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.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Muchas gracias a youtube y 'guachecocho', un hombre quien claramente es de Guerrero!
Many thanks to youtube and 'guachecocho' (pronounced watchay cocho) a man who is clearly from Guerrero.
Mexico Lindo, Guerrero Magico
Para mi, Guerrero, Mexico representa La Tierra del Oz; es un lugar magico. Casi todos mis amigos Mexicanos son de Tierra Caliente (en Guerrero) y me parece es como si fueron del Alabama o Kentucky en los Estados Unidos del Norte. Un dia, primero dios, voy a visitar los pueblos de mis amigos. Un dia cuando no es necesario trabajar dia tras dia pa pagar el banco por mi casa, y comprar patinadores por mi hijo. Antes de morir, quiero ver la tierra de mis amigos en Mexico y el pueblo de mi amigo de Nicaragua, cerquita de la frontera hondurena, que se llama Jalapa. Ese hombre me conto de su nunez saliendo despues de la escuela para buscar lenya en los montes por su mama. Y en tiempo de vacaciones llevando bus a honduras para trabajar en los huertos de cafe.
To me Guerrero, Mexico represents the Land of Oz; it is a magical place. Just about all of my Mexican friends are from Tierra Caliente (the Hot Lands in the southern state of Guerrero) and to me it is as if they were from Alabama or Kentucky in the Northern United States. One day, god willing, I am going to visit the towns of my friends. One day when it is not necessary to work day after day to pay the bank for my house, and buy skates for my son. Before I die, I want to see the land of my friends in Mexico and the home town of my friend from Nicaragua, near the border with Honduras, called Jalapa. That man told me about his childhood going out after school to search for firewood in the woods for his mother. And during vacation taking the bus to Honduras to work in the coffee orchards.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Uranus Transiting Venus in Pisces
It's about as good as it get's. That's probably not how respectable astrologers would say it, but I'll bet they don't have Uranus transiting their 6th house! I swear I feel like Cinderella, in the pumpkin on the way to a bar where her best friends hang out. I am one happy chick. This is a once in a lifetime experience and it feels like it too.
The fact is it doesn't get any better than venus in pisces, but to have a Uranian transit really makes kindness and beauty a big event. It shakes it up and gets things all rearranged. It is a complete gutting and remodeling with new landscaping to please the senses.
All the grasping for love that used to haunt me is gone. I just have learned to see it every where. I'm a little nervous about Uranus entering Aries because I would sure hate to go back to the fights I had with people and the bad attitudes I once could not shake.
I hope now I will be able to stand up for myself knowing I am not trying to offend anyone, I am just trying to live in love.
I always wanted to be more compassionate. To understand how people become sick and poor, how it is we wind up suffering. In the last seven years I learned; first when Uranus transited my natal mars at 5 degrees Pisces, then these past two years when it transited my natal venus. The venus transit gave me a chance to forgive myself for all the crazy things I did during the mars transit. (The mars transit was probably more fun than I ought to have had. But that's mars then isn't it)
During the mars transit I had my husband evicted from our home and really stirred up a terrible storm for him. I got so crazy he thought I was doing cocaine, but I was just high on hormones. Then by the time the venus transit came up I could barely walk when I got up in the morning. I dropped customers and stopped exercising. My heart raced at night and my hands shook. I felt something funny in my neck and chest. I choked on food which wasn't alarming because I was eating all the time, often as fast as I could. I could simply never get enough food.
I was always stuffed. Stuffed. For 30 years I stuffed myself most of the time. I walked the streets at night. I worked over 60 hours a week then dropped out and smoked pot and listened to music and read books for eight years, living on less than $100 a week.
I was diagnosed with Graves disease two years ago. I learned that all that eating and ecstatic walking and singing in the streets in the middle of the night was fueled by a toxic excess of hormones coming from my thyroid. What a Uranian transit!! What a revelation.
I am a much different person than I was two years ago. I now sleep at night and feel like a slave to the limits of my body. I used to love the things my body could do, I used to truly appreciate my body. And I'm so glad I did because I will never have it again. I am not only much older but no longer coked up on hormones. Now I only have fond memories of singing in the night.
But I have gained self control. And compassion. I now know what it is like to have a handicap, a physical limitation that no one can see or understand unless they have experienced it. I now can understand people who have fibromyalgia or nerve damage. I now understand what it feels like to be brought to your knees by the cruel fates that ultimately are visited on all bodies.
The fact is it doesn't get any better than venus in pisces, but to have a Uranian transit really makes kindness and beauty a big event. It shakes it up and gets things all rearranged. It is a complete gutting and remodeling with new landscaping to please the senses.
All the grasping for love that used to haunt me is gone. I just have learned to see it every where. I'm a little nervous about Uranus entering Aries because I would sure hate to go back to the fights I had with people and the bad attitudes I once could not shake.
I hope now I will be able to stand up for myself knowing I am not trying to offend anyone, I am just trying to live in love.
I always wanted to be more compassionate. To understand how people become sick and poor, how it is we wind up suffering. In the last seven years I learned; first when Uranus transited my natal mars at 5 degrees Pisces, then these past two years when it transited my natal venus. The venus transit gave me a chance to forgive myself for all the crazy things I did during the mars transit. (The mars transit was probably more fun than I ought to have had. But that's mars then isn't it)
During the mars transit I had my husband evicted from our home and really stirred up a terrible storm for him. I got so crazy he thought I was doing cocaine, but I was just high on hormones. Then by the time the venus transit came up I could barely walk when I got up in the morning. I dropped customers and stopped exercising. My heart raced at night and my hands shook. I felt something funny in my neck and chest. I choked on food which wasn't alarming because I was eating all the time, often as fast as I could. I could simply never get enough food.
I was always stuffed. Stuffed. For 30 years I stuffed myself most of the time. I walked the streets at night. I worked over 60 hours a week then dropped out and smoked pot and listened to music and read books for eight years, living on less than $100 a week.
I was diagnosed with Graves disease two years ago. I learned that all that eating and ecstatic walking and singing in the streets in the middle of the night was fueled by a toxic excess of hormones coming from my thyroid. What a Uranian transit!! What a revelation.
I am a much different person than I was two years ago. I now sleep at night and feel like a slave to the limits of my body. I used to love the things my body could do, I used to truly appreciate my body. And I'm so glad I did because I will never have it again. I am not only much older but no longer coked up on hormones. Now I only have fond memories of singing in the night.
But I have gained self control. And compassion. I now know what it is like to have a handicap, a physical limitation that no one can see or understand unless they have experienced it. I now can understand people who have fibromyalgia or nerve damage. I now understand what it feels like to be brought to your knees by the cruel fates that ultimately are visited on all bodies.
Friday, March 4, 2011
Time Travel
With calendars we are flying blind
in a cobbled beechcraft that can barely get off the ground.
The tail drops
and the navigation system is
regarded affectionately
as a dishwasher used to store bread
and hide presents till
Christmas.
You cannot enter the minds
of your ancestors
without astrology.
It never occurred to them
that it would one day be discarded.
There was nothing occult about it,
except the call to go out in the night
and map its movements-
to follow the night
as the most accurate
instrument for calculating time,
and practice the night
every day.
I've dreamed for years
of one day being able to dance the cumbia-
an older
soft person's version,
with someone I'm nuts about.
