This Sat, April 23, 2011 mercury stops, turns around and returns to forward motion. In other words the planet of the mind will have finished its passage between us on earth and the sun. Normally these periods are only noticed for a few dropped bits of communication that are remedied with little inconvenience. No real harm done by the distraction of watching this 'train passing' in our solar neighborhood.
It may seem silly that we are so drawn to an event that after all occurs a few times every year; but if we see this solar system as our home, and the planets as our neighbors, and our friendship with them as dating back to the first generations of ancestors who followed their movements and wrote about them, the attraction to them when they pass between us and the bright kahuna becomes more understandable. When we, as a society, recognize the passing of our hot footed friend, we honor the urge among sky worshipers to take a break from daily tasks and observe the great mind of the universe.
Regardless of whether we as a society recognize tracking the movements of our celestial neighbors as a worthwhile pastime, (our slavish devotion to clock and calendar are evidence that we do not), the current unfolding of planetary events is not conducive to meditation on our sheltering sky. With an abundance of planets in the high energy sign of the spring equinox, events which demand attention for our survival are unfolding so quickly that we have no choice but to turn our gaze from the planets and apply our minds to the emergencies at hand.
So this passage of mercury flies by in a swirl of activity, for once not imposed by a society that ignores the real heavenly sphere, but by a series of natural emergencies generated by the movements of the solar system and our planet.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Neptune in Pisces
Neptune entered Pisces around 12pm EDT April 4, 2011; ruling the roost for the first time since the surrender of Fort Sumter at the beginning of the Civil War. The eruption of systematic national violence in 1861, was within a day of Neptune leaving its base of power and entering the high speed, explosive territory of Aries. It ruled as long as it was in the swimming sea, but as soon as it crossed into the land of exploding seeds, the undulating schools of fish were scattered in a flash of chaos. With Neptune in Pisces the question is where are we going? On which current are we traveling? We instinctively scan the horizon, searching for land rising up from this seemingly endless sea. We have no other recourse, but to trust the stories given to us, about the lives of countless generations; who obviously, ultimately, took root and flowered.
We are all capable of rational thought and understand that violence lies always up ahead, and existence is a web of possibilities and threats, sometimes confusing and others clear as the translucent drops of dirty wash water sparkling as they are thrown into the light of the sun. We know that everything returns to earth and that the earth is often swallowed by the sea. We know nothing is guaranteed, that a highly unlikely ill timed moment of distraction is all it takes, and we are on our way to the other side.
Sometimes we just have to feel lucky to be alive.
We are all capable of rational thought and understand that violence lies always up ahead, and existence is a web of possibilities and threats, sometimes confusing and others clear as the translucent drops of dirty wash water sparkling as they are thrown into the light of the sun. We know that everything returns to earth and that the earth is often swallowed by the sea. We know nothing is guaranteed, that a highly unlikely ill timed moment of distraction is all it takes, and we are on our way to the other side.
Sometimes we just have to feel lucky to be alive.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Uranus in Aries
Saturday April 9, 2011
As Uranus completes its first of 98 new moons in the sign Aries we look back on the last time it was in this aggressive sign. But first, when I say 98 new moons I do not mean that every one of them will be in Aries. It is a high energy coincidence that Uranus entered the territory of Aries
When the sun moves in to Taurus at the end of the month things should calm down a wee bit. The problem is that by then venus will have entered Aries! As our queen of balance and tranquility, she has a big challenge ahead.
Here we are two days later with the moon well advanced in the sign Cancer, and boy do I feel tender. I’ve been in bed for the last two days with a cold rag over my head. Last night I made my son cook dinner, and today the dishes and laundry are piled high.
Uranus in Aries: originality, excitement and inevitably there will be violence. Nothing gets us going like a disturbing disaster or even a close call. Adrenalin. All Aries. Aries is birth, the coming into existence of something that a moment ago was no more than a dreamy idea; the wet baby that was a dry black and white shadow on a computer screen.
What happens when the light is small, slow and distant, coming from a gas giant rolling around the outskirts of the hood, low rider anthems blasting from the speakers? It can feel pretty threatening and in fact is. It clearly was in April 1927, the last time Uranus started its term as an in-your-face iconoclast. Honest. What you see is what you get. Like a duck running across pavement, you just can’t ignore those webbed feet slapping away on the hard, flat surface.
Here we are 84 years later, the ‘other’ ringed planet once again rolling on its giant bass-thumping wheels into the rough neighborhood. “Thank goodness,” say those of us with a low tolerance for adversity, “there at least is a civil sheriff in town.” Back in 1927 this passage was accompanied by a lot less stirring up of the dust; the chorus was more of a march and a lot more organized.
Another thing that was a lot more peaceful about the Uranian spring of 1927 was that the martial element started out weaker than the rulers; the sun met mars in Libra in October of 1927. The martial element at that point was diplomatic and shortly after, when they did gain power, exercised it more passively through shrewd politics. So the beginning of this passage in 1927 was a lot less dramatic and chaotic than what we are experiencing now.
