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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.
Astro-logical Forecast for Monday 3/16/2015: Sneak Peek at the Week
/in The ForecastGood Morning!
A lot of shifting gears this week, so stay light on your feet. Moon entered the humanitarian sign of Aquarius at 6:14AM, which can facilitate stubborn efforts to be seen a unique, socially significant or just plain “difficult,” depending on the audience. An opportunity for cooperation comes around 2:23PM ET, when the Moon makes an easy alignment with taskmaster/authority figure Saturn.
Also exact this AM — which may be driving your serious focus, especially if you have a planet or angle around 4 degrees of Sagittarius, Pisces, Gemini and Virgo — is the challenge between mental Mercury and Saturn that happened at 5:41AM. My horoscope was personally affected; I was up at 4AM, running a mile-long To-Do List in my head. As it turns out, much of that To-Do List concerns upgrades, repairs and replacements to computer systems, and if you have similar concerns on your plate this week, my condolences.
Why? Because we’re feeling the effect now of an exact meet-up (on Wednesday at 4:49AM ET) between Mercury and nebulous Neptune in Pisces. This is not a pattern that delights (or excels) in left-brained logic. Sure, it can inspire a transporting faith, art, healing and vision. It can also inspire muddled communication and delusion. Double check the facts this week. Make sure what you say is actually understood.
Other patterns of note: Venus leaves warrior princess Aries tomorrow morning, which may take some of the “selfie” energy that’s currently driving social expression. Venus is more comfortable in Taurus, which, after all is a sign that needs to build comfort, especially of a material kind. More on that tomorrow.
Other shifts: a profound solar eclipse and New Moon happens Friday AM at the verrrrry end of the zodiac: 29 Pisces. We’ll talk more about that later this week. Thirteen hours later, the astrological New Year begins when the Sun leaves Pisces for Aries. This is the Vernal Equinox — the first day of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere. So while we are in the current dark side of the Moon — the end of the lunar cycle — it’s appropriate to focus on wrapping up projects you started on the last New Moon (Feb 18th). If you’re feeling listless or restless, know that you are not alone. This is the feeling of intuitively sensing that something new is just around the corner, but you don’t know what.
Your Moon voids this week: Tuesday at 2:18PM ET until Wednesday 6:58AM ET. That’s the longest one. Use it to focus on routine matters. Avoid impulsive shopping sprees and finalizing plans. Crises may crop up that are usually much ado about nothing, so avoid the temptation to make a mountain out of a molehill. Chill and roll with whatever flakes and twists occur. There’s a brief void on Friday between 5:36AM and 6:28AM ET. Blink and you may miss it.
Let’s see….anything else? Oh, right. The seventh Uranus-Pluto square between rebel Uranus in Aries and “resistance is futile” Pluto in Capricorn happens tonight at 9:50PM ET. It’s a big deal, as both planets are direct in motion. In the other six squares, one of the planets was retrograde — held back or in “rethink” mode, as it were. It’s happening at 15 degrees of Aries and Capricorn, and if you or anyone you know has a planet or angle around those degrees, you/they may be bouncing off the walls right about now.
I’ll recap the news in tomorrow’s forecast, so I can post this one before noon.
Astro-logical Forecast for Friday 3/13/2015 & The Weekend: Saturn Retrograde in Sagittarius
/in The ForecastMoon continues its gambol through Sagittarius, pushing boundaries and facilitating the expression of opinions, whether you want to hear them or not. Show some respect, so as to avoid unnecessary conflict. At 1:48PM ET the Moon will square the Pisces Sun. This is the 3rd Quarter Moon, suggesting another piece of puzzle you started work on at the New Moon may manifest. Will you be able to harvest what was sown back then?
Moon goes void on an easy aspect to Venus in Aries, suggesting a warm — but not fuzzy — social atmosphere for tonight’s Happy Hour. Moon enters proactive Capricorn at 2:40AM ET on Saturday, infusing the weekend with a get-down-to-business energy. Got chores? Have at ’em. Turn your creative vision into reality around 4:34PM ET, when Moon makes a communicative connection to Neptune.
