The Flow! Week of April 29 – May 5, 2012

The Flow is a weekly blog published to better understand the flow of astrological, celestial, and magickal energies for the week, and how best to use them.   It is intended for those with little knowledge of astrology. 

For newcomers, the idea is to consider celestial influences as part of a larger whole, or the Flow.  All too often, astrologers tend to write about astrological events as if each were an isolated specimen as if pulled out of the sky and analyzed by itself – and there is no dearth of astrological sites on the net that write that way.  Here, it is the movement and interactions that are important and form the basis of discussion.

If any of the material is unclear or unfamiliar to you, it is probably unfamiliar to others as well, please leave a comment and I will be glad to answer your questions. 

If you like what you see, please share it with friends!  If you would like to get email notifications for when The Flow! is updated, or have a private question please email me at skywatcher888@yahoo.com.  Thank you!

The Flow! is updated every Sunday.

Please note: all times are in the Pacific Timezone.

Synopsis for the week: Look Up, Love is in the Sky!

 If you look up, and your sky happens to be clear, at almost any time of night, you should be able to see a planet in the sky lined up with a famous star. No, not Brittany, a real star.

We don’t talk much about stars here at the Flow!, mostly because much of their meaning needs a massive update.  Why, you ask? Well, you’ll see. But they’re there, and especially when they line up with a planet they have something important to say.

We’ll be talking more about the origins of astrology, though, in some upcoming reports. I’ve been digging my nose in in some dusty cuneiform tablets from the dawn of recorded history, and after considerable sneezing, found some amazing stuff there.

One of the most striking, is the level and degree to which are lives have changed. No, I’m not particularly referring to iTunes, but in a sense it does reflect some of the more startling differences between us and our ancestors who lived around the time of the transition between Sumerian and Assyrian culture. While taxes, law, and the division of labor were just coming into vogue, we have no kings, no public humiliations, and precious little bartering.  More importantly, we have a degree of personal freedom and level of control over our lives that would be mind-bogglingly incomprehensible to our long-dead cousins, and if you turned on any electronic device, radio or other form of communication, they would probably hit it with the nearest tablet to exorcise it from the demons within.

Speaking of tablets…

We are an amazing species.

Anyway, back to our story.

Because the Assyrians were forced to wait 6,000 to get an iPad, much of their astrology was observational. Instead of sitting and counting their various phalanges, or nicking pieces of stone, they sat and watched the sky. And recorded what they saw, judged what they knew of the configuration and compared that judgment with current affairs. So in the spirit of the Assyrians and Sumerians, let’s take a look up and see what the sky has to offer. Besides, there are a variety of celestial pairs in the night sky these days, and it would a shame not to better appreciate them.

Certainly the most notable star in the night sky is Venus, goddess of light and love, as she slowly drifts in the West toward the horizon as night deepens. Particularly since she reaches her maximum brightness on Monday, April 30^th, at 2:56pm. Look closely, and you’ll see that she is just a smidge away from a much dimmer star, β Tauri, otherwise known as El Nath.

I once had an interstellar empire centered on El Nath.  That is, at least I did until Regulus IV rebelled, but that was another life, and video game ago.

Located about 21º of Gemini, just a few degrees west of Venus, El Nath, from the Arabic Al Natih (back when all astronomical knowledge was conducted in Arabic) is known as the “Butting One,” suitable for a star in the horns of Taurus, the Bull. When aligned with Venus, the star makes one eminently popular. So popular, in fact, one can gain enemies because of it. However, try as they may, no harm can befall one so blessed with this combination as no harm can come to them by false writings, gossips, or slanders.

Admire Venus while you can, too, as she has but another couple of weeks to go before she stops dead in her tracks and turn Retrograde. She will then slowly sink in the western sky at sunset, until she is absorbed by the Sun and spirited out the other side as a morning star to herald and bless the dawn. Her current position is marked with the arrow in the map below.

The next heavenly pair is bound together eternally, Castor and Pollux, the famous eponymous twins of Gemini. At the moment, the pair can be found in the sky a bit more toward the center of the sky from Venus. Castor, the mortal twin, was known as the Horse-master. Pollux, the immortal twin, was known as the Fighter. Pollux is the brighter of the two, though that may not always have been the case. They are circled on the map above to help you find them.

Castor, α Geminorum found at 19º Cancer, is said to be a portent of violence and mischief, giving a sudden rise of honors and riches followed by a fall. It also bestowed a keen intellect, disappointments (obviously), turbulence, and imprisonment.

Pollux, β Geminorum at 22º Cancer, doesn’t escape the turbulence, but at least manages a somewhat more enjoyable existence while making everyone else’s life miserable. The star gives a love of sports, bravery, a subtle spirit, and psychic ability. Natives were said to be audacious, crafty, cruel, and rash.

No planets happen to be nearby now, but there’s generally a parade of them as the Sun, Mercury, and Venus promenade across them in the second week of July.

Heading eastward and above in the sky, especially around 9pm are Mars and Regulus, α Leonis.

Mars, planet of action, activity, exertion, energy, aggression, defense, and war, is still coming out his Retrograde delirium, meandering through the early degrees of Virgo. However, he is very close to noblest star of them all, Regulus. The star was Sharru, king, in Babylonia; Magha, mighty, in Sogdiana; Magh, great, in India; Miyan, center, in Persia; and Amil-gal-ur, king of the celestial sphere, in Assyria.

Known as the star of kings, Regulus sits at the heart of Leo, and has a rather important place historically. Almost all of the ancient zodiacs that survive show Taurus as the first constellation. The sky was said to be divided into four quadrants, each with a star that ruled over them. Aldebaran of Taurus ruled the spring quadrant, Regulus of Leo the summer, Antares of Scorpio the autumn, and Fomalhaut of Pisces the winter.

Combined with Mars, Regulus gives fame, high honors, and public gain. It also makes one strong of character, high spirited, and independent. Natives may be subject to sudden death (presumably, this is not in reference to overtime), or accidental death if one throws caution and other assorted traffic signs to the wind.

And finally, we have Saturn and Spica.

Spica, α Virginis, is the primary star of Virgo, and is known as the “Sheaf of Wheat” (not to be confused with Cream of Wheat) in the Virgin’s left hand. The star has one of the better sets of meaning, giving great honors, good judgment, unexpected honors, riches, and sociability.

There is no information about Spica combined with Saturn, because EVERYTHING combined with Saturn has the same meaning – you are going to die.

And of course, we know that to be perfectly, ultimately, true.

So, as you can see from some of the examples above, much of the astrology with regard to the “fixed” stars is rather gloomy and dire. Even when it is otherwise good. Out of the myriads and myriads of stars and combinations there are a mere handful that are pleasant.

Which leads us to the most important take-away from a comparison of our lives today and those of the ancients — Life then was, like they said, really really nasty, brutish, and short. No matter how much we may complain, they had it worse. much worse.

Rejoice.

To the Daily Details!

Sunday, April 29^th

Sun trine Pluto at 2:34am

Sun square Moon at 2:57am at 10º Leo

Many people are celebrating the pagan sabat Beltane this week, so Merry Beltane to one and all! (Did you know that sabat is a Semitic/Assyrian word with meanings associated with the words “seven” and “holy?”)

We start the week with a tremendous opportunity to heal ourselves and feel better about our lives. There are complexes buried deep within our souls that have dwelt unbidden because of miscommunication and misunderstanding and we have a good chance of liberating ourselves from its influence. As you wake today, set aside some time to ponder things and if you give yourself just a smidgen of psychological wiggle room, you just might be able to root out a psychic McNasty. It is certainly worth giving it a go over morning tea or coffee.

Later in the day, our attention may turn to our relationships. This is likely to be a week with a great deal of focus on our relationships, and today is no exception. If you find yourself on the defensive today or tomorrow, you may want to reconsider your position and give in just an inch. While you are most likely in the right, this is a battle you could possibly lose by winning. Don’t push, and no shoving. Just gently state the situation from your perspective and give the other person a chance to readjust their position to this news before pressing your case further. I bet you won’t have to press much.

Another effect of all these configurations this week is that energies are apt to be running high all week. Sometimes that results in added pressure both at work and at home. Added pressure often leads to an added need to let off steam. Just think of a pressure cooker. But like a pressure cooker, if it has been sitting on a burner building up pressure and you suddenly open the handle, you’re going to be scraping up the meal from your walls and floor. So let your own steam out slowly and gently. You don’t want to be picking up your brain from the floor, or it’ll be bloody messy.

Monday, April 30^th

Venus semi-sextile Jupiter at 1:54pm

Venus reaches maximum brightness at 2:56pm

The day starts off rather jolly for a Monday, although in the early morning hours expect some speed-bumps in the Flow of things. There are tasks ahead, and we’re more invested in getting involved with them and seeing them through to completion than we are concerned with how much of our time or our selves we will need to devote to them to do so. This is NOT the road to success. Your personal resources are not infinite, so be careful in committing to projects and things that may take up more of your time than you can safely handle.

The Moon enters Virgo at 4:02pm. Generally, the Moon entering Virgo is an indication of better mental skills, but not until later today. There are some influences afoot that bedevil our thinking, so put off making any important decisions until you wake tomorrow. This Virgo Moon is apt to bring out some of the lower-end attributes of both the Moon and Virgo meaning that we’re likely to be more sensitive, more cranky, more moody and more critical than usual. Until the Moon enters Libra Wednesday evening, be prepared – it ISN’T about you, and it ISN’T personal. Just stick to objectivity, reason, and logic, and you’ll be fine.

Tuesday, May 1^st

Mercury octile Neptune at 8:37am

Sun trine Moon at 12:34pm

Happy May Day!

Don’t be surprised if the refrain of the day is “I don’t wanna.” It may almost feel like somebody spiked the water with stupid juice for much of the day too, so not only are people less willing to play nicely, but they’re not particularly brilliant about it either. That’s not a good combination, so navigate your day accordingly. Olive branches may be in short supply, so if you are offered any today, consider yourself fortunate.

Many things are just beginning, or just beginning to take form today and beginnings can be perilous times. Like a primordial creature creeping out of the ooze, or a baby’s head crowning at birth, the appearance of things now is less important than the fact that they be embraced by all involved, and that people are willing to work together to get things started. This is a good time to look to others for support, as better you are able to build a network of support, the more likely successful your situation will be.

In the evening, we may be particularly susceptible to emotional outbursts, so you may want to keep the box of Kleenex close at hand. It’s more about letting off steam than any hard feelings, but sometimes that can be hard to keep in mind during the heat of the moment. Give yourself lots of emotional breathing room tonight, and avoid touchy subjects with loved ones.

Wednesday, May 2^nd

Jupiter septile Saturn at 11:15am

Sun tri-octile Moon at 3:37pm at 28º Virgo

As the Moon heads toward Libra, which it will enter at 7:03pm, our ability to shape our circumstances to better suit our desires grows stronger.  Some obstacles may give way, some new opportunities may come our way, some new connection may help grease our wheels, and/or some new ideas may help smooth the path toward achieving our goals more readily and with less effort. There is potent magick at work here, be sure to take advantage of it!

The time of action has come. There is no longer any valid reason to hold back, there’s no reason to go over plans one more time, and there is not going to be a better time than now. The moment is now. It is time to act.

Once the Moon enters Libra, our emotional bodies become calmer, our feathers smooth out, and our moods turn more harmonic. This more even emotional keel will also help us move forward. If there are little nagging issues at the back of your mind, have them nag somewhere else.\

Thursday, May 3^rd

Mercury tri-octile Mars at 7:54am

Mercury semi-sextile Jupiter at 7:54am

Mercury sextile Venus at 8:01pm

The week’s progress continues today. You know your steps, climb them. While there’s bound to be static in the air, it is just that, static. If you turn up the volume, it will drown out the music. Ignore it, and you make the best of a good situation.

In the morning hours look to your fellows, your fellow friends, you fellow workers, and your fellow family members for assistance and clues to where you should be devoting your energies. If there isn’t anyone in whom you feel you can confide, listen to some music, or surf the web. Your inner self will cling to what is important, and that should give you guidance.

The afternoon is really potentially productive for all kinds of work. Putting your best foot forward after 1pm should give you lots of good footsteps to follow.

Take extra care on the drive home, so that you’re not the victim of an unexpected move. There’s no need to rush, what awaits you can wait. There should be plenty of soothing energies and smiling faces in the evening hours. Any meetings or events scheduled for this evening should go well. People are very much in a mood to get along, so don’t spoil the fun by rushing around like a maniac.

Friday, May 4^th

Sun quintile Neptune at 4:43pm

We now seem to have the ability to better attract what we want, and filter out the chaff than usual. If you’re looking to buy something, make a commitment, or find someone special, today is a good day to go hunting. Your arrows should be able to hit the mark without much fuss. Your heart should not be much of a lonely hunter today.

If you have been good, and if you have been following things along this week, today could mark the achievement of something significant. Of particular likelihood is the ability to be in better control of a situation that has been dogging you for a while. You have been on a short leash lately, and this should give you some slack. Just be sure that if this is the case, and you feel a sense of relief, to give yourself a doggie biscuit or two. You deserve it!

The Moon enters Scorpio at 4:43pm. For the rest of the day, this may help you better understand the tectonic shifts that have been going on in your life.

Saturday, May 5^th

Mercury opposes Saturn at 6:07pm

Full Moon at 8:35pm at 17º Taurus/Scorpio

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

My goodness, there are a bevy of holidays this week, I hope they are all enjoyable ones for you.

There are apt to be significant changes that have occurred this week. It may feel as if the psychic energies have been put in a blender, and today is the result. Don’t be surprised if people seem to be at cross-purposes from what you might expect. Above all, don’t take it personally, unless you want to preserve and enshrine the negativity. Just take care of your self and see to your own happiness without needing to rely on others.

Ultimately, things will settle down as next week begins. Next week should see the changes that occurred this week develop roots and begin to sink in and set in. Tend and nurture those that are good, and there is still time to uproot those that aren’t. In either case, get ready to sharpen your tools and strengthen the bonds with your allies. You’ll be glad you did!

Wishing you all a wonderful week!

The Flow! Week of April 1 – 7, 2012

 

Please note: all times are in the Pacific Timezone.

Synopsis for the week: How to Cope, No Joke

March may be gone like a lamb, but it’s not a rather happy one. We’ll see if we can improve its mood later in the blog.

This week Mercury goes Direct on Wednesday the 4^th, signaling a return of normalcy with regard to communications, contracts, commerce and computers. As with all Mercury Retrogrades turning Direct, it takes a little while for Mercury to regain his footing, so don’t expect miracles. Mercury may be fleet of foot, but even he can’t quite turn on a dime.

However, as Mercury begins to shift gears this weekend, we leave behind the maddening frustrations of the past few weeks in which many of us may have felt like fools, thinking things were done, only to find out later that they weren’t. Starting this weekend we should finally be able to not only put the icing on our cakes but get to eat them, too. Hoorah!

But just as we get out of Mercury Retrogradeland, Pluto goes Retrograde on the 10^th, and Mars turns Direct on the 13^th turning our little lamb into a raging bull. But more on that next week!

On the whole, things feel somewhat somber. Perhaps it’s all that serious Saturn energy from last week. While we may have thought that the tide had turned, we find ourselves standing knee deep in challenges to our newly won ground. It is as if against all sense and reasonable expectations we stand on the other side of a looking glass at a world turned upside down. Yes, we can hold back this tide, or at least keep it at bay, but the water level is rising dangerously high and it deserves a watchful eye.

Yes, we’re still under the last week’s influence of Creative Living. Yes, we still have the opportunity to shape things according to the new lives we would like to construct for ourselves. But it is almost as if we’ve been pushed to the edge to see how, when, where, or if our psychological dams will crack and go screaming into the sunset like a half-crazed cartoon character.

That’s not to say we’d be blamed for doing so. It’s almost as if we’re being endurance tested for a course we didn’t know we had signed up for. It’s as if our temperaments are being tempered like steel.

I daresay we’ll need them for the struggles to come when Uranus and Pluto start stressing each other this summer and we can use all the temperance we can find.

However far off this summer may be, this week we get a respite, if we’re willing to accept it. Jupiter, planet of expansion, opportunity, and good fortune, is forming a quintile, an aspect of creative consciousness, with Neptune, planet of spirit, perception, and networks.

Putting all of that together means that the power to cope can be found within our own outlook; which is another way of saying that the way to find opportunity lies in the creative manipulation of the fundamental framework of how we perceive our reality.

The idea of creating one’s own reality has become a New Age truism of sorts. It’s an extremely empowering thought, and at the very least begins to open up possibilities that may have been only dimly imagined.

Except when you try and it fails.

Yes, we can go all Yoda and say there is no try, only do, and like Luke become frustrated and despondent when the ship falls back into the lake.

As any artist will tell you, the act of creation is no easy task. But the very first step in the art of creating is perception. Before you can create, you must perceive – and in psychological terms, that’s our outlook.

In a society such as ours, it is easy to become paranoid. So it’s tough to break free of our social culture and shift it to an outlook that allows you to thrive without needing to resort to casting aspersions on others. But it is much healthier spiritually, and it may let you perceive others as they really are instead of how you need them to be. It isn’t easy, but it can be liberating.

First there is a mountain, then there is no mountain, then there is.

It’s all in how you perceive, and that’s the best way to cope.

No joke.

Astrologically, there’s no better antidote to the heaviness of Saturn than the levity of Jupiter. Last week, I introduced you to Saturn from Gustav Holst’s popular masterpiece, “The Planets.” This week is Jupiter’s turn.

Jupiter is by far the most popular piece of the suite, perhaps because it is so breathtakingly joyous. There’s no need for me to describe the music, just enjoy it. And maybe, “Jupiter, bringer of jollity” will bring some joy into your life, and help alter your outlook in that direction. I also encourage you to check out the rest of the suite, Mars Bringer of War, Venus Bringer of Peace, Mercury the Winged Messenger, Uranus the Magician, and Neptune the Mystic. They’re all available on Youtube.

To the Daily Details after our musical intermission!