Another interesting and statistically significant difference between the current and the former Uranian crossing into Aries is the position of Neptune : in 1927 Neptune was in the last year of a 10 year old party in Leo; this month it enters its home territory of Piscean
It is hard to find another point in recent history when so many people have been so pumped up and eager to believe in fantasies.
Thank goodness indeed for the civil sheriff. In October of next year (2012) that authority figure will cross over to Scorpio entering an arena where they are forced to deal from their gut instead of their head. They will be organizing power plays and manipulating from behind the scenes. The winds will die down, and many of the fires in the streets will have long since been extinguished. Our attention will again be focused on the minutia of daily existence, rather than the eruptions of righteous citizens.
The Importance of the Moon in Astrology
Saturday April 9, 2011
Well the moon will still be in Gemini all day. It is a beautiful crescent tonight, quite high in the western sky, and as usual on a new moon I feel hopeful. Even in the years before I knew anything about astrology, or much less followed the moon, I felt hopeful on those rare evenings when that smiling crescent magically appeared in the west as I walked home from the dinner shift at Balentine's Cafeteria. I was almost 21, about to come out as a lesbian, completely estranged from my family and very alone in the world. I suppose that was how I prepared myself for the big step, by leaving my family.
I remember riding my recently purchased motorcycle to visit a nun from the Daughters of Charity who worked for the local diocese; I felt so free with a paid week of vacation from work and my first personal vehicle, I had to go exploring, and found myself sitting in this woman's office for an unannounced visit. I've always been into spontaneity and this is one of those occasions when it really paid off. In those days I went to mass several times a week and felt at home in the Catholic Church. I had received some literature from this nun's order and one of the sisters from out of town had dropped in for a visit with me when I lived at the YWCA. I guess that is how I wound up sitting in the office of Sister Mary Henry on that beautiful sunny day. I thought I was just a happy young person who really enjoyed meeting new people. I didn't realize how seriously I was searching for answers to life's big questions.
I suspect I talked mostly about myself, Sister MH was at least in her late 40's and a very sober woman. Looking back it seems as though she guided me with the deft moves of a magician, but I suppose I was just so eager to understand what it was that these people who I admired so much knew, that I jumped at every suggestion with literally no idea of what I was getting into. Her first suggestion was that I come back for another visit, I think she asked if I would like to, and of course I thought that was a wonderful idea. I had a date for a visit with a cool nun. I guess it was more of an appointment, but the important thing was it gave me something special to look forward to; a new friendship.
It wasn't a friendship though, it was something more important. It was an intervention.
On the second visit with Sister Mary Henry I don't think I was in her office for more than 10 minutes before I suddenly and unexpectedly broke down in tears. I was shocked, but what could I do? Sister Mary however seemed completely comfortable with my sudden tears. They did not bother her a bit. She actually behaved as though there were nothing strange about this obvious lack of self control and exhibited only patient curiosity. I had stumbled into the office of a professional social worker and had no idea of the turn my life was about to take.
After a 45 minute discussion it came out that I had not spoken with my mother in a year and this was the second time I had broken down in tears since she returned a Mother's Day present that I had sent her. I thought I was over it and happy in the big world where I could skydive, ride a motorcycle and come home from work to a peaceful apartment with nothing but a good stereo to interrupt my thoughts. The tears suggested otherwise. Then Sister Mary Henry made a very brave offer: she would be in Wilmington the following month, if I made the arrangements with my mother, maybe the three of us could get together for a meeting.
Before I tell about the meeting with Mom and Sister Mary Henry, even if you are Catholic, you might be too young to understand what lurks in the minds of many older Catholics. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce would be the best description of the really strange things too many older Catholics believe. My Mom was one of those Irish Catholics whose paternal grandparents escaped the Emerald Isle, but not the long arm of the Roman Catholic Church. Her mother's mother was from Poland, and believed cats went to heaven, so I think this stuff did not come from her mom's side of the family.
I rode the Greyhound or the Trailways bus to Wilmington, and we had the meeting in an office of the local church. I had given up the motorcycle after a few short months, which may seem kind of sad, but if I had ridden the bike to Wilmington, things would not have turned out as they did; and here I go again with Tolstoy, looking back it appears to have been destined.
My Mom was her usual outspoken my-daughter-must-be-a-virgin-at-all-costs. I really think in those days she honestly thought her MOST important job in life was to make sure her daughters did not have sex before they married or entered the convent. She said it was the dream of every Catholic family to have a daughter enter the convent or a son the priesthood. You gotta be Catholic to understand.
Something came up about my friend from religious retreats leaving a condom in the toilet after spending the night with my apartment mate. Yes I had a habit of telling my mother everything, except what I didn't tell her, which in high school she had found in letters stuffed between the mattress and the box spring. I thought I was withholding the damning facts, but apparently not. She damned me right in front of Sister Mary Henry for the condom in the toilet. Somehow that made me a slut. Believe it or not I was still pretty innocent back then, and I still didn't get the whole deal about sex. It would take coming out as a lesbian to figure that one out. But I had been called a slut so many times, and heard my brother's girl friends called sluts, and Mom was so loud and red in the face as she attacked me for living with a roommate that blah blah blah. And I really didn't care. I had Sister Mary Henry for a friend, or at least someone who didn't freak out when I cried, and I was ready to move on. In the last year I had forgotten about all the yelling that went on for such incredible lengths of time.
