the weather inside me

tense enough yet?

The Moon is in Leo and just rolled past that Mars in Leo who's stuck in reverse gear, spinning his wheels and so not happy about it. Frustration, impatience, and the general itch to get something started is likely on your agenda if you don't have something at hand to blow off that energy.

The Pisces Sun-Jupiter sextiles that era-defining Pluto in Capricorn, which is really productive, imaginative mind-expanding heart-enlarging stuff. Where are we heading? Let's pretend! They form a Yod to this morning's Leo Moon, so --errr-- there's probably something at hand that's still getting the squeeze in your ego structure --or yer heart. Something needs an adjustment; something's not yet ready for prime time. And you're probably feeling touchy about after that Moon pass over Mars.

Me? It's getting me, too. Just to show you that observing the astrology doesn't mean I don't listen to the lessons. I stepped into the fray at Planet Waves. I suppose I was polite about it, but one of my pet annoyances popped up, and like someone who can't pass by a Whack-A-Mole game without grabbing a mallet, I swatted. Not an especially wise move right now if you can't finesse it with uber-diplomacy.

Could our Leo president have planned the Heath Care Summit under more interesting skies? A Leo, with a Leo Mars in the spin cycle, under a Leo Moon? Dang...step back, jack.

Full Moon arrives in two days. I would encourage you to stay cool, but that may be just heaping one more frustration on your back. So I'll just encourage you to find healthy outlets for your energy. Will be back (tonight hopefully) with the Full Moon bill for you.

Illustration: prep sketch for Hercules Wrestles A Lion, Jun-Pierre Shiozawa

the story so far...the (long) late february 2010 overview

If you're just joining us, here’s a summary on the current long and mid-term astro scene:

Pluto-Saturn square: it’s still on --the hard realities, the call to courage, the fear, the projecting of shadows-- but Saturn’s moving back into the Virgo degrees, so we’re just getting a second look at relationship “stuff” that popped up since last October. Count it a second chance at important conversations and decisions.

Neptune-Chiron in Aquarius: the end of an era, or as Gawker proclaimed it, “The Fake Decade”. Finally, we're getting it. Chiron’s not done with his work here, but these past few weeks have certainly given me some unusual views into inconvenient “truths”. And talk about a wild dream life. Oy. I need a break.

Jupiter in Pisces: Connections, identifications, and professions with and of encouragement and hope are totally available if you want them. As are big creative possibilities. Can you be the bigger person? Sure you can. (As I type this, I’m listening to Alan Simpson joking it was time to hold hands and jump into the wine-dark sea --of the budget deficit. Poetic water imagery as political threat? Only with Pisces.)

Avoid the paranoid and the generally detached from reality. This is the dark side of Pisces and not a comment on Mr. Simpson. Uranus in Pisces (at the end of the sign, now at 25+ degrees), is pulling punches with those teetering on the edge of the Fear Abyss. A lot people are completely convinced this is the end of the world. No, it's just the end of the world as they know it, a fact that's microcosmically true every day of our lives. Still, we can't ignore the big, big challenges we face as a country. It's just that fear is not gonna get us closer to a sane deficit, safe highways, or decent health care for all.

On a related note: if you’re a Pisces or have personal planets in Pisces, take care with substances this year--right on down to caffeine, MSG, BHT and food coloring. I’m serious.

And finally, Mars, still retrograde in Leo: Mars is really slowing down now, and by the full moon on the 28th will have reached it’s retrograde direct degree. So if you feel some kind of gear grinding or stuckness, that would be Mars. Ditto big case of anticipation. This is all about going backstage and reworking your self image. (My original horoscopes on the retrograde are here and here.) What you're feeling could be a case of stage fright, or could be a case of retrenchment before the big advance come March. Circumstances vary.

If you know where Mars is passing through your chart, just ease up on yourself in that area. Strategize, visualize. Play with any new ideas that popped up with the Neptune/Chiron bingle last week AND the Full Moon in Leo in mid-January. What do you want to do with that new knowledge?

