Higher Ground: World-Altering Transits in the Years Ahead
Upon the inauguration of America’s new president, millions of people felt something extraordinary happen; something that went beyond a mere political victory party. It felt to many as if a flood of inspiration was unleashed —- not just in the USA, but, remarkably, all over the world – whose power astrologers chalk up not to a man winning an election, but to the epochal transits upon us. The fact that Americans selected their candidate on the very day of the opposition between Saturn (the past) and Uranus (the future) is only one piece of the story.
Sick as a Dog
The healthcare reform brouhaha that now engulfs the USA is a cosmic in-joke. It is pointing our attention to the fact that the country itself is deathly ill.
In Soul-Sick Nation I make the case that the USA is one sick puppy. If we’re seeking an understanding of why the national discourse is so surreally off-track right now, I propose that we will find it more useful to see the nation as a living entity struggling to heal, rather than to condemn it and cast moral judgments upon it.
Mob Rule
Astrologically, it wasn’t hard to see that health care was going to be the issue of the year. Consider the makeup of the Super Conjunction of 2009: Neptune (universality), Chiron (healing) and Jupiter (reform) in Aquarius (medicine). All the ingredients were there. This was the set-up long before this summer’s astonishing partisan antics enflamed the debate like a mad doctor setting his patient alight.
Bad Dads
The phrase “doom and gloom” is in heavy use these days. As in “I’m so glad to see this front page story about rescued puppies instead of all the usual ‘doom and gloom’ stuff.” But there’s a false equation between the lines here, and we need to be wary of it.
August 2009
The Other Side of Letting Go
What begins when the Moon is New comes to a head when it is Full.
This is the core idea of the lunar cycle, and it is a very primal one. Transit-trackers have used it to interpret the sky’s messages since the beginning of time. When the New and Full Moons in question are eclipses, the cycle reaches deeper and further in its significance; but it does not depart from this basic formula.
Idiot Box
With its every frantic pop, bleat and bang, television proclaims itself to be the wellspring of all things shiny and new. But in reality it’s the primary tool of the old paradigm.
At this point in history the video screen has replaced institutionalizedreligion as the single most powerful hypnotic in the world. In the USA it serves as an efficient delivery system for the interests of a crumblingstatus quo, disseminating values that represent the very worst of the era now in its last gasp.
This is the Dawning
For some of us who identified whole-heartedly with the ideas of the late 1960s, this year’s Neptune, Chiron and Jupiter conjunction in Aquarius is particularly evocative. It’s a celebration of our entry into the wonderful world of astrology.
And it was the sign Aquarius that held open the door.
Forty years later, the hippie theme song “The Age of Aquarius” from the musical “Hair” carries a
Eclipse of the Heart
Everybody I know is heavy’d-out right now, which I see as very encouraging. It’s Eclipse Season. If you’re feeling the intensity permeating the atmosphere it means you’re not shut down.
The first lunation of this series was at the Solstice last month, when the Sun was in its full-throttle summer dignity. (The word solstice derives from the Latin [sol]+ stare [to stand].
July 2009
Knowledge and Knowing
Like the scientists, mystical thinkers honor Einstein as extraordinary; but from a somewhat different point of view. For us, the wispy-haired old fellow with the unforgettable eyes exudes a wisdom that trumps intellectual smarts.
In fact he was prodigious on both scores: that of mental acuity (Aquarius) and spiritual understanding (Pisces)1. I can’t think of another scientist whose face has been reproduced on postcards, lapel buttons and tote bags. Though Western culture tends to reserve the word “genius” for people gifted in conceptual thinking, those of us who hung posters of Einstein on our dorm room walls did so for other reasons. I, for one, was enchanted by the rumor the.
Love and Pain
The Super Conjunction is about to be broadsided by the Goddess of Love and her consort.
As July opens, Venus will square the conjunction from Taurus to Aquarius. On the 6th, Mars will do the same, and on the 10th Jupiter and Neptune reach exactitude again. This puts our focus on relationships; with all the heat (Mars), attraction (Venus), pain (Chiron) and dreams of escape (Neptune) that relationships entail.