Happy Juno Day with Chiron on 29 Pisces!

Love and love and love and love!

Photos: Willow
Photo of my sister in her fab new skirt: Robyn Fahlman

Happy Juno/Valentine's Day from your anarchist astro-reporter!

This is our final Juno Day of the Chiron in Pisces transit, and it just so happens that the wounded healer is on the very last degree of Pisces this February 14th, which is the very last degree of the entire zodiac.

These are the master lessons about both the healing and the wounding potential of love on this planet. This Juno Day is ripe for some profound realizations about real love versus the illusory or overly-idealized versions that have run rampant during the final century or so of the astrological Piscean era. 

The influence of Chiron on the complex and potent anaretic degree of Pisces this Juno/Valentine's Day indicates there may be a little of that old school "dashed romantic ideals and disappointment" nipping at people. This is a throwback to the astrological Piscean era when fairy tale romances and Disney prince/princess dreams (often manufactured for us by nefarious social engineers) created a perfectly terrible clash of artificial, pie-in-the-sky ideals with human, Earth-bound realities.  

Well, folks, I'm here to tell you that with Chiron on the 29th degree of Pisces, about to blaze into Aries on February 17, that version of idealized and impossible-to-maintain-on-a-daily-basis love is a thing of the past! Poof! It's a relic. An outdated fantasy. And it's being banished to the maya realms where it belongs.

If Chiron on 29 Pisces this Juno Day has any message it would like to remind us of, it's this: love is all around us. It sustains us every day in every way - whether it is love for God (or whatever word you use for your higher power), love for family and friends, love for a significant other, love for co-workers, love for your community and fellow human beings, love for animals, love for plants, love for self, love for the work you do, or a combination of all of these. 

Juno in Pisces and Our Relationship With Illusion at the end of the Astrological Piscean Era

Soul mate asteroid Juno entered Pisces on February 24, 2018 for a transit that will last until April 28. Juno in Pisces adds a bit of a supernatural element to things - stronger spiritual, psychic, or etheric connections that are working away behind the scenes.

Juno in Pisces indicates a web of ethereal connections that transcend time, space, and location with certain threads being plucked at certain times throughout the transit. As particular threads are plucked, we start to see and sense connections to other people, times, locations, and eras that may have been invisible previously.

Part of the beauty of the human condition is that we are connected at the heart and soul to others who have experienced similar things as we have during their time on the planet. We're never truly alone. These shared experiences create a psychic imprint that is accessible and relatable no matter what era we're living in. It's perhaps the more painful and isolating experiences that create the deepest and most long-lived bonds, the strongest psychic connections that endure through time and space. 

Juno in Pisces connects us at our most vulnerable places, in the most poetically painful or bittersweet of human experiences.

From a previous article: 

"With Juno in Pisces, we are also working with "soul mates" where the connection we have is almost entirely unseen, etheric, and non-tangible. These are individuals we feel some connection to (desired or not) that cannot be fully explained logically. Juno is a complex and often frictional symbol, and this indicates we are working our way out of energetic entanglements we have with people that are almost purely psychic or etheric.  

Simultaneously, we are finding sometimes surprising moments of communion as we see evidence of the unbreakable love of the universe, and our spirits are shored up." 

Juno transiting Pisces indicates a period of time when we are working intricately with our relationship to illusion - a textbook Pisces theme.

With transiting Juno in Pisces, the soul mates in our lives may be helping us with these illusions in some way - perhaps drawing attention to areas where the rose-coloured glasses are a little thick or providing experiences that pop our Neptunian bubbles and bring us back to reality.

Under this transit, we may be bothered more than usual by people trying to portray "the perfect life" or "the perfect relationship" through media or social media. (Narcissistic tendencies are another Piscean/Neptunian theme, and we have more than enough of those going around these days...)

At the same time, we may have soul mates who are helping us to see through these carefully-curated lifestyles and immaculately-filtered images. Once we pop an illusion, once we disrupt the glossy surface sheen, once we see that there is no such thing as "the perfect life" or "the perfect relationship" or "the perfect Instagram filter," there's really no going back. There's no going back to a time when we were fooled by those things.

And at that point, we really have to ask: why are so many people putting so much time, effort, and money into portraying this false image of lifestyle-perfection? Why are people creating lifestyle illusions designed only to make other people covet their lives and what they have?

It's a little pathological, really, isn't it? 

We are now officially in the astrological Age of Aquarius, but there are still plenty of old, Piscean-era ghosts traipsing around and old, Piscean-era illusions left to dissipate.

The high romanticism of the standard Neptunian love story is one illusory element that may need to be put in tighter check under this Juno in Pisces transit. 

Within the pages of a classic English novel, Jane Eyre and Edward Rochester find blissful union, at last, long last, as two halves of the same soul meet in holy matrimony. A fictional love to make your heart ache, feverish that you may never find its equivalent. And in real life, its author Charlotte Bronte marries a clergyman she is merely fond of - no great, melting love of her life - after watching her entire family perish one-by-one, only to die herself while pregnant soon after being wed. 

How's that for a sobering reality check?

How many of the great historical love stories, so implanted in the collective psyche and so sought after, have been myth, illusion, just a good story?

And how many of the great Facebook or Instagram love stories are cut from that same cloth?

We have now planted our flags on the Aquarian-era side of things and are looking to create a more rational and realistic version of romance and of life, in general. Even if we aren't looking to do that - that's the path to greater success, veering away from the highly-idealized and soft-lit versions of love, romance, and "lifestyle" that generally end in disappointment and bad feelings.

We're looking to maintain that beautiful Piscean love and connection, but we're doing it with our feet on the ground, with a keen eye toward egalitarian love, rather than a love that places anyone or anything on a pedestal. 

A 27-degree Pisces New Moon conjunct wounded healer Chiron on March 17 (Happy St. Pat's!) stirs the associated themes, and this continues through the following 28-day lunar cycle. 

Juno will form a conjunction to Neptune at 14 degrees Pisces on March 26, 2018, and the soul mate lessons here involve the differentiation between real Piscean love, spirituality, understanding, and communion...and the highly-illusory, highly glossed-up cardboard cutout versions we see portrayed so often through media and social media.

Chiron is very potent in late Pisces during this lunar month, traversing the final degrees of the zodiac. Big, collective karmic wallops possible. 

On a personal level, we may find ourselves a little haunted, a little hamstrung by all the psychic threads we're connected to, even beyond this Pisces season. But the fiery-potent 26-degree Aries New Moon conjunct Uranus and Eris on April 15 releases us from some of the old etheric webs. It burns up some of these webs, simultaneously lighting the way into new territory and fresher dynamics.

The Aries New Moon on April 15 also opens us into the Chiron in Aries transit (2018 - 2027), which begins on April 17. Mercury will station direct at 4 degrees Aries in a conjunction to Chiron on April 15, as well.

Juno enters Aries on April 28, 2018, following the Chiron ingress of Aries April 17. Juno and Chiron will form a conjunction at zero degrees Aries, the first degree of the zodiac, on April 29, indicating some refreshing movement out of the reach of old ghosts, old illusions, and old Neptunian bubbles. 

This Juno-Chiron conjunction at zero Aries - such a potent initiatory degree - provides the cosmic impetus to carve our way out of "Image Factory Hell" once and for all. Let's use it!

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Juno in Pisces For Juno Day

This Friday is Valentine's Day, also known as Juno Day, a day traditionally set aside to celebrate love, lovers, romance, relationships, and soul mates.

Fittingly, we have a big, fat Full Moon in late Leo that night (exact at 5:53 p.m. CST) to get us all in the heart-centred mood.

The Moon opposes both the Sun and Mercury retrograde, which form their interior conjunction at 27 Aquarius on Saturday, February 15 (2:22 p.m.). The Sun-Mercury conjunction provides some much-needed perspective as we complete the first leg of the Mercury retrograde, which ends February 28. I hope you're receiving some messages and insight now that make your heart sing with excitement for the future.

If not, well, there's always the chocolate. 

It does seem funny that this day, falling in Aquarius season as it does, a sign related more to universal or humanitarian love, has such a strong focus on romantic, interpersonal love with all the hopes, illusions, ideals, and disappointments that have gone along with it. Seems more like a day for Pisces season, no?

The truth is, though, this day is a day for soul mates of all kinds, not just the romantic, interpersonal ones, and this becomes even more the case the further into the new astrological era we go. The love and bonds between friends also become more important as we head further into Aquarius, with friendship no longer relegated to "second best" behind the much-preferred ooey gooey love relationship. 

