The Sun is very active and this is the year of the solar maximum. More than just an astronomical event, this creates spikes of excitability that has been noted by researchers. It's rather wild timing, what with the square of Uranus and Pluto exact (Monday).

The tension of that square -- to break down and re-form -- meets the power of the solar flare as a catalyst. Keep in mind, squares form a third creation. With the Uranus-Pluto square, there is a revisioning of how to live on Earth. Uranus is the planet of awakening, with downloads of new energies. And solar flares seem to be activating as well, for the whole being - even physically.

Today the Earth gets a glancing blow from on of the four X (highest) flares -- see Spaceweather. There's also a high probability of more to come. The geomagnetic field is the one to watch and on this NOA Solar Data site it reads unsettled. It's possible it will read Storm! at some point today, or the next few days.

I came across an article by Michael Forrester called, Increasing Solar Activity and Disturbances in Earth's Magnetic Field Affect Our Behavior and Increase Our Health. Though it's from 2012, It's a great overview of the Sun's activity -- the levels of flares, the 11-year solar cycle, the solar maximum (2013) and even how it relates to spontaneous manifestation.

Forrester points out a study by A.L. Tchijevsky, a 19th-century Russian scientist, who studied solar flaring and human response over hundreds of years. (from 500 B.C. to 1922 A.D.) Says Forrester, "He (Tchijevsky) investigated the histories of 72 countries in that period, noting signs of human unrest such as wars, revolutions, riots, expeditions and migrations, plus the number of humans involved. Tchijevsky found that fully 80% of the most significant events occurred during the years of maximum sunspot activity. He maintained that the "exciting" period may be explained by an acute change in the nervous and psychic character of humanity, which takes place at sunspot maxima."

There are real reasons to be alert, and listen to your body. One is the link between suicide and solar maximums. Earth watchers are on alert for earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

But Forrester notes that for some, there is a silver lining, and that's a quickening of the power to recreate their lives. He writes, "The interesting fact about this energy is that since it is of a higher frequency it creates the power of instant manifestation of our thoughts, which means whatever we think, we create instantly. This never before happened in our lifetime and that is why many people are writing books on the subject on the Power of Attraction."

• Watch your thoughts -- look for ways to divert away from shame spirals, and dark imaginings about the future.
• Go barefoot -- imagine the energy moving down through the body and into the Earth.
• Avoid crowded, bad vibe places or personalities that jar you.
• Exercise supreme self-care, altering your schedule if necessary.
• Find the catalyst portals and send off your burning impressions -- the vision of your highest self.
• Watch loved ones for signs of temporary insanity, edginess and depression.
• Keep it simple, slow down, turn off background noise.

The Sun gets all the glory in astrology -- it's the answer to "What's your sign?" But doing readings this week, I'm reminded of the Moon as the soulful underpinnings. The Moon is how you get cozy, the private self and self-care. It's behaviors you fall back on when in a crisis, when you can't think, you just act instinctively.

In times of losing touch with yourself, it helps, of course, to come back to the home of the Moon. This is found in the traits and house of the Moon in your chart. If your Moon has hard aspects, your life story could be one of seeking that home feeling, and creating it for yourself.

What's the relationship (aspects) between your Sun and Moon? The Moon is how we emotionally synch up with other people. And when your way is known -- more knowing thyself -- it's clearer why you naturally feel at home with some and not others.

The Sun is in a solar maximum this year, and that means it is predicted to cast off a peak of flares. After a bit of a lull, there were three X flares in a 24-hr period, starting early Monday. And Spaceweather reports a 40% chance of more to come. The X flaring was not Earth-directed, but this sunspot is rotating toward our planet. So let's review solar flares and geomagnetic storms (the result on our end).

The phenomenon of spaceweather -- and its effect on us -- is a kind of frontier field. Susan Joy Rennison is a scientist and a philosopher -- she wants to distance herself from the new age catchall. She has a JoyFire Spaceweather Facts Slideshow that's a great overview of what it is, and what, in her view is happening.

