Full Moon in Taurus - November 5, 2006

I feel sorry for Taurus. The Bull wants security, and she is all alone, opposite five Scorpio planets: Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury and Jupiter. Although both Taurus and Scorpio are fixed signs, Taurus resists change a whole lot more than Scorpio. After all, Scorpio is the sign of deep, personal transformation. An earth sign, Taurus is a bit stick-in-the-mud, whereas watery Scorpio digs underneath the dirt to unearth whatever is preventing her from changing.

Both Taurus and Scorpio do have much in common: money, sex and values. Scorpio is the more social of these two signs, so she's about what we share: our financial resources, our bodies, our emotions. Taurus is more about security, hoarding money and slathering oneself with bath salts to enjoy the sensuality of the body.

Both signs are also pretty possessive: being fixed signs, they don't want to let go. However, Scorpio is more likely to bring out a full onslaught of dark emotions if she catches you looking at another person, whereas Taurus will probably hold in her resentment, stubbornly keeping to herself what's bothering her.

This conflict is exacerbated by a square to Neptune. When both the Sun and Moon make an approximately 90-degree angle to the planet of illusion, we know we're in trouble! Fantasy, deception and delusion are the name of the game. In matters of love, we are in a fantasy world, especially with relationship planet Venus in a tight square with the god of imagination. We are in love with love, and tend to idealize whomever we're smitten with. Neptune also brings out the martyr in us, so we make sacrifices, get all codependent, lose our identities, let ourselves become subsumed by our relationships.

Neptune also makes us extremely sensitive. The Scorpionic part of ourselves is able to tap into our intuitions and read other people. Taurus, being an earth sign, is more likely to "pick up" messages in nature, seeing how all is connected by walking in a forest.

The key for this Full Moon is to not put up walls in defense -- unless, of course, there is real danger. Scorpio is a wee bit suspicious of letting down her guard unless she can totally trust that dissolving her boundaries is safe. And Taurus is afraid that in losing herself in Neptunian transcendence, she'll also lose all that she holds near and dear. Getting your bliss fix can be difficult if you're too "fixed."

This Full Moon will mostly impact those with planets or angles around 12 degrees of the fixed signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius), as well people whose birthdays are around February 1, May 3, August 5, or November 5.

View chart

Tags: astrology - full moon - taurus - scorpio - neptune

But why does Mercury have to be retrograde TODAY???

This morning, my Palm organizer would not start up, so I inserted my stylus into its little reset hole, and now my Palm is constantly loading up and shutting down, loading up and shutting down, ad infinitum. And I don't know how to make it stop, short of erasing all my data.

I suppose knowing that Mercury is retrograde (in my 3rd house of data, no less) makes this inconvenience more tolerable, but it's still a pain in my ass.

Today, Mercury is in a waning semi-sextile with Pluto -- meaning that it's 30 degrees away from the god of destruction. Mercury stationed at 25 Scorpio, just a 1/4 of a degree away from Pluto in Sag. Pluto often relates to compulsivity (and Scorpio goes to extremes), and here my Palm is reloading over and over, like a broken record, until my battery runs dry. I can either kill it now or let it die a slow painful death, until I hotsync with my home computer tonight.

There it is: Mercury retrograde in Scorpio (on Halloween, no less) as the death and rebirth of my digital assistant.

Tags: astrology mercury retrograde

Am I having such a hard day because there are six planets in Scorpio?

All these planets are yelling, "I bow to Pluto!"

The Lord of the Underworld -- which rules Scorpio in modern astrology -- has been transiting my natal Venus in hard aspect. And this super-Scorpionic energy is opening a doorway through which Pluto can make a large impact.

So this Pluto-square-Venus transit I'm having is really starting to make sense to me. In The Gods of Change, Howard Sasportas writes that, during a Pluto transit, the archetypal energy of the natal planet being aspected is either intensified or (temporarily) killed off. And my Venus has been killed off. She has been dragged, like Persephone, into the Underworld, and my inner Demeter is crying because she is afraid her daughter will never come back.

Yet, if astrology has taught me anything, it has been that "This too shall pass." Pluto will move on into Capricorn, and my Venus will re-emerge empowered and regenerated. I have no idea what she'll look like or how she'll act, but I have faith that in her return, I'll have integrated some lesson that has thus far eluded me.

