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Dear Friends,

Everybody check your daytimers… How was Wednesday Aug 26th?  This was the day that Mercury formed the focal point of a t-square with the opposition of Venus and Pluto.  Each of these planets was at 0 degrees of a cardinal sign.  Cardinal signs are creative or initiatory - they like to start things, but they don’t always finish what they start.  Pluto was retrograde and will be through Sept 11, 2009.  Put a note on your calendar for that day, because once Pluto goes direct, everything that has been challenging us since early April will begin to unfold more rapidly, bringing in the necessity for us to take responsibility for our actions.  Action is necessary right now, actually, but it may be that we are not sure of what action to take, or perhaps we have taken action and it was not appropriate.  We will have time to make amends, because Mars, the planet of action will be retrograde from Dec 20th through March 9th 2010.  This will be a time when we must accept and deal with the consequences of our actions since early 2009.  Choosing and acting wisely now will go a long way towards creating a future based on harmony and flow rather than disagreement and conflict.

In a t-square configuration, the planet squaring both planets forming the opposition is the planet where the energy of the opposition is released.  Mercury represents our thoughts and our communications, the manner in which we process information, as well as daily routines, neighbors, and siblings.  Pluto in Capricorn and Venus in Cancer opposing each other create a tug of war in which our desire for safety and security is struggling against the Plutonian demand for transformation and accountability.  Too often, our comfort zone is a not healthy but merely familiar.  For this reason, people who were abused or suffered greatly as children will “choose” to stay in relationships which others may recognize as abusive or wrought with difficulty.  These relationships are familiar or “comfortable” in that they re-create the experiences or emotions with which the person is most familiar.  Because these people are afraid of the unknown, they cling to what can be expected, which is an illusion of control.  Placing themselves in a “new” situation where they do not know what to expect can create severe fear and anxiety.  Even if the new situation offers them a safer, less volatile environment, the fear of this unknown situation is so much more powerful that they will often choose the more familiar, but less healthy, situation in an effort to gain the illusion of control through the employment of their well-honed survival skills.  If we are honest with ourselves, we can all understand this mode of being.  If we were told we were stupid when we were young, we may have chosen to befriend less intelligent people, therefore elevating our own intelligence by comparison.  The same could be true of any criticism that we internalized: not pretty enough?  Easy! Hang out with unattractive people.  Not creative enough?  Hang out with dull people.  Not tall enough?  Hang out with shorter people.  These are oversimplified examples of a not very simple concept, but I hope we all get the idea.

This past week crystallized the tension between where we are “safe” and familiar, and also at risk and threatened, and the need to break old patterns and bad habits in order to facilitate growth and freedom from repression.  Sound familiar?  Yes, it should!  This is the demand of the Saturn/Uranus opposition about which I have been writing for several years now.  This particular astrological event happens only once every 42 years.  We are now experiencing the denouement of this opposition, although there is enough collateral activity with the developing Cardinal Climax, as it is being called in astrological circles, that even as the Saturn/Uranus crisis comes to ahead, bigger and more volatile ones are just forming.  We have been discussing the need to let go of patterns and habits that don’t serve us anymore in order to make our daily routines serve our long term goals better.  This is necessary because once the Cardinal Climax begins in earnest this winter, the demand will be for a complete overhaul of everything that has, so far, been our foundation and our starting point.  If we haven’t gotten rid of the dead weight by then, then the new beginnings demanded by the Cardinal Climax will be so much harder to create.  For this reason, wise astrologers always counsel people to “do their Saturn,” because Saturn is always trying to prepare us for the next lesson, the next level of growth.  With Saturn in Virgo, the demand is to be more healthy in every way:  physical health, mental health, emotional health, financial health.  “Healthy is as healthy does” could be a good way to look at the situation.

