Mar 2014
Coffee Break
27/Mar/14 07:52
As we get deep into the last week in March, we have a bit of a pause before the Aries new moon. First, the moon is void for almost all of Thursday, and then it goes through its balsamic phase in the dreamy sign of Pisces. It's a bit of a replay of the extended Piscean season that we've experienced thanks to all the retrogrades this year. It's a time to pause before we move forward into a very charged April.
Although the new astrological year began at the equinox last week, Sunday's new moon in Aries may signal the more overt sense of beginning. The spring equinox is the 'dawn' of the new year, but just as we may not see the sun at sunrise (for example if you are in a valley, or a city) but have to wait for it to rise above surrounding hills or houses, so we have to wait for the new moon in Aries each year to really get fully moving. The sun, it's true, has already made the change, but our more egoic, earthbound perspective - signified by the moon - has not yet caught up.
Take the next few days - a void moon then a Piscean one - to rest, recharge, and strengthen your resolve. Knowing what you want and need is going to be more important than knowing how to get it in the coming month. In fact, knowing who you are and what you are about is even more important. We'll need to be very flexible with outer circumstances, even as we maintain an inner sense of purpose.
Of course, a few words with an astrologer can be very helpful at times like these... Click here for a list of services.
Although the new astrological year began at the equinox last week, Sunday's new moon in Aries may signal the more overt sense of beginning. The spring equinox is the 'dawn' of the new year, but just as we may not see the sun at sunrise (for example if you are in a valley, or a city) but have to wait for it to rise above surrounding hills or houses, so we have to wait for the new moon in Aries each year to really get fully moving. The sun, it's true, has already made the change, but our more egoic, earthbound perspective - signified by the moon - has not yet caught up.
Take the next few days - a void moon then a Piscean one - to rest, recharge, and strengthen your resolve. Knowing what you want and need is going to be more important than knowing how to get it in the coming month. In fact, knowing who you are and what you are about is even more important. We'll need to be very flexible with outer circumstances, even as we maintain an inner sense of purpose.
Of course, a few words with an astrologer can be very helpful at times like these... Click here for a list of services.
A Bridge Too Far
24/Mar/14 18:23
When I first looked at the chart of the November 3, 2013 solar eclipse, set to New York City, I wasn’t overly impressed. The eclipse was in the 12th house, and of course it was in Scorpio, so it seemed that whatever was going on would happen behind the scenes and be well covered (or covered up), at least for a while. I assumed it would be a while before we saw any direct manifestation of the eclipse, if the public got to see it at all.
Still, a twelfth house eclipse got my interest, so I put the eclipse onto the chart of the city (January 1st, 1898 at midnight). The chart comparison proved to be more illuminating. The eclipse landed in the city’s second house, suggesting financial issues, and Pluto, the dispositor of the eclipse, was in the third house. My expectations were that the city’s already strained public transportation system would get even more stressed in some way. Uranus transiting in Aries was also opposite the city’s twelfth house Jupiter (hiding less than a degree behind the ascendant). That, I thought, spoke to the certain election of Bill DeBlasio, the city’s progressive new mayor who was elected just two days after the eclipse and who clearly represents a challenge to the city’s fat cat power brokers.
On December 1st, a Metro North commuter train derailed in the Bronx (within the city limits), killing four people and injuring 65. This accident was dramatic and troubling, even by the standards of public transportation in the area.
The Capricorn ingress in December of 2013 represented another challenge to the city, with the sun and the MC again in the city’s third house, with Pluto close to the IC and Mars approaching the city’s Jupiter. Surely, though, the effects couldn’t be as dramatic, and they weren’t. Yet Metro North was again affected, with a power outage stopping all service on the night of January 23rd for two hours. A federal report on Metro North was scathing in its assessment of the railroad, and by extension the Metropolitan Transportation Authority that oversees all public transportation in the area.
Yet it isn’t just the city’s public transportation, but the public’s transportation that has been affected. In what has probably been the region’s biggest story of the year, it was revealed that people working close to New Jersey Governor Chis Christie intentionally created a traffic jam for several days on the George Washington Bridge, which connects the city to New Jersey. Those who don’t live in the congested traffic of the city can scarcely appreciate the ire aroused by an intentional traffic jam. The fallout has all but scuttled Christie’s chances for the presidency in 2016. Christie, a large man, has Jupiter opposite his sun-Pluto conjunction. While not technically a New Yorker, he certainly represents some Jupiterian energy.
