A New Moon Eclipse in Taurus and Themes of Complex and Hidden Value

Photos: Willow

Communication planet Mercury moves into earthy Taurus early tomorrow morning (3:16 a.m. CST), joining the Sun in the sign of physical resources, material comfort, and sensual splendour.

It's Taurus season, spring in the northern hemisphere, and the strengthening Sun is stirring an urge to secure our material footing via good, old-fashioned hard work. But it's also stirring a competing desire to laze around soaking up the sunshine and filling our faces.

What's a bull to do? Work hard and then relax hard. The Taurus way.

We've officially come out of our winter slumber in the northern hemisphere, wakened by equinox, Aries season, and the cardinal Grand Cross formations. Now we're ready to dig in from fixed sign Taurus to get this show moving on down the road.

Taurus season is a time to keep our heads down, working independently, accomplishing things gradually and with sustained effort. 

Mercury and soul mate asteroid Juno will join the Sun and Moon in a conjunction in Taurus as we experience a New Moon solar eclipse at 8 degrees Taurus on April 29 (12:14 a.m.). The eclipse ramps the energy of this Taurus New Moon up a few notches, indicating:

Our mind's on our money, and our money's on our mind. To a fairly intense degree.

And it will be, to a certain extent, for the following 28-day lunar cycle.

Taurus is the sign where we work our butts off to move out of the "raw battle for bare survival" of Aries and into a more solid and secure footing in the material world.

Taurus is the sign related to stuff. Accumulation. Physical goods and resources. Comfort. Luxury.

It is a sign related to both money and value, and at this time on consumer corporatist-driven planet Earth, monetary value and inherent value are almost entirely out of whack.

The work that brings in the most money is often destructive to people, living things, communities, and environments.

Work that is absolutely crucial to the continuing of human society is undervalued or even made completely devoid of monetary value.

People who make plenty of money for the work that they do are often held up as societal success stories, yet the activities they carry out to receive that money can be morally corrupt, spiritually bankrupt, or ethically or legally criminal.

We live in a world where a majority of people desire only to jump through the hoops of the corrupt systems in order to reap the rewards for doing so. 

Reinforcement of tradition is a definite Taurus theme - even when that tradition is killing us.

As we move through the New Moon in Taurus April 29, we are opening into a new layer of understanding around the concept of value. This includes the distance between monetary value placed via fiat currency systems and the things that are truly valuable to life on this planet.

We're carving our own values out just a bit more clearly here while rejecting some of the devoid collective values that have been conditioned into us.

The Moon, Sun, Mercury, and Juno will move through their transits of Taurus and into oppositions to Saturn retrograde in Scorpio. Venus, the ruler of Taurus, will cap off the series of personal planet oppositions to Saturn in June.

Moon in Taurus opposite Saturn in Scorpio - April 29 at 9:56 p.m.
Mercury in Taurus opposite Saturn in Scorpio - May 2 at 6:56 p.m.
Sun in Taurus opposite Saturn in Scorpio - May 10 at 12:28 p.m.
Juno in Taurus opposite Saturn in Scorpio - May 28 at 5:30 p.m.
Venus in Taurus opposite Saturn in Scorpio - June 12 at 10:09 p.m.

These oppositions stir a valuing and re-valuing process along the Taurus/Scorpio polarity that has been actively underway for the past few years. This is visible work (Taurus) versus hidden work (Scorpio). Physical work (Taurus) versus emotional, psychological, sexual, energetic, or metaphysical work (Scorpio). Monetary value (Taurus) versus value that you can't place a dollar amount on (Scorpio).

I wrote about this ongoing process in a previous post:

"Scorpio works in the energetic realms - mostly hidden. Taurus works in the physical world - quite visible and what most consider "work." Taurus is a sign related to what is most commonly valued these days: money (and all the concrete things you can buy with money). Scorpio relates to complex energetic currencies...

Scorpio is a healing energy. It intuitively knows where the trouble is and gets right to work, divining and digging to trigger multi-layered release points. It isn't just treating symptoms, either. Scorpio knows it's either go deep or go home, and it puts forth immense stores of energy to go to the mat for people, driving right to the root of the problems that keep them locked up, inauthentic, programmed, and less effective than they could otherwise be.

Scorpio digs the poisoned thorns out - and if it's masterful enough, it gets them all.

But Scorpio's mastery is also it's downfall. Here's where the betrayal aspect of the sign comes into play. Scorpio is a liberating energy, an almost magical transformer of all things oppressive and stagnant and intolerable - and its emotional, psychological and psychic currency is woefully undervalued...

What Scorpio does is mostly in the energetic realms, and because so few people have developed the sight to see this type of energy work, people take it and run. Often, they take it and run right back into the same unhealthy patterns and dynamics Scorpio was expending so much energy to extricate them from in the first place...

