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I am a reporter with a unique beat. I use my understanding of planetary cycles to provide advance notice and analysis on the Zeitgeist of the day. If you have ever wondered “why is this happening now,” my insights will transform your experience of the headlines, adding new meaning and understanding. Call it Astrology for News Junkies. If you’re curious to know why the Impossible Burger is trending…or why the outcome of the 2019 Israeli elections was likely to be a shocker …or why “Woodrow Wilson, Stud Muffin” was a New York Times headline in December 2013, you will find it here, in over a decade’s worth of historical research and reporting.
Note that I do use astrological jargon in The Forecast in my effort to show how the planetary patterns are reflected in mundane events. I explain what the jargon symbolizes, so that all who want to understand the connections between astrology and the news may do so. However, I do not use astrological jargon in personal consultations, just plain English.
Monday 3/20/2023: Sneak Peek at Jam-Packed Week; Aries Ingress; New Moon in Aries; Pluto Enters Aquarius; Mars Enters Cancer
/in The ForecastAllllllllrighty then!
It’s a big, big week for change in the cosmic sandbox. Events that astrologers have been anticipating for a loooong time are finally here. Here’s the rundown:
What does it all mean? I’ll tell you.
A pause, while we discuss the significance of the Sun’s ingress into Aries.
Courage, self-reliance, inspiration and a pioneering spirit are keywords for the Sun in Aries, sign of the ram — and the lamb. In the Northern hemisphere (the birthplace of Western astrology), it is a time of renewal and rebirth — a chance to let go of old patterns and make a fresh start.
Here’s what you need to know about the first day of any season from an astrological point of view. The first day of each season (Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter) corresponds with the first day (or first DEGREE) of Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn, respectively. Got that? Good. These four signs are called CARDINAL signs of the zodiac, with “cardinal” here suggesting (from the Latin root of the word), “that on which something turns or depends.” Cardinal signs take ACTION. They INITIATE. Nothing happens without ACTION. And action leads to NECESSARY CHANGE. As in a change of seasons — suggested by solstices and equinoxes. Clear?
The first day of a season is prominent in our culture, right? We make a big deal over it — yes? In astrology, we observe that PLANETS that are at the first degree of a cardinal sign (Aries, Cancer, Libra & Capricorn), tend to pack a more powerful, prominent punch. They suggest ACTION which leads to CHANGE — prominently! The first degree of the cardinal signs is known as the ARIES POINT. Got that?
If you have a planet or angle at the Aries Point, you can expect that the energy of that planet will demand prominent expression in your life. Your friends and family — and perhaps the entire free world — will notice it. William Shatner was born with the Sun at 0 Aries. “To boldly go where no man has gone before”? I should think so — and the whole world knows him for playing that role. Prince William, Meryl Streep, Elizabeth Warren and Ted Cruz are others born with the Sun on the Aries Point — and they can’t help but command attention everywhere they go. Right?
Here is the chart for the Aries Ingress, set in Washington D.C.:
My main observation is this: the fact that the beginning of the astrological new year is happening at the end of the lunar cycle, in the dark of the Moon, reinforces what I said earlier about much that is going on behind the scenes, out of sight. This solar cycle may be seen as the beginning of the end of a pattern that no longer serves.
Here is the New Moon in Aries, set in Washington, DC:
Observations:
Beth Owl’s Daughter’s Tarot Card of the Week made me smile because it perfectly encapsulates the challenge astrologers face this week whilst explaining so many important planetary shifts happening in such a concentrated period of time!
And now, the news.
Oh — but first — some shameless self-promotion. If you’ve never listened to Off the Charts: A Stellar Newscast — perhaps this delightfully unexpected recommendation from the esteemed astrologer Deborah Houlding, founder of Skyscript (the essential astrological resource), will inspire you to do so:
Gosh, did that rave review feel good! And here is the link to Episode 29, which was released on Friday.
