SIGH. I LOVE DAYS LIKE THIS

This post may not be about astrology, but bear with me because I just made a great discovery, and I don’t want to miss the opportunity of getting in on it.

This is a brand new blog, and I haven’t had many visitors, so when I saw a string of hits in my counter (okay, it’s a short string, but relatively speaking: new blog=thrilled), and when I Googled to see where they came from, I ended up at AlphaInventions. It’s like an online digital picture frame, and our blogs and sites are the photos.

It’s like the ads before the previews at the movies, only better because the “ads” are our blogs. And they look great.

It’s like thumbing through the pages of Vogue (okay, maybe not Vogue, but at least Glamour), and every page is a blog or site, and you can choose your own category. *I feel faint.*

You can stop it, go backward, forward, and bookmark blogs you want to come back to. I don’t know how it works, and it even crossed my mind that the hits to my blog could be computer generated. I don’t care, when I get free advertising.

Go check it out for yourself, but remember you heard about it from me first. And don’t any of you write back  and say you already knew it.

FIRST BITE / LESSON 1

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I’m going to make these lessons as simple as I can so that hopefully, even a very young person can understand them. I hope you will bear with me if I talk under your head. Likewise, feel free to ask questions about anything you don’t understand, would like to know more about, or would like to share. Sharing is good.

There are many branches of astrology, and many ways to look at a chart.  Everything has a Natal chart: Everything, even if some of them may be difficult to pinpoint.  People, animals, businesses, events, relationships, and moments in time all had a birth.

Just as the Sun is the center of our universe, we, our selves, our bodies, our lives, are the center of our own universe. You may be so in love that you feel your beloved’s life is more important than your own. A mother may throw herself under a bus to save her child. A soldier may give his life for freedom. But until those circumstances become ours, life is pretty much all about us. We maintain the first person viewpoint.

Personal, or natal astrology, is the practice of reading a birth chart (also called the radix chart): the map of a life. A person is born “on that day and that hour when the celestial rays are in mathematical harmony with his individual karma. His horoscope is a challenging portrait, revealing his unalterable past and its probable future result. But the natal chart can be rightly interpreted only by men of intuitive wisdom: these are few.” ~ Swami Sri Yukteswar

As an astrologer, that is the goal we should aspire to: to be a person of intuitive wisdom who can correctly interpret the chart.

Just as there are many ways to read the planets – Jyotish,¹ Chinese, ² Uranian ³ —there are also many ways to read a chart. I stick with Western astrology because I don’t live in China or India, or on Uranus (That’s a joke. Uranian astrology has no more to do with Uranus than any other kind of astrology). All the charts you see here will make use of the Tropical Zodiac and the Placidus house system because it is the most commonly used in the western hemisphere. I may occasionally cast a chart in the Sidereal Zodiac or the Koch house system, or even a lesser used method if the birth data calls for it.

→ I call the first method “mundane,” but it should not be confused with mundane, or political, astrology.  If I call it something else, like banal or uninspired, someone is bound to come along and say, “there’s nothing like that in astrology!” It’s just what I call it.  It’s a way of reading the chart in a very basic way:  love, money, health; past, present, future.

→ Another way of reading the chart is to investigate the psychological and emotional dynamics of the person in a therapeutic way. It can help to heal old wounds, overcome bad habits, and achieve more self-awareness.

→ A third way is a spiritual way. This reading is given with an eye to the soul’s purpose for this incarnation, information about past lives, as well as the soul’s age and position on the evolutionary ladder.

→ Relocation Charts are charts cast with your date and time of birth, but use the place where you now reside, if it is different from your birthplace. I never relocate the Natal chart, but many people do. I encourage students to experiment with everything that comes to their minds. Test your theories. See if they work. There’s a saying among astrologers that few will admit: The chart doesn’t have to be right; it only has to work. I prefer all my charts to be correct, and will always strive for that goal, but if there’s no birth time available, I will cast a Solar Chart for either sunrise or noon. If there’s no recorded place of an event, I’ll use my best guess based on what I do know about it.

The chance that you’re ever going to see a client who doesn’t ask at least one question about his future is relatively the same as winning the Powerball this week. And of course, you want to see what’s in your own future. It’s all about us for now, and one of the main benefits of astrology is being prepared. Sapiens dominabitur astris: a wise man is ruled by the stars. So let’s look at the most common methods of peeking down the road:

◊ Secondary Progressions are a way of advancing the natal chart forward by what is called the “day for a year” method, in which one day equals one year. ⁴ The chart is moved forward one day for each year a person has lived.

