Never Give Your Birthdate To An Astrologer

Horoscopes Fri Jan 6-Fri Jan 13

2012-01-09T13:43:00.002-05:00

Aries (March 21-April 19): "No," said Aries actor William Shatner, "I don't regret anything at this point. That may change on the next phone call, but at the moment, I don't regret anything." (Aside, to his secretary) "Hold all my calls." Follow Shatner's lead this week Aries, and we'll regret nothing at week's end too.

Taurus (April 20-May 20): There's a follower of Buddhism who allows himself to own no more than 100 items. Sounds like a lot, 'til we read this includes every fork, pen, and toothbrush Taurus. We're feeling like this guy has moved in with us this week as our stuff collides with someone else's empty space. Stars say, compromise is possible, but one of our 20 teddy bears will have to go.

Gemini (May 21-June 21): "Money is something you've got to make in case you don't die," says Max Asnas. Death and money are on our mind this week Gem. Which means that we're either buying life insurance or someone's got to figure out what to do with the dead goldfish, and whether it's worth it to buy another.

Cancer (June 22-July 22): "Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra," says Simpson's creator Max Groenig. "Suddenly it flips over, pinning you underneath. At night, the weasels come." A partnership shows its intense side this week Cancer. Stars say stay off of snowmobiles and it may even turn out exciting.

Leo (July 23-August-22): A famous study shows that given the chance to split a free pot of money unevenly or get nothing--the average person will choose nothing rather than see someone else get more. Stars say we'll be asked to compromise this week Leo. Here's our chance to prove we're above average, just like we're always saying we are.

Virgo (August 23-Sept 23): "At my lemonade stand, I used to give away the first glass for free, and charge five dollars for the second glass," says Emo Phillips. "The second glass contained the antidote." We're getting business advice from young people this week Virgo. Just remember we don't have the cuteness factor to help us get away with what a 4 year old can.

Libra (Sept 24-Oct 22): "Create like a god," advised artist Constantin Brancusi, "command like a king, work like a slave." Stars give us an extra helping of creative and commanding juices this week Libra. As a bonus prize, they're even throwing in the need to work like the slave thing.

Scorpio (Oct 23-Nov 21): "We cannot solve our problems," said Albert Einstein, "with the same thinking we used when we created them." Well, that's a problem is what we think Scorpio. Stars say this week we're offered a choice between keeping an opinion, or keeping the problem.

Sagittarius (Nov 22-Dec 21): It's been said that the American attitude towards financial planning is to obsess we're going to the poor house one day and the next day buy a new automobile. Stars say that for financial security, pretend we're a German this week Sadge.

Capricorn (Dec 22-Jan 19): All religions are the same," says Cathy Ladman. "Religion is basically guilt, with different holidays." We're going to feel guilty for something this week Cappy, but no worries--our sources say the man in the mirror will accept our apology.

Aquarius (Jan 20-Feb 18): May your home be too small to hold all of your friends, goes an Irish proverb. Something about our space is feeling cramped these days Aquarius. Which means we've either got to upgrade to larger quarters, or get the party guests to leave.

Pisces (Feb 19-March 20): Never place friendship above profit, say the Ferengi, Star-Trek's race of über-capitalist aliens. It could be a friend is costing us money this week Pisces, but more likely the other way around. Next year make sure the gift bottle of wine is still full before handing it over to the party hosts. What, we think they haven't noticed?

Horoscopes Fri Dec 23-Fri Dec 30

2011-12-22T13:54:00.001-05:00

Aries (March 21-April 19): "Pay no attention to your critics," said movie mogul Sam Goldwyn. "Don't even ignore them." Works in most cases, but if the criticism is coming from our boss Aries, it's probably better to at least pretend we care.

Taurus (April 20-May 20): We get sucked up into a flash mob of naked Christmas carolers this week Taurus. That, or we're suddenly inspired to random acts of love or art. Stars say let our creative juices flow, or prepare a response when our mother sees the flash mob YouTube video.

Gemini (May 21-June 21): Stars say that after all the gifts are opened we may be caught looking around for more Gem. Just don't let Santa see us doing so, or we're likely to be put on his "greedy," list. It's like the "naughty" list but without the risque fun side.

Cancer (June 22-July 22): "Never feel remorse for what you have thought about your wife," wrote Jean Rostand, "she has thought much worse things about you." We're not exactly getting the accolades we feel we deserve from a partner this week Cancer. Stars say this is what happens when we base family expectations on reruns of The Waltons.

Leo (July 23-Aug 22): "Santa Claus has the right idea," notes Victor Borges, "visit people once a year." Borge wrote that after a week like the one we'll have Leo. Stars say, eh, company reminds us that the people we live with aren't so bad after all.

Virgo (Aug 23-Sept 22): "Feeling gratitude and not expressing it," wrote William Arthur Ward, "is like wrapping a present and not giving it." Obviously Ward doesn't obsess over wrapping his gifts just so the way we do Virgo. Stars say we're obsessed with a creative project this week--always a dangerous thing to do when one has scissors in their hand.

Libra (Sept 23-Oct 22): "Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes," says Scott Adams. "Art is knowing which ones to keep." Deciding which mistakes to keep is this week's task Libra. And this makes this week different from all the others how, exactly?

Scorpio (Oct 23-Nov 21): Stars say we've the power to be tremendously creative, or scathingly critical this week Scorpio. What we want to know is why so few people recognize that our criticism is tremendously creative.

Sagittarius (Nov 22-Dec 21): "Once you have their money," say the Ferengi, Star-Trek's race of über-capitalist aliens, "you never give it back." We thought we'd be able to stop saying this when we quit working retail Sadge. Stars say other people's money is an object of contention this week. It'll probably come down to who gets to that $20 laying on the department store floor first.

Capricorn (Dec 22-Jan 19): "Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and may each new year find you a better man," said Capricorn Ben Franklin. Stars say we can either channel this week's energy into ideas about how to improve ourselves, or tell others where their outstanding faults lay Cappy. Keep in mind that criticizing the mall Santa won't win us any brownie points.

Aquarius (Jan 20-Feb 18): We're struck with sudden desire to beautify our home this week Aquarius. What we consider aesthetically pleasing may not meet the common standard, but what the heck--every block needs one house painted with purple glitter.

Pisces (Feb 19-March 20): Friends talk us into getting out of our own little world this week Pisces. But we'll be left making chit chat with strangers all on our own. Stars say, quit whining and be glad we got invited to the party. We didn't really want to spend Christmas with all our rescue cats again, did we?

Mercury direct Equine Astrology

2011-12-13T07:50:00.004-05:00

Tuesday, Dec 13 Equine Astrology TOD:
The Lone Ranger is captured by a War Party. The chief says, "We're going to kill you in 3 days, but you've been a worthy opponent so first I'll grant you three wishes." Lone Ranger says, I'd like to speak to my horse. Silver is brought forward, Lone Ranger whispers in his ear, Silver gallops away and returns with a gorgeous woman who stays in Lone Ranger's teepee all night.

Chief says, "That's a really impressive horse you have there, but we're still going to kill you in 2 days. What's your second wish?" Again the Lone Ranger says, "I'd like to speak to my horse." Silver is produced, Lone Ranger whispers in his ear, Silver gallops away and returns with a woman even more beautiful than the first. She too spends the night with the Ranger.

Chief says, "I have to say, you have the smartest and most loyal horse I've ever seen. But I'm still going to kill you in a day. What's your third wish?" Lone Ranger says, I'd like to speak to my horse--alone! Chief agrees, Silver is sent into the teepee, Lone Ranger grabs his ears, looks him in the face and says, "Listen very carefully: I said, "BRING POSSE!"

Stars say, everyone wants to talk today but no one wants to listen. Riding and other endeavors will go better if we listen now, talk later.

Horoscopes, Fri Dec 9-Fri Dec 16

2011-12-09T11:25:00.001-05:00

Aries (March 21-April 19): "One can miss the boat," says Daniel Behrman, "just by turning up too soon." We're in such a hurry not to miss out on anything that we're at risk of missing it all this week Aries. Stars say slow down and focus, or we may find a bus that won't miss us.

Taurus (April 20-May 20): "Expand or die," say the Ferengi, Star-Trek's race of über-capitalist aliens. Stars say it's time to expand our expectations Taurus. What we want to know is does this mean we can add just one more thing to our Santa list? That depends on whether we can find the end of the list before Christmas.

Gemini (May 21-June 21): "I decided that when I go, I'm going to have them bury me in my four wheel drive truck," said a four wheeling enthusiast, "because I've never been in a hole it couldn't get out of." We find ourselves needing to get out of a pit of our own making this week Gem. Hopefully we won't be hearing that other four-wheeler saying, "The thing about four wheel drive trucks; when they're stuck, they're stuck."

Cancer (June 22-July 22): A few years ago a city in Italy barred pet owners from keeping goldfish in glass bowls. It's cruel, the city council argued, to give the fish "a distorted view of reality." We're being asked to give up a skewed view of the truth Cancer. All we know is that next life we're going to be more sympathetic to fish.

Leo (July 23-Aug 22): "Contrary to everything you will read about Thoreau," says biographer Robert Sullivan, "he did not hate New York City." Contrary to everything our friends say about us Leo, we do not actually hate the things we told them we hate. Stars say when they see us hanging out with the object of our dismissal, they won't call us on it--they'll post the picture on Facebook instead.

Virgo (Aug 23-Sept 22): We're finally getting the attention we've always thought we deserve Virgo. Which means that if the week sucks, we need to work on what kind of attention we think we deserve. It's the same problem Cinderella had before she raised her expectations.

Libra (Sept 23-Oct 22): "For by your words you will be justified," goes a passage from Matthew in the Bible, "and by your words you will be condemned." We get what we talk about this week Libra. Which means talk about what we want, avoid mentioning what we don't want, and plead the Fifth to all other questions.

Scorpio (Oct 23-Nov 21): The gods only laugh when people ask them for money," goes a Japanese proverb. Friends don't usually laugh when we ask them for money though. Sometimes they also ask for it back. This week may be one of those times Scorpio. What we want to know is does "the dog ate it," work in this situation?

Sagittarius (Nov 22-Dec 21): Our plate is fuller than it's been in awhile Sadge. Which is why we're at risk of biting off more than we can chew. Stars say practice moderation or risk irritating the Powers That Be. What we want to know is does this mean we can buy that fancy creche display, to remind us of the reason for the season?

Capricorn (Dec 22-Jan 19): The Stoic sage Epictetus said that to be assured of happiness practice hardship periodically; for instance, ride the bus on a cold day even if we own a car, eat mac and cheese even if we can afford Lobster Alfredo. Stars say it's a great week to get on a bus and go find a box of mac and cheese Cappy. We like perspective, right?

Aquarius (Jan 20-Feb 18): "I prefer dead writers," says Fran Lebowitz, "because you don't run into them at parties." We run into an old friend this week Aquarius. Stars say whatever we do, don't ask them to comment on a personal project or we'll discover why they had to come back into our life, instead of remaining already there.

Pisces (Feb 19-March 20): In politics, it is said, the problem is never the crime, it's the cover up. That's our problem exactly this week Pisces. A detail we've neglected comes back to haunt us. Like Ebenezer Scrooge we've still got time to fix the problem before things go to hell in a handbasket.

Saturday 4/09 Equine Astrology Tip of the Day

2011-04-08T15:24:00.000-04:00

Saturday 4/09 Equine Astrology TOD: As you walk and eat and travel, said the Buddha, be where you are. Otherwise you will miss most of your life. Good advice anytime but especially today as stars incline us to being mentally anywhere but where we actually are. It's always embarrassing to go riding and forget to bring the horse.

Tues April 5 Equine Astrology Tip of the Day

2011-04-04T17:53:00.001-04:00

Tuesday, April 5 Equine Astrology TOD: If we're riding ahead of the herd, goes a bit of cowboy wisdom, it's good to look back every now and then to make sure it's still with us. Steady progress for horse and rider is in the stars today, but checking the map to make sure we're not getting ahead of ourselves will be wise.

Fri 3/18 Equine Astrology Tip of the Day

2011-03-17T17:54:00.001-04:00

Friday 3/18 Equine Astrology TOD:
Swap horses with a riding companion today. That way we'll have the excuse that at least we don't own the horse we rode in on when things don't go as planned.

Thursday 3/10 Equine Astrology Tip of the Day

2011-03-10T10:25:00.001-05:00

Thursday, March 10th Equine Astrology TOD: Breakthroughs under pressure are in the stars today. Hopefully it won't be our girth. Or a wardrobe malfunction. (Best not wear the "iffy" bra ...).

Trish

Tues March 08 Equine Astrology Tip of the Day

2011-03-07T18:15:00.000-05:00

Tues March 08 Equine Astrology TOD: "Inconvenient transportation" is the theme of the day. As horses can be very convenient or very, er, not convenient, how our ride goes depends on how necessary the ride is. Best make sure the car has gas.

I've always liked author and artist C.W. Anderson's thought that while many equestrians long for days of old, when horses were everywhere and everyone's form of transport, in these days when only those who like horses ride them, things are much better for the horse.

Monday, March 07 Equine Astrology Tip of the Day

2011-03-06T15:11:00.004-05:00

Monday, March 07 Equine Astrology TOD: You can rest when you're dead, the saying goes. Will be true today as horses get morning off due to human half of partnership sleeping poorly. Those who make it to the barn on time find their horse's get up and go may have got up and went as well. 'Sokay, things pick up speed rapidly as day advances. Slow start, fast finish, can't complain.

March 1 Equine Astrology Tip of the Day

2011-02-28T17:54:00.004-05:00

Tuesday March 01 Equine Astrology TOD: Whenever you ask your horse for something, it is said, ask him by a favor. Does this mean we'll owe him if he says yes? Won't matter today as all our asking comes to naught. Superficial pleasantries succeed where requests for performance may fail. Stick to trail riding while singing the theme song to "Mr.Ed" and we won't be disappointed.

Sat 2/26 Equine Astrology Tip of the Day

2011-02-26T10:31:00.001-05:00

Half the failures in life, notes Thomas Hood, arise from pulling in one's horse as he is leaping. If we're guilty of this today the fault, to paraphrase The Bard, isn't in us, it's in the stars. Energy levels fluctuate wildly. Best be prepared for stopping when we want to go, and vice-versa.

Feb 22 Equine Astrology Tip of the Day

2011-02-21T15:37:00.002-05:00

Tuesday, February 22 Equine Astrology TOD: It's a good day for making power moves so if we find that our horse is taking us where he wants to go rather than following our plan, he probably read this memo first. (Ditto if it's the boss, spouse, kids, or dog setting our agenda instead of the other way around).

Sunday 2/20 Equine Astrology Tip of the Day

2011-02-19T11:54:00.000-05:00

The map isn't the territory it's said, but the map won't even be the map today. Riders with no destination or goal succeed in that quest, Type-A equestrians fizzle. Everyone should carry an extra water bottle to replace the one that will spill.

Equine Astrology Tip of Day

2011-02-14T17:28:00.001-05:00

Tuesday, February 15 Equine Astrology Tip of the Day: History, said Twain, doesn't repeat itself--but it does rhyme. Whether we were writing Shakespeare or really rough drafts with our horse approximately one month ago (on Jan 10 or 11), we get a repeat of that performance today. Now where did we put those notes? ...

Sunday 2/13 Equine Astrology Tip of Day

2011-02-12T17:14:00.000-05:00

Sunday 2/13 Equine Astrology Tip of the Day: Smart riders won't sleep in this Sunday as productivity peaks early. Imagination rules latter part of day, with a bit of rebelliousness thrown in--which means, if we make any unplanned dismounts, we can make snow angels (assuming nothing's broken).

Made snow angels in the snow drift by front of my barn earlier this week, and the two Ay-rabs on the property snorted and spooked at them! Goofs. (Next time I'll make a snow mountain lion or something ...).

Your Sun Sign is Safe Haiku

2011-01-23T12:11:00.005-05:00

Math is great if it's
numbers we need, but Shakespeare
didn't write with it.

The recent brouhaha about everyone's Sun Sign being wrong is, to quote the Bard, much ado about nothing. Astronomers trot this same story out every few years to discredit astrology. Maybe they're jealous because they can only count the stars, while astrologers can read them.

The TROPICAL zodiac, which is what western Sun Signs are based on, is not anchored to the actual constellations, but rather, to the SEASONS. Due to precession (the slow wobble of the earth on its axis and the affect this has on the visible sky over long periods of time), the seasons no longer align as they once did with the constellations.

This doesn't matter-- in western astrology, ARIES begins at the SPRING EQUINOX. The zodiac circle around the earth is divided into 12 equal segments of 30 degrees each. From the spring equinox outwards, each sign claims one of these segments. The equinoxes and solstices anchor the 4 Cardinal (initiating) signs of Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn.

The sidereal zodiac--the one anchored to the stars (which is what the articles are talking about) is still used in Vedic (Eastern) astrology--but even it isn't anchored to the actual constellations. The constellations vary in size, from super large Virgo to tiny Cancer, they bump into each other, they share stars. So, even in Vedic (astrology anchored to stars), the zodiac is divided into 12 segments of 30 degrees each. Even the ancients didn't want a zodiac of 13 signs. Complicates the math, besides being unlucky. Thus, we ignore Ophiuchus (which is a crazy big constellation that shares space with Libra, Scorpio, and Sagittarius) and let that region of the sky be divided equally between Libra, Scorp, and Sadge.

Depending on where our Sun is in the tropical zodiac (the zodiac anchored to seasons) our Sun may actually be sitting among the stars of a different constellation than 12-fold division of the sky our Sun Sign was named after. This doesn't change the tropical sign our Sun is in. The nice thing about the tropical zodiac is that it self corrects for precession.

Many astrologers (myself included) do consider the background stars as well as the tropical signs. The constellation which frames each of our personal Suns will speak--a Sagittarius with their Sun backed by the actual stars of Scorpio will be a Sadge who is in touch with their dark side (Sagittarius is typically described as being "puppy dog friendly"--but Sag Sun backed by Scorpio stars is a puppy who may bite, or at least pee on your rug when you're not looking, if you've pushed them too far). A Libra whose tropical Libra Sun sits against the actual stars of Virgo is still as relationship-oriented as all Librans are, but this Libra will be more interested in analyzing relationships than in personal interactions.

And then we have the "pure" Sun signs--Leos whose tropical Leo Sun actually sits against the background stars of Leo, for instance. These guys shake their mane and strut when you complement them. The Cancer stars backed Leo Suns merely purr, politely. (Both sulk if they don't get enough attention, so don't ignore the Leos in your life).

The stars have stories to tell, and the sky at our birth imprints a unique star story upon our life ... no two people can be born at exactly the same moment, in exactly the same place. If some astronomers don't know how to read the fault lies not in the stars, but in themselves.

Never give your birthdate to an astrologer,
Trish
****************************
Scorpio sky image generated using Stellarium. (just Google it--Stellarium is free, and fabulous).

Copyright © 2011 Trish Marie, all rights reserved
This message may be freely shared as long as credit and copyright notice are included
('cause even us star-struck astrolgers have to protect our stuff)
*****************************************************************

Election Day Haiku

2010-11-03T13:36:00.000-04:00

Finding no "like" links
by candidate names, Farmville
wins the election.

Republicans, still stunned Obama won his election, hope two years of less hope and change than some expected and more than others did leads to donkey slaughter at the polls. Despite the Humane Society standing by, many pundits say Republicans will get their wish.

Stars say--not so fast. Horoscope for opening moment of polls has retrograde Venus backing away from the Sun (the President, the party in power). Goddess of love and money withdrawing shows a lack of love and support, certainly. But Saturn in the chart (party out of power) is in the 12th house of exile. Two years ago the US public grounded that bunch to their rooms and voters may not be ready to let the kids out yet.

Mercury, ruler of congress, House of Representatives, and state legislatures is so positioned as to favor Republican gain by early voters, out of district voters (mail), and suburban populations but Republican losses when it comes time for people with high ideals, those born far away (immigrants), the compassionate, ill, overlooked, ignored, and people smoking marijuana to vote.

Mercury also aligns with Zuben Elshamali (Beta Libra). Like many of the stars in Libra, this one is connected with social reform but Zuben Elshamali represents the shadowy side of social reform--reform instituted primarily for personal gain. There's got to be something wrong with the stars, because this can't describe our House and Senate! Ahem.

President Obama's inauguration happened under a Void of Course Moon (nothing will come of it). Less has come of the promise of his presidency than many hoped. Health care reform is a significant achievement but will that Void Moon see it all undone? Hate to go back to the drawing board on that one because it'd mean another round of commercials for and against. That's enough to make one ill. (Though better wait to see if we'll be covered first).

Transit (in sky now) Neptune has been passing over the United State's chart's Moon for the past two years. Neptune on Moon's positive manifestations are high ideals, hopes, dreams, and visions, compassion, empathy. It's negative manifestations are disappointment, illusion and disillusion, unrealistic expectations as well as forgetting what the heck we came into the room for.

Neptune involved with Moon is also liquid intoxicants (er, like oil ... we're all addicted; we need only ask the wildlife of the Gulf of Mexico, who, like BP executives, would probably like their life back). Celebrate today's wins, console today's losses at dinner with friends or family and an adult beverage of our choice.

Then we can all awake tomorrow fresh and ready for the start of the 2012 Presidential campaign! (No?)

Weekly horoscopes

2010-09-06T12:27:00.001-04:00

This week Geminis are returning to places they've never been (or trying to), Scorpios are flirting with the enemy, and Capricorns shouldn't get into conflicts ('cause you're gonna lose). More 'scopes at my website! Just click the title (Weekly horoscopes).

Cardinal Cross Haiku I

2010-07-20T10:30:00.006-04:00

"It's not the heat, it's
the humidity," is still
saying we're sweating.

Did you know the words "sweat," and "star," are cousins? Both come from the Indo-European root " sweid which means to shine. Both the right and wrong patterns in the sky can make us sweat, especially if we're not paying attention. Consider that the word consider also comes from sweid, through sidus, a star of constellation of stars. To consider means, literally, to look at the stars carefully, checking to see if we're heading for disaster (dis=against, aster-star; to be against the stars) or about to achieve our desire (literally; from the stars--de=from + sidus, a star).

If what we desire is interesting times, then we're about to meet the right pattern in the sky: an alignment called the Cardinal Cross is about to scare the shi ... er, I mean, entertain us all. This rare pattern indicates enormous tension that disrupts stability, leading to break down or break through moments. Peaks occur at the Full Moon of July 25th, and New Moon of August 9th. In between, the Moon's alignment with Jupiter on July 30th should also keep boredom at bay.

Combine the quality of endurance with an appreciation for the value of change, and we get the perfect approach to this volatile period. That, or learn how to mix a mean martini.

Moon with Pleiades

2010-07-07T12:42:00.004-04:00

Early risers tomorrow earn a vision of the moon in elegant waning crescent sitting beneath the Pleiades. This cluster of stars in Taurus is associated with prophecy but and judgement, blindness in fact or outlook, and face wounds. They're deemed either very good or very bad for love, but then isn't everything? The Subaru car company is named for the Pleiades, which are called "Subaru" in Japan (what are the odds?) and the company logo is an image of this star cluster.

Hey, if someone offered us money to get up early we'd get up, wouldn't we? The Moon with Pleaides offers us insight--especially insight into the darker side of human nature. If we want to tell our evil twin to straighten up, here's our sign. That's better than money anyday, except for those days the bills are due. Pleiades favor gardening too, so if the neighbors have some perennials that need dividing and would look good in our yard--the alignment does happen in the dark.

First Quarter Moon Haiku

2010-06-17T11:17:00.005-04:00

We can't have our bridge

and burn it too, or is that

supposed to be cake?

Today's e-mail message from Repower America says, "Today is Decision Day." No, that's tomorrow, when Moon aligns with Saturn, guardian of lines in the sand (oil covered lines if it's Gulf coast sand). Today Luna aligns with Mars, and it's energized-emotions-leading-to-decisions day. Over fed emotions today can inspire making or breaking commitments tomorrow. Put impulsiveness on a diet and delay consequential decisions until after Friday for best results.

Martian Haiku

2010-06-05T10:59:00.001-04:00

It's said the second
blow starts the fight, so peaceful
folk get licks in first.

Now through mid June offensive and defensive buttons will be easily pushed. Mars, the cosmic hero or cosmic two year old, is in a problematic phase. We're more likely to channel our inner hero or inner two year old (in need of a nap) at this time. Adult two year olds will be thick on the ground through Mid June, carry suckers with which to distract them long enough to make a getaway.

On getting lost

2010-06-03T11:33:00.002-04:00

Someone once asked Daniel Boone if he'd ever been lost. "I can't say as I was ever lost," he replied, "but I was bewildered once for three days." We'll sympathize over the next few days, as Mars, planet of focused action, opposes Neptune, god of illusion and delusion. Mirages in the desert will appear, siren songs across water will be heard. This aspect offers the choice between getting lost or being misguided. If we understand that the two are not the same, we'll be fine.

Don't Panic Haiku

2010-05-28T14:13:00.001-04:00

T.Boone Pickens says

don't panic! Oil man becomes

an astrologer.

Long day of reading charts left no time to cook, so went for take out Chinese. Slip of paper in my fortune cookie held two words: "Don't panic." Later, on Larry King live, T.Boone Pickens kept repeating, "Don't panic." He was talking about the Gulf oil spill disaster but we can apply it generally. Just-past Full Moon is one of extreme emotional highs or lows.

We feel on the cusp of some great breakthrough but also feel it may prove out of reach. Strange dreams are possible, anxious imaginings likely. Misdirected energy will result if we let desire in the driver's seat without carefully examining from whence that desire comes and whether or not it has a license.

Nowadays of course, it's better to put desire on our bicycle's seat (or on our feet, or on public transportation)--the more we do that, the less need to drill for oil where the dolphins and sea turtles play. (Er, used to ...).

Never give your birthdate to an astrologer,
Trish Marie

This newsletter may be freely shared as long as credit and copyright notice are included ('cause even we star struck idealists gotta protect our stuff).

Desire Haiku

2010-05-18T11:50:00.003-04:00

Getting what we want
So much easier when wants
aren't moving targets.

From Mid May's New Moon to late May's Full, tension between where we are and where we want to be is strong. If we're enjoying this preview, we'll love the full show later this summer.

Venus in her evening star phase (she's the brilliant "star" that appears in the west just after sunset) is this week's key player. Monday (5/17) Venus's relationship to expansive Jupiter inspired us to want too much; Tuesday (5/18) Venus aspects Mr. Tough Love, Saturn and we may want too specifically. Wednesday (5/19) Venus and Uranus inspire us to want too erratically (or too willfully), and by week's end, Venus is making faces at Pluto and we're encountering consequences of where we've wanted too obsessively.

"Having is not so pleasing a thing as wanting," observed Star-Trek's Mr. Spock. "It is not logical, but it is often true." Best use of this week's energy is to discern from whence our wants come, and whether our desires are helping us get to chosen destinations or merely increasing the cost of the ticket.

Never give your birth date to an astrologer,
Trish Marie

This newsletter may be freely shared as long as credit and copyright notice are included ('cause even we star struck idealists gotta protect our stuff).Copyright © 2010, Trish MarieAll rights reserved.

Mercury Direct Haiku

2010-05-11T12:50:00.003-04:00

Mercury stuck in
Taurus: We-bulls wobble but
that's far as we'll go.

Mercury, cosmic representative of the power of the pen or "chatty Cathy," energy (depending on how we use it) crawls to a stop today, preparatory to moving forward in motion once more. Mercury has been retrograde, or moving backwards, since April 18th, shredding schedules and bringing many changes of mind as it goes.

Mind changing is not now the problem--brain freezes are. Minds get stuck when Mercury is stuck--especially when Merc is stuck in the sign of Taurus. Many sterling qualities in the sign of the Celestial Bull, initiative not usually being one of them. Communication goes no where. This will not stop people from trying to get their point across, nor will it stop those who have a lot of words but are unfamiliar with the concept of having a point to get across.

Which is why the Powers That Be created answering machines and Caller ID. If our machines are in a recalcitrant mood, channel the patience of the Bull--things will get moving again once Mercury does. Including our minds, which have been stuck on a problem that's eluded final decisions.

Never give your birth date to an astrologer,
Trish
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This newsletter may be freely shared as long as credit and copyright notice are included ('cause even we star struck idealists gotta protect our stuff).Copyright © 2010, Trish MarieAll rights reserved
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Cinco de Mayo astrology

2010-05-05T11:41:00.000-04:00

Wed 5/5, stars give a green light to plans involving changes of direction. Later this evening, Moon trines love goddess Venus, then opposes passion-monger Mars. Fun or fury involving love or money may distract, so if we just want to keep working--hide.

Horoscopes Fri April 30-Thur May 6

2010-05-04T12:47:00.002-04:00

Aries (March 20-April 19): "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned," and we'll have cause to agree this week Aries. William Congreve wrote the line, though everyone thinks it's Shakespeare's. Perhaps if we start our conversation with this fact, we can slip out the door while female friends are musing on it.

Taurus (April 20-May 20): If a man does wrong, wrote Marcus Aureleus, we should "instruct him kindly and point out what is being overlooked." All we can say Taurus is that there must not have been as many idiots around in Marcus's day. Who has time to talk to them all? This week it's show vs tell; our actions get attention so don't waste the moment.

Gemini (May 21-June 20): Romance novelist Mary Wibberley notes that at heart, all fiction is love fiction. We sure wish we knew this before we tried figuring out the story of our life Gem. It would have explained a lot of the confusing parts. This week offers chances to rewrite a chapter or two. Just remember to keep character names consistent or we'll confuse future readers.

Cancer (June 21-July 22): The word "persuasion" has roots that mean "sweet." The stars grant us persuasive powers this week Cancer, but take care to use them well; aedes, which means mosquito in Latin is also connected to the same root. And we know what happens to mosquitos who insist too loudly.

Leo (July 22-Aug 23): The peasants are revolting, Leo, and we don't mean they're carrying pitchforks. We mean, how'd we end up leading these people? It's worse than trying to herd cats. At least cats know basic hygiene. This week we get to add a little class to a gathering once again. Is this how Miss Manners got her start?

Virgo (Aug 23-Sept 22): "Habit, if not resisted, soon becomes necessity," said St. Augustine. As the unofficial patron Saint of breaking bad habits, he would know, Virgo. If we've got any habits we'd like to dump, both Augustine and the stars are on our side this week. How's that for having heaven in our corner?

Libra (Sept 22-Oct 23): "A whirlwind does not last the whole morning," notes the Tao Te Ching, "a downpour does not last the whole day." Nature does not insist. She makes her point, and moves on. We can learn a lot from nature this week Libra. Now if we can just remember which cable channel airs Nat Geo, we'll be all set.

Scorpio (Oct 23-Nov 22): "It is not easy to live alone," writes Henry Beston, "powerful instincts offer battle to such a way of life." Our powerful instincts offer battle all right Scorpio, but it's the people around us stirring them. We'd try the solitude thing but then we'd have to fight with ourselves, and we are one opponent we don't want to tangle with.

Sagittarius (Nov 22-Dec 21): "No guilt is greater than giving in to desire," notes Lao Tzu. It must've been a real downer to have a Chinese sage at a party, is all we can say Sadge. This week we're ready to dig our chip into the dip bowl of life. If the chip breaks, there's always a philosopher who'll tell us what to do with half a chip.

Capricorn (Dec 21-Jan 19): "Never trust a man wearing a better suit than your own," say the Ferengi, Star-Trek's race of über-capitalist aliens. We've found that trusting people dressed like bums isn't always a good plan either Cappy. If we've ever wanted a good reason to book a trip to a nudist colony, this week may be made to order.