As for the news…
Super-charged patterns among Mars, Neptune, Sun and Mercury, combined with the emotional extremes of the square between Venus and Pluto suggested:
Florida beaches brace for 5,000-mile blob of seaweed to deposit rotting goop
John Oliver exposes the dark side of...timeshare sales
You get the idea.
Another noteworthy headline — one of many such controls that are likely to be imposed on social networking and other forms technology, e.g., AI:
And just for fun…but boy is there truth in this story…and I have a feeling Pluto’s transit in Aquarius is going to demand that we look at this truth quite seriously over the next 20 years: “Millions of Americans hoping next child will be born a bank“ – by WaPo’s resident humorist, Alexandra Petri.
Oh…and still more fun — on the razzle-dazzle Mars-Neptune square, Randy Rainbow dropped a new parody song video — this one’s about George Santos. Woot!
What do all these planetary shifts mean for YOU? Here’s the 411 on personal consultations. Yes, I am also a horary astrologer, for those with Burning Questions.
But what if you don’t feel you need to consult with an astrologer at this time? What if it’s enough for you to simply read these weekly forecasts because they are fun and informative…and they help you better understand the seemingly random chaos of the mundane world? Well then, dear Avid Reader…may I direct you to the Cosmic Tip Jar…where you can pledge a monthly token of support…the equivalent of a frothy latte or two…as an expression of appreciation for this weekly truckload of insights.
It is thrilling to be read weekly by hundreds of Avid Readers. Truly, after 14 years, it makes my heart sing! But for my upcoming solar return, I would like to be writing effusive thank you notes to each of you personally for your tangible support. A girl can dream, right?
Thank you for reading this forecast — and for sharing it with friends.
And thanks to the good folks at NCGR/San Diego!! What a joy it was to speak to your group on Sunday about the astonishing synchronicity of planetary patterns and the news!!
Pluto says hi.
Resistance is futile.
Monday 3/13/2023: Sneak Peek Week at a Weird, Wild Week
/in The ForecastAllllrighty then!
It’s the start of a rollicking week in the cosmic sandbox. Here are the highlights:
So…a ton of walking and talking assertively, driven by a possible pressure cooker of values and social expression…and with so much pixie-dust scattered by multiple contacts with Neptune, who knows what to believe. Not only that, but because we have Sun and Mercury getting close to the verrry end of Pisces, and Pisces is the verrrry last sign of the zodiac, we could be forgiven for feeling like it’s the end of the world. And perhaps for some, it is the end of a world…but not the world, because next week, the Sun enters Aries…and a whole new cycle will begin.
Beth Owl’s Daughter offers an empowering coping strategy for any troubling sense we may have in matters of completion and endings in her Tarot Card of the Week.
And now, the news.
Did you watch the Oscars? I didn’t, but was pleased that Everything Everywhere All At Once won pretty much everything.
Meanwhile, the word “collapse” is in more than one headline on the Washington Post’s homepage. Collapse is what you get when the ground you’re standing on dissolves or a bubble of magical thinking pops. Reality intrudes upon a dream. Might be Saturn (reality) in Pisces (dream).
I expect plenty of headlines this week with themes of Mars (courage, guns, action, war, men, anger) and Neptune (scandal, oceans, oil, water, dreams, drugs, religion, etc), such as:
Finally…file this one under “weird”
“Scientists have named a new range of anti-microbials after Keanu Reeves. Here’s why that’s a mistake.”
Here’s the 411 on personal consultations.
Thank you for reading this forecast.
“Curiouser and curiouser…” might be one apt description
for this otherwise action-packed week.
Friday 3/10/2023 & the Weekend: Saturn in Pisces, Already Making Headlines
/in The ForecastTGIF!