With soul mate asteroid Juno transiting the last degrees of Pisces on this Juno Day, some big romantic illusions are falling. These are some of the wounding Piscean-era romantic illusions that have held on with great tenacity, dragging those clinging to them down some nasty and devastating roads. Roads they've perhaps been down again, and again, and again...

From a previous post:

"Juno is showing us what we can count on, what we can draw on, and what we can accept into our hearts as the unchanging and unalterable love from the universe. But it's also showing us the ways in which we have been too naïve, too soft, too trusting, too open, too impressionable, too pie-in-sky, too denial-ridden, too giving, or too forgiving."

Venus is still re-gaining full speed direct, coming out of its direct station at 13 degrees Capricorn January 31. Venus is just about to move out of orb of the conjunction to Pluto, breaking the magnetic Plutonic forcefield and pushing onward on the other side of this Juno Day weekend. The current positioning of love and relationship planet Venus indicates a more down-to-earth and realistic tone for this Valentine's Day - if people even have the energy or money to celebrate it.

We're opening into a whole new rulebook for interpersonal relationships now, a whole new way of structuring our relationships, and this won't always fit the dewy and glistening Neptunian ideals.

So how will this change Valentine's Day?

Hell, I don't know. I'm not a woman who has had the traditional Valentine's experience, to say the least. I find the culture around this day to be over-the-top, a little eyeroll-worthy, and a little bullshitty, to be honest. I have Venus retrograde in Scorpio in the birth chart, and let's just say, I've always seen what lies beneath the candy and flowers and candles and expensive dinners.

To me, it's always been sort of an irritating day - another day when single people are made into the pitiable "other."

(Believe me, there are more people in relationships deserving of your pity these days than people out of relationships...)

This day has never materialized for me the way the broader society says it should, and that's A-OK.

For me, it's about recognizing and celebrating love in all its forms, and particularly - in light of being one of those pitiable "other" singles for much of my life - self-love.

In honour of Goddess Juno, AKA Hera, Zeus' much-beleaguered wife, this is also a day to celebrate the marriages that have stood the test of time, rather than the hyped-up honeymoon phase. Anyone can get through the honeymoon phase. Try the next 30 or 40 years...

On a personal level, this day has been about celebrating the tenacity of my parents and their marriage. They were married on February 12 and, unbeknownst to them, would have an amazingly tough relationship row to hoe. It's all there in the synastry. But they're still at it. And they brought wicked Willow to the world (along with her fabulous sister), so I guess there is some method to the universe's meanness, after all, isn't there?

Juno finishes its transit of Pisces, moving into fresh territory in Aries on March 3.

From there, the soul mate asteroid moves to a rollicking conjunction to Uranus in Aries on March 25, getting Aries season and spring in the northern hemisphere underway with a sizzle.

With Juno transiting Aries until April 26, the soul mates in our lives are showing us the way forward. They're spurring new directions. They're getting us primed and excited and interested in what lies ahead. They're showing us how we need to break new relational trail now, following our own instincts as we take the virgin steps into weird and wild Aquarius. Things aren't going as you had expected? Are interactions making you a little hot under the collar? Is the trajectory of your relationships completely different from what you'd imagined?

That's the vibe to ride this March and April, pretty babies. We're at the end of the Piscean-era rainbow here, and what comes next just might blow your mind a little - in a good way.

Happy Juno Day to all you lovers and fighters out there!

Juno in Pisces and the Soul Mate Flow

Sunset over Main Street
Photo: Willow

Soul mate asteroid Juno entered Pisces on January 1 after spending more than nine months transiting Aquarius, including a retrograde period. Juno will now transit the sign of the fishies until March 4.

Juno is currently forming a conjunction to Neptune in Pisces, exact January 8, which adds a bit of a soft-lit, dreamy (and potentially spacey) vibe to the start of our new year. The Moon enters Pisces today at 10:58 a.m. CST, forming conjunctions to both Juno and Neptune, and this increases the "ethereal Piscean glow" effect for the next couple days.

With relationship planet Venus Rx in Capricorn currently restructuring our relationships into top "new era" form, Juno transiting Pisces is giving us a few hot tips on how to move on from the old Piscean-era traps, foibles, mirages, and energy drains.

Juno will conjunct wounded healer Chiron in Pisces on January 25, and we have to be willing to move out of reach of the end-of-Piscean-era siren songs. These lead nowhere. Or nowhere good.

Juno is showing us what we can count on, what we can draw on, and what we can accept into our hearts as the unchanging and unalterable love from the universe. But it's also showing us the ways in which we have been too naïve, too soft, too trusting, too open, too impressionable, too pie-in-sky, too denial-ridden, too giving, or too forgiving.

Over the next two months, Juno is attempting to bring it all back into the loved-up fold.

It is showing us the difference between "good energy" Neptune and Pisces and deceptive, illusory, disappointing, and painful Neptune and Pisces, working only to set us up for a fall.

Juno will form a potent and productive sextile to Venus in Capricorn just as Venus stations direct (January 29 - 31), and these two feminine forces are really getting the job done. One is focusing on the nuts and bolts, advancing through the concrete social and relational reality via earth sign Capricorn. The other is gleaning insight and impressions from the unseen realms in water sign Pisces in order to guide our steps.

In relationships and with money matters, we are either placing our feet on something solid, something that will sustain our long-term advancement, or we are trying to take a step out into thin air.

Spirit is guiding us in immediate ways now, but it is also testing us to determine real from fake.

The merger of Neptune with Juno in Pisces over the next couple weeks indicates that our connections and interactions have a bit of a fated and otherworldly flavour. The people we cross paths with are purposeful, and the universe is speaking through some seemingly chance encounters.

Psychic connections are strong during this transit.

The universe is giving us a gentle nudge, tapping us on the shoulder, and speaking to us through our interactions with others (our soul mates) - even in the smallest of exchanges. Bits of conversation we overhear can provide needed guidance and insight. Dreams are rich with hints about the way forward from here, as well as the meaningful players involved. Songs on the radio can give us clues as far as the relational adjustments and changes required - including moving beyond the pining and maudlin end-of-Pisces influence on romance and love relationships.

For the next two months, we have to read these otherworldly clues, follow the meandering etheric breadcrumb trail, and make the necessary adjustments.

You know what? If things didn't go as you had hoped and dreamed with that last guy or gal, there's a very good reason for that. Those hopes and dreams belong to an era now past, and it's time to rejuvenate, re-invigorate, and rev yourself up for a whole new ball of wax.

In order to understand the complexity of Juno as an astrological symbol, we can delve into the mythology. Juno is associated with Hera, Queen Goddess and wife of philandering Zeus, King of the Gods.

From a previous post:

"What Juno knows is this: Soul mates are not often like the Hollywood or New Age versions. They're actually very hard work. Challenging from many angles. Being connected to someone at a soul level is not always pleasant. And in fact, if the person you're connected to isn't responsible with the power of the position, it can be a straight-up nightmare.

Juno knows this one first hand.

If Zeus was the King of the Gods, Hera was the Queen of the Goddesses - until, that is, she got roped into "little wifey" territory as Zeus' long-suffering bride. Hera was raped and tricked by Zeus into marrying him and was then dragged through the muck and mire as her loyal husband screwed and philandered and stuck it in anything in a skirt."

Juno relates to marriage, bonds, and soul mate relationships but also to the difficult emotional experiences and power dynamics those types of commitments can bring with them.

The "invisible" influence of these difficult, soul-bonded dynamics is particularly a theme as Juno transits Pisces. Being dragged along, being drained, being ignored, being sacrificed in this type of union.

Juno's placement in the birth chart relates to an area where there is a soul-level commitment. It is an area to which we are "married." However, contrary to what most people believe, soul mate relationships are not necessarily meant to be romantic, sexual, or long-term.

In other words, "soul mate" is not synonymous with "blissful true love/lifelong mate."

As I interpret it, the term soul mate refers broadly to a person brought into our lives in order to catalyze or further some type of soul-level work that could not be completed on our own. There is a soul contract there related to something you (and the individual) wish to achieve on a deep level, and it could last a minute, a month, a year, or a lifetime.

Pisces is considered one of the most karmic signs, and this Juno transit through Pisces with Venus retrograde in Capricorn indicates that our soul mate connections are helping us to "finish up" in certain ways, putting old cycles behind us, particularly as they relate to love, social life, and money.

