|
|
|
About me
Recent Posts
Astrologer is sorry for failure to predict cyclone... Archives
November 2005 Search and Stats
Books from My Bookshelf
Help support this site - order your books here! |
Contact
E-mail: lynn at astrodynamics dot net. 
Add to Google Newsreader
If you like this blog, please consider supporting my work! Astrology Links
Political Astrology
Political Sites
Cool Sites and Blog Friends
Celebrity News
Credits
|
|
Wednesday, May 21, 2008Astrologer is sorry for failure to predict cyclone Continuing on the theme of what can and cannot be predicted, the weather is the next logical topic and evidently a noted Burmese astrologer has publicly apologized for his failure to predict Cyclone Nargis. But in a country like Myanmar where they take astrology seriously, evidently the citizenry depends on their astrologers for this kind of thing: Myanmar astrologer Myint Lwin is upset because he failed to see Cyclone Nargis coming. Ken over at The Weather Alternative has this to say about the cyclone: The last lunar eclipse of February 2, 2008 provides us with a glimpse of the astrological aspects at the time of the cyclone's landfall. On the 3rd, Mercury was parallel Mars. Conjunctions, squares, oppositions, and parallels between these two planets have long been known to produce whipping winds. The astro-locality map at right shows the angular positions of Mars and Venus on May 3rd. The two planets cross very near where the cyclone hit. Venus was square it own position at the time of lunar eclipse.Still, these planetary alignments will occur many times without a major cyclone hitting so as with all astrological predictions it's easier to look backwards than to predict forwards. Does this lessen the importance of astrology in our daily lives? Not at all, in my opinion since astrology's greatest value is in its ability to help each individual chart their own course and their own destiny despite the storms of change. Tuesday, May 20, 2008Ted Kennedy diagnosed with brain tumor photo reprinted without permission from the Boston GlobeTed Kennedy was rushed to the hospital last weekend after suffering a seizure in his home, and today his doctors announced that tests had revealed a malignant brain tumor in the left parietal lobe of his brain. As he is one of the most respected elder Democratic statesmen as well as the last giant in a family of political giants, this is a sad day for Democrats and for the political world in general. Ted Kennedy's astrology chart shows that his Sun is in Pisces, which is widely known to be the sign of the saint and the drunk because of the urge within the Pisces soul to transcend the dull and ordinary mundane reality and experience something more transcendent. However, Kennedy's achievement-oriented Capricorn ascendant ensures that he is brought back to reality time and time again. To complicate matters further, Mars and Mercury in his chart are conjunct in Aquarius - the sign of the visionary and a fervor for social justice and equality, as we have seen during Kennedy's long years of service. However, the Aquarian tendency towards rational intellect does not integrate well with the Pisces longing for redemption and transcendence, and because his Sun opposes Pisces' ruler Neptune (a double whammy connecting his Sun to the Pisces archetype) this longing stirs powerfully within him. Kennedy is well known for his long battle with alcoholism and this is not uncommon in the charts of strongly Piscean individuals, especially if they have a hyper-critical Virgo Moon and the relentless pressure of the Capricorn ascendant and first house Saturn which strives for achievement and the fulfillment of one's destiny. Kennedy's seizure occurred at the time of the Full Moon which made a square to the Mars/Mercury Aquarian conjunction in his chart. Mercury in Aquarius does not like to think emotionally, and the Virgo Moon prefers to keep one's emotions in nice little boxes where everything can be safe. However, the Pisces sensitivity makes it difficult for all of this to play out, and the intense Scorpio drama of the most recent Full Moon occurred in a nearly exact square to this Mars/Mercury conjunction in Aquarius. Seizures in the brain have a great deal to do with Mercury and we can argue that they are Uranian/Aquariuan as well, with sudden shifts in energy. The fact that Kennedy's progressed Mercury is conjunct progressed Uranus right now is also interesting, echoing this Mercury/Uranus connection that electrifies the brain and creates an experience that changes everything. Kennedy is undergoing some difficult transits right now, notably a transit of Saturn over his Pisces Sun which began last fall and occurred for the second time in March, along with a square of transiting Chiron to natal Chiron in Kennedy's chart. The Chiron square activates the influence of the Wounded Healer to bring any hidden or unresolved wounds into view. These transits are not always connected to health problems but we can certainly connect them to Kennedy's chart in a way that makes astrological sense. Ted Kennedy has made mistakes in his life but has risen above it all to be a dedicated public servant and well-respected politician. I know we will all be sending our prayers and holding him in light as he faces this latest challenge. Monday, May 19, 2008"If you could predict death, would you?"Most professionals agree that predicting death in the chart of a