The currencies of sexual, emotional, psychological, and psychic energy as well as masterful Scorpionic healing abilities require a conscious re-valuing and re-working, eked out one interchange at a time...

Scorpio can work in some very dank territory, navigating some of the most hellish aspects of the human experience, and not only live to tell the tale but also come out stronger for its trouble. And it can help other people do the same, should those people prove worthy of its effort. Scorpio holds ancient understanding about how to navigate some of the trickiest parts, hidden to those too freaked out or creeped out or greenhorn to delve into it. It knows how to apply energy and awareness to the neglected points and unravel people from all kinds of screwed-up messes. It can unhook people from situations that would inevitably bring about downfall. Scorpio's domain is in the hidden truths, the deep and intricate understanding of how energy works, the magic and mystery of life itself.

These abilities - to navigate where others fear to tread - are worth something. They're valuable.

[M]ost of the world is in a mad scramble to figure out just what is of value these days. Is it the dollar, the Euro, the yuan? A big, old chunk of gold, silver? Or how about the mineral rights on some (ever-diminishing) black gold?

What becomes our new dangling carrot, re-adjusted for worldwide economic corruption and collapse? A pile of paper or a lump of metal? Which credit on which computer screen becomes the most coveted of them all?

[P]eople around the world from all different cultures, previously invested fully in the legitimacy of the money systems, are starting to understand the truth about what we value. What we're taught and told to value, what we're coerced to value. How far our value systems have gotten from being related to real value. People are starting to see the money systems, the fiat currencies, the lumps of metal we're told are "worth something" for what they are - belief systems based on very little that's real, propped up by mass psychology and a very crooked, very unjust, and very deadly game...

As inflation combined with rampant unemployment and stagnant wages make money an even more ludicrous situation, it's almost impossible to reconcile how much energy people are being asked to give for so little of real value in return. (This has always been my problem with the money-energy exchange system.)

Scorpio works with energetic exchange. Energy out, energy in. Due to the hidden and misunderstood nature of what it does, Scorpio is currently working within an imbalanced reciprocity system. There's no way to make it balance completely within the current money system (How much does it cost to be busted out of a horror show of a karmic loop that saves you years of time and energy? How much do you get paid to pull someone back from the brink of living purgatory? How much is it worth to improve the conditions of a person's soul?), but there are ways, monetary and non-monetary, to make it more even than it currently is."

The oppositions of the bodies in Taurus to Saturn Rx in Scorpio indicate a time when we will have to value ourselves more highly and with more nuance than society is willing to. This is a time when we are uncovering and holding fast to our full and complex value, ensuring that it is integrated into the fabric of our lives, particularly in career.

These oppositions indicate a time period (late April to mid-June) when resources are tight, money is tight, and accumulation is difficult. We are aware of this tightness even more than usual, and this can create points of acute frustration.

Under these conditions, people will be tempted to sell themselves short, to settle for less, and to offer their work, time, and energy in situations where they are not being fully valued, seen, appreciated, or supported. The desire for progress will tempt people to enter entanglements that will ultimately leave them at a deficit.

These oppositions indicate that there is a tough balance to strike here. It involves playing chicken with security fears while buying time and holding out for what we truly need, every last step of the way.

With Saturn Rx in Scorpio involved, we have to dig deeply for the self-confidence and self-worth required to get through now, especially when we find ourselves among those not being fully valued for their complex roles in the world. (Most of us.)

Or when we find ourselves among those whose livelihoods were sacrificed to keep the machine rolling. (Many of us.)

We have to dig deeply now to grasp and validate our hidden work - the energetic work, the emotional and psychological support work, the crisis intervention work, the metaphysical magic - that we so diligently tend to, despite the devaluing of our efforts.

We have to dig deeply to ensure that we are being valued for everything we give and everything we do, even when those around us do not have the eyes to see it fully.

We hold our true value right down to our cores, and the constructs around us are forced to adjust, to step it up. 

We also have to be willing to see that hidden value in others, bringing it to the surface and to conscious awareness whenever possible.

Things are very tight on this valuing/devaluing line for the next little while.

We feel we're worth more...because we are. We're worth more than the fiat currency system says we're worth. We're worth more than any currency system, actually. We're more than a paycheque or a savings account or a pile of luxury goods or a lump of gold.

And all too often, our best qualities are being squandered.

If Taurus season teaches us anything, it's this: appreciate quality and value where you find it in others, and focus on those who appreciate the quality and value in you.

Keep it that simple, and let go of the rest.

A Series of Full Moon Total Lunar Eclipses in Aries/Libra Intensifies Relationship Re-Balancing & Re-Structuring for 2014-2015

The intensity is building ahead of the Full Moon total lunar eclipse in Libra early Tuesday morning (1:42 a.m. CST). Sizzle and spice and all things nice (and not so nice).

