Midlife Transits

Note: I originally posted this over 3 years ago, in August 2009. It’s even more timely now. It’s taken quite awhile but the backlash from Pluto in Capricorn has begun to take hold. Generally, in a contest between two planets, the planet furthest out wins. In this case, that would be Pluto.

If I were Uranus, I’d be looking over my shoulder right now, as the slow crunch of Pluto’s boots inexorably draws near. Pluto doesn’t approve of Uranus’s attitude toward guns, for reasons that are probably clear given the recent tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut. Once Pluto gets going, he usually doesn’t stop until something significant changes. Uranus may be wondering if he might have gone just a little bit too far this time. It’s not likely that Uranus in Aries will win this fight over guns.

From August 18, 2009:
I was sitting there wondering why I keep seeing stuff on gun rights in the news. Just today I saw something on people openly bringing guns to Obama town halls, apparently with the idea of encouraging other people to display their guns as a statement about the freedom to bear arms in the US.

And then it struck me: Uranus in Aries. Aries is the ruler of Mars. Mars is the gun lover among the planets. Mars loves pretty much any type of weapon, being the warrior planet, so of course he has a soft spot for guns.

Uranus is the planet of freedom. Aries is also a sign that puts a big fat emphasis on individual rights.

So…since the influence of outer planet changes usually shows up well before the change actually occurs (Uranus doesn’t actually dip his toes into Aries water until next year), does this mean we are going to get 7 years of people in the US making a big deal about their personal freedoms and liberty to own, carry, and use weapons? (Uranus transits a sign for about 7 years).

Could be. I wouldn’t count it out, especially since this is a recurring topic of controversy in the US. The Supreme Court will probably be hearing more cases on the issue in the next 7 years. The whole notion of gun rights will probably be before the American people on a more frequent basis in the years to come.

This sounds like a good deal for gun enthusiasts, what with Uranus finally stepping up to be their advocate. On the other hand, Uranus will spend a fair amount of its transit through Aries locked in combat with Saturn in Libra and Pluto in Capricorn. Which signals that things will not get any less controversial, and that Uranus will meet some stiff resistance to his ideals of freedom.

What I worry about is Uranus’s volatility and the Aries propensity toward violence. It may not be just gun freedoms that come into play, but the hazards of gun violence. Already someone in Pennsylvania killed a few people just in anticipation that someone would eventually try to take his gun away. Uranus may be smart (and he usually is), but he is neither calm nor rational in many cases. Aries is impulsive and frequently angry, at least when he gets involved in politics and world events.

These could be exciting times for the NRA, but everyone else may want to consider running for cover.

Earthquakes in Japan! Nuclear crisis! Revolution in Egypt! War in Libya! Capture of Osama bin Laden! Shootout in Tucson! Union protests in Wisconsin! Flooding Mississippi!

The past several months have seen more than their share of big news events. What is going on?

In this week’s podcast, we tackle some of the astrological symbolism behind world news today.

Some of the topics addressed include:

Can astrology predict earthquakes?
Why 2011 might be more rocky than the so-called doomsday year of 2012
Global structural reform
What does the Uranus square Pluto configuration mean to you?
Egypt, Libya & the Middle East
Union-busting in Wisconsin
The symbolism of the Japanese nuclear crisis
and more….

The guest is Scott Wolfram, an evolutionary astrologer and relocation specialist.

We’re living in interesting times. Learn a little bit more about them.

I said in this week’s podcast that the post-Christmas week would be pretty crazy and boy is it, at least for anyone traveling in the Northeast US. In fact, people all over the world have been stuck, stranded, inconvenienced and trapped by weather lately. Floods in Australia, chaos at Russian airports. Not to mention many parts of the US blizzardized and the western US soaked and mudslided. An amazing number of people have been affected.

I’m blaming Jupiter conjunct Uranus, not to mention eclipses and Mercury Rx adding to the general confusion. You may know that Jupiter is a patron planet of travel, but did you know that he is also associated with the weather?

Now that he’s hugging Uranus in a tight embrace into January 2010, he’s expressing himself in a number of weather related ways. Pisces is a water sign so he’s enlarging the general disruption (Uranus) that precipitation can bring. In Pisces, Jupiter also loves chaos, and I suppose travel chaos would be a specialty for him. Uranus is the crazy planet, and with Jupiter at his side, it’s just really crazy. True to Jupiter form, the wackiness hasn’t really been lethal, but it sure has been forcing people to slow down when they weren’t expecting to.

Knowing that this would be a week when we’d be forced to slow down, like it or not, this week’s podcast is all about The Art of Slowing Down. My guest, Edward Yu, wrote a book on that very topic and he describes a phenomenon wherein learning can be instantaneous when we slow down enough. Pretty darn intriguing. And very Jupiter/Uranus–because they’re all about insight and instantaneous learning–even if they have to disrupt our patterns to make it possible.

Saturn

Saturn got right to work following his return to Libra, mixing it up with his foes Pluto in Capricorn and Uranus in Aries. First, he decided to co-sponsor Glenn Beck’s Rally to Restore Honor on August 28, 2010. He teamed up with Uranus in Pisces to take advantage of Uranus moving briefly out of volatile Aries. He decided to lend his support to Mr. Beck in order to get out his message that honor is a good thing (Saturn loves honor) and was gracious enough to share the platform with Uranus in Pisces’s message about the importance of religious, particularly Christian, faith. Pisces happens to be the sign of Christianity.

Saturn’s only requirement was that Beck’s rally remain relatively friendly and non-political in tone, even if otherwise volatile political figures such as Sarah Palin were involved. Somehow, he managed to use his Libra persuasiveness to keep the rally on track, probably much to the disappointment of Pluto in Capricorn and Uranus in Aries, who were hoping for more controversy and outrageously extreme shenanigans.

