An Eclipse and Graduation

After two years of eclipses in Leo and Aquarius, the Super Full Moon Eclipse on Sunday evening (PST) ends the cycle and doesn't return for 18 years, 11 days and 9 hours. (But who’s counting, right?!) Eclipses are designed to interrupt the status quo and force change. With that in mind let's do a review before accepting our scroll of newly earned wisdom - like the Scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz.

The question is: how have we become more of our creative selves over the last two years and moved away from blind dedication to groups at the expense of individual expression? It's that simple. Did you accept the challenges of the the last round of eclipses to dare to be you from the level of your true heart? Or where you forced to finally speak up for who and what you are?

Since the eclipse earlier this month on the 5th, which was the second one in the new series of Cancer/Capricorn, we've been a bit betwixt and between. Cancer and Capricorn is about home and society and how we interact with each. We can feel the new space opening up and so we are madly tidying up a la Maria Kondo to make room for the new.

There are a slew of planets in Capricorn including its mighty king, Saturn, and the god of the underworld, Pluto. We will be rewarded for setting limits and boundaries. As we toddle off to Goodwill with our cars stuffed with excess, we are realizing how much our homes and lives will hold and exactly how much we can organize and manage in real life. What do we need and what is just…too much? We are noticing what it costs us to ignore boundaries and limitations.

That is the Capricorn side. It deals with the reality of space, timelines, budgets and pragmatic practicalities.

The Cancer side of the eclipses which is the “learning” edge of the new series is a discovery process around what nurtures our hearts. Or as Marie Kondo asks, “What sparks joy?” How have we gotten so far away from recognizing that? And oh, how we overcompensate with “stuff” to fill the hole when we don't come from our hearts with joy.

Here is a delightful article on the power of creativity and limitation about Dr. Seuss. https://getpocket.com/explore/item/the-weird-strategy-dr-seuss-used-to-create-his-greatest-work

Congratulations on the masterpiece of your Leo/Aquarius eclipse period! Have fun embracing restraint and joy as we begin the learning curve Cancer and Capricorn offers.

Do We Stay or Do We Go?

The Great American Eclipse of 2017

After a 99 year absence, one of the greatest shows on Earth crosses the United States on August 21st: a Total Solar Eclipse (TSE). Earthlings may be living on the only planet in the cosmos that can see the phenomenon of the sun's disappearance. Because our moon is both 400 times smaller and closer than the sun, they appear to be the same size. This optical illusion lets the moon appear to put out the light of the sun in the sky, while on Earth, the moon's shadow turns day into night.

The shock of the sun's sudden disappearance put the fear of the gods into ancient people. As early as 2500 BCE Babylonian mathematicians figured out how to predict eclipses, but the media of the time was slow in spreading the word. World mythologies attributed eclipses to ordinary or mythical creatures swallowing the sun: Scandinavian myths say its the wolf who ate the it.

This eclipse born in the Pacific Ocean makes land fall near Lincoln City, Oregon, crosses the entire USA and dies out in the Atlantic after leaving Charleston, South Caroline. Within a 67-mile wide band, the moon shadow races across the land at 2900 mph through Oregon creating an eerie twilight for the two minutes and nineteen seconds of local totality. Temperatures drop five to ten degrees. Animals revert to night behaviors: birds roost, and insects quieten. Stars, and four planets, Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter, will twinkle in the dark, daytime sky.

Modern eyewitnesses describe TSEs as powerful, mysterious and magical, and inspire many to follow them world-wide. The first one in the United States in 99 years attracts an influx of tourist to the path of totality as hotels, homes, campsites and RV parks are booked to the max. Small towns, like Madras, Oregon, population 6,000, expect to host up to 100,000 visitors pushing their capacity to provide gas, water, ice, food, medical care and other services beyond their limits.

If you plan on traveling into the 67-mile wide viewing zone, fill your gas tanks, and load up your coolers with more food, water and ice than you think you'll need and enough to share. Many roads into peak viewing areas are only two-lanes so expect heavy, slow traffic. Be patient and be prepared, but, go! This is a rare bucket-list quality experience.

