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.
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.
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