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Subscribe to this list via RSS Blog posts tagged in astrology

Posted by on in Culture Blogs

The chart of the Spring Equinox — cast for the moment the Sun enters the sign of Aries — is arguably the most important of the four Cardinal ingress charts. Many astrologers believe it sets the tone for the entire year, not just the following quarter. It happens at the same moment (not the same clock time) everywhere, so the house positions of the planets are different, depending on the location. Casting the ingress chart for the capital of a country is considered predictive for the whole country for the following quarter regarding the politics, events, attitudes and general zeitgeist. You can analyze the chart for a particular location, and/or analyze it in reference to another chart. Here is the Aries ingress (Spring Equinox) chart cast for Washington, DC, and here is a bi-wheel of that chart around the chart of the USA (Sibley) if you want to follow along with my analysis.

If you follow this blog, you know that one of the major current transits is the ongoing square of Uranus to Pluto, and that aspect is, of course, a major player in this chart — not exact, but still within less than four degrees of orb. (*Note: in the original version of this post, I said the aspect was exact again in June. This is a good example of why we elderly types should not rely on our memories. :-) It's exact again May 20th.) As I mentioned in my discussion of the Winter Solstice chart, Uranus rules electricity, Pluto rules breakdowns and extremes of all kinds, and there were many, many problems with the electric grid over the last few months in different parts of the country, almost all of them due to a series of severe winter storms, as well as a great deal of public discussion around fracking, a very Plutonian process that provides fuel for the electric grid. In the Spring Equinox chart, Mars joins the fray, strong in its own sign, tightly conjunct Uranus (and more widely, the Sun) square the Moon, and, of course, square Pluto. The three planets in Aries cluster around the IC (4th house cusp) of the USA’s chart, and in the first house of the equinox chart.

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Posted by on in Studies Blogs
Starry Will

 

Do you listen to weather forecasts? Do you use that information to make choices about how you will do things? I certainly do, and it is much the way that I view astrological forecasts. For example, let's say that tomorrow you have a very important job interview and it is going to take place in a nearby city. The weather forecast calls for snow, winds, and icy roads. You could call and try to reschedule the interview. You could see if a friend with four-wheel-drive could drive you there. You could stay in bed and pull the covers over your head. There are wide array of possibilities of what you can do in response to awakening the next day and finding that the roads are covered in ice. The sacred science of Astrology can give us predictions about the parameters of the environment and the times that we will be moving through. What it cannot predict is which options or which choices we will make in response to the circumstances that manifest before us.

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Posted by on in Culture Blogs

 

In the last couple of posts, we’ve considered the best ways to work with Uranus as it transits Aries, and Pluto's transit of Capricorn. In this post, we'll look at how to make the experience of the square between them — which will be happening through March of 2015 — a bit easier, or at least constructive.

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  • Byron Ballard
    Byron Ballard says #
    Amy Balckthorn nominated for this Versatile Blog award. I have no idea if it's real or not but I've nominated you, too. Go to my m

 

 
 

Mercury in Retrograde-what is it?

The planet Mercury, like all planets follows an elliptical orbit. Three times a year for about 3 weeks (see a pattern?) there are times when Mercury appears to go backwards in its orbit (it doesn't really reverse course but it looks like it from our earthly vantage point.)

In Western Astrology the planet Mercury rules over communication, technology, organization and its the ruling planet of Virgo and the natural ruler of the 6th house-both of which are associated with health.

Mercury in Retrograde has a terrible reputation-people experience communication breakdowns, there are fights, there are lost hard drives, important agreements fall through, legal difficulties emerge and travel drama ensues-it can all be rather...unpleasant. 

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Posted by on in Culture Blogs

b2ap3_thumbnail_galaxy-in-crystal-ball.jpgWe look around us, look at the news, and we see pressure, and tension. We see courage (thank you, Malala) and change. We see explosions, violence, power run amok, and dug-in-at-the-heels stubbornness. There is a buzz in the world of astrology around this aspect we call the Uranus-Pluto square. I see its effects in the charts of my clients, my friends, and my own chart as well. I see its effects in the chart of the USA, in the charts of large organizations, in every Cardinal Ingress chart last year and for a couple more years to come. So I’m pretty certain there is a lot to be learned from this configuration, and in this post, I’m going to explore some of the ramifications of one side of the square — Uranus in Aries.