Now, Saturn is using his current Libran temperament to show an unexpected side of himself: a sense of humor and wit. He’s gotten behind Jon Stewart’s Rally to Restore Sanity on October 30, 2010. He’s even gotten behind Stewart’s buddy Stephen Colbert to help sponsor Colbert’s competing faux rally, March to Keep Fear Alive.

In an exclusive interview, Saturn weighs in on his latest ventures on to the Washington Mall:

Did you ever think you’d be working with Jon Stewart, a comedian and purveyor of fake news? Fake isn’t normally your style and neither is comedy.

Well, it was out of the question when I was in Virgo. My schedule was packed with doom and gloom during those days. But now I’m in Libra, and I thought it would be a good time to show off my dry humor. People forget that Libra is a witty sign. And Jon & I really connected on what the core message should be. By the way, he’s a Sagittarian and actually very honest. Not fake at all. Outspoken, but truthful in his own way.

What’s the message?

Well, he agreed to promote all my core virtues: moderation, reason, sanity, talking through disagreements with civility. I like the slogan “take it down a notch for America.” I’m trying to get everyone to take it down a notch these days and it’s rough going. I thought this would be a fun and effective way to make a statement. I’m getting really tired of those Hitler signs and Jon & I were on the same page about that.

We have humble goals, and I like that, too. I’m a humble guy at heart, but I have a duty to do my best to put forward a point of view that’s being drowned out by the extremism of Pluto and the, excuse my language, insanity of Uranus in Aries. We gotta do something. It’s a real problem. I always say that, but I mean it. So even if we don’t get a big crowd, it’s a worthy effort.

You’re sponsoring Stephen Colbert’s competing March to Keep Fear Alive, why’s that?

Well, I’m the official planetary sponsor of fear, so you know, it was a no-brainer!

Seriously, though, I’m hardly ever in a sign where I get to make fun of myself in a dignified way. I’ve worked with Stephen on honoring our troops and a few other things, and he’s a good guy. So I agreed to a little teasing for a good cause. And really, this is the perfect time to do it, because Pluto’s taken over my natural sign, Capricorn, and pushed the fear thing way to an extreme. And I’m not about extremes, you know? I’m about realism and caution, but I’m not one to go off the deep end. So Stephen will help me take a few digs at Pluto, and Jon will help me take a few digs at Uranus in Aries. I don’t have the drama quotient that those two bullying planets do (excuse my language, I have great respect for both of them, I just disagree, no offense intended), so I’ll take any exposure I can get. And it’s, you know, it’s good to stretch myself, lighten up a little, kind of slip the message in. We really need the message!

Glenn Beck and Jon Stewart are usually thought to be on the opposite sides of the political spectrum. Why did you agree to work with both? In fact, some people would call both of them extreme in their views and that seems counter to your message.

No, no, that is the message. We can work together. I’m non-partisan. I can work with everyone. If people will just give me a chance, we can actually solve some problems, little by little. You know, you may have extreme feelings, but if you can be polite for a day, we have a chance. Maybe 2 people disagree, but maybe both have something to offer. If we can refrain from attacking each other, we have a chance. That’s my message. I’m really very serious about it.

Even with our differences, we agree on a lot of things. My job is to help us realize that, maybe help us figure out what we agree on, so we can counter some of those extreme influences that are out there. These rallies aren’t… they’re modest, but it’s a start and I intend to keep working on this for the next couple of years.

Good luck. Thanks for talking with us.

Thank you for helping me get the word out.

It’s Mars in Scorpio time and in honor, this week’s podcast is on acupuncture and astrology. Mars in Scorpio is the placement mostly closely correlated with acupuncture in my unscientific experience. If you’ve thought about trying acupuncture, this transit (through October 27, 2010) is a good time. Mars is sharp objects such as acupuncture needles and Scorpio is healing or regeneration.

I found the conversation with acupuncturist Fernando Escobar to be fascinating, even though I’ve already had acupuncture treatments in the past. I had no idea just how Scorpionic the treatment is in terms of its ability to get at past traumas for deep healing. I also found out that Traditional Chinese Medicine isn’t all that traditional, and that classical approaches to acupuncture are more holistic. I was also surprised at how much training is required and by the wide range of things acupuncture can be used to treat.

There’s also a segment at the end that talks about whether or not you’re a good astrological candidate for acupuncture.

I want to draw your attention to this week’s podcast because it features an interview with Jude Cowell. You may know of her from her gorgeous artwork (featured at Secret Moon Art and at Zazzle) but you may also know her as a prolific blogger on politics and current events. She blogs at Stars Over Washington and has been posting  lots of interesting material on a range of subjects from the BP oil spill to the recent Afghan war WikiLeaks material and lots of stuff in between.

In the interview, Jude talks about how she got started, how she approaches political astrology, some of the history of mundane astrology, which US chart she uses and more. She’s a fascinating guest, and I hope you’ll listen to her. You can find the podcast here: http://webtalkradio.net/shows/practical-astrology/

Someone recently asked me if I knew how inaccurate astrology was. She asserted that the planets had changed their orbits and that therefore astrology must be wrong.

This was a bit of an ironic assertion in that the planets have not significantly changed their orbits. So she was claiming that astrology was inaccurate based on her own inaccurate understanding of astronomy.

But let’s straighten this out. What has changed is the apparent position of the constellations of the zodiac as seen from the earth at any given time of the year. The constellations themselves haven’t changed. What’s actually changed is the earth’s axis of rotation. It wobbles. This causes very slow but cumulative changes in the backdrop of stars that can be seen from the earth at a given time, such as at an equinox.