I've seen young men
just penetrating the adult sphere,
3 or 4 in a row,
executing with godly grace
domino dance steps on wheels
like guitarists joining in
on popular riffs-
sentient planets
wrapped in a moment of
pure pleasure,
delighting everyone at the rink,
all circling the same flashing
disco ball
with eyes following them.
in a cobbled beechcraft that can barely get off the ground.
The tail drops
and the navigation system is
regarded affectionately
as a dishwasher used to store bread
and hide presents till
Christmas.
You cannot enter the minds
of your ancestors
without astrology.
It never occurred to them
that it would one day be discarded.
There was nothing occult about it,
except the call to go out in the night
and map its movements-
to follow the night
as the most accurate
instrument for calculating time,
and practice the night
every day.
I've dreamed for years
of one day being able to dance the cumbia-
an older
soft person's version,
with someone I'm nuts about.
I've seen young men
just penetrating the adult sphere,
3 or 4 in a row,
executing with godly grace
domino dance steps on wheels
like guitarists joining in
on popular riffs-
sentient planets
wrapped in a moment of
pure pleasure,
delighting everyone at the rink,
all circling the same flashing
disco ball
with eyes following them.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
The Reason for Twelve Signs in the Zodiac
It might be best to wait to click on the image below till after reading this post. Clicking on the diagram will take you to an interactive link, created by UNL Astromony, which illustrates the changing hours of daylight through the seasons.
The constellations of stars, which are light years distant from our solar system, are markers sometimes confused with the signs of the zodiac. The signs of the zodiac actually refer to our relationship to the sun, as we on the top half of the tilted globe 'face away' from the solar heat in the winter and 'lean into' it in the summer.
The more northerly the position on the globe, the more pronounced become the peaks and valleys seen in the illustration. When you click on the diagram and go to the link, you can click on the lines to alter the values and see how the amount of daylight is proportioned depending on time of year (which is really location with respect to sun) and latitude on globe.
For instance people in Ecuador, a country which straddles the equator, do not experience a significant change in daylight hours from one station (such as winter solstice, spring equinox, etc) to the next; while the folks in Ohio at about 41 North latitude have a peak of 15 daylight hours in summer which dwindles to only 9 hours in winter. Those in Alaska have almost continuous daylight in summer and nearly unremitting darkness in winter.
It is hard to believe, but I can testify! On a summer vacation to Alaska 20 years ago I climbed a small mountain in Denali Park with my boyfriend; we reached the peak at 10:00pm and the sun was only as low in the western sky as it would have appeared in my home state (North Carolina) at 6:00pm in August, providing plenty of light to get an intimate look at a moose that we encountered on our way back down. By 11:30pm, when we returned to the camper, the sun had finally 'set', but there was still so much light coming over the horizon that when we went to bed it was like taking a nap in the late afternoon. The sky never even became dark enough to be called twilight.
The zodiac signs are really just the four stations, or seasons, each divided into three equal sections. Though the constellations can be used as markers, it is essential to remember that since they drift backwards at a relatively slow rate of about 1 degree every 72 years*, they will be off by a whole constellation from where they were 20 centuries ago when the modern zodiac was defined. So, though the sun on the spring equinox is at the beginning of the sign Aries, it will be seen near the beginning of the constellation Pisces.
In response to the recent headlines about a thirteenth sign; yes, there are other constellations in the elliptical belt which were named and recorded throughout the history of 'western thought', but they were not included in the earth-sun based zodiac which is the root of modern astrology.
*Precession of the equinoxes Click here for --> wikipedia definition of Precession of Equinoxes
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Sagittarian Time
Here comes December and the new Triangle is out. I had to share computer time last night and was not able to finish reading the 1st page piece on 307 Knox Records, a great piece on the gender cool music scene. I've been scheduling for the xmas season and received an email from a customer thanking me in Spanish. I replied in Spanish and got a thrill thinking about them exchanging emails with people in Chinese! The last time I cleaned, there was a several page packet in their kitchen with poetry translated from Chinese
The coolest thing about immigrants is that they bring their country to us. The teacher of my customers' Chinese class I'll bet is Chinese. Without my friends from Mexico and Central America, I would not be speaking Spanish. I have Jewish customers who have at least Hebrew script in their house even if they do not speak it. I have a customer from the Middle East who speaks among many other languages, fluent Arabic. How rich is life with immigrants.
I do not wish hardship on anyone, but I am very grateful for the friends who came to my country fleeing some problem in their own, whether as victims or privileged oppressors, refusing to participate any longer in their native political system.
Bueno, te lo explico en español.
Mejor musica. Disfruta. Matisyahu: Jerusalem <-- click here for music video. ¿Nesecitamos palabras en Español, no?
Andale. Happy Hanuka!!
The coolest thing about immigrants is that they bring their country to us. The teacher of my customers' Chinese class I'll bet is Chinese. Without my friends from Mexico and Central America, I would not be speaking Spanish. I have Jewish customers who have at least Hebrew script in their house even if they do not speak it. I have a customer from the Middle East who speaks among many other languages, fluent Arabic. How rich is life with immigrants.
I do not wish hardship on anyone, but I am very grateful for the friends who came to my country fleeing some problem in their own, whether as victims or privileged oppressors, refusing to participate any longer in their native political system.
Bueno, te lo explico en español.
Happy Hanukah
Mejor musica. Disfruta. Matisyahu: Jerusalem <-- click here for music video. ¿Nesecitamos palabras en Español, no?
Andale. Happy Hanuka!!
Friday, November 19, 2010
Like it Too Much!
A Mexican friend describing in English his enthusiasm for Elvis once said, "I like him too much!" I love stumbling with friends from other cultures over unfamiliar expressions, it makes me feel like water tripping over pebbles on the way to the sea. I like Uranian transits too much! This past weekend I got hit upside the head over and over with the serendipitous beauty of Uranus and Jupiter in Pisces conjunct my native venus. I'm not going to list all the...yes I am:
In Durham on the second day of an astrology workshop I made a beeline for the Waffle House. There's beauty #1. But WAIT; in the parking lot is a recently painted purple pick up truck with the Chevrolet logo in pop tops on the rear window. That got my attention, and as I circled this piece of work before entering I saw too many geegaws to mention affixed on the headlights, the hood, everywhere from front to back, all recycled materials. I was lucky to be single and take the only vacant seat at the bar, as a couple of groups sat patiently waiting for a booth. There on the counter in front of the older guy seated next to me was a cell phone adorned with three discreet blue dimestore gems remarkably similar to the gems on the truck in the parking lot. Yes, I got to meet the artist!
Beauty #2 was an artist at the workshop who had brought along his portfolio of finely detailed computer generated drawings. What a provocative and varied collection of work, followed by photos of the wood carvings he now executes! Wow!
Beauty #3 discussing blogs with a classmate I asked for the address of her inactive website; and this morning was treated to this! softweave.com. Very cool!
So I am a very satisfied venus in pisces to say the least.
Blog Update
I know it is time to make pages on this blog; I hope to make that addition in the next two weeks. The previous post All Event Times are for Raleigh NC is the first draft of the Our Sky horoscope column that Karen was smart enough to decline for The Triangle. I am very grateful that she is such a discerning but polite and generous editor.
I do like having this brief listing of astrological events for the month and I have referred to it several times during November; however, this process of following day to day events is new to me, and I am realizing there is a bit of lag between the astral event and my perceived 'reaction.' I would like, if time permits, to continue this on a monthly basis since it is a good exercise in following natural time more closely. Maybe I will have a new listing, on a dedicated astrology page by the 1st of December.