The nice thing was, for once I did not feel embarrassed about my mother's behavior. Somehow, Sister Mary Henry made this too seem perfectly normal. When my mother paused to catch her breath, Sister asked me about Ellen and Jimmy and I told about how they had gone off to the mountains and I would be going up in the summer for their wedding. She asked if the condom in the toilet bothered me, and I told her that it did, and that I had told them so, but they just said they were sorry and they were still my friends. The whole exchange made me realize that even though I was scandalized by the thing in the toilet, they were still my friends. I felt that they loved me, and I loved them.
Sister just nodded thoughtfully. It was the first time I had weathered one of these maternal tirades since I had decided not to go home at the end of my sophomore year in college. Then the tornado was all about how I would discover how hard it was to live in a world where no one cared about me, but it would be too late because I had burned my bridges...
Now my mother was a smart woman; she was always deeply involved in local politics, knew the history of the town where she grew up, any town where she lived or visited for more than a day, and took great pleasure in reading and telling stories of politics and history. She was often up until 2 or 3 in the morning with the television going and a newspaper on her lap. As the years went by and the media became more saturated with news talk shows, she soaked it up and spoke freely to the talking heads on the tube. She always remembered what they had said before they got elected or when they held an appointed office. This woman who declared in all seriousness that her best friend couldn't get a husband because she was too opinionated, could hold her own against any politico. She was a formidable figure for any daughter to look up to.
I remember as a child proudly tagging along to the town parade and helping to pass out campaign bumper stickers; Mom often campaigned tirelessly for people she supported to gain elected office. As the high school bands came marching down the street, I could feel tears welling up in my chest. The country was in the middle of the war in Vietnam and many nights on the news we saw footage of burned down villages and screaming women running with babies in their arms. I did not understand why the marching bands made me think of all the people suffering and dying in Asia, I only knew I could not allow her to see this, she would be exasperated and send me off to get myself back under control.
My father often told her she was too perfect and wanted everyone else to be perfect; this would be when she railed at him for his habit of drinking a six pack or more of Schaefer each night. This was another example of a thought which I calculated should be kept to myself, and guarded for years in an attempt to wish away the critical judgments I held against others: I thought she simply wanted to have her own way.
Even though I'm not sure of my mother's real age, I'm sure she was not born before 1928. She gave me 1933 as her birth year, but that didn't jive with the adventures she often recounted of her move to Washington DC at the end of WWII. When she died, it appeared from documents that she was born the day before Christmas, 1928. This was the first year of Neptune in Virgo, a very difficult place of rules and regulations for dreamy Neptune to be saddled and bridled with a bit in her mouth for 14 long years.
My father was at least 4 years older and known by all as the most easy going member of the family. He never missed a day of work, always had a dumb joke and rarely came home from work without a pack of mint lifesavers in his jacket pocket. We loved to play with his 'mechanical pencils.'
Mom often yelled in the middle of tirades that she was tired of wearing the pants in the family. Dad would just quietly sip beer and watch the news. His patience with her was amazing. Or maybe it was determination. Only now can I look back and see that he really loved her, and was probably thinking about her family and what he knew she had been through. He was probably wishing that this beautiful determination of hers to remake the world as it should be could be penetrated by the admiration he felt for her and that they could relax and enjoy life together. He was probably afraid this would be one of those times he would have to give up the beer for a week or so to get her off his back.
The last time my father had driven me back to college at the end of the summer break, Mom's brother was visiting from Buffaloe and rode along with us. Of course there had been a fight before takeoff, and as usual it did not seem to bother Dad. Uncle Joe cracked a joke about her temper and I worried out loud if she would follow through with the threats she had made as we pulled out of the driveway. Dad just said, as if he were acknowledging the frustrations of being trapped inside on a rainy day, "Your mother's a difficult person to live with." I was shocked; that was the most negative remark I had ever heard him make about her.
Now as I post this installment of MP's childhood, I must tell you that it has been two days since I began the essay, and the moon is now in Cancer growing its second quarter. I hope you'll come back tomorrow to read the rest of the story.
Well the moon will still be in Gemini all day. It is a beautiful crescent tonight, quite high in the western sky, and as usual on a new moon I feel hopeful. Even in the years before I knew anything about astrology, or much less followed the moon, I felt hopeful on those rare evenings when that smiling crescent magically appeared in the west as I walked home from the dinner shift at Balentine's Cafeteria. I was almost 21, about to come out as a lesbian, completely estranged from my family and very alone in the world. I suppose that was how I prepared myself for the big step, by leaving my family.
I remember riding my recently purchased motorcycle to visit a nun from the Daughters of Charity who worked for the local diocese; I felt so free with a paid week of vacation from work and my first personal vehicle, I had to go exploring, and found myself sitting in this woman's office for an unannounced visit. I've always been into spontaneity and this is one of those occasions when it really paid off. In those days I went to mass several times a week and felt at home in the Catholic Church. I had received some literature from this nun's order and one of the sisters from out of town had dropped in for a visit with me when I lived at the YWCA. I guess that is how I wound up sitting in the office of Sister Mary Henry on that beautiful sunny day. I thought I was just a happy young person who really enjoyed meeting new people. I didn't realize how seriously I was searching for answers to life's big questions.