Put bluntly and perhaps simplistically, if you were to stand in the same place at the spring equinox every year for approximately 25,765 years and note the backdrop of the constellations every single year during that time period–it would look as though the constellations moved backward, little by little, until they returned to the place they started. After a couple of thousand years, give or take, the Pisces constellation would appear to be where Aries was when you started. Then Aquarius would appear to be there. Then Capricorn. And so on.

Astrologers are not unaware of this. That’s why you’ll hear talk of things like the ‘Age of Aquarius.’ The Age of Aquarius is intended to designate the time period when the Aquarius constellation appears where the Aries constellation appeared in antiquity.

But this discussion masks a more profound misunderstanding about astrology that creeps into the thoughts of people who don’t know very much about astrology and even some who do. So I’ll say this flatly: astrology is not astronomy.

There are all kinds of understandable reasons why people might get the impression that it is: but it isn’t. Sometimes it amazes me how supposedly educated people can question astrology on this basis. There’s a relatively famous list of “embarrassing” questions posed to astrologers by astronomer Andrew Fraknoi. According to a website bio, Fraknoi was educated at Harvard and UC Berkeley, although he apparently does not have a doctorate, as he is not referred to as ‘Dr.’ Fraknoi. Still, Harvard and Berkeley are prestigious educational institutions, so presumably Fraknoi is educated enough to know that the basic terminology of astrology is physically incorrect.

The sun is never ‘in’ Sagittarius. Sagittarius is the name given to a group of stars that are a long way away. The sun can never get anywhere near these stars in a physical sense. If there was something magical in the space between these stars, the sun would never get close enough to find out about it. No planet is ever ‘in’ a constellation; the planet remains right where it’s always been–in the solar system.

To move astrology even further from astronomy, the constellations are ragged, messy affairs. Their beginnings and endings are a tad ambiguous. The astrological signs, however, are neat little 30 degree wedges. To some extent, it is fair to say the signs are arbitrary little wedges of space. They are named after constellations, but do not in any accurate way reflect the actual makeup of the stars in the ecliptic (the band in the sky across which the planets seem to travel).

Maybe astronomers forget that astrology doesn’t even make a pretense of astronomical accuracy because they tend to use the same misleading terminology–advising skywatchers, for example, that Venus is ‘in’ Capricorn, even though it’s ‘in’ the solar system and only appears against a backdrop given the standardized name the constellation of Capricorn.

If astrologers were use to precise terminology, they would say something more tedious than they usually do. Something like: “During this period, Jupiter, as plotted against a schematic and standardized map of the ecliptic, will be appearing within the 30 degree range of that map traditionally designated by astrologers as the sign of Aries.” Astrologically, it doesn’t matter what actual star names appear behind Jupiter when you look at the night sky. Aries is a name given, by tradition, to a designated piece of a map used in an ancient tradition known as Western astrology. The apparent position of the constellations has moved over the last few thousand years–the signs haven’t.

This is astrology’s right. There is no law that says the signs have to correspond with the constellations or with anything else in astronomy for that matter. Because astrology is not astronomy.

If astronomers, skeptics, or even believers think that astrology derives its basis from ‘magic rays’ emanating from the constellations, the planets, or anything else in the sky, then I suppose this is alarming and confusing information. I suppose such a person could think “you astrologers said the magic rays were coming from the constellation Pisces and beaming on to the planet Venus because the magic Pisces rays hit Venus when it looks like Venus is ‘in’ the constellation of Pisces, but actually Venus is ‘in’ the constellation of Capricorn, so isn’t it getting magic rays from the stars in the constellation Capricorn now? Oh my god.”

A part of me thinks that the above reasoning is slightly insane, but it does appear to be what many skeptics think astrology is all about. Magic rays. For the record, there are no known magic rays coming from any celestial body. No magic rays.

Instead, it appears that the approximate (repeat: approximate) apparent orbital periods of the various solar system planets and the apparent motion of the sun and moon, as well as some other non-planetary bodies and even imaginary points provide a very handy timing device for measuring the duration of various cycles in human affairs. No one really knows why, but a number of cultures have figured this out. The ‘stars’ or objects in the sky follow a predictable and regular mathematical pattern. This makes it very easy for human beings to note events against a standardized system of measuring time.

Different cultures (e.g., Mayan, Inca, Egyptian, Hindu, Chinese) use somewhat different cycles  and measure somewhat different types of events. But all cultures with an astrological system simply figured out that the the predictable nature of celestial events allowed for standardized record-keeping in terms of cycles. It’s the standardization of measurement that underlies the ‘magic’ of astrology rather than any mystical ‘rays.’

There probably is some deep-rooted reason why the cycles of human affairs seem to approximately mimic the cycles of natural affairs, such as the apparent movement of bodies and mathematical points in the sky. Perhaps there is an element of magic or more precisely of wonder inherent in contemplating such relationships. I personally find it more  accurate and more fulfilling to put the question of how such relationships can be apparent in the category of ‘unknown but beautiful to behold’ rather than ‘scientifically impossible’ or ‘scientifically plausible.’

But you can put the idea in whatever category you want as far as I’m concerned. As long as you remember that astrology is not astronomy and that I already know that.

“Fear is afoot everywhere, and polarization prevails. Faith in institutions – corporations, government, the media – is down. Americans are angry, and they long ago grew accustomed to expecting the resolution of problems in very short order, even if reality rarely works that way.”
–From an AP story on the oil spill, dated May 30, 2010

BP Oil Spill, Part 2: In which we learn that yelling at someone to do something does not actually get something done.