One more addition I am considering is a study of historical persons in the gay rights movement, or astrological profiles of queer heroes. My first study subject would be Henry Gerber, who was jailed in 1925 for publishing a newsletter in support of gay rights. Big plans!
I almost forgot! Beauty #4 Kelly Gorritz of the duo GlennKelly blew in from Idaho Sunday night and I was treated to a very exclusive (just the two of us) performance of a few original tunes and one cover. I was right up close and able to admire intimately her perfectly disciplined fingers working their magic on the neck of her traveling guitar. Watching her older face as she played, and hearing her calmly fierce voice, renewed our friendship from across many states and left good vibes in my dining room.
In Durham on the second day of an astrology workshop I made a beeline for the Waffle House. There's beauty #1. But WAIT; in the parking lot is a recently painted purple pick up truck with the Chevrolet logo in pop tops on the rear window. That got my attention, and as I circled this piece of work before entering I saw too many geegaws to mention affixed on the headlights, the hood, everywhere from front to back, all recycled materials. I was lucky to be single and take the only vacant seat at the bar, as a couple of groups sat patiently waiting for a booth. There on the counter in front of the older guy seated next to me was a cell phone adorned with three discreet blue dimestore gems remarkably similar to the gems on the truck in the parking lot. Yes, I got to meet the artist!
Beauty #2 was an artist at the workshop who had brought along his portfolio of finely detailed computer generated drawings. What a provocative and varied collection of work, followed by photos of the wood carvings he now executes! Wow!
Beauty #3 discussing blogs with a classmate I asked for the address of her inactive website; and this morning was treated to this! softweave.com. Very cool!
So I am a very satisfied venus in pisces to say the least.
Blog Update
I know it is time to make pages on this blog; I hope to make that addition in the next two weeks. The previous post All Event Times are for Raleigh NC is the first draft of the Our Sky horoscope column that Karen was smart enough to decline for The Triangle. I am very grateful that she is such a discerning but polite and generous editor.
I do like having this brief listing of astrological events for the month and I have referred to it several times during November; however, this process of following day to day events is new to me, and I am realizing there is a bit of lag between the astral event and my perceived 'reaction.' I would like, if time permits, to continue this on a monthly basis since it is a good exercise in following natural time more closely. Maybe I will have a new listing, on a dedicated astrology page by the 1st of December.
One more addition I am considering is a study of historical persons in the gay rights movement, or astrological profiles of queer heroes. My first study subject would be Henry Gerber, who was jailed in 1925 for publishing a newsletter in support of gay rights. Big plans!
I almost forgot! Beauty #4 Kelly Gorritz of the duo GlennKelly blew in from Idaho Sunday night and I was treated to a very exclusive (just the two of us) performance of a few original tunes and one cover. I was right up close and able to admire intimately her perfectly disciplined fingers working their magic on the neck of her traveling guitar. Watching her older face as she played, and hearing her calmly fierce voice, renewed our friendship from across many states and left good vibes in my dining room.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
All Event Times are for Raleigh NC
Nov 5 7:00am Moon + Venus rise together in Scorpio: invisible in their proximity to the bright Sun, yet touching our hearts with insight of how we are transformed by those closest to us.
Nov 6 12:53am New Moon in Scorpio! It is good strategy to imagine what we really want regardless of whether it conflicts with our respectful behavior toward others.
Nov 7 1:24am Neptune turns direct; our minds shed tight skin and gain a comprehensive understanding of life by observing the passage of real time.
Nov 7 4:48pm Moon passes Mars in Sagittarius as both planets set on the western horizon: it is a philosophical challenge to see ourselves from a stranger’s point of view.
Nov 9 3:10pm Moon passes exiled Pluto in Capricorn: by reading The Triangle we confront our own exile from society with clarity of purpose. Both planets came over the horizon at 10:30am revealing responsibility so awesome we’ll be amazed at our ability to manage it.
Nov 10 7:58am : in the week since Nov 3 the Moon has advanced 90 degrees while Saturn has moved just 1. As a community we struggle for consensus and discuss how to move forward in light of the recent elections. 11:10am on Nov 10 a less freaky lunar dawning but a bit of a drag. I am not talking about a party with your favorite high heels and dresses. Take care of business and you’ll be satisfied later.
Nov 13 11:40am Moon now 90 degrees ahead of the Sun will rise at 2:00 pm just before Neptune which it will pass at 9:15pm. The more taxes we pay to send astronauts to the Space Station the less time we have to step outside and look at the Moon. Look in the western sky at 9:00pm and observe her in the last two hours before she sets; that moon is your moon, that moon is my moon. In our minds we can be astronauts without spending a dime.
Nov 15 8:45am I love to communicate with people at times like this when poetry is most appropriate.
Nov 16 All rise at 2:30pm , ok just the ones who cry at movies; go hide in the bathroom and wash your face before you come out. See you there!
Nov 18 This is the big day! Jupiter and Venus return to forward motion and we are full of hope and love. Remember when everyone was all bothered Oct 4-9? Mars overtook Venus and then she turned tail and ran the other way. We were reminded that under the clothing of civilized cooperation is a beast whose function is to ensure our personal survival. Those willing to disappear in a puff of noble gases are free to ignore this inner animal. But those of us attached to life are wise to thank this selfish part of us and now negotiate compromise in the spirit of humble mortals. What does your body need to sustain its inner light? You’ve weighed your options, now make a reasonable proposition.
Nov 20 Fencing is like any other competition; the one with the most points loses respect if they are not a good sport. Speak your mind, listen with humility, and all will be honored.
Nov 21 What we’ve had since Oct and will continue through Feb is an unbalanced solar system, there’s no other way to say it, we are continuing to face everyone on the other side of the sun in the mature and responsible zone. Mars has had his way, yes, but we are on one side looking at everyone else, including the beast, in the grown-up signs of the zodiac; so the full Moon in these months brings the balance of subjective consciousness that we are craving. Nov 22 Talk a little, talk a lot. Moon in Gemini. Sun enters Sagittarius 5:16am.
Nov 23 “…he has the very special gift of always keeping before our minds the whole. …breaking the whole into an infinite number of parts. His ability to dissent and analyze, to show the relation between the parts, and finally relate the parts to the whole, is an exceptional one.” Henry Miller on Dane Rudyar
Nov 24 Moon in Cancer. Using a pen name, Dane Rudyar wrote the first horoscope column “What’s Your Sun Sign” for an astrology magazine in the 1930’s. He is the guiding light of modern astrologers.
Nov 25 If you’re surrounded by trees or buildings, look for the Moon in the east at 9:30 or 10pm . We can cherish this very intimate member of our solar system without anthropomorphizing it, but like the ancients, I like to imagine the Moon and all the planets with human qualities.
Nov 26 If you don’t have internet go to the library; search “free astrology charts.” (There’s no need to pay for public information.) It is your right to know where you began in the symphony of life spinning through our solar system.
Nov 28 4:35am Moon enters Virgo: research and practice telling people what you learn. The only excuse for ignorance is abject poverty; we are responsible for our own education.
Nov 29 Noam Chomsky said his job is not to speak truth to power, but to inform the powerless. Though it may seem insignificant, you change people’s lives when you spread reliable information.
