Since this is an astrology blog I feel I have to make a connection here so I’ll file this under “where reality meets our illusions: the Saturn/Neptune opposition.” Recent news reports cite a dropping breast cancer rate, and while these statistics were first linked to the sudden drop in the number of women taking hormone replacement thereapy, news reports now link the drop in breast cancer incidence to a corresponding drop in mammography rates. The news articles suggest that the... Read more

I had a great weekend, and thanks to Dharmaruci and Melody for filling in while I was gone. I had an interesting experience in an attempt to get an astrology reading from a local astrologer who insisted to me that I was engaged in power struggles of the worst kind (Pluto is transiting my seventh house of partnerships) and that my relationships were in the toilet (Saturn is square Venus in my chart). It turned out that he was born... Read more

Dharmaruci writes:If two or more outer planets are making an aspect to each other, particularly a hard aspect, then they become the defining configuration in the sky, the wider context in which all other planetary movements need to be seen. By and large. Because, for example, an outer planet moving into a new sign, like Pluto moving into Capricorn next year, is also pretty important. The Saturn-Neptune opposition has been the defining configuration since late 2005, and particularly so since... Read more

from MelodyThis evening, Saturday, the Moon enters Aries until Monday morning. On Sunday, Mars in Pisces is exactly squaring Pluto in Sagittarius at 28 degrees – very near the Aries point. In fact, Mars will be moving into Aries on May 15th. The balsamic Aries Moon is squaring Venus in Cancer for a short while on Sunday morning and the Sun in Taurus is also exactly squaring Neptune in Aquarius at 22 degrees. Happy Mothers Day! Feelings are likely to... Read more

Along with Melody, I’m standing in for Lynn while she has a short vacation. I’m from the UK and you can find my blog at astrotabletalk. As our Queen has just visited the US, and obliged George Bush to hold his first white tie dinner, I thought I’d say a few things about Prince William, her grandson and second in line to the throne. If he lives long enough, he will become King. People in the UK are divided about... Read more

I’m going out of town this weekend and taking my first vacation from this blog since I started it back in November 2005. Usually when I go out of town I take my laptop and send you messages from the road, but this weekend I decided to take a brain vacation as well. I have asked Dharmaruci and Melody to take over while I’m gone, so you’ll have plenty of great reading material! Have a good weekend and I’ll see... Read more

Just as Jupiter squared Uranus this week, scientists reported Monday that they had witnessed the brighest supernova ever seen as a massive star, 150 times bigger than our Sun, blew itself up 240 million light years away. This event forced scientist back to the drawing board to understand how stars die since it was previously thought that the demise of a star would pull them into a black hole. The star’s death produced a huge thermonuclear explosion that spewed star... Read more

On May 10 the square of Jupiter to Uranus reaches the apex of the second phase of its cycle. Jupiter expands and exaggerates the urge for Uranus to create radical change and break down the status quo, and we’ve seen this since the cycle began back in January. On a global level this planetary configuration stimulates conflicts between religious and ethnic groups, and on an individual level the effect may be more subtle. Suddenly we feel dissatisfied and impatient with... Read more