The BP oil leak catastrophe started under the astrological influence of Pisces and Virgo. On May 27, Uranus moved into Aries and astrological phase 2 began. By June 6, Jupiter had also moved into Aries for a conjunction with Uranus. This shift was good in the sense that getting Uranus and Jupiter out of the sign ruling oil coincided with BP finally being able to contain some of the leak. On the other hand, Jupiter hadn’t stopped making the size of the leak bigger, at least officially. As of this writing, the official estimates of the leak size have ballooned enormously, taking an incomprehensible disaster and making it an enormously incomprehensible disaster.

The other thing the Aries energy has done is present a stark case for the ineffectiveness of yelling. Although the leak technically began under Pisces influence, Aries anger was butting up against this situation from the beginning. Aries is a cardinal sign, and cardinal signs feel entitled, maybe even obligated, to tell other people what to do. Pluto in Capricorn has cardinal energy too.

So the cardinal energy trotted into action when it got wind of this disaster, following its primal orders, and promptly learned what the clash of cardinal energy accomplishes. Nothing.

The President of the United States got angry and supposedly told BP to just ‘plug the damn hole.’ It turned out that when the purportedly most powerful man in the world yells at a corporation to do something, that doesn’t mean it gets done.

That little burst of presidential temper was only the beginning of the yelling, though. The public has yelled at BP. The public has yelled at the government. The government has yelled at the government. BP has yelled at journalists to get out. The government has yelled at journalists to get out. Journalists have channeled the yelling of others into various media outlets to feed it back to BP and the government. Commentators have called this a war. Ordinary people have yelled about the situation to no one in particular. Individuals gather on Facebook to yell or post videos of themselves on YouTube to yell. Congresspeople have yelled at whoever they can think of to yell at and will be hauling in more BP people to yell at momentarily.

Everybody’s the boss and no one’s in charge. Literally. There are swarms of government agencies and BP divisions and local government representatives swirling around the affected areas and all of them, apparently, have the power to block action, to pull the boss card. And no one’s in charge.

Getting things done takes cooperation. This is what Aries and Capricorn energies forget, in their mania for taking charge of things they can’t control.Too many bosses spoil anything.

Meanwhile, Jupiter in Aries energy brings out multitudes of enterprising individuals who want to be helpful. That’s the good part of Aries. It takes the initiative. It wants to help. Uranus in Aries brings forth all kinds of people with innovative and creative technical solutions to offer, some of them probably Uranian crazy, but all of them clamoring for attention. And yet these people get nowhere but on a fast train to Frustrationville as overwhelming corporate and government power try clamp the Plutonian lid on all that uncontrolled energy.

The astrological themes jostle against each other like symbols playing bumper cars. Pluto: power,  control, secrecy, wealth, conspiracies, resources, the underworld, cynicism. Capricorn: corporations, government, fear, delays, bureaucracy, reality, problems, bossiness, stonewalling. Aries: anger, initiative, drive, bossiness, energy, impulsiveness, hurry, impatience, individuals. Uranus: speed, technology, disruption, innovation, mass media, creativity, shortcuts, revolution, protests, the people en masse. Jupiter: generosity, expansion, optimism, catalyst. Squares: frustration, obstacles, problems, polarization, action.

It’s as if the universe threw a bunch of competing energies in a pot and gave them no one way to do anything but boil over.

That’s in the public arena, but I see this all around me in the lives of ordinary people. The impulse to tell other people what they ought to be doing is strong. The remembrance that telling other people what to do does not make them do it is not as strong. Frustration ensues. It seems clear what ought to be done, but no one else is playing along nicely. In our own lives, it can get easy to be at loggerheads and therefore in a logjam. The good news in all this is that it sometimes takes a logjam to get a person to become ready and willing to deal with underlying problems.

The bad news is that almost no one likes a logjam. It’s not fun to have planets challenge Pluto and point out to us that what we think we ought to have under control–isn’t necessarily something that we actually can control. It’s a wake-up call that other people have their own agendas, and their agendas count too. Aries is a sign that likes to think it’s right about everything. When Aries planets are under assault, we learn that thinking we are right is not exactly the same thing as actually being right.

As July gets going, Jupiter in Aries and Pluto in Capricorn will officially square off. By the 3rd week of July, Saturn will officially enter Libra and start playing the cooperation card. It’s scheduled to get mighty ticked at all the people who won’t sit down, shut up, and listen for a second. It will try to put the brakes on spontaneous anger as it opposes Uranus in Aries and then in August briefly squares Pluto. Saturn will have his work cut out for him, and there’s little to no chance he’ll be able to calm everyone down. But perhaps it’s important he try.

By late August, the dispute energy will slowly start to recede. Perhaps it’s a coincidence that all along the prediction has been that the oil leak won’t really be plugged until August. In the meantime, we’re all going to have to remember to breathe. Personally and collectively, we’ve been through stuff before. We’ll get through this. It may take us awhile to sort through what we learn, but we will get through it.

And in the end, we’ll all hopefully come out a little wiser.

“How did we get into this mess?”

That’s the question a friend asked me the other day, and it’s a question that’s generally applicable to astrology of this summer. Most of the outer planets seem to be asking, with something greater than exasperation, ‘how the bleep did we get into this mess?’ Although the Gulf oil spill is the largest and most visible symbol of the disarray in the skies, many of us have felt the energy in personal ways. Let’s take a look at what’s been happening using the BP oil leak as a guide.

On April 20, 2010 an oil rig known as the Deepwater Horizon located in the Gulf of Mexico exploded. At the time, Uranus in Pisces was opposing Saturn in Virgo. Neptune was lurking about in an inconjunct with Saturn. Jupiter in Pisces was hovering near Uranus, ready to pounce. Pluto in Capricorn was stationed ominously in a wide out of sign square to both Uranus and Saturn.

