Free Will and Fate in Tarot - Osho Zen - Existence (I) and Change (X)

Hello all, I am back and settled in after the Body, Mind, Spirit Expo this past weekend at the State Fair grounds.  If you were able to attend, I hope you had a wonderful time.  Today I want to write about Free Will and Fate, two very hot topics in any metaphysical practice and study.  The cards I want to explore are Existence, the number 1 card, and Change, the number 10 card, of the Major Arcana of the Osho Zen Tarot.  In traditional decks these cards are better known as The Magician and The Wheel of Fortune.

 

Life, I would put forth, is a dialectic with a back and forth between Free Will and Fate, but how can that be if Fate is involved.  I would like to present the idea that Fate and Free Will move in and out of one another, taking and giving stage at different times and for different intervals, very much like wave/particle theory regarding energy.  In the above card Existence, we are shown the "smallness" of our place in the vast universe and the "immensity" of our uniqueness.  Nothing else in existence occupies the same "place" or space as you do.  For this reason, Astrology loves twins, triplets, and so on.  How better to show the flexibility of a birth chart than to have 2, 3, or more individuals with same exact birth chart out in the world.  They will not express themselves in the same way because they do not occupy the same space in the universe, nor will they experience the same set of events.  To draw the card of Existence is to remember that you are unique and you have a unique impact on the world, whether it is small (early death after childbirth) or large (Ghandi, Lincoln, King Jr, Mother Teresa).   To exist is to be able to choose, even if the limits of choice are great.

To draw the card of Change is to remind yourself that many events happen outside you that you must choose how you will react or find yourself forced into certain directions because there is only one choice (funny how we forget that when we say, "I have no choice, but to ...", we really mean to say, "I have only one choice and this is it."  I often explain the Change (or Wheel of Fortune) card this way in my seminars.  Imagine that you drove here (as most people do) and you go outside and find your tire is flat.  Fate has stepped in.  You were moving along, with faith, that you would be able to go out to your car get in it and drive away only to find out that now you must react to the unexpected.  How you choose to react is the choice offered by acts of Fate.  And acts of Fate are usually choices we made spiritually to be present in so we can test ourselves.  As the saying goes, "no one gets their character tested when things are going their way."

Over the weekend a new astrologer I met through Facebook provided me with a reading of my Uranus transit in exchange for me reading his Neptune transit.  In his fantastic interpretation of this transit, he had many deeply insightful things to say, not the least of which was to remind me to stay positive and hopeful while presenting some pretty tough knowledge and insight about current and future events.  The globe, and thus everyone personally, is going through a major shift.  I have written about two major aspects of this shift in my blog on transiting planetary Ingress involving all of the outer planets and the recent T-square involving Saturn/Uranus/Pluto.  Big change is happening and more big ... even bigger change is coming, and with these changes there will be a lot of hard work (which will be interpreted by a great many as hardship).  We need this change; the planet needs this change.  What matters most is how we choose to react, and there will be plenty of reactionary action.  

Deep down, I'm an optimist, though it can be hard to see past my Scorpio Ascendant sometimes ;-).  Jupiter and Uranus will both be direct in Aries soon enough and we, as a people, and individually will have the opportunity to choose how to express the expansive/creative energy of these to points moving through Aries.  In many ways we are going to have to deal with the Change card first, as the Present Moment, and Existence as our crossing card, our challenge.  Housing prices are going to continue to drop, services will be cut, taxes will rise, government/bank/corporate corruption will try to keep doing business as usual and all of it will result in a truly "Brave New World" shift.  The question for each of us will be how will we play our role.  Will we move in the direction panic and doom or see these changes as the necessary steps to forge new intentional communities, re-localize our food and services, restart manufacturing, and make healthful behavior changes.  In essence, it will not be changes in technology that "save us," but rather changes in our behavior.  

Understanding the fluid relationship between Free Will and Fate (wave and particle); the quantum"ness" of life helps us be more capable when our times of choice come and more flexible when our limits of choice come.  I hope my work in the world and through this blog reaches the higher vibration of hope even as we move through an impending lower vibration of scarcity, which will really be a true vibration of re-balancing.  Astrology and the Tarot are just the ideal tools to help us move through these powerfully fluctuating times.

As I prepare to leave to pick up the girls from school I have drawn a rather fitting card, which I will write about in my next entry.  I will leave it for you to contemplate:

Tarot Meditation Card for Today - Osho Zen Major Arcana - Thunderbolt (16)

Drawing the Thunderbolt card is not for the weak of heart; in a traditional deck this card is represented as the Tower.  I find the card a fitting one to draw on the anniversary of what I want to henceforward refer to as my Spiritual Awakening.  And for me it was very much a Thunderbolt event, a lightening strike that utterly obliterated who I was previously.  I am still sifting through the rubble and building a new self.  I definitely feel the fire burning in my heart chakra from day to day as the natural kundalini awakening and subsequent rising occurs with the Uranus Opposition.  If I were to designate a card as the Uranus Opposition, this card is the one I would choose.  The lightening strike is the awakening and the fire burning at the base of the spine upward is the rising.  Since most of us in the West have no knowledge of kundalini, and thus no preparation, we get a Thunderbolt experience.

Again, I will refer to the Liquid Light of Sex: Kundalini, Astrology, and the Key Life Transition by Barbara Hand Clow.  This book is a must read for anyone between the age of 35 and 40 in preparation for the Thunderbolt that will be the Uranus Opposition.  What does it mean to have a self decimated in a single extreme moment?  And how do you choose to move forward.  As Clow points out in her book, many people return to the former self, failing to take full advantage of the kundalini opening and opportunity.  If it is particularly frightening, then a return to the familiar is not surprising, but it is spiritually devastating.   We, in the West, have largely lost touch with or never even had a eye on spiritual development and the natural phases of the process.  Astrology shows us a map of development.  Whether it is the 12 year cycle of Jupiter or the nearly 30 year cycle of Saturn, there are Spiritual key moments.  The only one we deign to recognize these days is the yearly Solar Return, on our birthday.  And we don't recognize it spiritually as much as we do materially (how many gifts did I get, what gift do I want).  The first Saturn Return (28 to 30) is a tune up for the Uranus Opposition (40 to 42), which is a tune up for the Chiron Return (49 to 51), which is a tune up for the second Saturn Return (58 to 60).

The story of the Major Arcana is the story of spiritual development.  After Thunderbolt comes Silence:

More contrasting cards could not appear next to each other in the story.  After Thunderbolt, you need Silence; only through obliteration can you hope to hear true Silence.

Noticing a Lack of Forward Progress? 5 Energy Points are Retrograde

If it feels like the world is experiencing the doldrums (a state of inactivity or stagnation), that's because it is, at least from an energetic standpoint.  And how's this for synchronicity, the definition provided by dictionary.com has a usage example and the example says, "August is time of doldrums for many enterprises."  I wonder if the editor is also an astrologer?  Right now Mercury, Jupiter, Chiron, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto are all retrograde, which means we are in a period of reflection, rejuvenation, and rest where each of these energies are involved in your chart.  Today I will talk about the impact of these retrograde periods on the United States Birth Chart (cast using the Sibley data - July 4, 1776 in Philadelphia, PA, at 5:10PM), which you can see below (click on the image to enlarge it):

It is surprising how many people are familiar with Mercury Retrograde, which has earned an unfairly bad reputation for being the cause of wrecks, failures in communication (electronic or human), and bad business deals.  Mercury facilitates communication and like all energy points, it needs a period of rest as well.  Think of the times you've gone to your online bank at some obscure hour (Sunday morning at 3AM) only to find that the system is down for routine maintenance.  Mercury Retrograde gets so much bad press because we are supposed to slow down and we don't, and that's when and why accidents happen.  The suggestion from astrologers to "lay low" during a Mercury Retrograde really has nothing to do with greater danger and more to do with the proper rhythm to employ during this phase, which now is from August 20 to September 11.  In the US chart Mercury is transiting the 10th House; the house of public responsibility, business, and large systems (think banking, education, government, military, and corporations).  Now is a good time for all large systems to review their books, reflect on their current status, review contracts, and reread documents pertaining to votes of law.  Do all the things involving review, reflection, and rest.  The same is true where Mercury is transiting your chart.

