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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 Saturday & Sunday 12/22-23/2012: Comfort and Joy
/in The ForecastBriefly….
The impulsive, proactive and impatient Aries Moon goes void of course at 7:57AM ET, on a challenging aspect to aggressive Mars. If an especially explosive headline regarding some larger than life outburst of violence makes news, I will not be surprised. Patience and awareness of potentially impulsive and self-centered behavior is advised, at least until 1:25PM ET, when the Moon stabilizes in the sign of Taurus. Be especially mindful if you are traveling this morning.
The sensual, comfort and stability-seeking Moon in Taurus graces our lives until 12:58AM on Tuesday (12/25). Oohhh how lovely for holiday baking and caroling and mulled wine and shopping for everyone left on your list. Saturday night could be especially grand and/or indulgent, courtesy of the opposition between loving Venus and expansive Jupiter, exact at 10:50PM ET.
Now here’s where things get interesting. Despite the calm stability of the Taurus Moon, which drives the vibe of the next few days, we are also getting closer and closer to an exact challenge between rebel Uranus in warrior/pioneer Aries and the Sun in Capricorn, sign of the Establishment. And we are building to a Full Moon next Friday, which will involved the sensitive Moon in Cancer with the disruptive Uranus-Pluto square. Adding to that excitement will be the Sun’s annual meet-up with ruthless Pluto, exact on the 30th.We saw similar patterns at the time of the Full Moon on September 29th. I expect we’ll see more than a few prominent shake-ups and power plays between now and then. If you were born between the 24th and 31st of March, June, September and December, you will be feeling the push for freedom and empowerment more than the rest of us. Keep an eye out for opportunities that will allow you to spread your wings.
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Astro-logical Forecast for Friday 12/21/2012: The End of the World As We Know It
/in The ForecastSince you’re reading this forecast on December 21st, clearly the world did not come to an end. Yes, perhaps the world ending would have solved a lot of problems. But noooo, they’re still here, waiting for you — and everyone else — to tackle them. Which means you’ll be needing some insight on what planetary patterns suggest for you personally in the New Year, so you’ll know how to maximize potential for enlightenment and overall well-being, right? Absolutely! Fortunately, really useful information on consultations can be found here — and whaddaya know — my Special Holiday Promotion is on until January 1st, 2013.
Meanwhile…
The Sun begins its annual trek through Capricorn at 6:12AM ET. In the Northern Hemisphere, days will be getting longer and nights will be getting shorter. Hooray! 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 a turning point. In Japan, the first day of each season is a national holiday. How cool is that?
With the Sun at the first degree of Capricorn, we are working with proactive, make-it-happen energy focused on corporate and governmental structures. On this particular Winter Solstice, we find the Moon still charging through the RAMbunctious sign of Aries, needing to get things started in an inspiring, pioneering way. This Moon is in an easy connection with mental Mercury, suggesting we’ll be hearing a lot of inspired and heated opinions today.
Venus (women, social expression, art, finance) also needs to make a big statement — now and over the weekend, suggested by a challenge from expansive Jupiter (exact at 10:50PM ET on Saturday). I am betting that retailers will be verrrrry happy thanks to the generous impulses of last-minute shoppers. Venus-Jupiter contacts suggest plenty of good will for all, never mind that credit card bill in January. Spend it like there’s no tomorrow.
In the Winter Solstice chart, the need for action is echoed by Mars, planet of energy applied, which is still behaving like a loose cannon and calling attention to aggression just about everywhere. Here in the States, attention continues to be focused on guns, which are ruled by Mars. In India, newspapers have been filled with reports of protestors outraged by recent acts of brutal violence against women. This is also Mars — at its worst.
But wait, there’s more. There’s the Yod, a.k.a. the “Finger of God” among stern Saturn, ruthless Pluto and expansive Jupiter, suggesting a pressing need to choose a direction one way or the other; this was discussed earlier this week. There’s the ongoing hugely disruptive square between rebel Uranus and Pluto, which was also discussed yesterday and elsewhere on this site (check the ARTICLES page). And finally, there’s a lovely connection between the Capricorn Sun and nebulous Neptune in Pisces that suggests excellent communication between consciousness and spirit/intuition. Really, that Sun-Neptune connection is a saving grace in this Winter Solstice/End of the World horoscope. Check yesterday’s forecast for more on the spiritual potential of Neptune in Pisces. Looks like an awakening to me. Pretty darn magical, even with all the challenges and inevitable action suggested by the rest of the chart. And you are here on Planet Earth, as an active participant in this exciting story. Imagine that!
It is interesting to note how this chart falls relative to New York and Washington. Mental Mercury is right on the Ascendant; disruptive Uranus is opposing the Midheaven — for the charts in both cities. A shake-up to our foundation, perhaps, and a liberating, illuminating change of direction/public status are suggested, as is a major statement of a “big picture” philosophy right up front. If you were planning on spending 2013 in a some kind of rut, that doesn’t look likely — certainly not in the United States.