Relationship issues are being pushed to a head here, and it's going to be difficult to hide how we really feel about it all with Juno, the Sun, and Mercury opposing from aggressive Aries.

Communication and ideas planet Mercury in Aries is currently activating the cardinal Grand Cross formation (exact Monday, April 14), and our words and interactions have long-term ripple effects now. Make sure your tongue is fighting just the right battles.

We need to know when to speak up and exert ourselves and when to yield to others. Determining which is which under these stressed conditions is not always simple. 

Adding to the intensity of the cardinal Grand Cross-flavoured eclipse season, Pluto is stationing retrograde at 13 degrees Capricorn on April 14, as well. This indicates a greasy and nauseated energetic moulting process involving complex power issues that are also putting us on edge.

There is a strong requirement to move relations into "new era" territory now, guided by what really works for the individuals involved - rough edges and all. Fight for new life under new-era rules in your relationships, or watch things wither.

Locking ourselves into old school relationship dynamics out of fear or out of a sense of false security simply will not do.

Tuesday's eclipse is the first in a series of four Full Moon total lunar eclipses that will occur along the Aries-Libra polarity:

April 14, 2014 - Full Moon total lunar eclipse at 25 degrees Libra, opposite the Aries Sun
October 8, 2014 - Full Moon total lunar eclipse at 11 degrees Aries, opposite the Libra Sun
April 4, 2015 - Full Moon total lunar eclipse at 14 degrees Libra, opposite the Aries Sun
September 27, 2015 - Full Moon total lunar eclipse at 4 degrees Aries, opposite the Libra Sun

These are cardinal Moon eclipses, again, indicating that new direction and new social leadership will be required in relationships of all kinds throughout this period.

Things are being shaken up along the "me" versus "we" polarity, as a new relationship backdrop comes into play for the new astrological era. 

We have also entered a new, two-year personal goal cycle, being kicked off by the Mars retrograde period in Libra, where relationship direction and re-direction figure strongly. We are working out a new balance between men and women, masculine and feminine, "me" and "we," self and other. And we're doing it all within a potentially confusing and pressure-fueled collective scene.

This Mars in Libra-flavoured cycle is an intense mash-up of the Aries/Libra themes with the action planet that rules Aries being challenged by Libra themes into spring 2016.

From a previous report:

"Most people are going to want (Mars) a relationship (Libra)...This desire will be acute and even overpowering, at times.

But let's be stark-reality honest here. There are a whole lot of people on this planet that don't know which way is up right now. They don't know which way is up in their own lives, let alone when they bring another person in...

In a state of balance, Mars in Libra does know what it wants, and it likely wants togetherness and long-term relationships.

But out of balance, as transiting Mars in Libra will be at times within highly-stressful cardinal Grand Cross formation, you get some unpleasant behaviours popping up, especially socially...

Under the cardinal Grand Crosses, we are struggling with a huge amount of change, shifting, and upheaval on a grand, global scale. There is a lot of chaos - much of it orchestrated - and this affects personal relationships."

You can read more about the grand-scale relationship re-structuring being kicked off in my report for 2014. * PLEASE NOTE: * This article was released at the beginning of the year and has already been sent out to patrons:

Venus and Mars Retrograde: Cardinal Relationship Shifts and a Fight for Right Human Relations in 2014 - $15

 

Willow's DIY Punk School of Astrology & Citizen Journalism

Willow's DIY Punk School of Astrology & Citizen Journalism is now open and taking students.

Your favourite Plutonic punk/anarchist astro-reporter is available for astrology lessons and tutoring in person, by Skype, or by telephone.

I'm also available for proofreading and editing as well as lessons on journalistic writing and media deconstruction/criticism.

These lessons are available as one-time sessions or on an ongoing basis.

For more information: 

 

Willow's DIY Punk School of Astrology & Citizen Journalism

 

 

The Lunar Angles

We started this cardinal Grand Cross-flavoured month off with a bang with an Aries New Moon conjunct Uranus on March 30 that activated the first wave of the cardinal Grand Cross configurations. This was a cardinal New Moon in the first sign of the zodiac, which indicated a 28-day lunar cycle involving the forging ahead into new emotional territory. Conjunct Uranus in Aries, this involves the emergence into full individuality and self-sovereignty, and this process has its traumatic moments. Accepting who we really are in 2014 and what that really means moving forward is not a simple thing.

The Moon will re-activate the Grand Cross from the other three cardinal signs throughout the month, indicating ongoing emotional adjustments and inner progress required in relation to the dynamism, the pressures, and the rapid, out-of-nowhere movement of this month.

The Moon enters cardinal Cancer on April 5 (3:40 p.m. CST), activating the Grand Cross on April 6 and 7.

The Cancer Moon will also square the Aries Sun on April 7 (2:31 a.m.), marking the First Quarter Moon. This generally indicates a period of internal pressure which forces us to take action in some way to further the themes of the New Moon cycle. 