At 5:14AM and 5:20AM ET, Moon makes its weekly clash with Uranus and Pluto, increasing the potential for sudden jolts, revelations, power plays and ‘news from underground”. Gravitas in said news and other communication is suggested by a sobering challenge between mental Mercury and ambitious Saturn, exact on Monday at 5:41AM ET, but in effect on Sunday for sure. Usually Mercury-Saturn suggests an opportunity to get real; however, with this pattern happening in Sagittarius and Pisces, what’s perceived as real is more likely to be based on faith or another collective belief system.
Is it really all just relative? That’s a good question, given Saturn in Sagittarius challenging Neptune in Pisces, and it’s one that will likely pull focus over the next several months. Here’s an interesting article on the subject: “Why Our Children Don’t Think There Are Moral Facts”. NYT columnist David Brooks has opinions on the cost of relativism in a column published earlier this week. In it, he writes, “People sometimes wonder why I’ve taken this column in a spiritual and moral direction of late.” They wonder, Mr. Brooks, because they have not looked at your horoscope (August 11, 1961 — time unknown — in Toronto), and observed how current planetary patterns suggest a strong need to be concerned with these matters at this time, along with a pressing need to expand upon these matters in thoughts and communication.
Meanwhile…Saturn turns retrograde on Sunday at 11:02AM ET. What does that suggest? Saturn is the planet of ambition and necessary controls/structure. When retrograde, this can put a damper — or a structural review — on some plans for expansion…at least until August 2nd, when Saturn will once again be direct. Those who are likely to feel it the most (adding to those I noted in yesterday) were born in the first few days of Pisces, Sagittarius, Gemini and Virgo…or who have a planet or angle from 1-5 degrees of those signs…as well as 28-29 degrees of Aquarius, Taurus, Leo or Scorpio. Whatever squeeze you’ve been feeling since the fall of 2014 will be back for a second adjustment for the next few months. The resolution of that squeeze will likely make itself known this fall.
No sleeping in on Monday, which brings us the seventh Uranus-Pluto square at 9:50PM ET. Should be day of revelations, like this fascinating headline: “Suddenly, it Seems Water is Everywhere in the Solar System” Just like that!
Have a wonderful weekend.
What’s going on your horoscope? Find out in a personal astro-logical consultation.
Astro-logical Forecast for Thursday 3/11/2015: High-Flying Huzzah; Mercury in Pisces; Saturn Retrograde Alert
/in The ForecastReal…followed by surreal/ideal…might be your morning flow at the high-flying Moon in Sagittarius is tempered by a meet-up with Saturn in the wee hours of the morning. Wet blanket, perhaps…followed by all wet, as Moon is challenges by nebulous Neptune about six hours later at 10:13AM ET.
The rest of your day may be driven by fallout from the surge of breakthrough potential from yesterday’s epic meeting of Mars with Uranus in warrior/pioneer Aries and potent Pluto in Capricorn. Did you do anything courageous? Easy alignments to the Moon from Jupiter and Uranus help the optimistic flow around 9PM ET and just before midnight.
A day with Moon in Sagittarius is a prime opportunity to expand your horizons. Get out in nature; see a foreign film; take in a show or engage in a feisty debate in which you actually consider the opinions of someone else — and treat them with respect. Thus they may treat you in kind.
Special thanks to avid reader Karen, who forwarded me this spectacular photo of a volcano erupting in Guatemala. This was NASA’s Picture of the Day yesterday. How perfectly in sync with planetary patterns!
Today’s notable shift is mental Mercury leaving rocket scientist Aquarius for dreamy Pisces at 11:52PM ET, where it will float until the end of the month. Less cerebral detachment in communication and mindset; more intuition, feeling and faith. Sounds great for artists and healers. Could be reflected in some convoluted logic, though.
