The astrology of Kristen Stewart’s latest act

July 31, 2012 By

The beautiful and talentedKristen Stewart young actress Kristen Stewart has been in the news lately after being photographed in an intimate embrace with the married director of her latest film, Rupert Sanders, who is 41.  Kristen’s romance with her Twilight costar Robert Pattinson has been the talk of the tabloids for years has appeared to be one of the steadiest in the young Hollywood set.  However, a purported affair with Rupert Sanders has apparently ended her relationship and put her in the limelight, a place she intensely detests.

Kristen Stewart (see chart here) was born with the Sun in independent Aries, but according to Astrotheme’s chart data she has the emotional sign of Cancer on the ascendant (rising).  Individuals with Cancer rising tend to be extremely self-protective and vulnerable, which sets up a bit of conflict with her adventurous and fiery Aries Sun.  To complicate matters, she has Saturn, the planet of self-doubt and hard work, in a challenging square to her Sun which makes her a hard worker and dedicated to career, but it also suggests that she puts herself under a great deal of pressure from which that Aries Sun must get some relief.

Her Moon (emotional security and safety) is in Libra, giving her a yearning for peace and harmony and a safe connection with others, but Saturn is also in a challenging aspect to the Moon which adds to the pressure of Saturn.

Neptune, planet of creativity and spirituality but also deception and confusion, is tied in with both the Sun and Moon as well.  This is a difficult aspect that makes for an excellent actor because of the shapeshifting quality of Neptune, but it is challenging in a young person who is trying to find out who she is. The square of Neptune to the Moon makes it more difficult for others to see you as you are, as I wrote in this earlier post.

The age of 21 is a challenging one astrologically – competing cycles of Saturn (conformity, maturity) and Uranus (rebellion, change) apply tremendous pressure to follow the rules and make something of yourself (Saturn), but also to find your own way and destroy the status quo of your life (Uranus).  Kristen has achieved great success already in her short lifetime, but she is only 21.  At a time when other young people are exploring a variety of relationships and lifestyles, Kristen has been acting since she was eight years old and has filmed eight movies in the past three years.  That is an incredibly Saturnian lifestyle.

Kristen has been under a Saturn transit that began last fall and was at its most intense between May and July.  It’s impossible to say what might have been going on in her personal life because she IS so intensely private, but I would guess that it was during this time that   the pressure began to be unbearable.  At the same time, transiting Uranus was beginning to apply its own pressure to her chart, instigating the restlessness and desire for experimentation that typically comes with a Uranus cycle.

For all the tabloid hysteria over an “affair,” the only evidence that has surfaced are of Kristen and Sanders kissing on July 17th.  An early report that the director’s brother-in-law suggested the “affair” began last year was quickly shot down.  I would be surprised if this whole event was more than, as Kristen herself said, a “momentary indiscretion.”

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“Confessions of a horoscope writer” and why I’m not one

July 24, 2012 By

horoscopesSomeone posted this article on our astroblogger Facebook group:

Until recently, I had a dirty little secret. I write horoscopes. Or at least, I used to. Now it’s not such a dirty little secret because a) I’ve just told you and b) there aren’t that many horoscope clients left in my portfolio any more, anyway. But back in the day – oh yes. I was the BBC Slink teen astrologer for 13 years until the site closed last year and provided daily teen horoscopes throughout that time. …

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You might think that this was a track record to be proud of. My husband, bless him, certainly thought so and would waste no time in telling people proudly about my various clients while I smiled through gritted teeth and quickly changed the subject. I wasn’t particularly proud; not ashamed either, exactly, but, well, embarrassed. You see, as a professional astrologer. I know better than anyone that sun sign horoscopes are by their very nature generalisations at best and at worst a load of tosh. Telling someone that I was writing them made it sound as though I – and worse, every other member of my profession – truly believed that all Scorpios were going to win the lottery on Thursday, but not before their Leo partners had ditched them for the next door neighbour and run off to start a new life on the Costa del Sol. Bracing myself for the “but you don’t actually believe all that stuff, do you?” question, it was easier to just move off the subject than try to defend *real* astrology and point out that I was just writing horoscopes because it paid well.

The word “horoscope” has come to mean those sun sign columns you get in your local newspaper or magazine, but its true meaning is the actual diagram of the planets at a given time and place.