However, the Moon also squares Mars retrograde in Libra April 7 (6:34 a.m.) as we open into that First Quarter Moon. This Moon-Mars square is challenging and has the potential to frustrate on a fairly intense level. What we're feeling (Moon) and what we're doing (Mars) are somewhat at odds due to the broader circumstances in which we find ourselves. It's difficult to get emotional needs met under the stressed conditions, especially when they involve other people.

Recall that our fiery pal Mars is highly stressed at the moment. The action planet is in pretty much the opposite condition it prefers - retrograde, in the sign of its detriment, being pressured on all sides by the cardinal Grand Cross. Can you say "frustrated will?" Can you say "delayed action?" Can you say "under the universe's thumb?"

Emotional pressures may force us to act, but there is no guarantee that our actions will be effective or that they will take us directly to our goals. Movements made (or not made) - especially in relationship - are highly karmic this month and have ripple-effects we cannot fully predict.

The Moon enters Libra, another cardinal sign, on April 13 (2:33 a.m.), activating the Grand Cross on April 14. This does increase the possibility of us keeping our emotional cool, but the conjunction to Mars Rx in Libra (April 14 at 10:00 a.m.) makes for some antsy and irritated social energy, particularly when involving relationships with family or those who feel like family.

From there, the Libra Moon forms a super potent total Full Moon eclipse on April 14/15. Relationship themes and underlying emotions are pushed to a head here. One relational backdrop ends, and a new one is erected under pressurized circumstances. Identity, independence, and self-sovereignty - and how those things fit successfully into new-era relationship constructs - are strong themes. Under this Libra Full Moon eclipse, we are pushed to determine how we really feel about the relationships in our lives and to initiate any changes that must be made in order to support our full identities and the full identities of others.

The Moon enters the final cardinal sign of the zodiac, Capricorn, on April 19 (7:28 p.m.), joining the proceedings for the exact Grand Cross involving Uranus in Aries, Jupiter in Cancer, Mars Rx in Libra, and Pluto Rx in Capricorn on April 20 and 21. This marks Last Quarter Moon, indicating inner changes required in light of circumstances. The Moon is in its detriment - in a tough sign - in Capricorn, and the conjunction to Hades-dwelling Pluto (April 20 at 6:32 p.m.) is particularly harsh, indicating that we must maintain our responsibilities and get the job done even when the proceedings are not going exactly as we would like. This Last Quarter Moon could produce a "bitter emotional pill" or two to swallow, as well as some degree of emotional deprivation. Fun times!

The Moon will return to Aries on April 26 (4:01 a.m.) until entering Taurus April 28 (8:23 a.m.). This final cardinal Moon in Balsamic phase closes out the jam-packed lunar cycle begun March 30. We experience a New Moon solar eclipse in Taurus on April 29 (12:14 a.m.).

This month is a little hard on the emotions at times, it's true.

The pressure (emotional and otherwise) is spurring us to take action, but the action planet (Mars) is buried under some fairly adverse conditions at the moment.

The proceedings require some strong objectivity, as we are existing under conditions that are only partially in our control.

If actions or plans crap out this month, understand that further re-direction is required. If your desire for movement is thwarted, understand that your actions would not have taken you to your ultimate goal - or that the ultimate goal requires some honing.

We are being re-positioned this month within some very complex circumstances. Keeping the peace, keeping our balance, and keeping our cool are our challenges.

Dates that may require emotional re-orientation and action under pressure:

April 6/7
April 14/15
April 20/21

Venus in Exaltation to Soften the Edges

Venus enters Pisces, the sign of its exaltation, on April 5 (2:31 p.m. CST) where it will remain until May 2. This is the love, money, and relationship planet in a sign it thoroughly enjoys being in, and we love it when the love planet is enjoying itself!

Venus in Pisces taps us into the universe's love and guidance at a heart level, and it elevates our interpersonal relationships, placing them within the context of their ultimate spiritual purpose.

Venus in Pisces is soft, it's sensitive, it's sweet, it's kind, it's glowing with love and compassion for all the living creatures on this planet.

So the love is flowing this month - in interpersonal relationships, from psychic communication and connections, from dreams, from guides, and from loving spirit itself.

Venus transiting Pisces for the month of April works to soothe and smooth some of rough edges and tough angles of this cardinal Grand Cross-flavoured month - and yes, there are plenty of rough edges and tough angles to navigate.

With Venus transiting Pisces, we're more strongly aware of our personal relationship with spirit and with the loving guidance that seems to come to us when we need it most. We're tapped in to the broader spiritual meaning and purpose of some of the interpersonal connections in our lives - including the most challenging ones - and it is from this point of increased understanding that we relate.

Ultimately, the people and relationships the universe brings our way have a broader meaning. We're doing something important here on this planet - though we can sometimes lose sight of that in the day-to-day struggle - and we're here doing it together. Our hands are clasped, we walk together, though our physical bodies may be miles (or lifetimes) apart.