Meanwhile, for anyone who has a planet or angle at 4 degrees of Gemini, Pisces, Virgo and especially Sagittarius, you may have been feeling pressured to make an ambitious reach or streamline in the weeks leading up to the beginning of February. Saturn hit 4 Sagittarius on February 9th and has been sitting there since then. Well, guess what? Your squeeze continues through mid-April, as this weekend Saturn will turn retrograde on that degree, giving you an opportunity to rethink and retool your strategy (Saturn will continue appearing to move backwards into the end of Scorpio before turning direct on August 2nd). The results of your hard work should be apparent around the first week of November, which is when Saturn will hit 4 Sagittarius again. Jon Stewart, if you’re reading this, it applies to you.
Thank you for reading this forecast.
What’s going on your horoscope? Find out in a personal astro-logical consultation.
Astro-logical Forecast for Wednesday 3/11/2015: More on Mars & Tom Cotton’s Perfect Timing
/in The ForecastAlllllllrighty, then!
Still more of the same from the last two days, at least in the morning and early afternoon hours. Moon is in Scorpio, seeking to consolidate and organize (with depth and substance), for the sake of power and control. Moon goes void at 3:46PM until 7:30PM ET, suggesting you focus on routine tasks, chill and don’t make a mountain out of what may only be a molehill of crisis. Note that the Moon goes void on a challenge to mental Mercury, suggesting a potential clash in communication — or at least an especially persuasive effort. Avoid arguing just for the sake of arguing.
At 7:30PM ET, we may feel pounds lighter and brighter as the Moon shifts gear and enters high-flying, optimistic Sagittarius, where it will gamble and gambol through the rest of the work week. We will have survived whatever other outbursts and/or courageous acts of heroism that Mars has in store as it conjoins rebel Uranus at 12:06PM ET and squares Pluto at 6:37PM ET. Huzzah!
And now, the news.
As predicted, the markets are volatile.
Last night the headlines were peppered with plenty of Mars in Aries buzzwords, e.g, “Joe Biden Goes Ballistic” and “James Carville Goes Scorched Earth”. This morning, I see that a Blackhawk helicopter went down in the Florida panhandle; 11 are missing. Today marks the 4th anniversary of the 9.0 earthquake that crippled the Fukushima nuclear power plant, so of course it makes sense that we would be reading an update today. Essentially, the battle (Mars) to contain the radiation (Uranus-Pluto) is “never-ending”.
Elsewhere — in breaking news — ISIS has reportedly carried out one of its fiercest attacks, as the US Senate holds hearings on the potential use of force against it. Meanwhile, the NYT has a story about US veterans who have joined other military forces in the Middle East to fight against ISIS. War and more war…and guns, too (also ruled by Mars). Utah just passed a bill that would allow executions by firing squad. The Obama Administration has “abandoned efforts” to ban a bullet that is capable of piercing police armor.
Meanwhile, the letter to Iran signed by 47 Republicans continues to generate controversy. Who wrote this letter, anyway? A freshman senator from Arkansas named Tom Cotton. At 37, he’s the youngest member of the Senate. Why the heck is he attracting all this attention now? Avid readers of this forecast will surely have a hunch at what we will find when we look at planets on the day Tom Cotton was born: May 13, 1977 in Dardanelle, AR.
Cotton is a Taurus whom we would expect to have made an ambitious reach last fall when transiting Saturn opposed his Sun. That’s when he won his Senate seat. But what really stands out is an exact meet-up of Venus and Mars at — 12-13 degrees Aries –opposed by Pluto at 11 Libra. It was triggered last week by both Venus and Mars in Aries! This trigger suggests a warrior in action, values and social expression, supercharged by potency and potential overkill.
Note that the natal Venus-Mars-Pluto opposition has been highly stimulated by Uranus and Pluto for the past two years. In fact, Cotton announced his bid for the Senate in August of 2013, on the first hit of Pluto at 11 Capricorn. Isn’t that interesting?
But wait — there’s more. We do not have a birth time for Cotton, but if he was born after 4am, he would also have a me-me-me-first Aries Moon! We’d expect a need for conquest — to be Number One — to always be a winner. Also of interest: his Venus and Mars is conjunct Eris, a minor planet discovered in 2005 and named for the Goddess of Discord. I find it intriguing that the entity currently causing so much destruction in the Middle East also has Moon in Aries, along with Venus, Mars, Eris conjunct in Aries. Its Venus-Mars-Eris alignment will be triggered by Mars next week, along with its Aries Sun.
