Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Mercury Direct in Scorpio and Guts-Spilling Eruptions

From the Full Moon Eclipse Report:

"Mental pressure is building, and if people haven't found satisfying outlets for their mental energy during the Mercury retrograde process, the desire to spill their guts will be strong."

Mercury stationed direct at 18 degrees Scorpio at 4:47 p.m. CST yesterday, and signs of the station are visible in social media.

Some of the local flavour from southeast Saskatchewan:

- This morning, a woman who runs a store in a nearby town posted a list of all the people who owe her store money, complete with amounts, on Facebook. Social media (Mercury) + other people's resources (Scorpio). In this case, other people have her resources.

- Someone is poisoning barking dogs in that same town. (Probably a retiree who snapped.) The person struck again yesterday. The woman whose dog died has posted a $2,000 reward for information that brings the person to justice. Dogs barking in the neighbourhood and social media (Mercury) + poison and vengeance (Scorpio)

Things are being pushed to a head at this station. And if people can't tolerate keeping quiet any longer as Mercury moves direct and stirs the Scorpy pot over the next two weeks, it's going to come out.

Back in the day, it would have come out through around-the-town gossip, which spread quickly via telephone and coffee chit chat.

But social media is the Mercurial avenue of choice for many these days. With people tapped in the way they are, social news and gossip spreads unnaturally quickly and also has the possibility for greatly intensified backlash. Caution is required, people!

If you'd like a hawk-eyed view of the current themes as well as tips on how to navigate, consider Willow's Smoking Hot Full Moon Eclipse Report. Ten dollahs will, indeed, make it hollah.

Friday, November 23, 2012

Israel Opens the Gates of Hell at the Alpha Snake New Moon

Following in the long tradition of using astrology/astronomy to time acts of war, Israel initiated missile strikes against Palestine November 14, as we were coming out of the Alpha Snake New Moon total solar eclipse.

The New Moon was exact at 4:08 p.m. Central Standard Time on November 13.

Eclipses are souped-up New and Full Moons, indicating unstable, "backdrop change" periods. The curtain falls on one scene and raises on another - often very dramatically. Occult-assisted governments often use eclipses to time events, particularly acts of war and destruction.

The New Moon total solar eclipse was in Scorpio, a sign ruled by war planet Mars and Lord of the Underworld Pluto, and it was a powerful time for attacks that would open new chapters in old conflicts.

The New Moon eclipse at 21 degrees Scorpio was conjunct unfortunate fixed star Alpha Serpentis, associated with all things nasty. It was also conjunct the Scorpio North Node, indicating a death and war (Scorpio) trajectory (North Node) that will have lasting, eclipse-boosted effects.

From a previous article:

"The wacky, dominance-hungry occultists will be drawing all sorts of nasty energy onto the planet through this New Moon, all hot and bothered over the serpent imagery. The myths talk about a period of snake-worship secretly brought to Earth. Under worship of the God of the snakes, this period brings evil, crime, unhappiness, bad weather, and death. Stirring up hell for the people.

Detrimental trajectories will be set by some coming out of this New Moon, and with a Mercury-Neptune square strongly colouring the proceedings, there is a tendency to be unknowingly drawn in."

The initial Israeli attack assassinated a man considered the Hamas leader, Ahmed Al-Jaabari, and killed 14 others. Eight Palestinian civilians were killed in that attack, reportedly including a pregnant woman with twins, an 11-month old boy, and three infants. At least 130 more people were wounded.

Hamas has apparently said in the past that the killing of its leader Al-Jabaari would "open the gates of hell" for Israel. I'd say opening the gates of hell is exactly what Israel is trying to do with this timed attack during Scorpio season, boosted by the underlying symbolism of eclipse-potent Alpha Serpentis.

Palestine retaliated to the initial attack with a rocket attack of its own that killed three Israelis.

Israel responded by bombarding Palestine from sea, land, and air for eight days while threatening a ground invasion.

The Israeli attacks that began just after the Alpha Snake New Moon ended just after the First Quarter Moon with the Sun on the final (29th) degree of Scorpio. (November 14 to November 21, 2012) The last third of heavy duty Scorpio season was used for these attacks, kicked off by the New Moon eclipse.

Around 160 Palestinians have now been killed by the attacks with more than 1,100 injured. The majority are civilians. At least 30 Palestinian children have been killed.

The Israeli death toll: six.

(I have a feeling if 30 Israeli kids were dead right now, we'd be in World War III.)

At the time of the Alpha Snake New Moon, Mercury was retrograde at zero degrees Sagittarius square Neptune at zero degrees Pisces.

Here, we see the effects of media-perpetuated illusion (Neptune in Pisces) on the reporting of the truth (Mercury in Sagittarius). We see elements of underlying religious perspective and bias in media. And we see a time period when people are particularly susceptible to the power of suggestion via media channels.

From the same previous article:

"People can be very impressionable over the next few weeks, very easily led and misled. Ideas can be planted en masse. Things can be slipped by. Consensus reality is particularly malleable and can be manufactured and shaped to benefit certain factions."

As usual, reality is being manufactured by the mainstream media in its reporting of the events in the Middle East. You see the Neptunian fog coming down over people's minds as the mainstream public swallows and then furthers versions of the story that are untrue and nonfactual.

The mainstream media has turned the scenario into a two-sided affair, rather than an Israeli attack followed by a Palestinian retaliation which then becomes the excuse for a complete bombardment by Israel.

The media is calling it a "cease fire," when, in reality, Israel has decided - for now - to stop bombing Palestine, dropping the Neptunian veil over its actions and using the media-driven sway of public opinion to its benefit.

As per usual, Israeli casualties lead the news while the much heavier Palestinian casualties are tacked on later.

As per usual, we have the other leaders of militarized and industrialized nations, including Barack Obama, addressing the public through mainstream media channels, reinforcing Israel's "right to defend itself." Bullies backing up bullies.

In reality, Israel was the aggressor here. It's a rare case when Israel is not the aggressor.

Israel is a wealthy nation armed to the teeth with bombers and missiles and tanks and nuclear weapons and hundreds of thousands of highly-trained, highly-armed soldiers.

Palestine is a relatively poor, occupied country with rocket launchers and stones that has been ghettoized and beaten down.

With Scorpio, you have to go to the root issue. The rest is symptomatic. Palestine is being militarily occupied and ghettoized by Israel. Until that's addressed, the conditions for peace are not there, and the diplomatic conciliation processes we see playing out on TV screens across the globe ("Oooh, Egypt's brokering peace!") are just for show.

Neptune has just stationed direct (November 11) at zero Pisces and is still very potent in the astro atmosphere. Neptune in Pisces involves the things that float around in the collective unconscious as well as the ways in which reality can be shaped via manipulation of those things.

At the tail-end astrological Piscean era, the collective psychic soup is full to the brim. And at this very moment, with Mercury square Neptune (final aspect December 11 with Mercury direct), the things that have been implanted in the collective unconscious are ripe for manipulation.

One very potent Neptunian illusion being played upon now is the idea that violent Zionist Israelis represent the Jewish victims of the Nazi Germany holocaust. In reality, violent Zionist Israelis belong to the power cabal that perpetrates holocausts on this planet.

The Nazi Germany holocaust has been drilled into both the conscious minds and the collective unconscious via media for the past 70 years. In many minds, it is the only holocaust, when, in fact, many, many holocausts have gone on on this planet, and many holocausts continue to go on on this planet.