I suspect I talked mostly about myself, Sister MH was at least in her late 40's and a very sober woman. Looking back it seems as though she guided me with the deft moves of a magician, but I suppose I was just so eager to understand what it was that these people who I admired so much knew, that I jumped at every suggestion with literally no idea of what I was getting into. Her first suggestion was that I come back for another visit, I think she asked if I would like to, and of course I thought that was a wonderful idea. I had a date for a visit with a cool nun. I guess it was more of an appointment, but the important thing was it gave me something special to look forward to; a new friendship.
It wasn't a friendship though, it was something more important. It was an intervention.
On the second visit with Sister Mary Henry I don't think I was in her office for more than 10 minutes before I suddenly and unexpectedly broke down in tears. I was shocked, but what could I do? Sister Mary however seemed completely comfortable with my sudden tears. They did not bother her a bit. She actually behaved as though there were nothing strange about this obvious lack of self control and exhibited only patient curiosity. I had stumbled into the office of a professional social worker and had no idea of the turn my life was about to take.
After a 45 minute discussion it came out that I had not spoken with my mother in a year and this was the second time I had broken down in tears since she returned a Mother's Day present that I had sent her. I thought I was over it and happy in the big world where I could skydive, ride a motorcycle and come home from work to a peaceful apartment with nothing but a good stereo to interrupt my thoughts. The tears suggested otherwise. Then Sister Mary Henry made a very brave offer: she would be in Wilmington the following month, if I made the arrangements with my mother, maybe the three of us could get together for a meeting.
Before I tell about the meeting with Mom and Sister Mary Henry, even if you are Catholic, you might be too young to understand what lurks in the minds of many older Catholics. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce would be the best description of the really strange things too many older Catholics believe. My Mom was one of those Irish Catholics whose paternal grandparents escaped the Emerald Isle, but not the long arm of the Roman Catholic Church. Her mother's mother was from Poland, and believed cats went to heaven, so I think this stuff did not come from her mom's side of the family.
I rode the Greyhound or the Trailways bus to Wilmington, and we had the meeting in an office of the local church. I had given up the motorcycle after a few short months, which may seem kind of sad, but if I had ridden the bike to Wilmington, things would not have turned out as they did; and here I go again with Tolstoy, looking back it appears to have been destined.
My Mom was her usual outspoken my-daughter-must-be-a-virgin-at-all-costs. I really think in those days she honestly thought her MOST important job in life was to make sure her daughters did not have sex before they married or entered the convent. She said it was the dream of every Catholic family to have a daughter enter the convent or a son the priesthood. You gotta be Catholic to understand.
Something came up about my friend from religious retreats leaving a condom in the toilet after spending the night with my apartment mate. Yes I had a habit of telling my mother everything, except what I didn't tell her, which in high school she had found in letters stuffed between the mattress and the box spring. I thought I was withholding the damning facts, but apparently not. She damned me right in front of Sister Mary Henry for the condom in the toilet. Somehow that made me a slut. Believe it or not I was still pretty innocent back then, and I still didn't get the whole deal about sex. It would take coming out as a lesbian to figure that one out. But I had been called a slut so many times, and heard my brother's girl friends called sluts, and Mom was so loud and red in the face as she attacked me for living with a roommate that blah blah blah. And I really didn't care. I had Sister Mary Henry for a friend, or at least someone who didn't freak out when I cried, and I was ready to move on. In the last year I had forgotten about all the yelling that went on for such incredible lengths of time.
The nice thing was, for once I did not feel embarrassed about my mother's behavior. Somehow, Sister Mary Henry made this too seem perfectly normal. When my mother paused to catch her breath, Sister asked me about Ellen and Jimmy and I told about how they had gone off to the mountains and I would be going up in the summer for their wedding. She asked if the condom in the toilet bothered me, and I told her that it did, and that I had told them so, but they just said they were sorry and they were still my friends. The whole exchange made me realize that even though I was scandalized by the thing in the toilet, they were still my friends. I felt that they loved me, and I loved them.
Sister just nodded thoughtfully. It was the first time I had weathered one of these maternal tirades since I had decided not to go home at the end of my sophomore year in college. Then the tornado was all about how I would discover how hard it was to live in a world where no one cared about me, but it would be too late because I had burned my bridges...
Now my mother was a smart woman; she was always deeply involved in local politics, knew the history of the town where she grew up, any town where she lived or visited for more than a day, and took great pleasure in reading and telling stories of politics and history. She was often up until 2 or 3 in the morning with the television going and a newspaper on her lap. As the years went by and the media became more saturated with news talk shows, she soaked it up and spoke freely to the talking heads on the tube. She always remembered what they had said before they got elected or when they held an appointed office. This woman who declared in all seriousness that her best friend couldn't get a husband because she was too opinionated, could hold her own against any politico. She was a formidable figure for any daughter to look up to.