I’m looking forward to an energetic day filled with phones ringing off the hook, stimulating conversation, good cheer and batches and batches of Christmas cookies to bake. Should be quite an enterprise, with the Capricorn Sun and Aries Moon.
More on the weekend later…with a heads up that if you are shopping on Saturday, the Moon will be void from 7:57AM ET to 1:25PM ET. Wait until after 1:25PM ET to hit the malls…
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Astro-logical Forecast for Thursday 12/20/2012: Thoughts on the End of the World
/in The ForecastA pioneering, inspiring, impulsive and often impatient Aries Moon sets the tone for the day, as of 2:43AM ET. This dynamic placement carries forward the challenge suggested a few hours earlier by the First Quarter Moon at 28 degrees of Pisces, squaring off against the Sun at 28 Sagittarius. Look for movement or resistance to whatever agenda you set at the time of the New Moon.
Aspects to the Moon are mixed. Uranus adds a buzz, a jolt, an innovation or revelation around 11:34AM ET; Venus and Jupiter lift our spirits at 1:40PM ET and 7:54PM ET, respectively; Pluto chimes in at 7:51PM ET with a demand for a catharsis, a purge or a power play. (Actually, it’s hard to imagine ruthless Pluto “chiming in” about anything. Pluto is much more “resistance is futile”).
Resources may well be a topic of conversation late afternoon and into the evening. Do you have what you need to survive tomorrow’s apocalypse? If not, here’s a handy list, useful for this and nearly any other disaster.
My thoughts on the end of the Mayan calendar. First, what do we usually do when one calendar year is ending and another begins? Throw a massive party, celebrating “out with the old; in with the new”! Planetary patterns do suggest the potential for a New World, though perhaps it won’t start as dramatically with friends from the Pleiades showing up for dinner (and that party). One such pattern is the square between rebel Uranus and ruthless Pluto, which suggests a drastic upheaval of the status quo, especially in regards to government and anything else relating to the Establishment, in effect from 2012 – 2015. As I have written in previous posts, Uranus and Pluto will square off seven times in those three years. We’ve had two exact squares so far; five more to go.
Seven squares are rare; usually planets connect three or five times. What kind of potential is suggested by this many instances of exact contact? Consider this: Pluto and Uranus had nine exact contacts between 1496 and 1500. Can anyone recall what was going on during those years? What had recently been discovered”? What was it called? The New World.
So maybe our friends from the Pleiades will show up sooner, rather than later. Or perhaps the New World we will begin to explore is the realm of the spirit/intangible, rather than the material. In 2012, Neptune began its sojourn in Pisces, the sign it rules. As I have written in earlier posts, the last time nebulous, dreamy, soulful Neptune was in equally dreamy Pisces was in 1848, when it coincided with the birth of Spiritualism in the United States. I expect we will see more and more mainstream interest in spiritual/intangible concepts, including intuition, telepathy and reincarnation. Earlier this year, neurosurgeon Eben Alexander made headlines with a book about his near-death experience. Stay tuned for more on this developing story in the next 14 years, which is how long Neptune will be in Pisces.
Bottom line: I will be writing a forecast for the weekend, and you will be here to read it. Which means you will still be around to take advantage of my Special Holiday Promotion: a one-hour personal astro-logical consultatation at a very reasonable price. Purchase one for yourself or better yet, for a friend. I’ve had so much fun making beautiful gift certificates to send all over the world…
Astro-logical Forecast for Wednesday 12/19/2012: Action!
/in The ForecastPlanetary activity is lighter today that is has been in recent days…and will be as we get closer to the end of the month. The Moon continues its sojourn through Pisces, seeking a soulful dream, a union or escape. If you find one, chances are strong that it may not be your usual cup of tea, given a harmonious connection between Venus (social expression/aesthetic sense) and rebel Uranus, which favors the weird and the wacky…in a good, friendly kind of way. Enjoy getting off the beaten path…and watch the headlines for interesting news about art, finance and technology. If you can’t find a dream, a union or an escape, then have a little faith, another Pisces keyword.
At 5:44PM Moon makes a communicative aspect with action-oriented Mars, which can be helpful for fostering a cooperative effort between opposing sides. Mars has been “running wild” (i.e., like a loose cannon) in Capricorn for most of this month, suggesting no-nonsense, assertive or aggressive action, for better or for worse. Mars also refers to firearms, and is one of the planetary patterns being reflected by the continued domination of guns in the headlines…and it’s not just talk; it’s action! Gun control measures are being introduced. TV shows about guns and Ted Nugent are being cancelled. The private equity firm that owns the country’s largest gun manufacturer is selling the company…after one of its top investors, the California teachers pension fund (oh, the irony), started asking questions. This private equity fund is called Cerberus, which happens to be the name of the ferocious, deadly, totally evil, monstrous, three-headed beast that guards the gates of Hell. Coincidence or conspiracy? If you read any of the articles linked in this forecast, read this one, which lists some of the players involved in Cerberus.
