Key On Garden Door

The Mercury Retrograde Blues

2008-06-17T17:00:00.010-05:00

A long time ago--um, two years--when this blog was young, I wrote Why I Like Mercury Retrograde. Well, I still do, but right now transiting Mercury in Gemini is inching towards its direct station on Thursday at 9:31 A.M. Central Daylight Time, and I am very, very, very tired of it. Presently, normally speedy Mercury whose average daily motion is about 1 1/4 degrees per day, is barely moving...in normally speedy Gemini. As I write it is at 13:06 Gemini and when it stations direct on Thursday, its position will be 12:59 Gemini, that's a mere 7 minutes of arc in 2 days. And yes, this is an optical illusion; the planets do not really slow down and come to a halt, change direction, and then speed up again. That's a discussion for a technical article on direct and retrograde motion. From a geocentric point of view though, Mercury is barely moving, and I, who am Mercury ruled, having a Virgo Ascendant, feel like I and the world are barely moving. That Saturn, the planet that rules S L O W, that's SLOOOOOOOOW, is in Virgo, to repeat, a Mercury ruled sign, probably isn't helping, but often this is the point during Mercury retrograde when I've had enough.

A friend called me this afternoon to tell me that her car--cars and transportation are ruled by Mercury and Gemini--got STUCK in PARK this morning! Talk about not moving. She is also a Virgo rising. She thought maybe it was the Full Moon. No, no, that's another story. This one is Mercury retrograde...yup, I'm sure of that one. Not that I'm blaming it. Nope we don't blame the planets. As above, so below.

Oh, and my friend? She's not moving either. Remember, she's a Virgo rising too. Her secondary progressed (a technical concept used in astrological forecasting) Mercury is in Pisces and she's presently laid up with an injured foot (ruled by Pisces).

This morning a bird--small birds are ruled by Mercury and Gemini according to Rex Bills--got stuck in my fireplace. Not being eager to have a bird flying around in my living room, I contemplated somehow getting it into a box or spare cage and releasing it on my deck. But the bird was having none of that. While I was thinking it over, it managed to force the glass fireplace doors open and promptly proceeded to fly into the patio door, twice. Now this is a longer story than it should have been and I'm not going to tell you about the part when I hid--briefly, briefly--in the bedroom--with the cat--but in the end it was a simple matter to open the patio door and let the bird fly out. My Quaker Parakeet, Gawain, a loquacious fellow (although not a Gemini unless he's a Gemini rising...I don't know his hatch time) said, "Birdie, that's a birdie." Thanks for clarifying that, little buddy.

I have a history with birds trapped in my house, although it's been years and not where I'm living now. I won't go into the history, but this was definitely a RE-visiting that whole thing kind of an event, so I have no problem seeing it as a Mercury retrograde experience. There were two lessons in it: (1) things aren't always as difficult or as complicated as I think they are; (2) all I need to do is to open a door and let something go free that has been trapped.

I have adult onset asthma. The lungs are ruled by Gemini and the onset coincided with transiting Pluto opposite my natal Mercury at 23 Gemini a few years ago. Pluto opposite Mercury: pressure on the lungs. I have an air (Gemini) purifier in my bedroom to give me relief from pet dander, dust, and pollen while I sleep. Yesterday morning when I woke up the air purifier was off and I wondered if the power had gone off overnight. Upon investigation I discovered that my 18-year-old Siamese must have stepped on the on/off switch of the power strip the air purifier was plugged into. Hmmm. My cat is, as they say, getting "up there," and recently I've been wondering when it's going to be time to help her with her, um, transition. She's been getting a bit wobbly lately. Was this her way of telling me what she thinks of that idea? Her way of saying, "We'll see who gets put to sleep here?" (Note to self: tell the family not to let her in the room if I'm ever on a respirator.)

Mercury rules my Midheaven, and I've spent this Mercury retrograde period doing a lot of serious thinking about career and what to do with my life in general. I've had some ideas, some of which involve writing, ruled by Mercury, and I'm eager to get started on some projects I've thought about and am now waiting for Mercury to go direct to begin them.

Curious though, I decided to review and revisit the Vaughn case with transiting Mercury retrograde at 13 Gemini conjunct the Moon in the event chart of the 911 call. That wasn't a conscious timing decision. I just started thinking about it and pulled out a paper I wrote about it shortly after it happened and decided to post a few excerpts on the blog. I wonder if the full Moon falling within 5 degrees of the Ascendant-Descendant of the 911 call chart will shed any light on the case or bring it back into public awareness. As I mentioned in the post, the Ascendant-Sun of the event chart are tightly conjunct my own natal Mercury in Gemini, and I have followed the case closely although there's been very little news about it for months.

So that's my Mercury retrograde report. If you, like me, have the Mercury Retrograde Blues--or blahs--it's almost over.

Peace to you--Doreen

The Vaughn Family Murders

2008-06-16T16:55:00.002-05:00

BACKGROUND

One year ago, early in the morning on Thursday, June 14, 2007, the local police in Channahon, Illinois, located in Will County, discovered four bodies in a Ford Expedition SUV on a cell tower service road near Interstate Highway 55 after responding to a 911 call. Kimberly Vaughn, 34, had been shot once in the head. Vaughn’s three children, Abigayle, 12, Cassandra, 11, and son Blake, 8, had each been shot twice. A wounded and bleeding, but ambulatory Christopher Vaughn, 32, husband and father of the deceased, had flagged down the passerby who made the 911 call. Allegedly, Vaughn initially told varying stories about what transpired. In one version, Vaughn pulled off the interstate because his wife was ill, got out to adjust the luggage rack, discovered he was bleeding and went for help. In this version, he claims he heard no gun shots. In another version, his wife shot at him as he was about to re-enter the vehicle and he fled. In others, he remained on the scene as his wife shot their children and then herself. Since Vaughn was treated at a hospital and released the same day, his wounds were apparently minor. He was subsequently questioned on at least three different occasions by the Illinois State Police who took over the investigation, but initially Vaughn was not identified as a suspect. However, at 7 a.m., on Saturday, June 23, Christopher Vaughn was arrested and taken into custody at a funeral home in St. Charles, Missouri as private funeral services for his wife and children were about to begin. He was charged with eight counts of first degree murder in the deaths of his wife and children and was held in a Missouri jail while awaiting extradition to Illinois. (Four counts were subsequently dropped and he was charged with four counts of shooting each person with the "intent to kill.")

On July 3, 2007, he was brought back to Illinois and jailed in Joliet, the seat of Will County, where he has remained in custody as the State of Illinois and Vaughn's attorneys prepare for trial.

The time of 5:25 a.m. has been variously described as the time that the passerby picked up Mr. Vaughn, the time of the 911 call made by the passerby, and the time that the first officers arrived on the scene and discovered the four bodies inside the vehicle. In any case, I am exploring the event itself using the data June 14, 2007, 5:25 a.m. CDT, Channahon, Illinois.

THE EVENT CHART

With Gemini rising, the event is about communication, and it began with a series of communications. First, Christopher Vaughn flagged down a motorist on the frontage road. Then the motorist made the 911 call, and the first responders discovered the vehicle with the bodies inside and realized that a crime had occurred which would have to be investigated and for which data would have to be gathered. Very quickly it became a breaking news story throughout northern Illinois. The Gemini Ascendant also describes the setting for the event, a vehicle, near a cell tower, not far from an interstate highway, all ruled by Gemini. That the event, the communication, the news story, and the investigation are about a family is shown three ways: (1) the ruler of the Ascendant, Mercury, is in Cancer; (2) Mercury is the intercepted ruler of the 4^th house; and, (3) the Sun, which is conjunct the Ascendant within 15’ of orb, rules the cusp of the 4^th house. Cancer and the 4^th house, of course, both rule families. Furthermore, the Moon, which rules Cancer, is rising 10 degrees ahead of the Ascendant, out of orb of a conjunction to the Ascendant perhaps, but it still stands out.

The event has 23:16 Gemini rising and the Sun which is tightly conjunct the Ascendant is at 23:01 Gemini. The synastry between the victims’ untimed charts (which I may discuss in a later article), the chart of the State of Illinois, and the event, just using the event’s Ascendant-Sun conjunction is striking.

The chart of the State of Illinois (December 3, 1818, 12:00 pm, Washington, D.C.) has a stellium of five planets and one asteroid in Sagittarius which includes Uranus at 20 Sagittarius, Mercury at 23:57 Sagittarius, Neptune at 26 Sagittarius, and Vesta at 28 Sagittarius. All of these are within range of opposing the event’s Ascendant-Sun but Mercury opposes it within minutes.

