re feeling move freely.

We are under a strong Aquarian influence right now with four planets in Aquarius including the Sun, Venus, Chiron and Neptune. Aquarius is a very mental sign that seeks rational explanations for everything, and that is less and less possible where Chiron and Neptune are concerned. Neptune is connecting us to the divine within through the assistance of Chiron’s emotional surgery, and the mind can get in the way. What Aquarius can teach us though is that emotions are energy, and it’s only the story that we attach to the emotions that create the emotional pain.

The chart for the Full Moon includes a harmonious sextile from Jupiter to Pluto which inspires us to seek the ultimate truth (Jupiter) so that we can let go of the past and anything which no longer serves us (Pluto) . This aspect continues to affect us until it culminates on February 6th so for the entire first week we have the beneficial aid of this thirst for knowledge and wisdom. A sextile from Mercury (mind and mental processing) to Uranus (higher mind and intuition) on the 6th helps to satisfy that thirst and opens our mind so that we can really process our experiences on an intellectual level and convert any emotional drama into divine understanding.