the weather inside me

Venus meets her frenemy.

One thing your inner neurotic's got right these days is that some of your so-called "friends" are not friends at all. Problem is, our standards for friendships these days are reeeeeeeall sketchy. Planned obsolescence comes to mind, actually. It works for cars, but that kind of disposability was never intended for human relationships.

I'm not against social networking. This is not a rant against social networking, because it's kind of a requirement these days. But really --no one wants even a Facebook friend who's there 'cause they want you to buy their tea tree oil soap.

But today is a good day for noting how and why we connect with others.

Today Venus meets her frenemy, Nessus. Nessus is actually everyone's frenemy. Don't know Nessus? He's a player in astrology these days.

Nessus is a centaur who's basic story goes like this: he had the hots for a taken woman and gave her ride; but he made a pass at her (which, depending on the story did or did not go well) and then gave her a jacket as some swag for her guy, saying he was sorry and this jacket here will make him look better than ever. Turns out, the jacket was poisoned. Nice. Girl looses her guy from the poisoned jacket.

Nessus stands in for the people, circumstances and ideas who appear to help us, but don't. There's always some boundary crosses, some promise broken. And then they hand us poison and say they're sorry. Nessus' brand of backstabbing is subtle and often confusing. It's a sick head game because whatever happens, we feel as if somehow we're the ones at fault. Maybe I shouldn't have taken that ride, says the rape victim. Maybe I shouldn't have trusted that old high school buddy and studied that investment plan harder...

Venus meets with Nessus today, at 17+ degrees Aquarius, and it's like an assignation after school at the local Quick Trip. Seventeen degrees Aquarius is a place with recent history: this is at the EXACT degree of the 2008 February 7th annular solar eclipse in Aquarius. On the 2008 February 7th eclipse, Mercury sat on the eclipse degree. Pluto has just begun it's 15 year journey through Capricorn (exactly square the Aries Point). Put it together and you've got the first steps that will break up the old gang --allowing new friends (or a new milieu) in for the long haul. Something's started, you just don't know what.

This time (2010) we meet seventeen degrees Aquarius with Venus who's working a lot smarter and brought two friends along. Sure, Nessus her frienemy is there, but Venus was passing notes with Pallas today. Pallas is a smart girl, too, and she's got the dirt on Nessus. She know's his pattern. Haumea is Venus's friend today, too. She says, "Start over, girl. Shakes this one loose, coz who needs all that false guilt hanging on you?"

Think about it. How many times have we allowed a friend to take advantage of us and left us feeling WE did something wrong? Today's a good day to get clear about what really happened, or at least begin distancing your emotions from the entanglement. 

The Virgo Moon can give us some discrimination today. If you've got a bad vibe about a group or an association or friend --listen to it. Even if it's old history. Do you want to play into worn out patterns that haven't served you, or left you feeling used? On the other hand, maybe you played the Nessus. Maybe you need to think about what motivates your un-friendly sabotaging. Handed anyone poison recently because you couldn't handle your own dark self?

Because we've all got a little Nessus in us --the monster within who'd take an advantage and then freak out when we realize maybe we went too far with it. And then try to cover our tracks.

Frienemies make great sit-com plot characters, but there's nothing funny about them in real life. Today and this week, think about the behavior patterns of your friendship needs. Maybe you play victim AND perpetrator in your friendships. Even within your own self: how do you sabotage your own ideas and ideals? Are you overly accepting and undiscerning? Or are you too rigid and unable to receive what others offer you?

This week you might finally see what you couldn't admit before. Just don't forget Jupiter in Pisces --there's something very very good here if you want it. Do you want it?

smart astro commentary on the citizens united v. the federal election commission

Capricorn rules corporations. Please don't forget that. The first international corporation (or joint-stock company) was in fact The East India Trading Company, first incorporated during the reign of Queen Elizabeth on December 31st, 1600  --a Capricorn by birth. The EITC was the very model of a modern major corporation: with the help of its home government (England) it eventually created it's own army, invaded a country (India) and then ruled it for over 20 years. Of course, England's and EITC's interests in India predate the Battle of Plassey by about 200 years, but the event guaranteed "company rule" of an entire continent for whole generation. It's effects, for good and for ill, were long lasting.

Now, just after a significant eclipse in the sign of Capricorn, we have a seismic political shift that undercuts 100 years of judicial precedent and suddenly favors corporations over individuals. But then history shows us that governments and corporations go together like peanut butter and jelly, like Oreo and ice cream, like marmalade and toast. Just not as yummy.