For the slower moving energy points, beginning with Jupiter, which I will talk about in conjunction with Uranus (because they are currently conjunct), the retrograde phases last longer and have broader and deeper impacts.  Jupiter began its retrograde phase on July 23 and will conclude this phase on November 17.  It will move back from Aries and into Pisces, suggesting that exploration and expansion need some more time on the "dreaming board" (Pisces) before being put into action (Aries).  In the US chart, the 4th House of Family and Culture and 5th House of Creativity and Children will be affected.  Essentially the proposed solutions to solve our financial crisis (that is impacting so many families) need review and reflection.  We also need new thinking and it needs to be more radical than we realize, which is what Uranus conjunct Jupiter and also retrograde moving back from Aries to Pisces tells us.  Uranus went retrograde, after just edging into Aries (less than 1 degree) July 5th, and will not be done until December 5th (well after the November elections are over).  Families in the US (4th House) have certainly gotten a shock (Uranus) to their dreams (Pisces) with this financial crisis.  Uranus was 15 degrees into its transit through Pisces when the crisis began (1/2008), and now the depth of the shock is sinking in with remaining high unemployment, deflation of home values, outstanding debt, and a long term out look for slow or no growth, and even retraction.  As a nation, we won't really feel the Aries push for innovative solutions until March 2011 since the retrograde phase will take Uranus all the way back to 26 degrees of Pisces.

We have another pair of energy points conjunct and retrograde, Chiron and Neptune in Aquarius right on top of the US natal Moon.  Chiron started its retrograde phase June 4 and it will last until October 31.  Neptune started its retrograde phase May 31 and will remain retrograde until November 6.  Chiron deals with the wound we must heal while Neptune deals with our dreams and delusions; these two together are potent for deep, deep spiritual and psychological work and they are moving back and forth over the 3rd and 4th house of the US chart, the very depths of the US soul and activating the soul energy point.  This country is filled with idealistic notions, many of which have been achieved and most of which now have been corrupted.  This conjunction of energy is revealing that our capacity for bringing a new light (a certain kind of democracy and development of society) to the world has been tarnished by our greed (quite simply, the debt supercycle we face is a fundamental case of living beyond our means).  We have borrowed against the future to have more of everything now instead of pacing ourselves within our means.  Ideals have been perverted to such a degree that our nation's exalted status (generally speaking) is largely damage beyond repair.  We face a new age as the center of the world shifts to China, the only "solvent" country thanks to its dominance in manufacturing.  But keep in mind, this conjunction and retrograde energy is also affecting an area in China's chart, and Russia's, and all countries.  Personally we will each be getting a heavy dose of depth work involving wound/healing and dream/belief energy.  Welcome to the dark night of the soul.

Finally, Pluto is retrograde, and unlike the other four outer planets, it will not cross back over into Sagittarius.  The US got a very heavy dose of the "bill collector" when Pluto entered Capricorn in January of 2008.  The full disclosure of the over extension (Sagittarius expansion) is still unwinding and will do so for the duration of Pluto's transit through Capricorn (until 2025 ... yes, another 15 years).  Pluto is the transformer, the destroyer, and the rebuilder and his next work is in the area of big institutions (Capricorn) in the arena of the US chart dealing with Security and Values (2nd House).  We will see a tremendous change in those two areas of our lives as we learn to live with less and must make do with less. If our country had to settle its debts today, we would have to declare bankruptcy and essentially start over again.  In some ways, such action would be best and honest, though extremely painful.  If we never enter an outright Depression, we will likely experience recurring recessions because Pluto entered Capricorn at a time when large systems are overextended.  California and Illinois are precursors to what we can expect when the stimulus money runs out, especially since "no new taxes" is fully the accepted mantra.  Services will unwind and superstructures will begin to show bigger fractures than they already have.  Too big to fail is usually Plutonian code for "the process for failing has already begun."  But this need not be a terrible process, Pluto is also about rebirth and we will need to rebirth civilization over the next 20 years and hopefully we will be able to avoid the choices of the 1910's to 1930's when Pluto entered Cancer and rolled over the US Sun and opposed itself in 1935.  During this transit Pluto will oppose the US Sun (2014) and conjunct itself (2022).  We will experience the Pluto return for this nation, and all that has been sown in 240+ years will be reaped.  Jeff Green, perhaps the leading authority on Pluto, predicts, "On a national level it is interesting to remember that Pluto is in Capricorn in the US chart.  The day will come when the United States will 'fall from grace.'  One day it will not be the world power that it is today (writing in 1993); it will be one nation among many.  This will force a restructuring of the national Soul so that a new collective self-image can evolve.  The national sense of security (2nd House) linked with being a world power will have to change as a result of this evolutionary necessity." (Green, Pluto: The Evolutionary Journey of the Soul, 192).

Finally, I want to point out the large triangle or T-Square connecting the one outer planet not retrograde, Saturn (in Libra in the 11th House of Community) in opposition with Jupiter/Uranus (in Pisces in the 4th House of Family and Culture) and square Pluto (in Capricorn in the 2nd House of Security and Values), which itself (Pluto) squares Jupiter/Uranus.  We are dealing with a great deal of tension during this configuration and the balance point is in Cancer in the 8th House of Death and Transformation.  We must transform and in the vein of caring and nurturing (not rugged independence and "get yours while you can").  It is hard because the point/energy is "hidden" and not active because there is no energy point transiting in the house of the needed activation.  Yet the activation needs to happen on our country's Sun, its Life Path and it will also affect our relationships (Venus); how we grow, expand, and teach (Jupiter); how our country communicates (Mercury), and our destiny (Part of Fortune).  Exciting times to be sure.

Tarot Meditation Card for Today - Osho Zen Major Arcana - Conditioning (15)

"This card recalls an old Zen story, about a lion who was brought up by sheep and who thought he was a sheep until an old lion captured him and took him to a pond, where he showed him his own reflection.  Many of us are like this lion - the image we have of ourselves comes not from our own direct experience but from the opinion of others.  A 'personality' imposed from the outside replaces the individuality that could have grown from within." (Osho Zen handbook, 32).

Whenever I draw this card or a client draws this card, I and they must look at all the aspects of our lives that do not reflect who we truly are or want to be.  I have been writing quite a bit about a spiritual/mental break that occurred to me almost a year ago to the date (8/29).  I was thrown into a state of chronic anxiety that I am still managing with greater and greater success each day.  I drew this card in a reading the next day while in the depths of the initial attack.  It is fitting that I would draw it again so close to the anniversary of my deep shift.  Who I was before that day and who I am now and still becoming feel very much like the image of this card.  I accepted and embraced many roles that did not suit me, especially the one of husband, and surprisingly, the one of academic/professor (a role I thought I prized above all others).  The transition to my truest self is still unfolding and really began when I initiated my separation in 2002.

