markspringle.com

Dear Friends,

Saturn and Uranus are in opposition now, and have been since Aug 08, and will be until May 2010. Saturn represents structure, order, and tradition while Uranus wants to break up crystallized systems that cannot flex to adjust with the changing times. Wherever the Virgo area of our charts may be, this is where Saturn is asking us to build new structures of support. Wherever Pisces rules our chart, Uranus is breaking down the Berlin Walls we have erected for ourselves in order to allow for expansion and development.

The opposition of Saturn and Uranus is the backdrop for the upcoming new Moon solar eclipse at 6.5 degrees of Aquarius. A new Moon is always a good time to establish intentions for the coming month, but a solar eclipse is a very special type of new Moon where the Moon actually gets between Earth and the Sun. This special new Moon has more power because it is absorbing the rays of the Sun directly before they reach the Earth. The effects of a solar eclipse can stay with us for much longer than one month, but traditional wisdom dictates the energy effects those areas of the Earth where the eclipse can be seen for the number of years equal to the number of hours the eclipse is visible. This eclipse will be a Southern hemisphere visual event, so we in the Northern hemisphere can expect the eclipse to flavor our experience for six months or so.

When the Moon absorbs the rays of the Sun directly, we can become more subjective in our self-expression. The Moon is more saturated with sunlight immediately after an eclipse, and the Moon rules our emotions, the past, and our subconscious. Consequently, our actions and intentions around a solar eclipse can arise form a very subjective, intuitive, or emotional recess of our psyche. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with this, but since we use diet, exercise, and education to enhance our natural state of subconscious being, it follows that employing some conscious introspection could allow us to harness the energy of this eclipse in a way that we might not if we didn’t take the time to explore its full potential.

This new Moon will conjunct Jupiter in Aquarius, bringing expansive, optimistic energy to forward-thinking, innovative, and humanistic Aquarius. If we look to the ruler of Aquarius for guidance, the traditional ruler of the Water Bearer is Saturn, and in modern astrology it is ruled by Uranus. Once again, the Saturn/Uranus opposition takes center stage.  As I mentioned last week, we must all find our place in the society of humanity. No one is exempt. I was so proud of myself this past week because I had written, in my previous column, that we must learn to accept more personal responsibility for the society in which we live. I was proud because President Obama said the same thing is his inauguration speech.  To be on the same page with the personification of the Uranian principle of optimism and change was such an affirming experience!

Aquarius is the sign of the greater good. How can we, as individuals, enhance or contribute to this greater good?  Well, charity always starts at home, and this is the message of Saturn in Virgo. We must pay attention to the details of our lives. We cannot borrow more than we can afford to repay, we cannot use energy without creating pollution, and we cannot consume without creating waste. We must exercise personal responsibilty to the group and accept that our actions (words, and thoughts, too!) have consequence. If we want to be a part of a good community, then we must create that community through responsible and considered action on a daily and personal level. Uranus is opposing Saturn to help us understand that the good-old boy network in Washington isnt any more effective at creating this change in the world than Chrysler has been at building fuel-efficient cars.

We must ask ourselves what we can do to help our neighbors and friends create a better humanity. We must accept that some of the “traditional” ways of operating in this world are outmoded and no longer efficient, nor do they support us in our progress towards a happier, more fulfilled experience. We must be innovative, take chances, and be generous and optimistic with ourselves and our fellow beings as we emerge yet again as naked babes in this strange, new, and thrilling world.

Mercury retrograde will be conjunct to Mars, bringing force to our perspectives and consideration to our actions. Mercury is now in mutual reception with Saturn, ensuring that the manner in which we process the information we receive supports the new structures we must build. Venus is sitting with Uranus, attracting to us the things we need in order to make the changes we also need. If we have felt like the tools we need to be the change we want to see in the world have been missing, this eclipse will provide us with everything we need, all we have to do is look and open our minds and hearts to one undeniable truth: we are all responsible for what we create.

Be well and many blessings!

mark

MOORE TO CONSIDER ABOUT THIS WEEK’S ASTROLOGY

Dear Friends

Here we are with Mercury retrograde in Aquarius, heading towards Capricorn, and we are revisiting a place we have already been. Perhaps the circumstances are different, but our perspectives are being challenged in the same way they have been challenged before. Mercury retrograde is always a chance to improve something, to learn a lesson, or to make a better choice. It kind of like a “get out of jail free” card in Monopoly. Those who fear or dread Mercury’s backwards dance though the sky do so because they don’t understand how positive this time can be. Many astrologers encourage people to stay put, hunker down, and wait breathlessly as if Mercury retrograde were dangerous or malefic. This is not the case at all. Mercury retrograde is a gift which allows us to complete projects, find resolution or closure, or to sharpen important skills. Mercury retrograde is a time to revisit, repeat, revise, re-invent, and generally complete one phase of our lives before we move on to the next. It is important to work with this energy. Those of us who push our agendas ahead, start new ventures, and make new commitments are simply working against our own best interests.