The square is a 90 degree aspect of tension, and many people do not handle tension well, which is why squares often seem to manifest as difficult events. It’s a stressful aspect that demands integration and synthesis as the path to growth and progress. Taking the wisdom that can be gained from both planets and signs involved, then weaving those insights together into a sturdy rope that you can cast into the future, is the way to handle a square. Unfortunately, it’s also possible to weave a rope long enough to hang yourself by drawing on the negative characteristics of the planets and signs. The difference, of course, is conscious awareness and intention. Let’s look at how we might utilize Uranus in Aries for spiritual growth and positive change.

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Posted by on in Culture Blogs

b2ap3_thumbnail_astro-clock-italy-sm_20121115-220151_1.jpgThe secular New Year is a great time to update your calendar, whether it’s in pixels or on paper. As much as I appreciate my ephemeris and all the astrological pocket planners out there, there are some astrological events that are worth adding to your daily calendar, particularly if your spiritual practice revolves around the cycles of the Sun and Moon, or if you work magic, Here are some events that you may find are worth calendaring, so you’ll be reminded to work with — or work around — the planetary energies at the appropriate times.

Retrograde Periods for the Planets

You may want to include only the Mercury retrograde periods in your calendar, since Mercury is the planet that screws up our daily lives the most. (Did you know that Mercury rules not only communications but our daily routines and our immediate environment, as well? This is why Mercury Rx tends to be so disruptive) But there is much to be gained —  practically, magically and spiritually — from being aware of the retrograde periods of the other planets as well. I’ll write more about those retrogrades as they come around this year, and you can read more about the current Jupiter Rx here. You’ll also want to check out this listing of the dates and degrees of all the planetary retrogrades for this year.

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Posted by on in Culture Blogs

b2ap3_thumbnail_049.jpgWe looked at the chart of the Winter Solstice, 2012 from a mundane (world affairs) standpoint a couple of weeks ago, and this post will interpret the same chart, but from the viewpoint of the magician or spiritual seeker who is looking for clues about how to utilize the energy of this quarter to grow and transform. The Capricorn Ingress chart (another name for the chart of the Winter Solstice) can be consulted for personal insight as well as mundane, and set against one’s birth chart in the same way I set it against the chart of the USA. (If you have not read my first post on this chart, you might want to do that now, because it gives insights into and explanations of the chart’s structure that I will not repeat here.)

As we move through the difficult challenges of this transformative time, it helps to look closely at the current astrology so we can learn how to ride these waves of change into an evolutionary future, instead of a bleak, painful, or destructive one. In the same way that a farmer must consult the weather before choosing what work to do during any given day, week or month, it is useful for magicians to consult the astrological weather to determine what magical work will be most likely to meet with favorable results. More importantly, the cycles of the planets provide spiritual lessons that are uniquely suited to the time, and, if we look at them against the backdrop of our own birth charts, we will find those lessons personalized for us.

You might want to cast the chart for the moment of the solstice (12/21/12 @ 11:12 a.m. GMT — adjust for your time zone) in your location, then put that chart in a bi-wheel with your natal chart, and look in which houses of your birth chart the planets and the angles of the solstice chart fall, as well as any natal planets that are closely aspected from the solstice chart. This will tell you what issues and areas of your life will be activated. (If that last part just went right over your head, don’t worry. I will bold my conclusions, so those who don’t want the astrological techniques can skip through.)

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  • Diotima
    Diotima says #
    Thanks, Wendy! Hope your ritual goes well, and blessings of the Solstice to you.
  • Wendy L. Callahan
    Wendy L. Callahan says #
    Everything you say, particularly the steps at the end and conclusion, goes quite well with precisely how I decided to end this cyc

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