Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Like all prophecy waiting around for a certain date and expecting something to happen is ignorance, self fulfilling and a result of the duality of the human condition. It is a goal we must work towards on individual and collective levels. We must consciously co create. We must literally BE THE CHANGE we wish to see in the world. We must be able to work towards enlightenment, to raise our vibrations and begin to see and separate ourselves from the old mindset of Materialism, Separation, War, Greed, and Egotism and see that in reality we are connected to everything, to each other, to God.

This is not something new; it is something that has been occurring since the very beginning. It is our Destiny as human beings to recognize the divinity within ourselves and all of creation. We have separated ourselves through beliefs instilled into the consciousness by other souls. No person, church, government or any other soul has any business putting itself in between you and God. This is the time to reconnect with the very heart of all creation that was severed when this dualistic consciousness set in. Anyone who for a moment chooses to think for themselves and set aside what is accepted as reality can sense the changes through Intuition. Can sense the appearance that "time" is speeding up and has been since the later 1960s. In reality it is Creation that is speeding up. For example, the technological breakthroughs and advancements that have occurred in the last 50 years compared to the last 5000 years. This is not a Coincidence or a random chance of events.

In this modern world we have lost sight of truth and replaced it with superstition and materialism. Science and Religion, for the most part, have become void of Spirituality and have become controlled and Dogmatic rhetoric. The Cosmos, the universe and everything contained within it is alive and beating to the cosmic pulse. Science has focused for too long on relying on only what could be proved and labeled Physical and disregarded the rest as mystical mythology; Religion has condemned and destroyed the ancient wisdom and anything going against the "status quo", declaring it heresy and "evil" as a result of this blind dualistic consciousness. Thankfully with advancements in Quantum Physics and the “new” sciences, and people the world over moving away from "organized" religion to explore spirituality and enlightenment we are seeing that this awakening is taking place and the ancient secrets, such as healing, and the development of the 6th & 7th senses, once forgotten, are being revived.

Fear has played a major role in all of this, but if you look back over history itself, even based on the Gregorian calendar you can see when shifts in Consciousness have occurred and when do to changes in energy have recessed, only to give birth to new levels of creativity once again. The Mayan Calendar shows this in detail and it is no coincidence. The Ancients knew, including those in Egypt and other parts of the world were aware of these flows in energy and connection to the divine. Since the metaphorical fall of man or split of Consciousness we have been moving towards this destiny throughout the ages. To become who we truly are and to recognize our divinity. Creation has a plan, a timeline it follows directly from the source. read more...

Labels: Galactic Center

Posted by Lynn Hayes :: 3:41 PM :: |

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Tuesday, June 19, 2007

The new science: Invisibility!

Phil Brown investigates the connection between the Saturn Neptune opposition and the new "cloaking" device invented by scientists in this article he posted a few days ago:

Physics has developed a “cloaking” device composed of copper rings and wires patterned onto fiberglass sheets. This cloaking device can hide objects—and the cloaking materials themselves—by bending light so that the space appears to be virtually empty. An article in the N.Y. Times, “Light Fantastic: Flirting with Invisibility, ”notes that “…the demonstration showed the newfound ability of scientists to manipulate light through structures they call ‘metamaterials.’” An object literally becomes invisible, at least to microwaves. . . .
Times).

The Saturn-Neptune opposition has to do with, among other things, creating form or giving form to that which is formless. This cloaking device does just the opposite: it gives formlessness to a form. Either way, however, it’s Saturn (form) and Neptune (formless).

This invisibility device is also a metaphor for the larger socio-political manifestations of the Saturn-Neptune opposition. The 1971-72 Saturn-Neptune opposition coincided with the publication of the Pentagon Papers, which made visible the secret planning that went into the Vietnam War; revelation of the secret Tuskegee syphilis experiments; and the beginnings of the Nixon government's secret Watergate activities--a real invisibility device which, fortunately for the country, malfunctioned and was later exposed through the "Watergate tapes." These all took place very close to one of the exact oppositions of Saturn and Neptune.

read more here...

Jupiter and Neptune have also been tightly linked to the invisibility discoveries: according to the NY Times article the early Duke experiments took place last October as Jupiter (expansion) was square to Neptune (the hidden), suggesting that the project may have been overambitious, and also trine Uranus (new discoveries). Earlier experiments in March 2005 at the University of Pennsylvania occurred when Jupiter was trine to Neptune, opening the doors of the mysterious, although a square from Saturn to Jupiter did reveal some limitations in the earlier models. And going back even farther, in September 2003, with Jupiter opposite Neptune, scientists in Japan invested an "invisibility coat."

The mutual reception of Uranus (ruler of Aquarius) now traveling through Pisces (ruled by Neptune) and Neptune (ruler of Pisces) now traveling through Aquarius (ruled by Uranus) is also stimulating new thought patterns and creativity as the Uranian desire for radical change collides with Neptune's urge for transcendence. Robert Wilkinson reports a resulting increase in the strength of the unified field which is also affecting us on a more personal level, enhancing our intuition and our own abilities to tune in to other dimensions of awareness.

There's no doubt that this is an exciting time to be alive, despite the trauma that occurs elsewhere on the world stage.

Labels: Jupiter/Uranus, Saturn/Neptune

Posted by Lynn Hayes :: 8:35 AM :: |

---------------oOo--------------- The Accuracy of Financial Astrology

I received an email the other day from someone asking for the five most accurate financial astrologers which I found interesting. There are several well-known financial astrologers including Henry Weingarten who runs the "Astrologers Fund," and Ray Merriman who is well-known in astrological circles as a master of market timing. Still, I was unable to find any histories of accuracy, although certainly claims of such accuracy are made.

The fact is, when dealing with predictions on financial cycles there are way too many variables to be able to predict accurately:

1. The astrological cycles (transits and progressions) that the financial astrologer him/herself is experiencing.
2. The cycles of the individual investor.
   
3. The cycles of the individual companies being traded.
4. The cycles of CEOs and other company leaders that instigate various behaviors that affect stock performance.

The only trends that are readily visible to the astrologer are the overall planetary cycles such as the kind that we examine in this column and others. Saturn influences tend to create depressions and Jupiter influences tend to provide expansion. Eclipses generally portend changes in the market, as do Uranus influences.

As I've written before here, and here, and here, and here, the stock market over the past year has defied all astrological predictions. Eclipse cycles, square of Saturn (disappointment) to Jupiter (optimism), and the square of Jupiter (expansion) to Uranus (sudden change) have all led astrologers to predict abrupt downturns in the markets beginning last summer. None of us counted on the power of the relentless optimism of Pluto and Jupiter traveling through Sagittarius that has kept the markets buoyant despite challenging technicals.

This doesn't lessen the importance of astrology, but it does demonstrate the difficulty in making accurate financial predictions using these cycles.

Posted by Lynn Hayes :: 5:25 AM :: |

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Monday, June 18, 2007

Moon/Venus/Saturn line up with Regulus

photo from spaceweather.com

Click chart to enlarge and view animation.