Aquarius (Jan 20-Feb 20): Famed attorney Gerry Spence says that the only way to win an argument with loved ones is to be willing to lose it, Aquarius. This week we're meeting challenges based on which arguments we thought we won, but might have lost--or is it vice versa? Hopefully figuring it all out won't take a retainer fee.

Pisces (Feb 19-March 20): If at first you do succeed, hide your astonishment, goes a parody of a more famous proverb. We may want to hang these words on our wall this week Pisces, because the stars favor a sudden, unexpected success. We knew we'd find a way to use j,q, x, and z in a single Scrabble word someday.

Copyright 2010, Trish Marie, all rights reserved. (Hey, Mars doesn't protect our stuff for us you know).

April Full Moon Haiku

2010-04-28T11:19:00.003-04:00

Next time we wish for
a break from routine we'll be
much more specific.

This Full Moon pits Sun in Taurus (money, material resources) against Moon in Scorpio (joint or shared resources, survival issues, sex). Intense issues of sharing and trust are stirred, as are survival needs. Whatever happens, it'll be the other guy's fault. (All Full Moons inspire projection, this one more so).

Bigger problems in the sky than that ol' devil Moon though--Saturn, the force of entrenched, established form is exactly in face off with Uranus, the force of unstoppable change. Uranus rules earthquakes, just try and stop one.

Well, a mountain might. That's Saturn. But even if the mountain can contain the quake, the mountain will be irrevocably changed.

This energy is a long term cycle, lasting from summer 2008 into fall 2010. The very first exact Saturn-Uranus opposition occurred November 4th, 2008 (you can't make this stuff up) when the force of irrevocable change met the force of entrenched interests head on, and expressed itself visibly on the US political stage.

The second exact Saturn-Uranus face off was Monday (April 26th), and the last will be July 26th, 2010. Great tension will be felt in established forms throughout the period. Even this old Earth feels more volatile lately with earthquakes and volcanoes making the news. It's not that the Earth is getting more active--but it is that the inner tension felt by the transit energy is expressed through what we focus on in news and media. Right now, "ground breaking" energy is in the sky--and in the news. (This, by the way, gives us a clue as to how to productively channel the earthquakes in our own lives).

If we think we're feeling pressure on established areas of life now, just wait until July and August, when gosh-darn-Lord-of-the-Underworld Pluto (change inspired by crisis, obsession, sex; sounds kind of fun, really, especially if we've got martini ingredients on hand) joins Saturn and Uranus's little sparring match. One thing for sure; we won't be bored.

Never give your birthdate to an astrologer,
Trish

Libra Full Moon Haiku

2010-03-30T14:01:00.006-04:00

Would Poe's raven have
made a better pet if it
kept saying, "Perhaps?"

The Libran Full Moon sits on the back of Corvus the crow (or raven), and Moon and Saturn appear spilled from overturned Crater, the Celestial Cup. Constellation Hydra (the water-serpent) links them all, as Corvus and Crater ride Hydra's back.

Crater is the cup in which Dionysus (Bacchus) mixed the first wine and is linked to the idea of carrying something precious. It's also connected with prophecy, as it is the prophetic well of Apollo, the Cauldron of Bran and the Holy Grail of Christian myth. Makes sense: drink enough wine, and most people think they see the future, and lots of other things besides.

Crows and Ravens too are connected with prophecy--and procrastination. Apollo's raven tarried in his task of bringing a cup of water to the thirsty god (the raven blamed a water snake--why is it always a snake getting the blame?), and Odin's pair of magic ravens were named Hugin ("Thoughtful") and Munin ("Remembrance").

Thus crows and ravens are perched between the past and the future, procrastination and prophecy, and if we can see the future coming it's no wonder we might want to crawl back into our jammies and stay stuck in the past. Then again, looking back at the past can be enough to scare one right into the future, (except for certain segments of the Republican Party who seem stuck in the 1950's--and that's when they're not stuck in the 1850's).

Perhaps what crows are really saying is carpe diem, seize the day and live in the moment. Though there are some who've told me what crows are saying is, "Caw, caw, caw!"

A Full Moon is a culmination, a completion, a "mission accomplished," (for real we mean) or (sometimes) mission failed, and now new directions are at hand. Full Moon spilling from sacred cup Crater and riding the back of Corvus speaks of completions that straddle the past and future along with much controversy (the crow is associated with news, gossip, debate--Odin's ravens brought him all the news of the day, a feathery CNN ... but what we want to know is did his ravens also Twitter?).

Other alignments at this Full Moon speak of strong, strange longings and being prone to seductions. Quick adaptations to new circumstances as well as potential disappointments with groups of people. This energy strong until near the New Moon on April 14th.

Moon and Saturn align also with Diadem (Alpha Corona Berenices), the star of thoughtful sacrifice (Queen Berenice sacrificed her glorious hair to assure her husband's safe return from war). Fixed Star expert Bernadette Brady says the combination of Moon with Diadem represents a time when humanitarian acts are favored, a willingness to give for the needs of others. Which means we probably should eat the last piece of cake in the fridge; why let our honey or the kid's risk the excess calories?

Sun and Rising sign entries at Trish Marie Astrology's Weekly Horoscopes secion provide clues as to how this Full Moon may impact you.

The constellation picture above was created using Stellarium. Stellarium is free (and fantastic) and and available at Stellarium.org.

Mars Direct Haiku

2010-03-10T12:17:00.003-05:00

We push each other's
buttons because psyches are
not on touch screen yet.

Mars stations direct today, after sliding backwards since December 20th. Mars direct is a stronger Mars, a crabby Mars, a Mars who hasn't had his nap--and as Mars represents how we channel our inner hero or inner two year old, there's going to be a lot of action saying, "I need my nappie," out there right now--and we're not talking about the toddlers.

Our cars may need a nap, or our life's events in general--Mars at station brings glitches in forward (and rearward) motion. At least the starting gate is open again, and once our pony wakes up we'll be on our way.

The Moon opposes Mars soon after station. If our idea of nirvana is picking a fight with a sleep deprived toddler (or adults channeling the same) tonight's the night. Directing that energy into goal setting will be less stimulating but more productive, and of course we can always just ignore the danged old planets and read a good book.

Venus recently shed her hippie costume (Venus in Pisces) for Xena the Warrior Princess wardrobe (Venus in Aries). After Wednesday evening's Moon-Mars stare down, Venus-Xena triggers the Saturn-Pluto square and what we stand to gain verses what we're putting out (or putting up with) becomes Thursday's theme. Restructuring is favored, but try not to do it with any large, sharp-edged objects. That method may have worked for Xena, but that's only 'cause it was in the script.

Never give your birthdate to an astrologer,
Trish Marie

This newsletter may be freely shared as long as credit and copyright notice are included ('cause even we star struck idealists gotta protect our stuff).
Copyright © 2010, Trish MarieAll rights reserved

Lovesick Moon Haiku

2010-02-27T14:45:00.004-05:00

Regarding puppy

love, adults over twenty

will have allergies.

Tonight's Full Moon could well be named the Lovesick Moon--Moon is both at Perigee (closest orbital approach to Earth) and at it's loony Fullest. Jupiter hidden in the beams of the Sun inspires us to target happiness blindly. Venus flirts with the twinned fishes (Pisces), a realm of illusion and dissolution. In mythology, Aphrodite (Venus) and her baby son Eros (Cupid), fleeing the monster Typhon (Typhoon) and were saved by climbing on to the backs of two fishes who swam away with them. It may be the ancients actually meant dolphins when they said fishes--but we call Orcas whales, when actually they're dolphins, so it's not just the ancients who are confused by Piscean things.

A lot of fishy business is going on, with love and desire blended into the mix. Aspects favor illusions in love, delusions in love, love-sickness, longing for love, happiness that proves ephemeral, love-regrets, a misplaced sense of reality (especially where it concerns desire) ... in other words, a romance novelist's dream.

If we had a holodeck, like they do in Star-Trek we'd be all set, because "reveling in an illusion," is what this Moon is all about. Lacking holo-technology, we can go see a play, movie, sack out in front of the tube, work on our romance novel--or any other artistic endeavor that requires stepping outside the bounds of reality for entertainment's sake.

But take action in regards to love--be it falling in or staggering out--under this Moon, only if we enjoy the feeling of being swept out to sea. If we decide to proceed, do expect odd looks from the new love or divorce attorney when we show up wearing a life jacket.

Info on how this Full Moon might affect our Sign is available under "Weekly horoscopes," at Trish Marie Astrology ; the 'scope for our Rising Sign may offer insight too as Sun Sign horoscopes are written assuming the Sun Sign is also the rising sign.

Astrological Haiku

2010-02-24T11:58:00.003-05:00

Moon with Mars in sky

will have more than Toyota

wanting better brakes.

We've the choice between channeling our inner hero or inner two year old over the next several days. Also, avoid food we tend to wolf--Moon passing by Mars inclines towards faster eating. Fast food restaurants should do good business!

The picture was generated by Stellarium. This software is free and available at Stellarium.org

February New Moon Haiku

2010-02-14T12:02:00.000-05:00

Friction's not so bad
we realize, encountering
a space without it.

New Moons represent new beginnings. They represent beginnings so new that we can't even see what we've got yet--a New Moon is prenatal energy; is it a boy? is it a girl? (Pretend there's no such thing as ultrasounds), will it grow up to be a surgeon, or maybe a butcher? Hey, the horoscope charts for both look very much the same ... skill with a knife is skill with a knife, whether we're creating a new hip or expertly trimmed sirloin filet.

Right before a New Moon, the darkening Balsamic Moon is releasing energy, stuff flowing out of our lives. From the Last Quarter Moon to the New is a great time to get rid of things such as habits, attitudes, old couches, and Facebook friends.

This past Balsamic Moon though has held energy favoring stalling more than release though. With retrograde Mars (directed energy) crawling backward in the sky, Saturn (an immovable object) at loggerheads with Pluto (an irresistible force), and waning crescent Moon slipping into invisibility, no one is going anywhere.

Record numbers of flight cancellations, cars snow-bound, mud slides, everyone stuck--even in Vancouver, where the Olympic games are stalled for *lack* of snow. Health care legislation is stalled and, last we heard, ONE senator from Alabama (why is it always Alabama? can someone please vote that state off the island), is holding up all of Obama's appointees.

But now it's the New Moon, and everything will get moving again, right? Well--maybe. Depends on what kind of movement we mean. At this New Moon Sun and Moon are aligned with nebulous Neptune, and "slippage" is favored. That and dissolutions, seductions, strange underminings. Not a good time to ski avalanche prone slopes or take hikes in mudslide prone hills, that is, unless we *want* to be featured on Discovery Channel's "I Shouldn't Be Alive."

Neptune at the New Moon brings a longing for distant places (Jupiter is things that are far away, Neptune, a higher and looser expression of Jupiter, is things that are far, far, faar away ... or as the late singer John Denver, born with a Neptune-ruled Moon used to say, "Far Out."). It brings deception, including self-deception, it brings fantasy--which is fine, as long as we understand it IS fantasy. It's when we start talking to our blow up doll and wondering if we've said something wrong because she seems to be ignoring us that we run into trouble.

New Moon occurs exactly opposite former President Bill Clinton's birth Sun. Sun is vitality and represents the heart specifically, Neptune (with New Moon) is dissolution, a weakening of vitality. Similar alignments will occur next October and November, and those months may represent a period of crisis for the former President so hopefully someone will tell him to rest up in September so as to go into that period as strong as possible. (Being a brave Leo with action loving Mars rising, "resting up" isn't exactly Clinton's strong point).

The best use of this New Moon energy is found in the words of Ludwig Börne, "Losing an illusion makes you wiser than finding the truth."

How this New Moon might affect each of the Sun Signs can be found in the Weekly Horoscopes on my web site (do a bit of reading between the lines folks) at Trish Marie Astrology and do check the Horoscope for your Rising Sign as well as Sun Sign. Both are valid.

Void Moon times (and info on why they're important) can be found at the website as well.

Last Quarter Moon Haiku

2010-02-06T13:31:00.001-05:00

If there were Richter

Scales for feelings we could be

called a fault zone.

Rapid intensification of or changes in feelings. Stay away from places where hot young (or old) things appeal to us or we may have to change our relationship statuses. This goes for our horsies too so we might start out riding one horse and come home riding another (temperamentally speaking).

Groundhog Day Astrology Haiku

2010-02-02T12:14:00.002-05:00

What began as a

garden party now feels like

lunch at Donner pass.

Frustration levels high today but "change seems closer and less scary (or less unreachable) if we don't look down.

Astrological Haiku

2010-01-16T13:07:00.002-05:00

If I give up the

chocolate chip cookies will

stars applaud or boo?

Current alignments favor sudden renunciations, and strange attachments suddenly released.

December Full Moon Haiku

2009-12-02T11:22:00.002-05:00

You say you want a

revolution, goes the song.

A mirror grants it.

Not only do we have the usual Full Lunar Moon lunacy to deal with under Luna's full gaze this December, but Uranus, great god of chaos stations direct. This means that Uranus changes gears from reverse to forward motion. If we've been wondering where all the hippies went, we may spot a few now.

Too many messages, too many ideas, and too much (trivial) news are portended by the Gemini Full Moon. Chaotic events may come through contact with family or the past; old issues can be cleared--but if we do that, we risk a less stressful holiday.

At this Full Moon Sun aligns with the great star Antares, the Heart of the Scorpion. Moon aligns with Aldebaran in the Eye of the Celestial Bull. The line between these two stars is an axis of polarity, seeing issues in black and white, and also an axis of war and peace. We can channel this energy by imitating Henry David Thoreau when he said that the true reform can be taken any morning before one opens their door--and that by doing so, we can reform two thirds of the world ourselves.

But if we really want to embrace the Uranian spirit of chaos we'll channel it by stopping by our local coffee shop and making polarizing political statements out loud into our cell phone (whether its an actual call or not).

Horoscopes for the Full Moon week are up at Trish Marie Astrology.

Never give your birthdate to an astrologer,
Trish Marie

This newsletter may be freely shared as long as credit and copyright notice are included ('cause even we star struck idealists gotta protect our stuff).

Afghan Astrology

2009-11-24T14:48:00.003-05:00

Last night upon leaving a local pub happily content in the contemplation of how good the vegetarian burrito had been, the night sky confronted us with a different contemplation. Gracing the sky as we stepped out the south facing door was a waxing crescent Moon, with Jupiter hanging like a jewel directly below it.

McChrystal is going to get the troops he wants, Karzai is going to be happy, Obama's going to face criticism from Left and Right for the decision (what Barnam said about pleasing people).

And if you're thinking we had too many martinis with that veggy burrito if we're seeing answers in the sky this easily, let me tell you--all we had was coffee.

But--pictures are worth a thousand words. In this planetary picture Jupiter (a crown prince) sits beneath the Moon. Moon rising over a planet is power being taken away. In the first week of December, the Moon will then pass underneath Mars (a warrior). Power is being given to a warrior. The Moon continues on to then pass underneath Saturn (a king). Karzai is an elected president, but also essentially a king and certainly presents a more Saturnian figure (old, traditional, power hungry) than princely Obama (c'mon, admit it ... sometimes we can almost hear all the little animals break into song when Obama appears, just like in the Disney movies).

Today I turn on CNN during lunch break just to make sure no one's reported a meteor hurtling toward Earth (because if they did, I'm not going to bother finishing the laundry) and hear that Obama is promising a decision on Afghanistan soon.

Will McChrystal and Karzai get their desires fulfilled? I think that the Moon thinks so. How will it take power from Obama?--see note above about whose going to be unhappy.

Too bad the President doesn't have a horse. Horses are great therapy (or escape). Look at Reagan--he had a horse, and he was happy no matter what happened. (If Bush had had a horse, Cheney would've probably shot it--accidentally of course, so good thing Bush didn't. Besides, the former president, despite his fondness for cowboy diplomacy, was scared of horses. Don't believe me? Google it.)

And yes, website's horoscopes haven't yet been updated--sometimes doing astrology (for people) gets in the way of doing astrology! If you know what I mean ...

Moon over Jupiter image is from the open-source software Stellarium. Stellarium is free and can be downloaded at Stellarium.org.

Copyright © 2009, Trish MarieAll rights reserved

November Full Moon Haiku

2009-11-02T14:52:00.003-05:00

Conversational

lines are gonna be crossed;

can words get passports?

"It sure is quiet out here," I thought while watching a brilliant Full Moon rise--then the astrologer brain kicked in and replied, "Are you kidding? Who can hear any quiet through all this shouting?!" November's Full Moon rises into conflict as aspects favor mental and verbal warfare ... this in addition to the usual Full Moon lune-i-ness.

The Full Moon opposes Mercury, a difficult position as the Moon is considered an enemy of Mercury; Merc is the planet of pure thought and verbal clarity while the Moon is emotions and personal preferences. "Pure thought and verbal clarity" are in short supply when people are emotional and taking everything personally. And foo on anyone who disagrees, so there.

Mars, god of war, is intimately mixed up with the Full Moon as well. Mars is anything that's got a keen edge (Mars=war=weapons=sharp objects), Mercury is communication, Moon is instinct and security needs. Mix them all together and we've got sharpened tongues driven by instinctive defensive behavior. That'll liven up a party any day. (Shorten it too, usually). Of course there are productive ways to use every aspect--we could sharpen our minds or pencils for instance. Resisting the urge to channel our inner two year old will be easier said than done under this Full Moon energy, but then in the end, everything is easier said than done unless we're speaking Welsh and short on vowels.

Mercury feeling picked upon by Mars and Moon can indicate that our communication equipment, electronics, and schedules are feeling picked upon too. A martini or two will help, unless our computer takes things as personally as HAL did in the movie 2001.

Did the events of Halloween weekend surprise us? If so, we may have forgotten to check our weekly horoscopes at Trish Marie Astrology.

This Thursday, Nov. 5th friendly neighborhood Astrologer will be appearing live at Equine Gatherings, Metamora's wonderfully unique Tack Store/cozy community gathering place for all lovers of things equine. Six to Eight pm.

Scorpio Horses

2009-10-25T13:40:00.001-04:00

Name your Scorpio

horse "Lassie," and she still won't

want to lick your face.

So now the Sun has entered Scorpio (Fri. Oct 23-Sat Nov. 21st). Once upon a time it marked that stage of the year when people began spending more time indoors than out, huddled by a cheerful fire.

Nowadays we huddle round the television sets. I always love those hokey horse-lover westerns where the hero or heroine is about to be done in by the Bad Guy, when suddenly hero's faithful steed clatters into the barn, and the last thing we see is Bad Guy falling backwards into the stall, while faithful horse rears up and down with sounds of trampling and righteous nickers. These movies are written by the Walt Disney school of animal behavior, but hey, if we wanted reality we'd go muck out a barn.

I know horse people who swear their horse *would* rush to their defense should it ever be required. These people usually have a healthy dose of Cancer in their charts--Cancerians tend towards a "Timmy & Lassie," view of the world, which is why they're so devastated when other people in their life prove to have more complex motives than television collies. (If we're in a relationship with a Cancerian, channeling Lassie every now and then will help keep the home fires burning warmly; just keep the panting to a minimum or our efforts may be misconstrued).

If a horse were to gallop in and trample the Bad Guy, that horse may well be one born between (approximately) October 24th and November 22nd, when Sun is in Scorpio. Scorpio's do not like it when others mess with their stuff! A Scorpio horse is territorial. They don't usually need to get out the heavy artillery though. Scorpio horses, like Scorpio people, get the point across by freezing the opposition with one cold, hard glare.

When not playing Medusa a Scorpio's eyes are among the most beautiful in the zodiac; deep wells of inscrutable passion. It's not a passion like the Aries horses' passion though, flung all over the place willy-nilly and for any reason; Scorpio is stoic. Best not to reveal strengths or weaknesses so as to keep the advantage.

Scorpio horses don't request respect, they demand it, and this horse requires a confident rider who doesn't mind being tested--because the Scorpio horse will test you. They want a rider they can respect, so be willing to meet the challenge. And don't go baby talking and kissy-kissying your Scorpio horse in public unless you want her to dump you on the way home.

Scorpio horses make spectacular endurance and event horses; they enjoy having their mettle fully tested and like activities that let them use their bravery (okay, their desire for domination) to openly defeat rivals.

In 2009 Scorpio horses experienced many changes on the home front and may have had some trouble maintaining their position in the herd. Better news in 2010 though, as the stars favor accomplishment in competitive games as well as finishing up some significant realm of training. And while it's no more true that Scorpio horses spend all their time thinking about sex than it is true of Scorpio people (both also spend significant time thinking up ways of manipulating themselves into positions of greater power in the herd), foals will be a more prominent part of the Scorp horse's life in 2010 as well.

New to First Quarter Moon Haiku

2009-10-20T16:40:00.002-04:00

Thin lines between love

and war makes it easy to

keep feet in both camps.

Once upon a time Native Americans of the western United States thought that gold's chief value lay in it's softness--it could be molded into bullets without having to be heated first. When natives discovered that using gold in this manner inspired some whites to try and get themselves shot at (so they could collect any bullets that missed) the tribes were certain ... there was something intrinsic to gold that made white men crazier than white men were already deemed to be.

The stellar energy between the Libra New Moon (Oct 18) and the First Quarter (October 25) inspires modern versions of wanting something so badly we're willing to get shot at to get a chance to have it. Just ask "Balloon boy's" father--it doesn't take a wise old tribal elder to see that he is one crazy dude, and we don't mean in a good way.

Passion runs high, and we may love, hate, or want with a vengeance. This energy can also be channeled into impassioned creativity but love, hate, and desire get more movies devoted to them.

Through this period, if we want something so badly we're willing to do crazy things to get it we might want to stop and think how our actions would be perceived if played out on television. If we like the picture presented, by all means, loose that arrow.

We could also channel the energy towards constructive creativity but the only person who writes movie scripts about authors diligently working on their novels is Stephen King, and we know how those stories always turn out. Why take chances?

New weekly horoscopes are up on my website as well as Void Moon times and an explanation of what the heck a Void Moon is and why we should care.

Never give your birthdate to an astrologer,
Trish
********************************************
These rantings may be freely shared as long as credit and copyright notice are included ('cause even we star struck idealists gotta protect our stuff).

October Full Moon Haiku

2009-10-04T12:23:00.002-04:00

If Moon and Sun are

lovers, like the mystics say,

who's their therapist?

"If love is the answer," quipped Lily Tomlin, "can you rephrase the question?" The October Full Moon is usually one of the "looniest" of the year, as the opposition of Sun and Moon across Libra and Aries pits the part of us that wants to watch a happily-ever-after ending romance against the part that wants to watch, "Rambo VII."

Although there are many Libran's who would rather chew off their right arm than sing "Going to the Chapel," and certainly there's plenty of Arians who like nothing better than walking hand in hand with a significant other, in general Libra describes our social, and especially partnering needs while Aries seeks independence.

At the time of the Full Moon, Mars rises with the Fixed Star Pollux (beta Gemini). Twins in mythology embody the polarity between good and evil (Cain and Abel are a classic illustration of this, although I've always thought Abel hired lobbyists to swing things his way ...). Pollux is the "bad" twin in the Gemini pair, and when we team bad boy Mars with pugnacious Pollux, it's like sitting two class troublemakers next to each other. It's possible they channel their abundant energy towards healthy competition; teaming up to beat everyone else in the science project for example. It's more likely that they come up with mutual ideas for causing trouble.

Mix a Sun in Libra singing "I want to hold your hand," opposing Full Moon in Aries getting ready to bite whichever of its own hands is tempted into taking Libra up on the offer, add Mars rising with Pollux and the course of true love, as well as relationships in general, may run anything but smoothly.

We can channel this energy productively, as it favors hard work, athletics, and flexing mental as well as physical muscles, but projecting our issues onto our partner and fighting over the result is so much more entertaining for the neighbors.

Full Moon Sun is at 11 degrees of Libra, Full Moon Moon is 11 degrees of Aries; People born between OCTOBER 3-6th or LATE MARCH/EARLY APRIL may* be able to skip buying a diary this year, as we won't easily forget the year's events.

*If born within the date range, our birth Sun will be on or near 11° Libra or 11°Aries-the closer natal Sun is to these degrees, the more likely the odds we experience the effects. Check with your friendly, neighborhood astrologer for more details.

On to the Voids!--which are now posted through Mid November on my website, along with an explanation of what the heck a Void Moon is, as well as weekly horoscopes for all signs (can we stand the excitement?):

Trish Marie Astrology

Never give your birthdate to an astrologer,
Trish
****************
This newsletter may be freely shared as long as credit and copyright notice are included ('cause even we star struck idealists gotta protect our stuff).Copyright © 2009, Trish MarieAll rights reserved.

September New Moon Haiku

2009-09-19T09:20:00.001-04:00

Renunciate means

we no longer let our stuff

lord it over us.

We've just passed the New Moon (Fri 9/18) and Saturn, planet of renunciation and separation, exactly aligns with Sun and Moon with backwards tracking Mercury hovering nearby.

New Moons are usually about new beginnings, but this New Moon is more about endings--new endings, I guess we could say. At the New Moon, Sun and Moon align together--that's what a New Moon is ... (if they are in a direct line together from perspective of Earth we have an eclipse). But along with Sun and Moon, at the same exact degree is Saturn, planet of endings, separations, and crystallization. By crystallization I mean things get very hard and real under Saturnian influence. And as if that wasn't enough, retrograde Mercury was backing into the bunch just a few degrees away. This combined influence can make for things seeming too hard and real, or life just a bit more depressing than it ought to be. This energy can be countered by concentrating on tasks that require discipline and hard work. What--we expected our astrologer to say the energy can be countered with martinis? Sorry, gotta wait for a Neptune transit for that.

New Moon influence will extend to the next Full Moon (2 weeks away) and in some regards, to the next New Moon. If we've anything we want to get rid of or classify (Saturn's influence is cold and dry--which means, discriminating), this period is a great time to do it! If the couch happens to be underneath what we want to be rid of, hey, drag them both to the curb.

New weekly horoscopes now up on my website: http://trishmarieastrology.com/. These horoscopes are based on the position of the New Moon in relation to the different zodiac signs and generalized insight into how the New Moon will affect you can be gleaned from the information. If we know our Rising Sign as well as our Sun sign, read that too.

Fanatical Last Quarter Moon Haiku

2009-09-10T21:46:00.001-04:00

Fanatics may get

attention but who wants to

have a beer with them?

It's the energy of this last quarter Moon. Too bad no one thought to warn Congressman Joe Wilson. Concentrated--you could say "fanatical"--energy working towards productive goals is another way this Quarter Moon energy can be channeled. Or we could just drink an excess of martinis and watch all the drama from the sidelines.

This energy will last through the weekend. We can't say we haven't been warn ..., er, I mean, given a head's up. (The sky is always talking).

Never give your birthdate to an astrologer,
Trish

Samoa switches at Mercury Retrograde

2009-09-07T12:56:00.001-04:00

Today in the island nation of Samoa automobile traffic switches from driving on the right to driving on the left, bringing traffic rules there more in sync with Australia and New Zealand.

Today up in the sky from the perspective of the island nation of Samoa (and anyplace else on Earth) Mercury, the planet that rules short distance trips, travel, cars, and general traffic rules, begins retrograde motion--that is, backs up. Mercury retrogrades are often believed to indicate periods of time when travel accidents are more likely and many in the astro blogosphere are predicting mass chaos and a plethora of accidents in Samoa, what with the new traffic rules and Mercury Retrograde.

This astrologer? Me thinks Samoa will record far fewer accidents than normal.

On September 3rd, 1967 Sweden also switched driving sides (from left to right). Mercury had also just turned retrograde. Forecasters of all types, not just the star-obsessed, also predicted mass chaos and many accidents. And what happened? Swedish roads became remarkably safer. They were safer on September 3rd, they were safer the rest of the month, in fact--it wasn't until a YEAR later that accident rates returned to the level they had been before the switch.

The reason why Swedish roads were suddenly safer is simple: nervous about the change, drivers suddenly began driving more cautiously and paying more attention to what they were doing. Who could have guessed that simply keeping our mind on the road makes travel safer for everyone? Swedish drivers kept driving with increased awareness until the novelty of the switch began to wear off--approximately one year after the switch. Then it was back to driving as if no lives depended on it and the body count returned to normal.

Mercury Retrograde gets a bad rap.

Every Merc Retro stargazer's get asked if it's safe to travel (I've had people call who were ready to cancel prepaid trips because they discovered Mercury would be retrograde). Planes do not drop out of the sky in unusual numbers during Mercury retrograde--if they did, someone other than astrologers would have made the connection. Accident stats don't go up. Cruise ships don't sink in unusual numbers, bicycles don't get more flat tires, horses don't throw more shoes, and walkers and runners don't lose their footwear. (Ever notice a single tennis shoe or sandal laying in or along side the road? What's up with that? Did the runner lose a shoe and just not notice? Or socks? It's always one. One foot suddenly get sweaty? Strange.)

What Mercury retrograde essentially means is that Mercury things get emphasized. Communication, travel, schedules, organizing/compartmentalizing things, business and contracts. All Mercury things and all up for emphasis when Merc goes retro. We talk on our phones every day and don't think much about it--unless the phone doesn't work. Use our computers every day and don't think about it--until the computer balks. Drive and don't think about it (a scary thought when you think about it!) until we have an accident or get lost.

So it can seem like Mercury retrogrades cause problems in these areas; all Mercury retrograde portends though is that problems in these areas are more probable. The likelihood is increased that communication will be a stand out issue because we've just pitched our computer out the door as blood pressure therapy. BUY a computer or other communication or electronic or travel equipment under Merc retro, or sign a contract under Merc retro and the likelihood is increased that the equipment or contract will demand more than the usual attention. Which is usually not a good thing (hassle to take the computer back for repair, redo the contract, reschedule the doctor's appointment, etc). But it's also usually not a life changing event. It's usually not, in the grand scheme of things, any big deal. And sometimes it can even be a good thing.

In Samoa, at this Mercury Retrograde, driving is taking up more than the usual amount of attention, accident rates will go down, and Mercury won't get any thanks even though he gets all the blame when stuff goes wrong at the retro. Weather forecasters can probably relate.

Mercury will be in Retrograde from today through September 29th. Lost items and old friends often reappear under Mercury Retrogrades, and the retro loves to shred schedules so do leave wiggle room in our planner. If we don't need it, we can use the space to draw doodles later.

Pisces Full Moon Haiku

2009-09-07T11:00:00.002-04:00

This Pisces Full Moon

brings strange undoings. Maybe

Gordian knots slip.

Full Moon ruler Jupiter in alignment with Neptune, planet of sacrifice and disappearance. Chiron, the maverick bringer of wounds and healings also in the mix. Look for the hidden luck.

Astrological Haiku

2009-08-29T09:50:00.001-04:00

Mercury square Mars,

our words have teeth.

Ouch. Just bit our tongue.

Flipping burgers could have saved Michael Jackson

2009-08-26T23:49:00.004-04:00

Here's a different kind of astrological analysis .... in it we don't need the planets, we don't need Michael Jackson's birth date or Sun sign or Moon sign or the transits at time of death--heck, we don't even need an astrologer. All we need is a little Mecury-Saturn common sense.

The newly released coronor's report on what killed Michael Jackson has told us what we already knew: lethal levels of drugs did the deed-specifically, anesthetics.

Jackson's personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, says he gave Jackson repeated doses of drugs only reluctantly, and only because Jackson kept begging him to. Jackson was desperate to sleep and couldn't--despite an all night into early morning regime of Valium and other drugs, including the final and fatal propofol.

Couldn't sleep? I'm reminded of a line from an ancient Greek play by Menander in which a young slave says to his master,

Insomnia? I dare say -- and here's the reason,

How do you live? A stroll around the market

And back you come all tired. Then a nice warm bath.

Food, when you feel like eating. Sleep? Your life's a sleep.

