Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Mercury Redux


We've survived another Mercury retrograde. Woo-hoo.

The planet of communications, transportation and things mechanical finally returned to forward motion this morning. What a relief. Now things can get back to normal, whatever that is these days.

Over the years there have been times that I've brazenly scoffed at the idea that the apparent forward or backward motion of the first rock from the Sun could have anything to do with computer crashes, mechanical breakdowns, technical problems and missed appointments.

For some unknown reason, this Mercury Rx period was one of those times. I decided to test my ability not to let this retrograde transit affect me. I should know better.

Here I am today, staying at a retreat center in the desert, reconfiguring my web site, rereading important books, reconnecting with friends and clients from my past, reconsidering major life decisions, and having my car repaired - not once, but three times. Hmm. Maybe there's something to this astrology thing.

As the celestial messenger returns to forward motion today, I have renewed respect for the ancient wisdom revealed through the motion of the stars and planets. I'm reminded how thoroughly joyful it is to receive flashes of astro insight that help us make our way consciously in this fast-changing world. I'm grateful to work with soulful, heart-centered clients around the world who are truly committed to their life path and purpose, to contributing to the transformation of consciousness on Earth and co-creating a better future for our children and grandchildren.

Thank you, Mercury, for the reminder to pause, and reflect.

p.s. The play of morning light in the retreat center garden is featured below. EnJOY.


Friday, September 25, 2009

Fall in the Desert

The simplicity of a garden soothes the soul. This morning in the garden at the Sanctuary. Mmmm...


Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Equinox Prayer

The Equinox today is a point of balance in the solar year. A pause.

In this moment, when day and night are of equal length, we pray. For balance, peace and harmony in our world. For our families, our communities. For love. For children's laughter. For the courage to dance with the changes of our lives. For the wisdom to see the perfection in all.

Morning star Venus sings us awake this day. Later, the Sun enters Libra. Cooperation and partnership, love and beauty reign.

The seasons change as the Earth and Sun come into alignment. What are we creating in our lives and our world in this moment? Dream big.

Equinox arrives 5:19 p.m. Eastern today. Honor this sacred passage. Celebrate. Initiate. Gift the Earth. Open to the blessings of this creation.

Om Shanti.


Friday, September 18, 2009

What's Essential?

With today's very Virgo New Moon, our thoughts turn to the physical details of life.

The Sun, Moon, Saturn and Virgo are constellated in the sign most associated with the harvest and health. On Tuesday the Sun journeys into Libra and we have the Equinox, point of balance.

As the seasons change and we prepare for the harvest, it's appropriate to tend to our physical bodies. Nourish the body with nutritious foods. A supported cleanse detoxifies the body and strengthens the immune system. Add some discipline and commit to a daily practice of meditation, exercise and perhaps yoga. What habits need to be changed?

At home and work, use this this strong Virgo energy to pare down to what's essential. (It's a lot less than you think.) Simplify, downsize, clear out clutter. Get organized.

Virgo is also about service. How is your path of service changing? Are you aligned with your purpose?

With Mercury in retrograde motion until September 29, we have a little while longer to reconsider our options, revise our intentions and complete unfinished projects.

New Moons are the time for turning the soil and planting. Today's New Moon culminates in the Harvest Moon on October 3. Flow with the natural energies to create powerfully in this time of new beginnings. Notice the blessings streaming in.



Life Path Consultations

A few appointment times are still available for the special 1/2-price rates on my Life Path Consultations by phone. The discount continues only through the Equinox on Tuesday.

This is a comprehensive, intuitive astrology reading that explores your spiritual destiny and the specific gifts you brought into this lifetime to facilitate the fullest expression of your life path and purpose. We identify the cycles of energies you're working with now and in the near future with direct application to your current life situation, including relationships, career, health, finances, location, family and business matters.

Details and rates are posted here:


You can take advantage of the special rates now and have your reading in the next week or so. Just e-mail me to set up your appointment.


Sunday, September 13, 2009

Oh My

What's all the buzz about the astrology this week?

In the past few days, I've been called, e-mailed and stopped in the grocery store by people asking about it based on something they read on the Internet or in print.

