posted January 11, 2008 09:24 PM            

Cosmic Calendar, Wednesday January 9th ~

Once the Moon leaves void status by entering Aquarius (3:14AM PST), you can really tap into the awesome potential that was initially released during yesterday morning's New Moon in Capricorn. The first signal that the universe is at your beck and call is that the Moon unites with Mercury (7:39AM PST) and also makes a parallel to the fleet-footed Messenger of the Gods planet (9:29AM PST). Communication channels reopen and ingenious ideas can flood your consciousness. Women's issues and themes are still topping many people's agenda as Venus squares Pallas (11:33AM PST) while Ceres makes a similar alignment to Vesta (11:58AM PST) and Venus also forms a parallel to Vesta (1:34PM PST). Focus attention on your assets, valuables and investments. Increase security and safety measures around your residence and office area. Go over insurance policies with a fine-tooth comb to eliminate errors and unnecessary provisions. Don't be surprised if erotic impulses strike this afternoon in concert with a Moon-Venus parallel (3:05PM PST). Remember that team sports, group projects and community affairs are highlighted during the Moon's monthly passage through Aquarius. This is also a good time to join forces with kindred souls who are hard at work on humanitarian efforts and crucial initiatives of global concern. Sisterhood meetings and fellowship gatherings are promoted this evening as the Moon unites with Vesta (10:37PM PST). A friend's or colleague's words of wisdom lift your spirits.

Cosmic Calendar, Thursday January 10th ~

You can be on a roll as the cosmos attempts to fulfill your hopes, wishes and dreams. It's not every day that the universe is in your corner and offering your carte blanche. Therefore, take advantage of each opportunity coming your way. The Moon in Aquarius makes a supportive, 60-degree link with Venus in Sagittarius (3:36AM PST). You can have a field day in the fine and graphic arts or by visiting galleries and museums. Rekindle your interest in holistic healing and alternative medicine during the monthly Moon-Chiron union (5:09AM PST). Find time for yoga, morning affirmations or meditation. Maverick and eccentric notions can capture imagination right now. Your psychic sensitivity is working overtime as the Moon conjuncts far-out Neptune (5:32PM PST). Explore your talents in photography, video work, computer programming, music and dance. The love boat sails for exotic ports of call during the evening hours as Venus in Sagittarius makes romantic overtures to Chiron in Aquarius via a 60-degree rapport (9:04PM PST). Some astrological researchers feel that Venus-Chiron alignments like this can bring soul-mates together or reinforce intimate bonds that have recently eroded. Business and financial matters have a new glow to them since Juno forms a supportive, 60-degree link to Vesta (9:46PM PST). While this is one of the better and more progressive days in a long time, you need to prepare for a rise in instability and confusion as Venus approaches a frictional square to Uranus and Jupiter nears a caustic 45-degree tie to Neptune (both alignments reaching exactitude on Saturday morning January 12).

Cosmic Calendar, Friday January 11th ~

This might be called a transition day because yesterday's cosmic vibrations were very opportune and life-enhancing while tomorrow's alignments (Venus square Uranus and Jupiter moving 45 degrees to Neptune) are more shocking and disturbing. The good news is that you can tap into last night's Venus-Chiron 60-degree link during the morning hours. Your artistic expression and personal magnetism can fuel a mini-renaissance of creativity right now. This is magnified by important and yet subtle Sun-Neptune (3:07AM PST) and Mercury-Jupiter (5:40AM PST) 30-degree connections. This type of mathematical contact between celestial bodies is often deemed minor, but the jury is out on whether is truly correct. On the positive side, these two aspects can awaken your imaginative nature and intellectual prowess. Be aware that a short void lunar cycle begins at 9:53AM PST and continues in force until 10:45AM PST when the Moon enters Piscean waters. After the lunar orb is safely in Pisces, you may want to turn your attention to spiritual studies. Soul-searching, contemplation and philosophical musings are back in style. Be more compassionate to the needy and disenfranchised. Water sports and swimming laps in the pool can synchronize with the lunar Piscean dispensation. Anyone into seafood may want to come up with a new recipe for tonight's dinner. This lunar placement can also give you a case of happy feet - where dance fever pulls you into its whirling orbit. If you don't feel up to strutting your stuff upon the dance floor, a Moon-Jupiter 60-degree liaison (8:51PM PST) offers you mind-expanding ideas via books, magazines and online information sources.