What the governments of the United States of America and its allies ordered in Vietnam and Iraq both rank right up there, for example.

The collective unconscious has been so permeated by the Nazi Germany holocaust, however, that, as a whole, we are not adequately dealing with atrocities currently being committed. Certain chords are being played over and over again like a record skipping, drawing people back to that event and keeping them there. En masse, people are not comprehending that current atrocities are part of the same system, perpetuated by the same groups throughout time and space.

The collective unconscious (Neptune) as well as conscious public opinion (Mercury) are being played and manipulated so that current atrocities are invisible, explained away, and unconsciously allowed. The Neptunian veil drops over it all - unless you actively remove it. Repeatedly.

Making current atrocities invisible or seen only as bits and pieces on the TV screen, without context, allows history to repeat.

We are currently experiencing a square series between Uranus and Pluto (2012 - 2015) that was last experienced during the Great Depression and the lead-up to World War II. We have to understand that there are groups in power attempting to replay a very nasty historical cycle.

Understanding that context and our own context within it is the only way to break out of the grand-scale manipulation and mindfuckery underway.

Their Armageddon symbolism is being played out with the sacrifice of real lives.

The economies are intentionally collapsed. Food is controlled and hyper-inflated. Housing is removed. The people are made desperate. The oldest trick in the book is being played out right now to get around the so-called "fiscal cliff." It's the same trick that was played during the Great Depression.

Except the propagandists of Nazi Germany would have been creaming their pants over the control they could have of people's minds with today's media...

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Willow's Smoking Hot Full Moon Eclipse Report - Ten Dollahs Makes It Hollah!

Photo: Willow

Includes: Gemini Full Moon lunar eclipse, Black Moon Lilith, Mercury stationing direct, Jupiter retrograde, Yod formation

This report talks about the upcoming Full Moon eclipse (November 28) and provides details on how to successfully navigate the time period following it.


 
 
I don't have a service to mail this out (just me), so please allow about 12 hours from the time of purchase. If you haven't received it within 12 hours, please contact me at willowsweb [at] hushmail.com. (Note: I've switched e-mail addresses. Please use the hushmail.com address, but I will still check the shaw.ca address.)

If you'd like the report sent to an e-mail other than the one associated with your PayPal account, please let me know. 
 
Happy Full Mooning!

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

The Official Hand-Off of Saturn's Dispositors: Venus Conjunct Saturn, Mars Conjunct Pluto

Photos: Willow

Scorpio's co-ruling planets Mars and Pluto form a conjunction at 8 degrees Capricorn on November 27, hot on the heels of a Venus-Saturn conjunction at 6 degrees Scorpio November 26. The bodies in Scorpio are in supportive sextile to the bodies in Capricorn, and, for the most part, this provides a productive outlet for the charge.

This is the first conjunction of Venus and Saturn post-Saturn in Libra transit. While Saturn was in Venus-ruled Libra, transiting Venus was its dispositor, meaning it held a crucial layer of influence over the proceedings. It was the primary planet to look to (by sign and aspects) as far as making Saturnine progress in the sign of the scales. Love, relationship, partnership, the social realms, balance, justice, beauty, money, and values were all key themes.

This is their first meeting in the zodiac over the past three years when benefic Venus is not acting as Saturn's dispositor, and this has a bittersweet tenor.

Venus gave up its duties as dispositor of Saturn when Saturn entered Scorpio October 5, but we can consider this Venus-Saturn conjunction, followed by Mars and Pluto coming together, as the official ceremony handing the reins over to new co-dispositors Mars and Pluto.

War/action planet Mars and Lord of the Underworld Pluto now become the planets to watch and to work with in order to meet Saturn in Scorpio's considerable challenges and to capitalize on its powerful opportunities for advancement.

This is also where the carryover of Saturn in Libra energy, that exalted energy that has kept us buffered in certain ways, officially drops away.

Saturn entered its retrograde shadow - the degrees to which it will return during its next retrograde period - on November 14, just after the Alpha Snake Scorpio New Moon solar eclipse. We're no longer coasting on the progress we made during Saturn's transit of the sign of its exaltation, Libra. Now, we start to dig into the real meat of the Saturn in Scorpio transit.

Our challenges are officially going from love (Venus) to war (Mars), and we can expect a certain drop off into more serious themes here. ("Fiscal cliff," anyone? World War Three, anyone?) Give yourself time to adjust, but try not to resist the serious tone.
 
With heavy hitters Mars and Pluto as dispositors, our Saturnine progress hinges on our ability to successfully direct ourselves through some tough and intricate territory. Survival, including emotional and psychological survival, become stronger imperatives. We have to require more of people now - in some cases, much more - eliminating elements that strike discordant notes in our lives. It's going to require more grit and more skill as we dig deeper for strength, for context, and for guidance over the next three years.

Mars and Pluto form their conjunction on a degree of Capricorn associated with the Sabian Symbol "An Angel Comes Carrying a Harp." I'm not a fan of carrying symbolism too far, but we know what HAARPs we're dealing with these days, as well as their effects. The dark angels of the symbolic End Times play a hellish tune, indeed.

Mars is the planet related to personal direction and goals. Pluto relates to broader imperatives for grand-scale collective change and soul-deep (sometimes hellish) growth. With the Mars conjunction to Pluto, in effect for the next two weeks, our personal directions and goals are deepening and strengthening as we're made aware, in no uncertain terms, of the situations we find ourselves in on this planet.

These two last formed a conjunction at 4 degrees Capricorn on December 13, 2010, also conjunct Mercury Rx and the Capricorn North Node.

As Mars and Pluto now move into their full influence as dispositors, this initial conjunction acts as a potent directional point, and in some cases, a re-directional point, especially related to career moves, public image and identity, and the orienting of ourselves toward reaching our full potentials as determined by Pluto.

Just remember: not everyone will be using this conjunction to reach deeper levels of honesty, integrity, and authenticity.

From a previous post:

"Understand that with Pluto, there's a trajectory toward maintaining corrupt power structures that is often much more popular and lucrative than the trajectory toward legitimacy, transparency, and necessary change."

We'll be able to see who is choosing which path quite clearly now, as long as we work for that awareness. 

This Mars-Pluto conjunction holds the possibility for stab-yo-Mama-in-the-back ambition and vicious self-advancement, literally drawing on the power of hell (Pluto) and the worst elements of human nature to reach personal objectives (Mars). There is a drive toward dominance and saturation by the corporate brand/identity involved with this one, trickling down to the smallest of businesses. Underhanded and ruthless manoeuvres can be expected as people position themselves and their businesses accordingly. Corporate interests and those furthering them will be using this energy to drive to the net, gobbling up competitors and dumping anyone or anything that might slow them down (including loyal employees, salaried positions, pension funds, benefits...).

For those not choosing to reinforce corruption and abomination for personal gain...

Personal goals that don't have the depth, the maturity, or the long-term legs will be unceremoniously dropped on the Plutonic funeral pyre. Say goodbye, but don't spend too long in mourning. We don't have time to waste.

Old desires are burning out, being Plutonically purged from our systems. We start to see how some of the prior orientations were weak, naive, and off-the-mark while simultaneously carving out a truer and more vital path.

The greatest progress and achievements now come from the soul out.

The more awareness we have of the broader context on this planet and our places within it, the more effective our personal directions will be.

