There seems to be even more going on this week, and I am wondering how to pack it all into one little blog.  Of course I can’t contain it here…Harry Hill may be able to manage the week’s TV viewing in one little TV studio, but even the news broadcasters are having difficulty fitting in follow ups to the Japanese earthquake and tsunami.  They are however following the fate of the Nuclear plants in Japan, and this has sparked much debate in the U.K. about their viability, and given our only Green MP (Sagittarius) Caroline Lucas a platform in the media.  She was on Question Time recently, and debated in the Guardian yesterday with (Aquarian) George Monbiot.  Her argument is that “There are cheaper, faster, safer, more effective ways of getting our emissions down than going nuclear”.  If that is true, what is it that makes our governments gravitate to more self-destructive options?  And why, in the face of the Japanese situation, is George Monbiot turning towards the nuclear option?  Is it a case of denial, or cognitive dissonance, when he says: “As for the dangers, I’m beginning to feel that there’s as much nonsense talked about low-level radiation as there is about the undetectable health impacts that doctors can’t see but homeopaths can”.  Meanwhile, the unrest in the Middle East is growing, with Syria and Yemen protest sprouting fast, seeded from the success in Tunisian and Egyptian, and despite the desperate situation in Libya.  The anti-Gaddafi alliance is trying to pass the baton from the UN to NATO, while the issue of whether or not it is nobler to kill Gaddafi or not remains unresolved.  Our UK newspapers this morning show pictures of our own protests in London, yesterday, about the cuts.  All this is leading to the polarizing “whose side are you on?” aspect of Jupiter opposite Saturn tomorrow, and more of that, later.  Today we focus on love, particularly the idealistic kind, but any will do in the current climate.  We start today with Venus conjunct Neptune, and then Venus enters Pisces which deepens the whole experience.  We need to practice our unconditional and compassionate loving, for Neptune enters its own sign of Pisces next week, and we are all standing on the shore, waiting to plunge into the ocean of the collective unconscious.  Some will be overwhelmed, but many who thought they couldn’t swim will find that they can (more next week).  Talking of Pisceans, I was very moved by the death of Elizabeth Taylor midweek.  So much so, that I spent the second half of the week researching her life to write some sort of astrobiography, which would have to be serialized.  I will probably be diverted next week on to something else, but really hope to fathom some of her unfathomable life.  Pisces and its ruling planet represent charity, and her AIDS work was one of the most enduring of her legacies.  So today’s aspects form a focus on love and what it means to you and what it might mean to you in the future.  Venus is leaving the detached and dispassionate but friendly and collective sign of Aquarius where it has established brotherhood between the oppressed populations, and now enters a sign where emotions are more involved.  Tomorrow, Monday (28th) we start with a semi-sextile between Venus and Uranus, a nod to the citizen next to you standing up for freedom.  Then the Sun squares Pluto, and the consequences of recent violence may hit home.  The emotional if not the practical results of destruction need to be attended to.  But the most important event of the week also takes place tomorrow – the opposition between Jupiter and Saturn, one which you may have felt coming.  We all have contradictions in our make-up, and it is something that Astrologers, when describing a chart, have to find a way to explain in a way which doesn’t make it look like they are neutralizing their own argument.  If you know which houses in your chart this opposition takes place across, then you will have more idea of the issues involved for you, how to achieve the balance, or what is required.  If not, then you need to look at those areas of your psyche which are opposed to each other, or out of balance.  Societies are tearing themselves apart right now, and we need to be living harmoniously with ourselves.  Identify your opposing Archetypes, perhaps, such as the Economist (Saturn) and the Spendthrift (Jupiter).  Perhaps it is not too late for them to talk to each other, or the more freedom loving one could be getting very restless.  On Tuesday (29th) Venus conjuncts Chiron in early Pisces, and it is time for you to confront your fears (good preparation for Neptune going into Pisces).  Those of you, like me, who are not natural swimmers, may look at your past-life drowning scenarios, for instance.  If you have fears about the world coming to an end in 2012, read the guest blog by Asia Haleem on why she thinks the Mayan Calendar ends in 2012, heralded by a transit of Venus.  Some have a fear of Mercury Retrograde, and Wednesday (30th) provides an opportunity to get over it.  Yes, it’s come round again, and like Colin Firth in the King’s Speech, if you practice clear communications over and over again, you get better, and you will have fewer problems, despite any Mercury Retrograde periods.  Thursday (31st) has a semi-square between Jupiter and Neptune, when we will be required to get clear on our views on religion, spirituality and faith. On my census form I put “Universal” for religion, for the record.  I know quite a few people who were debating with themselves less orthodox entries for this question.  On Saturday 2nd April there is a semi-sextile between Mars and Neptune, a similar debate but perhaps more slanted towards sexual orientation, which mercifully we weren’t asked on the Census.  Later, Mars enters Aries, and the militance turns more strident, and there is more certainty about sexual orientation, too.  Finally, Venus sextiles Pluto, a fittingly solid end to a roller-coaster of a week.  Money and Love issues seem to resolve more harmoniously.  I leave you with a long quotation from Astrologer Linda Goodman in her book “Love Signs” about Elizabeth Taylor, which was written in 1978 so may no longer apply, but you may find intriguing if you are a fan of either of these women:

“When the vibration of Pluto and Neptune rise to an intensely emotional level, the subject of death may enter the periphery of the relationship.  It may touch them closely…or distantly…maybe manifesting simply in an involvement in reincarnational and other  various matters generally pertaining to death.  Only one example (and there are many) is the powerful bond between actress Elizabeth Taylor and actor Richard Burton, in which the death of Elizabeth’s husband, showman Mike Todd, played a major and mystical karmic role of Destiny – a role they have not themselves yet fully realized or comprehended.  I say this, not to invade their privacy, for neither of them has ever tried to keep the pride of their passion and  the passion of their pride…a secret from the public.  A streaking comet cannot hide its blazing path from curious galaxies.  Naturally death, in some form, will eventually touch any human association, not just that of Scorpio and Pisces.  But the essence of death as created through the haunting and haunted blend of Neptune’s and Pluto’s combined pulsations is not an ordinary, but an extraordinary, kind of experience.  It invariably contains an air of the compellingly mysterious and inexplicable.”