New York is again in the crosshairs of the Aries ingress, with Mars retrograding in the city’s first house, and the Mars station less than one degree from the city’s ascendant as Uranus hangs around the descendant. A rash of dramatic fires has hit the city, and a building explosion... stopped Metro North for a day, once again.
Still, a twelfth house eclipse got my interest, so I put the eclipse onto the chart of the city (January 1st, 1898 at midnight). The chart comparison proved to be more illuminating. The eclipse landed in the city’s second house, suggesting financial issues, and Pluto, the dispositor of the eclipse, was in the third house. My expectations were that the city’s already strained public transportation system would get even more stressed in some way. Uranus transiting in Aries was also opposite the city’s twelfth house Jupiter (hiding less than a degree behind the ascendant). That, I thought, spoke to the certain election of Bill DeBlasio, the city’s progressive new mayor who was elected just two days after the eclipse and who clearly represents a challenge to the city’s fat cat power brokers.
On December 1st, a Metro North commuter train derailed in the Bronx (within the city limits), killing four people and injuring 65. This accident was dramatic and troubling, even by the standards of public transportation in the area.
The Capricorn ingress in December of 2013 represented another challenge to the city, with the sun and the MC again in the city’s third house, with Pluto close to the IC and Mars approaching the city’s Jupiter. Surely, though, the effects couldn’t be as dramatic, and they weren’t. Yet Metro North was again affected, with a power outage stopping all service on the night of January 23rd for two hours. A federal report on Metro North was scathing in its assessment of the railroad, and by extension the Metropolitan Transportation Authority that oversees all public transportation in the area.
Yet it isn’t just the city’s public transportation, but the public’s transportation that has been affected. In what has probably been the region’s biggest story of the year, it was revealed that people working close to New Jersey Governor Chis Christie intentionally created a traffic jam for several days on the George Washington Bridge, which connects the city to New Jersey. Those who don’t live in the congested traffic of the city can scarcely appreciate the ire aroused by an intentional traffic jam. The fallout has all but scuttled Christie’s chances for the presidency in 2016. Christie, a large man, has Jupiter opposite his sun-Pluto conjunction. While not technically a New Yorker, he certainly represents some Jupiterian energy.
New York is again in the crosshairs of the Aries ingress, with Mars retrograding in the city’s first house, and the Mars station less than one degree from the city’s ascendant as Uranus hangs around the descendant. A rash of dramatic fires has hit the city, and a building explosion... stopped Metro North for a day, once again.
Allopathic Astrology
21/Mar/14 09:40
I don’t practice allopathic astrology.
That little phrase came to me yesterday while watching a TED video made by a physician (Lissa Rankin) who left the world of Western medicine to become more holistic, but found herself prescribing herbs instead of pills. While recognizing that remedies from outside - whether pills or herbs - have their place, she eventually realized that the health of the body is a reflection of the health of the mind, heart, and soul. At the deepest level, change needs to come from within.
An astrologer can offer insight into almost any situation, a description of the dynamics taking place within an individual or between people. However, to really be functional, insight has to take root within the client. That isn’t something the astrologer can do, but rather something that is up to the client almost entirely. In fact, astrologers can point in various directions, suggesting the client look here or there in order to gain some perspective on a situation, but can neither make the client see what the astrologer sees, nor fully know how it looks from the client’s perspective.
An allopathic approach to astrology would be one where the astrologer and client both assume that the astrologer knows more about the situation than the client, and so can direct it towards ‘the best possible outcome’ (whatever that is) from without. The client comes in with a set of issues and the astrologer decides what the client should do, and when.
Such an approach is ultimately disempowering for clients (although it no doubt does the astrologer’s ego some good). All of us need to make our own decisions and decide what is best for ourselves. Helpful information and a new perspective - things that astrology can legitimately offer to people - are invaluable. But each of us needs to use the information in a way that allows us to take responsibility for our own lives.
The astrologer has to maintain a nonjudgmental stance with regard to the client's situation, in order to allow them to reach their own decisions. That's one of the things I emphasize in Separating Aspects, that we don't know if a breakup or divorce will be traumatic or empowering for a client, and in fact even a very difficult period of time can be healing and an opportunity for growth.