Strangely, if we’re not handling our own nervousness or irritation well, we seem to invite similarly nervous, irritating people into our lives. Not always true, but you could play with that idea and observe other people’s responses to your energy right now.

A note to men, or anyone who cares about a man: I'm not a guy, nor do I play one on TV, so I'm not gonna pretend I know what this feel like for you. My thoughts are based on my own reading, and the thoughts shared by men at other serious astrology forums.

Mars retrograde is especially challenging for men; after all, Mars is THE planet of the male impulse, the anima, the dude in you. Here’s the bottom line: the man in your life (could be you!) may or may not know what Mars retrograde is doing, but it's affecting him nonetheless --rearranging his ego, his self-image, his heart, his leadership instincts, his pride for his pride (or whatever substitutes for his creative output, progeny or no).

Mars retrograde is all backwards and inhibiting, frustrating and often confusing for many men. You could be angry, frustrated, scattered, inconsistent, or distant --really, really distant. Especially now as we approach the incredibly slow stationing direct motion. Imagine trying to save the damsel in distress who's stranded on the opposite side of a molasses pit. And the molasses pit is your expectations about what guys should do, could do, did do --starting with your dad and then every significant male authority figure you've known in your life. Now imagine how difficult this time could be if you never really had a solid male figure who taught you what to do when damsels lie on the other side of molasses pits. McGuyver never had it so bad. This "self" thing won't get fixed with a Leatherman, some chewing gum and three paper clips. Think about that for a moment.

If the man in your life doesn’t know what’s going on, or they’re resistant to introspection, you get a guy who needs to take on the world instead of himself. This might get internalized as heart problems; Leo rules the heart. As Leo practically grinds to a halt, Evan Bayh announced today that he’s lost heart in his work in the Senate and will retire. This is not good for the already straggling Democrat majority in the Senate.

The WORST example of this impulse also showed up in the news today: Andrew Stack, an enraged, suicidal man (badly managed Mars retrograde?) who’s sense of manhood and pride (Leo) was threatened by the limitations (Saturn) imposed by a government (Pluto in Capricorn) agency, the IRS, flew his personal airplane into an IRS office.

No doubt his actions were exacerbated by feelings of paranoia and doom emerging from those who’ve been embracing the end of the world (Uranus in Pisces) scenarios. He's not the first man who's wanted to take on the IRS with violence, but as we're revisiting a Saturn-Pluto alignment that last appeared fall of 2001, I'm saddened but not shocked that Stack chose to mimic the violence of that tragedy by flying his plane into an IRS office in Austin, Texas. Note --this was his own Piper airplane, and thus, he was not one of the huddled masses spewing underclass resentment. This was a wealthy guy by any standard. Do you have Piper small craft docked in your local airport hanger?

On that note, I looked at Glenn Beck’s astrology last week. He’s got Venus at 29+ degrees Pisces, the last degree of the zodiac, aka, the end of the world (sort of). In short, he’s in love with the end of the world. Yes. Have a look at his wiki and you’ll see a guy obsessed with eschatology. We'll hear much more about his obsession come spring. Bank on it.

Sigh. So play safe out there folks. You don’t have to be paranoid. You don’t have to push people around. I know so many people who are experimenting with huge new possibilities for their lives. Really big thoughts. I've got one friend who was making good money as a black-jack dealer, but she's leaving the industry to work at a raw-food retreat. She'd been wanting to walk away, but it wasn't until she broke her wrist in four places over the January eclipse that the decision was forced on her. A break like that is a career ender for a card dealer. But the end didn't start there: as she became mentally and emotionally more stable, her tips took a nose dive and she knew why --unhealthy people only reward their own kind. She's a Cancer rising, so Leo is working through her second house of money and self-esteem.

