Applying the Venus-Mars in Virgo "Relational Editor" Energy and a Reminder of Mars in Virgo Hot or Nots

As mentioned in a previous article, relationship planets Venus and Mars are currently traveling through the zodiac in a conjunction in Virgo (exact October 5 at 19 degrees). This indicates that a little editing, fine-tuning, or tightening up may be required in our relations with others. 

The application of heightened discernment, stronger filters, and higher standards (Virgo) in relationships of all kinds (Venus-Mars) is a theme.

Transiting Venus and Mars in Virgo are currently forming oppositions to Neptune in Pisces, and both bodies form oppositions to wounded healer Chiron in Pisces next month (exact October 10 -  15).

This brings up the possibility for some direct contact with "Neptunian shitbag" behaviours with a requirement to filter these out, making them fully unacceptable in our lives and in our relationships. 

As we are now hurtling headlong into the astrological era of Aquarius, these behaviours may be less prevalent or at least, a little harder to pinpoint than when we were in full-on tail-end Piscean era. 

At the same time, the slippery flakiness, charm, and shitbaggery that can be associated with Neptune/Pisces do rear their ugly heads, and Venus-Mars in Virgo is a great time to out this stuff, outsmart it, and quietly demand better.

As stated in the previous article, "Mars relates to desire, and in Virgo, only those with shit together - and with a history of having shit together - need apply."

(Again, this involves relationships of all kinds, not just romantic ones.)

As a little humourous yet reality-based reminder of the Neptunian shitbaggery to be on the lookout for, I will re-post an excerpt from an article from December 1, 2011, titled "Mars in Virgo Hot or Nots." This article was written just prior to the last Mars retrograde in Virgo (January to April 2012):

"Warning: This article contains an extraordinary number of occurrences of the word "shit" as well as derivatives of the word "shit." Proceed only if scatological references in relation to human behaviour do not offend...

I saw the 2008 film The Wrestler a few weeks ago, and the main character in the film illustrated the Piscean/Neptunian shitbag quite well. You know the kind.

It's a person who, on one hand, is deeply wonderful, gentle, compassionate, loving, sensitive, human, spiritually-aware - a person who can feel oh-so-good to be around, who has so much potential! This is a person who seems to know you on a special level, who can touch your heart in profound ways.

And then, on the other hand, the person's a shitbag.

The guy in the movie was an aging professional wrestler who was in many respects a lovely man. He was funny, giving, compassionate, a real mentor for up-and-coming wrestlers. He was exciting, sexy, interesting, and he could waltz.

He was also a shitbag. He abandoned his daughter when she was little, preferring to immerse himself in the cheering crowds and artificial (highly Neptunian) world of professional wrestling. He spent his money on alcohol, drugs, and lap dances, screwing random women still hot for his fading star. He lived in past glory, trying to outrun the requirements of the present. He made promises he didn't keep. He let people down. When the going got tough, he cut and ran, taking the easy way out and slipping out of his responsibilities.

The reality didn't live up to the hype - a big Neptune theme.

We've all seen or experienced Neptune at work in relationship. ("But I loooove him!") Neptune glosses over all the shitbag behaviours, leaving only the wonderful. If Neptune is strong enough, it's as if the shitbag behaviours don't even exist. They're invisible, dimmed dramatically by the shining, glowing, rosy light of the wonderful qualities Neptune insists are the whole story.

The shitbag behaviours are skimmed over and forgiven almost immediately, without holding the individual accountable, and nothing changes. It's the same cycle over and over again: shitbag behaviour, disappointment and hurt, forgiveness, being awash with Neptunian love; shitbag behaviour, disappointment and hurt, forgiveness, being awash with Neptunian love...

The damage keeps being done, keeps accumulating, and Neptune keeps covering it all over, focusing only on the lovey dovey goodness.

Until the point comes where enough is enough, and the cycle absolutely has to be broken. It takes a while to get there, but this is where we are now.

There are many deeply-ingrained Piscean era cycles to be, once and for all, broken, cleaned up, and transitioned out of as Mars moves through...Virgo, and they're holding on with a great deal of subtlety and tenacity.

This isn't just straight-up, easily identifiable Neptunian shitbag we're dealing with here, as in The Wrestler. This is immersed into the scene, woven into the energetic fabric. This is a multitude of subtle variations. This is even just the energetic impression of shitbag with little to no identifiable behaviour.

The Neptunian gloss is potent stuff, crystallized and unquestioned in many cases. People have been getting away with this stuff for a good long while...

If we assist it, Mars in Virgo will cut through the gloss in a valiant attempt to address fatal character flaws and make things right through and through. Virgo relates to personal development, and Mars does battle on the fine points here...

For a little helpful guidance on this front, here are some Mars in Virgo HOT or NOTS:

HOT: A person who will defer sex until the right time and the right conditions out of respect for the health and well-being of both parties.

NOT HOT: Someone slobbering in your ear and getting all hot and bothered when you're basically still at handshake stage.

HOT: A person who puts effort into learning the details about you, what you like and don't like, and then applies it precisely.

NOT HOT: Discovering someone you've been dating for weeks can't pronounce your last name correctly.

HOT: People who run their lives like well-oiled machines who would be scandalized if they bounced a cheque.

NOT HOT: Flaky, floaty, space cadets who routinely bounce cheques (if they even have a bank account) and live in a state of constant chaos that spills over into the lives of other people.

HOT: Finding a new boyfriend or girlfriend with carefully cultivated associations and influences who has no problem weeding out detrimental ones. This person has been anticipating you and has created a place that is just right for you in his/her life.

