Monthly Archives: April 2010

Chiron in Pisces: The bliss of healing

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Chiron in PiscesChiron moves into the sign of Pisces today.  Chiron is an interesting planetary body whose orbit lies in the Kuiper belt.  But just as Chiron was not an ordinary Centaur even though he was half horse and half man, Chiron is not just an ordinary KBO (Kuiper Belt Object).  For more information on the planetary properties of Chiron visit this earlier article, and here you’ll find more information on the astrological Chiron.

Today Chiron leaves Aquarius for the sign of Pisces.  In its role as the Wounded Healer, Chiron shows where are deepest wounds lie, and where we will find the keys to healing.  A soul that has experienced the intensity of experience in emotional or physical pain has an opportunity to gain greater wisdom and a depth of consciousness and awareness by delving deep into the wound that is not available without these experiences.

Chiron is the guide on this journey, giving us the courage to open our hearts despite the fear and pain that may make this process excrutiatingly difficult in some cases.

While Chiron was in Aquarius from 2005 until next year (Chiron will retrograde back into Aquarius in July to complete the process) we have seen the ways in which technology, one of the domains of Aquarius, has created wounds and intensified experiences of loneliness and isolation in the midst of 1,000 Facebook friends.  Aquarius, with its double rulership of Saturn (rules and isolation) and Uranus (the collective) has a tendency to become somewhat disconnected from the heart and soul, living primarily in the head and the realm of thoughts and ideas.

The period of Chiron traveling through Aquarius completes itself with an opposition between those two planets (Saturn and Uranus), intensifying the stress between the solid forms that hold society together (Saturn) and the revolutionary new ideas that bring about change (Uranus).  Under this influence we have seen both an obsessive need to change the status quo, and a fear of change that results in violent backlash.

Pisces is the last sign of the zodiac, and it represents a completion of sorts.  In Pisces, everything is thrown into the “celestial dustbin,” as Liz Greene says, and we surrender to the mists of an experience that dissolves both Saturnian and Uranian reality into something more transcendent and, ideally, more pure.

Under the Pisces influence we often throw ourselves to the winds, eagerly willing to sacrifice our individual pain for the bliss of Universal consciousness.  This urge for self-sacrifice can, at its worst, exalt the concept of martyrdom and convert it to victimhood.  The challenge is to find the rapture of transcendence and surrender without losing ourselves in the process.

Chiron was last in Pisces from 1962-1968, and it’s impossible to separate the effects of this planetary cycle from the conjunction of Uranus and Pluto which occurred during the same time period.  But we can certainly see how the growing drug culture at that time (Chiron in Pisces)  affected the social transformation of the era (Uranus/Pluto).   Chiron in Pisces runs the risk of addictive behavior which may appear as a shortcut to the desired transcendent experience that helps to dissolve pain and sufering.

With Chiron in Pisces for the next nine years or so, the last stage of healing occurs at the soul level.  This process began last year with the conjunction of Chiron and Neptune, the ruler of Pisces.  Under this combination many of us were intensely aware of the longings of the soul within.  Memories of past loves; mourning for those we’ve lost — all took on a more profound meaning as the doorway to the soul opened under Neptune’s guidance so that the healing of Chiron could begin to do its work.

The Chironic healing process involves going back to the core wounds and exposing them to the air so that they can become healed.  It’s not an easy process and requires a fair amount of courage, but when the healing is complete we gain a level of wisdom and cellular integration that is not otherwise possible.

While Chiron travels through Pisces there is a danger of falling into Piscean illusion which we often attempt as a shortcut on the way to spiritual bliss.  Because of the tendency of Pisces to seek martyrdom and sacrifice, there is the danger of becoming lost IN the pain during the Chironic healing process rather than going THROUGH the pain as required.

The Neptunian influence of Pisces tends to blur the boundaries of our relationships with others, so another danger of Chiron’s trip through Pisces is that of a codependent process of healing others rather than ourselves.  Chiron represents the wound that we carry with us throughout our life – it never leaves us, which makes it tempting to try to heal the wounds of others instead.  This kind of transference is not only ineffective, it can be dangerous and pollutes our relationships while preventing the soul integration that is necessary for our own healing.

If we are careful not to get lost in the glamour that makes up the realm of Pisces and Neptune, there is tremendous potential during the Chiron trip through Pisces for a growing spiritual awareness and an integration of Universal consciousness into our own beings.  This is the process that will carry us through any stress that results in the Cardinal alignments coming up over the next three years.  As our world shifts and changes around us, Chiron continues to facilitate the growing conversation between our inner Selves and the person that we think we are, enhancing our own experience of wholeness and, ultimately, bliss.