From today's weekly subscription newsletter at Planet Waves, the editorial (bolded text, mine):

Personally, I cannot think of a more significant issue for the Supreme Court to rule on, in our era of unmitigated corporate power. Here, we have one of the first landmarks in the Pluto in Capricorn era, a time when we know that the structure of society will change in many ways.

The court held yesterday that corporations have the free speech rights of people. Yet if anything, corporations are superhumans, subject to no responsibilities of citizenship that would balance freedom on the scale that they typically exercise it.

They do not have a natural lifespan, and can in effect live forever. They cannot be incarcerated, and holding them civilly liable for crimes or abuses of their rights verges on impossible (case in point, Bhopal). Any punishment is meaningless, as most in the position to commit atrocities have so much money that even a heavy a fine comes out of the petty cash fund. They can be as big as the state of Israel (or bigger), have an army and exist on five continents at a time. They have no lawful interest except for profit. They can employ a thousand attorneys. Their shareholders can come from many different countries. Their own power and structure shields the individuals involved from most forms of prosecution; it is rare that corporate officers are held accountable for the crimes committed by their companies.

This is an easy distinction, to see the difference between human rights and corporate rights. While many think there is a precedent for this, the original decision supposedly giving corporations the rights of people was so flawed that the issue is right in Wikipedia where school kids can read about it on their iPhones. That famous case, Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad, never took up the constitutional issue. Many in the legal community are fully aware of this issue, to the extent that there is a law center devoted to dealing with it.

Most people do not understand that ‘corporatism' is the true definition of fascism; that is, the merging corporate interests and entities with the state itself. This is the thing to beware of. What we have just witnessed is an example of the state granting greater rights to the corporations who are its creatures than to the natural sovereign citizens of the land -- in this case, the power to influence elections to high office. In effect, the government has privatized elections and has sold out its own power: a typical move, consistent with the central bank existing as a private entity as well.

I would say that Thursday's decision in Citizens United is an example of unequal protection under the law. Paraphrasing Carl Sagan, those who enjoy extraordinary rights must be held to extraordinary responsibilities. The problem in our moment of civilization is precisely that this alien race of entities thinks it has no responsibilities at all, in any meaningful sense of the concept.

mercury direct= unspooling your brain

Mercury is direct today and finally moving away from Pluto. Finally. I mean, those two were too tight for nearly a week there. (Someone cue, The Weight...)

Does this mean all your plans on hold are now ready to go? Not exactly.

The first week of February Mercury finally makes it back to the point where it went retrograde on Boxing Day. Until then let your brain gently unspool from this retrograde. We've just passed through a mighty tight astro period, so don't go at "what it all means" with too heavy an agenda. What it all means will sort itself and show itself over the next few weeks. At least you should have a few ideas by mid-February when Mercury has passed the North Node (future ideas), and then finally connects with Aquarius (the sign of people you do yer stuff with).

Need to mend fences with someone?

You might make some progress after Jupiter arrives in Pisces on the 17/18th. Jupiter in Pisces is a lovely grace note, but Mars is still retrograde in Leo, so don't be surprised (or offended) if your peace offering is only half-accepted. If you're dealing with a self-aware or "conscious" person, you'll probably get somewhere with your negotiations, even if it's an indefinite conclusion. But if you're dealing with your average "unconscious" and defensive character, be prepared for some degree of ego blowback. Real dialogue requires two people willing to engage openly about their legitimate needs --emotional and physical. Mars in retrograde seems to play into defensive behavior, so don't ask for a fight if you're not looking for one. Stay away from hassels. Mid-March may loosen up your negotiating potential, so if you can let sleeping egos lie until then, do.

You've got better things to do: stick with refurbishing your own brain and looking for new opportunities. There's something in that gestalt pattern you created these past three weeks. Go play with the possibilities.

review: the eclipse effect debate

What should you believe about eclipses? Are they end of the world? The end of a world? Usually not. But they do often coincide with some spectacular news, like yesterday's earthquake in Haiti.

Here's my entry from last summer's eclipses describing my perspective on the phenomenon.

But I think I want to add something I may not have made clear last time around: eclipses are usually not end points. Think of them instead like cosmic "Pass GO; collect 200 dollars" cycles. Sometimes something must move you forward and here the universe just handed you the means to do it. The "GO" card doesn't always mean you've suddenly won the game, but at least you're not stuck in Marvin Gardens anymore.

the astrology of the haiti earthquake

If you are interested, the folks at Planet Waves had the chart up first thing this morning with an analysis.

