Full Moon in Capricorn - June 30, 2007

When I grew up, my dad wasn't home enough, and my mom was home too much. (No offense, Mom!) This dichotomy was all too common due to gender roles among the Baby Boomers, such that the mom didn't join the workforce until her nest was empty. Nowadays, often both parents work and leave the kid with a nanny (if they can afford one). Either way, there is a split between nurturance and breadwinning, such that it's unlikely that one individual can both succeed in the workplace and be an everpresent caretaker in the home.

Beyond this sociological conundrum, we've got this contradiction in our inner lives as well. If you devote yourself to career growth (Moon in Capricorn), do your efforts come at the expense of your feelings (Sun in Cancer)? Your task at this Full Moon is to balance productivity with self-nurturing.

With the spotlight on Capricorn, the tension is more likely to be noticed at the workplace. Maybe your boss is critical of your need to cut out early because your kid has a half-day at school. Or your work performance is suffering because you've been preoccupied with your ailing parents. Or you may go "workaholic" to avoid tensions in the home.

The Fine Print: This Full Moon is at 8 degrees Capricorn. If you have any personal planets or angles between 7 and 11 degrees of cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn), this lunation will have an effect. This Full Moon is also tied in with the Saturn-Neptune opposition by semisquare/sesquiquadrate, so the whole "manifest your dreams and bust your illusions" theme will apply to your home/work conflict.

Mercury Retrograde Mishaps

This morning, I fumbled with the cordless phone and dropped it in the fish tank.

What mishaps have you had so far?

How to spend Uranus retrograde

• Review inventions that haven't worked to see if you can find novel ways to improve them.
• Pull back from activism to see what's been working and what hasn't. Study the methods of past leaders (antiwar, civil rights, etc.) to see how you can do things differently.
• Study ancient systems of astrology.
• Recognize that in order to initiate a paradigm shift, or to bring Progress into the world, you need to understand those systems from which you are deviating.

Modern astrologer goes back in time

I just registered for a crash course in Hellenistic astrology, and realized that my actions are congruent with Uranus retrograde: studying astrology from the distant past! One reason I am pursuing this course of study is that I am tired of reading about profections and not understanding a word. I will let you know how my studies progress.

Uranus stations retrograde at 18 Pisces on June 23, 2007

I've been feeling the need for change. It's little things, like not wanting to come back home after running an errand, or wanting to totally change my routine. I feel restless, aware of the repetitiveness of my life. I do derive fulfillment from work, family, dance, and so on, but there have been no awakenings, no 007 James Bond car chases, no jumping from airplanes, no being swept off my feet. Everything's just the same.

Usually, that's OK. I have Virgo Rising -- I like consistency, I like having a schedule. I've found activities from which I derive pleasure, and I attend to them without fail, week after week.

But something's gotta give! Uranus, the planet of sudden change and revolution, conjoined my Pisces Sun in March, and it's about to go retrograde (apparently backwards-moving) on Saturday. It's been slowing to a standstill, and I can feel it. Yet I'm not sure how to shake things up!

I recall at the first conjunction, I IM'd with a reader whose progressed chart was my natal chart (except her progressed Moon was a few degrees from exact to my Moon). I felt that was meaningful. When Uranus stationed a few minutes from my Sun June 2006, I had a major spike in blog traffic. These were both unexpected events, and both concerned my relationship to astrology, which is governed by Uranus.

So I have an idea of what may be ahead. But I can't know exactly what it will be, as Uranus' catch phrase is "Expect the Unexpected." Yet I want to grease the wheels, to be prepared for whatever comes my way. I'd prefer to take the wheel, but I don't know where I'm driving. Hence, I feel like a passive (Pisces?) recipient of whatever Uranus brings my way. The attitude of receiving is better than defending against, but in the meantime, I feel like I'm just waiting, because I don't know how to do an overhaul by myself.

I did a tarot reading asking "What will Uranus rx bring?" and I got FIVE major arcana cards:

• Daily Lesson: Temperance
• Challenges/Opportunites: Judgment
• Situation: Empress
• Advice: Magician
• Near Future: Tower

So there's confirmation that something big will happen.

How do you want to change your life?

Mercury Retrograde in Cancer -- June 15 to July 9, 2007

We've been in the process of buying a house, and the last piece of paperwork required for the mortgage just came in yesterday. I was concerned, because Mercury stations retrograde today in Cancer, the sign of homes and real estate. Any paperwork or agreements related to these matters may get lost or go awry during this period.

It's also a time to recollect on family matters, to think about the past. Maybe you'll find an old family heirloom, or you'll go through letters from your grandma.

Look to the house (astrological house, that is) that has Cancer on its cusp. This will show where you get all sentimental, and the themes of this house will require your attention during this time.

Gemini New Moon opposite Pluto in Sagittarius - June 14, 2007

For some, the thrill of reading TMZ.com and gossip rags is that they expose celebs' secrets and public gaffes: drunk driving, cocaine abuse, racist comments. Seeing the underbelly of the carefully controlled image reminds us that even the fabulously wealthy are flawed human beings.

But we have to be careful of how we ingest the news. Our minds crave distraction from the humdrum of our daily lives, yet how often does our media diet contribute depth and substance? Are we, as a collective, over and done with Paris Hilton, as low as she's sunk? Could it be that the press is a tool of the government, trying to control us so that we don't question our nation's destructive foreign policies? Does the Bush administration own TMZ? Are Paris, Britney and Lindsay nothing but pawns of the American Enterprise Institute?

I'm not a conspiracy theorist, I'm just making a point. Gemini can be superficial and gossipy, oblivious to the dangers perpetrated by those in power. Sometimes we get so stuck in absorbing mindless information that we don't pay attention to world affairs.

The Sun and Moon in Gemini opposite Pluto in Sagittarius can by symbolized by the investigative reporter who exposes human rights abuses in Guantanamo Bay, pedophilia in the Church, date rape at universities. Even in the context of celebrity news, the exposure of racism (Mel Gibson, Michael Richards, Don Imus) provides a useful service.

What does this have to do with you?

This New Moon is at 23 Gemini. It is making several aspects:

• Opposition to Pluto at 27 Sag
• Exact semisquare (45 degrees ) to Venus at 8 Leo
• Tight sextile to Mars at 22 Aries
• Sextile to Saturn at 20 Leo
• Square to Uranus at 18 Pisces
• Trine to Neptune at 21 Aquarius

As you can see, the degree areas between 18 and 27 are being highly stimulated, by both hard aspects (Pluto, Uranus, Venus) and soft aspects (Saturn, Neptune, Mars). Mars, Saturn and Pluto are in a Grand Fire Trine. Saturn and Neptune are finishing up their opposition. This New Moon is activating all these configurations.

So if you have any planets or angles around this degree area, something will be up for you. Share your chart in the comments section, and maybe someone can help you out.