Powering Up Into Full-On Aquarian-Era Relationship Dynamics With Mars and Venus in Cardinal T-Square

Maintain your fences.

Photo: Willow 

Mars is currently transiting Libra (the sign of its detriment) until January 3, 2016, while Venus is also in Libra (the sign of its domicile) until December 4, 2015.

When desire planet Mars is in Libra, we want relationships and a social life, but we also want balance, peace, and harmony.

You can see the conflict right off the bat, considering the often non-peaceful state of human affairs on this planet today...

Mars is often an inflammatory body, and transiting Mars in Libra indicates the possibility of an irritating and sometimes angering effect in the social realms. (Constant war manoeuvres and manipulative false flag events staged by Global Government will do that.) 

A "charged social setting" can be expected under this transit, and Mars will be stirring this particular pot into the new year. Social factioning can also be expected, so navigate the dividing lines as carefully, diplomatically, and peacefully as possible without compromising yourself. 

This is the war planet (Mars) in the sign of peace (Libra). It's the planet of sex and unabashed desire (Mars) in the sign of social niceties and romance (Libra).

Again, you see the conflict.

Both Venus and Mars in Libra are involved in cardinal t-square formations over the next few weeks as they first square Lord of the Underworld Pluto in Capricorn and then oppose radical, revolutionary Uranus in Aries.

Venus will move through the at-times frictional Pluto-Uranus gauntlet exactly from November 20 to 23. This action is sandwiched between Neptune's direct station on November 18 (7 degrees Pisces) and Chiron's direct station November 27 (16 degrees Pisces). Saturn in Sagittarius will also form a square to Neptune in Pisces on November 26.

In addition to the ramping up of the global war machine (or maybe just the mainstream press coverage of it), this indicates a potent shedding process in relationships and in ways of relating as we transition more fully out of Piscean-era relationship constructs, rules, and ideals.  

We're officially busting our relationships and social scenes into cooler, fresher, and more Aquarian-styled territory, as we move deeper into the new eight-year relationship cycle kicked off this past summer with the Venus retrograde in Leo.

Under these aspects, it's possible to leave much of the longing, the pining, the fantasizing, the whinging, and the crying behind us. That Piscean-era sad sack, heart-wrenched, love = pain stuff can be dropped like the stinking pile of crud that it is - but only if we're willing to make the move. 

 

Mars kicks up these relational era-shift themes again as it re-activates the cardinal t-square from December 6 to 10.

If we didn't get the memo the first time around, Mars is going to whip things up into a situation that requires definitive action on our parts.

If we did get the memo, we will be required to hold a hard Aquarian line in relationships and social settings. We're moving ahead. There's no time for karmic loops or love delusions that get us nowhere.

We're looking for self-contained. We're looking for detached yet friendly. We're looking for interactions and relationships that are clean, independent, no hidden strings, no draining dynamics.

We're looking for interactions and relationships that allow us to be exactly who we are, while allowing room for others to be exactly who they are, as well.

We're looking for interactions and relationship dynamics that don't require a pound of flesh. 

A little turbulence - personally, professionally, or both - could be experienced during the acute cardinal t-square periods as we are positioned and oriented for social/relationship success in the new astrological era.

We are now operating under a new relationship rulebook, and these cardinal t-squares give us a little extra push, a little extra courage, to experiment with this and to implement it in our daily lives. We are supported now by the dynamic energy of these transpersonal planets to make moves and to take quantum leaps in relationship that we didn't even think were possible. 

At the same time, human relations have a definite edge to them during these periods of time (November 20 - 23 and December 6 - 10), as we are forced to drop outmoded ways of relating while simultaneously adopting more vital methods.

These are transpersonal planets we're dealing with, so we're dealing with broad, collective shifts and how they trickle down to our personal relations. In other words, this energy has a mind of its own. It has its own blueprint for how things are supposed to look and be in human relationships in the early stages of the astrological Aquarian era, and we have to follow along as closely as we can.

So stand back and insulate yourself from any pissy Plutonic exchanges or dramatics over the next few weeks. They're designed for movement. Some of the "honesty-and-reality checks" coming from others around these times may cut to the core. 