In short, earthquakes have an historical correlation to eclipse cycles. And this eclipse, in an Earth sign associated with land mass/tectonic plates (Capricorn also rules the human skeletal system), it's not surprising that we see an increase of earthquake activity, from the California quakes earlier this week to this Haiti quake.

The images coming from Haiti are heartbreaking. My hope is that from the rubble of this terrible, terrible disaster a new and better Haiti is rebuilt.

a special january eclipse week note to Capricorns/Capricorn Rising

If you're a Capricorn or Cap rising --be kind to yourself right now. Really.

You so easily dog yourself about what you have/have not done on the road to success (whatever that road is to you), but this week don't indulge that stuff. Instead this is a good week to think hard about liking yourself for the right reasons, and deciding what sort of leadership you truly want to give to the world.

You like being seen doing the "right thing," whether that's promptly sending thank you cards or knowing the company vision statement by heart. You don't see yourself as a complete suck-up to the job because like all cardinal signs, you've got an independent, self-starting streak within you. You prefer to think you decided what the right thing is. It just so happens that your version of "right" has an air of long tradition hanging around it, which might sound to some folks an awful like like "status quo". But is it?

Just because something is time-honored doesn't make it bad, you think. You have no problem with time. I am here to ask you about "honor" though. Specifically, I want to ask you "what's worth honoring?"

Now is the time to rethink what the "right thing" is in your life. If you are more honest with yourself, you'll admit you're too often driven by an authority or voice of authority outside yourself. What is this authority you revere --or fear? Your boss, your friends, your perceived reputation, your family faith? Pick one --or two or three. 

You want an accumulation of worth and you definitely want the esteem of others, but someone else seems to be defining that worth. What are you working towards? 10 million frequent flier points on your credit card? Another company recognition plaque on the office wall? An "appropriate" partner for that next marriage/project/committee? What is it? There's some delectable fruit you're after; I know because every Capricorn is always working toward something.

Working towards something implies we're also working away from something. For many of you that something is a fear that keeps you in constant motion toward your goals. Maybe you had a hard childhood; maybe you once knew poverty; maybe you lost a parent at an early age; maybe you grew up in an emotionally hostile/cold/or enmeshed family. Whatever it is, it's the fear that that monstrous memory coming back to you that pushes you out, away and up into some kind of carefully controlled (and I mean controlled) need for civility and accomplishment combined. No more chaos and crazy people, you vow. (Nope, those folks are getting side-lined quicker these days.) Like Scarlett O'Hara, herself, you vow you'll never go hungry again.

And no more fear of rejection. Ah, the fear of rejection: your very painful achilles ouchy spot. You know exactly what I mean.

Perhaps this is an expression of Capricorn's fishy side: the symbol of the climber is also has a tail of a fish. The fish within you vibes more like Pisces: it's the trembling, sensitive, secretive and (potentially) spiritual side of you. Do you remember the last time you stunned a friend who discovered your secret passion for crop circles? That stash of weed --or your tarot collection? "I had no idea you were into this stuff! I mean, I thought you were so straight." Uh, yeah... Your fishy secret self is also the side of you prone to (self) deceptive illusions. Exhibit A: Tiger Woods, the Capricorn of the hour and control freak extraordinaire. If you want to be an illusionist, take care. All Caps have some weird side, and so do you. Pluto, however, has a way of outing your weirdness. Digging in the basement, so to speak. Some honesty may be necessary if you haven't found some peace between your goat (climber) and fish (dreamer) halves.

With Mercury still in retrograde in your sign of Capricorn, take some time right now to think about who --or what- exactly is driving your ambition. And your fears of ambition. What is your ouchy spot, anyway? Are you self-medicating that spot with shopping and power grabs? Or maybe hitting the hooch a little too hard? Or have you buried your brain between the pages of Harlequin Romances?

This week as we prepare for a solar eclipse in your sign, the Sun, Venus and the North Node are clustered together in Capricorn, too. All are pressing you forward toward a more authentic expression of your leadership potential. Which means, you've got a really good opportunity this week --and I mean a really, really good opportunity-- to tune into what's attracting you to your future. With all these signs in your sign (or rising sign) the attraction signals should be coming from you.

Tune into yourself and listen deeply to your own heart. What is the most noble and life-affirming leadership you can offer? --First, to yourself, and then to others. You've got stuff in there that bears no resemblance to the rat-race, corporate/parental authority kow-towing you've known for most of your life.