There’s no doubt that horoscope writers have the potential for great fame – Steven Forrest is one of the greatest astrologers of our time, but it was his stint as horoscope writer at Elle Magazine that brought him into the limelight. Michael Lutin is well known among astrologers, but he too became more widely known when his “horoscopes” were carried by Vanity Fair and Huffington Post. In the UK Jonathan Cainer has achieved great fame through his “horoscopes” in a variety of major publications. And let’s not forget Rob Breszny, whose entertaining Free Will Astrology columns are syndicated worldwide.

Astrobloggers report that when they started carrying sun sign “horoscopes” their traffic shot up. And frankly, most people become interested in astrology through learning about their sun signs. Still “horoscope” writers admit that the practice is more art than astrology. Rick Levine of tarot.com, one of the most brilliant “horoscope” writers, has said in interviews that writing daily horoscopes is mostly poetry with a bit of astrology thrown in.

Over the years I have had offers to write sun sign columns, all of which I have declined. I suppose I am fortunate that I have another career so that I don’t need the money badly enough to sacrifice my principles. My main objection to these things is that while they are entertaining, they really have nothing to do with astrology. Yet the publications in which they appear carry no disclaimers, and no information that would draw readers to learn more.

We are fortunate that the internet gives anyone the opportunity to share their own astrological views with the world. As I write this our astrobloggers group has 172 members, all of whom can put their work out there for the international public to find and enjoy.

There’s also plenty of astrological nonsense out there that isn’t limited to sun sign columns, such as this new publication from Topix. In this magazine you can learn how astrologers analyzed birthcharts to “predict the future and Expose the Secrets they live with.” You can see which of the Real Housewives is headed to the poorhouse, and whether certain celebrities had a choice whether or not to get plastic surgery. (I snagged the photo from Jeffrey’s review.)

To put a positive spin on this, the magazine did use real natal charts and not just sun sign astrology in their articles, according to Jeffrey. And if it encourages more readers to inquire into the more serious aspects of astrology and the gifts and magic that it offers, I suppose that’s not a bad thing.

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A bit of perspective: Our planet, from space

July 24, 2012 By

This is an incredible little movie assembled by Knate Myers showing the earth from space, including auroras, city lights, storms, stars, sunsets, the Milky Way, and an incredible sunrise.

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Filed Under: Astronomy

The astrology of the Aurora shooting

July 20, 2012 By

Aurora shooting astrology I have been out of town at a music camp this week, blissfully unaware of the news until someone told me tonight about the horrific shooting in a movie theater in Aurora Colorado in which apparently 15 people watching the Batman film have been killed and over 50 others injured by a 24 year old neuroscientist in a Joker costume.  You can read about the details in various news sources; my interest is in the astrology of the shooter and the timing of the event during an astrological period that as I said before is one of the most intense weeks of the summer.

A suspect has been named in the shooting, James Eagen Holmes, and Wikipedia kindly provided a birthdate of December 13, 1987.  One would not usually conflate the Sun in Sagittarius, generally an easygoing and optimistic sign, with such an egregious act but Holmes’s chart is filled with challenge.

That Sagittarius Sun is conjunct both Saturn and Uranus which bestows a conflicting set of values.  Saturn conjunct the Sun demands perfection and a high level of achievement, order and structure, yet Uranus on the Sun inspires revolutionary behavior and a desire to react from the status quo.  That triple conjunction (Sun/Saturn/Uranus) is opposed by Chiron, demonstrating a wounded soul (Chiron/Sun) with the life challenge of deep soul surgery to resolve these wounds (Chiron/Saturn) and a highly sensitive energetic system with the potential to create anxiety and a great deal of inner pressure (Chiron/Uranus).

In addition, the Moon is in Virgo which suggests an inner critic and a high need for security.  In the chart the Moon acts as a fulcrum point between the two ends of the opposition, and forms a square to Chiron (painful emotional experiences) and to the Sun/Saturn/Uranus opposition (isolation and loneliness).

To make things even more complicated, Mars is in the intensely emotional sign of Scorpio, and it conjoins Pluto there.  Mars is aggression and desire, and in a conjunction to Pluto there is nearly always some sort of violence, emotional or physical, in childhood.  This is a placement that signifies great personal power, but it can be badly misused as well.

This is a very difficult chart to navigate with any degree of success, and it takes a great deal of self-awareness and personal inquiry.  Obviously many people have this same chart and don’t go out and commit mass murder.  But we CAN see in this chart the potential for violence if the deep emotional wounds are not resolved in some kind of positive way.

Releasing this kind of violent film in this kind of astrological intensity may not have been the smartest idea.  For a young man such as this one, with underlying issues of rage and abuse, it might have been just the thing to trigger an eruption of the inner wound into the world in which we all live.