What we need to accept from the Venus opposition to Pluto, through the agent of Mercury in Libra, is that we need to find more balance in our lives, in our survival mechanisms, and in our understanding of what safety and security mean.  There is no mention of “repetition” or “codependency” in the dictionary for these terms.  Also, Mercury in Libra is asking us to put some mental effort into understanding our relationships.  How do we use relationships to create a better experience for ourselves?  How do we allow our relationships to prevent us from a better experience of ourselves?  Relationships are like rose bushes, they require lots of attention.  A good gardener knows that in order for healthy growth and abundant blooming to occur, there must be an equal amount of pruning, fertilizing, and vigilance against pests.  Weeds and pests don’t need water or fertilizer; they thrive with neglect.  They steal resources from the cultivated plants we are trying to nurse.  A decision not to nurse your flowers is a decision to nurture weeds.  Mercury squaring both Venus and Pluto is making it clear that we must be more dedicated to cultivating that which we need in order to bloom.  Sometimes, a damaged plant must be dug up and removed for the greater benefit of the entire garden.  This is the theme of each major transit playing out in our lives right now.  How we choose to allow this theme to develop, or how we choose to thwart its development, will bring each of us a unique result.

It is my sincere hope for everyone that we can all learn to step outside of our safety zone in order to experience a reality that is not dependent on repeating the same old tired, self-defeating patterns that we learned as survival mechanisms when we were younger.  We are no longer children…its time to put away childish things.  If we aren’t going to take responsibility for our own happiness, if we aren’t willing to do the work, if we aren’t able to learn from the mistakes of those who went before us, then how can expect to grow, to thrive, to bloom?

“God helps those who help themselves,” “charity begins at home,” and “place your oxygen mask on yourself first and then help your neighbor” are all good advice these days.

Buckle up!  Its gonna be a bumpy ride, and for those of us who are thinking they have already had a bumpy ride, beware: its really just starting.

It is never too late to be healthy, to be conscious, to be aware, to be responsible, to love and to be loved.

Please come to the holistic arts fair this Saturday, August 29th and experience first-hand how many people there are in the world ready to help you, to share their gifts, and to bring healing.  I’ll be sharing free mini-readings with all who are interested, time permitting, of course.  The event has a $20 cover, but no one will be turned away due to financial stress.  Please call the number on the flyer and make arrangements if you need special consideration.  We want you to be there!

with love

m

MOORE TO CONSIDER ABOUT THIS WEEK’S ASTROLOGY

I’ll be sharing free mini-readings with attendees.  These gatherings are fantastic!  Lots of interesting, lovely people.  Good food!  Great practitioners sharing their talents.  Music and dancing!  A fantastic way to spend a Saturday night that wont leave you feeling drained Sunday morning.  Hope to see you all there!

Dear Friends,

Relationships seem to be on everyone’s mind these days.  Romances, marriages, partnerships, siblings, parents and children, and friendships of all sorts have been very active this week as Venus, the planet we associate most with relationships, hit 15 degrees Cancer on Thursday, August 14.  This is the same degree of the lunar eclipse we experienced on July 7th.  That particular eclipse was a demand that we recognize and take responsibility for the Cancer-Capricorn shadows in our lives.  Shadows represent what we cannot or are not willing to accept about ourselves.  The polarity represented by Cancer and Capricorn highlights the tension between our need to be safe and secure and our need for recognition.  In order to receive recognition, we must be willing to put ourselves out in front of the world, but sometimes what feels safest is retreat.  How do we handle this mechanism in our relationships?  With Venus unleashing the demand of this eclipse, we will know soon enough.  On August 26, Venus will move to 29 Cancer, triggering the effects of the solar eclipse we experienced on July 22 at the same degree.  This solar eclipse was an invitation to release ourselves from the past and move forward in a healthy way, allowing for more creative and fuller self-expression.  Venus is a receptive energy, so lets all find a way to make room and allow this energy in to our lives.

Mars will be motoring through Cancer from the end of August through mid-October, and since the energy of Mars is much more active, we will be creating our own experience with these same eclipse energies once again.  Where Venus is receptive, Mars is active.  With Venus, we make space and invite, with Mars, we take action and expand.   Mars in Gemini is currently squaring the Saturn-Uranus opposition.  The exact square to Saturn happened on August 11 and the exact square to Uranus will happen on Tuesday, August 18.  The Saturn-Uranus opposition only happens once every 42 years.  The last time they opposed was during the late 60s and the status quo that had been established in the 50s was challenged and revolutionized.  For us today, we are seeing the patterns that developed in the 90s and solidified in the earlier part of this new decade break apart.  One major force pushing this reform is the triple conjunction of Jupiter, Chiron, and Neptune all in Aquarius.  This is one of several major events ushering in the Age of Aquarius.