NOT HOT: Discovering your new boyfriend comes with a string of: old exes who call regularly in some variety of life crisis, hard-up buddies looking for a place to crash, down-and-out family members asking for money, slightly obsessive old flames who still have a thing for him, and various shady types always involved in some type of not-quite-above-board situation, bringing you into contact with people you would choose not to be around otherwise. Discovering the place he has created for you is a dirty mattress on the unwashed floor that you have to share with the sleeping-it-off ex-girlfriend of his high school best friend.

HOT: Someone who shows his desire for you by keeping bills up to date, dishes washed, floors vacuumed, and laundry folded, thereby removing stressors so energy can be directed into more *ahem* extracurricular-type activities.

NOT HOT: Someone who forgets his wallet at home, leaves dirty dishes strewn around, and thinks the hamper is wherever his clothes happen to fall. I know a few slobs, and I love them, but I'm here to advise that slobbing is NOT HOT under Mars in Virgo.

HOT: Moderation, temperance, practicality, humility, modesty, earthiness, focused drive and self-direction, attention to detail, awareness of the fine points.

NOT HOT: Escapism, substance abuse, chaos, pie-in-the-sky ideas, ineffectiveness, weak will, scattered energies, being excessively impressionable and easily led astray, allowing oneself to be tossed around by the circumstances of the day.

HOT: Living simply and within one's means.

NOT HOT: Financial over-extension, frivolity, living on (bad) credit.

HOT: A person who has developed a level of self-control and self-mastery.

NOT HOT: Someone looking to be taken care of.

HOT: Taking full responsibility for half-assed behaviour, rectifying it immediately.

NOT HOT: Making vague, weaselly excuses for half-assed behaviour and then continuing it.

HOT: Saying you're going to do something and doing it, on time.

NOT HOT: Saying you're going to do something but then consulting your psychic who tells you not to do it unless six particular signs as well as a white eagle's feather show up within fourteen days. Staying in a state of "tortured" limbo for months, hashing it over ad nauseum with every person you know to the point that people start avoiding your ass."

Venus will be in Virgo until October 14, 2017 and Mars will be in Virgo until October 22. The Venus-Mars conjunction occurs at 19 degrees Virgo on October 5. So if you recognize yourself on the NOT HOT list, you have some time to move yourself onto the HOT list. And if you recognize yourself on the HOT list, congratulations on being a hot commodity!

Jupiter in Tail-End Libra and a Final Propulsion into New-Era Dynamics of Relating

We've just passed through fall equinox in the northern hemisphere as the Sun entered Libra (September 22), the sign of the scales, indicating equal hours of day and night. 

There is a momentary pause in the action and busyness for us to take a breath and see where we stand, particularly in relation to others and to the world around us. 

Greater Benefic Jupiter is completing its transit of relationship and justice-oriented Libra at this time and forms a final exact opposition to Uranus in Aries on September 27 (9:25 p.m. PDT), just as Pluto stations direct at 16 degrees Capricorn September 28 (12:36 p.m.) and Venus in Virgo opposes Neptune in Pisces September 29 (5:11 p.m.). (Mars in Virgo opposes Neptune in Pisces September 25 at 12:49 p.m.)

This astrological context indicates a final propulsion into new-era dynamics and rules for relationships and social scenes, one final surge past the sticky, tricky tendrils of karmically-loaded Piscean-era relating that will not bring us desired results as we move forward.

The current astrological context indicates that there is some stuff to clear in our relationships and in our dynamics of relating now - some old Piscean-era stuff that, if continued, will not create the healthy and loving relations and connections we desire. 

As Pluto stations direct, we're doing the big purge, shedding skins, moving through a process of energetic moulting and streamlining. As we move to the dark half of the year, we're dropping the non-essentials. We're dropping the drama. We're dropping the excess charge. (Ain't nobody got time for that!) We're dropping the weight of things that we do not have the strength or energy to continue carrying or dealing with or putting up with.  

We may have to reality check ourselves a little on this front, being brutally honest about any areas of emotional or energetic over-extension. With Pluto so strong in the zodiac, we may be tempted by "moth-to-flame" scenarios that have burned us in the past, and we're battling our own inner fascinations, compulsions, and desires at this time as much as anything.

With the combination of the Jupiter-Uranus and Venus-Neptune oppositions occurring at the time of the Pluto direct station, we're dropping the dead carcasses of Piscean-era ideals, fantasies, and dreams, as well as old rules around what other people "should" do in relation to us and how love and relationships "should" be.

From a previous article:

"Pisces is known for the heroic lengths it will go to in order to long and pine and sigh and hurt and torture itself over ideas and ideals of love and over the projected object of its affection.

Old school Pisces wants complete immersion in love and in a loved one. Always. And forever. It wants to be wrapped up in a cocoon of unending love, adoration, and support from the universe and from other people. It wants to do a continual backstroke in the auric field of the one it desires. Blissful communion and spiritual ecstasy with nothing reality-based that might burst its bubble.

But we're moving on from that as the dominant ideal for love. Those things exist in love, certainly, but they are no longer the singular ideal for which we are holding out.

Jupiter in Scorpio: Wisdom Drawn from the Still Depths of the Soul

Jupiter in Scorpio: October 10, 2017 to November 8, 2018 

This 5,000+-word article delineates and interprets the year-long Jupiter in Scorpio transit. It is available to Willow's Web Astrology patrons, or it can be purchased for $10.50 by PayPal or email money transfer.

Until the end of 2017, all new patrons will receive the Saturn in Capricorn article as a bonus ($11.25 value).