Venus is still about ten degrees from an exact conjunction with Saturn but the Moon will conjunct Venus today heading towars Saturn and the fixed star Regulus.

I have never worked with the fixed stars but suddenly became fascinated with these stellar bodies over the past few months. I've purchased a couple of books on the subject and hope to be able to give you some more information as I learn about them myself. Meanwhile I've discovered that Regulus, the star associated with kings in the Leo constellation, is currently at 29 degrees 58 minutes, and will transition into Virgo sometime in the next few years.

I have no idea what this means, but it seems that when one of the brightest stars in the sky, the star that is associated with royalty and kingship, changes signs it could be an event of some significance!

Posted by Lynn Hayes :: 5:09 AM :: |

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Sunday, June 17, 2007

Another great astrology blog

I don't know how I missed Doreen Gordon's astrology blog Key on Garden Door since she has a link to Astrodynamics, but I just found it via a link from Phil Brown's Astrofuture blog. Despite the fact that Doreen calls herself a student, she has an interesting take on current events. I particularly like this one called "Is There a Changing of the Guard in Evangelical America?" She lists several influences associated with this shift, with a comprehensive explanation on all: (1) Pluto in Sagittarius currently joined by Jupiter; (2) Uranus in Pisces by itself; (3) Uranus in Pisces squared by Jupiter in Sagittarius; (4) Saturn opposite Neptune; (5) the transiting lunar Nodes in Pisces/Virgo.

Read more here...

Posted by Lynn Hayes :: 3:00 PM :: |

---------------oOo--------------- Sunday Poetry

Sleeping in spring oblivious of dawn
Everywhere I hear birds.
After the wind and rain last night
I wonder how many petals fell?

- Meng Hao-jan (689-740)

photo by Tony Howell

Labels: Poetry

Posted by Lynn Hayes :: 8:09 AM :: |

---------------oOo--------------- Eris is bigger than Pluto!

The new planet Eris has been found to be 27% larger than Pluto, causing some astronomers to joke about Pluto not being able to catch a break. As astrologers know, however, size doesn't matter - despite it's tiny size, Pluto packs a powerful wallop.

I have done just a little work with Eris in charts where it forms tight aspects to other planets and haven't been able to get a clear sense of how it works. From the lack of published material on the subject, neither has anyone else! On the other hand, not every planet speaks to every astrologer, and many astrologers still do not work with Chiron. I'll continue to report Eris news as I find it and please help me out by posting any links that you find!

Labels: Eris

Posted by Lynn Hayes :: 6:54 AM :: |

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Friday, June 15, 2007

What happens when Pluto is demoted...

thanks Elsa!

photo from Worth 1000.

Labels: Pluto

Posted by Lynn Hayes :: 6:49 PM :: |

---------------oOo--------------- "Codigo Astral" on Miami TV!

Finally: Real astrology on television!! Not just "design by your sign" or "exercise by your sign," this new television show on Spanish Broadcasting System channel 22 in Miami has real-life astrologer Mauricio Puerta of Venezuela analyzing the charts of three audience members beginning June 14th. Hopefully this idea will catch on and start to bring REAL astrology into the mainstream.

Thanks to Astrococktail for this news article!

Labels: Astrology in the media

Posted by Lynn Hayes :: 1:16 PM :: |

---------------oOo--------------- Neptune: The Quest for the Divine

We've talked in these pages quite a bit about Saturn over the past months as Saturn and Neptune have danced through their opposition, but it's more difficult to discuss Neptune. Defining Neptune is a delicate task; by its very nature it is mysterious and confusing. Neptune calls on us to blur the boundaries of reality; to go beyond the mundane world and embrace that which is beyond.

Neptune in its highest form is the call to experience the divine. Through music, art and other creative endeavors we channel divine inspiration into craft. Through meditation, song or chanting we go beyond the mind to achieve a state where we merge into oneness. Mystics of all faiths, following the path to a divine experience, have heard the call of Neptune. Neptune calls us into a limitless expansion in which only the present moment exists. Early 20th century philosopher Augustine Poulain writes:

Then the spirit is transported high above all the faculties into a void of immense solitude whereof no mortal can adequately speak. It is the mysterious darkness wherein is concealed the limitless good. To such an extent are we admitted and absorbed into something that is one, simple, divine, and illimitable, that we seem no longer distinguishable from it. . . . In this unity, the feeling of multiplicity disappears. When, afterwards, these persons come to themselves again, they find themselves possessed of a distinct knowledge of things, more luminous and more perfect than of others. . . . This state is called the ineffable obscurity. . . . This obscurity is a light to which no created intelligence can arrive by its own nature." In "The Heart Sutra" what is apparently the same state is expressed as follows: "And no feeling, thought, impression, understanding, and no eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind, No form, sound, smell, taste, touch or thought. . . ."

Each of us have Neptune somewhere in our charts, indicating how we perceive the call to the divine and how it is likely to be expressed, but not everyone feels that call directly. A challenging aspect from Jupiter to Neptune can show a conflict between the need for social constructs and theological dogma (Jupiter) and the spiritual quest (Neptune) and could denote a person for whom religion is more important than experience. A challenging aspect from Saturn to Neptune reveals a conflict between a reality-based approach to life (Saturn) and the call to mystery (Neptune) in which the pressures of hard reality (Saturn) could push the individual off the deep edge of Neptune's escapist tendencies resulting in the darker side of Neptune. There are many different ways these combinations can manifest depending upon the rest of the chart.

Neptune is said to be the "higher octave of Venus" because it guides us to a more transcendent experience of divine love. Where Venus demonstrates love between humans and love for ourselves, Neptune confers compassion and universal love and a sense that all is connected into a great Oneness and for this reason it has a very different nature than religion, which falls under Jupiter's need to codify our quest for meaning into laws and dogma. The magic of synchronicity of this Oneness is a large part of the Neptuneian experience. But Neptune has a dark side as well.

The myth of the Sirens depicts the simultaneous beauty and horror of Neptune: The Sirens sang a beautiful song that entranced all who heard it, enchanting the sailors who passed by their island and enticing them to dive into the sea and drown or be devoured by birds. Odysseus, desiring to hear the call in a way that wouldn't risk his life, had his sailors plug their ears with wax and tie him to the mast of the ship so that he wouldn't be tempted to dive into the deadly waters. The call of Neptune, like the Sirens, is irresistible in its promise of divine joy but to fully experience Neptune it is essential to balance its Siren call by keeping our feet firmly on the ground.

The dark side of Neptune creates an urge to escape reality rather than transcend it. Neptune is often prominent in the charts of alcoholics and drug addicts, and those who dream rather than act. Neptune creates an urge for sacrifice which can be noble, but it can also be self-destructive. The urge to sacrifice oneself creates a pattern of victimization which can be quite pronounced under the influence of Neptune when the more negative qualities are expressed. In fact, there can be a fine line between the ecstatic experience of Neptune and psychotic breaks from reality. As writer Joseph Campbell says, ""The psychotic drowns in the same waters in which the mystic swims with delight."