If you're moving towards healthier self-esteem, know that some people will find this a turn-off and not know why. They would prefer you functioning as their food source for whatever emotional, financial, or practical service you give them. And you're gonna catch some flak for this. For my friend, this translated into lost income. If you're hanging with people who pay you for being as immature, selfish, and needy as they are, you're going to face a loss of something --a contract, a contact? Or you may face losing old friends. These are not easy losses at first because they represent an old image you've probably carried with you for years. But this whole year is forcing all of us to rethink the old ways. Those who refuse to change won't be any fun to hang with anyway. Keep that in mind as you grow and experiment with the new you.

The time is also exciting because it presents the kind of risks that demand truly creative thinking and not a little paradigm shifting/shattering going on in that mix. But the risk doesn’t disappear just because the adventure holds happy possibility. So compassion is very much in need right now, too. Compassion that entends both ways --to you and to those around you-- and patience.

In that spirit, I’m taking a few days off from this blog to address some work at my side. One project is a revamp of this site, another some notes for the upcoming NCGR conference...and then daily ephemera and sticky fingerprints that come with motherhood. I need to shift my focus for a bit. Maybe I'll actually go for a walk. What a thought.

I’ll be back before the Full Moon to talk about the Venus-Uranus conjunction and early March events.

Until then, have a visit with any of the forecasters on my link list. They’re good people who’ll be happy to serve your astro needs.

Ciao.

Art: lisacongdon.com

Photo: seattlepi.com

All other photos: Philippe Halsman

jupiter in pisces and the victor hugo effect

We're going to celebrate the Sun's ingress to Pisces this afternoon with a little literature/history topic.

For those of you who don't know, Victor Hugo was the blockbuster writer of the 19th century, best known for penning the novel, Les Miserables, published under a Jupiter in Pisces year --1862.

The story was hugely successful right away. Puccini, so the story goes, attempted to write an opera based on the work, but declared it impossible because the book was too vast and unwieldy. That made me laugh. Of course.

Vast = Pisces  Unwieldy = Jupiter

I have a copy in my personal library, and it's the book I'd most likely run back into a housefire to rescue. It was my grandfather's 1911 edition. My grandfather came from deep central Missouri, from a town so small that even today it lacks a single stop light and the only thing growing there is corn and marijuana. My grandfather's mother died early and his father went to work in the oil fields of Oklahoma to support my grandfather and his brother, so Grandpa only managed an eighth grade education before he had to leave school and go to work, too. But my grandfather was a Gemini Sun with Pluto conjunct it, too. He was a canny man, and knew the power of a good story. He also created a small, but respectable library of personal leisure reading, which I inherited in my twenties.

His favorite book was Les Miserables. "Best book you'll ever read, Granddaughter. Read any book you want, but you won't find anything better than that one."

And he was right. Teenager that I was, and totally lost to the history of 19th Revolutionary France, I plowed through that monster of a novel on the strength of the story alone. I didn't give a flip why Napoleon lost Waterloo (Hugo can't shake his political rants), but I did love the characters.

To the 21st century cynic, the work comes off as overwrought with pathos and religion and sentimentality. So what. Grab a little pathos once in a while. Compared to the real soap-opera blockbuster of the mid-1800's, Uncle Tom's Cabin, Les Miserables has stood the test of time and popular taste, mostly on the strength of its popular theme of the championing the less fortunate, embodied by the complex relationship between its central characters, Jean Valjean and his nemesis, the police inspector Javert.

Beginning as early as 1907, dozens of filmmakers have attempted to film all or part of the story, the most familiar of which is the "Bishop's candlesticks" episode early into the tale. Of course, most people living now discovered the story through the hugely popular Broadway musical adaptation that ran through for the better part of the 1990's. Not so dated and irrelevant after all, even if you wearied of seeing that little orphan's face on your friend's Broadway souvenir bathtowel.

