2007 August : Big Sky AstroBlog

Aug

29

Saturn is poised at the final dramatic degree of Leo, preparing to hurl itself into Virgo on September 2. Pretty darn close, too, to Tuesday’s Lunar Eclipse points at 4.46 Virgo/Pisces. Felt like it, didn’t it?

The last degree of Leo is associated with a fascinating fixed star called Regulus. Sometimes called “the Royal Star,” Regulus has an affinity for those in power but can also deliver its own kick-ass brand of karma - rewarding those who have tried to lead with honor and dignity, and bringing down those who have dishonored their elevated stations.

Exhibit A: Senator Larry Craig of Idaho (July 20, 1945, Council ID, time unknown), who is the center of a schadenfreudalicious scandal involving a June 11 bust for lewd contact in a public restroom. The news of this arrest became public on August 27, the day before the eclipse - with transiting asteroid Larry (30440) at 3.29 Gemini, square Saturn and the eclipse points. Craig’s Moon in early Sagittarius is feeling the eclipse heat as well; eclipses in aspect to the Natal Moon can leave one feeling - er - “exposed.”

Exhibit B: Also on August 27, Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez, who has an ego to match the approximately 59 planets in Leo in his birth chart (August 4, 1955, San Antonio TX, time unknown), finally got around to tendering his resignation. On August 27, transiting asteroid Albert (719) was at - of course - 29.23 Leo.

The moral of the story, kids, is to keep your noses clean, ‘cuz Saturn isn’t cutting anyone the least bit of slack right now.

August 29, 2007 | 5 Comments

Aug

25

Just ahead of Tuesday’s Full Moon/Lunar Eclipse in Pisces, I’ve posted an essay called “The World Without Us”:

When you begin to look at the world as a problem to be solved, you may forget that it’s also an enchanting mystery that defies both logical explanation and our best efforts to keep it tidied up. Fortunately, the world does its best to remind us, delivering shape-shifting numbers that stubbornly refuse to be wrangled, or trickster hard drive malfunctions. When we’re too entrenched in Virgo’s linear mindset, even our keen minds begin to rebel, refusing to stay focused. When we overdose on Virgo, our wise spirits instinctively reach out for a gentle Piscean antidote of music, beauty, and daydreams….
(read the full article here)

And if you’re looking for a little inspiration to help you track the eclipses for 2006-2008 through your birth chart, you could do worse than to order one of my neato Moonshadow eclipse reports. Such a steal at $35, and you can have it emailed to you or snailmailed in a fetching spiral-bound printed format. Dare you resist?

August 25, 2007 | Leave a Comment

Aug

16

At last - the new design! Or alas, depending on how many glitches I’ve (undoubtedly) overlooked. I cleaned out the articles archive and there have been some significant changes to the structure of the site itself, so if you’ve come here based on a Google search result that pointed you toward something that is now nonexistent, explore a little bit and you’ll probably find it. If not, drop me a line.

It’s the most substantial layout overhaul I’ve done in years, and I’m still noodling around with it a bit, especially the blog layout. It’s a work in progress… appropriately, with Venus - the goddess of redecoration - still retrograde. So watch this space, as they say.

Any substantial tinkering will have to wait, though. At the moment I’m buried under the usual pre-eclipse avalanche of work, my desk groaning with urgent projects, my email box creaking under the weight of various clients even more overwhelmed and stressed out than I am. I can only sigh with nostalgia as I recall the halcyon days of yore, when I had time to read other blogs, let alone update my own with any regularity. A matey shout-out, then, to my fellow astrobloggers, who I’m certain are covering the news of the day - bleak as it is - with aplomb and vigor.

August 16, 2007 | 11 Comments

Aug

7

I’m thisclose to finishing my beleaguered site renovation - just have to go over everything and make sure the links and forms are all working, and convert some more articles to the new template. It is beyond tedious - real Venus retrograde in Virgo stuff. I’ve been looking at the new design for so long that I’m thoroughly sick of it. And it’s a shock when I visit my actual, live site and see what is, to my mind, the “old” design.

Anyway, how’s Venus retrograde treating you? I’ve been … content, I guess I’d say. Maybe things’ll get weird as Venus backs into Leo and collides with Saturn, sending shards of misanthropic debris raining down on my natal North Node. Probably. My birthday was great, though; lots of fun, presents, and unexpected shout-outs. I don’t know that I’m wild about the looks of my Solar Return chart (below), though God knows it’s head and shoulders above last year’s horror:

Nice Sun/Moon/Chiron t-square, dontcha think? I’ve never been a big Chiron fan; it’s only recently that I’ve begrudgingly started paying attention to it. So it seems fitting that it’s making such a strenuous statement in my SR chart. “Notice me!” Plus I have been conditioned to fear anything in late degrees of Taurus, so I’m not wild about that Mars, parked at 29 degrees. But what can you do, you know?

I will focus instead on the Sun’s rather precise trine to the Ascendant, with nice juicy Jupiter hovering nearby. Isn’t that what you would do? On the other hand, feel free to share your comments about Chiron - not specifically Chiron in this chart, thanks; I’m really not trolling for a reading. I’m just honestly curious: do you use Chiron in your readings? Does it tell you something you can’t get from looking at anything else in the chart? Basically, should I bother?

* * *

Much love to the citizens of my beloved Twin Cities in the wake of that stunningly awful bridge collapse last week, and comforting wishes to those with a close personal interest in that Utah mine cave-in. As astrologers, we can’t help but observe that the Mars/Saturn square on July 31 was a doozy. But as humans, of course, we know that the devastation of these events can’t possibly be contained within a simple astrological soundbyte.

August 7, 2007 | 17 Comments

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