Altering the more negative patterns of Neptune requires an understanding of the Neptunian need for transcendence and choosing a healthier pathway for this to take place. Meditation has been proven to cure addictive behavior, for example. Because Neptune bestows empathy and sensitivity to the thoughts and feelings of others it is the planet of psychic awareness, but it can also create difficulty in setting healthy psychological boundaries. Successfully navigating the Neptune experience requires the development of a healthy ego, something that is often ridiculed by many spiritual practices.

By consciously seeking to express Neptune through its higher forms we can resolve Neptunian problems of addiction and self-deception, and fulfill its highest promise of revelation and ecstasy. The opposition of Saturn and Neptune that concludes this month forces us to confront (Saturn) our self-deception (Neptune), but can also be utilized to stabilize our ego (Saturn) in a way that supports an ever-more transcendent experience of divine bliss (Neptune).

Posted by Lynn Hayes :: 5:37 AM :: |

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Thursday, June 14, 2007

Mercury Retrograde and the New Moon

You may have already noticed its effects: missed appointments, confusion over details, miscommunication. Telephone equipment stops working, email goes down. Websites aren't working. We think we told someone 2:00, they are waiting for us at 1:00.

When Mercury is retrograde our focus is more inward than usual, causing us to miss important details in the outer world. I have long suspected that the effects of Mercury retrograde are due more to this factor of human error than actual machinery problems. The New York Times did a study to determine whether Mercury Retrograde actually caused the problems that those of us who follow the planets swear by. Their research uncovered a lack of statistical correlation between Mercury Rx periods and automobile accidents and stoplight malfunctions, train delays, late flights, and lost baggage.

This is just one study in one city, and most people have their own tales of Mercury Retrograde gone bad (see a day in my own life as captured here). But let's not make this one more thing to bring fear into our lives. Mercury retrograde periods can be very productive for many things: they are excellent times for completing old projects (especially if they were begun when Mercury was retrograde!) and for reconnecting with old friends. When Mercury is retrograde our minds are working a little differently than they usually do, and we may find ourselves with greater access to creativity and insight. These are wonderful times for spiritual retreat, for connecting the body with the mind in Tai Chi or yoga, or for writing of any kind.

Although it is optimal to begin new projects when Mercury is direct, don't despair if you have a big presentation or contract that must be signed when Mercury is retrograde. Be alert, watch for the small details. Be sure that everyone understands all of the terms and put everything in writing to minimize later disagreements.

Mercury turns retrograde just as the Moon is new in Gemini, the sign that is ruled by Mercury and shares a focus on communication and the processing of experience as well as information. Everything moves a little more quickly under the influence of Mercury/Gemini, and we are likely to feel this as a slight speeding up of movement and activity. The New Moon (Sun conjunct Moon) is opposed by Pluto which adds an element of intensity and confrontation. Gemini is like quicksilver and prefers to move quickly through life, drinking at the fountain of experience and then moving on. Pluto forces us to face what lies beneath the surface; it shows us our fears and our darker emotions. Still, Pluto is part of a Grand Trine in fire including Saturn in Leo and Mars in Aries, so Pluto's work is energized by the fire influence and turned into a celebration of transformation.

Get out your journals, your unfinished novels, your discarded fitness plans, your old address books. With six planets retrograde by the end of the month, it's time for a retrograde party!

Posted by Lynn Hayes :: 8:07 AM :: |

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Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Jessica Simpson: Venus/Neptune in Action

photo printed without permission from Celebrity Gossip

Jessica Simpson can't seem to stay away from John Mayer; despite reports that they split in May, she has been photographed leaving his hotel in the middle of the night. Jessica's chart shows that with her Sun in Cancer, she is exceptionally sensitive and easily hurt. Cancers feel everything deeply and hold family as the most important thing in their lives, and Jessica is very close to her family. In relationships, Jessica is a romantic. Venus in her chart is in Gemini which needs lots of people around, but her Venus is challenged by dreamy and romantic Neptune which causes her to see all of her relationships through an idealized rose-colored lens. Millions of viewers watched as Jessica's fairytale romance with Nick Lachey was played out on their reality tv show, and then the same viewers watched as the fairytale disintegrated. Despite the apparent fact that Jessica instigated the breakup, she was still resentful when Nick started seeing Vanessa Minillo just weeks afterward.

Jessica's Venus/Neptune opposition shows that she has a tendency to lose herself (Neptune) in her relationships, as we saw with her dying her hair dark when she was seeing John Mayer. As soon as the breakup was announced, Jessica went back to blonde.

With three planets in Libra, John Mayer desires nothing more than peace and harmony, and his songs relay that sweetness and sensitivity. John is a romantic too, with his Moon conjunct Neptune that bestows creativity and a dreamy imagination. But there is a tendency for Libra to love the idea of relationships more than the actual connection. Libra is an air sign and deals with the realm of ideas, not emotion. In addition, John's Moon (emotional nature) is in freedom-loving Sagittarius, revealing an independent streak. Mars in John's chart is in Cancer which suggests that he has a drive (Mars) to nurture others (Cancer) when he feels committed in a relationship.

There are some compatibilities between them, but a square from John's Venus to Jessica's Moon indicates a basic unease on an emotional level that is difficult to overcome. Mercury in his chart is square Mercury in hers and also her Sun, making it very difficult for them to communicate. The difficult aspects between Pluto in his chart and her Sun and Mercury, and between Pluto in her chart and his Sun and Mercury suggest a power struggle at a deep level and that each is trying to control the other. This is a powerful dynamic that can be transformative in the chart of two people who share a deep love, but in a more superficial relationship it can feel overwhelming and that the relationship is generally too much trouble.

Jessica is experiencing some interesting planetary cycles now. Jupiter in the heavens is challenging Venus in her chart, indicating that she wants more than she can get from all of her relationships right now and through the end of October. Pluto is challenging her Moon, adding intensity and bringing out the dark underbelly of her emotions such as jealousy and desire for dominance. This is a long-lasting cycle that will continue throughout next year. Under this transit a superficial relationship will not be enough: she wants deep and intense contact, something for which John Mayer is not wired.

Another cycle impacting Jessica's relationships is a square of Uranus, representing rebellion and freedom, to Venus, her relationships. This cycle began last spring, and she is restless now and unwilling to compromise her freedom. She may find herself in relationships with men who are very different from herself; perhaps from other cultures or someone unpredictable. Perhaps this explains her attraction to John Mayer, from whom she is very different. Often when we are experiencing difficult with commitment ourselves we find ourselves attracted to partners who will not commit.

Jessica Simpson is due for a lot of change over the next year or two, and hopefully she will find herself in the process.

Labels: Celebrities

Posted by Lynn Hayes :: 6:21 AM :: |

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Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Aging and the Eight Gates

It's no secret that aging gets no respect in our Western post-war culture. Over the past 50 years or so (since Pluto entered Leo) youth has been celebrated and anyone who couldn't keep up was shunted aside. Without respect for the wisdom and history of our aging population, they became lonely and abandoned. My mother turns 80 this month, and she feels she has little to celebrate at having reached this advanced age. All she feels is the isolation and loneliness of her widowhood and the trauma at having lost her health. It saddens me that she feels there is nothing to look forward to, and it makes me hope that my own aging will encompass a different experience.