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To get the right answers, ask the right questions

July 19, 2012 By

I did a reading for a lovely woman the other day.  For years she has been working on her own personal transformation and learning techniques to help other people to evolve and connect with their own divine power within them.  When she talked about the work that she was doing and her excitement about shifting her work life into more transformative work like this her entire face lit up and it was clear that this was her soul work.

Still, she lacks confidence and is afraid to take those steps to move forward and make this shift and the other changes in her life that are necessary to make this happen.  She told me, “I pray about it every day.”   In her prayers she has been asking “why am I still stuck, what is keeping me from moving forward.”

Tony Robbins was a guru of mine as many of you know, and one of the most important lessons he teaches is that to get the right answers you have to ask the right questions.  If your questions run along the lines of “why am I always so stupid,” you will tend to reinforce the feeling stupidity because you will have an answer for why you continue to make the wrong choices.  A better question would be “What do I need to change so that I can make better and more intelligent choices.”

I suggested to my client last week that she change her prayer and instead of asking for reasons why she is stuck, to instead ask for clarity around the next step that needs to happen in order for her to move forward into her dream.

So if you’re feeling stuck and looking for the key to open the door to your own magical transformation, take a closer look at the questions you are asking.  By harnessing the power of language, we can shift our beliefs in what is possible, and open our awareness to  the unexpected.  And in that opening, the real questions, those that lie beneath the assumptions, can be answered.

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New Moon in Cancer, July 18/19th 2012. Prepare to be revealed!

July 17, 2012 By

Cancer new moon 2012 We have had a couple of intense weeks between the square between Uranus and Pluto (discussed in numerous places on this blog) and a strong influence of Mars setting off a series of planets over the past week or so.

This intensity is embedded in the chart of the New Moon in Cancer on the 19th (18th in any time zone west of Eastern time). The New Moon offers an opportunity to wipe the slate clean and begin anew, and in Cancer we find ourselves discovering emotional depth that we may have ignored in the past. Cancer rules the inner world – our feelings, our desire to nurture and be cared for, our tribal identifications such as to family or country.

The Cancerian New Moon is extra sensitive, and with Mars in an awkward in conjunct to Chiron during the New Moon this may not be the most comfortable time emotionally. Feelings are being elicited from us that may leave us feeling exposed and raw (Mars), but it’s all part of the energetic shift that is helping us to release some of the emotional sheathing that is no longer needed and which may be holding us back from the kind of energetic transformation that is occurring now.

Saturn is challenging the New Moon, so some kind of focused plan or effort will be required to navigate this lunation (lunar event). Honoring this time of sacred new beginnings by creating a solid intention will help to integrate Saturn in a way that is useful and beneficial, especially since Jupiter embraces us with positive energy at the New Moon.

Meanwhile a beneficial aspect from Jupiter to Uranus helps us to gain greater understanding at the higher level, and a pleasant trine from Mars to Jupiter gives us the confidence and enthusiasm we need to embrace these changes and look forward to the positive effects they will bring.

A challenging square from Jupiter to Chiron is just beginning to make itself known at the New Moon but will culminate on the 24th. For a week or so before and a few days after that date we may feel particularly sensitive as the urge for freedom (Jupiter) rushes to heal old wounds (Chiron) perhaps a bit before we feel we are ready. Jupiter opens the doors to liberation, so while this heightened sensitivity isn’t comfortable, it can be the key to personal freedom.

New Moons are times to create something new, so look inside your life to see where a fresh new beginning is ready to make itself known.

For more planetary news visit my Facebook and Twitter pages.

 

Image credit: beawolf / 123RF Stock Photo

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Planetary news this week: expect intensity

July 16, 2012 By

Storm Brewing by  Mikey Studios.  Rebellious Uranus in a challenging square to intensely transformational Pluto. Mercury and Uranus, the two planets of the mind, have just turned retrograde.  A coronal mass ejection from the Sun has hit the Earth’s magnetic field, causing alterations to the Earth’s magnetosphere and a spike in the planetary K index of geomagnetic activity (to a 6 at the time of this writing).

But wait, there’s more!

Jupiter is moving into an awkward aspect (quincunx) to Pluto this week.  This  is not a major aspect but can create some problems in light of all of these other dynamics occurring at the same time. Jupiter seeks expansion with confidence and a relentless optimism that can defy reality, and under this aspect Pluto will attempt to put a kibosh on any grandiosity that has no basis in reality and is likely to fail anyway.