Among other things, the sign of Aquarius is concerned with the greatest good for the greatest majority.  Aquarius is the most humanitarian sign of the zodiac.  It is no coincidence that health care reform is such hot topic these days!  Chiron is the healer of the zodiac, and Neptune brings great visions of what could be, while Jupiter magnifies all.  It is interesting to me that the angry people denouncing reform outside of the town hall meetings are mostly white, while the people who wait in line for 14 hours at the LA Forum Free Health Fair are, for the most part, racially non-white.  Saturn can represent the status quo while Uranus can represent the challenge.  In the US, all non-white, non-heterosexual, non-Protestant groups are demanding more recognition, more equality, and more responsible representation from their government which has been, traditionally, very white.  I do not mean to suggest that astrology recognizes race, but I do find it interesting that those who are demanding change in this country are those who refuse to allow the status quo to continue unchallenged: it just so happens that there is a noticeable WASP, non-WASP divide, which describes to us how the American psyche has developed.  This is a fantastic illustration of how the detached, humanitarian qualities of Aquarius can be a boon for society in general, but not necessarily for each individual.  What is good for the greatest number of people does not have to be good for every single person.  Determining which groups should bear the burden of the greatest good is not an easy task, but in our society it is the task of the government, and the people are demanding accountability.

On Thursday August 20th, there will be a new moon in Leo.  Leo is the sign we associate with creative self-expression and leadership, pride and arrogance.  A new moon occurs when the Earth and Moon conjunct.  Both of these lights will be opposing the Three Aquarians, creating more tension in the health care reform battle.  At the same time, Mercury is conjunct Saturn who is still opposing Uranus.  Mars is squaring Mercury, Saturn, and Uranus, while opposing Pluto.  Oppositions create a window to see the full effect of a situation, or in this week’s case, several situations.  Squares offer a chance to learn a lesson or to prove mastery of a skill.  Squares present an opportunity to evolve through the judicious and applied use of skills which we have developed over time.  Squares are a test and oppositions are results.  This will be an interesting week because all of us, in some manner or in several, will be tested.  We will receive the results of past tests even as we face new challenges.  Who will pass, who will fail?  With a new Moon in Leo in the Aries decan, the student who is creative and finds a new way to tackle old problems, who can create a new experience out of the same materials, will be the student who evolves to the next level.  The opposition of this new Moon to the Three Aquarians also illuminates the need for this courageous new understanding and expression to recognize the larger context of the situation.  It is not enough to do what is merely personally expedient, we must all recognize that by serving a greater good, we serve ourselves.  One thing is clear, doing the same old thing in the same old way simply isn’t good enough and cannot be sustained.  Growth = change.  No change = no growth.

Our world is undergoing a huge transformation as it evolves from a system based on the victor and the vanquished to a system based on a more equitable distribution of assets to meet the equally important needs of the greater community at large.  Resources, wealth, and power are being redistributed: this is true on a global level and a personal level, as well.  There will be many people who struggle against this redistribution as they perceive that they are “losing” something, while the gains made the previously disadvantaged could cause them to get greedy.  Of course, everyone could be reasonable, be willing to compromise for the greater good, share resources equally without the need to control them, and communicate honestly and without manipulation in an effort to find solutions that work for everyone, or at the very least, the greatest population.  Nothing is perfect or perfectly fair, but there is no reason not to strive for these goals.

Ya’ll be nice now, you hear?

with love

m

MOORE TO CONSIDER ABOUT THIS WEEK’S ASTROLOGY

Hello Everyone!

How are you all doing?  Maybe you noticed that I did not post last week while I was in Washington, DC.  My lectures and readings there kept me focused on more personal interactions and the time I could have been writing, I chose to spend with friends, old and new, and visiting some of my favorite haunts from the days when I lived there.