Angeles Arrien, in a wonderful book called The Second Half of Life, says:

The second half of life is the ultimate initiation. In it, we encounter those new, unexpected, unfamiliar and unknowable moments that remind us that we are a sacred mystery made manifest. If we truly understand what is required of us at this stage, we are blessed with an enormous opportunity to develop and embody wisdom and character. We enjoy limitless possibilities to restore, renew and heal ourselves."

I have had the good fortune over the past few months to see clients who are in their seventies: several women and two men. It has been inspiring to see how people on a path of growth and soul evolution have resolved the complexes inherent in their birthcharts and have gained greater wisdom and depth of spirit. It's been interesting to note the gender differences: the women have primarily come into their own power at this stage in life; they have become better integrated persons and have claimed the parts of themselves that earlier in their lives they may have surrendered to men.

For the two men in their 70s (men typically are less likely to visit astrologers, at any age) the process is different; having split off the more feminine aspects of themselves (the Moon and Venus) in their marriages and relationships, later in life they reclaim the goddess archetype within them. Either they forced through divorce and the loss of their female to do so, or they discover the goddess willingly and are able to celebrate the softer aspects of themselves. Witnessing the soul growth and personal evolution of these clients has been an inspiration in learning how they faced the challenges in their lives and transmuted these challenges into wisdom and tranquility.

Angeles Arrien maps the journey of the elder hero as the Eight Gates. Eight of course is the number of transformation; it's the number of Pluto and Scorpio, and there are eight gates of energy in Tai Chi, eight gates of zen practice, eight gates to Paradise in Islam. The eight gates that we encounter at midlife are:

• The Silver Gate - at which we surrender our egos and accept the aging of body and mind.
• The White Picket Gate - requires us to detach from the roles we have played in the past that have constructed our identity.
• The Clay Gate - constantly changing, the clay gate reminds us that we are living in a body that requires care as well as pleasure.
• The Black and White Gate calls on us to engage in relationships with others, overcoming self-imposed isolation.
  
• The Rustic Gate - here we explore meaningful work, service and creativity and reassess our life's callings.
  
• The Bone Gate - strips away any remnants of our false self and exposes the "bones of who we are."
  
• The Natural Gate - where we come home to our natural rhythm and internal sanctuary. (Taurus)
  
• The Gold Gate - where we waken to our deepest core, letting go and trusting our own higher self.

(I have added this great book to the booklist in the left panel). In this approach, aging becomes an adventure to the unknown instead of something to be dreaded and feared.

In seven years (at the age of 87) my mother will reach her Pluto Opposition, the time when transiting Pluto opposes Pluto in her birthchart (at 15 degrees Cancer). Hers is the first generation to experience that transit; for earlier generations this would have occurred only after age 100. (Geeky astrological detail: This can only happen because Pluto's orbit is so elliptical that it spends different lengths of time in different signs. Pluto was in Cancer for 25 years between 1914 and 1939, but in Scorpio for only 12 years (1983-1995)). Our elders now have the opportunity to experience a major transformation with this Pluto Opposition that has never before been seen, and this will be true for the next few generations as well.

Labels: aging

Posted by Lynn Hayes :: 6:57 AM :: |

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Monday, June 11, 2007

Autism and vaccine link goes to court

Again, I feel like a broken record: All Saturn/Neptune, all the time.

But just as we pass through the final phase of the opposition from Saturn to Neptune, the link between childhood vaccines and autism goes to court today.

Autism is the fastest growing childhood disease, with one in 150 children being diagnosed with some form of autism, and many suspect that a mercury-based preservative in childhood vaccines could be the culprit. (click chart to enlarge)


Although some reports claim that this additive was phased out in the US in 1999, further research reveals that although the CDC recommended a ban that year on thimerosal, the culprit additive, an outright ban was never issued. Iowa became the first state to ban thimerosal in 2004.

Skeptics say that cases are rising because of better diagnosis and services: parents and teachers as well as doctors are able to better diagnose autism than 20 years ago. That argument doesn't hold water. In California alone, an epidemiological study confirmed that the number of autism cases in that state rose 273% between 1987 and 1998. In a piece for Salon.com, Robert F. Kennedy wrote on the efforts by Big Pharma to cover up the dangers of thimerosal, the mercury-based additive:

In 1977, a Russian study found that adults exposed to much lower concentrations of ethylmercury than those given to American children still suffered brain damage years later. Russia banned thimerosal from children's vaccines 20 years ago, and Denmark, Austria, Japan, Great Britain and all the Scandinavian countries have since followed suit.

"You couldn't even construct a study that shows thimerosal is safe," says Haley, who heads the chemistry department at the University of Kentucky. "It's just too darn toxic. If you inject thimerosal into an animal, its brain will sicken. If you apply it to living tissue, the cells die. If you put it in a petri dish, the culture dies. Knowing these things, it would be shocking if one could inject it into an infant without causing damage."

Internal documents reveal that Eli Lilly, which first developed thimerosal, knew from the start that its product could cause damage -- and even death -- in both animals and humans. In 1930, the company tested thimerosal by administering it to 22 patients with terminal meningitis, all of whom died within weeks of being injected -- a fact Lilly didn't bother to report in its study declaring thimerosal safe. In 1935, researchers at another vaccine manufacturer, Pittman-Moore, warned Lilly that its claims about thimerosal's safety "did not check with ours." Half the dogs Pittman injected with thimerosal-based vaccines became sick, leading researchers there to declare the preservative "unsatisfactory as a serum intended for use on dogs."

In the decades that followed, the evidence against thimerosal continued to mount. During the Second World War, when the Department of Defense used the preservative in vaccines on soldiers, it required Lilly to label it "poison." In 1967, a study in Applied Microbiology found that thimerosal killed mice when added to injected vaccines. Four years later, Lilly's own studies discerned that thimerosal was "toxic to tissue cells" in concentrations as low as one part per million -- 100 times weaker than the concentration in a typical vaccine. Even so, the company continued to promote thimerosal as "nontoxic" and also incorporated it into topical disinfectants.

Neptune rules over the domain of vaccines as well as mysteries and the unknown, and in the opposition with Saturn we have seen the exposure of many mysteries, scandals and the exposure of things which have remained hidden. It is perfectly fitting that the issue of autism and its potential link to the medical establishment be exposed now. Let us hope that some useful information comes out of it.

Labels: health, Saturn/Neptune

Posted by Lynn Hayes :: 6:05 AM :: |

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Sunday, June 10, 2007

Reality jostles the stock market

Raymond Merriman is a well-known financial astrologer (not, by the way, the gentleman in this photo) who writes this week:

In the meantime, it is encouraging (and reassuring to those of us who study Financial Astrology) to see geocosmic signatures once again correlating with sharp reversals in equity markets. I realize it may be unsettling for those who own stocks, and I do not mean to imply that sharply falling stock prices is a “good thing.” . . . It seemed that almost every geocosmic reversal signature failed to stop this “blow off” in equities since that time, with the exception of February 26-March 5.