Sunday, April 1^st

No major aspects

The week gets off to a roaring start with the Moon entering Leo at 1:35am. That should immensely lift any brooding moods lingering from the past couple of days, though it may take a little while before it dispels the last of a drowsy fog. By mid-morning we’re feeling charged and ready to take on the day, so if you have plans or a to-do list, you should be able to accomplish what you set out to do with dispatch. In the afternoon a dark cloud or two may cloud the sunny skies, but by dinner time the mood again improves. As the day wears on, if you find yourself apprehensive of an event scheduled for this week, you simply must have faith in your self to see it through properly. You can do it, just stick to your guns, even if you have to shoot a blank or two to get another’s attention. In the evening, we’re actually feeling a bit rambunctious with greater confidence and a certain swagger to our step. Just remember those Fred Astaire moves mid-week.

Monday, April 2^nd

Sun trine Moon at 1:11am 13º Leo

Sun semisextile Jupiter at 8:34pm

A semisextile is no great shakes, but it may offer an economic opportunity or two if you let your gut be your guide. Asian and Australian readers may want to wait until early afternoon before going on any shopping sprees. In the afternoon, don’t be surprised if a glitch in the guise of a ghost from last week rears its gremlin head, something is bound to go wrong just after lunch. If you’ve made it to tea time in late afternoon without slapping your forehead, you’re in the clear. Nagging is a no-go this evening. Domestic arguments in particular are easily started, so put the kibosh on any personal agendas. Similarly, if you have meetings or social events scheduled it’s best to just enjoy each others’ company instead of pushing them where you want them to go. They’ll come around eventually! Tonight is also good for sitting down and thinking about how you are going to handle the rest of the week, and may find it particularly productive to formulate your thoughts and ideas in a written document, even if you are the only one to use it.

Tuesday, April 3^rd

Sun octile Moon at 5:26am at 30º Leo

Venus enters Gemini at 8:18am

The Moon enters Virgo at 6:53am, and it’s time to get down to business. There have been lots of ideas running around naked the past couple of days, and it’s time to clothe them and put them to work.

Soon after the Moon enters Virgo, Venus traipses into Gemini. She’s put on quite a celestial show the past couple of months, and now ever so gently glides closer to the horizon each night. By mid-May, she’ll be just a fond memory as she travels too close to the Sun to be seen. With Venus in Gemini we grow fonder of our gadgets, if that’s at all possible, and enjoy intelligent conversation and use of language. Our emotions are less earthy and more ephemeral, and may find ourselves falling in love (or at least like) 17 times a day.

Tuesday starts off with some good solid productive energies. Asian and Australian readers would do well to try to close the deal by early afternoon. Europeans and Middle Easterners can do the same by mid-morning, while Americans will have to settle for using it as they sleep.

Otherwise, the morning hours are likely to feel unsettled, particularly west of the Atlantic, as we wonder what yesterday’s events were all about. We may gain a better perspective on things in the afternoon, and as the sun sets we may have a more profound perception of recent events. The evening hours are very productive for working through deep-seated feelings. If you’ve been out of sorts, or feelings as if you haven’t been appreciated, this evening may provide a good opportunity for venting your feelings. Just be careful of too much spleen venting, as that can get rather messy.

Wednesday, April 4^th

Mercury stationary Direct at 3:11am

Jupiter quintile Neptune at 4:00pm

The very early morning hours are likely to be emotionally frustrating. We just don’t understand where others are coming from, and their motivations are opaque. In this case, those readers West of the pond have it better than those in the East. Americans can argue with themselves in their dreams, while Europeans and Asians are likely to do so with real people.

As the day gets going, however, it’s gangbusters all around. Opportunity is likely to rain from the skies like manna from heaven, and just about anything you want to accomplish is favored. Again, attitude and outlook is all important, so try to keep your chin up and look on the brighter side. If you need a little cheering up, wear out the Youtube Jupiter clip!

The evening is ripe for the unexpected. Perhaps a bit of news, note, or email may include an invitation. If so, by all means accept, a good time is likely to be had by all.

Thursday, April 5^th

Venus square Neptune at 6:49pm

We end the productive heart of the week when the Moon enters Libra at 8:32am.  Just before that, we’re likely feel a bit ambiguous toward our accomplishments as others try to push us into satisfying their needs instead of our own. Even so, we’re able to make good progress toward our goals, even if the short term results are less obvious or ostentatious. Sometimes, a day of modest but permanent progress is worth more than one with fireworks that turns out to be more temporary. The key to today’s success is sincerity. If you mean it, and it comes from the heart, you should do just fine.

Friday, April 6^th

Sun octile Neptune at 8:45am

Venus quintile Saturn at 11:59am

Full Moon at 12:19pm at 18º Libra

Today is the Full Moon of Libra, known as the Egg, Pink, Fish, Seed, or Waking Moon. Regardless of what it is called, the Full Moon of Libra is always significant because just as Libra is the sign of balance between two equal halves, a Full Moon is the midpoint of the monthly lunar cycle. This Full Moon offers a way to recover, recuperate and heal any recent wounds and to help put into practice any recent changes in life we have recently decided to make. Particularly if you have recently been through an ordeal, the next couple of weeks are an excellent time to enter a new phase of your life and to put into practice what have previously been long-term thoughts on important subjects. Don’t wait for external signs or signals, the only sign you need is the desire in your heart.

The Full Moon of Libra is also likely to produce some loopy behavior in the psyhically or psychologically less well balanced. Be on the lookout for any erratic behavior you encounter, it may be the forerunner of something that’s best to avoid. Otherwise, a little dinging or winging off the beaten track can be good fun, sparking memories of wonton deeds fondly remembered for years to come.

Saturday, April 7^th

Venus quintile Pluto at 6:48am

Venus square Mars at 4:36pm

Today Venus is in heat, and humans are randy. If you are in a relationship, looking for a relationship, or just looking for a good time, today should be another day for fond fecund memories to tickle your fancy in later years. The key to getting the most out of the day is not to be obsessed with control. Any danger is more likely to be found between your ears than out there, as long as you play safely. If you want a good time, go with the flow and let things happen naturally. There is a lot of high emotional energy in the air, so a disagreement is also somewhat likely. Just try to understand the other person’s point of view, let the snide remark slide, and keep things on an even keel. If you have an event to go to in the evening and your tongue has a pointy tip you may want to file it down before stepping outside. You don’t want a misspoken word to break the spell of what could otherwise be a magickal time.

Next week things get quite interesting as Mars goes direct and Pluto turns retrograde. Come back next week for all the salacious details!

Wishing you all a wonderful week!

The Flow! Week of March 25 – 31, 2012

The Flow is a weekly blog published to better understand the flow of astrological, celestial, and magickal energies for the week, and how best to use them.   It is intended for those with little knowledge of astrology. 

For newcomers, the idea is to consider celestial influences as part of a larger whole, or the Flow.  All too often, astrologers tend to write about astrological events as if each were an isolated specimen as if pulled out of the sky and analyzed by itself – and there is no dearth of astrological sites on the net that write that way.  Here, it is the movement and interactions that are important and form the basis of discussion.

If any of the material is unclear or unfamiliar to you, it is probably unfamiliar to others as well, please leave a comment and I will be glad to answer your questions. 

If you like what you see, please share it with friends!  If you would like to get email notifications for when The Flow! is updated, or have a private question please email me at skywatcher888@yahoo.com.  Thank you!

The Flow! is updated every Sunday.

Please note: all times are in the Pacific Timezone.

Synopsis for the week: Creative Living

Sometimes I know exactly what I am going to write in advance. Sometimes the astrological energies are so pronounced it would be almost criminal to miss them. Not that I haven’t committed a few such crimes in my time.

But not this time. Today was a mystery almost until the very end. I had all but given up trying to find what needed to be discussed, and when I did I realized I would have been guilty of the equivalent of first degree murder.

We are in the midst of an amazing astrological influence, if we but recognize its potential and make the most of it.

Saturn is quintiling Pluto. Oh!

This is news. Big news, though it is probably not very well known news.

Saturn is often thought of as the Snidely Whiplash of popular astrology. In our rush to assign good and bad to the planets, we give Jupiter halos, and angel wings, and Saturn a long curly mustache, cape, and evil laugh.

True, Saturn is often the planet associated with delays, obstructions, challenges, and the difficult puzzles of life. Saturn is time, and time brings old age.

But if we think of that as the epitome of evil, the joke is on us.

Saturn is, with all due respect to the others, a spectacular planet to behold. It is attended by a host of satellites and girdled with gossamer rings of ice diamonds like the betrothed of a god. And it has divine mysteries and secrets to prove it.

Saturn is our destiny and our karma. It is form, materiality, and structure. It is stable, tangible and real. Saturn tells the atoms of a crystal where to go. Without Saturn we’d still be oozing muck in the middle of a pond, like jellyfish, swimming aimlessly in the sea with no bones and no form.

True, sometimes material form is not fun. Material form is what it is. A hunk of wood is not gold, but then again, gold is not a hunk of wood. And, while our spirits may soar, if we try following them into the air, we’re likely to get bruised, and a pertinent lesson in the power of gravity – another of Saturn’s traits. Without that we’d be flotsam in the aether.

It is Saturn, too, that forms the structure of the very crystals of life, our DNA molecules, and the manner in which the various amino acids that comprise it combine. And it can be said that often for the purposes of the stability of our souls that we face the challenges and obstructions in our life, just like the fourth leg of a table or chair. Less mobile, perhaps, but firm – another of Saturn’s qualities.

And psychologically, Saturn is reliable, dependable, responsible, and dutiful.

Saturn is a very complicated planet. I could write reams about Saturn and not even break the surface. But perhaps reading about it isn’t the best way to learn about it. Perhaps a better way is to listen to Saturn. So I encourage you all to listen to Gustav Holst’s “Saturn the Bringer of Old Age.”

And, even if you are familiar with the piece, please follow along with my description of it. If pictures are worth words, notes can be worth volumes.

Saturn begins like the swinging of the pendulum of a cosmic clock. A full minute elapses before the melody begins. And when it does so, it is slow, methodical, and persistent. How’s that for patience? Then after another minute the horns trumpet a cautionary tale to pay attention. This is important. First it is simple, then driven, after that stately, and then turns stressful almost to the point of fear.  A lifetime in barely three minutes.  Eventually, it relents, and drives time once more incessantly forward. But we are not done. This too builds, until like a goliath striding into the room, we face the strident chaos of fear itself. At 6:00 we turn around and face our most gargantuan of phobias — of growing old and of death, and when we finally stand and acknowledge its presence, it is gone washing over us like a tidal wave of destiny heralded with the ringing of bells. The march of time resumes, only this time it is fluid, liquid, as if the notes are swaying to invisible astral currents, and then at 7:05 behold enlightenment, and we understand the meaning of it all as it carries us onward on waves of wisdom to the next stop in our journey.

Ah, Saturn! Not just a planet of wonder, but the planet of ultimate wonders.

Pluto, on the other hand, is the planet of change and transformation. Pluto has also been known as a planet of death. In Greek mythology Pluto ruled the underworld of the dead.

Pluto is also known as a planet of great power, because power is so often generated by breaking down and/or transforming one form of matter into another. Electricity shoves electrons around, magnetism aligns them, nuclear power breaks up whole atoms, and petrol products break down hydrocarbons built from decayed creatures living millions of years ago. Pluto is the great compost heap, but like compost there is the mystery within that the ultimate product of decay can serve as the nourishment for new life.

So when Saturn and Pluto aspect each other, we can expect great change, because we are dealing with not just everyday affairs, but the ultimate structures of life and death itself. As both ultimately serve the purpose of the other. That is what destiny is all about.

The quintile refers to the distance between them, formed by the very special number 5. A quintile is one-fifth of the zodiac, or 72º.

If one is union, two duality, three fruitfulness, and four materiality, five is conscious awareness and intelligence. A relationship reflected in nature in that a five-fold pattern is repeated so often among living creatures and hardly ever by inanimate objects.

A rock is a rock is a rock. Come back in a million years, and it may be a smaller rock, but it will still be a rock made up of basically exactly the same stuff it was originally – though it may be changed by the environmental forces around it.

Life is different. Life will mutate and change to adapt to its surroundings, but it will fundamentally change its very nature. We are different than apes. Swampgrass is not wheat. Life will establish itself wherever it can. And will struggle and strive itself to be not just everything that it is, but everything it can possibly be. Otherwise it would be sitting on a couch watching “reality” TV munching Doritos.

That is the power of awareness, the power of creativity – the power of the number five.

Putting all of this together – in any given astrological aspect, what is being affected is defined by the planets, but how it is being affected is defined by the aspect between them.

Here, we are dealing with great issues. Perhaps some of the most important issues we will ever face – why we are here, and what the purpose of our life is all about.

And we have the opportunity to change that with our creative intelligence. That’s not chump change.

We are actually in the middle of the second go-round of this aspect. It first hit around the beginning of October 2011, and lasts until the end of August 2012. However, for a variety of reasons is strongest from now until the beginning of June.

During this time, we have the opportunity to creatively alter the course of our life. The manner in which you can do so will be by transforming the very structures of your life by better understanding them.

Saturn builds carefully. It builds brick by brick by careful brick until the overall shape of the structure is discerned. But while you’re building all you see are bricks, not the structure. Similarly, we build the structures of our lives carefully, event by event by careful event until they become the very things we rely for our support. And that’s exactly what structures do – they support us.

Look to what supports you, and you will see the structures for the bricks. Once you see the structures, you can see what you might like to change. If you have creative projects in the works, now is definitely the time to shop them around. If you are making changes to your very self, and/or your psychological makeup, now is the time to make them real. If you are creative in any way, now is the time to capitalize on your creativity.

The astrological Flow is giving you the bricks and mortar – build!

All this talk heavy talk about destiny and transformation is nice, but we also have the return of a delightful celestial show. This weekend and into the early part of this week, the Jupiter-Venus-Moon show returns for an encore.

 

 

Courtesy of Sky & Telescope magazine

To the Daily Details!

 

Sunday, March 25^th

 

Sun quintile Mars at 10:39pm

Mercury quintile Saturn at 11:09pm

 

We begin the week with Moon in Taurus. That makes this week a rather good one for the Moon and our general moods and feelings. Taurus and Cancer are the Moon’s two favorite spots in the zodiac, and when it’s in Gemini, the sign in between it makes do. Gemini, at the very least, is entertaining.

 

We actually kick off the week, though with a couple of rather nice aspects. Sunday morning is an excellent time to be out and about, doing chores, fixing things, or cleaning. People feel rather energetic and purposeful, so if there’s something you just HAVE to do, plan to do it in the morning. The afternoon is better suited for kicking back, downing a few brews or other beverage of choice, and woolgathering. We’re not particularly motivated, and are more inclined to soak it all in and watch the clouds go by. The pace picks up in the evening hours, but by then it’s time to go to bed. If you ARE up late, you just might find your creative juices on overdrive. In fact, unless you want to be up late, you may want to plan on hitting the sack a bit early, because once the Sun-Mars aspect begins to hit around 9:30pm, everything you didn’t feel like getting around to will be the most interesting thing in the world to do.

 

Monday, March 26^th

 

Sun octile Moon at 10:18am at 22º Taurus

Mercury octile Jupiter at 2:34pm

 

The Moon is in Taurus all day, and that’s nice. A Taurus Moon always feels more comfy and secure, kind of like nature’s teddy bear. It’s a rather brilliant day, too, with lots of opportunities around, especially for our European and East-Asian readers in the morning hours – or Americans if they happen to be up before dawn. Getting out of bed may be a bit of a chore, but then again we were up burning the midnight oil last night and are sleep deprived. That combined with the Taurus Moon makes it more likely we may find ourselves napping than nipping at the heels of the work in front of us. It’s too bad, though, because it’s a great day for taking the initiative and trying to get other’s to understand your point of view. The afternoon is no time to bring up complicated matters, but if you’re feeling randy – go for it, you just may find things more rewarding than they appear on the surface.

 

Tuesday, March 27^th

Moon enters Gemini at 3:43am

Sun sextile Moon at 7:38pm

As I said earlier, the Moon in Gemini is entertaining. It’s interesting how every month when the Moon enters the sign, we all become more communicative, interested in topics that might otherwise escape our notice, and find our interactions with others a little more rewarding. We’re apt to be in a bit of a fog for all that, especially in the morning as we wonder about our past activities and proclivities. “Is that who I really am?” may cross more than one mind before lunch. After noon, we are more sure of our needs and wants, and are in no mood for any lip or flak, although not everyone is functioning to the same program. You may have to fight for what you want, and there’s nothing wrong with that. If mano a mano isn’t quite your style, try to generate as much sympathy as possible, and go for the emotional jugular.

If you give yourself the opportunity, the evening hours are very good for thinking about challenging situations and recent problems. You just might be able to obtain a perspective that fits everything together like a jigsaw, with a solution being that last piece.

 

Wednesday, March 28^th

Saturn quintile Pluto at 12:24pm

Venus octile Pluto at 1:51pm

The Saturn quintile Pluto discussed in the main section of the blog is the main event today, and represents more the beginning of a peak than the peak itself. Think of this as the starting gate to begin thinking about how you can creatively take charge of your life and start taking some important steps toward achieving some long-term goals. There are few better times to do so.

Relationships of all sorts may come into question today, and we may find ourselves being accused or treated unjustly. If you find yourself in this predicament, the best resolution is to point out the strength of your character, your values with regard to the situation, and why you think it is unjust. You may find it handy to have an alternative arrangement that helps let everyone win and save face. Remember, everyone likes a winner, and nobody likes to lose face.

 

Thursday, March 29^th

Mercury sextiles Venus at 10:42am

Sun squares Pluto at 12:55pm

The middle of the week is liable to generate a bit of stress. The Sun square to Pluto is a wakeup call for everyone’s inner Machiavelli, and while the Mercury sextile Venus makes things a bit sweeter, if the dagger strikes your back is coated with sugar, it will still draw blood. The aspect isn’t nasty enough to cause a whole heap of trouble, but it is best to step wisely and be watchful. Avoid excess gossip, don’t spread stories you aren’t sure are true, and watch where you step and what you say. In fact, the last bit of advice might be the most important until later in the day – loose lips from the good ship Bonhomie can blow a hole in your U.S.S. Constitution.

The Moon enters Cancer in at 4:07pm and we become more easy-going, less sarcastic, not quite so flighty, and more nurturing and caring. The only downside of Moon in Cancer is that we tend to be a bit more emotional as well, as since emotions are riding high this week anyway, watch out for any emotional landmines that might come your way.