With Juno in Pisces, we are also working with "soul mates" where the connection we have is almost entirely unseen, etheric, and non-tangible. These are individuals we feel some connection to (desired or not) that cannot be fully explained logically. Juno is a complex and often frictional symbol, and this indicates we are working our way out of energetic entanglements we have with people that are almost purely psychic or etheric.

Simultaneously, we are finding sometimes surprising moments of communion as we see evidence of the unbreakable love of the universe, and our spirits are shored up. As relationship planet Venus retrogrades in the sign of structure, we are building spirit right into our relational foundations, and we're doing it the right way.

This January and February, the people we come into contact with - especially spontaneously - have a spiritual connection to us of some sort. Likely, we are working on similar themes, being drawn into each other's orbits to catalyze further progress and insight.

Juno in Pisces forms a lovely trine to Saturn in Scorpio on February 18, providing some water magic for those who have listened and learned all along the way.

Allow the mystery of the Juno in Pisces soul mate connections to unfold on its own without attempting to control the course. View the people coming into your orbit now as soul mates bringing you guidance from spirit - even in the simplest and smallest of interactions. See the connections that draw you into the whole, despite feelings of isolation. And allow the universe to play you a new song for this new year.


Don't forget my offering for 2014: Venus and Mars Retrograde: Cardinal Relationship Shifts and a Fight for Right Human Relations in 2014 - 6,900+ words for $15 or free this year to patrons

Juno Enters Aquarius Where it Remains for the Rest of 2013

The asteroid associated with marriage, commitment, and soul mates, Juno, enters Aquarius on March 13, where it will stay until January 1, 2014. This extended transit in the sign of the new astrological era indicates an at-times frictional move into stronger Aquarian-era relational themes throughout 2013.

Juno will retrograde through Aquarius from June 14 through September 22 (19 degrees to 3 degrees).

During its transit of the water-bearer, Juno will square Saturn in Scorpio three times: April 13, 2013 at 9 degrees of the signs, August 26, 2013 at 6 degrees of the signs, and November 29, 2013 with both Juno and Saturn at 17 degrees of the signs.

We're grinding these "new era" relational issues out from the gut, from the core, guided as always by our own inner knowledge of the way things need to be. We're digging deeply to find the emotional and psychological stability required this year as we are whisked into new dynamics and new situations.

Many frictional issues will be raised by Juno this year related to a shift in relationship dynamics, new forms of commitment, and new rules for marriage and commited relationships of all kinds coming into play under a stronger Aquarian umbrella.

We're looking to create the true egalitarian win-win here - no coercion, no unequal power dynamics, no swallowing things we don't want to swallow.

We're moving from crystallized marriage and relationship constructs determining the behaviour of the participants...to to the needs of the participants as individuals determining the shape of the constructs. And this is going to be highly frictional at times, as people resist the unfamiliar leadership of our lady Juno in Aquarius.

You can read more about this Juno transit within the context of the broader structural shifts we are experiencing in love, relationship, and commitment in 2013 in my paid article:

Venus, Juno, and Pluto: the Reconfiguring and Renegotiation of Marriage and Commitment in 2013 - $20

* Note: This is an article from the start of 2013 that I'm re-advertising now. You may have already purchased it.

Pallas Athene in Aries, Exposing Rape in the Military, and Control of Women's Sexuality in Mythology Connected to the Feminine Asteriods

The asteroid related to the female warrior, Pallas Athene, is currently very strong in the zodiac. It has been on Uranus in Aries like white on rice for a few months now, moving retrograde with it in tandem, and has played a prominent role in the first and now second Uranus-Pluto squares.

The female warrior asteroid is infused at this time with the energy of necessary, radical change and re-direction as we enter a new astrological era (Uranus in Aries), and it is coming into tense, clashing square contact with the patriarchal power structures as they exist (Pluto in Capricorn).

These symbols indicate a theme of women fighting for change in all aspects of society, coming into contact with corrupt, unjust, and downright abusive power structures - the Pluto in Capricorn "accepted way of things."

These symbols are also playing out very literally with female soldiers fighting for justice and change in relation to the male-dominated power structures of the United States Armed Forces.

The horrifyingly high incidence of rape among female soldiers by male soldiers in the United States Armed Forces is an issue gaining traction at this time, as are the cover-ups and miscarriages of justice associated with those crimes.

According to a study released on April 13, 2012 by the U.S. Department of Defense, 3,200 rapes are reported to the military annually.

Since an estimated 80 percent of rapes go unreported, the annual total is closer to 19,000.

Of the 3,200 rapes that are reported, only half are deemed worthy of pursuing in military courts, and of that half, only 6 percent result in a conviction. One out of three soldiers convicted of rape is retained by the military, keeping his job and his place on the payroll.

Many of the women who report being raped are then harassed by fellow soldiers.

A Veterans Affairs Administration study found that nearly 1 in 3 female U.S. soldiers is raped during her service, more than double the (also horrifying) 15-percent risk of rape for civilian women. This means nearly 500,000 military women have been raped since the U.S. Armed Forces first began accepting female soldiers in 1948.

The fact that the military investigates and prosecutes itself has long been problematic, but an attorney named Susan Burke is hoping to get around this by suing the Unites States military on constitutional grounds. The claim is that the military violated her clients' constitutional rights to due process, equal protection under the Fifth Amendment, and First Amendment free-speech rights to report sexual assault without retaliation. Three lawsuits involving multiple women in each suit are either in progress or are soon to be launched against the U.S. military.

These women are truly the embodiment of Pallas Athene in Aries in action. 

The North Node Enters Scorpio with Eros and Juno Conjunct: Attraction, Repulsion, Motivation, and Frenemies

North Node in Scorpio: August 30, 2012 - February 18, 2014

The North Node enters Scorpio August 30 for a 1.5-year stay, and things take a distinct turn for the serious. We shift from a jovial, Jupiter-ruled Sagittarius North Node to a stone cold reality-based one in Scorpio, from an expansive, optimistic guiding force to a condensed, concentrated, and gritty one.

The planets of greatest influence over our path during the next year-and-a-half are Mars and Pluto - both heavy hitters - and the movement, signs, and interactions of these bodies become keys to our successful navigation.

Mars is at home in Scorpio at the time of the nodal axis shift and will be there until October 6, the day after Saturn enters the sign. Mars changes signs about every 1.5 months. Pluto will be in Capricorn for the duration of the transit, forming squares to Uranus in Aries.

The North Node is considered indicative of our successful soul-driven navigational path forward and, in Scorpio, it indicates that the path to be carved out hinges on the proper development and application of the mad Scorpio skills: emotional, psychological, intuitive, metaphysical, and sexual.

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

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

The South Node - an area of prior accolade and success but current stagnation and detriment - is now in Taurus, moving us away from a preoccupation with all things Taurean: Money. Dollar bills. Currency. Physical value. Accumulation. Impressive physical possessions. Maintaining tradition, security, stability, and comfort at all costs. The physical realm.

To stay encased in a South Node fortress of money, possessions, and toys at this point will bring escalating problems. Money and financial privilege as obsession/primary motivator can take people down now more than ever before.

The beneficial influence of the Taurus South Node, on the other hand, comes from channelling its strengths into the North Node path. Those strengths include: rock-solid boundaries, strong self-worth, money sense, grounding, practicality, an understanding of natural timing, and a strong sense of one's comfort level.

We aren't in a very comfortable place on this planet, and with this nodal axis, very few will be able to deny it. Where Taurus is about accumulation and physical comfort, Scorpio is about what we need to peel away, get rid of. It's about the necessity to face realities and issues that sometimes scare us or make us uncomfortable.

An intensive and relentless Scorpionic examination of power dynamics is the only way we can avoid becoming trapped and enmeshed in those power dynamics.

February 14: Venus-Ceres in Aries Make a Tense Juno Day Connection To Pluto. Unfinished Business? Baby, You Ain't Kiddin'

The lovely ladies of the zodiac are up front and centre in the chart for this February 14, Juno Day. This is a day for soul mate relationships of all kinds - not just the romantic ones - and an observation of the shit we all go through to complete our relational soul work together.

Is there a greeting card out there with this sentiment? If not, there should be.

My parents were married 35 years ago today on February 12, 1977, and with synastry like: Sun square Sun, Mercury square Mercury, Venus square Venus, Juno square Venus, Mars-Saturn conjunct Sun, and Chiron conjunct South Node-Neptune, they're pretty much the poster couple for the underlying meaning of this day. (You'd expect nothing less to spawn such a lass as Willow, right?)