Capricorn is the sign of revolutionaries. That's an amazing thought because most everyone has written you off as pretty uptight in these tell-all, happy-clappy Facebooking times. But you know, stuff doesn't change without someone with backbone in charge. Real change requires people who commit to long-term visions. That, Cappy, you've got in spades --long term vision.

So be the one with backbone. Be the one with vision for the long-haul. Just make sure the revolution you're starting is your own heart's fire; don't settle for anything less.

january 2010 solar eclipse week, pt. 1

This is an interesting week, for sure.

• We have a solar eclipse at 25+ degrees Capricorn on the 15th.
• Mercury is stationing most of the week at 5+ Capricorn.
• Mercury will go direct on the 15th.
• Jupiter will ingress Pisces on the 17th.

Okay, so this feels like a lot like a Rip Van Winkle tale --time distortion, old man involved, and someone re-emerging on the other side of the distortion with an altered identity and an adamant belief in something that could only be a fairy tale.

Is that right? Only a fairy tale?

I suppose astrology is mostly fairy tale to the modern mind. We might have serious students of Klingon language and folks who prefer to live on Endor, but they're tolerated as dreamers and romantics of a sort. Astrology fits in that category, too. Except when it's practitioners insist that something happens to all of us when Jupiter ingresses Pisces.

Astrology happens to us pretty much like weather happens to us, and our part in the matter is to decide how to respond. Yes, I'm a dreamer and a romantic of a sort, but Capricorn that I am, I get a little (a lot) nervous if I don't work with the tangible "real" world, too. So if I'm going to talk about this week, I want to talk about anchoring the events of the week into something you'll really use.

So here's today's useful eclipse week advice:

We are still in a dark moon phase, right now in Sagittarius, which is swell. Dark moons are typically draggy and murky, emotionally, but today I'm feeling pretty sanguine. And well, what d'ya know? The moon's in Sagittarius --until tomorrow night, when it ingresses Capricorn and triggers that Aries Point that's so active these days.

• Maybe finally make another draft of those New Year's Resolutions, with a hard look at the beliefs behind those resolutions. (Remember Mars in Leo, retrograde, is giving us time in the "backstage" of our ego structures to sort a few things out.) Certainly after that lunar eclipse over the New Year, you've gotten a clue or two about false feelings or out-dated beliefs/habits.
• Take out the recycling and the old clothes. Don't freak over this and suddenly think you've got to go on campaign; just give yourself 15 minutes to cull and then stop. Then actually shove the stuff into your vehicle and get it off to the Goodwill shop.
• Unless you've got a religious reason for it, pack up any left-over Christmas decorations and be done with them this week.
• Don't make any big decisions or permanent judgments until next week, at the very least. All the facts are NOT in.

Pretty simple, eh?

i'm back

but I do need to sort myself.

My mac crashed a couple of days after the mercury retrograde, which is probably just as well because the eclipse was surprisingly more emotional for me than I had anticipated. I don't know why I thought this --the astrology of the year is ALL OVER 90% of my occupied houses and degrees.

This is a big year for me to get a move on and turn some big corners. No options, just do it.

Cancer --the sign of the recent lunar eclipse-- has a way of clinging to objects of emotional value (or perceived emotional value) in unhealthy ways. The energy just won't give up. I don't know what you discovered over the New Year's weekend, but here's what I learned. It's a Cancer lesson, fer sure.

With my computer gone AWOL for a few days I had no choice but to think about emotional evolution, letting go of old behavior patterns and expectations, many of which lead back to good ol' mom and the expectations I was reared by in my childhood home.

Specifically, I faced some of my "invisible contracts" with the people in my life. You know, the sort of contract you write without the other person's consent (According to the terms of My Ego, you will provide X...). This is an unfair and ultimately painful way to relate to anyone, and the unfairness begins with the subtle but insistent contracts I write with myself. So I had to face that this weekend. The details of the contracts are irrelevant; what's important is that I recognized what I was doing.

I'm pretty sure the loss of my laptop catalyzed the recognition. Our usual habits and possessions are useful props for creating our little realities that might not actually be real. Take even one away and we're pushed into addressing things we didn't want to see before. On a very practical level, the loss of my laptop (even temporarily) means I cannot work on three different projects that are demanding my attention.

Apparently my attention was needed elsewhere.

And now I'm back. But I've got a little bit of sorting to do. Will return soon to talk about the Mercury/Pluto conjunction and the upcoming solar eclipse.

full moons over december 2009

Full Moon Question: What are you all monkey-minded about? What's the chatter about, anyway?