Cosmic Calendar, Saturday January 12th ~

Stop, look and listen! Psychic storm warnings are posted as Jupiter in Capricorn makes an abrasive 45-degree link to Neptune in Aquarius (3:58AM PST) while Venus in Sagittarius squares Uranus in Pisces (9:24AM PST). Just having one of these alignments on a given day can curl your hair and put a dent in your self-confident attitude. The Jupiter-Neptune association is rare and it can equate with a steep rise in confusion, chaos and nebulosity. Needless to say, put your signing pen in mothballs and bypass sales of the century and advertising pleas to buy big-ticket items on your charge card. The Venus-Uranus face-off is hard to sugar-coat and looms as a large neon sign suggesting that it is time to be more conservative in love and money matters. Pushing your personal agenda at all cost is a foolish undertaking. The Jupiter-Neptune tie should be used to galvanize your fascination for metaphysics, astrology and the ageless wisdom teachings. You may be able to tweak the Venus-Uranus contact by adding some spice to romantic bonds, but think carefully about what you are doing. Revelations and brainstorms are likely to manifest around the time of the monthly Moon-Pallas (10:20AM PST) and Moon-Uranus (3:13PM PST) unions in Pisces. These two rather short-lived lunar conjunctions may help to neutralize the shadow sides of the Jupiter-Neptune and Venus-Uranus. However, you may have some more obstacles to remove from your path in life as Mercury in Aquarius makes an awkward, 150-degree aspect to Saturn in Virgo (9:19PM PST). Health, diet and nutrition issues may come to head. Ward off a bout of pessimism by injecting some levity into your evening activities. Watch old comedy movies or become a merry prankster for several hours. A mineral bath, hot-tub session under the stars or whirlpool treatment can soothe your nerves under Pisces Moon.

posted January 12, 2008 02:19 PM            

I also have Piscies Moon, but I feel today like somebody put knife in my chest.

posted January 13, 2008 10:26 PM            

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Sun in Libra
Moon in Cancer
Jupiter in Cancer
Venus in Virgo
Mars in Cancer
Ascendant in Cancer

posted January 14, 2008 01:43 PM            

It is going to be kind of a quiet week. Focus on getting things out the door and out into the world. Do as much as you can possibly manage in the week or so ahead to clear the decks and get things started. When we get closer to the end of the month, we enter the spring eclipse season, Mercury stations to go retrograde, Mars stations to go direct and Pluto enters Capricorn for the first time since 1762. The planetary turbulence at the end of January and beginning of February will be fairly profound! So take advantage of the quiet, not so turbulent time to get a jump on things.

There is a lovely set of three conjunctions this week that harmonize and sing together. Conjunctions always begin things. Mercury in his exaltation in Aquarius joins with Vesta and Chiron. Vesta joins with Chiron. Mercury rules communications, words, thoughts, ideas, siblings and all matters of the market place as well as transportation. Vesta is the asteroid in charge of home and hearth as well as the tradition of keeping the flame burning. Vesta tends the fire, banking it carefully each night so the fire continues to burn and so the flames can rise up again each morning. Chiron is about our soul’s wound and how our woundedness actually helps us become who we are meant to be.

When I was meditating on the three of them joining to start something new in our heavens and thus below here in our world, it occurred to me that I had no idea how to bank a fire. We have central heating so not much fire tending or banking is necessary! How do we bank a fire? So, I looked it up on the internet: Throughout the age of hearth cooking, fires were banked down at night with a layer of ash and rekindled in the morning. In this way, the hearth fire was kept burning for months, and even years, at a time. Wait to bank the fire until the logs have burned down in the late evening and are mostly embers, and then cover them with a few inches of ash (about 7.5 cm). In the morning, dig into the mound of ashes to uncover the glowing embers. Add kindling, and blow the fire to life.

So while we may not have hearths, the symbolism is alive for us. We each will work with Vesta to tend our hearths and keep our flames alive. We are the keepers of our own flames. We are warm blooded creatures, kept at 98.6 degrees or thereabout by the mechanisms of our bodies. So the body must know how to do this fire banking thing! Our body preserves our heat at a fairly standard body temperature to allow all its functions to take place.