Ironically, it is probably the expectations of the client as much as the attitude of the astrologer that often leads to an allopathic astrology. It is at the times of greatest vulnerability that we seek others' input and guidance, and are most ready to cede power and control over our lives. Avoiding that is a top priority, but admittedly tricky territory to navigate.
That little phrase came to me yesterday while watching a TED video made by a physician (Lissa Rankin) who left the world of Western medicine to become more holistic, but found herself prescribing herbs instead of pills. While recognizing that remedies from outside - whether pills or herbs - have their place, she eventually realized that the health of the body is a reflection of the health of the mind, heart, and soul. At the deepest level, change needs to come from within.
An astrologer can offer insight into almost any situation, a description of the dynamics taking place within an individual or between people. However, to really be functional, insight has to take root within the client. That isn’t something the astrologer can do, but rather something that is up to the client almost entirely. In fact, astrologers can point in various directions, suggesting the client look here or there in order to gain some perspective on a situation, but can neither make the client see what the astrologer sees, nor fully know how it looks from the client’s perspective.
An allopathic approach to astrology would be one where the astrologer and client both assume that the astrologer knows more about the situation than the client, and so can direct it towards ‘the best possible outcome’ (whatever that is) from without. The client comes in with a set of issues and the astrologer decides what the client should do, and when.
Such an approach is ultimately disempowering for clients (although it no doubt does the astrologer’s ego some good). All of us need to make our own decisions and decide what is best for ourselves. Helpful information and a new perspective - things that astrology can legitimately offer to people - are invaluable. But each of us needs to use the information in a way that allows us to take responsibility for our own lives.
The astrologer has to maintain a nonjudgmental stance with regard to the client's situation, in order to allow them to reach their own decisions. That's one of the things I emphasize in Separating Aspects, that we don't know if a breakup or divorce will be traumatic or empowering for a client, and in fact even a very difficult period of time can be healing and an opportunity for growth.
Ironically, it is probably the expectations of the client as much as the attitude of the astrologer that often leads to an allopathic astrology. It is at the times of greatest vulnerability that we seek others' input and guidance, and are most ready to cede power and control over our lives. Avoiding that is a top priority, but admittedly tricky territory to navigate.
Psychedelic Therapy and Astrology
17/Mar/14 18:11
I’ve recently been reading James Fadiman’s excellent book, The Psychedelic Explorer’s Guide, where he revisits a concept that Stanislav Grof and others have talked about before, high dose versus low dose psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy. Briefly, it shakes out like this:
High doses are great for helping people to see a much larger picture, for relativizing the value of ego and recognizing one’s identity with a larger cosmic process. Low doses are great for helping people gain insight into the dynamics of their personality, and particularly with shadow work.
Astrologically, I think we could relate this to the Saturn boundary. Low doses are within the bounds of Saturn (hence we hear about shadow work!), facilitating different ways of seeing the same issues and problems with which people have been struggling. In other words, low doses can take a person on a tour of their chart.
On the other hand, high doses are trans-Saturnian, transporting people into the realms of Uranus, Neptune, and (gulp!) Pluto, for a look at a much broader picture. To the extent that the experience relates to one’s particular life story, it tends to be liberating and reorienting towards the transpersonal (once again, the role of Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto in the chart).
Just a musing for Mercury’s entry into Pisces...
High doses are great for helping people to see a much larger picture, for relativizing the value of ego and recognizing one’s identity with a larger cosmic process. Low doses are great for helping people gain insight into the dynamics of their personality, and particularly with shadow work.
Astrologically, I think we could relate this to the Saturn boundary. Low doses are within the bounds of Saturn (hence we hear about shadow work!), facilitating different ways of seeing the same issues and problems with which people have been struggling. In other words, low doses can take a person on a tour of their chart.
On the other hand, high doses are trans-Saturnian, transporting people into the realms of Uranus, Neptune, and (gulp!) Pluto, for a look at a much broader picture. To the extent that the experience relates to one’s particular life story, it tends to be liberating and reorienting towards the transpersonal (once again, the role of Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto in the chart).
Just a musing for Mercury’s entry into Pisces...