Monday Morning Potpourri

Taking a few moments to let everyone know I’m alive and well if somewhat overwhelmed at the moment. We have started into serious harvest time and from now until mid-September [yes, when Saturn and Uranus make their next exact opposition] I will be one busy lady. We are enjoying all the fresh vegetables and berries immensely but getting the produce from the garden to the freezer or shelf is time consuming. There is a very good reason most people prefer to go to the local grocers or farmer’s market . . .

One thing I did get done was my post over on Real Astrologers on the July 7 lunar eclipse. That eclipse and the solar eclipse on July 21 are going to break some of us out of our “stuck” places, especially cardinal sign types. It will also help to have Jupiter pulling away from Neptune after July 10. Don’t know about anyone else but Neptune & Co have thrown up such an effective fog bank, it just dawned on me I have been marching in place for months! Duh!

I was reading through the latest ebook I got from Donna Cunningham, "Astrological Analysis," and came to the chapter on the hazards of predicting for yourself. All those incredible insights we as astrologers have on the behalf of others just does not happen for ourselves. By the way, this also applies to doing chart comparisons for ourselves . . . it is NOT possible to be objective, period! End of story. And even if our friendly astrologer tells us that relationship is going to suck, there is a far greater likelihood we will completely ignore them if we are “in Love”. However, I am also a firm believer in my own inability to make judgment calls for someone else because that experience may just what the individual needs for an important breakthrough in awareness.

One of the joys of blogging is meeting new people out here in cyberspace. Deb Steinberg, another Libra with Mercury in Scorpio, has a great blog. She is funny with a decided edge, hiding a kind heart. A definite plus is her husband’s contribution – the Financial Loft. Check them out!

One of my favorite fellow astrologers, Lynn Hayes, is doing her usual excellent job of providing great stuff for all of us who visit her blog, Astrodynamics. She is now doing a radio broadcast on astrological subjects. I’m impressed, as always, with Lynn’s energy and enthusiasm.

Finally found the best description of the Jupiter, Neptune & Chiron in Aquarius again! It was on Lucy Looking Upward blog. She has a biting sense of humor and makes me laugh . . . a gift for sure!

And don’t forget to stop by and see what Elsa P is up to on ElsaElsa. Her dedication to helping all of us astro-bloggers to keep our boats afloat with AstroDispatch is much appreciated.

Now I need to get back to whittling down my to do list!

Image: This photo of the half moon is slightly out of focus . . . just like me these days. But I like the affect anyway.

Fallout from the New Moon and Neptune & Co

Ever since the New Moon in Cancer on Monday, life has been eventful for many of us.

From what I’ve been hearing it’s either been very good or downright awful with little in between. This is consistent with the opposition between the New Moon and Pluto and stationing Uranus in Pisces forming an out of sign t-square with those two.

Three celebrities died recently, two this week and one last: one unexpectedly, Michael Jackson; one sad but anticipated, Farrah Fawcett; and the last peacefully, Ed McMahon. If we consider these high profile people to be the bell weathers of the collective, then I’m sure these deaths were representative of many others. Pluto is the master of clearing out the old to allow for something new to manifest. In the USA in particular, we seem to have the idea we can live forever and spend billions attempting to do that. Why is it so difficult to see death as part of life? This includes everything from the death of a dream courtesy of the Jupiter-Neptune conjunction to the end of a life.

As I’ve commented elsewhere, this turned out to be a very productive period for me as in being able to take care of business in a matter of fact manner. For example, when the dentist’s office called to remind me about an appointment for getting my teeth cleaned on Monday, I brought up costs and when the dentist wouldn’t budge, I canceled the appointment. Those who are not willing to compromise are going to find others telling them, “thank you but no thank you.” Pluto in Capricorn is just getting started – just wait a couple of years and look around you!

Those whose charts are most affected by the Jupiter-Neptune-Chiron conjunction are getting stepped on too, especially if they bet the farm on a certain outcome. The Capricorn lunar eclipse on July 7 finds Mars in Taurus squaring Neptune & Co and that is going to bite, big time. That particular Full Moon squares my natal Moon in Libra, so I’m wincing in anticipation because one way or another, my emotions are going to be all over the place. :::groan:::

Thankfully the tricksy t-square with Uranus has faded but keep in mind Uranus will be stationing retrograde on July 1. It may be just me but I keep getting the feeling we would be much further ahead to take advantage of the hints Uranus is throwing out now to clean up our act because next year Uranus will not be nearly as polite. It will be in Aries – a sign noted for directness.

So throw away the rose colored glasses and start thinking in terms of having several alternative plans in place, always. With all the earth and water dominating the sky right now, it would be wise to forgo the drama, pick up the pieces and move on. Yeah, ouch!

