Friday, July 04, 2008

The Solar Return chart is cast for the moment that the transiting Sun returns to its place in the birthchart. The return chart gives us a hint as to the energies of the upcoming year, although no prediction of the future is set in stone.

The chart for the 2008 US Solar Return shows Sagittarius rising, with Pluto rising in the first house of identity and personality. Sagittarius is rising in the version that I prefer of the US natal chart as well and signifies the expansive colonialism of the US and the desire to spread its philosophy around the world. Pluto is retrograde, signifying the waning of power, although in the first house it is still attempting to flex the muscles of that power and show the world that the power is still present.

Uranus, planet of innovation, change and rebellion and also retrograde, is in the third house of communication and it forms a square to the ascendant, or persona. To me this seuggests that the speech and efforts of the US to communicate its goals and ideals will be out of sync (Uranus) with the rest of the world (perception of persona) and although there is an effort to make changes and create new ways of diplomacy they are likely not to be successful.

Still, alliances are highlighted in this chart, with the Sun in Cancer (tribal affiliations and family) in the seventh house, but an opposition from Jupiter suggests that the allies of the US will not be as dependable as hoped. Jupiter is retrograde in the first house of identity, and while Jupiter's presence generally suggests good fortune the retrograde component often indicates an inability to recognize the bounty being given.

This opposition forms a T-square to the Libra midheaven, signifying the government and people in power, which suggests that the alliances of the US, or perhaps within the US, will create serious challenges for the governmental structure. With Pluto's re-entry into Capricorn in December, we could see some significant changes in the US government.

Mercury, the Trickster and communicator, is conjunct the descendant (the cusp of the seventh house) and opposite Pluto on the ascendant, carrying the partnership theme a little farther and adding additional concern that those that are thought the allies of the US may in fact have other agendas.

The Moon (the emotions of the people) is in Leo, where it longs to be adored and celebrated, but it falls in the eighth house of death, taxes, and other people's money. The Moon makes no aspects to any other planets, indicating a sense that Americans feel isolated in the world. The Leo Moon in the eighth house traditionally portends the death of a well-loved leader.

A conjunction of Saturn and Mars also falls in the eighth house, suggesting to me the continued fall of the stock market (eighth house) and blocks and restrictions (Saturn) in efforts to pull money out of the resources of other countries (eighth house) such as in Iraq and Africa.

The USA solar return chart for 2008 includes the conjunction of Chiron to the North Node that I've been writing about here, and long-buried painful issues from the nation's past (Chiron) will make themselves known in order to help facilitate the evolutionary journey (North Node) of the US. The conjunction falls in the second house of money and resources, an area of great compulsion for this country (Pluto is in the second house in the natal chart). I suspect that the healing process will have something to do with the way resources (second/eighth house) are distributed in this country and the legacy of slavery and welfare programs that are all a part of the resource distribution patterns. The Chironic process is rarely comfortable, but it's an important process that in the end proves to be very worthwhile.

Mars is trine Pluto in the US chart, which does show power (Pluto) in military endeavors (Mars) and the ability to overcome (Pluto) terrorist forces (Mars). But the conjunction of Saturn there to Mars will limit that success somewhat.

We also see a trine of Venus to Uranus, demonstrating the likelihood that friends (Venus) will come from unlikely places (Uranus), and a trine of Mercury to Chiron which bodes well for negotiations in the entertainment and telecommunications industries.

If I were astrologer to the President today, I would recommend that he watch his back as the perceived friends of the US may not be the most dependable, and to keep his eyes open to new alliances that could turn out to be the best after all.

Happy Fourth everyone!