A country’s, state’s, or city’s Mercury includes its attitudes towards its youth and this case involves the murders of three children. With the Illinois Mercury so closely conjunct the event’s 7^th cusp and the Illinois Sun at 11 Sagittarius opposite the event’s Moon at 13 Gemini, it appears that the State of Illinois, as represented by various agencies within its criminal justice system, is going to take this case very personally. With the Illinois Pluto (death, crime, murder) square the Illinois Mercury in Sagittarius (laws), there’s the natal potential that the murder of a child or children could become a prominent, significant, or pivotal legal case. Currently, the State of Illinois has a moratorium on carrying out the death penalty, but prosecutors can still pursue it in sentencing and they are, in fact, doing so in this case. Perhaps this case will play a major role in the future of that issue.

There is more interesting synastry between the event and the charts of the victims and the State of Illinois but even looking only at the synastry involving the event’s Ascendant-Sun conjunction, it appears that this case may ultimately loom larger in the reputation of the legal system of the State of Illinois than anyone can currently envision considering that four of the six planets in the state’s Sagittarius stellium are in its 10^th house.

My own natal Mercury is at 23:04 Gemini, conjunct the event's Ascendant-Sun within minutes. Although I used to, I rarely follow crime stories closely anymore, but this one has captured my curiosity, interest, and concern.

Looking at the 3rd house because the ideas of communication, conveying and collecting data and information, travel, and news are so prominent, we see Venus and Saturn in Leo. Venus rules the 5th house, children. Children are involved; children in a vehicle, 3rd house. Venus also rules the 12th house, secrecy, things behind the scenes. The story, 3rd house, of an event that took place in secret is being exposed and communicated. Saturn rules the 8th house, death, and is in Leo in the 3rd. The event involves the deaths of children.

The most prominent planet in the chart is the Sun which is conjunct the Ascendant within minutes. Again, the Sun rules both the 3^rd and 4^th houses reinforcing the idea that this event is a story, 3^rd house, about a family, 4^th house. The Sun also represents the male principle and potentially the father principle, at the very least it is a masculine planet. It was a man, Christopher Vaughn, the husband of Kimberly Vaughn and the father of the deceased children who brought the crime to the attention of the authorities. Thus, the Sun in the event chart may very well represent him since it was he who emerged from the crime scene almost exactly at sunrise to call attention to a shocking and brutal crime. Or, perhaps the fact that the Sun, which is so closely conjunct the Ascendant, rules the 4^th supports the Illinois State Police spokesman’s statement at the first press conference about the case that the perpetrator was from the family and that there were no outsiders or unknown persons involved. As far as the public knows, Christopher Vaughn has been the only suspect from the beginning. Does the Sun represent Christopher Vaughn? Does it represent the perpetrator?

Please, please note:

I want to be absolutely clear that although Christopher Vaughn has been charged with these murders, he is innocent until proven guilty. Although I am using astrology to examine the event, I have no intention of drawing any conclusions as to his guilt or innocence.

To continue...that a brutal crime occurred that wiped out nearly an entire family (and devastated the extended family) is shown by Pluto, death, crime, brutality, opposite the Sun, the ruler of the 4th. The crime scene was described as horrific even to seasoned investigators. The Will County State's Attorney, James Glasgow, stated in a press conference that everyone who has worked on the case has been scarred by it. That it was shocking is shown by Uranus square the Sun, Moon, and the Ascendant/Descendant axis.

As noted above concerning the synastry, all of the Sagittarius planets of the State of Illinois are clustered around the Descendant with the Illinois Mercury right on it, opposite the event's Sun. This synastry strongly suggests that the 7th house in this chart represents the State of Illinois as a legal and investigative entity, which advocates on the behalf of victims, and which includes the state police, the entire team of investigators and forensic analysts, the state's attorney, everyone, in fact, you has been and continues to be involved in gathering and analyzing evidence, and who are working to determine the truth and bringing the perpetrator to justice.

With the Sun on the Ascendant opposite Pluto in Sagittarius in the 7th house, conjunct the 7th cusp, and opposite the Ascendant-Sun within a 4 1/2 degree orb, it looks like there is a team, a collective group of investigators, opposite an individual. Sagittarius rules teams and would, of course, rule a legal team. With the 7th house Pluto opposite the Sun, there is a great deal of pressure and focus on the one suspect in the case, Christopher Vaughn, and not only does Pluto in the event chart oppose the Sun, the natal Pluto of the State of Illinois at 23:21 Pisces squares the Ascendant-Sun of the event. That's a lot of pressure and focus by the state on the event itself and on the one individual they have arrested and charged. And there is an obsession, Pluto, with the truth, Sagittarius. With this event occurring so late in Pluto's transit through Sagittarius, I cannot help but wonder what its repercussions will be with Pluto in Capricorn. Could this be one of those events that creates a bridge from the end of one sign to the beginning of the next as the Simpson case did from Scorpio to Sagittarius? This case has not received much national attention so far. Vaughn is not a celebrity as was Simpson, and in the national news and to some extent locally, this news story was quickly eclipsed by that of the pregnant woman who was murdered in Ohio around the same time. Since it was announced in October, 2007, that the State was seeking the death penalty, there has been very little news about this case, and I do not believe that a trial date has been established yet. However, with the synastry involving the Sagittarius planets of the State of Illinois, I still think it will eventually take on considerable significance at least within the state.

to be continued

Peace to you--Doreen

Note: My source for nearly all the facts in this post is news articles in the Chicago Tribune.

What Happened When I Started That Job during Mercury Retrograde

2008-06-15T15:00:00.009-05:00

Back in January I wrote a post when I was about to start a job during Mercury retrograde, in my 6th house no less, which rules jobs, skills, and the things we do on a daily basis, our routines. Now it's time to tell you how that all worked out. I'm especially motivated to do so because I've noticed that several people have come to this blog over the past two weeks since Mercury has been retrograde in Gemini by Googling some variation on the theme of starting a job during Mercury retrograde.

What happened is quite simply that the job I started back in late January/early February while Mercury was retrograde in Aquarius in my 6th house did not work out. Since I've mentioned where the job was I won't go into excruciating detail, but the job wasn't right for me, and I wasn't right for the job. It was no one's fault, and I'm not upset or mad about it nor is the employer although I was very frustrated at the time. I didn't get very much work (and it wasn't up to me to generate it). I did not care for the setting, and I never really felt like I belonged there. Another person could take the same job and be perfectly happy. It just wasn't a good fit, and it never felt right. There was even a glitch in the payroll system--again no one's fault really--and it took weeks for me to get my first check, and nothing like that has ever happened to me before.

I was very disappointed and at first I kept thinking it would work out if I'd be patient and let the kinks work out. With Mercury conjunct Mars in Gemini I can be anything but patient and can easily be tempted to jump ship, but my tenacious, loyal Cancer Sun and intense Scorpio Moon like to see things through and usually prevail. But the whole thing didn't feel right and I quit in March and was much relieved when I did.

This post is by no means intended to be advice concerning starting a job during Mercury retrograde. In general, I would advise avoiding it if at all possible, but I can think of scenarios in which it would make sense. In this case, I didn't originally intend to start the job during Mercury retrograde. I interviewed for it in December and originally intended to begin in early January while Mercury was direct. When my mother died I delayed my start date and by the time things got going Mercury retrograde was on top of me.

All told, it was an important experience. It really made me step back and re-think I what I really want to be doing with myself work and career-wise. Mercury rules my Virgo Ascendant and my Gemini Midheaven and is in Gemini in my 10th house conjunct my Midheaven and Mars. So, Mercury in my chart has a great deal to do with the essential Doreen and with my Ascendant and Midheaven ruler in the 10th along with Sun, Mars, and Uranus, the essential Doreen has a great deal to do with career and work.

Since quitting the job, I've been busy, but mostly doing things behind the scenes, a little massage here and there, a little Reiki teaching, a little astrology, and a LOT of thinking things over. (Note to astrologers: I've had Mercury retrograde in my solar return for the last two years and my tertiary progressed Mercury has been retrograde for a little over a year now, so I'm up to my eyebrows in Mercury retrograde.)