So many good things crowd on you, you've got no room

For any ordinary need.

Instead of giving Michael Jackson drugs, his doctors would have served him well to prescribe a job. We mean a real job; working at McDonald's say. An additional Rx of going to the grocery after working a full shift, buying his own food, bringing it home, cooking it, maybe mowing the yard before tv and bed. Clean his own bathroom on his day off. He'd of slept then--like a baby, probably.

Not saying Jackson would've had to do this indefinately. But a year of it, say--or even a few months. The reward? Hard won insight on how to get a good night's sleep (and hard won anything is the best kind--as Saturn shows us, what we have to work for, we keep) and enough appreciation for the kind of life available to him that we bet a lot of the man's issues would have disappeared of their own accord.

Flipping burgers could have saved Michael Jackson.

After all, it worked for Elvis. (Just ask all the people who've seen him manning the grills at fast food joints around the country, furtively trying not to be recognized ...)

Whales and weekly horoscopes

2009-08-21T23:12:00.004-04:00

If our partner's snoring wakes us up in the pre-dawn hours and we can't get back to sleep, don't waste time tossing and turning. Wrap up in a favorite blanky and go look at the sky! (Hey, you'd be surprised how many people began studying astrology due to snoring ...).

Right now Mar rises early in the east, soon followed by lovely Venus. The ancients believed that Venus was in lust with her lover Mars and would chase him into the sky begging for sex, proving only that wishful thinking was as rampant several thousand years ago as it is today.

(An aside; when visiting Denver, Colorado--a bicycle lovers paradise--this bicycle loving astrologer saw a buff young fellow pushing his bicycle by it's seat down the street. Riding bikes isn't allowed on the main tourist street in Denver because of too many pedestrians. He had a beautiful bike and as he walked by I couldn't help ogling it. He caught my ogle and broke into a wide grin, obviously thinking--"I'm so hot even these old chicks can't help gawking." It was the bike that caught my eye, but no point saying so and deflating the poor fella.)

Mars in the early morning is moving between the horns of the Celestial Bull, a turbulent place to be in the best of times and Mars is also throwing dirt clods at half the other planets in the sky all week. What's it all mean? It means we can either channel energy dynamically and productively or we can fight. It means the health care debates will remain entertaining with focus remaining on loud mouths channeling their inner 2-year old. It means that verbally expressing political, religious, and any other controversial opinion while out and about will guarantee we're soon in the midst of a, um ... lively ... conversation. And it means that if our sweetie is driving us stark, raving mad, best thing to do is get the heck out of there and go ride our horse, or bicycle, dig in our garden, or ...

... write a letter to the gosh dang Japanese Government about how civilized and supposedly enlightened people can probably find better ways of engaging intelligent, socially complex creatures like whales than eating them. Contact information for Japanese officials below! (Or, hey, insert cause of choice--When Mars is active, as he is now, channeling our inner hero and inner warrior will head off any temptation to channel our inner two year old).

Mars wants action but will settle for trouble. Give it action or it will help us find the other!

Another thing to do is check out the new weekly horoscopes now up at: http://trishmarieastrology.com/

Yeah, it's Sun Sign stuff but still--yes--(those who've asked) it's based on real astrology.

Keep in mind that we can read our Rising Sign as well as Sun Sign. Because of the way Sun Sign columns are written, the Rising Sign scope will be valid too.

"The killing of a whale by the most modern method is cruel beyond description. An exploding harpoon meant to kill quickly rarely does more than rupture the whale's organs. It thrashes, and gushes blood and begins to drown in its own hemorrhage. It is winched to the side of the kill ship and a probe is jabbed into it and thousands of volts of electricity are run through in an attempt to kill it faster. The whale screams and thrashes. Often, if it is a mother, her calf swims wildly around her, doomed to its own slow death later on. Again, the electricity fails to kill the whale, and it normally takes fifteen to twenty minutes of this torture for the whale to drown and die. Whatever one things of whales' high intelligence, the advanced social structure, the obvious emotions and the still mysterious ability to communicate over long distances, this method of slaughter would not be allowed as standard practice in any slaughterhouse in the world." Peter Heller, The Whale Warriors
(It was 25 minutes from harpooning to death for the whale in the video link above).

The Prime Minister of Japan, Taro Aso, is a Virgo with Moon and Saturn both in Taurus. Practical arguments appeal to this type of astrological mix, and whaling is both unsustainable and impractical. Saturn will be moving into the Prime Minister's solar 2nd house beginning late October and over the next couple of years, values will either become more entrenched or be open (via stress) to alteration. Jupiter moving into his solar 7th house suggests that world opinion/the opinions of others will become a bigger influence in his life in 2010. Pens or keyboards at the ready? ...
PRIME MINISTER OF JAPAN
Prime Minister Taro Aso1-6-1 Nagata-choChiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8968 JAPANTel: +81-3-5253-2111E-mail form: http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/forms/comment.htmlE-mail: Kanteihp-info@cas.go.jpPublic Relations Fax: +81-3-3581-3883

MINISTER OF FISHERIES1-2-1 KsumigasekiChiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8907 JAPANTel:+81-3-3502-8111Fax: +81-3-3502-0794E-mail form: http://www.voice.maff.go.jp/maff-interactive/people/ShowWebFormAction.do?FORM_NO=5Website: www.maff.go.jp./eindex.html

This newsletter may be freely shared as long as credit and copyright notice are included ('cause even we star struck idealists gotta protect our stuff).Copyright © 2009, Trish MarieAll rights reserved

Astrology of Health Care debates

2009-08-21T23:00:00.002-04:00

Just when we thought politics was getting boring again along comes the health care debates. Chiron, the wounded healer has been holding court with Jupiter and Neptune all year. Jupiter expands things, wants them to get bigger and "health issues" sure have gotten bigger. Neptune is compassion and inclusiveness, the old "everything is part of the whole," mantra. We could even start singing Kumbaya when Neptune comes around except no one's going to be able to find their guitars or harmonicas. For Neptune is essentially strange vanishing, sublime malevolence. "I feel it gone, but know not how it went," wrote the Bard and he must've done so under a Neptune transit.

What's the mix mean for health care? This astrologer is tempted to say nothing good. This will mean different things to different people however (just the way Neptune likes it) depending on whether we're one of those who thinks everyone should have access to the joy of a doctor's office visit or hospital stay, or whether we think ill health is something only those who can pay for the privilege should risk enjoying.

RIGHT NOW Mercury, god of yak, yak and Mars, that planet that aids us in channeling our inner warrior--or our inner 2 year old (as we choose) are making faces at each other and conversations are passionate, or "heated." This aspect strong through this weekend so channel verbal and mental energy into pursuits that stimulate positive passion. But why be productive when we can eat up hours fervently trying to change someone's mind while they're just as fervently trying to change ours? It's choices like this why they make coins with two faces.

On to the Voids. All times given in Eastern or Pacific Daylight Saving time. The rest of the world, you've got to convert! (We mean the time zones silly--what God/s/esses anyone chooses to worship, ignore or disbelieve in is not something that's on my, "things Trish should stress over," note board.)

SATURDAY, AUGUST 15th MOON IS IN GEMINI and she is not Void. Moon NOT Void--go ahead and begin something. Like an argument. Mercury and Mars at odds will help that escalate. Really. (Yeah, yeah, we could always sit back and just take in information ourselves, see what we can use it for in our own once and future kingdom, but where's the entertainment value in that?). Moon enters Void at 11:19 PM PDT.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 16th, MOON ENTERS VOID at 2:19 am EDT. (Already there PDT). Luna LEAVES THE VOID at 9:13 am EDT (6:13 am PDT) and enters Cancer. Pre-dawn sky will be worth getting up for the next several mornings as a crescent Moon slides by through the constellation (not quite the same thing as zodiac sign) Gemini and morning star Venus.

MONDAY, AUGUST 17th Moon is not Void. Pre-dawn sky is worth getting up for--look east! ACCIDENT ENERGY HIGH TODAY, TUESDAY--drive carefully and don't run with scissors.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 18th Moon enters the Void at 3:09 am EDT, 0:09 PDT. She leaves Void at 9:57 am EDT, 6:57 am PDT and enters Leo. Accident energy high, but don't take my word for it--go ahead and ride the horse in the barn with the most issues and see for ourselves.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19th MOON IS IN LEO, no voids. If we want something out of our life, today's a good day to feed it to the Lions.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 20th, MOON ENTERS THE VOID at 6:02 am EDT, 3:02 am PDT. Leaves the Void at 10:00 am EDT, 7:00 am PDT and enters VIRGO. This is also the day of the LEO NEW MOON. Leo is a sign that loves personal attention (it is symbolized by the King of Beasts, after all) but under current aspects the concept of noblesse oblige-"nobility obligates," particularly applies. The true King serves the people, rather than expects to be served. Self-promotion fails, altruistic acts are favored. Egads, it's enough to make one want to be a peasant for the week.

The MOON IS IN VIRGO on FRIDAY, AUGUST 21st and she is not Void.

LUNA ENTERS THE VOID on SATURDAY, AUGUST 22nd at 7:44 am EDT, 4:44 am PDT (Pacific coasters, we do expect you to be up for this event--how can we resist a 4:44 am start time after all?). LUNA LEAVES THE VOID at 11:21 am EDT, 8:12 am PDT and enters Libra. --SUN ENTERS VIRGO--.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 23rd MOON IS IN LIBRA and she is not Void.

MOON ENTERS THE VOID on MONDAY, AUGUST 24th at 2:10 pm EDT, 11:10 am PDT. Leaves the void at 3:16 pm EDT, 12:16 pm PDT and enters Scorpio.

MOON IS IN SCORPIO ON TUESDAY, AUGUST 25TH AND SHE IS NOT VOID. Mars enters Cancer, there to stay 'til Mid October. Sometime in this time frame Cancer Sun/Moon/ and especially Rising sign people will feel Mars energy especially strongly. Mars wants passion but will settle for trouble, so if we're not being passionately productive we're going to be passionately running from the crowd of people we've pissed off. Our choice.

Also today, Mercury enters Libra, there to stay 'til mid September. Mercury is communication, Libra is indecisiveness. Our final answer may not really be our final answer.

MOON ENTERS THE VOID ON WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26th at 2:34 am EDT, 11:34 am PDT. SHE LEAVES THE VOID AT 11:16 pm EDT, 8:16 pm PDT and enters SAGITTARIUS. Venus enters LEO and big cats as well as little get hugs and kisses through most of September.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 27th the MOON IS IN SAGITTARIUS and she is not Void. First quarter Moon, face challenges to our dream head on. Unless the challenge is from a bulldozer, then maybe better to just sneak up on the thing.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 28th the MOON IS IN SAGITTARIUS. Moon enters the Void at 10:28 pm PDT.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 29th MOON ENTERS THE VOID at 1:26 am EDT (already there, PDT). Leaves the Void at 10:44 am EDT (7:44 am PDT) and enters cut throa--er, we mean, ambitious CAPRICORN.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 30th MOON IS IN CAPRICORN, NO VOIDS.

MONDAY, AUGUST 31st Moon enters the Void at 2:09 pm EDT (11:09 am PDT). She leaves the Void at 11:43 pm EDT, 8:43 pm PDT and enters Aquarius.

Never give your birthdate to an astrologer,
Trish
*******************

This newsletter may be freely shared as long as credit and copyright notice are included ('cause even we star struck idealists gotta protect our stuff).Copyright © 2009, Trish Marie

Health Care and astrology

2009-08-14T15:24:00.001-04:00

Just when we thought politics was getting boring again along comes the health care debates. Chiron, the wounded healer has been holding court with Jupiter and Neptune all year. Jupiter expands things, wants them to get bigger and "health issues" sure have gotten bigger. Neptune is compassion and inclusiveness, the old "everything is part of the whole," mantra. We could even start singing Kumbaya when Neptune comes around except no one's going to be able to find their guitars or harmonicas. For Neptune is essentially strange vanishing, sublime malevolence. "I feel it gone, but know not how it went," wrote the Bard and he must've done so under a Neptune transit.

What's the mix mean for health care? This astrologer is tempted to say nothing good. This will mean different things to different people however (just the way Neptune likes it) depending on whether we're one of those who thinks everyone should have access to the joy of a doctor's office visit or hospital stay, or whether we think ill health is something only those who can pay for the privilege should risk enjoying.

RIGHT NOW Mercury, god of yak, yak and Mars, that planet that aids us in channeling our inner warrior--or our inner 2 year old (as we choose) are making faces at each other and conversations are passionate, or "heated." This aspect strong through this weekend so channel verbal and mental energy into pursuits that stimulate positive passion. But why be productive when we can eat up hours fervently trying to change someone's mind while they're just as fervently trying to change ours? It's choices like this why they make coins with two faces.

On to the Voids. All times given in Eastern or Pacific Daylight Saving time. The rest of the world, you've got to convert! (We mean the time zones silly--what God/s/esses anyone chooses to worship, ignore or disbelieve in is not something that's on my, "things Trish should stress over," note board.)

SATURDAY, AUGUST 15th MOON IS IN GEMINI and she is not Void. Moon NOT Void--go ahead and begin something. Like an argument. Mercury and Mars at odds will help that escalate. Really. (Yeah, yeah, we could always sit back and just take in information ourselves, see what we can use it for in our own once and future kingdom, but where's the entertainment value in that?). Moon enters Void at 11:19 PM PDT.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 16th, MOON ENTERS VOID at 2:19 am EDT. (Already there PDT). Luna LEAVES THE VOID at 9:13 am EDT (6:13 am PDT) and enters Cancer. Pre-dawn sky will be worth getting up for the next several mornings as a crescent Moon slides by through the constellation (not quite the same thing as zodiac sign) Gemini and morning star Venus.

MONDAY, AUGUST 17th Moon is not Void. Pre-dawn sky is worth getting up for--look east! ACCIDENT ENERGY HIGH TODAY, TUESDAY--drive carefully and don't run with scissors.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 18th Moon enters the Void at 3:09 am EDT, 0:09 PDT. She leaves Void at 9:57 am EDT, 6:57 am PDT and enters Leo. Accident energy high, but don't take my word for it--go ahead and ride the horse in the barn with the most issues and see for ourselves.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19th MOON IS IN LEO, no voids. If we want something out of our life, today's a good day to feed it to the Lions.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 20th, MOON ENTERS THE VOID at 6:02 am EDT, 3:02 am PDT. Leaves the Void at 10:00 am EDT, 7:00 am PDT and enters VIRGO. This is also the day of the LEO NEW MOON. Leo is a sign that loves personal attention (it is symbolized by the King of Beasts, after all) but under current aspects the concept of noblesse oblige-"nobility obligates," particularly applies. The true King serves the people, rather than expects to be served. Self-promotion fails, altruistic acts are favored. Egads, it's enough to make one want to be a peasant for the week.

The MOON IS IN VIRGO on FRIDAY, AUGUST 21st and she is not Void.

LUNA ENTERS THE VOID on SATURDAY, AUGUST 22nd at 7:44 am EDT, 4:44 am PDT (Pacific coasters, we do expect you to be up for this event--how can we resist a 4:44 am start time after all?). LUNA LEAVES THE VOID at 11:21 am EDT, 8:12 am PDT and enters Libra. --SUN ENTERS VIRGO--.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 23rd MOON IS IN LIBRA and she is not Void.

MOON ENTERS THE VOID on MONDAY, AUGUST 24th at 2:10 pm EDT, 11:10 am PDT. Leaves the void at 3:16 pm EDT, 12:16 pm PDT and enters Scorpio.

MOON IS IN SCORPIO ON TUESDAY, AUGUST 25TH AND SHE IS NOT VOID. Mars enters Cancer, there to stay 'til Mid October. Sometime in this time frame Cancer Sun/Moon/ and especially Rising sign people will feel Mars energy especially strongly. Mars wants passion but will settle for trouble, so if we're not being passionately productive we're going to be passionately running from the crowd of people we've pissed off. Our choice.

Also today, Mercury enters Libra, there to stay 'til mid September. Mercury is communication, Libra is indecisiveness. Our final answer may not really be our final answer.

MOON ENTERS THE VOID ON WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26th at 2:34 am EDT, 11:34 am PDT. SHE LEAVES THE VOID AT 11:16 pm EDT, 8:16 pm PDT and enters SAGITTARIUS. Venus enters LEO and big cats as well as little get hugs and kisses through most of September.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 27th the MOON IS IN SAGITTARIUS and she is not Void. First quarter Moon, face challenges to our dream head on. Unless the challenge is from a bulldozer, then maybe better to just sneak up on the thing.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 28th the MOON IS IN SAGITTARIUS. Moon enters the Void at 10:28 pm PDT.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 29th MOON ENTERS THE VOID at 1:26 am EDT (already there, PDT). Leaves the Void at 10:44 am EDT (7:44 am PDT) and enters cut throa--er, we mean, ambitious CAPRICORN.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 30th MOON IS IN CAPRICORN, NO VOIDS.

MONDAY, AUGUST 31st Moon enters the Void at 2:09 pm EDT (11:09 am PDT). She leaves the Void at 11:43 pm EDT, 8:43 pm PDT and enters Aquarius.

Never give your birthdate to an astrologer,
Trish
*******************
Trish Marie Astrology on Facebook needs fans! (And the stars favor shameless begging so...)

Lunar Eclipse and Voids thru August

2009-08-06T15:29:00.003-04:00

There was a Lunar Eclipse with the August 5/6th Full Moon but we wouldn't know it by looking. This eclipse, like the Lunar Eclipse of July 7th has the Moon barely grazing the Earth's shadow and no visible change in Luna's light will occur. We can think of tonight's Moon as an Full Moon with extra punch. If we're a werewolf (or know any) lay in a supply of raw meat now.

Tonight's Moon triggers a conflict of energy; on the one hand Uranus's building square to Pluto inspires revolutionary impulses. We're ready to march (metaphorically or otherwise) for peace, justice, universal health care, baby seals--something!). On the other hand, the Jupiter/Neptune/Chiron (dreams crashing into cold, hard reality) involvement in this Eclipse inclines us to expect more from people and society than they are capable of giving. So say the stellar alignments, though the wise person, instead of seeing the glass as half empty--or even half full--will instead try and discover who drank half their beer.

So if we feel like breaking out of a rut today, thank the Moon! If we get halfway out of the rut only to have a cold pint thrust into our hand, likewise thank the Moon (try not to drink so much we drift too far back into the rut unless of course we left the chips down there). If we're the one doing the pouring, pay attention--under these alignments we could easily fill everyone's mug only to find we've none left for our own. Now that would be hopeful expectations running into cold, hard reality.

Moon is in Aquarius today, Wed. Aug 5th. She is not Void.

Moon enters the Void THURSDAY, AUGUST 6th at 8:20 pm EDT, 5:20 pm PDT. Void rest of the evening. Luna is still "under the influence"--of Jupiter/Neptune/Chiron. Imagination is enhanced but keep it real, or at least imagine we're keeping it real.

Moon leaves the Void on FRIDAY AUGUST 7th at 5:34 am EDT, 2:34 am PDT. She enters Pisces. Just what we need after an overdose of enhanced unreality (Jupiter/Neptune)--a dose of Pisces, the sign that rules the concept of enhanced unreality. Game of Quidditch, anyone?

Moon is in Pisces on SATURDAY, AUGUST 8th and not Void. Luna gets involved in an argument between Mars (go, go, go) and Saturn (stop, stop, stop) so at four way stops and blinking red lights be prepared for confusion in fellow drivers.

Luna enters the Void on SUNDAY, AUGUST 9th at 8:44 am EDT (5:44 am PDT). She leaves the Void at 4:23 pm EDT (1:23 pm PDT) and enters passionate Aries. Moon's relationships with Uranus and Pluto favors audaciousness and "building upon the ruins." Good day for a sand castle contest--those things are always falling down.

Void of Course Moon table, in EDT:
(Download Lunabar--free and available at
http://infra-azure.org/main/
and improve your life, looks, and dating options by having
Void times and other lunar information a mouse click away ...):

Void from Thursday, August 06, 2009 8:19 PMto Friday, August 07, 2009 5:34 AM

Void from Sunday, August 09, 2009 8:44 AMto Sunday, August 09, 2009 4:23 PM

Void from Tuesday, August 11, 2009 4:03 PMto Wednesday, August 12, 2009 12:49 AM

Void from Thursday, August 13, 2009 11:17 PMto Friday, August 14, 2009 6:25 AM

Void from Sunday, August 16, 2009 2:19 AMto Sunday, August 16, 2009 9:13 AM

Void from Tuesday, August 18, 2009 3:09 AMto Tuesday, August 18, 2009 9:56 AM

Void from Thursday, August 20, 2009 6:01 AMto Thursday, August 20, 2009 10:00 AM

Void from Saturday, August 22, 2009 7:44 AMto Saturday, August 22, 2009 11:12 AM

Void from Monday, August 24, 2009 2:10 PMto Monday, August 24, 2009 3:16 PM

Void from Wednesday, August 26, 2009 2:34 PMto Wednesday, August 26, 2009 11:16 PM

Void from Saturday, August 29, 2009 1:26 AMto Saturday, August 29, 2009 10:44 AM

Void from Monday, August 31, 2009 2:09 PMto Monday, August 31, 2009 11:43 PM

What Eclipse?

2009-07-06T16:48:00.001-04:00

Tonight we get treated to a Lunar Eclipse, except this eclipse will look like a plain old ordinary Full Moon, it being a prenumbral eclipse (meaning the Moon will only graze the Earth's shadow). Sometimes with prenumbral eclipses someone, somewhere gets to see at least a partial darkening of the Moon, but this grazing will be so off center that were the Moon a car, we'd not even need to report the matter to our insurance company; no where will the Moon be seen to darken.

The ancients believed that if an eclipse didn't look like an eclipse then essentially no eclipse happened. Thus, "eclipse effects" should be light with this lunation, the Universe saving its cards for the upcoming Solar Eclipse.

"Light" is a relative term though, as any airport baggage handler can tell us. Eclipses bring about sudden endings, and sudden changes of direction. Governor-soon-to-be-ex-Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska is a good example of a sudden endings and/or change of direction although it doesn't take an eclipse for a person given to erratic behavior to exhibit erratic behavior.

This eclipse, visible or not, is still a Full Moon: emotions are stirred and secrets revealed. The Moon is in relationship with the Fixed Star Vega (Wega, alpha Lyra). Associated with art, mystery, and magic Vega also is said to foretell of trouble caused by forgery or writing. My advice? Don't plagiarize magic spells and everything will be A-okay.

It is considered unwise to begin important projects or initiate important actions within several days of either side of an eclipse, but then it's considered unwise to chat on one's cell-phone while driving too and that doesn't stop very many folks from doing so.

The Moon is not Void until WEDNESDAY, JULY 8th when the MOON WILL ENTER THE VOID AT 5:43 am EDT, 2:43 am PDT. She'll LEAVE THE VOID at 11:03 am EDT, 8:03 am PDT when she enters AQUARIUS.

The Moon carries the light (transfers energy) from Mars to Venus on Wednesday as well, which favors taking action to beautify or harmonize, and can also literally represent something being transferred from a man to a woman. The energy occurring within the shadow of an eclipse guarantees that surprises remain in store, no matter how well laid the plans.

THE MOON IS IN AQUARIUS on THURSDAY, JULY 9th and she is not void. A second exact alignment of the Jupiter-Neptune-Chiron conjunction is immanent (Friday) and the loss of a dream is confronted. Before we get too depressed remember that sometimes Old Yeller's got to die if we're going to get a memorable story out of the thing, and it sure worked out for Disney. In the ending of an illusion comes the potential to make use of a reality we've been just sitting on.

THE MOON ENTERS THE VOID ON FRIDAY, JULY 10th at 10:17 pm EDT, 7:17 pm PDT. She LEAVES THE VOID at 11:44 pm EDT, 8:44 pm PDT when she slips into nebulous PISCES. The Jupiter-Neptune-Chiron conjunction is exact for the second time and dreams die hard, but ankles break easily (other injuries happen easily too). Haven't learned how to hang glide yet? Today is NOT the day to begin that quest.

Trish Marie
Astrologer

This newsletter may be freely shared as long as credit and copyright notice are included ('cause even we star struck idealists gotta protect our stuff).Copyright © 2009, Trish MarieAll rights reserved.

Weekly Horoscopes

2009-07-03T15:50:00.002-04:00

Weekly horoscopes, sample below, the rest available at my website:

Virgo: Remember that scene in the Kubrick movie The Shining where the wife of tormented writer Jack Torrance sneaks a look at the novel he's been writing only to discover he's typed "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy," over and over and over? When an opportunity to goof off arises this week Virgo, accept the invitation--or get typing.

July 4th Astrology

2009-07-03T15:45:00.001-04:00

To all who've asked about the Void Moon newsletter, know that this astrologer has been looking for it (it's somewhere up there in my brain I'm sure). Until I find it I'm taking a page from the "Twitter" notebook and sending out shorter updates. If you enjoy them and/or find them useful great, if you'd rather not get these please do let me know (preferably by writing the request on the back of a $50 bill and mailing it my address ...).

Luna is in Sagittarius on through most of the Holiday weekend (July 3, 4, most of 5th). She is not Void Friday or Saturday.

Mercury, the chatty Kathy of planets is making faces at control-freak Pluto. Tendency to obsess will be strong, tendency to obsess will be strong, tendency to obsess will be ... WHACK! (Slapping herself out of it). The word obsess comes from Latin roots that mean "to sit on," like when we can't get our butt out of the chair that's in front of the computer. Lewis Thomas says that "obsess" looks like a word with its mind on something else. Maybe even obsessed by something else.

This energy strong through Saturday and we can waste time grinding over every torturous detail of (insert theme of choice) OR we can use the energy more productively for this transit also favors research, transforming unhelpful attitudes, and is also frankly a pretty good transit under which to write one's governmental officials and tell them what idiots they are (nicely, of course).

Writing/communication should go well but there is a risk of sudden endings where communication is concerned. Which seems like a good place to end this one.

Moon enters the Void on Sunday, July 4th at 3:17 pm EDT, 12:17 pm PDT. Leaves Void at 10:07 pm EDT, 7:07 pm PDT when she enters sensible Capricorn. Reality rules.

First Quarter Moon Haiku

2009-06-29T15:42:00.001-04:00

Half grown Moon under
Spica, Harvest Goddess Star;
"Dig, but marry not."

Spica associated with talent and work but considered unfavorable for love matters in many cases. Spica is Alpha Virgo, alpha star in the harvest or virgin goddess. Right after twittering (tweeting? ... whatever ...) this story came in ...

http://tiny.cc/pqCYr

Weekly horoscopes June 25-July 2

2009-06-29T11:41:00.002-04:00

Available at my website. Here's a sample:

Cancer (June 21-July 22): Ever hear about the guy who added a second wing to his home, only to watch it fly away? Our home demands we take action this week Cancer, but do think changes through carefully.

Leo (July 23-Aug 22): Rodney Dangerfield once quipped that the neighborhood he came from was so tough, he once put his hand in some wet cement and felt another hand. Our neighborhood may not suit us ideally this week Leo, but consider that things certainly could be worse.

Weekly horoscopes June 19-25

2009-06-19T15:30:00.002-04:00

Aries (March 21-April 19): One way to deal with stress on the home front Aries is to move. Before we accept an offer on our residence though do make sure we aren't currently renting.

Taurus (April 20-May 20): If messages are confusing this week Taurus it may be because we're in unfamiliar territory. Next time we ask the gods for new people to talk to, remember to include language preferences.

Gemini (June 21-July 22): A Chinese proverb advises that the wise benefit more from their enemies than fools do from their friends. This is because the wise choose friends who don't need regular bail outs. If buddies confuse us with the government this week Gemini, it may be time for some tough love.

Cancer (June 21-July 22): Nietzsche said that one must have chaos within in order to birth the dancing star. If that's true then this week we're birthing not only stars, but supernovas Cancer. Inform our companions they might want to wear shades.

Leo (July 23-Aug 22): It's famously said that a prophet is never recognized in their own country. Sometimes a king has trouble getting their due on home ground too, but at least the food is familiar; think about that if contemplating an escape from or return to a place where they know us too well, Leo.

Virgo (Aug 23-Sept 22): A friend may want more from us than we're willing to give this week Virgo. We could try wearing garlic around our neck and see if that dissuades them.

Libra (Sept 23-Oct 23): We may feel as if home and family are raining on our parade this week Libra. If escape is not an option at least plant vegetables to be watered for future use.

Scorpio (Oct 24-Nov 22): "The secret of your future," Mike Murdock sagely notes, "is hidden in your daily routine." If routines seem disrupted now Scorpio, consider the upsets a necessary course correction. Either that or we missed the "falling rocks," sign a mile back.

Sagittarius (Nov 23-Dec 21): "Dignity and an empty sack is worth the sack," advise the Ferengi, Star Trek's race of uber-capitalist aliens. Before putting either sack or dignity on e-Bay Sadge, know that a better solution exists. We may have to rethink a gamble that didn't pay off to find it though.

Capricorn (Dec 22-Jan 19): If others seem to be getting all the credit while we feel as if we're really doing all the work Capricorn, we might try walking in their shoes for a few days. Note however that if our feet begin to hurt, it's not because of a difference in shoe size.

Aquarius (Jan 20-Feb 19): A surprising message may interrupt our routine this week Aquarius. If it's the mother ship calling however, the message is probably that we've forgotten to take our meds.

Pisces (Feb 20-March 20): There's a big difference between being childlike and childish Pisces. If we're not sure what that is, we can ask our money. If it's not answering, that's our clue.

Astrological Haiku; Jupiter retrograde

2009-06-15T12:19:00.003-04:00

Jupiter turns retrograde today, triggering the Jupiter/Neptune/Chiron alignment. If we have natal planets or angles (Ascendant, Ic or 4th house cusp, Descendant, Midheaven) at 26 degrees of Aquarius or thereabouts, this Jupiter will be talking to us. (We could try covering our ears but don't stake all bets on that working). Dreams and aspirations at this time need realisitic foundations or significant renovation. If events are telling us an aspiration may be no more than castle-in-the-clouds building, let it go or buy a parachute.

Jupiter retro
Shoot my arrow into sky
Oops! Popped my dream.

Astrological Haiku

2009-05-31T13:07:00.003-04:00

Sunday May 31st 2009

The stellar Lion leaps

over Saturn and the Moon.

Practical wants win.

(this picture was created with Stellarium,

free open-source astronomical software

available at http://www.stellarium.org/).

Sun Sign horoscopes Fri May 29-Thur June 4

2009-05-29T17:49:00.003-04:00

Aries (March 21-April 19): From the Bible, Shakespeare, and tv's "The Simpson's" we learn that sibling relationships are fraught with peril. The unwritten message is that it's a lot easier to write a good story if there's a sibling in the picture. It's the unwritten message we want to focus on this week Aries.

Taurus (April 20-May 20): It's been said that while money can't buy happiness, it sure can rent some great substitutes. Rent the dream rather than buy this week Taurus, for easier returns.

Gemini (May 21-June 20): A seeker asks a guru how to achieve happiness. "Good judgement," replies the guru. "How do I learn good judgement?" queries the seeker. "Bad judgment," comes the reply. Events of this week will let us know if we're still on that learning curve Gemini.

Cancer (June 21-July 22): "The lost glove is happy," writes Vladimir Nabokov in the novel Pale Fire. The stars suggest we'll fare best if we expect neither too much nor too little in getting happily lost Cancer.

Leo (July 23-Aug 22): In the world of Star Trek, the uber-capitalist Ferengi have a saying: "Free advice is seldom cheap." It's this week's message from the stars Leo.

Virgo (Aug 23-Sept 22): If life attempts to goad us into trying to please everyone this week Virgo, politely remind life that that's what Librans are for.