When personal goals are aligned with the broader goals Pluto has for collective change and transformation, we're allowed to make real, concrete progress with otherwordly assistance. When we're working as full-on Plutonic change agents within our personal lives, we're in the sweet spot. What we want is also what is wanted for and from and through us.

When we aren't, we can expect distortion.

Dig deeper than you have. Let Pluto inform your actions, guide your directions. Go gracefully and bravely. And kick some butt.

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Pallas Athene Direct Within An Asteroid-Based Mutable T-Square

Female warrior asteroid Pallas Athene has been retrograde in soupy Pisces for a month-and-a-half and goes direct November 20 at 22 degrees.

Pallas Athene going direct in this sign makes me think of Uma Thurman's drug overdosed gangster girlfriend character in Pulp Fiction snapping awake after that adrenalin shot to the heart.

Or maybe it's more like her Kill Bill character coming out of the coma, hellbent on revenge.

Whatever Uma performance you liken it to, Pallas Athene is waking up, and though she may not be able to do much about it at the moment from foggy Pisces, she's becoming very aware of who is fucking with whom.

From a previous post, Mars Square Pallas Athene Rx in Pisces: Kicking up the Etheric Catfights:

"The asteroid representing the female warrior who did it as well as, if not better than, the guys has been highly prominent over the past months, stirring its themes to the blazing point. Pallas Athene in Aries was up front and centre during the first two exact squares of Uranus in Aries and Pluto in Capricorn in June and September, tightly conjunct Uranus. This added the element of establishment-busting female fight, female leadership, and feminine strategic direction to the proceedings.

Pallas Athene retrograded back into watery Pisces October 3 for a bit of a break from the fiery Arien front lines, but it's still carrying the charge from those Uranus-Pluto squares. Pallas stations direct November 20 at 22 degrees Pisces, re-entering Aries January 10, 2013. From there, it makes its final pass through the Uranus-Pluto square with a conjunction to Uranus in Aries January 28 and a square to Pluto in Capricorn February 12, 2013. This asteroid just keeps on kicking ass."

Pallas Athene has been on a sort of court-ordered "rest cure" after her Herculean effort during the first two Uranus-Pluto squares, and she's none too happy about the groggy after-effects. This lady needs her edge and her keen, strategic wits about her, and after a retrograde in Pisces - no matter how short - she's feeling a little fuzzy around the edges.

The etheric catfights are getting a little tiresome, too. Pallas Athene would rather bring it all out into the open, but the battles remain obscured, in the dreamy metaphysical and psychic realms, until January 10, 2013.

Once direct, Pallas Athene will be gunning for zero Aries so she can get back to the Uranus square Pluto action in early 2013.

A spicy, asteroid-based mutable t-square with soul mate asteroid Juno in Sagittarius and keeper-of-the hearth asteroid Vesta in Gemini, in effect from now into the first week of December, provides plenty of stimulation until then.

The feminine asteroids are generally considered secondary influences in astrology, so the effects can be subtle, but they're important.

This t-square indicates frictional contacts possible related to the communication of personal wisdom and truth. Differing ideals as we move deeper into a new astrological era are creating tension and division on many fronts. Differing takes on the situations we find ourselves in on the planet - and what to do about them - are creating clashes.

This t-square configuration kicks up yet another wave of angst coming from the witchy lines, the priestess lines, the alchemical artist lines, the wise woman lines, and the earth mother lines.

Juno is outspoken, flamboyant, and hand-on-her-hip righteous on the Sagittarius end of the Gemini-Sagittarius polarity but must be careful not to become strident, grating, and self-righteous. This is the type of eye-rolling irritation that can come from all those self-declared visionaries, wise ones, and goddesses running around these days.

On the Gemini end, Vesta holds a major investment in keeping the social gears functioning, the discourse flowing, and the ideas cross-pollinating. Vesta in Gemini puts a great deal of effort into networking and keeping things socially cohesive. The caution there is that things might be kept too superficial and watered-down to be meaningful in any way.

My guess is Juno in Sagittarius won't be letting that happen.

Squares to both Juno and Vesta from Pallas Athene in Pisces indicate some acceptance, transcendence, and "giving it up to the universe/God" are necessary as we roll with things, staying fluid and adaptable through the frictional spots.

The spicy, feisty Juno-Pallas Athene square is exact November 28 and occurs with Mars and Pluto conjunct in Capricorn and Venus and Saturn conjunct in Scorpio. This one is particularly loaded. The friction here, as we come into contact with soul-triggering people and situations, helps us to get very clear on our own truth and beliefs, particularly heading into December 21, 2012 with the "Biblical End Times/Ascension/Beam Me Up, Scotty" rhetoric flying fast and furious.

Stay loose. Stay fluid. Don't become overly concentrated in one area of this t-square. Keep things moving like a buzzing bee in a field full of flowers.

The fourth (and stabilizing) leg of this t-square is Virgo, so discernment is key. Filter and guard your mental space from the December 2012 blah blah blah and the myriad soapbox sitters catching a ride on the bluster and buzz. Choose your angles and your battles. Say your piece, but don't force the issue if you run into opposition - especially if you're outnumbered. Pay attention to social tension as a guidance mechanism and adjust accordingly.

The asteroid-based mutable t-square loosens by the second week of December with Vesta Rx in Gemini moving out of range, but its tensions and themes stay with us into winter solstice.

The spice will be stirred yet again by the Sagittarius New Moon at 21 degrees on December 13, conjunct Juno in Sagittarius and square Pallas Athene. This forces us to clear a path through the cacophony based on our own truth and nothing but.

The frictional themes stay in our face, brought right up into our current, conscious moment, as the Sun moves from that New Moon into the exact square to Pallas Athene in Pisces on December 15.

The Sun will continue its transit of late Sagittarius in a conjunction to Juno, finally forming the exact aspect at 1 degree Capricorn just after winter solstice on December 22.

Communication planet Mercury in Sagittarius squares Pallas Athene in Pisces December 29, triggering friction again and indicating potentially charged interactions, double meanings, and obscured verbal-psychic barbs.

What we believe and what we hold to be true or untrue as we head into this winter solstice are very important as far as the unfolding of events. We're experiencing the intentional machinations toward another world war, which becomes oh-so-clear by December 30 as the Sun conjuncts Pluto in Capricorn, but the truth is, it's all man-made and manipulated. There isn't any "divine direction" behind these rockets and bombs.


With all the feisty feminine asteroid action going on, hematite shields can come in handy. If anyone is in need of some lovely protection of this sort, I have a new hematite set available on the jewellery site that is simple, elegant, and powerful. I like the necklace so much, I made one for myself!

Friday, November 16, 2012

Give Value For Value Received - Buy a Voluntary Subscription to Willow's Web Astrology Blog

I understand there are 300 - 400 English-language astrology blogs out there, and this may make astrological analysis seem cheap, easy, and somewhat expendable. "If one blog goes down, there are 10 more just like it to fill its place, right?"

I know there are hundreds of astrology blogs out there, but, honestly, there isn't another Willow's Web Astrology blog out there.

If you're a regular reader here and regularly take something of value from this blog, please consider purchasing a voluntary suscription to the site. (And thank-you kindly to those who have already subscribed!)

Voluntary Subscriptions to WWA blog


This request is going out only to those who have expendable income. The smallest subscription amount is $30 per year. The highest is $120 per year.

These subscriptions really do keep this site going, and I appreciate each and every one of them.