Merriman asks whether perhaps Pluto, p.o.ed at his demotion, caused the planets to start working. I instead have correlated this refusal of the markets to listen to planetary doomsayers with the relentless optimism of Pluto in Sagittarius which has now been joined by Jupiter in Sag. For months stocks have risen as the result of investors' optimism that was unsupported by facts, and last week they fell as the result of pessimism due to a potential rise in interest rates. Still, by Friday the markets had recovered

After Mercury turns retrograde next week and Uranus changes direction on the 23rd there will be five planets retrograde plus Chiron. This is a fairly heavy retrograde period (although not as intense as last summer's in which we had a whopping seven planets including Chiron in retrograde motion). I would expect some fallback in the markets during this period, particularly in light of the final faceoff between Saturn and Neptune in which our illusions (Neptune) are likely to be punctured by Saturn's reality check.

Summer is never the best time for the stock market and this might be a good time to sell off underperforming stocks and wait for the retrograde period to end. Economists predict a drop in consumer spending as the result of a challenging housing market and this ties in well with the astrological signatures. Saturn will enter Virgo in September where it will want to impose caution and modesty in all areas, and we could see a pullback then, particularly after Jupiter leaves its own sign of Sagittarius in December and Pluto edges into Capricorn.

Labels: Stock market

Posted by Lynn Hayes :: 6:31 PM :: |

---------------oOo--------------- Mars and the Saturn/Neptune Opposition

Thanks to Elsa for this graphic, please pay her a visit to thank her for the bandwidth!!

Mars is gearing up for a trine to Saturn and sextile to Neptune over the next couple of days. For those of us who are experiencing the opposition (between Saturn in Leo and Neptune in Aquarius) over sensitive points in our chart, the additional influence of Mars will help to energize our ability to balance the oppositional dynamics of Saturn and Neptune.

Where Saturn demands that we be practical and establish a firm footing in our life, Neptune urges us to surrender our material existence in favor of one that is more open and idealistic. When both of these planets are in a difficult aspect to planets in our own chart, the effect, as we have seen since last August, can be destabilizing.

Mars adds verve and vigor to the dynamic in the fiery trine to Saturn, giving us the energy and focus required to put our plans into action. Mars in sextile to Neptune fires up our creativity and imagination while it inspires us to achieve something in our spiritual life. Where we have been stuck on the dilemma that Saturn and Neptune offer, Mars gives us the courage and inspiration to create the balance in our life that is required.

The final phase of the Saturn/Neptune opposition will have its own challenges as Neptune seeks to undo the rigidity of our Saturn structures, and Saturn confronts the illusions of our unrealistic Neptunian ideals. Still, there is a lot of positive energy available right now if we take advantage of it!!

Labels: Mars, Saturn/Neptune

Posted by Lynn Hayes :: 6:06 PM :: |

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Saturday, June 09, 2007

Paris and Mercury Rx

A great new astrology blog called Apotelesmatics from Chris Brennan delves even more deeply into Paris's jail problems and connects the dots to the shadow of Mercury Retrograde.

This is a textbook case of Mercury retrograde. Paris was born with Mercury retrograde natally, in Aquarius actually, exactly conjunct her Sun. The whole incident that happened earlier this year which led to the jail sentence happened during a Mercury retrograde period, and she actually has Mercury retrograde exactly conjunct her solar return Mars this year at 8 Pisces. And now this.

Chris goes on to detail the "shadow period" of retrograde cycles which has some application - personally I feel that the degree to which our individual charts are affected by the shadow determine how strongly we will experience those periods of time.

As Chris notes, Mercury stationing in the shadow before turning retrograde was exactly square Saturn and Jupiter which are exceptionally tightly conjunct in her chart within one minute. Both planets are retrograde in her chart, in the eighth house of sex, death and general intensity, and certainly the jail experience is challenging her privileged life in a way that is bringing up her unconscious fears. All of the water houses (4, 8 and 12) deal with the unconscious, and in the eighth house we often find that which we fear.

When we experience planetary cycles during retrograde periods those cycles become extended as the planets travel back and forth over sensitive points in our chart. That is also true for Mercury, and because Mercury stimulates activity and generates learning experiences as well as short trips we will tend to find these sorts of experiences during Mercury periods. These back and forth trips to jail are certainly falling under this category!

Labels: Celebrities, Mercury Retrograde

Posted by Lynn Hayes :: 12:42 PM :: |

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Friday, June 08, 2007

Paris has a meltdown

Breaking News: Paris Hilton back to jail, screaming all the way.

These are the headlines in the world news tonight. The media circus over Paris Hilton's entry into jail, then out of jail, and now back into jail is the perfect closing to Pluto's passage through Sagittarius where the world of celebrity (Sagittarius) has blown out of any reasonable proportion. Today the news is all Paris all the time, including a minute-by-minute timeline of Paris's every move.

Paris Hilton is a smart young woman who is famous for nothing other than posing for photos. She has taken celebrity to a new extreme. From Wikipedia:

the 1970s, academics began analyzing the phenomenon of celebrity and stardom. According to Sofia Johansson the "canonical texts on stardom" include articles by Boorstin (1971), Alberoni (1972) and Dyer (1979) that examined the "representations of stars and on aspects of the Hollywood star system." Johansson notes that "more recent analyses within media and cultural studies (e.g. Gamson 1994; Marshall 1997; Giles 2000; Turner, Marshall and Bonner 2000; Rojek 2001; Turner 2004) have instead dealt with the idea of a pervasive, contemporary, ‘celebrity culture’." [notice that these dates correspond with the Pluto in Sagittarius cycle that began in 1995.] In the analysis of the 'celebrity culture,' "fame and its constituencies are conceived of as a broader social process, connected to widespread economic, political, technological and cultural developments."

In Bob Greene’s article “The new stardom that doesn't require paying any dues,” he argues that for “most of man's history...people of talent would work to create something--something written, something painted, something sculpted, something acted out--and it would be passed on to audiences.” With the rise of reality TV shows, Greene points out that audiences have been turned into the creators. He argues that the “alleged stars of the reality shows "Survivor" and "Big Brother,"have become famous not for doing, but merely for being.”

Greene says that “You simply have to be present, in the right place at the right time.” Whereas “...public[ly famous] people were once defined as such based upon the fact that their remarkable skills had brought them to the attention of the public,” Greene states that with reality TV, “one can become a public person just by being a person, in public.”

Poor Paris Hilton - she is really just the public face of the phenomenon of being famous simply for being photographed, one of the few who have understood this phenomenon well enough to profit from it.

Labels: Celebrities

Posted by Lynn Hayes :: 4:54 PM :: |

---------------oOo--------------- A celebration of Venus in Leo

I confess that I missed the entry of Venus into joyful and expressive Leo on Wednesday! Thankfully Neith reminds us:

For us Venus ruled types like Libra and Taurus, Venus moving into Leo is a noticeable event. We are now officially in our “enjoy life” mode and I know I’m already having a hard time staying focused on being diligent and staying on task. Let’s all cut ourselves some slack and take a moment here and there to appreciate the joys of Summer – fresh fruits, fresh flowers, the warmer weather (for the most part . . .) and the longer, lighter days.

read more...