The planets are aligning in some quirky, volatile ways as the September 18 New Moon and September 22 Equinox approach. The big deal, according to some, is that Uranus and Saturn are reaching exact opposition on Tuesday, followed by a compelling New Moon alignment on Friday and the September Equinox next Tuesday.

The way the stars and planets align tells us a lot about the energies we'll be experiencing. These configurations don't influence life on Earth so much as they give us a heads-up about the possibilities inherent within the energetic patterns. The planets don't do anything to us. Their movements signal times of expanded opportunity to manifest and create in alignment with divine will.

Here's the line-up this week. Uranus and Saturn face off in exact opposition on Tuesday, September 15. Uranus exactly opposes our Sun on September 17, with both planets widely square Pluto. The New Moon alignment on Friday features a conjunction of four planets (Sun, Moon, Saturn and Mercury) in Virgo, all opposed by Uranus. The Virgo planets are inconjunct the ongoing Jupiter-Neptune-Chiron triplicity in Aquarius. That's tense.

The September Equinox happens when the Sun moves into Libra, which falls on September 22/23 depending on your time zone. We celebrate the harvest in the Northern Hemisphere. Below the Equator, spring is in bloom. At this alignment, Mars in Cancer and Saturn-Mercury in Virgo are inconjunct Jupiter, Neptune and Chiron, with the Uranus-Saturn opposition continuing.

The bottom line? Big changes are under way. We already knew that. Life-changing events are happening every day. Uranus and Saturn are the key players right now, with Pluto egging them on. Always the revolutionary, Uranus awakens us to new possibilities and urges us to do things differently. Uranian insights and inegenuity can feel squelched by Saturn, the planet of karma, authority, structure and form. Pluto presses for transformation. With Mercury in retrograde motion until September 29, it may not be time to put all those brilliant ideas into action just yet. Go with the flow. The quincunx (inconjuct) aspect present in most of the current alignments offers a special opportunity for expanded awareness, understanding and healing. The energies lighten up in early October, culminating with the Harvest Full Moon in Aries on October 3.

All of this happens a year after the Full Moon in September 2008 when the markets began their historic tumble. Although the alignments this week are potent, there's no obvious trigger like the Full Moon opposition conjunct Uranus a year ago. New Moons are subtler than Full Moons. Also, this is not the only exact opposition of Uranus and Saturn. Because these outer planets move slowly and take turns retrograding, there are five exact oppositions. The first was November 4, 2008 - election day in the United States. Uranus and Saturn were also exactly opposed on February 5 of this year, and will be again on April 26 and July 26, 2010. Since this configuration is in effect for two years, "big events" may or may not happen right on the date of the exact oppositions. The changes are happening throughout this period and within the cosmic context of the Turning of the Ages, which lasts decades and perhaps hundreds of years. We explore this subject in depth and give the astrological forecast through the 2012 gateway in my book, Cosmic Time.

The fall alignments come on the heels of the super-charged eclipse series this past summer. The tension builds to a crescendo in the summer of 2010. At each lunation, and on the cardinal points (equinoxes and solstices) and cross-quarters (mid-points between the equinoxes and solstices), we have a supreme opportunity to pause, re-center, and embody the consciousness of love. These are moments when we can even more easily tap into the quantum field and create a new reality for our lives and our world.

Yes, the energies this week are a bit tumultuous and shattery. It's a prelude to even more volatile planetary alignments next summer. Physically, you might be feeling agitated and nervous, even lightheaded or dizzy. You might also notice your thoughts are turning into reality faster and faster each day.

The best way to handle this is to stay grounded. Attune to the Earth, the planets and stars. Channel nervous energy into creative projects. Downsize and clear out clutter. Pray. Meditate. Commune in nature. Eat healthy, vibrant foods. Cleanse, nourish and nurture your body. Do yoga. Breathe. Open to the miraculous. Celebrate life.

Ritual, prayer and meditation are always powerful, and the effects are amplified at the times of exact planetary alignments. In the next week, those are:

September 15 - Uranus-Saturn exact opposition - 8:50 AM Eastern
September 17 - Uranus-Sun exact opposition - 5:42 AM Eastern
September 18 - New Moon in Virgo - 2:44 PM Eastern
September 22 - Equinox - 5:19 PM Eastern

To convert to your time zone, visit:

http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html

New Moons and Equinoxes are about new beginnings. What are you creating with these energies? How are you contributing to the transformation of consciousness on Earth? What are the practices that help you align and flow with the shifting energies?