At the same time, open all the doors and windows to facilitate the fresh, Uranian/Aquarian breeze blowing through relationships and social scenes of all kinds.

Relationships, as we bust loose into the rip-roarin' Aquarian era, are harder-angled and more eccentrically-constructed than the Piscean era versions. They're harder to get a handle on. They're more unpredictable, off-and-on, hot-and-cold. They involve unusual (yet exciting) combinations of people. These emerging new-era relations are challenging, to say the least, and this is part of the frustration during the current transit of Mars through Libra. But they're also oh-so-exhilarating.

You mean we don't have to set relationships up in the same, old, stale-ass ways? We don't have to follow the same stultifying social conventions? We don't have to put up with the same old crap? You mean we don't really have to put up with any crap, if we don't choose to?

It's true. Try it.

Things are different now in relationships and in social settings. Who we're attracted to and who is considered a good match for us (in love, friendship, or business) may be shifting dramatically now. What we want and need in relationships and in social settings may be shifting, stripped down to the essentials, to the immediate.

Independence and self-reliance are becoming much more valued traits. "Co-dependence as love" is less attractive by far. 

Don't try to force things (or people) to meet your expectations or long-held ideals. Don't be disappointed if it doesn't look how you thought it would look. This will be many times better.

For more on the sassy little end-of-the-year mutual reception we have with the relationship planets in signs of their detriment: A Couple Welcome Shifts With a Side of Mutual Reception Relational Angst as We Close Out 2015

A Couple Welcome Shifts With a Side of Mutual Reception Relational Angst as We Close Out 2015

Fall Colours

Photos: Willow

We have a couple energetic shifts on the horizon, which should provide an interesting change, if not relief, exactly.

Taskmaster planet Saturn is currently moving through the tail-end of its retrograde shadow at 3 and 4 degrees Sagittarius and will move into fresh degrees of the zodiac on November 8. As of November 8, Saturn will be in a sort of "clear progress zone," moving through most of the rest of the first decan of Sagittarius in one pass only (from November 8 to December 19, 2015).

This indicates that we are coming into a period of time when we can accomplish some very big things and set down some very important stepping stones - if we are willing to work for our progress. This is as unencumbered as Saturn's movement gets, so let's make good use of it.

This also indicates that there could be some powerful completion and resolution events occurring (internally and/or externally) during the first week of November as Saturn finishes up in the retrograde shadow. Watch for opportunities to lay certain themes to rest - especially as we head into the 19-degree Scorpio New Moon on November 11 - cementing your footing and progress as you do so.

Saturn in early Sagittarius has been a bit tough. We've had a lot to chew on as we came to a point of truth, understanding, and ultimate meaning related to the dark and difficult experiences we've encountered over the past three years of Saturn in Scorpio in mutual reception with Pluto in Capricorn.

But now, as Saturn grinds out the last of the retrograde degrees, we're ready to move on. We're ready for new challenges and structure to take our minds off the sucking black holes we've dug ourselves out of. We've established that first foothold on the other side of Scorpio, on the other side of hell, and we're damn sure going to use it.

We can drop a great deal of the emotional and psychological load now if we can only set our sights on the new and more inspiring territory up ahead. We can move out of the sticky, suffocating tendrils of pitch black emotion and we can drop ties to people and scenarios that have hurt us. But we have to work for it (Saturn). We have to work for brighter skies and for more inspiring and optimistic times in our lives.

Mars Conjunct Saturn in Libra: The Finesse of Socially-Strategic Manoeuvres Makes or Breaks Long-term Positioning

Photo: Willow

A very irritated Mars is moving to a conjunction with Saturn in Libra August 15. Constricted will is the theme of the week, and it's our social responsibilities and positions keeping us so tightly under the thumb.

Mars has been in Libra for over a month now (after clearing an almost eight-month transit of and retrograde in Virgo), and some social/relational frustration and angst has been building since early July.