Energetically, eclipses are super-duper new or full moons that occur four to five times a year. This TSE pours on the energy with the eclipsed sun in the unusual position of being the second new moon in the sign of Leo which is ruled by the sun. At a mature twenty-eight degrees, this majestic sun should completely command the moment. But, no! It is blotted out.

The sun, representing our will, action and take charge energy is overshadowed as the moon provides a dramatic break in action. Our receptive side steps forward with quieter, soul yearnings, giving us a reality check on how we use our light. Are we creating life from our natural glow or scorching the earth with overblown egos?

As frightening as it is to see the sun disappear, it's equally as frightening to see our unconscious antics when we try to stay safe by not being seen. Leo brings us courage to take a risk, be visible, and stand in the spotlight owning who we are and our lives. The moon, also in Leo, provides a respite from the unrelenting sun. She says, “Quiet. Look at the radiance of your golden heart. Reclaim your innocence and live from there.”

Two minutes and nineteen seconds of quiet and mystery. To consider our tiny self on this little planet in the immensity of the universe and laugh. What a gift! Life! Me. Here. Now.

As the sun reappears, we can return to life as usual or make new choices. We could drop our masks and revel in the brilliance of ourselves and others. We could rediscover life as play. We could trust that who we are in the simplest way is quite enough, thank you very much.

In other words, we could simply shine, like the sun.

On the world level, concerns about shooting the messenger might have had Babylonian astrologers drawing straws to see who would deliver predictions around this eclipse to the king, chief, or, dare we say, president. The Saros Series this eclipse springs from arose in 1639 and tends to spawn contentious events like assassinations and financial disasters. Linking the TSE chart with the USA chart and Trump's does not look good. Throw in other countries' charts being triggered, like North Korea, and Israel, and this eclipse is certain to bring world-wide events to a boiling point.

Planets continue to activate eclipse point's after the event. The first planet up: Mars, the Warrior, in Leo, a fire sign. (Woohoo. Fireworks.) Mercury retrograde in bombastic Leo trips across the eclipse degree two times in the following month. (Foot in mouth issues and not knowing when to shut up. Oh, my!) The emotional moon crosses the point in late September. At the three month point, the all powerful Sun stresses the eclipse point. (JFK was shot in November after a summer eclipse from this Saros Series.) Six months from the event, new eclipses occur supporting or shifting the TSE's potential.

Eclipses mark a particular moment with the story unfolding over time. They merely bring energy to countries and people. It can be used in a myriad of ways. As we make our choice, remember the moon's reminder of our soul's yearning. Our greatest work is living true to our golden heart - where love shines like the sun.

http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/total-eclipse-of-sun-august-21-http://www.eclipse2017.org/eclipse2017_main.htm

https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/eclipse-maps

Forward March

Mars goes direct – June 29.

There is nothing as surly as Mars on a leash and this is exactly what retrograde motion does with a planet. It gives it a 'time-out' to think about things - like consequences of actions, a biggie for re-actionary Mars!

This 6-week period (Apr 17 – Jun 29) found Mars first in Sagittarius, a high energy, high expectation sign at the very time the universe presented us with TWO (May 21 and June 20) full moons in Sagittarius. The last time that happened was June 1997 so there was a looping effect going on if you were alive back then. We have an opportunity to redo something or take a road not taken, or take the road we are on, but up our game to a universal level.

In the wake of the two moon event, everyone has a heads up about future goals and the logic, faith, and everyday activity that visions call for if we expect to bring them down to earth. Given this is a 19-20 year cycle, the question might be where do you want to be in 2035?

And where was Mars while the TWO full moons shone bright? Retrograde. The first moon found it in Sagittarius, this was a 'whoa, little doggy' scenario. Don't go off half cocked! By the time of the second full Sagittarian moon, Mars had moon walked back into Scorpio (May 28) - moody, dark, intense and a tad bit touchy about personal stuff.

