Category: Transpersonal Astrology

Fear of Retrogrades

Sunday, 18 March 2012 18:55 0 Comments

Fear of astrological transits, and especially retrogrades, can be lurking below the surface of our general astrological dialogue, affecting our emotions and behaviors. For this reason, I’m often ambivalent about writing about future transits. It’s nice to know what’s happening astrologically, to feel like we’re in alignment with these symbolic weather patterns, but when we attach seriously to edicts of what to do or not to do, we begin to lose our sense of soul centered power, our ability to simply live in the moment intuitively. It can be challenging to balance the value of living consciously in alignment with astrological cycles and the trust to simply live consciously.

Recently someone asked me about the prospect of beginning a relationship in the current Mars retrograde cycle (January 23rd to April 13th). She had been told that initiating a sexual relationship in a Mars retrograde ‘would end up in disaster’. Followed strictly, that would mean not becoming intimate with someone she’d been seeing for awhile. They both felt ready to take things to the next step. Should they wait for three months? Does that mean every relationship commenced in this time period will end up in disaster? What actually qualifies as disaster?

We’re also in Mercury retrograde, also considered to be an inauspicious time for starting anything. With Mercury, conventional wisdom focuses on communications issues, equipment breaking and problems with traveling, To begin a relationship under Mercury retrograde is associated with problems with communication as if Mercury will somehow ’cause’ the problems.

And let’s not forget Saturn. We are in a Saturn retrograde that began on February 7th and continues to June 24th. Saturn rules business and the structures we create in the material plane. Most would suggest that we don’t begin new ventures during this time period either, but focus instead on working on what we’ve already committed to, setting boundaries to define what works and what doesn’t.

Should we just sit around and watch television for the first half of the year? I don’t think so. When we think of planets causing misfortune, calamities, disasters and problems because we began something in a retrograde time, we can feel paralyzed and then begin to manipulate our way through life feeling disempowered and disconnected from our intuition. This is not the best use of astrology, nor of our life force.

From an intuitive view, I would suggest that we are operating always in alignment with the planetary energies, because we are the planets. Looking at astrological forecasts and charts simply gives us a language to help explain what we’re feeling or what we feel compelled to do, the kind of flow, challenge or complication that might be within at the particular time.

One of the most intense relationships of my life began under a Mars retrograde. It was definitely not easy, nor was it a disaster. I learned about my own Mars and how it operated (or in fact didn’t operate) in my life. Anger, assertion, ego and physicality were highlighted in that dynamic and combustible dance that brought me into another round of therapy. The healing I accomplished was profound. I wouldn’t have been the same person without it. Was it a bad relationship because it happened to start it under the retrograde and would it have been calm and peaceful if we’d waited a couple of months? (I know absolutely not!) … or did the retrograde define the energy I was called to review in that cycle of life?

I’m not saying we should all completely ignore the current triplet of retrogrades and charge forward into projects and relationships. Probably most of us are in alignment with this review vibration internally anyway. I’m saying it’s not necessary to be afraid that planets are affecting us negatively and then putting our lives on hold. It’s a time to rethink, review and restructure the direction of our life force, our relationships and our business affairs. If that includes something that seems to want to start at this time, then start it. There is something you’re learning, healing or understanding here. Follow your gut instinct. Read documents carefully (always good advice!). In most cases, if there’s an problem you can do a re-start later. There are always more retrogrades and more reviews, and there’s never a perfect time in human reality. Life is complicated, messy, delightful.

Snap out of It! Aquarius New Moon

Monday, 23 January 2012 01:31 0 Comments

I’ve been pondering how people change. And whether we should even focus on change. Sometimes total acceptance and gratitude for every moment are really the answers.

Yet most of us are not completely in acceptance. We have issues and challenges we’d like to change, transform, or address in some way. We work on these ‘problems’, talk about them, process and perhaps debate whether they’re even changeable. The issues might be quite personal, like wanting to change jobs, lose or gain weight, find a relationship, have more money, eat more healthily. We might want to transform the glaring issues we see in our community or in another part of the world. We donate money; we volunteer.

What I notice is that most people circle around issues for quite a long time before they change. Most of us don’t change much at all in key areas or we change quite slowly. We end a relationship because we don’t feel it’s the right one only to pick another person, soon finding ourself in a similar relationship dilemma. We go on and off diets for various reasons. We donate money to a cause and then feel frustrated and dejected about its potential to really help. Intention becomes action and then fades to inaction.