Personal Consultations

When things are falling apart, we have the greatest opportunity to create something new. How the upcoming planetary configurations relate to your birth chart tells us which areas of your life will be highlighted in the volatile weeks, months and years ahead.

With the intense planetary energies this week, I've decided to extend the special 50-percent off rates on my Life Path Consultations through the September 22 Equinox. This special was wildly popular during the recent Pisces Full Moon weekend. If you missed it, here's your chance to tap into the wisdom of astrology during this time of new beginnings.

In the Life Path Consultation, we explore your natal astrology and identify the cycles of energies you're working with now and in the near future with direct application to your current life situation, including relationships, career, health, finances, location, family and business matters. The guidance is grounded and very useful in making decisions in these fast-changing times.

Details and rates are posted on this page of my web site:


Just e-mail me to set up an appointment, and be sure to include your time zone. I look forward to sharing astrological insights to support your evolutionary journey.


Astro Initiation 2012

This fall I'll offer a new weekly teleclass exploring the astrology of the 2012 transformational gateway. It's a five-week class with a free preview on the evening of the Equinox, September 22.

Join in to find out more about the astrological significance of the 2012 gateway and how to make your way through the changes. We'll preview the planetary alignments and practice techniques for working with the energies consciously. There's also a discussion group for sharing, networking and learning outside the class. Details:




Uranus-Saturn Opposition 2008-2010 by Lara Owen


Molly's Astrology


Janet Moon



Friday, September 4, 2009

Protecting the Moon

This is surreal. Just as I'm preparing to meditate for the exact moment of today's Full Moon, an e-mail comes in about NASA's plan to bomb our celestial sister on October 9. The missile is already on the way there.

The idea is, obstensibly, to find out if any water vapor or ice is revealed in the cloud of debris, which might provide supplies for a manned moonbase.

My heart is struck by this atrocity.

Lara Gardner's blog on Wordpress offers the details and cogent perspectives. There are mainstream and not-so-mainstream media articles on the web, also protests and global meditations around this mission.

Lara writes in her blog:

Historically, the purpose of exploration has always been the exploitation of resources and the colonization of territory without regard for ecosystems or indigenous peoples, and clearly the Moon is the next territory coveted by imperialists...

This so-called “NASA experiment” is a hostile act of aggression and a violent intrusion upon our closest and dearest celestial neighbor. Does any love song or poem or fairy tale worth its salt not mention the Moon? Who can take a walk in the Moonlight with a lover and not feel the romance to your very soul? At night, when the Moon rules, we sleep, and we can visit the Moon in our sleep with ease. The Moon is our night light, our blanket, our grandmother, our mother—it is woman, child, domestic life, tides, bodies of water, liquids, circulation, comfort, nurturing, paintings by Remedios Varo, stories by Jules Verne, and so much more.

My nature as a Cancer is to protect those I love. The Moon, goddess of the oceans, the tides and cycles that influence us so deeply on Earth, also rules my birth sign. Last night I had a dream of a gaping hole near the south pole of what I thought was Jupiter. Now I realize it was the Moon. She was wounded, as Jupiter was this summer by a meteor impact.

The cosmos is violent. Creative forces that shape worlds and stars and galaxies are necessarily destructive. Is it appropriate for us, as a species, to destroy in order to meet our perceived needs? Or is it our path to take responsibility for preserving the natural environment that gifts us so abundantly?

There's a call for world prayer to stop the proposed bombing of the Moon through Gaiafield Wisdom Council.

They write:

Today, September 4, is the date for a World Prayer Circle being called by Shantimayi, an American spiritual teacher in an Indian yogic tradition, and Rose Pere, a Maori elder, to offer prayers in protection of the Moon. Apart from arguably being in violation of the UN Outer Space Treaty (which requires the Moon and other celestial bodies to be used by all countries only for peaceful purposes) the bombing is also, of course, an affront to our emotional and spiritual connections with the moon, celebrated in nearly all cultures and religions throughout human history as a symbol of maternal generosity, love, and mystery. Please join us as we unite with many others around the world to offer gratitude and protection to the moon.