 

Friday, March 30^th

Sun square Moon at 12:41pm at 11º Cancer

Sun quintile Mars at 10:39pm

The very early morning hours as likely to have an unsettled feeling to them. Europeans and West Asians should be aware that the morning may not go as planned. Also political or religious leaders may wind up saying things they don’t really mean or are taken out of context. Then again, they may really mean what they say, which would be worse.

Everyone seems to be atwitter with some delectable titillating tidbit today, so there’s likely not much going to get accomplished today. The thing to keep in mind is the truth, or the best you can make of it. If you find yourself being challenged today, the best thing to do is to try an explain things from your perspective and how it all fits in together. Try not to make excuses, or make appeals for leniency, it’s kind of important that you come clean. Accepting responsibility will ultimately be more productive than evading blame – being perceived as honest and respectable will be more important in the long-run.

 

Saturday, March 31^st

Mars quintile Uranus at 2:03am

Venus quintile Saturn at 11:24am

Saturday ought to be a fun day. The Moon is still in Cancer and won’t enter Leo until early tomorrow morning. Still, people are looking to enjoy each other’s company and have a good time. There’s almost a feeling that anything is possible, and if you have the right attitude, it will be. Relationships should be more open and rewarding as we’re willing to explore other aspects of each other that we might otherwise ignore.

The good feelings pretty much last all day, you may want to avoid over-committing yourself in the evening. Make sure that you don’t overbook yourself and schedule more obligations than you can reasonably fulfill.

It’s hard to believe, but we’re already a quarter of the way through 2012. Tomorrow is the 1^st of April – Happy April Fools!

Wishing you all a wonderful week!

 

 

 

 

The Flow! Weeks of February 12 – 25, 2012

The Flow is a weekly blog published to better understand the flow of astrological, celestial, and magickal energies for the week, and how best to use them.   It is intended for those with little knowledge of astrology. 

For newcomers, the idea is to consider celestial influences as part of a larger whole, or the Flow.  All too often, astrologers tend to write about astrological events as if each were an isolated specimen as if pulled out of the sky and analyzed by itself – and there is no dearth of astrological sites on the net that write that way.  Here, it is the movement and interactions that are important and form the basis of discussion.

If any of the material is unclear or unfamiliar to you, it is probably unfamiliar to others as well, please leave a comment and I will be glad to answer your questions. 

If you like what you see, please share it with friends!  If you would like to get email notifications for when The Flow! is updated, or have a private question please email me at skywatcher888@yahoo.com.  Thank you!

The Flow! is updated every Sunday.

Please note: all times are in the Pacific Timezone.

Synopsis for the week: Et Tu, Homie?

Welcome to The Flow! In each week’s edition we begin with a “Synopsis” that encapsulates the underlying energies of the period, discuss what it means, and follow that discussion guide of the notable energies and influences for each day. It is updated every Sunday. This week, because of the Pantheacon festivities, I am expanding the period to cover two weeks. Regular updates will resume the following Sunday, February 26^th.

I invite all of you attending this year’s Pantheacon to join me at my discussion on Sunday at 3:30pm in the Reisling room on East Meets West, a highly enlightening overview of Chinese Wisdom, Magick, and Healing in way we westerners can understand. I also invite you to join Hyperion and the Men Who Love Men in the Dance to the Dark God at 7:00pm in the San Martin/San Simeon room. Let the festivities begin!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Last week’s synopsis, Good Guy’s Rising is still very much in effect, but this week we encounter a bit of turbulence in the flow. Both the Sun and Mercury are ending their sojourn in Aquarius, so until next Sunday how you do things is every bit as important as what you do. It is all about management, planning, and making preparations for spring. It is a time for reaching out to others and managing your resources, understanding how to make the best use of them, and thinking about the next few moves on the chessboard of your life. And for those of us who have made progress wrestling with our inner demons over the past year, remaining true to the new you is your task over the next two weeks.

Next weekend, just before the Sun crosses into Pisces, you will have the opportunity to breach the gulf between your desires and your reality. It is, therefore, a good time to pursue vigorously every opportunity presented to you from Wednesday, the 15^th thru Saturday, the 18^th that helps move you toward your goals. There may even be an opening to capture a knight, bishop, or rook that’s been badgering you.

However, as the Sun gently floats downstream into the oceanic waters of Pisces he encounters Neptune, god of the Seven Seas. This is the first time that the Sun will do so since Neptune entered his Piscean domain earlier this month, and it is bound to generate a host of surprises.

Neptune, you see, has a reputation. Like most things Piscean, Neptune is a bit touchy, sensitive and fragile emotionally. In his Greek guise as Poseidon, he and Athena contested for the devotion of the Athenians. As a gesture of his beneficence he gave the Greeks the gift of the horse. Athena gave them the olive tree. Athena won. Neptune smote his trident upon the ground and inundated Athens with a flood. I guess that’s why we don’t call Athenians Poseidonians, and explains why most images of Greeks fighting show them doing so on their feet.

And while Poseidon was worshiped for calm seas and good fishing, when angered he caused fierce storms at sea, shipwrecks and earthquakes. In fact, Poseidon’s epithet wasn’t “kindly old man of the sea” but “earth shaker.” Telling.

In astrological terms, Neptune has domain over religion, spirituality, fantasy, imagination, drugs, idealism, mystery, and compassion. In a very real sense, Neptune rules over that which we can’t quite put our finger on, but forms the underlying framework on which more tangible effects can be built. Prayer is intangible, but the results we seek are not. Imagination is intangible, but the things we make from it are very real. Likewise, put a drug or pill in your mouth and the effects on your body can be profound. In my own thinking, Neptune is like the space-time continuum. It’s there, but remains a mystery — the rest of reality may be built upon it, but you can’t quite reach out and touch it.

Without going into boring detail, that’s also how Neptune gets to rule deception, illusion, trickery, and addiction. Shift the paradigm to fit your ambitions, and voilà, the illusion of the lie fitting into the fabric of reality suddenly makes sense.

The Sun is representative of the Self. Mercury is communication, interaction, trade, and technological equipment. Approaching Neptune is like approaching an island surrounded by a deep, thick, mysterious fog.

As we approach Neptune, our communications and interactions with others are not what they may seem. Deceit, manipulations, backroom dealings and other Machiavellian machinations may fall from the sky like a psychological acid rain. And even in the most kindhearted and compassionate of souls, with so much intangibility, mystery, and uncertainty in the air it is easy to fall victim to flightiness, flakiness, and fickle fecklessness.

When approaching island only barely perceptible, caution is advised.

Trust no one, or trust carefully. Firm up agreements to eliminate opportunity for any misunderstandings, or better yet get them in writing. Confirm plans well in advance, and then frequently thereafter so there’s less chance for no-shows and disappointments.  Even loved ones may prove unreliable, not for any intentional reason, it’s just that for the next couple of weeks we’re all operating in our own private Idahos.

If you have something important to do, write it down or make a list. Check it twice. Put it under your pillow and sleep on it. Just remember to put it in your pocket in the morning.

And keep in mind Neptune’s easily aroused sensitivities as well. Move not one’s cheese as the hand that does so may wind up with a trident tattoo. Tread lightly.

Et tu, homie, indeed.

On the other hand, Neptune is also the gateway to magick, other realms, and other dimensions. What is more intangible and difficult to define than the permeable membranes through which to tap into the power of other realms and in which contact with other worlds can occur? And Neptune’s mysteries can plunge us down into the abysses and crevices of our souls in which the most precious secrets lay waiting to be discovered.

As the Sun and Mercury approach Neptune in his own sign, great magick can be done, great workings be made, and great revelations dawn. Though Neptune is just getting his feet wet in the very first degrees of Pisces, we may yet get a glimpse of what beneficence he can manifest.

Maybe this time, it would be wise to appreciate his gifts.

 

The Faces of Venus - February 3, 2012

 

To the Daily Details!

Sunday, February 12^th

Sun trine Moon at 2:27am

Sun octile Pluto at 5:21pm

We start the week with some genuinely nice, harmonic, and balanced energies as the Moon makes a fond farewell to Libra. The early morning hours are pleasant as we try to digest and make sense of the prior week’s events. As afternoon approaches, the clouds start to cover our previously sunny skies as our commitments and responsibilities get in the way of what we would rather be doing. Try to tread gently on your psyche this afternoon, keeping in mind that you only made the commitments you did because you thought they were for the best, so make the best of it. The Moon enters Scorpio at 2:01pm, and our emotional clouds grow even stronger. The Moon like being in Scorpio about as much as a cat likes being in a bathtub, affecting our moods by making us doubtful, depressed, cranky, and sarcastic. With the Moon in Scorpio our emotions are at their rawest, our nerves are tautest, and we tend to get stressed most easily. Particularly with the Sun (our Self) octile (challenge) Pluto (psychological depths), everything appears as a psychological hurtle, and we rarely feel we measure up to the task at hand. Fear not, stout heart, all you really need do is try to make the most of the resources at hand and let nature take its course. Just make sure you truly believe in what you’re doing and everything will turn out peachy-keen, if not better than expected.

Courtesy of Sky & Telescope magazine

 

Monday, February 13^th

Mercury trine Saturn at 10:43am

Mercury enters Pisces at 5:37pm

Mercury conjunct Neptune at 10:46pm

Mercury is a busy little bee today, making it a better than average day for financial transactions, commerce, shopping, and managing our daily workload. We enter the workweek really wanting to make substantial progress on tasks and project that have been hanging over our heads for weeks, if not months, and there’s a good wind at our backs to make significant accomplishments in that regard. If there’s an item you’ve been shopping for, an economic issue you’ve wanted to solve, today offers good opportunities for progress. But the key to making the most of the opportunities is by networking and reaching out to others. Put yourself squarely in the marketplace, and you just might find that notable bargain to lift the spirits and deepen the pocketbook. In the afternoon, the energies are good for putting yourself out there if you are looking for work, and even if fully employed, putting yourself out there for work that can lead to greater recognition or a promotion. It is OK to trumpet your skills and let others know what you can offer them, there is no shame in contributing your talents for the benefit of the common good. In the evening, around the time Mercury conjoins with Neptune, is an excellent time for planning for the future, drawing up plans, or other kinds of workings to help improve your financial situation.

 

Tuesday, February 14^th

Sun square Moon (Third Quarter) at 9:03am at 26° Scorpio

Happy Valentines Day!

Or it would be if it weren’t for all these bloody aspects. For most of the day the Moon is in Scorpio, joyfully cavorting into Sagittarius at 4:56pm. Sometimes I think I paint too gloomy a picture of the Moon in Scorpio – and then we have one, and my faith in my painting is renewed. Maybe my picture is too dark, at least I always hope that lots of you are smiling blissfully during Moon in Scorpio periods. But if there’s ONE thing the Moon in Scorpio is the best at, it’s sex. While the Moon in Scorpio, her libido is thoroughly at full throttle, and the sex we have to scratch that itch seems to satisfy that libido more thoroughly. So, if you have a honey today and want to scratch some itches, doing so before the Moon goes into Sagittarius may give you Valentines Day memories to last a lifetime. Just scratch safely! Once the Moon enters Sagittarius, her energies are much more playful, festive, and cheery – but less substantial than when the Moon is in Scorpio.

Let me put it this way, sometimes the Moon in Scorpio can be like a trip to a House of Horrors. Our emotions get reflected back at us and they can be distorted in all sorts of horrific ways. But it’s our reaction to them that really matter. Do they frighten us or entertain us? But the Moon in Sagittarius is like a trip to the Fun House. Fun, laughter, gaiety, but sometimes it can get cacophonous, and the commotion can get on your nerves.

For Valentines Day, if you’re in a healthy committed relationship, you may want to do or say something in the morning that deepens your relationship. If you’re in a relationship just beginning or in one that needs progressing to deeper waters, you may want to wait until later in the day when the Moon is in Sag.

In any case may your Valentines Day be everything you hope it could be!

 

Wednesday, February 15^th

Venus squares Pluto at 10:32am

Mars octiles Jupiter at 4:41pm

In the morning Venus (belief) squares (spurs) Pluto (transformation). In the morning hours, and until the Venus-Pluto energy dissipates later in the day, we may need to confront some beliefs that have not been serving us very well. This may be anything from hopes we are holding on to that have little traction with reality to discovering that we thought or assumed to be true, isn’t. This morning may even include the climax to a long-standing difficulty with someone with whom you have been forced to fence with.  Chances are, these are all situations over which we have been told we have little control, but in fact we have been controlling the situation through others for quite some time. Any of these situations may mean making radical changes to some of our beliefs, but they will be changes that could make your path to fulfillment much easier to follow.

In the afternoon, Mars (energy) octiles (spurs) Jupiter (growth). In the afternoon as the Venus-Pluto energy fades and the Mars-Jupiter energy grows stronger, we may be feeling quite good, as a breakthrough of one sort or another lifts our spirits. If you find yourself walking on air, just make sure you go where you look or look where your next footstep is about to land. Be careful, too, of what you say to others about your success. You don’t want to be too boastful or a sore winner. Remember, little makes the gods angrier than displays of hubris. Also, keep in mind that any success you achieve is because of the kind of person you became with regard to this situation. If you can apply the lessons you have learned to other situations in your life, you could address them with dispatch.

Courtesy of Sky & Telescope magazine

 

Thursday, February 16^th

Mercury sextile Jupiter at 8:06am

Sun sextile Moon at 5:07pm at 28° Sagittarius

The morning hours under the Mercury Jupiter sextile are excellent for creative endeavors of all sorts. Whether it is creative writing, painting, composing, or just thinking about life as dew drops fall from the leaves, we are better able to access our creativity, understand what it means, and put it to good use in ways that others can appreciate in their own way. If there is a project you have been banging your head against the wall trying to figure out how to enroll others, or get them excited about the prospects of it, this morning is an excellent time to do so. In the afternoon, watch for hasty words, overly-aggressive actions, or making too much of petty annoyances as you may make matters worse, and even worse, damage your reputation. If you’re reading this before Thursday, just make ample preparations for your plans, and everything should still go smoothly. Just try not to shoot from the hip, or shoot off your mouth. When the Moon enters Capricorn at 9:03pm, our perspective of things improves, and we are better able to handle any situations that need fixing.

 

Friday, February 17^th

Sun octile Moon at 9:45pm at 14° Capricorn

Today has a lovely grab-bag of pleasant lunar aspects as the Moon makes its way through the sign of the Sea Goat. The very earliest hours of the morning are likely to be a bit chaotic and disruptive, so if you have to be up early today, you may want to make sure you go to give yourself extra time for sleep Thursday night. As the morning progresses, though, our thoughts become more cheerful, open, and joyous as we think of the events we have planned for the weekend. We’re feeling quite powerful, secure, and sure of ourselves just a little after noon, but don’t let it go too much to your head. After all, it’s only a lunar aspect, and will last only a few hours. There’s lots of fun and games to be had in the evening, but the best course of action is to not have too many expectations or make them too high. There’s plenty of merriment to be had if we just go with the flow.

 

Saturday, February 18^th

Sun trine Saturn at 8:02am

Mercury sextile Pluto at 1:23pm

Sun enters Pisces at 10:17pm

The Moon remains in Capricorn, and while she is there we are devoted to the practical tasks at hand and how best to manage them. In fact, the day is quite well favored for productive activities of all kinds. If there are chores, projects, or errands you need attending to, cleaning that needs to be done, or social events on your calendar, all of them should go well. The afternoon’s energies are particularly ideal for education, researching, meditating, or other kinds of activities that expand your mind and invoke your curiosity. If there are any riddles, secrets or mysteries that you have been pondering, today is an excellent time for solving them and getting to the source of the matter – and understanding the context of the situation better. We have both the discipline necessary and focus of mind to accomplish great things if we’re willing to apply our minds along positive lines.

 

Sunday, February 19^th

Sun conjoins Neptune at 12:40pm

As the clock strikes midnight our obligations weigh on our mind, and this is a case in which it is better to make sure they are met then trying to stretch ourselves too thin. While it has been said you can never be too rich nor too thin, stretching yourself too thin often costs a hefty price. The mood may be subdued beforehand, but when Moon flits into Aquarius at 2:28am it adds a bit of sparkle, brio, and fairy dust to the proceedings. The morning hours feel particularly crisp and brisk as we look forward to the day’s agenda. The earlier you begin the day, the more you may feel you get out of it. In early afternoon the Sun meets up with Neptune, and everything may feel a bit surreal. We are just days from the New Moon, and it may feel like some things are ending without knowing what will replace them, but the feeling of something new being born feels unmistakable. Follow your heart through the day’s activities, it will be the best guide through the murky fogs of uncertainty. Commitments made today should also be followed up in a couple of days, after the Sun-Neptune energy has dissipated. Sun-Neptune may be great for meditation, spiritual development, and prayer, but not so great for follow-through.

 

Monday, February 20^th

No major aspects

The Moon is in Aquarius all day. Today is a day to be mindful of the effect we have on others. We are all interconnected in ways we can’t possibly comprehend, and our actions and our words can have important effects on those with whom we interact today. Be temperant of temperament and say what you mean, not what you think others want to hear, and you will avoid unnecessary complications later. We all just might be a bit more sensitive than we’d like to admit, but sparing another’s feelings may be a worse crime than lying, especially during times like these when lies can cause more hurt and damage than the truth.  Also, try not to force your will on others today, gentle persuasion will avoid creating emotional difficulties or hatching plots for revenge. Otherwise, and relationshipwise, there is a good possibility of forging strong bonds with others today, whether friends or lovers. Any overtures accepted today could develop into a long-lasting relationship.

 

Tuesday, February 21^st

Venus octile Neptune at 9:20am

Mercury octile Saturn at 12:36pm

New Moon at 2:34pm at 3° Pisces

Although I haven’t said much about Chiron this week, the Sun, Moon, Neptune and Chiron are all bunched up together in the sky creating an immense opportunity for healing. This healing is likely to spread and develop through the networks we create and the associations we have with others. All of this makes perfect sense for some significant social media event, or the use of social media to help heal old wounds. This is a great day for getting in touch with others, connecting with them, and finding common cause either via social media, email, or more traditional modes of communication. If ever there was a time for reaching out and touching someone, and making a difference, now is the time to do so.