And then it changes. Something happens and we snap. The friend we’ve been thinking about letting go of disappoints us just one time too many. We see a photo and are shocked at how we actually look. We see a community problem that hasn’t been fixed for years but we snap into an awareness that it really can be transformed.

One woman described her relationship snap. She had put up with several long relationships with men who weren’t really committed or present. Leaving the last one after several years of therapy and workshops, she was dating and feeling discouraged about ever finding a life mate. Then a man she was interested in called at the last minute to finalize details of a previously planned date, having left her wondering for days whether it was on or off. That was her snap moment. She told him she wasn’t interested in the date or in seeing him at all. That moment crystallized her sense of self worth to know she deserved and wanted a mate who would be reliable and committed. Weeks later that mate showed up and they are still married many years later.

We have a new Moon in Aquarius today. Aquarius is the sign of snap! Fast, unpredictable, lightning bolt change is possible when we tune into Aquarius. New Moons represent new starts. Aquarius is about authentic freedom and the ability to evolve rapidly.

What would you like to change? It may be that you’d like to not actually change anything, that your evolutionary goal would be to accept what you have and snap into gratitude and faith. That’s fine too. But if there’s something you’ve been thinking about changing, this Moon might provide a bit of an extra push.

Truthfully though, the potential to snap out of what we don’t want and snap into what we do want is always within us.

Astrology Highlights for January & February 2012

Thursday, 12 January 2012 18:47 1 Comment

We began the year with an opposition between Jupiter and Saturn that will last until mid February. Saturn represents the structure, stability and groundedness in our lives, what we’re working diligently on to create in the material world. It also may signal a time to look at where we feel blocked and challenged by the various brick walls of reality, sometimes leading to a feeling of discouragement or depression. Jupiter represents hope and optimism, an inner sense we can expand and accomplish anything in alignment with our beliefs. So this tension between the possibilities of who we are and the apparent limitations of the world sets the entry level stage of 2012. On January 1st significant planets are talking to Saturn (connected by aspect: Pluto & Sun by quintile, a creative vibration between the structuring principle and transformation and identity, Neptune by trine (flow between structure and higher love), Uranus by quincunx (hard to find a connection between the structure and the need for freedom and enlightenment), and of course that opposition to Jupiter.

Meanwhile Pluto is in Capricorn, continuing our ongoing saga of transformation of all structures. You might see how the opposition of Saturn to Jupiter is related. We have to transform the parts of our lives, and our world, that are no longer sufficient to hold a container for our expanded beliefs. As Neptune enters the sign of Pisces on February 3rd to stay until around 2026, we will be infused with a greater level of heart and spirit than we can probably imagine, although if we were paying attention last year between April and August we had a taste of this genuinely compassionate, intuitive, spirit infused field of consciousness that holds a good part of the key to our world’s transition. On the shadow side, we must be mindful of addictive and mind numbing activities. We are called to surrender to that we cannot control, each of us a conduit for unconditional love and compassion.

I’ve been feeling an interesting window of time between the full Moon we just had on January 8th and the new Moon on January 22nd. It feels like we’re still working with the energies to release old patterns during this time, and not ready for a real new year’s start until the new moon in Aquarius on Sunday the 22nd of January. This is a great time to get your life in order and slowly put your new year’s plans into effect. Yet, right with that new moon, Mars will go retrograde on January 23rd at 23 degrees of Virgo. The action planet in the sign of diligent work indicates there’s still more to review. Between this retrograde of initiating force and a Saturn retrograde beginning February 7th, we may feel like our plans are not generating the results we’re hoping for. The answer is to be patient, do the work, be conscientious about the details, and take the long term view during this period of time that lasts until April 13 (Mars direct) and June 24 (Saturn direct). It’s not that nothing happens in a retrograde period, it’s that there’s a great deal of internal work to do and the energies we are cultivating now will often pay off later.

The natural rhythm of things:
START ON NEW MOONS / COMPLETE ON FULL MOONS
January Full Moon: January 8 @ 11:30 pm PST: 19 degrees Cancer
January New Moon: January 22 @ 11:40 pm: 3 degrees Aquarius
February Full Moon: February 7 @ 1:54 pm PST: 19 degrees Leo
February New Moon: February 21 @ 2:34 pm PST: 3 degrees Pisces

Mercury Retrogrades – the year of the Action/Emotional (Fire & Water Sign) review
March 11 to April 4 – 7 degrees Aries back to 24 Pisces
July 14 to August 7 – 13 degrees Leo back to 2 degrees Leo
November 6 to November 25 – 5 degrees Sagittarius back to 19 degrees Scorpio

A New Moon Extravaganza!