I remember as a child proudly tagging along to the town parade and helping to pass out campaign bumper stickers; Mom often campaigned tirelessly for people she supported to gain elected office. As the high school bands came marching down the street, I could feel tears welling up in my chest. The country was in the middle of the war in Vietnam and many nights on the news we saw footage of burned down villages and screaming women running with babies in their arms. I did not understand why the marching bands made me think of all the people suffering and dying in Asia, I only knew I could not allow her to see this, she would be exasperated and send me off to get myself back under control.
My father often told her she was too perfect and wanted everyone else to be perfect; this would be when she railed at him for his habit of drinking a six pack or more of Schaefer each night. This was another example of a thought which I calculated should be kept to myself, and guarded for years in an attempt to wish away the critical judgments I held against others: I thought she simply wanted to have her own way.
Even though I'm not sure of my mother's real age, I'm sure she was not born before 1928. She gave me 1933 as her birth year, but that didn't jive with the adventures she often recounted of her move to Washington DC at the end of WWII. When she died, it appeared from documents that she was born the day before Christmas, 1928. This was the first year of Neptune in Virgo, a very difficult place of rules and regulations for dreamy Neptune to be saddled and bridled with a bit in her mouth for 14 long years.
My father was at least 4 years older and known by all as the most easy going member of the family. He never missed a day of work, always had a dumb joke and rarely came home from work without a pack of mint lifesavers in his jacket pocket. We loved to play with his 'mechanical pencils.'
Mom often yelled in the middle of tirades that she was tired of wearing the pants in the family. Dad would just quietly sip beer and watch the news. His patience with her was amazing. Or maybe it was determination. Only now can I look back and see that he really loved her, and was probably thinking about her family and what he knew she had been through. He was probably wishing that this beautiful determination of hers to remake the world as it should be could be penetrated by the admiration he felt for her and that they could relax and enjoy life together. He was probably afraid this would be one of those times he would have to give up the beer for a week or so to get her off his back.
The last time my father had driven me back to college at the end of the summer break, Mom's brother was visiting from Buffaloe and rode along with us. Of course there had been a fight before takeoff, and as usual it did not seem to bother Dad. Uncle Joe cracked a joke about her temper and I worried out loud if she would follow through with the threats she had made as we pulled out of the driveway. Dad just said, as if he were acknowledging the frustrations of being trapped inside on a rainy day, "Your mother's a difficult person to live with." I was shocked; that was the most negative remark I had ever heard him make about her.
Now as I post this installment of MP's childhood, I must tell you that it has been two days since I began the essay, and the moon is now in Cancer growing its second quarter. I hope you'll come back tomorrow to read the rest of the story.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Our Sky Daily Sat April 9, 2011
By 5:30 tonight EDT the moon will have entered the sign Cancer. Tonight's crescent will be thick and high in the western sky at sunset. Luna's growing light, now well in advance of the cluster associated with earth's current turmoil, will concentrate our attention this evening on issues of family and home.
Pluto is stationary today, before sunrise here in NC he placed his right toe smartly behind his left foot and made an about face: he's in Capricorn now so even this apparent change in direction comes with an air of purpose. It is a political retreat and must be executed with utmost seriousness even if there is a posse of agitated spinning tops kicking up the cosmic dust three signs ahead of him. Tiny as pluto is, he moves so slowly that his message can feel like the lowered crossing rail in front of a 150 car stopped train blocking the road on the way home from work. Patience. Fortitude. Or turn around and take another route home. That's only if you are in a hurry, otherwise sit at the crossing for some meditative moments and imagine working on one of those massive beasts traveling what Frank Norris called The Octopus in his 1901 novel.
Yesterday I said I would finish the examination of our recent sun/mars conjunction- this is not a completion but a second installment:
When the sun took its big tumble in 1964 we were at the bitter end of the 114 year uranus/pluto cycle. Their last meeting had been in 1851. 1851-1965- an extended century born in weary struggle for the birthrights of all individuals.
When uranus and pluto were conjunct in 1851, neptune was closing in on a 500 year old appointment with pluto (due in 1890). Neptune and pluto had last met in 1399 in Gemini and were about to reconnect right back in the same sign where they had mixed it up in mortally profound discussions concerning communication and rational thought.
So in 1851 as a very tired, highly romanticized struggle for the rights of individuals came into the light, we were in the mature, poetic stage of a centuries old quest for communication above and beyond quill and scroll.
Let's fast forward to the 1965 conjunction of uranus and pluto, this time in Virgo, the sign of technology and the apprentice. Here we experienced a renewed turmoil for the rights of individuals; this time the battle was led by students. This is the seminal historic period that informs our current crises: since their meeting uranus has advanced a quarter of the way into its 115 year cycle with pluto. A quarter- not half, or three fourths of the way around and back again to meet the existential truth of an icy rock on the edge of the solar system. This is the most vulnerable period of the cycle for uranus; the preschool stage of revolution. The seed has exploded (1965), the roots have extended down into the ground, leaves for catching sunlight have opened and now the first tender stalk is reaching up to the sun.
more tomorrow...