The New Moon occurs in the part of the zodiac symbolized by the marketplace, so it is entirely possible that we could have significant economic news develop over the next few days as well. The key here is the degree to which we are all interconnected, and in a global economy, that is more apparent and meaningful than ever. With Neptune and Chiron so close by, it is also possible we could begin to develop a new understanding of how we expect our economy to function, and to smooth out some of the recent difficulties we have experienced. While it may take more than a New Moon to put our economy on a secure footing, the period of February 19-23 could bring some significant news that whether good or bad, will eventually help us heal our national or global psyche, and move on.

 

Wednesday, February 22^nd

No major aspects

The Moon is in Pisces all day, giving a slightly chaotic feeling to the air, overlaid with a heavy dose of not knowing how to respond to the news of the day. The early morning hours are likely to generate a good deal of soul-searching, and there’s a sense that we’re stronger, more powerful, and more resilient than we might have thought. In fact, we’re very likely to feel as if our beliefs are playing out before our eyes, with a strong need to rely on the good ones to help us make the most of our current situation.

It is also possible today could be somewhat of a day of reckoning, in the sense that it is a time when a course correction may be obvious and required. If you find yourself in a situation like this, it is best to acknowledge the fact with as much grace as you can muster and make the changes required quietly and effectively. There’s no shame in admitting fault, but great shame and greater danger in trying to cover it up. I’m not predicting that this is generally applicable to all, but if you find yourself in this kind of a situation, your destiny is calling and watching how you handle it.

 

Thursday, February 23^rd

Mercury opposes Mars at 3:25am

The best advice I can give about today is that when Mercury (mind) and Mars (aggression) oppose each other, tempers flare and haste makes waste. Travel too, can sometimes be affected, so if you have travel plans for today make sure you drive carefully and if you are flying, that you leave extra time for delays. Our mouths and fingers have a tendency to function faster than our brains, so try to reign in any tendency to fly off the handle. Since warrior Mars is also the planet that likes to turn plowshares into spears, don’t be too surprised by aggressive statements made by others that may require more backup than they’d like. During aspects like these our shopping tends to get a bit overheated as well, so if you are about to make a significant purchase, make sure your budget has the resources to sustain it.

The Moon enters Aries at 6:48pm, adding gasoline to any smoldering embers. Take it easy, breathe deeply, and count to ten frequently. Try not to get too caught up in the frenzy of the moment, whatever the focus of the frenzy happens to be, it’s likely to be a flickering fad, not a permanent flame.

 

Friday, February 24^th

No major aspects

Today could turn out to be a rather successful day. If you have felt things moving positively in your direction, now may be the time to try and bring them to fruition. The key here is in focusing your attention on those projects or situations over which you have considerable authority. If you’re the one in charge, today is a prime opportunity for putting whatever plans, ideas, or campaigns in motion. You don’t need to have it all together, you don’t need to everything perfectly in place, or have all your ducks in a row. All you need is sincerity in your heart about the situation and desire to move it forward. Good luck!

Otherwise, the day can seem rather hectic at times. With the Moon in Aries everyone is running around like there’s no tomorrow, trying to fit days of activity into a few hours. But it you’re wise, you’ll take it all in stride.

 

Saturday, February 25^th

Sun sextile Jupiter at 2:32am

Mercury octile Jupiter at 10:56am

Sun octile Moon at 1:45pm at 22° Aries

There is a rhythm within each of us that drives us forward and calls us toward a future that exists in our projections. Often, this rhythm is sounded by the drum of our own destiny. Today, that drum beats loudly. Whatever calls to you, whatever moves you, and to whatever you feel drawn, is what you need to be doing and focusing your attention on. This is a great opportunity to give yourself the chance to open new horizons, follow a new path, or break free of the bonds of the past. Let your instincts guide you to a better tomorrow by paying heed to the guidance of its message today.

Wishing you all a wonderful couple of weeks!

The Flow! Week of February 5 – 11, 2012

The Flow is a weekly blog published to better understand the flow of astrological, celestial, and magickal energies for the week, and how best to use them.   It is intended for those with little knowledge of astrology. 

For newcomers, the idea is to consider celestial influences as part of a larger whole, or the Flow.  All too often, astrologers tend to write about astrological events as if each were an isolated specimen as if pulled out of the sky and analyzed by itself – and there is no dearth of astrological sites on the net that write that way.  Here, it is the movement and interactions that are important and form the basis of discussion.

If any of the material is unclear or unfamiliar to you, it is probably unfamiliar to others as well, please leave a comment and I will be glad to answer your questions. 

If you like what you see, please share it with friends!  If you would like to get email notifications for when The Flow! is updated, or have a private question please email me at skywatcher888@yahoo.com.  Thank you!

The Flow! is updated every Sunday.

Please note: all times are in the Pacific Timezone.

Synopsis for the week: Good Guys Rising

Sometimes spring arrives not with cannons, but with the aspiring leaves of a crocus breaking through crusty cold earth. Sometimes an icy heart is melted by a thoughtful word. Sometimes opportunity does not knock but eases in on balanced astrological breezes.

This is such a time.

Some of the news is good. With Uranus in Aries, people are learning how to fight oppression, and fight back against deceitful political ploys by organizations and institutions. Now that the Saturn – Jupiter opposition is over, our economy is beginning to move in the right direction.  Now that Neptune is out of Aquarius people are less inclined to believe unadulterated intellectual excrement.

But that doesn’t mean all of it is.

People are dying for freedom in Syria. North Korea juggles nuclear weapons while dancing on the sword of Damocles of world security. China and Russia are still united in their opposition of the West, and Iran would like nothing more than to lob a missile into the world’s oil supply. And no matter how many times we turn a deaf ear, the anguish of Africa is real.

Saturn is about to join Mars Retrograde, and the most effective weapon for dealing with and overthrowing tyranny is organized civil disobedience. Freedom fighters the world over should study the work of Gandhi for some useful insights and methods.

Thankfully, many of us are not personally involved in these struggles, but to quote Eleanor Roosevelt, “Hate and force cannot be in just a part of the world without having an effect on the rest of it.”

Speaking of Eleanor, another favorite quote of hers is, “Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, and small minds discuss people.”

She was one of the greats.

Closer to home, there are now two major astrological influences shaping events, Saturn joining Mars Retrograde this Tuesday, and the strengthening Jupiter-Pluto trine that will climax on March 12^th.

First Saturn.

Saturn, in all its glory

Saturn may be the most beautiful planet in the solar system, but can be one of the most difficult to deal with. When everything is going smoothly and you get stopped dead in your tracks, who’s often to blame? Saturn. When you have put all your hope in the ability of your nest eggs to grow, who stunts their growth? Saturn. When you get stopped by the cops for a speeding ticket, who’s to blame? Well, you, but somewhere Saturn was smiling.

Saturn is the planet of responsibilities, duties, and obligations. Saturn obstructs shortcuts and rewards discipline, hard work, and due diligence. Saturn is law, and Saturn is karma. Above all, Saturn is stricture and structure. But it is often by Saturn’s hand that we learn mastery. Saturn makes us sit and do scales on the piano, but master the scales and you master the music.

Saturn is going backwards, forcing us to face our own duties, responsibilities, structures, and karma. It is a time of coming to terms with the consequences of our actions. When Saturn is retrograde, we must sleep in the bed we have made for ourselves. And if you do so with dirty dogs, you’re likely to wake up with fleas.

Saturn retrograde times also usually present excellent opportunities for us to make amends for mistakes we have made. If handled correctly, Saturn retrograde can give us a second chance in areas that we have fumbled in the past. Watch carefully for any overtures from others indicating such opportunities. They may be a gift of epic proportions.

Saturn retrograde times are also often periods in which we reexamine the commitments we have made and the responsibilities we bear. In some cases, it may feel as if our load has become lighter, but don’t be too fooled by that. It is advantageous to look at this as an chance to look at the load from below, and decide what is worth continuing to carry and what is better to jettison. When Saturn turns direct in mid-June, you’ll be grateful for that lighter load.

While Saturn retrograde is apt to prod us to heave a sigh of relief, Jupiter trine Pluto has the force of a strong wind at our back moving us forward.

Pluto is power, transformation, and renewal. As god of the underworld, he ruled over wealth and the resources of the deeps and depths. We don’t call people today plutocrats for nothing. More plainly, not only is Pluto a general influence on our economy as a whole, but Pluto also rules over nuclear energy, oil and other petro-chemicals, and power plants.

Jupiter is the planet of growth and opportunity. He the Santa Claus of the zodiac. He’s the guy who when you’re down and out and have no hope, comes around and pays the bills. He helps you network to meet the right people at the right time, and turns tiny acorns into mighty oaks. In Roman times, Jupiter, largest planet of the solar system was called Optimus Maximus – Greatest and Best. You don’t get any better than that.

Jupiter is coming up trine Pluto in mid-March. The trine is a third of the zodiac, or 120 degrees, and represents balance and an easy flow of energy between the two planets involved. Jupiter trine Pluto times are generally good times, and times in which opportunity can be found without needing to turn over too many stones.

So far, the positive and beneficent sides of the Jupiter trine Pluto energy have been building productively. I am hopeful that it will continue to do so at least through the mid-March time period, and that Saturn retrograde will not impede this buildup. That being the case, make the most of this time. Jupiter-Pluto trines only occur every 3-4 years, and often represent periods in which great progress can be made. Definitely a time to take full advantage so that you can look back on it and smile with appreciative satisfaction!

Before we get to the Daily Details, take a peek at these truly breathtaking high-definition images of the Earth taken by NASA. I have selected the largest images of them I could find because if you open them up, you can truly see amazing detail. Enjoy!

To the Daily Details!

 

Courtesy of Sky & Telescope magazine

Sunday, February 5^th

No major aspects

The Moon is in Cancer all day. Dawn breaks with us a bit befuddled and unsure of the manner we have handled things. Could we have done more? Should we have done less? Did we say what we really meant, and did we say the right things? Doubt flits about our heads like gnats, but there’s nothing really to fret about. Stop making trouble for yourself. These thoughts have less to do with our insecurities than reality. That is, unless you decide to make them real. As the day progresses, our mood shifts. By about 3pm we are feeling our oats, energized, powerful, lively and alive. We’re ready for anything but most ready for a good time. Any parties or social activities done this afternoon should go well, and generate some fond memories for years to come.

 

Monday, February 6^th

Sun octile Uranus at 2:04am

Mercury octile Uranus at 12:01pm

The Moon enters Leo at 5:24am and sets the tone for what could be a pleasant week. We’re in a playful mood and are more interested in fluff than weighty topics. Be careful of getting too distracted by gossip or the antics of the clown in the next cube or you could find yourself caught in an embarrassing situation—and not just with the boss. The Sun and Mercury are very close together in preparation for tomorrow’s conjunction, and both of them make challenging aspects to Uranus throughout the day. That means that computers, communication devices, and meetings are all likely to be disruptive, not act according to plan, and may present situations that make you choose conflicting personal or emotional priorities. You have a reputation to uphold. Making decisions consistent with that reputation will serve you best in the long-run, no matter how enticing the short-term benefits may be.

 

Tuesday, February 7^th

Sun conjunct Mercury at 1:02am

Saturn stationary Retrograde at 6:02am

Full Moon at 19° Leo at 1:53pm

Venus enters Aries at 10:00pm

Today is a very busy day astrologically. The Sun conjunct Mercury gives an extra edge to our minds, thoughts, and tongues. Not only are we able to speak more clearly, but we are also better able to communicate the full extent of our feelings as well. People know exactly where we stand and how we feel. This aspect can tend to also give our words an extra edge, so be careful how you wield your verbal sword today. The Sun conjunct Mercury also means that we’re at the midway point between retrograde Mercuries. We finished the last one December 14^th, and will enter a new one on March 12^th, the same fateful day as the Jupiter Pluto trine climax.

The Full Moon at 19° Leo continues the relatively good mood we have been in since last weekend. Many of us may feel as if we’ve braved a severe storm, and that the worst of it has passed. There are strong indications that this is indeed the case, and let’s hope that that is true. Last Thursday we crossed a “nexus” of planetary spiritual evolutionary energy, and I believe we came through on the good side of things. Stay tuned to future editions of The Flow! for more details!

I can’t pass the day without saying at least a few words about Venus entering Aries. While generally speaking Venus doesn’t quite feel completely at ease in the home sign of Mars, but it does make us more direct in our relationships, less tolerant of coverups, exaggerated mannerisms, or artificial airs. It’s a time when subtlety flies over our heads like an airplane, and when our needs turn toward open, honest, and forthright relationships. Venus in Aries also tends to bring out imbalances and inequalities in our relationships, so be extra careful that you give as much as you get, and get as much as you give, or the playground of Aries can turn into a battlefield.

 

Wednesday, February 8^th

No major aspects

The Moon enters Virgo at 9:32am and it’s time to get back to work. We may have been neglecting our true duties while we’ve been out having fun, and the Moon in Virgo is making us face up to our responsibilities. Actually, with the Moon in Virgo, we start a day in which growth in economic matters is heavily favored. However, there is a caveat, and it is a big one: beware of overextending yourself. If there are situations in which you can advance your interests by using resources in your pocket and at your command, you will do well to use them. If, however, it means utilizing a line of credit, or buying on time, or using others’ resources, this is not the time to make your move. I know, I know, you are confident that you have what it takes and everything will work out fine. But that is unlikely to be the case unless you are one of the fire signs, Leo, Aries, or Sagittarius and one of these planets fall in your second house of finance and resources. You’re here, so take my advice, and don’t extend yourself too thin today!

 

Thursday, February 9^th

Venus conjunct Uranus at 6:28pm

The Moon remains in Virgo all day, and meets up with Mars later in the evening at 9:11pm. Take that as a warning. Most of the day is extremely favorable for any and all kinds of creative activities. If you have writing to do, a website to design, artwork to develop, or music to compose, you just might have a major breakthrough today. Otherwise, the earlier part of the day isn’t particularly bad, but business dealings and economic news is apt to be mixed-up and mixed. Good news may turn out to be not quite as good as people think, and bad news may actually make things turn out better than they think. Take your financial news with a grain of salt today.

The heavy hitting astrologically, though, occurs this evening. Our relationships can range from sparklingly effervescent to downright difficult to control or understand. Beware of hyper-emotionalism in any case. Everyone has their heart on their sleeve, and that special someone may just decide to wipe their nose on yours. Be equally wary of manipulations and power-plays, everyone’s inner Machiavelli comes out to play tonight, too. If at all possible, try not to care too much or make too much of tonight’s antics. The fault, this time, may truly be in the stars, not your dear one’s heart.

 

Friday, February 10^th

Mercury octile Pluto at 5:45am

Sun octile Moon at 11:30pm

The Moon enters Libra at 11:54am, and sets the stage for a very interesting day. The astrological energies today permeate the barriers and divisions of time, space, and consciousness on a variety of levels. Pay particularly close attention to synchronicities, oddities, or experiences of déjà vu. They just might be from spirits trying to knock some clues into your skull. Personal news may feel particularly weighted, as if each word or phrase has particularly important meaning. In fact, that’s a good keyword for the entirety of the day: meaning. The day is likely to have some truly meaningful events, and how you treat that meaning will have an effect on the course of that event. If for example, someone who you have been having difficulty with says something kind, it may be a golden opportunity for rapprochement. If someone makes personal overtures, it may be an indication that they are interested in a more intimate relationship. If you get good financial news, it may be a sign that you should use some of that money to invest in your own future. It is almost like going through the day like a pinball, and each time you make a meaningful connection to an occurrence in your life, your spirit lights up and you rack up good karma points.

 

Saturday, February 11^th

No major aspects

With the Moon in Libra all day we want to connect with others emotionally. If you have somewhere to go and/or someone to do it with, you’ll find that the bonds you have with others particularly rewarding today. However, relating to others isn’t going to be particularly easy today. We’re unsure of what we really or want or need from others, and we seem to trip over our own words communicating these needs. Non-verbal communication is likely to be the most effective, so it’s a day when it is truly best to reach out and touch someone — just so long as they don’t have a restraining order out on you. In the afternoon hours we are strongly tempted by the demons on the darker side of our minds. We have a strong desire to scratch a deep psychological itch that has caused us pain in the past. Be careful! Usually these itches cover deep psychological wounds that have healed enough to not be intrusive any longer, so scratch that itch at your own risk!

Many of us are likely to use this weekend to celebrate Valentine’s Day. However, the astrological aspects are not particularly kind either Friday night or Saturday. Sunday is definitely the best of the time periods for romantic rendezvous, so if you can, plan accordingly!

Wishing you all a wonderful week!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Flow! Week of January 22 – 28, 2012

The Flow is a weekly blog published to better understand the flow of astrological, celestial, and magickal energies for the week, and how best to use them.   It is intended for those with little knowledge of astrology. 

For newcomers, the idea is to consider celestial influences as part of a larger whole, or the Flow.  All too often, astrologers tend to write about astrological events as if each were an isolated specimen as if pulled out of the sky and analyzed by itself – and there is no dearth of astrological sites on the net that write that way.  Here, it is the movement and interactions that are important and form the basis of discussion.

If any of the material is unclear or unfamiliar to you, it is probably unfamiliar to others as well, please leave a comment and I will be glad to answer your questions. 

If you like what you see, please share it with friends!  If you would like to get email notifications for when The Flow! is updated, or have a private question please email me at skywatcher888@yahoo.com.  Thank you!

The Flow! is updated every Sunday.

Please note: all times are in the Pacific Timezone.

Synopsis for the week: Second Verse, in Reverse

 

Last week there was so little going on astrologically, I jumped ahead and discussed Sunday’s (PST and west) or Monday’s (all others) New Moon. A New Moon that shines the spotlight on what makes us unique, what we each have to contribute as unique individuals, and the value of those contributions to both our self, and our communities. For a more in depth discussion, click here.

But Monday is more eventful than just a New Moon, there is a triple header that makes it one of the more important astrological dates of the year.

On Monday, the New Moon sweeps in the Chinese New Year of the Black Water Dragon, and Mars shifts gears and goes backwards.

First, Chinese New Year.

Gung hay fat choy!  恭喜发财!  

 Xin nian yu kuai!   新年快乐!

In Chinese astrology, the 12 signs rotate with the 5 elements, an exact combination of element and sign occurs only once every 60 years. If you are about to have a birthday for a year divisible by 12 then you are also a Dragon, and if you are about to turn 60, you are a Water (Black) Dragon.