During THIS Mercury retrograde--in my 10th HOUSE--a few interesting things have happened. Among them, the VERY day Mercury stationed retrograde--just shy of my natal Mercury, someone told me about a job that had opened up that on the surface I seem ideally suited for--it for me and I for it. I knew immediately it wasn't a good fit, although for less than obvious reasons, but I could have really rationalized (air sign/Gemini word) myself into pursuing it. I no sooner put it out of my mind and ANOTHER person suggested I look into it and I found myself feeling a teeny bit tempted, but not right is not right. Presently, transiting Saturn is my 12th house, and I'm reorganizing myself and my life on a lot of levels behind the scenes. Saturn is in Virgo, i.e., ruled by Mercury, and every time one of these things pops up, I keep remembering something Elsa said (not so coincidentally before that Mercury retrograde back in January) about "never letting anyone rush your game." It really spoke to me because I am so Mercury-ruled and have Mercury conjunct Mars in Gemini, an impulsive, restless, and impatient combination, and what with Saturn in Virgo in my 12th shoring up my own natal Saturn in Virgo as well as my secondary progressed Sun, it has become my mantra over the last few months. "I don't let anyone rush my game...I don't let anyone rush my game..." It's like I'm cooking something in a big soup pot on the back burner that simply needs to simmer for hours and hours and I can't rush it. It'll be done when it's done.

Peace to you--Doreen

Northern Illinois University's Stellium in Cancer

2008-02-15T15:57:00.009-06:00

When I wrote in my last post about Northern Illinois University as my "nourishing mother," I had not yet located the data for the founding of NIU. According to the Wikipedia article on NIU, it was founded on May 22, 1895 in DeKalb, Illinois. Lacking a time, I cast a Noon chart.

There are a lot of things to look at here, and because I'm still processing this event emotionally, I'm not really of a mind to be analytical right now.

However, I'm struck by the synastry between NIU's chart and my own. It's not surprising at all that I, a Cancer, would tap into the "nourishing mother" aspect of the words Alma Mater. We all filter our experiences through our own lenses, and Cancer the sign of mothering, nurturing, and nourishing is one of my lenses. In addition, my own mother died recently at the age of 95. I blogged about that last month and will again. And yesterday, Valentine's Day, was the birthday of my oldest child who died 16 years ago at the age of 22. Thus, mothering and grief are presently strong themes in my life. Well actually, mothering and grief is a theme of my life.

And here it is again. My natal Sun is at 13:17 Cancer. NIU has a 3-planet stellium in Cancer: Jupiter, Venus, and Mars, all conjunct my natal Sun. NIU's Jupiter, Venus, and Mars conjunction represents a capacity to be generous, warm, nurturing, and motherly. (Note: I am not going to give an integrated interpretation here. Saturn in Scorpio opposite the Taurus Moon is another message.) With NIU's Cancer planets conjunct my own natal Sun, it is no wonder that I felt taken care of by that university's education and that it empowered me as a mother in my own right. And it is also no wonder that I identify with NIU AS a grieving mother, or that I perceive NIU, an entity with three planets in Cancer, as a grieving mother right now.

The energies in our own natal charts interact with the energies of everyone and everything we come in contact with: people, places, schools, corporations, organizations. Different people can experience other entities be they people, places, or groups in different ways. My experiences at NIU were almost all good, and here I can see why with its Jupiter, Venus, and Mars in Cancer all conjunct my Cancer Sun. If that all sounds too touchie-feelie to have anything to do with education, consider that Venus in my own chart rules my 9th house, higher education, and Jupiter rules higher education in general. NIU has four planets in Gemini: Sun, Mercury, Neptune, and Pluto; I have Mercury, the ruler of my Virgo Ascendant, Mars, and Midheaven all in Gemini. I enjoyed my time there soaking up knowledge and indulging my eclectic curiosity. NIU's Saturn and Uranus widely straddle my Scorpio Moon, giving me a foundation on the one hand while kicking me out of the nest and into my future with the other. The kicker is NIU's Nodal axis which sits exactly--within 1' of arc--on my Ascendant/Descendant axis, which many would consider a karmic connection. What's intriguing about that is that the coming Saturn-Uranus opposition in Virgo-Pisces is going to be right there, on NIU's Nodes (and my Ascendant-Descendant).

After yesterday's tragedy, Northern Illinois University will never again be the same, and it has a long and difficult road of recovery ahead. NIU's Chiron at 03 Libra squares its Jupiter at 07 Cancer. That's a natal potential for that generous, nurturing, protective nature to incur a huge wound and with transiting Pluto, i.e., Pluto in the sky at 00:33 Capricorn at the time of the shooting beginning to square NIU's Chiron, that wound was inflicted. I believe, however, if NIU draws on the positive qualities of the sign of Cancer, a sign of healing, compassion, survival, deep feeling and sensitivity, and protection, that it will heal, and in fact be utterly transformed as Pluto in Capricorn opposes those Cancer planets during the next few years.

Peace to you--Doreen

My Alma Mater: Northern Illinois University

2008-02-15T13:21:00.004-06:00

In Latin, Alma Mater means nourishing mother. NIU was my "nourishing mother" in a multitude of ways. The education I received there in the late 1970's made possible for me, a divorced mother, and my children, a quality of life and standard of living often not possible for single parents. Even now nearly 30 years after I graduated in 1979 I continue to reap the benefits of all that I received there.

Yesterday, my "nourishing mother" was horrifically wounded, and I grieve for her as she grieves for her children. I hope to write about the shooting at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois in the context of the Mars-Pluto opposition in the next day or two...or week maybe.

For now, I extend my condolences, sympathy, thoughts, and prayers to the victims, their families, and to the entire NIU community.

Peace to you--Doreen

Starting A Job When Mercury Is Retrograde In My Sixth House?

2008-01-27T12:46:00.000-06:00

What was I thinking? Am I coming or going?

Mercury doesn't station retrograde until tomorrow afternoon at 2:31 P.M. CST, but it's already off to a wacky start in my world. I tend to be naively optimistic about retrograde periods. They serve a worthwhile purpose, I believe, or we wouldn't have them in the first place. I do not like to face Mercury Rx bracing myself for the worst and just wishing for it to be over, in other words, the way I deal with Midwest winters. In the early days of this blog, I even wrote a post about why I like Mercury retrograde. There's a (magical thinking) Pollyanna in me who believes that if I plan activities that constructively use the energy, taking into consideration its sign and where it's transiting relative to my natal chart by house and aspect, that I will be able to avoid the nasty manifestations, the usual foul-ups, breakdowns, and glitches usually related in one way or another to communication and transportation when the retrograde planet in question is Mercury. I do, however, try to avoid the obvious. I do not make major purchases during Mercury retrograde. I try very hard to avoid signing contracts although I almost intentionally broke the rule a little over a year ago to see what would happen (the job fizzled) and whenever possible I try to avoid non-routine travel, especially to places I've never been before.

This time, however, something has sneaked up on me, and I am about to plunge headlong into a new job as Mercury stations retrograde in my 6th house, the one that rules jobs, skills, and the work we do on a daily basis. I interviewed for a new massage therapy position back in December when Mercury retrograde was seemingly nowhere in sight. The job is at a university so I wouldn't start until the new semester began, some time in mid-January. Then I put it off a week for personal reasons, and then I met with my new boss on Friday for my orientation, and, as it works out, my first actual day of work will be this Tuesday, the day after Mercury stations at 24 Aquarius, just a couple of degrees inside the cusp of my sixth house. In my chart, Mercury rules both my Virgo Ascendant and my Gemini Midheaven. Natally, it is in Gemini in my 10th house conjunct both Mars and my Midheaven. All this means that I am very strongly affected by transiting Mercury, what sign it's in, what aspects it's making, whether it's direct or retrograde, and what it's doing relative to my chart. So, on the face of it, this is not a brilliant time to be starting a new job.

Furthermore, Mercury is going to be retrograde in Aquarius whose modern ruler is Uranus, which in turn is the ruler of my sixth house--because Aquarius is on the cusp, and my natal Uranus is also in my 10th house. In other words, Mercury and Uranus in my chart are heavily involved in my work, my jobs, and my career. I confess that Pollyanna here is a little uneasy. I would really like this job to work out well, and I've been looking forward to it. And now I'm wondering what glitches are going to pop during the next three weeks...and beyond, because this is all going to be in the natal chart of my new job. (Note: a long time ago I read that the natal chart of a job is cast for the date and time that you actually show up to start work for the first time, not the interview, not when the position is offered nor when it's accepted. These charts have "worked" for previous jobs.)

So what's going to happen? I usually try to explain that the REASONS we don't start new things, make purchases, sign contracts, etc., during Mercury retrograde are:

(1) the energy is for reviewing, revising, re-visiting, remembering, "re-" things. It's for going back where we've already been to see what we've missed. The planet, Mercury, in this case, is literally, from a geocentric point of view, retracing its steps in the Zodiac, and the best way to operate during the retrograde period is to go along with that rather than to oppose it by continuing to go forward.