I can image now what it must be like for the lion in the story to have to learn to be a lion and let go of all things sheep.  It is also no coincidence that the animal images involved are the lion and the sheep.  If you were to draw this card or it resonates with you at a deep level as you look at and read this blog, then think of all the things in your life you are still doing sheep-like that need to be cast off so you an have more time for your true lion-hood!  There is even a fantastic book I found in the used bookstore that reflects the depth of this card; I recommend you put a copy in your personal library: Facing the Lion, Being the Lion: Finding Inner Courage Where It Lives by Mark Nepo.

We must all act authentically.  The universe, this world, your community does not need duplicates or clones.  Isn't it interesting that only the simplest of life forms reproduce by cloning, while the more complex develop by means of increased difference.  Even twins do not occupy the same space and time in life and thus develop their similarities differently, uniquely.  We may all be part of a great "Oneness," but in the three dimensional, linear time existence we are all enjoying, we do so to explore and express our authenticity and individuality.  I like to call it finding my Zen.  My Zen is to teach and to help others along or find the start to their authentic paths, which I found I could not do as well in a University as I can reading Astrology charts and Tarot cards.

Beginner Astrology Books and How to Read Them

Hello all,

Before I provide the list, I want to set the stage.  Astrology is a vast and deep field of study, which has, in the study of it, three very broad layers or gates.  The first layer is the data layer, the fundamental information needed to study the craft.  Even this layer has its pitfalls.  Just going in you can choose from Tropical Western Astrology (the most common in the US and Europe), Sidereal Western Astrology (based on astronomical precession of the stars over time - example: my Sun is Aries in Tropical Astrology and it is in Pisces in Sidereal), Vedic Astrology (Hindu/Indian), Cosmobiology (developed to eliminate the House systems from Tropical Astrology, which are numerous), and on and on. Every culture on the planet has some form of Astrological practice. The books I provide in the list below are for Tropical Western Astrology, the kind of Astrology I practice.  In this first layer, the student faces the daunting task of learning vast amounts of information that simply have to be memorized.  You have to have at the tip of your tongue the meanings of all the energy points, signs, and houses.  You have to memorize the meanings of the various aspects that connect energy points.  You simply have to know this information cold if you want to move beyond raw data into useful interpretation.

The second layer or gate is actually the most difficult to penetrate or pass through.  The second layer requires the conversion of the raw data into a meaningful interpretation.  You can look up and write down that a Sun in Aries is a pioneer or individualist and you can look up and write down that a Sun in the 6th House is a person in service to others.  But what do you say about a Sun in Aries in the 6th House ... this person is or should be independent in his or her service to others, meaning s/he should probably work alone and not as a part of team.  His Life Path will focus on work/health issues (6th) and s/he will have to be wary of burning out (the shadow side of Aries drive ... being overdriven).  At some point you have to ENRICH the raw data with meaning, and that skill is the MAGIC of Astrology.  I compare this step to learning a foreign language.  At first you are very conscious of interpretation and you mind goes through the process mechanically until you "smooth" out the back and forth to the point that you refine the translate/translate process until you can no longer "see" the process.  When I look at charts now, I don't see discrete pieces of information, I see the full interpretation.

The final layer/gate is what I like to think of as the "wonder layer;" the vast, beautiful sea of knowledge and wisdom, the quantum theory of the practice.  This layer is the esoteric layer, where the mystery resides, and unfolds, and becomes mystery again.  Some days I am just in awe.

The stage setting is almost complete.  As a former English professor, I have some very clear ideas about how to read books more or less successfully.  Having a reading strategy to approach the beginning books will make them more enjoyable and less daunting. Whichever book you buy, plan to have two items with you when you sit down to read: a copy of your birth chart and a pen (not a highlighter, but you can have one of those as well).  You can get a free copy of your chart at the outstanding website Astrodienst.  The print out will include a legend that tells you which sign each of your energy points are in and then you can see which house based on the numbers inside the pie pieces.  Once you have your chart in hand and you have read the introductory chapters of the book, get your pen out and approach the cookbook part of the book by looking up your chart information only.  Don't read Sun in Aries, then Sun in Taurus, and so on without any kind of personal reference.  Start with your Sun sign and read about it and write your name next to the description.  The move on to your Moon sign and so on through all the energy points.  Next, get a friend, family member, lover, or co-worker to give you their birth data and the repeat the process using their chart.  Do about 10 to 20 of these and you'll find you way through almost all of the data, but with intent (to figure out your friends, family, lovers, and co-workers).

Write everyone's name next to each energy point description.  You may be very surprised to find certain patterns and a lack of patterns.  When I did mine the first time (and have kept adding since) I found most of my friends were fire and air signs, and most of my lovers were Aquarius and Cancer (really, 3 of each, and none of certain other signs), and most of mentors were Sagittarians and Capricorns (not surprisingly).  By reading the book with chart in hand, you will not get drown in data that has no immediate connection in your life.  By noting all the data from the charts that IS MEANINGFUL in your life, you will more quickly absorb the facts and "save" them in your mind's hard drive.

Here is a list of the best beginner books:

• Alan Leo's Astrology for All by Alan Leo (Hardcover - May 23, 2010) (an older book republished, but full of great information)
• Horoscope Symbols by Robert Hand (Paperback - Mar 1981) (good book for the person wanting to become a professional astrologer)
• Take Control with Astrology: A Teach Yourself Guide (Teach Yourself: Health & New Age) by Lisa Tenzin-Dolma (Paperback - Jan 19, 2010)  (a very good new book, I found a couple of months ago)
• Alan Oken's Complete Astrology: The Classic Guide to Modern Astrology by Alan Oken (Paperback - Oct 1, 2006)
• Complete Horoscope Interpretation; Putting together Your Planetary Profile by Maritha Pottenger (Paperback - 1995)
• The Inner Sky: How to Make Wiser Choices for a More Fulfilling Life by Steven Forrest (Paperback - Nov 1, 2007)
   
  Alan Leo's Astrology for All by Alan Leo (Hardcover - May 23, 2010) (an older book republished, but full of great information)

  THE PRINCIPLES OF ASTROLOGY by C.E.O. Carter (Hardcover - Jan 1, 1939) (still a great beginning book)

  How to Read Your Astrological Chart: Aspects of the Cosmic Puzzle by Donna Cunningham (Paperback - Jan 1, 2008) (not a cookbook, but a good companion to a cookbook)

  Intuitive Astrology: Follow Your Best Instincts to Become Who You Always Intended to Be by Elizabeth Rose Campbell (Paperback - Jun 3, 2003) (not a cookbook, but a good companion to a cookbook)

If you cannot a good price for some of these books on Amazon, then let me suggest Alibris Books online; they have a great selection of used dealers and you can often find copies at very low prices.  

Uranus Opposition, Heart Chakra, and Trusting the Process

In her book Liquid Light of Sex: Kundalini, Astrology, and the Key Life Transitions, Barbara Hand Clow (Paperback - Sept. 1, 2001) provides one of the most lucid explanations of the Uranus Opposition.  Generally she says that men will experience the opening of their Heart Chakra and women will experience an opening of their Throat Chakra.  This opening is delivered with Uranian explosiveness as the body is literally rewired with electrical energy.  Men should not be surprised if, during the Uranus opposition, they experience symptoms akin to a heart attack or anxiety centered in the chest; I experienced both and still continue to experience anxiety in my chest.  Clow's book is one of several that helped me come to grips with a process that sent me to the hospital thinking I was having a heart attack (in September of last year) and, a week later, one night, had me on the floor of my bathroom shaking as if I was having an epileptic seizure. Thankfully my partner and our good friend Rhonda, a Shaman, were there to help me through.  A Uranus opposition is not a time to be without support, especially since it normally lasts over 2 years and the exact opposition occurs 3 times (1 direct, then 1 retrograde, and 1 more direct).


