Full Hunter's Moon, shiver in the October air...

The events of the Aries Spring, called Arab Spring in the history of 2011, is now six months fermented, and a new long look is taking place. There is still one planet left in volatile and fiery Aries, the planet of modern times, the planet of revolution, and of the quantum leap. Uranus, 84 years to go once around the sun entered Aries this year, and it will stay for a total of seven years in that sign. What ho, the new beginnings, the revolutions, and for what? For the embodiment of the Aries icon, the right of an individual to be a free person, with self-determination, identity, and free will.
The other icon of Aries is the uprushing life that begins in nature every spring. The "new beginning" has begun, we cannot recognize the planet we once knew, the systems that once ruled, nor the uses of all the people we have created. What are we here for? Ah,the old question has a new urgency, because all the old reasons--left. And heat? Oh, yes we are feeling the Cardinal sign of Fire. Global warming will go the quantum leap in this next seven years.
Here in October, we are Libra, the balancing, considering connection. Now the Sun and Mercury, and Venus and Mars sit with ancient Saturn, all together in Libra, our view across the solar system to Uranus. Jupiter is relatively close to Uranus, and is the mighty beacon we see rise in the east each night, brilliant and huge. Jupiter serves as a reminder that we are being watched, that the eyes of the one behold the all. Today the all are contemplating the one.
Take for guidance the rules of the equinoctial signs. Equal days and equal nights, beginnings of spring meet the results of fall, the farmer goes to market, the plantings now are reaped; the weighing and the price are being set. All must reckon with the urge that started us upon our current path. It is our turn as Americans, to look with awe at what our compatriots have rebelled for, the rights they are demanding are not ours to own, rather ours not to relinquish.
Jupiter resides in Taurus, sign of gold and earthy worth. What a time to have money, there are so many valuable things to own right now, and at such bargains. Gold is not a good deal right now, buy land is, and consider land that supports life.
Look to the money patterns. Consider Bitcoin, a new invention in a time of change, all cyber money, and all online,with no banks, and no government behind it. As the financial pages state, money is basically trust. Do you trust land, or dollars, yen or euros? Interesting that the sign Taurus rules trust, and of course banks and money, gold and gems, art and everything valuable. But we have to trust the appraiser, that what is valuable, is. Jupiter in Taurus, go outside and look to the east after 7pm.

Summer Mercury Retrograde, change of seasons, change of information

Mercury, the messenger of the Gods, is ever our stopwatch, our minute hand on the great clocks of the year. Just past the New Moon of Leo, comes a retrograde of Mercury in Leo. The face is rearranging itself, the King is subdued, the royalty fades while taking some much-needed spa time. Summer is feeling as if it is ending even tho the temperatures are sizzling, and the gardens are gasping. Mercury always changes our conscious sense of time, and its three (sometimes four) retrogrades a year are always the moments when we admit to our own shift in the seasons. Summer would have lingered had the retrograde been in late September. By-the-way, these cycles of Mercury are precise. Every 88 days it makes one orbit around the Sun, and so, from our perspective, looks as if it is traveling backwards, retrograding, in relationship to our orbit around the sun.
So, what happens now? Chill. above all stop, look, and listen. This is the left brain taking over. This brain is the one that is inclusive, pondering, sifting and the one that governs the musing side of our lives. Abandon the deadlines, (they will abandon you, anyway) and begin to catch up with what you need to do. Really catch up. Go back over territory recently excavated, what did you miss in your frenzy? Something worthwhile, you will find. Oh, and finding things? Long lost friends, items, news, and ideas are all brushing off the dust of time, and saying something very, very interesting.
This past week Mercury has been slowing down, things are starting to meet with obstacles, a reminder that life is putting the brakes on, just for a moment, but a necessary one. On Wednesday August 3rd, near 4am GMT, Mercury will begin its actual backward motion. Through this whole time, be receptive, know that you are a pawn in a bigger game, a player who must react, as well as act out. Let things come to you,
be a magnet and expect to hear what you did not expect. That is Mercury's other trick, the unveiling of opposites, the other point of view, the other side.
Not a good time to buy electronics, or send out new communiques. Is a great time to relax, take things in stride, and open up to contemplation.
Nature does have down times, and plenty of opportunities during this phase to do much good, just don't be in a hurry.
For one fourth of humanity, born during Mercury's retrograde phase, you will have an open field, can get so much done, and lead the confused to glory. While everyone else is missing meetings, forgetting their keys, and losing the addresses, You are signing deals, and grabbing slipping treasures out of distracted hands.
Mercury is the planet of details, of small things. When small hints are given, great news can be comprehended, but pay attention and make sure all the facts are in before you leap. Mercury is the trickster, the thief, and the messenger, give those three factors time to make sense. It will take about three weeks. Chill.