(2) there is usually something we do not know that if we did know it, we would not go ahead and take whatever action we were intending to take. And if we wait, that information will likely to come to the surface. I've seen that play out time and time again.

So, again, what's going to happen? An interesting thing per #1 above is that I'll be working as a massage therapist at the same university where I got my degree in computer science thirty years ago, i.e., I'm "going back" to a place I've been before. I haven't however attributed much significance to that because it's a little too literal for my tastes, and because there's seemingly such a disparity between getting a computer science degree while I was in my late 20's and more or less "retiring" to massage therapy in my late 50's! (Umm, they do have a Saturn return in common!) Being back on the campus seems surreal at times. I'm not quite sure I feel like I belong there now. I hope a sense of belonging will return.

Per #2 above, I took the job knowing full well I would have no idea what direction it would take. I would suggest that with Mercury retrograde in Aquarius that whatever happens it won't be what I expect, but I truly do not have much in the way of specific expectations concerning this job, whether the client load will be heavy or light, whether I'll be doing mostly massage or Reiki, whether my clients will be students, faculty, or alumni, etc. I've felt from the beginning that it's all up for grabs and it will be whatever it will be.

I do think there's a good chance that it will get off to a slow start what with Mars stationing direct in Gemini, Mercury's sign, just as Mercury goes retrograde. Mars is the planet of action, and it will be appearing to stand still as Mercury goes retrograde and I start my new job. Maybe nothing will happen this week! Saturn is retrograde in Virgo, also Mercury's sign. Saturn can be slow, cautious, and meticulous and in Virgo, concerned about health. Maybe people who have not had massage before will be hesitant to start, or maybe people who have had massage in the past will come back to it.

The chart for the Mercury station at 2:31 CST tomorrow, has a grand trine in air:

Mars at 24 Gemini, still retrograde, but very, very close to its direct station;
Mercury stationing retrograde at 23:53 Aquarius;
and Moon at 23:28 Libra.

A very nice harmonious, cooperative blend of communication, action, and feelings were it not for the fact that both Mercury and Mars are stationing! With Mars stationing direct in Mercury's sign, Mercury stationing retrograde, and Saturn retrograde as well in Virgo, grand trine or no, I don't think we're going to know whether we're coming or going this week. Maybe with the grand trine, we'll think things are going smoothly, although probably very slowly, but there may be misunderstandings or mistaken actions that go undetected while Mercury is retrograde. Moon in Libra needs to be nice, polite, and considerate. With Mars and Mercury both standing "still" maybe things that need to be said and done won't be out of an instinctive need to be nice!

When one personal planet (Mercury, Venus, or Mars) goes retrograde while another is going direct, things tend to be just plain confusing, and despite all this speculation, I am at a loss as to what to expect!

And what will happen as Mars starts to go direct in Gemini, impatiently and curiously prancing around wanting to surge ahead, while Mercury is retrograde, retracing its steps in headstrong, independent Aquarius, and old Saturn is plodding along retrograde in methodical Virgo? I haven't even mentioned the major shift of Pluto from Sag to Capricorn!

I do have a sense that in the coming weeks I will be entering what seems to be new territory, which will in fact be reminiscent of the old, all the while very consciously--Mercury and Mars in air signs, Saturn in deliberate Virgo--incorporating an awareness of lessons learned from both the recent and distant past.

On ne sait jamais comment les choses vont tourner!

I have no idea why I wrote, "who knows how things will turn out," in French, but it's an odd thing for an astrologer to say in any language, yet very true!

Peace to you--Doreen

Exams During Mercury Retrograde

2008-01-19T17:15:00.000-06:00

A week ago in my post on Mercury Retrograde in 2008, I mentioned that I'm interested in what Google searches bring people to my blog. "Mercury retrograde" is common, often associated with buying cars, getting married, or signing contracts. Recently "exams during Mercury retrograde" caught my eye and it reminded me of a tidbit I read quite a long time ago in Today's Astrologer, a monthly bulletin published by the American Federation of Astrologers. I can't find that issue; I suspect it's in storage and it's way too cold in northern Illinois today to rummage around in my storage space in the hopes of tracking it down, so I'll relay the essence of it from memory.

I think it was in the The Question Box column. The question apparently had something to do with Mercury retrograde...obviously. What stuck in my head from the answer was to the effect that scores on AFA's certification exams taken during Mercury retrograde periods are actually better than at other times. Could it be that people are instinctively more cautious test takers during Mercury retrograde periods? Or...might it be because people taking an AFA certification exam are, at the very least, serious astrology students and knowing that Mercury is retrograde consequently more careful to check and RE-check their work? Comparisons of tests taken when Mercury is direct to those taken when Mercury is retrograde are not likely to be particularly useful when the test takers are themselves astrologers! However, it would be an interesting study for teachers when the students themselves are unaware of Mercury cycles.

I do not have any personal experiences about this to relay. When I was in massage therapy school I didn't give it any thought because you can't control when teachers schedule tests anyway, but I did make a point to schedule my national certification exam when Mercury was direct and several planets (Sun, Mercury, Venus, and Mars) were in Virgo. Transiting Mercury was conjunct my Ascendant within a 1/2 degree. (September 6 2006). I wasn't concerned but I wanted to have a more or less "lucky" day and I liked transiting Mercury, my chart ruler, natally in Gemini, crossing my Virgo Ascendant.

In general I would think the usual Mercury retrograde cautions would apply, i.e., double check everything, but what of the fact that when in doubt, one's first answer is more likely to be correct? I did well on my anatomy & physiology final but those questions I did miss were the result of second-guessing myself! (Mercury was direct.) Would double checking with the attendant susceptibility to second-guessing be more helpful during Mercury retrograde or more likely to result in more errors?

There's more to test taking, of course, than Mercury. What we know, our body of assimilated knowledge is ruled by Jupiter. Mercury is how we communicate it, data-in/data-out, so it is, indeed, critical for successful test-taking. The Moon rules what we know instinctively and our common sense, so it also comes into play. In assessing our natal ability to take tests, the entire chart could be taken into consideration. Someone with a Sun-Saturn conjunction, for example, might be inhibited by a lack of self-confidence, yet also might be willing to work harder to overcome a handicap or take on a challenge. Specifically though, I would look at Mercury, Jupiter, the Moon, and the 3rd, 4th, and 9th houses.

During the first Mercury retrograde period of 2008, Mercury will be in Aquarius where it is strong and comfortable, quick, inventive, original, and intuitive. At the beginning of its retrograde period, January 28, it will be trine Mars in Gemini (not quite exact but within 15' orb). Mercury in Aquarius trine Mars in Gemini would usually be very mentally sharp and confident, potentially downright brilliant. But Mars is retrograde until it stations direct on the 30th. Mars retrograde in Gemini could be indicative of mental blocks, especially while it's in range of its opposition with Pluto. Maybe there will be good ideas that come up during that time that can't be put into action. The trine will still be in orb for a few days after Mars goes direct on the 30th, but it will be separating, not having completely closed, and Mars after its station will be moving slowly, so there will be a few days of very mentally sharp Mercury-Mars energy, a good blend of mental and physical energy, communication and action, but it won't be ideal.

Mercury will also be conjunct Neptune during the early part of its retrograde period. That could be mental confusion, not what you want in an exam situation, or mental inspiration and creativity. I suppose it depends on whether it's a bar exam or an essay test on romantic poets! Saturn in Virgo trine Jupiter in Capricorn is favorable for hard work, disciplined analysis, and a positive attitude about doing what needs to be done in order to succeed. But if all else fails, Mercury-Neptune can be a psychic indicator so channel Oliver Wendell Holmes for a bar exam and Isaac Newton for a calculus test.

Peace to you--Doreen

Astrology and Families: Part One - Scorpio School

2008-01-13T13:50:00.000-06:00

What's the first thing you did when you got interested in astrology after you had your own first chart reading? You probably started collecting the charts of your family members, right? And if you were like me, it amazed you how the same signs and aspects kept popping up.

Before I studied astrology, I thought it was a cute coincidence that both my mother and my youngest son were born on Halloween and that my sister was born just after midnight on November 1, All Saints' Day. One of my best friends in junior high school who sat next to me in orchestra for three years was also Halloween-born as was one of my many managers during what I now call my "corporate" period. In addition to those were numerous other Scorpio relatives, friends, co-workers, and bosses throughout the years. Still, until I studied astrology, I really did think it was all just a coincidence. When I only knew about Sun signs and didn't really take it seriously anyway, I didn't think there was any significance because I'm a Cancer. Other than the fact that Scorpios and Cancers are compatible by virtue of both being water signs, so what?

