2006 October : Big Sky AstroBlog

Oct

27

13 Useful Astrology Books

Reference

1. A good ephemeris. Computers have been a boon to astrologers, but sometimes there’s no substitute for whipping out the old ephemeris and looking up transits. I really like my old Rosecrucian one (for the 20th century) and the 2000 - 2009 supplementary one I bought. It seems to be available in hardcover for 2000 - 2050, but for now I’m stumbling along with a spiral bound version for 2000 - 2009. Anyway, ephemerides are available calculated for either midnight or noon GMT. I always buy noon, because with the 8 hour offset between the Pacific Time zone (where I live) and GMT, the placements shown are closer to what they are where I live at the beginning of each day.

2. The Rex Bills Rulership Book - The little book of correspondences, with delicious, comprehensive lists of which planet/house/sign rules everything. (Except, curiously, chocolate. I’m assuming Venus, with a twist of Neptune.)

Basics

3. The Inner Sky by Steven Forrest. No surprise there … my favorite astrology author and my favorite beginner’s guide.

4. Only Way to Learn Astrology Vol 1, March & McEvers. A great companion to the Forrest book, because it runs stuff down in a pretty clear cut series of lessons, complete with little quizzes to make sure you’re keeping up. Rock on.

5. Making the Gods Work for You, by Caroline Casey. Because I love her. And because it’s a terrific primer on planets.

6. Houses of the Horoscope, by Bill Herbst. How did I live without this book for so many years?

7. Aspects in Astrology by Sue Tompkins. Aspects seem to be the dividing line between those with a casual interest in astrology and the serious student. They’re hard to grasp, and this book is my hands-down favorite treatment of the subject. I refer to it in preparing for almost every reading.

8. Linda Goodman’s Love Signs. But not, perhaps, for the reasons you think. Here’s why: Goodman was an engaging writer, yes, who clearly knew her astrology… but while you’re figuring out why the heck your Cancer boyfriend keeps drooling over Aquarians, you’re also learning the fundamentals of aspects in a sneaky, completely pain-free way.

Cycles and Prediction

9. Predictive Astrology: The Eagle and the Lark, by Bernadette Brady. Progressions, Transits, Eclipses, Lunations, and creative ways to break it all down and put it back together again. Really fabulous.

10. The Changing Sky by Steven Forrest. An accessible yet systematic approach to reading the chart.

11. Planetary Cycles, by Betty Lundsted. I love this little book, which breaks down the major aspects and cycles of each stage of life.

Almost every client who comes to me is trying to figure out how to cope with Saturn or Pluto issues, so it’s worth having a couple of books devoted strictly to these biggies.

12. Saturn in Transit, by Erin Sullivan. It’s not the easiest read, but it’s a fascinating treatment of Saturn and the Heroic Journey. I refer to it constantly.

13. Jeff Green’s Pluto books are justly popular, but I have to go with Forrest’s The Book of Pluto. His approach just speaks to me more. Nice delineations of natal and transiting positions.

So, what are some of your favorites? Tell us in comments!

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October 27, 2006 | 5 Comments

Oct

24

That soft, whimpering sound you hear is me, huddled under the covers, waiting for the stampede of planets in Scorpio to get the hell out of my 12th house and leave me in peace. Jupiter, Mercury, and the Moon have led the charge, and the Sun, Venus, and Mars are perched just outside of town, in the 11th house, waiting for their moment to pounce.

I feel tired and cross, as I often do when planets transit my 12th house. I’ve got Neptune there, natally, and I like peace and quiet in my inner sanctuary. There’s a part of me that needs lots and lots of quiet and personal space, and when planets are transiting my 12th I feel the lack of peace and quiet very keenly.

I don’t go to church, but if I did, I think I’d prefer a Quaker meeting, in which no one says a dang thing, to a fiery revival. In fact, growing up, Mom and Dad - who were not religious - took to sending us down the road to the hell fire and brimstone Nazarene country church, mainly to appease my grandmother, who was quite religious. I distinctly remember one day at the age of about six, sitting there in church with the one-armed preacher screeching from the pulpit, when my 9th house Uranus reared up in revolt, ably supported by Neptune in strong-willed Scorpio in the 12th house. I thought, “This is really too much,” and stood up and walked out. I toddled down the road, and when I got home I announced that I was never going back. Mom sort of smiled and shrugged. “Okay.”

Our twelfth houses are houses of worship where we shelter and nurture our rich, inner lives - spirituality, the mysterious creative process, dreams. Mine is painted the colors of Scorpio - rich reds and poison greens - and has a crazy old lady who sleeps in one of the pews and growls at anyone who gets too close. She’s tolerated Mercury, because she knows he won’t be there long, and Jupiter, because he’s kind of good-natured. But several weeks of these jokers AND Sun, Venus, and Mars?

Heaven help me.

October 24, 2006 | 4 Comments

Oct

20

Have you looked at the chart for Sunday’s New Moon? I have, all year long. With the Sun, Moon, Venus, and Mars all clustered together in Libra and in good aspect to everything else in the chart, this is a pretty good-lookin’ chart - which is why I’ve recommended this weekend to any number of prospective brides looking for an advantageous wedding date. So yeah, if you’ve been standing around with your car keys in your hand, waiting for the right moment to jump in the car to zoom off to Vegas and get hitched, here it is.

Traditionalists argue that Venus and Mars are in via combusta - too damn close to the Sun, and in a very dicey zodiacal neighborhood - which will burn their energies to a crisp, astrologically speaking. I don’t know if I buy that, but it’s true that there are no planets in earth signs and precious few in water. Mercury and Jupiter are square Saturn (though in a chart with so many nice aspects, it’s sort of a relief to see some squares to give it a little bite). Hey, nothing’s perfect. But I must say that if ever a chart stood up and hollered “marriage!” to me, it’s this one. (Actually, I’ve been recommending charts earlier in the day to capitalize on the Moon’s approaching conjunction with Venus, although it means using the Moon in her balsamic phase and I practically NEVER do that. I really like to have an approaching Moon/Venus/Sun connection in a wedding chart, though.)

It’s not just a good weekend for getting married, either. It’s positive for anything you’d like to accomplish that involves winning friends and influencing people, diplomacy and salesmanship (Libra) blended with authority and professionalism (Saturn), compassionate insight (Neptune), and raw animal magnetism (Pluto). Where is the Libra house in your chart? Are you beginning to see some kind of breakthrough in that part of your life? Look for tangible results by next month’s planetary traffic jam in Scorpio, which will have the added heft of Jupiter behind it.

October 20, 2006 | 8 Comments

Oct

19

Thirteen Ways to Find
Big Sky Astrology

Welcome to Big Sky Astrology - however you found me! I understand some of you have found the following search phrases helpful in navigating your way to my site. Hey, happy I could help you in your quest for knowledge and information about all things related to:

love machine of scorpio mean (but oh, so satisfying!)
hives elbows (I didn’t even know they had arms!)
meg ryan fading career (sorry, Meg! Loved French Kiss!)
big german shared (….?)
donuts (…aha!)
fiends (you gotta have ‘em!)
pluto big pimpin (hell yeah!)
how big are sinuses (the eternal question!)
country western moonlight savings time (reclassifying planets is SO last month; now we’re reclassifying time zones!)
aquarian cats (sorry; mine are Aries and Taurus)
astrological suspenders (something has to hold up the sky)
big time wrestling obits (um…can’t help you there)
i can beat my husband at wrestling (good on ya!)

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October 19, 2006 | 4 Comments

keep looking »

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