Pluto is stationary today, before sunrise here in NC he placed his right toe smartly behind his left foot and made an about face: he's in Capricorn now so even this apparent change in direction comes with an air of purpose. It is a political retreat and must be executed with utmost seriousness even if there is a posse of agitated spinning tops kicking up the cosmic dust three signs ahead of him. Tiny as pluto is, he moves so slowly that his message can feel like the lowered crossing rail in front of a 150 car stopped train blocking the road on the way home from work. Patience. Fortitude. Or turn around and take another route home. That's only if you are in a hurry, otherwise sit at the crossing for some meditative moments and imagine working on one of those massive beasts traveling what Frank Norris called The Octopus in his 1901 novel.
Yesterday I said I would finish the examination of our recent sun/mars conjunction- this is not a completion but a second installment:
When the sun took its big tumble in 1964 we were at the bitter end of the 114 year uranus/pluto cycle. Their last meeting had been in 1851. 1851-1965- an extended century born in weary struggle for the birthrights of all individuals.
When uranus and pluto were conjunct in 1851, neptune was closing in on a 500 year old appointment with pluto (due in 1890). Neptune and pluto had last met in 1399 in Gemini and were about to reconnect right back in the same sign where they had mixed it up in mortally profound discussions concerning communication and rational thought.
So in 1851 as a very tired, highly romanticized struggle for the rights of individuals came into the light, we were in the mature, poetic stage of a centuries old quest for communication above and beyond quill and scroll.
Let's fast forward to the 1965 conjunction of uranus and pluto, this time in Virgo, the sign of technology and the apprentice. Here we experienced a renewed turmoil for the rights of individuals; this time the battle was led by students. This is the seminal historic period that informs our current crises: since their meeting uranus has advanced a quarter of the way into its 115 year cycle with pluto. A quarter- not half, or three fourths of the way around and back again to meet the existential truth of an icy rock on the edge of the solar system. This is the most vulnerable period of the cycle for uranus; the preschool stage of revolution. The seed has exploded (1965), the roots have extended down into the ground, leaves for catching sunlight have opened and now the first tender stalk is reaching up to the sun.
more tomorrow...
Friday, April 8, 2011
Our Sky Daily April 8 Featuring Sun/Mars conjunction from Feb 2011
Today we Examine Sun/Mars conjunction from Feb 2011
As we look at our nifty sky maps today we see mercury is only a day away from retracing its steps to the sun and it is arriving just in time to get in on the sun's meeting with jupiter. This is party time for those who like philosophy or just thinking about the meaning of life.
So in my little salon we are going to review the last 4 months focusing on the conjunction of the sun and mars. We see these planets come together about once every 25 months; the big ball of nuclear fusion and the martial element. Normally I would think of Alexander reviewing the troops in Tolstoy's War and Peace when I see a conjunction like this; but this year was special. It's not often that we see this conjunction in Aquarius, or see so many dictators get thrown out on their butts. Astrologically speaking we haven't seen anything like this since the sun met mars in 1964 in- can you guess which sign? Aquarius.
As time progresses we see these extravaganzas take place about one or two signs ahead of where they occurred on the preceding meeting. For instance the last time mars was overtaken by the sun was early Dec 2008 when they met in Sagittarius, an electric place for the sun, shining to the right of our feet if you think of the north pole as our head. Keep in mind that zodiac signs are poetic shorthand to describe the angle of the sun's light shining on the earth. This February they met two signs farther along than in 2008, in the sun's most difficult sign: Aquarius. The sun rules in Leo (How we worship it in summer!) and is in its fall during the opposing month of Aquarius.
Tomorrow, when mercury is confiding to us directly from the line of the sun, we will put this year's sun/mars meeting in the context of the pluto/uranus conjunction of 1965.
Recent Sun/Mars Conjunctions
Feb 5, 2011 A ! E 16°kDec 6, 2008 A ! E 15°iOct 23, 2006 A ! E 0°hSept 16, 2004 A ! E 4°fAug 10, 2002 A ! E 18°eJuly 2, 2000 A ! E 11°dMay 13, 1998 A ! E 23°bMarch 4, 1996 A ! E 14°lDec 27, 1993 A ! E 6°jNov 8, 1991 A ! E 16°hSept 29, 1989 A ! E 7°gAug 25, 1987 A ! E 2°fJuly 18, 1985 A ! E 26°dJune 3, 1983 A ! E 13°cApril 3, 1981 A ! E 14°aJan 20, 1979 A ! E 29°j52` Almost! 8 minutes away from k.
As we look at our nifty sky maps today we see mercury is only a day away from retracing its steps to the sun and it is arriving just in time to get in on the sun's meeting with jupiter. This is party time for those who like philosophy or just thinking about the meaning of life.
So in my little salon we are going to review the last 4 months focusing on the conjunction of the sun and mars. We see these planets come together about once every 25 months; the big ball of nuclear fusion and the martial element. Normally I would think of Alexander reviewing the troops in Tolstoy's War and Peace when I see a conjunction like this; but this year was special. It's not often that we see this conjunction in Aquarius, or see so many dictators get thrown out on their butts. Astrologically speaking we haven't seen anything like this since the sun met mars in 1964 in- can you guess which sign? Aquarius.