Libra (Sept 23-Oct 23): Our choice this week is between service to community or a great escape Libra. It's because of dilemmas like this that the Peace Corp gets volunteers.

Scorpio (Oct 24-Nov 22): In the book He's Just Not That Into You authors Behrend and Tuccillo note that we should never make someone our priority while allowing ourselves to be their option. Have they been reading our diary Scorpio?

Sagittarius (Nov 23-Dec 21): "My luck is so bad that if I bought a cemetery people would stop dying," quipped golfer Ed Furgol. A base of operation we thought was a sure thing may be giving us pause at this time Sagittarius.

Capricorn (Dec 22-Jan 19): A Starbuck's cup quotes Amy Elyse-Neer's observation that when she was young, she was misled by flashcards into believing that xylophones and zebras were much more common. Look deeper than the immediate message this week Capricorn.

Aquarius (Jan 20-Feb 19): "Take care to sell your horse before he dies," cautioned poet Robert Frost. "The art of life is passing losses on." We get the opportunity to do just that this week Aquarius.

Pisces (Feb 20-March 20): The biggest problem with building castles in the clouds is that castles so located are incompatible with the laws of physics. Take care to keep foundations under our aspirations this week Pisces.

Astrology of Polo Pony deaths

2009-04-21T18:23:00.002-04:00

Because of my horsey connections, lots of folks writing to ask about what astrology may say of the tragic polo pony deaths in Florida.

Briefly, it looks like a crime to me (hoping I'm wrong on this one but ...). Jupiter, Neptune, and Chiron align in the 7th house, the the house of open enemies. I've been reading a lot of feel-good new age nonsense about this Jupiter-Neptune-Chiron alignment on the web; in my client's charts it's caused nothing but trouble. Jupiter and Neptune both rule horses, and Chiron, the centaur is connected with poisons (Chiron was wounded by a poisoned arrow).
Sun in the chart represents the body and physical vitality, and this Sun is in paran with the destructive star Algol, in the head of the Gorgon Medusa. Medusa's hair is composed of venomous snakes, and this star is also associated with poisoning and great creation or great destruction.
Venus is with the star Scheat, in the constellation Pegasus. Scheat can be channeled productively into wisdom and the search for knowledge but is also a troublesome star, often associated with disasters as well as murder and suicide.
Moon in the chart is in very strong relationship with Antares, the heart of the Scorpion--a point of great passion. Fixed Star expert Bernadette Brady says of the Moon in this kind of relationship with Antares, "Crimes of passion."
Mars is in relationship with Zosma, Delta Leo, the point where the Celestial Lion's back is broken by the club of Hercules--Brady says, "a group is victimized." Zosma is also a star associated with poison.
The constellation Cetus, the beast from the deep (unconscious) is swallowing Mercury and the Zenith of the chart (public image)--someone is wanting to make a big statement. (Like in the movie "The Godfather" when the Godfather's enemies left the severed head of one of his racehorse's on his bed.)
Mars, the god of war, is aligned with Venus in the 8th house of death. When Mars is with Venus he's very passionate and he can be a bit bloodthirsty, as he had to slay gatekeepers (in myth) in order to get to the object of his passion.
The Ascendant of the chart is held between a rising Saturn (never a good sign) and the Dragon's Tail--the South Node of the Moon, a point of loss.

So, it's this astrologer's opinion that this was a crime of passion, done to make a statement. Hopefully I'm misreading this, because it will be sad enough if proven an accident, but really horrible if done intentionally.

Trish Marie

This newsletter may be freely shared as long as credit and copyright notice are included ('cause even we star struck idealists gotta protect our stuff).Copyright © 2009, Trish Marie,
All rights reserved.
http://trishmarieastrology.com
Daily astrology updates now at http://twitter.com/TrishAstrology

April astrology

2009-04-20T13:23:00.001-04:00

Ginger Rodgers, it's been famously noted, did everything that Fred Astaire did, but she did it backwards and in high heels. Venus, the celestial goddess of love and money ceases her own backward dance on Friday, April 17th and heads forward. Matters of love and money retain the urgency they held since Venus went retrograde (March 6th) but at least its urgency that's rolling forward again instead of just stuck there.

Venus stations in alignment with the Fixed Star Scheat (Beta Pegasus). Scheat is a star in Pegasus, the Winged Horse. In mythology Pegasus was born when blood from the severed head of the Gorgon Medusa splashed into the sea. (And we think that foaling in our barns is a dramatic event!) Pegasus sprang from the ocean and wherever the winged horses' hooves struck earth a spring would appear. ("Pegasos" is derived from the Greek word for spring). Although the stars of the constellation Pegasus endow a horoscope with energy related the pursuit of adventure or knowledge they also have connections with water--especially the star Scheat. Water is a good thing (unless we're in the mood for wine). Then again too much water, or water in the wrong place at the wrong time can be a bad thing and Scheat is a star frequently prominent in events where water becomes a problem: the ocean liner Titanic had Scheat as one of her horoscope's founding stars (a cursory look at a book of Fixed Star meanings would have told the Titanic's founders that Scheat is strongly connected with water disasters and drowning, and perhaps not good star to have in the horoscope of a boat).

Friday (April 17) morning your Libra (ruled by Venus) astrologer was perplexed by the sound of bubbling and gurgling coming from somewhere underneath the dark recesses of my barn. Exploring further we discover water bubbling up right out of the ground, forming a creek--I mean, you could've launched a toy boat into the flow and watched it go!--the flow forming a small lake at the other end of the barn (this barn is built into a hill and if you duck, you can walk underneath--former cow barn).

Visions of bottling Michigan's answer to Fiji Water quickly fade upon noticing there seems to be something distinctly man-made in the center of our gushing font. So much for artesian wonders--shutting off the water to the barn shows us it's a broken underground pipe and our own well pump that is the source of this fountain. The pipe that gave rise to the gurgling brook was one we didn't even know was there (and we've lived here 25 years). Makes one wonder what else is buried on the property we don't know about ... (money? treasure? Jimmy Hoffa?).

If a client asks me to look at the horoscope for buying real estate, and I see Scheat prominent, I'll tell them to be alert for water problems should they buy the property. Thus far, Scheat's always rang (or rather, leaked) true in these charts--if the property is bought, it leaks somewhere. (If a client asks me to look at the horoscope of a boat and I see Scheat prominent, I ask them if they wouldn't prefer golf to boating as a hobby.)

I also advise never buying real estate (or anything else important) under a Void Moon! On to the Voids! All times given in Eastern or Pacific Daylight Saving Time:

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID ON SUNDAY, APRIL 19th at 6:16 pm EDT (3:16 pm PDT). She LEAVES THE VOID ON THE WEST COAST at 10:55 pm PDT, when she drifts into PISCES.

The MOON LEAVES THE VOID on MONDAY, APRIL 20th at 1:55 am EDT when she drifts into foggy PISCES. The Moon will trigger the developing Jupiter, Neptune, Chiron alignment--a formation that will reach peak expression in late May, mid July, and again in December so today's events may give us a sneak peak at what this alignment will bring to us. Which is great, because if the presentation is not to our liking we'll have lots of time to hide.

LUNA IS IN PISCES on TUESDAY, APRIL 21st and she's not Void. The sign of Pisces rules sleep and we should rest up today because we'll want to get up early: the night of the 21st, morning of the 22nd is the maximum of the Lyrid Meteor Shower, but wait! There's more! (For some reason I feel like I should advertise some kitschy kitchen gadget right now ...). In the wee morning hours, while cheerfully watching the meteor shower folks living on the West Coast will also get to see brilliant Venus vanish as the crescent Moon reaches and then passes directly in front of her. An Occultation of Venus during a meteor shower--now that's not something we get to see every day! But wait, there's more! Though the urge to advertise knives (or something) at this point is strong, rather than knives it's the planetary ruler of all cutting weapons that's included in this mix: hanging just below the Moon-Venus hookup we may, if we're lucky, see Mars just above the horizon.
Much of the rest of the country will see either the Moon closely graze (but not cover) Venus, or nothing at all (sniffle). We'll all still get the meteor shower, so there's no excuse to stay in bed.
A meteor shower during an occultation, and with Mars in the mix! What's it all mean?
The ancient Babylonians would have thought it meant that a sacrifice was required to propitiate obviously unsettled gods. Hooey with that kind of superstition. I'm going to watch this astronomical event secure in the knowledge that it's a beautiful sight and nothing more (though I'll have an old Barbie doll on hand, you know--just in case. Ken too: wouldn't want to be sexist. If events begin to get crazy in my life, off with their heads and that's all there is to it).

On a side note--the ancient Babylonians, from whence comes our astrology, believed that events such as meteor showers represent unsettled cosmic conditions that (besides needing propitiating with appropriate sacrifice) could portend large and unsettled events. Much depends on how bright the shower. Low key showers foretell nothing much, but really bright events are harbringers of big trouble. The last time the Lyrids were particularly bright was April of 1982; Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands, triggering a very strong response by Britain's Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. So what, one asks? Just this--the Lyrid Meteor Shower is birthed by Comet P/Thatcher (named in 1861).

LUNA ENTERS THE VOID on WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22nd at 9:29 am EDT. (6:29 am PDT). She LEAVES THE VOID at 10:09 am EDT (7:09 am PDT) when she traipses into ever-enthused ARIES. This is the morning of the Venus occultation mentioned above; if we're in the viewing area and get up before dawn we'll be treated to a rare astronomical show. If we get our teenagers up before dawn so that they can experience the sight with us we'll gain the knowledge that some things are best experienced alone.

The MOON IS IN ARIES on THURSDAY, APRIL 23rd and she is not Void. Get up early enough and we can see the last sliver of the waning crescent Moon vanishing into the rays of the rising Sun. What's it mean astrologically? It's a good day to get rid of something (if we're a Cancer this will not come as a welcome forecast--these guys cling to everything. Pretty difficult to part a Taurus from their stuff too).

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID on FRIDAY, APRIL 24th at 8:12 am EDT (5:12 am PDT). SHE LEAVES THE VOID at 2:46 pm EDT (11:46 am PDT) when she traipses into TAURUS. This is also the day of the TAURUS NEW MOON. A change in the direction of a relationship is in the stars. If we don't currently have a relationship whose direction can be changed, why not head down to our local animal shelter and pick out some true love? (Wait 'til after the Moon leaves the Void though!)

LUNA is in TAURUS on SATURDAY, APRIL 25th and she is not Void. "Hearing voices no one else can hear isn't a good sign, even in the wizarding world," Ron told Harry in one of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter stories. Transits for today say don't believe everything we hear, especially if we're the only one who seems to be hearing it.

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID on SUNDAY, APRIL 26th at 11:42 am EDT (8:42 am PDT). She LEAVES THE VOID at 5:02 pm EDT (2:02 pm PDT) when she yaks her way into flexible GEMINI. A misalignment between Mars and Pluto today will have a lot of folks channeling their inner two year old. When we leave home today, carry candy. Hand it out to any adult who looks like they're about to have a meltdown over trivialities.

MOON IS IN GEMINI on MONDAY, APRIL 27th and she is not Void. Gemini is a chatty Moon but Saturn's square to Luna may encourage any out-of-control talkers we know to be inspired by occasional flashes of silence.

MOON ENTERS THE VOID on TUESDAY, APRIL 28th at 12:23 pm EDT (9:23 am PDT). She LEAVES THE VOID WHEN SHE CREEPS INTO SENSITIVE CANCER at 6:38 pm EDT (3:38 pm PDT).

MOON IS IN CANCER on WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29th and she is not VOID. Sun in stalemate with the ruler of electronics, Uranus suggests the potential for a misapplication of technical data; at the same time Moon in Cancer increases sensitivity and vulnerability. Let's try not to insult our computer today--even if we feel the computer has it coming.

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID ON THURSDAY, APRIL 30th at 12:45 pm EDT (9:45 am PDT). SHE LEAVES THE VOID at 8:56 pm EDT (5:56 pm PDT) WHEN SHE ENTERS LEO. Stellar aspects push relationship and territorial buttons over the next couple of days, with Moon-in-Leo adding drama to the mix. If we channel this energy into creative or sexual passion we'll miss out on all the fun that the couples who are fighting are having.

Void Times for April (Eastern Daylight Saving Time):

Void from Sunday, April 19, 2009 6:15 PMto Monday, April 20, 2009 1:55 AM

Void from Wednesday, April 22, 2009 9:29 AMto Wednesday, April 22, 2009 10:09 AM

Void from Friday, April 24, 2009 8:11 AMto Friday, April 24, 2009 2:46 PM

Void from Sunday, April 26, 2009 11:42 AMto Sunday, April 26, 2009 5:02 PM

Void from Tuesday, April 28, 2009 12:22 PMto Tuesday, April 28, 2009 6:38 PM

Void from Thursday, April 30, 2009 12:45 PMto Thursday, April 30, 2009 8:56 PM

Trish Marie
***********************************
This newsletter may be freely shared as long as credit and copyright notice are included ('cause even we star struck idealists gotta protect our stuff).Copyright © 2009, Trish MarieAll rights reserved

April 16 Astrology

2009-04-16T13:28:00.002-04:00

Happy connections between Mercury, the Moon, Saturn and Mars encourage any information or experiences we encounter to be well absorbed over the next couple of days--so make sure we're exposing ourselves to good and useful stuff!

April 6-13th

2009-04-06T11:33:00.002-04:00

April Fool's Day jokes actually began March 20th at the very turbulent Aries Equinox. The Equinox is the first true day of spring or fall, depending on what hemisphere of the planet we happen to live in. (If we're unsure which hemisphere we're in, then maybe we should be studying up on our geography rather than astrology ...). The Equinox sets the tone for the next quarter year (until the Summer Solstice) and if my new computer hadn't crashed on the overly-energetic first New Moon after the electrically charged Equinox, I'd have said that in the conflict between the entrenched old and the shocking new, expect the unexpected.

This conflict began in the fall of 2008 as Saturn (that-which-wants-to-remain-the-same) and Uranus ("You say you want a revolution?") first squared off in the sky. Saturn and Uranus continue their stare-down through the summer of 2010 and this Equinox triggers the energy. The Equinox will encourage a striving for more influence and power while at the same time confusing our aim, like shooting arrows in the fog. Well hey, we don't become better archers by hitting the bulls-eye every time right from the start! True, if we're hitting the bulls-eye every time right from the start, we don't really need to become better archers--but still. What this Equinox is saying is that if we're feeling a powerful urge for change but not really sure what, where, or how, the Universe is working on figuring this out for us. My advice: in the upcoming quarter, and year, and through 2012, don't charge blindly into change but don't wait for the storm to hit either, because change, she is a coming.

On to the Voids! All times given in Eastern or Pacific Daylight Saving Time. The rest of the world, you've got to convert!

The MOON IS IN VIRGO and not Void on MONDAY, APRIL 6th. The day's energy could manifest as an early release of pressure only to have things back up again by evening, or, more productively, transformation that begins to take root.

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID on TUESDAY, APRIL 7th at 12:52 pm EDT (9:52 am PDT). She LEAVES THE VOID when she glides into balance-seeking Libra AT 11:22 pm EDT (8:22 pm PDT). Well, "balance-seeking" is what the books say, anyway. Anyone who lives with a Libran can tell you they're anything but balanced. First they swing one way, then the next--but hey, that's how a balance scale (Libra's symbol) works, after all. At least, that's how they worked before the digital age. If the ancient astrologers had access to digital scales, Libra wouldn't swing back and forth--instead they'd just give a different answer every time they were pressed for one, and then flash that their batteries were low.

The MOON IS IN LIBRA on WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8th AND SHE IS NOT VOID. Libran balance (such as it is, or rather, isn't) is upset by the energy of tomorrow's Full Moon. If we can get through today without stumbling for a half hour over what to have for lunch (if we know, or are, a Libran, we've been here) we should consider the day a success. Even if the lunch decision is the day's only accomplishment.

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID on THURSDAY, APRIL 9th at 9:46 pm EDT (6:46 pm PDT). There the rest of the evening. It's also the day of the LIBRAN FULL MOON. With Sun in "I gotta be me," Aries opposing Moon in "I want to hold your hand" Libra we may feel like Lily Tomlin when she said, "If love is the answer, can you rephrase the question?"

The MOON LEAVES THE VOID on FRIDAY, APRIL 10th at 5:23 am EDT (2:23 am PDT) when she slips into SCORPIO. Alignments today favor the art of persuasion. If we're getting all excited thinking that we're finally going to be able to convince our teenager to clean their room, forget it--even the planets can't help us with that one.

The Moon is in SCORPIO on SATURDAY, APRIL 11th and she is not Void. Venus aligns with the Fixed Star Scheat (Beta Pegasus), the star in the shoulder of the Winged Horse. Venus is sensuality. The stars of Pegasus are associated with the Pegasus Syndrome, also known as "biting off more than we can chew." Stick with chocolate today because if we bite off more chocolate than we can chew, how is this a problem?

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID on SUNDAY, APRIL 12th at 1:28 pm EDT (10:28 am PDT). She LEAVES THE VOID AT 2:01 pm EDT (11:01 am PDT) when she canters into SAGITTARIUS. It is also EASTER SUNDAY. Mercury "at the bends" (square the Moon's nodes) suggests inconvenient communications. If we're trying to explain where all the chocolate in the house went, we can always tell our family our astrologer told us to eat it.

The MOON IS IN SAGITTARIUS ON MONDAY, APRIL 13th and she is not Void. Mind-oriented Mercury and energetic Mars are in a relationship that inspires going nowhere fast. It always annoying to get nowhere early, so we may as well slow down for crying out loud.

Void Moons in EDT through April:
Void from Tuesday, April 07, 2009 12:52 PMto Tuesday, April 07, 2009 11:22 PM

Void from Thursday, April 09, 2009 9:45 PMto Friday, April 10, 2009 5:23 AM

Void from Sunday, April 12, 2009 1:28 PMto Sunday, April 12, 2009 2:00 PM

Void from Wednesday, April 15, 2009 12:07 AMto Wednesday, April 15, 2009 1:27 AM

Void from Friday, April 17, 2009 12:42 PMto Friday, April 17, 2009 2:19 PM

Void from Sunday, April 19, 2009 6:15 PMto Monday, April 20, 2009 1:55 AM

Void from Wednesday, April 22, 2009 9:29 AMto Wednesday, April 22, 2009 10:09 AM

Void from Friday, April 24, 2009 8:11 AMto Friday, April 24, 2009 2:46 PM

Void from Sunday, April 26, 2009 11:42 AMto Sunday, April 26, 2009 5:02 PM

Void from Tuesday, April 28, 2009 12:22 PMto Tuesday, April 28, 2009 6:38 PM

Void from Thursday, April 30, 2009 12:45 PMto Thursday, April 30, 2009 8:56 PM

Trish Marie Astrology
**************************************
I can't believe that everything has a purpose
and the stars are only supposed to twinkle.
-Della Reese-
***********************************************

This newsletter may be freely shared as long as credit and copyright notice are included ('cause even we star struck idealists gotta protect our stuff).Copyright © 2009, Trish MarieAll rights reserved
http://trishmarieastrology.com
Daily astrology updates now at http://twitter.com/TrishAstrology

Madoff Astrology

2009-03-14T10:25:00.002-04:00

Thursday, as ponzi scheme financier Bernie Made-off was being sentenced this astrologer happened to be working on some astrology and just happened to notice that Neptune, Mercury, and Jupiter were exactly aligned in a pattern that COSI (Combination of Stellar Influences), a classic text on planetary interpretation, describes this way: "A powerful imagination, being well inspired, the tendency to bamboozle or mislead other people; a person successful in deception or in speculation."

Earlier this week the Virgo Full Moon aligned with and thus triggered the Saturn (structure)-Uranus (breakdown) opposition giving a great number of us the opportunity to practice our "grace under pressure" mode. That, or practice freaking out. These two energies are polar opposites, with Saturn seeking order and form, and Uranus seeking chaos. Every time they oppose one another "structures" that support our lives are challenged and remade. Last time Saturn and Uranus were at opposition was 1965-67 and the talk of the coffee shops was ill-conceived, expensive wars as well as the turmoil in the financial markets. History repeats itself (in timing with these cycles) and here Saturn and Uranus are opposed again, with once again arguments about ill-conceived, expensive wars and turmoil in the financial markets. Good news is that this time around while the turmoil is similar we at least have much better coffee. (I mean, who knew what a latté was in 1966?)

Saturn and Uranus keep making faces at one another through the summer of 2010 and if our idea of grand entertainment is hanging out at demolition sites, we're going to love the next year and a half. With that cheerful thought in mind, on to the Voids! Remember that all times are given in Eastern and Pacific Daylight Saving time, so if you're elsewhere, adjust accordingly!

FRIDAY THE 13th isn't nearly as scary as beginning an important project or buying an important item during a Void-of-Course Moon, and the Libra Moon will enter the Void at 6:39 pm EDT (3:39 pm PDT). She leaves the Void a few hours later at 8:22 pm EDT (5:22 pm PDT) when she sneaks into suspicious SCORPIO.

The MOON IS IN SCORPIO on SATURDAY, MARCH 14th and she is not Void. Mars entering Pisces today will put four planets there (Sun, Uranus, Mercury, and Mars). Pisces is a rather self-deluding sign, so we can all make up our own reality, at least through the weekend.

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID on SUNDAY, MARCH 15th at 8:43 pm EDT (5:43 pm PDT). There to stay for the rest of the evening. Who says Void Moons aren't good for anything?--if we remove hair under a waning Void Moon in Scorpio, the hair will stay gone longer. Try it and see!

LUNA LEAVES THE VOID on MONDAY, MARCH 16th at 5:21 am EDT (2:21 am PDT) when she trots into horsey SAGITTARIUS. The entire upcoming week is dominated by squares of the Moon. There's the old saying that if we always keep doing what we've always done, we'll always keep getting what we've always got. Moon squares trigger stress that inclines us to fall back on habitual behaviors, but they're also opportune times to break patterns. Many of us may want to use the challenges of the week to consider ways we could do things differently. If however we're a multi-millionaire married to our soul-mate and all our kids are above average, by all means just carry on.

THE MOON IS IN SAGITTARIUS ON TUESDAY, MARCH 17th. There are no Voids on this SAINT PATRICK'S DAY, which is almost a pity as getting sloshed goes quite well during a Void.

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID ON WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18th at 1:47 pm EDT (10:47 am PDT). She LEAVES THE VOID at 5:19 pm EDT (2:19 pm PDT) when she climbs into influence-seeking CAPRICORN. Luna is at her last quarter phase. Sir Winston Churchill said that however beautiful our strategy, we should occasionally look at the results. Last Quarter Moons favor doing exactly that.

The MOON IS IN CAPRICORN on THURSDAY, MARCH 19th and she is not Void. Emotional Luna feels uncomfortable in the cool, calculating sign of Capricorn and we may not be feeling the love today. Astrologers get a lot of questions about love. "Today, if you go to the animal shelter," is this astrologers' response whenever anyone asks me to tell them when the stars say they'll find true love.

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID on FRIDAY, MARCH 20th at 4:06 pm EDT (1:06 pm PDT). She's VOID the rest of the night. This is also the day of the VERNAL EQUINOX, when day and night are equal lengths and the season shifts to spring or fall (depending on which hemisphere we reside in). This day is also known as the ARIES INGRESS, when the Sun enters Aries. Aspects at this time give a clue as to what we can expect for the upcoming quarter year (until the Summer Solstice). The stars are suggesting a whole lot of fiddling going on while Rome burns but that's business as usual in the halls of most governments anyway. (I've always wondered how Nero managed to play the fiddle while Rome burned, as it would be another thousand years before the instrument was even invented.).

In our personal lives, the trick will be to not go looking for as-yet-to-be-invented distractions in the midst of change or even crisis. (Far better to stick with distractions close at hand. That is if we'd rather do that than muster the will to deal with reality).

The MOON LEAVES THE VOID on SATURDAY, MARCH 21st at 6:06 am EDT (3:06 am PDT) when she glides into the cool, calm clarity of Aquarius. Some of the astrology books say Aquarius is supposed to be cool and clarity-seeking anyway. Point of fact is that many Aquarians feel borderline hysterical much of the time, but that's only because they never got the memo that there's no such thing as "normal." Once they stop trying to either be normal or be anything but normal an Aquarian will calm down quite a bit (which will probably frighten all their friends).

The MOON IS IN AQUARIUS on SUNDAY, MARCH 22nd and she's not Void. If we get up before sunrise and the sky is clear we'll be gifted with the sight of the waning crescent Moon offset by bright Jupiter in the Eastern sky. If we get up before sunrise and the sky is not clear, we'll wonder why we listen to lunatic astrologers when we could have done the reasonable thing and slept in on Sunday morning.

Astrological Haiku

2009-03-12T12:31:00.002-04:00

Don't stress they tell us
Hard not to when Sun and great
Uranus collide.

Voids for the 1st Week of March

2009-03-01T11:26:00.001-05:00

Everyone new to this list; Welcome! Everyone not new to the list, no I haven't died nor run away to a desert isle (though the last is always tempting--hey, if it worked for Gilligan ...). This newsletter covers daily astrological phenomena, with a focus on the Void of Course Moon. A "Void Moon" occurs when the Moon makes her last aspect in whatever astrological sign she's currently transiting and ends when she enters the next sign. As the Moon "carries the light" or energy of all the other planets (their energy must cross the lunar boundary to reach earth), and as this energy is best directed when it has a "goal" (when the Moon is moving from an aspect with one planet to an aspect with another), Void Moon periods are times when actions taken for a purpose often fail of that purpose.

It is better to avoid beginning an important new project or buying an important or expensive item when the Moon is "in the Void." It's fine to continue working on projects that have already been started during Voids--it is the beginning (birth) of the project that counts. I use the analogy of the postal service. If we put a letter in the mailbox the postal service picks it up, reads the address (considers our "intent") and sends the letter on its way; the postal service has a goal, it has a direction, it knows where it is going and knows how to get our letter to its destination.

But what if, instead of putting our letter in the mailbox, we saw a somewhat out of touch with reality street person wandering buy, and ran our letter out to him instead? Have we increased, or decreased the odds that the letter will get to its destination? Astrology is all about probabilities; what are the odds events are going to proceed in a particular fashion? Astrology helps us determine the odds. Taking action under a Void Moon, or buying a product under it, greatly decreases the odds that the action or item will accomplish the purpose we had in mind. The street person may open our letter, find a check and personal information and suddenly we have identity theft! We sure didn't intend that! Or (most likely) the street person will toss the letter, and nothing will happen. We'll have to repay the bill after being informed the check never arrived, we'll have to rewrite the letter after being told that Aunt Sally never got her thank you note, etc.

Taking action or buying something under a Void Moon is like giving a letter to that street person. It *may* get to where we wanted it to go, but odds are against it. Now, it's true that sometimes very fortunate unexpected events occur when action is taken under Void Moons; the street person could be an eccentric billionaire, and our letter a note venting to a friend about our dire financial straights; the billionaire decides to pay all our debts and leave his fortune to our dog. Could happen (but odds are against that, too).

Void Moon periods are best used as a "time out" from reality, to rest, play, read, research (hey, for some of us that's relaxing) or to take action that if we don't wish anything to come of the action; sending in tax forms (less chance of an audit), sending in jury duty forms (less chance of getting picked), telling our boss we think they're an idiot (less chance they'll pay any attention to us). As the Moon is NOT currently Void, this astrologer can say that she accepts no responsibility for any loss of employment that occurs due to advice given in this column.

Now that all that's out of the way--On to the Voids! All times given in Eastern or Pacific Standard time (the rest of you have to convert, because your astrologer can only handle so much math).

THE MOON IS IN TAURUS on SUNDAY, MARCH 1st and she is not Void. Mercury, god of communication aligns with Mars, god of war--"fighting words" or critical speech is the hallmark of this combination. The energy of the transits must be expressed, that is not an option!--but how that energy gets expressed can be directed by us. If we feel like we're just dying to tell someone off, write a letter to a congressman, editor, or bank-that's-just-handed-out-megabonuses-to-already-rich-executives instead. Road rage is encouraged under these alignments as well, so just don't go there (and watch out for the idiots who have).

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID on MONDAY, MARCH 2nd at 5:43 pm EST (2:43 pm PST). She's Void the rest of the night.

LUNA LEAVES THE VOID on TUESDAY, MARCH 3rd at 2:59 am EST (11:59 pm previous evening PST) when she chats her way into ever-curious Gemini. It's a First Quarter Moon; at the first quarter moon we should do something we've never done before, at the last quarter quit doing things we've always done. In other words, both quarters are good for a change of focus and the first quarter particularly favors bold action. If we end up going to the hospital, especially if we've never done that before, it's an indication that our action was perhaps a bit too bold; next 1st quarter, tone it down a bit.

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID on WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4th at 9:11 pm EST (6:11 pm PST). Luna is a social butterfly today, talking with every planet she sees and some she only imagines (I know people who do this). Lots of folks will be feeling this restless energy so if we don't want to be bothered, locking ourselves in our rooms is recommended. This won't keep the imaginary people out, but it will reduce the crowd.

LUNA LEAVES THE VOID on THURSDAY, MARCH 5th at 6:07 am EST (3:07 am PST) when she slips into sensitive CANCER. Moon-in-Cancer needs no help in exhibiting hyper-sensitivity but this Cancer Moon is opposed by Pluto, heightening the drama. If we know any adults who can't seem to stop channeling their inner two-year old keep a camera handy; youtube always needs fresh stuff and today's alignments can provide it.

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID ON FRIDAY, MARCH 6th at 7:29 pm EST (4:29 pm PST). Venus, goddess of love and money, stations retrograde (begins moving backwards in apparent direction). Venus will be retrograde until Mid March, bringing a re-view of issues of love and money into all our lives. This is a plucking the petals off a daisy kind of energy; he loves me, he loves me not (or I love him, I love him not). Maybe the area where we're not feeling the love is in realms of finance; if so never fear--re-financing is favored by Venus retrograde. Re-decorating as well (if we spend all of our refinancing money on redecorating though, we're probably missing a message somewhere).

LUNA leaves the VOID on SATURDAY, MARCH 7th at 8:24 am EST (5:24 am PST) when she strides into proud LEO. Venus is love and money, but she's ultimately about Values (nothing demonstrates as person's values as clearly as what they'll spend their money on, and where they're willing to spend it). This includes how much or little we value ourselves. Venus now in retrograde can bring doubts on many fronts, self-worth being one of those. In addition to Venus retrograde Saturn (restriction) and the Sun (being/ego) are about to face off across the cosmos and if we've been waiting for something to knock some melancholy into the perpetually cheerful folks out there, this weekend's alignments may do that. If, on the other hand, we're doubting ourselves, our sweeties, our pocketbook, not to worry--our energy is just following all these backwards and facing off planets. Give it some time and perspective will be restored.

The MOON IS IN LEO on SUNDAY, MARCH 8th and she is not VOID. DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME BEGINS and you can expect myself (and many other astrologers) to be bitching and moaning about it, because really, can't we just pick a time and stick with it? Besides, with Venus retrograde and Saturn opposite the Sun bitching and moaning is favored.

More to come (I'm determined to get this entire month's Voids done folks ...)

Never give your birthdate to an Astrologer,
Trish
*******************************
If you desire glory, you may envy Napoleon. But Napoleon envied Caesar, Caesar envied Alexander, and Alexander, I daresay, envied Hercules, who never existed.
-Bertrand Russell
*****************************************************

This newsletter may be freely shared as long as credit and copyright notice are included ('cause even we star struck idealists gotta protect our stuff).Copyright © 2009, Trish MarieAll rights reserved
http://trishmarieastrology.com
http://nevergiveyourbirthdatetoanastrologer.blogspot.com/
Daily astrological updates now on Twitter at TrishAstrology

The Heart Nebula

2009-02-14T18:39:00.001-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day! (Picture of the Heart Nebula--yes, the Universe does have a heart ...)