If you didn't catch yesterday's post on Real Astrologers, here's a link:Ask Real Astrologers: Wrapping up an Eclipse Cycle

Image: Since we only get 8-10" of rain a year, the glorious skies thunderstorms bring are rare and much enjoyed. Beauty sustains this Libra.

The Gemini-Sagittarius Axis

Jessica (it was Jessica, Kashmiri, you were right - found the thread on the boards) commented on ElsaElsa she had difficulty understanding this particular axis, inspiring me to write about these two signs because my Nodal axis is Gemini-Sagittarius. I’ve had a few years direct experience with it moving from my South Node in Sagittarius childhood as a tomboy and generally solitary wild child to my North Node in Gemini life now. I am an active part of an astrological online community and communicate via computer and webcam with people around the world. Who would have thought it possible I’d be so comfortable with this shift.

I see Sagittarius as concerned with understanding the big picture, the philosophical concepts behind civilization and belief systems. It is devoted to the pursuits of Truth with a capital “T” and is not noted for tact and diplomacy when expressing what it sees as the Truth. Most Sagittarius types also have a deep love of wide open spaces and being on the move. I have a dear woman friend with Sagittarius rising who loves to drive around the state with her truck driver dad just for the fun of it.

Gemini likes information too but of an entirely different sort. While Sagittarius prefers to withdraw and live a contemplative life, social Gemini enjoys being right in the middle of things chatting to everyone and anyone. They love collecting tidbits of information and squirreling them away to pull out to charm someone else down the line.

Another way to look at Gemini and Sagittarius is to remember Gemini rules the third house and Sagittarius the ninth. The third house is about siblings, your neighborhood and close friends, communications and all types of mental activity while the ninth house deals with foreign lands and far travels, higher education and philosophical pursuits. But both of these signs are mutable giving them a flexibility and ability to adapt.

I get really annoyed with the idea any sign is more “evolved” than another though I do subscribe to the idea the first six signs relate to the personal and the last six deal more with the collective. It makes sense that Gemini is more concerned with personal issues and Sagittarius with broad concepts affecting many of us. Gemini is also interested in connecting people with others with shared interests – the original go-between.

This photo was taken when I was around six, happily showing off the results of one of my dad’s hunts. The only reason I had shoes on was because my mom made me wear them when we went up into the hills. The clothes were probably worn by several other kids before they got to me because we were cash poor in those days but I didn’t care! Loved to run around in the brush and play by myself.

Oh yeah, Scorp rising had no problem handling dead critters . . .

Thoughts on Transits

Thinking about the timing of transits can make my head hurt which is why I write about them frequently in an ongoing effort to understand them. Synastry is much easier for me to get my head around and judging from the feedback from those I have done compatibility readings for my intuitive leaps work well. But transits always seem much more left brain and have so many, many picky rules to follow.

I have read what both Betty Lundsted and Bernadette Brady have to say about transits and while I’ve learned a great deal from both of them, I find Betty’s ideas easier to implement. When Bernadette starts talking making these little boxes, I start to glaze over. Betty has a general rule of thumb on using a ten degree applying orb for transits from Jupiter on out to Pluto – simple, easy to understand and it works for me!

In general we feel most transits during the period when a planet is drawing closer to aspecting a natal planet or Angle. After the aspect is exact by degree, then the transit enters the separating phase. However it’s not always that tidy because if the transiting planet is triggering a natal aspect pattern then the affect of the transit can reverberate longer. For example, your 20˚ Aries Moon is square natally to Uranus at 26˚ Cancer and transiting Mars in Aries is coming along to conjoin your Moon. Mars irritates the Moon so you would probably start feeling this transit when Mars hit 10˚ Aries. Even after Mars exactly conjoins your Moon, it will still be another twelve days or so before it exactly squares your Uranus and will still be irritating your Moon via the natal Moon-Uranus square. So check your natal aspect patterns for the later degrees and use those to determine the end of a transit.

I was really annoyed when I woke up with this particular realization, so I decided to share it! What I’m wondering now is if anyone else can corroborate this.

Image: A selection of this year's peonies from my garden. My new favorite is the one on the right hand side of the photo. It's white in the center with a blush of pink to the outer petals. Libra to the core!

Out of Sync and Sorts

Going through one of those phases when I feel very much out of sync with others except for my immediate family, so I decided to take a look at the transits to see what was going on.

For starters, whenever the Moon is in Sagittarius, it is in my first house and conjoining my Venus and South Node in Sagittarius. Plus the Sun is currently in my seventh house and just finished hitting my North Node in Gemini and Saturn in Virgo is sitting in my tenth square to both. Yesterday my Gemini step-daughter and Gemini rising granddaughter went with us up into the hills looking for ‘shrooms. How reflective of the Sky is that, besides being a lot of fun.