I thought it would be fun to share several headlines that popped up this week, reflecting the March 7th ingress of Saturn into Pisces. But first, here’s a recap of the weekend forecast:
No sleeping in on MONDAY. The Moon enters Sagittarius at 3:20 AM ET and promptly challenges Saturn at 4:33 AM ET. Perhaps a wet blanket on someone’s Oscar parade? Wet is one of the operative words all next week, as the Sun, Mercury and Neptune are all clustered together in Pisces (oceans, floods, fish) and they will all square Mars (anger, courage, guns, action) in Gemini, which is an Air sign. Use this awareness to chart a careful course through these stormy (Stormy?) weather patterns. Of course there’s always an upside, and some of what’s up is likely to be magical, mystical and sublime.
And now, the news.
In the language of astrology, Saturn refers to necessary controls. We need to have structure in this videogame/holodeck we just might be living on, and that structure includes space and time. Where would you be living without the structures of Saturn? Out in a open field somewhere, perhaps — with no roof over your head. Point is, Saturn often gets a bad rap because of its association with authority and limits — and not everyone likes being told what they can and can’t do. But Saturn also refers to ambition and discipline, and when healthfully applied to action, lots of good stuff gets done.
On the other hand, it is also true that the squeeze symbolized by a heavy hit of Saturn in a person’s horoscope can be experienced like an encounter with a brick wall. That’s what happened to Sen. Mitch McConnell this week — and I mention this only because his horoscope was called out as one to watch — for a certain level of gravitas — at this time. Saturn is sitting right on McConnell’s Pisces Sun — and it’ll be weighing on him again this year, especially in October and November. Right now he’s in the hospital, recovering from a concussion.
With cold, dry Saturn now traveling through cold, wet Pisces, it is astro-logical to see headlines about getting real, setting boundaries and/or creating structures in matters related to Pisces, e.g., suffering, empathy, oceans, drugs, ideals, impressions, beliefs, chemicals, oil, plastic and dreams — just to name a few.
Ready?
‘Sushi terrorism’ sees Japan’s conveyor belt restaurants grind to a halt
“A new app tackles burnout by asking users a simple yet radical question, ‘How are you feeling?'”
Finally, Saturn refers to a bubble popping. Bubbles are ruled by Neptune in the language of astrologer. It’s interesting that a ginormous bank — Silicon Valley Bank — collapsed today. This is the second-largest in bank failure in U.S. history, and the largest since the financial crisis of 2008, says the NYT. SVB was one of the “most prominent lenders for tech start-ups.” A list of specific companies affected by SVB’s collapse is intriguingly 100% sponsored by Neptune/Pisces: “Roku, California vineyards and philanthropic efforts backed by venture capitalists — including clinical trials for promising medical treatments.” With Saturn in the Pisces arena, these businesses “all faced a sudden loss of funding.”
A cursory search of the web revealed that SVB was founded in 1983. I didn’t find an exact date, but I also didn’t look too hard. Still, a savvy astrologer would know that any entity that was birthed in 1983 is in the process of processing its a square from transiting Pluto to its natal Pluto…and possibly its natal Saturn, too. Same for anything birthed in November and December of 1982. Translation: we see potential for extremes of effort in matters of power and resources, possible anguish, breakdown, empowerment and/or transformation.
So…like that.
In other news...Whitney McKnight and I are still talking! Here is Episode 28 of Off the Charts: A Stellar Newscast — and don’t miss Whitney’s brilliant show notes.
Finally…
What in the world is going on in your horoscope? Here’s the 411 on personal consultations….for you and all your friends and family. Yes, I am also a horary astrologer, which means I can use the language of astrology to answer a burning question. Please visit my website for details.
Thank you for reading this forecast — and sharing it with friends.
Fake Dictionary, definition of the word empathy (according to Adobe PhotoStock).
Tuesday 3/7/2023: Late Sneak Peek at a Milestone Week: Saturn Enters Pisces; Full Moon in Virgo
/in The ForecastAlllll-righty then!
