Peace Out, Inner Bully.

In astrology, Mars, God of War, is what gets us what we want. If our teeth are brushed, Mars got us to the sink. If we are an Olympic athlete, most likely we have a pretty fantastic Mars in our birth chart with all kinds of will power (Pluto) discipline (Saturn) and talent (Capricorn) attached.
Mars is the ruler of the sign Aries, so Aries people often learn a lot about aggression, especially when Mars is noteworthy in the sky, as it is now. Every one and a half years, Mars moves forward; the next six months Mars makes no "linear progress" at all. This is termed "retrograde" in astrology. Mars has been in its retrograde cycle now since December 20. For all of us, and perhaps particularly for Aries and for Leos (because Mars has been retrograde in the sign Leo) we have been trying to get something and we may have been feeling blocked. This could be around a creative project, a love interest, career advancement, getting contact to a particular man or our physical health, for examples.
The purpose of the retrograde is for us to take a look at our aggression and own all of it. Aries can be so impulsive and is so good at taking action - sometimes too fast and too furious. This six-month retrograde period gets the Aries in all of us to regroup, slow down (much to the Aries chagrin) and get in tune with what we really want, and to develop the next year and a half instinctive strategy. How have I been pursuing my aim? What boulder have I been trying to push up the mountain all alone? Why does the boulder keep falling back on me? Why am I stuck at home alone on crutches and the only thing on TV is Curling?
On March 10, Mars, will go forward, and by May 17, Mars will be up to speed and back to making good ole "linear progress" for the next year and a half. Where we have been feeling blocked, wanting to express ourselves but have not been able to for reasons ranging from double blizzards to "accidents" to "he is an asshole", we can be looking forward to the spring to be out of the starting gate, Aries favorite place.
When Mars changes from retrograde to forward movement, this can be compared to a boy going through puberty and suddenly having the mature, male hormone rushing around in his body. As parents we want these boys to be doing sports, to channel their aggression in a healthy way. We dont want our kids to be bullies or be bullied either.
Over the next few weeks it may be as if we all have an inner child who is a hormonal adolescent. We can remember all the good advice and wishes we have ever given or projected on to our kids from "Go outside and play" to "Why aren't you on the football team". We can take these memories in stride on a small walk every day a longer walk as the days are getting prettier and the weather (maybe) nicer and our muscles stronger. I think the opposite of bully is hero, and that's what we are looking for here, ultimately to be the hero of ourselves.

Waxing Calm Dramatic

The moon is waxing and will be exactly full this coming Sunday morning; this will be a full moon in Virgo. Full moons are culminations and Virgo is the ultimate housekeeper. This week the astrology supports clearing stuff out of our houses, like all that reading material, newspapers, magazines and piles of stuff which may be better off in the recycling bins. And because this full moon is aspecting Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system and all about exaggerration, we may want to bite off more than we can chew but find we can still do! On Tuesday February 23, Sun will make a positive aspect to Pluto, which can help us to have a strong will to tackle the details involved in rebuilding something that might have felt hopeless. We may find that when we initiate communication with our supervisors, car mechanic, doctor or handyman that we can get to the root of the issue and rebuild from the core. This coming weekend is a great weekend for finishing a home project, repairing anything the blizzards broke and dramatically restoring a calm to our homes. Virgo energy can heal the soul. The calm we create in our houses up through this Full Moon weekend can spread to our souls and improve our health. So cheers and thanks in advance to the city dump and bulky trash for our de-cluttered corners and ultimately our physical well-being.

Aquarian Message in Flight Spills Manifesto All Over Earth

Yesterday, as the Sun moved from the sign of the water bearer (Aquarius), to the sign of the fish (Pisces), we surprisingly learned that the pilot who had crashed his plane into a building, was also the author of a manifesto. Not many of us were expecting that to happen yesterday.
An Aquarian can be a container for information, it is an air sign. Aquarians can be rebellious, charismatic leaders. The airplane yesterday was like a water bearer. Pisces can send information everywhere in an un-orderly fashion, much like a spilled glass of something. The crash happened while the Sun was in Aquarius; the manifesto is being distributed while Sun, Venus, Jupiter and Uranus are in Pisces. Through the internet, the entire world has access to the pilot's manifesto.
These are surprising times and the astrology suggests that surf is building. The local police chief in Austin stated that the plane crash was a "lone wolf" incident, not connected to a major terrorist organization. When Uranus, the planet of sudden surprises, moves into Aries, the sign of the lone individual, in early spring, the rage of the lone wolf may be howling even deeper into the cosmos.
This morning I got an invitation from another RISD artist living in Hamburg, Laura Honse, to an event called "MAN SON 1969. The Horror of the Situation" This exhibit, first shown at the Hamburg Kunsthalle in 2009 will be shown again in the Villa-Merkel in Esslingen, Germany. The aesthetics, politics, lifestyles, subculture and history of 1969 remains unforgettable for any of us who lived though it even if we were only nine years old and making beaded jewelry in our bedrooms. The astrology of that time, 1969, is back this year and what I found fascinating is that it exactly corresponds with the timing of the spring exhibit, "MAN SON 1969. The Horror of the Situation".

Happy Valentines Day

2010, a Surge to a Point

I heard a story today of a man who became a millionaire when he was 32 and then he kept on making money. He bought yachts, airplanes, a helicopter and a luxury home in Tirol on a lake. When he was 47, he decided to raffle his house off, let somebody else get it and then move to Africa and work in micro loans.
I am really interested in the point at which people make huge sweeping changes in their lives. Often huge changes can be traced to a place in our hearts where the political meets the personal and the personal meets the political. It is like a fire is lit, like a spark plug which gets our engines going.
This is a place where a huge emotional end leads to a hugely exciting beginning. In astrology this is where the last degree of Pisces meets the first degree of Aries. The last degree of Pisces is all fish aligning to one point. The first degree of Aries is like alchemy which can convert water, or emotions to fire which is inspiration energy and in the ideal situation expressed with love. All of us have this point somewhere in our charts. It is 0° Aries, or The Aries Point.
The day when the Sun crosses this point this year will be March 21, the first day of Spring, the day the Sun aligns with the Vernal Equinox, and this year we may see some mini-signs of what's up with our Aries Points, which could be helpful soon. I say helpful because don't we all want to be as liberated as the man who raffled his house and moved to Africa? We might not want to do exactly that but isn't it satisfying to move toward a big dream and align ourselves with our life purpose here on planet Earth? As Jupiter and Uranus are hearding all fish toward the Aries Point, there will be a historic convergence on June 8, 2010. We can check out our charts to see in which house the Aries Point falls, brainstorm about what can be invented there and most of all dream big.

If you want to schedule a reading with me, email me at deirdre@cosmicguidelines.com and we can look at where the Aries Point falls in your chart and see what the astrology of 2010 may be saying to you.