I am also going to start posting some pay-only articles in the future. These articles will be in-depth Willow wisdom, and they will not be available anywhere else.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Saturn in Scorpio: Grounding the Charge and Avoiding the Wrong Astrological Mixes

From a previous post:

"Scorpio is a sign, co-ruled by Mars and Pluto, that involves complex attractions. Mars is the planet of personal desire, attraction, and sexuality, while Pluto involves attractions of the soul, designed to draw us into deep (and sometimes hellish horrifying) processes of change and metamorphosis. Plutonic attractions catalyze a process that leaves us in an altered, yet ultimately stronger and more powerful, state, not the same as we once were. In Scorpio, we experience the interplay between personal will and transpersonal will, personal desire and transpersonal desire, what we want and what is wanted for and from and through us.

Plutonic attractions are often both magnetic, drawing us like moth to flame, and repulsive. One side of the magnet attracts; the other repels. With Pluto involved, we experience both. There is an intricate interplay, and it doesn't take much to turn passionate love into passionate hate and vice versa.

There is a theme with Scorpio and Pluto of being attracted to those we secretly (or not-so-secretly) hate. This attraction brings us into contact, again and again, with people and situations that disgust, horrify, and enrage...but also fascinate, titillate, and compel. We hate ourselves for being attracted, but it's difficult (though not impossible) to break away."

One of the great things about Saturn's almost three-year transit of Scorpio is: people are going to be able to break away.

Saturn in Scorpio grounds the charge of the sign, and as a result, the cyclical, moth-to-flame attractions have less control. Those who are used to having that sexy, seductive, highly-charged pull at their disposal are going to find their drawing power limited.

People are going to be able to extricate themselves. They just aren't going to be as attracted or transfixed. The old dramatic draws will no longer draw. The sticking points will no longer stick.

People fascinated by "the charge" will willingly stay stuck, but most are going to be looking for more substance (Saturn) than that type of attraction (Scorpio) has to offer. Extrication will take patience and effort, but people are going to be able to get out of orbits that have drawn them in against their wills previously.

This includes astrologers' orbits. The re-jigging of mental pathways indicated by the current Mercury retrograde through Scorpio (November 6 - 26) is a boon for people who need to change their "astrological orbits," especially related to Mercurial paths through the world of internet astrology.

The Sun and Mercury Rx are currently coming together in interior conjunction on the Scorpio North Node (exact November 17). This conjunction acts as a laser pointing the way to more fruitful and satisfying tracks in all areas of life, particularly mental/communicative/informational. To get there, we first have to break the charge and the pattern of the ingrained past, and Saturn is here to assist on that front.  

During the transit of Saturn through Scorpio, we're going to be confronted by the lesson that certain people just don't mix. We have to respect the friction and resistance apparent in interactions now and address this in the way we structure things. People at cross-purposes coming into unstructured contact with each other will be sending up sparks. 

It's sort of common sense. If you notice friction and resistance between two of your friends, don't make them co-Maids of Honour at your wedding unless you want the possibility of a hair-pulling slap fight looming over you on your blessed day.

But with Scorpio, it's also more complex than straight-up, overt dislike.

We're working with underlying, often hidden friction, charge, and anger coming up from the depths, which tell us in no uncertain terms that strong boundaries and limited contact are required in certain cases if we are to avoid the "powder keg" dynamics.

Even those who are compatible will require solid boundaries and containment over the next couple years, or things can become combustible. Saturn is transiting an area of the zodiac referred to as the Via Combusta. This area between 15 degrees Libra and 15 degrees Scorpio, excluding 23 and 24 degrees Libra, is known as the burning path or combustible way.

From a previous post:

"When the Via Combusta is strongly highlighted, there is a feeling of running the gauntlet through sometimes seemingly insurmountable odds, collective karma, booby traps, and friction, very often related to relationship dynamics, which are Libra and Scorpio territory.

There's a fire in the Via Combusta and within people with a strong Via Combusta signature that keeps them burning, burning, burning a path through life as you would imagine a shooting star burning an accelerated path through the night's sky. There's a feeling here that one has to keep going no matter what, through the wreckage of old, crystallized layers that would keep us stultified, constricted, and unsatisfied with old wounds perpetually reopened by a revolving cast of characters.

The basic goal of the Via Combusta is to reach escape velocity. In space travel, this is the point a space shuttle reaches when its speed and momentum allow it to escape the effects of gravity pulling it back down to Earth. In the case of the Via Combusta, it's about reaching the points of awareness and pure momentum where we escape the gravity of the sticky, tricky wreckage trying to draw us back into old territory, especially involving old constructs and dynamics of relating."

With Saturn transiting Via Combusta Scorpio, the weight of collective karmic charge is great, and it's going to take sustained effort to reach the desired escape velocity.

Saturn will be transiting the Via Combusta until November 21, 2013. The North Node enters the Via Combusta at 15 Scorpio on June 23, 2013, leaving it at 15 Libra on January 4, 2015. The potentially frictional and incendiary relational themes are with us for a while.

Over the next year, the strong Scorpio energy in the zodiac is drawing together certain people, situations, skills, talents, and elements in an attempt to create a new alchemy that will really get things done during these crisis times on the planet. It's the "last ditch," if you will. The Scorpio energy is attempting to bring about fusion, creating alchemical combinations that have never before existed, and this process can be particularly combustible. New allies and allegiances will be both forming and melting down in spectacular fashion.

This Scorpionic fusion effect will be apparent across many different disciplines, and we all hold some personal responsibility for what elements are brought together and in what ways.

As Scorpio is a sign related to divination and the "alchemical arts" like astrology and tarot, this is a time period when potentially discordant astrological traditions will be making contact.

In this Google era, astrological knowledge, traditions, and techniques are accessible to people in ways they never have been before. Different traditions and different astrologers are coming into contact with each other in ways they never have in recorded history. And we have to understand that mixing the wrong elements can create some very nasty reactions.

There are belief systems, allegiances, motivations, and traditions underlying anyone's practise of astrology, and Saturn in Scorpio is a time to be very clear on that. Certain astrologers, as well as certain astrological traditions, don't mix well. The level of astrological cross-pollination going on today has never been seen before in recorded history, and we have to be careful to what and to whom we expose ourselves. Readers of astrology should be aware of this, careful of the elements and of the astrologers they bring together.

Astrology is not necessarily a case of "more is better."

Scorpio relates to what we're connected to ancestrally - themes, dynamics, and carryover from generations past - as well as to what we're furthering within our own lifetimes. With Saturn in the sign, there are challenges related to the ancestral lines, and there are grudge matches waiting to play out if we are not careful to maintain boundaries.

We have to feel out what we're connected to (what runs through our blood), what they're connected to (what runs through their blood), whether there is compatibility there, and how to maintain proper boundaries even when there is compatibility.

Saturn in Scorpio is a time period of restrained and restricted energy. There just isn't time or energy for the same old dramas. Because of this, it's in the best interests of most to responsibly avoid the powder keg dynamics.

Starting to work with these themes now, shoring yourself up and creating solid boundaries, is a great way to proactively use the Saturn in Scorpio energy to your long-term benefit.

Venus is currently in Via Combusta Libra, making relationships, money, and values particularly charged territory. Conjunctions to fixed stars Spica and Arcturus on November 16 and 17 will hopefully provide some temporary respite from the heat of the relational burning path.