In the symbolic language of astrology, the events that followed have tragically been almost literal at times.  Uranus is Mr. Explosion, especially when he’s in a bad mood with other outer planets, as he was at the time. Hem in Uranus with constricting energies from other planets and all hell breaks loose. Uranus was in the sign of oil and the sign of the sea. Oil-related explosion at sea. Pretty literal.

Saturn is Mr. Safety and Mr. Let’s Do Things Carefully. In Virgo, he was in a sign related to workers, the environment and environmental regulation. Uranus beats Saturn in a fair fight, and even in an unfair fight. Uranus’s oil-related explosion at sea annihilated Saturn’s relatively weaker efforts to safeguard workers, the environment, to champion prudence and doing things right.

Uranus also relates to speed and technology. Pisces is also the sign of chaos, uncertainty, and ‘we don’t know what the hell we are doing.’ Saturn also relates to cost-cutting, delays, slowness, old ways of doing things, and the desire for order and procedure. BP’s demands for speedy drilling, combined with cost-cutting efforts, previous delays, and new technology for deep water drilling collided to create a swirling marine nightmare of chaos, uncertainty, and environmental degradation mixed with a desperate desire to get control of the leak using Saturn’s old-fashioned methods of procedure. Saturn’s reliance on precision Virgo-like engineering efforts was no match for Uranus’s burbling, gurgling torrent of oil spilling from underground.

In the stark mathematics of the universe at the time, the raw energy of chaos beat the pants off little ant-like human efforts to contain it. BP and everyone else responding to the disaster were in over their heads, not knowing what the hell they were doing, having unleashed a Pandora’s box of forces they were unable to control.

Neptune in Aquarius, the planet also associated with the sea and oil, in an unsupportive angle to Saturn, stood off to the side and said ‘I told you so. I told you were placing too much faith (Neptune) in new technology (Aquarius) for deep water drilling.’ Jupiter, the Great Expander, also in the sign of oil and the sea, piled on to make the disaster bigger and bigger and bigger with every passing day, vowing to continue until everyone got the message that things were out of control.

Pluto in Capricorn, symbol of wealth, corporations, and the riches of the deep, anchors the situation from his square position off to the side of the disaster, saying nothing. He doesn’t have to say anything. In Pluto’s world, the rules are obvious and brutal. You reap what you sow. Screw up and pay the price.

No one can accept this really, at least not quickly. The price is too high, too unexpected, too lingering. Pluto lessons are hard to absorb, and with Uranus and Jupiter upping the emotional ante, the hubbub surrounding the chaos makes it hard to identify reality. Even the size of the leak remained elusive, slippery, uncertain.

It would be way too much of a stretch to say that each individual one of us is in the same position with the regard to the universe–battling chaos, uncertainty, misplaced faith, and forces beyond our control. Not every single individual is saying ‘how did we/I get into this mess?’ But collectively, we are in a mess. Collectively, we have gotten in over our heads.

Collectively, we don’t know what we are doing. At the time of the initial explosions, no one in the entire world actually knew how to stop that gusher in a timely manner. No one.

We had pushed beyond our Saturn limits into uncharted territory.

Uranus and Pluto and Jupiter and Neptune and Saturn don’t line themselves up for disaster just for their own amusement, although it may seem that way at the time. They align themselves these ways because the alignments simply reflect the truth. If you get in over your head, unleash forces you don’t understand how to harness, you will experience harrowing consequences. The alignments bring to our attention the times when we have to up our game.

The simple truth, I suppose, is that we got into this mess as a result of choices we made earlier. BP is paying for its choices. The government is paying for its choices. All of us are paying for our long-standing choices to favor new oil exploration and technology over boring old things like conservation and reduced consumption. And sort of like a rogue wave, Uranus’s ocean explosion is sweeping up and destroying a lot of people along the Gulf who are victims of circumstances they can’t control. These alignments are like that. They are absolutely, positively not fair.

On the other hand, these alignments also represent turning points and tipping points. Painfully and slowly, we get the message. We figure out that we have to do better. We stop putting up with problems that we should have addressed long ago. The tide turns. We go in a new direction because we have to. We stop letting Uranus in Pisces kick our collective butts and we eventually get to work, building a better system.

That’s the idea anyway. Let’s hope it happens.

Uranus in Aries is a very dynamic energy; quite different in character from Uranus in Pisces, which wobbled along uncertainly causing various upsets. Uranus in Aries will charge ahead very certainly, causing various upsets, but bringing with it plenty of spunk and the potential for some quite effective action in your life. Uranus in Aries has so much energy and so much action potential that various other planets will get alarmed at various points during its transit of the sign and attempt to stop it. Pluto in Capricorn will throw up some mighty resistance; Saturn in Libra will beg it to stop and consider the consequences of its actions, and every other planet that enters a cardinal sign will whine and complain or shudder in horror. On the other hand, Jupiter in Aries will make its effects even bigger.

Some of this interplanetary conflict and expansion will affect you at various points; some of it will pass without a blip on your screen. But the interplanetary vibes are not our subject today. Our subject today is what Uranus in Aries can do for you when he’s in a good mood and unleashed. On his first go-round, Uranus will only rush into Aries and back out again over the course of about 11 weeks. He’ll really only settle in for an extended stay in Aries  (about 7 years is Uranus’s normal tour in a sign) as of March 2011. But the times they are already changing, so let’s take a look at what’s on tap for each of the signs as the new Uranian era begins.

