photo by Bill Bridge The Sun and the Moon are opposite in many ways: The Sun is visible in the daylight, the Moon at night. The Sun is hot, the Moon is cool. The Sun is predictable and rises every morning in the same place and with the same shape; the Moon is changeable, rising at different times and shapeshifting throughout its cycle. The Sun is masculine, the Moon feminine. Oddly, from Earth the Sun and Moon appear to be... Read more

Liz Greene is quite possibly my favorite astrology writer of all time, and yesterday I dug out her book The Art of Stealing Fire: Uranus in the Horoscope, which is actually a transcription of a seminar on the subject. In it she briefly touches on the work of the Roman writer Manilius, who in his work the Astronomica refers to the astrological houses as “templums.” In the horoscope, which is a map of the sky at a particular time from... Read more

On July 10 Mercury retrogrades from Leo back into the more watery sign of Cancer, and communication issues will be focused more on family and those around the home. Home equipment and media may break down and family issues that we thought were resolved will erupt again for renewed consultation. Mercury will remain in Cancer for the remainder of the month. The Full Moon in Capricorn occurs July 11. Capricorn is the sign of responsibility, of structure, of commitment. The... Read more

I’ll be taking a break this weekend from Mercury-related brain work, so here are some links I recommend in the meantime: from my favorites: Robert Wilkinson gives a detailed analysis of Mercury in Cancer and refers to his companion piece on Mercury in Leo. Jeffrey Kishner ponders the astrology of Superman. Nancy Waterman reviews the week’s news (as always, don’t miss her comments section which is always full of interesting tidbits). Elsa exposes a mystery about childbirth. other weird things... Read more

While I was struggling yesterday with issues of Mercury retrograde in the business world, I missed the fact that Jupiter changed direction and is now traveling direct (or forward). Jupiter in transit represents expansion and opportunities, and during this heavy retrograde period (five planets including Chiron are still in retrograde motion) the return of Jupiter will create additional opportunities resulting from the retrograde period. Remember retrogrades are for re-establishing our goals, re-visiting friends we haven’t seen for a long time,... Read more

After many years of resisting commercial exploitation, Johnny Depp has become a major bankable star with the release of the Pirates of the Caribbean series. Beginning with his breakout role in Twenty-One Jump Street, Johnny Depp has fought the Hollywood machine even though it meant foregoing roles that would bring him great commercial success. Instead he focused on smaller character roles where he could practice the art of acting, aligning himself with quirky geniuses such as Tim Burton and John... Read more

The star Sirius, the brightest star in the sky, is in the constellation Canis Major. Sirius was the most important of the stars and formed the foundation of ancient Egyptian religion. It was considered to be a second Sun since its heliacal rising matched the length of our solar year at 365.2 days. This rising (conjunct the Sun) of Sirius came at the time of the inundation of the Nile, which was crucial to the survival of the ancient Egyptian... Read more

There was a big hubbub in the astrology blogosphere over the past few days as NASA prepared to launch the Discovery during the days before a Mercury retrograde period, called the “stationary retrograde” period because the motion of the planet slows down to a standstill before turning. “Bad time for a launch,” we all muttered, “NASA needs an astrologer.” When the launch went off smoothly, I did some research and found that during the launch of the Discovery last July... Read more

Mercury turns retrograde today, so begin taking extra care in clarifying all communication. Don’t be surprised if documents are lost, appointments are missed, and equipment stops working. Mercury retrograde periods are good times to do everything twice, just to be sure. Mercury is in Leo, where it finds creative ways to express the ego and personality. While retrograde (through July 26), Mercury tends to bring up unresolved issues, presenting them for review and reexamination. Because Leo tends to be dramatic... Read more

Earlier in this column I discussed the rash of data thefts in light of current planetary events (particularly the retrograde turn of Pluto back in March and the Pluto Station (where Pluto’s motion slowed down before changing direction) of the preceding several months since the beginning of the year. Attrition.org has an incredibly comprehensive list of data thefts over the past five years. The pace of these thefts has been steadily increasing since March, with June the most active month... Read more