The Diminishing and Marginalization of "Those Types" of Astrologers Within the Astrology Establishment

A couple days ago, I was urged to share a link to my recent article, "Hurricane Harvey, the Total Solar Eclipse, and This Era of Unnatural Disaster," on a Reddit.com astrology board. Reddit, as most people know, is a public message board site. 

This is not something I normally do. I've actually never posted a link to my articles on Reddit, and I don't frequent the site. Another astrologer kindly posted some of my articles there a few years ago, and I believe I made two comments in total at the site before now.

The link to my article stayed up at the Reddit astrology page for a couple hours. I could see on my StatCounter that people were navigating to my site from the link.

But soon after, the link I posted disappeared from the page.

So I posted it again.

Again, it was deleted.

I thought maybe it was stationing Mercury that was messing with me and asked a friend to check the site for my link. She couldn't find it, either. 

I wanted to know if this was censorship based on the subject matter of the article (which was certainly astrological in nature, involving a fair amount of transit and astrological research) or whether this was a general blackballing of me as an astrologer.

So I tested the waters, posting a link to this other recent article, "The Push for Standardized Astrological Education As a Pluto in Capricorn-Era Control Mechanism." 

In it, I outlined a level of discrimination I've experienced and felt against self-taught intuitive astrology (the type of astrology I practise) coming from the astrological establishment. 

The experience I had after posting this link amusingly (and aggravatingly) illustrates exactly what I'm talking about, which I will share here.

Posting the second article had an immediate large and backlash-y reaction with a few people shit-swarming me in the comments section. This included a couple of the more establishment-friendly astrologers trying to dominate my perspective out of existence.

"Your experience is not your experience because I say it's not and because I haven't experienced that myself, so that means it's not happening." 

(Is this what they call gaslighting?)

I was called "hostile," "skewed," "dogmatic," "objectively incorrect," and was said to be promoting a "narrative that is garbage," among other pleasantries. 

All this because I refused to be brainwashed out of my own 15+ years of experience, and I refused to be bullied into accepting their more establishment-friendly reality in place of my own.

One commenter seemed to be particularly incensed by my article and perspective, launching into paragraphs-long commentary trying to dominate my viewpoint out of existence. In his mind, his experience as a more establishment-accepted astrologer negated my (very different) experience. The classic, "I haven't experienced that, so it doesn't exist" thing. 

It's common for the dominant paradigm to insist that it is the only paradigm - or the only paradigm that really matters. 

This commenter said full-on that he believed it was correct that astrologers whose work involves conspiracy research should be censored from that message board. That was fairly mind-boggling to me. Then in the second breath, he demanded to know what made me think he was more establishment-friendly than I am. (You can't make this stuff up, folks.)

Another commenter turned his nose up at sociopolitical astrology ("exhausting!") and stated his preference that astrology be just a "fun personal interest." (This view, depressingly, probably represents 90% of all astrology enthusiasts these days...)

Excessively-long comment section shitstorm short, it turns out that the guy who was so obsessively trying to force his establishment-friendly views down my throat was the moderator who censored my article in the first place! Ah, it all makes sense now.

Except, he claims it's not censorship and that, again, I am pretty well a wingnut if I think that is the case.

The stated reason for my article being deleted (twice) from the Reddit astrology board:

"Resources that discuss conspiracy theories are discouraged in much the same way we discourage palmistry, numerology, and general occult things like that."

So in a fit of absolute and utter cosmic perfection and beauty, we see a clear example of the type of marginalization of "certain astrologers" within the astrology establishment that I wrote about in the article and that I then reiterated in the comments section of that article. 

As this guy is so vehemently insisting that I'm making all this up and this discrimination/experience/perspective does not exist, he is illustrating the very dynamics about which I'm writing.

The reason the article had such a huge and backlash-y response from these people is that it hit the nail squarely on the head. 

Now, none of the astrologers I know are opposed to palmistry, numerology, tarot, psychic abilities, conspiracy research, etc. It would actually seem insane to us, as astrologers, to be opposed to these things. If we aren't into them ourselves, we're certainly not going to make it our mission to discredit them and stamp them out - so long as they're being legitimately practised by ethical people. And opposing "general occult things?" Astrology itself is considered an occult subject!  

If this is the policy of that Reddit astrology page, they need to make that bias known up front by stating it as a rule on the front of the page. 

As I said in the article on forced standardized education/certification, I don't mind being treated like a second class citizen. What I mind is not knowing why I'm being treated that way. What I mind is everyone pretending it's not going on, pretending everything is so inclusive and evolved, when the reality of how things function is far from that.

This Reddit moderator is taking his cues from the astrology establishment, which believes that it has to distance itself from "those types" of astrologers in order to gain mainstream acceptance (and salaries). 

This type of discrimination against and marginalization of intuitive astrology and astrologers (which, yes, could also involve things like palmistry, numerology, psychic abilities, divination tools, conspiracy research, etc.) is unfortunately far from uncommon within the astrological establishment. 

Well, I'm one of "those types" of astrologers. The astrologers I roll with are "those types" of astrologers. The astrologers I respect are "those types" of astrologers. And we're one potent motherfucking crew. We exist. We practise astrology; we do readings; we write; we teach; we speak; all from that potent motherfucking perspective that only we can bring.

And the astrology establishment is just going to have to get over it. Pretending we don't exist or pretending that we're just "secondary astrologers," marginalizing and shutting out our practise of astrology while pretending this is not going on - it's all so very, very last era.

