It’s been a few months since I posted any updates or musings on tarot or astrology.

I went to Costa Rica in late June with a great friend, and it was a dream. Isolated on a secluded mountain, I was able to focus on being healthy, sleeping well, working on fitness, and being pampered in nature. This trip was years in the making, and I could not thank the Costa Rica gods enough—or Father Time—for bringing me there.

The last two weeks of April are extremely charged, potentially volatile, and probably one of the most important times of the year—one of the few most important times of the year—2025. After three and a half months of being retrograde in the water sign of Cancer, Mars is finally entering back into the sign of Leo—the fire sign of the open heart, generosity, and playfulness.

We have transiting Mercury conjoined with Neptune in Aries. This is the first time Mercury and Neptune have been together in the fire sign of Aries in 165 years. We've had Neptune in Pisces for approximately 14 years, and during that time, we've experienced Mercury–Neptune alignments in the water sign of Pisces—sensitive, imaginative, and mystical.

But now that Neptune has just moved into Aries, this is the first Mercury–Neptune conjunction in Aries, a fire sign.

It was an ordinary early spring morning. I woke up early to wake my 16-year-old son Richie for school… this often took several attempts, as it does for many teenagers. I made myself coffee and, as per my daily routine, pulled a tarot card for my day. I remember it so vividly because, in retrospect, it was relevant—though at first, I denied it after the events that unfolded that day.

The first three cards are the major themes of my week ahead.  The last two represent my biggest challenge this week as well as a gift or grace I will experience this week.

The seven of wands is a fire element card that symbolizes unstoppable drive and determination against all odds.  This card, coincidentally, is ruled by the planet Mars. This is hopeful to me because I have been feeling under the weather for several weeks. Mars has been traversing through my twelfth house of the subconscious, dreams, places of retreat and the collective unconscious.  I have had a long period of insomnia and it’s been extremely frustrating.   

The Nodes in astrology are invisible points where the energy of the Sun and the Moon align to predict the eclipses.  They are symbolic of our personal  karma and dharma, fate and destiny, as well as important happenings on the world stage.

The North Node in Pisces is now aligned with Neptune in Pisces. This initiates themes of major karmic significance and destiny, both personally and on a collective level. The Nodes change signs every 18 months, however, the last time transiting Neptune in Pisces (a 164 year cycle around the zodiac) conjoined the North Node in Pisces was the year 1858!  Looking back historically, this was during the Romantic era when there was a collective movement that saw art, music, literature, mysticism and spirituality come to the forefront. 

I woke up at 5:18 AM and looked out the window and I saw five swans in a vertical row gliding down the bay outside my bedroom window. In all the decades I have lived at this location, I have never seen a single swan glide by ever. I lost five immediate family members over the last decade, my father being the most recent June 2023. It wasn’t a dream—although it felt like one. June 16, 2024, was the first Father’s Day without my father in my life. He passed away on June 20, 2023, at 93 years old. I was feeling especially sad that weekend, missing him deeply. A girlfriend had visited me, having just gone to see a medium to try to connect with her own deceased father. The medium told her that she would receive a sign. If it didn’t come from her, it would come from someone else, even if it was for both of us. I found that idea fascinating.

The New Moon in Leo can indeed prompt us to reflect on our desires and creativity, while the Mercury retrograde invites us to reconsider and reassess past decisions. Mercury rules over communication, transport, travel and technology. We may experience delays as we are being asked to go with the flow during this three week period. Remember the RE words….reconsider, reconstruct, reconnect, revise, redo….check out where the Mercury retrograde cycle is happening in your birth chart to understand its impact personally. For example, it’s occurring in my first house, and stationing direct within 2 degrees of my Leo Ascendant. It will be different for each of us individually how this will impact our experiences.

In this article we delve into the profound impact of astrological transits on our lives, helping you navigate the most challenging passages with greater understanding and grace.

Let's focus on the "dark night of the soul," a term often used to describe the intense periods of transformation triggered by Pluto transits. When Pluto, the planet of death and rebirth, touches significant points in our natal chart, it can feel like a shamanic initiation.

The natal birth chart of the United States is experiencing its first Pluto return in 248 years.