If you feel to, please pass this on and offer your continual prayers for her wellbeing. Thank you for your participation and for caring.

Om Shanti


San Francisco Chronicle

Scientific American

Lara Gardner

Gaiafield Wisdom Council

No Moon Bomb on Facebook

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Pisces Moon

Tonight's Full Moon rises in spiritual, dreamy Pisces. Open to the blessings of this sacred alignment. Details in my ezine:


We've featured a gorgeous mantra by Deva Premal to complement your personal or group ritual.

EnJOY this passage....

Namaste.

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Scenes of Summer

Reflections


Endings are always new beginnings. As another season draws to a close, my heart overflows with gratitude for the sights and sounds, the range of emotion and sensory perceptions, the sheer bliss of engaging with life, love and the sanctity of being this summer.

The eclipses in July and August signaled a big new beginning. So big, in fact, it hasn't had a chance yet to root. The Moon waxes to full this Friday in a culmination that's less about completion and more about process and integration. More about that in my ezine this week.

I've had the honor of traveling throughout the western United States this summer, visiting in new and favorite places in Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and California. What a ride.

The adventure began with the Return of the Ancestors, a global gathering of cultures and generations in northern Arizona in April. Then came immersion with the Sayaka Inka, spiritual emissaries from Peru who dance and sing and pray their way into the hearts of all who cross their path.

Our Core Shamanism Weekend on the Full Moon in June was another high point. An amazing group of masterful beings gathered in Denver to learn and grow as we played in the quantum field. All of that was, apparently, a preparation for attending the Kachina Dances on Hopi Second Mesa on the Summer Solstice. I can't imagine a more precious birthday gift for my Cancerian soul. Hovering on the edge of the mesa, lulled by the rhythmic dances, the drum and the chant, I'm transported deep within the cosmos, to a place of peace words can't describe.

In July, we celebrated the Lunar Eclipse with a creekside ceremony filled with nuance and synchronicty in Aspen, Colorado. For the July 22 Solar Eclipse, I opted for private ritual near the ancestral home of the Sinagua in Arizona. After that, a tour of natural building sites led through parts of Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona.

Our August 5 Lunar Eclipse ceremony in Sedona erupted into a moment of nostalgia with a spontaneous chorus of "Age of Aquarius," led by Sedona goddess Jewels who, of course, knew all the words. Night sky watching for meteor showers capped off the August celestial celebration.

The journey continues. Now the Moon is growing full again, another cycle coming to an end. It's hurricane season for many, and wildfires are raging on the West Coast. The changes are accelerating, to be sure. We can resist the flow, or attune to it and expand in consciousness as we journey through this momentous time.

In my book, Cosmic Time, I write about embracing all that's precious to us. What will we preserve, protect and savor as we move through the 2012 Gateway? This summer I've been privileged to see, hear, taste, smell and touch the Earth, mother goddess, in new and exciting ways. The laughter of children rings in my heart. A mountain breeze whispers through forests of aspen and pine. I drink in the morning mist, my toes oozing in briny sand as I walk along a windswept beach. The hot, musty vapors of earthen healing caves soothe my body and soul. I carry new respect for the skunk and his medicine. The birds call my name. Fire lights my way. I delight in chill ocean air.

It's all vibrant, juicy and sacred. I want to always to feel this alive, to relish the world around me every moment of every day.

A message that came again and again in my travels was an important one. It's about the waters of the Earth, how they connect and unify us, sustain life, and offer the possibility of deep healing. The waves and tides teach us about natural cycles, the ebb and flow of life. We'll explore these themes in coming weeks and months, tapping into the wisdom of the Earth to find out what she needs, and what she offers. There were many familiar messages, expressing in myriad ways, reminders about taking care of ourselves, the Earth and each other. The waxing Moon invites us to get back to basics, to be fully present in each moment, to walk mindfully, in loving service.

We're beginning a new project this fall. Actually, it's a continuation of Cosmic Time in a new form. More about that to come. For now, a pause. Meditation, integration and gratitude. Honoring the change of seasons. Aho.


Institute for Cultural Awareness - Return of the Ancestors

Sayaka Inka

Cosmic Time Book Excerpts & Ordering

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