Mars is already in detriment in Libra, and finding its movement additionally constrained by the close proximity to taskmaster Saturn is making it fume. Pressure, friction, and pissiness build. People will be itching for a passo aggro battle, complete with social audience, along “I’m so much more civilized than you, not to mention more popular” lines.

From a previous post:

"The Mars-Saturn conjunction August 15 falls at 24 degrees Libra, conjunct highly fortunate fixed star Arcturus. This is potentially a saving grace - but we're going to need all the help we can get.

Malefic planets Mars and Saturn teaming up is a potentially nasty combo at the best of times, and Mars is going to be pretty well sick of all the forced social graces by the time it hits Saturn near the end of Libra.

If people haven't been dealing well with mounting social frustations and pressures, consciously working on perfecting that balanced will, they'll be irritable, testy, and ready to blow (or collapse) by the second week in August.

If people have been letting things slide where they should have been digging their heels in - particularly in professional relationships - anger and social inflammation can be expected.

We're fighting for what we consider fair, balanced, and just, and with Saturn finishing its transit in Libra, we're fighting for rightful social position. But remember: we're fighting like a Libra, so you can't let them see you fight. You have to fight nicely, politely, using social power and prowess, and with a smile on your face.

In Libra, the Mars action, aggression, and fight are often subverted, which can lead to some underhanded moves. People will be using their social currency and already-established social scenes rather than fighting their own battles. Passive aggression is a classic trait of Libra under pressure (including Mars in Libra), and if you've learned how to successfully sniff out, head off, and deal with passo aggro, you're ahead of the game."

The moves being made now are socially strategic, designed to secure new and long-term position, and not all of them will be above board.

Do your best not to be triggered, even if you can’t believe what some people are getting away with. A little social flaring is to be expected - and is even necessary - leading into this conjunction, but work your rules of disengagment so that social grease fires don't become full-on, damaging blazes.

Make no mistake, this Mars is pissed and ready for a scrap, but in Libra, it’s required to uphold an easy social demeanor. We must maintain equilibrium, even while gritting our teeth under yet another conciliatory social gesture.

Mars is the planet of pure personal will. It wants what it wants when it wants it, and its instinct is to go after its desires directly and expediently. In Libra, though, the planet has to continually balance its desires with the desires and needs of other people. It has to put its sword in the sheath and sit down to tea. With Mars in Libra, the battles move to the social realms where it is in your best interests that no one sees your aggressive manoeuvres. This is a big part of the advantage while Mars is in Libra: that no one sees you fight, that you can deny fighting at all, and that you come off looking sweet as a prairie saskatoon pie.

Keeping hold of our tempers and maintaining balance are of utmost importance now, as this Mars conjunction to Saturn - nearing the end of its transit in Libra - acts as a major social placement test.

What goes on socially and in relationship over the next two weeks is fairly high stakes. We have the ability to make or break long-term positioning here. Any major losses of temper, overt acts of aggression (or passive aggression), or visible social attacks have the possibility of blowing the hard-earned relational progress and social reputation we’ve built over the past two+ years of Saturn in Libra.

This transit is additionally important, as it tests, under pressure, newly developed social/relational rules, standards, and positions ahead of cardinal Grand Crosses in 2013 and 2014 that feature Mars in Libra prominently.

More on that here: A State of Ongoing Cardinal T-Square and Some Mars in Libra Foreshadowing

The dispositor of this conjunction of the malefic planets is Venus in Cancer, which forms an exact cardinal t-square with Uranus in Aries and Pluto in Capricorn on August 15/16.

Our relationships with family, our loving, feminine qualities, our abilities to nurture, to emotionally connect, to create warm and comforting home bases are keys to successfully navigating this time frame.

At the same time, opposing Pluto and squaring Uranus, there are emotional patterns to discontinue and denial to shed in relationship. Certain comfort zones are being busted up. Certain hidey holes and fallback people are no longer available.

Venus is just coming out of an era-shifting retrograde period involving the last Venus Transit most of us will experience in our lifetimes. At the same time, Saturn is completing the final leg of its transit through Via Combusta Libra.

In relationships of all kinds, we officially need to know better.