With Venus transiting Pisces, it is easier to grasp and to experience the spiritual purpose of human lives and relationships. We can see and sense the etheric connections that link us, that weave us into the same web of love, beauty, meaning, and togetherness.

It's true that we are experiencing levels of suffering on this planet that need not exist. It's true that we are experiencing suffering that is being intentionally brought down upon us. Because of this, this suffering seems to have no real purpose, no necessity.

Venus in Pisces helps us to see the struggles, the pain, and the suffering as part of the same whole, alleviating us from our isolated sorrow about the state of it all. Anyone with a loving heart feels sorrow about the levels of suffering being experienced on this planet, and anyone with a loving heart desires to alleviate that suffering wherever possible. This is not sorrow that anyone bears alone. With Venus transiting Pisces, we are aware of how these struggles and challenges link us to every human being that has walked this Earth and to every human being who one day will.

Our hearts are wide open when Venus is transiting Pisces, and we have to take it all - the joy, the love, the beauty, the meaning, along with the struggles, the pain, the challenges, and the disappointments.

We are also challenged, at the change of the eras, to love smarter - without detrimental self-sacrifice, without foolishness, without denial, without delusion - and these challenges are with us throughout the month. As Venus moves to a conjunction to wounded healer Chiron in Pisces on April 20, we are becoming aware of the areas where we have been too open-hearted, too trusting, too giving, too go-with-the-flow, and part of our healing process now involves tightening those areas up while applying new boundaries.

Overall, however, Venus in Pisces brings some beautiful water magic and some delightful relational flow this month.

Venus will conjunct Neptune in Pisces April 11, and our hearts are full to the brim, overcome with the beauty of these odd little lives together on this odd little planet. (Though the Moon in Virgo opposing certainly works to keep our feet on the ground. Nothing like a few irritating details from mundane life to step on that Neptune buzz!)

Lesser Benefic Venus in Pisces then forms a gorgeous trine to Greater Benefic Jupiter in Cancer on April 17. This, too, has hearts and emotions singing, as we are so very sensitive to all that is going on around us.

At the same time, Venus will sextile Pluto in Capricorn (April 18), bringing a sense of shared struggle and loving collective effort to the battle for survival on this planet in the face of capital, finance, corporate business, and Global Government run amok.

Finally, on April 24, Venus in Pisces will form a trine to Saturn Rx in Scorpio, and we gratefully surrender some of the deep, dark realities we are uncovering to their place within the whole. Under this Venus-Saturn trine, we are better able to keep an open and loving heart in the face of the intense emotional, psychological, and financial struggles we are facing on the planet. We are able to bring even the darkest and bleakest of realities back to the loving whole, back to the spiritual intent under the ultimate responsibility of God, spirit, or our higher powers.

This is a trine that can lighten the load at a time, following the exact cardinal Grand Cross April 20 - 23, when we may feel as if we are breaking under the pressure. It brings us some much-needed love. If we've given it everything we had to give, if we have not shirked, we will likely receive a loving boost from the universe here, along with some rejuvenation at the heart level that increases our gratitude for these oh-so-brief lifetimes on this planet, no matter how difficult they may be.

The underlying spiritual framework of our relationships and of our human societies is peeking at us this month in delightful ways. We may come to understand more fully how we fit into the broader web of human relationships, and we may start to see new meaning and importance in some of the small, daily interactions we often erroneously shrug off as meaningless. Those who are most invisible and taken for granted in our societies are often some of the most important players, acting as glue that holds complex webs of relationships together.

The struggles of others are tugging at our hearts this month, and we are made aware that, despite the strong sense of isolation often present these days, we do not struggle alone. We all shoulder the burdens of the human condition at this time. 

Use this Venus in Pisces transit to connect with others on a spiritually loving level, even if invisibly.

When you're feeling stressed - and oh boy, are there some stressful points this month - take a moment to check back in with the force that loves you. Under these Venus-fueled water trines, I don't believe support or assistance will be too far away. 

Understand that we are here together for such a very short time. In light of this, love each other in spite of any foibles, in spite of the pain we must endure to love one another on this planet. Forgive everything you can, but don't accept even a lick of mistreatment. Don't keep your heart wide open in areas that have brought you devastation.

Love smarter, not harder. But love, just the same.

And one final note:

Contributing to the "Venus in Pisces easing trend," communication planet Mercury moves out of Pisces, the sign of its detriment, and into Aries on April 7 (9:35 a.m.). This gets sluggish connections firing again, decreases the possibility of miscommunication and misunderstanding, and allows information and conversation to start moving in a much snappier way. 

The Patrons of Willow's Web Astrology

The underlying idea for patronage of Willow's Web Astrology is: a currency exchange. Value given for value received.