On this fair Juno Day 2012, Ceres - the asteroid related to the harvest and fertility of the earth, symbolized by a sickle - is in tight conjunction with love and relationship planet Venus, in detriment in Aries, and both bodies square Pluto in Capricorn. Feminine bodies Ceres and Venus joining forces in the sign of the warrior, squaring off with masculine body Pluto in the sign of hierarchy: the underlying battle rises to the occasion.

Ceres squares Pluto February 14; Venus squares Pluto February 15.

You'll recall that Ceres and Pluto have a long and brutal history between them involving kidnapping, rape, hell, and the utter destruction of life on the planet. Every time these two meet, especially in tense aspect, you can expect things to get a little frictional along the male-female, masculine-feminine lines. And in Aries and Capricorn, that might just be an understatement.

"Let's get real here, shall we?" Ceres purrs.

"We shall," drops Pluto.

Ceres and Pluto are now on astronomical equal footing, both having been scientifically re-classified as dwarf planets. Despite Ceres being far more down-played in the astrology of the day, they always have been equals. Their power - both for growth and generation/regeneration as well as for death and destruction - are evenly matched.

Ceres and Venus are flanked by Uranus in Aries and the true placement of Black Moon Lilith in Aries in this Juno Day chart, adding unpredictability and charge. The feminine is infused with raw, radical Uranian energy as well as on-the-edge, on-the-verge Black Moon Lilith, and Ceres, now included in modern astrological ephemerides with the other major bodies, leads the way.

The feminine, sensing Uranian freedom from previous forms in the air, exerts itself, forging ahead and stirring deep, structural unfinished business with the squares to Pluto in Capricorn. Some hot button male-female, masculine-feminine issues are being pushed to the surface, to say the least.

At the same time, quick temper and burning anger can trigger us to go too far - a distinct possibility with Black Moon Lilith involved in Aries - and this must be kept tightly in check to head off self-destruction. Anger acts as an instinctual guide and as impetus to action and self-exertion here, but it's the erratic warrior nature - dodging and weaving, ducking and moving, advancing then retreating, appearing then hiding, here and then not here - that keeps us safe within the battle and the rebellion from that which oppresses and snuffs out life. The fears of rejection and forced exile are founded ones when Black Moon Lilith is strong. We must ferociously rise to the occasion when it's required but just as quickly douse our flames.

Black Moon Lilith in Aries does lend her beautiful punk presence to the proceedings with the conjunction to Venus and Ceres on this February 14, but it's a loose conjunction, and she's not all that interested in getting involved. She's played this game before - and been played by it. For the most part, she's happy to do her thing from the outskirts of this one, and in Aries, so are all those fierce and independent who couldn't give a rat's ass about the expectations and manufactured importance of this day.

Still, this day for the sweethearts has been implanted pretty deeply in the collective psyche...

Squares abound in this Juno Day chart, meaning lots and lots of "growth opportunities." Don't we all just love those? Perfect for the day of the soul mate, but not so cool for those who like to keep their relations on the soft-lit, romantical side. There's tension beneath the lovey dovey.

With Neptune, Mercury, Pallas Athene, and Chiron conjunct in early Pisces, people are going to be giving it their all to keep the glossy, glowy Neptunian mirage of the Standard Romantic Love Relationship afloat. Illusions swirl as people fight to maintain Piscean era ideals about love, romance, and togetherness. A lot of these are on life support at this point, but they're still being played out and often quite sincerely.

Still, there is some Piscean magic to be had on this day.

Vesta in late Pisces opposes illusion-puncturing Mars in Virgo and says, "Hey, bud. No getting too nasty here. We don't want anyone falling down a black hole depression spiral from a too-severe love blinder removal."

But with Chiron edging the party, if not careful, people do set themselves up for disappointment.

Our celestial body of the day, soul mate asteroid Juno, squares the early Pisces party from telling-it-like-it-is Sagittarius and gains effect from the Sagittarius North Node. Juno square Neptune, Juno square Pallas Athene, Juno square Mercury, Juno square Chiron: on this Juno Day, the Piscean era love story cliches are straight-out played. The truth about love and relationship, much more attractive to Juno in Sadge, will prevail nicely, naughtily, or both.

The Moon in Scorpio squares the Aquarius Sun at mid-day on the 14th, and this is the friction between friendly detachment and airy, social, live-and-let-live on an outer level and an inner, emotional bottom line of "the same old bullshit ain't gonna fly." Emotions run deep here, and any crossed etheric lines related to lovers past can create major and potentially incendiary insult. With such caked-on collective love karma as this day has, those crossed lines are a major possibility. Be very careful to be fully present with the one in your life right now, body, mind, and psychic space. No replaying old scenes from Juno Days past with current loves.

The Moon leaves Scorpio for Sagittarius by 7 p.m. Central, just in time for things to get underway. The Moon moves to a warm and spicy conjunction to Juno by the wee hours of February 15, but also through those clashing squares to the bodies in Pisces.

The night leaves us with a warm, loved-up buzz, but only if we remain aware of how things are changing, staying ahead of the curve...

With so many frictional aspects involving the feminine bodies, this is not a day to mess with people's emotions. Anyone doing the Valentine's thing had better show up on time, well-dressed, probably with flowers, and it had best go off without a hitch. Mars in Virgo disposits love planet Venus, irritated in Aries, and the details matter. If you're going to do it, put in the effort to get it right.

If the current astro dynamics find you without the funds for entertainment (or the inclination to be an acquiescing consumer), the good thing about Mars in Virgo is that appreciation can be shown by anyone for anyone in inexpensive and practical ways: clean the house to a spotless shine, make a lovely dinner, offer a well-deserved massage, spend the evening in conversation without distraction. The simple things keep desires stoked, as long as we appreciate and acknowledge the offerings.

All in all, February 14 is a day that has seemingly been designed for people to build themselves up only to be let down. Maybe they eat more chocolate that way?

"The snub" is a Juno theme built right into the day, pricked the very first time we didn't get a Valentine from someone we hoped we would in elementary school. There has always been an underlying edge to this day, and it's made crystal clear under these particular astrological aspects.

There's a symbolism related to this day that by default makes a lot of people outside the confines of a relationship feel at least a little lonely and left out. (Or annoyed? Disgusted?) The possibilities for this are greater than usual under these cosmic energies unless people can puncture the illusions right from the get-go, refusing to be sucked into the tail-end Piscean era collective love undertow.

I have to say that with Saturn retrograde on the anaretic (29th) degree of Libra and the restructuring around love and relationship a prevailing theme, busting this particular day loose from its rigid, existing forms would be one mighty fine use of the astro energies.

Happy Juno Day 2012 to all you lovers and fighters out there, whether coupled up or flying solo. And Happy 35th Anniversary, Mum and Dad!

Venus Clears the Fall 2010 Retro Degrees and Makes it Official With a Sun-Juno Conjunction on the Anaretic Degree of Libra

Venus leaves the degrees of its previous retrograde tomorrow at 13 degrees Scorpio, and if you've gotten through the past two weeks relatively unscathed as far as the sticky, tricky dynamics of relationships past popping up, consider yourself lucky. 

Actually, luck doesn't have all that much to do with it. If the clinging tendrils, unfinished business and ass-burning dynamics of previous connections haven't gotten their greasy hooks into you at this point, it's more likely a case that you've worked Saturn in Libra to the fine points, navigated your way out of the residual charge, and made different moves this time around. 

If a greasy hook or two is still latching, never fear. We're heading into a blisteringly potent Scorpio New Moon conjunct Juno and sextile Pluto in Capricorn October 26. Coming out of that New Moon portal, greasy hooks can be purged once and for all as long as we don't waver from the intention of ending the old attachments and attractions that would keep us from present and future relationship success. 

It's not necessarily all that simple, though: 

Mercury and Venus, conjunct in Scorpio, are opposite Black Moon Lilith in Taurus, and nothing gets past BML unless it's Super Hardcore Gritty Real X 10. If you want to be free of unsavoury and unsatisfying relations, don't let up on even a single point. 

The Sun and Juno also form a conjunction on the anaretic degree of Libra October 22 just before both bodies enter Scorpio and move into position for the New Moon. The anaretic (29th) degree holds the final exam lessons for the entire sign. At 29 Libra, there's the ability for absolute social artistry, wonderful, mutually-supportive reciprocity and masterful balance as well as lots of shoddy, shoddy, shirking behaviours that let everyone, including ourselves, down. 