Even though the elm tree outside my window is sprouting buds, and the tulips and daffodils are pushing up through the earth (thanks to the ridiculously balmy weather), March is indeed roaring in like a lion — from an astro-logical perspective. If you enjoy listening to your astrological 411, check out Episode #27 of Off the Charts: A Stellar Newscast, which was released on Friday. There, my co-pilot Whitney McKnight and I dish the dish on the upcoming ingresses of Saturn (into Pisces) and Pluto (in Aquarius) in less than a cosmic minute. Episode 27 is called “‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ Democracy,” and Whitney’s show notes are superb.
Here are the highlights of the week:
Here’s how it goes — with apologies for the delay.
Here is the Full Moon in Virgo, set in Washington, D.C.:
Observations:
Less than a hour later, at 8:34 AM ET, Saturn leaves Aquarius, not to return until January 2050. Wow. How time flies. Here’s what we thought would happen during the past few years, as Saturn trekked through Aquarius (originally posted on March 6, 2020 — though you can see that it was updated later in that year):
With respect to Saturn, now in Pisces:
Matters of authority, structure and control are expressed in the language Pisces speaks. Which is to say it doesn’t speak much at all. When have you ever heard a fish talk? How are we supposed to set structures and controls with Pisces feelings, impressions, beliefs, ideals and empathy? What boundaries can be set if what Pisces intuits is that there are no boundaries? Y’know, we are all connected. All. Is. One.
The answers can be found in this lengthy list of keywords for Pisces. We’ll see streamlining and structuring in matters related to oceans, healing, networks, mental health care, emotional trauma, drugs and all other forms of escapism; virtual reality, film, television and all other artistic mediums; oil, chemicals, toxins; victims and refugees — to name just a few. Looking at this morning’s headlines, WaPo has a story on President Biden’s plan to avert a Medicare funding crisis by providing it with a structure.
Saturn’s last passage through Pisces began with a two-month toe-dipping in May of 1993. It fully committed to Pisces in January of 1994, and stayed there until April 1996. Interesting highlights from that period include, courtesy of Wikipedia — here and here:
My favorite piece of advice for those born with Saturn in Pisces comes from astrologer Michael Lutin. “Turn your suffering into an art form.” An art form can make a powerful emotional impression.
This year, Saturn will turn retrograde at 7 degrees Pisces on June 17th. It turns direct at 0 Pisces on November 4th. Whatever is happening RIGHT NOW, with Saturn at 0 Pisces, will be blaring like a car horn in late October and November…which “coincides” with another blaring car horn as Pluto re-connects with the U.S. Pluto (a.k.a. the U.S. Pluto return).
You are more personally affected by Saturn’s trek through Pisces in 2023 if you have planets or angles in the first eight degrees of Pisces, Virgo, Gemini or Sagittarius. Consult your local astrologer for details.
Back to the forecast:
And now, the news.
Astrologers have obtained a copy of Hillary Clinton’s birth certificate, and it has a birth time. At long last, a mystery has been solved! Here is her horoscope. The sudden revelation, which most definitely changes her public status (at least to astrologers), was announced right after a disruptive contact from Uranus (change! disruption! astrology!) to her Midheaven (public status). Had we had this confirmed birth time in 2015, we would have seen the planetary patterns which clearly reflected the potential for scapegoating, betrayal, and wipeout. Those patterns — notably, a square from Neptune to her Gemini Ascendant — were in effect all through 2016 and early 2017. We can also see that her Moon is 28 degrees of Pisces — which is close enough to the Aries Point to guarantee that a tremendous feel for concepts, people and ideals would become prominent. Her Moon’s conjunction with the fixed star Scheat suggests considerable depth of thought, but Scheat is also associated with shipwrecks. Oh, well. Another screamingly astro-logical pattern in the horoscope is a Mars-Pluto conjunction opposing her Midheaven, squared by Venus in Scorpio. Translation: themes involving dramatic power plays in the extreme are at the root of her experience in this lifetime.