If you regularly find valuable insight and information from Willow's Web Astrology, a patronage is a way of offering value in return for that insight and information. This keeps things balanced, it keeps things fair, and it ensures that this source of valuable astrology and analysis does not become depleted. It ensures that the astrology keeps flowing from a deep, deep source.

If you are a patron, the underlying idea is that you want Willow's Web Astrology to continue, and this includes as a business.

There is an old school Piscean-era idea (now less and less relevant) that "spiritual work" should be done for free. The idea is that if you charge for your work, you are something of a scheister, a charlatan, or a swindler.

I simply have to call bullshit on that one.

Many of us doing "spiritual" work (I just call it work, by the way) must pay the same rents, the same bills, and the same expenses as those doing "less spiritual" work. (Honestly, you can see how characterizing some work as "spiritual" and some as "less spiritual" is fairly ridiculous, can't you?)

I don't live in a monastery. I don't live in a convent. I don't live in an ashram. I don't have a parsonage provided for me.

I don't have an organization to provide the basics of living to me. I provide those for myself.

It's come to my attention that some occasional readers are not aware of this fact, but astrology is my full-time business. Willow's Web Astrology is a business, and I work as a professional astrologer. I run this business according to metaphysical rules as much as by rules of the physical plane, but it is a business nonetheless.

I would never ask anyone to work for free. So why would people expect me to?

I would never expect people to charge less than their work is worth. But for some reason, my work, by its very nature, is often devalued.

A patronage is meant to cover the totality of what is provided by Willow's Web Astrology in a 365-day period. 

The idea of a patronage should not be how much extra you can get from Willow for your patronage amount.

The idea is that you are paying for the value you receive organically, without demanding anything more than what naturally comes to you.

I can only write what comes through me to write. I can't force the issue, or it could have dangerous results for me and for readers. With this blog, it has to be quality over quantity.

If you do not find that you are receiving the full value for your patronage amount, I'm sorry to hear that, but it's your responsibility to determine that and to cancel your patronage if this is the case. Astrological tastes can certainly shift over the years, and it is not uncommon for people to move on from an astrology blog, including from mine.

There are certain articles - particularly detailed, energy-intensive, and in-depth articles - for which I must charge an additional fee. This means, even if you are a much-appreciated patron of Willow's Web, you will not necessarily receive every article I write for that patronage amount. There may be the odd article that everyone has to pay for, patrons included.

I'm very highly tuned to what's fair. I'm a Libra Sun, after all. I will not charge for an article unless I know it's the right thing to do and unless I have to. If I know it's the right thing to do, however, it's fully sanctioned both on this Earth and off, and no one else has a say in it.

I thank all patrons of Willow's Web Astrology and all customers who purchase my articles. Without you, this site would not have continued - at least, not with most of the content being provided for "free."

But I also have to ensure that people are becoming patrons for the right reasons.

If you feel you aren't getting your money's worth, if you're angry that I charge for some of my work, if you're miffed that you have to pay to get full articles, or if you resent the fact that I must make a living running my business, I would kindly ask you to reconsider your patronage. There is no anger or hard feelings on my part. It's just that I only want the right energy coming in in the form of currency.

I'm doing nothing below board here. I do not feel guilty for charging what I charge. I feel that the amounts I charge for readings, for patronages, and for additional articles are fully reasonable. I have a niche audience, and please believe me when I say: I'm not getting rich doing this. Far from it. But I do need to make a basic living if I am to continue this work.

It doesn't matter to me what other astrologers are doing. I'm not other astrologers. And contrary to what some nasty pieces of work have suggested over the years, you will not find my particular brand of astrology or astrological analysis elsewhere. It's unique in the true sense of the word.

Knowing that, I will not abuse my position. I will never keep anyone on the hook or charge an excessive amount for my work.

I'm from good, old, working class prairie stock, and I understand the value of a (non-inflated) hard-earned dollar. I understand that many are going through tough financial times now. But I also understand that under the current systems people can't work for free, especially when that work is top quality and energy-intensive.

I run my business in a way that I feel is fair. I charge the smallest amount I feel is fair for the energy, time, and effort I've put out. Case closed.

I thank you for your support of Willow's Web Astrology, both financial and energetic.

I also thank those who have left wonderful comments on the site over the years, as these have provided necessary encouragement to continue through tough times.

I want Willow's Web Astrology to be a feel good enterprise with no underlying resentments or hard feelings involved.

Please know that I do my very best to provide astrological guidance and insight for these times. But I can only do my best. I can only do what is in my power to do.

The same is true for astrology readings. I do my absolute best with every reading that comes in to me. I give each one my full attention and focus, and I do the reading with the intention that it will help the individual, that it will provide the information and insight the person needs at that time (which is sometimes different from the information and insight he or she wants at that time!).

If Willow's Web Astrology is no longer doing it for you, there may be another astrologer out there who would.