As time progresses we see these extravaganzas take place about one or two signs ahead of where they occurred on the preceding meeting. For instance the last time mars was overtaken by the sun was early Dec 2008 when they met in Sagittarius, an electric place for the sun, shining to the right of our feet if you think of the north pole as our head. Keep in mind that zodiac signs are poetic shorthand to describe the angle of the sun's light shining on the earth. This February they met two signs farther along than in 2008, in the sun's most difficult sign: Aquarius. The sun rules in Leo (How we worship it in summer!) and is in its fall during the opposing month of Aquarius.
Now without talking about the placement of historic planets like neptune and uranus, we already have a moment of historic proportion: the blazing ball is without power and mars is descending from the top step of the Olympic podium where it had just received its gold medal. This is the first time since 1964 that the shining gravitational center had been so weakened as it came upon the recently exalted troops. This is what astrologers mean when they say a planet is in its fall, and in this neighborhood, the sun is the biggest and brightest of us all.
Tomorrow, when mercury is confiding to us directly from the line of the sun, we will put this year's sun/mars meeting in the context of the pluto/uranus conjunction of 1965.
Recent Sun/Mars Conjunctions
Feb 17, 1964 A ! E 28°k Bingo!
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Our Sky Daily Thursday, April 7
The planets cannot reverse course and take us backward in time; but the cool thing about living on earth is that when we pass between an outer planet and the sun, or when venus or mercury overtake us in their race around the blazing ball, they appear to go backwards. That sounds so trivial to us, but for thousands of years that was all observers had; there were no telescopes or centuries of astronomical data to help folks tease out the reason for the smaller lights swinging back and forth against the constellations like petulant pendulums.
Now we know no planet stops in its tracks, retraces its path for weeks or months at a time, and then continues on its circular way: it is only a compelling optical illusion. As mercury closes in on its illusory backup to the sun, (It reminds me of a forgetful person on the way to work in the morning who stops the car, turns around in the nearest driveway and goes back to the house: what did they forget?) with the new moon in Gemini, conversation will be more internal than external. We feel the intelligence so close to our spirits that we can't help wondering and asking questions. It is as though we want to talk to each other only to ask what has been heard from the messenger. We'll be helping each other figure out the riddle by listening to each other and telling each other what is on our mind.
Now we know no planet stops in its tracks, retraces its path for weeks or months at a time, and then continues on its circular way: it is only a compelling optical illusion. As mercury closes in on its illusory backup to the sun, (It reminds me of a forgetful person on the way to work in the morning who stops the car, turns around in the nearest driveway and goes back to the house: what did they forget?) with the new moon in Gemini, conversation will be more internal than external. We feel the intelligence so close to our spirits that we can't help wondering and asking questions. It is as though we want to talk to each other only to ask what has been heard from the messenger. We'll be helping each other figure out the riddle by listening to each other and telling each other what is on our mind.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Our Sky Daily Wed April 6, 2011
This will be the last day for many months that the fire of the spirit appears above the horizon before faith. History has been made, fates have been cast and now it is time to play the cards we each as individuals have in our hand. We’re talking about a 13 month game plan. Starting this afternoon we make our choices and take our chances with a renewed sense of what we hope to achieve. Many are driven to move mountains, which for those who live near tripping streams of crystal water, is a real shame. The deliberating tension of reflecting on our actions makes us a more attractive species.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Astro Daily
Is it my imagination or are we swimming in a sea of soulful stories right now? Every one seems to be so alive and willing to enter the wave, they are all swimming toward it. It is a truly ignited spring, a long spring of rockets and war, competition and confrontation, slamming doors, stomping feet and generally demanding as much as we can get. It is a historic spring that will not soon be forgotten. But, today it now becomes so much more in our minds, it crosses the line from asceticism to romanticism, from corporate outlook to spiritual view. Our minds are about to get thoroughly washed out in the next 13 years, our skulls will wash up on the beaches of the universe, polished and white from being tossed about in the salty waves for more than a decade. How many moons is that? About 150? A hundred fifty very romantic new moons, the first one born of cardinal fire, a conflagration. It really is a time of heroic deeds and unlimited intentions when we attempt to accomplish a lifetime in a single leap, as though each one could be our last, giving it our all.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Our Sky April Horoscopes
As seen in The Triangle
Aries: The last time we had such an explosive Uranian spring was April 1932 when the roiling masses were cooking over a lower flame in a stew that had been fermenting for 80 years, and was thick as cooked marrow. What we see boiling now are the slender stalks of human rights sown in the revolutions of the 1960’s. At this high temp the current sweet concoction will quickly evaporate and what’s left will reach first the soft ball, then the hard ball stage.
Taurus: You know how Jesus started out on the donkey with crowds welcoming him and next thing he knew he was hauled off for crimes against the state by Roman soldiers? That’s about what happens to you after the 21st; you’ll find yourself in the middle of the vortex. Thanks to the dedicated members of groups like the American Civil Liberties Union, you can expect a better outcome.
Gemini: If this were Thanksgiving you would be carving the turkey. Instead you’ll just have to whittle something out of a bar of soap or a handy piece of wood. Don’t forget the stone for keeping your blade clean.