And it's all very clearly a Pluto in Capricorn-era control mechanism, a power move designed to create prestige and financial reward (Capricorn) for those who play the game while diminishing and shutting out those who do not.

Let's bring it all out into the open, friends. Jupiter in Scorpio is on its way. 

Hurricane Harvey, the Total Solar Eclipse, and This Era of Unnatural Disaster

Considering what we know about weather warfare and geoengineering, we have to seriously question whether Hurricane Harvey was an intentionally-created or -enhanced storm. Harvey devastated Houston, Texas and many other areas of the state as Saturn stationed direct at 21 degrees Sagittarius on August 25, following the total solar eclipse at 28 degrees Leo on August 21. 

[The next total solar eclipse that will be fully visible in North America occurs on April 8, 2024 at 19 degrees Aries. This is being referred to as the Great North American Eclipse, visible in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, and we can expect more orchestrated events around this time.] 

The related flooding is something that has never been seen before in U.S. history. It is being called a 1,000-year flood, with an estimated 100,000 homes and 1 million vehicles destroyed. People's lives have been detrimentally disrupted for years and potentially decades to come.

Houston is the home of former U.S. President and known member of ruling elite secret societies, George Bush, and this fact sticks out to me like a sore thumb.

We're in an era when the powers-that-be are creating "biblical" unnatural catastrophes that are then blamed purely on climate change or other factors. ("Revelations is coming true!")

Unprecedented rainfall and flooding, as well as extremely violent storms, have been experienced around the world with increasing intensity over the past decade. Even before Harvey, the United States had been hard hit with recent massive floods. 

This all plays into the distorted symbolism being intentionally manifested and played out as we shift astrological eras. 

The deluge myths that are being played upon now with these man-made events are cross-cultural, not limited to Noah's Ark in the Christian Bible. From a January 16, 2011 article, "Jupiter at Tail-End Pisces, the Deluge Myths and the Implanting of the Serpent":

"Fragments of cross-cultural deluge myths are suddenly becoming (sur)reality as we traipse through fin-de-Pisces - set off as part of the long-term plan by a version of "God" that is strictly man-made and a version of life on Earth that is strictly symbolic...

If we hone in on North America and the Lenni-Lanapi or Delaware River Indians' version, after the deluge, a period of snake-worship is secretly brought to Earth. Under worship of the God of the snakes, Wakon, this period brings evil, crime, unhappiness, bad weather, death. Just what the doctor ordered for those looking to rid the Earth of 'excess' humanity while controlling the remainder."

If you think weather modification, control of the weather, and weather warfare are strictly wack job conspiracy theory, think again: John F. Kennedy, Jr. spoke about the ability to control the weather to the United Nations General Assembly in 1961. You can't get much more official than that.

Saturn Inches Forward in Publishing-Related Sagittarius

As Saturn (consolidation, concrete efforts) inches forward in publishing-related Sagittarius, I have a few interesting things to report.

First, the wonderful Jeremiah Moss, author of the fabulous Jeremiah's Vanishing New York blog, now has a book out titled, "Vanishing New York: How a Great City Lost its Soul." You can check it out online here, but it is being widely distributed and sold, so check your local book shops. (Jeremiah would encourage local, independent book shop patronage!)

For the past ten years, Jeremiah has chronicled the horrifying gentrification of the Lower East Side of New York City, in particular the doubling and tripling of rents on retail spaces to make room for stores, restaurants, and pubs directed toward the rich and trendy. This practise has put hundreds (thousands?) of much-loved and much-patronized small businesses out of business or forced them to move out of their neighbourhoods. This practise has changed the entire landscape of New York City (not just in the Lower East Side), removing a lot of the heart and soul and quirky independence by which it was once characterized.

Jeremiah lovingly documents the vanishing businesses of the Lower East Side - that so many people patronize and love - before they disappear. And I love him for it!

(Aside: I also love Jeremiah's Vanishing New York blog because it's still a blogspot. Blogspots represent!)

The hyper-gentrification Jeremiah has so heartbreakingly and painstakingly chronicled in New York City for the past 10 years is a ubiquitous Pluto in Capricorn-era theme, displacing people from homes and businesses around the globe.

It's the abusive and coercive power of all mighty fiat currency  - a type of phony and corrupted power too often worshiped on Planet Earth and never so blatantly as during the Pluto in Capricorn years (2008 - 2024).

Entire cities are being re-made as playgrounds for the rich and trendy, driving rents and real estate prices up to the point that lower income people are forced out. Make no mistake about it - it's socioeconomic cleansing, a fundamental characteristic of the Pluto in Capricorn agenda.

My own beloved Art of My Heart store (seen to the left in its second - and more orderly - incarnation on the ground floor of the mall) was gentrified out of the TD Square Mall in Calgary, Alberta in 2009. This beautiful, soulful, independent, and utterly unique store was pushed out by the Pluto in Capricorn steamroller to make way for such thrilling and unique high-end chain stores as Brooks Brothers. 

The end of Art of My Heart broke my own heart into a million pieces and threw my life into a state of chaos. At the same time, I knew that what happened there was going on all over the place. The owner and I were far from alone in our unceremonious displacement. 

This article is from May 23, 2009, at the point when I realized Art of My Heart was dead and that it wouldn't be resurrecting in a new location due to sky-high rents all over the city. The article is full of grief and rage and Plutonic horror, and it's bang-on as far as what was going on (and is still going on) and what it was doing to the people involved.

"R.I.P. Art of My Heart":

"I'm just waiting. Inside the fortress that is me. The only place that feels good.