I thought, "So what?" because I didn't know about Scorpio School (which I talked about in my post, Finding Meaning in the Mars Pluto Opposition: My Mother's Death - Part Two). When I learned I had a Scorpio Moon and what that meant, it all became much much more interesting. I wish I had my very first astrology book handy. Its delineation of a Scorpio Moon was enough to either scare me away from astrology for good or to drive me under a rock. Interesting, by the way, that I've started to call it Scorpio School because my Scorpio Moon is on the cusp of my 3rd house which rules early education.

Back to that first description of a Scorpio Moon. I can't lay my hands on that book right now, but it was intimidating and didn't have much good to say about the Moon in Scorpio. It all sounded very dark and dire, but so did many of the other delineations in that book, and I had a sense that there was more to it than that. I felt compelled to seek out other astrology books rather than throw that one in the trash and forget the whole thing. Besides, the astrologer who did my first natal reading didn't seem to be particularly afraid of me. She didn't lock me in a cage and throw me raw hamburger while she gave me my reading. She cordially invited me into her office and offered me a cup of tea.

Here are a few delineations from other authors:

Marion March & Joan McEvers in The Only Way to Learn Astrology Volume I:

Keyword: emotionally possessive

Your emotions are intense and often based on willful desire. You are impatient, moody and even given to brooding. Easily hurt, you can become jealous, hold grudges and take revenge. You often judge others too quickly and feel a need to dominate through subtle means.

Whew! Not exactly sugar-coated either, but human and true. They also say,

You become emotionally intent on completing and enjoying any project you have adopted, and you can seem lacking in sympathy when so absorbed. Your personality is deep, and you have shrewd insight into other people; often you like to probe into deep and unknown fields.

Also, quite true. But here I think is the nitty-gritty:

Your greatest need is to learn to forgive and forget. You must learn to handle your strong, deep feelings.

Forgiveness I have come to believe really is the bottom line in Scorpio School.

One of my favorite astrology books is Robert Hand's Planets In Youth. Here are some excerpts from his passage on the Moon in Scorpio:

You have very intense feelings, which can be a strong force in your life. But you may find it hard to understand your feelings, because they are so complicated and deep. You are either very angry or extremely sad or totally happy. You never feel lukewarm.

You are very fond of anything secret and mysterious, such as stories about the supernatural.

Your need to learn about yourself will help you understand others as well...

Try not to get so wrapped up in your emotions, however. It would be better not to take them so seriously.

Thank you, Rob Hand. I like the kinder, gentler approach. Yes, his intended audience for that book is younger people, but when we're dealing with the Moon, are we not always, to some extent, addressing the child within? And the kinder, gentler approach helps ease the way to wrestling with the more raw, but still valid perspectives. (That by the way, is helpful to keep in mind when reading charts for others.) It is also interesting to note that Robert Hand himself has a Scorpio Moon, so I tend to trust his remarks more than those of people, yes even astrologers, whose eyes get wide and take a step back when it's mentioned that someone--you know...like me--has a Scorpio Moon.

So what's the best way to learn in Scorpio School? (or any of the other major schools and their sub-specialties...) To have Scorpio teachers and comrades of course. Here's a list. Keep in mind that I have a very small family. I also include aspects from Pluto to personal planets.

Mother - Scorpio Sun conjunct Scorpio Mars trine Pluto, Mercury in Scorpio.
Father - Scorpio rising, Jupiter in Scorpio conjunct Ascendant
Aunt - Scorpio Sun, Scorpio North Node, Moon conjunct Pluto in Cancer
Paternal Grandmother - Sun conjunct Mars in late Aquarius, conjunct Moon in late Aquarius or early Pisces, all square Pluto at 00 Gemini
Sister - Scorpio Sun, Moon, and Mercury
Oldest son - Mars conjunct Neptune in Scorpio
Daughter - Mars conjunct Venus (in Gemini) square Pluto
Youngest son - Sun, Mars, and Venus in Scorpio (trine Jupiter in Pisces...now THAT's a forgiving Scorpio)
Ex-daughter-in-law - Scorpio rising
Ex-son-in-law - Scorpio rising
Numerous friends with Scorpio Suns and Moons, Scorpio rising, Sun-Pluto, Moon-Pluto, Mercury-Pluto, Venus-Pluto, and Mars-Pluto aspects.

...and to the best of my knowledge there's not a serial killer among us. We're just good plain, garden variety people trying to do our best like just about everyone else. However, we can be an intense bunch, and we are all having some intense and transformative experiences during this Mars-Pluto opposition, not the least of which was the passing of our family matriarch, my 95-year-old mother.

My point is that astrological placements do run in families, and we definitely attract people who have the astrological placements, i.e., the characteristics, that we need in order to learn the lessons we need to learn as shown by our own natal charts.

Peace to you--Doreen

Mercury Retrograde in 2008: Air Signs

2008-01-12T08:56:00.000-06:00

Even during the long periods when my blog is dormant, I like to keep my eye on what brings people here, which links and search criteria. A recent one, just before the beginning of the year was "Mercury retrograde 2008." Somebody is planning ahead. So here are the Mercury retrograde periods for this year:

January 28 - February 18	24 Aquarius - 8 Aquarius
May 26 - June 19	22 Gemini - 13 Gemini
September 23/24 - October 15	23 Libra - 8 Libra

Mercury retrograde periods themselves retrograde, i.e., move backwards through the signs, and each year the emphasis tends to be on one particular element (fire, earth, air, and water). For the past two years, the emphasis of the Mercury retrograde periods has primarily been in water, in Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces. As you can see, this year the retrograde periods have shifted entirely into the air signs, Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius. Although I am a "water" person with a Cancer Sun and Scorpio Moon, I have Mercury in Gemini, a sign it rules, and I liken Mercury shifting its retrograde emphasis from emotional waters to fresh air to a cool compress on a hot forehead. Mercury rules thinking, travel, and communication, data-in/data-out. The mundane activities of our lives run most smoothly when those processes are clear, logical, and well-organized, which is much more likely when a planet like Mercury is in air signs than in water.

I want to be clear....every astrological placement has its positive expressions and its negative expressions, and that includes Mercury in each and every sign. Mercury retrograde in Cancer, for example, may have initiated some healing trips down memory lane. But I think this year's refresher courses in the air signs will provide an opportunity to think and communicate more clearly, objectively, logically, and humanely as we continue the process of adjusting to a shift from a major emphasis in fire signs with Saturn in Leo and Jupiter and Pluto in Sagittarius, to earth signs with Saturn in Virgo and Jupiter and Pluto in Capricorn.

When outer planets, in this case Pluto and Saturn, and to a lesser extent Jupiter, change signs, there seems to be a period during which the collective is disoriented, confused and unfocused. Not a good thing, I've been thinking, during a critical election year in the United States. But if we can clear our heads and start to think more objectively with the help of an emphasis on the air signs, that could help us navigate the transition.

Mercury retrograde periods are review time. Each year we get three periods, each approximately three weeks long to review how we think and communicate in a particular sign. Each three-week Mercury retrograde period gives us an opportunity to learn a little more about the sign that it's in and how it applies in our lives. If we pay attention, we can learn how we are using the energy of a sign well, and in what ways we can learn to use it better.

The tricky thing about Mercury (the Trickster) retrograde periods is that we tend to fight them and work against their energy which is the source of the notorious Mercury retrograde problems and its ugly reputation. Having worked at a software company in both technical support and quality assurance, I am particularly wary of computer problems when Mercury is retrograde in Aquarius. Time permitting that could be the subject of a whole other blog post.

I believe, however, if we put forth the effort to use Mercury retrograde to remember, review, reflect, revise, release, and reframe whatever arises for us during those periods in the context of the sign Mercury is in, it can have the effect of cleaning out a closet or organizing a room by helping us think and function more clearly and effectively.

As the next Mercury retrograde period draws nearer, the astrological blogosphere will as always be filled with Mercury retrograde posts with varying perspectives, warnings, and advice, all quite good. Even now, however, it's barely more than two weeks away, and Mercury today at 07 Aquarius is nearing what is called the "shadow," i.e., that section of the Zodiac, in this case, 08-24 Aquarius, through which Mercury will be traveling during its retrograde period. Pay attention to what comes up in the next week or two. It may very well be an area of your life you would do well to review and revise during the Mercury retrograde period, January 28 to February 18.