Full Buck Moon, The Great Grand Square of Planets, Investing in Change

Do we all watch the solar system in our heads, seeing the bright yellow star in the middle and getting very emotional as the group of planets moves into startling formations? Well, I do. And to look with your cosmic eyes would be this month to behold a rare and perfect geometric wonder.
Great Saturn, wild and crazy Uranus, mighty Pluto and the Solar disc itself are in a Square, each occupying a corner of the Cardinal Cross. The cardinal signs are the season changers, Summer and winter solstices, Cancer and Capricorn, and Spring and Fall Equinoxes, Aries and Libra.
These are the signs of leaders, of initiatory action, and violent change.
So what is happening to the world? The old is breaking apart , while the new has not been born yet. We are thinking about the next world, our future incarnations, and where our money will be launching the the next necessities. Energy is the wild card, the place of daring, and the next great fortunes. Electricity is everything, and oil has about 16 years left. Seriously, Neptune in Pisces has 16 years, then watch out--personal rockets, at least!
The Full Buck Moon of July brings the Moon and Pluto into conjunction, the combination of the personal and the shattering of the atom. We are personally feeling this nuclear meltdown this month, and the Full Moon is putting us all out at high tide, with only one oar to navigate the whole ocean. So it feels like. Still, it is also a kindly kiss from the god of hell, reminding us that we are always a part of change, and will grow because of it. Such a kiss.
Life favors the entrepreneurial now, as the next-big-thing is already in the minds of its creators. The future is not waiting for us, it is just bursting the old walls, cracking through the seams of out of date formations. Change your thinking about what is next, there is no going back, it is time to remember the excitement of invention and how awed we become watching lift-off.

Neptune, planet of generations

Great Neptune is the planet of the God of the Sea, and is one of the great trio of the Gods of Sea, Sky, and the Nether worlds, namely Poisidon, Zeus, and Hades. (Neptune, Jupiter, and Pluto)
This is the planet that ushered in the Age of Romanticism when it was discovered in 1846, among the stars of the constellation Aquarius. Curiously, that was only one orbit of Neptune ago. Takes 164 years to orbit the sun. Astrologers give Neptune jurisdiction over chemistry, music, religion, dreams, intuition, and high romance. It rules the sign Pisces of the rivers, the waterfalls and the two fish swimming in opposite directions.
In life, Neptune is our planet of illusions, film, glamor, magic,escapism, and deception. It rules liquids of all kinds, especially in their chemical functions and transmutations into other states. Oil is ruled by Neptune, and should be short-listed as the investment of choice. We could hope for a revival of musical creativity that would echo the music of the 1840's, that of Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Chopin, and Brahms.
This period of time in philosophy was called the enlightenment, and yet much enslavement was also being promoted. Religion should be behaving very strongly through these next 16 years. Neptune is just exiting Aquarius, which has seen the rise of mega-churches, the loss of old traditions, and a great change in faith. What is next should be very, very intense.