I’ll start with the premise that although Uranus is often thought of as a mentally oriented planet, it often has an effect (in my experience) on a person’s literal physical energy. With Uranus in Aries, your little legs may actually want to walk faster, as Aries energy urges them to hurry up, time’s a-wasting. Aries values speed and so does Uranus, so the very pace of your life may speed up. Not everyone is going to notice this immediately, and some people may not want their lives to move any faster than they already do, but it can feel good to have more physical energy at your disposal. Uranus in Pisces wants to absorb stuff (including, unfortunately, toxins) but Uranus in Aries wants to do stuff. Pisces is a mutable sign, so Uranus in Pisces keeps changing its mind. Aries is a cardinal sign, so Uranus in Aries sets goals and marches off with a sense of purpose. It’s like a dog that’s just barely restrained by the leash. Where this dog will try to take you depends partly on your sun sign or your rising sign. (If you know your own chart, you can get a more precise understanding of where Uranus will be in your chart. Astro.com offers free charts.)

Aries and Aries rising: At some point, Uranus in Aries will try to imbue you with more physical energy in a literal sense. It may not last forever, but it will probably be fun while it lasts. Your personality may also get stronger or more vibrant for awhile, and Uranus may push you toward being more effective in your actions, to see the end game and not just the beginning game. Uranus will want you to do new stuff and set new personal goals. Uranus in your own sign is more a ‘free choice’ placement than it is anywhere else. You have greater latitude to choose your own path.

Taurus and Taurus rising: Uranus in Aries will be in the part of your chart that is normally devoted to subconscious influences. When your subconscious mind is very active, stuff can break through to consciousness. On the good side, stuff can break through that can help you put old demons to rest permanently. Therapy and self-exploration can be very effective. On the not-so-good side, stuff that doesn’t break all the way through can turn into insomnia and anxiety or even chronic discomforts. Uranus in Aries will want you to deal with your discomforts, physical or psychological, forthrightly and do something about them. Set goals and try stuff until you have solved the problem. Stuff that was okay to put with before, Uranus in Aries will not be okay with putting up with anymore. He’ll want results.

Gemini and Gemini rising: Uranus in Aries will be in your natal or solar 11th house here, and he’ll have lots of different things he could get interested in while traversing this section of your chart. He may stir up all kinds of activity, but I’ll focus on one area that will probably get attention before his stay is through. Uranus will almost certainly look at your friends because friends are a specialty of his. If he’s in a good mood with them, he’ll pump tons of energy into your friendships and group endeavors and he may have you getting involved in some very physical activities with them. If he’s in a bad mood with them and doesn’t think they’re worthy of you, he’ll pick fights with them, attempt to throw them out of your life, overhaul your social circle, start with a clean slate, have you form your own groups, and generally rebel against what he thinks are substandard networks and support systems. If you’re not a joiner, he may suddenly decide that you ought to be one. If you are a joiner, he may suddenly decide that whatever you’ve joined ought to be a lot more effective at whatever it is it is supposed to be doing. And because Uranus loves this sector of the chart, he may just get a kick out of doing things like setting a goal for you to have 2,442 Facebook friends by the end of the summer.

Uranus in Aries is a very dynamic energy; quite different in character from Uranus in Pisces, which wobbled along uncertainly causing various upsets. Uranus in Aries will charge ahead very certainly, causing various upsets, but bringing with it plenty of spunk and the potential for some quite effective action in your life. Uranus in Aries has so much energy and so much action potential that various other planets will get alarmed at various points during its transit of the sign and attempt to stop it. Pluto in Capricorn will throw up some mighty resistance; Saturn in Libra will beg it to stop and consider the consequences of its actions, and every other planet that enters a cardinal sign will whine and complain or shudder in horror. On the other hand, Jupiter in Aries will make its effects even bigger.

Some of this interplanetary conflict and expansion will affect you at various points; some of it will pass without a blip on your screen. But the interplanetary vibes are not our subject today. Our subject today is what Uranus in Aries can do for you when he’s in a good mood and unleashed. On his first go-round, Uranus will only rush into Aries and back out again over the course of about 11 weeks. He’ll really only settle in for an extended stay in Aries  (about 7 years is Uranus’s normal tour in a sign) as of March 2011. But the times they are already changing, so let’s take a look at what’s on tap for each of the signs as the new Uranian era begins.

I’ll start with the premise that although Uranus is often thought of as a mentally oriented planet, it often has an effect (in my experience) on a person’s literal physical energy. With Uranus in Aries, your little legs may actually want to walk faster, as Aries energy urges them to hurry up, time’s a-wasting. Aries values speed and so does Uranus, so the very pace of your life may speed up. Not everyone is going to notice this immediately, and some people may not want their lives to move any faster than they already do, but it can feel good to have more physical energy at your disposal. Uranus in Pisces wants to absorb stuff (including, unfortunately, toxins) but Uranus in Aries wants to do stuff. Pisces is a mutable sign, so Uranus in Pisces keeps changing its mind. Aries is a cardinal sign, so Uranus in Aries sets goals and marches off with a sense of purpose. It’s like a dog that’s just barely restrained by the leash. Where this dog will try to take you depends partly on your sun sign or your rising sign. (If you know your own chart, you can get a more precise understanding of where Uranus will be in your chart. Astro.com offers free charts.)

Cancer and Cancer rising: Uranus is now in the part of your chart where it gets ambitious. Previously, it was in the part of your chart where it hankered after higher education, and it may still have some work to finish up in that department. But now it sets its sights upon getting you attention, moving you up, convincing you to be an entrepreneur, changing your career, or otherwise eventually making a fairly radical change. At some point, it will probably get its way. Somehow or another, it wants to throw its energy into getting you into a higher position (in its opinion) than the one you are in now, although that need not be in a strictly career sense. If you can gain prestige for climbing Mt. Everest or something, it will take that too. But it will want you to do something public, set some goals that it thinks are worthy of you. If it thinks you are in the wrong field–it will try to push you out. You would probably be wise to figure out now what you really want, since Uranus is going to try to drag you in that direction anyway.