Tags: astrology scorpio pluto transit venus

I continue to eat foods containing partially hydrogenated oils, even though I know they're bad for me

I used to eat these all the time at the movies when I was a kid. And I just now bought them in the vending machine at work. Did I think about the ingredients as a kid? NO. But now ...

• corn syrup
• flour
• sugar
• cornstarch
• partially hydrogenated soybean oil
• salt
• artificial flavor
• citric acid
• potassium sorbate, a preservative
• artificial coloring, including Red 40

Who in their right mind would put this in their body?

Yet it is oddly comforting. Perhaps I am regressing under pressure, and resorting to childhood foods. Tonight, I'll eat dry Cheerios out of a bowl while watching commercial TV. And tomorrow I'll make Jell-O chocolate pudding and scrape out the remains from the bowl with my finger.

Astrology, Blogging, Emotions and Spirituality

I've got a split in my personality. Maybe it's my Moon in Aquarius and Sun in Pisces.

I don't have any religious affiliation. I've explored Judaism (as I'm an "ethnic" Jew); I used to practice Zen Buddhism; and I have read about wicca, magick, Christianity, Vedanta. After much exploration, two approaches work for me: astrology and dance/movement.

This makes total sense. Astrology is ruled by Aquarius, and dance is Piscean -- Pisces rules the feet, as well as ways of expressing the ineffable artistically.

Both are fulfilling. I've had moments studying astrology when I feel like Russell Crowe in A Beautiful Mind -- that everything has fallen into place and is meaningful. However, movement is what I need to help me access my emotions and really transcend my ego.

Which makes me wonder whether astrology can be considered a spiritual practice.

Both the 9th and 12th houses are where we meet God. The 9th is more about religion and issues of faith and belief -- associated with Jupiter, it's more intellectual. The 12th is about just letting go into God, merging with the Universe, transcending ego.

In this framework, astrology for me fulfills a 9th house need, providing a larger framework, a belief system that provides meaning in my life. But dance/yoga/movement fulfills my 12th house need to really emotionally connect with something larger, something beyond, myself.

I know that there are astrologers who integrate astrology with dance, psychodrama, and other modalities of expression. But I haven't crossed that bridge. For me, the best way I integrate my understanding is through writing and counseling. And frankly, blogging is a fairly intellectual experience for me. It's about the challenge of translating abstract concepts into something digestible for the reader. Writing for me serves most of my cadent house needs: the 3rd is writing for its own sake; the 6th is mastering the craft of writing and being of service; the 9th is self-promotion and meaning-making.

Unfortunately, I have not had any at-one-with-the-universe moments while blogging. So I will get out of my head and into my feet, to follow the rhythm of my 12th house beat!

Tags: astrology - blogging - spirituality

How to Find More Astrology Blogs

1. Astrology Top Ten Sources
2. Astrology Top Sites lists blogs daily by traffic ranking
3. Astrology Bloggers Webring
4. Astrology Notes list of astrology blogs can be edited by any registered member of this wiki
5. Astrology Bookmarks -- view Dermod Moore's list of blogs in grazr
6. Jeffrey Kishner's astrology blog reading list -- view my list in grazr
7. Astrology Database
8. Technorati -- ranked by number of blogs linking to each blog
   

Tags: astrology blog list

New Moon in Libra - October 22, 2006

Once upon a time, there was a peaceful kingdom. The King, Queen, Prince and Princess were all polite and courteous and had the best table manners. Every day at 3:30pm, they had English Breakfast tea, currant scones with clotted cream, and little cucumber-horseradish sandwiches with the crusts cut off. They were always careful not to hurt each other's feelings. The prince, being young and naturally full of testosterone, at times had difficulty expressing his anger, so he was unfortunately an ineffective prince, often flip-flopping and appearing indecisive. His father, the King, was quite good at creating peace accords with neighboring kingdoms, and was admired throughout all the lands for the decor of his castle, the adornments and embellishments that made one feel that all was beautiful in the world. However, he too, lacked some of the fire that he needed to be the powerful ruler he wanted to be. Yet, the Queen was right by his side, and he was surrounded by his devoted children, so all was right in the kingdom.