There is little to no tolerance for Piscean era delusions and dreaming. The old relationship ideals no longer apply, so don't be surprised when they fall flat.

If all this slippery social fighting and manoeuvring comes across as a little disingenuous and hypocritical to you, never fear. Things take a turn from nice-and-smiley passive aggressive to get-it-on-the-table aggressive aggressive by the last week of August, and all the pent-up social angst finds a much-needed release point:

On the other side of the conjunction to Saturn, Mars slides into its second home sweet home in Scorpio August 23, just before the North Node enters Scorpio August 30. Mars in its domicile is breaking trail and leaves the sign the day after Saturn's ingress of Scorpio (October 6).

We’re heading into a prolonged Scorpionic period over the next 2.5 years, and during that time period, if the air needs to be cleared, the air will be cleared. Long-held beefs will rise to the surface to be dealt with. The time will come.

Until the end of August, though, work those socially-sophisticated Libra muscles like a champ, and never let them see you sweat.

Trines and Sextiles Galore: Potentially Too Much of a Good Thing

We have two trines dominating the astro atmosphere currently, an air trine and a fire trine, along with multiple sextiles. This is a combination of creative/inspirational and social/communicative.

Almost every planet and body is connecting to another planet or body at the moment, and with this many contacts going on in the zodiac, we have an equally complex number of contacts going on in our lives and societies.

Things are busy, particularly on the mental, communicative fronts, and this can be challenging, even when easy, flowing aspects like sextiles and trines are involved.

Fire Trine: Mercury in Leo and Uranus in Aries

The fire trine we're experiencing involves Mercury in Leo and Uranus in Aries. These two formed their first exact trine July 4 and are currently stationing retrograde together, still in trine formation.

Uranus stations in the early morning of July 13 and will be retrograde until December 12, 2012. Mercury stations on the night of July 14 and will be retrograde until August 8. Mercury will remain within range of the trine to Uranus into late August with a second exact trine July 25, and the final one August 18.

This is great, right? An easy, flowing trine between the planet of brilliant, lightning-fast insight and vision (Uranus) and the planet that rules the conscious human mind, intellect, and communication (Mercury). The genius is going to be flowing!

There's such thing as too much brilliance, too much insight, and too many ideas popping around in our brains like popcorn kernels, however, and an almost six-week Mercury-Uranus contact, colouring the entire Mercury retrograde process, could prove too much unless we're careful.

Mercury-Uranus contacts can be a challenge, even with genial aspects.

The dual retrograde stations add to that challenge, creating an intense concentration of focus and insight that can leave our mental circuitry overwhelmed.

Uranus adds an excitable, edgy, electric, and even manic charge to anything it touches. In this case, it is our mental function, thought processes, and communication patterns that are being so touched.

Uranus has a tendency to run us - even to overrun us - with its electric, hypercharged current, and we will need to periodically wrestle ourselves away from whatever holds our mental focus in order to cool things off.

With both planets in fire signs, this is a hot brain, a hot mind. Sizzling circuitry. Blinding flashes of insight that leave you frazzled and on edge. Racing minds and erratic thought processes leading to mental fatigue, headaches, stiff necks, and burnout.

Mental exhaustion is a definite possibility with this long-term contact, and awareness during the tight and concentrated points can help to avoid any electrical fires over the next month.

A State of Ongoing Cardinal T-Square and Some Mars in Libra Foreshadowing

Riding the Cardinal T-Square Waves

The Sun in Cancer moves into exact t-square position with Uranus in Aries and Pluto in Capricorn on June 29, and we're in a state of ongoing cardinal t-square throughout the summer.

Mars pushed its way out of the retrograde shadow force field June 19, moving into new degrees of Virgo for the last bit of its almost eight-month transit in the sign of the virgin. It enters Libra, the sign of its detriment, July 3, forming yet another cardinal t-square with Uranus and Pluto July 17/18.

The Capricorn Full Moon also falls within cardinal t-square formation July 3, reaching fullness after a conjunction to Pluto and square to Uranus earlier that day.

Venus enters Cancer August 7 after more than four months in Gemini and also heads into cardinal t-square formation August 15/16.

