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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 Thursday 3/29/2012: Resistance is Futile
/in The ForecastA day of many moods, as the need for information drives the morning with Moon in chatty Gemini. A rest period is called for when Moon goes void of course on a stable connection to serious Saturn at 2:05PM…not to enter Cancer until 7:07PM ET. Unplug from the hubbub if you can, and resist the urge to be swept into any drama or power plays that may arise during this time. In the evening, the focus turns to a dream of home sweet home and the security home provides.
Pluto in Capricorn exactly squares the Sun in Aries at 3:54 PM. You are likely feeling this potent pattern personally if you were born 7 to 11 days into the signs of Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn. Significant challenges and changes in your life are strongly suggested, brought by forces seemingly beyond your control. No, it’s not all bad; Pluto transits can be quite empowering, even though structures you have relied upon may be taken away. Rise from the ashes and build yourself anew!
Inventor, designer and engineer Buckminster Fuller had a few notable things to say about change, worth considering if you are currently coping with the above:
“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” ― Richard Buckminster Fuller
“There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it’s going to be a butterfly. ” ― Richard Buckminster Fuller
And speaking of coping and transformation, here’s a bit from Fuller’s Wikipedia biography:
“By age 32, Fuller was bankrupt and jobless, living in public, low-income housing in Chicago, Illinois. In 1922,Fuller’s young daughter Alexandra died from complications from polio and spinal meningitis. Allegedly, he felt responsible and this caused him to drink frequently and to contemplate suicide for a while. He finally chose to embark on “an experiment, to find what a single individual [could] contribute to changing the world and benefiting all humanity.”
Fuller was experiencing a major Neptune transit (an “ego wipeout”), during the above time frame, and somehow he pulled himself together and lived to be 87. More inspiring words from this extraordinary mind can be found here: www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/165737.Richard_Buckminster_Fuller
Astro-logical Forecast for Wednesday 3/28/2012: Rose-Tint My World News Tonight
/in The ForecastA need for information drives the day, with Moon running wild in Gemini, sign of the information junkie. And with Mercury retrograde, of course, there is (again) the potential for misinformation, miscommunication, etc.,etc. The antidote to Mercury retrograde is a willful effort to FOCUS. Check and double check…especially if it’s a mic check, as President Obama learned (the hard way) on Monday, when a conversation he thought was private was picked up by a nearby microphone that just happened to be on www.nytimes.com/2012/03/27/us/politics/obama-caught-on-microphone-telling-medvedev-of-flexibility.html?scp=1&sq=obama%20flexibility&st=cse Oops. FOCUS, Mr. POTUS!!
Also influencing the colors of the day: a idealizing connection between mental Mercury and loving Venus, suggesting an inclination to see the world through glasses in a shade of rose. And let’s not forget ruthless Pluto in “establishment” Capricorn challenging the Sun in me-me-me Aries, suggesting corruption exposed, power plays and other news from underground, such as seismic activity making headlines http://news.yahoo.com/magnitude-6-3-earthquake-shakes-tokyo-112318282.html As for “feeling like you’re living inside a kaleidoscopic pinball machine” making headlines (see yesterday’s forecast), you can be happy you weren’t inside this kaleidoscopic JetBlue airplane when the pilot apparently lost his grip on reality. http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2012/03/27/jetblue-pilot-goes-nuts-in-the-air.html
Make that a Jefferson Airplane http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TS0dUrF6mQ&feature=fvst (cue “White Rabbit” now)
Astro-logical Forecast for Tuesday 3/27/2012: More on Mercury Retrograde
/in The ForecastA more active day than Monday, driven by a need for intensity, information and perhaps entertainment, given the Moon’s ingress into chatty Gemini at 6:43 AM ET. If you feel like you’re living inside a kaleidoscopic pinball machine, credit the Moon making contact with dreamy Neptune, eccentric/inventive Uranus and aggressive Mars, all within the space of six hours. Some of the ideas tossed around may be genius; others may be half-baked or just plain wrong. Sounds like a great day for brainstorming creative thoughts. Double check your facts before you hit send!