client or a client's loved one is unethical. Last weekend I watched a movie I had rented called First Snow, a thriller which I really enjoyed in which a sharkish salesman goes for a psychic reading in which the psychic makes some predictions about his business and then has a vision which disturbs him greatly and causes him to terminate the session. The salesman doesn't believe in any of it, but then the business predictions come true. He also has a health scare, and goes back to the psychic demanding to know what he saw. The psychic tells him to put his affairs in order, that he will be safe only until the first snow. Suddenly a believer but having learned anything about the metaphysical order of life, the salesman is taken over by anxiety and fears. He goes back to the psychic with a gun and says, "You never should have told me!!" Recently I heard a story from a client about a Tarot reading that she gave to a friend in which the Death card came up in answer to a question about the health of her husband. The Death card in Tarot rarely means death, and of course when we see the Death card we want to assure the client that Death is not the meaning. In this case, however, the husband died and the reader was upset that she had not provided her client with the guidance that she needed. Some schools of thought believe that the moment of death is predetermined; I am not among those that hold this belief. In my view we make choices every moment that change the path on which we walk, and this is why predicting the future is so treacherous and so often wrong. Christine Davis, a traditional astrologer, has written a post (thanks Elsa!) on this subject in which she reviews a book called Celestial Philosophy that is now almost 200 years old. She writes: Worsdale has parked some of the critical how-to information in the very final pages of the book, explaining how one determines the Giver of Life and the various killing events. I only just found those pages this afternoon, after jumping around from chart to chart, wondering when he was going to explain this key point. Each chart (which is composed in the older box-style rather than the round chart modern readers are more accustomed to viewing) is accompanied by lists of planetary events, motions, and directions, both in the zodiac and in mundo. The method, if I understand correctly, involves choosing the Giver of Life (Hyleg, Apheta) from several possible candidates based on the conditions presented in the birth chart, then composing and studying these long lists of events to determine when that Giver of Life is sufficiently threatened as to be extinguished.I have seen articles on well-respected traditional astrology blogs that do predict death and I have wondered about this, since to predict the death of a client goes so deeply against the code of ethics that most modern astrologers subscribe to. I have heard the same debate on Tarot boards, and I think it's a subject well worth discussing. Sunday, May 18, 2008Full moon and other planetary news this week Lovely Venus is very active in the middle of the month, with a square to Chiron on May 17th, a sextile to Uranus and trine to Jupiter on the 18th, and a square to Neptune on the 20th. Venus usually works on us through our interpersonal relationships but can also have an effect on our internal values and possessions. In any event, we are likely to encounter new and unusual (Uranus) kinds of people that are helpful to us and help to expand our world (Jupiter). But we may be prone to idealize these situations (Neptune) in a way that forces us to revisit old wounds of the past (Chiron).These Venus events set the stage for the Full Moon tomorrow (the 19th) which is likely to be an intense one. Not only is it the second Scorpio Full Moon in a series, but it is at the last degree of Scorpio. The 29th degree is sometimes called the "anaretic" degree, or the "karmic" degree, because it is like the final exam. By the 29th degree we are by necessity learning any lessons of that sign that we have not yet assimilated before we can move into the next sign. All of this is part of a major Yod to the South Node that occurs on the 21st and incorporates a conjunction of Chiron to the North Node. A Yod, or "Finger of Fate" aspect, is an event of great significance of which the Apex planet (in this case, the South Node) is the key. (I don't use the Nodes of the Moon to calculate Yods in an individual's chart, but they are useful to consider by transit.) The importance of the South Node shows that there will be an illumination of an episode from the past (South Node) that is brought into the current time period so that patterns of behavior can be alchemized into new modes of behavior and thinking that are more useful to us. Traditional astrologers consider the South Node to be malefic, but that is because there is a tendency with the South Node to be drawn into behaviors that hold us back from our soul's evolution. When we are on a path of conscious understanding and awareness it becomes easier to let go of our attachment to the dramas that previously we considered our reality. In many ways, the Full Moon in Scorpio is about letting go of those attachments. Scorpio has a tendency to hold on to the emotional drama and create an intense story that becomes a part of our identity. During the Full Moon the lunar instinctive energies (now in Scorpio) overcome the solar conscious mind (working with the Taurus dynamic of stability and peaceful existence). Achieving a balance between these two is the goal now as we move with the Moon from Scorpio's last degree into the more expansive climate of Sagittarius with its optimism and love of adventure. After the culmination of the Full Moon we'll be able to assimilate all of the information downloaded during the previous week of intensity when Mercury forms a trine to Chiron on the 23rd and facilitates the healing process and the deepening into wisdom of any challenges that we faced during the cathartic Scorpio Full Moon. Because Mercury and Chiron are both moving very slowly now, this trine will be in effect for at least a week between the 21st and the end of the month during which time we'll have two more retrogrades: Mercury and Neptune, both on the 26th. Friday, May 16, 2008A new birthchart for Barack Obama! Evidently astrologer Joni Patry announced at the UAC conference this week that she had obtained an accurate birthtime from a client who is closely involved in the Obama campaign. According to Eric Francis: The time is 7:11 pm, and the date (as known previously) Aug. 4, 1961 in Honolulu. The chart gives 14+ Aquarius rising.The Aquarius ascendant (see new chart) makes a lot more sense than the Scorpio ascendant which has been floating around, and reflects the universal appeal that Obama has. Aquarius is the sign of change - radical, revolutionary, innovative change. No wonder his slogan is "Change we can believe in." Aquarius desires social justice and liberty and equality for everyone. Moreover, Aquarius tends to be rather impersonal and detached and Obama has developed a reputation for being cool and somewhat aloof, both Aquariuan characteristics. Obama's history of reconciliation and compromise, a Libran characteristic, was not reflected in the solar chart using just the birthdate or any of the other birthtimes proposed for him, but this 7:11 pm time shows the Sun at the descendant, the cusp of the seventh house that is ruled by Libra, revealing his focus on relationship building and creating alliances that bridge the gap between different groups that has been the hallmark of his political career so far. Chiron falls in the first house of this chart, identifying the core wound for Obama as being the development of his identity and personality that resulted from being a biracial child living in a white household with an absent black father. This core wound was the subject of Obama's book "Dreams from my Father," in which he explored the issues of race and what it means to be black in America. Chiron opposes Pluto which now falls in the seventh house of relationships, suggesting that his partnerships and alliances will have a transformative (Pluto) effect on him that may at times be painful (Chiron). Traditional astrology would say that Pluto in the seventh house shows danger from open enemies, but the fact that Pluto forms a sextile (harmonious aspect) to Obama's Venus would tend to minimize that potentiality. Amplifying this early wound is the tight square of Chiron and Pluto to the Gemini Moon. These three planets form a powerful T-square that puts a lot of stress on the Moon which in the Fourth House yearns to experience a connection with one's ancestral roots and family, an urge mirrored in Venus which falls in Cancer, associated with the Fourth House. Still, the inclusion of a Grand Trine involving Chiron, Venus and Neptune reveals again the importance of relationships (Venus) in the process of healing (Chiron) and transcendence (Neptune) that Obama talks about in his speeches. When we see a stressful aspect (the T-square) combined with a harmonious aspect (the Grand Trine), there is tremendous potential for growth and evolution that is motivated by the T-square and facilitated by the Trine. You can read more about other aspects of Obama's chart that haven't changed in this earlier profile.  I really like these two together, and I can relate to Owen Wilson's commitment conflicts and the despair over his failed relationships that put him in the hospital last summer after a failed suicide attempt. So I find myself following their saga with a great deal of interest and sadness. Recently the two had reconciled, and just last week Kate was spotted wearing an engagement ring, but new reports say that they have broken up once again.Two short months ago, with reports of their reconciliation circulating, I wrote: Last year when Owen attempted suicide transiting Saturn (the planet which tests us and creates limitations to challenge us and encourage us to become stronger) was in a stressful aspect to the Sun/Neptune conjunction in Owen's chart. Saturn cycles often bring depression and show us our limitations and where we are not measuring up. Ideally this motivates us to work harder for change and growth, but sometimes it pushes people into despair as we saw with Owen at that time.Unfortunately, it appears that the relationship has ended badly, and friends of Kate report that Owen was the one who ended the relationship. a friend of Wilson's told People Magazine, "It was a pretty bad breakup," a friend of Wilson's tells the mag. "Owen said it was a tough one. He definitely doesn't want to dwell on it. He wants to put it behind him." Putting this kind of thing behind us, and not dwelling on it, is typical of the combination of the optimism of Sagittarius and the intensity of Scorpio