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

Voids through the February Lunar Eclipse

2009-01-31T14:01:00.002-05:00

If I had a dollar for every e-mail I've received noting that Barack Obama did a "do-over" of the Inaugural Oath I could take myself out for dinner and have change to spare for the tip. Lots of folks asking if this "avoids the Void" because the second oath was done with a Moon not afflicted by a Void.

We wish it were so but it's the first oath that counts. Besides, it wasn't the Void responsible for Justice Roberts' flubbing the words of the first oath. That can be chalked up to karma (Senator Obama voted against Justice Robert's appointment) and more than karma, to Mercury's retrograde. Mercury Retrograde shreds schedules (Inaugural events got under way late and the lag grew throughout the day to the point where the Inaugural parade concluded in the dark) and inspires communication glitches. Things begun when Mercury is retrograde also frequently require a redo soon after--especially anything involving a schedule, paperwork, or communication. Obama, born when the Moon was in Gemini (Mercury rules the sign of Gemini) is more strongly influenced by Mercury than you're average Joe (or average Barack for that matter).

Now that we know we can throw out that second Inaugural chart (clutter control is so important) and stick with the good old, born on a Void Moon first Inaugural, on to the Voids!

MERCURY REMAINS RETROGRADE UNTIL FEBRUARY 1st.

Did we get to see the January 25th/26th Solar Eclipse? If we live in Capetown, India, Indonesia, or Australia we did. Maybe the whale warriors of the Sea Shepherd got to see it. Wouldn't you just love to be a Japanese whaler? Outside of Japan one wouldn't dare mention what they do for a living and expect a polite reception, although baby-seal clubbers and the person who shot Bambi's mother might be okay with it.

There's a LUNAR ECLIPSE on FEBRUARY 9th that can shake our emotional world if the Solar Eclipse failed to shake our physical one--Leos and Aquarians will be particularly susceptible.

The MOON IS IN ARIES on SATURDAY, JANUARY 31st. She is not Void. Mercury (communication) is standing still in the sky and hanging out with Mars (knives, war), so "sharp words" may be a risk; best we pick really roundy type fonts when typing today. Why take chances?

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID on SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 1st at 1:08 pm EST (10:08 am PST). SHE LEAVES THE VOID at 5:09 pm EST (2:09 pm PST) when she plods into steady Taurus. Mercury stations direct (resumes forward motion) and schedules are less likely to be shredded. If we've lost anything under this Mercury retrograde period (Jan. 11th to Feb. 2nd) and we're meant to find it, we'll probably do so under the next Mercury retrograde in May.

The MOON IS IN TAURUS on MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2nd and she is not Void. Although we in North America know this as GROUNDHOG DAY, when the groundhog emerges from hibernation to check for his shadow (if he can see it, six more weeks of winter is forecast) this day is actually one of the astronomical cross-quarter days, when Sun and Earth are poised in relationship halfway between the Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox. The Celts of the British Isles called this day Candlemas. "Candlemas be fair and clear, there'll be twa winters in the year," an old Scottish saying went. So much for the wisdom of groundhogs--they stole the idea from the Celts!

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID on TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3rd at 8:27 pm EST (5:27 pm PST). She LEAVES THE VOID at 9:14 pm EST (6:14 pm PST) when she rolls on into restless GEMINI. Luna in Grand Earth trine with Mercury, Mars, and Saturn encourages resistant behavior and today's challenge will be to figure out if our perseverance is getting us out of, or merely deeper into a rut.

The MOON IS IN GEMINI on WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4th. She is not Void. The second Saturn-Uranus opposition (exact on Thursday) continues the showdown between the force that wants things to stay the same (Saturn) verses the force that wants irrevocable change (Uranus). The 1st Saturn-Uranus showdown was exact on November 4th (election day) and so far Uranus seems to be winning.

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID on THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5th at 12:45 pm EST (9:45 am PST). She LEAVES THE VOID at 11:06 pm EST (8:06 pm PST) when she glides into sensitive CANCER. We should always live the transits, I always say (otherwise there's no living with them!); Saturn vs Uranus is the status quo battling the force of change, but it's also tremendous tension suddenly released: if we secretly shoot rubber bands at our coworkers we can direct the need for tension release into productive directions. Or at least amusing ones.

LUNA IS IN CANCER on FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6th. She is not Void. Sensitivity as well as obsessiveness are strong today, touchy pride and paranoia float in the ethers too. This energy will last through Monday's eclipse at least. Reasonable astrological advice might include the suggestion to stay home with our teddy bear and Netflix, but where's the fun in that? I'd rather hang out at the local coffee shop and peek over the top of my journal at other customers, then pretend to scribble frantically in the book while giggling.

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID on SATURDY, FEBRUARY 7th at 2:07 pm EST (11:07 am PST). She LEAVES THE VOID at 11:43 pm EST (8:43 pm PST) when she strides into proud LEO. We're in the shadow of an eclipse and the Moon is void all afternoon. If we begin any important projects during these hours we should either fire our astrologer for being incompetent--or, start listening to their advice.

LUNA is in LEO on SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 8th and she is not Void. Over the next two days the Moon in Leo will oppose Mars, Jupiter, the Sun, the North Node, Chiron, and Neptune all in Aquarius. When the Moon makes oppositions folks tend to be more emotional, we tend to project our issues on to others, we find real or imagined obstacles to our plans and we often find we have to make more decisions. What I want to know is who invented this crazy system where people are impelled to make more decisions at the same time as we're emotionally projecting our issues on to others? (It does explain the state of the world however). If we can cultivate objectivity and detach from our personal feelings under these aspects, life proceeds more smoothly.

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID on MONDAY, FEBRUARY 9th at 2:29 pm EST (11:29 pm PST). SHE'S VOID THE REST OF THE DAY EASTERN TIME (Leaves the Void at 9:38 pm PST). But the Void is not the headline story today, as a LUNAR ECLIPSE takes center stage. Leo Eclipses (Lunar or Solar) highlight those in leadership positions. The eclipse takes place in the degree of the Fixed Star Algenubi (Epsilon Leo), a star in the mouth of the Celestial Lion. This star is given the title "He who rends." Well, what else would we expect from a star sparking amongst lion's fangs? It's connected to people who are artistic (Leo is creative) and good with language (it's in the Lion's mouth), but may also be heartless and cruel (especially if we're the zebra in the wildlife film). Sounds like a description of Ayn Rand to me.
How to best channel this eclipse energy? If we're not a vegetarian a rare steak dinner might do it Can't use a knife and fork though--"He who rends," remember? Just drop your face onto your plate and start gnawing--give the other patrons something to talk about on their trip home. If gnawing on raw meat isn't our cup of tea, then the release of outdated beliefs, attitudes, or habit patterns will foster personal growth (and keep the wait staff calmer besides).
Leo and Aquarius are particularly affected by this eclipse, so drama levels may be particularly high.

Never give your birthdate to an astrologer,
Trish Marie
********************************
In America anyone can become President.
That's one of the risks you take.
-the Sage of Ludington-
******************************************
This newsletter may be freely shared as long as credit and copyright notice are included ('cause even we star struck idealists gotta protect our stuff).

http://trishmarieastrology.com/

http://nevergiveyourbirthdatetoanastrologer.blogspot.com/

Beautiful Saturn

2009-01-26T13:22:00.002-05:00

Here's a beautiful picture of always beautiful Saturn:

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap090111.html

I've always loved Debbi Kempton-Smith's musing in Secrets From a Stargazer's Notebook, "Oh, slow beauty of preternatural mysteries, you spin, serene, gliding your sure, measured orbit round the Sun. It takes you twenty nine years to go round once, yet I could gladly gaze at you forever ... why are you such a pain in the ass?"

Saturn is like Phillip Dick's description of reality: "that which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away."

Better Barack with a Void than a Bush without

2009-01-20T14:41:00.002-05:00

The Inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama occurs on Tuesday, January and astrologers the world over are hoping that the current Mercury retrograde delays the proceedings for a half hour or so. The reason being that the Moon is VOID OF COURSE at until 12:30 pm Eastern time on Tuesday.

I wrote in a previous newsletter:

Speaking of that Inauguration--on January 20th, 2009, at Noon in Washington D.C., (the time and place for the Presidential Inauguration) the Moon will be Void of Course. The Moon will be in Scorpio, a sign she dislikes. The Moon will be at the 29th degree of Scorpio (the most difficult of all the zodiac degrees). Presidents within living memory who were inaugurated under Void Moons are Franklin D. Roosevelt (died in office April 12, 1945); John F. Kennedy (died in office November 22, 1963); Richard Nixon's second Inauguration occurred under a VoC (Void of Course) Moon, as did that of his VP, Gerald R. Ford who took over when Nixon resigned. Nothing happened to Ford (thankfully!) but nothing much came of his presidency either (the author of The Zen of Zombie suggests that Mr. Ford was actually an unusually animate Zombie, which explains a lot when you think about it ...). Bill Clinton's 2nd Inauguration also occurred while the Moon was VoC, and along came Monica.

So what's gonna happen?! Well if you want specifics, that's why they make Ouija boards. But I can say this--worse case scenario, the election and inauguration charts suggest that the person elected may not be the person inaugurated. Let's not focus on worse case scenarios though, because, number one, they rarely happen (best case scenarios rarely happen too, so all you Pollyannas out there, just slap yourselves out of your giggling), and number two, in dire times it helps to be optimistic; save the morbid pessimism as a treat to doll out periodically to the Capricorns in our life during jolly eras--too much cheerfulness depresses them. The charts suggest to me that what we see is not what we'll get. As we knew exactly what we were getting in 2004, and a majority voted for Bush anyway, this can only be a good thing.

So there's room for optimism, even if the Inauguration proceeds on time. But we astrologers can't help hoping that Mercury retrograde (known to shred schedules and bring delays) helps Obama overcome his subconscious fondness for doing things under Void of Course Moons. Astrologers will tell you that this is because the stellar alignments after 12:30 pm that day are just so much more supportive of untroubled success than the Noon stars. What we're really thinking though, is that we're tired of folks saying "I thought you said the Void was bad?" and then having to explain Obama's meteoric success ...

(Note; it's not that the Void is bad, it's that it works against concrete results if we begin projects or buy important items during Voids. Already begun projects can proceed as usual, and if we wish "nothing to come" of an action, doing it during a Void Moon is all to our favor.)

On to the Voids! All times given in Eastern or Pacific standard time:
The MOON (currently in Scorpio) ENTERS THE VOID on MONDAY, JANUARY 19th at 10:37 pm EST (7:37 pm PST). She's Void the rest of the evening.

LUNA LEAVES THE VOID on TUESDAY, JANUARY 20th at 12:30 pm EST (9:30 am PST) when she trots into horsey SAGITTARIUS. While not all Sagittarian-influenced people will be horse lovers, it's very rare to find one who doesn't enjoy looking at the sky, watching clouds move across the blue and stars spangle the nighttime vault. Sagittarius is the sign of far-vision, more interested in what's on the horizon than what's immediately underfoot. Which is why so many Sadgies trip a lot. Sadge doesn't mind--if we're tripping, Sadge figures, at least it's proof we're moving forward. Speaking of watching the sky, Bernadette Brady has a terrific article about the stars of the US Presidency on her Visual Astrology Newsletter.

The MOON IS IN SAGITTARIUS on WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21st and she is not Void. Mercury, planet of mind, is currently moving backwards in the sky (retrograde) and today she moves from forward looking Aquarius back into melancholy Capricorn. If we wake up from a nightmare in which it's the day after the election and Bush is still president, relax--it's just a temporary conservative (Capricorn rules the concept) regression.

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID on THURSDAY, JANUARY 22nd at 11:24 am EST (8:24 am PST). She there the rest of the day Eastern time, LEAVES THE VOID when she enters CAPRICORN at 10:18 pm PST.

The MOON LEAVES THE VOID on FRIDAY, JANUARY 23rd at 1:18 am EST when she enters CAPRICORN. If we're feeling crazier than usual it's not because we need to up our meds, it's because we're well within the shadow of an upcoming SOLAR ECLIPSE (January 26th). So, what to do (other than get those meds refilled)? A Solar Eclipse is a "super" New Moon. New Moons are powerful seeds that represent new beginnings, and a Solar Eclipse even more so. But a New Moon is also "invisible"--the Moon rises and sets with the Sun and thus is lost to the Sun's glare. Astrology is a visual art and what we can see (and what we can't) has meaning: while New Moon's are good times to consider new paths, traditional astrology warned not to begin anything at this time unless we wished it to remain invisible. Yet a Solar Eclipse throws a moonkey wrench into this traditional caution; actions taken at a Solar Eclipse may bring us MORE attention than what we really wanted, or attention in different places. Events begun under this North Node Solar Eclipse have the potential for great success (if "getting attention" helps bring success) but the eclipse also holds dynamic wild card energy. If we're the type whose willing to climb tall trees during lightning storms in order to get our message on the nightly news, by all means--act away.

Apologies for the briefness of this post (she says whilst her readers are in fact thanking their lucky stars to not be subjected to the usual tome),
More voids and eclipse info to come soon,

Never give your birthdate to an astrologer,
Trish
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I bet a fun thing would be to go way back in time to where there was going to be an eclipse and tell the cave men, "If I have come to destroy you, may the sun be blotted out from the sky." Just then the eclipse would start, and they'd probably try to kill you or something, but then you could explain about the rotation of the moon and all, and everyone would get a good laugh.
-Jack Handy-
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This newsletter may be freely shared as long as credit and copyright notice are included ('cause even we star struck idealists gotta protect our stuff).Copyright © 2009, Trish MarieAll right reservedhttp://trishmarieastrology.com/ http://nevergiveyourbirthdatetoanastrologer.blogspot.com/

December 10th through 17th

2008-12-11T13:42:00.003-05:00

My barn
Having burned to the ground
I can now see the Moon.
-Masahide-

Perhaps the leaders of Detroit's Big Three and the United Auto Workers should write haiku. Give them some perspective, because if one of the definitions of a leader is the ability to hide your panic from others, these guys are failing. Some of them looked as freaked out as a bicycle commuter on a road full of Hummers. Thing is, the stars are bigger even than the steel behemoths Detroit has been churning out and the stars, for quite some time now, have been saying, "embrace Change, because Change is about to embrace you." The embrace happens strong and swift this week with a turbulent Full Moon and if we hate to be bored we'll be happy with the current alignments.

On to the Voids! All times given in Eastern or Pacific Standard times--everyone else, convert!

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID on WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 10th at 5:23 pm EST (2:23 pm PST). She leaves the Void on the West Coast at 11:33 pm PST when she glides into GEMINI.

The MOON LEAVES THE VOID on THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11th at 2:33 am EST. Italian automobile manufacturer and race car driver Enzo Ferrari, responding to complaints that the brakes on his cars were less than ideal, said "What do I say to complaints that my brakes are no good? I'll tell you this: Anyone can stop. But it takes a genius to go fast." We may need some of that attitude as the energy of tomorrow's Full Moon breaks over our heads--although I wouldn't imitate Ferrari and drive too fast; a highly accident-prone energy is part of the lunar line up.

The MOON IS FULL in GEMINI on FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12th. This is a SUPER MOON. No, the Moon won't be wearing a cape (although masquerading as a mild-mannered something it isn't is possible); a Super Moon is a Full (or New) Moon that is both at perigee (at closest approach to Earth) and syzygy (directly aligned with the Sun and the Earth). The Moon is also locked into a Grand Cross as well as a Grand Square.

Back in the '60's the Beatles were talking about a revolution (and got it, when Yoko showed up). Then as now Saturn, the planet that represents the status quo opposed Uranus, the Great Breaker, the lopsided planet that loves to shake things up and change them. Sudden breaks (from routine, people, places, things) are possible--and the Moon is involved, so our emotions will be shaken up and our sense of security likewise. Mercury is hanging out with Pluto, an aspect that says persuade or be persuaded. We can state our case under aspects like this, or be mesmerized by someone else stating theirs so write those letters to the editor and congressman but change the television channel fast if any "But wait! There's more!" style infomercials come on. Collective anxiety has its virtues (just ask any pharmaceutical salesman) but rather than succumbing to the nail-biting energy of these alignments far more productive to take Captain Jean-Luc Picard's advice and engage. Embrace change! (Because if we embrace enough of it, you know, that can add up to a lot of money--).

The MOON ALSO ENTERS THE VOID on FRIDAY (yes, same day as the full Moon), DECEMBER 12th at 1:01 pm EST (10:01 am PST). LUNA LEAVES THE VOID at 10:40 pm PST when she sidles her way into CANCER.

The MOON LEAVES THE VOID on SATURDAY, DECEMBER 13th at 1:40 am EST (already left, PST) when she enters CANCER. Astrologer Michael Lutin says that sugar is the drug with which Cancer's coat their inner rage, but it won't just be the Cancerians feeding pent up emotions in this Full Moon's wake. A lot of folks may feel the urge to stock up on comfort foods like dairy and starches, which is fine and dandy as far as it goes--but rather than cart home frigid cartons of ice cream and cumbersome bags of potatoes, it can be quicker and more convenient to kick back a few White Russians. (Vodka being such a clever way of packaging potatoes ...)

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID on SUNDAY, DECEMBER 14th at 5:27 pm EST (2:27 pm PST). The Moon's major aspect today is an opposition to Jupiter--an aspect that can cause us to question or doubt some aspect of our faith. More than one youngster tonight is going to do the math and realize that the whole Santa story just doesn't add up. The MOON LEAVES THE VOID at 10:22 pm PST when she strides into proud LEO.

The MOON LEAVES THE VOID on MONDAY, DECEMBER 15TH at 1:22 am EST when she strides into proud LEO. (Is there an echo in here?) Mars, planet of go, go, go squares Saturn, planet of stop! Stop! Stop! Road rage is more likely under aspects like these and we could try and avoid it by just not going out. The energy of the transits will not be denied however, and if Mars square Saturn can't manifest in road rage it may just come out as wrap rage--the impotence we all feel when confronted with an item we want that's buried inside packaging we can't get through. Of course, we could use this energy constructively--patiently working towards a goal and dealing with dealing with obstacles as the lessons in mastery that they actually are, but you know, sometimes it's just more satisfying to let the blood pressure skyrocket as we teach a piece of plastic to never get between us and our new (software, CD, ballpoint pen, etc.) ever again.

LUNA ENTERS THE VOID on TUESDAY, DECEMBER 16th at 7:45 pm EST (4:45 pm PST). She's there the rest of the evening. Void Moons can be annoying in our impatient, consumer driven culture because Void times are better used for introspection and activities that bring non-materialistic gains. But the Voids do have very practical, real world uses--cutting anything we wish to stay cut goes especially well if #1, the Moon is decreasing in light; #2. the Moon is in a Fixed sign, and #3. the Moon is Void of Course. Now if it were only safe to shave one's legs whilst also meditating we could use the Void for multitasking ...

The MOON LEAVES THE VOID on WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 17th at 3:36 am EST (0:36 am PST) when she moves into dedicated VIRGO. This Virgo Moon links Mercury with Pluto, and if we like to write, here's our sign. If we have any nagging little health problems that have been eluding diagnosis this day's energy could facilitate one as well. Whenever I have nagging little health problems I simply drink more water. Not because water is good for us (though they say it is) but because with all the residual drugs that are ending up in our aquifers anymore, I figure at least one of them has got to help.

More to come ...
Never give your birthdate to an astrologer,
Trish
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We need not feel ashamed of flirting with the zodiac.
The zodiac is well worth flirting with.
-D.H. Lawrence-
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This newsletter may be freely shared as long as credit and copyright notice are included. ('Cause even we star-struck idealists gotta protect our stuff).© 2008 Trish Marie--all rights reserved

December 1 through 8th

2008-12-02T13:03:00.004-05:00

Venus, Jupiter and the waxing crescent Moon have been putting on quite the show in the western sky just after sunset. Tonight (Monday, December 1st) is their encore so get outside and enjoy it. If all we see is slate gray covering the sky we're advised to stop straining our eyes--our stellar show finished early due to clouds. (If all the world were as cloudy as Michigan, there'd be no astrology--folks here tend to freak out rather than wax philosophic whenever we see an unobstructed sky, the event being so rare ...).

ON to the Voids. All times are given in Eastern and Pacific Standard time--all other zones convert!

The MOON IS IN THE VOID now, frankly--MONDAY, DECEMBER 1st. She entered the Void at 10:44 am EST (7:44 am PST). Moon, Venus and Jupiter all together in the sunset sky suggests a sharing of power between a crown prince and an important woman and President-Elect Obama announced his intention to nominate Senator Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State. He announced this under today's Void Moon and events are unlikely to turn out as expected. For the rest of us, sharing our power--or at least showing appreciation for those who aid our efforts--could pay great dividends (but unlike the President Elect, I wouldn't go announcing any promotions until after the Void unless we are really comfortable with uncertainty). Luna LEAVES THE VOID at 10:45 pm PST when she enters AQUARIUS.

LUNA LEAVES THE VOID on TUESDAY, DECEMBER 2nd at 1:45 am EST when she enters AQUARIUS. The Moon joined yesterday's Venus-Jupiter party as a baton-passer in North America (the Moon was part of the alignment), but in Europe Luna stole part of the show, actually occulting (passing in front of and obscuring) Venus. This suggests power given and then suddenly taken away and if we've ever marveled at the power our computers grant us--only to have our awe replaced with frustration at an error message that refuses to go away--we will be able to empathize.

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID on WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 3rd at 9:15 pm EST (6:15 pm PST). She's void the rest of the evening, but that still leaves most of the day to do Aquarian things like buy electronics, start 3 new Internet discussion groups, and stay out of the sticky waters of intimacy by losing ourselves to the demands of a cause. Wanna go save the whales anyone? (Because if we don't do that, we'll have to deal with our relationship issues, and you know, throwing oneself in front of a Japanese harpoon might be less scary).

LUNA LEAVES THE VOID on THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4th at 1:23 pm EST (10:23 pm PST) when she slips into the sensitive waters of PISCES. The stellar aspects suggest that over the next few days we may see necessary changes that may be very loudly protested by some, but I say we should stick to our guns and go ahead and order the Chinese take-out with tofu instead of meat. We can eat our dinner whilst perusing yet another round of letter-to-the-editor rants from Neo-Cons who can't believe the party is over.

It is a FIRST QUARTER PISCES MOON on FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5th. The Moon isn't Void but she is confused; a first quarter Moon is looking for a fight, or at least decisive, ego-driven action but Moon-in-Pisces wants to go with the flow. What to do? Take Xanax, I say!--why fight anxiety when we can drug it into submission? But if that option is not available or we'd like to actually get some use out of the Moon's First Quarter (it is a useful phase) then the Lassie Effect will produce results. The Lassie Effect is selective bravery; Lassie didn't try to save ALL the kids in town, she just got Timmy out of the well.

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID on SATURDAY, DECEMBER 6th at 7:43 pm EST (4:43 pm PST). She LEAVES THE VOID when she charges into ARIES at 9:44 pm EST (6:44 pm PST). Aspects suggest demands may be made on our nervous or emotional energy prior to the Moon's entry into Aries. Why wait for the boom to fall? Call up the annoying people we know and annoy them FIRST.

The MOON IS IN ARIES on SUNDAY, DECEMBER 7th. She's not Void. "Mirror, Mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all?" This line from Disney's "Snow White" could be a theme chant for the day as aspects to the Moon's South Node, currently in Leo, inspire Narcissistic tendencies. If the Internet seems to be running slowly today it's probably due to the hoards of people compulsively Googling themselves.

LUNA ENTERS THE VOID on MONDAY, DECEMBER 8th at 4:35 pm EST (1:35 pm PST). She's void the rest of the day. Venus and Jupiter continue enchant the western sky after sunset, and off to the East, Saturn sits at station (making no apparent motion against the background stars) a bit before sunrise. Saturn forms the apex of a triangle filled out by the bright stars Arcturus (Alpha Bootes) and Spica (Alpha Virgo).
Mercury and Mars are not to be seen in the sky at all. They are aligned with the Sun and thus rising and setting with it, lost to view in the powerful glare of Sol's rays. Mercury lost to the Sun can lead to strange communication issues, and empower thieves and liars (so don't believe everything we hear and keep an eye on our purse while holiday shopping) but Mars lost to the Sun is another matter entirely.
Mars is the ancient god of war. When in the sky with other planets attending, Mars is the citizen soldier , never happier than when playing the hero. But just as in Eden, the mythology of Mars throws a woman into the mix and things get a lot more complicated: Mars is a warrior but with a lover waiting in the wings, the goddess Erishkegal. Erishkegal is the elder sister of Ishtar (Venus) and represents the dark and seductive side of feminine nature. Superman can't resist Lois Lane, SpiderMan can't resist Mary Jane, Sampson falls to Delilah's charms, King David risks his kingdom for Bathsheba--the dang story never changes and the ancient Babylonians have their version; Erishkegal lives in the underworld guarded by fearsome gatekeepers. But for love of her Mars (whom the Babylonians called Nergal) descends into the underworld, and in the throws of passion and rage slays all the gatekeepers to join with Erishkegal. It could be a movie (and in fact, it's already been--many times over) but the point of it all right now is that Mars in the rays of the Sun IS Mars descending into the underworld, and this is not a citizen soldier Mars, but a wild, passionate, angry Mars, slaying gatekeepers right and left to get to the object of his desire.
Mars began his descent into the underworld (entered the beams of the Sun and became more violent) right before the Full Moon on November 13th. By the New Moon of November 27th Mars is in full "slay the gatekeepers" mode (remind me never to take a job as a gatekeeper). On my astrological calendar, under the New Moon I'd written "volatile," and woke to CNN reports of a terrorist attack in Mumbai. Mars remains in the underworld until about mid February, when Mars reappears in the pre-dawn sky.
The bad news is that Mars is out there slaying gatekeepers and keeping things generally riled up right now. The good news is that when Mars reappears he'll be a heck of a lot happier, having just returned from a hot date with Erishkegal.
What to do? There's always a good way to use even difficult energy and Mars in the underworld may be violent, but he is also motivated, focused, and passionate. If we've got a goal in mind, this energy can help us get there. Just make sure we don't leave any bodies behind (metaphorical or otherwise) in our rush to our goal, and it'll probably help to have a clear goal as well--otherwise we could end up like the guy I drove behind yesterday, who had a bumper sticker on his car that read "I took the road less traveled by. Now where the hell am I?"

Never Give Your Birthdate to an Astrologer,
Trish
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Responsibility, n. A detachable burden easily shifted to the shoulders of God, Fate, Fortune, Luck or one’s neighbor. In the days of astrology it was customary to unload it upon a star.Ambrose Bierce
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This newsletter may be freely shared as long as credit and copyright notice are included. ('Cause even we star-struck idealists gotta protect our stuff).
© 2008 Trish Marie--all rights reserved.

Grammies vs Oscars is Neptune vs the Sun

2008-11-26T11:35:00.003-05:00

It used to be that I'd find astrology in the most unlikely places--or so it seemed to me. Now I find astrology everywhere and it is no surprise. Reading Thanking the Monkey: Rethinking the Way We Treat Animals by Karen Dawn (profound book btw). In it she mentions that one year, watching the Oscars and the Grammies, she noticed that at the Grammies everybody thanked God, while at the Oscars, no one did.

And there, I mused, is the difference between Pisces and its ruling planet Neptune, and Leo and its ruling planet the Sun: musicians tend to be Neptunian ... usually have a Pisces Sun, Moon, Rising Sign or Neptune aligned with a personal planet or in some other way prominent. Hollywood and it's inhabitants, on the other hand, are much more Leo-Sun influenced.

How that plays into Karen Dawn's observation is simply this: Neptune and Pisces are associated with the concept of God, of forces much bigger than us and beyond our control or even imagining. Leo and the Sun are associated with the concept of self, of being the center around which everything else revolves and to whom everyone looks.

Ms. Dawn mentions that she is a musician and gives thanks in the book to Higher Powers. No surprise there either; Neptune's is the energy associated with compassion and the idea that All is One. Some folks are offended by the evolutionary idea that we come from monkeys (which of course is not at all what Darwin said but then I've yet to meet a creationist who has actually read Darwin), but as far as Neptune is concerned, it's not so much that we come from monkeys; it's that we are monkeys, at least in the context that if we subjected humans to the kinds of experiments we subject monkeys to, it would be as painful to us as it is to them. "Animal lovers" frequently have very strong Jupiters, but it is Neptune that dissolves personal boundaries to the point that love becomes empathy, and empathy impells action. Tofurkey for Thankgiving dinner anyone?

I don't usually watch either the Grammies or the Oscars, but next time I think I'll pay attention.

Void Moons through November 14th

2008-11-04T14:34:00.008-05:00

On this Presidential Election day in 2008 we're about to head out and engage in every American's patriotic duty: shopping. As the Moon is currently Void, we'll wisely confine our "shopping" to a light meal and drinks at a local restaurant. And--oh, we'll also vote. Regardless of whom you support, we urge you to too. (Vote that is--not shop. Moon is Void! And in Capricorn. Very bad shopping juju, that).

Also note: THIS ASTROLOGER WILL BE OUT OF TOWN from THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 6th THROUGH TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11th. If your stars are giving you grief, calibrate two telescopes and then call me in the morning (of November 12th that is).

On to the Voids--all times are given in Eastern or Pacific Standard time. The rest of you have to convert, because your astrologer can't handle the math!

LUNA enters the Void at 1:47 am EST on TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4th. SHE LEAVES THE VOID at 7:01 pm EST (4:01 pm PST) when she glides into the clarity of AQUARIUS. Aquarians think they see things clearly, at any rate--the same way that teenagers think they see and know all. It's a youthful-natured but inflexible sign. What we all want to know is which Presidential candidate ultimately ends up on top when the "Begun under a Void of Course Moon" election is over! This astrologer has a bottle of bubbly waiting for celebration--or consolation--whichever the case may be.

The MOON IS IN AQUARIUS ON WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5th. She is not Void. It's a First Quarter Moon--the phase that favors boldly going where no one has gone before (taking calculated risks, changing direction.) The stars now favor dragging ourselves away from CNN, FiveThirtyEight, Rush, Sean, Huffington and all the rest, and actually getting on with our lives.

The MOON REMAINS IN AQUARIUS on THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 6th. The Moon occults (passes in front of, thus obscuring) nebulous Neptune, planet of delusion, fantasy, and escape. If our candidate is not the one who won, and we're planning a trip away to get away from the gloating of the other side, better make it a long trip; Astrologer Bernadette Brady says that whichever side wins the election will likely remain in power for 12 years.

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID on FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 7th at 4:33 am EST (1:33 am PST). SHE LEAVES THE VOID when she drifts into delusional waters of PISCES at 5:43 am EST (2:43 am PST). It's TGIF and the stars favor fantasy. Movies are fantasy. Make popcorn and margaritas. Watch movies, like Walt Disney's Bambi. Make sure we invite all our hunter friends.

The MOON IS IN PISCES on SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 8th and she is not Void. You know how in the Harry Potter stories, Potter and his friends would board the train to Hogwarts Castle by running at a brick wall and just disappearing into it? That's what life is like the Moon is in Pisces. You know how sometimes it wouldn't work, and instead of finding himself on the Hogwarts train Harry would instead run smack-dab into a brick wall? That's what happens when the Moon leaves Pisces. When engaged with Pisces, whether by Moon or because that's whom we married it pays to remember that flying cars and enchanted trains make great fiction, but brick walls will stop us dead, every time.

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID on SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 9th at 11:28 am EST. (8:28 am PST). She LEAVES THE VOID at 12:26 pm EST (9:26 am PST) when she charges into ARIES. While Pisces can carry us off into a fantasy, Aries will sweep us away with enthusiasm. Either that, or run us down. Pushy energy dominates the day so drive slowly just to make sure the tailgater types get full value from their blood pressure medication.