Imagine being invited to tea by a wealthy aunt and showing up dressed to party in a Miami nightclub. Even worse, imagine acting like we are in a Miami nightclub at Tia’s tea. This would be highly inappropriate. We can imagine that the experience would not be good for us, Tia, or her other guests. It is important in this world that we accept where we are and those we are with. We can always make adjustments to suit our needs or desires as the future unfolds, but we must also learn to be present and gratefully acknowledge what we have right here and right now. This is doubly true for Mercury retrograde. We have the chance to get out of cosmic jail for free! In order to do so, we must accept that we are on a quest with Mercury, looking back to learn a lesson we have missed in the past. Sometimes, this lesson can be as subtle as a change in perspective, or it can be as big as a decision to begin or end a relationship. The point is that with Mercury retrograde, we have a chance to improve our karmic balance by accepting the challenge to press the “pause” button on our egos and personal drive and to admit that we need to go back and take care of what we did not or were not capable of caring for properly in the past.

In order to do this, we must admit that we are responsible for our thoughts, our actions, and our intentions, as well as their consequences. If we continue to use Tia’s tea as a metaphor, our decision to be inappropriate had consequences far greater than our own private experience of the occasion. Perhaps Tia wanted to introduce us to someone she thought could help us on our career paths. Perhaps because we made such a bad impression, one of Tia’s guests suggested to her husband that they stop doing business with Tia because her family was so scandalous. What if someone was so offended that they left in such a hurry that they knocked over and broke a vase which had been Tio’s first anniversary present to her when they were young and poor?

Some of us will say “So what?! I am an individual! I am unique!” We defend our right to be individuals and to act freely, regardless of what people may say or think, or experience because of us. There is a flaw to this logic, however. Acting freely and acting responsibly are not synonymous. I would never ask someone to engage in behavior which would undermine their true identity or self-expression. I would not ask a straight friend to pretend to be gay for an evening just to make my friends at a gay party feel comfortable. I would not ask a Catholic friend to pretend to be Jewish at another friend’s Seder. I would, however, ask all of my friends, gay, straight, Jewish, and Catholic, to dress conservatively for Tia’s tea out of respect for my Tia and her elderly, more conservative friends. We should all be true ourselves, but we must also allow that if we all do our own thing, then we loose our sense of community.

Aristotle called human beings “social animals.” In other words, we are beasts, made of flesh and blood, with urges, instincts, and desires, but we are social beasts. We need the community in which we exist to support us, to honor us, to value us. This is why we are concerned with civil rights, voting equality, gay marriage, etc. We all have differences which make us unique, but we also have so much more in common. Who can say who is better, or worse - who has the right to more free self-expression than another? As Mercury retrogrades through Aquarius, the theme is to revisit our places in our communities. Once Mercury crosses over into Capricorn, the theme will transfer to issues revolving personal responsibility. How do we as individuals allow ourselves to have freedom while at the same time preserving the community in which we live?

On Tuesday, January 20th, the Sun and Mercury will meet in the sky, and the first glimpse of an answer to this question will present itself. Whatever issues have come up for us during the first ten days of Mercury retrograde will be clarified on this day. Whatever Aquarian communities we choose to belong to, whether it is our condo board, PTA, charity committee, or bowling league, we are all being asked to re-evaluate how our personal choices affect the larger communities to which we belong. As we have seen, when each of us borrows more than we can repay, as a community we all suffer, even those who have not over-borrowed or overspent. Inflation, foreclosures, and loss of credit are all directly related to the decisions each of has made individually. Well, we made our beds, now must lie in them. With Mercury retrograde, however, we have a chance to learn from our mistake, to get the message, to redeem our future choices. We must learn to honor our unique selves, but we must express ourselves in ways that support and benefit our groups and communities. When our actions provide benefit for more than ourselves, we begin to live fully in a world where all things are possible. This is the message of Barack Obama presidency and I love the synchronicity of his inauguration happening on the same day that Mercury Retrograde and the Sun join to bring the message home to all of us, and all of the world. We should not ask what a group can provide for us, rather, we should ask what we can provide for our groups. With this intention, we will make our groups happy and strong, and they in turn will support and guide us as we continue our journeys.