The Worst of Times, and The Conceit of Facing The End of the World

"It is a form of vanity to imagine you are living in the worst of times--there have always been worse. In bad times and heavy seas, the natural fear is that things will get worse, and never better. It's a jolt to a Western, instinctively progressive mind, trained to think of history as ascendant--like the stock market, like housing prices--to find trends running in the other direction." Lance Morrow, from Smithsonian Magazine; June 2011 p 94.
These are not the worst of times. For instance, have we considered light, lately? Leave the city at night, go far into the country on a two lane road. Frighteningly, only your headlights penetrate a few yards ahead of you, and to the side...all the rest is pitch-black! The real nature of earth, is darkness. Well, we do have light, we have rescue teams, we have abundant, even if tainted, food and drink. We have too many of us, but at the same time, we no longer have conscription, or the rack. There is so much ease in our modern world, that our worst of times moments,like tornadoes and earthquakes, and lack of new industries, are so much more shocking because of all the comforts that we have made in our era. Who have we become, that we cannot make more? Or do it differently?
In all the yammering of the what-about-2012--there is nothing astrologically to show that anything will really be spectacular, will truly change, or will actually--end. Calendars cycle over and over, planets do too. Occasionally, they cluster all in one place, or scatter in random, or beautifully symmetrical patterns. The patterns are endless, yet don't end. They repeat. In takes thousands of years, or only six months for some of the repetitions, but they are there. So are we, repetitions and clusters and scatters. We cluster for common principles and goals, we scatter over the same things, but are we random? Do we, in fact, have value? or Values?
Coming out of the great Aries cluster of planets from the Spring of 2011, we enter a more random, typical phase in planets, where space is appearing between Venus and Mars, Jupiter and Uranus, the Sun and Moon. Those spaces are for breathing, observing, becoming calm after so much compressed energy. We can shake out our fears now, for a few months, as the buzzing of such proximity in protons releases its magnetic grasp; for isn't fear just pressure?
Where is life? Opportunity? Jobs?
The great conjunction was in the most eminently creative sign of the Zodiac.
The beginning one--only has one message--get going, move it out, start it up.
We missed the gold buying moments... that was when Saturn entered the sign of gold, in 2005! through 2007. Then, came the realization that we can't feed on gold, we have to make food. Saturn in the sign of agriculture, 2007-2009. And where are we now?
In relationship. Find your partners. Gold needs buyers, farmers need consumers, and all of us, must relate to each other. The Age of Aquarius is upon us,
not the worst of times, but a populous time. It will be ascending in order of friendliness. A friend for every whim, for every mood, for every dance. That is what too many people can bring.

New Moon in June, Solar Eclipse, Now you see the money, but again, you don't....

On the First day of June at the 17th hour (eastern) will be the Gemini New Moon. There is a partial solar eclipse seen only in Alaska and Northern Canada at this same time, lasting for a little over an hour. A month from now will be another solar eclipse, bringing up the fact that Sun, Moon and Earth have double the amount to chide each other for than usual. In my stormy part of the world (Southern Missouri!) we are certainly looking at signs and wonders of no mean might. Plagues of locusts, two cycles of 13 and 7 years meeting in one gigantic population of whirring huge winged insects, here in June.
Eclipses are equinoctial, they come in pairs,one of the sun, and one of the moon, occurring six months apart. In 2011, there are two pairs of pairs, which can be likened to concentric great cycles meeting in space. An eclipse of the Sun, like now, is a dimming of the ego, a retreat in domination, and can be seen as the elimination of a once visible leader. Personally, this can happen in a familial scale, or professionally in an authority situation. Nationally, this one will affect minor players on the world stage. (hint, eclipse over Alaska)
With Jupiter in Taurus, keep watch over money and valuables, they have great potential for increase right now, even in the face of sudden changes wrought by the eclipse cycles mentioned above. The requirement is a purge (tell that to Joplin)
not necessarily dire, but more like the gardener (Taurus) would do, turn the soil, rebuild it, and match the plants to the times. Here is where we mention the new-world-needs as far as goods, money, and sustainables go. Everything is changing. The old safety is not the next safety. What we require in our daily lives is as different from 10 years ago as the past 50 years have been from 100 years ago.
Eyes and minds must grasp a new need, feel a new community, one that is pulling to a different set of goods, desires and needs. Money is ripe when Jupiter cruises through Taurus. Ripe to invest, ripe to harvest, and ripe to preserve for a new season, a stormy enough summer.

Money for 2011; Jupiter moves into Taurus, Sign of the Bank.

Follow the Money.... so follow Jupiter. This magnificent planet has ushered us through real estate ups and downs, great openings of profit and great crashes of loss. But just as Jupiter cannot leave the solar system, neither can money ever leave the solar system. There will always be value, and there will always be motion as demand chases supply, and sellers track down buyers. Today, as we watch a world trying to pay for its natural disasters, and nations paying huge sums to destroy each other, a steadying force just might be at hand.
Like the sun, Jupiter burns eternal hydrogen, and like the sun, guides our cycles whether we know it or not. The Sun passes each month through each sign, but Jupiter takes one year to measure a single sign of the Zodiac. Moving into fixed earth sign Taurus, will provide a shelter of sorts for this planet of fortune, a secure haven for the things we prize.
The important thing to know about Taurus, is that this is a sign of trust. That is another way of stating truth. What has value now must be true. oh, yes, True. What crashes in the next few months will reveal its false worth.
So currencies are being examined, stocks are being marginalized. Inflated value will shrivel in the times ahead. Gold is going up.