Venus enters Scorpio late on November 21, leaving the Via Combusta December 4.

Venus forms a conjunction to the Scorpio North Node December 12, and at that time, we should be well aware of which relationships are moving forward, which have run their course, and which are better left alone altogether.

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Shedding Skins at the Alpha Snake New Moon

Photo: Willow

The New Moon on November 13 is a total solar eclipse at 21 degrees Scorpio, and it packs a punch.

Eclipses can be very dramatic (and sometimes traumatic). They're super-charged New and Full Moons that can kick up major events - both natural and occult-planned. Eclipses can be seen as unstable, backdrop change indicators. With a New Moon solar eclipse like this one, one very potent layer of things is ending, burning itself out, and another is beginning.

This New Moon could potentially bring some drama, as it conjuncts both the unfortunate fixed star Alpha Serpentis (Unukalhai) and the Scorpio North Node. Spicy.

Alpha Serpentis is the Alpha Snake. The Head Reptilian Honcho. In sidereal astrology, this fixed star has been associated with suicide, insanity, accidents, love problems, loss, and earthquakes. All the fun stuff. Snakes have a complex and powerful symbolism. They're associated with regeneration and healing and also with poisons/medicines that can heal or kill. Homeopathy. Coming from another layer of the symbolism, they're associated with all things shifty, shady, and darkly cunning.

Snakes are naturally associated with the sign of Scorpio, which makes this New Moon that much more powerful. Doubling up on the snakey Scorpy. We have to be careful here.

Scorpio is precious medicine, but it can kill you if you aren't careful.

From a previous post:

"Scorpio is venomous - you'd better believe it. But it also has the poison that heals those last resort cases, and at this point on Planet Earth, we're all pretty much enmeshed in one of those."

With the sign of Scorpio, something has to die so that something else can live. Extreme, tragic, dramatic. Also just real life on Planet Earth.

We're shedding multiple skins here at this New Moon eclipse - as many as we can skim off - in an attempt to proactively drop deadweight that could slow us down or trip us up as Saturn moves further into Scorpio. 

Saturn enters its retrograde shadow at 4 degrees Scorpio on November 14 in an awkward and uncomfortable 150-degree quincunx aspect to Uranus in Aries. Uranus in Aries has nothing but our future direction in mind. Saturn in Scorpio lets us know in no uncertain terms that we have much to address and resolve before we move on. We've gone in the wrong directions entirely in the past, unaware of some crucial layer of context, and we can't afford that now. We have to be directed from the root, from the core, from the soul with no false illusions about the scenarios we find ourselves in on this planet.

Things start to get more dense and complicated once Saturn enters the retrograde shadow, and this Scorpio New Moon is one last chance to drop what we need to drop and reconfigure where we need to reconfigure. The weight of collective karmic charge will be arduous enough over the next three years without dragging along with us layers of the situation we could easily have sloughed off.

Expect and capitalize on opportunities for resolution and completion.

The deadweight we're wriggling out of here could involve situations and relationships that are no longer earning their keep (maybe they never were). It could involve enervating emotional and psychological patterns we're straight-up sick of. It could involve versions of ourselves that have become brittle, lifeless, cardboard cut-outs. Or it could involve unrealized, obsessed-upon desires that have kept us tied up, constricted, hamstrung.

We're letting go of energy drains and recommiting in more vital directions.

With so much Scorpio in the zodiac (Sun, Moon, North Node, Saturn, and soon-to-be Mercury Rx), this New Moon is a full, emotional-body cleansing, which could be exhausting depending how much there is to purge. Full Moons are generally high energy points, while New Moons are low energy points. Give yourself and others lots of down time for the reconstitution back into full physical form following this one.

Traditionally, eclipses were in effect only in the areas where they were visible. Only those areas could expect the dramatic (and sometimes traumatic) events and super-charged backdrop changes. This makes sense. Before telephones, internet, or mass media, if you couldn't see an eclipse with your own two eyes, you wouldn't know it was happening. The current rules would have a little more grey area, in my opinion. With mass media, we can be aware that an eclipse is occurring somewhere else in the world, and with internet, we can even "see" it online.

This eclipse will be visible in parts of Australia, New Caledonia, New Zealand, South America, and Antarctica.

The following 28 days should be particularly dramatic and renewal-oriented for those with strong Scorpio in the natal chart.

As a New Moon involves the slow emergence out of a dark period into a new cycle, related events are not always immediately apparent. Scorpio is one of the signs that is particularly process-oriented, so the process gets a big kick start here, but the full results may only be apparent later.

Whatever it is in a state of alchemical morph (related to the house in your natal chart where the eclipse falls), things start to move coming out of this New Moon.

So we're standing on the Dark of the Moon side of this Alpha Snake portal from 3:22 p.m. CST today until 4:08 p.m. on November 13, stripping down to our most vital essentials. But we're also determining what makes it through with us to the other side.

Ensuring we're leaving detrimental influences on the other side of this portal is going to take some steel-willed concentration and focus. Mercury Rx is backing into its second square to Neptune in Pisces, clouding our vision, and some fairly unpleasant things could be slipped by us if we're not vigilant.

We all, ultimately, have to be responsible for what we bring through this New Moon portal. For what we mix into our own Scorpionic alchemical soup. There are certain dynamics, people, and situations we should just not be playing with now.

From a previous post:

"Underlying loyalties shake out under this Moon, and we start to get a clearer picture of where people stand as we head deeper into Saturn in Scorpio. Incompatibilities glossed over during Saturn in Libra are pushed to the surface, like it or not. Crossed motivations send up sparks. Lips will curl, unconsciously, showing our fangs if we come too near those with whom we lack inherent common ground. The ties that bound friendly allies during Saturn in Libra snap like dry, autumn twigs under Saturn in Scorpio. Soul compatibility is something altogether different.

Soul-deep incompatibilities go from cracks, to divisions, to chasms. There can be no doubt where we stand on the other side of this New Moon portal."

The Moon will be very active within the Dark of the Moon/Balsamic phase heading into Tuesday's New Moon. From Libra, it will square Pluto, trine Jupiter, and Juno, conjunct Venus, and sextile Mars. From Scorpio, it will trine Neptune, Chiron, and Ceres, conjunct Saturn, quincunx Uranus, and sextile Pluto. This brings a lot of elements into the mix.

With the conjunctions to Venus and Saturn, determining the right alchemy for relationships - both personal and professional - as well as correct boundaries are a big part of the process.

Understand your own bottom line. Watch for slippery-tongued plays on your compassion, your pity, your guilt, your sense of the spiritual, and your idea of what a "good person" should be and do. Filter the Neptunian-heightened impressions coming to you now in both waking and dreaming worlds. These are all ways we can be fooled now.

The combination of strong Scorpio with a Mercury-Neptune square makes things ripe for "you're not who I thought you were" experiences where we realize our interplay with another person is not what we were hoping. Scorpio loves laying waste to an illusion.

The focus now is on resolution, completion, finishing, letting it burn out, dropping it, spinning it off, getting lighter.

If in doubt, let it go, and this includes ties to people. Close out old, unsatisfying dynamics without fear: anything that is meant to go on from here will regenerate into something better, clearer, stronger, and more vital later on.

Set the tone how you would like it, no compromises, and don't let anything slip through your own New Moon portal for which you are not willing to be personally responsible.