Tuesday, 27 September 2011 05:24 2 Comments

I love new Moons. Just the thought that we get a chance to start again every month in alignment with the Sun and Moon, the energies of yin and yang shining on us together, makes me smile. Of course, every day is an opportunity to start anew, but new Moons have been an event for as long as we could see the sky.

This new Moon is exactly at 4 degrees of Libra, the sign of relationship, balance and beauty. Mercury, the energy of communication, is right there at 3 degrees while Venus and Saturn sit off to the side in Libra as well. Venus is THE planet of relationship while Saturn represents accomplishing goals through hard work and discipline. This whole stellium is opposing the revolutionary energies of Uranus and in a challenging square to transformative Pluto. A very powerful dynamic, mimicking the radical energy set in motion in the summer of 2009.

Additionally we will remember that we had several eclipses at the beginning of this summer. The July 1st eclipse was at 9 degrees of Cancer (rounding out the t-square to a full, four legged table if we imagine its energy still vibrating) and this eclipse is coming to fruition now. So we have a transformative new start on top of the eclipse initiating energies, like a giant wave coming in on top of a previous giant wave.

Whatever you’ve been thinking about changing, it’s about to change! That’s the bottom line. Relationships, where you live, your work, the possibilities are endless. You know your choices, you’ve probably been weighing and balancing several dilemmas. Change can be challenging; we all like the comfort of familiarity, and the world has been feeling rather shaky lately.

Mars, the planet of action aligns with the key players of this transformative square adding even more energy to the mix. Mars says be bold and brave, feel your courage. I’ve got your back. Or, if you won’t jump, I’ll push you!

In a more metaphysical realm, I’ve noticed the energies of manifestation have been increasing another notch lately as well. Focus on what you believe to be your highest vision, your bravest role, your ideal model. Allow the Universe to surprise you with an outcome even better than you imagined. This is a time to get out of the way of the details, releasing anxiety and stress.

It’s birth time for our projects, dreams and relationship visions. Change is good.

Here comes another Obama

Wednesday, 14 September 2011 21:33 2 Comments

I was reading a progressive blog the other day where they were complaining that Obama was not really a good leader, doing too little too late, and prone to go into negotiations and immediately take the other person’s side, giving away too much. As he sees all sides of an issue and calmly discusses issues in a detached and bi-partisan way, he has lost some support from many who hoped for more change in this first four years.

Why that sounds just like me! I thought to myself. I don’t study his chart all of the time or know it well, but I knew he’s a Leo with Aquarius rising and the south Node of the Moon in Aquarius also. This gives him a polarity that is likely to shift from detached and truly humanitarian, believing in bi-partisanship and equality — to a charismatic and more eloquent approach to life and politics, perhaps even leaning to elitism. We’ve seen both sides clearly. But why the appearance of being permeable to others and giving away the negotiations?

The progressed Moon gave me an answer. Progressions show our slow deep development as souls through an incarnation, and even beyond. The progressed Moon sign changes roughly every two and a half years, just as the actual Moon sign changes every two and a half days. During the election in 2008, Obama’s progressed Moon was in the sign of Aquarius, a comfortable sign for him that allowed him to exude his higher consciousness and calling to the public. And remember how much he seemed to be accomplishing in the first months, jumping in rapidly to many issues. Then in October 2009, barely getting into the swing of things, the progressed Moon changed signs into Pisces …and in the first house of the persona, where he approaches life through the veil of this new lens until this coming October, a fairly fast progression. In fact on October 9th around 6 am he’s likely going to wake up from a bad dream where he realizes he’s been trying to run a country from the midst of a mystical fog, deception all around him.

Ah Pisces! I have a lot of it and I love it in others, but I wouldn’t want to be running a country with this kind of permeable, intuitive, soft, compassionate love vibe. How can you make a decision when you see the higher vision of everything and everyone? And negotiations? Forget it. My cat has more negotiating savvy than I do.

No matter what your politics are, strong leadership of a country is beneficial. I feel we can expect to see a more fiery, aggressive leadership style emerge in Obama in October when he enters a two and one half period of the progressed Moon in Aries. Courage, drive, assertiveness, anger and the ability to champion causes are all hallmarks of Aries energy. These will be beneficial balancing traits to the detachment of Aquarius and will flow a fire vibration to the mission path of Leo. And in early 2012 as his progressed Moon connects with the radical unpredictable energy of Uranus, we can’t really predict what will happen, except to say the political energy of 2012 is guaranteed to be an amazing show!

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