Unlike Western Astrology, Chinese Astrology does not emphasize the intrinsic characteristics of each year, focusing instead on the relationship between those characteristics and anyone seeking a reading. It is therefore difficult to find online what a year of the Water Dragon means in general for everyone, and much more information on what it means for anyone’s birth combination. One of my favorite sites is www.chinesefortunecalendar.com, so if you’re interested, please check it out! At the very least, the icons for the signs and elements are pleasant and help following the various inter-relationships. If anyone else knows of another useful site, please add a comment to the blog!

Generally speaking, though, Dragons are energetic, creative, powerful, enterprising, charismatic, and intelligent. Since water tends to temper the fiery nature of the Dragon, water Dragons are more thoughtful, patient, and perceptive. Since the Tiger is more yin and receptive compared to Dragon’s yang, years of the Dragon often begin a period in which it is auspicious to implement the plans, organizations, and strategies begun in the year of the Tiger.

In any event, may it be an auspicious year for us all!

For Western astrologers, the big event of the week is Mars turning Retrograde.

Generally speaking, Mars turns Retrograde every two years and a smidgeon in a progression of the signs of the zodiac, lasting anywhere from 58 to 82 days. In the Winter of 2007-2008 Mars went Retrograde in Cancer, in Winter 2010 Mars was Retrograde in Leo, in Winter 2012 Mars goes Retrograde in Virgo, and in Winter 2014 Mars will go Retrograde in Libra.

Neat, that.

This year, Mars will be Retrograde from January 23^rd to April 14^th, a total of 82 days. If past experience is any guide, they not known for being particularly celebratory times.

Mars is our energy, drive, ambition, and power. It is the planet of intentionality, the dynamo that gets us moving and once moving keeps us in the direction we wish to go. It also is that force that directs our actions, devises strategy, fights our battles, and declares victory. When you get up in the morning, it’s Mars that gets you out of bed and keeps you out until it’s time to stop expending energy, recharge your batteries, and surrender to sleep.

As I mentioned before, Mars isn’t particularly thrilled to be in the house of Virgo, and the rest of we mortals feel his displeasure in the form of crankiness, fussiness, and pickiness. What would slough off our backs in other times sticks in our craw with Mars in the critical sign of the virgin. After all, if she wasn’t so picky, she wouldn’t still be a virgin.

When planets turn Retrograde, they appear in the sky to be going backwards, so many of the areas ruled by the planet tend to be internalized, slowed down, or obstructed, and we become anxious, tense, frustrated, angry, and not a little bit paranoid. That’s also why communications, computer equipment, and commerce are all not favored during Mercury retrograde times. When the buggers go backwards, their affairs go awry.

Similarly, with Mars. Mars also rules war, and it is not uncommon for ill-fated wars to be started during these times. The flip side of Mars Retrograde is a false sense of bravado, an oversized ego, and an over-estimation of one’s strength. If you feel yourself feeling your oats over the next few months, you might want to sit down with a bowl of oatmeal instead. With a side order of milquetoast.

While in other times, he who hesitates might lose, with Mars Retrograde he who starts it usually regrets it. Pick your battles with care.

That doesn’t mean that conflicts started before these times fail. Not by any means, but conflicts that do continue into a Mars Retrograde period are usually re-examined, re-tooled, re-strategized and re-formulated. That’s always the key with any Retrograde period, the “re” in retrograde means “play it again, Sam!”

The best approach to handling Mars Retrograde is to try to better understand your motives, impulses and the reasons for why you want or do what you do. We need to not just leap but look before we do so. And, while heavens forfend I’d ever advocate anything dishonest, if the direct, upfront, straightforward approach doesn’t work, who’s to say no to other means? Not I.

Watch for the extra nervousness, hypercritical, and overly analytical approach too. That is usually a signal of energy being dissipated in unproductive ways. On March 3^rd, the Sun will oppose Mars marking the midpoint of the Mars Retrograde cycle. We’ll take another look at how the cycle is manifesting then. Until then, try to stay focused, remain on point, and keep your cool!

 

To the Daily Details!

Sunday, January 22^nd

New Moon at 3° Aquarius at 11:39pm

Although it doesn’t look it from the list of major aspects, the Moon is a busy little bee. The early morning hours are particularly productive, with clear thinking and an effective ability to get things done with aplomb. If any of you were involved in tasks or projects from Saturday night that continue into Sunday morning, you’ll find you can get them done better and more swiftly than you might expect. Midmorning, we become a bit obstreperous and would rather hide out in a cave than be seen and we don’t really feel like donning the animal skin, grabbing the club, and heading out to the hunt until early afternoon. As the afternoon gets underway, our thoughts turn to the more significant issues in our lives and we try to accommodate what we have recently learned with our progress toward our goals and objectives. This is likely to put us in a very good mood as the Moon enters Aquarius at 6:52pm and we are more convivial, sociable and generous. As the New Moon hits at 11:39pm we’re in a rather good mood as the weekend ends.

 

Monday, January 23^rd

Mercury trine Mars at 3:15am

Mars stationary Retrograde at 4:53pm

The Moon is in Aquarius all day, and it may feel a bit like a day out of a fantasy book or movie. Everything feels just a tad surreal as if we have suddenly stepped into a fantasyland. In spite of this, our thinking is quite sober, but there are events or situations in store that feel at odds with what we know about the known universe. Otherwise nasty people might do something nice, politicians may say something honestly, or someone may pay you an unexpected compliment. Take it all in stride, it may all be part of the New Age this New Moon is giving birth to. While it is unlikely that you’ll feel much significantly change after Mars goes Retrograde, you may find yourself needing to redo something on Tuesday you thought you finished today. In which case, to save time, you may want to verify the more major projects you handle today so that you don’t have to do the same work again tomorrow.

 

Tuesday, January 24^th

No major aspects

The Moon is still in Aquarius, and there still that extra potent, dreamlike, and magickal feeling in the air. Pay special heed to your thoughts today, and you may want to jot them down for posterity. The ideas that come to mind today may have special purpose that can lead us away from some problems and help us find worthwhile solutions. We are better able to perceive the truth of the world around us in a positive uplifting way, and it is best to take advantage of this energy while it lasts. Daydreams, idle thoughts, and synchronicities may all flit across the landscape of our minds as other dimensions try to provide us with some useful information. While this is not the time for taking needless risks, it is the time for taking note of the urge to take that risk and try to better understand the effect it may have, in all of the various ways it may pan out. As the day comes to a close, we may hit on even more of life’s wisdom and understand an aspect of our life more fully than ever before.

 

Wednesday, January 25^th

Venus octiles Saturn at 7:02pm

The Moon enters Pisces at 1:10am softening the edginess we’ve experienced while the Moon was in Aquarius. We are a bit more sympathetic, understanding, and empathetic than we have been recently, and in a perfect place for the Venus octile Saturn this evening.

Regular readers of The Flow! might wonder what an “octile” means. Generally speaking, it is the semi-square and sesquiquadrate series of aspects that indicate the crisis points of one planet’s cycle to another. In this case Venus is at the point where it is inclined to have us seek greater clarity about the nature of our relationship(s). This evening, what other people mean to you, and the various roles they play in your life may come into question. Who are they, and what role do they play in your life? What kind of person to they incline you to be? How are you different around them than you are with others? What can you do to reinforce the more rewarding aspects of your relationships? All of these questions may come to the fore tonight and will have a strong impact when Venus and Saturn oppose each other in early March.

 

Thursday, January 26^th

No major aspects

Like Sunday, the Moon is really busy today. She’s still in Pisces, and is apt to be feeling a bit blue in the early morning hours. There may not be any particular reason for not feeling good about things, but it just feels like there’s something wrong you can’t put your finger on. The good thing about challenging lunar aspects is that they pass fairly quickly. As dawn breaks, hope returns and our good spirits win out over our moods again. If you can try to see the better side of things, you should be able to step into that reality fairly easily. As the work day begins, we may be challenged about some activity or position we took earlier in the week. If you find yourself in this position, the key out of any sticky wickets is integrity. Remain true to the inner nature of your Self, and you’ll do fine.  In the evening there’s a tendency to be a bit hot-headed or to feel rushed, pushed, or hassled. Just stay cool and recognize that making a big deal out of things will accomplish just that – making a Mt. Everest out of a pebble.

 

Friday, January 27^th

Mercury squares Saturn at 1:19am

Mercury enters Aquarius at 10:11am

Mercury says goodbye to Capricorn early this morning, and gets sideswiped by Saturn as he does so. This aspect is the source of any misgivings, mental difficulties, depression, or doubts that you’ve been having all week and after this aspects passes, things should begin to clear up. The difference between Mercury in Capricorn and Mercury in Aquarius is subtle. We feel just a bit less practical, a bit less ambitious,  a bit more creative, and a bit more libertine. We’re more curious and inventive with Mercury in Aquarius, but we’ve been productive and have been able to solve real problems with concrete solutions while it was in Capricorn. That’s not to be sneezed at. Still, Mercury in Aquarius can be fun and exciting, with sparkling conversations and effervescent social events, so let’s make the most of it while it lasts. Mercury will move into Pisces on February 13^th.

The Moon enters Aries at 10:27am. Normally, the Moon entering Aries is not big news, although it generally sparks us to action after her languorous stay in Pisces, but Mars Retrograde is not normal times. When Mars is in a sign he rules or has a special affinity for: Aries, Leo, Scorpio, and Capricorn, the Retrograde aspects become more pronounced. Things become more difficult and challenging to set into motion or wrap up and people become more difficult to relate to. Be on guard over the next few days, the Moon enters Taurus at 10:38am next Monday the 30th and the level of tension decreases markedly.

 

Saturday, January 28^th

Sun octiles Mars at 4:04am

Venus octiles Jupiter at 4:36am

Mercury sextiles Uranus at 10:25am

Mercury squares Jupiter at 8:07pm

As you can see, today is a busy day astrologically. There are two octiles this morning and they occur almost simultaneously. The Sun-Mars octile deals with faith and the Venus-Jupiter octile deals with integrity. Sun-Mars refers to what we do and how we do it, and Venus-Jupiter relates to how we satisfy pleasure. Combined, they indicate that we need to have faith in our own actions and believe in our own self-confidence and ability to satisfy our goals. It is also an indication that we need to satisfy our needs in ways that uphold the standards we have set for ourselves. This is no time to go swinging from chandeliers, unless you are auditioning for the next Planet of the Apes movie. It is also, though, a time when we need to believe in our own ability to take care of our own needs, and to trust that we can do so not with remorse, but joy.

Mercury helps lead the way out as the morning progresses and we have a more complete understanding of our needs and how we should go about satisfying them, and as the day comes to a close there’s a tendency to make snap decisions when a more prudent course of action would be to take some time to think about the results of our actions.

Wishing you all a wonderful week!

The Flow! Week of January 15 – 22, 2012

The Flow is a weekly blog published to better understand the flow of astrological, celestial, and magickal energies for the week, and how best to use them.   It is intended for those with little knowledge of astrology. 

For newcomers, the idea is to consider celestial influences as part of a larger whole, or the Flow.  All too often, astrologers tend to write about astrological events as if each were an isolated specimen as if pulled out of the sky and analyzed by itself – and there is no dearth of astrological sites on the net that write that way.  Here, it is the movement and interactions that are important and form the basis of discussion.

If any of the material is unclear or unfamiliar to you, it is probably unfamiliar to others as well, please leave a comment and I will be glad to answer your questions. 

If you like what you see, please share it with friends!  If you would like to get email notifications for when The Flow! is updated, or have a private question please email me at skywatcher888@yahoo.com.  Thank you!

The Flow! is updated every Sunday.

Please note: all times are in the Pacific Timezone.

Synopsis for the week: A New Moon for a New Age

All in all, we’re in for a rather humdrum week on the astrological front. For those of you who treat this news with less than gladful tidings, have heart, things are about to get more intriguing. For now, however, things are slow.

Next week, Mars goes Retrograde, which will be the topic of next week’s blog, and the week after that Neptune enters Pisces and turns the universe inside out. After that Saturn goes Retrograde, and in March Jupiter keeps us on our toes with several interesting aspects to Pluto and Uranus. All of which leads us up to the biggest event of the year, the Uranus-Pluto square that begins in late June, lasts for three years, and is likely shake, rattle and roll us all.

But for now, we are faced with the approach of a very interesting New Moon. The New Moon occurs a week from this Sunday in the Pacific time zone at 11:39pm (2:39am on Monday anywhere east of Needles, CA) at 3° Aquarius in the Sabian sign of “An old adobe mission” and symbolizes the importance of our individual contribution to those communities of importance to us.

Old adobe missions dot the American Southwest.  Some are in dusty disrepair with tumbleweeds somersaulting in the wind, but many are still standing and flourish today as vibrant tourist attractions.  They were often a cluster of buildings supporting a church with farmland and a village of Native-Americans who maintained them, and gave rise to an architectural style that is instantly identifiable as the ‘Old West.’

The missions served many purposes of the Catholic Spaniards, chief among them extending the hegemony of both the crown and church.  They covered a huge swath of territory, from California to Texas, and southward all throughout Mexico to the tip of South America; and had a major impact on the historical development of the entire Western Hemisphere including its language, architecture, politics, culture and religion.  That is no small contribution.  Yet what is truly remarkable about the nature of the contribution is that both crown and church served their own interests best by serving the other’s interests well.

That is no trifle to be glossed over.  The most effective method of achieving success in any sphere of life when this part of the zodiac is activated is by understanding that personal success comes as a result of one’s contribution to the communities in which one belongs.  Here, more than anywhere else in the zodiac, “service spawns success”.  Assist an old woman to navigate an icy street, and she warmly rewards your kindness.  Help a neighbor move in and you make new friends that open up new dimensions. Teach a child how to read, and they discover a new medical treatment that saves your life.

In this way, the Self and one’s communities contribute to and serve each other’s success.  We are constantly aiding each other by revealing our own inner natures and applying the resources found there to expedite the situations and solve the problems we face.  And people help people.  It is one of the most basic rules of human behavior that if I am there to help you in your hour of need, that are there for me in mine.  That is the nature of community; we take care of our own.

It is easy to quantify. It is one of the first things we learn to do. So our society has a penchant for obsessing about those things it can count. But it is often those things that are uncountable that are most important. How much do I love thee? If I can count the ways, the relationship is in trouble.

There are many avenues in life in which we make contributions. In our families, social networks, friends, co-workers, and neighborhoods we contribute to each other to create the nature of these communities. Each a whole world unto itself, yet all interconnected in a vast network of associations both through us and the others within them. And we each have our roles to play and do our part to help ensure their success and in turn they help support our success, or we move on as best we can.

Nowhere, though, is the idea of service in regard to community more important than when it comes our own Self and to the development of spirit. It is no coincidence that the New Age, and all that it implies, begins in Aquarius the sign of humanism, reason, and altruism. This makes it the perfect place to give birth to what is called in esoteric terms the “World Server,” someone who is self-aware and working to help heal and make the world a better place/

But even if you don’t have saving the world on your to-do list, it is important to understand the nature of one’s Self, our place in the scheme of things, and acknowledge the contributions we make to others and they make to us. This New Moon period that lasts from the 22^nd through to Imbolc on February 2^nd provides us with the opportunity to both better understand and make appropriate changes to the contributions we make to our own Self and the worlds in which we live.

To the Daily Details!

 

Sunday, January 15^th

No major aspects

The week gets off to a rambunctious start. If you’re lucky to be up early enough to take advantage of the astrological wind at your back, that is. Between 3 – 9am Pacific, our thinking is clear, and we have a good sense of our current situation and how to make the most of it. Add to that the ability to get things done quickly, efficiently, and stylishly and you have what should be a good morning for just about any activity on your agenda.

The Moon is in Libra all day, so it’s possible that we could find ourselves emotionally swinging from joy and happiness to doubt, disquiet, and depression in only a moments worth of time. There’s a sense that not everything is as it should be or could be, and that nagging unease with the current state of affairs can mask perfectly good opportunities with doom and gloom. Finding opportunity when you are feeling blue is never an easy task, but if you try to find parts of your situation that you can use to your advantage, you’ll find that things are much better than they seem.

 

Monday, January 16^th

No major aspects

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!

The Moon enters Scorpio at 8:33am and regular readers know, that is rarely a good thing. All action occurs beneath the surface, and all is not as it appears. Be on guard for moving chess pieces or you’re likely to get rooked. There’s a lot going on that doesn’t meet the eye and everyone seems to be pushing, shoving, and clamoring for a bigger piece of the pie than they deserve. Sometimes too with Scorpio, the blows hit below the belt, so be watchful and wary that someone is not trying to take advantage of you or your good nature. Watchful wariness is the mask to wear today.

In the afternoon and evening hours, we mellow out a bit, but still be watchful for emotional outbursts, particularly any that come with an undercurrent of frost. It may be cold outside, but coldness from the tongue can be far more biting.

Today may also be a good day to ruminate on any missed opportunities you have experienced lately. Try think about ways to make amends as best you can to minimize any episodes of regret. Some things have been moving in very positive directions lately, and you wouldn’t want to spoil the results you’ve been anticipating. There’s still time, but the window is fast closing. Don’t put off what you need to do today!

 

Tuesday, January 17^th

No major aspects

Communication and speaking our feelings come easily this morning. Perhaps even in spite of the Scorpio Moon, our attitude is healthy, positive, and productive, and we are able to handle practical matters with aplomb. The morning is particularly productive for business, enterprise, or financial matters, so if you have something that needs attending to…attend!

It is also possible today that gifts of one sort or another may fall into your lap from the sky. Accept anything that does come your way with grace and good will. If your good fortune comes at the expense of another, don’t be stingy and thank them, if even with a gracious thought or two. If any come in the form of an opportunity, take advantage of any them as nothing angers or offends the gods more than an upturned nose at the fruits of their generosity.

Later, as the afternoon progresses, should be a good time for wrapping up projects and affairs, and tidying up any of the loose ends. Some of these could be long-term affairs, and it will be good to move on after so much toil.

 

Wednesday, January 18^th

No major aspects

This morning the winds are apt to blow in many different directions, so it may be wise not to make any moves until you feel a more steady wind at your back. We feel good about ourselves, but the world around us seems to be conflicted. Wait until you are more sure of things before making any moves.