Have you indulged in a few weeks of pity-partys about how you've been done wrong by him, her, them, God, the Universe? You did your best and it turned out bad. Think I'll take my ball home, suck my thumb and eat some worms. Cranky, cranky but totally Scorpio on a bad day and Mars, the old ruler of Scorpio, considers it a bad day when forced to retreat in a retrograde.

No one noticed your snit. We were in the midst of our own pity-party with no interest in yours. And, let me remind you that during this period, we were all out in the world together trying to get along! (As we say in Poulsbo, Little Norway, uff da!)

Mars goes direct on Tuesday, June 29, still in Scorpio but doesn't return to the crossroads where it turned back until August 28. Mars helps us move forward after a period of introspection, but remember Mars is intensely personal, MY wants, MY desires. We're clearer about the direction we want to go. Maybe we came to realize there are other people involved in our goals as either helpers or hindrances. We have reviewed our strategies and recognized course corrections but we are still walking a path we walked recently. In fact we walked it two times: once forward and once in retrograde motion.

This is our third trip along this path. Pay attention to indicators nudging you in one direction or another. Look for people with similar goals. Keep your goal in mind but try getting there without burning the fields, raping and pillaging friends, family or society doing it your way.

August 3rd Mars moves out of the swampy, emotional lands of Scorpio and into optimistic Sagittarius. By the 28th, you 'll recognize the crossroads where you were when things lost momentum or stopped all together on April 17th.

From there, it's a new highway. Remember no matter what your dream is, look for the High Way of accomplishing it.

The other point of interest is that Mars joins a Grand Trine in Water with Neptune and Chiron in Pisces and the Sun, Mercury and Venus, plus Moon (July 4) in Cancer. Water = Feelings. Lots of water = lots of feelings! This could be a log jam with so many planets involved but they are water and are working to break up old pile ups of bad patterns. Let go and find the flow. Wash yourself clean, clear and free.

To top it off, electrical Uranus, the planet of sudden change, chaos and rampant individuality is in a stress angle to Mars, too, through mid-July. It looks like a mine-field! Everyone is emotional and sensitive. Try a little tenderness with yourself and others. Egotistical antics like spouting off emotional words and flaying arms are likely to set off unwanted results.

A great image to contemplate is of soldiers ( Mars) helping (Cancer) after a terrible earthquake or hurricane (Uranus). Focus on strength and kindness with a mission of care.

Astrology as a Power Tool

Life happens over time and astrology does too – unless some universal pattern is culminating on one of your major planets or patterns, it's easy to miss subtle course corrections. Astrological lessons can string out over months with planets taking turns adding their wisdoms as further aspects to the theme of current life lessons. That's why a simple change of direction (retrograde to direct) doesn't necessarily rock your world.

To read 'Mars goes direct today', or 'the moon is in Cancer' is general knowledge but not specific to you and your chart. An astrological reading applies the general knowledge to the specific – YOU! Then you have a power tool that you can work to focus on the outcomes you want.

I'd love to look at your chart and have a conversation about your hopes and dreams. I can read for you in my studio or by phone. Either way, you receive an MP3 recording of our time together. Let's get together, yeah, yeah, yeah! Call me or send an e-mail.

Photos from the Great Beyond - Pluto

What were you doing January 16, 2006? Who knows, right?

On that date the New Horizon space probe was launched and headed to the farthest reach of our galaxy – Pluto – three billion miles away. And today, we have visuals from only 7,000 miles above the surface of this far and distant, dwarf planet. Considering our moon is about 250,000 miles from Earth, New Horizon is practically shaving Pluto!

The series of photographs produced by our USA space probes of every known planet in our galaxy, up close and personal, may very well be our greatest gift to mankind. But, even as the mysteries of the sky are revealed scientifically, and we see the beauty, power and grandeur of planets, star nebulas and galaxies in magnificent portraits, spiritual mystery expands.

It is easy to forget that we did not have an image of the Earth from space until July 1969. We had no idea how beautifully blue and green this planet we live on is until we saw it from the moon and began to understand Job's comment,  'God hung the Earth on nothing'. Hung the Earth on NOTHING...and yet here we are.