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Sun in Taurus: Comfort comes first

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After a fiery month with a powerful Aries New Moon, the entry of the Sun into Taurus will provide a welcome opportunity to take a breath and relax.  Taurus seeks nothing more than peace and the opportunity to enjoy all of the gifts that life on Planet Earth has to offer.

Under the Taurus influence the chatter in the mind calms, and we find ourselves deeply experiencing the connection between our inner self and the physical body.  We are more conscious of security now, and less likely to allow ourselves to be caught up in the hysterical exuberance of the upcoming Jupiter/Uranus conjunction.  We may be more stubborn, but only because we know we’re right.  Our material security comes first, as long as we don’t have to give up our soft fabrics and delicious foods.

for daily planetary updates, visit my Facebook and Twitter pages.

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Saturn in Virgo: School lunches pose threat to national security

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school lunch threat to national securitySaturn moved into Libra last fall, but earlier in 2010 it changed direction and has now retrograded back into Virgo, the sign of health and the details of life that make up our material world on earth.

So it’s appropriate that a group of retired US military leaders are calling the poor quality of school lunches dangerous to national security because they have helped to increase the number of obese young Americans to the point where 27% of kids aged 17-24 are too overweight to join the military.

“[T]the group is urging Congress to eliminate junk food and high-calorie beverages from schools, put more money into the school lunch program and develop new strategies that help children develop healthier habits.”  It’s those strategies and habits that are governed by Virgo, but it took Saturn to bring in the military!

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Distrust in the US government deepens

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The first phase of the opposition between Saturn and the old order and Uranus bringing in the new swept in a wave of conflict between the desire to change the government and the desire to maintain the establishment and the status quo.   The fact that this cycle began on election day in the US added a particularly political flavor to the opposition.

Now, 18 months later, only 22% of the respondents to a recent survey conducted by the Pew Research Center trust the government all of the time.   This is still higher than the trust numbers during the end of the Bush administration, which had dipped to 20%.  But there has been a steady decline in trust in the government since the Eisenhower administration enjoyed a trust factor of over 70%.

With Pluto traversing through Capricorn, the sign of the structures that form the underpinnings of society, it’s not surprising that the fissures in these structures are beginning to show.  The Pew poll shows that government isn’t the only Capricornian structure that isn’t trusted; other institutions such as banks, large corporations and national media are also suffering from this lack of trust.

Again, this is to be expected under Pluto’s travels through Capricorn which follows on the heels of an expansive period since 1995 when an irrational exuberance gripped most facets of public life.  It was perceived that real estate prices and the stock market would continue to rise indefinitely.  It was thought that the US military could invade two countries and conduct indefinite wars on several fronts without having to pay for it.  Then suddenly in January of 2008, Pluto enters Capricorn and the cold reality that is Capricorn’s domain sets in.

Capricorn also rules the corporate structure, and because legislation in the US is now so strongly defined by the lobbying of corporations, I have long thought that there is no way the government and corporate world can be purified to serve the people unless the corrupt and rotted facets of this world collapses.

This phenomenon is not isolated to the United States, although the US seems to be the country suffering from the most widespread lack of trust (perhaps because of the double whammy of Saturn and Pluto whalloping the US Midheaven over the past two years).

Saturn and Uranus align in the fourth of five oppositions on April 28.  Don’t be surprised if tensions continue escalating over the next week.  This will lead up to a wildly revolutionary fervor as Jupiter and Uranus collide beginning in May, leading up to the major Cardinal event in June as the solar eclipse sets off the Cardinal alignment and begins the events that take us into the restructuring of the next few years.

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Mercury Retrograde show at Astro Musings Radio

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Tune in Sunday morning at 11 am EDT (3 pm GMT) for the Musings on Astrology Radio Show on Blog Talk Radio.  We’ll talk about how to best use this time, what to avoid, what you need to keep in mind.  You’ll also have time to call in with questions or mini readings, and the call-in number is 646-478-5731.  I like to start with first-time callers so everyone gets a chance, but then we’ll open up the phones if we run out of those.

To listen, click on the player below once the show starts or just go to the show page.  Once the show is over you can listen to the archives.  If you listen to the podcast on Itunes, I would really appreciate your leaving a review and rating the show!

For more information about the different ways to listen, and for archives of past shows, visit this link.

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Mercury retrograde! Tonight until May 11

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Mercury will turn retrograde on April 18th at 12:06 am EDT (4:06 am GMT).  Mercury, being the messenger god and the lord of communication, presides over all aspects of communication  including the mental processing of experiences.  Mercury also rules small machinery and short-distance travel.