The process is not gentle and trusting it is difficult.  I wanted a medical problem and solution; there is a world of action at the ready for a heart attack and solutions are often very finite and clear.  But this process involves the mind shocking the body.  And while traveling the road of traditional medicine I found, through my doctor, that stress and anxiety can simulate all the symptoms of many different illnesses.  The Uranus Opposition is the equivalent of a mind/soul reboot, with the hard drive literally getting shut down and restarted throughout the process.  Clow, honestly, chastises us for being so ignorant of this process, one which will happen to every living human being that makes it to the age of 43.  Mid-life crisis is the Uranus Opposition and its behavior can scare the hell out of you.  It certainly did me, at first.  


Here's the kicker, and this point is true of all significant transit processes, knowing the cause does not eliminate the hard work or the necessary pain/anxiety/transformation that defines the transition.  As it turns out we also have many actions at the ready for powerful mind shifts, including psychology (talk therapy) and psychiatry (talk and drug therapy).  Fortunately, and with wise guidance from a good friend, I was directed to a psychologist very comfortable with spiritual language. I needed to explore my narrative with Astrology, past lives, and other spiritual ideas as part of the process.  I did even partake of pharmaceutical solutions in the moments of extreme anxiety and considered a general program as a possible aid through my transition.  Ultimately, and so far, I have chosen to try to weather this cosmic storm with all the resources short of medications, and the most powerful aids I have found are my family and friends.


For the first time in a long time, probably since I was even a teen, I was not the person being called upon to help someone in need, but the person in need.  I had to surrender to help.  I'm still learning to surrender if the truth be told.  For me, at least, I realized the drugs provided a bridge when human support was not available; the times I was alone with my daughter and felt waves of panic seize me as I worried about her fate if something happened to me during the day.  This world is not the same as my childhood, when I used to travel from house to house with my friends, coming and going in and out of homes in the community with neighbors in near constant contact throughout the days and nights.  We live so isolated now and my Heart Charka was feeling that isolation with great dread and anguish.  I realized and felt deep fear around the fact that I could blackout early in the day and she would not be "found" for an entire day (until Betsy came home from work).  No neighbor would stop by, no one would phone regularly just to say hello.  A deep part of me felt the inhumanity and recklessness of the situation and that drove me into a state of panic.


How do you correct that problem?  How do you fix isolation?  Not with a medication, of course.  Not long after the initial panic attack, almost 1 year ago exactly, Betsy and I began to explore intentional communities.  We even visited an emerging one in Hickory Nut Valley near Asheville and talked with the founder of another one at Black Mountain.  We were prepared to sell the house and make a radical change that would put us deeper into community on purpose.  We were profoundly open to changing our family dynamic and the universe did not disappoint.  As it turned out, instead of selling our home and moving into an intentional community, a dear friend and her three daughters moved in with us.  Circumstances created a situation of tremendous mutual benefit for her family and ours.  Now we are a family of six (the eldest daughter started college 8/14) and receiving the benefits of a three adult and three child community (5, 5, 10).  The pressure of being primary care taker and play mate during a time of tremendous transition has lessened enough to allow me to fully experience the process of this transit.


The anxiety in the center of my chest is still present, teaching me and I am trying to do a solemn job of listening.  At the suggestion of my Shaman/Psychologist, I am learning to go into the anxiety instead of fighting it.  I have the human support to trust that my daughter will be safe and I have the time to be in my crisis and learn its lesson.  No small feat in a society hell bent on being hell bent all the time.  Truly, I have attained a new thankfulness for my life, the strength and good health of my body, the laughter and tears of children, and my own laughter and tears (there was a long stretch where I did not have a smile inside or out and laughter had become foreign).  In terms of the process of Uranus' transit over itself, I know I am on the last leg of the journey, the final direct pass will occur in October (10/10/10 to be exact).  I have to trust the process because there is still a fair amount out in front of me.

A Very Rich Astrology Reading Experience

Astrology and Tarot are interesting practices, not only in and of themselves, but because of the way they are perceived and used in the world.  There is a constant round of narratives attempting to prove and disprove the validity or truth or science or effectiveness or accuracy (pick any word that equates to "its real") of these two and many other esoteric fields.  Some pieces of the narrative that are on the side of Astrology cause more trouble than help (daily Horoscope, Sun Sign only Astrology) and some skeptics prove invaluable to sharpening the thinking of the brightest Astrologers.  Ultimately, I believe and experience Astrology as a personal journey that enriches my life and, apparently, the life of my clients, who are very impressed with the usefulness and accuracy of their astrological readings.  Other narratives abound within the conglomeration of professional astrologers; namely, how each of us comes to accept and wear the mantle of "Professional Astrologer."  A very common and compelling narrative is the skeptic turned astrologer.  I am a mild version of that narrative.  The hard version is the person who set out to disprove Astrology, actively and aggressively "going after" Astrology with the starting hypothesis that "Astrology is bullsh*t."  I never had that as goal or my inroad to Astrology.  I approached it more from the view that I would like to see if Astrology could prove itself.  And, for me it has, many times over.  And yesterday was a shining example that I want to share with everyone.

Let me first provide a little more of a setting by way of the skeptics.  I have tried to track down the study I read in graduate school (way back in the early 1990's) that debunked astrology by giving a study group the same chart and interpreting the chart as the study member's chart.  In the study they were able to get all participants to believe the chart being "read" and interpreted for them was their own chart.  They did not change the interpretation of the chart, so each individual was essentially told the same thing about the chart and they all "believed" the chart to be "accurate."  The final coup-de-grace of the study came when the writers announced that they had used Adolph Hitler's chart for all the participants.  I have done my best to track down this essay, which I believe was published in the Journal of Personality and Individual Differences.  As an former academic, I generally don't like to make references I cannot track down, but I think the spirit of the essay is pretty clear. I also think the conclusion is off; the study did prove something, but not about astrology.  It clearly proved that people can be deceived when they are kept ignorant.

For those of us who work with Astrology and clients regularly, we know immediately that the entire study group would need to be born under the sign of Taurus to even get this deception to fly at the rudimentary level of sun signs since Hitler's sun sign is Taurus.  You could have mixed signs among the group and press forward so long as your interpretation didn't begin with, "Ok, with your Sun in Taurus, your Life Path is guided by the energy of fixed earth ..."  The first non-Taurus participant would go, "Now wait a minute, my sun sign is Aquarius," even if you hand them a chart with their correct birth information and the incorrect output.  The interpretation instead began with, "You like to ..."  It's easy to debunk bad Astrological practice; there's plenty of it out there.  And its not much of a "win" for the skeptics when the research is so poorly designed.  Too much of the skeptical narrative goes after "low hanging fruit" or what I used to teach in my critical thinking classes as "the weak form of the argument."  Arguments and ideas have weak and strong forms, going after the weak forms is like plain old bullying, which is why debunking the daily horoscope is not really much of a challenge to the Astrological work of Robert Powell, Dane Rhudyar, Robert Hand, Demetra George, Richard Tarnas, Robert Blaschke, Jeff Green, Steven Forrest, and on and on.  When you have informed participants and Astrologers who are willing to give clients a solid foundation in the basics of the Astrological reading, the Hitler study does not even happen.