One example of a half-baked idea hitting the wires happened on Friday, when the Wall Street Journal reported that Jon Corzine, former governor of New Jersey and former head of now-defunct and scandalized company MF Global, signed off on a memo authorizing the use of client funds to cover a company shortfall — a big no-no in the financial world. Ooh! Could this be a smoking gun? Not at all, apparently — so stop the presses! On Monday, a clarification was issued: Mr. Corzine did not — repeat, did NOT know the transferred funds were from client accounts. http://nocera.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/26/hype-at-the-wall-street-journal/?scp=3&sq=jon%20corzine&st=cse Moral of the story: you might not be interested in banking or finance, but this scenario is a good illustration of the dangers of believing everything you hear when Mercury is retrograde. Thanks to those of you who have sent in stories of communication, technical and scheduling snafus happening in your own personal worlds.
Meanwhile, Dick Cheney’s heart wasn’t the only one making headlines over the weekend. Also reflecting the symbolism of the Sun (heart) hooking up with Uranus (technology/breakthroughs) was this bit about a man in Washington State who now has an artificial heart that is actually portable http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2017810967_heart24m.html
Finally, because we’ve been following this story since it broke in May and knew we’d be seeing more drama beginning this Spring: Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former head of the International Monetary Fund who was arrested on charges of sexually assaulting a New York chambermaid last year when Uranus, disruptor of the status quo, challenged DSK’s Moon (an extremely important planet in a horoscope), has just been charged with involvement in a prostitution ring http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/mar/26/dominique-strauss-kahn-charged-prostitution-ring The timing of these charges is perfectly aligned with patterns in the horoscope, and more disruptive challenges can be anticipated for DSK through early 2013.
How is rebel Uranus impacting your horoscope these days?
Astro-logical Forecast for Monday 3/26/2012: A Heart Makes Headlines
/in The ForecastYou can toddle on off to work, fueled by today’s reigning need: to keep things as they are or otherwise preserve and/or establish material security. That is the prime directive of the Moon in Taurus. “Toddle” is a great work for Taurus, too — as the toddler phase of our own development corresponds to this sign. When we are toddlers, we become aware of that we are separate from other things and people. We become aware of possessions — and we cling to them stubbornly, as in “MINE!!!” or “NO!!!” Have you ever tried to take a toy away from a two-year-old? Taurus is the toddler of the zodiac. Give them something good to eat, a nice warm blanket and a hug and they’re happy. Right?
No exact planetary aspects today, save for a happy connection between that Moooooon and Venus, planet of love, beauty, women and money. Enjoy the relative quiet today, as it will get busier. The headline act happens on Thursday and features a power play, corruption exposed and/or other news from underground (volcanoes & other seismic activity, for instance), suggested by ruthless Pluto squaring the Sun. As with aspects involving the outer planets (Pluto, Neptune and Uranus), we may see manifestations a few days before they are exact.
Your Moon void alerts for the week: Tuesday 12:35AM – 6:43AM ET; Thursday 2:05PM – 7:07PM ET. If you don’t know what a Moon void is — also known as a void-of-course Moon — you’ll find a link to a helpful explanation in the forecast that was posted last Friday.