I'm waiting for this wave of hyper-gentrification to run out of steam, so that I can properly assess the situation. At the moment, even walking down the street feels like a blast from an overexposed dystopic imagery furnace. Fake light and happy, grinding its pointy high heel into my eye. A nouveau rich nightmare. Teenagers in brand new, sickeningly overpriced clothes designed to look "lived in." Street-tastic! Carrying Chanel purses (yes, high schoolers with Chanel), cell phones and iced coffees.

They look straight out of the pages of InStyle (Star/People/US Weekly) magazine, so I can see why they feel entitled. That takes a lot of effort. 

Mount Royal Starbucks where you'll get the snobby once-over just for going in to get a take-out coffee. They can sniff out non-upper-mid-class-yuppie status.

 It's a fucking wasteland. Sorry, but it is. 

The so-called alternative crowd drinking overpriced beer, eating overpriced breakfasts in pseudo-retro diners, sitting around in carefully chosen "styles" being all alternative and shit. Talking about how to market their band. Hoping to be noticed, to get famous. Even the indy crowd in this town has this marketing veneer lacquered over everything. 

No one just living their lives. It's all an agenda. Gotta be someone. Gotta get somewhere. Gotta play the game. 

Calgary, Alberta. Schlepping phony Western Canadiana for kicks, but the mean, mean underlying vibe is always there. Vicious millionaires bulldozing soulful establishments and people's livelihoods in favour of clean, cleansed luxury for its clean, cleansed luxury-deserving patrons. A city run by and for young souls. You can throw in a few newly-minted mature souls just to give it that fake "artsy/cultured" thing. Garbage. Trying to lure the people who don't know any better into dropping their money on overpriced drinks and food, clothing and accessories. Paying for fake experiences with fake money.

The downtown mall has kicked all the real stores out in favour of luxurification plans handed down by Torontonian property management overlords.

Brooks Brothers is coming to town! How thrilling. 

Spaces are empty all over town. All over the country. All over the world. Bulldozed livelihoods. Lost our lease. Lost our lease. We're closing shop. And in a way, the independents are relieved. Because trying to keep your head above water in this increasingly corporatized climate is bloody exhausting. They tighten the vice little by little. Priced out. Squeezed out. And when the death of the business finally comes, it's accepted with a sigh. 

And so I wait for the bulldozer to run out of gas. Or to at least take a fucking coffee break. 

I can see it starting. "Luxury" stores aren't lining up to fill those empty spaces. The spots are sitting empty. Stalled monster condo projects all over town. Massive, gaping holes left in the ground with fences all around. They got ahead of themselves, trying to build on phony foundations.

And here I sit. I'm not sure what things are going to look like or if there will ever be a place I can stand being in again. 

Art of My Heart is dead. And every fucking brainless weasel in this town can go to hell."

My little beading zone at the second incarnation of Art of My Heart, TD Square Mall, downtown Calgary, Alberta

(All Art of My Heart articles)

The funny thing was that after the richy-rich gentrification of much of Calgary, the oil bust came along! They poured millions into renovating the TD Square mall, putting in fancy sky lights, and booting all the independent retailers in favour of high end chains. And then people couldn't afford to shop there anymore!

From what I hear, downtown Calgary has been pretty much a ghost town for the past number of years - compared to the oil boom days, anyway. That city really could have used the oasis of soul that Art of My Heart provided. They blew it!

Second of my publishing-related announcements: my recent article on Leslie Demeniuk and pharmaceuticals-caused violent crime has been published in the Ripe with Rage zine out of Nashville, Tennessee. You can check the 80-page zine out here. This is the second issue of the Ripe with Rage zine and has a theme of Asylum.  

My own self-published zines are also available in some interesting places at the moment. They can be found at Spartacus Books in Vancouver, B.C., at Camas Books in Victoria, B.C., or at the University of Victoria Zine Library. 

I have to say, I'm most excited about the zine library. When my own local library accepted Hexagon Astrology Magazine onto its shelves, I had a little 'squee' of delight, and when I noticed that someone had actually checked it out, that 'squee' was magnified even further.  

 WWA zines

My own zines are also available online through this blog or through my Etsy shop. 

My efforts will continue to be focused on writing articles for the blog and for WWA patrons, but it's nice to have a physical medium to work with like zines. They create some cross-pollination and get the writing to people who may not come across it otherwise.

 

Saturn Direct with Dispositor Jupiter in Some Juicy Territory

 Photos: Willow

The engine for concrete progress in the material world, Saturn, turned direct early this morning at 21 degrees Sagittarius, and we're ready to take on a new chunk of growth, development, and achievement in the public sphere. Plans slowly start to solidify and take form. Our positions have been fortified, and we're now setting our sights on the next leg up the mountain.

Saturn will now move through the last decan of Sagittarius in one sweep before entering its own sign of Capricorn at December solstice. More on the Saturn in Capricorn transit is available in this article, "Saturn in Capricorn: An Astrological Overview for Long-Term Strategic Planning."

We're ready for one final push toward achievement and greatness in the sign of scholarly Sagittarius, structuring our lives according to our own truth and guiding philosophies, making commitments and decisions under the ultimate authority of our own wisdom and knowledge.

Achievements in academia, medicine, law, or publishing are particularly highlighted, but again, the greatest Saturn in late Sagittarius achievement may be the commitment to living by our own truth, our own ethics, and our own philosophies, even when they are not aligned with those of the society or collective around us. 

There's a bit of a shake-up indicated in the status-quo-as-you-go as Saturn moves through the last leg of Sagittarius, and our wild-and-free spirits lead the way on this.