In other news, Johnny Depp, whose horoscope is also personally affected by this current Mars-Uranus-Pluto transit, injured his hand on a shoot in Australia and will need surgery. He is expected to make a full recovery.
Astrology is amazing — a good thing to know about. It’s a fascinating mix of fate and free will. As my teacher Noel Tyl loves to say, “Planets don’t do anything. People do”.
Thank you for reading this forecast.
What’s going on your horoscope? Find out in a personal astro-logical consultation. I guarantee you will find our discussion helpful.
Astro-logical Forecast for Tuesday 3/10/2015: More on Mars in the News
/in The ForecastMore intensity, driven by fearless action, as the Scorpio Moon continues on its quest for substance and control, with the help of a supercharged Mars in me-me-me-first Aries. When Jupiter in regal Leo challenges the Moon at 12:31PM ET, expect added optimism or a bigger reach. Power plays may be effectively communicated a few hours later, as Moon aligns with Pluto.
And now, the news.
With Mars about to meet-up with rebel Uranus and square Pluto in “Establishment” Capricorn, we would expect to see a headline about a group of secessionists in the Lone Star State who believe that the Republic of Texas never joined the United States. Thus, they have formed their own government, also known as the Republic of Texas, complete with their own currency and elected representatives. For the past eight years they had been pretty much ignored, until last Valentine’s Day. I’d like to believe they’re on the NYT home page now, in sync with planetary patterns.
Mars-Uranus contacts suggest innovative technology. Yesterday Apple CEO Tim Cook was front and center, launching Apple Watch and other new-fangled gadgets. Well, that’s pretty good timing….but dear Mr. Cook, do we really need another computerized toy? How about directing your brilliant engineers to come up with a reasonable replacement for the internal combustion engine? Speaking of which (Mars rules cars), GM made a bold move yesterday when it announced it would buy back $5 billion of its stock, “as part of a negotiated settlement with dissident investors led by a former member of the government’s auto task force,” reported the NYT. Meanwhile, the initial leg of an around-the-world plane fueled by solar power went well. Now we’re talking!
Elsewhere, following up on yesterday’s rhetorical question, “How are we doing now?” (regarding civil rights issues that were prominent in the mid-60s and back for further consideration in this decade), the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity at the University of Oklahoma has been shuttered and members were suspended after a video showing these tuxedo-clad frat brothers chanting racial slurs was posted online.
Meanwhile, a state judge has been appointed to rule in municipal cases in Ferguson, MO, after last week’s “damning report” documented countless cases of abuse and bias…and also revealed how much the city government relied on its police department as a revenue-generating machine. One wonders what might happen in the next town(s) over, as apparently circumstances are much the same. Do those towns needs a state judge, too?
Mars suggests action…and also action heroes. So why not stumble across a story about the first Sikh comic book action hero on this home page? Mars suggests “macho” in less heroic displays, too. A video of a Lebanese anchorwoman smacking down a London-based Islamic scholar who would not show her some respect has gone viral.
Triggers to Pluto suggest “news from underground”. In London, archaeologists are excavating the burial ground known as Bedlam to make way for a new train station. They’re digging up the bones of 3000 or so people who lived during the 16th and 17th century…and a few of those are probably astrologers.
Finally, yesterday we were talking about the Uranus-Pluto conjunction of 1965-1966 as the seed-planting point of the cycle we are in now. That conjunction was in Virgo, which refers to labor, work routines, health and diet, as well as food production systems. So that may help you understand why we are seeing so many headlines about labor unions being undermined and/or strengthened, depending on where you live. It may help you put headlines like this one — about soil conservation in farming — in perspective, too. The technique is being hailed as “a massive paradigm shift,” and does not require nitrogen fertilizers or fungicide. A massive paradigm shift sound very Uranus square Pluto to me. Good news!
What’s going on your horoscope? Find out in a personal astro-logical consultation. I guarantee you will find our discussion helpful.