For countless years, the public schools in New England take a week long February vacation in the midst of the long, cold winter.   When I first moved here, I was skeptical about why.  However, when my children were school age I realized the week off accomplishes several things:  it breaks apart the winter to make it shorter; affords families the opportunity to actually enjoy the snow; and gives schools a chance to air out during cold and flu season.
After the December holiday hustle and tumultuous January, this February offers the same respite for all of the soul weary. 

Just three days in to the month, Messenger Mercury turns into dreamy sensitive Pisces.  Not the most comfortable fit for the incisive communication planet, mystical Pisces softens our words and may  cleanse and clarify our thoughts….or totally confuse them.  We feel drawn toward music, water elements and activities, to trust our intuition, to dream and, yes, to simply, purely believe again.  Piscean Mercury seeks to unify, wants us and our world to be whole, not fragmented, to include rather than exclude.  We may also fantasize about just chucking it all and running away…to a sunny south seas island, somewhere/anywhere to escape the madness of our world.  We imagine what that must feel like until we pause and ask, is that really a solution?
And that’s just it, isn’t it?  We learned over the past brutally honest year:  wherever we run, there we are.  You, me, us.  There is no escape.  But there are endless possibilities everywhere if we apply this energy well to visualizeand set intentions.  Mercury in Pisces invites us to be still and silent in solitude, to hear the music of our own imagination, to let it intuitively guide and inspire us.  Will you?  Give yourself a gift, your very own February break:  step into tranquility this month by stopping, listening. 

What do you hear?
Our imagination is in full flow the first week of February as Mercury aligns to the lunar North Node in cozy Cancer the Crab.  Snuggle up with a cup of hot cocoa and a good book Friday night February 7 before Venus shifts into fiery Aries the next day, when she joins healer Chiron; together the duo seeks all new relationships and outlets for our inspirations, to kindle faith in new possibilities under the Leo Full Moon aligned to Mars in adventurous Sagittarius on the 9th.  We feel there is absolutely nothing we cannot do – virtually no mountain high enough or obstacle too steep to climb over.  Stoke your Piscean dreams and see where they lead.  We are filled with robust energy and ready to explore.
And just how will you make that happen?  Ask three heavy hitting planets in pragmatic Capricorn?  Slow and steady win the race.  It’s fine to be filled with dreams of glory and all that, but how will you accomplish said venture?  Titans Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto want a plan.  What resources do you have to manifest and conquer?  These three keep us firmly on the ground even as our head and heart float up to the sky on lofty ideas.  The cosmic mixture makes for a viable Valentine’s Day with a new love or old, to propose…something more permanent?
Friday, February 14th, Motivating Mars shifts into Capricorn joining the above mentioned Big Three.  Mars relishes its passage through business like Capricorn and our attention drives straight to the bottom line.  Empowered by the Power Planet Troika, Mars cuts to the chase:  does it (insert your body, relationship, job, work-life dynamic, etc) function…well or at all?  This powerful foursome demands quality over quantity, efficiency, and definition:  you are in or you are out.  While Piscean Mercury swerves and blurs our mind and thoughts, the Capricorn Combo insists on straight, linear lines.  Connect the dots in the most direct way.  Best to apply this planetary pattern by allowing your mind to wander and dream and our efforts to build that dream.
Because the very next day, February 17th, Mercury turns retrograde in Pisces for the following three weeks. The engines of operation, doing and building are best directed toward the RE words.  Rest, research, review, reorganize, reset, relax, renovate, restore, renew, etc.  REmember that February break?  Now is about the time for it.  Especially as the Sun shifts into Pisces on February 19th, joining Messenger Mercury and Soulful Neptune.  This trio draws us to dip our toes in the water, whether a luxurious, candlelit bath in your own home, a romantic get-away, or a more protracted adventure.
The sound of music, sirens of dance and concert call our names this third week of February.  Indulge.  REmember the joy of BEing, not doing.  The next three weeks offers intense clarifying and cleansing energy, to purge all that clogs our thoughts, finances, homes and more.  Surrender and surrender now what you cannot control.  You choose:   Flow do not fight, let go and let God.  This period is definitely not the time to push back; if anything, REsist the temptation to dig your heels in.  Doing so, you may find yourself sinking in a quagmire of quicksand, slipping backward and not gaining traction.  Progress?  No.  Not right now.  That will have to wait until March 10thwhen Messenger Mercury turns direct motion.
Until then, use the time to meditate on what you do want, REseach and plan where you want to go. REview why you want certain goals.  Prepare your intentions for the New Moon on Sunday, February 23rd by handwriting 3-5 wishes or dreams and casting these in a moving body of water with an outlet or plant in the ground to manifest in the coming weeks and months.  Focus inward now and breathe out the Light of your Being. 

Give me love, Give me love, give me Peace on Earth  — George Harrison