The dispositor (key influence) of Saturn in Sagittarius is Jupiter, currently transiting relationship, society, and justice-oriented Libra. 

Jupiter in Via Combusta Libra is heading into some mighty juicy territory as Saturn gets going direct again in Sagittarius, and this indicates some sparkle and flash in the social/relational realms this September.

You may recall from previous articles that Jupiter in Libra is currently in air-fire kite formation with Mars in Leo, Uranus in Aries, and Saturn in Sagittarius. This kite will be activated again by transiting Venus in Leo September 12 - 17.

Jupiter in Libra is also just about to form its final opposition to Goddess of Discord Eris at 22 degrees Aries (September 1 - 5), which brings Eris themes strongly into the kite formation party. This contact to Eris brings up the potential for some social discord and shuffling over the next month, and we have a re-triggering of themes from this February 15, 2017 article, "Necessary Discordant Notes as Uranus Makes Its Final Conjunction to Eris in Aries":

"The most well-known story about Eris involves a big social snub. Eris was not invited to a prominent wedding that was going on, despite the fact that all of Olympus had been invited. The social roster was not complete. Eris had been shut out of the proceedings. As a result, the big smiles and boisterous glad-handing were too phony for her to bear, and she stirred up some drama at their little party to make things seem more fair.

Queen Shit Disturber, that one is.

A Neptunian Mercury Retrograde in Virgo: Refining the Channel From the Spiritual to the Material

This article is available in its entirety to Willow's Web Astrology patrons. If you regularly find value in the writing and interpretations here, please consider becoming a patron. Patrons receive full articles to their email inboxes that are not available on the blog, as well as other fun offers throughout the year. Patronage ensures that WWA will continue through these bumpy and amazing times on Planet Earth. 

An excerpt from the article:

The friction I run into with most anarchist groups is that I consider anarchy a way of being, a way of life that naturally occurs, rather than a political movement or a scene. So right off the jump, there's a difference in the way I define and understand things.

There's much talk in anarchist circles about the supposed failure of the "anarchist movement," and I've never understood this. How can a way of life and a way of being inherent in most people (non-hierarchical, non-coercive free association; running our own lives; making our own decisions; helping those who need it; do-it-yourself problem-solving on individual and societal levels) be a failure?

There is also much talk in these circles about what people "should" do in order to be considered a "real anarchist."

"If you don't trainhop, shoplift, and live out of dumpsters, you're not a true anarchist."

"If you don't live in a squat, hop from summit to summit, and bust out Starbucks windows on the regular, you're not a true anarchist."

"If you pay rent and bills and have some sort of employment that pays you money, you're not a real anarchist."

"If you aren't involved in the ___________  issue/protests, you aren't a real anarchist."

I've even seen the question posed: "Can someone be called an anarchist if he/she doesn't interact with other anarchists?"

It's mind-boggling to me that that would even be called into question, that that would be yet another scene-imposed "requirement" to being a "real anarchist."

This type of posturing is bizarre to me (perhaps driven by teens and early twenty-somethings?) because there is no policing of behaviour/lifestyle/actions and there is no moulding of oneself to the dictates of the group with true anarchy/anarchism - not with my version, anyway. In my mind, trying to enforce a certain lifestyle or a certain set of political views on an entire group of people is antithetical to anarchy. (IE. non-coercive, non-controlling, non-authoritarian, each person is in charge of him or herself)

Recently, with Mercury in Virgo opposite spirity-weirdy Neptune in Pisces, I had an odd moment where my computer basically sent me, of its own volition, to an anarchist site that I'd had both rewarding and frictional interactions with in the past. I found the commentary of one particular individual interesting because it described the difference in definition that I've outlined above.

Long story Virgoan-short, I came to realize that my version of anarchist is more an adjective or adverb describing a way of being, while the other version, more often used in “the scene,” considers anarchist a noun, a definite thing, a concrete label, an identity that has come to be associated with these certain lifestyle markers (all the "shoulds") that I find so aggravating.

This may seem like a small distinction - and it is.

(The only real reason I declare myself an "anarchist astro-reporter" is to give people fair warning as far as what my writing/stance is going to be like. It heads off misunderstandings and social friction.)

But this small distinction removes me from much of what I find problematic with the "anarchist scene." We are working with different definitions, and understanding this small distinction saves me (and those I come into contact with) a lot of unnecessary frustration. 

These are the types of small distinctions and refinements that we can expect to make with Mercury retrograde in Virgo.

Chiron in Late Pisces: Spiritual Solidarity with Leslie Demeniuk and Those Unjustly Imprisoned, Past, Present, and Future

Photos: Willow

This is a call for spiritual solidarity with Leslie Demeniuk and for all those unjustly imprisoned on Earth, past, present and future. 

Leslie is a 48-year-old woman currently serving life in prison without the possibility of parole at Lowell Correctional Institution, a women's prison in Ocala, Florida.

(Lowell Correctional Institution has been described as "a special hell for women," where it is common for female inmates to die under suspicious circumstances. There have been accusations by prisoners of sexual exploitation, beatings, and torture of inmates by guards.)

Leslie is a victim of the pharmaceuticals industry – of their dangerous and deadly drugs, of their lies, of their cover-ups, and of their diabolical greed, which places profit over human life. Leslie is a victim of the patriarchal hierarchy known as the medical establishment, where doctors and medical professionals often refuse to listen to patients, arrogantly (or at the very least, ignorantly) continuing with practices that contravene the Hippocratic Oath to do no harm:

"I will apply diatetic measures for the benefit of the sick according to my ability and judgment; I will keep them from harm and injustice. 

I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody if asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect."