For example, if you were born on November 8, 1954 and want to see what your 30^th year of life would be like, you would cast a chart using the positions of the planets on December 8, 1954. Thirty days after birth equals thirty years. If you want to see what your 55^th year will be like, you would cast the chart using the position of the planets on January 2, 1955. Fifty days after birth equals fifty years. Aspects formed between the planets are read both as a stand-alone chart, and also compared to the natal chart.

◊ Solar Arc Directions are another a method of advancing the natal chart forward in time, but is done differently. This method is called the one-degree-for-a-year method. In this one, the entire chart is moved one degree, or one solar arc, for each year.  A person born November 8, 1954 could cast a chart for November 27, 1954 in order to see what his 19^th year of life would be like in 1973. The planets maintain the exact distance from each other that they had at birth. What changes are their house and sign positions. One way of visualizing this is to imagine painting a planet on each blade of a ceiling fan and giving it a twirl. The planets would still be the same distance from each other, but their positions relative to the corners of the room would be different.

◊ Relocation Charts I don’t usually relocate the natal chart, but I do relocate the progressions, directions, and solar and lunar returns.

◊ Solar Returns are charts cast for the exact time the sun returns to the place it was at the moment of your birth, which always happens within a day or two of your birthday. The place where you currently live is used. The jury is still out on whether or not your future can be changed by traveling to a different place for that moment. Comments on personal experience are welcomed. The Solar Return is read as a stand-alone chart, and in comparison to the Natal chart, and reveal events in the coming year of your life.

◊ Lunar Returns are charts cast for the exact time the moon returns to the place it was at the moment of your birth, which happens once a month. The place where you currently live is used. It reveals where you’ll be focusing your energy in the coming month.

Next time, we’ll talk about synastry and composite charts.

RECOMMENDED READING:

Scientific Laws, Hypotheses, and Theories

Universal Law

Universal Laws

Astrologer’s Code of Ethics

¹ Jyotish (pronounced joy tish) is the Vedic system of astrology. Jyotisha is also known as Indian astrology, Hindu astrology, and Vedic astrology.

² Chinese astrology is based on the traditional astronomy and calendars. Chinese astrology does not calculate the positions of the sun, moon and planets at the time of birth.

³ The Uranian method of reading a natal chart employs midpoints between planets (midpoints being exactly what they sound like), 16th harmonic angles, and hypothetical transneptunian planets. I probably won’t be teaching it here because it doesn’t interest me. I’m sure some astrologers have great success with it; it’s allegedly “pinpoint accurate” in analysis and prediction. That hasn’t tested out in my experience. I have enough to do learning all I can about the planets we know we have, much less hypothetical ones. Besides, adding all those additional glyphs along with all the asteroid goddesses, and Lilith (both of them!) to the chart makes it a pain to read. No thanks.

⁴ Genesis 1:14  And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years

Jeremiah 10:2  Thus says the LORD, “Do not learn the way of the nations, And do not be terrified by the signs of the heavens Although the nations are terrified by them

Numbers 14:34  After the number of the days in which you searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall you bear your iniquities, even forty years, and you shall know my breach of promise.

Ezekiel 4:6  And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year.

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NEW MOON IN SCORPIO

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We have a New Moon at 24 Scorpio 34 today. Wait until you see a sliver of light before beginning your Scorpio projects.

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FIRST GLANCE

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I hope this is going to be fun for you. I’m going to show you some example charts, and ask you to focus on certain parts of them. What you’ll learn is what you can tell about a person with a single glance.

In this first set, don’t worry about where the planets are. Look at the aspect lines in the center of the charts–the red, blue and green lines that show us the connections between the planets. They tell us how well the planets are working–or not working– together. Don’t study; just glance. At the end of this post, you’ll learn to whom each chart belongs.

Chart 1

Chart 2

Chart 3

Chart 4

What did you notice about these charts? Does any particular one stand out to you? Which one, and why?

Here’s the next set. These charts all have something in common. Can you find it?

Chart 5

Chart 6

Chart 7

Chart 8

Chart 9

Chart 10

Chart 11

Chart 12

Chart 13

Chart 14

Chart 15

Chart 16

Chart 17

Chart 18

For the answers to my questions and to learn who each chart belongs to, go to the next page.

WRITE TO ME

Well, crap. A couple of you recently wrote to me at my gmail address for this blog (and I thank you!), but I have some bad news. Your mail was accidentally deleted. I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to. Unfortunately, as far as I know, I can’t retrieve deleted messages in gmail the way I can in other email programs. So please, write to me again. Repeat your request. And for those of you who will write to me the first time with a question, please let me know if it’s meant to be private or blog fodder.