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Four planets at dawn, strong finances for 2011 begin

Even the scientists are taking note of the phenomenal grouping of planets in this spring of 2011. Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Venus and dim Uranus are all ahead of the sunrise this May. Money is on the march, moving through the wastelands, gobbling up all that is of value and leaving behind ideals, ideologies and morals. Things and resources are paramount just now. The gloomy days of real estate disasters are being ignored by big money, which is now after the goods, the fuel and the gold. All of us small people must do the same, look to your resources, your fields, your gardens, your talents and the old fashioned work of making things and growing things. It is a big time in banking, all the old networks are buzzing with greed and glee, and money that was tied up in fear is now rife with speculation. Again, if you are small, concentrate on what you have and making it thoroughly rich. If you are big, then it is time to go to Jesus, and be ashamed of your destructive annihilation of planet earth. Earth is not going to take much more abuse, so if you can nurture it, do so.
If you are still intent on eating it all yourself, then hell's maw is opened as wide as your own. Mighty times, great changes and much for us to do to take care of our living, breathing earth.

Death of Bin Laden, Mars -Jupiter conjunction in the sign of the Warrior

Obama's presidency was pummeled in 2010 by planets so chaotic and twisted that nothing but disasters were possible in that year. But this year is the year of the Leader. He is going to come forth, which is his destiny, as a mighty leader of the world. The glimpse we had during the campaign, of watching people flock to see him in all kinds of diverse countries around the world is unprecedented. Never has a leader drawn so much emotional enthusiasm, even before he had taken his place as the President. Think of all the world celebrities throughout history, Gandhi, Queen Victoria, Napoleon, Wellington, Churchill, FDR--all were lauded after they gained power. No one has been adored like Obama was, just for showing up. So we haven't seen anything--yet.
The disappointment by his supporters since the 08 election has been harsh, and the euphoria of the election was so high that it was too hot, not to cool down. But Obama has not been idle even with all those cocked guns pointed at his own head. He is a dedicated worker, one who researches, probes and investigates questions so that he is thoroughly informed, and completely aware. He is as aware as his constituents of how bad the state of the nation and the world really is. The task in front of him to solve our country's mess is both impossible and fully acknowledged by him.
After the shocks of 09, where he encountered the reality of the gutting of our banks, and the loss of American industry and jobs, he then faced the extra disasters and chaos of 2010. Last year was a finger in the dike kind of year, and now he has fully armed himself and is ready to take some risks, and let the dam burst.
The death of Osama bin Laden came at the precise conjunction of Mars and Jupiter. Mars rules guns, wars, wounds and the head, as well as the best soldiers. Interesting, eh. Jupiter is all big deals-- the leadership, the greatness and the involvement of the big boys in the game. The Moon was also in Aries, bringing the corporeal to the plan, the habeus corpus was indeed accomplished. (We have the body, and can prove it).
Our President takes credit for initiating the action and the special operators who killed the token world enemy, Bin Laden. He has been forced to take that kind of risk for the war that began 10 years ago, and the war that he campaigned to end, has come for him without negotiation. So our president will be a war leader, he has to be, because war is upon us. The battle for middle earth has begun.
Planets in the sign of war have happened before, but this concentration is so intense, that it is without negotiation. Aries is the sign of all beginnings, the jump to action that starts life, and starts wars. Wars are escalating everywhere-- Aries is so full of all the major action planets of our solar system, that violence is inevitable. If that energy is harnessed, much work can be accomplished, great changes are in motion.
The investments for these times are best put into energy, transportation and food. Energy sources that are Not oil, have been the hot deals for ten years. As of now, they are so rich, that anyone deep in the R&D is divine, and those who can intuit the best new resources will be rich. Watch thermal energy, the Icelandic pipeline through Scotland, and electricity that comes from moving water.