The MOON IS IN ARIES on MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10th and she is not Void. Venus, goddess of love and money is closing in on Pluto, god of unquenchable desire. This aspect builds in strength right through the upcoming FULL MOON (Nov. 12/13) and it should be a good week for astrologers, because what most people want to know when they ring up their astrologer involves money or sex (i.e., When am I gonna get more money? And when am I gonna get more sex? Yes, in that order). The Full Moon and Venus-Pluto bash will stimulate these as well as the third most frequently desired bit of information--how to get rid of the lunatic boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse we wanted so badly when we were single. (Funny how no one ever says they'd like to go back to being broke ...).

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID on TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11th at 2:17 pm EST (11:17 am PST). She LEAVES THE VOID at 3:05 pm EST (12:05 pm PST) when she enters TAURUS. Taureans are supposed to be placid people, and when the Moon is in Taurus it's supposed to be a placid time--but those rules are gone with the wind when we're building up towards a Taurus Full Super Moon. A "Super Moon" occurs when the Moon is both Full and at Perigee (making her closest approach to Earth). Super Moons are like Full Moons on steroids. Sun is in obsessive, creative, power-hungry Scorpio. Moon is in sensual, stable, money-hungry Taurus. Scorpio (and thus this Sun's) ruler is Pluto. Taurus (and thus this Moon's) ruler is Venus. Pluto and Venus have slipped the planetary party and hooked up together amongst the stars of Sagittarius. Sun and Moon oppose one another (Sun sets as Moon rises and vice versa) but their ruler's are locked together trying to decide if this is True Love or another future private war. This is the Taurus-Scorpio axis in full flower and we're all about to be subjec--er, I mean, treated to the show. "The argument between wives and whores," feminist Andrea Dworkin has written, "is an old one, each one thinking that whatever she is, at least she is not the other." This is the Taurus-Scorpio axis in a nutshell, and if we think it's about sex, we're missing the point.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12th sees the TAURUS FULL MOON. Sun in Scorpio opposes Moon in Taurus (see November 11th). The Ferengi are the fictional race of Uber-Capitalists in the world of Star Trek. Anyone who has watched Star Trek: Deep Space Nine has encountered the concept of the Ferengi Rules of Acquisition, such as rule number 109; "Dignity and an empty sack is worth the sack." Less well known is that the Ferengi also recognize the Five Stages of Acquisition;
#1. Infatuation--I want it. (Taurus).
#2. Justification--I must have it. (Scorpio).
#3. Appropriation--IT'S MINE AT LAST! (Taurus and Scorpio).
#4. Obsession--"Precious." (Scorpio and Taurus).
#5. Resale--Make me an offer. (Taurus)
(The stages are Wikipedia's, the astrological connotations, mine).
This Full Moon will highlight which stage we are going through, and whether or not it's the same stage our sweetie is at (if applicable), and whether or not we'd be better served by moving on to the next stage. If the Universe is saying "move to next stage" and we don't want to, it will pay to remember Ferengi Rule of Acquisition #236: You can't buy fate.

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID at 12:13 pm EST (9:13 am PST) on THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13TH.. She LEAVES THE VOID at 3:11 pm EST (12:11 pm PST) when she skips into GEMINI. Typically a light hearted sign that doesn't believe in taking life Too Seriously, this Gemini Moon may find jokes trampled under the hooves of yesterday's rampaging Taurus Full Moon. My advice? Tofu. Lots of Tofu. The less real Bull, the better.

LUNA IS IN GEMINI on FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14th. She is not Void. Astrological aspects favor feelings of rebelliousness and a desire to upset the status-quo. "My very first day on the job," Phyllis Hilliard tells us, "the boss asked me to make a fresh pot of coffee. Of course I walked right out the door." She probably did so under aspects like these. She adds, "He and the other sexist pigs at Starbucks can kiss my ass!" My advice? If the rebel urge strikes hard, first contemplate Ferengi Rule of Acquisition #117: You can't free a fish from water." Then decide if it's rebellion, or liberation we're really seeking.

More to come,
Never give your birthdate to an astrologer,
Trish
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More than any other time in history, mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness. The other, to total eradication. Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly.
-Allen Konigsberg-
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This newsletter may be freely shared as long as credit and copyright notice are included. ('Cause even we star-struck idealists gotta protect our stuff).© 2008 Trish Marie--all rights reserved.

But Biden, er, I mean Mr. Ed, gave good advice!

2008-11-01T12:01:00.008-04:00

Even comedy talk show hosts "get" astrology, in effect if not in substance: Last night (Halloween) Stephen Colbert of the Colbert Report compared Senator Joe Biden (who has horsey Sagittarius Rising) to Mr. Ed the talking horse. The Rising Sign is the image we initially project, the "clothes" that may or may not make the man, but that we are often judged on anyway. And while it is true that judging a book by its cover--or a person by their clothes--is an error, it's not entirely an error. Naked people (as Mark Twain observed) have little or no influence on society.

As I recall, while Mr. Ed frequently got his human companion, Wilbur, into trouble--he also proved to be a great wing man, er, I mean, horse. Obama sure could have made McCain's mistaken, and chosen worse!

Spock's home world found!

2008-10-29T12:13:00.004-04:00

Epsilon Eridani is the star around which Vulcan is rumored to be located.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20081027/sc_mcclatchy/3082054

Art imitates life so often that everything has to be connected and in yet another example of that, Epsilon Eridani is located on the midpoint of Leonard Nimoy's Sun-Moon.

Astronomically, Eridanus is a constellation that twists and turns in a long ribbon across the sky, much like a river--and that's what our ancestors saw when looking at it. Mythologically Eridanus, the celestial river, is said to be the source of all water (and thus is literally the river of life). What's interesting about that is that astrologically, the water element relates to emotions (fire is action, air is intellect, earth is the material realm). So Vulcan is located in the river of emotion ...

Political Astrology

2008-10-25T10:33:00.000-04:00

It's been said that when God wants to punish you, he answers your prayers. Something to remember whenever we get too worried that our candidate might not win in the US Presidential election! Speaking of which, if this astrologer had a dollar for every person who has asked me whom I think, astrologically, is going to win the election, I could move to New Zealand and no longer have to worry about it.

Right now, Senator Obama is narrowly ahead in the polls and some Obama supporters are predicting that this 1% margin will translate into a landslide victory for him. You have to love their enthusiasm, for as Henry Chester wrote, enthusiasm is the greatest asset in the world, beating money, and power, and influence. It might, however, not beat the ultimate vote totals: Barack Obama announced his candidacy for president under a Void of Course Moon. When we begin something under a Void of Course Moon, the typical result is that "nothing comes of it,"--we get no concrete result, or if we do get a result, it is not at all the result we expected.

Senator Obama also announced his running mate choice of Joe Biden under a Void of Course Moon (and astrologers as a unit thought, Obama really ought to get himself a descent astrologer ...). Supporters of Senator McCain are doubtless rejoicing at the news--except, not so fast; just as one shouldn't count their chickens before they're hatched (or in the McCain ticket's case, count their dead moose before they are gunned down) counting one's victory because the opposition has picked some unfortunate astrological times to begin things could lead to serious disappointment. Announcing one's candidacy under a Void Moon doesn't necessarily mean one will not get elected. It means ... well, we'll get to that ...

The Moon was not Void of Course when McCain announced his candidacy on April 25, 2007. It was in unfortunate alignment with the planet Saturn though, an emotionally oppressive aspect that can make us feel like the kid who gets all the chores and rules and none of the indulgent adulation given to the new kid on the block. Not satisfied to be oppressed by cheerless Saturn, the chart's Moon also opposes Neptune, the planet connected with disillusion (as well as illusion), disappointment, and things which vanish. The Moon in the announcement chart is in the sign of Capricorn, a sign it dislikes. Neither the Moon nor the candidate feels at home in this enterprise, and it may show. The Moon in a chart represents the sympathies of the people and Capricorn is an unsympathetic sign; someone isn't feeling the love and it might be McCain.

It's more than just the announcement chart which plays into the astrological energies of an election though. There are the charts of the candidates, and transits to those charts, the chart of the day of the election, the chart of the inauguration, the country's chart itself.

In this astrologer's opinion, the transits to the candidate's charts on election day is overplayed and perhaps even pointless to bother with. Here is why: some astrologer's say that the candidate with the transits that produce the most prominence will win the election. Problem with this is that all of the candidates will have transits that project public prominence at election time; they are individuals who are running for President of the United States for crying out loud--one doesn't get to that point under transits that proclaim "this is going to be a period of obscurity for you." Both candidate's transits are going to proclaim significant elevation. Other astrologers take the opposite track, and say that the candidate with the worst transits will win, inference being that it's actually the lucky guy (or gal) who looses the election (take a look at "before he was President" and "after" photos of ex-Presidents, you see what these people mean). Problem with this theory is that both candidates will also have some pretty sucky transits going on as well--after all, they're both in a battle to the metaphorical death as it were, both are under vicious attack from the other side, both have their lives held to a microscope, both have people wishing them the worst of luck in their quest. (I know I've a few clients out there thinking, what?!--there's actually something other than sucky transits? Really, there is, and the good transits will come your way as soon as the folks who have 'em now get done using them ...).

Many astrologers look at the charts of the candidate's themselves. Problem here being that there is some uncertainty as to the time of each Presidential candidate's birth. Obama has even quipped that rather than being born in a manger (thus astrologers can rule out any barns as birth location in his home state of Hawaii) he was actually born on another planet (effectively screwing up Earth based astrological analysis). McCain's mother said he was born at 11 am, but John says he remember being told it was "happy hour" (which explains a lot when you think about it). Happy Hour in the Navy refers to the time when Navy men and women gather in the mess for drinks after completion of the day's work, usually around 6 or 7 pm. A birth certificate for McCain finally surfaced, and it looks as if mother doesn't always know best; it gives McCain's birth time as 6:25 pm (Happy Hour).

Barack Obama, a Friday's child born on August 4th, 1961 at 7:24 pm in Honolulu, Hawaii has Sun in the regal (you could even say elitist) sign of Leo, his Moon in intellectual and gab-gifted Gemini, and Aquarius rising. Aquarius has been described as the "Mr.Spock" sign and as the Rising sign describes our appearance, looking at a photo of Star Trek's Spock and then Obama, we believe it. The Moon is our security blanket and when threatened, Gemini Moon people retreat into the realms of the intellect (that, or throw spit wads at the opposition) and this along with that Vulcan-ish Aquarius Rising is the source of Obama's perceived "calm, cool, collected"-ness under fire.

John McCain was born on Saturday (as his mother said) but most likely at 6:25 pm (as his birth certificate says) in Colon, Panama on the August 29th, 1936 a generation and a half ahead of Obama. His Sun is in the sign of non-regal but certainly dedicated Virgo and his Moon is in Aquarius. Aquarians like to think of themselves as being rebels and mavericks, and while they can certainly seem weir--er, I mean "mavericky" on the outside, at the core they're usually surprisingly conservative, traditional people. Pisces, the sign of the suffering, wounded, and confined or imprisoned (I am not making this up) Rises in McCain's chart. (Eeyore the Donkey has Pisces Rising as well, so maybe McCain is actually in the wrong party). Aquarius is the sign of friendship, bonding with our compatriots and blood-brothers and Aquarian Moons aren't secure unless they can feel like they're among friends (ever notice how McCain begins every speech by befriending us all? "My friends ...").

Sarah Palin was born on Tuesday, the day belonging to warrior Mars (are we surprised?). It was at 4:40 pm on February 11th, 1964 in Sandpoint, Idaho that this future animal love(to kill them)er came into the world. Palin was born near an Aquarius New Moon which means that both Sun and Moon are in the sign of Aquarius. When the Sun and Moon are in the same sign the Moon is rising and setting with the Sun and thus we don't see it--it's lost to the brilliance of the Sun. Astrology is an ancient and originally visual art and to the ancients, when you couldn't see the Moon, it in effect "wasn't there." It's not that people born when the Moon was "invisible" don't have feelings (though if wolves could talk, they might argue the point in Palin's case), it's that they confuse what they need (the Moon) with what they want (the Sun). Because they don't let their feelings get in the way, these folks usually get what they want--and then discover the wisdom of Mr. Spock when he said, "You may find that having is not so pleasing a thing as wanting. It is not logical, but it is often true." (Now I'm going to get a bunch of e-mails from New Moon people telling me I've hurt their non-existe, er, I mean, misunderstood feelings).

Joe Biden; a Friday's child like Obama, Biden was born on November 20th, 1942 at 8:30 am in Scranton, Pennsylvania. With Sun is in the sign of Scorpio (the gods put Scorpio in the sky to bring down Orion, the stellar hunter, because he was killing too many animals ... Sarah might want to take note) and his Moon in bull-headed Taurus. Scorpio may have been put in the sky to punish Orion the hunter, but visually, the hunter is whumping Taurus with a club (in case we haven't noticed, it's a relatively violent sky, which is probably why we humans have created so much light pollution to blot it all out ...). Thankfully Palin and Biden confined themselves to verbal battle in their debate (though secretly I'm sure they really wanted to duke it out--their two Suns are locked in a competitive square: my money would've been on Palin ... don't mess with women who can field dress a moose, I always say). Biden was born when the Moon was gibbous waxing towards full. Unlike Palin, with no Moon gracing her birth night, for Biden the Moon filled the sky, blotting out details (like those pesky stars). Biden has big plans and sees the big picture (and with mouthy Sagittarius rising, will tell you so) but he trips up on the details--like whether or not the microphone has been turned off yet.

During astrological consultations a few of you have asked me which candidate's chart suggested they are more likely to become President. Modern astrology isn't much help here, because it has dispensed with the unpleasant notion (accepted in ancient astrology) that some people are "fated" to be dishwashers, whilst others are destined for kingship. Modern astrology is psychology based, and concerned with motivation: Why does my boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse keep doing things that they know will piss me off?--well, maybe their Moon squares their Mars and the only time they ever got undivided attention from their mother was when they'd pissed her off; go with what worked with mama, sayeth the Moon and so they go with it not realizing that there are more productive ways to direct the Moon-Mars energy.

Ancient astrologers were a lot less concerned with motivation and a lot more concerned with actual results than we moderns. The ancients recognized that one way to achieve wedded bliss was to not marry someone who was fated to be frustrated by their career as a dishwasher. Carrying this idea into the realm of political struggles, once upon a time if we bet on the losing party, we didn't just risk having to face the smirks of the other side for weeks on end--we risked facing the gallows. So it was a matter of some importance knowing which contender stood a better chance of achieving highest prominence. Using ancient techniques, Barack Obama's is a more "royal" chart than John McCain; the stars say he will ultimately achieve higher rank. At least, that's what I thought (and mentioned to many of you) when using a 9 am birth time for John McCain. In light of an apparently authentic birth certificate showing up giving a happy hour birth time of 6:25 PM, a lot changes. The princely planet Jupiter, ruler of McCain's Mid Heaven (career) is very favorably positioned in his horoscope--the Mid Heaven ruler "beholds" the Mid Heaven suggesting a person who is destined to achieve tremendous eminence. But Obama's Mid Heaven (career) aligns with the bright star Toliman (Alpha Centaurus), a star whose name means "heretofore and hereafter" and grants "beneficence, friends, refinement and a position of honor." His Sun is in a royal, masculine sign while McCain's Sun is in a servile, feminine sign (sorry feminists, but in ancient astrology masculine signs trump feminine ones because Gloria Steinem hadn't yet been born) and McCain better hope that he was born in the evening, rather than at the time his mother remembers because without that elevated Jupiter in his evening chart, according to ancient astrology he's a goner. With the elevated Jupiter it's a near toss up.

We're left with the chart for election day itself, and this is the chart I like best; we only have to deal with one chart, we can easily find the day, place, and time and we don't have to listen to inane banter between a candidate and his mother to get the timing of the chart.

So here's the scoop: the horoscope for Election Day 2008 says that (drum roll please) ... Nobody will win. And even though I'm always telling people that I'm an astrologer, not a psychic (you'd be surprised at how many folks confuse the two; I once even had a librarian, upon finding out I'm an astrologer, extend her open palm and ask if I could read it)--in this case I know what you're thinking: "Oh yeah, take the easy way out; just say that whether the Democrat or Republican wins, the rest of us lose." So here's the explanation to the scoop:

First thing that jumps out at one about the election day chart is that the Moon will be Void of Course at the opening of the polls for the entire country, and remain Void most of the day. Events begun under Void of Course Moons fail of their purpose, become moot, decisions made under Void Moons prove unrealistic, actions initiated under Void Moons do not produce the consequence intended.

It gets worse. You see, some Void Moons are worse than other Void Moons (because some Moons are worse than other Moons, just like the band Credence Clearwater Revival sang they were). Capricorn is the sign of the Moon's detriment; it's like you or I when we're in clothes we really hate--often all we can think about is how much we hate our clothes, not where we are or what we're supposed to be doing. Astrology is probabilities, essentially; when we take actions under a Void Moon, we increase the probability that something is going to go wrong. When we take actions under a Void of Course Moon and she's also in a sign she doesn't like, we vastly increase the probability that something's going to go wrong because this Moon is not only going no where, she's obsessing on how uncomfortable she is.

It gets worse. Mars, the planet that rules goals and how we direct our efforts to achieve those goals, is arguing with Neptune, the planet that rules dissolution, disappointment, and deception. Mars in poor aspect to Neptune is "misdirected action," or action that fizzles (Mars is fire, Neptune rules the sea, rain, fog and every fireman counts on the fact that fire and water do not mix).

It gets worse. Mercury begins the day at 29 degrees of Libra. Mercury is the cosmic accountant as well as cosmic secretary, ruling numbers, counting, paperwork, and process. The 29th degree (of any sign) is called the "anaretic" degree, which means the killing degree. It is a degree of crisis, endings, obstacles, karma, the necessity to pay dues before moving on, it represents a pause--and then a radical shift of direction (because the planet is about to move into an entirely new sign). If this sounds like it's good news for the Democrats (and it could be) we might want to remember that radical shifts inspired by the 29th degree tend to happen due to unforeseen events or crisis. Maybe Joe the Plumber gets enough write in votes. (At least his aides won't have to worry about White House leaks ...).

It gets worse. Saturn, the planet that rules law and order, structure and boundaries exactly opposes Uranus, the Great Breaker, whose function is to destroy structure and move beyond boundaries. In mythology, Saturn castrated his father Uranus (Ouranus) with an iron sickle and threw his private parts into the sea (and you thought you had problems with your kids). It's a tense aspect of complete opposites at odds with each other with little room for compromise. Historically it corresponds with times when cultural paradigms are remade. The last time Saturn and Uranus were in opposition was 1965 through 1967, a period when America was divided over a prolonged and ill-conceived war and issues of race. (The more things change ...) Saturn and Uranus will dance in and out of opposition from now through 2010, with the first exact opposition occurring the day of the election with the second exact opposition to form on February 5th, 2009--or just after the Presidential inauguration.

Speaking of that Inauguration--on January 20th, 2009, at Noon in Washington D.C., (the time and place for the Presidential Inauguration) the Moon will be Void of Course. The Moon will be in Scorpio, a sign she dislikes. The Moon will be at the 29th degree of Scorpio. Presidents within living memory who were inaugurated under Void Moons are Franklin D. Roosevelt (died in office April 12, 1945); John F. Kennedy (died in office November 22, 1963); Richard Nixon's second Inauguration occurred under a VoC (Void of Course) Moon, as did that of his VP, Gerald R. Ford who took over when Nixon resigned. Nothing happened to Ford (thankfully!) but nothing much came of his presidency either (the author of The Zen of Zombie suggests that Mr. Ford was actually an unusually animate Zombie, which explains a lot when you think about it ...). Bill Clinton's 2nd Inauguration also occurred while the Moon was VoC, and along came Monica.

So what's gonna happen?! Well if you want specifics, that's why they make Ouija boards. But I can say this--worse case scenario, the election and inauguration charts suggest that the person elected may not be the person inaugurated. Let's not focus on worse case scenarios though, because, number one, they rarely happen (best case scenarios rarely happen too, so all you Pollyannas out there, just slap yourselves out of your giggling), and number two, in dire times it helps to be optimistic; save the morbid pessimism as a treat to dole out periodically to the Capricorns in our life during jolly eras--too much cheerfulness depresses them. The charts suggest to me that what we see is not what we'll get. As we knew exactly what we were getting in 2004, and a majority voted for Bush anyway, this can only be a good thing.

Never give your birthdate to an astrologer,
Trish
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I'm nobody. Nobody at all. But the secrets of the Universe don't mind.
They reveal themselves to nobodies that care.
-Outer Limits (Galaxy Being)-
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Voids, Politics, Mercury Retrograde and other horrorscopes

2008-09-30T16:55:00.000-04:00

This astrologer spent the weekend as Equine-Astrologer-in-Residence at the Metamora Celebration of the Horse, a local, small-town festival that beats all those Strawberry, Blueberry, Watermelon-Seed-Spitting, Corn-On-The-Cob, Apple, Pumpkin and whatever-else small town America festivals held all over the country by a long shot (at least if one if a horse lover it does).

A lot of folks visited my booth and signed up for the astrology newsletter, so a brief explanation of the Void Moon is in order (if we already know about a-Voiding the Void, skip ahead): As the closest cosmic body to the Earth, the Moon "carries the light" or energy of all the other planets and stars. All astrological influences must pass the Moon's boundary before reaching the Earth. At certain times on a regular basis the Moon is said to "enter the Void"--that is, the Moon is making no contact by aspect with any other planet and will not make any before she leaves her current sign. At these times energy is drifting aimless (like the Moon) and actions taken, or important items bought at such times are much more liable to "fail of their purpose" than actions taken/items purchased when the Moon is not Void.

Astrology is not so much "fate" as probabilities. When we begin new projects or buy important items under a Void Moon period, there is a much higher probability that what we want to happen will not happen. It's as simple as that. (Already begun projects can proceed as planned under voids, btw--though avoid bringing a project to its conclusion under a Void if possible). ANYONE WHO WOULD LIKE A MORE DETAILED EXPLANATION OF THE VOID OF COURSE MOON, please e-mail and I'll send it to you!

And--folks who signed up for this newsletter at the horse celebration thinking they were going to be getting free equestrian advice; I have some for you. Don't buy a horse under a Void of Course Moon! (Here's some more: How should one deal with a horse who is prone to be a runaway?--learn to ride faster!). There, now that we've satisfied the horse fanatics in the audience--on to the Voids!

All times given in Eastern or Pacific Daylight Saving time. The rest of you've gotta convert, 'cause your astrologer can only handle so much math at a time ...

The MOON IS IN SCORPIO on WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1st and she's not Void. (Well--mostly--she leaves the Void at 0:26 am EDT, and if we're up beginning new projects and buying important items at that hour of the night, we're waayyy too busy anyway and need some of our projects to go no where).
Mercury, the cosmic mailman went retrograde (moving backwards in apparent motion) September 24th and will remain so until October 15th. Don't sign important papers, don't initiate important contracts, don't buy expensive communication or office equipment or electronics in general, don't mail stuff at the last minute expecting it to get there in time. DO review, rewrite, reconsider, repair, re-anything. Mercury retrogrades are good times to go back over old territory, just like Mercury is doing. DO keep extra flexibility in our schedules because Mercury, when retrograde, loves to shred schedules. (By the way, it is especially important to not make rushed decisions when Mercury is retrograde! Mercury retrograde is a time when review is favored and careful consideration of options is important. Especially when Mercury is retrograde in the wishy-washy sign of Libra, whose symbol is the balance scale that tilts back and forth between options. HELLO CONGRESS--get a clue!--this is NOT a good time to be quickly deciding on whether or not to throw billions of dollars at a problem. Where is a good astrologer in congress when you need one? Sheesh.)

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID on THURSDAY, OCTOBER 2nd at 6:47 pm EDT (3:47 pm PDT). She's Void the rest of the day. Scorpio is a sign very interested in the uses of power, Moon Void of Course in Scorpio is a time when quests for power lead into unexpected (and generally unsought) territory. The first Vice Presidential debate will be held under this intriguing "mis-directed power" aspect. It's well known that Vice Presidential candidate Sara Palin can not only bring home the bacon (she kept the "pork"--federal money--given her by the U.S. government for the "Bridge to Nowhere" that she supported before deciding she didn't support it) but she can also bring down, chop up, and bring home a moose. Less well known is that gun-totin' Sara also supports killing wolves by chasing and shooting them from low flying airplanes. She says it's because the wolves like to hunt moose too, thereby competing with humans. (Note to Governor Palin: wolves don't "like" to hunt moose--they need to hunt them, not having money with which to buy Big Macs). But what I really want to know is--does Senator Biden know about his opponent's preferred method of eliminating the competition?

Luna (aka "the Moon") leaves the Void on FRIDAY, OCTOBER 3rd at 11:14 am EDT (8:14 am PDT) when she canters into horsey SAGITTARIUS. Sagittarius is the sign that disables the brain-to-mouth filter which prevents most of us from telling our best friend that yes, that dress does make her look fat. Much has been made of Senator Joe Biden's verbal gaffs--well, the man has Sagittarius Rising in his birth chart so he tends to say pretty much what he thinks as he thinks it. Those of us with Sagittarian Suns, Moons, or Rising signs can empathize. (Note to the politically interested; more in-depth astrological analysis of all candidates to come in a separate post).

The MOON IS IN SAGITTARIUS and she is not VOID on SATURDAY, OCTOBER 4th. That brain-to-mouth-with-no-pause-for-reflection-in-between energy remains strong, not only through today and tommorow's Sagittarian Moon, but right through the early next week as well (Jupiter, planet of excess, in square to retrograde Mercury, planet of yak, yak, yak.) It's aspects like these that remind us that the trouble with talking too fast is that we might say something we haven't thought of yet.

LUNA enters the VOID on SUNDAY, OCTOBER 5th at 9:08 pm EDT (6:08 pm PDT). She LEAVES THE VOID at 11:48 pm EDT (8:48 pm PDT) when she climbs into ambitious CAPRICORN. Venus, goddess of love and money is stressed for the next few days, and dissatisfaction within relationships or with a financial picture is in the air. (When I don't like my financial picture, I take it down and put up a floral still-life, or horse picture or something. Why be depressed?).

The MOON IS IN CAPRICORN on MONDAY, OCTOBER 6th and she is not Void. Jupiter and the Moon sit together in the constellation of the Archer (they're in the zodical sign of Capricorn, but in the actual constellation of Sagittarius the Archer--signs and constellations are two different things in Western Astrology. Confusing? Sure. That's why people pay astrologers to make sense of the chaos for them. And why astrologers seem so dazed when asked easy questions, like "What do you want for lunch?") You can read in astrology books that Sagittarius is the happy-go-lucky sign of optimism and adventure and sticking its foot in its mouth through being too eager to share thoughts. All true as far as it goes. But to the ancients, Sagittarius had a much more difficult, even malevolent side; the constellation is an archer with a horse's body. Two of the most feared "weapons" in ancient times were the mounted warrior and the archer ... a mounted warrior is bigger and faster than you are and can run you down. Even worse was the archer, who can strike from a distance and target you without your even being aware of it.
Whenever planets crossed the constellation of Sagittarius, the ancients thought, uh oh--that's trouble. What's it mean for us? A really lively 2nd Presidential debate, with few (if any) holds barred. So lay in a supply of popcorn ahead of time (see, ain't astrology useful?).

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID at 3:37 pm EDT (12:37 pm PDT) on TUESDAY, OCTOBER 7th. She's Void the rest of the day. It's also a First Quarter Moon and a good time to step outside of our comfort zones. If we're stepping outside of our comfort zones verbally or financially however, expect an equal and opposite reaction. (My advice; t-shirts with messages! Let's us mouth off without actually mouthing off. Maybe politicians in Washington should make the switch--instead of suits, t-shirts with messages. In fact, I might send my congressman one to get the ball rolling).

The MOON LEAVES THE VOID at 12:03 pm EDT (9:03 am PDT) on WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8th when she enters the "high, clear" of AQUARIUS. Aquarius rules very high places, places above mountaintops even, the air and sky. If we're looking for something, and do a horoscope to help us locate that thing (Yes, we can do that), and the planet that signifies the lost item is in Aquarius, better start looking up (or near a fountain ... Aquarius also rules places where clean water emerges; it isn't called the "water-bearer" for nothing you know).

THE MOON REMAINS IN AQUARIUS on THURSDAY, OCTOBER 9th and she is not Void. On days when the Moon is in the emotionally detached but socially conscious sign of Aquarius, people are prone to being very friendly, but in an impersonal manner. So if we walk around warmly grabbing the hand of anyone who so much as nods at us, and gushing as if we've just met a long-lost best friend, we can have a lot of fun! (Note; my legal department informs me that I should inform readers that using astrology to freak people out is naughty.)

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID on FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10TH at 7:13 pm EDT (4:13 pm PDT). She LEAVES THE VOID AT 9:31 pm EDT (6:31 pm PDT) when she drifts into foggy PISCES. Escapist tendencies will be strong today, so start the weekend early (hey, if Fridays off work for our Congress--people supposedly running the country--why should we stress?)

The MOON IS IN PISCES on SATURDAY, OCTOBER 11th. She is not Void. Venus, goddess of love is in aspect to Neptune, planet of fantasy and if we don't know what to do with an aspect like this, our astrologer probably can't help us.

The MOON IS IN PISCES on SUNDAY, OCTOBER 12th. She'll enter the Void at 10:02 pm, PACIFIC DAYLIGHT time.

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID at 1:02 am EDT (already there, PDT) on MONDAY, OCTOBER 13th. She LEAVES THE VOID AT 3:07 am EDT (0:07 am PDT) when she sashays into exuberant ARIES. Aries is the sign ruled by the planet Mars, god of weapons. What can we do with this information?--well, for one thing, if we need to buy (or sharpen) knives of any kind, an Aries Moon is a favorable time. (I get more favorable comments whenever I mention that Aries Moons are good for sharpening knives than any other repeated suggestion I make in this newsletter. Have no idea why this is so, and frankly it kind of worries me ...).

FULL MOON IN ARIES on TUESDAY, OCTOBER 14th. Full Moons shed light on a situation, metaphorically as well as literally. When this Full Moon perfects (when the Sun is exactly opposite the Moon) the Moon will be in the 2nd house at the location of Washington, D.C. and the Sun will be in the 8th house. The 2nd house is the house of one's own money, money one makes themselves; the 8th is the house of other people's money, money one gets from or owes to others. The planet Mars, ruler of the sign Aries and thus of this Full Moon, forms a relationship with Sualocin (Alpha Delphinus), the dolphin star. This star is connected with the energy of intelligent playfulness and a certain mastery of the use of energy. Well, money is simply congealed energy. Mars is connected to Sualocin in the birth chart of Charles Henry Dow, who founded the Dow Jones Company and the Wall Street Journal. Whenever someone blasts past my bicycle in their car, endangering life and limb (mine, mostly) as well as taking out any butterflies in their path I always think, "Where's a cop when you need one?" Well, right now folks are thinking "Where's a financial expert when you need one?" Perhaps this Full Moon will find one for us. MERCURY is about to go direct (forward motion) again, and solutions can be found.

And right now this astrologer has to find a solution to a client's tangled stars,
more to come later.