The Moon enters Sagittarius at 11:29am and our feelings lift and our moods brighten. Sometimes the Moon in Sagittarius brings jollity and fun, but this month, we’ll be happy if it just keeps things on an even keel.

The afternoon is ripe for new ideas. Try to think of novel ways to put the pieces of your world together, and you just might be able to fashion a road to success for yourself. There are lots of potentially productive energies in the air today, and you can make the most of them by trying to think about old problems in new ways.

In the evening, our relationships are apt to be a bit difficult. Our needs are likely to conflict with our loved ones, so try to be understanding, kind, and sympathetic if you find yourself locking horns with another. Personal freedom is at stake here, and adding a few more links to the leash is preferable than having someone feel they need to break loose.

 

Thursday, January 19^th

Sun square Saturn at 1:20pm

The Sun represents our selves, interests, and goals. Saturn represents our responsibilities, duties, and obligations. A square indicates a difficult relationship between the two meaning that more than likely the day is apt to be full of frustration, irritation, and various forms of obstruction.

The causes of frustration are many. For some it may authority figures, government, corporations, or other large powerful institutions. For others it may come from a battle over rights, fairness, and justice. In either case, the true cause is stubbornness and an unwillingness to look at things from more than one perspective. If you find yourself mired in a bog not of your own making, try to think of alternative solutions or try to understand other viewpoints. Regardless, sometimes it is better to remain in place than push ahead. This may just be one of those times. It will conserve more energy for when you can more productively move ahead once more.

 

Friday, January 20^th

Sun enters Aquarius at 8:10am

Venus sextiles Pluto at 12:31pm

Happy birthday Aquarius!

Today is a good day for letting yourself go where your heart leads. What pulls at us today do so for a reason, trying to move us along in new directions that we might otherwise not feel inclined to go. There are opportunities around but we need to be nimble, facile, and agile if we are to turn these possibilities into reality. If others offer an invitation to you today, it would be wise to accept. It could lead to the resolution of a significant problem or issue you have been handling. Advice, even the unsolicited kind may also help you to think in ways you might not otherwise have entertained.

This afternoon the Moon enters Capricorn at 2:40pm. It turns our attention to more practical and mundane matters. We want the things that matter to us to be tangible, functional, and concrete. We’re not interested in promises or statements full of flowery clever phrases, but want to feel more secure about the things that mean the most to us. If you find yourself needing to speak on your own behalf today, be sure to speak in a clear, direct, and forthright manner. That will be the most effective in making your case.

 

Saturday, January 21^st

Sun sextiles Uranus at 5:21pm

Sun squares Jupiter at 10:35pm

The energies today are likely to be crackling with excitement, good times and fun. Everyone wants to be out enjoying themselves and there should be lots of opportunity to do so either by yourself or with others.

There is the very real possibility of being able to slay some psychological dragons today if you are willing to let yourself give up complaining about what a drudge it is to carry around that sword. Sometimes we become more emotionally invested in our own diagnosis of what our difficulties are than in following opportunities to be rid of them. So in light of the favorable energies available today, try to adopt the attitude that everything you do has the possibility of solving some aspect of some problem you have been experiencing. It’s more than likely by the end of the day you’ll be better off than when you started. Happy dragon hunting!

Wishing you all a wonderful week!

The Flow! Week of January 1 – 8, 2012

The Flow is a weekly blog published to better understand the flow of astrological, celestial, and magickal energies for the week, and how best to use them.   It is intended for those with little knowledge of astrology. 

For newcomers, the idea is to consider celestial influences as part of a larger whole, or the Flow.  All too often, astrologers tend to write about astrological events as if each were an isolated specimen as if pulled out of the sky and analyzed by itself – and there is no dearth of astrological sites on the net that write that way.  Here, it is the movement and interactions that are important and form the basis of discussion.

If any of the material is unclear or unfamiliar to you, it is probably unfamiliar to others as well, please leave a comment and I will be glad to answer your questions. 

If you like what you see, please share it with friends!  If you would like to get email notifications for when The Flow! is updated, or have a private question please email me at skywatcher888@yahoo.com.  Thank you!

The Flow! is updated every Sunday.

Please note: all times are in the Pacific Timezone.

This week’s synopsis: Happy New Year 2012!

 

Significant events of the week:

 

Saturday, January 7^th   

–  Mercury sextile Saturn at 12:13am

–  Mercury sextile Neptune at 7:16am

–  Mercury enters Capricorn at 10:34pm

 

Well, let’s at least hope it is a happy year! It is certainly bound to be eventful, whether the world ends or not.

Because my PC is still a mess, and because even Skywatchers deserve to celebrate the Holidays, this week’s edition will be a bit briefer than what I would prefer. However, the full Daily Details follows below.

I thank you all for your support through 2011 and hope you enjoy the site even more in 2012 than you have in the past.

Excelsior!

We start off 2012 with a grab-bag of anticipation, and when we look inside the bag there isn’t much except a few dust bunnies, dead flies, and crumbs. It feels like we’re all strung along with a wing (dead flies most likely) and a prayer.

Not a great way to start off a new year, but then again, when was the last time things were great?

The hope engine seems to have run out of steam, and the machine for change has ground to a halt with obstructionist grit and gravel. Yes, there is anger galore, restless minions, and new movements springing up, but it all seems rather nebulous, unwieldy, and surreal. And let’s not even talk about when bad things happening to good people!

So, what’s up? I suppose that’s where I come in, so let’s take it from the top.

Pluto (power, wealth, economy, transformation) is in the Sabian sign of “Birds Singing Harmoniously”, so there has been a shifting of the economic fundamentals, creating a firmer foundation for economic growth. Some of the banks and major players have had to make adjustments to their way of doing business, and that should begin greasing the economy as the 1^st quarter of the year comes to a close.

Neptune (spirituality, mysticism, religion, our inner worlds) has been flirting with the end of Aquarius, and true to my predictions the nuts and flakes have come out of the woodwork again spouting thoughts, opinions, and conspiracy theories suitable only for the intellectually challenged, denizens of the Twilight Zone, and Fox News. Fortunately, for us and not for them, Neptune segues out of Aquarius and enters Pisces on February 3^rd, not a moment too soon for anyone with a reasonable, rational brain. As Neptune gains footing in Pisces look for added emphasis on spirituality, personal development, and psychic/psychological pursuits. It should also bring about a questioning of religion (as opposed to science) and may help us reach out and confirm life elsewhere in the universe. Don’t hold your breath on it being intelligent.

Uranus (change, chaos, order) has been stirring it up in Aries for most of 2011. You can thank it for the Arab Spring (Summer, Fall, and Winter…?) and the Occupy movements. Uranus has only relatively recently gone direct again, so look for these movements to gain strength as 2012 gets underway, although as Uranus gets closer to Pluto in mid-Spring, look for some serious opposition to grow to try and stop them.

As for the Arab Democracy movement, look for the big question to be the extent the governments in these new countries are secular or religious. As for the US and much of the West, look for these movements to define the extent to which the government will exist to help people or make it easier for commercial enterprises to exploit them.

We are all but puppets of the Uranus-Pluto cycle that kicked off in the mid-late 60’s; a period of intense transformation and change. That cycle is coming up to its first crucial test this summer, and the importance of how it is handled for our future can not be underestimated. To give you a perspective, the cycle hit a minor crisis point (the first opening semi-square) from 1984-1986 during the height of the Reagan years, as he and his ideological bullies began dismantling the social safety net. If what astrologers know of squares vs. semi-squares holds true, the impact of the events of this summer are likely to dwarf anything the Reaganistas could have imagined.

Saturn (duty, responsibility, karma) is teetering at the edge of Libra/Scorpio and will turn Retrograde in early February. It will remain Retrograde until late June, at which time it will change direction and steam into Scorpio by early October. While Saturn is in retrograde, fulminations will be great, but little action will be taken. We will have a chance to realign our karma, particularly as it affects our relationships. But many of us have also undergone immense personal transformations during the last couple of years. You have changed. Make the most of that new self and use it to help reshape and reform your reality Putting what we have learned into practice will be our personal test of 2012.

Let’s briefly recap Saturn progress through the zodiac.

As Saturn traveled through the first half of Virgo from September 2007 to October 2008, we learned a lot about who we were, what we were about, and the nature of our true inner character. From October 2008 to July 2010 we got an upfront and extremely close education about life and our position in it. From December 2009 to August 2011, many of us went through a period of personal transformation. Some of us went through a process of intense personal change, some of us moved, changed jobs, or went through a personal crisis that has made you into a different person than you were before.

Then starting in September 2011, we began going about making changes in our lives to reflect the new people we have become. The process of transformation is not simple. It isn’t a one-time wham-bam affair with angels singing and harps playing, but a slow and steady process of ever-greater understandings and realizations about who you are, some of the decisions you have made, and how you go about conducting your life. That’s the key to success in 2012. Reforming your life to reflect the person you have become.

You have until October, so get busy! If you let this opportunity slip and you think you can skip by with letting things stay the same, you may be in deep doo doo when Saturn enters Scorpio next Fall. No refunds, no returns, no shit.

On the lighter side, Jupiter (opportunity, growth, luck) has just turned Direct in the very eenstiest edge of Taurus, offering hope that things will get better soon. Both Jupiter and Saturn were the furthest planets known to the ancients, and together referred to them as the Chronocrators, or “Rulers of Time.” The Jupiter-Saturn cycle is particularly relevant to the economy, and for the past year, Jupiter and Saturn have been in virtual opposition to one another. Not good. It is why we have been having a recoverless recovery.

As Jupiter gets is mojo back and starts moving forward (and away from aspecting Saturn) through January and early February expect to see mild or tepid economic improvement that becomes more visible and tangible by March.

After racing through Taurus, in mid-June Jupiter enters Gemini. Traditionally, Gemini is not a strong sign for Jupiter, although because the signs of Jupiter (Gemini) and Saturn (Libra) are both air signs, I think it will offer better economic conditions than most astrologers might think. The jury is still out and more research must be done on how this will play out, so stay tuned for more details!

Finally we get to Mars (energy, force, strength, aggression). Normally, I wouldn’t include Mars in a report like this, because for the most part Mars is a far more personal planet that doesn’t usually affect how the masses move. But this year Mars goes Retrograde, and that is an entirely different kettle of fish.

Mars turns Retrograde in Virgo on January 23^rd, and stays Retrograde until April 13^th. We are already deep within its shadow. So, if during this holiday season you’ve been wondering why you’ve had to do things twice or more, now you know the reason. Mars Retrograde means redo, redo, redo! Shampoo, rinse, repeat. Shampoo, rinse, repeat. Ad infinitum. Or is that nauseum?

The most obvious effect of Mars Retrograde is that everyone gets more anxious, nervous, and upset more easily than usual. Unexpected outbursts of apoplexy occur spontaneously over what might otherwise be considered trivial matters. Do not cut off people on the freeway. Do not make snide comments thinking you will not be heard. Do not pass Go or cross the street without looking both ways. We have better things to do than visit you in the hospital. Because with all the redos and repeats on our to-do lists, we’re much too busy!

Also, another effect of Mars Retrograde in Virgo is look for people to be pickier, snippier, and more perfectionist than usual. Imperfections will not be tolerated! Also watch your digestion, and don’t be surprised if a stomach bug makes the rounds. Speaking of digestion, Virgos love food fads, so we may also see every lemming on the planet rush to buy the latest super-fruit. Or nut, as the case may be. If a nut eats a nut does that make them a cannibal?

For your reference, here are some key dates for 2012:

Retrograde Cycles

Mercury        

Retrograde: March 12 in Aries

Direct: April 4 in Pisces

Retrograde: July 14 in Leo

Direct: August 8 in Leo

Retrograde: November 6 in Sagittarius

Direct: November 26 in Scorpio

Venus            

Retrograde: May 15 in Gemini

Direct: June 27 in Gemini

Mars               

Retrograde: January 23 in Virgo

Direct: April 13 in Virgo

Jupiter          

Retrograde: October 4 in Gemini

(sorry, Jupiter is permanently Retrograde until 2013!)

Saturn            

Retrograde: February 7 in Libra

Direct: June 25 in Libra

Uranus          

Retrograde: July 13 in Aries

Direct: December 13 in Aries

Neptune       

Retrograde: June 4 in Pisces

Direct: November 11 in Pisces

Pluto              

Retrograde: April 10 in Capricorn

Direct: September 18 in Capricorn

Eclipses

Annular Eclipse of the Sun: May 20-21

Partitial Eclipse of the Moon: June 4

Total Eclipse of the Sun: November 13-14

Penumbral Eclipse of the Moon: November 28

Venus

Transit of Venus: June 5-6

Meteor Showers

Lyrids April 21

Perseids August 12

Orionids October 21

Leonids November 16

Geminids December 13

And don’t forget, Chinese New Year – January 23^rd, Year of the Elder Water Dragon!

Courtesy of Sky & Telescope magazine

To the Daily Details!

Sunday, January 1^st

No major aspects

We start off the year with Moon in Aries, which is not a particularly bad place for the Moon to be on New Year’s Eve. It bathes us all in the glow of the optimism of a fresh start, a new beginning, and the will to make this year different. It is, therefore, a rather good year to make a resolution that will make a different in your life, this one has some strong astrological winds to help make it stick.

All in all, the 1^st day of the new year is rather lovely. Unlike other times when others can be more of a bore or a chore, people are in a very convivial mood and everyone gets along rather nicely. We’re all chilled with the afterglow of some nice champagne on ice. Our mellow words flow mellifluously from our lips, so be sure you mean what you say and vice versa. It’s a great day for reaching out and touching loved ones, whether you do so via text, chat, email, voice or visit!

Monday, January 2^nd

No major aspects

Monday morning looks to be more prone to suffering hangovers than Sunday. Perhaps the extra day off for many of us appeals as a license to kill some brain cells Sunday night. If so, do play responsibly, and remember healthy brain cells are friendly brain cells!

Anyhow, Monday morning is likely to be a bit on the depressing and difficult side. The holidays are over, and it’s back to work tomorrow. Perhaps that’s reason enough to play brain cell roulette.

The day improves as it progresses. If around noontime you’re not sure if you’re coming or going, just wait a bit and the fit will pass. The Moon enters Taurus at 2:16pm and we all slowly return to our senses and sensibilities. As the Moon traverses Jupiter mid-afternoon our emotional skies are sunny once more and we feel good and are optimistic about the potential for good things in 2012.

Tuesday, January 3^rd

No major aspecs

The Moon is in Taurus all day. Actually for going-back-to-work day, it’s a fairly nice and providential day. Our thinking and feeling is aligned, making it relatively easy for us to attend to the tasks at hand. We’re less pushy and more cooperative, and contented. The little stuff really seems little, just be sure that you don’t leave some important details unattended!

In the evening, things get a bit dicey romantically or with regard to relationships. Loved ones (or those we trust deeply) may do something unexpected, silly, or nonsensical. Try not be alarmed by this, but try to take in stride. While what they do may seem not to make any rhyme or sense to you, it is important to them as a statement of their own integrity to their intentions. So try to be forgiving, and understanding, and try not to make too much of a fuss if you experience an situation that fits this description. Also, try not to make it mean anything, since no matter how intimately you are involved in the situation, it isn’t really about you, but them.

Wednesday, January 4^th

No major aspects

Things calm down considerably on Thursday. Whatever stress you may have been under yesterday flows into the background. In the morning hours we’re considerably industrious, getting things done and accomplishing our work with aplomb. There are opportunities around for progressing our ambitions so make hay during the light of day.

All this week as nightfall approaches we’re likely to get a bit antsy and anxious for no particular reason. It’s all Mars’ fault, so if you give him something to do, something to focus on, he’s more likely to leave you be. Take up knitting, crocheting, texting, or using nettled birds to blast away some gloating pigs…idle hands may be the tools of the devil, but they are beacons for a mischievous Mars!

Thursday, January 5^th

No major aspects

The Moon enters Gemini at 2:44am. Once we get through the very early morning hours when we are all apt to put on our petticoats and flutter about like Nervous Nellies, pouncing on our personal deficiencies, inadequacies, and peccadillos, we should be able to calm down and receive some insight and inspiration on how to perceive ourselves in a better light.

A situation or important news may arrive in the early morning hours. Handle it with care, if it arrives. There could be more to the situation than appears on the surface, but all should be well that ends well. As the day progresses we ought to both have the opportunity to show the stuff we are made of, and help improve the situation.

As you retroflect and ruminate about the affairs of the day in the evening hours, remember to pat yourself on the back if things turned out as well or better than expected.

Friday, January 6^th

No major aspects

Investment opportunities or other deep financial matters may come to the fore today. Be sure you have all your bases covered before venturing too far afield. Connections with others may make an offer, be sure you can trust them before accepting.

Today is likely to be the tensest of the week, for some of us Fridays have been notorious days anyway, and it is possible there is liable to be considerable tension in the air today. Don’t light any fuses you’re unsure about!

The first night of the first weekend of the new year gets off to a rocky start. People are apt to be obstreperous, anxious and moody. More willing for a fight than having fun. Being extra charming, thoughtful, and sympathetic may help you defuse the situation, but some resentment is likely to linger like sparks from those fuses. Take deep breaths, count to 10, and letting bygones is probably better than saying goodbye.

Saturday, January 7^th

Mercury sextile Saturn at 12:13am

Mercury sextile Neptune at 7:16am

Mercury enters Capricorn at 10:34pm

Mercury is a busy bugger today, but all in a good way. Mercury has been in Sagittarius since early November, heightening the jolly mood of the season and helping us all spend like tipsy sailors to help make this a jollier season than expected for the economy. All that levity comes to a close as Mercury enters Capricorn and we get the bills, though Mercury in Cap is generally quite resourceful enough to find a way to pay them. Mercury will be in Capricorn until the 27^th, during which time we all become a bit more resourceful, realistic, pragmatic, and practical. Mercury in Capricorn is an excellent time to start any business ventures, or to put any financial plans in action.

To a certain degree, the energies today are no nonsense, logical, sensible, and reasonable. But there is also the ability to see behind the scenes, perceive beyond appearances, and to scry the true meaning of events. Pay close attention to the day’s activities and you may better understand the forces, energies, and plans swirling around you.