Cancer: This pressure, unbearable though it is, cannot last but so much longer. That’s the attitude you have to take at this stage of the game when there is so much to lose. But this might just be the beginning and you may be amazed at how much more you can sustain. You are about to discover just how tough you really are.
Leo: You have to be moving to change gears, and the less resistance the better. You may as well trust your intuition because it’s about all you can hear right now.
Virgo: A woman recognized by the Obama administration for visionary business practices made a remark about how open information was like ideas having sex. You may be insuring the fidelity of a project by asking for a down payment as proof of commitment.
Libra: A memorable event is not one that turns out just as you had hoped, but instead is made unforgettable by some completely unexpected factor. The need to adjust to a shocking reality grabs our attention and holds it.
Scorpio: Most of this is dress rehearsal for you, like final exams, or defending your thesis. Get in there and practice what you preach. Worry about the judges’ response later.
Sagittarius: This makes me think of those college parties thrown by the groups with Greek letters for their names. What is that all about anyway? Why not Hebrew or Arabic? I wonder if there would still be a keg and students listing in front yards like sailors.
Capricorn: These are the kinds of times that make you feel really needed. Nothing pulls your emotional strings like a serious crisis, and we are obviously in the middle of a big one. Keep in mind this need will last several years and require a sustained effort. Think of yourself as entering a tunnel; your freedom will be greatly restricted but you’ll have plenty of direction.
Aquarius: If we flip this cycle back to 1932 when groups were goose stepping, we see your traditional planet in power. This time around there is far less control but a refreshing air of civility and friendship. The crowds may not be falling in line behind you, but they are watching. Sometimes, like when you’re raising a flag under fire, philosophical advice is just static in the air.
Pisces: On the 5th your idealistic planet returns to power briefly for the 1st time since the surrender of Fort Sumter in 1861. This is a welcome homecoming for a planet that has been stuck since the end of WWII in the same early stage of a 500 year cycle w/Pluto. The profusion of information without a coherent structure will continue to chug three steps forward and one back, without approaching a more objective perspective, for at least 20 more years. The current power resides in the renewed spiritual theme. A sociological approach to religion will help you get back on track after spiritual squalls.
Aries: The last time we had such an explosive Uranian spring was April 1932 when the roiling masses were cooking over a lower flame in a stew that had been fermenting for 80 years, and was thick as cooked marrow. What we see boiling now are the slender stalks of human rights sown in the revolutions of the 1960’s. At this high temp the current sweet concoction will quickly evaporate and what’s left will reach first the soft ball, then the hard ball stage.
Taurus: You know how Jesus started out on the donkey with crowds welcoming him and next thing he knew he was hauled off for crimes against the state by Roman soldiers? That’s about what happens to you after the 21st; you’ll find yourself in the middle of the vortex. Thanks to the dedicated members of groups like the American Civil Liberties Union, you can expect a better outcome.
Gemini: If this were Thanksgiving you would be carving the turkey. Instead you’ll just have to whittle something out of a bar of soap or a handy piece of wood. Don’t forget the stone for keeping your blade clean.
Cancer: This pressure, unbearable though it is, cannot last but so much longer. That’s the attitude you have to take at this stage of the game when there is so much to lose. But this might just be the beginning and you may be amazed at how much more you can sustain. You are about to discover just how tough you really are.
Leo: You have to be moving to change gears, and the less resistance the better. You may as well trust your intuition because it’s about all you can hear right now.
Virgo: A woman recognized by the Obama administration for visionary business practices made a remark about how open information was like ideas having sex. You may be insuring the fidelity of a project by asking for a down payment as proof of commitment.
Libra: A memorable event is not one that turns out just as you had hoped, but instead is made unforgettable by some completely unexpected factor. The need to adjust to a shocking reality grabs our attention and holds it.
Scorpio: Most of this is dress rehearsal for you, like final exams, or defending your thesis. Get in there and practice what you preach. Worry about the judges’ response later.
Sagittarius: This makes me think of those college parties thrown by the groups with Greek letters for their names. What is that all about anyway? Why not Hebrew or Arabic? I wonder if there would still be a keg and students listing in front yards like sailors.
Capricorn: These are the kinds of times that make you feel really needed. Nothing pulls your emotional strings like a serious crisis, and we are obviously in the middle of a big one. Keep in mind this need will last several years and require a sustained effort. Think of yourself as entering a tunnel; your freedom will be greatly restricted but you’ll have plenty of direction.
Aquarius: If we flip this cycle back to 1932 when groups were goose stepping, we see your traditional planet in power. This time around there is far less control but a refreshing air of civility and friendship. The crowds may not be falling in line behind you, but they are watching. Sometimes, like when you’re raising a flag under fire, philosophical advice is just static in the air.
Pisces: On the 5th your idealistic planet returns to power briefly for the 1st time since the surrender of Fort Sumter in 1861. This is a welcome homecoming for a planet that has been stuck since the end of WWII in the same early stage of a 500 year cycle w/Pluto. The profusion of information without a coherent structure will continue to chug three steps forward and one back, without approaching a more objective perspective, for at least 20 more years. The current power resides in the renewed spiritual theme. A sociological approach to religion will help you get back on track after spiritual squalls.
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