I left DC at the end of last week and took the Amtrak train up to visit two of my oldest and dearest friends outside of Baltimore.  These two people are very dear to me, for they offered their support, friendship, and home to me in January 2000 when I decided to abandon my previous life, and most of my admittedly meager possessions, for what I hoped would be greener pastures.  If it did not fit in my Saturn SL1, then it did not make the move with me.  You see, Jupiter was crossing my 4th house cups, and I knew that if I was going to make a big change in my life, there was no better time.    My destination was DC, but I had no friends there.  R and M lived in Columbia, MD, barely a 45 minute drive away.  I stayed with them for 3 months until I finally got a job, saved enough money for an apartment, and finished the move I had begun 3 months earlier.  I have the fondest memories of that time, and I remember R and M being so kind and easy to get along with.  I was sure I was intruding on their domestic bliss, but if I was, they never let on.  When I finally got my own place in DC, they even helped me move in, and gave me some furniture and bookshelves, which I still use to this day!

As I was relaxing on the train, reading some astrology and trying to focus in on a topic for last week’s column which I never wrote, I realized that there was first a lunar eclipse at 0 degrees Leo and then a solar eclipse at 16 degrees Aquarius at the very beginning of that very liberating adventure under the protection of R and M.  The Leo/Aquarius axis involves the Leonine recognition and expression of our talents and our ability to let them shine.  This expression often externalizes itself in our choice of friendships, groups, support networks, and the larger social context of our lives, all of which fall under the rule of Aquarius.  Eclipses are very powerful energetic seeds which can alter the direction of our lives by shifting the patterns of our consciousness.  Sometimes, this shift may not last long, but the view we get when the shift occurs is enough to catalyze new perspectives which allow us to understand ourselves and our emotional patterns better, or at the very least to express ourselves in a more sincere manner.  How strange, I thought, that there were eclipses on the Leo/Aquarius axis when I first needed R and M for support, and now as I come back to their house for my first visit here since that time, there is another eclipse on the same axis!

This trip to DC was a milestone for my own personal journey because for the first time, I embraced my calling as an astrologer and chose to market myself in a location where I was an unknown.  Sure, I have a few friends in that town, but I do not have a tie to the yoga community, which has been my life line here in Miami.  Most of the recognition I receive in Miami is directly or indirectly due to the local yoga community, of which I am a part.  In DC, I had to rely on the kindness of strangers and the power of my message in order to make my time as a professional there successful.  I had to step outside of my comfort zone, embrace my talent and then sell it to others, in order to create business for myself.  Not only did I create business for myself, but I enjoyed doing it!  I enjoyed the new people I met.  I loved being able to share my skill and talents with a new group pf people, and most of all, I loved seeing the look of appreciation and understanding in the eyes of those people to whom I was speaking.

I moved to DC almost 10 years ago to start a new and happier life, and even though I moved away from DC 8 years ago, I feel like that journey became complete last week.  Curiously enough, R and M were there at both moments, as were eclipses on the Leo/Aquarius axis.  I am not sure I can share with you all a polished and neat perspective on how this all ties together, because this synchronicity is both too close and too distant for me have a clear perspective, but I am sure that there is a deep and supportive connection.

The message, however, is loud and clear, and this message is represented by the Leo/Aquarius axis.  When we embrace who we are, when we share our talents and gifts with those around us, when we share without defense or the need to control, when we have no expectations except perhaps for happiness,  then we will find ourselves surrounded by people who appreciate and support our expressions, who provide safety, friendship, nurturing and love, and we can recognize that we create our own experiences, our own friendships, and our own families.  The universe can provide if we can free ourselves from our own fears and insecurities and share our gifts with those around us.

For the upcoming week, Mars in Gemini will square the Saturn/Uranus opposition that we have been experiencing for the past 2 years.  Mars can bring about combat and discord or he can force agreement and understanding.  Gemini is a dual sign ruling communication and the daily routine, as well as the hands - the left one and the right one!  Saturn builds structure and Uranus breaks down walls.  There could be a lot of competing information floating around out there this week, some of which will support the status quo, and some of which will challenge it.  Make sure the left hand knows what the right hand is doing, and PLEASE don’t gossip or speak loosely: chatty Gemini can start something big with poorly chosen words when ruling Mars, the planet of war!  We may feel like we are stuck between a rock and hard place as Mars squares both Saturn and Uranus.  As Mars continues to move through the zodiac this year and next, he will touch many sensitive points, helping us to make the bed in which we will lie once Saturn moves into Libra at the end of October.   Choose your battles very carefully this week, because you will be fighting them for a while!  Best of luck!

with love and gratitude,

m

MOORE TO CONSIDER ABOUT THIS WEEK’S ASTROLOGY