The Turning of the Year, Mercury Direct, Planets in Aries

"Look for me at dawn at first light on the third day.." Words of Christ? No, of Gandalf.. as he becomes the beacon for the turning of the tide. Now despair is lifted out into victory. Victory! Also sounds like Easter, too. 2011 is a year of tremendous religious impact, as despair over industry, work, water, lands, money and spirit reach an abyss of biblical proportions. War, revolution, famine, storms and floods are all upon us; and that is just the morning news! So where do get our Gandalf for these times? What do we invest in for our future in this mess of global greed and power shifts?
Saturn is in Libra, so we must invest in each other.
Heroes are with us, because the sign of the Hero -Aries_- is so full of planets. There are warriors- Mars, and financiers- Jupiter, and revolutionaries- Uranus. All are bashing at the gates. There are also real leaders, like Presidents and Kings, but they are being distorted through the general chaos and haze of blinding anger.
The crisis of our decade is upon us, the Saturn-Jupiter opposition in Aries and Libra. What are our choices? They are winched to the breaking point between the individual and the community. No matter what the strain, we have to build in Libra which rules the world of trade, exchange, partnerships, marriage and alliances. These are the best and brightest of our opportunities right now. But they have to be guided by our own knowledge of rightness and truth which is Aries. The allowing of false friends, perpetually draining alliances, and most of all, the distorting propaganda of false enemies cannot last through this mighty time, for they will bring death. Not just little death, like of loved ones and tigers, but of the planet.
Three years ago, the best investment was in food, products for the land and care of the land. Saturn was in Virgo, building the infrastructure that will carry us for the next three decades. Some atrocities occurred in farming, farm chemistry and in all systems concerning health and nutrition. But in the microcosm, many people decided to take care of themselves. Individual farming and community projects are more ubiquitous than have been noticed. And is it best not to be noticed for doing wonderful personal acts of care taking here on earth?
It has been best to keep private, and yet today the openness of the world is showing all to all. A deep necessity is to create the alliances that will be the next level of sustenance. We all know who our friends are, and how lies are made and perpetuated. It is a unique time, giving us the right to know ourselves while we reach for who will join us in truth.
"The light in me honors the light in you."

Cherry blossoms, the call for the Warrior, planets in Aries

For the Japanese Samurai, the cherry was the symbol of the warrior's calling and of the fate for which he must prepare himself. Crushing the red flesh of the cherry to reach the hard stone is, in other words, to sacrifice flesh and blood to attain the corner-stone of the human personality. The Samurai took the cherry blossom turned toward the rising Sun as the emblem and symbol of the dedication of his life. Given that flowering cherries bear no fruit, its beauty is a symbol of purity, and purity of purpose is a traditional warrior code.
"If I were asked to define the spirit of Japan, I would call it the blossom of the mountain cherry scattering its sscent in the morning sun." Motoori Norinaga 1730-1801
Cherry blossom festivals are at the time of the Spring Equinox, the entrance of the sun into Aries, sign of new life and all the energy it takes to thrust it forward. This spring equinox of 2011 includes a five-fold emphasis on warrior spirit as the planets Mars, Jupiter, and Uranus, all major icons of the masculine aggressive force in our solar system, gather in Aries. The new moon in Aries on April 3-4 brings the Moon and the Sun into conjunction with each other in Aries, while Venus adds her spirit of value, money and love into the mix.
All this happens as Mercury in Aries courses retrograde through Aries. Mercury in this phase will layer and reverse and rearrange the obvious, lending messages from the past, the future, and the forgotten into our words and deeds. This is a mighty time on earth, as all of these planets in Fire exactly oppose great Saturn in Libra 180 degrees opposite. (Look to the eastern horizon all month and watch Saturn rise at sundown.) Libra is the sign of the Autumn equinox, the balance and relationships of life on earth. Note: Saturn in Libra, in this blog's archive.
As if this were not emphatic enough, the other brother god of the Greeks, distant Pluto in the early degrees of Capricorn (sign of order, time, and structure),
is a right angles to both the Aries group of Jupiter, Sun, Venus, Mars, Mercury,and Uranus; and at right angles to Libra-- containing Saturn. Right angles signify challenge. At the dynamic heart of the square angle we watch the conscious mind be enforced on the circle of life.
This month is the month of changes. Everything changes now, in a natural spring-like progression and in a violent individualized revolt-- the urgency of the "I." Take your place on the great Mandala, it is gaining speed, and urgently needs you. New life starts at spring, the new moon guarantees a complete cycle of growth, and all this thunder and lightening in fire is assurance that life is stronger than death.

Aries, God of War, 84 year cycle of Uranus into Aries,

Aries, the first sign of life, April the cruelest month, April Fool's Day, the Zero beginning of the Tarot trumps. The beginning, the new start, the Alpha leader and pioneer of the Zodiac. Here in 2011, more planets are crowding into Aries than we have seen in several lifetimes. The Sun and Uranus have been at the same degrees in early Aries since the vernal equinox. Shock waves are being felt in all forms of life, and new technology, an electrical impulse, and a wave of independence for the rights of the individual are all symbolized by Uranus, now in fire.Jupiter is in Aries, first time in 12 years. Mars is about to move into Aries, first time in two years, and its ruling sign. Venus, and Mercury are also in Aries, and Mercury will retrograde on March 29th, bringing layers and gaps into this wild ride into the brave new world.
Invest in relationships. Watch the people and their alliances, don't trust the ordinary chatter, listen to what is also being said, and omitted. New proclamations are sounding, the chess board is on the move. Cling to the tree, no matter how strong the wind, because all is changing, and the new is the only.