The Wiki-entry on it summarized the themes:

The novel focuses on the struggles of ex-convict Jean Valjean and his experience of redemption. It examines the nature of law and grace, and expounds upon the history of France, architecture of Paris, politics, moral philosophy, antimonarchism, justice, religion, and the types and nature of romantic and familial love. The story is historical fiction because it contains factual, historic events, including the Paris Uprising of 1832 (not to be confused with the much earlier French Revolution).

Note the Piscean themes in this description: redemption, struggle, grace, justice, romantic and familial (universal, multigenerational) love.

Now note the Jupiter themes: law, history, politics, moral philosophy, role of leadership, justice, history.

Note that Justice appears twice. This works because the traditional ruler of the sign Pisces is Jupiter. (Neptune, Pisces' modern rule was discovered less than twenty years before the publication of Hugo's novel, and is a keynote to understanding the late 19th century.) In Pisces Jupiter finds a cosmic, karmic justice. A justice based on the rule of grace, not the rule of law. In terms of Les Miserables, this is the law of grace represented by Jean Valjean, versus Javert's unbending, unforgiving interpretation of moral law.

Justice for all and grace for all is the tune of Jupiter in Pisces. The financial news --and our fear of the future-- wants to bury this promise as Jupiter transits Pisces once again. It could, too. Jupiter in Pisces isn't a fist-shaker of a transit; its effects are subtle, lingering. They pull at the heart more than meddle with your head.

They also require sustained attention to capture and apply, kind of like the dedication necessary to sit down with a 700 page novel filled with people who lived 200 years ago --and then fall in love with them. Who are they to me? Why should I care? We got nuthin' in common, we protest like lazy schoolkids. I wrote my check for Haiti, but that obnoxious kid at the convenience store won't get a single smile outta me, no sir. Not all of us have or want to make the time for that sort of devotion to bridging differences, extend a second chance, or offer compassion for someone entirely unlike us.

But some of us do. Or at least we try. Call it the Hugo Effect.

Engraving: Fantine begs for mercy from the cruel Javert in an early edition of the novel.

Original title page of first edition, 1862.    

Silent film poster, Henri Fescourt, German 1925.

go blow your horn

This Wednesday we have a lot of inspiring, exploring action in the sky. Aquarian Neptune and Chiron are in an exact (to the minute) conjunction, and a Pisces Venus and Jupiter are still hand in hand. Mars has moved past that strange but productive Dreamtime Yod, and the Moon is now in action oriented Aries ready to do something about the lessons we've discovered over the past two weeks.

Go blow your horn today. Where, when, or with whom is your choice. Blow it fortissimo or pianissimo. Just find the tune inside you and let it fly.

renounce

Today Venus and Jupiter hold hands together at 7 degrees Pisces. The image for that degree shows a wooden cross thrown upon a rocky shore; the key word is "renunciation". Oh, joy. This, on the eve of Ash Wednesday and Lent.

But this brings to mind a conversation I had with a client a couple of weeks ago. We were doing my usual thing at the beginning of a consultation, which is to review a few dates that usually turn out to have significance to the client. I'm almost always impressed with what folks tell me, but this one was a particularly fun moment:

"So what was going on in your life in '68/'69?"

"Oh. Well. That was my first year in college and --oh, my god. That was the year I had a vision of St. Francis of Assisi! It was amazing; I'll never forget it. He was holding out his arms wide and looking at me with those intense, dark, iconic eyes, saying, 'Renounce! Renounce! Renounce!' It was terrifying. And I thought, 'What's St. Francis doing in the dorm room of a nice Jewish girl like me?"

We both crack up.

"And that was before the sex and the drugs! I didn't have anything to renounce!"

We crack up again.

"But you know, we were really into Marxism and the idea of violent revolution and 'the struggle' in those days, and St. Francis did give up his wealth to help the poor, I know."

Days later it occurred to me some sort of conflation was possibly going on there, in my head or hers. Renouncing isn't the same as denouncing. What students were doing back then was denouncing a system and a set of values they felt was invalid, in fact harmful to ordinary people. Denouncing is a kind of shaming, though. It assumes an act of judgment and engages the element it judges. We march in the streets and pull down the posters and paraphernalia of the corrupt element. We shake our fists and shout. We recognize our anger and make it plain to the world.