The Juno soul mates in our lives right now are working with us to create true fairness and balance within long-term supportive frameworks of relationships. They're also triggering the last decan of Saturn in Libra work - what we're going to be working on until Saturn ingresses Saturn in October 2012. 

Juno connections don't always feel great. They involve a deep level of soul work that is not always comfortable to do and can involve difficult emotions and highly-charged trigger points. It might feel as if it's not fair (Libra) that we have certain people and certain relationship situations going on in our lives right now, but Juno is triggering the last of the relationship stuff here, and it's in our best interests to work with the people in our lives on these points. 

Juno hasn't been in Libra since 2007, and we haven't experienced a Sun-Juno conjunction in Libra since October 2002. It can feel a little overwhelming on the last degree of the sign like this, and the weak points of the sign of Libra screwing various pooches is possible. 

Give it all you can to keep your equilibrium and hold out for real relationship fairness heading into next week's New Moon.

Juno Conjunct Saturn in Libra Starts the Autumnal Procession Through the Via Combusta

- Saturn in New Degrees September 18 - 

Saturn in Libra is currently clearing its previous 'retrograde shadow' - the degrees of the zodiac it retrograded over from January to June, 2011 - and moves into new territory at 17 degrees Libra on September 18. Until then, we experience a concentrated, fairly constricting (yet also highly desirable) final resolution period for all that has come about since fall of 2010 when Saturn entered the retrograde shadow it is now clearing. 

In effect, though, the resolution period we've now come to reaches all the way back to the end of October, 2009 when Saturn first ingressed Libra, the sign of relationships, balance, and social justice. 

As previously mentioned, it's time to get very serious about who we have in our lives ahead of Saturn's transit of Scorpio in mutual reception to Pluto in Capricorn, beginning October 2012. The next six weeks are somewhat condensed with those responsibilities as we dig in on relationship standards and refuse to sell ourselves even a penny short. We're about to clear a big chunk of Saturn's transit in Libra here. 

By early November, we are more than two-thirds through Saturn's transit of the sign. This has a relieving effect, but there are some final maturation and strengthening required related to the Libra lessons we have learned so far before we officially move on. Pluto in Capricorn is stationing direct (September 16) at the same time as Saturn moves into new degrees of the zodiac, and this increases the pressure and adds an incendiary quality to interactions. 

 - Willow's Web Astrology on the Via Combusta - 

As of August 29, Saturn re-entered the crackling Via Combusta zone where it will remain until November 19, 2013, and this is a very interesting combination of energies. The planet relating to the weight and constriction of our concrete, structural set-ups has just hit molten lava. Let's see how Saturn contains this. I wrote about Saturn in the Via Combusta when it first dipped into this zone December 5, 2010 to March 18, 2011, stationing retrograde there January 25, 2011. 

From January 30, 2010: Saturn Retrograde in Libra and the Via Combusta Venus Themes Come Up For Review  

The Via Combusta is an area of the zodiac between 15 degrees Libra and 15 degrees Scorpio (except for 23 and 24 degrees Libra) known as the burning path or combustible way. Traditionally, it is associated with "unfortunate and ineffectual events." 

My interpretation of the Via Combusta is humanized and comes from the point-of-view of a person experiencing life with key natal placements in this area. 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. 

But with Saturn in the Via Combusta, we have to earn the right to pass. We have to prove that we're mature enough, serious enough, and that we've taken full responsibility for moving on completely, resolving the bits of dramatic charge and the last karmic tendrils that would catch us, tempt us, and drag us back. This is escape velocity for the long-term, under the weight of Saturn. 

Mars, Juno and Black Moon Lilith Arrive Fashionably Late to the Cardinal Grand Cross Party

And things are really hopping... 

Mars in Cancer, Juno in Libra and true Black Moon Lilith in Aries are now officially hitting the Cardinal Grand Cross scene, and right on schedule, stock markets have entered a tail spin. 

This hasn’t come out of the blue by any stretch, but the involvement of Mars square Uranus (August 9) is making it seem so for those who have not had their Plutonic noses to the ground. A lightning-fast shock to the system with further melt-down (or possibly temporary containment/kicking the can yet further down the road) coming as Mars squares Pluto August 11. 

What will investors do? Oh, gee. I’m on the edge of my seat. 

This is a triggering culmination point after decades of financial excess and over-extension, especially militarily, as well as critical mass as far as the absolute, unchecked corruption at all levels of global money structures which has left them rotted to the point that there is little resembling sanity or legitimacy. 

Using the very shortest timeline, this stems from the orchestrated economic collapse (most prominently involving grand-scale mortgage, insurance and banking fraud in the United States) of 2008 when Pluto entered Capricorn. Deep, Plutonic changes to the way things were set up were put off following that collapse as the U.S. banking industry looted the public purse of its Federal Reserve Notes. The orchestrated crashing of world economies and resulting chaos and desperation puts the people right where global powers want them. It also sets the stage for more war – always useful to the monied warlords who refer to themselves as our leaders. Except that most of us have caught on. 

The current tail-spin was triggered, right on astrological schedule, by the announcement of the U.S. debt ceiling extension, which came just as Mercury was stationing retrograde at 1 degree Virgo August 2. The lowering of the United States’ credit score followed. 

Now, Mercury goes back over the weeks leading up to the announcement as it re-enters Leo. 

There is a surreal quality for those who were/are still invested in the legitimacy and soundness of illegitimate and unsound structures and people, and there is still a massive amount of wishful thinking as the illusion that this is just a blip continues to permeate (Mercury Rx in Leo opposite Neptune Rx in Aquarius). The insanity of corrupt, stock market-directed economic and financial sectors continues to be apparent as financial analysts insist things are still in good shape. After all, corporations are posting healthy profits! There is no mention of the millions of jobs shed to maintain those profits. There is no mention of the people currently losing their homes, no longer able to put enough food on the table. But as long as the corporate world posts a profit, these guys are certain all is right with the world. 

The full effect of the announcement and the lowering of the U.S. credit score will not be known until Mercury crosses out of its retrograde shadow, entering 2 degrees Virgo September 10 – just in time for the 10-year anniversary of 9/11. 

What a puppet show. 

The true placement of Black Moon Lilith is zipping around in Aries, conjunct Uranus and triggering the CGC from the fringes August 9-11. 

Juno in Libra, having recently completed a nine-month+ transit through Virgo, has also entered Cardinal Grand Cross Zone, opposing Uranus in Aries August 10 and squaring Pluto in Capricorn August 13, just in time for the Full Moon at 20 degrees Aquarius. Juno is heading to a conjunction to Saturn at 17 degrees Libra (in the early Via Combusta) September 18. 

Expect interesting and somewhat spicy developments along strategic partnership lines around that time – both personally and on the world stage. When Juno is involved, it’s not always easy emotional territory, but the partnerships that come together or strengthen at that time are related to the long-term success of our souls, which is what most of us are here for. Juno enters the Via Combusta (burning path) at 15 degrees Libra September 12 and exits at 15 Scorpio December 8. Juno traces the path that Saturn will follow through the Via Combusta from August 29, 2011 through November 20, 2013. 

 The people, relationships and partnership themes – especially as they relate to reaching our highest potentials in career – highlighted during this fall’s transit by Juno of the Via Combusta set the foundation for the longer term alchemical progress represented by Saturn’s transit of the Via Combusta until November 2013.

Juno Finishes its Nine Month+ Transit of Virgo and Enters Cardinal Grand Cross Territory

Soul mate asteroid Juno is currently transiting the final degrees of Virgo and will enter Libra July 27 until October 25. This ingress is interesting because it means Juno will enter the Cardinal Grand Cross formation just as Mars in Cancer kicks it into high gear again during the month of August. 

Juno in Libra indicates that the sometimes sticky and tense interactions with other people this August are there to help us balance the tension of these four cardinal squares/two oppositions so we can all have our needs met within them. 

All four cardinal points - Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn - require our attention and effort, and we're directed into all four corners as we work to keep the tension at the right settings. Too much focus and pressure on one area results in a break. Too little in another area allows things to unravel. It's an intricate balance, and, as of July 27, the responsibility and requirements within our relationships draw attention to areas that are key in our successful tending of the Grand Cross. 

Juno moving into Libra is a big shift not only because of the Grand Cross. Juno has been in Virgo for over nine months - since October 3, 2010. It completed a 3.5 month retrograde through Virgo from January 19 to April 30, 2011 and went retrograde on the anaretic (29th) degree of the sign. There weren't any pesky details getting by this transit through Virgo and our pain-in-the-ass Virgoan soul mates were there to ensure it. 