Void Moon time summary:
October 1st, Wed: Moon in Scorpio, Void until 0:26 am EDT.
October 2nd, Thur: Moon enters Void 6:47 pm EDT (3:47 pm PDT)
October 3rd, Fri: Moon leaves Void 11:14 am EDT (8:14 am PDT). Moon enters Sagittarius.
October 4th, Sat: Moon in Sagittarius, not Void.
October 5th, Sun: Moon enters Void 9:08 pm EDT (6:08 pm PDT). Moon leaves Void 11:48 pm EDT (8:48 pm PDT). Moon enters Capricorn.
October 6th, Mon: Moon in Capricorn, not Void.
October 7th, Tues: Moon enters Void at 3:37 pm EDT (12:37 pm PDT).
October 8th, Wed: Moon leaves Void at 12:03 pm EDT (9:03 am PDT). Moon enters Aquarius.
October 9th, Thur: Moon in Aquarius, not Void.
October 10th, Fri: Moon enters Void at 7:13 pm EDT (4:13 pm PDT). Moon leaves Void at 9:31 pm EDT (6:31 pm PDT). Moon enters Pisces.
October 11th, Sat: Moon in Pisces, not Void.
October 12th, Sun: Moon in Pisces, enters Void 10:02 pm PDT.
October 13th, Mon: Moon enters Void 1:02 am EDT. Moon leaves Void 3:07 am EDT (0:07 am PDT). Moon enters Aries.
October 14th, FULL MOON IN ARIES. Moon is not Void.

Never give your birthdate to an astrologer,
(Unless we really do want to know what all those crazy planets were doing at the time we were born ...)
Trish
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A good cook always has friends.
-Emeril Lagasse (who, like Charles Henry Dow, has the dolphin star in contact with his Mars; Mars rules sharp objects as well as things that produce heat; Sualocin the dolphin star grants intelligent playfulness mixed with confidence and mastery; Playfulness, confidence, and mastery in a realm that involves sharp objects and heat? Describes Chef Emeril? You decide!)
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Sometimes it isn't Mercury Retrograde

2008-09-19T15:06:00.001-04:00

Mercury, the cosmic mailman, is deep in his retrograde shadow. This means that Mercury is already in the territory it's going to recross when it turns retrograde (backwards in apparent motion) on September 24th. Mercury retrograde is sort of like when one's mailman isn't paying attention; messages get misdelivered, mail can get lost, sometimes the mailman doesn't show up at all. Astrologers love to blame Mercury Retrogrades for communication failures, and communication equipment failures (better to blame Mercury than your mailman, because really--he or she has a hard job. Try it sometime. I did!--it's tough! Those people perform miracles daily. Plus, Mercury can't spit on your mail before it gets to the mailbox--don't get on the bad side of your postal carrier. Take it from someone who knows ...).

Being a Mercury ruled person (Gemini Rising; the planet Mercury rules the sign of Gemini) it's common for my computer (and phone, and car) to act up under Mercury retrogrades. Mercury-ruled people (Gemini or Virgo Sun, Moon, Rising sign) are particularly susceptible to having the little details of life go backward when Mercury does. So when my computer's mouse began acting up and giving me grief, I chalked it up to Mercury about to go retrograde, and told the mouse it would end up a cat toy if it didn't begin behaving.

Uncowed by the threat, the mouse became even more rebellious. My Taurus daughter took a more practical approach to the problem (leave it to those Earth signs to look for practical, real-world solutions). Taking apart the mouse, she discovered the source of the rebellion.

FILTH! Okay, so sometimes it isn't Mercury Retrograde. (Where'd all that stuff come from anyway?)

Astro aspects through September 10th

2008-08-28T09:09:00.000-04:00

A few folks have written to ask what this astrologer thinks of Barack Obama's chances now. Back in January, I noted that Senator Obama announced his candidacy for President under a Void of Course Moon. Actions begun under Void Moons "fail of their purpose," or "come to nothing," or, if they do come to something, that something will likely be quite a different something than what we had in mind.

At that time, I didn't think much of Obama's chances for securing the nomination, based on his announcing under the Void. Apparently, Senator Obama's chances didn't think much of my prediction--good thing for the Senator. Maybe. Because a Void of Course Moon suggests that either nothing will come of actions begun at that time, or something totally unexpected will come of them. Will Barack Obama become this nation's first black president? Who knows? What I can say is this; whoever wins the election will be inaugurated under a Void of Course Moon (assuming the Inauguration begins at Noon on January 20th, as it is scheduled to).

Presidents within living memory who were inaugurated under Void Moons are Franklin D. Roosevelt (died in office April 12, 1945); John F. Kennedy (died in office November 22, 1963); Richard Nixon's second Inauguration occurred under a VoC (Void of Course) Moon, as did that of his VP, Gerald R. Ford who took over when Nixon resigned. Nothing happened to Ford (thankfully!) but nothing much came of his presidency either (the author of The Zen of Zombie suggests that Mr. Ford was actually an unusually animate Zombie, which explains a lot when you think about it ...). Bill Clinton's 2nd Inauguration also occurred while the Moon was VoC. (If I were the astrologer for whichever candidate wins the election, I'd make sure they showed up for that inauguration late. Moon will leave the Void on Inauguration day at 12:30 pm Eastern time or so. There are times when punctuality is not a virtue.)

Speaking of the Voids, lets get on to the current ones--all times are given in Eastern or Pacific Daylight Saving Time. The rest of you, remember to convert!

The Moon is in CANCER on TUESDAY, AUGUST 26th. She squares impulsive Mars and then opposes expansive Jupiter--in English, this means that our desires may be temporarily larger than our pocketbooks (I know, I know, some of us are thinking, "that transit must be going on every day because my desires are always larger than my pocketbook!"). But I mean, today, particularly. Moon in Cancer is in her balsamic phase--a phase of release (Moon is a waning crescent, rapidly "loosing" or releasing light). Rather than add things to our lives, this alignment suggests active release is the way to go. This astrologer is hoping I get to "release" a large, black dog that wandered into our yard a few days ago. I cast a chart asking if his owners would call soon; chart suggests today (Monday, August 25th). Hopefully I was not just "wishful reading." When I find his owners, I'm going to tell them--dog tags! What a concept! (A tag with phone number would've saved the dog days of confusion, myself a lot of trouble, and my cats from living under the bed for the past 3 days).

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID on WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27th at 8:13 pm EDT (5:13 pm PDT). She LEAVES THE VOID at 10:51 pm EDT (7:51 pm PDT) when she marches into proud LEO. Mercury, god of communication is making faces at Pluto, god of obsessiveness and endings. Tense communications or obsessive thoughts may rule the day. I'm going to redirect this energy by using a pen filled with blood (red ink) to write with all day.

LUNA IS IN LEO on THURSDAY, AUGUST 28th and she is not Void. Mercury enters Libra where it's soon to retrograde, so Librans can expect information overload for the next couple of months. Joy.

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID on FRIDAY, AUGUST 29th at 11:44 pm EDT (8:44 pm PDT). She LEAVES THE VOID at 11:18 pm PACIFIC TIME (Not until early next morn Eastern).

The MOON LEAVES THE VOID ON SATURDAY, AUGUST 30th at 2:18 am EDT (already Un-Void PDT). We also get treated to a VIRGO NEW MOON. So everyone will be correcting everyone else's manners, driving, house cleaning techniques (or lack thereof), grammar (and etc.) instead of leaving this job solely up to the Virgos in the ranks.

The MOON IS IN VIRGO on SUNDAY, AUGUST 31st and she is not Void. Luna opposes Uranus, the Great Breaker. Erratic emotions abound, and hanging out with our unstable friends will help us feel right at home today. If we don't have any unstable friends but instead find that folks want to hang out with us today, just remember that sometimes stability is over rated.

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID on MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 1st at 5:01 am EDT (2:01 am PDT). The MOON LEAVES THE VOID at 7:44 am EDT (4:44 am PDT) when she lounges into LIBRA. Luna sets this evening as a beautiful thin crescent, with Mercury, Venus, and Mars dancing just above. (Venus is brightest and Mars has a distinct red tint). Jupiter, still sitting in the ferocious face of Sagittarius the Archer is bright in the south. Who needs the movies when the heavens throw such nightly spectacles our way?

LUNA IS IN LIBRA on TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2nd. She is not Void. That is all I have to say.

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID on WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3rd at 1:09 pm EDT (10:09 am PDT). She LEAVES THE VOID at 4:02 pm EDT (1:02 pm PDT) when she enters SCORPIO'S intense terrain. Communications, travel and routines begin to get a little shaky as Mercury enters it's retrograde shadow (Mercury will go retro September 24th). Keep back up plans, good wine, and erasers on hand.

The MOON IS IN SCORPIO (eerie music plays) on THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4th and she is not Void. LUNA is at waxing crescent phase--a phase of distraction. Maybe the Sun's alignment with Saturn, the god-of-we-take-ourselves-very-seriously energy will help us concentrate despite the distraction-is-in-the-air energy of a crescent Moon, and maybe it won't. (Aren't we happy we have astrology to keep things clear for us?)

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID on FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 5th at 11:46 am EDT (8:46 am PDT). SHE'S VOID THE REST OF THE DAY.

LUNA LEAVES THE VOID on SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 6th at 3:11 am EDT (0:11 am PDT) when she trots into SAGITTARIUS. Jupiter, god of excess is motionless in the sky, preparing to change directions. He's in hard aspect to the Venus, Mercury, Mars party (which can be seen in the western sky just after Sunset). This aspect can push us to channel our inner two year old (Mars) to impulsively say (Mercury) or grasp for (Venus) whatever it wants, regardless of consequence. If we want it BAAAD (whatever "it" is), my advice?--wait a week. (If we've already bought the triple-scoop gourmet ice cream in chocolate-dipped cone, don't listen to this advice because that thing is already melting, man! Go ahead, indulge!).

The MOON IS IN SAGITTARIUS on SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 7th. She's not void and is at both apogee (farthest distance from Earth) and First Quarter phase. Doing something bold is favored, and Sagittarius is a horsey sign, so why not sign up for jousting lessons?

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID on MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 8th at 12:42 pm EDT (9:42 am PDT). SHE LEAVES THE VOID at 3:45 pm EDT (12:45 pm PDT) when she aggressive-acquisitions her way into ambitious CAPRICORN. Jupiter has been retrograde (moving backwards) since May; this gas giant gets his butt moving forward again and if we've felt that somehow over the summer we've lost sight of the target and wandered from the path, now we break through the brush, trip on a root, fall flat on our faces--but squarely in the middle of that lost path again. My advice? Get up and get going! (Remember to wipe the dirt off our nose first).

The MOON IS IN CAPRICORN ON TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9th, and she is not Void. Luna joins Jupiter in throwing dirt clods at the Venus, Mercury, Mars clique (the Moon truly is a fickle mistress--she was hanging out with Venus and friends, all tormenting Jupiter this day last week). Naked ambition, lust, legal battles, confrontational paperwork, raw desire, unfettered impulsiveness, saber rattling, and overindulgence may rule the day. And like race-car wrecks, we're all already secretly looking forward to it (come on, admit it ...).

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID on WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10th at 9:15 am EDT (6:15 am PDT). She's Void the rest of the day (so we'll remember not to sign important documents, purchase important items, and begin important projects today, right?). LUNA will LEAVE THE VOID at 3:20 am THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11th EDT or 20 minutes after Midnight PDT, when she slips into Aquarius.

A scheduled reading calls but more to come, and here's the summary:
The MOON IS VOID on WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27th from 8:13 PM EDT (5:13 pm PDT) until 10:51 pm EDT (7:51 PDT).

The MOON IS IN LEO ON THURSDAY, AUGUST 28th and not Void.

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID on FRIDAY, AUGUST 29th at 11:44 pm EDT (8:44 pm PDT). She LEAVES THE VOID ON THE WEST COAST at 11:18 pm.

The MOON LEAVES THE VOID on SATURDAY, AUGUST 30th at 2:18 am EDT. (already left, PDT, previous evening). The Moon is in Virgo after leaving the Void. It is a NEW MOON. (Secrets and beginnings).

The MOON IS IN VIRGO on SUNDAY, AUGUST 31st and she is not Void.

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID on MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 1st at 5:01 am EDT (2:01 am PDT). SHE LEAVES THE VOID at 7:44 am EDT (4:44 am PDT) when she'll enter LIBRA.

The MOON IS IN LIBRA ON TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2nd and she is not Void.

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID ON WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3rd at 1:09 pm EDT (10:09 am PDT). SHE LEAVES THE VOID at 4:02 pm EDT (1:02 pm PDT). She'll be in Scorpio after leaving the Void. Mercury enters it's retrograde shadow.

THE MOON IS IN SCORPIO on THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4th and she is not Void.

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID ON FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 5th at 11:46 am EDT (8:46 am PDT) and will be VOID THE REST OF THE DAY.

The MOON LEAVES THE VOID ON SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 6th at 3:11 am EDT (0:11 am PDT) and enters SAGITTARIUS.

The MOON IS IN SAGITTARIUS ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 7th and she is not Void. It is a First Quarter Moon. (Bravery!)

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID on MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 8th at 12:42 pm EDT (9:42 am PDT). SHE LEAVES THE VOID at 3:45 pm EDT (12:45 pm PDT) and enters CAPRICORN.

The MOON IS IN CAPRICORN on TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9th and she is not Void.

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID ON WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10TH AT 9:15 am EDT (6:15 am PDT). She's void the rest of the day.

THE MOON LEAVES THE VOID ON THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11th at 3:20 am EDt (0:20 am PDT) when she enters AQUARIUS.

Never give your birthdate to an astrologer,
Trish
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Drawing on my fine command of language, I said nothing.
-Robert Charles Benchley-
(Good advice for September 1st and 6th through 9th).
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This newsletter may be freely shared as long as credit and copyright notice are included. ('Cause even we star-struck idealists gotta protect our stuff).© 2008 Trish Marie--all rights reserved.*****************

Astrological aspects through the Lunar Eclipse

2008-08-05T16:24:00.000-04:00

On the way home from Border's Books Sunday evening I almost saw 3 different traffic accidents. I say "almost" because in each instance the participants pulled out of immanent crashes at the last instant (people really ought to brush up on the laws of physics--like the one that says that two different objects cannot occupy the same space at the same time--you see people on the freeway try and ignore this law all the time). "What is going on," the astrologer in me asks--"is the Moon in Aries?" Brain quickly informs that no, Moon is in Virgo. Strange--folks usually drive more carefully when the Moon transits cautious Virgo. It's those fire sign Moons (Aries in particular) that the crazies come out of the garages in droves.

"Must be the eclipse," the inner astrologer advised. Ah yes, Eclipse! What eclipse? Well, last Friday, August 1st's Solar Eclipse. Yep, August marched in with a bang (and a shake, rattle, and roll in Los Angeles), announcing its presence with a perfect alignment of the Sun, Moon and Earth. Venus, goddess of love and money is a key player in this eclipse, suggesting that sudden upsets as well as sudden insights in relationships or finances may occur as well.

We've another eclipse coming, a lunar eclipse, on August 16th so if no insights, hysterics, sudden changes of direction, shake up, shake outs, or rocking and rolling of any kind occurred for us over the weekend, hey--we've another chance yet to join the fun!

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID on MONDAY, AUGUST 4th at 8:15 pm EDT (5:15 pm PDT). She LEAVES THE VOID AT 10:28 pm EDT (7:28 pm PDT) when she traipses into LIBRA. Luna is hanging out with Mars, god of anger and impulsiveness, she's saying nyah, nyah, to Uranus, god of stubborn willfulness, and she's kicking sand at Pluto, god of power struggles. Let those poor souls unfortunate enough to not get a head's up on the stellar energies engage in all the road rage and impatient behavior that may be going on today. We can sit back, secure in the knowledge that we, at least, are using these alignments productively. (That would be finding useful ways to release tension ... I'll be out at night sling shotting seeds from the foot high native flowers that pass for much of my lawn into the yard of a distant neighbor who had her entire yard spayed with toxic chemicals last week.)

The MOON IS IN LIBRA and she is not Void on TUESDAY, AUGUST 5th. Oh goodie, another Moon in indecisive Libra day where it takes everyone half an hour just to decide what to have for lunch, never mind eat it.

LUNA REMAINS IN LIBRA on WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 6th. Mars, god of impulsive behavior opposes Uranus, planetary ruler of unexpected events. This is an explosive combination that leads to accidental conditions; If we've arranged our first hang gliding lesson today, we might want to reschedule. Mercury opposes Neptune: messenger Mercury rules anything to do with communicating; Neptune confuses and clouds the issue. Mercury with Neptune heightens risks of confusion or deception so this would be a bad day to sign important contracts or wire money to Nigerian businessmen. Due to the combination of confused communications and impulsive behavior enhancement it's a good idea to pass in front of windows carefully today, as computers are likely to be flying out of them.

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID on THURSDAY, AUGUST 7th at 5:01 am EDT (2:01 am PDT). She LEAVES THE VOID AT 7:26 am EDT (4:26 am PDT) when she slips into SCORPIO. Luna makes supportive aspects all day long, and (if we resisted yesterday's urge to use our electronics as exercise equipment) work proceeds well.

The MOON IS IN SCORPIO on FRIDAY, AUGUST 8th and she is not Void. It's also the day of the First Quarter Moon and thus the celestial tide favors bold action. Olympic Games anyone?

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID on SATURDAY, AUGUST 9th at 5:02 pm EDT. (2:02 pm PDT). SHE LEAVES THE VOID at 7:10 pm EDT (4:10 pm PDT) when she trots into SAGITTARIUS.

THE MOON IS IN SAGITTARIUS on SUNDAY, AUGUST 10th and she is not Void. The Sun opposes the minor planet Chiron. In mythology, Chiron, the first centaur, was born after his mother had a dalliance with Zeus, who was disguised as a horse at the time (Freud would've had more research material than he knew what to do with, had he lived in ancient Greece). Rejected at birth by his mother (who may have been daunted by the thought of all those diapers a half horse baby might produce) Chiron was raised by Apollo and became a wise and revered teacher and healer. Famed for his compassion Chiron was particularly moved by the plight of the rejected, outcast, and marginalized in society. These transits favor compassionate action--especially that which benefits outcasts of any kind. If we're trying to get a date, personal ads emphasizing our orphanage upbringing could be just the bait.
If we're not trying to get a date but still want to go with the flow of this celestial energy, adopting a pet from an animal shelter (doesn't have to be today if the shelter is closed) or writing a check to one is an ideal way to productively channel this Chiron energy, and good karma to boot.

The MOON IS IN SAGITTARIUS on MONDAY, AUGUST 11th and she is not Void. Sagittarian energy is big, bold, and outdoorsey, and any activity that matches that (metaphorically or actually) is favored. The Moon does trigger the Mars-Uranus opposition, so accident energy is also heightened; thus, today's energy inclines towards biting off more than we can chew so we'd better make sure that whatever we bite, it's at least something tasty.

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID on TUESDAY, AUGUST 12th at 5:04 am EDT (2:04 am PDT). She LEAVES THE VOID AT 7:42 am EDT (4:42 am PDT) when she climbs into CAPRICORN. If we've been visually following the dance of the planets on the western horizon just after sunset, we've seen Venus closing in on Saturn. If we've been following Venus closing in on Saturn with our hearts, we've noticed that we're sifting and refining the lists of who and what we wish to allow in our life. My advice? Chocolate cake. Now that's something nearly everyone wants in their life and all we have to watch out for is the continuing "bite off more than we can chew" energy. So, you know, don't eat the whole thing.

LUNA is in CAPRICORN on WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 13th and she is not Void. Capricorns think "god" is a four letter word, and they spell it "w-o-r-k." Venus, goddess of love, money, and sensuality exactly aligns with the planetary ruler of Capricorn, Saturn. Work is favored and much can be accomplished--but the risk of going overboard still exists. Looking for the silver lining, if we sell our soul today, we're at least likely to get a good price.

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID on THURSDAY, AUGUST 14th at 1:09 pm EDT (10:09 am PDT). She LEAVES THE VOID at 6:56 pm EDT (3:56 pm PDT) when she enters the clarity of AQUARIUS. Remember that when the Moon is Void-of-Course (in the Void), she's making no connection with any other planet ... she's not carrying any messages, intent, support. Thus it is ill-advised to begin new projects or buy important items under Void Moons. It's also not supportive energy for initiating actions that we wish to end in definite, concrete results. Void Moons are good times for research, meditative energy, actions that don't have a concrete purpose (play, for instance), telling jokes (really),and working on routine matters. If we have something we really HAVE to get off our chest but want to minimize any potential fall out from it, Void Moons are good for that too. (Especially if we're getting our rant out while in hiking along in the middle of a forest, alone; trees tell no tales. At least the trees I talk to don't.)

The MOON IS IN AQUARIUS on FRIDAY, AUGUST 15th and she is not Void. We're right on the cusp of a LUNAR ECLIPSE. Eclipses are pivot points that shine welcome (or Un-) spotlights on our actions or directions, and/or bring dynamic turning points in our lives. They also tend to shine the light on secrets and previously hidden things, so if we followed yesterday's advice and ranted to a friend or co-worker under the void Moon, thinking "nothing would come" of the information, oops. We can be consoled by the thought that the eclipse probably wanted us to look for a new lover or new job (or new town) anyway.

The MOON IS FULL IN AQUARIUS on SATURDAY, AUGUST 16th and she is not Void (except for late on the West Coast--enters the void at 10:14 pm PDT). We also get treated to a LUNAR ECLIPSE. I always say that we shouldn't let people drive us crazy because it's probably within walking distance; these words could easily become the theme song for this eclipse. Nefarious, nebulous Neptune is Lord of this particular eclipse and Neppy has invited his friend Uranus, god of strange and sudden plot twists to the party. "Bizarre estrangements, separations, and culminations," writes the aptly named Celeste Teal in her Eclipse book and I agree. Additionally, emotional outbursts and outbreaks that result in gain (which may not necessarily be a good thing, but of course it all depends on what is gained--if it's weight, most of us would not be pleased); there may also be insights into life areas we've previously preferred to be deluded. (It was under aspects like this that I stopped balancing my checkbook by the "I can't be out of money, I still have checks left," theory of account balance).

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID on SUNDAY, AUGUST 17th at 1:14 am EDT (already there, PDT, see above). She LEAVES THE VOID at 3:46 am EDT (0:46 am PDT) when she slips into sensitive PISCES. Dilemmas and decisions involving love and money ride the wake of the eclipse energy. I've a friend who never lets her husband leave the house with more than $20 in his pocket, because she says that the cheapest prostitute costs more than that. There's one way to deal with Venus-Saturn dilemmas I guess.

The MOON IS IN PISCES on MONDAY, AUGUST 18th and she is not Void. Normally a placid if somewhat anxious sign, Piscean sang-froid may be shaken by Luna's alignment with Uranus, the Great Breaker. Thoughts of break-outs (or break-ins) arise, and we may find ourselves sympathizing with the famed existentialist Ricky Ricardo when he said, "Wait, lucidity ... lemme 'splain!" (Or did I hear him wrong?)

More to come.

Never give your birthdate to an astrologer,
Trish
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The Gods only laugh when we ask them for money.
-Japanese proverb-

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This newsletter may be freely shared as long as credit and copyright notice are included. ('Cause even we star-struck idealists gotta protect our stuff).© 2008 Trish Marie--all rights reserved.
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June 26th through July 6th

2008-06-30T11:09:00.000-04:00

The planet Saturn rules boundaries, that which limits, that which confines, stops, and blocks. Saturn in our natal charts represents a life area where we feel something is seriously lacking and we have to work hard to make up for that lack. Saturn in the sky now (transit Saturn) represents areas subject to a lack or limitations in the everyday world.

Saturn has been in the sign of Virgo since September 2007. The constellation from which the sign draws its name represents a virgin goddess holding a sheaf of wheat (nowadays she'd hold a pizza) and Virgo represents the harvest. Then we get drought in Australia, severe floods in the American midwest, ethanol subsidies feeding corn to cars rather than people and voilá--food shortages are in the news everywhere. Here in my home state of Michigan, Traverse City's much celebrated cherry crop is suffering from a cold spring, too few bees and too much stormy weather and Detroit's truck and SUV crop from too much short-term thinking and too few buyers. Shortages of honest crops like corn and cherries one can understand, but it seems that even the horseshoe crab harvest is in trouble! (Who knew that horseshoe crabs were even "harvested?" Personally I can't imagine eating a horseshoe crab. Seems no one else can either--they're not caught for the table, but rather because the "gravid," or egg-carrying females make the best bait for eels and conchs. Which brings us back to: personally I can't imagine eating an eel or a giant snail. And people say tofu is gross ...).

On to the Voids! All times are given in Eastern and Pacific Daylight Saving Time. Everyone else, remember to convert!

The MOON IS IN ARIES on THURSDAY, JUNE 26th. She is not Void. Today is author Walter Farley's birthday (now sadly deceased). "What! Walter Farley is a Cancer?" I thought to myself (not being a telepath, "to myself" is the only person I think to) when I saw the name on my astrological calendar. Readers un-afflicted with an irrational adoration of all things equine are probably thinking, huh? Who is Walter Farley? But to those poor souls hit early with horsemania the name is revered: Mr. Farley wrote The Black Stallion series of horse stories for young people and many a horse loving girl and boy spent summer afternoons riding with Alex and the wild black Arabian stallion known simply as "the Black." The astrological sign of Cancer is known to produce writers but while many Cancerians do love horses, it's not a sign typically associated with the horsey type (Cancerians tend to be homebodies, whilst horses carry us away from home ...). A look at Mr. Farley's chart explains it all--his natal Moon is in Sagittarius, the centaur-sign and the horsey-est of the lot, and the Fixed Star Castor (Alpha Gemini), the famed horseman of the Gemini Twins and a star much connected with a love of horses as well as a love of language (writing specifically), danced with Mercury at the time and location of his birth. Cancer rules the shoreline (where crabs live), the liminal space between two states of being (water/earth) and isn't it fascinating that much of the story inThe Black Stallion, Walter Farley's first and most famous book, unfolds along an island shoreline?

The MOON IS IN ARIES on FRIDAY, JUNE 27th. She's not Void at all EDT, but THE MOON WILL ENTER THE VOID AT 11:13 PM PDT. SHE'LL LEAVE THE VOID AT 11;50 PM PDT WHEN SHE TROTS INTO TAURUS. If we've any knives that need sharpening, and this includes chainsaw blades as well as the more obvious kitchen knives, axes, Samurai swords, etc., today's a grand day to do that. Aries Moons are great days to buy sharp things as well (Aries rules weapons--including any tool we use to challenge kitchen vegetables), but we've got to watch the impulse: I was at a Renaissance Festival a couple of years ago, it was an Aries Moon and the swords of a master sword smith there proved nearly irresistible. I came very close to walking away with a $300 broadsword and what I would have ended up doing with the thing I'll never know. Slice tomatoes maybe? The sword smith was doing brisk business on that day with the Moon transiting the sign that rules swords. The carving of the Thanksgiving turkey must be an interesting event in some homes, is all I can think.

THE MOON ENTERS THE VOID AT 2:13 AM EDT on SATURDAY, JUNE 28th (already there and already left the void PDT, see above). SHE LEAVES THE VOID AT 2:50 AM EDT when she trots into TAURUS. Harmonious transits between Luna, Saturn and Pluto support either work or play on this Saturday but a building opposition between Venus, the goddess of desire and Jupiter, the god of excess may see us wanting to go overboard in whatever we do. THIS VENUS-JUPITER OPPOSITION IS IN EFFECT THE ENTIRE UPCOMING WEEK; we can either approach it as a heads-up ("no, I don't *really* need that chartreuse margarita blender, I just want it but that's Venus-Jupiter speaking and I'm gonna resist")--OR we can give the transits what they want, but productively. Area newspaper just ran a story about a local senior who rode his bicycle to the Mackinaw Bridge (it separates Michigan's upper and lower peninsulas). Not such a big deal, one thinks--until we read that the bridge is over 200 miles away from here and this 64 year old adventurer did the ride IN ONE DAY. With Venus-Jupiter it's all about an excess of desire and whether that ends up being a good or bad thing depends on which desire we let ourselves scratch.

THE MOON IS IN TAURUS on SUNDAY, JUNE 29th. She is not Void EXCEPT for late on the West Coast (MOON ENTERS THE VOID AT 11:43 pm PDT). Later in the day Luna will trigger the waning Mars (ego, action) and Neptune (dissolution, leaks) opposition. This combination can trigger "failures caused by lack of planning," so if we've decided to imitate the 200 mile bicycle rider and only make it a fraction of the distance, let's hope we don't end up slapping ourselves when we realize we forgot to get on the bike before setting out.

THE MOON ENTERS THE VOID AT 2:43 am EDT (already there PDT) on MONDAY, JUNE 30th. SHE LEAVES THE VOID at 4:03 am EDT (1:03 am PDT) when she skips her way into gregarious GEMINI. If we go outside just after dusk and look west, low on the horizon there will be a close grouping of three bright "stars." This is actually two planets (Mars and Saturn) and a star, the Royal star Regulus (Alpha Leo, the heart of the lion). The lion (Leo) is the King of Beasts and Regulus is one of the Royal stars, thus we'd expect this star to be connected to the idea of rulership, royalty, power--and it is! Which is just great, but you know this star is also connected to the idea of sudden and disastrous fall from grace should power be misused. "Genius may have its limitations, but stupidity is not thus handicapped," wrote Elbert Hubbard. That's what these planets and stars are saying too.

The MOON IS IN GEMINI on TUESDAY, THE FIRST OF JULY. She's not Void. Mars enters Virgo and for the next month and a half Virgos (Sun, Rising, Moon) will be even jumpier than usual.

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID on WEDNESDAY, JULY 2nd at 3:08 am EDT (0:08 am PDT). She LEAVES THE VOID at 3:53 am EDT (0:53 am PDT) WHEN SHE SIDLES INTO CANCER. If we have something important to buy or a new project to begin (shouldn't do these things under a Void Moon remember) in the wee hours of a July morning, then we've definitely got our summertime priorities screwed up. It is also the night of the CANCER NEW MOON. The Sun and Moon align together in Cancer also closely conjoin the small planet CERES. Ceres is the Roman goddess of the harvest, particularly cereal grains. We get the word "cereal" from Ceres Astrologically Ceres represents how we feed and cloth ourselves. It's "mother hen" energy, clucking over its brood--it can feel caring, or smothering and overpowering. Wal-Mart was born with Sun and Moon in Cancer and conjoined Ceres. Since its birth on July 2nd, 1962 Wal-Mart began to be the dominate force in the way Americans feed and cloth themselves. This should be an interesting New Moon for this corporate behemoth, and the New Moon at 11 degrees Cancer falls nearly dead on Wal-Mart's Sun at 10 degrees Cancer. What will happen? All this astrologer can say with certainty is that she won't be seen shopping there (because I never once have, and records like that are worth holding on to).
FOR THE REST OF US (including those who WILL be shopping at Wal-Mart) this Moon portends an excess of emotionality and feelings of loneliness OR wishing everyone would just leave us alone. If we're one of lonely, we can go hang out with those wishing to be left alone and bug 'em.

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID on THURSDAY, JULY 3rd at 4:13 pm EDT 91:13 pm PDT). She's there the rest of the day. Venus (desire) and Jupiter (excess) are at exact opposition, and our eyes really are bigger than our stomachs (or pocketbooks) right now. Something to keep in mind while shopping for tomorrow's 4th of July celebration, lest we end up with more Veggie-dogs than we know what to do with. (It's possible that for some of us ONE veggie dog would probably be more than we know what to do with ...).

LUNA LEAVES THE VOID on FRIDAY, THE FOURTH OF JULY at 4:15 am EDT (1:15 am PDT) WHEN SHE MARCHES INTO MAGNIFICENT LEO. If we love looking up at the sky on the 4th of July and saying, "Ohhhh, Ahhhh, Wow!" at the sparkly sky-shows dominating the heavens, we ought to consider taking up astrology. Why? Well, because the 4th of July reminds astrologers we're among the luckiest people of all--most folks wait for Holiday fireworks to look up and be amazed. Astrologers get to do so every night of the year.

