I don’t have to get up as early as I used to, so my life has been “slip sliding away” into some lazy behaviors. I blame the nice weather, but as a Capricorn I know discipline comes from within so I decided to set my alarm to wake up at an earlier time.

The alarm, then, represents discipline.

SATURN

As I don’t transition from dreamtime to wake time easily, often upon hearing my alarm it takes me a while to remember who I am and what day it is.

The alarm is Saturn because it has set a limit to my sleep. Remembering who I am and what day it is brings me back to REALITY. You must get up. You must go to work. You must, you must . . .

Saturn is a slap in the face, like your alarm. It’s not a Uranian awakening to intuitive levels. It’s an awakening to the world of the five senses. It’s the three dimensional world in which your body resides.

You are you, it’s late, get your butt up, it’s time for work.

MERCURY

Next, for me, comes Mercury. After I remember who I am, the thoughts begin to flood in –

OMG, I’m late. I’ve got to shower. Should I eat breakfast here, or buy something on the way to save time? Crap, I was going to go in early today to work on that document. I’ll just skip lunch instead. Is that meeting at 1 or 2? Cat, get out from under my feet. I’ll feed you. Just let me wake up.

And on and on.

Mercury is the wing-footed messenger of those things we call thoughts. He’s flying around in my head wiping away all traces of last night’s dreams.

SUN

Remembering who I am is the sun.

I am not sitting on a beach in Cancun sipping margaritas living la vie boheme having made millions writing an astrology book. That was a dream.

No, I’m the person who does this and that and needs to get up to do it. What will I wear today to look both stunning and professional at that important meeting?

That reminds me that I’d better slap my name all over that report so my boss doesn’t take credit for it.

MOON

The moon is about reaction and comfort. The alarm says, “Get out of bed” and the moon says, “I don’t want to get out of bed? Why do I have to?”

Sounds like a child, right?

It’s more comfortable to stay in bed every morning. If we didn’t have Saturn in our charts, we might spend our whole lives in bed, not doing anything that caused the least discomfort.

When the alarm goes off, that scenario doesn’t sound too bad. Writing about it now, it seems positively appalling. I’m glad I listened to Saturn.

Food is comfort. No surprise that it’s often our hunger that gets us out of bed.

JUPITER AND VENUS

As I write, I see that Jupiter and Venus visit me together so I will explain them together.

As Mercury tells me of all that I need to do, I think about all the ways I can do it. I then start to see how I can derive a little pleasure (Venus) from a busy day and then even plan lots of extra activities I will never have time for (Jupiter).

I’ll stop and get something for breakfast. That will save me time. Plus a McDonald’s bacon-egg-cheese bagel and coffee is more appealing during my mad rush than oatmeal and tea.

That’s Jupiter saying, “Yes, indulge.”

Saturn is the opposite that says, “No, it’s not good for you.” I left Saturn sitting at the alarm clock so now Jupiter is running free.

So I’ll stop and get breakfast, skip lunch to prepare for that meeting which will allow me to leave on time!

Yeah, sure.

Since I’m going to leave on time, I’ll go out tonight. I’ll call some friends and see if they want to do dinner. I forgot I need to pick up my laundry, books from the library, get cat food and call my dad. I’ll just do that before dinner. My, what nice weather we’re having today. I’ll see if my friends want to go for a walk before dinner.

Way too much. Venus is the pleasure I want to have and Jupiter is the planet leading me to believe not only that I can have pleasure, but lots of it, in this limited 24-hour time period we call “a day.”

MARS

Mars is the God of War. You probably have already figured out where Mars first occurs in your busy day.

The drive to work.

The drives to and from work are called “rush hour.” Mars is goal-oriented action. I’m going from home to work (and back) in the least time possible. Get out of my way so I can get there more quickly. And if you don’t get out of my way, I will give you the finger.

Now that I write, I realize that most angry faces and fingers directed at my driving do occur early morning.

Mars on coffee makes it all worse.

Enough said.

THE OUTER PLANETS (URANUS, NEPTUNE, PLUTO)

The outer planets relate to the “times” and generational cycles and patterns. Kind of like the business cycle.

You don’t meet the outer planets in the morning, per se, but the energy of the times is the backdrop of your morning.

Pluto

Pluto is currently transiting Capricorn and destroying this thing we call “the economy.” So as I lay in bed fighting with my moon which wants to lie there and dream, Mercury brings a message from Pluto: “You’d better get your butt into work. If you are late, they will fire you and hire one of the 500 people who want your job.”

Uranus

Uranus is currently transiting Aries, causing impulsive actions directed toward enhancing the sense of self. After thinking about the 500 people who want my job I now tell Mercury, “Let them have it. It sucks anyway. I’m going to write an astrology book and sit on a beach somewhere, not necessarily in that order.”

Neptune

Neptune is teeter tottering between Aquarius and Pisces, moving into Pisces. Neptune in its own sign is about spirituality. Thinking about it, I tell Mercury that it would be better for me not to sell my soul to the devil we call the workplace. I want to do something spiritual anyway, like sell all my possessions and visit spiritual sites across the world!

It is important to let go of Neptune before the drive to work. Misty dreaming doesn’t help with focused driving.

Congratulations, you now know astrology!

Congratulations on reading this far. You now know astrology. Now get to work, you’re late!