The Moon enters Cancer at 1:05pm adding some much needed soothing, calming, and reassuring. Accept change with grace in mid-afternoon, and the rest of the day should sail swimmingly along. Our mental gears shift as Mercury heads into Capricorn and we leave the joys of the holiday seasons behind for an assessment of the tasks at hand for handling the tasks of the coming New Year.

Wishing you all a wonderful week and a Happy New Year!

 

The Flow! Week of November 27 – December 3, 2011

The Flow is a weekly blog published to better understand the flow of astrological, celestial, and magickal energies for the week, and how best to use them.   It is intended for those with little to no knowledge of astrology. 

For newcomers, the idea is to consider celestial influences as part of a larger whole, or Flow, must as our weather is influenced by the winds aloft.  All too often, astrologers tend to write about astrological events as if each were an isolated specimen as if pulled out of the sky and analyzed by itself – and there is no dearth of astrological sites on the net that write that way.  Here, it is the movement and interactions that are important and form the basis of discussion.

If any of the material is unclear or unfamiliar to you, it is probably unfamiliar to others as well, please leave a comment and I will be glad to answer your questions. 

If you like what you see, please share it with friends!  If you would like to get email notifications for when The Flow! is updated, or have a private question please email me at skywatcher888@yahoo.com.  Thank you!

The Flow! is updated every Sunday.

Please note: all times are in the Pacific Timezone.

You’ve been patient, and fortunately, this is another rather slow astrology week, so without further ado, Bill’s Amazing Astrology Cures Part Two!

Bill’s Amazing Astrology Cures II (Libra to Pisces)

To recap…

Bill’s Amazing Astrology Cures developed from a long email correspondence with a dear friend, the late Angie Biggerstaff of Norwich, UK in April 2004.  What started as some playful comments about how to handle planetary energies that get out of whack, developed into a series of surprising and very useful observations.

As some of you may know, one of the primary features of astrology is that each sign has a “ruling” or governing planet.  They are, in order, along with a potential symptom of difficulty are:

Part 1

Aries – Mars – Conflict

Taurus – Venus 1 — Discontentment

Gemini – Mercury 1 – Dissipation

Cancer – Moon – Depression

Leo – Sun — Unappreciated

Virgo – Mercury 2 – Disapproval

Part 2

Libra – Venus 2 — Lovelorn

Scorpio – Pluto — Metamorphosis

Sagittarius – Jupiter – Dissolution

Capricorn – Saturn — Obstruction

Aquarius – Uranus — Insecurity

Pisces – Neptune — Obscurity

Like many other disciplines, there is controversy among astrologers over which planet rules which sign.  Different astrological systems have slightly different arrangements.  But what we are concerned with here is the affinity of the effects of the planets on us, not astrological theory, and this arrangement works best for our purposes.  It is also the most commonly used arrangement among modern Western astrologers.

Mercury and Venus share two signs apiece because they both have different kinds of energy that have a close affinity to two different signs.  They are, after all, the two inferior planets or planets between us and the Sun, and have very different effects whether they appear in the morning or evening sky. As you will see, there are two completely different ways these planets affect us, and two different ways that energy needs to be handled when it gets out of balance.

And balance is what the Cures are all about.

Every once in a while, the planets will move into a position that causes the manner in which a planet’s energy is expressed to go out of balance without warning, causing enormous difficulties in our lives.  When that happens, what is one to do???  Well, Western astrology does not have any simple answers.  When Neptune or Saturn bears down on a poor defenseless Moon, what’s a person to do?

It was here, under a series of challenging Neptune and Saturn aspects that Angie and I realized that promoting and encouraging behavior based on the ruling planet of the next sign helps ease the stress, balance, and reorient the energies of the planet under attack.

These cures really work and can come in very handy!  And the best part of all is that you don’t need drugs or expensive consultations to fix things!

Here is the first half of them, for the first half of the zodiac.  The second half is forthcoming.

To use, simply locate the situation that fits your current challenge. Don’t be alarmed if you feel that more than one, or two, or three apply. That’s common. When one planet gets over-emphasized, other planets often follow suit.

This is not a sun-sign list, although because our sun signs are so powerfully expressed in our lives that we may frequently find ourselves with challenging situations from them.  Leos may often find themselves feeling unappreciated, but when their Mars gets besieged, and they are constantly fighting battles, it’s Mars that needs curing, not their Sun.

Blah, blah, blah. Many of you have seen the above before. Let’s get on with it!

Venus II (Libra) – You approach a room and people start to leave. Your dog picks up a whiff of your scent and runs in the other room. Your children make effigies of you and leave them all over the house. With pins. You count the times you had sex not by days, weeks, or even months, but by presidential administrations. Nobody calls. Your email inbox is empty – except for Nigerian bankers and “Miss Bean” who wants to meet you and is most likely from some 15 year old kid in Missouri.

Cure Pluto – I have written about Venus on the half-shell before. You know, the painting by Botticelli of Venus emerging pristine from the ocean. But you have her beat, you live in a total shell of your own creation. You need to break out of that oyster shell and reveal to the world the pearl that lies within, and Pluto is just the guy to do it. It isn’t your weight, or your looks, or your bank account, it’s that damn shell and no one and nothing can get through – even wireless. Your schedule and routine are your real enemies as they form the skeleton of that shell. Break free! Get up early or stay up late. Change your hairstyle. Buy a new style of clothes. Do something DARING. Go ahead, J. Michael Prufrock, eat that peach!

 

Pluto (Scorpio) – 007 and Machiavelli have nothing on you. Some of you are involved in the most intricate and intense power games on planet Earth. You folks are masters at 10-dimensional chess, and have yours and everyone else’s moves mapped out clearly in your mind five moves ahead. You have a databank of everyone’s motives, their weaknesses and their psychological profiles. Even if it isn’t physical, you have a whole filing cabinet in your brain for each family member, and it is well kept and up to date. You see everything in terms of its politics and are a power to be reckoned with at the office. If anyone dares to mess with you, there is eventually a bloody mess of them that needs to be cleaned up, without getting your own dainty fingernails soiled by the blood.

Cure Jupiter – You know, life is too short! And as we all know, what goes around comes around. Maybe James Bond would have so many lethal weapons pointed at him if he wasn’t so quick to use them himself. Well, maybe not in his case, but you get the idea. Instead of treating life like it was a game of Risk, you need to just have more fun! Do something crazy, do something silly. Take a drive and not know what the destination is. Start up conversations with strangers. Donate your time to a charity. Like the good book says, Jupiter helps those who help themselves, and instead of scheming your way through life, enjoy it!

 

Jupiter (Sagittarius) – We all know the Hollywood scenario. The cowboy is strumming his guitar, riding his horse out of town leaving a weeping Senorita dabbing at her nose, crooning a refrain of “Don’t Fence Me In.” What a cad! Others of you have 17 projects going on all at once. In fact, life for you is just one great project after another. You are saving the Earth, saving the whales, saving plastic bags, and saving us from ourselves. Except for one eensie-teensie detail – you never finish a darn one of them! The pathway of your life is strewn with the litter of half-finished projects. It’s no wonder the cowboy doesn’t want any fences, there’d be too many broken hearts in that litter!

Cure Saturn – Face it, pardner, it’s time to grow up and give up the Cowboys and Indians routine. It’s time to accept some responsibility for your life, and for turning it into the kind of life you want it to be. The grass isn’t always greener in the next pasture, sometimes those beautiful green fields are laced with DDT, and all the dirt underfoot needs is a little fertilizer. There are certainly joys in being a wanderer – doing what you like, when you, however the hell you like. But there’s more to life than self-indulgence, and there’s a great deal in life that can be purchased with the respect and honors that come from accepting obligations and managing their outcome successfully. You have the chops, just hang up the chaps.

 

Saturn (Capricorn) – When Atlas needs to take a coffee break, he comes looking for you, because you already have a world of weight on your shoulders. Jobs and responsibilities hone in on you like a heat guided missile. There’s no trouble too big or too small that you don’t think you can handle, and to give you folks credit, most of you handle most of your jobs exceedingly well – which just compounds the problem. You don’t have a life, you have a to-do list. And chances are, most of the items are cleaning up other people’s messes. You know, if you get to be known as the one to clean things up, you begin to measure your self-worth by how good you are with a mop. And the kicker is, that all of these responsibilities are draining your energy and preventing you from achieving your genuine ambitions. You’re not a champ, you’re a chump.

Cure Uranus – A little bit of chaos can be a good thing. It’s that chaos thinking that will help you think outside the box when things get really tough. Independence, too, can be a life-saver. Not just your own sense of freedom but by letting others take care of themselves. Yeah, dependence can be a huge source of warm fuzzies, but they can also suffocate. Break free, even if it is in just one area of your life, and do something wild. And if you see any cowboys strumming a guitar on your trail, stop him – you have a lot to learn from each other. A teacher of mine, Isabel Hickey, used to have a favorite expression, “let go and let god.” It can be very useful advice.

 

Aquarius (Uranus) – Your life is a roller-coaster. One day is up, the other is down, and some days you’re dizzy from spinning around. You’re not bipolar, the universe is. Buffeted by the winds of fate, nothing is reliable, nothing dependable, and nothing is stable. You feel as if you are navigating through a minefield — during an earthquake.  You want things to be so very different, so much better, so much more ideal, but things just keep blowing up in your face. And you have the scars to prove it. You try to enroll others in your vision of things, but they just don’t understand. You’re at your wits end, and what wits you have left are frazzled and fried.

Cure Neptune – You need a break! And unless you have a cruise to some tropical island booked in the next couple of months, you’re going to have to make do on your own. Lots of people when they get this stressed out find some chemical to help them relax, but it isn’t chemicals you need, it’s mental freedom. You need to let your mind wander, to liberate it and let it do its work without your fussing about how things need to be. The subconscious is a magickal part of ourselves, but it can’t perform when it’s constantly being pulled and tugged by the conscious self. Watch some old movies or comedies on TV. Read a good novel. Meditate, or do some form of yoga if you can. A mind is a terrible thing to waste, and the biggest threat to any mind is stress!

 

Neptune (Pisces) – Is your life like an episode of Lost? Do you feel like you need a GPS to find the bathroom? Have you worn your last worry stone through to the other side? Possibilities and probabilities hang over your head like an electron cloud and every once in a while, one of them zaps you with a worry that amps you up and freaks you out. You have an immensely powerful imagination, and can imagine how six ways from Tuesday anything and everything can go wrong. You have developed fretting into a fine art, and you can’t play a note on a guitar. You are definitely not indecisive, but paralyzed by possibilities. Your life is stuck in limbo and your GPS is no help.

Cure Mars – With Pisces we come full circle, and back to the beginning with Mars. Your cure is actually quite a simple one – just DO something. Anything. It doesn’t matter what it is you do. With your Neptunian intuition, it will all work out for the best anyway, but you need to take action and need to take it now. Don’t analyze its achievability or ponder the possibilities. Don’t wait for the perfect opportunity, and there’s no need to get any ducks in a row. Just prove to the world you are not in a coma and still capable of kinetic activity.

I hope you enjoyed the second half of Bill’s Amazing Astrology Cures! Now that they are all done, you can trace them in a circle and see how they relate to each other. As a problem, or curse, they are over-emphasized, because we are stuck in the way we are using it, and need to progress to the next planetary energy.

Don’t be concerned if you feel that more than one applies. I certainly found several pertinent as I wrote them! Just pick the one (or two) that you feel is causing you the most trouble, and use the cure for that issue. And if you feel so inclined, I’d love to get a comment letting me know how it worked for you!

To the Daily Details!

Sunday, November 27^th

Venus trine Jupiter at 1:23pm

Advent begins – Christmas is coming in 4 weeks!

The Moon is in Capricorn all day, and it should be pretty nice all day. Certainly one of the nicest aspects possible, the Venus-Jupiter trine should smooth out any rough edges or ruffled feathers. We want to be appreciated, and we want the people around us to be happy. There is a feeling that there’s a potential for greater prosperity in the air, as if were we to come together and cooperate, we’d be able to make things better for each other. Cooperation and opportunity are two big keywords for the day. The morning hours are likely to be busy, so if you happen to be up early enough, you should be able to tick off lots of items on your to-do list. In the early afternoon, don’t be surprised if you are a bit indecisive, there are just too possibilities to choose from. If you’re out shopping, you’re likely to find bargains everywhere, but choosing the perfect one can be hazardous to your mental health. Don’t drive yourself crazy, saving a couple of bucks may not be worth the time, money, gas, and hassle of an endless wild goose chase in search of perfection.

Monday, November 28^th

No major aspects

The astrological energies are a bit turbulent today, so if you find yourself in a rough spot, just try to ride it out. Tomorrow and most of the rest of the week is much more uplifting, optimistic, and helpful, at least until Friday. Remember, too, that Mercury is still Retrograde until the 13^th, so just expect things to be sluggish and for the unexpected to be the most troublesome when you least expect it. Our feelings take a back seat to everyday concerns and the tasks that need attending.  There may be a bit of news in the late morning hours, it could be anything from the resolution to some long standing concern, or the solution to a long-standing problem. Keep your eyes and ears open for any potential answers that may arrive through the airwaves of the aether. Relief comes later tonight at 11:02pm when the Moon enters Aquarius and we feel less boxed in, less constrained, and more optimistic and hopeful.

Tuesday, November 29^th

No major aspects

Today and tomorrow are likely to be the best feel-good days of this week. Our intuitions and ambitions are strong in the morning hours, and we’re feeling our oats as we head into work. Our heads are filled with ideas, some of them very useful, and it may be a good idea to run them by a coworker if you have the opportunity. Not only may they be able to fill in a gap or two, but they will be able to help manifest it along with you. People are still feeling cooperative (until Friday), so you don’t need to worry about your coworker’s motives. Not that they’re the purest, but they shouldn’t be able to harm you, either. Regardless, if there’s a cooperative effort of which you’re a part, people should be in the mood to help move along a useful agenda, and getting the outliers to fall into the flow should be easier than usual. In the evening, there’s a strong need to bond with others emotionally. There’s a need to feel connected to other people and to validate ourselves through them. Just be careful that you’re not pegging your self-worth to too much of a moving target, and transferring your personal power to others in the process.

Wednesday, November 30^th

No major aspects

The Moon remains in Aquarius all day. For a Mercury Retrograde period, the early morning hours should be free of snafus, bugs, or delays. Our thinking is uncluttered, our intentions are clear, and the arrows of our thoughts have well defined targets. If you can take advantage of this time, you should be able to make good progress achieving your goals.

The morning hours are also excellent for working on projects, shopping, or doing research. Whatever it is that you need to handle this morning should get an added boost of clarity, lucidity, and coherence.

The afternoon and evening hours are conducive to working on things that require diligence, conscientiousness, and some of the morning’s clear thinking. We’re in the mood to get things done, and the astrological flow is there to help us do them.

Our thoughts are in alignment with our responsibilities as the day comes to a close, and we are able to see how we can work things out to our advantage, if we are willing to try to think about them in a new way. It would be a shame to waste this evening’s energies by sitting back and doing nothing, when if we put our minds to it, we can get some useful help to move our plans forward.

Thursday, December 1^st

Venus conjunct Pluto at 5:50am

Can you believe it’s December already? Yikes!

Our passions are likely to run deep today. We are in no mood to take things with a grain of salt, we need to whole salt shaker. Our thoughts are likely to easily trigger old wounds, so be careful wading in emotional waters.

Otherwise, it is a rather pleasant day, although it may take us a bit longer to find ourselves and get in gear after the Moon enters Pisces at 6:45am. The rest of the morning is advantageous for all sorts of business and financial concerns, so if there’s something that you need to get done in those areas, this morning is at least a good time to move matters forward, though you may want to wait until after the 13^th to make any definite decisions or sign any documents.

The evening hours are by far the most romantic time of the week. If there is a special someone, or a special event that needs to be celebrated, tonight is the best night of the week to bring people together.

Friday, December 2^nd

Sun square Mars at 5:08am

Sun square Mars times can be quite frustrating. People are generally in no mood to be cooperative, and neither are inanimate objects. It’s somewhat of a Goldilocks kind of day, too. Everything is either too hot and too fast, or too cold and too slow. Nothing seems to be just right.

If there is someone in your life you have been having a disagreeable time with, give them a wide berth today. Disagreements are apt to get hot and heavy, and there’s no point in making the day any bloodier than necessary.

And don’t be alarmed if you find yourself caught up in a frenzy or two. It’s mob psychology at its most powerful, so if you find yourself in a shopping aisle reaching for the latest fad you don’t need, it isn’t you, it’s The Flow!

Saturday, December 3^rd

No major aspects

Today looks like it could be a very interesting day. Energies are high, potent, and magickal. Don’t say thing you don’t mean today. Seriously, there is no point in creating any mischief for yourself you do not need.

We all in an adventurous mood, looking for novel experiences and new ways of tasting life. If there’s something you’ve been kind of thinking in the back of your mind that you’d like to do but just haven’t had the guts, courage, or opportunity to do, today just might be the day to give it a go.

The Moon enters Aries at 5:51pm and dispels a lot of the mental fogs we’ve been carrying around with us. It often isn’t easy to perceive them until after they’ve gone and we can tell the difference. There’s a strong urge to be unique tonight and stand out from the crowd. Keep that in mind as you get dressed to go out tonight, and whether if you want all eyes to be on you that they do so for all the right reasons!

Wishing you all a wonderful week!

The Flow! Week of October 16 – 22, 2011

The Flow is a weekly blog published to better understand the flow of astrological, celestial, and magickal energies for the week, and how best to use them.   It is intended for those with little knowledge of astrology. 

For newcomers, the idea is to consider celestial influences as part of a larger whole, or the Flow.  All too often, astrologers tend to write about astrological events as if each were an isolated specimen as if pulled out of the sky and analyzed by itself – and there is no dearth of astrological sites on the net that write that way.  Here, it is the movement and interactions that are important and form the basis of discussion.

If any of the material is unclear or unfamiliar to you, it is probably unfamiliar to others as well, please leave a comment and I will be glad to answer your questions. 

If you like what you see, please share it with friends!  If you would like to get email notifications for when The Flow! is updated, or have a private question please email me at skywatcher888@yahoo.com.  Thank you!

The Flow! is updated every Sunday.

Please note: all times are in the Pacific Timezone.