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CAPRICORN AND FETAL HIBERNATION

While looking for a chart of a child born on an airplane, I ran across some other charts of unusual births that I want to share with you. Here are two charts of fetal hibernation. If you don’t know what that is, it’s a baby’s birth so overdue that it’s said to be hibernating in there.

Astrology embraces the theory of reincarnation, the existence of Akashic records, and the idea that we plan our lives on Earth before we are born. It is believed by some that our lives are based on the karma earned in the previous one, and that we choose the race, nationality, religion, family, friends, pets, and major events of our next lives based on the lessons we need to learn. It is also believed that we make contracts with each other to help each other fulfill our karmic obligations and learn those lessons. If you think about it, this would explain our occasional sense of déjà vu, as well as the feeling that upon meeting someone for the first time that we’ve met them before, or known them “forever.” The position of Pluto is the starting point in a spiritual astrology reading, as it represents the soul. For that, I highly recommend Jeff Green’s Pluto: The Evolutionary Journey of the Soul, which you can find in my sidebar.

The first chart presented here is that of a child born on April 10, 1963 12:36 AM Pacific Standard Time, in Gardena, California. The gender is unknown, but for simplicity’s sake, I’m going to use the pronoun “she.” She was due in the middle of February 1963, but wasn’t born until 3 months later. That would never happen today. Now the birth would have been scheduled around the doctor’s golf game, labor would be induced or a C-section performed, and the doctor would be teeing off the first green less than an hour later. But this was back in the day, and the poor mother was in labor off and on all that time. It was also described as a difficult birth.

There are a few things I’d like you to notice in this chart: the Capricorn Ascendant, the South Node in Capricorn in the first house, and Saturn rising. Yes, Saturn is way back there on the cusp of the second house, but it’s still the first planet that will cross the horizon. This child has a triple dose of Saturn in her life. This is a soul who did not want to be born. She dug her little heels in and did everything she could to keep from coming, and she is a stubborn and determined little thing with Mars and the Sun in mutual reception. The Sun is also exalted in Aries.

The South Node is associated with the past and with past life karma. Capricorn is the sign ruled by Saturn. When neutral, Saturn represents the skeletal structure, knees, time, aging, gravity, security, tradition, rules, laws, authority, obligation, and destiny. At its best, it represents patience, maturity, ambition, responsibility, duty, and dependability. At its worst, it represents things that are cold, delay, denial, restrictions, misery, suffering, sorrow, self-undoing, isolation, guilt, and fear.

With her South Node in Capricorn, there’s a particular obligation she must fulfill while she’s here. Because Capricorn rules the skeleton in general, and knees in particular, she may have serious illnesses or injuries related to those areas of her body. Maybe she contracted polio or became paralyzed. One of the most difficult lessons for Capricorns to learn is humility. It is said they never succeed until they learn to bend (their knees) to the will of their Creator.

Capricorns and other Saturnian types are often reluctant to be born. Some have reported the feeling that they were unwanted surprises, unpleasant accidents, born to older parents, or a burden to their families. They subconsciously try to atone for their existence by assuring their caregivers that they’ll be very good, no trouble, so quiet no one will even notice they’re here. They’ll work hard and make their families proud, and are usually workaholics that perform best under pressure. Many are born with innate inferiority complexes and some over-compensate by developing God complexes. They carry the world on their shoulders and expect perfection from themselves in all they do. They must, after all, justify their very existence. In the same way, they expect others to be perfect as well, and can be quite bossy and demanding.

They are generally thought to be mature at a young age, or wise before their time. Babies with strong Saturn characteristics in their charts often have that “old soul” look about them even as newborns. They’ve been around this block many times before. If, by the way, you are one of the people who brag that you’re an old soul, you should probably read about them here: Old Souls and the Evolutionary Ladder

Let’s take a look at a second chart for fetal hibernation. This baby happened to be born on the same day as the previous baby, but many years earlier, and of course in a different, undisclosed location. When people wish to maintain their privacy, we need to grant them that privilege. The birthday is April 10, 1949, at 2:43 PM MST. The gender is not indicated, and the only information available is that the baby was overdue by one month. Notice Saturn directly on the Ascendant.

Here’s another. The birth data for this one is December 30, 1954 at 7:10 AM CST at an undisclosed location. This baby was also a month overdue and suffered a slight head deformity from being delivered with forceps. Not only is the Ascendant in Capricorn, but the North Node, Sun, Mercury and Chiron are all in Capricorn in the first house. With Venus conjunct Saturn in Scorpio, this child was particularly cold and mercenary.