The nutshell version is that the Earth's protective shield has been diminishing. This lets more spaceweather in, a main contributor to climate change. We've lost our protection, but we've also lost our frequency fence to the greater cosmos. Rennison gets into mythic terrain, saying that the Earth is letting down her guard and welcoming the purifying rays of her partner, the Sun. And we're being made anew, by these pulses, since they carry frequency, and awaken us to our connection to the great beyond.

Michael Erlewine makes the connection between creative flashes of genius and solar impacts. "In his yet-to-be published book Children of the Light,astrologer Theodor Landscheidt (who was a supreme court justice in Germany) and friend of mine, documented the effect of such massive solar events on the creativity of many great writers, scientists, and artists." Confusion is a side effect, says Erlewine, so he says, "This kind of experience is not a call to activity and getting things done, but more like an imprinting, a taking things in, allowing this new information to enter and register deep within us. Later, we will (or can) read it back out as it affects us personally and make some kind of sense out of it. It is creative!"

In the case of these X-flares, there's a slight chance of geomagnetic storming later this week. The flaring happens, and then the energies enter Earth's atmosphere (if they're Earth-directed) in a few days. As a sensitive, I find it helps to make sense of different symptoms or moods, and there are many sites like this one -- SolarHam -- to see Sun activity.

• Solar Eruptions and the Self by Michael Erlewine: "It is like the solar blast blew our concept of our Self into a million pieces and now we are trying to pick them up and come up with a half-decent image of our self again."
• Solar Eruptions, DNA and the Third Eye "Adonai says, 'We are physically, mentally, and emotionally altered by electromagnetic charges from the sun, our body can feel sleepy but also become highly energized.'"
• Insomnia and Solar Flares "Dr. Robert Schoch, a tenured professor at Boston University, says, 'Oh yeah, it seems to be affecting people, there are definitely mood changes and it affects sleep patterns, that sort of thing.'"

This is an unsettled month astrologically, and the Uranus-Pluto square on May 20th adds a sense that something is going to happen. It's important not to let fear and imagined scenarios cloud the picture. There's danger of that intensifying, with Neptune playing with our minds this week. And yet, it's possible to turn it around, and use the fluid nature of reality these days to see from many angles, and shift our shapes.

Neptune and Mercury (by way of Gemini) together -- in squares to the weekend -- invite Dragonfly medicine. The key word, in the Medicine Cards, is illusion. "Dragonfly's shifting of color, energy, form, and movement explodes into the mind of the observer, bringing vague memories of a time or place where magic reigned."

Is it possible to play with illusion, and let it guide us to the changes we're longing to make? Venus (love and beauty) is in Gemini, and squares Neptune today (Monday). This lingers through the week, for unusual encounters and serendipity. You could meet some genuine crazy people, for example. Or feel temporarily crazy yourself. Where's the genius in the crazy?

Mercury zips into its own sign Gemini at mid-week, for a quickened pace -- more chatter! Those who work with the public might find it easier to make small talk, and even enjoy it. There's ease of flow with the grapevine -- word travels fast! This is a speedy tour, as Mercury goes into Cancer on June 1st. It's a good time to gather documents, canvass, make friends, and enjoy random conversations with anybody and everybody.

Keeping it light is wise, as Mercury will square Neptune (at 5 degrees Gemini-Pisces) on Friday. This makes details go fuzzy, like the small print of a contract. And yet, squares have a way of creating cracks that let new light in. Gemini and Pisces are both signs that see from within and around many worlds. There could be a breakthrough here, for those wanting to widen their perception.

I'm using multiple glasses, as stand-ins for my bi-focals that broke this morning. I need the reading glasses for the ephemeris, and another for the computer. I want to throw up my hands and say, "I can't see!" And yet, I can see it as a little prank from cosmic trickster -- an invitation to let go of the frustration of the square. And to see where the energy of friction takes me today. This is seeming very symbolic for this week, and circumstances of seeing through different lenses. Have a great week!