Mercury in Libra forms an exact cardinal t-square with Uranus and Pluto September 20 just a day after Uranus and Pluto form their second exact square, and we don't get much relief as the Sun in Libra then moves into t-square position September 29, refreshing the themes. Venus in Libra gets in on the t-square action a bit later on November 3.

The cardinal t-squares forming this summer are fast-moving, involving personal planets with no retrograding, but the Uranus in Aries-Pluto in Capricorn square is fairly relentless into mid-October. Uranus and Pluto form the first of seven exact squares early tomorrow morning, and they stay within one degree of a square all the way into mid-October 2012.

Uranus goes retrograde July 13 at 8 degrees Aries, backing into the second exact Uranus-Pluto square September 18 at 6 degrees Aries/Capricorn with Pluto super potent and stationing direct. Uranus and Pluto will, again, be in cardinal t-square with Mercury and then the Sun in Libra at that time.

Big, structural shifts are happening quickly. New directions are being initiated (or forced) under highly pressurized, backs-against-the-wall conditions on Planet Earth - but what else is new?

We've been under a state of cardinal siege for a couple years now, and it isn't letting up any time soon. Every time a planet transits Cancer or Libra over the next 2.5 years, we'll experience a cardinal t-square with Uranus in Aries and Pluto in Capricorn. It's uncertain, it's stressful, it's frustrating, it's constricting. But once you get used to the uncertainty, stress, frustration, and constriction, it's kind of old hat. Nothing much could surprise or shock at this point if you've been following the narratives and sub-narratives on this planet closely.

The waves of tense, clashing, potentially devastating energy won't be dissipating. Crises -  manufactured or natural - won't be disappearing, regardless of the levels of collective denial. We're at official breaking points all over this planet, with corresponding friction and fracturing to be expected politically, socially, environmentally, personally.

The current Pluto in Capricorn agendas, still rabidly supported and furthered (either directly or indirectly) by many on this planet, can't really be summed up by the word "insane."

What happens when we reach the points of no return, when the "we're so screwed" points start tipping each other off like dominoes with no agenda change in sight? Rather, when there is an acceleration of freight train over cliff?

We're about to find out, folks, and it's likely to be a wild, sometimes exhilarating, often gross ride.

(Oh, glory be. It's the end of the world. We're ascending to the magical fifth dimension. Jebus is on his way back for the chosen few. The aliens are going to save us. The Transcendant Spiritual Masters currently gracing us with their presence in material form shall guide us to the promised land.)

Whee.

Willow as Cruel, Vicious, Lowdown Dog Beater and Other Dark Feminine Projections

Willow's lesson-giver on how to cowgirl up. Sun in Virgo, Venus in Scorpio.

Photo: Willow

I don't read astrology blogs often - mostly because I find my own demanding enough as is, and when I've battled out another article, I just want to move out of that world as fast as possible. But the day before yesterday, I was drawn to read astrologer Elsa Panizzon's blog. I hadn't read it in quite a few months and read through the past little while, which I enjoyed.

In one of those odd 'psychic coincidences' (I'm not a Jung fan so don't use the other word typically associated in astrology circles), she then wrote a post about me yesterday detailing her side of an incident that happened on her blog just under two years ago during the Venus retrograde in Aries.

Elsa also wrote a post about it at the time characterizing me as a vicious attacker who came out of nowhere to beat down one of her regular commenters for absolutely no reason other than that I am a horrible witch of a person who has a pitch black heart and no soul (heh), and she basically repeated the claim in this one.

I don't see it that way, of course, and wrote a reply to her post at the time.

Both Elsa's posts exclude details as far as what really happened, so here is my perspective on it from the previous posts I wrote:

"[The poster] made a comment that she agreed with a quote by Yogananda that a "truly enlightened person" has no need for the astrological birth chart.

I begged to differ on that one and rebutted that many "enlightened" people take on very difficult life circumstances and use astrology to navigate them more skillfully than they could without this tool. I also said that I believed the poster had an old Piscean concept of "enlightened." IE. Someone sitting on a Neptunian cloud sipping pomegranate juice...

