Scorpio Full Moon -- May 2, 2007

One of the most difficult lessons of early childhood is learning how to share. When you discover the concept of "mine," as well as the sensual delights of touching, smelling, tasting, viewing and hearing your toys, the loss of "yours" to someone else brings up all these dark feelings: rage, coveting, jealousy, possessiveness. Mom must intervene at the sandbox, teach you a "life lesson."

After graduating from toys, you move on to other acquisitions, but is sharing any easier? Can you share your spouse? Time on your entertainment system? Your hard-earned money? NO! IT'S MINE! I worked my butt off to get these things -- do you think I'm just going to hand them over to someone else?

Yet, how lonely is it when you keep your possessions to yourself? Why bust your buns, if not to share what you have with your loved ones? It can be easy to do so, when it bridges the gap between yourself and someone else. You give freely when you trust another.

In fact, do you really "own" anything? It all turns to dust. Your money, your house, it just gets transferred to someone else when you die, or it decays over time. Your possessions only provide an illusion of security. Don't get me wrong, creature comforts are important, and you need to pay your rent, but what do you really need? The intimacy you share with another human being, the trust you develop by having integrity ... are these intangibles not more valuable than your car?

You can lose all your worldly possessions in the fire, or you can lose yourself in the fire of regeneration. When you merge with another, a part of you dies, but you become larger as a result.

The ethics of celebrity profiles

ISAR's code of ethics states,

Interpretations of the charts of public figures are confined to areas that are considered public domain due to specific achievements or notoriety as revealed in interviews, published documents, or recorded observations. When interpreting charts of public figures, astrologers refrain from making slanderous comments.

How often, as astrologers, do we limit our chart interpretations to "areas that are considered public domain"? We frequently opine about celebrities' inner lives -- their psychological make-up -- to make sense of their gaffes. (Michael Richards, Mel Gibson ... I'm as guilty as anyone else.)

How would you like it if -- just because you were a public figure and your birth information was in the public domain -- somebody picked your psyche apart online or in print? I'm not sure I'd be keen on it.

So why do we do it? In our consumer culture, we treat celebs as commodities. They feel so far removed, that we feel we have carte blanche to treat them like objects, rather than real, vulnerable people with feelings. I'm not saying that the Don Imus' of the world shouldn't be held accountable for their public, racist comments, but who are we to put their inner worlds on display?

It's one thing to study a celebrity chart to become better astrologers. It's another to be akin to gossip bloggers. We don't make slanderous comments -- we're a pretty nice bunch -- but is a thorough, public astro-analysis less invasive than a few insults?

I don't know if I'll change my own behavior in light of above, but it's something to ponder.

Aries New Moon - April 17, 2007

It's springtime in Brooklyn, and the cherry blossoms are blooming. As we Northern Hemispherians come out of winter and witness the beginnings of new life, it is natural to think about making a frest start. In the cold, we withdraw into our cocoons, dip into reserves, and conserve our energies to keep warm. When the weather heats up, it's time to come out.

But what direction do you take? Do you want to jumpstart your dating life? Take the next step in your career? Upgrade your house? At the Aries New Moon, we all feel the need to take initiative, but our natal charts show us how and where we take that important first step.

The New Moon always falls in a house in your chart, an area of experience such as work, home, marriage, health and so on. The house where Aries sits on the cusp is where we naturally have a go-to-it attitude, jumping in without worrying about consequences -- a place where we feel impulsive and pioneering. This part of your life may feel dormant until a planet transits the house, or your natal Mars (the ruler of Aries) is stimulated by transit or progression.

During the Aries New Moon, this part of your life comes alive -- you are meant to plant the seeds of a new project related to the concerns of the house where the transiting Sun and Moon fall. Additionally, if any planets or angles (like the Ascendant or Midheaven) are near 27 degrees -- especially of cardinal signs like Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn -- the impulses of that planet (as well as the house it inhabits) will also receive a burst of energy, an incitement to bloom.

To use myself as an example: I have natal Mars at 29 Aries in the 9th house. Aries is on the cusp of my 9th house, so it is also ruled by Mars. This Aries New Moon stimulates a desire to aggressively (Mars) promote myself (9th), or take action (Mars) to publish (9th house). With this placement I'm already inclined to do these things, but the Aries New Moon provides the kick in the pants needed to motivate myself.

Comment below: Where does the Aries New Moon fall in your chart? How do you want to jumpstart your life?

Want to Get to Know Your Chart? Jeffrey Kishner is available for astrology readings.