Renouncing, however, turns away from the object it no longer values. Call it a judgment, if you want, but renunciation's power lies in disengagement. We slough off the element like brushing away dead skin cells to let our bodies breathe again. Turn away. Turn to different work, different feelings, different people. Renunciation simply says, "I don't need this anymore."

"Making one's own wounds a source of healing . . . does not call for a sharing of superficial personal pains but for a constant willingness to see one's own pain and suffering as rising from the depth of the human condition." - Henri J. M. Nouwen, The Wounded Healer

Today is not a day to debate the efficacy and place for denunciation vs. renunciation. We're in Piscesland right now, and this is renunciation's territory. It's a day for letting one's own pain and suffering rise from the depth of your human condition --and then letting it drift away. Pisces has the blessed gift of simply swimming away into the starry midnight ocean of Forever, forgetting entirely what the argument was about in the first place.

Those of us who like things defined and settled tend to find this annoying. But, you know, the indefinite void of Forever and Forgotten is a different sort of definition. It's definitely gone, gone, gone. Whatever it was. I can go with that settlement.

If you could say, "I don't need this anymore" about something today, what would it be? And then what would it take for you to allow it to go away forever and ever? If ever there was a day you could take a breath and turn away from that unhelpful, entangling or toxic thought, emotion, person, or behavior, this is a good day to do it.

And don't forget: nature does abhorr a vacuum, so fill that new empty spot. Pisces lets things drift into our lives as much as it lets stuff drift away. Likely there's something very good and positive at hand in your life right now. You know what it is. If it's good, don't let it drift by on this stream. Reach out and grab it today.

Poster: Zefferelli's Brother Sun, Sister Moon , the 1972 film about Francis of Assisi (for you, S.)

the february 13th aquarius new moon: It's a little crazy, but it's a start...

New Moon on Saturday, February 13th!

I'm having a hard time putting this New Moon into words. New Moons are about new starts, but this one is a little strange.

First off, whatever life innovation is in your sights --health, home, family, love, work, creativity-- gets a big Cosmic Kiss this coming week. If you're willing to experiment, do. Listen to what you've been learning about your personal preferences; you'll know what step to take.

So here's my visual summation --Captain Kirk in tights. The theme? It's a little crazy, but it's a start.

Kirk here has got the vibe. Easy into the change. Sometimes just the toe shoes and tights are all you need. You know, dress up a bit and then go hang out on the Bridge. See how others respond to you. See how the tights feel. It's just a dress rehearsal for this part of the New You. Experiment.

With Valentine's stuff all wrapped up in this astrology, you might have a relationship question on deck now. My answer: Yes, as long as you keep yourself honest.

This means, primarily, honesty about your attraction to the Other and honestly about your devotion to a New You. Since October (even more since late December) Leo's been teaching us a lot about what our hearts really want and what truly inspires us. Don't deny that or distort that. This is a rehearsal for new directions. Be clear about keeping the conversation open and the intentions on the surface. There's a little bit o' Instant Karma coming this summer, so play nice and you'll like life a lot more come August.

For everyone: We've got 3 more months of Leo Mars, so more ideas are on the way. Focus on the experimental nature of the moment. Imagination and a playful Piscean kookiness will keep all the tete-a-tetes on the right waves length.

You know it sounds crazy, but it is a start...

venus enters pisces today

Attraction shifts today. Venus has broken from the Aquarian pack and is now drifting toward her date with that dreamy Pisces Jupiter Sunday.

Pisces disentangles things and gives us the broad view of life. If anything, you might be feeling disoriented...drifting. Jupiter in Pisces gives us a big, big canvas for our imaginations. What Venus will do with that canvas largely depends on your ability to imagine.