I would add that Venus leaving watery Cancer is also a welcome respite for the fiery types who seek the kind of inspiration and vitality from relationships that Venus in Leo can offer. With Venus in Leo we are generous, outgoing, and prone to big gestures of affection and just generally wanting to have more fun.

Venus will leave Leo for more modest Virgo in mid-July, but it will retrograde shortly thereafter back into Leo, making this an ideal Summer of Love. It's influence will soften the Saturn/Neptune opposition cycle during the last week of June and the first week of July when it conjoins Saturn and balances the Neptunian end of the opposition. The Venus influence will add a touch of beauty and creativity as well as inspiration and romance which could be a great help as we resolve the conflict between matter (Saturn) and spirit (Neptune) that we have struggled with over the past year.

Venus will be passing through Leo until early October. Enjoy the party!

Labels: Venus

Posted by Lynn Hayes :: 6:09 AM :: |

---------------oOo--------------- Full Moons gain respect!

A police inspector in Sussex England recently discovered solid evidence for a link between criminal behavior and full moons: "I compared a graph of full moons and a graph of last year's violent crimes and there is a trend." Full moons and paydays were the two major links to an increase in aggressive behavior.

Something we who watch the moon have known for quite some time!

Labels: Full Moon

Posted by Lynn Hayes :: 5:50 AM :: |

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Thursday, June 07, 2007

More on MUL.APIN

One thing that struck me about yesterday's article is the name MUL.APIN, with the dot in the center of the world which is similar to the translations by Zecharia Sitchin of the Sumerian texts which tell the stories that we find in our bible, and seem to indicate that the earth was populated by "gods" from other planets":

"The 'Eridu Genesis'...described the creation of man by the four great gods [the Anunnaki]: An ['Sky', the source of rain and most powerful of the gods], Enlil ['Lord Wind', the power in 'Growing Weather', creator of the hoe], Ninhursaga ['Lady of the Stony Ground', mother of wildlife], and Enki [rival of Ninhursaga]. After Nintur [Ninhursaga] had decided to turn man from his primitive nomadic camping grounds toward city life the period began when animals flourished on earth and kingship came down from heaven. The earliest cities were built, were named, had the measuring cups, emblems of a redistributional economic system, allotted to them, and were divided between the gods. Irrigation agriculture was developed and man thrived and multiplied. However, the noise made by man in his teeming settlements began to vex Enlil sorely, and, driven beyond endurance, he persuaded the other gods to wipe out man in an great flood. Enki, thinking quickly, found a way to warn his favorite, one Ziusudra. He told him to build a boat in which to survive the flood with his family and representatives of the animals."

- Thorkild Jacobsen, The Treasures of Darkness

The translation of the MUL.APIN text can be found here. And sure enough, the text describes the "33 stars on the path of Enlil," the wind god in the Sumerian texts - nearly 200 astronomical observations. Babylonia, Sumeria, Assyria - all, as Catherine points out in the comments, existed in what is now Iraq.

I have long been fascinated by the history of this area and the ancient Sumerian texts because of their implications on Judeo-Christian mythology. Most of what we find in the Bible was borrowed from other sources, robbing the Bible of its claim to have been written by God. Abraham, the patriarch of the three major religions of the Piscean age, was born in Ur which was in the Sumerian region when it was controlled by the Akkadians. The Assyrians, who were thought to have written the MUL.APIN texts according to the article in Nature, did not take over the region until the eighth century b.c.e. which corresponds with the dating by some astronomres of the MUL.APIN tablet to 687 BC. Evidently the Assyrians absorbed the Sumerian pantheon into their own and retained Enlil and Enki as major gods, but it seems likelythat the information from the MUL.APIN tablets actually originated much earlier to the actual Sumerian culture itself.

Labels: religion

Posted by Lynn Hayes :: 6:39 AM :: |

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Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Fathers of the Zodiac

From Nature.com:
(thanks to redicecreations.com for the link!)

Using modern techniques — and some rocks — a US astronomer has traced the origin of a set of ancient clay tablets to a precise date and place. The tablets show constellations thought to be precursors of the present-day zodiac.

The tablets, known collectively as MUL.APIN, contain nearly 200 astronomical observations, including measurements related to several constellations. They are written in cuneiform, a Middle-Eastern script that is one of the oldest known forms of writing, and were made in Babylon around 687 BC.

But most archaeologists believe that the tablets are transcriptions of much earlier observations made by Assyrian astronomers. Just how much older has been disputed — the estimates go back to 2,300 BC.

Now Brad Schaefer, an astronomer at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, says he has dated the observations to 1,370 BC, give or take a century.

The tablets contain a number of different observations, including the day each year that certain constellations first appeared in the dawn sky. These dates change over the millennia because of a tiny wobble in the Earth's axis.

"It's like a big hour hand in the sky," Schaefer says.

read more...

Although the ancient Babylonians appear to have originated the practice of astrology using fixed stars and the luminaries, it was the Assyrians who seem to have discovered the signs of the zodiac that we use today.

Labels: religion

Posted by Lynn Hayes :: 6:44 PM :: |

---------------oOo--------------- Putin and Bush on the eve of the G-8

Vladimir Putin is kind of a creepy character to me, a quality not usually associated with his Libra Sun since Libras are famously charming and people pleasers. But a look at his birthchart tells a more complete story.

Putin's four Libra planets (Sun, Saturn, Neptune and Mercury) are all in the twelfth house of karma or self-undoing. Planets in the twelfth house tend to operate unconsciously and often secretively. Twelfth house people tend to be hidden not only from others but from themselves as well; much of their motivation and will tends to operate below the surface where it is difficult for them to access. The Libra stellium, particularly the conjunction of Saturn and Neptune, is squared by Uranus, planet of revolutionary fervor and individuality.

The conjunction of Saturn and Neptune in the birthchart creates an inner conflict between the desire to experience spiritual bliss (Neptune) and a desire for worldly achievement and structure. When the conjunction of these two planets is squared by the radical influence of Uranus there is a tendency to swing wildly between the repression of Saturn and the desire for freedom of Uranus. Putin appears to have chosen the side of repression and rigidity, but within him beats the heart of a revolutionary that refuses to take orders from anyone else.

The chart shows Scorpio rising (although the birthtime is somewhat suspect since Russians did not keep accurate records) which can give the outward impression of an intense personality even though the individual himself may not have that impression of himself. Though secretive, the rest of Putin's chart is somewhat light with Mars in Sagittarius and so much Libra. The creepiness of his intensity could be a part of the ascendant disguise that he has learned to utilize for his benefit.

The source of Putin's power lies in the placement of Pluto right on his Midheaven. The Midheaven is the cusp of the tenth house of career and public life; it shows the point of our highest aspirations as well as our worldly goals. Pluto as the planet of power and death finds the highest level of public expression when placed on the Midheaven and mirrors the power that Putin has sought for himself and his country. Pluto in his chart makes a trine to Mars where it takes on additional energy, but it is square to Jupiter which suggests that no matter how much power he achieves it is never enough.