If we add Mercury and Chiron to the mix ~ well that feels like the way we talk to ourselves about ourselves. It describes how we reinforce, or blow on, the fire of the wound with words. Have you ever steamed your face over a pot of boiling hot water with a towel over your head? When you blow at the water, the steam rises. You can get a fabulous sweat and clean out your pores with only a few solid exhales of breath on that hot water!

So let us combine the planets the way the heavens are doing. We keep alive the flames or fires by banking and subsequently blowing on the embers to start them back up. Now if we are starting up good things, when we blow on them, great. It is like blowing on the hot water and raising a head of steam to clear out our pores. That is fabulous! However, if we are blowing on and starting up bad fires that hurt or burn us, well, that is not so good. And, now, is a fabulous time to STOP doing that kind of activity.

The conjunction of Mercury, Vesta and Chiron offers us an opportunity to try new ways of working with our banked fires. We don’t have to keep those hearth fires burning for months or even years, IF WE DON’T WANT TO. We can let the fire go out. Now is a perfect time to put out that fire, if you would like to, as the conjunction promises an ending before the beginning.

OR we can start to tend our fires in a new way. One of the things I learned while investigating “banking a fire” was wood and coal burn differently ~ wood burns from the top down while coal burns from the bottom up. Who knew?

And, that brought up the whole issue of fuel for the banked fire! If you fuel your fire with positive fuel that burns in the direction you want your fire to go, AND you bank the fire properly, you can keep those hearth fires burning for months or even years.

But let’s be realistic here. Let’s say you start experimenting with different fuel types. Different fuel will get different outcomes as it burns differently. You might not (and probably won’t) get it completely right all the time or every time! And, as a result, your fire might go out. Experimenting with fire and fuels can do that.

The heavens are saying you need to change your fuel. Don’t you need to change it? You need to adjust the mix. You want a different outcome than the one you have right now. So change your fuel. And don’t worry about it. As long as you have matches in the house, you can always relight your fire in the morning if it goes out. And, in the meantime, you can continue to experiment with the techniques you are putting into place. Learn how to bank your fire. Learn how to blow on it. Learn how to reignite it. It’s all part of the process of life.

So let’s take it to how we hurt ourselves ~ Chiron is in the mix! How about if we each recognize the way we talk to ourselves as a fuel of sorts. The way we talk to ourselves (or to others) is a fuel that either wounds or heals. It makes fires flare up, banks them or helps fires go out. Essentially, we blow on the embers of our being to cause the fires to flare up. Or we listen when other folks blow on our banked embers. What if we were to change the way we blew on our fires by changing our mix of fuel, words, air and our technique of banking the fires that keep us going.

I read a book over the holidays called, This is Your Brain on Music by Daniel Levitin. It got me thinking about the stimulus I provide to my brain via the noise, talk, words or music I expose it to. Since coming home, I’ve been experimenting with my auditory stimuli with interesting results. My resolve to incorporate positive upbeat music, largely jazz or instrumental OR sappy sing along songs that make me happy has resulted in an enormous upswing in my productivity as well as my mood. So I am going to take advantage of the upcoming conjunction to make sure that I provide fuel to my brain on a daily basis that helps it stay jazzy, swinging or singing. Next up, well probably some serious time on my piano. Or maybe a different kind of fuel for me. It is time to experiment and see what works. And I have my matches in case the fires go out.

So what fuel do you need to change in your life? What fire needs to be banked? What fire needs some firm blowing on or fresh air? What mix of air and fuel is the right mix for you? Are you willing to experiment? Especially as you have a book of matches in case your fire goes out. Not to worry. Just go light a few fires under the things you want to start to cook.

Monday: Mercury entered his shadow yesterday for his upcoming retrograde so expect to find out the story Mercury will have you working on redoing until March 9, 2008. Sun asks us to join with what we love and desire even as Mercury is in the mood to argue with traditional nurturing. It is a darned if you do and darned if you don’t kind of day. So just do what you want. What is fuel for you? Aries Moon can be a bit sharp, cold and detached as her ruler, Mars in Gemini is still retrograde, still out of bounds and answering to Mercury exalted in Aquarius but now in the shadow of his retrograde. Words hastily spoken today can come back to haunt you down the line.