And so, here's my very rich experience with Astrology from yesterday.  Two of my regular clients (I see them yearly when they come into town to visit each other) came to see me for my Hot Spots Astrological reading.  Both of them are nearing their 2nd Saturn return and are past their Chiron return (so they are between 50 and 60).  They are highly intelligent, professional women.  Not easily deceived and not going into a reading doe eyed.  These are the clients you want because they can see through BS, so you'd better not be slinging any.  We started bright and early at 9AM and were cruising through the reading for about 20 minutes when we discovered that I had cast the chart wrong.  Instead of putting in her birth year as 1953, I had entered it as 1963.  What make the mistake embarrassing immediately was the fact that I had used the hardcopy of the chart I cast for her 2 years ago to get her birth information to reenter the data into Astrodienst, a great free online service.  I never even looked at the two charts side by side, which would have alerted me to the error before the reading began.  And, I skipped a step in my reading that I never skip with new clients, I didn't read the chart information at the very start of the reading (these are the kinds of errors that happen when you have an Aries Sun conjunct Saturn and a North Node ... I'm trying to learn how to be more precise in this life time; it does not come naturally for me, so its easy to have a slip from time to time).

So, how did we get so far into the reading before the error was discovered and how was it discovered since everything I had said up to the point of discovery was "dead on accurate."  Well, the only thing wrong was the birth year.  I had the date and time correct, which meant that the house placements and the Sun sign would be and were the same sign and house in the 1953 and 1963 charts.  And the first part of the reading dealt with the Ingress of all the outer planets we are experiencing right now, which meant I was talking about their movement along the line between the houses and signs (using the whole sign system, which I do, means they are the same line).  Once we moved away from the Ingress discussion the reading started to "fail."  When my client finally asked about relationships and children, the chart in front of us did not bear any resemblance to the chart used 2 years ago and then we started to struggle.  In part the struggle occurred because I kept reading what was in front of me and the chart in front of me had no energy points in the 5th and 7th houses (children and partnerships).  My client was doing her best to make sense of her previous experience and the current one and that's when she spotted the error on the chart (I always present my client with a copy of the chart and take them around it).

Two important factors helped us ferret out the error.  She asked about information that was dominant from her previous reading, which at that time we did verify all her information before we began.  And I did not try to read something into the chart in front of me about relationships that was not there.  If I didn't trust the chart and I wanted to "keep my client on the hook" I would have done some fancy mind work to make the chart work on the relationship issues.  That didn't happen.  Like a pilot who has to trust the instruments more than his "feelings," because certain kinds of spiral dives will not feel like the plane is out of control, I have to trust the tool.  In doing so, the reading created the situation where the error became obvious.  This experience was ... profound.  Fortunately, my clients were able to return later in the day after I recast the chart and redid the prep work.  We did the other client's reading before they left and when they came back we read the corrected chart, which now had Jupiter in the 5th house, and 8 energy points in the 7th and 8th houses.  Now were were on track.

I wanted to share this "mistake" with you because it shows the "strong form of the argument" of Astrology.  The best Astrology will have involved clients who are self-aware and the tool has to be trusted.  You have to read what is there.  If the 7th House is empty, then partnerships are not emphasized in this lifetime.  I give all my clients their chart, walk them through my process, and give them a couple of excellent beginning books as references in case they want to follow up behind me on their own or spend more time studying some part of the chart that I talked about (or did not talk about).  Most are happy to leave all the work up to me, but I want them to know that I'm using data they can verify on their own and not just riffing my way through a made up story.  An Astrology reading is a narrative journey, your narrative journey.  Its all about you.  And if you trust yourself and know yourself, you can even figure out when the Astrology is wrong.  Pretty amazing if you ask me.

Below are the two charts (without the name of the individual).  The first chart is the INCORRECT chart and the second cart is the CORRECT chart.

Pulling Cards with my Partner, Betsy, This Morning

In Spiritual Emergency: When Personal Transformation Becomes a Crisis (New Consciousness Readers) by Stanislav Grof and Christina Grof (Paperback - Sep 1, 1989), there is a chapter on Shamans.  In the chapter "When Insanity is a Blessing: The Message of Shamanism", Holger Kalweit writes about the years of suffering many spiritual leaders must go through to complete the Shamanic journey, literally years and years of illness, mental and/or physical, before they become wisdom teachers for their tribe/community.  I bought this book after I suffered a severe panic attack almost a year ago to the day.  The attack was completely debilitating requiring the EMS to come to me off the highway and nearly two weeks of bed rest.  Even when I emerged to a low level of functioning, I admitted myself into the hospital experiencing chest pains within another two weeks.  At the hospital I had an episode where I blacked out from stress. They were required to release me the next day because they could find nothing wrong with my heart.  They did, however, set up a stress test for me.  Concurrently, my doctor's office had found an elevated bilirubin count in my blood test, indicating a possible problem with my liver.  Oh, and I was in the first stage of my Uranus Opposition.  I asked my doctor if I could be inducing my problems due to my anxiety and stress.  He said it was possible, but they could not test for it.  Everything else, they could and would test, and they did.


I took my stress test and passed with flying colors ... excellent health for a man my age (41).  Due to my health concerns I made a radical change in my diet to organic foods and water, fresh squeezed juice.  In fact, my body out right rejected processed food and artificial drinks; I even quit drinking sweet tea ... completely.  Even so, I was still feeling very sick and my doctor ordered a liver/spleen ultrasound.  In the time before the ultrasound I was reading up on some dietary issues and noted that the lemon juice I was drinking would act as a cleanser for my liver, flushing toxins out.  I even found a connection with bilirubins right before my test.  I decided to stop drinking the lemon juice a day or two before my test.  Once again, the test were negative; I was fine.  I told the doctor about my discovery with regard to the lemon juice and he suggested I stay off it for two weeks and have them retest my blood.  And, as you can presume, I was fine, my bilirubin count was back to normal.  In the end I had no physical aliments; my mind was causing the heart attack simulation and my cleansing diet was forcing toxins into my body so I could purge them.  In the end ... and still to this day ... its all in my mind.


I do want to say and compliment my doctors; they did their job wonderfully for what they do.  But in the end, after we went down the list of physical problems we reached the bottom of the list ... the problem is psychological.  At the peak of the crisis I got an emergency ration of anti-anxiety medication, which I grudgingly took.  In my home aspirin expires before it is all used up.  This fact is even more the case now that I'm on a very healthy diet.  I have not actually been sick (cold, flu, or other virus) in almost a year.  When I have felt a little ill coming on, some rest and minimal preventative medicine do the trick.  So how to deal with the anxiety ... my mind in crisis.  The drugs were ok for a short term, immediate fix to a severe attack, but not the long term direction I wanted to go.  At my doctor's suggestion and those of good friends who have had psychological counseling, I decided to see a psychologist.  I also asked my good friend and fellow professional astrologer Darrell Steen to look at my chart.  Both proved immensely helpful.  In the end, in my case, it has been the astrology that has been the most valuable.  To put it bluntly, I'm in a personal astrological sh*t storm that I will have to endure and persevere through for about 8 more years (yes, you read that right, 8 years).  This information brings me back to the chapter referred to at the beginning of this post.  


I know we want quick fixes in our world of high speed; I want them sometimes too.  But my mind and spirit are going through a major shift.  And it has been books on spirituality and astrology that have been the most helpful ... and at the top of the list is the Liquid Light of Sex: Kundalini, Astrology, and the Key Life Transitions by Barbara Hand Clow (Paperback - Sep 1, 2001).  This book talks explicitly about the Uranus Opposition, which will begin to end for me after October of this year.  For those of you with astrological knowledge here's the shorthand of my long term storm - Transiting Neptune is square my Natal Neptune and Transiting Pluto is square my Natal Venus (then my Mercury, Eris, Saturn, North Node, and finally my Sun ... all in Aries).  Oh, and I got to have Transiting Saturn roll over my Natal Uranus and Pluto about a year ago (at, guess what time!).  All this explanation brings me to the reading that is the catalyst for this post.

