One very little known truth about Astrology is that the most powerful Aspects or alignments are not necessarily easy to see. This is becuase they take place on more than one dimension - or more than one level. Most Astrology looks at chart maps as if they are on a flat plane - like the piece of paper they are drawn upon. But the Original Astrologers always looked at the sky to deturmine what they were seeing. By looking at the sky the Astrologer can see, not only what sign and degree the planet is in - for example Venus at 12′ Pisces. They could also see the Elevation of the planet in question. This is incredibly important because it is Elevation (also called Declination) that is responsible for Eclipses. When an Eclipse happens, both planets must not only be in the same sign (take 12′ Pisces as our example) but also at the same declination. If, for example Mars is also at 12′ Pisces that means that it is in conjunction with Venus - which has a certain power and significance in a chart. But if Mars and Venus are also at the same Declination then the power of that conjuction is multiplied. Various planets in the sky will eclipse each other all the time.
To learn more Subscribe to my Weekly Horoscope where I cover this in detail in this weeks column.
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Tomorrow, April 27th Mercury quietly moves into Taurus. Here are a few things that this means:
Mercury in Taurus is generally a very practical and systematic place for it. As ruler of messages, ideas, thoughts and short journeys when Mercury enters Taurus his influence is far more practical and ‘bottom line’ than it was last week when he was at HOME and very powerful in Gemini. He loses a lot of power in Taurus and must defer his energies to Venus (ruler of Taurus). Therefore, desires, wants and material concerns take a more prominent role. The bottom line is that our minds become focused on the material side of life. We think about money, our creature comforts, luxuries and basically the earthly physical concerns of our everyday lives. This can make us acutely aware of what we want, what we desire, what we need, how SECURE we feel, what we value and what might be missing in any one of these areas of our lives. The most core aspect of Mercury in Taurus is it’s ability to help us get in touch with our deepest values and find ways to bring our life into alignment with those values. Values are the moral compass by which we navigate through the world. Without a clear and abiding sense of our own personal true North we will wander in a rudderless existence, unable to actually get anywhere specific.
However, now while Mercury is in Taurus we are given the opportunity to use our minds to do values work which allows us to find what is true, real and important for us on a deep personal level. To learn more about how to understand the role of Venus and Mercury in your life now, I recommend my exclusive Astrology Report service. These Reports are not available anywhere else and can be used to look at a relationship or to see what is taking place NOW in your life. To purchase a report for NOW instead of a soul mate report just click the Astrology Report link and type NOW in the form where it asks for partner information. They are GUARANTEED ACCURATE. It doesn’t get better than that!
Here’s what a client said about her report: “I recently purchased your compatibility report… it was entirely too accurate for me to ignore. So now I’m writing to see about an appointment…” -Elizabeth Mahon
The Question: Hi Aura
Thanks for the really interesting blog!
Pluto transits often cause blight to the old ways but if one can work with them, they can accelerate one’s evolution, I think. A few months ago Pluto moved into my 2nd house, currently conjuct natal mercury and, while there’s not much good news from other transits, Pluto is trining my 6th house moon and Rx Jupiter will trine my natal Pluto in June. What would be most useful to hear is when these scary Pluto transits occur, do you look to the “easy” aspects to concentrate your attention and come out the other side winning, or perhaps to the ruler of the house being transited? Or am I on the wrong track here?
My natal details: 02 Jan 1947,02.10am, Durban, South Africa (29S55′E 0.30E56′)
The Answer: Well, yes you are right that Pluto transits can be intense. But please remember the #1 thing to look at when interpreting any planet is what angles (aspects) it is making. Squares are hard, trines are blessings and conjunctions can go either way - but usually the balance is positive.
PLUTO gets a worse rap than he deserves. Because nearly all Astrology (including Vedic, Uranian and anything else you can think of) overlooks the Declinations (planetary elevation) and the Helio Centric (Sun) Charts you are only really looking at maybe 25% of the picture that is going on with standard Astrology. Usually when someone is having a hard time in their life, and blaming it on some wide angle to Pluto it is not Pluto at all, but maybe a tough square, opposition, parallel or contra-parallel from Saturn or other planet (maybe even Pluto) on one of these unseen levels. All I’m trying to point out here is that you can’t judge a situation when you don’t look at the whole picture.
Houses are only the general coloring that the experience will take - like the Cherry on top of the Sunday, it’s not to be mistaken for the Sunday itself! Most important when looking at houses are the angles (Ascendant, Descendant, MidHeaven and Nadir) - anything on the angles will be prominent, intense and completely life transforming. The Angles are the personal equivalent of the seasonal changes - the Equinoxes and the Solstices.
Transiting of a Retrograde Planet: In your case Jupiter to Pluto - You are right, Jupiter is Rx then, but this actually means you get the transit 3 times - once already happened when Jupiter was in range of your Pluto the first time, the second one happens on the Retrograde and the third one happens when Jupiter is direct again and before it catches up to itself in October. Jupiter-Pluto Transits are some of the absolute best ones you can possibly have, especially trines and conjunctions (as well as aspects in the Elevations and Sun Chart). If you need to compete for something and hope to win the prize, then this is the BEST aspect to look for. Also remember no aspect operates in a vaccuum - they combine with each other to create an overall picture. Sometimes even challenging aspects are part of a very useful overall picture. The worst things of all to watch out for are: the T-square, especially if Saturn is involved, and debilitated planets (in detriment or fall) as well as (some) Retrograde trouble. But Retrograde Jupiter is NOT a problem - not at all! Just a very specific picture with specific Karma attached to it.