Nov 30 Need help? Mary Pat's email: kellagher@clearwire.net Monday, November 1, 2010
Coming Out
As I write this post at 9:16 am the old moon crescent is straight up in the 6th degree of Virgo, the sun is up with its little court of venus and mercury, and mars is about to appear on the eastern horizon to join them. I hate getting up at 5:30 am to take the dog out to the yard for a pee, so that old crescent is a very welcome sight on this crisp morn.
I know the degree of virgo the moon currently occupies because I am switching between two sites as I write this post: my blog host site and Astrodienst. I think 'Astrodienst' is German for astro service; but the site comes up in English and then you can choose from several languages. I use this service every day, throughout the day. The positions of all planets, chiron and the moon's north node are listed and updated every minute on the home page, and in just a few clicks you can get to the data entry page for calculating a chart for any time or year, way in the past or future. I have gotten one faulty chart for a person born right before war time ended after WWII; Astrodienst gave the time as 'standard' instead of the correct war time, which threw the chart off by an hour. I have not heard back since they said they would 'look into it;' other than that, they are providing an invaluable service to the astrological community by making this chart calculation tool so widely available for FREE. Thankyou so much Astrodienst!
There are other sites that give free chart calculations, and like Astrodienst include a computer generated interpretation. Some have wiki listings for astrological vocabulary and forums to discuss astrology. AND many have stuff about Mayan, Chinese and Vedic astrology. The universe just goes on and on, and astrologers do all they can to roll with it.
It is now 8:48 am, and it looks like mars has been above the horizon for about 8 minutes. I had better get to my job that pays and earn a living while the sun shines; but before I go (I almost forgot!) my realization for the day is that it has been good to come out of the closet where I hid my passion for astrology. The world really is a kinder place when we let our light come out from the shadows.
I know the degree of virgo the moon currently occupies because I am switching between two sites as I write this post: my blog host site and Astrodienst. I think 'Astrodienst' is German for astro service; but the site comes up in English and then you can choose from several languages. I use this service every day, throughout the day. The positions of all planets, chiron and the moon's north node are listed and updated every minute on the home page, and in just a few clicks you can get to the data entry page for calculating a chart for any time or year, way in the past or future. I have gotten one faulty chart for a person born right before war time ended after WWII; Astrodienst gave the time as 'standard' instead of the correct war time, which threw the chart off by an hour. I have not heard back since they said they would 'look into it;' other than that, they are providing an invaluable service to the astrological community by making this chart calculation tool so widely available for FREE. Thankyou so much Astrodienst!
There are other sites that give free chart calculations, and like Astrodienst include a computer generated interpretation. Some have wiki listings for astrological vocabulary and forums to discuss astrology. AND many have stuff about Mayan, Chinese and Vedic astrology. The universe just goes on and on, and astrologers do all they can to roll with it.
It is now 8:48 am, and it looks like mars has been above the horizon for about 8 minutes. I had better get to my job that pays and earn a living while the sun shines; but before I go (I almost forgot!) my realization for the day is that it has been good to come out of the closet where I hid my passion for astrology. The world really is a kinder place when we let our light come out from the shadows.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Triangle LGBTQ
The Triangle Hosts Our Sky Astrology
After visiting the Triangle LGBTQ page for the first time and seeing the link from my add, I think it is time for a new post.
I've been busy the last two months recording chart readings for old friends and new. As of this weekend I have completed three recorded readings and one live. Though the first live reading was a bit of a disaster, I was still high as kite by the time it was all over; further convincing me that I am finally ready to work publicly as an astrologer, I just need a lot of practice. Thanks to Karen I am getting the best practice any astrologer could have; the opportunity to write a monthly horoscope column.
I had placed an ad in The Triangle for a very reasonable fee, but then my car died and I panicked about money. Karen offered to trade a horoscope column for the ad and just like that I was in way over my head!
I had written one installment of a horoscope column for GreenPages years ago, so it should not have been as frightening this time. But it was as scary as a first jump off the high dive. The first version I sent Karen was a list of times for about 25 days of November and a brief description for each astrological 'event.' The problem was, she had asked for a horoscope column, which is one paragraph for each sun sign, in the tradition started by Dane Rudyar in 1933. So, I sent a paragraph for each sun sign, but most of them had nothing to do with what would happen in November; they were basically a rant about astrology and a critique of my generation; until I got to Sagittarius and suggested that this November was a good month to 'take down a pompous person...'
Luckily Karen recognized the column for what it was and suggested a further rewrite, apologizing for asking me to do more 'work.' She was too polite to call it what it was, an out of control rant. I did finally set to work and write the column that will appear this week. So, not only am I learning how to teach astrology; I am also reconnecting with the gay community through The Triangle, and enjoying the opportunity to work with a very cool publisher.
Coming Out as an Astrologer
This blog started out as a place to talk about how much I have literally grown up in the houses of my cleaning customers. But, as was evident from the very first post, there was an astrologer in me bursting at the seems to come out. As I get further into this new career I am enjoying looking back on all the people and groups that have shown me important stuff about life; Al Dash, the priest at NC State when I was a student, had his office in The Nub, a cluster of offices for chaplains of various campus religious groups. I still remember going to his office to discuss a paragraph I'd read in Time or Newsweek Magazine; it was about a lesbian couple in a legal battle to keep their child. Al was in a meeting, so I perused the printed material in the common area. There was a brochure for St. John's Metropolitan Community Church, a new gay christian group, which at that time was meeting in the church on the corner of Wade Ave and Dixie Trail.
Within a month I had attended my first gay christian liturgy. It was the first of many 'coming outs,' which over the years would continually open doors to the wide and amazing world of humans helping other humans. There was The Raleigh Women's Coffee House, where I learned about the politics of feminism; Triangle Area Lesbian Feminists in Durham who hosted fantastic women only dances; Dignity of Raleigh for gay Catholics and then, when I had left my partner and decided to explore the 'straight' world, Thursday Night Open Poetry Reading, which wasn't very straight after all.
Of all the nonconformist side trails I have taken, astrology has been the most challenging and the most rewarding. I set it aside for several years and discarded cherished books to make room for other interests. The fact is, I have never internalized more shame about any of the many taboos I have broken, than the shame I carried many years for being so dedicated to astrology. I didn't even realize how much that shame was holding me back until I had completely rejected what I knew to be true: there is no beauty greater than the poetry of what we know about the universe.
I could not enter a church without feeling a really maddening anger and lack of respect for the congregants. It irritated me immensely that these people could hold their heads up and sing that a man was tortured, killed and rose from the dead, but the philosophy of time as systematized in the Hellenistic period was considered superstition. I had finally come to an understanding of the politics of astrology and realized I had allowed myself to be a victim.
Dane Rudyar used a pen name for his column "What's Your Sun Sign," and you'll not see it referred to on any of the sites dedicated to his many and varied works. I think he was not completely comfortable with this fragmented but immediately popular form of astrology. Like all astrologers, he wanted people to have some taste of the power of the system. His hope was that people's curiosity would draw them in and they would recognize the value of such a philosophy to bring order to the chaos of the mind. I don't think he envisioned astrology as a priesthood as much as a system that should be made accessible to all people.
Astrology is part of our heritage and there is nothing superstitious about curious minds studying the language that informed the works of our most revered writers, from Plato to Kepler to Chaucer. We strengthen our society when we propagate philosophical systems that incorporate real knowledge of the real universe we all live in.