If you’re aware of cases of fetal hibernation where Saturn or Capricorn are not factors, I would love to hear from you.

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GO AHEAD; YUK IT UP

There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments, and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance – that principle is contempt prior to investigation.

~ Herbert Spencer

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THE BOEING BABY: AN UNUSUAL BIRTH

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I have been having the hardest time with this post! I wanted it to be a video, but I’ve made that video six or seven times now and frankly, they all sucked, so I’ll type this one out and maybe do the video next time. Today, I want to discuss the chart of a baby born on a plane. This unusual birth was mentioned earlier, and my friend, Romulus Crowe, a professional ghost hunter in the UK, surmised:

Here’s one that interests me – You mention the possibility of being born on a plane (okay, there aren’t many but there are no doubt one or two out there). Even if you knew the exact time, you’d still be traveling at 300 miles an hour or so across time zones.

So, rather than being born at a specific point on the planet’s surface, you’d be in the totally unnatural position of being born, in effect, over several miles of that surface simultaneously. It’s a potential situation that’s only come about since flight became commercial.

Born on a ship would be odd because of being born at sea, which is a ‘wrong’ location for a human but ships aren’t moving all that fast so at least you could identify a point. A plane birth would smear your origin across space. That has to have weird effects, surely?

He made a good point, so I went to Lois Rodden’s Data Bank (check my sidebar for a link) and found the data for the first baby born on a Boeing 747. It was November 27, 1970. He will be 39 on his next birthday, which falls on Thanksgiving every four years. His mother was Korean, his father was an American soldier, and she was on her way to join him in New York when she went into labor. Two doctors and a flight attendant delivered the baby over the Pacific Ocean, just off the coast of Siberia, which is that part of Russia infamous for the butt temperature of well-diggers.

Knowing Lois Rodden’s reputation for obtaining accurate birth data, I’m going to give this the benefit of the doubt and assume the pilot checked the gauges that would tell him the latitude and longitude of their location as this baby drew his first breath. We were given an altitude of 33,000 feet. I can usually look at a chart and know if it’s right or not, and this one appears to be.

There are several things in it that I’d like to draw your attention to because they’re things I promised to cover in this blog. This chart just happens to give excellent examples of several of them.

First, let’s look at the Ascendant in Sagittarius. Sag is the sign that represents long journeys, long distances, foreign people, places, languages, and cultures, imports and exports, and how we expand into the world (also philosophy, religion, law, medicine, higher education and the higher mind). I don’t know how it could be more fitting for a baby born of parents with different nationalities during a long trip.

Next let’s look at the houses. It’s not the speed of the plane, but the northerly latitude that warps the size of the houses. This also happens at very southerly latitudes in the Placidus house system. Much farther north, and this chart would fall apart. Notice that some houses are very small, and others are huge. Although it’s the smaller houses that contain the planets, the matters represented by the larger houses will take up more of this person’s life because it takes longer for the transits and progressions to move through them.

Each sign is 30 degrees (and the 30th degree of one is 0 degrees of the next), but each house can be more or less than that. You’ll notice that the second house completely swallows all 30 degrees of Aquarius, and also contains a couple degrees of Capricorn, and about 18 degrees of Pisces. This is called an interception. Leo is intercepted in the 8th house. Interceptions in charts are like flashing neon arrows pointing to the area of life represented by the houses involved and saying, “Look here! Pay attention here! There’s a lot going on right here! This is important!”

The second house is the house of money, and the 8th house is the house of other people’s money (among other things). The majority of planets are in the east in this chart (the left side), which indicates this is a person who is free to make decisions to suit himself, and to choose his own lifestyle. He seldom needs to consider the desires of other people in his decisions. But he may also experience a sense of isolation and loneliness and must take the initiative if he is to form friendships and relationships with others. Also, the majority of planets are above the horizon, which indicates this is someone with a public persona who will attain a public recognition at some point in his life.

Now let’s examine the pattern of the planets. Our solar system continuously forms seven repetitive patterns, and all of us were born under one of them. The only thing that counts in the patterns are the planets. Remove the Moon’s Nodes, Part of Fortune, Chiron, and anything “extra” you like to put in your charts, and only look at the shape made by the planets.