Be well and take of each other.

mark

ps: I’ll be teaching an AstroYoga therapy session on this topic Sat 1/17 @3p and giving a free astrology lecture afterwards at 4:30p. Please join me! details

MOORE TO CONSIDER ABOUT THIS WEEK’S ASTROLOGY

Dear Friends,

The first full Moon of the new year will occur this Saturday, January 10 at 21 degrees Cancer. Lunar cycles begin on the new Moon and this is where we set our intentions. The energy builds and on the full Moon the tension is released, bringing something into focus. Full Moons can show us where we are doing well, or where we need to improve. The sign of Cancer is concerned with issues surrounding safety, security, and our homes, both literally and figuratively. This full Moon will shine the bright light of the Sun on our own homes and reveal what we have created there. We will see if we are safe and secure.

Interestingly, Saturn will be retrograde at 21 degrees Virgo on this full Moon. This makes a perfect sextile, or 60 degree angle, between the Moon and Saturn. With Saturn retrograde, the stern taskmaster has become a patient tutor and a sextile relationship between planets denotes opportunity or ease. Saturn in Virgo is asking us to protect what we have and to refine our schedules and routines in an effort to support us as we strive to reach our goals. We can expect some good news, or at least the opportunity to create some good news, over the weekend as the full Moon reveals itself.  As always, when Saturn is involved, it is up to us to take responsibility for our selves, our homes, and our security. This is one of the messages from the Moon/Saturn aspect.

On this same day, Mercury will station, or stop moving forward at 7 degrees Aquarius. This will be an exclamation point at the end of the Moon/Saturn aspect. An exclamation point is used to place emphasis on a sentence to convey the importance of the idea it explains. Virgo is ruled by Mercury. Mercury stops dead in his tracks when the Moon and Saturn make their connection. The statement they make demands attention and Mercury, the ruler of Saturn in Virgo, takes notice! Mercury represents the mind, information, and the ways in which information is shared or processed. The message here is to process the information we receive at this new Moon. If we dont stop and process the message, we might miss it, and since its good news, or has the capacity to be good news, we dont want to miss it! Would we hate to miss the prize patrol if they came knocking on our doors?

The very next day, Sunday Jan 11, Mercury will go retrograde. When Mercury is retrograde, it is a good time to do anything that we can put an “re-” in front of… like repair, redo, rethink, rewrite, etc. Mercury retrograde is a second chance to learn a lesson or to master a skill we need in order to continue on our path to self-fulfillment. Aquarius is the most progressive sign and represents the groups to which we belong, innovation, and humanity in general. Mercury will retrograde from 7 degrees Aquarius to 21 degrees Capricorn where it will station again on Feb 1. Capricorn is the most responsible sign of the zodiac. Mercury begins his cosmic re-think in the sign most concerned with humanity and innovation and ends the lesson with an emphasis on responsibility. All of this is happening on the heels of a full Cancer Moon, emphasizing home and security.

The message is loud and clear… We need to tak care of each other and to be responsible to the people we love and let that concern radiate out to our fellow brothers and sisters on this planet! Now thats innovation in a world where we are often so self-absorbed that we dont think of the happiness of other people, much less our duty towards them.

This week will be the first true taste we have of the power of change that the Saturn/Uranus opposition, along with Pluto’s stealthy entrance into the sign of Capricorn, are heralding. Mars is exalted in Capricorn right now and forming a beautiful trine to Venus, making it possible to attract the things we need in order to create a life of joy and happiness. Mars in Capricorn is very determined and ruled by Saturn in Virgo this week, which brings us full circle back to the message of this lunation and the Mercury retrograde cycle.

I’ll be teaching a special AstroYoga therapy class on January 17th @ 3pm in Coral Gables at RinaYoga to help everyone get the message and implement the energy of this Mercury Retrograde in a real, immediate, and positive way. Mini-readings will be available from 1:30-3p before class, but please make sure to sign up in advance! At 4:30p, I’ll present a free lecture on astrology and how to use the Mercury Retrograde cycles of 2009 to their best advantage, as well as to answer your questions! I hope you and a friend can make it to one or both!

much love and good luck to you all!

mark

ps: dont forget that Mercury Retrograde is a cosmic re-do, so we dont start anything new, we dont buy any big ticket items, and we dont say anything we dont mean. Communications can be tricky, so we should listen more than we speak, and always clarify things we dont understand. Confirm appointments once, twice, or three times, and give everyone the benefit of the doubt because we never have all of the information we need to make a good decisions until Mercury goes direct! Good luck!

MOORE TO CONSIDER ABOUT THIS WEEK’S ASTROLOGY