Posted by Lynn Hayes :: 6:34 AM :: |

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Wednesday, July 02, 2008

Skywatch is posted! And New Moon today

Only a day late. :) Here's what's going on in early July:

As July begins, Pluto, in retrograde motion, has just re-entered Sagittarius on its final journey through Sagittarius. We’re seeing its influence on the airline industry (travel is associated with Sagittarius), along with a resurgence of fears (Pluto) over differing religious beliefs (Sagittarius also rules religion and shared ideals and theologies). With Pluto in Sag throughout the rest of the year we are sure to see religion raise its head even more in this year’s US presidential election. Pluto in Sag has also had a great deal to do with xenophobia – the fear (Pluto) of other cultures (Sagittarius).

We are in a heavy retrograde period now, with four traditional planets plus Chiron all appearing to travel retrograde now. Retrograde periods force us to re-examine all that we do; we are constantly re-negotiating and re-vising our plans. Forget about two steps forward and one step back; we’re retracing our steps now so that we can perfect all that we do with clarity and intention.

Uranus has just turned retrograde and we saw the tendency of Uranus to create shocking reversals mirrored in the news in the fall of the stock markets on the last few days of June, and the new Supreme Court decision that legitimizes gun ownership by individuals. Mercury will be moving into position to square Uranus over the next few days, and information and communication (Mercury) will be subject to misunderstandings and disruption as Uranus seeks to break us out of our routines and create new neural pathways for information to travel through.

Chiron is exactly conjunct the North Node, as it will be for the next few months. The North Node of the Moon is a signpost rather than a planet; it marks the path of the moon along the path that we see the Sun travel each year. The North Node marks the portal of our evolutionary direction into the future; the South Node gives us an exit into the past. Chiron’s presence conjunct the North Node signifies the healing energy (Chiron) that is available now to bring us into our future (North Node) and release the bonds of the past (South Node). The Chironic healing process is not always easy; it requires that we enter fully into our emotions and mind – what Eckart Tolle calls “presence.” Once we are fully connected to ourselves internally, feeling completely whatever wound we have tried to avoid, we are able to release the past and move forward once and for all.

On July 1 Mars leaves the showier sign of Leo for the more subdued Virgo. Mars is our aggressive urge – our anger, our rage, our desire. In Virgo, all of these take the back seat to what is appropriate and orderly, both items of concern to Virgo.

The New Moon takes place on the evening of July 2, with not only the Sun and Moon in Cancer, but Venus as well. The triple shot of Cancer means the focus will be on the home and our loved ones – not just our family of origin, but the tribe we have chosen to affiliate with as well. New Moons are times of new beginnings, and this new beginning includes an opposition of Venus in Cancer to Jupiter in Capricorn. This is a marvelous time to invite friends (Venus) into our homes (Cancer) for social events (Jupiter) that share a common goal or purpose (Capricorn). Responsibility is also highlighted as Mars (drive, energy) approaches a conjunction to Saturn (discipline, hard work and goals).

Mercury forms an exact trine to the Chiron/North Node combination which brings our mental function and communication abilities to the table so that we can better communicate and express (Mercury) the healing process that we are going through either willingly or not. Mercury is in its own sign of Gemini where it is nimble and quick and can manifest in its Trickster aspect more easily than not. The Trickster knows how to manipulate matter in order to manifest ideas, and this is a fertile time for that sort of activity.

The square of Mercury to Uranus mentioned above perfects on July 5, and in tandem with the Chiron influence may create difficulty in our dealings with others and the processing of our own experience. This is not a good time to plan a court trial or a job interview! However, the influence of a trine to Neptune from Mercury is already felt, and when these two planets move into alignment on July 6 there is more harmony and more understanding (Mercury) on a purely intuitive (Neptune) level. Relationships with others become easier as well under a trine from Venus (relating to others) to Uranus (in fresh new ways).

Entire article here. If you'd like to sign up for a subscription to Skywatch which includes an abridged translation in regular English, visit my website!

Posted by Lynn Hayes :: 8:29 AM :: |

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Tuesday, July 01, 2008

An untimely death

photo from modelimago.com

Ruslana Korshunova was a beautiful young woman who seemed to have everything going for her until she plunged to her death. Although friends said she appeared to be "on top of the world," her web postings tell a different story, saying she felt lost and as if her heart was being "stomped all over." Her death came two days before her twenty-first birthday. (Astrological chart here.)