Notice how all the planets follow each other within a short space, with the exception of Saturn, which is in the 5th house. All the planets in the top part of the chart are contained within 90 degrees. This is a bundle pattern. This person’s life is concentrated in very few areas. This does not allow for a wide variety of interests. Because of this strong focus, he has built a powerful business or professional reputation in his field of interest, and that’s where the loner planet, Saturn comes in. All the energy of the bundle is focused through Saturn, down there by itself in the 5th house. Saturn is the sign of business, responsibility, dependability, security, and executive ability. It’s in the sign of Taurus, which represents money and banking. In addition, Saturn rules the 2nd house of money in this chart, and the Moon’s North Node is located there. This person may be a banker, stockbroker, financial adviser, foreign currency trader … there are many occupations where a person manages vast amounts of money for others.

One more thing to note is the mutual reception of Mars (conjunct the Midheaven) in Libra and Venus in Scorpio (also retrograde). This means that each is in the sign that the other rules. While they’re both in the signs of their detriment, they are not weakened, due to their ability to support one another. It is as if each was in its own sign. They are interchangeable. In addition, they’re angular (in the 1st, 4th, 7th, or 10th house), which adds to their strength. This jury is still out on retrograde Venus. Very few of my clients have had a Rx Venus. One, with Venus Rx in Aquarius is a cold, unfeeling, insensitive man who only knows how to love himself. Another, with Venus Rx in Scorpio, is a warm, kind, very well-liked individual who spreads love everywhere he goes. I’d love to hear from any of you about your experiences with Venus Rx, whether your own, or that of someone you know.

Finally, to wrap this up, make note of where our last New Moon at 24 Libra fell in this chart. If you know how to progress charts, you might want to progress this one to New York City. Among the things you’ll find are Venus and Jupiter conjunct, and progressed Mars conjunct natal Jupiter. Until next time, happy transiting.

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ASTROLOGY AND RELIGION

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Here are the videos of Zeitgeist that deal with religion. I’d love to hear your comments when you’re finished watching.

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THE EPHEMERIS: BOOK OF PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE

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This video explains how to read an ephemeris, the book that gives planetary positions for every day, no matter where you live. Some adjustment required. Batteries not included.

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FAIT ACCOMPLI

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I promised that later in the week, I would tell you about one of my favorite predictions and how it really worked out. This is it.

At the time, I was living in Vail, working as a professional astrologer, writing a column for the paper, and as usual, trolling the ephemeris for interesting dates in my future. There are several things I love to examine way in advance: solar returns, lunar returns, days when Venus or Jupiter aspects my natal moon in a good way, times when my Midheaven or Ascendant are being hard-hit, Christmas … and that’s when I discovered the day in question: December 26, 2003.

It was obviously going to be a spectacular day; there was no doubt about it, but being the day after Christmas made me more than a little curious. I thought, well, Christmas is on Thursday, and my husband’s paydays are on Friday, and he’s a last-minute shopper,  so maybe whatever it will be is going to be delayed for a day. I didn’t mind, because whatever it was would be well-worth waiting for! And I began trying to figure out what it would be.

THE PROGRESSIONS

After a cursory glance at the transits, I calculated the secondary progressions. Progressions show what would take place in my life in the year in question. My progressed moon would conjunct my natal sun. That’s a New Moon, and these weren’t fleeting transits, over in mere hours; they were long-term aspects. It was going to be important, and possibly life changing. It was a new beginning.

The progressed Midheaven, which represents our career, reputation, and direction in life, would conjunct my natal Jupiter. I err on the side of caution when it comes to Jupiter because while it represents joy, hope, and optimism (among many other things), it can also mean too much optimism, and usually does. It was helpful, however, so I wrote it in the “plus” column.

The progressed Ascendant would conjunct my natal Saturn. Saturn’s good side represents responsibility, integrity, security, tradition, discipline, caution, common sense, and age (older things, antiques, heirlooms, things from the past), along with similar traits. His bad side represents loss, sorrow, suffering, sadness, and gloom, along with similar traits. I couldn’t be sure which way it would go because the aspect was a conjunction, which can be favorable or unfavorable depending on the planets involved. Saturn would receive the aspect, but the Ascendant isn’t like a planet that represents a certain kind of energy; it’s passive. In the natal chart, it represents our physical body and how it looks, our personality as seen by others, as well as being the lens we focus through (someone with a Gemini Ascendant sees and reacts to life very differently than someone whose Ascendant is in Scorpio. Every ascendant sign is unique.) But in the progressed chart, and in transits, it often indicates “you, at this time, in this place.”