Putin and Bush are strange bedfellows. GW Bush has said "I looked into his eyes and saw the man's soul." In fact, the Suns in the birthcharts of Putin and Bush are tightly square to each other and although Sun signs are not very significant in assessing compatibility it does illustrate that at the core they are at working at cross-purposes. Putin's Libra stellium (grouping of planets) conjuncts Bush's Libra Moon/Jupiter conjunction which shows that at a basic level Bush feels comfortable emotionally around Putin. With Putin's Mercury sextile to Bush's Venus they can be good collaborators and communicate well with each other. But there are larger dynamics at work here that are somewhat more sinister.

Bush's Venus falls exactly on Putin's Midheaven (MC) which shows that the relationship (Venus) with Bush is instrumental in Putin's achievements, although Pluto and Jupiter in Putin's chart are both square to Venus in Bush's chart. Pluto in Bush's chart is conjunct Putin's Venus, but it is clear that Putin holds the real power in this relationship because of the innate power of Putin's Pluto being elevated on the Midheaven. The square of Jupiter to Pluto shows that Putin is apt to use the superficial friendship (Jupiter square Bush's Venus) in order to achieve his goals (Pluto/MC).

Putin is going through some major planetary changes right now, with the opposition between Saturn and Neptune (since last summer) transiting over the square of Jupiter to Pluto/MC in his chart. Saturn is challenging his authority and Neptune (crossing the IC opposite the Midheaven which addresses our inner life) is causing confusion at a deep internal level. While he is feeling somewhat blocked and confused by Saturn and Neptune, though, transiting Pluto is completing a transit to Mars in his chart where it is energizing him and adding to his innate sense of empowerment. Expansive Jupiter is making a sextile to Putin's Sun which would normally be a minor transit but in light of the other dynamics is significant because of the expansive confidence Jupiter is bringing to him throughout October. Often when we see this kind of confidence combined with a frustrating Saturn transit the result can be an explosion of ego.

President Bush has said that he doesn't "do nuance," and the subtleties of relationships are lost on him. His friendship with Vladimir Putin is a challenging one that is filled with nuance, and especially at this time he would do well to keep his eyes open.

Labels: GWBush, International politics, Political figures

Posted by Lynn Hayes :: 6:19 AM :: |

---------------oOo--------------- More on Saturn from JM

JM at Raging Universe is a poet and artist as well as an astrologer. She was kind enough to post the links to recent articles on Saturn from Raging Universe:

Saturn and Success

In most cases, Saturn sets up a sort of barricade. My view is that this wall is constructed for the purpose of confinement in order to encourage contemplation. We learn to calculate our actions and we learn how to do the job in the best way through this slow steady learning process. Transits of Saturn tend to slow things down for this purpose too. We try everything to get past the wall...we thrust the battering ram, try to sidestep, climb up, ignore, try to dematerialize and pass through, stay trapped behind, or try explosives. Nothing works until the time arrives for the wall to come down. Despair can occur believing one can never get beyond it, but if the work continues through the life, it will happen.

And the Walls Come Down

Saturn often erects a wall while the work is going on, and once construction is complete, and the system can function successfully, the wall comes down. The effective governing begins. Every individual is at a slightly different stage of evolution, and for some, now is the time to recognize the needs, and start to prepare to take the lead in whatever realm is indicated. Leo and the Sun are at the center of a system in some way, somewhere. Everyone has a Leo sector in the chart, where Saturn has been training us. When he goes into Virgo, it will be time to get to work.

And I particularly like what she said in this recent article:

The subjects of alchemy and mining have come up often at RagU lately and I think they describe an aspect of this planetary combination. This little hard-working sprite [depicted in the illustration that accompanies the post] is deep in Saturn's concrete reality mining magic and forging the ego through Leo's fires. A strong sense of self and identity are basic to the Neptunian ideal as manifest on the upper earth. Many know the difficulties of the spiritual path in this dense, often distracting life, but after this gels in our psyches, the road might get slightly easier for some.

Many spiritual disciplines teach the abandonment of ego, but this is impossible. Use of the ego is the aim. This is one of the main lessons of these times, from my perspective. The alchemy of ego transformation for it's ideal use in the rock solid earthly realm. A great achievement. The possibility of real grace.

Posted by Lynn Hayes :: 6:00 AM :: |

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Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Saturn: Both Beast and Prince

Saturn is well known as the Celestial Taskmaster, and very few of us relish the idea of being called into the principal's office. However, there is another side of Saturn that is truly wonderful if we get to know him for who he truly is. Liz Greene says, "[Saturn's] face as the Beast is well-recognized but [his] alternate face as the Handsome Prince is not often considered; however, without both of these, the symbol cannot communicate its meaning."

As Saturn and Neptune approach the third phase of their opposition cycle, it may be useful to delve a little more deeply into both gods as we strive to balance the two forces. Saturn is the architect and builder of the structures which give form to our lives. Saturn gives us rules and boundaries to keep society functioning smoothly, and confers on us the discipline and ability to work hard and seek achievement. Saturn's influence also builds strength of character that helps us withstand the storms of life, a characteristic not often recognized.

It is this quality of building inner strength that I value most about Saturn, but in order to obtain this gift we must follow his rules. When we have Saturn prominent in our charts or affecting us by transit, Saturn demands certain things of us. He wants us to spend time alone in introspection. He wants us to evaluate what we have done with our lives and what we have accomplished thus far. He demands that we seek nothing less than perfection and is ready with criticism when we fall short of our goals so that we will work to correct our errors. He restricts us from enjoyable pursuits unless we have achieved those goals, and creates blocks and disappointments until we do.

The gift that follows includes material success and achievement, but more than that there is a gift of strength and power that comes purely from within one's own self and is not dependent upon the opinions or aid of others. Saturn bestows an attunement to the material world that cannot be obtained through any other influence, and with it an ability to persevere through the most difficult of circumstances.

Saturn's purpose is to challenge the aggrandisement of the ego - following the expansion of Jupiter, Saturn imposes restrictions and constricts our impulse to want to fly with the gods. Saturn brings us back to earth, where we must deal with the mundane, day-to-day worldly existence. It enforces solitude and forces us into contemplation in order to increase the depth of our wisdom and insight. In order to accomplish this, it often thwarts our own desires, frustrating us with its limitations, rules and boundaries and forcing us into a more introspective existence. That is particularly true now, as Saturn travels through the sign of Leo which rules the Ego and its creative expression. Saturn's role is to force us to confront anything in the realm of ego that lacks truth. He shines a light in the darkness, instigating experiences that may not be comfortable but which are always pathways for growth and transformation.

Labels: Saturn

Posted by Lynn Hayes :: 6:43 AM :: |

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Monday, June 04, 2007

Angelina has a Birthday

Read all about it on the National Ledger site.