When Uranus was photographed in 1986, the new photos downloaded on one monitor at NASA at the same time other monitors showed the explosion of Challenger. Astrologers would label the sudden, unexpected explosion an event in keeping with Uranus' nature without question.

When Neptune's pictures were birthed into our visual consciousness in August, 1989, three million people were holding hands and singing across three Latvian countries in a peaceful, harmonic protest of the Soviet Union. By November the Berlin Wall fell - with no guns fired. The Iron Curtain took its final bow by spring and reunited Europe. Again, Neptune's pictures arrived with a gentle, kind Neptunian wave that changed our world.

On July 14 the New Horizon space probe took the closest photos of Pluto planned. We await these historic images impatiently as they hurtle through space for an entire 24 hours at the speed of light to reach NASA's monitors. For the last week photos from 1.5 million miles out arrived, all grey and fuzzy, like a fledgling planet, tantalizing us with expectations. Each day images came in with more detail, and recognizable geology as the probe draws nearer.

Pluto was discovered in 1930 as Einstein discovery of relativity of 1905 was being forged into a science of nuclear power. Pluto in astrological terms rules power: nuclear, emotional, sexual, financial, secrets and taboos - any way power comes. It rules the dark and mysterious parts of earth like caves, swamps, chasms, and ice-y glaciers. Psychologically, Pluto reigns over extremes such as obsessions, inward looking, and the potential of deep transformation.

The first NASA photos show Pluto as dark, a planet of black and white, and grey. It is lit only by one of its moon, Charon, and starlight. Daylight has not been seen for 20 years and will not be seen for 80 more in a winter worthy of the Game of Thrones warning, 'Winter is coming.'

As harsh as Pluto sounds, the scientists describe Pluto's most dominant feature as a 'bright, mysterious heart'. We now know that as we look into the night sky a heart shines on us from the edge of beyond. Who would have expected that? From Pluto of all places?

This leaves me wondering what earthly event will reflect our new awareness of Pluto. Or has this new consciousness already begun with the Supreme Court's ruling on same-sex marriages. Today the headlines reflect our obsession with Iran and a nuclear treaty...as if we can control true power. Even Cuba our near neighbor emerges from the dark for us to probe and obsess over. Pluto power is not destructive OR transformative. It is both. It is destructive AND transformative all in the service of becoming our Highest Selves. Stretching us to our broadest boundaries to open to...Heart.

I wonder what other deep, dark secrets and hidden power can simply come out into the light and be transformed into love. Somehow, Pluto's heart - way out there - gives my heart hope here on Earth.

Status: Sun Gemini/Moon Sagittarius

Mercury Retrograde's Comment: LOL

Prepping for my Psychic 101 class made me ponder how I access my inner world, and how I bring the calm, clarity and peace I garner there back into this rowdy outer world.

We all comment on pithy Facebook sayings which on my feed are often inner world related. But give me 5 minutes out of my quiet time, and what the heck am I doing? What am I saying? What am I responding to? Where is my focus?

Honestly, folks, I may look calm on the outside. I mean, I am not giving people the bird or shouting expletives. But, I am scrambling for balance - a lot! I tell my husband 'I may make it look easy, but it's NOT EASY BEING ME!'

It sounds remarkable close to a whine sometimes, and I try not to say it any louder than a normal conversation level decibel. But, there you have it.

Am I the only one with this dilemma? (Tell me it isn't so.)
So I am wondering how you 'bridge' this gap?
Or do we accept our peaceful, inner time for what it is, and then join the outer fray again knowing both are simply part of the whole?
Maybe we don't need to bridge - just expand our sensitivity to know it is all there all the time – nothing to do, no worries. (Geez, I sound stoned - relax, I'm not.)

Me thinks these are Sagittarian Full Moon ponderings, broad and philosophical, blessed with the logic of the Gemini Sun who longs for everyday application of the belief systems we cling to. And Mercury Retrograde, the Trickster, makes me think I can bridge this conundrum.

What do you think?