Friday, March 24, 2017

The Elimination of Saskatchewan Transportation Company (STC): Regressive Transportation Policy Under the Mercury-Pluto Square

On March 22, as transportation planet Mercury in Aries formed a square to "illegitimate power and hierarchy" Pluto in Capricorn, the neo-conservative Brad Wall government in Saskatchewan, my home province, announced in its budget that it will be shutting down the province's bus system. 

Yes, that's right. No public debate, no public consultation, no transportation alternatives offered. It's just over because Brad Wall and his buddies say it is. 

This government, full of "one car per person" drivers, decided that it can unilaterally eliminate (Pluto) a mass transportation system (Mercury) that people throughout the province have relied on for over 70 years. ("'It's going to be quite a nightmare': Passengers outraged by STC closure" by Jason Warick of CBC News) 

The Pluto in Capricorn bulldozer strikes again, creating a nightmarish and potentially deadly (Pluto) transportation scenario (Mercury) for many...

The Wall government was much beloved by conservatives in the heavily oil-dependent province of Saskatchewan when oil was at $100 U.S. a barrel. And this government spent and spent and spent keeping itself in that golden position. No thought for the future.

Then, of course, the price of oil crashed. As it always does. Oil is a highly-manipulated, highly-volatile, boom-and-bust commodity. This really should have come as zero surprise. But there is a strange amnesia that sets in when people are riding an oil high. They somehow believe it's going to last forever and spend accordingly. The Wall government was no different. 

The price of oil has now been halved and sits around $50 U.S. a barrel. 

And now this government has decided - as so many governments do - to make up for its own spending sprees on the backs of the poor and sick and vulnerable in society. All to save $17 million a year, which in the scope of a provincial budget the size of Saskatchewan's is a drop in the bucket.

Saskatchewan is an agriculturally-based province, meaning it has many small communities and farms spread throughout its land mass as people go about producing food to feed the world (among other activities). It also has many remote northern communities.

Saskatchewan Transportation Company (STC) is the only bus service that goes to many of the smaller, rural communities. It connects the little places with each other, and it also connects the little places to the cities, where people can access essential services that can't be found in the smaller communities. Many people use the bus service for doctor's appointments and medical treatments, and this decision leaves them stranded. Around 300 people used STC to access cancer treatments alone in 2016. ("STC shutdown leaves cancer patients looking for a ride" by Adam Hunter of CBC News.)

STC is also often the only company that will deliver freight to the smaller communities. 

There is a Greyhound run in Saskatchewan, but it only goes along major routes, missing the more remote and rural communities in the province.

In short, this bus is an essential service for many seniors, disabled people, sick people, rural people, students, people living below the poverty line, and people who do not drive.

Thursday, March 23, 2017

Actual Signs of Spring at Spring Equinox? What a Novelty!

These photos were taken one day apart, and spring has apparently sprung in between. I have to say how much of a novelty it is to experience actual signs of spring at spring equinox. In previous Canuck living locations, spring often doesn't roll around until late April. It's not unheard of to have a blizzard in early May. So these sweet signs of spring were quite delightful to discover. 

Happy Spring in the northern hemisphere! And Happy Fall in the southern! Just in time for the Sun-Venus interior conjunction to rain its benevolent rays down upon us March 25, followed by a New Moon at 7 degrees Aries on March 27. 

Let the good Venusian vibes carry you into something fresh...


March 22, 2017



March 23, 2017



March 22, 2017



March 23, 2017

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

A Uranian Mercury Retrograde: Grounding Electric Insights About the Way Forward







"A Uranian Mercury Retrograde: Grounding Electric Insights About the Way Forward" is an article available to Willow's Web Astrology patrons


Friday, March 10, 2017

Full Moon in Virgo: Hold Yourself to Your Own High Standards...But Don't Expect Perfection Under This Mutable Lunar Madness

We're moving to a highly-mutable (changeable) Full Moon at 22 degrees Virgo on March 11/12 opposite a whole whack of Pisces placements (Sun, Mercury, Chiron, Pallas Athene, and Neptune) and square Saturn in Sagittarius.

These bodies form a mutable t-square configuration under the Full Moon rays, indicating that a transitional period is now coming to a head.

We have to put our best foot forward now in order to secure a desirable place within the new order that will form coming out of this Virgo Full Moon. Show your work ethic, your organizational skills, and your attention to detail (Virgo)...but also your compassion, your humanity, and your willingness to go with the flow when necessary (Pisces) in order to fully rock this.

The Moon reaches its fullest point in the sign of the virgin on March 12 at 7:54 a.m. PDT.

(Note to self: remember the change to Daylight Savings Time on March 12, as well!)

Keep working, keep pushing, and keep perfecting despite fatigue. It's ultimately your own standards that must be met here.

Our daily efforts are being pushed to a high point, a peak moment, and as we coast over the Full Moon hump, we should start to see some concrete results from systematic hard work. The refining and improving and streamlining we've done starts to come together into a fully-operational whole system, and we're relieved of some of the most painstaking detail work as things start to gel a little.