In addition, my progressed Mercury would trine my natal Saturn. Mercury represents our ability to think, reason, and speak, communication of all kinds, transportation, short trips, errands, and moving about town. This wasn’t a wow! moment that promised I’d be getting a trip to Paris or Tahiti, nor a  sexy new car in the driveway. It had nothing to do with material possessions at all. It looked more like sober communications. I’d already had one solemn Christmas in recent years when an old friend called to tell me that one of my best friends, his wife, had passed away that morning. I didn’t want a repeat. I hoped the trine aspect would spare me.

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OUTLIERS

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I know! I know! I promised a tutorial on the ephemeris, and I’ve made two videos … but both were over ten minutes long and YouTube went “Nuh uh, ” so I have to try again.

Also, I’ve come down with a bad cold, so I’d be coughing and sneezing and saying “sorry, ‘scuse me, I have a code.” Just wanted you to know I haven’t forgotten, nor am I trying to back out.

In the meantime, I’ve been reading the always fascinating Malcolm Gladwell’s latest book, Outliers. His previous two were The Tipping Point and Blink.

Outliers subtitle is The Story of Success, and attempts to reveal why some people reach it, and others don’t. Part One, Chapter One, called The Matthew Effect, is a study of hockey players in Canada. Gladwell asserts their success began with being born at the right place, at the right time of year. That caught my attention. By the end of the chapter, he denies that it has anything to do with astrology. He could be right, but since he didn’t present their charts, and I don’t have their data, we’ll never know for sure.

I have to say, while I’m thinking about it, that it makes me crazy when people make claims like, “It has nothing to do with astrology,” unless they present the evidence. How do they know it doesn’t? Have they studied astrology enough to make that claim? Have they read the charts? Sigh. Anyway…

Here’s an interesting test you can try for yourself. Set a Google alert for your birthday, the same year. Don’t know how? Go to your web browser page, and type in “Google alerts” and what you need will be the first result. Open it and begin filling in the blanks. I put quotation marks around my terms, and that stops a lot of irrelevant results. Now just wait. Whenever Google scans a site that contains your search term, you’ll receive an email. Read about ordinary people who share your birth date. See what you have in common with them.

I search for various dates for different reasons. One I do a running search for is “born May 23, 1982.” And the results I’ve received have been interesting to say the least, because all the people born on that date tend to have one or two things in common. The first person who can tell me what those two things are wins a 30 minute reading. It will take quite a while, so it’s never too late to try. Ready. Set. Go.

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THE BIBLE IS FULL OF IT!

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Last Friday, at work, I asked someone if he knew his horoscope sign. The guy is a friend of mine. He’s a young black man, in his 30’s maybe, about to buy his first home and start a family. He also happens to be a minister. I really like Mark. He keeps me humble by reminding me every so often of my shortcomings, most notably my “cocky personality,” as he refers to it. When I asked him to define “cocky,” which I thought was a masculine trait requiring the testosterone-producing parts of the male anatomy, he danced around the question, finally stumbling upon a sugar-coated, back-handed attempt at a compliment: “You know … you’re strong, confident; you’d make a good leader, and you could show these girls around here what it means to be helpful to your husband.” I’ll be wearing a burqa tomorrow.

Funny thing; he knew immediately that he’s a Virgo, and his wife is Capricorn, but that she’s nothing at all like one of our co-workers who is also a Capricorn. I said the reason for that is there are nine other planets and a host of other factors influencing their personalities. At which time he replied–wait for it–”You don’t believe in that crap, do you?” And then, and then! he proceeded to tell me that they “prophesy” [sic] at his church; that there are members who might foretell, for instance, “‘that you and your husband will own a farm,’ or something like that.” *facepalm* “And it don’t cost nothin’,” he declared proudly. I’m just waiting for his next prophesy, Bible quote, or church reference, at which time I will ask, “You don’t believe in that crap, do you?”

Some people seem to have a bulls eye on their back with the words kick me tattooed in the center. Apparently, I have a pentagram, because people I barely know think I’m a heathen. My primary care doctor told me on my last visit that I need to go to church. I’m so much more offended by that than I probably should be, not because it’s out of his jurisdiction, but because he just assumed I don’t. Even after I informed him that I don’t have issues with God; I have issues with organized religion, he steamed straight ahead, naming three or four churches he thought I should attend. The unmitigated gall. I don’t feel like a heretic, but I’m not a sheeple, either.

I always question authority because it has so often been proven wrong. I would never insist anyone blindly accept astrology, but I would also ask that you not condemn it without knowing enough about it to make an informed decision.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t just believe in God; I love Him. But I may not see Him in quite the same way you do. For instance, I think God probably has a wacky sense of humor. After all, He created man, the platypus, and Mick Jagger’s lips. And I also forgive Him, in His infinite wisdom, for not letting me win the Powerball last week. And God laughs at my nerve for saying that. We’re okay together. He knows I love him.