Tuesday: Mars is in the mood to fight with the creative forces today as he has an aspect of adjusting to same old/ same old. Why does it have to be same old/ same old? It doesn‘t have to be. You can change it. What is stopping you but you? Moon in Aries has the same cautions on his words as he did yesterday. Do something different rather than complaining about the way things are. Take action. Mercury is looking to partner with freedom and, being exalted as he is in Aquarius, he knows it is a mindset. Often times while in a reading, people will complain about some situation in their life. When I ask if they are willing to change to get it to change, they often say no. They want it to magically change to be what they want it to be. Unfortunately, that is not how it works. We have to BE the change. As Mohandas (Mahatma) K. Gandhi said, “We must be the change we wish to see in the world.” So change your fuel today. It is that easy.

Wednesday: Sun has an aspect of adjusting with Mars. It is a deep mental (or Scorpio) kind of adjusting. Adjust. Adjust. Adjust. Adjust! Regulate. Tinker. Modify. Alter. Fiddle with. Fine tune. Bend. Amend. Tweak. Tinker. Tweak. Venus has a lovely creative aspect with Neptune saying that any Adjust. Adjust. Adjust! Regulate. Tinker. Modify. Alter. Fiddle with. Fine tune. Bend. Amend. Tweak. Tinker. Tweak you do will result in a lovely new experience. Mercury joins with Vesta and learns how to bank the fire using the new fuel. Practice makes perfect. Adjust. Adjust. Adjust! Regulate. Tinker. Modify. Alter. Fiddle with. Fine tune. Bend. Amend. Tweak. Tinker. Tweak. Moon in Taurus is a bit more flexible than usual as Venus in Sagittarius aspecting Neptune softens her up for change. Like water on soil, the Moon’s fluid today.

Thursday: Mercury joins with Chiron ~ there can be a flare up of harsh feelings today. While blowing on the hot water does make the steam rise, it can be a bit intense. Can you come up with other words to say to yourself? If someone says something nasty to you today, understand it is Mercury joining with Chiron. Now is the time to speak up and say, No, Nyet. Stop. Nope. Not going to do it. It is a training thing. You have to train people how to treat you sometimes. They get raised in their house. You were raised in your house. There is a common ground. Try and find it today. If not, gently but firmly correct the behavior. If you don’t correct it, they will think it is perfectly fine to do it over and over and over again to you. Don’t you want different fuel for that fire? Moon in Taurus is still sensitive from yesterday but can be a bit too sensitive with her square to Neptune. Watch for drugs, alcohol and emotions to be rather heightened today.

Friday: is a busy day as well as a bit stressful as there are blind spots and adjusting aspects all over the place. Moon in Gemini squares Saturn in the middle of the day. Make sure to take yourself out of the office for lunch or a break if people are cranky. Adjust. Adjust. Adjust! Regulate. Tinker. Modify. Alter. Fiddle with. Fine tune. Bend. Amend. Tweak. Tinker. Tweak. Your fire may go out. Not to worry, you have matches and dry fuel. It is a process. Life is a process. Vesta and Chiron join. No negative talk to yourself. How can you reframe the situation or revision it? Once you know you have a blind spot, you learn to look before you pull out. If you didn’t know wood burned from the top down and your fire went out, you learned a valuable lesson. Tomorrow is another opportunity to bank your fire. No negative talk to the other guy either ~ show them what you need. Teach them how to bank the fire. It is an acquired skill. Gentle corrections go far today. Watch for flare-ups too.

Saturn’s day: finds Venus opposite Mars in the evening. The world is not cooperating and folks are in the mood to fight over sex or money or silly things. Do the dishes. Silence. Watch. Observe. Adjust. Adjust. Adjust! Regulate. Tinker. Modify. Alter. Fiddle with. Fine tune. Bend. Amend. Tweak. Tinker. Tweak the strategy. Moon in Gemini is answering to the cold, detached yet exalted Mercury in Aquarius. While you are not wrong, today is probably not the best day to say anything about it. If you can, be quiet. You probably won’t be able to be silent. But I do suggest it. Sun at the last degree of Capricorn wants to criticize SO BADLY!! Be aware. Word can hurt. Words can fuel the fire. Can you bank it please?