This week’s synopsis: In Memoriam, Steve Jobs

A hearty welcome to all my new readers! I welcome you to the ranks of fellow friends and fans of The Flow!, and I hope you continue to enjoy your time here.

This week, I take a different path than usual, and am going to attempt an analysis of the astrology birth chart of Steve Jobs. If you like it, and would like me to do an analysis of a favorite public person of yours, please let me know!

Much ink and many electrons have been sacrificed to discuss his accomplishments, but little is said or known about his personal life. I hope you find it an insightful peek into someone who has changed the lives of so many of us.

He changed mine. I very likely would not have the career I have now, had it not been for him.

True, I was always a bit of a nerd. Chemistry, astronomy, and physics warmed the cockles of my young heart. Yet while getting eye-strain squinting at a slide rule (you can find them next to the abacuses in a museum) I knew that someday, somehow we’d have something to make performing complex calculations easy.

My first foray into the field of computers was with a machine called a Xitan, made by Technical Design Labs. (see below) It set me back the tidy sum of $2,800 which I understand in today’s dollars would be well over $6,000. It had a whopping 16K of memory, a tape storage device that never worked, and the most I ever could get it to do was count up to 100 in each of the 12 zodiac signs.

It is now resting comfortably in my parent’s cellar.

And then I heard about this wonderful new machine that had everything in one neat little package that was going to do away with all these home-grown contraptions: the Apple II+. I coveted one for several months while I saved up some money, and excitedly brought one home.

With nerves thrilling, heart racing, and the anticipation of the future pounding in my young ears, I open it up to install the floppy drive card – and blow out the motherboard. Electronic devices do not appreciate internal surgery with the power on, a lesson I have never forgotten since. Fortunately for me, the store I bought it from cheerily took it back and gave me a replacement.

Ah, the memories! Who could ever forget the teeth-chattering noise the floppy drive made scanning the security code of a disk? True Apple II+ pioneers also remember needing to buy a finger protector for the Reset key. While Apple may now be known for its slick and thoughtful design, they very inconsiderately placed a Reset key next to the backspace. So that more than once when you went to erase a letter, you wound up erasing everything you had done. It was a little like putting ctrl-alt-delete next to the enter key. Computers do not come with Reset keys any more. That is a good thing, and now you know why.

With my trusty Apple II+ I learned the BASICs of programming and with a modem entered the Matrix before there was an internet, via CompuServe and The Source. Heady days!

While the AppleII may have been Steve Jobs first success, it certainly wasn’t his last. After a few fits and starts, Apple Computer developed the Macintosh now known as an iMac, which in turn spawned a healthy brood of iProgeny: iPods, iPads, and iPhones. And, perhaps Steve had something about a capital letter “P” and small i, because another of his success stories had them in reverse order with Pixar Animation Studios.

Steve Jobs was one of the world’s most powerful CEO’s, one of the most inventive genius’ of our time, and changed the way we use technology. But I come not to praise Steve Jobs, but to analyze his chart.

A word about this analysis. I fully recognize that many of my readers know very little about astrology. Astrology is one of those disciplines that are filled to the brim with jargon. In fact, a good friend coined the term “astrobabble” to describe just what it sounds like when two astrologers get together and talk astrology. So I will stifle the impulse to babble.

Yet, it is almost impossible to do an astrological analysis without using some of the terminology, so I encourage those of you unfamiliar with some of the terms to refer to the Key at the bottom of the post for more information. For those of you who are very familiar with astrological terminology and would like to know more about my methods, I am more than happy to do so, just ask.

Fortunately for someone who was adopted, Steve Jobs did have possession of his birth certificate, so accurate birth data is known. He was born on February 24, 1955 at 7:15pm in San Francisco. His chart courtesy of the Astro-Databank at www.astro.com is below.

One of the astrology terms not in The Key are Houses. An astrology chart is divided into twelve sections, each one called a House. Each House has a domain of activity and since it all gets a little complicated, here’s a rundown for Steve’s chart. You can follow along using with the image of his chart below with the numbers that are in the second circle of the chart, the signs are those that the lines point to.

House 1: Self – Virgo; no planets

House 2; Resources – Libra; Neptune (in Libra)

House 3; Community/Education – Scorpio; Saturn (in Scorpio)

House 4; Home – Sagittarius; North Node (in Capricorn), Venus (in Capricorn)

House 5; Creativity/Children – Capricorn; Mercury (in Aquarius)

House 6; Work/Service – Aquarius; Sun (in Pisces)

House 7; Relationships – Pisces; Moon (in Aries)

House 8; Transformations – Aries; Mars (in Aries)

House 9; Outreach – Taurus; no planets

House 10; Career – Gemini; Jupiter (in Cancer), Uranus (in Cancer)

House 11; Associations – Cancer; no planets

House 12; Subconscious – Leo; Pluto (in Leo)

As you can see, many of Steve’s planets are in a House whose line points to the sign before it. This is often an indication of someone who finds it important to MANIFEST their impulses. Something that I think Steve did very well.

If you look at the diagram of his chart, you will also notice that many of the planets have an R next to them. That means they are retrograde, or moving backwards in the sky. Astrologers often think of this as being an impediment to success, so the next time an astrologer shakes their head  and makes sad sounds describing a retrograde planet of yours, you now have my permission to laugh like a hyena. And rightly so.

So without further ado, and these is much ado till now, let’s get into it.

Steve Jobs was a Pisces, with his Moon in Aries, and a Virgo ascendant.

That means he was moody as all hell, found relationships a bit of a struggle, and expected perfection from everyone around him.

Pleasant sort of chap, eh?

Pisces Sun people are very sensitive. Someone with a strong Pisces influence in their chart can cry at sunsets, and can be moved by the sounds of waves breaking on the beach, and have moods that flit upon their soul with the constancy of the shifting of the wind. True, other sides can also be fiercely emotional and sensitive; Cancer and Scorpio come readily to mind. But no one submerges themselves in their emotions and get lost within them quite like a Pisces. And then, as rapidly as line of thunderstorms passing through and rainbows appear can be a completely different person moments later.

The part of Pisces that Steve Jobs’ Sun is in also gave him a strong need to call people together for the purpose of enacting his vision. He must have been much like a paterfamilias from whom all direction is taken – at least to follow his vision, and was most happy when he felt this vision was being carried out faithfully. When it was, he was sunshine and lollipops. When he wasn’t, he was thunderstorms, lava, and brimstone.

The earth trembled when Steve Jobs was angry.

And those who felt the heat of his wrath most, were most likely his closest associates – when he felt they let him down, or did not live up to his expectations.

Many people with their Moon in Aries find intimate relationships challenging. Oh, they can be passionate (man, can they ever – Aries is a fire sign!), and they can be found to wear their heart on their sleeve (subtlety, thy name is not Aries), but when it comes to commitment, and letting intimacy wash over them like breakers on the beach – they break speed records packing their suitcases and leave notes saying thanks for all the fish. Soul-melding intimacy is not Moon in Aries’ forte, and as a result they often leave a trail of broken relationships in their wake.

In Steve’s particular case, the relationships Steve made were always the earmarks of his destiny. It was those he knew, befriended, or beloved who wound up steering the course of his life and opening doors of opportunity. But with that Aries Moon, very few of them received the relationship they deserved.

Virgo rising people can be the salt of the earth. They really can be. So I don’t really mean to insult 1/12^th of the zodiac, but they can really be rather difficult people for the other 11 signs to live with. They are highly analytical, practical, and self-sufficient. So they are wonderful to have around, but they can also be picky. Picky to distraction.

Especially these days, since Virgos have convinced the rest of the zodiac of the benefits of rigorous hygiene, that their 21^st century obsession has become food.  Virgos put their analytical ability to use by running every morsel of food through a microscope before they put it in their mouth, and study the labels so that they are well aware of every nutrient and chemical to ensure they get the proper minimum daily requirement of those they want. That is, for those sections of the food pyramid they haven’t totally blacklisted.

And, dear lord, when they have finally decided what it is they are allowing to put into their mouth, they will obsess about the order in which it must go.

Virgo rising people can be the salt of the earth, so long as it is low-sodium, and you don’t have to feed them.

This meticulousness zeal for perfection can translate into other areas. It can be particularly trying for employees to satisfy a Virgo rising boss because the standards to which they are held can be difficult for a human to meet. While Steve Jobs may be a Pisces, who are known for sometimes being softies, that that would be enough to offset the rigor of his Virgo expectations.

The foundation of Steve Jobs’ intelligence is his Mercury in Aquarius, fuelling his future forward vision. In Aquarius Mercury’s antennae receive signals from dimensions the rest of us miss. He is sharp, quick, even brilliant. And because his Mercury is retrograde, he is able to analyze the inspirations he receives from these other dimensions and keep them close to his chest until he feels the world is ready to receive them.

The placement of his Mercury indicates that above all, Steve Jobs was driven to contribute his intellectual “children” to the world. Like Zeus birthing Athena, each of the products and visions he created sprung out of his mind almost fully imagined in fully developed form. It was only up to the ability of those whose job it was to actually build them to determine their eventual guts. But even if he had to settle for less than optimal due to limitations of our technology, Steve would continually rework and redesign his intellectual children until they resembled his perfected vision of them.

And perhaps the most striking aspect of Steve Job’s mind is that in spite of his creative abilities, in spite of his vision, and in spite of the wealth of resources at his disposal, Steve always needed someone else he could rely on to carry out the practicalities of making his visions real. His Athena always needed to be sculpted by someone else, and trusted not to turn out an Aphrodite.

Much has been said already about Steve Jobs’ relationships. And to make an already long story shorter, suffice it to say that he had a strong need for a stable family home life, but always felt both somewhat incapable of long-term relationships, and a coldness – no iciness, that could develop on a moment’s notice like a curtain coming down on a stage that would cut off all further communication until he was ready to lift it.

But his feelings here also tie into his spirituality. Steve was an intensely spiritual person, and he could readily understand how his values played out in his life and the lives of those around him. And this understanding of values and of others’ values gave him an ability to communicate beyond rational thought. It must have been that if you were in his presence, almost by virtue of being in his presence that you entered the world of his aura – a world that could be wondrous beyond imagining.

It was a world vastly different from our own. His values were not the values others expected or wanted him to have, and to rub some sodium in that wound, he didn’t give a rat’s crap about it. He had his own values, they too  were his creation, and they were not subject to change. He probably also felt that he had contributed enough to the world to let the world let him keep his values his own.

I need to begin wrapping this up…

Mars is how we do things, and Mars in its home of Aries is powerful. When he put is mind to it, Steve could light fires and move mountains. Sometimes, exactly what he needed would unexpectedly precipitate out of the aether like manna from heaven.

But beyond all, Steve must have looked at himself like the captain of a football team. He had an ability to attract and motivate people who like to act as members of a team, each person with specific roles to play that benefit the whole as they charge their way forward to victory.

No discussion of Steve Jobs’ chart would be complete without a discussion of his Jupiter, the planet that opens doors and hands over the key to success. Steve’s is in Cancer in the 10^th House making it incredibly powerful, and that it is conjunct Uranus, planet of technology says it all. I don’t have to.

But the one thing that might not stand out as obvious is that one of the main keys of Jobs’ success was in extracting what he saw as worthwhile in other products and capitalizing it to make it the engine of his vision. He had an incredibly keen sense of being able to spot what was useful in something and putting things together in just such a way as to make them what he wanted them to be and even better than before.

And finally (at least for this edition), Steve Jobs’ Saturn indicates his was not a tranquil soul. Education, as in formalized schooled education did not come easy to Steve. He was too easily bored, and the structure of requirements bothered him. He probably was like someone who knew calculus before they fully understood algebra, or could write before they knew how to print.

Deep inside his soul was a volcano. Mostly that volcano was kept in control, but every so often, when in one of his infamous moods that volcano would break loose and wreak havoc far and wide.

Saturn in Scorpio is never an easy position. It forces one to face one’s deepest fears and use those fears to purify the soul and transform the self. That is never an easy process, so it is understandable that when one is forced to stare at hell in the face that occasionally one would be subject to black moods. The road to hell is not a pretty one, and Saturn in Scorpio forces you to stay there until you understand why you are there. But once you do and you turn around to walk out, you are a being reborn, and ready to carve a new place for yourself in your world. Steve went through many transitions, perhaps the most famous when he was booted out of Apple in 1985.

This was Steve Jobs. The man who not only helped usher in the personal computer revolution, but also revolutionized how we listen to music, how we use our phones, and how popular movies are animated. The tablet revolution is yet to unfold. Yes, there are PC’s, CD’s, Android phones, and Amazon tablets, but if you think any of them would be like they are today without the influence of Steve Jobs and Apple, I invite you to take a very long walk off a very short pier.

Steve Jobs, wherever you are, on whatever plane of existence you are now, thank you, and may you rest in peace.

To the Daily Details!

Sunday, October 16^th

Mercury sextiles Pluto at 9:58am

Sun quintile Pluto at 1:25pm

The Moon is in Gemini, the sign of communication and the focus of the day is on messaging. Messages learned, messages sent, and messages received all play an important part in the affairs of the day, and perhaps the most important what is felt more than what is said. If there have been matters that have felt unclear, undecided, or murky, today’s events may shed some sunlight to give them a more definite direction. Researches, investigations, and inquiries are all favored, as we try to get to the heart of the matter and expand our understanding of things. Yes, this is a Sunday and supposed to be a day of rest, but rest is the unlikeliest of ways we spend the day. Even if we do try to sit down and enjoy a cup of tea or java, there’s a sense that we need to find things out, learn what is going on, or stick out noses deep into whatever tickles our fancy. It is the hunt for connection, for belonging, and for understanding that is the fuel that drives us, the ultimate goal, merely the reason to partake in the hunt. Pay close heed to what is happening beneath the surface, it is ever so much more important than the chatter on top!

Monday, October 17^th

Mars sesquiquadrates Uranus at 4:08am

Moon trines Sun at 6:37am

Mercury opposes Jupiter at 11:55am

Be extra careful in the early morning hours, and give yourself extra time to get ready and be wherever you need to be as dawn breaks. Quirky delays, things not working as expected, or sharp words may all cause a bit of drama early in the day. Things smooth over once the Sun makes an appearance and we head into the week a bit more confident, self-assured, and optimistic than usual. But this is a day in which we will reap as we have sown, so make sure that confidence sits on a firm foundation! It may come as no surprise the economy is many a mind, but there is a change in the air. Changes are coming in economic thinking, and the unthinkable several months ago may soon churn into reality. It will not be swift, but the winds of change are blowing. Sniff the air, the change is good, and it is so much cheaper than that other stuff!

The Moon enters Cancer at 6:38pm, and the tempo of the day settles to a more tranquil rhythm. Our emotions may run high, so if there is something that’s bothering you, don’t let it get out hand and you say something you might regret later!

Tuesday, October 18^th

Mercury parallel Venus at 9:56pm

Today is a great day for cleaning out unwanted garbage. Of both the physical and emotional variety.  If there’s something that’s been standing in your way at home or in the office, now is the time to toss it out. Or to clean, if so desired. Emotionally, we are feeling our oats, and it feels good. We feel as if we can take on any task, accomplish any goal, and progress toward those achievements we’ve already committed to. If there is analytical work that needs to be done, the later morning hours should be very productive. During this time, making calls, reviewing data, or communicating with someone important can all lead to beneficial results. In the evening, take time to do something nice for yourself. It is an excellent time to hold a conversation with a loved one. Not only may you be more inclined to say meaningfully nice things to each other, but also offer to do something that helps strengthen the relationship between you.

Wednesday, October 19^th

No major aspects

The Moon is in Cancer all day. Today is likely to be the most difficult day of the week, so try to take things in stride. Our emotions are also on full tilt, so be careful of unintentionally stepping on others’ toes. It’s possible that today or tomorrow some project may become unexpectedly due, so if there’s something that you’ve been working on and need to wrap up, stop staring out the window or hanging at the coffee machine and get it finished. Speaking of coffee, some people may have a need to bend your ear today to enroll you in their drama. Just remember, if it’s their drama, they’re the playwright, and you’re just an extra – and we know what happens to extras in the movies, right?

Thursday, October 20^th

No major aspects

The Moon enters Leo at 3:06am, and the sticky emotional stuff we’ve been caught up in the past few days gives way to brighter and happier attitudes. Even if there isn’t anything in particular to celebrate, we’re all in a rather joyful playful mood and want to play nice. If you have something you want to ask of someone, today’s a pretty good day to bring up the subject. The only area in which you might want to be a bit circumspect is in the pocketbook. While out shopping your impulses may get the better of your bank account. If you see something you really want, you may want to wait to the weekend to make the purchase – it may be a better financial move.

Friday, October 21^st

Sun trine Neptune at 4:59pm

Today is a mixed bag that may start out a bit dicey, but end on a smooth note. The morning hours are a bit tempestuous. People (especially children) are a bit out of sorts and express that dissatisfaction in engaging in a battle of wills. With the Moon in Leo, no one especially wants to be pushed around, but the best course of action may be to just give in to the extent you can – the afternoon may have the situation move in a more favorable direction anyway. We get a burst of energy shortly after lunch that helps us wrap up the affairs of the week, and get a whole lot more accomplished than we might have thought possible. Our weekend plans might be a bit hazy and fuzzy, which is fine because you know all about the “best laid plans.” Don’t bother, anyway it’s not worth the energy! This evening is perfect for relaxing soaks, idle meditations, and relishing your method of choice to acquire tranquility.

Tonight are the Orionid meteor shower that begins shortly after midnight. (see below for a map of where to find them.) Even if meteor showers aren’t on your agenda, be sure to make note of your dreams tonight…they may have special meaning!

Saturday, October 22^nd

The Moon enters Virgo at 7:41am

There oughtta be a law about weekends and Virgo Moons. Still, if there is any cleaning, chores, or work that must be done you should find sometime during the day the mood to attend to it. And it may be a Virgo Moon (last time I lean on Virgo this edition, promise!) but it is a very well aspected Virgo Moon at that. It is particularly well favored for socializing, leisurely activities, and making that purchase you had your eye on earlier in the week.

Today is the last day of Libra. Tomorrow the Sun enters Scorpio. Scorpio is always a vibrant time of the year, but also one of deep transition. The world changes during Scorpio, may it change beneficially for you!

Wishing you all a wonderful week!