Since my original severe attack, I have faced bouts with general anxiety and some days of extreme anxiety.    Throughout this process I have pulled cards and so has Betsy.  The source of the anxiety appears to be responsibility ... feeling overwhelmed by responsibility.  We drew cards this morning and here's what came up.  The first question asked was what is Philip feeling, I drew the 7 of Fire (Stress) and Betsy drew the 10 of Fire (Suppression):

Painfully fitting cards, clearly reflecting my feelings and her interpretation of my feelings.  So the next question we posed was, "What does Philip need to do?"  I drew the 2 of Fire (Possibilities) and she drew the 3 of Fire (Experiencing).

Now the cards identifying my current feelings were dead on; painfully so.  The cards drawn to answer the question, "what to do?" are also fire cards, suggesting, even demanding action.  My card leads me to interpret my situation as one where I have choices even if the stress makes me feel as if I do not.  I need distance (the eagle peering down from a high vantage point) to see choices.  Betsy's card is one of my favorites in this deck because it shows the mingling of energy fields between the woman and the tree.  As part of my therapy, as suggested in the book Shamanic Spirit: A Practical Guide to Personal Fulfillment by Kenneth Meadows (Paperback - Apr 9, 2004), I walked through a local park and touched the trees, asking for healing energy.  I have lapsed on that action and chose to walk barefoot in the grass of my backyard to reconnect with the grounding energy of the earth.  I also know I need to "experience" this anxiety, which I believe to be connected to struggles in this life time and a past one (especially one in India 1500 years ago when I committed suicide by drowning; my daughter's soul now is my daughter's soul from that life time ... but that's another blog entry entirely).  So, in the vein of the 2 of Fire, I pursued some time to meditate, to pull back, which helped me to be grateful for all that I currently have and see that I am not trapped.  To apply the 3 of Fire, I have found ways to experience the four elements to help with my feelings, sitting under a fan in my office (air), swimming with my daughter at the pool (water), staring at flame while meditating (fire), and walking barefoot in my back yard to feel the grass and earth on my bare skin (earth).  These actions (fire) have helped immensely.


In the end, if you have made it to the end of this entry, I wanted most to share one of the practical applications I have for the tarot in my life, especially in times of deep crisis.  More than anything I have learned and continue to learn from my difficult journey; I can feel my old self, my "serious" self dying, and a new self being born.  As you can guess the death of one and birth of the other is not a quick or simple process; the one being released wants to hold on and the one being born is not so sure about this current world and its behaviors.  I can only say how grateful I am to have astrology and tarot as tools to help me, as well as, and more importantly the loving support of Betsy, my daughter, my parents, my friends and the wise professionalism of my psychologist and doctor.

Two Card Tarot Reading - Osho Zen Tarot

This post contains a video demonstrating my two card tarot reading technique that I use at the Body, Mind, Spirit Expo each year in Raleigh. 

The first video is an introduction explaining the process.  The second video is the reading. I will draw two cards randomly and read them as the Present Moment and the Challenge to the Present Moment.  Once I have completed the initial reading, I will reverse the cards and re-read them.

Tarot Meditation Card for Today - Osho Zen Fire to the East - Playfulness

Here's a card I really need to get into my soul these days.  For some reason I'm having a hard time feeling the energy down to my toes, but it keeps reoccurring, trying its best to get me to feel the feelings shown in the image.  For me, at the moment, the card is one of contrast; what I want but am having a hard time finding.  Trust me when I say, having Neptune in Scorpio conjunct my Ascendant at 28 degrees of the sign really lays a heavy energy over my chart.  Sensitivity is very high and the dark energy of Scorpio's connection to death, the Underworld, and transformation can really worm its way into my days.  Add to the fact that Neptune is currently performing an ingress from Aquarius to Pisces (at this time Retrograde in Aquarius until 12/6/2010 and not permanently into Pisces until after 2/2/2012, with another Retrograde period from 6/2011 to 12/2011) and we all get some emotional turmoil as Neptune dissolves ideals and community structures (think of all the services being cut from state and federal budgets, with deeper ones likely to come in the second Retrograde period).  It can be hard to find playfulness in these times.

In many ways, however, that is the very reason this card is important and revelatory during these times.  In the book that comes with the deck, the description says, "The serious man had made the world, the serious man made all the religions.  He has created all the philosophies, all the cultures, all the moralities; everything that exists around you is a creation of the serous man."  In response, "Zen has dropped out of the serious world.  It has created a world of its own which is very playful, full of laughter, where even great masters behave like children."  I am no great master, but I think I could use a visit to the claw machine today or the park to play.  I find myself very easily caught up in the serious world; I worked very hard at one time in my life to become a serious man (re: my PhD in English).

My daughter knows how to play and I am trying to learn her lessons, though today doesn't feel like a day I will "earn a good, serious grade."  That thought almost makes me chuckle.  I need a good belly laugh today.  Maybe Youtube will have one.

If you are feeling the seriousness of the world, try to find some play today.  And if you succeed, please share your story.

Book Recommendation - Tarot and Psychology by Arthur Rosengarten, PhD

Welcome to my first book recommendation for this blog.  I want to begin by saying that I am not a slutty bibliophile; I love books, but only the best of the best.  I am not after a "complete" collection of tarot and astrology books; I am after a useful collection of tarot and astrology books.  My time to read is limited and I prefer to keep my bookshelves stocked with books I will actually reread or pull off and reference periodically or regularly.  I constantly weed my shelves, and the books on them are heavily marked up with notes and codes that help me find important references.  This book, Tarot and Psychology: Spectrums of Possibility by Arthur Rosengarten, PhD, provides the reader with one of the best descriptions of Tarot in use in the mainstream practice of psychological counseling, including a section that talks about Tarot work with schizophrenic patients.

Rosengarten writes with academic precision while remaining very accessible to non-academic readers, my favorite kind of writer.  Lately I've been on an Einstein quote kick and Rosengarten is one of those writers who understands a complex subject well enough to explain it simply (Einstein: "If you can't explain it simply, then you don't understand it well enough." http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/a/alberteins383803.html).  Malcolm Gladwell has this talent as does Stephen J. Gould, Carol Tarvis, Mary Pipher, and rare others.  At the very beginning of the book, in the Introduction, Rosengarten provides a nice summation of the deep power of the Tarot:

"How to explain Tarot to those who would use it properly for the greatest good - individuals who desired greater spirituality in their lives, including the benefits of psychological insight and depth, without the baggage of affiliation that invariably accompanies any single set of beliefs.  Tarot, they will soon find, operates on many levels of profound meaning from a purely non-affiliated platform in the truest sense.  Tarot makes accessible to awareness a full spectrum of psychological and spiritual possibility with little preference for it's users qualifications or beliefs.  Rather, magically one might say, Tarot captures the heartbeat of experience.  This fact alone should make the deck of human possibility, as I call it, immediately relevant to helping professionals who deal with the heartbeat of experience daily." (Rosengarten, 5, 2000)

The entire book is filled with useful knowledge, case studies, and practical techniques and ranks among my top three tarot books (including The Tarot by Cynthia Giles and 21 Ways to Read a Tarot Card by Mary Greer).