From a previous post: 

"Juno relates not only to covenant marriage/soul relationships but also to the type of difficult emotional experiences and power dynamics that type of commitment can bring with it. The type of difficult emotional experiences and power dynamics any type of soul commitment can bring with it. This asteroid in the birth chart relates to an area to which we are "married," as well as to the flavour of our deep, soul-bonded relationships. However, contrary to what's drilled into people's heads these days, these relationships are not always meant to be romantic, sexual or long-term. 

The term soul mate refers broadly to a person (or animal) brought into our lives to form a relationship based on mutual soul work that could not be fully catalyzed or completed alone. Juno's placement can also relate really broadly to a relationship with a certain energy of the zodiac with smaller interactions acting as catalysts - definitely at work as Juno retrogrades in Virgo. 

This is more a soul mate relationship with the universe and with your own soul impetus - definitely loving, not necessarily sexy and spicy." 

Juno is currently conjunct my North Node in Virgo, and I've been getting heaps of criticism (Virgo) here over the past week. I've been called a fearmonger, a hater and a paranoid conspiracy theorist, among other things. I've even been compared to Nancy Grace. 

There are Juno in Virgo "soul mates" (mostly from a New Age persuasion or from a more consensus political perspective) trying to deconstruct me as I deconstruct various power structures and those using them. 

This is nothing out of the ordinary. When you take a strong stance outside consensus reality (including supposed alternative consensus reality), it generally ensures that there will be equally strong opposition. The criticisms are just coming in a stronger wave than usual due to the Juno in Virgo transit. 

I have to say, they made me cackle like a hen. The thing about any transit in Virgo is that it will pick, pick, pick at any and all illogic, weak points, laxness, rough edges, hypocrisy. It's generally done for good reason - so you fix every last detail that might trip you up over the long run and can function as a hole-free, well-oiled machine. 

On the other hand, the Virgoan Juno soul mates being a pain in our asses right now can actually be disregarded if they don't have valid points. If they're not catching anything that actually needs to be fixed with their pointed criticisms, they're just being pains in the ass - not pains in the ass with a helpful and necessary purpose! 

In its ultimately beneficial Juno way, the interactions this past week actually showed me I'm on the right track. 

This is definitely one benefit of nitpicky Juno in Virgo coming to the end of this nine-month+ transit. If there's nothing real to nitpick despite people's best efforts to find something, you've done a good job. 

If there are no adjustments required to your course of action, on you go.  

READINGS: I am currently howling at the moon on the prairie with the coyotes, and my internet connection is off and on. I'm available for telephone and e-mail readings until August 24 when I will be back to citified internet and can offer international Skype readings again. If you do book a reading over the next month, don't be alarmed if you don't hear from me for a couple days due to the connection issues. I will get back to you as soon as possible.

Juno in Virgo and a Further Rooting Out of NewAgeSpeak

A friend posted this Facebook status a few days ago as transiting Juno in Virgo squared my natal Neptune and stationing Neptune in Pisces squared my natal Moon:

-- "connect" and "interconnect" mean the same thing. (however, using "interconnect" makes you sound "dumber.") -- 

She's a writer (Virgo) and a definite Juno soul mate because this is one that completely bypassed my radar screen. It's true, of course, and I have to thank her for drawing it to my attention. The day after she posted that status, I went through the blog and rooted out the instances of this word, changing it to "energetic connection." (That may also sound soft, but it's what I came up with.) I thought it might be too overwhelming a task to take on, but there actually weren't a huge number of uses. 

Some people might find this excessive, but this type of effort is both necessary and worth it when you're an astrologer who is working to extricate her astrological language from any and all New Age tentacles. I'm not playing around. I oppose New Age ideology and its effects on people to the bone, and I really do want the astrology I practise to be clear of unintentional influences. 

It's important to me as an astrologer, and it's important for astrology, period, I think. 

From a previous post: 

"New Age was originally set up with a language of its own - certain key words and phrases that could be spoken, like a secret handshake, so that members could identify each other on the down low. So make no mistake: to this day, the New Age language and terminology are very important in the recognition of others of this paradigm, in the spread of these memes and in the drawing of fresh blood into this pseudo-spiritual pyramid scheme. 

The New Age language and voice has an energy all its own, and once you can identify it, there's no mistaking it, despite the ever-more subtle applications. The implanting of certain idioms, catch phrases and concepts has always been a major part of the spread of New Age. This is an implanting of manipulated energy. They call it "raising consciousness." I call it energy-stealing lobotomization. 

The diluting of the power of language is a major part of the control mechanism. Specific words voicing specific aspects of our authentic experience as human beings on this planet are what is needed to catalyze the changes and shifts we need to see. And the watered down, cliched NewAgeSpeak is very effective in keeping people from the real potency points, especially related to the more difficult aspects of human experience." 

I've made the same disclaimer on this blog before: because so much of the astrology of the day has been merged with New Age beliefs (quite insidiously in some cases), it has been a process to completely extricate my own astrological language from that ideology. The astrology that makes it into popular books is often the merged variety. The New Age has money and connections. Publishing and the promotion of books and authors generally require money and connections. Combine that with the overlay of pumped-up, overzealous Neptunian glamour energy, and you've got some definite saturation of the publishing market. 

I was, of course, not aware of this New Age saturation when I first started accessing astrology through current books and websites, so I've had to re-learn astrology and bust out of those constructs as I found my own astrological voice and momentum. 

 In a lot of the astrology of the day, "interconnection" is a key word associated with Pisces. Again, because of the widespread merging of astrological language with New Age, it's easy for some of the key words to make their way in. No surprise, I especially find this to be the case when writing about the sign Pisces. 

So I do my best to remove New Age language with the Virgoan fine-toothed comb.

Juno in Virgo Stationing Direct Opposite Ceres in Pisces: Getting the Word Out Bit by Virgoan Bit

Juno is currently stationing direct at 14 degrees Virgo (May 1) opposite Ceres in Pisces, and I'm posting the news article I did recently on Monsanto's genetically modified alfalfa and the threat it poses to the organic industry.

Included in the article is information from a scientist who studied the spread of genetically modified canola in Manitoba, Canada, and found that unintentional hybrids are being created due to the cross-pollination of Monsanto's RoundUp Ready canola variety and Bayer's LibertyLink canola variety.

Despite the fact that these issues are important to all who eat organic or care about their food supply staying GMO-free, it's very difficult to get agriculture and food issues into mainstream media sources. For the most part, stories like these are considered "special interest" and generally only of interest to farmers (?!?).

I approached about forty daily and weekly newspapers in Manitoba and got the story published only once - in a newspaper in a small Manitoba town of less than 3,000 people.

I found my Juno in Virgo Mercurial "soul mate" in the editor there (named Ed!) who just happened to be running a special agriculture (Ceres) issue at the time that my query e-mail crossed his inbox. There's some of that Piscean flow we all know and love.

From what I can see, Ed is a rare breed - a small-town newsman who still cares enough to write his own copy and to publish pertinent articles written by other local journalists and writers, rather than just pulling stuff off the wire to fill space. I thank him for getting this story out to his readership and wish more papers had. A longer article will be coming out in a different paper in June, and I will post that one, as well:


A stalled motion in Canadian Parliament regarding a moratorium on genetically modified (GM) alfalfa could have the non-GM and organic agriculture industries hanging in the balance.

On March 3, 2011, a motion was tabled by Liberal members of the House of Commons Agriculture Committee calling for a moratorium on the approval of genetically modified alfalfa in Canada. The vote on the moratorium was delayed March 11 by the Harper Conservatives, who support further expansion into genetically modified crops, leaving it up in the air as the country heads to an election.

U.S.-based multi-national agricultural biotechnology corporation Monsanto is currently attempting to make its Roundup Ready alfalfa the first genetically modified perennial planted in North America. Roundup Ready alfalfa is genetically modified to withstand glyphosate, a herbicide sold under the Monsanto brand name Roundup.

After a five-year court battle, Monsanto’s GM alfalfa was authorized for sale in the U.S. by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) on January 27, 2011. Additional lawsuits were launched against the USDA March 18, 2011 by groups including the Center for Food Safety and the National Family Farm Coalition, challenging the authorization and stalling the sale and planting of the alfalfa.

Priscilla Reimer, organic inspector and President of the Manitoba Organic Alliance, says the production of GM alfalfa in Canada is a huge threat to organic agriculture and is opposed by Manitoba's organic industry.