No one is stuck in this Willow's Web. You are all free to come and go as your soul sees fit.

My love and gratitude to my comrades.

Peace out. 

The Cardinal Grand Cross Report

This is an excerpt from The Cardinal Grand Cross Report on the exact configuration forming April 20 - 23, 2014. It is 3,500+ words and can be purchased for $8.00.

"The Aries New Moon on March 30 (12:45 p.m.) occurs within cardinal t-square formation, conjunct revolutionary Uranus in Aries and square both Jupiter in Cancer and Pluto in Capricorn. This New Moon in the warrior sign blazes new emotional trail, kicking off an extremely potent month for new initiatives, new direction, and new leadership on multiple fronts. Successfully navigating the month of April 2014 is going to take courage, vision, and the willingness to move on from old emotional quagmire subjects. This New Moon in Aries infuses us with all this and more. 

We’re all ready for a change as spring rolls in in the northern hemisphere, so why not make it a big one?

The workplace, the home life, personal and professional relationships, and even our sense of who we are are all between the cross-hairs this upcoming month. These things are being shaped and moulded and tempered on all fronts by the pressures of the exact Grand Cross configuration, made up of two oppositions (180-degree aspects) or four squares (90-degree aspects) by bodies at 13 degrees of the cardinal signs.

New directions are being chosen or forced. New partnerships are coming into being out of desire or necessity. New power structures are being catalyzed for good or ill..."


What readers are saying about the Cardinal Grand Cross Report: 

"Willow! Wow! You have thrown a spotlight/searchlight over a minefield covered with barbed wire that I will now have consciousness to pick my way through in the coming days and weeks. To me this is absolutely awesome reporting and interpreting for what we are headed into this spring."

A Full Moon in Uber Karmic Territory Indicates a Necessary Tune-Up for Health, Diet, & Mental and Psychic Environments

Photo: Willow

We're currently moving to a Full Moon in late Virgo (26 degrees) on March 15/16 opposite the Sun in late Pisces. This area of late Virgo-Pisces is very glitchy, sensitive, and karmic territory at the best of times, and at this late hour of the astrological Piscean era, we need to be oh-so-careful with the themes stirred now.

Our systems are very sensitive at the moment, and even the smallest misstep or over-indulgence could create some undesired effects heading into this Full Moon and for the following two weeks. (Keep particular watch over the Dark of the Moon period in Pisces March 27 - 29 ahead of the Aries New Moon March 30.)

This Virgo Full Moon is the high water mark of the Pisces New Moon lunar cycle that began March 1. That Pisces New Moon occurred conjunct wounded healer Chiron, making holistic health and healing strong themes for the month of March.

With Chiron in Pisces so strongly involved in this lunar cycle, we are working with collective injury, collective dysfunction, and ripple-effect causes of ill health. We are working to sidestep the ways in which we have been collectively set up for ill health.

This Full Moon in Virgo highlights the things we are responsible for personally as far as health and wellness.

Despite what the New Age and all those "creating your own reality" types would have you believe, there is only so much we can do to overcome the layers of poison being heaped upon our systems via air, water, soil, food, toxic psychic environments, media, and energy weapons.

But at this Full Moon, we have to do whatever is in our power to do - and we have to do it right.

This Virgo Full Moon shines a light on any areas of weakness related to health, routine, and overall systemic function, and these areas of weakness are ours to tune up and ours alone.

Virgo is most often about refining things out of our systems rather than adding things in, trimming the fat in all areas. It is the final sign related purely to the self, and, in particular, to the mastery and refinement of the self and the biological system.

This Full Moon in Virgo can take on even a critically important tone, as we are currently completing the final stage of the two-year Mars in Virgo-flavoured goal cycle kicked off by the Mars retrograde in early 2012. This is our last opportunity to focus on perfecting our personal health and function before we are fully immersed in a new goal cycle being initiated by the current Mars retrograde in Libra.

We are about to be immersed more strongly in the lives and habits of other people, entering a two-year period where relating to others becomes a prime focus.

In short, we have to have our own individual systems humming, perfected, and in strong working order so that we can maintain our standards, our health, and our balance as we come more strongly into contact with others.

As the Moon grows full this week, we are looking to tighten up any areas where we have been letting things slide, where we have been a little too soft, and this can involve diet, exercise, organization, cleanliness, details, work/over-work, as well as mental and psychic environments. Bad habits and unhealthy coping techniques we have picked up through our family lines (Moon) are particularly highlighted.

Moving through this Chiron in Pisces-infused lunar cycle, we are looking at the methods we choose for escape, for self-medication, and for anesthetic purposes in an attempt to insulate ourselves from the painful issues facing us personally and as a species at this time.

We are looking to streamline and to eliminate any energy sucks that masquerade as "feel good" activities.

With Virgo, the smallest of changes produce big results.