After visiting the Triangle LGBTQ page for the first time and seeing the link from my add, I think it is time for a new post.
I've been busy the last two months recording chart readings for old friends and new. As of this weekend I have completed three recorded readings and one live. Though the first live reading was a bit of a disaster, I was still high as kite by the time it was all over; further convincing me that I am finally ready to work publicly as an astrologer, I just need a lot of practice. Thanks to Karen I am getting the best practice any astrologer could have; the opportunity to write a monthly horoscope column.
I had placed an ad in The Triangle for a very reasonable fee, but then my car died and I panicked about money. Karen offered to trade a horoscope column for the ad and just like that I was in way over my head!
I had written one installment of a horoscope column for GreenPages years ago, so it should not have been as frightening this time. But it was as scary as a first jump off the high dive. The first version I sent Karen was a list of times for about 25 days of November and a brief description for each astrological 'event.' The problem was, she had asked for a horoscope column, which is one paragraph for each sun sign, in the tradition started by Dane Rudyar in 1933. So, I sent a paragraph for each sun sign, but most of them had nothing to do with what would happen in November; they were basically a rant about astrology and a critique of my generation; until I got to Sagittarius and suggested that this November was a good month to 'take down a pompous person...'
Luckily Karen recognized the column for what it was and suggested a further rewrite, apologizing for asking me to do more 'work.' She was too polite to call it what it was, an out of control rant. I did finally set to work and write the column that will appear this week. So, not only am I learning how to teach astrology; I am also reconnecting with the gay community through The Triangle, and enjoying the opportunity to work with a very cool publisher.
Coming Out as an Astrologer
This blog started out as a place to talk about how much I have literally grown up in the houses of my cleaning customers. But, as was evident from the very first post, there was an astrologer in me bursting at the seems to come out. As I get further into this new career I am enjoying looking back on all the people and groups that have shown me important stuff about life; Al Dash, the priest at NC State when I was a student, had his office in The Nub, a cluster of offices for chaplains of various campus religious groups. I still remember going to his office to discuss a paragraph I'd read in Time or Newsweek Magazine; it was about a lesbian couple in a legal battle to keep their child. Al was in a meeting, so I perused the printed material in the common area. There was a brochure for St. John's Metropolitan Community Church, a new gay christian group, which at that time was meeting in the church on the corner of Wade Ave and Dixie Trail.
Within a month I had attended my first gay christian liturgy. It was the first of many 'coming outs,' which over the years would continually open doors to the wide and amazing world of humans helping other humans. There was The Raleigh Women's Coffee House, where I learned about the politics of feminism; Triangle Area Lesbian Feminists in Durham who hosted fantastic women only dances; Dignity of Raleigh for gay Catholics and then, when I had left my partner and decided to explore the 'straight' world, Thursday Night Open Poetry Reading, which wasn't very straight after all.
Of all the nonconformist side trails I have taken, astrology has been the most challenging and the most rewarding. I set it aside for several years and discarded cherished books to make room for other interests. The fact is, I have never internalized more shame about any of the many taboos I have broken, than the shame I carried many years for being so dedicated to astrology. I didn't even realize how much that shame was holding me back until I had completely rejected what I knew to be true: there is no beauty greater than the poetry of what we know about the universe.
I could not enter a church without feeling a really maddening anger and lack of respect for the congregants. It irritated me immensely that these people could hold their heads up and sing that a man was tortured, killed and rose from the dead, but the philosophy of time as systematized in the Hellenistic period was considered superstition. I had finally come to an understanding of the politics of astrology and realized I had allowed myself to be a victim.
Dane Rudyar used a pen name for his column "What's Your Sun Sign," and you'll not see it referred to on any of the sites dedicated to his many and varied works. I think he was not completely comfortable with this fragmented but immediately popular form of astrology. Like all astrologers, he wanted people to have some taste of the power of the system. His hope was that people's curiosity would draw them in and they would recognize the value of such a philosophy to bring order to the chaos of the mind. I don't think he envisioned astrology as a priesthood as much as a system that should be made accessible to all people.
Astrology is part of our heritage and there is nothing superstitious about curious minds studying the language that informed the works of our most revered writers, from Plato to Kepler to Chaucer. We strengthen our society when we propagate philosophical systems that incorporate real knowledge of the real universe we all live in.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
which group has the power to declare war
I do not know where that above title came from, it appeared in the bar when I clicked on it. I didn't think I had been posting political entries, but apparently Blogspot is psychic because I was signing in to complain about NPR's coverage of the successful Hamas attack on 'settlers' in Palestinian territory.
Was it Robin Lustig who said the Palestinians threatened to derail the upcoming peace talks with Isreal by murdering Isreali settlers?
If someone were building homes on my land I would call them invaders or at the very generous least, trespassers; and when their government has attacked...ohhh
Why are radical religious fundamentalists victims if they are on the side America funds? If they are fundamentalists whose goal is to take land from people who the UN declares are the rightful residents, and whose objective is to establish an oppressive religious state, that sounds like the terrorists we're sending our youth over seas to subdue. But BBC calls them victims and speaks in a highly righteous tone with the Palestinian representative they are interviewing, "How can Hamas justify the killing of innocent women and children?!"
Who is really derailing peace talks; the 'peaceful settlers' (cowboys and indians all over again) or the people defending their UN declared (reservations) territory?
The native Americans were driven off their land to make room for people who had succeeded in overcoming persecution, and so turns the wheel of Karma. Germans, Jews, Palestinians, Mexicans, Lumbee and Ojibwe on and on it goes, it never stops, every one knows.
Was it Robin Lustig who said the Palestinians threatened to derail the upcoming peace talks with Isreal by murdering Isreali settlers?
If someone were building homes on my land I would call them invaders or at the very generous least, trespassers; and when their government has attacked...ohhh
Why are radical religious fundamentalists victims if they are on the side America funds? If they are fundamentalists whose goal is to take land from people who the UN declares are the rightful residents, and whose objective is to establish an oppressive religious state, that sounds like the terrorists we're sending our youth over seas to subdue. But BBC calls them victims and speaks in a highly righteous tone with the Palestinian representative they are interviewing, "How can Hamas justify the killing of innocent women and children?!"
Who is really derailing peace talks; the 'peaceful settlers' (cowboys and indians all over again) or the people defending their UN declared (reservations) territory?
The native Americans were driven off their land to make room for people who had succeeded in overcoming persecution, and so turns the wheel of Karma. Germans, Jews, Palestinians, Mexicans, Lumbee and Ojibwe on and on it goes, it never stops, every one knows.
Mercedes or Hippogriff?
Of course 'I' did not get the car running; the customer who hooked me up with the give away tried jumping it and then just hooked it up to a charger and got it going. I got help every which way I turned, which is a good thing because every time I turned around I needed it. There was the flat tire in the parking lot of DMV when I came out from getting the plates, which a very nice man changed for me. He said he offered help when he saw me turning the bolts in the wrong direction. I knew he was confused until later when I couldn't get the fuel filter loose and asked for more help from my kind customer. He looked at what...ohhh let's just say I do believe in miracles and the kindness of friends and strangers because I benefitted from all three on Thursday.