Kidding aside, I believe we are born at the exact time and place needed to produce the life lessons we’ve chosen for this go-round, and that those lessons are apparent in the birth chart. I have one of the most difficult charts I’ve ever seen, and I’ve read thousands. My planets are configured to produce one catastrophe after another, never-ending, so if I didn’t have faith in God and acceptance of whatever He has in store for me, I would have climbed the tower, toting the AK47, a long time ago. I have friends who are atheist, and I don’t judge them for it. It’s none of my business. There are as many ways to God as there are people, and everyone has to find his own, even if he denies he’s  looking.

But let me be absolutely clear here: I absolutely, positively, unequivocally believe in the Source of All Things. However, I don’t absolutely, positively, unequivocally believe that the Bible is His sacred word. And the reason is that it’s been edited by man, more specifically, by men in power who wanted to stay in power, such as the former Pope, and later Saint, Cyril of Alexandria the ruthless murderer of a philosopher and librarian named Hypatia.  Any idiot who would murder a librarian is at the top of my Shit List.

And consider the politics surrounding William Tyndale, who translated the New Testament twice, and made three revisions before his death in 1536, along with his nemesis, Cuthbert Tunstall, who bought and burned every copy he could get his hands on. I think we all know that if we gathered twenty people in a room and whispered a statement of fact to one, who then whispered it to a second, and he to a third, and so on, that by the time it returned to us, the revision wouldn’t resemble anything like the fact originally whispered. And that’s in our own language: no possibility of a mistranslation. And those are just two examples in two thousand years. Imagine how many others there are.

So when good, uninformed Christian folks, bless their hearts, condemn astrology as either evil or nonsense, I just chuckle to myself because surprise! The Bible is full of it. All those people, doing all that editing, didn’t know squat about astrology, so they didn’t edit it all out. A person has to know astrology to recognize which bits are still there. I’ll be happy to give you a clue, though,  to the most obvious one, and remember, the best place to hide anything is in plain sight:

Now I realize that science would insist at this point that the facts of astrology have not been proved; but since I have, to the best of my ability, verified many of the claims of astrology I would have to answer science as Newton answered Halley when the latter criticized him for his study of astrology. “I have studied the matter; you have not,” was Newton’s reply.

From THOUGHTS ON A SCIENCE OF LIFE
Part III: On the Value of Astrology for a Science of Life
by Arthur M. Young (1992)

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THERE IS A TIME FOR EVERYTHING, AND A SEASON FOR EVERY ACTIVITY UNDER HEAVEN

One year we stayed longer than usual, remaining East through most of November. The days grew shorter, and as the curtain of night nudged ever closer, one felt nature herself getting ready to retire as she slowly dropped her garment of foliage, now turned yellow and red, and exposed the bare trunks of trees to view. How different to see deep into the woods, and to feel the warmth of the sun as a welcome penetration of the cool autumn air. Everything was different. I could feel a difference in myself that kept time with the change in nature.

So the variety and contrast afforded by the rotation of the earth, and its revolution around the sun, supplies a content to experience that clock time alone cannot, and we are emboldened to ask whether these changes in the seasons, in experience, in the content and substance of life, dismissed by science as a mere oscillation, are not worthy of greater importance in our cosmology, our understanding of the universe.

Excerpt from THOUGHTS ON A SCIENCE OF LIFE
Part II: Discovering Three Dimensions of Time
by Arthur M. Young (1992)

The picture, Autumn Colors in the Forest by Enjoylife of Haarlem, Netherlands, can be purchased by clicking on this link .

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COMPUTER PROBLEMS?

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The ruler of the 3rd is retrograde
in the 13th,
in the dark side of the house,
under siege,
occulted by Saturn,
in an intercepted sign,
in a nighttime chart,
during a Void of Course moon!

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STUPID. CABLE. COMPANY.

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Grrrr.  My internet has been out since Mercury opposed Uranus more than a week ago, and although it’s fixed now, I’m fed up to my eyeballs with my internet cable provider. The techs who work there apparently could not find their own asses if they had both hands tied behind their backs. Hopefully, this is a permanent fix and I can get back on track.

10 / 10 / 09  Well, that was too much to hope for. I can use the internet, but I can’t send or receive mail. Why is it too much to ask that what we pay for might actually work???