In addition to being used as feed for livestock, Reimer says alfalfa is a crop often used by farmers during the three-year field transition from conventional to organic. It also becomes essential in the crop rotation once a farm is organic because, as a nitrogen-fixer, it naturally fertilizes the soil.

"If in fact [GM alfalfa is] approved, it would essentially put organic production out of business," Reimer says. "[Alfalfa] is embedded in organic production, and for that to go GMO would literally destroy the foundation of organic production."
Reimer says genetically modified crops are already contaminating non-GM crops due to the lack of sufficient regulation framework from upper governmental levels, including no separation within the system and no labelling.

Reimer says non-organic corn, canola and soybeans are so cross-contaminated by GMO versions at this point that it is virtually impossible, once they have been put into the supply chain, to guarantee they are GMO-free. Unless these crops are organic and, therefore, kept separate, they are mixed in with GMO varieties.

"There's no effort in the system to keep GMO and non-GMO products separate. So when the farmers take it to the elevator, it all goes into the same bin. Even if there is a GMO-free product grown, by the time it's gone through the system, you are guaranteed to be eating some GMOs in those key three crops - canola, corn and soybean," Reimer says. "We have a climate in which it is virtually impossible to ensure against contamination."

Anneliese Schoppe and her family farm outside Poplar Point, one hour west of Winnipeg, producing beef, eggs and heirloom vegetable seedlings up to organic standards.

Schoppe says her family works hard to keep its animal feed GMO-free, growing its own organic hay, and a test plot of Monsanto alfalfa has the ability to wipe out all that hard work.

"Just because you have a buffer field in between or an acre or two doesn't mean that's going to stop the wind or insects from pollinating this GMO alfalfa crop to the next alfalfa crop and then, what's pure anymore?"

According to Alexis Knispel Kanu, who did her PhD doctoral work on the spread of GM canola, buffer fields are not enough to stop the spread of genetically modified seeds. From 2004 until 2007, Knispel Kanu studied canola plants growing outside field habitat where they had not been planted, in ditches, for example, in order to determine genetic make-up and how genes might be spreading.

"What we found was that genetically modified traits were widely present in these escape populations of canola outside of cultivated fields where no one had planted them and there were no licenses to do the planting. They were just growing sort of like weeds in the way that seeds that get scattered grow," Knispel Kanu says.

Knispel Kanu looked at landscape elements that could have contributed to the spread of the seeds outside fields. What she found was that factors like the location of elevators and the traffic intensity on nearby roads contributed strongly.

"A truck going to an elevator will spill seeds inevitably, and a train being loaded will spill seeds inevitably, so those larger-scale transportation factors are contributing to the spread of these plants," Knispel Kanu says.

"That makes co-existence really challenging because it's a matter of segregating our transportation systems for these crops, not having a truck transporting GM canola through an area you're saying is GM-free. It's not just about where the crop is planted in relation to another crop. It's about how we're transporting these things through the whole landscape."

Knispel Kanu's found that the genetically modified canola plants she studied from the escape populations had also cross-pollinated with each other, creating a hybrid of Monsanto's Roundup Ready variety and Bayer's LibertyLink variety.

"Of the two GMO traits that are widely grown in Manitoba, we found both in the same plant, which is not something that is done by the companies. That's something that results from out-crossing in the field."

Knispel Kanu says GM alfalfa poses even more of a problem as far as cross-contamination due to it being a more feral, perennial crop that isn't dependent on cultivated environments tended by farmers to survive.

Astrological post:

April 13, 2011 - Ceres in Pisces, GM Alfalfa and the Neptunian Permeation of the Seed Supply

Juno Stations Retrograde on the Anaretic Degree of Virgo, and Your Soul Mates Are the Ones Who Are a Pain in Your Ass

Juno stations retrograde on the last degree of Virgo January 19 and moves retro until May 2, heading back over sticky, tricky, neglected Virgoan details until it enters Libra July 27. It is opposite Jupiter at 29 Pisces, the last degree of the zodiac, and there are some details that need attending to before we cross the threshold into full-on Aries energy.

Juno is the soul mate asteroid, though not always the kind of soul mate we have been trained to understand. Mythologically, Juno relates to Hera - Zeus' wife. Hera's marriage duties dragged her through all kinds of enraging, intolerable horseshit as Zeus boned pretty much every attractive little nymphet that crossed his path.

Juno relates not only to covenant marriage/soul relationships but also to the type of difficult emotional experiences and power dynamics that type of commitment can bring with it. The type of difficult emotional experiences and power dynamics any type of soul commitment can bring with it.

One issue Juno raises is misplaced anger (raging at the nymphets, for example) along with women not holding the men they're in relationship with fully responsible and accountable for shitty behaviours - often due to some level of dependence, conditioning and/or being on the subjugated end of power dynamics. Hera more often than not blamed the attractive little nymphets - not her philandering man. This can work the other way around, too, of course. We see this pattern played out over and over again in relationships.

Juno is in Virgo now to get down to the nitty gritty on this front. Fine-tuned analysis of what did go on and what is going on is the path to practically changing it and healing it. There has been more than enough glossing over of bad behaviour. More than enough letting things slide. It's time to dig in and really make things crystal clear.

So the adjustments that need to be made in ourselves and in our lives will be triggered as Juno brings people into our spheres to catalyze the changes that we could not bring about alone. In Virgo, these Juno figures may come through small interactions with people on the street, in stores, while driving - or it could be within our closer relationships.

Basically, there are adjustments that must be made, and Juno is retrograding through late Virgo infused with the Solstice eclipse backdrop change vibes.

Juno in Virgo played a big role in the rare total Gemini solar eclipse on Winter Solistice, acting as the grounding fourth leg for the big, erratic energies of that time period. Juno in Virgo held its ground opposing Uranus and Jupiter in late Pisces as the Sun-Mercury and Moon opposed in Sagittarius and Gemini. This formed four mutable squares or a Mutable Grand Cross, kicking off lots of change and movement for the next quarter year on Planet Earth. And yes, haven't we seen some big changes and movement since New Year 2011?

From that article:

"Soul mate asteroid Juno at 26 Virgo makes the Full Moon mutable t-square a mutable Grand Cross, and the analyzed and verballized distinctions matter. Saying what you mean and meaning what you say...while things shift and slide all around us.

A sloppy, glossed-over idea of Piscean unity doesn't cut it anymore. Under the more Aquarian overlay, our differences are actually what make us strong and recognizing, honouring and utilizing them is what makes us truly unified. The Virgoan details count in a big way to place us in the positions and within the tribes where we most fully belong...

The longer-term communications shift indicated by this Gemini Full Moon lunar eclipse square Uranus in Pisces brings the heightened possibility of psychic communication, non-verbal interplay and transmission, and telepathy over long distances among like souls. But the placement of Juno in Virgo, again, shows us that this is not energy to be mucked around with. We're meant to be doing something - usually quite specific somethings - with it. This is actually not a "fly wide open" time with all these squares and oppositions, though many seem to be pumping things up to that point. Boundaries that must be closely kept.

Juno in Virgo brings people and experiences into our lives to help us make the refining and grounding adjustments and effectively work with these cosmic vibes. Juno will make itself known in your life to keep you on track, drawing attention to any areas that need a little tune-up, any rough spots that need smoothing, any neglected details that could trip you up in the long-term. This is the lingering impression of the Saturn in Virgo - Uranus in Pisces opposition cycle. Remember that? How could we forget? These Virgoan tune-ups, coming through the soul mate asteroid, will be especially prevalent coming from contact with other people. Remember: this isn't soul mate as in your one and only true love. It's soul mate as in someone who compells some change, work, adjustment, refinement or improvement in you or your life. These 'soul mate' connections could be irritating as all hell...but they're necessary."

Now Juno is stationing retrograde on 29 Virgo - the same degree of the lunar eclipse. It will move back to 14 degrees Virgo, where it will station direct May 2. It will enter Libra July 27.

Juno Opposite Pluto and the Non-Plutonics Just Don't Understand

The Scorpy types. The Plutonics. We're a little cliched in astrology circles simply because there has been so much written, discussed, hashed over on these subjects. But really, there's a reason for the cliches and the time spent. Without astrology and a semblance of an understanding of the processes and cycles Plutonics go through, how would we even survive? Even with astrology, it seems touch and go at times.

And this is not to be depressing, negative, or pessimistic, all you non-Plutonics out there. It's just reality. If you don't go through these processes, if you don't live them on a daily basis, I don't think you could understand it. I know the same can be said for a lot of situations and conditions people live through - you don't understand it until you live it. I understand we all have our difficulties to bear. And I know there are other planets, dwarf or otherwise, that bring their own forms of misery. Uranus and Neptune both create almost impossibly difficult circumstances of their own, as do many others.