It is the pharmaceuticals executives of GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer Inc. who should be serving this prison time, not Leslie. Leslie – like millions of others around the world  – is a victim of a reckless and irresponsible industry focused on profit, rather than real care and consideration for human beings.

In 2001, Leslie was going through a divorce and custody battle and was experiencing depression - a natural reaction considering the circumstances. Leslie saw a nurse practitioner at a local clinic and was given trial samples of the new generation anti-depressant Zoloft (manufactured and sold by Pfizer Inc.), as well as the anti-anxiety medication Xanax. 

(Of course, the instant reaction from the mainstream medical establishment is: drugs.)

 

New Moon on Zero Leo: Go Fly a Kite!

A beautiful customer in her beautiful Weeping Willow Design - and it looks fabulous with her tattoo!

We're currently moving to a zero-degree New Moon in fiery and fantastic Leo on July 23 (2:46 a.m. PDT). This New Moon will be conjunct blazing Mars, which is transiting Leo as of this morning. 

The Mars effect on this zero-degree New Moon amps up what will already be a smokin' hot lunar cycle within a smokin' hot summer of 2017. (Literally and figuratively where I'm from - we're experiencing way above normal temperatures as well as terrible forest fires.)

I know the astro scene is buzzing about the second Leo New Moon this summer - a total solar eclipse at 28 degrees Leo on August 21 - and it has been for a while now.

But! We can't look at any astrological event as an isolated thing. Nothing exists in a bubble.

The energy around the 28-degree Leo New Moon eclipse on August 21 (11:30 a.m.) is very, very juicy, to be certain. But the entire summer of 2017 is very juicy! We can't put too much focus on a single event, lest we lose sight of the big picture and the ripe opportunities that are opening right in front of our faces. 

This zero-degree Leo New Moon conjunct Mars is the opener. It's the motivator. It initiates situations, connections, and turns-of-event that take us into the full-on social and creative splendour indicated by the astrological aspects of the summer.

This zero-degree New Moon may appear more low-key and small-scale, a little less impressive than the Total Solar Eclipse Leo New Moon!!! in August. But underestimating the creative potential of this one would be a mistake. Skipping the social event, passing on the show, holding back on the release of your own creative output or expression - this would all be a crying shame under the powerful initiatory energy of this New Moon conjunct Mars on the very first degree of creative powerhouse Leo.

Small, creative connections, low-key bits of fun, entertainment or art produced to a little less fanfare, some everyday glam, some everyday style, the injection of a little humour or playfulness - these are all seeds to be sown now, in the immediate, right where you stand. Keep it a little more small-scale, sure, but don't hold back. Don't focus all your mojo on that eclipse just because you know it's up ahead. Doing that generally has a bit of a build-it-up effect followed by a let-down, not to mention - eclipses are often quite karmic with a bit of an edge or a bite to them. Trying to make something happen in alignment with an eclipse may have unexpected results - the universe has a mind of its own! 

The Push for Standardized Astrological Education As a Pluto in Capricorn-Era Control Mechanism

I only recently learned, after 10 years as a professional astrologer, that intuitive astrology is looked down upon by the astrology establishment.

Honestly, this explains a lot.

I've always known that I did not fit in with this particular crowd for some reason.

All the astrology conferences and courses and schools and lectures - it all costs money I don't have to spend and is therefore inaccessible to me and to any other poor or working class astrologer or student. But even that didn't tell the whole story. There was just something off about me even attempting to interact in that world.

And now I know.

Self-taught astrologers, intuitive astrologers, astrologers who haven't jumped through the particular hoops set out by this astrological establishment, are considered secondary - possibly (possibly) serviceable at what they do, but not among the best and brightest, not members of the Big Deal Astrologers club.

OK, good. Glad to have that clarified.

I don't really mind being considered a second class citizen or being snubbed by the astrology establishment. The thing that bugs me is when I'm treated that way without fully understanding the underlying motivation or reason.

From early on as an astrologer, I picked up on the push for standardized astrological education for practising astrologers. (I'm intuitive, right? You can't get a control mechanism past me.)

Many of the current astrological associations and groups have been built around this push for standardized education. In other words, in order to call yourself a professional astrologer, you have to have certain certifications, take certain approved courses of study, and be tested on your knowledge by certain other establishment-approved astrologers. (And again, this all takes $$$, so it's a pretty middle and upper-middle class-dominated scheme.)

If you don't jump through these particular hoops and learn these particular pre-approved brands of astrology, receiving the piece(s) of paper that says you're a legit professional in the minds of these establishment astrologers, you pretty well aren't welcome in their clubs. You're shut out of "the scene," as well as the many opportunities for professional advancement enjoyed by those in these particular (quite insular) clubs.

Well, to be honest, they can have it.

Saturn in Capricorn: An Astrological Overview for Long-Term Strategic Planning

Zucchini plants getting ready to produce in the hedge garden

This 6,800+-word document is an astrological overview of the three-year Saturn in Capricorn transit and is being released under the Full Moon in Capricorn (exact tomorrow night). It is available to Willow's Web Astrology patrons, or it can be purchased by email money transfer or through PayPal for $11.25.

Included in the article:

- detailed interpretation of the three-year transit of Saturn through Capricorn

- Chiron ingress of Aries

- Uranus ingress of Taurus 

This will be my major offering for the transit. 

Remember: you can become a WWA patron for as little as $35 Canadian per year, and you will receive the current patron article, as well as all other patron articles for the following year (or as long as your patronage is up-to-date). 