Perigee Full Moon, Planets in Aires, Spring

Oh Glory! How close was the moon to the earth last Saturday? It was close enough to pull souls off of this earth, and close enough to pull our orbits into a new dimension.
The really mighty grab that has pulled the earth apart in the past weeks, is the 180 degree opposition of immense Jupiter and old Saturn. They are in the axis of Aries and Libra, the Alpha and Omega of the Zodiac. Pluto will hold a right angle to these two giants for the next six months, so several times this year planets will cluster around all three of these corners. The Full Moon of March was right along the Jupiter Saturn opposition, and will be again in the Full Moon of April. What these mean for the earth is a maximized stress, brought on by the dynamics of planets in angles. The Geometry of the square, the triangle and the bisected circle is a description of not just space, but action. Orbiting bodies, whether planetary or atomic exchange photons when their movement strikes the perfect degree of the exact angle.
In the human story, there are signs and wonders of no mean might. The earthquake in Japan, is an eclipse-based phenomena, relative to the solar eclipse of July, 2009, which coursed over the island. We look for the tender sensitivity of the degree of the solar eclipse, and then as planets at any time cross these degrees, some major earth disturbance is seen. Bless the heavens and all the earth!

Please Don't Tell Me How The Story Ends - Joan Osborne

As I contemplate the ridicule Astrology faces, I am thinking of my 32 years as a reader of charts and destinies. All we need to do to judge whether my astrology is working is to ask all the Leos and the Sagittarians and the Cancers if they could possibly be any other sign of the Zodiac, or want to change. Get your answers?
Now you know. Just ask some Leos. (you could ask other signs but the water signs hedge,or lie, and the earth signs will pretend not to know what you are talking about, and side with the critics, the air signs will just wonder if you are hitting on them)
Astrology uses the seasons, starting with the Spring Equinox on March 21st, as the measure of the Zodiac. Once upon a time it corresponded with the constellations of the same names. That was five thousand years ago. But it still works, it still ticks out the lives, the fortunes, the trials and the triumphs of every person I have ever met.
Astrology is a natural living real thing, and we are all a part of it. These items from Shakespeare are essential to opening up to any knowledge that purports to guide you or your life. from Hamlet: "this above all things, to thine own self be true, so then it follows as night to day, thou canst be false to anyone."
And ever a reminder,from Julius Caesar: " the fault, dear Brutus, lies not in our stars, but in ourselves.."
So I give you here in the light of the Full Wolf Moon of February, the final musing of an astrologer contemplating a farewell tour in Seattle, Washington, the town that taught me Astrology, gave me thousands of people to test it on, and blessed me with husband and children and friends. The most important rule I know in using Astrology, my astrology, keeping you as the signs you know you are-- is all here, in this, a song,
from Joan Osbourne--
"Please Don't Tell Me How the Story Ends...."
And trust me, I won't.
Johanna...

Definition of Astrology, from the Encyclopaedia Britannica

This article is an excerpt from pages 795-796 of the 11th edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica...published in 1910
I use this edition because as a student of Archaeology and Art History-- it is the one recommended during my university. After this edition, history, geography, art and biography were deleted for additions in technology and science.
It is a famous distinction, as any bookseller of any real merit knows.