Friday, November 9, 2012

Neptune Stations Direct and Brings the Foggy, the Floaty, the Wispy, and the Surreal

Neptune stations direct at 0 degrees Pisces in the wee hours of November 11. Neptune is conjunct wounded healer Chiron in Pisces and square both Black Moon Lilith in Gemini and Mercury in Sagittarius.

When a planet appears to slow in the zodiac to station either retrograde or direct, we often experience a palpable concentration of that planet's energy and themes.

Neptune is the planet associated with, among other things, dreams; illusions; spiritual communion and guidance; psychic connection; the unconscious; sublime artistic ability; surreality; escapism; oceans; fluids; flooding; permeation; blind spots; smokescreens; fraud; deception; and addictions.

The Neptune effects will be strongest during the first half of November, dissipating toward the end of the month. With stationing Neptune permeating the astro atmosphere, we can expect a few of the following symptoms to be kicked up until then:

- Dreams can be much more vivid and involved. They can have a "journeying" quality, as if we have traveled through many other worlds, and we can wake up feeling more tired than when we went to bed. Prophetic or foreshadowing dreams are more common.

- We can experience disrupted sleep with odd periods of wakefulness in the night.

- Sleep can be deeper, as if we're falling off into utter abyss and have to drag ourselves out and back into waking life. We may sleep longer or more often than usual, and people can continue to have a sleepy, dreamy quality throughout the waking hours. The standard afternoon coffee just doesn't cut it!

- Psychic connections to people from the past, present, or even future can be stronger and more apparent - even when we don't want them to be. We may become aware of ways we are connected to others that were previously unknown to us.

- "Cosmic winks" and communication from the universe are more apparent. It can sometimes feel as if the radio or TV is communicating directly to you. A stronger than usual feeling that you are not alone.

- Daydreaming increases. Imagery from the mind's eye is clearer and more active than usual and can be distracting in day-to-day life.

- Our psychic space is more permeable when Neptune is strong, and we have to carefully filter the heightened impressions we're receiving.

- People can be more impressionable, easily swayed, and prone to wishful thinking, particularly with love relationships. We can be convinced of things when Neptune is strong that we could not be convinced of at other times. The standard, "What was I thinking?" In the same way that we can believe a dream we've had is real, it's possible to believe things are one way when all logical conclusions (and later, hindsight) would indicate otherwise.

- We can be more easily deceived by people, missing major character flaws because we're blinded by the good in them, by their "spiritual auras," or by their potential.

- Plumbing problems are more likely. A low water level for flushing toilets, in particular, is common during Neptune stations.

- Personal plumbing issues are also more likely. Urinating more than usual or having to use a (hopefully natural) diuretic to assist urination. (Uva Ursi works well.) Urinary tract irritation is more common when Neptune is strong, so avoid soft drinks, caffeine, and alcohol, and increase intake of water and real cranberry juice.

- There can be a strong jonesing for drugs and/or alcohol.

- But we are also more easily altered and affected by drugs and alcohol.

- Food allergies and sensitivities can be heightened. We're craving "fun and easy" foods, but they can have ill effects.

- We can be more sensitive to perfumes and scents.

- There can be a giddy, giggly, intoxicating quality in the air. Neptunian whiffs of ether. This effect is currently mitigated quite strongly by a trine to stern and grounding Saturn in Scorpio.

- People can be more sensitive than usual and their feelings more easily hurt. There is stronger sensitivity to the suffering in the world, and people are more easily brought to tears when Neptune is strong. The Neptunian waterworks. People may choose more isolation than usual to offset this heightened sensitivity.

- We can spend money on things, particularly on frivolous things, that we wouldn't ordinarily spend money on. When Neptune is strong, we crave escapism, entertainment, and ease from the daily grind. Pizza delivery and Chinese take-out must see an increase in business!

- The simplest daily tasks can seem irritating and overwhelming. Multi-tasking is more difficult.

- People may embrace their inner dirty hippie and skip a few showers. Personal hygiene is one of those daily tasks that can seem impossibly arduous when Neptune is strong.

- It can be difficult to make ourselves fully understood, especially apparent with the current Mercury-Neptune square, as if we are yelling underwater. People may pick up on one layer of what we're saying without grasping the full meaning.

- Generally, a lot of projection is flying around. People could be interacting with their own fabricated versions of who you are, rather than anything based in reality.

- Strongly Neptunian/Piscean people can usually be spotted by a sort of dreamy, shrouded, faraway look around the eyes. The area around the eyes can appear a little shadowed and hollowed-out.

Neptune goes retrograde once per year for about five months.

Until 2021, Neptune goes retrograde in the month of June and direct in the month of November. You can expect the Neptune station symptoms to be kicked up at those times.

And remember, folks, Neptunian sobriety tests will be randomly applied in the weeks surrounding the Neptune station for the safety of yourselves and others.

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Proposition 37 Defeated By the Slimmest of Margins Amidst a Massive Advertising Blitz By GMO Corporations

Agriculture-related dwarf planet Ceres stationed retrograde at 3 degrees Cancer on October 31 within a cardinal Grand Cross with Venus in Libra, Uranus in Aries, and Pluto in Capricorn.

This configuration brings food and agriculture issues to prominence, particularly as they relate to increased corporate globalization (Pluto in Capricorn) and the direction into biotechnology (Uranus in Aries).

Ceres maintains its strong influence into mid-2013, forming a cardinal t-square May 5-7 that will still be within orb during the third Uranus in Aries - Pluto in Capricorn square May 20, 2013.

These are high stakes times for the future of food and, correspondingly, for life on this planet.

And nowhere are those high stakes more visible than in the realm of natural versus genetically modified seeds and foods.

The sign of Cancer is related to family and babies and all things precious. When Ceres is transiting Cancer, the question of what we're feeding our children and our families becomes an over-riding issue.

People in California had this question in mind on election day as they voted on a proposition to begin labelling foods containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Proposition 37 - called The California Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act - was defeated November 6 by the slimmest of margins: 53.7% No to 46.3% Yes.

After early leads, support for the Proposition softened amidst a massive radio and television blitz of attack advertising in the weeks leading up to the vote. The mammoth $40 million+ advertising campaign, funded by GM seed corporations and manufacturers of genetically modified foods, swayed public opinion by claiming Proposition 37 would raise food prices, increase bureaucracy, and trigger lawsuits.

It is a group of six mega-corporations - Monsanto, DuPont, BASF, Bayer, Dow, and Syngenta - currently merging the world's seed supply with their genetically modified versions. Genetically modified seeds have had their genes altered by scientists in some way so as to exhibit certain traits.

Five of the six major GM seed corporations – all but Syngenta - are chemical corporations that have only more recently gotten into the food business. All five have long histories of involvement with the military industrial complex, including chemical and nuclear warfare. The companies currently convincing people that GMOs are safe to ingest are the manufacturers of Agent Orange, napalm, chlorine gas, gunpowder, and nuclear weapons, to name but a few.

The "No on 37" financial donors are a Who's Who of genetic modification, with the Big Six GMO corporations at the top of the list:

Monsanto ($8.2 million)
DuPont ($5.4 million)
Pepsico ($2.1 million)
Grocery Manufacturers Association ($2 million)
DOW Agrisciences ($2 million)
Bayer Cropscience ($2 million)
BASF Plant Science ($2 million)
Syngenta Corporation ($2 million)
Kraft Foods ($1.9 million)
Coca Cola ($1.7 million)
Nestle ($1.3 million)

Saturday, November 3, 2012

Ceres in Cancer Within Cardinal Grand Cross and the Loss of Food Sovereignty in Canada

Agriculture-related dwarf planet Ceres stationed retrograde at 3 degrees Cancer on October 31 within a cardinal Grand Cross with Venus in Libra, Uranus in Aries, and Pluto in Capricorn.