So one full moon down and one to go. Sorry about the delay, but my own child (whose moon is in Gemini) was a bit loony yesterday. Natch.

As you can expect from a Full Moon in Gemini, those parts of you that respond to mutable themes of adaptability/mobility (any parts of your chart represented by Gemini, Saggitarius --especially-- but also Virgo and Pisces), you might be a bit monkey-minded this week. Full Moons tend to polarize our thinking though, so beware pushing yourself into a mental corner and thinking "no, no, I want this and that but I can only want this..." Why does it have to be one or the other? Oppositions demand we find some mid-point and integrate the two impulses. Otherwise we hurl ourselves from one desire/force to the other --and drive ourselves batty-- or we camp out on one end of the polarity and throw rotten tomatoes at our "other" self, the one we don't want to deal with.

 Today's talk about President Obama's Afghasnistan speech is a good example of a Full Moon Gemini moment on a public/nation scale. You have the theme of duality (Gemini) two approaches to the conflict, and then you've got a big moment of awareness with this defining speech (the full moon effect), and then you've got the polarizing debate (Sun/Moon opposition that occurs each full moon) about more or fewer troops, definite time limit or indefinite time limit.

The Sun is in Saggitarius, emphasizing foreign affairs, and the Moon (which in mudane/political astrology usually represents the people at home --Us in the US) is in Gemini. So the people at home are polarized/divided/a bit monkey-minded about the situation overseas. We're getting a lot of numbers and dates, but no one's sure what to believe or what we really need. 30 thousand troops? Is that enough? Enough for what? ...the debate goes on.

But I think Obama got it right last night. Here's my two-bit summary of the speech--and note the background emphasis of the Saturn/Pluto vibe: This really, really sucks, but we have to do it and I'm not going to make anyone happy about the way I'm going to do it. Because, hear me clearly: this sucks.

As I say, you don't need an astrologer to tell you this, but it's nice to see the symbolism in action.

Okee...And one full moon to go!

December 31st brings us another Full Moon along with a partial lunar eclipse. (!) Yes, New Year's Eve. This time the full moon is in the sign of Cancer, the home, family, ma, comfort food and yer roots. This will land on the same degree (10+), but in a cardinal sign, not a mutable. So less waffle room.

I'm anticipating this bringing some larger understanding of what truly feels like "home" to you. The Sabian Symbol for this degree is a clown making faces. Pretty good, there, because I feel most at home with people who share my sense of humor.

But keeping a good sense of humor is difficult over the holidays. Can you laugh with (at?) your own neurotic/crazy/dysfunctional family of origin? Oh lord, that's a good question. Can I? Some days, yes. I won't talk about the other days.

Now about that eclipse.

The eclipse will happen on the degree the Sun occupied when Uranus turned retrograde last summer (10+ Cancer). Now the Moon will pass over this degree (as it already has four times since July 2, 2009), but this time an eclipse will happen on that point. Eclipses, as I've said, close out something in our lives to allow a new influence or expression to emerge. They are like chapter endings/beginnings. Lunar eclipses bring emotional developments, like releasing old hang-ups and hurts. Lunar eclipses rip up old mental scripts and tapes, too.

If you've been tracking your personal growth path from last summer's eclipse season, think about the changes you've experienced or the risks you've taken since last summer. They might be subtle, but that's okay.

The way I'm looking at the December 31st eclipse as it ties to the earlier Uranus retrograde is like this: last summer you may have thought to yourself "I want to look/be/express myself like this". That's the Sun getting you aligned with a new development in yourself as an individual (Uranus). But you've encountered a bunch of hang-ups and blocks in being this new person, which, you know, is not unusual or unexpected when you're trying to develop yourself. Now comes this December Lunar Eclipse to knock down one (or a bunch) of those hang-ups and blocks that are hindering whatever you identified with or hoped to be last summer.

So often we get the vision (the Sun) of ourselves when our emotional development lags behind (the Moon). Yep.

AND THERE'S MORE FOR DECEMBER. Much more. Alas, here endeth the lesson of the Full Moons. Be back later for the rest of the story...

Art: James Grashow, "The Great Monkey Project," 2006, detail; DeCordova Museum.

Photo, middle: The New York Times, December 2, 2009.

Below: Art Durkee, Japanese brush.

we're still in the eclipse zone

Left: eclipse crescent, from China.
Below: eclipse over Afghanistan.

Here's the NASA site for the solar eclipse. Expect a slow download; this site is ultra-busy right now.

For more pictures, link here.