Did I count my blessings and lay low? NOOOO! I took the car to a skatepark 60 miles away! We bonded, me and that car, and I'm sticking with the object pronoun because I feel that we have been thrown together in another example of Toltsoy's explanations of fate and free will. I thought I chose to take advantage of a rare opportunity, but now it just feels like another happy miracle. I don't know about my son, he fell asleep on the way home, but he did get a kick on the way to the skate park out of my new driving style. "Woah! 50 miles an hour! Dang Mom," he said, "you're flyin." This is a 1985 Mercedes 300dt- the dt is for diesel turbo: serious but reluctant power with a sobering thirst for fuel. When I step on the accelerator I feel as though I'm on the back of a Hiippogriff; with an arched brow, it asks before takeoff if I am sure this is what I want to do.
I have filled the 23.8 gallon tank and am watching the gas gauge like a pensioner watching the stock market numbers across the bottom of the tv screen. It bumps back up toward the end of a run like it knows a rest is coming and can breathe easier. I can't wait to turn the key in the morning and see where the needle points; will it be down a quarter of a tank for 120 miles? I'm already looking forward to the next trip so I can burn up the whole tank and see how many miles it will take me.
There is this problem with a knocking sound that became evident when we got off the highway and drove the last 3 miles back home. All the mechanics are closed till Tuesday so I'll have to wait till at least then to get help with that. It was a wonderful day trip. My son had a good skate session. I just hope he'll be willing to ride his bike downtown for the next few days while we meditate on this latest development.
I keep remembering the movie about Stonehenge that we saw on three different occasions when I was in the 6th grade. I usually recall checking out an astronomy book in high school and being fascinated with the discovery that time was originally measured by the movements of the planets. Now, as I count off the weeks between her conjunctions with the Sun, I remember the chalk filled holes at Stonehenge and the remarks about how scientists thought they were for following the cycle of Venus. That would have been very useful in planning for the birth dates of babies. Venus-about 40 weeks from one conjunction with the sun to the next; much like the two weeks when we observe the waxing of the Moon from a thin crescent to the full circle. Who would have thought we could let something that poetic slip out of our cultural cannon? I am pissed, and a little sad, but determined like a good Taurus to quietly spread the word.
Did I count my blessings and lay low? NOOOO! I took the car to a skatepark 60 miles away! We bonded, me and that car, and I'm sticking with the object pronoun because I feel that we have been thrown together in another example of Toltsoy's explanations of fate and free will. I thought I chose to take advantage of a rare opportunity, but now it just feels like another happy miracle. I don't know about my son, he fell asleep on the way home, but he did get a kick on the way to the skate park out of my new driving style. "Woah! 50 miles an hour! Dang Mom," he said, "you're flyin." This is a 1985 Mercedes 300dt- the dt is for diesel turbo: serious but reluctant power with a sobering thirst for fuel. When I step on the accelerator I feel as though I'm on the back of a Hiippogriff; with an arched brow, it asks before takeoff if I am sure this is what I want to do.
I have filled the 23.8 gallon tank and am watching the gas gauge like a pensioner watching the stock market numbers across the bottom of the tv screen. It bumps back up toward the end of a run like it knows a rest is coming and can breathe easier. I can't wait to turn the key in the morning and see where the needle points; will it be down a quarter of a tank for 120 miles? I'm already looking forward to the next trip so I can burn up the whole tank and see how many miles it will take me.
There is this problem with a knocking sound that became evident when we got off the highway and drove the last 3 miles back home. All the mechanics are closed till Tuesday so I'll have to wait till at least then to get help with that. It was a wonderful day trip. My son had a good skate session. I just hope he'll be willing to ride his bike downtown for the next few days while we meditate on this latest development.
Venus and Stonehenge
I'm going absolutely nuts with the astrology, drawing pages and pages of mini charts to show the cycles of Mars and Venus. I was actually pretty pissed this evening, when I realized that yes, the Venus/Earth/Sun cycle is too close to the gestation period of the human fetus to discount. But I had to finish cooking dinner, enjoying it with my son and then feed all the animals; so by the time that was done I was just happy to get back to drawing all my little charts.I keep remembering the movie about Stonehenge that we saw on three different occasions when I was in the 6th grade. I usually recall checking out an astronomy book in high school and being fascinated with the discovery that time was originally measured by the movements of the planets. Now, as I count off the weeks between her conjunctions with the Sun, I remember the chalk filled holes at Stonehenge and the remarks about how scientists thought they were for following the cycle of Venus. That would have been very useful in planning for the birth dates of babies. Venus-about 40 weeks from one conjunction with the sun to the next; much like the two weeks when we observe the waxing of the Moon from a thin crescent to the full circle. Who would have thought we could let something that poetic slip out of our cultural cannon? I am pissed, and a little sad, but determined like a good Taurus to quietly spread the word.
Friday, August 27, 2010
Conviction
Without adversity we cannot know what we really believe in. Only in the face of loss or deprivation can we see what matters most deeply to us. Just the prospect of losing something can illuminate a treasure languishing in the shadows; so life's favors include not just what we receive, but also what is taken away, and it is a valuable opportunity when we are forced by circumstances to make a difficult choice. This week I was faced with the possibility of losing time...
What a week! It began Tuesday with tragic news about my little old car, prompting a serious inner struggle about taking on more work for car payments, quickly followed by news of someone wanting to GIVE A CAR AWAY! It is an old car, older than the Honda I will be giving up. But it runs, and my son likes it! (It doesn't squeak and it is not rusty) As of today this new old car will not start, but I have faith. I will jump the sleeping battery from my retiring car this weekend and then we'll be on our way. This process has revealed something in me which I had always felt I lacked-conviction.
I love my customers, but it pained me to contemplate taking on new ones in order to pay for another car. I did not want to give up my plans of becoming an astrologer; more work cleaning houses would have meant less time doing charts, forfeiting the experience necessary to fulfill my dream. As this crisis passes I can see that for once I know what matters to me. Up until now I had only known that my son was important, and it bothered me that I could not hold an opinion about any other worldly matter deeply enough to struggle for it. Decriminalizing recreational drugs merits a bumper sticker,* decriminalizing immigration calls for guarded friendships with undocumented workers, the movement to criminalize, or at least delegitimize war is one to which I only sporadically and very hesitantly add my voice. By choosing the gift of an older, but functioning (and very intriguing- it runs on bio diesel) car, I can see with certainty what is most important to me: the resurrection of the culturally relevant and more intellectually rigorous predecessor to Christianity (Yes, I'm talking about astrology) is my chosen endeavor.
With each stumbling step forward my conviction grows that astrology has value. As I meet with people, and we talk about their lives in the context of time as marked off by the motions of the heavenly lights, I am lifted up and really do find myself picturing Mercury as it passes to the far side of the Sun. I have assigned myself the task, and so given myself the strongest permission, to look for the Moon when ever she is visible and follow her soft light, which I find enormously comforting. I am becoming day by day an integrated citizen of our solar system, and it is, by this attention which I pay to it, becoming an ever more familiar and wondrous home to me.
I am convinced, this is my path. I am not a true believer, but astrology does mean the universe to me.
*Hemp: Fuel, Fiber, Freedom I had this bumper sticker on a Plymouth Arrow.
What a week! It began Tuesday with tragic news about my little old car, prompting a serious inner struggle about taking on more work for car payments, quickly followed by news of someone wanting to GIVE A CAR AWAY! It is an old car, older than the Honda I will be giving up. But it runs, and my son likes it! (It doesn't squeak and it is not rusty) As of today this new old car will not start, but I have faith. I will jump the sleeping battery from my retiring car this weekend and then we'll be on our way. This process has revealed something in me which I had always felt I lacked-conviction.