Tarot Meditation Card for Today - Osho Zen Major Arcana V - No-Thingness

I want to introduce readers to the Tarot by pulling a card to meditate on from time to time.  I do not use this process as a daily practice, but you can, especially if you are learning the Tarot.  The card above comes from the Osho Zen Tarot, an Eastern Zen Buddhist influenced deck.  It is good that this card is the first one I pulled because it shows the very different direction this Tarot deck takes from the traditional Western deck.  In a traditional Western Tarot, this card would be the Hierophant (or Learned Scholar).  In the West the pinnacle of the development of the mind is to "fill it up" (PhD's, JD's, and lots of other letters after your name).  This cards shows that the pinnacle of development in the East is to EMPTY the mind.  This card was a good draw for me and an excellent card to use to demonstrate the helpfulness of Tarot in your personal life.

Before I write about the specifics of my day and how this card proved helpful, let me point out that I prefer to use the cards as a psychological (and not psychic) tool.  Others may use them in a psychic capacity, but I use them as, essentially, Art Therapy (or sophisticated pictograms).  The cards present me with an image and a meaning (from the study of the deck) and I let my intuition take flight and see where I go inside myself, with the card or cards as my guide(s).  I am a "practical" Tarot reader, and not a mystic.  When I read for others I help them follow a similar process to get them to pay attention to the card and not me, the reader.  So, here's my story with regard to this card today.

As usual, my day begins fairly early.  I was up by 6AM and started blogging and visiting Facebook.  In my home there are 3 children, my daughter, who is 5 and my friend's daughters who are 5 and 10.  Her 5 year old pops up like popcorn at 8AM sharp, and was up almost 2 hours before her sister came down stairs.  Not long after her sister came down, my friend came to tell me she thought she heard my daughter crying upstairs, but wasn't sure.  I rushed upstairs to check on her and she was indeed crying.  When I asked her what was wrong, she told me her leg was hurting and it was painful to stand.  She was very upset and a little scared, so I asked her some questions to try to determine how it felt and were it hurt.  She told me the front of her leg was bothering her and I could see a bruise from what looked like, most likely, a charlie horse rough housing with the 10 year old.  As it turned out, they had been playing hard yesterday and she had actually cut the bottom of her foot.  The cut did not look like anything deep, but it did have the appearance of a puncture and the leg that was hurting was the one with the injured foot.  So, I'm concerned immediately about tetanus.

I ask my daughter if she would like to go to the doctor and have him/her look at her leg and her foot.  She says she would, so off we go.  Needless to say, my stress level is up a few notches wondering if she's going to be in need of a tetanus shot and if I missed something regarding her foot injury.  My mind can go to some pretty dark scenarios pretty fast.  We went to the doctor and they did confirm it was a puncture, but he did not see any debris in the wound or increased redness around the cut.  He also agreed that the leg was most likely sore from a deep bruise or strain.  He could not say 100% she did not need a tetanus shot though and left it to my discretion.  Thanks, right?!  I've chosen to observe her and see if the wound has any problems by tomorrow and if she starts to show signs of a fever.  I suspect its just a basic cut and bruised leg.  Even so, my mind was off and running.

So, when I drew the No-Thingness card, I knew I needed to empty my mind.  From the book of the deck, "In the beginning is nature, in the end is nature, so why in the middle do you make so much fuss?  Why, in the middle, becoming so worried, so anxious, so ambitious - why create such despair?"  Why indeed did I create such despair even as I worked to find answers and the answer so far is just a little life ... a little cut, and run of the mill bruise on the thigh.  Why couldn't I hold a lower level of concern until I had reason to hold a higher level of concern?  I do not mean to imply that I wish I had not taken her to the doctor, but to question how I LET MYSELF FEEL through my thoughts as if she had tetanus already.  It's not easy in a world filled with fear-mongering; we get conditioned to go to dark places before we even now if we need to go to dark places.  It's a shame really.  After I drew the card, I took some deep breaths, breathing out the negative assumptions and the worry. 

My daughter has spent the rest of the day resting at home and playing gently, which is very hard for her.  She likes to go, go, go, and go hard.  She also informed me that "ice cream would make it feel better," which I am sure, it did :-).

Cycles and Patterns in Astrology

Astrology is filled with cycles and patterns.  Every energy point makes its way around the circle of the horoscope.  A birth chart, whether a person's birth or the birth of an event (the day you got married, opened your business, the US declared its independence), marks a starting point in the infinite cycles of the universe.  When I was born, my Sun began its journey at 23 degrees of the sign of Aries.  And every year, though not exactly at the same time on the same day (the universe is circular, but not precise), the Sun will return to 23 degrees Aries and I will have experienced one solar cycle.  At the time of this writing, I have experienced 42 solar cycles.  Other energy points move more slowly.  Saturn, for example, does not completely cycle from my birth until 28 to 30 and I will not live to see my Pluto cycle (247ish years).  The US, on the other hand, will and in fact, right now, is experience its first Pluto cycle, referred to in astrological terms as a Return.  Every energy point Returns to its original degree and restarts the cycle anew.   My Solar Return occurred last year (April 12, 2009) on the same day as my birth (April 12) at 8:48PM (pretty close to my birth time of 9:39PM).  My first Saturn Return (hopefully I'll live past 60 and have two Saturn Returns in my life) occurred in May of 1997 when I was 29.

Returns are very important because they represent "renewal with knowledge."  Every year of my Solar Return I add new knowledge and experience, which, hopefully, I convert to wisdom.  Each energy point is a source of certain kinds of wisdom.  The Sun is the energy of our Life Path and it make sense for this energy to re-cycle yearly while the rest of the energies of the chart take longer.  Saturn teaches us about restrictions and limitations and the first Return often requires us to evaluate our lives to see if all the key elements are on track or not (work, relationship, health, and so on).  Saturn likes to follow the conservative path; so in the first cycle we can often find ourselves living lives handed down by our family and our culture instead of ones we chose from our inner guidance.  If those two "realities" clash, we will either begin the unwinding process (divorce if a marriage is involved, moving if living in the wrong place is involved, a change of career if we're doing the wrong work) or we will do our best to keep the square peg going into the round hole, but we will now forever know that the peg and the hole do not match.  If you want to get a good measure of Astrology and its usefulness for yourself, then consider getting or casting your charts ahead of the cycles of your energy points:

• Sun - Yearly
• Moon (if you want to keep a Moon journal) - approximately every 28 days (13 times a year)
• Mercury - Yearly (more or less; it has an erratic orbit)
• Venus - Yearly
• Mars - every 2 years
• Jupiter - 12 years
• Saturn - 29 1/2 years
• Chiron - 50 years
• Uranus - 84 years
• Neptune - 166 years
• Pluto - 247 years

Not everyone will make it to a Uranus Return and no one will see their Neptune or Pluto Returns.  It is, however, well worth it to cast charts looking back (if certain returns have already past, say a couple of Jupiter Returns) or forward to key Returns.  If you want to delve deeper into your chart, you can look at key angular relationships that occur between the start and conclusion of a Return - 2 squares and 1 opposition.  These angular relationships are important markers in the journey of the Return, when the energy point conjuncts itself and Returns to its origin degree.  In the case of my Saturn, the Return or 0 point of the 360 degree cycle is 16 degrees Aries.  Along the way around, Saturn will be at 90 degrees, then 180 degrees, then 270 degrees from the 0 point and exert serious energy on itself at those times.  In our life times that means roughly 7 to 8 years old, 14 to 15 years old, and 21 to 22 years old.  See any significant pattern in your own life with those times in terms of your personal and our cultural development?  How about 3, 6, and 9 (the square, opposition, square of Jupiter)?  Chiron ignites itself at 12 to 13, 24 to 25, and 35 to 36?