What if? is the question now. It's not an intellectual concern.

two weeks of dreamtime

We in the midst of a long-ranging story involving the current Mars Leo and Jupiter Pisces alignment. Today we'll talk about the axis point of this story. It's a turning point that will last through the next two weeks and emerge into concrete changes in mid-March/April and again in August/early September.

Welcome to the dreamtime.

The aspects invite the irrational and non-linear into our lives. We decide things not because we have all the facts on the table before us, but because we have a gut feeling it's the right choice to make. Our explanations can only bring forth a shrug: "I felt like it, you know?" 

They also demand that we make a choice. We have to make choices. The aspects are called Yods, or "The Finger of God". Yeah, kind of spooky. If you've got one in your natal chart, you definitely feel its influence because it's a place in your life that demands you negotiate its function if you want its benefits. And the benefits are plenty if you don't fight the negotiations.

Through the next two weeks we have two Yods working, both sharing contact points with Jupiter newly into Pisces and Mars still retrograde in Leo.

The two themes involved: reconstruction of ego identity/heart's courage/creative expression and the faith to pull it off. Buttressing the faith and heart themes are Saturn and Pluto, underscoring the on-going theme of evolving relationship models.

How do you want to relate to others differently? What can you put your full faith and heart behind --assuming you've got a heart and some faith to use? You've been rediscovering some of that vision this past fall and winter, no doubt.

A week or so I said that belief always has one foot planted on the floor in some sort of dogma, but faith sweeps both feet off the floor and you with it. This month isn't about belief (having some proof-text for your ideas), but about faith. A part of your life is demanding change. And the scariest part for some of us (especially our Aquarius, Leo, Taurus and Scorpio parts and friends) is the idea that we'll get swept off our feet and land in a place where we feel we have no control.

The next two weeks you will probably face that part of your life with more than a little faith that you're changing in the right direction. Or you will question your faith in the matter --over and over.

Can you really pull this off? I don't think that's the right question. What might be the better question is this: Assuming this can happen, what roadblocks (mental/relational/financial) need to go? How can I get out of my own way?

Next week some pretty sweet potential is heading our way. I'm thinking we'll be a lot less nervous or doubtful next week. For you fixed sign people, next week might be a balm to your nerves. This sort of change is hardest for you.

Whatever your personality, remember this is the dreamtime. Not a "do" time, a dreamtime. The "do" will come later. Right now, release and dream.

void, of course and then into the deep

The Libra Moon finished it's sweet sweep alongside the Venus/Chiron/Neptune confab and today is on it's way to Scorpio.

But until then it's a light day with no aspects to the Moon. No aspects = no connections = Void of course.

Void of course (VOC) should become part of your astro vocabulary. It's a space in time, usually a few hours, when we cruise with no Moon-astrological conversations on tap. (I just mistyped "on tao" --which makes sense, too.) Anywhoo. The practical application for "void of course" is "out of pocket". Folks don't respond to your emails or phone calls. You drift. Ideas just don't come to mind and you feel a little aimless. Decisions made during void of course hours are often forgotten.

You probably can't defer your workday obligations during every VOC; however, you can modify your expectations about an impending decision or contact. Just chill. They'll get back when the Moon starts contacting folks again, too.

Which will be about the end of the workday today (in North America). This evening the Moon heads into Scorpio and makes a trine to Jupiter in Pisces. It's a lovely, easy aspect that brings emotional depth to the day.

Keep it real, though. Scorpio loves a conspiracy and Pisces can be a gullible as all get-out. So unless you're working in a creative/artistic capacity tonight, keep it real. Check your facts. Know where the boundary lies between fantasy and fact.

get out of your own way

I love this. Robert Wilkinson always pulls something good out for days like today.

“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way.” --Goethe

Which is why we should never allow our limitations or fears to deflect us from a noble goal. You just never know what might happen if you get out of your own way....

Just what my incentive/disincentive dilemma tape needs to hear.

Art: Damien Hirst, The Dream