Sure, I was being a bit cheeky there, but really! Who making a comment like that in an astrology forum wouldn't expect some opposition to that statement?

Apparently, this person.

She launched a four-paragraph, expletive-laden diatribe telling me to fuck off unless I had something "positive and agreeable" to say, telling me I obviously wasn't enlightened and reiterating that enlightened people have no use for astrology. She claimed I was "harassing" her and called me a troll.

I replied that I was not harassing her but rather rebutting a comment that I didn't agree with."

Your standard online pissing match.

For me, it was a case of defending the practice of astrology from the New Age claim that "astrology is not for the enlightened." I find that there are many, many things wrong with that statement, beginning with the New Age definition of enlightened, which I pointed out to the blog commenter in my colourful little way. A little too colourful for that particular astrology forum, it turns out, but I will explain later.

For me, there's a difference between battling an ideological tenet that threatens to discredit my vocation - something I take seriously and value highly - and a vicious personal attack. If we don't defend astrology, we won't have an astrology to defend. Though I used a strong critique of that commenter's claim, I didn't really take things to a personal level - the commenter did in her reply.

I can take my licks, though, so I won't quibble there.

As I've mentioned before, I came up through tribe.net message boards, which were pretty no holds barred. The philosophical battles got heated, and they were meant to. What we're doing here is more than tapping out messages on little machines, and I'm cognizant of that. I wouldn't be doing it if it were not meaningful and effective.

So I've been the lone non-New Age voice being shit-swarmed by ten or more people of that ideological persuasion on many occasions and managed to come out unscathed with my points across. I believe there are righteous battles, and extricating astrology from an invisible (and I would say insidious) merger with New Age beliefs is righteous to me. It's something I do, though it's not always pretty, and it's almost never popular. My methods are not for everyone - especially anyone not willing to get in and get right into the meat of the subject.

I am a Libra Sun, though, and I do understand Elsa's beef on blog social decorum.

In fact, I wrote Elsa an e-mail a little later on explaining my background and apologizing for my fault in breaching the social rules of her blog. As I explained, I was very new to the world of blogging at that time - especially to the social/community aspects, which I barely realized existed - and I wasn't up on the social rules. I blew in there with the charge of 101 throwdowns with the New Age in my words, and it just didn't fit the scene. I can see how this was not the right vibe for a group of people unaware that that battle even exists.

There are people you can take out of the country and put in the city and have them adapt and fit in quite well. Then there are people like me. Social integration is a slow process.

So I breached Elsa's rules on her blog and apologized for it almost two years ago. As far as I knew, it was a resolved matter. I guess not.

Let me take this opportunity to explain some of the dynamics here astrologically:

Elsa has Mars in Libra. She says she doesn't like to fight, but the way I see it, she is fighting in classic Libra style. She's fighting socially, passive aggressively, using her large social platform, her standards for social decorum, and her like-minded following (heavy on the Mars in Libra, according to the comments section) as a shield, all while denying doing so.

To compare, I'm a Mars in Scorpio with roots in a spiritually-guided warrior clan. I grew up on the prairie in the Dirty Eighties when the earth was parched, the grasshoppers were swarming, and the Pluto in Scorpio pressure on independent ranching and farming families was brutal. If rage and battling weren't a big part of your fuel source, you didn't have the snuff to get through it.

Mars in Libra versus Mars in Scorpio. Passive aggressive versus aggressive aggressive. Guess which one is more socially acceptable, especially for women?

Elsa has a stacked southern hemisphere (top half) of her birth chart. This means that she lives a fairly public life. She has a large public forum, a large public following, and has the opportunity to be very visible in her career. She has become known to many readers through her blog and has become known to many astrologers through the AstroDispatch - an "astrology star" if there is such thing. This public realm is a place where her rules go and her perspective reigns supreme, backed up by many like-minded readers, and that's fine.