For each of us, these returns and other connects are significant and for many of us certain of these energy returns and connections are extremely important depending on the configuration of the energies in our charts.  Saturn is a massive player in my chart because it is right next to my North Node which is right next to my Sun and (on the other side) right next to my Mercury which is right next to my Venus.  As you can imagine any time Saturn squares, opposes, and squares again I get a big energetic hit on my chart.  My next super infusion of energy from Saturn will occur in September of 2011 when it will oppose from Libra at 16 degrees.  The meaning of that energetic relationship will be defined by the nature of a opposition, which is to find balance, and its placement by Sign (Libra) and House (12th - Spirituality).  I will be working to balance my Spiritual (12th House) affairs with my Work and Service (6th House) affairs using the energy of Analysis and Decision-Making (Libra) and my birth energy of Action (Aries).  When squares occur, you face energy of challenge and disruption from the energy point.  Your Jupiter challenges itself at the ages of 3 and 9, 15 and 21.  And so on with the energy points that Return throughout your life time.

Since Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto have such large cycles and you may not (Uranus) and will not (Neptune/Pluto) experience the Returns, the squares and oppositions become important.  As you begin to get a feel for the 1st Square, Opposition, 2nd Square, Return pattern, you will also begin to see overlap at key times.  Take the age of 21 for example.  You get both the 2nd Saturn Square and 2nd 2nd Jupiter Square (that's not a typo ... Jupiter is in its second Return cycle so the 2nd Square of that 2nd cycle falls in the same year as the 1st 2nd Square of your Saturn cycle).  For this reason, certain ages in our lives are "amplified" astrologically speaking.  With Uranus, you get your 1st Square at, yes, 21.  21 one is a big deal!!  The Opposition occurs at 40 to 42 and the 2nd Square at 61 to 63 (just on the heels of your 2nd Saturn Return).  Your 1st Neptune Square is around 42 ... yes, look out for 42, its a barn burner! and the Opposition occurs in the mid-80s of life.  The one major Pluto on Pluto relationship is the 1st Square somewhere between 47 and 55 (a wide range because of its elongated orbit).  It will fall for some right at the same time as your Chiron Return; make sure your seat belt is fastened if that's the case.

Astrology is a tool for use and reuse in  your life.  If you want to understand your story, looking back if you are well into life (say past 35) or looking forward (perhaps a teenager who has found astrology or a parent looking in on your child), then there are predictable key times to have charts cast (or cast forward for those times).  Below is the timing list worth casting (approximate time ranges 1 to 2 years around the time listed):

• 12 years old (1st Jupiter Return, 1st Chiron Square)
• 14/15 years old (2nd 1st Jupiter Square, Saturn Opposition)
• 21 years old (2nd Saturn Square, 1st Uranus Square, 2nd 2nd Jupiter Square)
• 25 (Chiron Opposition)
• 28/29 (Saturn Return)
• 35/36 (2nd 1st Saturn Square, 3rd Jupiter Return)
• 37/38 (2nd Chiron Square)
• 41/42 (Uranus Opposition, 1st Neptune Square, 3rd 1st Jupiter Square)
• 48 (4th Jupiter Return)
• 50 (Chiron Return, 1st Pluto Square)
• 60 (2nd Saturn Return, 5th Jupiter Return)
• 62/63 (2nd Uranus Square)

A professional Astrologer can look at your birth chart and identify other key hot spots in the story of your life as well as tell you which energy points play the more significant role.  For some of us, it may be Saturn is at the top of the list, for others it may be Neptune.  Some people may have charts where several energy points vie for positions of dominance.  Astrology really is your personal story unfolding.

Big Shifts - Ingress of Saturn, Chiron, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto

While the news media and the politicians are desperately trying to tell us we are returning to normal or will return to normal, most people, I think, feel a fundamental shift has taken place and even more dramatic change is in our not so distance future.  In astrology, individuals will feel significant change when an energy point ingresses from one sign to another.  The first ingress we felt was Pluto leaving Sagittarius at the end of 2007 and beginning of 2008 and entering Capricorn.  Not surprisingly the financial meltdown occurred during that ingress.  When an ingress occurs it is not a one and done cross over; the ingressing energy point will pass over the ingress point at least 3 times thanks to retrograde motion.  Pluto in Sagittarius was all about the transformation of religions, higher learning, and authority mainly through expansion, which, when the bill came due and Pluto entered Capricorn we learned that the entire world (except for China) overextended and expanded not through savings, but debt.  The 8.5 million jobs lost in America and the deflation (instead of inflation) of wages and property values reflect false or fake employment and expansion.  The jobs and homes were built on the debt supercycle and Pluto entering Capricorn forced the pendulum swing back and will continue to do so for the next 15 years!

It is not that we're "not out of the woods yet," it's that we're not fully into the woods yet.  Now this one ingress is enough to gut punch us, but right now, today, Saturn, Chiron, Uranus, and Neptune are ingressing; all of the outer planets!  Saturn is dancing over Virgo/Libra.  Chiron and Neptune, which are conjunct, are crossing back and forth over Aquarius/Pisces, and Uranus is dancing over Pisces/Aries.  Saturn is currently opposing Uranus and squaring Pluto (by orb ... or "allowed range"; the square between Uranus and Pluto will be exact for the first time June 2012).  This configuration of Saturn, Uranus, and Pluto creates what is known as a T-Square (or 90 degree triangle), with the "missing" point over in Cancer (the family).  With Saturn entering Libra there will be a desire to hold onto the rules and use the same judgments (old ways of thinking will persist).  Think of Einstein's comment: “We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”  Which is what Saturn in Libra will encourage, hence weak Health Care and Financial Reform legislation in this country and Financial Reform worldwide.  Uranus is leaving the dreamy innovation for pioneering Aries, where getting it done will be part of the drive.  But Aries is also warlike, so revolution is part and parcel of its energy.  Small snippets have appeared in the form of one man bulldozing his house before the bank could repossess it and another man flying a plane into and IRS building.


At the personal level, you need to have your chart in front of you to know where this ingress energy is affecting you.  Neptune and Chiron are moving from idealistic Aquarius into dreamy Pisces (and the ruling sign for Neptune).  Demetra George has suggested on Find an Astrologer .com that we can expect scarcity around liquids (read oil and fresh water).  Couple that with Chiron's role as our energetic wound and we will likely see more disillusionment and safety recalls (Toyota, Johnson and Johnson, Kelloggs).   This energy will likely play out in beliefs, especially spiritual ones (Catholic church scandal).  Wherever Aquarius/Pisces is in your chart, you can expect illusion/wounding to energize you to see more clearly.  We're in a hell of a cosmic storm and the full impacts of these ingresses will not be felt until we are well into 2011.

Welcome!

This blog has been set up as an extension of my Astrology and Tarot practice.  I hope to use this tool to post information about current energetic trends in Astrology and best practices for Tarot reading.  I plan to present reading techniques and reviews of current events based on Astrological relationships.  Appropriately I am starting this blog while Uranus is dancing around the cusp of Pisces and Aries.  Once in Aries permanently the world is going to need all the pioneering (Aries) innovative (Uranus) energy it can get.  We face numerous relationships of energy points that in times past have been in play during massive upheavals in human civilization (most recently the American and French Revolutions, WWW I and the Great Depression, the creation and dropping of the atomic bomb, the counterculture of the 1960's, and the first peak oil crisis of the mid 1970's).  Each of the events had a single key astrological relationship and now we are living in a time when each of those key relationships are happening together.  I will do my best to highlight the hot spots and what they will mean for humanity energetically while we go through them living in the culture of our times.