I love my customers, but it pained me to contemplate taking on new ones in order to pay for another car. I did not want to give up my plans of becoming an astrologer; more work cleaning houses would have meant less time doing charts, forfeiting the experience necessary to fulfill my dream. As this crisis passes I can see that for once I know what matters to me. Up until now I had only known that my son was important, and it bothered me that I could not hold an opinion about any other worldly matter deeply enough to struggle for it. Decriminalizing recreational drugs merits a bumper sticker,* decriminalizing immigration calls for guarded friendships with undocumented workers, the movement to criminalize, or at least delegitimize war is one to which I only sporadically and very hesitantly add my voice. By choosing the gift of an older, but functioning (and very intriguing- it runs on bio diesel) car, I can see with certainty what is most important to me: the resurrection of the culturally relevant and more intellectually rigorous predecessor to Christianity (Yes, I'm talking about astrology) is my chosen endeavor.
With each stumbling step forward my conviction grows that astrology has value. As I meet with people, and we talk about their lives in the context of time as marked off by the motions of the heavenly lights, I am lifted up and really do find myself picturing Mercury as it passes to the far side of the Sun. I have assigned myself the task, and so given myself the strongest permission, to look for the Moon when ever she is visible and follow her soft light, which I find enormously comforting. I am becoming day by day an integrated citizen of our solar system, and it is, by this attention which I pay to it, becoming an ever more familiar and wondrous home to me.
I am convinced, this is my path. I am not a true believer, but astrology does mean the universe to me.
*Hemp: Fuel, Fiber, Freedom I had this bumper sticker on a Plymouth Arrow.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Destiny
The theme of destiny is something many people think about; it is one of the questions of the centuries. Some only talk about this subject in earthy terms, like goals or hopes or despair. In this way some speak of fate.
They talk of possibilities and things they will never see in their lives, like walking on the surface of the moon. That which, yes we can do and that which no, no way, is immovable.
When I was a teenager, I asked my mother and aunt if it is not predestination if God knows what we will do. If He knows all that's going to happen, is that not predestination? They became angry and explained to me forcefully; they wanted to ensure that I understood that yes, God knows everything, but that is not predestination. I did not understand, but did not want to discuss the subject further with them and said "Ok, I understand."
But I thought of many things. The biggest question that I carried in my chest was where does this big idea of God come from and the stories of the Bible? Who wrote this foolishness, pardon, these miracles? The most important information, the hinge on which the door swings, this information is withheld. It is not something they repeat in the churches every Sunday; the history of this great idea that everyone declares out loud, together, that they believe. They believe in one God, all powerful...no they do not speak of the origin-it always was and ALWAYS will be. Understand cousin, HE's GOD. And that explains everything.
Well, in this business of astrology that question of destiny often arises. And it gives me an opportunity to go back to a work of Tolstoy: War and Peace. Right now I'm not reviewing the whole book, just the ending, Part II in which the author talks about the history of humanity and the concepts among humans about will and necessity; liberty and reason. He talks about how we feel that we do something of our will when we are in the act, but later we are convinced it is something that happened because of fate.
It is a very illuminating discussion about the theme "what force moves people?"
They talk of possibilities and things they will never see in their lives, like walking on the surface of the moon. That which, yes we can do and that which no, no way, is immovable.
When I was a teenager, I asked my mother and aunt if it is not predestination if God knows what we will do. If He knows all that's going to happen, is that not predestination? They became angry and explained to me forcefully; they wanted to ensure that I understood that yes, God knows everything, but that is not predestination. I did not understand, but did not want to discuss the subject further with them and said "Ok, I understand."
But I thought of many things. The biggest question that I carried in my chest was where does this big idea of God come from and the stories of the Bible? Who wrote this foolishness, pardon, these miracles? The most important information, the hinge on which the door swings, this information is withheld. It is not something they repeat in the churches every Sunday; the history of this great idea that everyone declares out loud, together, that they believe. They believe in one God, all powerful...no they do not speak of the origin-it always was and ALWAYS will be. Understand cousin, HE's GOD. And that explains everything.
Well, in this business of astrology that question of destiny often arises. And it gives me an opportunity to go back to a work of Tolstoy: War and Peace. Right now I'm not reviewing the whole book, just the ending, Part II in which the author talks about the history of humanity and the concepts among humans about will and necessity; liberty and reason. He talks about how we feel that we do something of our will when we are in the act, but later we are convinced it is something that happened because of fate.
It is a very illuminating discussion about the theme "what force moves people?"
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
An Introduction to Astrology
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Astrology, sometimes called Western Astrology, is the system of time developed by western civilization. As one of the seven liberal arts of the Hellenistic Period, astrology was part of the formal curriculum including subjects such as rhetoric, mathematics and geography. In this second level course, students learned the geometry involved in mapping the heavens along with the qualities of the zodiac, which can be thought of as a zoological wheel of the agricultural year. Though some aspects of study have risen or fallen from favor over the centuries, such as medical astrology, astrology’s basis in using the movements of the planets, or wandering stars, against the stationary backdrop of constellations to mark off time, has remained unchanged.
Calendars come and go with the rise and fall of empires, but the cycles of the planets in the heavens remain a constant on which we can look up and depend. The sun will rise every morning, spring will always follow winter, and the new moon will wax for two weeks just as the full moon will wane. The irony is that many of us bound up in schedules of alarm clocks and daily planners wonder how astrologers can attach so much meaning to something as seemingly insignificant as the moment of a person’s birth.
Through all the discoveries of modern science and advances of the industrial age, astrology has remained a thriving tradition, though it may only be included as a sidebar in science books to distinguish it from its modern offspring, astronomy. Now, in the modern age, it is as though the former were the ignorant old parent embarrassing the educated youth. One mourns the fall of poetry and the other deplores the muddling of science with myth.
As we study your chart you will discover old ways of measuring time that are as fascinating as a guided tour through an antique shop. Maybe you will be reminded that the nature of time is more ephemeral than mechanical, that though we are ruled by time we are also born of it. We can be slaves to time or we can make music with it.
There are many books and web sites with the basic vocabulary of astrology that are worth exploring. It is a system of poetic symbols, so after you study what others say, you ultimately decide what the different planets and signs mean to you.
“The Almagest” by Claudius Ptolemaeus, an edited collection on the subjects of math, geometry and astronomy is one of the earliest ‘textbooks’ of astrology to which we can refer. It was written around 150 when Ptolemy worked in the libraries at Alexandria, Egypt and originally called “A Mathematical Compilation.” It came to be known as “The Almagest” from the Arabic translation.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
The Wall against Workers
This is the English version of Muro contra Trabajadores, the post in Spanish for May 28, 2010. After you read the post below, click here to see a Mexican pride video with English subtitles --> Grupo Terminadores: Hijo de Mexico.
La Koala showed me her room and how clean and nicely arranged she keeps it. I heard her leaving in the morning rain and expected that she was on her way off to wash. Her friend took her in his truck to the laundry mat and she washed everything she could take from the room and put in the machines, including the bedspread and curtains. Her girlfriend's shirts hang together on hangers with kitchen towels, everything covered with the protection of a big transparent plastic bag. It looks to me like she has people in good places, because when I asked if she paid to have everything, including kitchen towels, ironed; she said no, she did it with the iron at the laundry mat.