We are currently moving to a Full Moon at 17 degrees Capricorn (exact at 9:07 p.m. PDT on July 8), tightly conjunct Lord of the Underworld Pluto Rx at 18 degrees.

Issues of institutional power, control, and violence (Pluto in Capricorn) in relation to the public (Moon) are coming to a head.

This includes overt physical violence, but it also includes more hidden and insidious (Pluto) forms, including the intentional economic violence being brought down that is hurting and killing people en masse on Planet Earth. 

The G20 Summit - the closed-door meeting of the facade leaders of the wealthiest countries on the planet - is occurring in Hamburg, Germany this weekend (July 7 - 8), just as the Moon reaches its peak, conjunct Pluto.

It's very doubtful that this is a coincidence.

The G20 Summit held June 26 - 27, 2010 in and around Toronto, Canada was also planned to coincide with a Capricorn Full Moon conjunct Pluto. That particular Plutonic Full Moon was a partial lunar eclipse, falling within a remarkably potent cardinal t-square (Jupiter-Uranus in Aries, Sun-Mercury-Juno-South Node in Cancer, Moon-Pluto-North Node in Capricorn). Saturn in late Virgo made the blisteringly powerful formation a Grand Cross. From March 23, 2010, "Summer 2010 Eclipse Season: G8, G20 and Martial Law A-Plenty."

In the days preceding the meetings, there was both an earthquake (extremely rare) and a tornado that hit close to the lake country where the Global Governors were staying at the time. From June 24, 2010, "Cardinal T-Square Eclipse: Dicey at Best." This indicated some geoengineering hijinx, as well.

The astrological framework laid out in the patron article is, without doubt, being tapped and utilized by the current powers-that-be. (And I would certainly hate to carry the soulmark of being a hired astrologer helping these yahoos to plot their vicious schemes...)

The epic police-state force of 20,000 officers - all with various weapons at their disposal - has been unleashed on the estimated 100,000 protesters in Germany. The police set a highly aggressive tone right off the jump, unloading a water cannon on a peaceful dance party on July 5, injuring five people. Water cannons may sound fairly innocuous. They aren't. They can severely injure people, picking them up and throwing them many feet. They can also put people's eyes out and have in the past. 

They are trying to normalize these headlines: "Police Use Water Cannon to Break Up Protest."

But this should never become normal to us.  

In the days following, it has been reported that 160 police officers have been injured in clashes with protesters. I'm certainly very sorry to hear this, and I truly hate to see anyone being injured. But I do have to ask: how many protesters have been injured by police? Why are those numbers not as important to report in mainstream media channels? And how many of these "clashes" could have been avoided with less aggressive policing tactics/stances?

Remember, at this moment, it is still legal to assemble and protest.

The focus continues to be on "Black Bloc" protesters, who generally have an agenda to create property damage, not human injuries.

These groups often throw bottles and stones to try to drive police out of the area of the protests. (Generally, police are in full riot gear with shields and are protected from this barrage.)

It is also well-known that police forces embed agents provocateur into protests and into groups like the Black Bloc in order to incite more violence and illegal acts. An instance where police were caught red-handed on this front occurred in Montebello, Quebec in 2007. Police officer agents provocateur implanted to stir the shit were captured on video by legitimate protesters at the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) meetings involving Stephen Harper, George Bush, and Felipe Calderon. The agents provocateur were picking up rocks and being aggressive. They were called out by protesters and then dove into the police line. At that point, it was visible that the aggressive "protesters" are wearing police boots - the same boots worn by the police officers. The Quebec police even admitted to the incident.

If you have ever been to one of these protests, you would know that only a small percentage of protesters are non-peaceful, and again, most of that non-peaceful element is intent on a display of anti-capitalist property damage, not human injury.

But because of the aggressive tactics of the Black Bloc (some of whom are undoubtedly plants), the media is now able to paint all protesters - all 100,000 of them - as potentially armed thugs, which then justifies excessive police force and brutality against protesters in the minds of the public.

"Well, if they weren't doing anything wrong, they wouldn't get sprayed/gassed/injured/locked up."

This is very dangerous (and false) thinking, but it is the type of thinking being manufactured in the minds of the public by the current media narrative.

I can provide a firsthand account that peaceful protesters who are doing nothing wrong are gassed, pepper sprayed, and sprayed with water cannons for no legitimate reason. This has become a regular occurrence. And again, this has become a normalized thing in the minds of many, and that sets a very dangerous stage. 

These major summit protests have been going on since the 90s, but there has been an inching forward in the increase of force and weaponry used by police each year. 

I've written about this in previous articles, including this one from the G20 protests in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 2010:

From June 3, 2010, "Staying Safe in Toronto During the G20 Summit."

I've also written about the escalation of weaponry - including energy weapons - being brought in to use against (predominantly peaceful) protesters:

From August 25, 2014, "The Age of Aquarius: a New Era of Energy Weaponry Used Against the People." 

All Willow's Web Astrology G20 articles can be found here. 

Suffice it to say, this Full Moon in the sign of its detriment conjunct laying-shit-bare Pluto is not exactly sugar and spice and all things nice. But its energy can certainly be used to position ourselves successfully from a strategic perspective, bringing us into control of our emotional and psychological domains.  

Stay safe, friends. But don't turn a blind eye to the unjustified violence being brought down upon us during these times. This is both overt physical violence and insidious economic and money-related violence. There are very good reasons for the 100,000 people protesting in the streets of Hamburg right now. They represent hundreds of millions more voices of dissent, opposed to the violent and inhumane schemes being orchestrated from behind those closed doors.

All Willow's Web Astrology articles on the G20