First things first, it’s my mother’s birthday today. She’s 77 today – and a fit 77 she is. Mum’s one of those people who was blessed with both a great metabolism and an inability to sit still.

Although Mum and I are very different people, as I’m getting older I understand her a lot more. I’m also seeing how her chart fits into mine – and, more importantly, the similarities between us are becoming more apparent…even though I could only dream about having her metabolism.

Whilst her Aquarius sun challenges my uber-Pisces sensibilities, her Aries Moon is conjunct my natal Venus, and her Aquarius Venus/Mercury sextiles that Venus too. There are also sextiles to my Sun and Moon from Mum’s Saturn/Uranus in Taurus. Given that her Mars is conjunct my north node, there’s no denying that I’ve had to grow into the understanding I have now!

One thing that we have in common is an almost exact opposition between Sun and Pluto – in both mine and Mum’s chart there’s an orb of just 1 degree. Interestingly, her mother, my grandmother, also had a Sun-Pluto connection – although hers was an exact conjunction between the Sun and Pluto in Cancer. I find it fascinating how you see some of these patterns repeating through the generations. My daughter also has a Sun-Pluto connection – although hers is a trine.

Anyways, before I ramble on any further, happy birthday Mum!

Okay, to the skies.

Today’s star aspect is a square off between Mercury and Uranus 

One of my best friends is the type who flits from idea to idea – his brain grabbing what he needs to know at each micro stop to come up with whatever it is that he needs to come up with.

Every so often, when we’re talking through a problem, I can see his eyes glaze over and his mind wander – not because what I’m saying is boring (although sometimes it probably is), but because he’s impatient to get moving onto the next thing.

My point is, I’m the one that he usually bounces all of these ideas off. I can act a little like a walking journal or sounding board for when he doesn’t have time to stop and think. When he does (finally) have time to stop and think, I’m there to remind him of what the ideas were that he didn’t have time to stop and think about – and the things he missed once he’d lost interest.

That could be what today is like for you. Mercury and Uranus are squaring off. Mercury is all practical and resourceful in Capricorn, and Uranus is being Uranus in all his unexpectedly stimulating glory in Aries. 

As those thoughts fly through your head – bounce off walls, come out of boxes, whatever – find a way of recording them. They could seem impulsive, impetuous and completely avant garde in nature, but today isn’t about making any of them work – indeed, it’s absolutely not the best time for that – instead it’s about the thought itself. There’ll be time later for analytics and practicality and attention to detail. It’s only then that you could find some gems amongst the ordinary.