2006 July : Big Sky AstroBlog

Jul

31

Is this fair? I work hard, pay my taxes, give to charities, try to get plenty of fiber in my diet. And THIS is the solar return I get?
hideous solar return chart

Observe the Sun conjunct Saturn. AND the Moon conjunct Pluto. But wait, wait, it gets better: every single friggin’ house cusp has the 29th degree on it, except the 5/11 houses - which have 0 degrees. In my experience, the 29th degree of any sign has a horrible sort of suspenseful, must-finish-up-now feeling about it, and 0 degree is not much better. A friend of mine once said it always makes her think of Little Orphan Annie’s blank, blank eyes: clueless.

For the uninitiated, a solar return chart is a chart calculated for the moment each year when the Sun returns to its longitude at your birth. In other words, it’s your birthday chart. According to the rules, you calculate the solar return chart for the location where you’re currently living. But some folks advocate a “go to a different place for your solar return and get a better wheel” policy. I’m not sure I buy it, though; I sort of believe that wherever you’re going to be spending most of year is the right location to use for calculating your solar return. To do anything different might give you a better birthday, but probably not a better year.

On the other hand, I’m feeling a little desperate here, people. This just may be the year I put the “get out of Dodge” theory to the test.

July 31, 2006 | 4 Comments

Jul

28

My teacher liked to say that you should, as much as possible, do only things you like when Mercury is retrograde, “because you’ll end up doing them again and again and again.”

Well, apparently we really enjoyed buying that air conditioner last Friday. Because as we speak Jonny is on his way to pick up another one, on account of the untimely death this morning of our bedroom a/c. Mercury turns direct at 5:40 pm, so we’re right under the wire for some good old-fashioned Mercury retrograde do-over goodness. Yay.

You know, we astrologers are guilty of urging folks not to do certain things when Mercury is retrograde: “Don’t sign contracts” and “don’t buy cars or appliances.” But I’ve long noticed that retrogrades seem to have this way of forcing the issue, of pushing you into a situation in which you have little choice but to do The Thing You Must Not Do. Air conditioners die during a record-breaking heat wave. Cars give up the ghost just before you start a new job. Escrow closes on the house of your dreams. What are ya gonna do?

Evidently, the same thing over… and over…

If you’re in San Diego, though, this is a fantastic way to spend an evening and beat the heat. Last night we went with a group of friends to see the Hitchcock thriller Suspicion, and I’m telling you, after a day of sweltering in the (returned as if it had never gone away) heat and humidity, it was bliss to sit out under the stars in comfy reclining chairs and watch Cary Grant looking unspeakably delicious. Get to the box office early to buy your tickets (our friend got in line for ours at 5:45 pm and by 6:00 there were 20 people in line) so you can get a comfy zero-gravity lounger up front!

July 28, 2006 | Leave a Comment

Jul

27







Thirteen Things about April Elliott Kent

1. I’m the youngest of four children, and so is my husband.

2. Thursday is my favorite day of the week. It’s all about the Jupiter, baby!
3. I decided when I was twelve that I wanted to be either a musician or an astrologer for a living. I had no idea what astrologers really did or how one went about becoming one, so I devoted myself to music. For about nineteen years, I did a lot of singing… country singing, jazz singing, rock singing, sensitive singer-songwriter singing. And I spent a lot of time onstage. I was still singing in coffee houses as late as 1992, but soon tired of singing duets with cappuccino machines and getting nowhere. By then I had been practicing astrologer for a couple of years and decided that looked like a better career path. So, here I am.
4. My most hated household task: cleaning floors.
5. First presidential candidate I voted for: Jimmy Carter, in his doomed bid for a second term.
6.  I suck at group dynamics, unless I’m somehow in charge. If I’m hosting the party, speaking for the astrology group, or have some kind of specific job to do, I have a great time. Otherwise, I have no feel for group interactions.
7. I used to sing at cowboy bars when I was only 13 or 14 years old.
8. I find certain noises intolerable. (I notice this among other people with Gemini or Virgo Moons.) I can’t stand hearing barking dogs, cars with booming bass, gum cracking/popping, or people smacking their lips when they eat. As you can imagine, I’m a pleasure to live with.
9. Despite living in LA for twenty-two years, I had few celebrity encounters, although I was once in a car accident in North Hollywood involving Randolph Mantooth. He behaved like a gentleman; perhaps it was all those seasons on Emergency, but he went right into “is everyone okay” mode. He also effected a daring rescue of my guitar from the trunk of my friend’s Mazda. Many years later, I was singing in a coffeehouse in Temecula and who should walk in, but the Man of Tooth? So apparently I have some kind of weird Mantoothian magnetism.
10. I’m a pretty good cook. I make a homemade chicken pot pie that you would not believe.
11. I was Catholic for about four years. That was sufficient. However, I’d still rather go to Mass than any other kind of church service I’ve run across.
12. I don’t eat a lot of meat, but I’m not a vegetarian. When I got into astrology it seemed like the field was full of middle-aged chainsmokers who ate a lot of junk food; nowdays there seem to be a lot more health-conscious, vegan, rock-climbing, GenX type of astrologers. Typically, I don’t fall into either category.
13. Good for Lance Bass!




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        July 27, 2006 | Leave a Comment
	

	

	Jul
	26
	
	

	
	





	I woke this morning with the Sun on my Mercury, Saturn on my Sun, and a feeling of inexplicable goodwill. I sprang from my bed with a glad cry, cracked open Notepad on my laptop, and gratefully enumerated the rich and myriad blessings of my life. (Number one on today’s list of blessings: The heat seems to have broken before it could break us. We win!) I took a moment to savor the joyful, wondrous dimensions of my life without immediately rushing in with the “yeah, but”s. It felt… really good, if a little unfamiliar to an Eeyore like myself.
Then I remembered. Ah, yes… Cranked up Solar Fire for today’s chart, and there it was: Venus, almost exactly trine Jupiter. Ferociously self-satisfied Venus macking on “everything’s super!” Jupiter… a mutual admiration society of the first order, and we happy bystanders need only stand below with our hands open to receive the droppings from their groaning larder. Hey, I’ll take them!
Enjoy this merry day, pilgrims. Life ain’t perfect, but on days like this it might as well be.
        July 26, 2006 | Leave a Comment
	

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                 Sign of Leo

              
              
            
          
          
            
              

               
                 
                   Moon sextiles Mercury at
4:20 pm on Jul.5, 2008


                   Moon opposes Neptune at
5:22 pm on Jul.5, 2008


                   Moon trines Pluto at
3:05 am on Jul.6, 2008


                   Moon goes void of course at
3:05 am on Jul.6, 2008


                   Moon enters Virgo at
4:04 am on Jul.6, 2008


                   Moon conjuncts Mars at
9:19 am on Jul.6, 2008