This configuration brings issues related to food (Ceres) security (Cancer) to prominence, particularly as they relate to increased corporate globalization (Pluto in Capricorn).

Cancer is a sign related to the local, the home-based, the regional, and the natural. Our home turf. It's family and babies and all things precious. Cancer is a nurturing and security-conscious sign, a sign that both protects and requires protection. With Ceres here, there is a need to protect local, regional, and national agriculture and food production, and this comes into tense relationship with increased control by supra-national agriculture corporations (Pluto in Capricorn).

The Ceres in Cancer square to Uranus in Aries indicates an acute directional point involving intensified moves by agricultural mega-corporations into the uncharted, technology-based territory of genetically modified seeds/foods and other synthetic additions like growth hormones. Adding the Pluto in Capricorn element indicates an effort to make the bizarre, the synthetic, and the dangerously untested into the "industry standard."

Within this context, the Ceres-Uranus and Ceres-Venus squares indicate the necessity to take new, independent, and somewhat radical directions as individuals and like-minded groups take control of their own food supplies, making them autonomous and outside the corporate models.

To break the corporate stranglehold driving us into assembly-line and synthetic foods, food production needs to go smaller, natural/organic, and regional. The influence of Venus in Libra indicates relationships need to be built and strengthened between customer and farmer, and the relationship to food, in general, needs to be made closer and stronger. This breaks form from global agriculture corporations, which have no real home country and only vague connections to any regional area.

Canada is a Cancer Sun nation, and agriculture is big business here.

Canada's Uranus-Sun conjunction at 8 degrees Cancer has been in tight cardinal t-square with transiting Uranus in Aries and Pluto in Capricorn since June 2012. The first of the seven Uranus-Pluto squares on June 24, 2012 fell at 8 degrees Aries/Capricorn, drawing Canada's Uranus-Sun in Cancer into an exact t-square formation. This indicated the nation would be a primary test subject in the ongoing process of souped-up corporate globalization and integration of Global Governance.

Canadian agriculture is currently experiencing a shady, warp-speed deregulation process and restructuring led by a Conservative majority government headed by Bilderberg-approved Global Governor extraordinaire Stephen Harper.

In late 2011, the Conservatives started the semi-legal dismantling of the Canadian Wheat Board. The Wheat Board was set up after the Great Depression - incidentally, the last time the Uranus-Pluto square series occurred - with the idea that there was power in numbers for farmers. The Wheat Board sold all the wheat and barley in Canada, providing a stable and guaranteed price from year-to-year.

But with Goldman Sachs and the rest of the global financiers entering the grain market post-2008, stable and guaranteed prices for grain were not going to work. It's only a destabilized grain market and the wild fluctuations in price fed by stock market speculation on derivatives that pay off big.

The Wheat Board was akin to a union for farmers. What Harper and the gang did was bust the union.

With the Wheat Board dismantled and profits on grain potentially wide open, Canada's major grain handling company, Viterra, was quickly snapped up by Swiss-based Glencore. The sale was announced in July, just after the first Uranus-Pluto square.

In October 2012, news broke about some ecoli cases linked to the major Canadian beef processing plant XL Foods in Brooks, Alberta.

The use of media to manipulate and shape public perception related to agriculture, food policy, and commodities prices has been a strong theme since a Ceres-Vesta-Jupiter conjunction on the Gemini South Node in July 2012.

The ecoli story absolutely blew up in the media. It involved less than 20 people becoming sick, and no one died. More people die from tainted broccoli or spinach every year. But the story was everywhere. And when a story is everywhere, covered on every media channel, over-saturated to the max, you know something's up.

Within a couple weeks of the ecoli stories breaking, the largest meat packing corporation in the world, JBS, had taken over management of the Canadian plant. It has now announced its plan to purchase XL Foods.

JBS is a company owned 30% by the Brazillian government, but, again, this is a supra-national mega-corporation with no real concrete ties to anywhere. It operates in Brazil, the United States, Argentina, Uruguay, China, Russia, Australia, Italy, and Mexico.

If the sale of Canadian-owned and operated XL Foods to JBS goes through, two foreign-owned companies - Cargill and JBS - will own 80% of Canadian beef processing. Combine that with the Swiss takeover of Viterra, and in the span of one year, Canada will have lost sovereignty over the majority of its food system, offering up control on a silver platter to the highest corporate bidder.

The situation at XL Foods indicates that the huge, mega-corporate assembly line route does not work with animals and meat processing. There have been problems, including poor working conditions and poor treatment of workers, for years. But instead of moving into a more soulful, regionally-based treatment of animals and butchering, the next step seems to be to get even bigger, even more corporate, even more decentralized, with Canada giving up control of its beef supply altogether.

The Canadian Cattleman's Association supports the sale of XL Foods to JBS. Like lambs to slaughter.

But the United States-based Ranchers and Cattleman's Action Legal Fund is asking the U.S. Department of Justice to initiate an antitrust investigation of JBS and block the sale. The group believes both ranchers and citizens have been exploited by monopolistic practises in the beef industry, and the sale of XL Foods would eliminate yet more competition for JBS. JBS was threatened with an antitrust lawsuit in 2009 when it attempted to purchase National Beef Packing in the U.S.

The Canadian National Farmers Union is also calling for a government review of the JBS takeover of XL Foods. The problem there is that the loss of control of Canada's food supply in favour of global corporate interests is completely sanctioned - even planned and furthered - by the Conservatives led by Stephen Harper.

Under a "free" market mentality, nothing is sacred. Food is not sacred. Water is not sacred. Shelter is not sacred. Health care is not sacred. Everything under the increasingly globalized corporate system is wide open, unprotected, exposed to the (highly manipulated) "free" market, where maximized profit is really the only concern.

Cancer relates to soul. Ceres in Cancer indicates a necessity for nourishment from food that has soul. Home-grown. Local farmers. Regional comfort food.

Pluto relates to hidden sources of poison, including, in Capricorn, the poisonous influence of the corporate system.

Ceres and Pluto, with a long and brutal history between them, oppose each other, indicating a highly tense interplay of themes into early June, 2013.

The directions we take or do not take during the cardinal square years determine our fates for decades afterward. Individuals have a great deal of power now, and this has to be reinforced. Their decisions and directions have major ripple effects.

The food-related themes come to a head yet again next spring. Ceres will re-enter Cancer April 4, forming a cardinal t-square May 5-7, 2013 that will still be in effect as Uranus and Pluto form their third exact square at 11 degrees Aries/Capricorn on May 20.


Background:

From March 8, 2012: Canada's Uranus-Sun in Cancer in T-Square Lock Down within the Uranus-Pluto Square Series

From March 16, 2012: Canada's Uranus-Sun in Cancer in T-Square Lock Down within the Uranus-Pluto Square Series Part Two

From June 15, 2012: Oh, Canada: Officially at the Line in the Sand at the First Uranus-Pluto Square

All mundane astrology articles on Canada

Friday, November 2, 2012

A Uranus-Pluto Square Reality Check Brought to By Your Friendly Plutonic Punk Astrologer

The levels of "shock and awe" emanating from the events timed to and associated with the Uranus in Aries - Pluto in Capricorn squares (2012-2015) correlate directly to how much credence and faith an individual put in the establishment structure of things to begin with.