The recent air traffic problems caused by the Iceland volcano is an example of Mercury Retrograde reversals.

When Mercury turns retrograde, as it does for three weeks four times a year, communication can sometimes become difficult, there are often travel glitches and snafus in contract negotiations.  This is not universally true, and we can go though entire Mercury retrograde periods with no problems.  But it’s useful to know when Mercury is retrograde so that you can be more careful with all matters regarding the transmission of information.  Put everything in writing, clarify everything two or three times so that there’s no confusion, and if confusion reigns anyway just laugh and say “Ha! Mercury is retrograde.”

Mercury is in stable and solid Taurus now, and the Taurus dislike of change could make the retrograde experience more uncomfortable.  During the retrograde cycle, through May 11, it will likely be necessary to go back and re-trace your steps, redoing any mistakes we have made.  Taurus prefers to be firmly rooted, moving neither forwards nor backwards.  This could create some inner conflict for us and make it more difficult to make needed transitions.

Because of the retrograde period, Mercury will remain in Taurus longer than usual making this a good time to become familiar with the pleasurable aspects of life in a body.  Delicious food, comfortable fabrics, the delight of a good hug – all of these things are highlighted for the next few months.  Under the Taurean influence we will be less inclined to chatter, particularly during the retrograde period.

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The astrology of the Iceland volcano

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astrology of iceland volcano

Plumes of volcanic ash

Beginning late in December, with Saturn and Pluto aligned in a tight challenging square formation,  seismic activity began to activate the Eyjafjallojokull volcano area.  The challenging square formation creates a buildup of energy that necessitates a release, often an explosion or crisis of some kind.  Obviously, the Saturn/Pluto square has not caused volcanic eruptions everywhere, but this is an interesting coincidence.

Pluto is the god of destruction and regeneration, and as it travels through the earthy sign of Capricorn I have long predicted an upsurge in volcanic and earthquake activity along with other earth changes, particularly next year when Uranus and Pluto begin to square off in a challenging battle.

This seismic activity gave rise to a number of small earthquakes beneath the volcano, and by late February GPS readings showed the earth had begun to quickly displace.  Between the 3rd and the 5th of March, close to 3,000 earthquakes were measured at the epicenter of the volcano (source:  Wikipedia).

The current volcanic eruption is thought to have begun around 11 pm local time on March 20.  At the time the Sun had just entered Aries and was opposed by Saturn, setting off the Saturn/Pluto square.  At the time of the eruption, Neptune was sitting right on the IC of the chart for the local area, suggesting the presence of the water element and the presence of fog or mist.

Shortly after this initial eruption, a flow meter device recorded a sudden and unprecedented rise in water level and water temperature.

On April 14th, at the time of the New Moon in the early degrees of Aries (fire and initiation), the volcano resumed its eruptions, causing flooding and the release of a large cloud of volcanic ash that closed the airspace in Iceland and Norway.  By April 15th most of the United Kingdom was also closed to air travel, and the large cloud of volcanic ash quickly spread to other parts of Europe.

A look at the geodetics of the situation provides a clue to the location of this event.  Geodetic astrology is the fascinating application of astrology to the geodetic map, beginning with the zero degree Aries point at the Greenwich meridian.  Using this system, the Midheaven line of Reyjkavic in Iceland is located at about 9 degrees of Aries, in a close aspect to both the Saturn/Pluto square and the Aries New Moon.

The other area of the world closely affected by these planetary alignments is Los Angeles and San Diego, with the Midheaven in the early degrees of Capricorn and the Ascendant in the early degrees of Aries.  This area also experienced heightened seismic activity recently.

And unrelated to the geodetics of the situation but corresponding to the Aries New Moon, a fireball blazed in the sky throughout the midwest states of the US on Wednesday night as the fiery Aries New Moon squared off against Pluto.

Update:  Jamie Funk kindly linked to this article and added an interesting fixed star connection:  ”The fixed star Scheat is 29pis31. The day of the last New Moon, Saturn was exactly opposite at 29vir31. This is important because Scheat has long been associated with catastrophic events. The influence of Scheat is gaining strength as Uranus is applying within one degree of this star, soon to be followed in conjunction with Jupiter. Aviation has been effected before when planets conjunct Scheat, as discussed in Jupiter Conjunct Uranus – Scheat 2010.”