Leo and Leo rising: Uranus here will be in your solar or natal 9th house and that covers a lot of ground. I’ll focus simply on the knowledge and information aspect of it, since Uranus does love knowledge and information. Uranus in Aries in the 9th tends to love knowledge and information it can get by going places, doing things, and experiencing stuff first-hand. Goodness knows where it will try to take you, but it tends to be hot for adventure. It also likes news, journalism, stuff that is up to the minute, and info that it can use immediately to make snap decisions. It will frequently try to persuade you to take up an intellectual project that will ultimately prove to be of great benefit to you, even if at first it seems unlikely. For example, it may encourage you to finally figure out how to do math, even though you used to think you were stupid at it. Don’t worry; it won’t take you too deep into a subject; it will just set a goal that you’ll finally figure out how to balance your checkbook or pass statistics class or whatever it is that you need.

Virgo and Virgo rising: Aries represents your solar or natal 8th house, a house that represents way too many things to go into in a single post. So I’ll pick an area that is often overlooked in discussing the 8th house–sex! More physical energy for sex. That can be one benefit of Uranus in Aries. Another benefit can simply be more of it and more interest in it. A stronger sex drive, a more assertive sex drive, a more experimental and open-minded approach to sex, more willingness to initiate sex, fewer inhibitions, more exploration, more willingness to learn and grow in this area of life. Not a bad thing for most of us.

Uranus in Aries is a very dynamic energy; quite different in character from Uranus in Pisces, which wobbled along uncertainly causing various upsets. Uranus in Aries will charge ahead very certainly, causing various upsets, but bringing with it plenty of spunk and the potential for some quite effective action in your life. Uranus in Aries has so much energy and so much action potential that various other planets will get alarmed at various points during its transit of the sign and attempt to stop it. Pluto in Capricorn will throw up some mighty resistance; Saturn in Libra will beg it to stop and consider the consequences of its actions, and every other planet that enters a cardinal sign will whine and complain or shudder in horror. On the other hand, Jupiter in Aries will make its effects even bigger.

Some of this interplanetary conflict and expansion will affect you at various points; some of it will pass without a blip on your screen. But the interplanetary vibes are not our subject today. Our subject today is what Uranus in Aries can do for you when he’s in a good mood and unleashed. On his first go-round, Uranus will only rush into Aries and back out again over the course of about 11 weeks. He’ll really only settle in for an extended stay in Aries  (about 7 years is Uranus’s normal tour in a sign) as of March 2011. But the times they are already changing, so let’s take a look at what’s on tap for each of the signs as the new Uranian era begins.

I’ll start with the premise that although Uranus is often thought of as a mentally oriented planet, it often has an effect (in my experience) on a person’s literal physical energy. With Uranus in Aries, your little legs may actually want to walk faster, as Aries energy urges them to hurry up, time’s a-wasting. Aries values speed and so does Uranus, so the very pace of your life may speed up. Not everyone is going to notice this immediately, and some people may not want their lives to move any faster than they already do, but it can feel good to have more physical energy at your disposal. Uranus in Pisces wants to absorb stuff (including, unfortunately, toxins) but Uranus in Aries wants to do stuff. Pisces is a mutable sign, so Uranus in Pisces keeps changing its mind. Aries is a cardinal sign, so Uranus in Aries sets goals and marches off with a sense of purpose. It’s like a dog that’s just barely restrained by the leash. Where this dog will try to take you depends partly on your sun sign or your rising sign. (If you know your own chart, you can get a more precise understanding of where Uranus will be in your chart. Astro.com offers free charts.)

Libra and Libra rising: The conventional wisdom is that Uranus in the sign opposite one’s own is unsettling. That is what it is supposed to do sooner or later, unsettle you. It is supposed to change things up. You’ve picked someone to be in some sort of relationship to you (doesn’t have to be a mate or spouse, could be any sort of relationship) and then the person develops a new energy they didn’t have before. You respond. In the process of responding, you change. You gain the opportunity to learn how to take more effective actions than you knew how to take before, because you are facing new situations. The part people don’t like is the instability. They fight to get it back. That’s perfectly fine. It’s the process of fighting to get it back that forces you to learn more about yourself and become more of yourself. It all works out. It’s a kind of resistance training. Speaking of which, getting plenty of exercise during this transit will probably help.

Scorpio and Scorpio rising: Aries represents your job and health sector, but I’ll concentrate on the jobs aspect of it. Uranus in one’s job sector often correlates with a lot more job movement in all kinds of ways. Sometimes your own job will remain stable, but your co-workers will come and go, or there’ll be a lot of turnover at your workplace. Often you’ll switch jobs, or the workplace will become a lot more busy, or your work will involve a lot more running around. Uranus in Aries will generally set a goal of improving your work and work environment but will often engage in a lot of experimentation before settling on the right situation, and he may get all entrepreneurial, part-timey, or free-lance happy in the process. You may also have to learn a lot of new techniques to keep up with Uranus’s upgrade plans. In general, it is wise to figure out what you really want from a job and set out to get it, because Uranus is going to try to go after it anyway. You might as well be a willing and conscious participant in the process.

Sagittarius and Sagittarius rising: Uranus in Aries in the Sagittarius chart just wants to have fun. What fun means depends on you; it could mean playing soccer, playing poker, creating effective ads for upscale magazines, splashing in the pool with your kids, or partying in the Hamptons with an eligible bachelor. Its purpose is to try to make you feel free and special and happy. It won’t succeed all the time; that’s a pretty tall order. But when it does succeed, it will be a wonderful thing.