The MOON IS IN LEO on SATURDAY, JULY 5th and she is not Void. Leo is one of the four "fixed" signs and doesn't really like a change of plans. Leo particularly dislikes it if the plans changed are ones they came up with; only the king can change the king's agenda don'tcha know. Too bad today, because Mercury, god of schedules is being distracted by Uranus, god of chaos. Sudden and abrupt changes of plans, opinions, schedules and clothing are possible today. I'd bring a spare suit.

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID on SUNDAY, JULY 6th at 6:04 am EDT (3:04 am PDT). SHE LEAVES THE VOID *EXACTLY* ONE HOUR LATER. (Oh, all right, I'll do the math ... grumble ...SHE LEAVES THE VOID AT 7:04 AM EDT, 4:04 am PDT) when she finds herself in nervous VIRGO (doubtless looking for her anti-anxiety meds). Luna aligns with Mars and Saturn, a combination that can incline towards depression. But Mars and Saturn are still hanging out with Regulus, a heroic star--if we're playing the hero then we won't have time to get depressed. Myself, I'm wearing a red cape all day long.

Never give your birthdate to an astrologer,
Trish
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A picture is not worth a thousand words on the Internet.
The information is in the text.
-Bill Austin-
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This newsletter may be freely shared as long as credit and copyright notice are included. ('Cause even we star-struck idealists gotta protect our stuff).
© 2008 Trish Marie--all rights reserved.

June Void Moons through the Full

2008-06-05T12:50:00.000-04:00

This astrologer has recently returned from the UAC (United Astrology Conference) in Denver, Colorado. Over 1700 astrologers were in attendance and every morning, lunch, and evening at cafes and restaurants all along Denver's fabulous downtown area conversations involving planets and stars and retrogrades bumped into talk about teeth (no, it wasn't Saturn--planetary ruler of teeth--making an appearance; there was also a convention of Orthodontists in town. The Orthodontists had cooler conference-issued bags; bi-colored, with more pockets than the astrology conference bags and including a water-bottle carrier. Conference-bag envy, it's a terrible thing!)

Ah well, we astrologers had the more interesting conversations, based on how many people this astrologer observed in discrete (or overt) listening-in. (I think the orthodontists were even boring themselves, frankly ...).

Among the things I learned is that orthodontists really like bagels and don't drink as much as astrologers (probably a good thing too: a drunk astrologer being a less frightening vision than a drunk doctor with dental tools). Absorbed a lot of enlightening astrology too; for instance, astrology suggests that the best way to deal with a mid-life crisis is to have been born before 1939 or after 1988 (now they tell us ...). Love and money are always popular topics and in a particularly fascinating astrology session, astrologer Michael Lutin explained to a packed room why anyone can tell what major themes are going to play out in the course of a relationship based on what occurred in the first 5 or 10 minutes of the first date. (What a time saver this one is going to be! "Let's see--he was late for the 1st date and it bugs you because you're a punctual person? You can either ditch him now or we'll schedule an appointment for this same day, 7 years from now when you want to talk to me about how his inattention to detail is driving you stark, raving, mad ..."). As far as money goes, the hippies were right all along it seems (go hippies!) and I'm sure we all had a sneaking suspicion that this was so.

Before we move on to the Void times, it must be mentioned that MERCURY IS RETROGRADE. Yes, the god of communication, thought, talk and commerce is dragging his butt backwards through the sky, and mucking up words, schedules, and delivery times as he does so. I have 8 pair of (leather free) thong sandals to prove it (I wanted TWO). A communication glitch and the on-line order got repeated several times. Thank you Mercury!

Mercury went retrograde on May 26th and will be in reverse motion until June 19th. The usual rules apply: keep schedules flexible (Mercury retrograde shreds schedules), don't sign major contracts or buy pricey electronics or vehicles if we don't have to, do expect to see old friends. Objects get lost more easily under Mercury retrogrades--but the upside of that is, previously lost objects often reappear under Merc retros too. Just the Universe's way of playing hide and seek (with our car keys as bait--and with the price of gasoline these days, losing the car keys might be counted as no loss!).

On to the Voids! All times are given in Eastern or Pacific Daylight Saving time. If you live elsewhere, remember to convert! (Mercury is retrograde, so double check your conversions too).

THURSDAY, JUNE 5th the MOON IS IN CANCER and she is not Void. I read somewhere once that planting a tomato is an act of revolution and if we're feeling revolutionary (or just want some really nice summer tomatoes to dig into later) there's no better time to plant than under a waxing Cancer Moon.

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID on FRIDAY, JUNE 6th at 5:32 am EDT (2:32 am PDT). SHE LEAVES THE VOID at 6:00 pm EDT (3:00 pm PDT) when she strides into proud LEO. Venus is in the beams of the Sun (rising and setting with the Sun and thus invisible) so no one knows what it is they really want (Venus is desire). Mercury is in the beams of the Sun too so we wouldn't know what to think of what we wanted even if we knew what we wanted. This Mercury/Venus/Sun alignment sits in the zodiacal sign of Gemini (fickle) but visually are riding the horns of the Celestial Bull. If we think we really, really want something, just gotta have it, we might want to think again. (I think ...). At the very least, patience is advised ...

LUNA is in LEO on SATURDAY, JUNE 7th and she is not Void. The Moon skims under Mars, and the god of war gets persnickety. Further ramping up the volatile energy is the Sun's relationship with the Fixed Star El Nath (Beta Taurus)--the star at the tip of the horn of the Celestial Bull, a point of attack. The energy of the transits must be expressed--that is not an option, but how that energy gets expressed is partially up to us. Making love, not war is always good advice (the hippies were right again!), and working up a good, old fashioned sweat doing anything else that's active will help defuse Mars too.

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID on SUNDAY, JUNE 8th at 11:41 am EDT (8:41 am PDT). She LEAVES THE VOID at 10:01 pm EDT (7:01 pm PDT) when she whisks her way into obsessive-compulsive VIRGO. Mercury retrograde may have Virgos obsessing even more than usual (especially about career or personal or professional status). If we have a Virgo friend or relative who seems a tad more stressed than usual, here's a sure fire way to distract them from their cares for a few hours: invite them over for dinner and before they arrive tilt all your picture frames just a fraction off kilter. Make sure the rugs aren't centered as well, leave drawers and cupboards open, leave jars and boxes out with the tops off. Make sure every clock in your home reads a few minutes different from every others (and that none of them are exactly correct). It'll drive them mad as they sit there and try to make polite conversation, and they'll forget all their problems for at least as long as it takes them to discreetly (or overtly, if they know you well) set everything to rights in your home.

The MOON IS IN VIRGO on MONDAY, JUNE 9th and she is not Void. She aligns with Saturn, which can add a somber note to the day--especially for Virgos (Sun, Moon, Ascendant) so we might want to sneak over to our Virgo friend's house and covertly do the tilting the picture frames, off-kiltering the rugs, resetting the clocks a minute or two off thing at their home. So nice to have friends who will help us relax! (I used to have lots of Virgo friends and used to help them out this way all the time ...)

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID ON TUESDAY, JUNE 10th AT 3:42 pm EDT (12:42 pm PDT). She's void the rest of the day. Luna opposes the god of Chaos, Uranus and squares the Sun/Mercury/Venus conjunction. Venus has been walking hand in hand with the Sun all month long. She's rising and setting with the Sun, and thus invisible. Venus is female energy, and the Sun represents important males. This could be interpreted as a woman obscured by a brilliant male, but today's Moon-Uranus trigger may bring an upset or surprise to the mix. People react to other people in surprising or unexpected ways under alignments like this--especially if you do as I do under Uranian aspects and dust off the aluminum foil beanie to keep the alien brain wave messages out.

LUNA LEAVES THE VOID on WEDNESDAY, JUNE 11th at 5:55 am EDT (2:55 am PDT) when she lounges her way into LIBRA. The Moon's square with Pluto early in the morning may get the day off to an intense start. A breakfast of raw meat might head Pluto off at the pass and vegetarians in the family won't be salivating guiltily over the aroma of frying bacon ("Bacon; the gateway meat!").

The MOON IS IN LIBRA on THURSDAY, JUNE 12th and she is not Void. Luna forms a grand trine with the Sun/Mercury/Venus party and the Moon's North Node joins the trine as well. In the meantime, Mars is camped out on the Moon's South Node. What it all means is that events proceed without hindrance in areas that are not family related but domestic issues may feel draining. My advice? Socialize joyfully while away from home, but when back in the domestic arena--make brownies! (Throwing chocolate at problematic transits is an old and venerated astrological technique).

THE MOON ENTERS THE VOID ON FRIDAY, JUNE 13th (Friday the 13th, did we get that?) at 5:16 am EDT (2:16 am PDT). She LEAVES THE VOID AT 4:53 pm EDT (1:53 pm PDT) when she drifts into SCORPIO's dark realm. Great, as if Friday the 13th isn't frightening enough without carrying along a Scorpio Moon as well. The Moon is in Grand Trine with Sun/Mercury/Venus as well as Neptune, ruler of fantasy, film, escapism. Rent some good old fashioned scary movies and go with the astrological flow. (I've been watching the old "Dark Shadows" soap opera, and god, what fun! Barnabas Collins rocks!)

The MOON IS IN SCORPIO on SATURDAY, JUNE 14th. She is not Void. Neptune, ruler of imagination remains in trine with the Sun and artsy Venus. Chest-thumping Mars is trying to pick a fight though. Mars rules fire (heat, passion, temper)--Neptune rules the deep blue sea (water, intuition, altruism, compassion--and yes, delusion too). In a contest between water and fire though, I'd bet on the water--artsy, altruistic types rule the day while egotists need an umbrella.

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID on SUNDAY, JUNE 15th at 5:30 pm EDT (2:30 pm PDT). So if we haven't gotten dad a gift for FATHER'S DAY yet, better do it before the void.

LUNA LEAVES THE VOID on MONDAY, JUNE 16th at 5:19 am EDT (2:19 am PDT) when she trots into SAGITTARIUS. Sagittarian Moons have a reputation for light-heartedness but this particular Sadgy Moon is building to Full and hugging the Royal Star Antares, the heart of the Celestial Scorpion. Think a snorting, ground-pawing temperamental black stallion rather than "my friend Flicka" for this Sadge Moon. If we have such a horse then go out and ride him (give the transit a literal expression, hey, why not?). If not we could always try faking it and "canter" whilst on our errands, hands held up in "I'm holding reins" position. People looking at us oddly? Hey, that won't kill ya and will delight their kids. (If we show up at home with grass stains on our mouth though, we are taking the fantasy too far ...).

The MOON IS IN SAGITTARIUS and she is not Void on TUESDAY, JUNE 17th. The unusually intense Sadge Moon of yesterday continues building towards full and building towards unusual intensity. If there are any werewolves in the family, better buy a flea collar and try to keep them as comfy as possible, because I think they're gonna be growling. Venus, goddess of love and money is at 29 degrees of Gemini. The 29th degree of ANY sign is a degree of stress. It is the last degree in any sign, a degree of endings and represents an energy that is "at the end of its rope." Venus also opposes Pluto, ruler of traumatic transformations. Pluto is about improvement (just like all the planets are) but Pluto improves things by saying--can't fix that, it's too far gone. Burn it down and we'll start fresh! As if having the goddess of love and money at the end of her rope and thinking about matches isn't bad enough, we've got Foot-in-Mouth Sagittarius opposing a stationing but still retrograde Mercury in "I'm talking and I can't shut up" Gemini. My advice? Well, vino (and lots of it) is the first thing that comes to mind (Xanax is the second ...) but it'd probably be safer, more responsible, and ultimately more fun and enlightening to plan a minor adventure. (If we're really pressed for time and duty interferes, eating someplace new and totally strange will do ...).

THE MOON ENTERS THE VOID on WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18th at 5:37 pm EDT (2:37 pm PDT). She LEAVES THE VOID just minutes later when she climbs into CAPRICORN at 5:52 pm EDT (2:52 pm PDT). Before she hits Cappy though, we have a SAGITTARIAN FULL MOON. Sagittarius rules horses and how best to ride this Sag Full Moon to come ... until then,

Never give your birthdate to an astrologer,
Trish
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Voids Summary:
Thursday, June 5th: Moon in Cancer, not Void.
Friday, June 6th: Moon is Void from 5:32 am EDT until 6:00 pm EDT (2:32 am PDT until 3:00 pm PDT).
Saturday, June 7th: Moon in Leo, not Void.
Sunday, June 8th: Moon is Void from 11:41 am EDT until 10:01 pm EDt (8:41 am PDT until 7:01 pm PDT).
Monday, June 9th: Moon in Virgo, not Void.
Tuesday, June 10th: Moon is Void from 3:42 pm EDT through the rest of the evening. (12:42 pm PDT through the rest of the evening).
Wednesday, June 11th: Moon leaves the Void at 5:55 am EDT (2:55 am PDT). She enters Libra.
Thursday, June 12th: Moon in Libra, not Void.
Friday, June 13th: Moon is Void from 5:16 am until 4:53 pm EDT. (2:16 am until 1:53 pm PDT).
Saturday, June 14th: Moon in Scorpio, not Void.
Sunday, June 15th: Moon is Void from 5:30 pm EDT through the rest of the evening (2:30 pm PDT through the rest of the evening).
Monday, June 16th: Moon leaves the Void at 5:19 am EDT (2:19 am PDT), she enters Sagittarius.
Tuesday, June 17th: Moon is in Sagittarius, not Void.
Wednesday, June 18th: Full Moon. Moon is Void from 5:37 pm until 5:52 pm EDT (2:37 pm until 2:52 pm PDT).
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Born in 1959, in for a hard time?

2008-04-29T11:57:00.000-04:00

I'm a poet and don't even know it. (I always have to say that whenever I make a rhyme). Consultation with a client this morning, and she mentioned that a co-worker of hers was going through a difficult time. Co-worker is interested in astrology and discusses it with my client, so I'm given a birthday and place. Without even having to erect a chart the problem becomes evident; a 1959 baby! It was a very good year (if this 1959 baby does say so herself--October was particularly nice, ha!). But every vintage must periodically be put to the test--to see how well it's aging and all that.

It's the slow-moving outer planets that do the inspecting and it works like this: patterns form in the sky that can last for weeks, months, even affect essentially an entire year. These patterns will be shared by everyone born at that time. In 1962-63 Saturn and Neptune danced in and out of a square pattern to each other. This pattern in a birth chart can suggest a periodic dissolving of structures in our life due to misplaced faith, along with martyrish tendencies. In 2006 Saturn in Leo and Uranus in early to mid Aquarius teamed up to stress the Saturn/Neptune square shared by the '62-'63 babies and people born then began ringing up their astrologers, therapists, friends and financial advisers in order to vent (as well as, you know, be advised).

Well, of course the '62/'63 generation got through it all, the clouds part, the rain ends, the birds begin singing and we all rush into the street to sing in choreographed harmony with our neighbors our our version thereof.

So, THIS year the two Big Bad Boys of the horoscope, Saturn and Pluto, team up to put the squeeze on the 1959 Vintage. One of the most difficult transits a person can have (so the books say) is transit Pluto over natal Saturn. Saturn represents the structures that hold up as well as confine our lives--it is that which we fear and approach with caution or insecurity, as well as that which we rely upon. (Interesting mix, no?). Pluto represents an energy that uproots and destroys in order to begin anew. Many of us don't particularly relish having structures in our lives--jobs, relationship, finances and the like pulverized--even if that means we get to begin fresh. So this transit has earned a reputation for difficulty--a reputation it really doesn't deserve ('cause it's rarely as bad as it's made out to be), but that's another story.

Another transit with an unenviable reputation is the exact opposite; transit Saturn crossing over birth Pluto. Pluto represents our power base, the inner resources we use to influence outer resources. This can be fortitude combined with sang-froid, or unconscious control needs and issues. Saturn restricts and this transit suggests the need to consolidate our resources, to focus on that which is essential. "Getting by with less" (never mind "getting by with mostly the essentials") is not something humans in general, and Americans in particular like to do. And we want to feel that we're in at least reasonable control of the way events unfold in our lives. Transit Saturn over Pluto often upsets that illusion.

Either of these transits, all by themselves, can be No Fun. But lucky 1959'ers! Due to a specific alignment of Saturn in early Capricorn and Pluto in early Virgo that occurred in '59, and because Pluto in the sky is now in early Capricorn and Saturn now in early Virgo, we get BOTH of these transits all at once! Off and on throughout this year.

When I saw this double whammy coming for 1959 babies, I figured I'd be getting a lot of calls this year from clients born in '59 and sure enough, it's happening.

Best way to deal with this double-trouble transit, if we happen to be my age? We'll like this advice or not (depending on our own chart and how much control it inspires us to desire) but the best advice is, "Let go and let God." Or, go with the flow if that terminology suits us better. Be the reed that bends in the flood; not the dam that tries to defy it.

An even better way to deal with this transit is really digging in and using our natal Saturn-Pluto trine (because if we've Saturn in early Capricorn and Pluto in early Virgo, of course they must be in trine). Some great gifts of this trine, ours if we care to use them are; the ability to aid other people through the use of their own resources (financial advisers, counselors, life coaches, etc); making great strides physically (endurance) or spiritually; great powers of concentration; research; the capacity to turn a situation completely on its head--in other words, a gift for turning a situation or thing that really sucks into a situation or thing that's really useful.

When we take a look around this world, turning sucky situations into productive platforms for ourselves and others is a quality the planet needs more of and 59'ers, this is our year! Let's go get 'em!

April 28th through 30th

2008-04-28T10:16:00.001-04:00

The MOON IS IN AQUARIUS on MONDAY, APRIL 28th and she is NOT VOID. Mercury, the cosmic secretary, trines Jupiter, ruler of Big Plans. We may arrive at work with our brain on fire, and if that's the case we should stick our head in a bucket of water (and have someone dial 911). If we simply encounter piles of paperwork today's aspects help us slog through it all.

The MOON IS IN AQUARIUS on TUESDAY, APRIL 29th and she is NOT VOID (until late on the West Coast). Neptune, planet of sleep, dreams, imagination, intuition and all-that-is-not-what-it-seems is highly stimulated today. Strange and vivid dreams are likely, and we made need an extra shot of espresso in our soy milk latté before the world coalesces back into high definition. (The Moon enters the Void at 10:25 pm PDT. She leaves the Void at 11:11 PDT when she drifts into Pisces).

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID on WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30th at 1:25 am EDT. She LEAVES THE VOID at 2:11 am EDT when she drifts into PISCES. Venus enters Taurus, sign of the Celestial Bull and those with Sun in Taurus or Taurus Rising get hugs and kisses for the next few weeks. The rest of us might want to try faking it (being a Taurus that is) and see if Venus is fooled into throwing a few perks our way as well. (Act placid, dress in comfortable clothes, and always order potatoes as a side with your entree. Talk about how much you dislike change. Venus just might be fooled!)

April 23-25th

2008-04-23T10:14:00.000-04:00

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23rd the MOON IS IN SAGITTARIUS and she is NOT VOID.
Mars opposes Jupiter and squares Venus. Under this aspect, desire often outruns means and our pocket book comes out on the loosing end of it all. From now (actually, from yesterday!) through about April 26th impulse spending is on the agenda. My advice? Go hiking. Moon in Sagittarius is a nature-loving Moon, and I've yet to encounter a tree that tried to sell me anything. (At the very least, leaving the credit cards at home can help us resist temptation).

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID on THURSDAY, APRIL 24th at 5:38 pm EDT (2:38 pm PDT). She's there the rest of the day! The early morning through noon hours sees the Moon square Uranus and team up with the Mars-Jupiter opposition to produce accidental conditions. Forewarned is forearmed--let everyone else give in to the madness (and run into each other) whilst we stay calm, cool and collected and avoid a date with our insurance rep.

The MOON LEAVES THE VOID on FRIDAY, APRIL 25th at 5:47 am EDT (2:47 am PDT) when she climbs into CAPRICORN. Venus, goddess of desire, flirts with Neptune, the planet that rules that which is far away and idealized. A good aspect under which to make a temporary escape and if the actual place of our dreams is too distant for a day trip we can at least treat ourselves to dinner at whichever local restaurant most inspires us. (If we find ourselves at McDonald's at the end of the day then this aspect is saying, "dude, you really have to get out and try more places!").

April 17, 18th and 19th

2008-04-17T11:59:00.000-04:00

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID on THURSDAY, APRIL 17th at 1:59 am EDT (already there, PDT). She LEAVES THE VOID at 6:10 pm EDT (3:10 pm PDT) when she drifts into LIBRA. God of thought and talk, Mercury, moves from fiery Aries into placid Taurus; attention turns to practical matters and the pace of conversation slows down. (Geminis and Sagittarians are bored by Mercury in this sign and I'd suggest they hang out with each other for awhile except that Sagittarius is annoyed by Gems focus on endless, trivial details and--god forbid--gossip, while Gemini wishes Sagittarius would get off their high horse, figuratively, if not literally).

FRIDAY, APRIL 18th the MOON IS IN LIBRA and she is not Void. Mercury trines Pluto and then Saturn, and the planet of thought in an Earth Grand Trine with Pluto and Saturn will produce productive ideas and advance projects if we give it half a chance. Mercury in trine to Pluto is a good aspect under which to practice the art of persuasion, and especially so with the Moon in Libra, as people are a bit wishy-washy under this Moon anyway. Mercury in trine to Saturn encourages focused, productive thought and aids the flow of serious messages. This trine also favors channeling trauma or crisis (Pluto) in a productive direction (Saturn). Holly Black, who wrote The Spiderwick Chronicles once said that a traumatic childhood is the gift that keeps on giving to a writer and everyone's got some angst somewhere that can be polished up and put to use. I mean, why waste it?

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID on SATURDAY, APRIL 19th at 4:55 pm EDT (1:55 pm PDT), there to stay for the rest of the day. The SUN ENTERS TAURUS, and bull-headedne, er, I mean, steady, determined action prevails for the next month.

The pen is mightier than the sword, or maybe, the pen IS the sword

2008-04-10T13:45:00.000-04:00

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID on THURSDAY, APRIL 10th at 12:11 pm EDT (9:11 am PDT). She LEAVES THE VOID at 10:43 pm EDT (7:43 pm PDT) when she sidesteps her way into CANCER. Mercury (god of talk) squares Mars (god of war); John Andrews Holmes said that "speech is conveniently located between thought and action, where it often substitutes for both," and this is that kind of aspect. We can productively channel this by chewing on our pencils (fiber, you know), or using aggressive looking writing equipment (a red pen will do it), or that old standby, firing off a letter to our legislators--maybe using the red pen.

The MOON IS IN CANCER on FRIDAY, APRIL 11th and she is not Void. Luna occults (passes directly in front of) Mars, and this represents emotions or self-protective instincts burying aggressive energy. If we're an emotional eater, we might want to make sure only rice cakes are in the house--then again, if we've comfort food available for attack perhaps we'll feel less of a need to chew on our angst.

Astro influences for March 27th and 28th

2008-03-27T11:06:00.000-04:00

LUNA (the Moon I mean) is cantering around in horsey SAGITTARIUS on THURSDAY, MARCH 27th. Mercury, god of thought, aligns with Uranus, god of lightning (bolts from the blue). Inspiration and intuition saturate the ethers, and creativity reigns--especially as the Moon slides right underneath the Royal Fixed Star Antares during the early morning hours. Antares is a star of great intensity and passion which is best channeled into creative pursuits--though if we'd rather channel it by obsessing pointlessly over a situation we want to control, but can't, we're free to do so. Back in Mercury's corner, the alignment with Uranus (ruler of chaos) may make a mockery of any carefully crafted schedules.

The MOON ENTERS THE VOID on FRIDAY, MARCH 28th at 9:21 am EDT (6:21 am PDT). She LEAVES THE VOID at 10: 43 pm EDT (7:43 pm PDT) when she climbs into ambitious CAPRICORN. Venus, goddess of desire, aligns with Uranus, ruler of all that is quirky. Uranus rules advanced technology too, and falling in love with robots is a distinct possibility.

More Saturn and harvest blues

2008-03-21T11:10:00.000-04:00

The Moon is in the Void until 11:45 am EDT, when she enters Libra. The big old beautiful Moon rising above the horses's paddock yesterday evening also reminds me that today is the day of the Libra Full Moon. Though she looks beautiful and harmonious, today's Full Moon forms a cardinal Grand Square with Mars, the god of war, and Pluto, god of traumatic transformation. Full Moon looniness may be in full swing, yet as this energy favors purging as well as beginnings we can sweep our metaphorical desks clean of clutter and take charge of projects with renewed vigor.

Yesterday it was mentioned that Saturn in Virgo represents restriction (Saturn) of grain supplies (Virgo represents the harvest). Saturn entered Virgo in the arms of2007's September 11th Solar Eclipse, strengthening the effects of Saturn in Virgo. Astrologer Celeste Teal (say it fast), in her excellent book on Eclipses, writes of this eclipse:

"Virgo emphasises health and environmental concerns. Grand Cross and Uranus in opposition to eclipse suggests social unrest and unusual emergencies, perhaps food shortages, crop problems, a virus or fever."

Then comes this story from Tom Philbott, writing in Grist about a new wheat virus. Between high demand, short supply and the virus, some of those in the know feel that widespread famine may not be out of the question. Saturn is going to be in tropical Virgo until October of 2009, and we'll certainly keep an eye on developments.

In the meantime, every time we pick up a loaf of bread at the local bakery we'll be thanking our lucky stars that we can.

Saturn in Virgo is hard on pizza

2008-03-20T12:01:00.000-04:00

Watching CNN this morning the news was on wheat--or rather, lack of it. The demand for ethanol and subsidies for its production have inspired many farmers to convert wheat fields to corn, just as the demand for wheat itself is spiking to unprecedented levels as increasingly affluent China, India and other countries develop a taste for pizza and pastries. What it all amounts to is that there aren't enough amber fields of grain waving under purple mountains majesty to meet the demand. What that amounts to is the classic equation of supply and demand: more demand, less supply= we pay more. Who is going to get hurt, as always, are the poor who can't respond to the crisis by bitching but coughing up a few more bucks for their Saturday night pizza even so.

So what the CNN story gets me thinking about isn't wheat, or even pizza (which they mentioned several times; seems pizza producers are being particularly hard hit, for cheese, produced by enslaved cows that are fed grain, is also going up, up, up in price, as is food in general)--no, I'm thinking about Saturn.

Saturn, that beautiful ringed planet that rules such difficult conditions; hard work, gloom, restrictions, boundaries, stoppages, lack. Saturn entered Virgo in September of 2007. Virgo is the sign that rules the harvest and food, amongst other things (the constellation Virgo is a goddess holding a shaft of wheat). Saturn brings restriction and in Virgo, a restriction of grain could've been and in fact was expected by many astrologers but still!--who would have expected us to have to pay more for pizza, for crying out loud?! It's enough to make one switch to, I don't know--tofu salads, or something.

Break Through or Break Away

2008-03-06T09:50:00.000-05:00

The MOON LEAVES THE VOID on THURSDAY, MARCH 6th at 5:53 am EST (2:53 am PST) when she drifts into PISCES. The Moon might be drifting but the stream is anything but harmonious (more like white water) as the turbulence of tomorrow's "break through or break away" New Moon is already being felt.

FRIDAY, MARCH 7th sees a NEW MOON IN PISCES. The Sun and Moon together joins hands with the "great breaker," rebel Uranus and Mars, god of war, makes faces at Pluto, god of irrevocable change. Break through or break away is the theme of this New Moon (is there an echo in here?). As we know, Mars was retrograde through much of the Fall and Winter. This is the third time Mars faces off with Pluto in this cycle; Mars first opposed Pluto on September 21st, 2007, repeated the opposition while going retrograde January 2nd, and this final opposition at the time of a New Moon (new beginnings) in a sign of endings (Pisces) suggests a resolution and new start can be had. The MOON ENTERS THE VOID at 2:03 pm EST (11:03 am PST), to stay for the rest of the day.

These New Moon transits do not have to represent major life alterations folks! (Though they can, of course). Often I'll mention "triple strike" transits like this to clients, and say, "Something first occurred at the first pass of this transits, it repeated itself in some fashion during it's 2nd pass, and now at this final transit the issue can be resolved or finalized in some fashion. Frequently clients tell me "You know, I don't have any idea what might've been happening during the first (or 2nd) dates ... I mean, I dunno, maybe it has something to do with (insert vaguely remembered incident), but I can't really say." (Then again, sometimes clients say, "Oh yeah, that was my first date with the psycho boy/girlfriend I just broke up with ..."). This is where keeping a diary or journal comes in really handy people! ("I never travel without my notebook. One should always have something sensational to read in the train."--Oscar Wilde, who recognized another benefit of journaling!).

Having a simpatico experience with my clients in that I also can't remember what happened on September 21st and January 2nd, I turned to my diary. Alton Brown's Good Eats Foot Network program had recently taken the mystique out of the French classic omelet, so on September 21st I attempted to produce the genuine article myself. Following Alton's technique a beautiful, creamy on the inside and just slightly crisp on the outside, omelet soon slides from pan to plate. Was so excited that this became the diary entry for that day. (Yes, I have no life ...)

Chickens don't like jostling cheek to jowl any more than humans do, so I only buy pasture raised (or, when not available, at least cage-free) eggs. Still, being born a male chick guarantees a real short life, so I limit my egg consumption period. Thus, it was with some amazement (and much astrological delight) that I see on January 2nd (Mar's second, retrograde opposition to Pluto; the first being September 21st) I note that I again made omelets-this time for both myself and my husband. First time I attempted a two-fer!

How's this significant to this last opposition of Mars to Pluto? Monday, March 3rd, I find myself out of bread and not feeling like oatmeal (I mean, I didn't feel like eating it--during this cold, wet, gray, phlegmatic late winter season in Michigan one often actually feels like they're oatmeal--cold, coagulated oatmeal that's been left out so long even Goldilock's bears wouldn't want it). An omelet sounds, well, wonderful! Luckily, I've some organic, cage-free eggs in the fridge. Soon I'm doing my best Julia Child (er, Alton Brown actually) imitation. The omelet turned out perfectly. Assuming one defines "perfect" as "My immune system would just love to challenge salmonella to a throw down!" The omelet was overcooked on the outside and essentially raw inside. (For which the barn cats are thankful). 2nd attempt is equally disappointing (and my poultry karma is taking hits).

Gosh darn it all, me thinks, I need to see that Alton Brown omelet episode again, because obviously I've forgotten my French! Neptune has been such a prominent actor on so many important astrological alignment stages of late, that synchronicity seems to have become practically commonplace the last several months. Turn on Alton's show while chopping veggies for dinner and my jaw drops when I see, it's the Omelet episode!

Sometimes it seems as if the planets are just not on our side (and looking at the mess we've made of our own planet's once pristine condition, it's hard to blame them). But when our desires fall into our lap as easily as Alton's omelet episode did, it's easy to think, "they like me, they really like me!" Benevolent planetary intervention or no, the episode set me straight, and I again turned out a near-perfect omelet, just as I did under Mar's 1st opposition to Pluto, and under it's 2nd opposition, and now under it's 3rd.

Nothing earth shattering of course (eggs are another thing) and in hindsight--Pluto rules my 6th house cusp, and the 6th house rules food!

(So the next time Mars forms a hard aspect with Pluto, maybe we'll be setting up a chicken coop so I can have completely cruelty free eggs. Husband thinks it's more likely to turn into a retirement home for geriatric hens and freeloader roosters).

Thus the last opposition of Mars to Pluto during this current cycle may see some of us breaking free of jobs, dusty relationships, locations or previous goals--or maybe we'll just be breaking a few eggs.