The image of Venus has really changed over the years, morphing from her early days as a complex warrior queen and sexual goddess to a more two-dimensional character, the Goddess of Love and Beauty. While Venus is retrograde I thought it would be a good time to look at the OTHER side of Venus. The archetype that we now call Venus/Aphrodite was a female goddess that originally presided over sexuality, fertility, and war in ancient Bronze Age Mesopotamian civilization. She... Read more
The fact that our Judeo-Christian mythos is a derivation of earlier religions and legends has moved into the mainstream, and the idea that the divinity of Jesus has parallels with other gods is no longer a shocking idea. Most of us realize now that Jesus wasn’t born on Christmas day – shepherds don’t watch their flocks in December, even in ancient Judea – and that the Christmas holiday was adopted because it was already being celebrated as the Winter Solstice... Read more
The Solstice occurs today (Winter for us northern hemispherians, Summer for the Aussies and Kiwis) – a time when the days are shortest in the north and longest in the south as the wheel of the year turns and takes us from light to darkness, and back to light again. The Solstice Sun is locked in a square to Mars, energizing the seasonal shift and requiring that some level of action occur. Over the past five years or so, ever... Read more
When my mother died on December 19 of last year (2012) I had very little to say about her. I wrote a post right after her death but it was more about me and my relationship with her. I was exhausted from her illness and the challenges that surrounded it, and could find very little that was positive to say. When we started cleaning out her house I found boxes of old photographs and started to piece together a picture... Read more
The Moon will be full in Gemini on the 17th, expanding our minds and filling us with curiosity and a yearning to understand life’s secrets. Every Full Moon contains a polarity within it, and while polarities are opposites they always have something in common that links them together. Gemini and Sagittarius are the most similar of the six astrological polarities – both are concerned with knowledge although they each have a different approach. Gemini is hungry to learn as much... Read more
Kelly Lee Phipps is a brilliant astrologer who was diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer this year. He posted this poem on his Facebook page. SATORI Two circles unite sun and moon move together eternity flows One heart opens wide living waters surged inward tears crawling from our stories This sacred flow aspires to express the divine through a fountain of radiant wisdom As rain falls on the cracked ground fertilizing being in the depths of pure, fiery satori As in... Read more
The question of fate vs. free will is a thorny debate among astrologers. Traditional astrologers, such as those who practice Hellenistic, Vedic or Medieval astrologers, tend to believe more firmly in the concept that the unfolding of our lives occurs in a predestined pattern and that we as humans have very little choice in the process. It’s clear when you learn to read the astrological symbols that fate and destiny are tightly interwoven. We are born with certain planets in... Read more
Just when I start to think that astrology is gaining respect in the mainstream an article like this comes along that shows how newspaper predictions are still confused with astrology: Astrology may seem like harmless fun – but a new study suggests following your star sign could be bad for you. Consumers who read their horoscope daily were found to be more likely to exhibit impulsive or indulgent behaviour when their zodiac was negative, the research suggested. Already this article... Read more
The qualities of Jupiter and Saturn are diametrically opposed to each other, but an integration of the two is absolutely essential for successfully surviving on Planet Earth. Jupiter represents the principle of expansion and the seeking of experiences that imbue our life with meaning. Jupiter teaches confidence and openness and inspires a quest for philosophies and religions that appear to us as truth. Saturn counters the expansion of Jupiter with contraction – Saturn requires that we apply limits to our... Read more
A client asked this question so I thought it might be a good thing to cover in this column: Do planetary cycles like the Uranus/Pluto square (see the sidebar) affect everyone the same? I used this example to explain how planetary cycles work: When it’s raining in your community, rain pours down on everyone. But everyone is affected differently. Some people love being out in the rain and they may be dancing in the streets. Some people hate to get... Read more
Astrological Musings
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