Conversely, if people have already been coasting and letting details slide, now is a time when daily operations could get very glitchy, becoming severe pains in their asses. IE. chaos prevails

Virgo is a sign that knows the benefits of maintenance as well as the pitfalls of letting that maintenance slide. It also knows how very much the small details matter in the operation of the whole system. If there are long-term flaws in the system or areas of neglect, full-on breakdowns could occur under the pressures indicated by these aspects.

The dispositor of the Virgo Full Moon is messenger planet Mercury in Pisces. Mercury is currently in the sign of its fall and will be in exact square to Saturn in Sagittarius at the time of the Virgo Full Moon on March 12.

The Sun-Mercury-Pallas Athene-Chiron in Pisces will be opposite the Virgo Moon, and all those bodies will be in square aspect to Saturn in Sagittarius, forming a massive mutable t-square. Changeable, changeable, changeable. Things will be coming apart at the seams a little ahead of new order, so stay flexible under the lunar madness...

Damnnnnn, all the Pisces in the astro atmosphere at the moment can be draining.

This is especially the case with the communicator planet in the sign of its fall (not its preferred territory), and even more so the case with the communicator planet in the sign of its fall in tight square aspect to seeming slave-driver Saturn.

We're really being hammered on all those fine details at the moment, battling the slippery-slidey material reality that is prevalent under a strong Pisces contingent. But never fear: the job is done just as we hit our exhaustion point.

Hold yourself to your own high standards, but don't expect perfection under this glut of Pisces within mutable t-square. It's even more apparent than usual that the universe has a will of its own and is apt to throw a monkey wrench or two into the works for its own mysterious reasons. The concrete systems and processes and perfectionism of Virgo must also allow a crack or two to let in the magic and mystery and meandering workings of spirit.

So focus on making loving corrections when necessary rather than demanding perfection as we keep this train on track, and maintain a sense of humour and good will about the mysterious monkey wrenches that are beyond our control.

Most people are doing the best they can under aspects that indicate some level of struggle and challenge for everyone. Help people to do better if you are able. Let others suffer the inevitable consequences of their own shoddy work/efforts. But don't nitpick on every little detail, and don't demand utter perfection under the current astro conditions unless you are a big fan of disappointment!

Stay flexible, and make adjustments and corrections on your end whenever possible to flow through this mutable t-square Virgo Full Moon. 

Mercury enters Aries on March 13 (2:07 p.m. PDT), and that fiery placement starts to dry us out from some of the Piscean sog as we look actively toward spring in the northern hemisphere.  

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

The Six-Year Anniversary of the Ongoing Fukushima Nuclear Disaster and the Collapse of the Pacific Ocean Ecosystem

March 11, 2017 is the six-year anniversary of the ongoing Fukushima, Japan nuclear disaster. This disaster is contaminating Japan and North America (indeed, the whole planet) with radioactive fallout, as well as creating a horrific collapse in the Pacific Ocean ecosystem. The wonderful sea creatures are in a state of intense duress at this time, and many species are experiencing mass sickness and die-offs that have been accelerating dramatically since 2011.

Let me be very clear about this: this is the worst nuclear disaster in human history. It is ongoing. And there is no end in sight.

I don't believe there is a single global issue as pertinent as this ongoing nuclear disaster. However, there is a worldwide media blackout underway on Fukushima, and it has been in effect since the beginning. Much of the public is waiting for "official reports" on the situation in order to take it seriously, but these reports will not be forthcoming. Government officials and establishment academics and scientists are staying silent on the issue, downplaying the issue, diverting from the issue, or are being muzzled if they do have any inkling toward the truth. 

Governments are doing no ongoing testing of food, water, milk, or air for radioactive contamination, although contamination from Fukushima fallout has been detected all over North America since 2011, continuing to this day.

Since the U.S. and Canada are both heavily invested in nuclear energy, there is a vested interest in keeping things quiet. In fact, Canada is the number two exporter of uranium worldwide and a major exporter of nuclear reactors.

Since 2011 when the Fukushima, Japan nuclear disaster began hemorrhaging radioactivity into the Pacific Ocean and atmosphere via triple nuclear meltdown, there have been heartbreaking documented mass illnesses and die-offs in populations of: whales, dolphins, sea lions, seals, manatees, polar bears, walruses, sea birds, owls, pelicans, turtles, crabs, sea stars, sea urchins, oysters, scallops, abalone, sardines, anchovies, salmon, herring, jellyfish, coral, krill, plankton, and more all along the North American West Coast. 

As the research of Dana Durnford has shown along the British Columbia West Coast, sea life has disappeared dramatically in the tidal pools since 2011. Thousands of species are now missing.

Wednesday, March 1, 2017

Pisces Stellium #2 for 2017







"Pisces Stellium #2 for 2017" is an article available to Willow's Web Astrology patrons