ok
ASTROLOGY,
The ancient art or science of divining the fate and future of human beings from indications given by the positions of the stars (sun, moon and planets). the belief in a connexion between the heavenly bodies and the life of man has played an important part in human history. For long ages astronomy and astrology were identified; and a distinction is made between "natural astrology," which predicts the motions of the heavenly bodies, eclipses, etc., and "judicial astrology," which studies the influence of the stars on human destiny. Isadore of Seville (died 636) is one of the first to distinguish between astronomy and astrology; nor did astronomy begin to rid itself of astrology till the 16th century, when, with the system of Copernicus, the conviction that the earth itself is one of the heavenly bodies was finally established.The study of astromancy and the belief in it, as part of astronomy, is found in a developed form among the ancient Babylonians, and directly or indirectly through the Babylonians spread to other nations. It came to Greece about the middle of the 4th century, B.C. and reached Rome before the opening of the Christian era. In India and China astronomy and astrology are largely reflections of the Greek theories and speculations; and similarly with the introduction of Greek culture into Egypt, both astronomy and astrology were actively cultivated in the region of the Nile during the Hellenistic and Roman periods. Astrology was further developed by the Arabs from the 7th to the 13th century and the Europe of the 14th and 15th centuries astrologers were dominating influences at court.
2pages later:
The endeavor to trace the horoscope of the individual from the position of the planets and stars at the time of birth represents the most significant contribution of the greeks to Astrology. the system was carried to such a degree of perfection that later ages made but few additions of an essential character to the genethliology or drawing up of horoscopes by the Greek astrologers. the system was taken up almost bodily by the Arab astronomers, it was embodied in the Kabbalistic lore of Jews and Christians, and through these and other channels came to be the substance of the astrology of the middle ages, forming as already pointed out, under the designation of "judicial astrology" a science which was placed on a perfect footing of equality with" natural astrology". Partly in further development of views unfolded in Babylonia, but chiefly under Greek influences the scope of astrology was enlarged until it was brought into connexion with practically all of the know sciences, botany, chemistry, zoology, mineralogy anatomy and medicine.


this is a 12 page article, about 1/2 the size of the article on astronomy in the same volume, which has hundreds of descriptions of persons who contributed to various discoveries in the past 300 years.

Happy Chinese New Year of the Rabbit!!

February 3 is the second new moon since the winter solstice and is the beginning of the Chinese New Year.
Rabbit is a lucky sign of the Zodiac and a softly ruthless business sign, one that will switch rather than fight, and comes to guide us through a year with Saturn in Libra. We are all struggling in our relationships, especially political and international ones. Year of the Rabbit is a peace loving year, but we have planets lining up in the sign of war... however will the clever Hare zigzag his way through this brier patch?
Rabbit is the animal of good taste, good manners, and self effacing behavior that wines and dines its quarry, and makes gracious moves, but self-serving ones.Always.
The year has a cunning deception to it, both sides are right, and yet we are called to make individual choices; judgments; and heavy declarations that are for our own individuality. What a split in our worlds, and in our souls this year of the eleven... a number indivisible by anything but itself. A master number... We will feel great changes in the drastic nature of the planets of this spring, but guided by Rabbit, we will find a way. Rabbit is a shapeshifter, one of the night creatures that is deeply connected to the Moon and all its phases.
Use the refining talents of the Rabbit to profit this year, groom yourself, find luxuries that are sustaining and pure. Buy real metals, and fine quality, don't mind about masses of possessions, just important ones. And ones that make you look your best.
In global politics, everyone is lying, everyone is maneuvering, and everyone is wary.
2011 is a balancing year, a pivotal one in the friends we choose, the mates we soothe, and the company we keep. Be a diplomat, expect that no one is quite the master of their fate that they are trying to be. If someone betrays you, it may not have been possible to do otherwise. Look large and wide for reasons for things, nothing will ever be the same, and a new village is being born.
There are five elements in the Chinese signs, wood, water, fire, wind and metal. This is the Year of the Metal Rabbit. Machines, metals, structure, and infrastructure are being made, bought and bargained for. Keep to the core of your wealth, and your values. Substance counts. And you might get lucky...

The 5,000 years of the Western Zodiac.