But this is an over-riding, day-to-day truth that all Plutonics have to work - hard - to accept. That we're pretty much alone with it, especially amongst people who are happily living outside a full awareness of what we're working with.

There's a difference between a Pluto transit to one of your natal planets or a transiting planet in Scorpio touching off a Plutonic hell-ride and having a natal Sun, Moon, or stellium in Scorpio or a tight natal aspect to Pluto. I know the transits are unbelievably harsh at times, but they will pass. Your natal chart won't.

So with Juno opposite Pluto in Capricorn and Saturn on its way to Libra right now, I'm pondering these issues and trying to come up with some perspective, mostly unsuccessfully.

How to create successful (Capricorn) and soul-satisfying (Pluto/Juno) relationships with non-Plutonic people. How to keep your shit to yourself, your unending processing to yourself, but at the same time find the day-to-day love, sharing, acceptance, mutuality, and intimacy desired within a real relationship. Because Plutonic types need that. If they don't have it, they'll stay out of relationships altogether.

How to keep from envying or resenting those who don't have to slog quite so heavily though the Plutonic muck, which would put an end to any kind of mutuality or equality that could have been. (Yes, I know, we should all be able to rise above these base human emotions. Tra-la-la. Easier said than done.)

And how to find the strength, energy, and courage to love the other person as they need to be loved while simultaneously going through all this craziness.

How to even believe you deserve another person's love and affection when you're at your most hell-tastic, exhausted, and repulsive, when your energetic being feels like a series of nuclear explosions going off, when the nuclear fallout is coursing through your system, removing layers that you really actually thought you were going to need. Erupting volcanoes painfully twisting and morphing your elemental structure into something Pluto finds more pleasing, for as long as it deems necessary.

And when you're mourning for those lost layers, those released selves, those versions of yourself that you really, actually liked. Those hoped-for versions of life and relationships and planetary conditions that you held, deeply cherished, as secret in your heart. Because maybe if you kept them secret and very, very quiet and told no one but yourself, Pluto would leave those ones alone.

Nope.

T'was not to be.

And when you've gently kissed those other versions of yourself goodbye and guided them into their places in the constellation that is you beyond this Earthly plane, how to trust that there is someone who could love what's left of you, to love it how it needs to be loved. And how to trust that you have enough left in you to love them.

How to trust that another person could hold you how you need to be held, without adding any more shit to the heaping plate you've already been served by God or fate or the universe or your natal chart or the gung-ho mission you're got for yourself on this planet.

How to trust that the depth of acceptance necessary would be there for you in a sustained way.

It's a rough one, even with other Plutonic types.

With Saturn soon to be conjuncting all the natal Plutos of the Pluto in Libra generation, this is topical.

There is a certain element of this Plutonic stuff that makes relationships seem almost unfathomable at times. But it's relationships we Pluto in Libras are here for. Truly a case of what nourishes us also destroys us.

I often feel like an alchemical chain reaction instead of a person, especially these days.

I remember when I was younger and I realized for the first time that I was energy - that this physical form was not really what I am. It made me cry because I knew that that realization had changed everything. Me knowing that meant I would never be "normal." I would never have the understanding and awareness of being human that most people had, and I knew how isolating that was going to be.

Having a strong Scorpionic or Plutonic signature in your chart often means that you will be dragged through hell - sometimes off and on, sometimes seemingly continuously - during your lifetime on this planet. You will be aware, often painfully so, of underlying realities that other people remain blissfully unaware of. That's part of the burden and part of what makes it so heavy. You will often crave relief from your conditions to such an extent that you wish to no longer be here on this planet traipsing through them. It's not a death wish. Most of us don't want to die. It's just an all-encompassing desire to no longer live through this particular brand of isolating misery. Simply put. And these days, with energetic warfare at full tilt, it's not uncommon to feel like a sick, irradiated animal who just wants to crawl off into the shade of a tree somewhere and wait for it to pass.

Pretty hot, huh? Pretty sexy?

And all this is pretty fucking heavy, especially for those who do not live in such conditions or awareness. We Plutonics get that. We get that it's tricky to be around us at times. Hell, WE don't want to be around us at times.

And so all this complexity. How to work with all this complexity in relationship to other people.

I don't think we have to come up with all the answers at this point. Saturn transiting Libra and then Scorpio will bring this all into play.

I guess we're just getting a preview with Juno in Cancer opposite Pluto at 4 Capricorn - the degree of the upcoming eclipse/cardinal t-square, squaring Jupiter and Uranus in Aries. The cardinal t-square's in full effect.

The Sun enters Cancer June 21 at 5:28 a.m. Mountain.
Mercury enters Cancer June 25 at 4:32 a.m.
Full Moon in Capricorn in cardinal t-square formation June 26 at 5:30 a.m.

I wouldn't be expecting much restful sleep.

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Aquarius New Moon and Juno Day

New Moon in Aquarius tonight (7:51 p.m. MT) smack dab on the Chiron-Neptune conjunction at 25 degrees Aquarius.

This occurs just as Venus is making its way to conjoin Jupiter in early Pisces (exact Feb. 16).

This is a necessary infusion of real Piscean spiritual truth and understanding - the love and the indestructible connection to that love that underlies and sustains us through every dirty trick and every devastating loss the corrupt among us can dish out. The love and the indestructible connection to it that physical death cannot alter.

Let's focus today, during the Aquarius Dark of the Moon, on releasing all the emotional trauma that the horrifying Atlantean throwback visions of the future have inflicted over the past year/s. I've found all the Aquarian/New Age/triple Aquarius conjunction crap to be incredibly disturbing over the past couple years, and I'm having a hard time with this Dark of the Moon.

So let's warm ourselves with a Jupiterian furnace of Piscean spiritual love, understanding, acceptance and energetic connection to those we love. Our natural spirituality that fits like glove.

Though it is sometimes difficult to maintain awareness of through the most dark and difficult times (I have lost sight of it myself at times throughout this experience and needed to be reminded), the good people on this planet are always loved and sustained. We're never separated from love, spirit or each other, even when isolated and in pain. (As my Grandmother said, "What we have to put up with!") The force of love trumps evil, and we can draw on that whenever we need to to buffer ourselves from the corruption and tyranny Pluto is forcing to collective awareness.

Jupiter leads the movement into Pisces (Chiron and Neptune will soon follow), and that energy and understanding comes to the forefront now. The fixed Aquarian perspective shifts. Lemuria rises.

Jupiter shines its spotlight in Pisces so we can come to and sustain ourselves with real spiritual truth now, clearly distinguising it from the false. Distinguishing real spiritual depth from distracting, diversionary, escapist fantasies and those who promote them. The New Age dogma and its phony versions of Pisces and what it means.

We are beginning the very necessary rebalancing of feminine water with masculine air. The 12th and final energy of the zodiac with the 11th (that often seems to erroneously believe it is the final energy!). We bring the Pisces layer of understanding, often kept invisible, to the table. Without the spiritual understanding it brings, it is a very unbalanced and skewed version of reality. Without it, we're scattered, shattered and stuck in our minds.

We reconnect now to the deep wellspring of faith and love that runs through our blood, through our familial and spiritual lineages.

We replace technology as God with real God...Spirit, Creator...

We've seen an attack on faith and on those who trust in the loving guidance of God/Spirit/Creator as the Aquarian energy went to extremes over the past years. We've had propaganda shoved down our throats that the experience of spirit is a fallacy and that those who have spiritual faith are woefully outdated and pitifully naive.

This is Aquarius without Pisces. The arrogant rational mind without greater spiritual understanding.

There has been an attempt to artificially separate people from their faith and from their unalterable connection to this protective, loving force (whatever you name it). Let's shrug those attempts off as Venus comes together with Jupiter in Pisces and reconnect with what is true to us and only to that.

We come back together now, also, with the people who are true to us, drawing in from the extreme individualism we have been through with unintegrated Aquarius.

The effort for good to prevail over evil did not begin with us. It more than likely doesn't end with us. So again, we join hands with those who have come before, those here now and those yet to come. We're in this together; let's never forget that.

This, I think, is the real meaning of Juno Day. February 14. A day when we honour all our soul mates. Romantic love, of course, being just one part of that.

Let's honour love it its entirety this day.

A new, more loving and truthful version of the future is on its way now.