Such an example the royal family made that all the creatures in their kingdom were affected. The ruling family decreed a holiday on the 22nd day of the 10th month of the year 2006, in which every subject would have the opportunity for a new start, so long as their new beginnings created balance and beauty, and that in their initiatives they took care not to tread over the rights of any other subject in the kingdom. The King and Queen decreed that:

The Ram shall marry or start a fruitful partnership in business

The Bull shall start an apprenticeship, attend to his health, and be organized in his daily routine

The Twins shall play and romance the maidens and gamble and be merry

The Crab shall cook a bountiful meal and feed her family in front of the cozy warmth of the hearth

The Lion shall write and converse and ride his chariot around the kingdom, making merry small talk with the other creatures

The Virgin shall take stock of her possessions, and value herself for her God-given gifts

Justice shall visit the Royal Family herself, for it is her day to bask in the glories of beauty and grace

The Scorpion shall withdraw into his shell, to study his Dreams and seek at-one-ness with God Almighty

The Archer shall make merry with his friends, and keep in mind his aspirations to help the Kingdom

The Goat shall do what the Goat does best, which is to climb to the top of the highest mountain in the Kingdom

The Water-bearer shall travel to distant lands, and take up study in the most prestigious academies of higher learning

The Fish shall lay down with her husband, invoking the Mysteries to experience la petit mort in their ecstatic union

However, a strange-looking creature -- half man, half horse -- disrupted their holiday. He had a long mane of hair, and wore New-Agey robes, and claimed that all the subjects in the kingdom -- as well as the Royal Family themselves -- were using their facade of courtesy and pleasing manners to cover over their deeper wounds. How will the subjects of this kingdom make a new start in the their lives with the uneasy knowledge that this odd fellow wants to rain on their parade?

To be continued ...

Tags: astrology - new moon - libra - chiron

Widgets Galore!

Do you want to promote me, or do you want to keep your readers up-to-date on the most recent New or Full Moon? If so, sign up at widgetbox and put this widget on your website or blog! You can resize it, and it's CSS-friendly!

You can also use my google widget, which can be seen in action on my preview page.

Tags: widget widgetbox module gadget google astrology

Full Moon in Aries - October 6, 2006

My needs versus our needs, that's what this Full Moon is about. The Moon in Aries is opposing the Sun, Venus and Mars in Libra (the Sun at the Venus/Mars midpoint). Aries -- the first sign of the zodiac -- is concerned with me, here, now. Libra takes into account the needs and wants of the other person. Libra is much more relationship-oriented.

The Sun is in its fall in Libra -- the Sun is happiest in Libra's opposite sign Aries, because Aries is all about fulfilling one's own needs, and that serves the Sun. Mars, ruler of Aries, takes action to fulfill the Sun's purpose. Mars is in its detriment in Libra. Mars just wants to act, and in Libra He feels the need to balance things out first, to check in with everyone else to makes sure he's not hurting anyone's feelings. Such an impulsive planet does not really like to be "fair and balanced." Venus, however, is dignified in Libra, as She is in one of the two signs she rules. The Moon, meanwhile, is in Aries, which is ruled by Mars. Hence, the final dispositor in this Full Moon chart is Venus. She's the end all and be all of this Full Moon.

When I look at this chart, I see the Lone Moon wanting to assert its own needs, damn everyone else, in opposition to three planets that are very focused on "the other," on pleasing everyone else, and two of those more yang planets -- Sun and Mars -- aren't really happy doing that anyway, they're really just serving Venus. It's her day.

The Goddess of Love is in charge, but nonetheless this is a Full Moon, so the light is where the Moon is, in Aries. This is a culmination point. In fact, a Full Moon is like Libra, because this sign is 180 degrees from the beginning of the zodiac, Aries. In a Full Moon, you can't skirt any relevant issues, because they're right there in front of you. The Moon is holding up a mirror.

So we get to see the selfish, self-centered, me me me part of us at this time, which is in conflict with the part of us that is concerned with our impact on others. And being that Venus is the final dispositor in this equation, we could say that this Full Moon is about how our desire to meet our own needs and wants affects our relationships. We emotionally want our meet our own desires, yet the planets that really put this into action -- the Sun and Mars -- are weakened, are "Venus-whipped." So our Moon isn't getting much support. It feels like a losing game. We're very much aware at this Full Moon of the difficulty focusing on me when so much we is in the picture.

This Full Moon will mostly impact those people with planets or angles around 13 degrees of cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn), as well as those whose birthday is around January 4, April 3, July 5 or October 6.

Tags: astrology - full moon - aries - moon -sun - libra - venus - mars