Most times I do not understand her and have to ask questions. I get one or two words whose English meaning I can guess. I repeat the guess in other words to confirm my suspicion, while she pauses to think of another way to say what she was telling me. To chat with someone who does not speak a language well, or know it well, is a pain. So someone has to really want to talk with a person from another culture just because of the problem of language, and that's only the first of many obstacles where they go stumbling.
The second problem is the money the immigrant lacks. She does not lack hope or energy, although she has to send and send, a portion of her earnings; every time she turns around some family member is asking, "Aunt, are you going to send me something for my birthday?"
"Daughter, please send me a little something. Your niece needs it to buy books at school." They never cease to call with requests. And what can the immigrant say if she is sweeping money from the floor?
The third problem, and most unfortunate because it is born of fear, ignorance and lies, is the law that separates the strangers from the natives.
There are laws that we know are against reason and justice. They are against reason because they do not serve to develop a state of sanity in any population. They are against justice because they put under the thumb of those who have, those who lack; they guarantee that the people who enjoy the most opportunities cannot offer a hand, without running a legal risk, to people that struggle without rest to gain a little.
So, the law that persecutes workers crossing frontiers in search of a fair wage is delinquent; and upright people are bound to confront this power so puffed up and corrupt which presumes to separate, with a wall, thousands of people. This entity pretends to decide if and when the Indians can join us. These guards intend to control the source of help and friendship within a population.
We should never forget that we are the same population, that we have the right to be friends with our neighbors.
It is worth the effort to learn a new language, stumble like a fool who understands nothing and looks rather stupid. It is worth a lot to pursue friendship with someone from another country that comes hat in hand, looking for a better life. And so, I live with Koala, and today Juan is coming by for a visit. He and Koala play some cards and I listen to them, two Mexicans cutting up in Spanish. Later, I will ask Juan what does 'I burnt the devils' feet' mean? This is how I learn, bit by bit. This is how I feel a little more like a member of the big world.
La Koala showed me her room and how clean and nicely arranged she keeps it. I heard her leaving in the morning rain and expected that she was on her way off to wash. Her friend took her in his truck to the laundry mat and she washed everything she could take from the room and put in the machines, including the bedspread and curtains. Her girlfriend's shirts hang together on hangers with kitchen towels, everything covered with the protection of a big transparent plastic bag. It looks to me like she has people in good places, because when I asked if she paid to have everything, including kitchen towels, ironed; she said no, she did it with the iron at the laundry mat.
Most times I do not understand her and have to ask questions. I get one or two words whose English meaning I can guess. I repeat the guess in other words to confirm my suspicion, while she pauses to think of another way to say what she was telling me. To chat with someone who does not speak a language well, or know it well, is a pain. So someone has to really want to talk with a person from another culture just because of the problem of language, and that's only the first of many obstacles where they go stumbling.
The second problem is the money the immigrant lacks. She does not lack hope or energy, although she has to send and send, a portion of her earnings; every time she turns around some family member is asking, "Aunt, are you going to send me something for my birthday?"
"Daughter, please send me a little something. Your niece needs it to buy books at school." They never cease to call with requests. And what can the immigrant say if she is sweeping money from the floor?
The third problem, and most unfortunate because it is born of fear, ignorance and lies, is the law that separates the strangers from the natives.
There are laws that we know are against reason and justice. They are against reason because they do not serve to develop a state of sanity in any population. They are against justice because they put under the thumb of those who have, those who lack; they guarantee that the people who enjoy the most opportunities cannot offer a hand, without running a legal risk, to people that struggle without rest to gain a little.
So, the law that persecutes workers crossing frontiers in search of a fair wage is delinquent; and upright people are bound to confront this power so puffed up and corrupt which presumes to separate, with a wall, thousands of people. This entity pretends to decide if and when the Indians can join us. These guards intend to control the source of help and friendship within a population.
We should never forget that we are the same population, that we have the right to be friends with our neighbors.
It is worth the effort to learn a new language, stumble like a fool who understands nothing and looks rather stupid. It is worth a lot to pursue friendship with someone from another country that comes hat in hand, looking for a better life. And so, I live with Koala, and today Juan is coming by for a visit. He and Koala play some cards and I listen to them, two Mexicans cutting up in Spanish. Later, I will ask Juan what does 'I burnt the devils' feet' mean? This is how I learn, bit by bit. This is how I feel a little more like a member of the big world.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Atheist, Anarchist, Astrology
- It is possible to believe in the impossible without giving a flip about some entity called God, or Yahweh or Allah.
- Among those who gain the most from so called government, it is a well kept secret that people, when not imprisoned or obstructed through other repressive measures, are amazingly talented at organizing themselves to achieve common goals.
- Real time has very little to do with clocks and calendars, and can only be truly experienced by ecstatic meditation on the movements of the stars in the sky.
- Atheism is more about believing in people than it is about not believing in God.
- Anarchists strive for a world where people are free to govern themselves and discover unimpeded their vast potential to work collectively.
- Astrologers tell the story of how we are each a star born of other stars, and are always changing shape like the moon, shining like the sun, and the whole of our lives moving, even when we are sleeping in the darkness, we are always moving.
Can we not cherish life, love and unexplained miracles without fighting over who is responsible for them? Could it be that we share responsibility? Could the miracles just bring us to our feet with joy, and extend our hands out to the universe in gratitude, inspire us to radiate life, love and miracles? Could it be enough to just live love because love is life? Could the measurement of time be an exercise in understanding rather than a system of bookkeeping? Could time be more about the blossoming of flowers and leaves going from vivid greens to brilliant reds; must it measure only the changing of traffic lights and intervals between appointed obligations?
- I believe the concept of god is a distraction and a cop out from rising to the challenge to conceptualize an infinite and infinitely complicated existence.
- I support people who are critical of governments and work together in spite of them for the benefit of folks who are suffering.
- I believe time is what it’s all about, and it is high time that time be returned to the elevated status it had when we first measured it by looking up and studying the heavens.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Open Letter to Astronomy Magazine
I wrote this around 1986 or 87, when I was renting a room in The Paper Plant. I tacked it to the door when I got pissed at a letter to the editor dissing astrology.
Letter to Astronomy Magazine (never sent)
Concerning the astronomer’s dilemma of countering astrologers’ emotional beliefs with rational arguments
Through astrology we submit emotional, irrational urges to universal rational analysis. We assume that every individual is a unique, microscopic member of a cosmic whole, of which he or she is a perfect representative. Just like the fragment of a hologram which contains the whole of its parent image, each of us contains the original seed of physical existence. Each of us comes from the sun. We are all the result of countless explosions and contractions of residual matter. Go back to your Judeo Christian literature to The Song of Solomon; that bastardized translation of a famous poetic treatment of a numero/cosmic/metaphysical system- The Residue of Residues is the Witness of our Peace- the mystics’ translation. Then check out a few books on ancient history. Anything before 100 BC will be enlightening. Find out how a sacred scientific mnemonic language was usurped by one warrior race after another. Knowledge does not simply appear out of nowhere with each new generation. Knowledge is a conscious building on past experience. If we disinherit our past, we forfeit our key to the truth; and what ever knowledge we claim to have is only a shadowy corpse of what our ancestors knew.
For those who Dare
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