Peace to you--Doreen

Finding Meaning in the Mars Pluto Opposition: My Mother's Death - Part Two

2008-01-11T21:00:00.000-06:00

So what about that transiting Mars-Pluto opposition and my natal Moon? The Moon, like everything else in astrology, rules many different things and has many levels of meaning. One of the basic and essential meanings of the Moon is mother. It is the primary signifier of one's mother and describes how a person perceives and experiences his/her mother as an individual and mothering and nurturing in general. It is uncanny that I have a Scorpio Moon and that my mother was, in fact, a Scorpio. It is not that common nor usually that simple for a person's Moon sign to be the same as her mother's Sun sign. My own children's Moons are in Aquarius, Sagittarius, and Taurus. Other than both Chiron and the asteroid Vesta in Sagittarius, I do not even have any planets in those signs. Clearly, they have each perceived me through differently colored glasses. In my case, having a Scorpio Moon, my experience of mothering in my life would be intense, powerful, and transformative. With Pluto square my Moon, there would be power struggles.

Or...to put it another way, first I signed up for Scorpio School (aka Pluto School), and then I decided to go through it kicking, screaming, struggling, and resisting all the way. My view is this: life is a school, we sign up for the kind of school we want, and sometimes we're more amenable to the lessons than at other times. So, I signed up for Scorpio School, got a Scorpio Master for a mother--and I mean that in a good way--as I think you'll see, and then I didn't always like her teaching style. Now who's problem was that?

When we look at the Moon in the chart to understand our experience of our mothers and mothering, we need to understand that it describes our mothers as we perceive and experience her. To obtain a well-rounded perspective of my mother, I should look at HER chart. The Moon in my chart does not describe HER essential self so much as it describes how I perceived and experienced her. It may or may not be consistent with how other people perceived her as she lived out the other roles in her life. My chart is about me. Her chart is about her. However, charts of mother and child inevitably reflect aspects of each other.

With the Moon in Scorpio, squared by Pluto no less, I thought my mother was the most powerful person in the universe...in a multitude of ways, not all of them easy for me to handle because a square is difficult. Is this reflected in HER chart? With her Scorpio Sun conjunct Mars in Scorpio in the first house, she had an incredible amount of stamina and endurance. Additionally, that conjunction trines Pluto.

To describe it very simply:

Sun = the physical self and one's vitality, also one's will and ego
Mars = energy, desire, drive
Sun conjunct Mars = blends all that Sun "stuff" with the Mars "stuff"
Pluto = power
Sun & Mars trine Pluto = an easy flow between Sun-Mars & Pluto
1st house = one's body and health.

In other words, she had a very powerful engine in her tiny body. Sun conjunct Mars alone, in any house or sign, is a lot of physical energy and stamina. One person this week compared her to the Energizer Bunny. Remember the Sagittarius in her chart I described in my last post? Sag rules sports, too. She combined all that energy and stamina with a love of golf which she played well into her 80's. As a child, all that strength made a profound impression on me because I have Neptune in the 1st house square my Cancer Sun, i.e., my constitution is not as strong. With Mars conjunct my Mercury I have no end of mental energy, but physically I do not have my mother's stamina and endurance or consistently good health. So, that aspect of my mother made a huge impact upon me as a child and created some tension (Scorpio) between us and was thus one of the sources of our power struggles. Sun conjunct Mars in Scorpio trine Pluto is also tremendous will power. She once told me she could will herself not to be sick and could not understand why I could not do the same. Thus, on her part, there was no malice when she hustled me off to school when I wasn't feeling perky. She simply expected me to will myself well! However, once convinced that I was beyond being cured by a pep talk alone, she dedicated herself to nursing me back to health as she did during the seven months that I had rheumatic fever when I was 15. Healing is another aspect of Scorpio and Pluto.

I'm describing some of the ways my Scorpio Moon has expressed itself in my life because nothing happens in a life for which the potential does not exist in the natal chart. With a Scorpio Moon, it was a given that in this lifetime I had signed up for Scorpio School and that my first teacher in that school would be my mother. What is Scorpio School? As more than one astrologer has told me, with all the Scorpio, Pluto, and 8th house in my chart, I SEEK trial by fire. What I've not realized until now is that my Scorpio mother--my Sun conjunct Mars in Scorpio trine Pluto mother--was showing me HOW to navigate those trips through the fire. (There are forehead slapping moments and then there are forehead slapping moments! Or as Homer would say, "Doh!")

One intriguing facet of the astrological Moon is that transits to the natal Moon often describe parallel experiences of both mother and native (i.e., the person whose chart we're looking at). For example, when transiting Neptune was in mid-Aquarius and squaring my natal Moon, I was going through a period of confusion and a lack of clarity about the things the Moon represents in my life, and my mother herself was slipping into senile dementia (most likely Alzheimer's). Thus, when transiting Pluto in late Sagittarius started to semi-square my Moon in mid-Scorpio and I found myself encountering and re-visiting some old Scorpio business, I strongly suspected, given that my mother was in her mid-90's, that she might be facing a major transition as well, most likely that of her own death. It sure didn't seem that she was going to be leaving us yet, but I was suspicious (appropriately a Scorpio word!).

One of the things that is striking me now, as I ponder her life, is the incredibly long journey that she traveled, from 1912 to 2008. To live that long and to thrive in the process, which she did, one must be incredibly adaptable to change. On the one hand, Scorpio is a fixed sign and given to hanging on with dear life to whatever it values, but it is also incredibly resilient and will re-invent itself in the face of necessity. When my parents were in their mid-50's my father was no longer able to do his physically challenging work as an automobile parts salesman. Though my mother was teaching, she discovered that she would have to re-invent herself to stay employed, so she obtained a Master's degree in Teaching at age 58 so she could work with children with learning disabilities. I was only 21, and although I admired my mother's accomplishment then, that admiration pales in comparison to my appreciation of that achievement now that I am myself 58. I can't say that I particularly want a Master's degree at the moment. I don't really have the need for one. But if I did, could I belly up and do it?

When Pluto comes along and contacts a personal point in the natal chart, there will be change and it usually won't be easy. It can and often will be downright traumatic. Pluto has a way of taking away from us something we think we cannot live without. It's our job then to figure out how to re-invent and transform ourselves, so that we can do exactly that. What I often didn't realize and appreciate during my mother's lifetime was how courageous and gutsy she was about facing some tough challenges during her lifetime, often at times when I'm sure she felt like she neither needed or wanted anything more on her plate than she already had. She really was the Energizer Bunny...and she was teaching, by example, at the same time.

In that blog post of Elsa's about Mars-Pluto, "What Happened To You Last Week?" one of the other commenters asked,

"Does Mars Pluto do what it does and then leave… something fresh in its place? Or does it just leave the dead bleeding on the ground?"

It's not typical for me just to jump in and answer something like that, but I replied,

"Well I’m not Elsa, but I will offer my own experience which is that whatever Pluto seems to take away is always ultimately transmuted into something else, fresh, new, and sparkling. Pluto rules both death and re-birth, i.e., not so much death as transformation and transmutation, like the phoenix that goes up in flames and then is hatched anew. However…it isn’t instantaneous, think of new growth after a forest fire or a volcano. The land is usually barren for many months, sometimes years, and then when you least expect it, there are beautiful green seedlings dotting the landscape. Plutonian loss is usually accompanied by profound grief. Think of Elizabeth Kubler-Ross’s five stages of dying. If one is willing to make the descent with Pluto, what one encounters upon the ascent is well worth it although it will not have been easy. I say this having a Scorpio Moon squared by Pluto, i.e., what author/astrologer Judy Hall calls a Hades Moon."

What I did not realize as I wrote this a few days ago is that what I wrote itself, is for me one of the lessons of the Mars-Pluto opposition transiting semi-square / sesquiquadrate (i.e., a lot like a square or opposition), my natal Scorpio Moon. This is what I have learned in Scorpio School. And every time something has contacted my Moon-Pluto square, by transit, secondary progression, solar arc, etc., it's been another lesson and it has deepened my understanding. Like all schools there are quizzes, tests, and really big exams. Pluto-Moon contacts have been major lessons and big exams for me. This transit, Pluto semi-square my Moon with Mars retrograde in the mix, has been--so far--a combination of a big exam and a review, which is, after all, what retrograde periods are all about.

It is not a tragedy when a 95-year-old who has lived a full and productive life leaves her body and goes to the other side. As a mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother who was above all else a teacher, my mother has, by her departure, left us all re-visiting and reviewing the lessons she has taught us. I, for one, by re-visiting her astrological chart, am re-discovering a few that I'd forgotten and may, in fact, be discovering a few I'd overlooked. I suspect that Mars retrograde opposite Pluto, still in range, and with one more exact opposition to come (on March 7) will leave no stone unturned. I'm good with that.