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LOOKING FORWARD

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I had the entire weekend off for the first time in so long I can’t recall how long it’s been, and I spent nearly all of it combing through the ephemeris looking at my future. Once I start doing that, I just can’t seem to stop. It’s endless fascination! Do you do it as well? What’s the most interesting future date you’ve found, and has it occurred yet? If so, did what you expected to happen pan out as you thought it would? If the date is still in your future, I would love to hear all about it. Later in the week, I’ll tell you about one of my most exciting predictions that worked out, and we’ll take a look at an ephemeris for those of you who have never seen one. I have to work tonight, tomorrow, and tomorrow night, so I won’t make it back here before Wednesday. I hope someone will have shared a story of their own in comments by then.

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MERCURY DIRECT AND THE FINGER OF GOD

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Mercury turns stationary direct today at 1:08 PM Greenwich Mean Time. If you live in the USA, that’s 9:07 AM on the east coast, 8:07 AM Central Daylight Time, 7:07 AM Mountain Daylight Time, and 6:07 AM on the west coast, unless you live in Arizona, because you don’t switch to daylight savings time like most everyone else. Also, if you live in Indiana, Hawaii, Alaska, or any of the territories, you’re going to have to figure it out on your own. Ditto if you live in any country other than the US or UK. One day soon, we’ll talk about the oddities in time zones, which you need to know to cast charts.

Of course you know it’s good news when Mercury goes direct, and we stop misplacing our car keys and cell phones. Remember, though, that it’s going to oppose Uranus again this weekend (for the last time this year). Another aspect we’re working on is Mars in trine to Uranus, which will also happen this weekend, and last into the early part of next week. Looks like a good time to do the fall cleaning. It’s a liberating aspect, so liberate yourself from those things in your closet you don’t wear anymore. Put your garden to bed, and get those leaves raked up.

What we really need to take a look at is what’s going on now. Mercury sextiles Mars today, another sign of being busy and industrious. What we do, however, we want to do for ourselves, not for others. Mars tends to be egocentric that way. This is an aspect of self-confidence, and whenever Mars is involved in an aspect, there’s usually a contest of wills. We want others to see and do things our way. The difference is that with easy aspects (sextiles and trines) like this one, if there is a debate, it’s usually in the spirit of friendly competition rather than the combativeness and animosity for which Mars is notorious. Usually–that’s key here.

Whenever two planets are sextile each other (60 degrees, or two signs apart) and both are inconjunct (a/k/a quincunx or 150 degrees / five signs) a third planet, it’s forms a yod, also known as the Finger of God aspect.

Today the finger points to the asteroid, Chiron. It helps to know the myth of Chiron in order to understand this aspect. Chiron was a centaur, the teacher of Achilles, so it represents teaching and lessons among other things. He was a physician who taught healing and herbology. Struck by a poison arrow one day, for all his knowledge, he was unable to heal himself. He died in agony. So another thing Chiron means in the chart is “wounding,” and this is becoming the most accepted interpretation.  Time and again, when Chiron is badly aspected in the chart, the person is emotionally wounded, either from a recurrence of some old emotional hurt that never heals (“Mom loved you more”), or a fresh wound that never heals. We overreact to the slightest criticism or rejection, and misunderstandings seem to come from nowhere. Instead of trying to clear them up, we’re more likely to withdraw and sit on the pity potty, letting it fester.

Today, with the Mercury and Mars bravado and eagerness to say just what’s on our minds, we need to keep a leash on our tongues, and take extra care not to wound others.   We need to be especially careful with those we love because wounds inflicted today will last a lifetime.

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ANSWER TO PREDICTION CHALLENGE #1

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Thanks for the comments, y’all! Thanks for coming by!

I see no one has wanted to take a guess at what happened to the guy whose chart is the subject of Prediction Challenge #1, so I’m going to give you the answer. However, instead of telling you which of the aspects were responsible, I’d like you to tell me.

The man won a very expensive door prize at his company Christmas party. It was the top prize.

So … did you all not take a shot at this because you don’t yet know how to use progressions and directions? Just let me know so I won’t talk over your head. What’s worse than trying to learn something when you don’t understand a word of what’s being said? How about transits? Who can read those? Natal chart? Are there specific areas you’d like me to cover before we go on to look at an ephemeris? Talk to me. Don’t be afraid to speak up because you will not be the only one who doesn’t know, and it’s what we’re all here for, right? I’ll wait for your replies.

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GRRRR…MERCURY Rx OPPOSED TO URANUS

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Mercury Rx Opposed to Uranus = computer problems! Remember that.

Sorry I couldn’t get here sooner to let you know. My work schedule is hectic this week. It may be a few days before I get back, and I’m sorry about that, too. I’ll be here as soon as I can. Until then, happy transits.

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