If you've always understood there was something seriously wrong - like, abomination wrong -  with "the way things are," you're not going to be all that surprised by the events unfolding over the next years on this planet.

You also more than likely weren't surprised by anything that has gone on since Pluto entered Capricorn in 2008, when predatory mortgages and derivatives schemes were timed to collapse the United States economy and loot the public purse, creating a massive transfer of wealth from the people to the rich.

Or when the One European Currency experiment started going south.

If you understood the violent and inhumane nature of the money systems ahead of time, none of the shenanigans going on now is much of a surprise. This is a timed, intentional collapse, creating chaos so that the next steps toward maintaining control can be put in place. The new organizational schemes are not all that different from the old.

If you've been aware for a while now (since birth?) that things could not possibly continue under such levels of deception, denial, corruption, greed, exploitation, and destruction, it's not going to rock your world all that much when things prove fatally dysfunctional.

What's probably going to surprise you is that it's held up this long. And that people continue to put their energy into propping up the rotting, stinking schemes rather than re-working and fortifying real, necessary infrastructures.

If you've been following along with some of the 60+ posts related to Pluto in Capricorn on this blog, you're aware of the situation.

Right now, many people are breathlessly striving to make gains within corrupt and destructive stock market systems that mostly buy and sell shady financial contracts rather than anything real. People working and living in the primary industries, with real products and services, are considered suckers, dupes, the unfortunate souls who couldn't figure out the easy scam.

Financial astrologers are huge during Pluto's transit of Capricorn. "Figure out how to make a killing in the corrupt stock markets using astrology! Learn occult tricks of the trade that give you that inside edge! Make millions in blood money using the stars!"

Wheeeeeeeeee.

Understand that with Pluto, there's a trajectory toward maintaining corrupt power structures that is often much more popular and lucrative than the trajectory toward legitimacy, transparency, and necessary change.

If you haven't had financial security in the past, life is not going to be all that much different for you. Though you will be dealing with more extreme scenarios, you'll actually have a major leg up emotionally, psychologically, and along survival lines on the majority who continued to believe in Market Gods and invisible hands guiding them to neverending prosperity right up to the end.

There's a lot of talk about "all hell breaking loose" over the next few years on the planet.

But for most of the poor and working classes, hell has never not been breaking loose. Hell is something they're pretty used to, at this point. It's just that once it starts touching the middle and upper-middle classes, it starts to be considered a "real" problem, especially through media channels.

"The economy" was already shit, work was already hellish and exploitative, un- and under-employment were already rampant for many, many people before Pluto entered Capricorn and the predatory mortgages started kicking off like dominoes in 2008.

The majority didn't have the luxury of meaningful work before Pluto entered Capricorn, and the corporate steamrolling of small and independent businesses since the ingress has made things that much worse. Looking to corporations to provide meaningful, life-and-society-sustaining employment, as is the Pluto in Capricorn credo, is an absolute joke at this point.

For these reasons, I don't see the cardinal Grand Crosses of 2013 and 2014 as being that much of a switch for a certain percentage of the population. We're moving into a very pressurized, highly acute year from May 2013 to May 2014 when the uncertainty and tension will, at times, be unbearable. Structural frameworks will come unhinged in grand fashion. There will be violence, uprising, weather-related disasters. The circumstances people find themselves in will be highly challenging. Action will be required. New and unexpected directions will necessarily be taken. We will be moving en masse in relation to upheaval and manufactured chaos on both global and societal levels. But what else is new? Seriously, what could surprise at this point? Not even the end of the world.

The people who will experience the most "shock and awe" will be those who have been insulated financially from the real problems on this planet. The people who have been "successful" in the current systems, who have been playing along with the make believe. 

There is a strong element of self-fulfilling prophesy going on right now, a strong element of occult-assisted planning, and a strong element of manipulation, including of weather.

The "sky is falling" types will be able to pat themselves on their backs when they perceive things as going to hell over the next few years.

But people like me, and like many who read this site, know we were already there long ago.

Those who engineer pyramid scheme structural realities on this planet are going to be banking on: shock, confusion, disbelief, emotional catatonia, psychological distress, denial, chaos. Illusions shattering and people being paralyzed under the realizations they're having.

These are the malleable public reactions, the ones that can be shaped like warm Plasticine, the emotional and psychological states that will ensure people follow blindly into the next **new and improved** hierarchical set-up.

The reactions of those who are already aware are not this. They're calm, unsurprised, practical, fairly unruffled. They're not easily manipulated. This is where we need to be over the next three years.

Understand that we have just entered a three-year span, Saturn's transit of Scorpio, when crisis energy will be highly manipulated. Fear and emotional and psychological shock will be used like weapons.

If you haven't already, slowly, gradually become aware of the broader context so that you do not get caught up in the manipulated chaos and emotional and psychological breakdown associated with Saturn in Scorpio in mutual reception to Pluto in Capricorn.

Understand what other people will be dealing with so you can help lead them through.

We're all going to need a little assistance at times.

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Hematite Shields Up!

We're going through some serious 'blood feud' transits currently (Saturn, Sun, and North Node in Scorpio, Venus square Pluto), and the themes are going to be with us for a while.

In addition, Juno and Mars in Sagittarius squaring Pallas Athene in Pisces are kicking up sneak attack etheric catfight action, and it can be very difficult to put our fingers on exactly what is going on.

People (and energy dynamics, in general) are looking for weak spots, and it's best that we protect ourselves on metaphysical as well as physical levels.

I've found that hematite is a great material for deflecting nasty emotional and psychic energy. I have a pendant and ring I wear a lot, and hematite beads can be made into other jewellery. 
 
Hematite is the mineral form of iron oxide. Some of it is red, and its name was derived from the Greek word for blood. Some varieties are even referred to as "blood ore." I have a hunk of that stuff, and it's pretty primordial feeling. 
 
Did I mention it's good for dealing with 'blood feud' energy?
 
The hematite that is processed for beads and jewellery becomes a shiny, gun metal grey. It's extremely hard but not brittle. In other words, it can withstand and deflect some major abuse.

Hematite beads
 
Hematite was discovered on Mars, astrology's war planet, which gives it a sort of hardcore fighting connection.

To me, it's a very Plutonic material. It has an industrial feel and would possibly be too heavy for a strongly lunar or Neptunian person, but I find it protective and shielding in difficult circumstances. It both deflects energy and absorbs and draws it away. It also seems to have a clearing effect on electromagnetic excess.

If you're going into a situation that instantly makes you think "yuck," or if you're going to be in contact with people you will possibly be frictional with, this stuff can help you through it.

Plutonic/Scorpionic types often unintentionally trigger nasty reactions in other people. Hematite can keep us safe from those reactions, which are often directed toward us.

As far as metaphysical protection, one can conjure up in the mind's eye a shiny, gun metal grey hematite shield covering the entire body. Any slings and arrows tossed our way are easily deflected, and nothing can penetrate through it to injure us. As far as I know, it's pretty much indestructible. Just make sure it's covering every inch of exposed self, and pay special attention to buffering your known weak spots.

Whenever your Scorpionic spidey sense starts going off in a bad way and things start looking a little dicey, you can call "Hematite Shield!" and place it around you.