Peace to you--Doreen (writing to you from Scorpio School)

Finding Meaning in the Mars Pluto Opposition: My Mother's Death - Part One

2008-01-11T14:50:00.000-06:00

Earlier this week, Elsa asked on her blog, concerning the Mars-Pluto opposition which was exact on the 2nd, "What Happened To You Last Week?" Elsa wondered in her "Ask the Collective" post, "who else experienced a fundamental change at a core level?" I replied in a comment:

My 95-year-old mother passed away. Natally, I have a Scorpio Moon square Pluto in Leo. The transiting Mars-Pluto opposition was semi-square / sesquiquadrate the natal square. Additionally, my solar arc Mars was conjunct natal Pluto and square natal Moon within 10′ arc. Mars rules my 8th house. All in all very profound, eh? In a week or two, I may write a piece or two about it on my own blog. She died peacefully and had had a full and productive life.

Given that an astrologer's job is to translate the language of astrology in a meaningful way to people who are either unfamiliar or less familiar with astrological language, my comment left a thing or two to be desired. I did not explain the link between my mother's passing and the transit of the Mars-Pluto opposition semi-square and sesquiquadrate my natal Moon. Precisely because my mother had died just two days earlier, I really wasn't in the mood. (The Moon rules both our mothers and our moods.) Stating that my mother passed away did answer the question however. Her death was indeed a "fundamental change at a core level," not just for me, of course, but above all for her, and for everyone in my family: my sister, children, and grandchildren. To an astrologer the connection of the transit of the Mars-Pluto opposition to my natal Moon in Scorpio and the death of my mother would be obvious, especially considering that Mars in my natal chart rules my 8th house which itself rules death and my experience of death. Thus, at the time I felt that my comment would have to suffice, but now it's time to elaborate.

I confess I do still sometimes wonder, even after 14 years of serious study, if astrology really does work...or am I just "making" it work? It's times like these that repeatedly dispel my doubts, and really I should be over it by now. It works already!

First of all, before I start, is it appropriate to use the occasion of my mother's death for an astrological analysis? I only discussed my mother's chart with her on one occasion, fairly early in my studies. She was in her mid-80's at the time and still very mentally sharp. She was tickled to learn that teaching, learning, and education were strongly emphasized in her chart because she was a teacher and an avid reader and placed a very high value on education. That, in fact, is one of my earliest memories, being taught the importance of school, of learning to read and write. This is shown by her Venus-Jupiter conjunction in Sagittarius straddling the cusp of her 3rd house. Jupiter shows our ideals, what we believe to be of greatest importance, what we believe will help us grow and advance in life, and in what areas of life we have the greatest faith. My mother was both a perpetual student and a perpetual teacher, both represented by Sagittarius and Jupiter. She believed that education was the key to success, happiness, and security in life, and indeed for her it was. She received a Bachelor's degree in Education at age 20, and a Master's degree in Teaching at the age of 58 (around the time of her 2nd Saturn return which I am now presently undergoing myself), and she held numerous and varied teaching positions throughout her life right up until she retired circa age 65. Even as her dementia progressed while in her 90's, nothing summoned her to an activity at the nursing home as effectively as being told that they needed a teacher.

Venus represents what we love, what gives us pleasure. With Venus conjunct Jupiter in Sagittarius, learning and teaching were nothing less than a source of great joy for her. As I write this post, transiting Venus at 14:36 Sagittarius is applying to a conjunction to her natal Jupiter at 15:58 Jupiter, which is in return conjunct the 4th cusp of my own chart, i.e., its foundation, representative of the foundation of my entire life, and in particular, the habit patterns I learned from my family while growing up. Thus, I do feel I have her blessing, Jupiter, to publish, also Jupiter, a blog post about her life and death, especially if it advances my own knowledge and understanding about my favorite subject which in turn helps me to find meaning, also ruled by Jupiter, in life's events such as my own mother's death. If others find it helpful and informative, all the better.

She had Libra rising and thus could be very sociable and wanted to be well thought of. She was also, however, a Scorpio Sun, and thus a deeply private person too. I will strive to honor and respect both as I write subsequent blog posts about the Mars-Pluto opposition and her death.

Peace to you--Doreen

For Saturn in Virgo: A To-Do List Blog and Book

2007-09-07T09:25:00.000-05:00

When I encountered the world of personal blogs and subsequently started Key On Garden Door, a blog I discovered and particularly liked was To-Do List by Sasha Cagen. The blog and the upcoming book, To-Do List: From Buying Milk to Finding a Soul Mate, What Our Lists Reveal About Us, are out-growths of To-Do List Magazine. To-Do List, "a magazine of meaningful minutiae, uses the idea of a to-do list as a jumping off point for exploration into the details of modern living." (emphasis added) In her blog profile, Cagen, a writer and editor, describes herself as a to-do-list-ologist. Details, lists, minutiae, even editing, are all ruled by Virgo, and Ms. Cagen herself, by the way, is a Virgo.

Although I am tempted to say that these are no ordinary lists, I think that would be as unfair as calling them ordinary! They are creative and richly varied windows into lives: lists for mix tapes, vocabulary lists, happy thoughts, birthday wishes, job lists...the book contains 100 lists, and Cagen plans to continue to collect lists for her blog. Check out the book's publishing announcement re-printed in the blog for some highlights.

When I first happened upon To-Do List, the blog, Cagen was still collecting lists for the book which was due to be published in the fall of 2006. Apparently, it got delayed (Saturn) a time or two, probably a typical occurrence in the publishing world, because it is now coming out on this November 6. But of course...Saturn is now in Virgo. Imagine a to-do list book appearing in bookstores when Saturn is in Leo, yet that is when the creative work for the book was going on.

In astrology we study natal charts, charts of births, be they of people, countries, cities, businesses, books, or events. However, all these entities have conceptions and gestation periods. No birth exists in a vacuum. Each birth is preceded by creative effort and each birth results in the unfolding of a life across days, weeks, months, and years. For the next two years all births will have among their characteristics the qualities of Saturn in Virgo, among them a focused attention to detail, trivia, minutiae, organization, daily habits, and yes, lists to manage them all.

Peace to you--Doreen

To-Do List Management

2007-09-06T09:25:00.000-05:00

To-Do List Management...does that sound a little Saturn in Virgo-ish?

I have Virgo rising and Saturn in Virgo--that would be my second Saturn return coming up, the asteroid Hygeia in Virgo--that would be another blog post, and my secondary progressed Sun in Virgo. So, all summer, I have actually been eagerly awaiting Saturn's entrance into Virgo. I might have a different take on that in a few months, but for now I greet it like a cold compress on a hot forehead. Yes, I seek clarity after a year of Saturn in Leo opposite Neptune hovering on the cusps of my 6th and 12th houses. Did that last only a year? It seems like a decade, and it has left me with a bit of sorting out to do in more ways than one.

My Virgo Ascendant is complicated by Mercury, Gemini, and the Midheaven all in Gemini. When I say complicated, I mean all that information-gathering Gemini including Mercury the ruler of my whole chart, challenges the Virgo need for order. When I started studying astrology, one of the first things I learned about Virgo, is that there are two types--outwardly at any rate--the tidy ones and the messy ones. The Virgo drive is to analyze and and then to perfect. The process of analysis both requires and results in order. The messiness comes about when "the Virgo" (Virgo Sun, Virgo Moon, Virgo Ascendant, or some other combination resulting in a strong Virgo emphasis) is so focused on analyzing, perfecting, and thereby tidying some particular focus of her interest that she does not have the time, or even the desire, to keep anything else in order. Often the order is internal. The mind is tidy, but the outer world is in disorder. It's the person whose desk at work is piled high with stacks of paper, for all appearances a chaotic mess, but whose mind is completely wrapped around his current project. Ask him a question about the project, and he can not only nail it but he can put his hand right on THE piece of paper--amidst all those stacks and piles--that will tell you all about it.

I am, indeed, a great deal like that as anyone who has worked with me can attest. The Gemini emphasis in my chart exacerbates it because I am ever curious always wanting to learn something new and forever starting a new study project, Mercury conjunct Mars in Gemini. A friend who has never been in my home said he envisioned stacks of books and magazines. Yes, that is accurate. I do not always file and organize the results of the last project before starting the next one. However, the current project is always in order, notebooks, dividers, indexes, to-do lists, schedules, target dates, Excel spreadsheets, Word tables. Most impressive. But there is always some area of my life or living space that is, well, quite messy, because I simply do not have the time or the inclination to clean it up. Until, of course, it gets to be too much for my Virgo Ascendant and Saturn. Then there will by tidying, at least enough to restore a sense of order.

