Worried about Long Count-ageddon in 2012? Why wait? That pesky galactic alignment doesn’t come close to doing what our own solar system dishes out during the summer of 2010. Four outer planets in cardinal signs – Saturn, Pluto, Uranus and Jupiter - form a long-term T-square that some astrologers are calling the Cardinal Cross. It’s repeatedly activated by the inner planets and the moon through the summer. This line-up isn’t favorable for love and abundance spells, but everyone will get plenty of practice with protection spells, psychic shields, and domestic peace spells.

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While planetary shagnasties are on the loose all summer, a few bright rays of hope poke through the tempest. The Moon contacts Jupiter/Uranus on the 3^rd just as Uranus prepares to retrograde. Intuition gives flashes of inventiveness and brilliant ideas about how to do things differently. The status quo crumbles as mounting pressures surmounts resistance to change. Mercury enters Leo on the 9^th and bounces empowering trines off of Jupiter/Uranus. Venus enters Virgo and gets swept up in a compulsion to fix and clean up messy situations. Keep those brooms handy.

Worried about Long Count-ageddon in 2012? Why wait? That pesky galactic alignment doesn’t come close to doing what our own solar system dishes out during the summer of 2010. Four outer planets in cardinal signs – Saturn, Pluto, Uranus and Jupiter - form a long-term T-square that some astrologers are calling the Cardinal Cross. It’s repeatedly activated by the inner planets and the moon through the summer. This line-up isn’t favorable for love and abundance spells, but everyone will get plenty of practice with protection spells, psychic shields, and domestic peace spells.

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September Overview

A Grand Trine in Air starts the month with inspiration, music, and finer feelings. Mercury retrograde is swallowed in the Sun’s light on the 3^rd, while the Moon sweeps through another Cardinal Cross encounter. A double-dose of cosmic water soothes and nurtures as Venus enters Scorpio on the 8^th and Jupiter retrogrades into Pisces on the 9^th. Venus is a bright, visible evening star as she prepares for her retrograde in October. Mercury stations direct on the 12^th and Pluto stations direct on the 14^th, encouraging repairs and reconciliations. Mars follows Venus into Scorpio, and now this aggressive trouble-maker is in charge. Long-needed changes are on a collision course with denial and resistance. Relationships and partnerships continue to feel the pressure through burdensome responsibilities, property disputes and family crises.

Mars enters Virgo on June 7, Mercury enters Gemini on the June 10, and they square off on the June 11. Mercury rules both signs, but turns into the War God’s evil minion when they meet. They stir up strong winds and feisty tempers. The New Moon in Gemini on June 12 brings scorching heat and fresh rumors for the gossip mills. Jupiter and Venus touch base on June 15, a brief sweet spot in the troubled skies.

Dualism is nonsense — and incompatible with magic.

As I mentioned in the last column, the idea that magic and the “real” (physical) world are incompatible is rooted in Western Dualism. The belief that spiritual/ magical/ artistic matters and physical/ fleshly/ worldly ones are so distinct from one another as to have nothing in common is nonsense, but has nonetheless been the dominant paradigm for over 2,500 years. Zoroaster started it, Gnosticism (which was essentially the pre- and early-Christian “new age” movement), Christianity, and Islam continued it; and it then infected Judaism, and the modern philosophy of Scientistic Materialism is perhaps its ultimate triumph. Through the lens of dualism, the “debunking” of all things paradigm-challenging continues to this very day.

Western occultists, being themselves products of a dualistic culture, adopted this worldview pretty completely. This is why they invented separate ethical laws for magic (a whole other discussion) and often made their distinctions between so-called “high” magic and “low” based on how physical the goals and/or methods being employed were.