We talk about the Age of Aquarius, and everyone seems to know what that is--we are in the age of technology, total global communication, electronics to amaze us proliferating daily and a world full of more humans than ever before in history. Each of these are defining items of the Astrological Sign of Aquarius.
In our time, which is the Age of Aquarius, the first day of Spring, March 21st, when day and night hours are exactly equal, lines up with the late degrees of the Aquarius Constellation.
Two such Ages have passed since the equinoctial moment of spring lined up with the first degrees of the Constellation, Aries.We call the month holding the beginning of the Zodiac March, afrter the planet Mars, ruler of Aries. The Age of Aries was the age known by its most prominent people, the Greeks and Romans. It was from roughly 2,000 B.C. to the Birth of Christ which ushered in the Age of Pisces, (the Fishes) called the Age of Faith.
What we have found in these five thousand years is that people and life on earth do correspond to the Greek Model of the Seasons. Those born after the first day of spring, do behave in the up rushing fiery behavior of that season. We are molded by our seasons, just as the animal and human icons of each following sign describe the behavior and character of that season. It is more profound though, when we begin to look into the layers of symbolism in each sign. As Aries pushes in the first life of the year, Taurus stabilizes it in the planting and flowering of mid spring. Each sign of the solar year is a representation of the orientation of earth and sun, sun and galaxy, with moving planets stirring up extra correlations as they also occupy places around the Zodiac circle.
This Zodiac used by Western Astrologers, that is, European and American, is called the Tropical Zodiac. It uses the constellation names that the early Greeks, Egyptians, and Persians named in their time 5,000 years ago. The Zodiac that uses the actual constellations is called the Sideral (a word meaning solar). Hindu Astrologers use this measurement and they call their method Vedic Astrology. All computer programs can cast your birth data in either the Tropical or the Sidereal Zodiac. There is no question or mistake. For five thousand years this observation of people, births, deaths, events and histories have shown us this cosmic order, and it has proven its truth in every consideration.
When Astrology is discredited, as this recent press has suggested, be aware of why this kind of information is being planted. It has happened many times before, like in the Inquisition of the Catholic Church, the Reformation, and the rise of Fascism in the 20th century. Literally Astrology is the study of the stars-- and their effect on us. Astronomy, the child of astrology is the measurement of the stars. Doesn't care about meaning, just data. Empty study, no personal connections.
The wisdom of knowing the timing of the moon, earth, seasons, and planets is a guide to the rhythm of life in its most expansive. To suppress this information is to take away nature from humankind, and to supplant instinct with robotic control.
Astrology never gets media attention, why bring up a question that is five thousand years out of date?
Those of us who have studied,the Zodiac through deliberate observation, and have also studied history, art, archaeology, anthropology, literature, linguistics, and earth sciences find that the unifying backdrop of all of it, is the solar system and its measurable, eternal timing. There are precious few of us who have delved this thoroughly into the earth's story. Why didn't they ask me? Because I know the real story. And that one was a planted lie. Why now? What are we not supposed to know?

Full Cold Moon First Full Moon of 2011 January 18-19, 2011

The concentration of human emotion follows the monthly full moon cycles which span a time of 29-30 days. The Full Moon in January is the "Cold" moon, and intensifies the dynamic between Cancer, where the moon will be, as a sign of summer, abundance, warmth, beauty and ease, and Capricorn, where the sun is, as a sign of winter, barrenness,frost, starkness, and hardship. These two signs are the north and south, the father and the mother. The qualities we attribute to fathers are synonymous with Capricorn: authority, protection and status, as well as the qualities of winter. Then we assume that mothers are like Cancer, nurturing, sheltering, and receptive, added to the qualities of summer. In these two archetypal signs of the Zodiac and of the seasons are the hopes and expectations of every child. If the qualities of either one are missing or skewed in any sense we are lost, or hurt. If they are extreme and over-done we are spoiled or ruined. Whether we are born to parents who survive our beginning and thrive, or not, is said to rule our destiny, and our personalities.
In times like our own, with a swelling population greater than our planet has ever spawned, and having the powers to observe our effect, we feel deeply the mother/father relationship to life itself. Have we killed our mother? or wounded our father? In the full moon of mid-January emotions of a primary intensity arrive. The opposition of the sun and moon in Cancer/Capricorn are squared by the Saturn/Jupiter opposition in Aries/Libra. This is the grand Cardinal square. It captures all of the big four worries, house, job, marriage, and self. oh my. Or the four great achievements, home-making, career, harmony, and fulfillment.
Since the moon is our emotional barometer, feelings of the negative sort are likely to be acute. The sprees of spending that full moons normally bring about won't be in the hands of the mass of people. But the deep money, the kind that is the father of the world, the authority that runs at the fundamental level will be making important moves. Libra is where history is being made, and that will be alliances, partnerships and deals. Pluto in Capricorn indicates what resources are now at the most desired level. These are the core substances, metal, minerals, rock, and the nurturing earth itself. See if we can find out who really owns what. We would be amazed.
In your Full Cold Moon meditations, ask what you would care about at the ultimate trial. What would nurture you from depths of your needs? This full moon is the archetype of God, especially the one we have invented, who looks back at us. In awe and wonder. Pray for your water sources to be sacred forever.

About Starwoman in 2011

Dear Stargazers,
Followers of my blog may be victims of a virus that hacked my msn hotmail email. I can no longer access this email, and the dramatic lie that was sent to everyone (ten years of addresses..) has, for some reason been very widely believed. Contact me through my gmail account and change your passwords, and run your security scans if you got that email with my name unfortunately linked to it. In the hundreds of calls and discussions I have had as a result of this incident, many others have gotten the same device with other countries listed. I repeat, change your passwords.