Labels: Celebrities

Posted by Lynn Hayes :: 9:41 AM :: |

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Sunday, June 03, 2007

Phil Brown on Saturn/Neptune

I LOVE this post from Phil today:

I see him everywhere. He’s in the supermarket tabloids…the soldier’s camouflage…the politician’s dissembling…the celebrity’s alcoholic binge…and in the movies.

Neptune is so much with us.

We seem at times to be living in a world adrift at sea, pulled by seahorses with no direction home. The Saturn-Neptune opposition, which makes its last exact stare-down in about three weeks, has brought this home. . . .

Shifts in collective consciousness do not always shake the world like massive earthquakes. Sometimes, the change is more like developing a picture in a darkroom or putting on a new pair of glasses. This is especially true when we are looking at any configuration involving Neptune, a planet that does not like to be pinned down.

The 180 degree opposition angle, as Bil Tierney has so wonderfully pointed out in his book, Dynamics of Aspect Analysis, often brings projection. We tend to favor one side of an opposition. We “own” it and it is easy for us to express that planet’s energy. The opposite planet, the one that makes us uncomfortable or that we don’t accept so easily, is projected onto others. We meet that other planet through others and events in the world. Things happen to us that are of the nature of the planet we don’t internalize. Tierney writes,

…the under-valued planet’s expression is projected onto another individual who then must play out that planet’s role….The more we tend to block or deny the activity of that undervalued planet within our own consciousness, the more we attract it (often through its negative expression) in somebody else who tends to apply it in a manner that literally opposes the other more valued planet we do personally relate to.

I think this can also be applied to a lot of what is happening in the world around us. Have we collectively embraced and “owned” Neptune...or Saturn? Which one is it? And which one have we collectively projected onto events and others?

Saturn is conjunct Neptune in my own chart, and straddles my Sun. I am all too familiar with the oppositional dynamic (though conjunct, the two are always battling it out in my psyche) between Saturn's need for form and structure and Neptune's siren call to the spiritual. The Saturn/Neptune opposition will set off the Venus/Jupiter opposition in my chart as well as my Leonine Pluto as it will for so many of us. I mention this only to illustrate the strong personal affect this transit is having within me as well as so many others.

I have been advising a more disciplined spiritual practice for my clients who are having problems during this time, but I confess I have been lagging behind in my own practice. For me this blog has become a substitute in some ways for my daily meditation and journaling, and in many ways it has not been a satisfying one. There really is no substitute for a commitment to step within the truth of our inner reality each day and draw nourishment from the infinite source of truth that lies within us.

Posted by Lynn Hayes :: 8:27 PM :: |

---------------oOo--------------- Thought for the day

"If we could read the secret history of our enemies we should find in each man's life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility."


--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

"Deer Woman" by Kimberly Will

Labels: Inspiration

Posted by Lynn Hayes :: 10:53 AM :: |

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Saturday, June 02, 2007

George Bush Turns on a Dime

What has gotten into our prezident? After six years of denying the global warming problem and passing bill after bill to decimate environmental protections, all of a sudden George W Bush has decided to create a new global framework for reducing carbon emissions. (Updated 6/4: Watch this hilarious video lampooning Bush on global warming.)

Back in March of 2001 Bush, who had promised during his campaign for president to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, reneged on that pledge and rejected proposed limits on emissions, justifying his turnaround on rising energy prices (this I believe was during the period of rolling blackouts in California which were later tied to the Enron debacle).

cartoon by Steve Greenberg

But that's not all: Jill cites two different articles citing recent bizarre behavior from our already unpredictable president including this item from the Dallas News: "Friends of his from Texas were shocked recently to find him nearly wild-eyed, thumping himself on the chest three times while he repeated “I am the president!” He also made it clear he was setting Iraq up so his successor could not get out of “our country’s destiny.” "

You can read earlier articles on the astrology of George Bush here and here. But one interesting thing I noticed about Bush's chart is transiting Uranus (sudden change and reckless behavior) making a square to his progressed Midheaven (public life). Transiting Uranus will square his natal Uranus next year and it is now close enough to begin rattling the cages in his inner world. But Uranus aspecting either the natal or progressed Midheaven is very visible in our public lives.

Uranus first hit his progressed Midheaven (MC) in the third week of May but its influence would have been felt as early as April. As if that weren't bad enough, Uranus is making a station (coming to a standstill as it prepares to turn retrograde) right on the degree of the progressed MC until late August.

Uranus wants something new to take place, it is rarely satisfied with the status quo. Perhaps this will help to unwind some of Bush's famous stubborn determination and help him to see a different perspective. We can only hope.

Labels: GWBush

Posted by Lynn Hayes :: 4:50 PM :: |

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Friday, June 01, 2007

June Skywatch is posted!

June begins on the heels of a powerful Full Moon with a strong Jupiter influence that is helping to counteract the potential for bitterness of the opposition between Saturn's need for a structured reality versus Neptune's need for mystery and flexibility. The Saturn/Neptune opposition has been one of the strongest planetary influences since last summer, destabilizing, rebalancing and integrating the line between our dreams and illusions (Neptune) and the pressure to live a practical life with rules and boundaries (Saturn).

Three major planets plus Chiron are now in retrograde motion, and as they appear to move backwards from our perspective, our attention is drawn back to the past as we find issues that we thought were resolved erupt once again so that we can find a resolution that more perfectly fits us. The retrograde planets are Saturn, Pluto, Jupiter and Neptune. Neptune will still be retrograde as it faces off with Saturn for one final time later in June, suggesting that there will be no clear resolution at that time as often occurs once the planetary cycle has completed. With Neptune transits, particularly the more difficult ones, the facts are often obscured and we must travel a more instinctive path. Objectivity is difficult when Neptune is retrograde; instead we must rely on our intuition and our sense of a deeper reality.

For the first few days in June, Mars, Jupiter and Chiron are in harmonious aspect to each other as Jupiter makes a sextile to Chiron on the 3rd followed by the introduction of Mars which also sextiles Chiron and forms a trine to Jupiter. This is an energetic combination with a fire trine (Mars/Jupiter) and fire/air sextiles that offer a tremendous amount of intellectual power and raw physical vitality. This is a great time for sports, for dance, for any activity that requires physical energy and fun. These aspects culminate on the 3rd and 4th of June but their effect will be felt for a few days afterwards.

read more...

Posted by Lynn Hayes :: 9:30 PM :: |

---------------oOo--------------- Link Fiesta!

After getting my laptop back with a shiny new hard drive and reloading software until 2 am, Skywatch for June is late and I am behind on everything. Please visit some of my friends today for your astrological fix:

Susan regales us with tales of her (second) Saturn Return and prepares for Pluto in Capricorn.

Phil rocks out at a Plutonian transformative concert.

Kathryn hunts for Madeleine McCann and muses on missing people in general.

Melody investigates her daughter of the Uranus/Neptune generation.

Neith looks at Ceres through the houses.

And in Saturn/Neptune politics, Jill exposes the billion dollar embassy in Iraq.

See you tomorrow!

Posted by Lynn Hayes :: 3:18 PM :: |

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