And now, the news. You may recall from Friday’s forecast that Sun’s annual hook-up with rebel Uranus, disruptor of the status quo, was likely to present “volatility and a few surprises”. Certainly that’s what happened in the world I was watching, which happened to be the stock market. Ready for this? A high-frequency stock exchange called BATS (gotta love the name) launched its IPO Friday morning, clearly without the input of an astrologer. At 10:57AM, with nebulous Neptune casting a fog in charts cast for both New York and Kansas City (where BATS is based), the stock of Apple, “the highest-profile company in the world”, suddenly plunged 9% — and trading on Apple was halted. What the heck happened? Minutes later it was learned that one trade of 100 shares made on the BATS stock exchange — erroneously — was the culprit. And it just got worse for BATS as the day progressed, as a technical glitch was ultimately blamed. At the end of the day — in an epic FAIL — BATS canceled its IPO — http://www.cnbc.com/id/46836415 We can all profit from the moral of the story: there are certain risks when launching a sophisticated tech operation with technical glitch-prone Mercury retrograde, trigger-happy Mars retrograde, and a general backdrop of surprises, volatility and information overload suggested by an intense hook-up among Mercury (retrograde in Pisces, at the prominence-seeking Aries Point), and Sun-Uranus in impulsive Aries
Speaking of sophisticated tech operations, another reflection of Sun-Uranus hook-up, exact at 2:21 PM ET on the 24th, was Dick Cheney’s heart transplant making front page news. Why? Because in the language of astrology, the Sun refers to life force and also the heart. Uranus refers to technology, technological breakthroughs, innovation, invention. In Dick Cheney’s horoscope (Jan 30 1941 at 7:30 PM in Lincoln, NE), we can see that the heart could be a potential health concern, as astrological symbols referring to the heart and critical illness are under high tension. We can also see that right now, Dick Cheney is experiencing an upheaval in areas related to physical health and his foundation, augmented by the good fortune and expansion suggested by the return of Jupiter to its natal placement in Cheney’s chart. And on March 25th, Cheney’s horoscope featured technogeek Uranus exactly opposing the North Node, suggesting “meetings with unusual people pay off; sudden relationship”. Receiving a new heart from a stranger does sound like the beginning of a sudden relationship. Coincidence or conspiracy?
Astro-logical Forecast for Friday 3/23/2012 & the Weekend: Darth Vader Explains It All For You
/in The ForecastNot much exact planetary action today. Moon continues charging through pioneering Aries, as you may have noticed by the way folks are careening all over the highways. Seriously. En route to work yesterday I was certain our van driver was about to buy the farm on multiple occasions. Do be mindful if you are traveling.
The edge on verbal expression and hair-trigger tempers is softened as of 9:22AM ET, as Mercury backs up into the sign of Pisces, where it will linger until April 17th. Intuitive powers are highlighted; don’t be afraid to let your mind wander. The next lunar aspect happens on Saturday: a serious, potential wet blanket, courtesy of controlling Saturn opposing the feisty Aries Moon at 1:17PM ET. You could easily shrug it off for the next several hours, as the Moon is void of course from 1:17PM until 5:43PM ET…then it enters Taurus, sign of material comforts and sensual delights.
The weekend’s most intriguing aspect is the Sun’s annual hook-up with rebel Uranus, at 2:21PM ET, suggesting declarations of independence, a celebration of the unique, the bizarre, the inventive — and anything else that disrupts the status quo. Uranus aspects are often felt ahead of time, so we may experience some volatility and surprises on Friday.
Sunday offers the potential for deep satisfaction, as Moon makes smooth connections to assertive Mars, resourceful Pluto and expansive Jupiter. The Jupiter connection happens at 6:02PM ET, setting a jolly, indulgent tone for the evening. Have a friend or two over for dinner.
And now, another take on the symbolism of the New Moon in Aries horoscope, prompted by a 45-second clip a co-worker sent me http://www.wimp.com/vaderkilt/ Entitled “Darth Vader in a Kilt On a Unicycle Playing the Bagpipes”, it is a perfect example of the abundance of creativity and innovative thinking this lunar cycle offers, especially the powerful, kooky hook-up between mental Mercury and inventive Uranus. Notice that it is also a one-man show, true to the spirit of me-me-me Aries and the self-sufficient Earth Grand Trine (read yesterday’s forecast for a breakdown of the patterns in the New Moon horoscope). It’s got a dark side (Darth), representing the Pluto challenge to Uranus…and it’s got plenty of Hollywood glamor (Star Wars!), representing the sensational opposition between Neptune and Mars. This clip even captures the spirit of Mars, Mercury and Saturn retrograde. Why? Because Mr. Darth, for all his unique talent, is going in circles. Not quite ready to hit the road yet…but don’t worry…he will be. Check out the video — it will make you smile — and may inspire your own creativity during the current lunar (uni)cycle.
Happy Friday!!!