The river is swirling, a fog is drifting in, you’re in a canoe and attempting to navigate through increasingly rapid waters. You bump against sharp rocks, almost capsize, but right yourself and keep on going. Your vision seems blurry, but you gaze piercingly ahead, maneuver around the obstacles and come out to calmer waters…where you exhale and shake your head at how you managed this feat. And then you laugh and relax.

That’s the energy pattern of this week. It’s like a celestial Greatest Hits album where one song bleeds into another and, while exciting in places, is also confusing and a little disconcerting.

We have not only a Lunar Eclipse occurring on Monday, but also a Neptune station and a rare Transit of Venus on Tuesday. Any one of these major celestial events is cause for pause, but the fact that they are occurring together means that there is a concentration of energy—not always harmonious—happening now that challenges our ability to be calm, clearminded and practical. The rest of the week follows in their wake.

The Full Moon/Lunar Eclipse occurs at 4:13 am on Monday, at 14 degrees Sagittarius. With the Sun in Gemini, the kinetic energy of the month is about personal contact and communication. A keynote for Gemini is versatility. Gemini represents the multi-faceted nature of the mind, the gift of intelligence and rational thinking, but also the ability to transmit understanding.

 A Full Moon is an open door to understanding the subtler planes of existence. This particular Full Moon is occurring in the sign of Sagittarius, representative of higher learning, expansive thinking, a philosophical and fun-loving viewpoint on life. It’s actually a very spiritual sort of energy.

The fact that it’s a Lunar Eclipse is important. Full Moons are energetic culmination points. An eclipse is a particularly potent moment, investing the world and an individual’s astrological chart with a sort of sizzle. That’s why important events tend to occur around eclipses, or when transiting planets activate those points. Eclipses have a six-month-to-a-year potency period, so we’ll feel this one for a while.

Watch for Sagittarian themes in the news: religion, ethics and morality questions, college curriculums that stir things up, controversial Supreme Court decisions. Will the Obama health care mandate be overturned? The astrological answer is yes, probably, because the decision is being revealed under this Sagittarian Lunar Eclipse. Eclipses cut off the past.

Neptune is the planet associated with non-physical planes of reality, with the ethereal and mysterious, the unseen and the nebulous, the unbounded oneness of universal energy. Neptune rules creativity and imagination, fantasy, spirituality and the search for unity with God or another person, escapism and its fruits…drugs, alcohol and unreality. It’s confusion or dreamlike visions.

The fact that Neptune is basically stopped in the sky, and turns retrograde (backwards, from Earth’s POV) on the day of a Lunar Eclipse, means that confusion is the order of the day. Don’t be surprised if, all week, people don’t show up for appointments, or say things that don’t make sense. It’s just Neptune and the eclipse doing their usual thing. We may hear of a new drug being marketed, or an unfortunate overdose. Accidents tend to occur under eclipses, and Neptune adds a fog over rationality.

A Neptune station, though, is excellent for all things imaginative. Film (a projected image) is ruled by Neptune, and its influence is enhanced now. Likewise dance, poetry and music. So for creative individuals this non-practical energy can lead to imaginative works that surpass previous efforts, because we are more aware of unbounded possibilities.

Then, on Tuesday, we have a very rare Transit of Venus, where the celestial declination (angle of orbit) allows us to actually see Venus passing before the face of the Sun. Technically, it’s a relatively common Sun-Venus conjunction, a happy and harmonious combination; but the actual Transit only occurs twice in a century. This is the last one until the year 2117.

The energetic effect is to accentuate all things Venusian—beauty, money, the arts, and of course love, sex and various comforts. So shape up that boudoir, because the energy right now is conducive to falling in love. Sometimes we need a little glamour or confusion (Neptune) and an energetic push (Lunar Eclipse) to bring out our love or artistry. Whatever is considered beautiful probably comes up in the news or in our lives. Remember that Venus is retrograde, so what’s old is new again.

The rest of the week is not drama-free, but it’s not as dramatic as the beginning of the week. After the Full Moon, the light of the Moon begins to diminish. This is a dispersive energy; it’s a good time to spread creative projects far and wide. Being receptive to others’ perspectives is easier under the waning Moon.

Wednesday is a hurry-up-and-wait sort of day, with the Moon trining (making a flowing angle to) Mars (energy), but then squaring (making a difficult angle to) Saturn (work/practicality).

Thursday is mixed, with the Moon entering Aquarius and Mercury entering Cancer, giving a “Tell Me What I Want To Hear But Don’t Expect Me to Listen To You” sort of cast to the energy.

Friday is actually the most easygoing day of the week, with lovely trines (harmonious angles) from the Moon to Venus (pleasures), the Sun (ego drives), and Saturn (authorities). I’d plan a date for romance or creativity for today. It’s a day when someone will say yes to you.

The weekend looks fairly quiet, with the Moon in Pisces (ruled by Neptune) and some wonderful creative aspects (called quintiles) to both Mercury (intellect) and the Sun (one’s identity). Beach party! Expect to hear probable news of some major rains or floods, though. All that water has got to go somewhere.

This is also the last week that Jupiter, the ruler of Sagittarius and the planet associated with fun and good fortune, is in the sign of Taurus. Next week, it speeds into Gemini and triggers the recent Solar Eclipse point. As we’ve said, these hot spots remain active for a while, so hang on to your hats!

And then there’s our odd couple, Uranus and Pluto—Mssrs. Fast Change and Slow Change, respectively—coming into their exact square, or harsh 90-degree angle, to each other. You think the 1960s (when they were conjoined) were dramatic? You ain’t seen nuthin’ yet! Right now, ladies and gentlemen, it’s a circus in the sky! Amid life’s great mysteries, do you think we’ll finally find out how they get all those clowns into that small car?

Anyway, here are the forecasts for the 12 signs this week. (Dates for signs are approximate, as they vary each year.)

ARIES (March 20-April 19): When was the last time you updated your passport? The eclipse in another Fire sign opposite the Venus Transit is like a call of the wild to you. This week may find you itching for greener pastures. But the Neptune station feels less to you like a need for outer adventure and more like an urge to find what’s on the other side of “The Veil.” So a spiritual journey may work, too. Why don’t you combine the two and travel to an ashram in the Bahamas? Spirit’s paradise for you right now.

TAURUS (April 20-May 19): Last call! Jupiter is about to leave your sign and that means you’ll be on your own for another 12 years. You could always create your own brew, but that would take more effort than you normally like to expend. Yet, that’s the work right now—transcending your past efforts. The energy this week thrusts you out into unfamiliar territory and it’s only the beginning of a find-your-purpose-and-make-a-living-at-it sort of time for you. Answer: Micro-brewery. Do everything yourself now.

GEMINI (May 20-June 19): The audience is awaiting you. You’re backstage pacing, ready to go, but the prop you need just broke and you’re trying to fix it before the curtain is raised. The energy this week is so favorable to you that you should just relax, because the props person just found an even better prop for you. You can’t get it till next week (Jupiter entering Gemini). So improvise now and remember that the crowd wants to enjoy you. What’s the old show biz adage? “Bad rehearsal, good performance.” Now, break a leg!

CANCER (June 20-July 19): Kidnapping your boss is probably not a good idea, though you might feel like it. Neither is stalking that old lover who never gave you an answer. But this week’s energy has to do with taking action to alleviate inner pressure, so doing SOMETHING is a good idea. Mercury entering your sign helps you think clearly, even intuitively. The Transit of Venus may bring old pleasures back into your life, and that’s not so bad. Lover’s lane, good. Abusiveness, bad. Remember the difference.