One of the mysteries of astrological profiles is why two people with the same psychological dynamics will take very different roads. Perhaps it's the environment they find themselves in; perhaps they make different choices. In any event, although we can see the seeds of difficulty in Rusiana's chart it presented challenges that were no more difficult than those faced by many of us.

Ruslana was born with the Sun in Cancer - exceptionally sensitive and emotional, family would have been very important to her. Cancer is the sign that rules our family connections and geneaological roots, and there is often a strong affiliation to the tribal identity. Mercury was in Cancer in her chart, as was Mars, so the Cancerian influence was very strong. Ruslana was sending money home to her family in Kazakhstan. She was drafted into the fashion industry after a modeling agency spotted her photo in a magazine on the Kazakh club scene at the age of 15. It's hard to imagine that she did not miss her family, no matter how glamourous her life became.

We don't know Ruslana's time of birth so we can't pinpoint her rising sign which would tell us more about the way she lived her life, but we know that she had the Moon in Virgo, which is not comfortable with any big show of ego or pride, and requires a fair amount of security in one's life. Combined with the sensitive Cancerian nature, hers is not a personality that would have been particularly comfortable with a great deal of attention. Her Cancer Sun was in a stressful aspect (opposition) to Neptune (illusion and deception), suggesting a difficulty for her to establish any kind of identity (Sun) for herself. Neptune/Sun people are often very malleable in their younger years and often are called on to sacrifice themselves for the sake of family or career. Neptune/Sun also can confer an ability to slip in and out of roles easily because of the lack of a clearly defined Self.

We can see in Ruslana's chart a desire for more freedom in her Aries Jupiter (expansion and confidence in the sign of the warrior) making a square to her Cancer Mars (anger and desire). Jupiter in her chart also made a trine to Uranus (rebellion and radical change) which reveals even more of an independent streak that had been fed over the past few years by a harmonious transit of Pluto (transformation) which created huge changes in her life.

Still, the Virgo Moon tends toward depression, and Ruslana also had Saturn retrograde in her chart in a challenging aspect to her Moon. Saturn is the voice within us that tells us we're not good enough so that we will work harder and become successful, and when retrograde (meaning it appeared to move backwards from our perspective on earth at the time she was born) that negative voice is internalized and becomes very self-critical. Ruslana would have always felt that she was not good enough and needed to work harder and do more - yet the combination of Mars, Jupiter and Uranus in her chart would have created pressure on her to flee and become her own person. Despite the glamorous travel and money of the modeling world, there is little freedom and this would have been very difficult for Ruslana.

In addiiton, Rusiana's Venus (her relationships with others and her own self-esteem) was tightly conjunct Chiron (wounding and healing), signifying painful relationships with those she loves. This planetary combination was also opposed by Uranus, the planet of radical behavior that sometimes in the difficult aspects like this can reveal trauma, in this case coming through relationships (Venus). Her relationships would therefore likely be complicated and perhaps even abusive on some level.

We don't know the exact degree of Ruslana's Moon without a birth time, but it's very likely that she was born in the morning and transiting Saturn had been passing over her Moon over the past few months, creating a sense of heaviness and depression. Saturn was preparing to make a square to Saturn in her birth chart which is accompanied at the age of 21 with a square of transiting Uranus to Uranus in the natal chart, a time that accelerates our pursuit of individuality and freedom. In addition, in two months Ruslana's Sun would have progressed into Leo where she would have had more energy within her to begin to express herself and her own needs.

The real tragedy is that the drama of Ruslana Korshunova was hidden so deeply that no one around her could witness it and give her the support she needed to hang on until the crisis moment had passed.

Posted by Lynn Hayes :: 5:08 AM :: |

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