Dharmaruci adds: Iceland has natal Saturn (its physical structure) at 29.39 Gemini. Uranus will exactly square this Saturn in a few weeks, and Jupiter a few weeks after that, so it would not surprise me if the current volcanic activity coninues, or even intensifies, over the next 6 weeks, or even through to next March, when Jupiter and Uranus make their final squares to the Icelandic Saturn.

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Low solar activity linked to cool UK winter

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Last year’s cold winter sparked a huge resurgence into the global warming debate.  If the earth is warming, why did we have a cold winter?

We’ve been in a “Solar Minimum” since about 2006, a long period with virtually no solar activity.  I’ve been writing about this for quite some time in these pages as you’ll see from these links.  Much of the hysteria over 2012 stems from the fact that we were due for a Solar Maximum period in 2012 which could create chaos in communication systems and electrical grids, but the extended minimum period, which ended just this year, suggests that we won’t hit the Solar Maximum period now until at least 2014.

Researchers in the UK have now identified a link between low sunspot activity and atmospheric conditions on Earth.  This year’s winter, according to Professor Mike Lockwood, was the coldest in 160 years.  He attributes the connection to a phenomenon called “blocking” which involvles the movement of the jet stream of the northern hemisphere.

“If you haven’t got blocking, then the jet stream brings the mild, wet westerly winds to give us the weather we are famous for.”

But, he added, if the jet stream is “blocked”, and pushed further northwards, then cold, dry winds from the east flow over Europe, resulting in a sharp fall in temperatures.

“This… ‘blocking’ does seem to be one of the things that can be modulated by solar activity,” he said.

Recent studies suggest that when solar activity is low, “blocking” events move eastwards from above north-eastern North America towards Europe, and become more stable.

A prolonged “blocking” during the most recent winter was responsible for the long spell of freezing conditions that gripped Europe.

Written observations from the period of the Maunder Minimum referred to the wind coming from the east during particularly cold winters, which strengthened the team’s “blocking” hypothesis.

The way in which solar activity affects the behaviour of blocking episodes is linked to the amount of ultraviolet (UV) emissions being produced by the Sun.

read more here…

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Aries New Moon today!

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The Aries New Moon on April 14th brings with it a tremendous amount of fresh new inspiration. Aries is the first sign of the zodiac and the sign that marks the beginning of Spring, and the New Moon is the beginning of the lunar cycle. So here we have the beginning of the solar cycle combining with the initiation of the lunar cycle and providing an opportunity for a fresh start.

Aries asks the question:  What is it that I need?  Who am I as an individual, apart from the trappings of ego and society’s opinions?  Where do I need to be courageous and take on something new?  These are the issues that are at the forefront now.

The New Moon contains the energy of the opposition between Saturn to Uranus, so while there is the inspiration for a new beginning, there is an inherent tension that requires us to look for a way to integrate and balance the old order (Saturn) with the new (Uranus).

This New Moon is in a nice sextile to Chiron and Neptune which will bring in the soulful (Neptune) healing (Chiron) energy of that conjunction to heal the past as we move forward into the future. However, a conjunction of Pluto to Ceres will uncover any deep grief or disconnect between the Soul and the Spirit, requiring a greater level of integration. Pluto will intensify the excitement of the New Moon and bring in a deeper sense of meaning and soul transformation.

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Pluto in Leo generation “beset by disabilities”

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baby boomer disabilities
The National Health Interview survey found that disabilities for people between the ages of 50 and 64 are on the rise, a statistic that contrasts with a decline in disabilities for people aged 65 and over.   The age group in trouble is the one that was born between 1945 and 1960 which corresponds to the Pluto in Leo generation.  (You can read more about that generation, also called “baby boomers,” here.

While the total number of adults reporting physical problems in this age group did not change significantly over the study period, there was a significant uptick in people reporting difficulties with specific mobility related functions, including walking a quarter-mile and climbing 10 steps.

There was also an increase in the number of people using special equipment to get around, such as a cane or wheelchair. In addition, more people reported needing help with daily personal care activities, such as getting out of bed and moving around the home.

read more here…

Specifically, the problems reported by boomers include back or neck problems, diabetes and depression, anxiety or emotional problems.  The Pluto in Leo generation is driven by ego concerns – Leo is the sign of the Self and the Ego, and Pluto brings a compulsive quality to the sign that has driven this generation to seek glorification in many ways.  This was the first generation to embrace exercise for its own sake and in order to stave off the signs of aging, and overexercise is a major cause of mobility distress.

This intense focus on the Self and the ego that Pluto in Leo demands can easily result in emotional issues – it will be interesting to see if this tendency towards depression and anxiety continues into the Pluto in Virgo generation which is more focused on service and improving the world they live in.

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