This aspect culminates on the 18th, but meanwhile Mars will set off the awkwardness of this dynamic with several different interactions: a harmonious trine to Jupiter, enhancing the expansive desire to shake off any restrictions, a challenging square to Pluto – a defiant aspect that virtually ensures a major eruption of some kind, and a tense opposition to Uranus which radicalizes the experience and suggests a shocking shift of some kind which provides an outlet for the intense energy of this alignment.

Mars moves relatively quickly and its effects don’t last long, but it can serve as a trigger for greater and more powerful cycles.  With Uranus and Pluto moving towards another alignment this fall, the Mars influence is nothing to sneeze at.  Mars brings its aggressive urge and ramps up the energy, which we can utilize in our own lives if we channel it constructively through physical activity and other assertive activities.

The week of these dynamics, between the 14th and the New Moon on the 19th, are some of the most intense days of the summer. You can prepare by releasing your attachment to anything you think you know or your ideas of how things ought to be. This will help you to burn through any blocks and issues that are holding you back, and then this can be an exhilarating time of personal transformation.

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Sunday inspiration from the readers: Trust the planets, don’t blame them

July 15, 2012 By

Some comments I made on my Facebook page in response to a lot of complaining on the page about Mercury and Uranus turning retrograde elicited lots of great comments that I wanted to share with you.  I posted this:

Friends, I feel moved to talk about something. It’s tempting when we are in a difficult planetary time like this to develop a belief that the planets are causing the problems we may be experiencing in our lives.

 

Planets don’t cause problems but because they act as teachers, they reveal problems. Then it’s up to us to fix the problems. This is where free will comes in. So in discussions here perhaps it would be helpful to reframe the way we look at things: instead of saying, say, “I hate Mercury retrograde” instead let’s think about how we can use this time productively. How can we learn patience. How can we learn what is really important.

Here is a collection of wisdom posted by readers on the page:

  • learn how to use what you are given – there are always advantages to the influences – warnings are there to help us make smarter decisions not to block us
  • It is the difference between merely having a flashlight or lighting up the whole room..I agree that these problems already existed and the lights (flood lights) in some cases are revealing the Plain Ole truth! I know I am seeing people and situations for what they truly are rather than what I wish them to be!
  • Yes! Again the impetus to blame, point fingers, doesn’t usual bring us answers and pushes the lesson away from our self. It is our consciousness evolving in the lesson our great planetary Devas bring us!
  • it’s like when we hear it’s going to rain, we are thankful that the plants will be watered and then we get out our umbrellas and carry on…..
  • When time schedules, motor vehicles, and electronic devices go kaflooie during Mercury Rx, I try to remember that Spirit is reminding me to slow down, stay put, and unplug. Often, there’s a message that wants manifest but can’t barge through my connections to everything except that which is most important.
  •  I think of Merc Rx as being like a hurricane. We know well ahead of time that it is coming so we can prepare for it and behave accordingly when it is here. It may hit us with a vengeance or barely ruffle a feather. If we forge forward with the same behaviors we are used to it’s more likely we’ll run into the storm or others who have no clue about what is happening. But cursing the storm never makes it go away. I find it an interesting time to watch the energies at play. Cars break down, accidents, computer crashes, strange communications, broken appointments. I also really have to watch out for other drivers or I’m likely to get run over. Be safe everyone!
  • I love what is happening this year astrologically speaking, it’s so empowering and certainly pushes us past comfort zones into a new space is grace, truth and awareness. Thankyou for making this point as I too encounter many who blame planets for their experiences… they are giving us amazing opportunities to BE who we truly are…..
  • Having analysed my own transits of 50+ years and observing people and events under transits for the last 5 years I can say that every energy and every constellation is potentially useful and good. People who have a lot of inward or outward pressure might break or are exposed, others who have a victim mentality or live in a dependent state might drown under some skies but this is all the more just a sign of imbalance and a warning. Whether someone knows abt Astrology or not – the results are the same. Knowing abt it adds the possibility and challenge to prepare for and use the energy that’s availabe. It all boils down to living a balanced life free from illusions, lies and secrets – whoever aims for this will always find support in the sky.
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Mercury and Uranus turn retrograde in tandem

July 13, 2012 By

Uranus retrogradeYou might want to read about the concept of “higher octave planets” if you missed that post before reading this one.

Uranus will turn retrograde early in the morning on the 14th EDT (late morning GMT) and Mercury will turn retrograde late in the evening EDT on the 15th (early morning on the 16th GMT).

Planets of course don’t really change direction, but astrology is person-centered. We are the center of our own universe, and that is how we observe the planets astrologically.  Sometimes the movement of the planets appears to retrograde from our perspective on earth, and during those times the operation of those planets functions differently, and usually in a more inward than outward fashion.