that is the root of Owen Wilson's noted emotional difficulties. Healing these problems require the strength to face uncomfortable emotions and work through them - they don't go away, and they fester underneath the surface where they can become infected and later require major psychological surgery to repair. It's sad to see something so personal play out in such a public arena, but watching the dramas of celebrities unfold can teach us something valuable about human behavior that we can use in our own lives. Thursday, May 15, 2008Retrogrades galore this month!Jupiter turned retrograde last week (on May 9), and Chiron turns retrograde May 25, just before Mercury and Neptune on May 26. Planets don't really move backwards, but because we view the motion of the planets from our perspective on earth in astrology, they sometimes appear to turn backwards, or retrograde. Retrograde planets operate on a more internal, deeper and more personal level. Individuals with a large number (4, 5 or more) of retrograde planets tend to be more inverted, with a greater internal focus and less attention to the outside world. Before planets turn retrograde, they slow down to what is called a "station" as they prepare to turn. This is very like a car making a U-turn, which remains in the same general location for quite a while as it makes that turn. When the motion of the planets appears to slow down, the influence of those planets becomes more powerful and more intense, and this is true right now. Jupiter and Saturn (which turned direct earlier this month and is still traveling very slowly) will only cover a little more than one degree all month; Uranus about the same. Neptune travels only about ten minutes worth of distance, and Pluto only about 30 minutes. This intensifies the effect of all of the planets and their influence. By the end of the month we'll have four traditional planets plus Chiron traveling retrograde and it may be more difficult to navigate through the world during this time. This is rather like navigating a ship in the dark of night - we have to rely on our instincts and our inner maps rather than guidance from external landmarks. Retrograde periods are not "bad," they are merely times of assimilation and deepening of our internal wisdom before we turn back to the outer world and our lives of action. Tuesday, May 13, 2008Possible danger coming up for ObamaWe still don't have a verified birthtime for Obama so I am using a solar chart which makes it difficult to offer specific predictions, but there are a few interesting planetary cycles coming up for him that will be interesting to watch. First, regarding Obama's relationships, the first and second phases of the opposition of transiting Pluto to Obama's Venus blew up (Pluto) Obama's longtime spiritual partnership with Jeremiah Wright. The third and final phase of that cycle won't occur until December and January, safely after the election. Meanwhile, earlier this month as transiting Saturn (discipline and commitment) prepared to turn direct it made a station in a harmonious aspect (sextile) to that very same Venus (relationships) and will be sitting there for another week or so. This appears to be coinciding with the increasing solidity (Saturn) of his alliances (Venus) in the same Democratic Party establishment (Saturn) that courted Hillary Clinton just a few months ago. Obama is no doubt energized and superconfident right now, as well as lucky, with transiting Jupiter having just turned retrograde in a trine to Obama's Mars. Mars is our individual drive, and anger, and physical energy; transits of Jupiter open doors of opportunity and expand our ability to achieve our desires. There is, however, a dangerous aspect looming on the horizon: a "double whammy" combination of transits from Mars to Uranus and from Uranus to Mars. When these two conflict, there are fireworks and danger from accidents or violence of some kind, and the opposition from Uranus to Mars in Obama's chart occurs as transiting Uranus is at its most powerful, between now and early August. Transiting Mars will hit Uranus in his chart around the 23rd of June, and he is vulnerable to some sort of attack at that time. Obama has been a very cool character throughout this campaign, but under this Mars influence (particularly in late June) we will begin to see some fissures in his smooth exterior. This is typical of the Uranus/Mars combination and is likely to bring some real fireworks to the campaigns! Hopefully it will not present a danger to his physical person. Some of you (well, Jon  ) will decry my promotion of the Great Beast, but Microsoft has come out with a really cool new gizmo: The Worldwide Telescope. From the press release: REDMOND, Wash. — May 12, 2008 — The final frontier got a bit closer today as Microsoft Corp. officially launched the public beta of its WorldWide Telescope, which is now available at http://www.worldwidetelescope.org. WorldWide Telescope is a rich Web application that brings together imagery from the best ground- and space-based observatories across the world to allow people to easily explore the night sky through their computers. WorldWide Telescope has been eagerly anticipated by the astronomical and educational communities as a compelling astronomical resource for students and lifelong learners, and as a way to make science fun for children.You can view a video demonstration here: Labels: astronomy
|