About a year ago, I resolved to finish the astrology correspondence course I started many years ago, but I really didn't dig in and get to work on it until earlier this year. Exploring Astrology by Carole Devine. I've written about it elsewhere on this blog, here and here. Since then, until last week, I've been immersed in it. I reviewed the first two semesters, both finished back in the late 1990's and the better part of the third. Then I wrapped up Semester 3 last May by writing the final exam and dove into the fourth, which I finished--a big Whoo Hoo! and a Ta! Da!--last week. I just got my certificate from Carole on Tuesday. I think the internal drive to finish is connected to my upcoming--very soon--second Saturn return and that lunar eclipse which gave me the final push, but that too is another story. The drive to finish and the total immersion, however, left other parts of my life in the typical state of neglect when I am absorbed in a project.

This all brings me to "To-Do List Management." Since finishing the course, I've been looking around at my physical space, my internal world, and my future...what's next? Let it suffice to say, there's work to be done. Yes, I need clarity, and a great deal of it will have to come from me. The first task was to gather up variously located and scattered pieces of paper that contained completed, partially completed, and "not at all" completed to-do lists and to set about the business of consolidating them. I immediately recognized a need for multiple lists: massage therapy, astrology, apartment cleaning and organizing, and there are sub-categories. Under "apartment cleaning and organizing," there's the kitchen, the office, etc. Thus, I quickly recognized the need for a master list, a list of to-do lists, and the need to keep them all together, in one place, no scattered pieces of paper. Then there's the "daily" to-do list, comprised of the highest priority tasks from the major categories. Ah yes, Saturn has arrived in Virgo.

Enough of blogging and on to today's list!

Peace to you--Doreen

The Thinking Blogger's Meme

2007-07-29T14:15:00.000-05:00

1. If and only if you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think.

2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of this meme.

What with my work on the Exploring Astrology course and final exam and the fact that what time I spend reading blogs is usually in the astroblogosphere, I haven't visited any of these much lately, but in writing this I've come to realize how much I miss them, so I'm making a resolution to visit each of these at least once per week. These blogs do more than just make me think. They nourish me, each in a different way. I have a 10th house Cancer Sun and no matter what I end up a doing for a living, I always find myself nurturing and nourishing others. Reading these blogs nurtures and nourishes me. So maybe I should be writing this for the Nurturing Blogger's Meme? But I think and write better when I'm nourished, body, mind, heart, and soul.

Life in LA by Claire Bidwell Smith, an exquisitely gifted and insightful writer and a resilient and brilliant young woman. In 2003, the Sydney Morning Herald named her original Life in LA one of the best blogs in the world. She's just finished her first book, a memoir, and she not only blogs about the experience of writing her first book, she shares it along the way. If you download Quicktime, you can listen to her read excerpts. Start with her "About Me" page and dive in.
Kent Nerburn I discovered Kent Nerburn a few years ago when I read his book Make Me An Instrument of Your Peace. Each chapter is a reflection on one line of the Saint Francis Prayer. Calm Surrender: Walking the Path of Forgiveness is especially apropos for those of us with hard aspects from Pluto to the Moon or challenged Scorpio or 8th house signatures. The link is to his blog.
Trail Journals This is not a blog, but a collection of journals by those hardy souls who hike the really long trails, like the Pacific Crest Trail, 2650 miles from Mexico to Canada through California, Oregon, and Washington; or the Continental Divide Trail, 3100 miles through Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico; the well-known Appalachian Trail, 2175 miles from Maine to Georgia; or the coast-to-coast 6800 mile American Discovery Trail through 15 states. Some day-hike, some section hike, and some thru-hike, yes the whole enchilada in one long several month-long hike. Again, I'm a Cancer, a couch potato, an "armchair traveler." But I know of a Cancer Sun thru-hiker who has Aries rising, a strong 3rd house Mars, and a Sagittarius Moon. Does that say "long distance hiker" or what? We humans are such an incredibly varied lot. I like to learn about people and explore ideas and aspects of life and ways of living that are very different from my own comfort zone. That's why these journals make me think and broaden my horizons as an astrologer. Every time I learn something new about the way we humans live, I add to my own internal astrological thesaurus/dictionary/encyclopedia. Oh, and the best part of these journals? The photos. Sometimes I just look at the pictures.
The Reiki Digest by Janet Dagley Dagley - I had the privilege of meeting Janet last year in a Reiki Class given by Frans Stiene of the International House of Reiki. Via the digest Janet, a self-described Reiki addict, combines her experience as a journalist and her passion for Reiki. The sub-title of her digest is "A regular roundup of news about Reiki from around the world," and she's true to her word. Reiki people can be a tad oh........"cliquish" sometimes, but not Janet's Reiki Digest. She makes me think and nourishes me at the same time. Back on November 1, 2006, she wrote about our "cookie" lesson from Frans Stiene, which I think has food for thought for astrologers as well. Janet distills Frans' instruction this way, "When you give someone Reiki, you're offering it to them, not stuffing it into them." Have you ever tried to stuff astrological advice into someone? I have. I regret it, but I've been guilty. I think it's a temptation to which Cancerian-mother types are especially prone.
78 Notes to Self: A Tarot Journal by Ginny Hunt - I'm not much of Tarot reader not having learned much beyond the basic symbolism of the Major Arcana cards. But I wannabe. Ginny's blog is a rich, multi-leveled resource, an "everything you want to know" about the Tarot, a veritable encyclopedia. The depth and breadth of her experience and knowledge make reading her blog a rich, rewarding, and yes, thought-provoking experience. Although I especially like her series on the Tarot Court, in this post, Minor Majors and Major Minors, her expertise is especially evident.

Now what's the protocol for tagging?

How about....

Pat Paquette at The Pisces Chronicles

and, Twilight at Learning Curve on the Ecliptic.

My apologies to you ladies if you have already been tagged for this meme. I didn't find that you have but could have missed it.

Thank you again for tagging me Wendy. I have enjoyed re-discovering these blogs and writing this post.

Peace to you--Doreen

P.S. For a little bit of heaven, check out the labyrinth at Gratefulness.org.

Tagged!

2007-07-28T23:31:00.000-05:00

I just discovered that I've been tagged, umm, about 10 days ago. Thanks Wendy! I think... :-) I'll work on this. It's going to take me a couple of days to work it out. Somehow I think the hardest part is going to be finding someone to tag who hasn't been already!

I never have posted on this blog as much as I'd intended when I started it. I'm thinking I'd really love to post two or three times a week. But I've been immersed in another project for the last few months. Thirteen years ago, in 1994, I started a correspondence course, Exploring Astrology by Carole Devine. Right now her website is undergoing a rehab and it's down to so I'll link to it another time. When I started the course, I was working full-time at a software company in the Chicago suburbs and commuting 90 miles--one way. But I listened to the Semester One tapes in the car, and listened to the Semester One tapes and listened to the Semester One tapes. If I remember right (ha!), there were over 30 of them. What with the commuting time, there wasn't much opportunity to actually work on the homework. Transiting Jupiter was in my 3rd house, a lot of driving and a lot of learning. I was soaking it up, but I wasn't applying it...yet, except in my head.

Semester One (of four) was the nuts and bolts of astrology, of course. Signs, planets, houses, aspects and beginning interpretation. And all the math to erect a chart thankfully because I didn't have my own computer back then.

Finally, in April of 1994, I sold my house in my hometown and bought a house closer to work in May. I buckled down and did the the homework and had my adventure with O. J. Simpson's chart in June. That was the first time I tried to make heads or tails of a chart--cold--on my own. I wrote about that here in the blog a few months ago.

Over the next few months I studied and did homework on the weekends and finally completed the first semester in January, 1995 about 10 months after I started. So, I figured one semester a year was reasonable given my work load at the software company, and I'd easily have completed all four semesters by my 50th birthday in 1999. Yeah, right.

Although I dived right into Semester Two and eventually Semester Three, little did I know the extent to which my studies would be interrupted in the late 1990's. I had a little karmic business to attend to when my secondary progressed Sun conjoined my natal 12th house Saturn, at 02:45 Virgo to be precise (well it is Virgo!) Sound familiar? Close to a recent Venus station? Venus rules my 9th house...education!

So, what I've been working on lately is Semester Four and the final exam for the entire course. Right now I'm working on a paper interpreting the chart of a rather difficult fellow born on April 20, 1889 in Branau am Inn, Austria, with Saturn in Leo in the 10th house.

I'll be back in a day or two with the The Thinking Bloggers' Meme...really.

Peace to you--Doreen