Yesterday I wrote about the so-called “Finger of God” or “Yod” pattern that is in effect over the next week, and this evening I wondered how the horoscope of the United States might be affected. I’ll skip the technical details so civilians reading this forecast do not run screaming down the halls. For students and professionals, I am using the 2:13AM horoscope (the exact birth time of the US is an ongoing debate among astrologers); the point of impact is the Gemini Ascendant conjunct the freedom-loving rebel, Uranus. Here are the keywords for what the US might be experiencing, as suggested by that pattern (with gratitude to master astrologer Noel Tyl for literally writing the book). On the one hand, we are coping with being the public face of “sadness, mourning” and “brutal efforts to start a new order; an attack, regardless of potential losses”. On the other hand, we have a silver lining: “enthusiasm, harmony”; “the big break; boundless optimism”.
What do you think? Do these keywords fit our reality? Stay tuned to this forecast for more on themes that are up for us in this lunar cycle and also the Winter Solstice, which is when, as you all know, the world is scheduled to end.
Well. Maybe not the world, but certainly a world. Hmmm…maybe it’s time to give all your friends and relations a Personal One-Hour Astrological Consultation…my special holiday promotion at a very affordable price. Why not give yourself, one, too, so you know what you can expect in your own personal world in these swiftly-changing times?
Thank you for reading this forecast…from the bottom of my heart.
Astro-logical Forecast for Tuesday 12/18/2012: Saturn, Pluto & the Finger of God
/in The ForecastMoon entered dreamy Pisces at 7:48PM ET on Monday, suggesting a need to go with the flow and consider intangibles such as spirit(s), healing, depths of feeling and maybe even a bit of music. Compassion is a keyword for Pisces, so it seems fitting to see that word in the headlines, as in “Ancient Bones That Tell A Story of Compassion”. It’s a hopeful story that reminds us that while humans may have a zillion-year history of being perfectly horrible to one another, there have been instances of loving kindness and caring in very olden times.
This is another day for big statements and bold actions, some of which broaden the mind and others which push boundaries. In South Carolina, Congressman Tim Scott was appointed by Governor Nikki Haley to replace retiring Senator Jim DeMint. Scott will be the only African-American in the U.S. Senate, and the first one from the South since the 19th Century. At a news conference yesterday, Scott boldly stated:
A ten-second glance at planetary patterns on Scott’s birthday (Sept 19, 1965 in Charleston, SC) confirms the strong probability of the father taken out of the picture in the early home life (Scott’s parents divorced when he was seven), with the mother running the household, likely in a way that was experienced as controlling. Strong idealism and charisma are suggested by aspects between mental Mercury, action-oriented Mars and rose-colored Neptune. Scott was born with rebel Uranus conjunct ruthless Pluto, opposed by stern Saturn, suggesting a certain harshness experienced in the early home life, along with the potential for tremendous effort exerted to overcome obstacles (a lot of people born in 1965 have this aspect in their horoscopes, and maybe you are one of them).
Scott also stated:
Yeah, that sounds like a horoscope with a strong Saturn-Pluto connection talking, especially in combination with the idealism suggested by Mercury-Neptune (am I the only one concerned that Scott’s love for his constituents may be expressed by beating them with “the end of a switch”)? In any event, as you may recall from last week’s New Moon forecast, the disciplined authority of Saturn combined with the ruthless purging power of Pluto has the potential to work together quite cooperatively right now. Difficult decisions will be made, as will tremendous efforts to deal with the karmic debt we can no longer ignore in our collective reality check.
Saturn and Pluto are currently configured with expansive Jupiter in a rare pattern called a Yod or “Finger of God”. To me this echoes the need for adjustment in our efforts to expand, curtailed by considerations of structure and resources. Astrologer Noel Tyl offers these keywords for Jupiter in configuration with Saturn/Pluto: “trouble with authority; adoption of the austere; staying out of trouble; trying to save what’s left”. It is interesting that this Yod will be exact on December 21st a.k.a. the Winter Solstice, which always suggests a turning point.
Some astrologers have argued that this strong connection between Saturn and Pluto suggests that globally we will be embracing more conservative values, and by this they mean we will be moving more to the right than the left. I am not sure about this. Dennis Kucinich has a strong Saturn-Pluto pattern in his horoscope, squared by aggressive Mars. He had an extremely challenging childhood in the school, and boy is he a fighter, as we would expect. Yet his politics are on the far left, not the right. I am not convinced Saturn-Pluto patterns have anything to do with being right-wing or left-wing.
My sense of “conservative” suggested by Saturn-Pluto is that we will be willing to do whatever it takes to conserve what we deem most valuable. But what is most valuable? That will likely be the big argument. Here’s a story about dirty laundry (suggested by the Sabian Symbol for last week’s New Moon) that illustrates one battle over what is worth conserving.
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