The outer planets are retrograde for about six months out of every year, and Mercury is retrograde for three weeks four times a year, so these events are not uncommon.  Still, they tend to arrive with a lot of weeping and moaning from the astrocommunity.

While it’s true that Mercury retrograde periods can be challenging for planning a trip, coordinating meetings, all kinds of communication equipment including email and voicemail, they are also valuable times to rethink any areas of life where additional processing is required.  Mercury rules the mind and the mental functioning as well as the transmission of information.  Mercury is involved in the learning process, as well as the method through which we communicate our understanding and in retrograde motion our knowledge and awareness of the interconnections in our universe can deepen past the superficial.

As the higher octave of Mercury, Uranus elevate the workings of the mind to a superconscious state.  The flashes of insight that come from scientific discovery or personal intuition – those moments of “Eureka” and “Aha” in which we suddenly are aware of a reality that is so absolutely true and certain, yet which has no basis in our previous awareness – this is Uranus at work.

As has been said over and over in this column, and will continue to be repeated for the next three years, Uranus and Pluto are locked in a challenging square at the moment.  The retrograde turn of Uranus during this cycle brings Uranus back towards the exact angle to Pluto that will continue to create more upheaval and release as the revolution, both internal and external, continues.

Ouranos was the sky god – from his viewpoint in the sky he could see all, and know all.  Thus the Uranian archetype expands Mercury and takes our ability to witness and observe to a higher level.  Under the Uranus influence we have a greater perspective and an ability to see the larger picture.

With both Mercury and Uranus turning retrograde within a day of each other, there is a powerful focus now on the way in which we translate what we see in the world into an understanding of it.  Any place in which we are blinded by emotion or a lack of reason will be highlighted now.

When Uranus is retrograde we tend to look more closely at areas of our life that need change.  When we’re in a time of great change such as we’re in right now, this can be enervating and inspiring.  It can also be somewhat terrifying if we stare too long into the abyss.  There is a lot of mind and mental activity right now, so any activity you can do to offset that headiness (yoga, swimming, meditation) will be very helpful.

 

 

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Musings on “higher octave” planets

July 11, 2012 By

higher octave planetsby Lynn Hayes

Mercury and Uranus both turn retrograde next week so I thought it might be a good idea to begin with a discussion of the concept of “higher octave” planets since Uranus is known as the higher octave of Mercury, and that is important to understand when looking at their tandem retrogradation this month.

The personal planets, representing aspects of personality, are the planets that are visible in the sky.  Saturn forms a natural boundary to the personal planets, which is in itself an interesting symbology since Saturn rules boundaries and limits, as well as the practical material world.  The outer planets (Uranus, Neptune and Pluto) represent transformational forces – they transpersonalize our experiences and bring us into a greater connection with the Universal laws of spirit and metaphysics.

The outer planets most commonly thought of as “higher octave” planets are Uranus, Neptune and Pluto.  These transformational planets are associated with the three planets closest to the Sun: Mercury (associated with Uranus), Venus (associated with Neptune) and Pluto (associated with Mars).  Where Mercury represents the mind and personal awareness, Uranus expands that awareness to a broader consciousness of Universal Mind.  Where Venus represents love and personal relationships, Neptune inspires us to open our hearts to Divine Love and a relationship with the Universe itself.  Where Mars represents our personal will and desires, Pluto represents the will of the higher self –   urging us to drop any pretense of limitation and evolve into our most empowered Self.

In this model, the principle of Saturn stands at the guardian of the gates and in order to elevate from the lower octave to the higher, the boundaries of the material world (Saturn) must be transcended.

In my view Ceres, the long-suffering female goddess who was relegated to asteroid status until she was suddenly reclassified with Pluto as a transformational force back in 2006, is the higher octave of the Moon.  Ceres relates to nourishment of the body but also the soul in its focus on our connection to Gaia, the earth, elevating the nurturing of the emotional realm that the Moon oversees.

Chiron, the Soul Healer, serves as a bridge between the personal and the transpersonal.  It is a maverick in the solar system – neither planet nor comet nor asteroid, it is a unique body that has a uniquely original place in the astrological pantheon.  Chiron induces the healing crises that help to move us through our incarnation and heal the wounds of the past that create blockages in the bodymind spirit system.  Chiron inspires transformation, but is not itself tied to any other transformational force.

Mercury and Uranus will turn retrograde at the same time this month, and tomorrow we will discuss the implications of that event.

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