What needs to be clear, though, is the Mars in Libra wielding of this southern hemisphere public prowess and Libran popularity. Elsa often talks about having Mars conjunct Mercury in Libra, and she is wielding a definite social and public power when she decides to use her blog as a platform to write about someone, especially another astrologer, and especially when she has closed the discussion to that person's point-of-view. This, again, is a classic way of Mars-Mercury in Libra battling. With Saturn just stationed retrograde in Libra, she is using the social structure she has built and her status within it to throw daggers.

In comparison, I have a northern hemisphere (bottom half) stacked chart. This means my life is not highly public. My vocation is not highly visible. I fly under the radar for the most part - purposefully. My achievements and successes are often not readily apparent to others and are often defined in completely opposite ways than they would be for a stacked southern hemisphere chart person. I don't write accessible astrology for the masses - though I could if that's the direction it took. I write complex astrology for a honed, niche audience.

I have a strong influence (for which I do my best to be responsible) and am among the best at what I do - but very few know it. My work is often hidden. So when I write a rebuttal post like this one, let's just say it doesn't have the same public legs as an Elsa post. I'm sure she is well aware of this fact and that it factors strongly into her southern hemisphere, Mars in Libra fighting style.

In vast contrast to someone with ease in the southern hemisphere (public/career life), my opportunities are few and far between, mostly eked out with blood, sweat, and otherworldly determination. If I did not know this was the way I needed to go in life, it would be sheer insanity for me to continue.

I also have a strong Black Moon Lilith influence - meaning, I'm on the edge, on the outside with my creative perspective, interacting from outer limits, expressing things most don't want to hear and causing big reactions, mostly unintentional, through doing so. When I trigger something, it lasts for a while - apparent in the fact that a five-minute incident on her blog has now warranted two fairly over-the-top blog posts almost two years apart from Elsa.

The strong Black Moon Lilith is the 'wicked witch' vibe along with the projected dark feminine stuff - cruel, vicious dog beater and baby eater, etc.

I have never been nor will ever be accepted with open arms by the mainstream - and this includes the pseudo-alternative mainstream. I will never have thousands of followers backing me up on every word. I have to be willing to say what I know is right for its own sake and stand behind it alone if need be, so this is what I do.

I find it unfortunate that as much as Elsa has written about this, she has never acknowledged the underlying philosophical issue and the issue pertinent to our profession - the merging of New Age beliefs with astrology, in particular in this case with the "astrology is not for the enlightened" claim.

I had a similar experience this past summer and fall with another blogger who refused to speak on the real underlying issues. He, coincidentally, also had a lot of Libra in a southern hemisphere-heavy chart and used his considerable platform to speak about his perspective on me without getting into anything real.

With that, I'll leave with this excerpt:

"This might be a controversial assertion, but I don't think the sign of Libra alone is all that skilled in the creation of peace. Libra is the peacekeeper, maybe. But peacemaker? Peace creator? No.

Libra can often maintain, through it's slick social skills and airy diplomacy, a form of peace that has already been established, but getting to a state of real peace often involves getting into it, and Libra is a sign that, especially when squared by Cancer or Capricorn, prefers to avoid that unpleasantness.

This avoidance is problematic because getting to a real state of peace often involves complex and longstanding disputes, injustice, imbalance, hurt, and oppression that have been hidden, covered over, smoothed over, let slide, reinforced - made worse, in fact, by Libra's glossing over of realities and nervous insistence on everything staying nicey nice.

Slapping a Band-aid on it and forcing a phony handshake over drinks without addressing underlying issues is not the recipe for true, longstanding justice or the peace that stems from that. Keeping everything Libra light and pleasant isn't really the goal when you get right down to it - getting to the root of the discord and injustice is, as well as to a mutual understanding of what caused and continues to cause this so it can be addressed and the chains broken.

The drawing up and divining sign of Scorpio, then, becomes instrumental in the process of peace creation. The road to peace might be initiated in cardinal air Libra, but it's fixed water Scorpio that digs in and takes the process beneath the surface, where it needs to go to be crystallized.

It's the catalytic power of expressing the raw human experiences of millennia of oppression on this planet, especially the emotional realities, that starts the process toward real peace, equality and harmony. If we can't get to and express the core realities, we don't get to any real healing, peace or understanding."