Finally — because I’d like to get this out today by 1 PM…
…here’s a fascinating headline that hit the wires right on last week’s Venus-Jupiter conjunction in Aries. I was inspired to look up its Sabian Symbol (click on this link if you don’t know the story of the Sabian Symbols, and why they are significant) . It is “an unsuccessful bomb explosion.” On that day, a passenger at an airport in Allentown, Pennsylvania checked in a suitcase with an explosive device hidden inside the lining. He was arrested. Astrology. Is. Amazing.
…and we are living in extremely interesting times! There’s more to come in March that will set the tone for the longer journey ahead. An old order is passing away. A new order is birthing. And you are here to see it and engage with it all, if you choose.
What do all these planetary patterns suggest for your brilliant future? Here is the 411 on personal consultations. I am also a horary astrologer, in case you happen to have a burning question. Details are on the SERVICES page of the website. Meanwhile, I did give myself a raise, as announced last month. Having just completed a Saturn return, I’ve proven my worth. Woot!
Thank you for reading this forecast…and sharing it with friends.
All hail Saturn in Pisces!
Monday 2/27/2023: Sneak Peek at the Week; Venus Conjunct Jupiter in Aries; Mercury Conjunct Saturn in Aquarius
/in The ForecastAllllllll righty then!
It’s Monday, and the Moon is buzzing through Gemini, seeking to be the smartest, most entertaining kid in the room. At 9:07 AM ET, that need to know got a boost from Jupiter, which expands everything it touches. Jupiter is currently in Aries, so what is easily expanded upon now involves matters of leadership, initiatives, heat, courage, cars and combat — to name just a few. At 11:20 PM ET, Moon meets up with Mars, offering a focal point or fresh start in matters of double talk, transportation, information and fighting words.
Highlights this week are:
That’s it. It goes like this:
The Sabian Symbol for this conjunction is one we’ve seen many times before. It is “the field of Ardath in bloom.” Sabian Symbol guru Blain Bovee describes it as
It is a hopeful Symbol, as Bovee notes that “a whole field in bloom suggest richness and bounty beyond imagination.” If you were born around the 18th of February, May, August and November…or if you have a planet or angle around 29 degrees of Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and especially Aquarius, you will be more personally affected. This includes President Biden and the former guy. Wherever this conjunction falls in your horoscope is where you can expect sobering seeds planted for a blossoming of serious potential. The last time I wrote about this Symbol was on the Full Moon of August 2021.
And now, the news.
This one is a simple statement of fact:
Elsewhere…
If you haven’t listened to Episode 26 of Off the Charts: A Stellar Newscast — with my brilliant co-pilot Whitney McKnight, here it is, straight from the Ensouled Universe. We release a fresh podcast every Friday — to subscribers around the world.
So much of the news last week was weird. Some headlines were obvious reflections of Mercury (mindset, communication), as it connected with Jupiter, Uranus and Mars, such as:
Sneak peek at this week’s Venus-Jupiter conjunction and its potential for me-me-me excess in matters of arts, money, women and social expression (with a dash of Venus at the Aries Point from last week, too):
Add the humanitarian authoritative controls of Mercury-Saturn in Aquarius to this one:
And then there were the weird headlines — possibly reflecting Neptune running wild (unaspected) or energized by Mars as it prepares to make its third square to Neptune since Mars entered Gemini in August:
Better late than never:
Avid Reader Nancy wanted to make sure I didn’t miss this inspiring item about the new holiday in Ireland. She sent it to me weeks ago, and I kept forgetting to include it:
Finally, here’s what I’ve been listening to lately:
…and here’s a fantastic coping strategy for these oh-so interesting times…posted by Amanda Knox on her Twitter feed over the weekend.
Here’s the 411 on personal consultations.We will have a fine discussion together. And yes, I am a horary astrologer, for those wanting to know.
Thank you for reading this forecast — and sharing it with friends.
Look up!