Uranus in Aries is a very dynamic energy; quite different in character from Uranus in Pisces, which wobbled along uncertainly causing various upsets. Uranus in Aries will charge ahead very certainly, causing various upsets, but bringing with it plenty of spunk and the potential for some quite effective action in your life. Uranus in Aries has so much energy and so much action potential that various other planets will get alarmed at various points during its transit of the sign and attempt to stop it. Pluto in Capricorn will throw up some mighty resistance; Saturn in Libra will beg it to stop and consider the consequences of its actions, and every other planet that enters a cardinal sign will whine and complain or shudder in horror. On the other hand, Jupiter in Aries will make its effects even bigger.

Some of this interplanetary conflict and expansion will affect you at various points; some of it will pass without a blip on your screen. But the interplanetary vibes are not our subject today. Our subject today is what Uranus in Aries can do for you when he’s in a good mood and unleashed. On his first go-round, Uranus will only rush into Aries and back out again over the course of about 11 weeks. He’ll really only settle in for an extended stay in Aries  (about 7 years is Uranus’s normal tour in a sign) as of March 2011. But the times they are already changing, so let’s take a look at what’s on tap for each of the signs as the new Uranian era begins.

I’ll start with the premise that although Uranus is often thought of as a mentally oriented planet, it often has an effect (in my experience) on a person’s literal physical energy. With Uranus in Aries, your little legs may actually want to walk faster, as Aries energy urges them to hurry up, time’s a-wasting. Aries values speed and so does Uranus, so the very pace of your life may speed up. Not everyone is going to notice this immediately, and some people may not want their lives to move any faster than they already do, but it can feel good to have more physical energy at your disposal. Uranus in Pisces wants to absorb stuff (including, unfortunately, toxins) but Uranus in Aries wants to do stuff. Pisces is a mutable sign, so Uranus in Pisces keeps changing its mind. Aries is a cardinal sign, so Uranus in Aries sets goals and marches off with a sense of purpose. It’s like a dog that’s just barely restrained by the leash. Where this dog will try to take you depends partly on your sun sign or your rising sign. (If you know your own chart, you can get a more precise understanding of where Uranus will be in your chart. Astro.com offers free charts.)

Capricorn and Capricorn rising: Uranus in Aries takes aim at your home. Sometimes Uranus in the home sector means literally moving a lot during the years that it is there, moving stuff within the home, doing renovations, improvements, re-wiring, structural work, energy efficiency work and so on. The thing about Uranus is that it wants to find the right place for you, or the right situation for you and it can be maddeningly picky and discontent, easily dissatisfied, and willing to try all kinds of things that seem promising but ultimately prove not to work. Sometimes you need to convince it that you do not need a television the size of an exterior wall in order to make your home life complete. On the other hand, if you put effort into deciding what would be the perfect home for you personally (not for everyone else, for you personally, because that’s what Uranus is interested in) and set yourself a goal of getting it, Uranus will help you eventually achieve it. And that’s pretty cool.

Aquarius and Aquarius rising: Uranus in Aries is in the sector of your chart where he wants to put a lot of energy into communicating. He could potentially try to persuade you to hop all around town giving talks or performing other activities that will have you sharing your Aquarian knowledge with people in your area. Uranus is your ruling planet and he is convinced you have all kinds of Uranian information to share these days that will just set the world on fire. His goal is both to have you do more communicating and to make you a more effective communicator. Your purpose during this transit is to share your thoughts and information and to get into discussions and engage in interchange with others.

Pisces and Pisces rising: Uranus in Aries will be in the part of your solar or natal chart that deals with money and money-making activities. Hence, you can expect a lot of energy to go toward money and/or the attempt to make it. For some the attempts will center around physical or sports-related activities. For others, the efforts will center around enterprises that require a lot of initiative. The idea is to focus on whether the initiatives will be effective and whether they will offer a good return. You can also expect Uranus in Aries to prod you to set financial goals and to keep setting them until you get the money thing right.

Things have been busy around here and they are likely to get busier as the summer heats up astrologically. Eclipse season is already upon us. I’ve had several clients report eclipse events already, which is about on target as the first one of the summer season occurs in a month, on June 26 (lunar eclipse in Capricorn). If you experience a jolting surprise over the next week or so,  the eclipse may be at work. Check your monthly horoscope for a brief description for what it may entail. The second one occurs on the weekend of July 10, a solar eclipse in Cancer. The first one is more about endings, the second one more about new beginnings.

Uranus also enters Aries on the 27th of May, a hot, new beginning-y type of influence that will rev up the energy. Jupiter will follow Uranus into Aries. This is probably good for the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in the sense of taking pressure off the signs that deal with oceans and oil, but it may add to the busyness factor in our lives, and it will eventually lead to a cardinal sign  showdown later this summer. Things could get kind of tense.

Meanwhile, I’ll be giving another workshop on June 6 in Culver City, CA as not everyone who wanted to come to the first one could attend. Below is a brief description:

Spend a fun afternoon learning about your astrology chart and life purpose.

The workshop will:

• introduce participants to astrology and how it relates to one’s path in life.

• give attendees tools and techniques to take home and use immediately.

• tell participants how to identify their current ‘life tasks’

• help participants identify the things they should be working on right now to further soul growth

No prior knowledge of astrology needed. A free personalized chart will be offered to all participants as well as handouts explaining the symbols. By the end of the workshop, you will understand the symbols of astrology and be able to interpret your own and other people’s charts.

Attendees of the first one had a lot of fun. Warning: you may come away addicted to astrology.

For more information or to sign up, click here.