Mercury in Taurus is exactly conjunct my Descendant today and that means it opposes my Ascendant, forming the base of a t-square with Neptune-Chiron and Jupiter currently in my third house. Put that together with Mercury ruled Gemini (Sun) as well as Virgo (Saturn), and no wonder my brain keeps short-circuiting! I do a little bit here, go outside and do a little bit there, come back in and prepare meals, sit down at the computer, pick up a book by Sherri Tepper I’m re-reading and so on. I really truly hope once Mercury makes its final square to Neptune & Co on Wednesday and returns to the degree it went retrograde on June 16, my normal ability to concentrate will return.

Off Topic: I want to thank Casey for the various wrist exercises she found. I’ve been doing a selection of them and they seem to be helping. Despite those who have urged me to have the surgery done, I consider that a last resort measure for a number of reasons. One of which is financial. All one has to do is step into the medical system and money vanishes like magic and we only have a $1,500 deductible major medical policy. The parties who have recommended surgery were all government employees (teachers, postal workers, etc) with excellent health insurance and not a CLUE about what it means to live in the world of the self-employed. Yes, I support a single-payer health care system in this country. Don’t get me started on living in a country where a murderer on death row has access to better health care for free than I and many others do.

Since I seem to be wandering all over the place, I’m wondering if anyone else is dealing with this lack of focus.

BTW, go here to read my thoughts on the Full Moon in Sagittarius.

Image: We are finally getting the occasional thundershower moving through making much more interesting sunsets to enjoy.

Mercury On Pause

Between Mercury stationing direct today, Chiron stationing retrograde, Neptune stationing retrograde yesterday and Saturn, while now direct, still barely moving, I’m stuck in neutral along with lots of other people. Maybe this is affecting me more because it’s a third house/Mercury event in my chart. Neptune and Chiron are both in my third house and Mercury is opposing my natal Mercury from the sixth house.

The Sun is in Gemini revving everyone up to talk, talk, talk but nothing is coming out! Well, maybe a whole lot of nothing. :::grin::: Personally I’m getting all these wonderful ideas that whip across the front of my mind and disappear into smoke. Oh, sometimes I’m making a note here and there but will have to review this info at a later date when the fog lifts.

This photo of a hummingbird at my feeder illustrates this well – going a gazillion miles an hour and going nowhere. Getting a good shot here and there is actually a pretty good use of Neptune in the third.

Let’s see if next week will be better than this last one.

Reality Check – Saturn Direct

Ever since Saturn turned direct last Saturday, I’ve become increasingly aware I may have taken on a whole lot more than I can reasonably handle. Neptune sitting in my third house and squaring my Mercury and Ascendant since the first of the year may have been the reason it took me so long to figure this out – that and because I’m a typically stubborn fixed sign type. So now I’m spread so thin I’m transparent.

In many ways this situation is an extension of having Saturn transiting my tenth house while opposing Uranus in my fourth – career vs home. With the growing season in full swing and the beginning of harvest starting within a few weeks, there is no way I can spend as much time in front of a computer as I did during the winter months. Therefore I need to make every moment I have to spend here count. That’s why I added the widget for my Twitters to the sidebar – quick and dirty astro-updates for all.

The custom spinning and knitting projects are history too. They take far too much time and energy as well as aggravating my delicate wrists. It seems a serious carpal tunnel flare up quickly becomes a chronic problem no matter how careful one is. I wear braces on both wrists now when I’m typing. To say this is very frustrating for someone who uses their hands as much as I have and do is putting it mildly. But when Saturn says get your act together, you do it. As I mentioned in a comment on a previous post, Saturn will be riding herd on me very closely for six years or so as it conjuncts all my personal planets and Ascendant.

Blogging has turned out to be very good for me. I love reading and responding to those of you who comment regularly and have become cyber-friends. And it gives me a place to vent as well as throw out thoughts and ideas I have about astrology. Because of this I’m planning on maintaining my usual once a week post or video. How Elsa P manages to produce the body of work she does for ElsaElsa is beyond me, not to mention managing AstroDispatch. Gah

While Saturn’s change of direction is making itself felt as long as Mercury is retrograde, the greatest sense of movement is not likely to manifest until mid-June (when Mercury returns to the degree it went Rx). As long as Saturn is in Virgo, Mercury will dance a little more to his tune since Virgo is Mercury ruled. Anyone else noting a shift with Saturn direct?

image: I took this pic on our trip into the mountains to look for morels last Wednesday. The snow covered mountain in the background is at about 6,000 ft and the breeze had a real edge to it!