We may be looking to eliminate television, shopping, alcohol, drugs, sugar, junk food, video games, certain web sites, fantasies, cigarettes, or the like.

Or we may be looking to apply those things only in the most proper and rightful medicinal doses.

Your body will tell you which is the case for you.

This Full Moon is a good time to analyze any emotional eating, addressing underlying feelings rather than covering them up, and applying new comforting techniques.

It is a good time to pinpoint, analyze, and re-jig any addictive behaviours we fall into when desiring escape from the pressures and pains of life on Planet Earth.

Information sources and what we put into our brains may also require tune-ups now. Just as we must limit junk food, we must also limit mental junk food. This is particularly important ahead of Mercury re-entering Pisces, the sign of its fall, on March 17 (4:24 p.m.) for a transit that lasts until April 7. Mercury in Pisces brings its own particular mental and psychic hazards, outlined in this February 3 post: Reeling it Back in Mentally, Verbally, and Psychically During an Era-Shifting Mercury Retrograde.

In light of the third anniversary of the ongoing nuclear disaster at Fukushima, Japan and the accumulation of radioactive isotopes in North American water, food, milk, and soil, here is some advice.

How to Avoid Radiation or Reduce Risks Associated with Radiation:

- Stay out of the ocean.
- Avoid sitting or walking on beaches.
- Decrease your time outdoors. Don't run or exercise for prolonged periods outdoors.
- Do not eat Pacific Ocean seafood. Consider eliminating all foods from the sea, if possible, as the contamination is not contained to the Pacific.
- Eat more foods grown in greenhouses.
- Use a Geiger counter on food items before ingesting them. However, please understand that ingestion of radioactive particles can be dangerous to health even when the background radiation levels are relatively low. A Geiger counter will show you only background levels of radiation and only some of the radioactive isotopes present may register. Uranium and Plutonium produce relatively low levels of radioactivity, but they are highly toxic to the human body.
- Stay out of falling rain and snow.
- Do not take unnecessary airplane rides, as this exposes you to high levels of radioactivity. Airline pilots, flight attendants, and celebrities have all shown increases in radiation-related illnesses since March 2011, including passing out in-flight, heart attacks in-flight, seizures, hair loss, rashes, and thyroid problems.
- Boost your immune system with vitamins and minerals (particularly Vitamin C) and natural supplements like garlic, turmeric, apple cider vinegar, dandelion, and the like.
- Consider an iodine supplement to protect your thyroid like J.Crow's Lugol's solution, which is derived from mined crystals, not from seaweed. 
- Have "outside clothes" and "inside clothes." Don't bring shoes or clothing into your home that have been exposed to the outdoors.
- Take baths with baking soda in the water.
- Consider activated charcoal or bentonite clay to remove other toxins, taking stress off your body.
- Drink water filtered by reverse osmosis with added minerals.
- Use your intuition and follow your guidance about how to stay as safe as possible.  

How to Avoid Genetically Modified Organisms in Food: 

 

The major genetically modified food crops currently being grown are corn, soybeans, canola, and beets for beet sugar.

If you'd like to avoid genetically modified organisms as best you can, avoid all corn, soybean, canola, and sucrose products. This includes things like maltodextrin and lecithin, which are derivatives used in processed foods. Unfortunately, even organic varieties of corn, soybean/soy, canola, or sucrose (beet sugar) cannot be guaranteed 100% GMO-free at this point. Unlabelled GM sweet corn (corn on the cob) is also being sold at supermarkets currently.

Soy and corn are often used as livestock feed, so avoidance of conventional meat, eggs, and dairy is required, as well. Certified organic meat/dairy/eggs or the purchase of products directly from a farmer who you know does not feed GM feed are options for eating as GMO-free as possible.

Other GMO crops include papayas and cotton. There are currently plans to release GM salmon - the first genetically modified animal for human consumption - as well as a GM non-browning apple. 

Another issue involves the commercial planting and growth of GM alfalfa, which began in the United States in 2011, with plans to grow it commercially in Ontario and Quebec in Canada as early as this year. GM alfalfa is the first ever genetically modified, feral, perennial plant released in North American history. Its spread and contamination of the natural alfalfa crop have already begun. Alfalfa is used as livestock feed (hay), so this affects meat, eggs, and dairy directly. Alfalfa is also used as fertilizer in organic agriculture and as the field transition crop from conventional-to-organic. We must ultimately end the sale and growth of GM alfalfa if we are to maintain any semblance of GMO-free agriculture or any certified organic soil.

The Moon enters Virgo on Friday, March 14 at 8:17 a.m. CST. It opposes Neptune in Pisces at 7:41 p.m. that evening. It then moves into an opposition to wounded healer Chiron in Pisces at 12:02 p.m. on March 15. The Virgo Full Moon at 26 degrees will be exact at 11:08 a.m. on March 16.