I specialize in Electional Astrology - planning for best success, and would specifically look for ways to harness this energy for your success. You can look back at what was happening the first time this transit took place to get a better idea of what the next two will mean. But ultimately there are two ways to approach Astrology transits (and life in general).
One way is: Life happens (or shit happens) approach and is passive - “hey what can I do, life just ‘happened to me’”. This is a rudderless way to live life and leans heavily on the idea of Destiny. With this approach, we would look at a transit as happening to the person. I think it is something of a cop out, because I believe we are all responsible for the quality of the life we have - it is the result of our choices and decisions - and what we make of what we’ve got.
The other way is: Taking responsibilty for what you want and using what’s available to get you there. This is Electional Astrology - using the transits to help you get where you want to go. I don’t discount the idea of karma and destined meetings or even obstacles. These are part of the lifepath with it’s unique gifts, challenges and opportunities for growth. In this approach we would look at a transit as a window of energy that represents a time to take advantage of or a lesson to be absorbed and learned. This is empowering and supposes that we all have Free Will and potential mastery over our own destiny.
For me, Astrology is ONLY useful when we suppose Free Will. In my weekly Horoscope I take the other elements - Planetary Elevation and Sun Charts into consideration (as I do in every session I do) and, as far as I know I am the only person out there who does this. However, due to the nature of a Horoscope and how it works, I can only write from the perspective of what is happening to each sign, it’s not possible to write it any differently. I am currently writing a book that will give a more full perspective on how to USE Astrology practically and usefully. As a subscriber you will get the first notification when this and other learning tools are available.
The Question: My birthday is July 16, 1963 I was born at 5:43 pm. Victoria, B.C. Canada. My question is which direction should I go for in a career move. I’m very undecided, I know it’s in the service industry-helping people. Not sure if I should go to school to become a Naturalpathic Doctor or find a regular job in my community. HELP! Thank you! PEACE - Melanie
The Answer: First of all, I can’t really do justice to this big of a question - what are your career talents - in this short format. But I will give you my first impressions. Just remember that this is too big and important of a question to answer with only a small amount of attention.
Looking at your chart, you have a Great Big Grand Trine in Water Signs right in the middle of your Chart. This gives you easy blessings but not necessarily a huge amount of drive! In it Chiron, Venus and Neptune are not only trining but applying as well - which makes this a very powerful blessing and huge spiritual protection. You will certainly have the compassion, caring and bedside manner necessary to make a great Doctor or healer, and you will want to do something healing and of benefit to the world and humanity - you are altruistic. And because Venus is involved with Neptune here, you definitely are capable of making money from the field of medicine and healing. *NOTE* Read my posts on this years Eclipses because they are impacting your Chiron in Pisces and the Eclipses are all about health and healing all year long.
The most noticable thing about your chart from my point of view is how very filled with easy aspects it is. Easy aspects give easy blessings, but not necessarily a world beating amount of inner drive. Your biggest (and almost only) challenge is the squares to the Moon which help give you some drive and ambition, but also create frustration and emotional obstacles, as well as inconsistent levels of concentration. I would say that you have everything you need to achieve anything you desire, however you might sometimes be your own biggest obstacle! Something unconscious may stand in your way (the Moon) and this makes it a challenge to get to the bottom of things or to understand what the problem might be.
I would suggest doing inner work, like hypnotherapy sessions and of course a full Astrology Session will give you a LOT more information.
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The Question: I’ve also got a powerful Sun Chart as well, I think. Can you check it out for me. Born 10:11 am, September 3, 1964. Thanks, Rebecca
The Answer: Hmm, your Helicentric Chart is very interesting and has a lot going on in it. You know that I look at Sun Charts (Helio Centric Charts) as the destiny Chart. You have a Grand Trine in yours (great) and a multiple T-square (not so great). The bottom line here is that your Destiny is what you make of it (but then that’s usually the case). The Grand Trine gives you a great headstart and a lot of help in business and making money since it is composed of Jupiter, Pluto and the Asteroid Ceres. You can certainly get whatever you want (probably from whomever you want)! But the Heliocentric T-square is too complex to go into in this format. The upshot is that you must be careful not to get too swept into fantasy or to take the ‘easy way out.’ There’s always a price to pay, especially when something seems too easy. I might recommend you become a writer or some kind of communicator since that is what will balance your chart out in the long run.
Also in your Destiny (Helio Centric Chart) your Mars is sitting there all alone and completely unaspected - and so are Venus and Saturn. A very interesting relationship with your actions and values, and the rules of society. There are some real lessons of destiny here for you. Rules, Actions and your own inner moral compass are all the highlights of those destined experiences. Very interesting!
Of course I can only go into detail in a private session, but yours is definitely one of the more complicated Sun Charts that I’ve seen!
The Question: Everything I have read about my son’s chart suggests problems with family/mother. It worries me for our future! He (son) is June 13, 2003, 8:07PM, Cookeville, TN. I (mom) am February 6, 1969, 11:21AM, Laurel, Maryland. Dad is February 6, 1972, 7:30pm, Cookeville, TN. (Yeah, I know! Mom and Dad share a birthday!) My son and I definitely have a telepathic link, he seems to read my mind  but he doesn’t know it yet, he’s only 3.5 years-old. He seems VERY familiar to me, if past lives exist, then we share this. Is there any information/concerns you can share concerning our relationship in reading our charts? Also, any guiding words of wisdom on how to raise this boy? What career path would he be suited for?Thanks so much for your interesting site and the opportunity to ask a question!
Sara
The Answer: First of all - Stay away from ‘Cook Book’ Astrology!! It will only give you a small portion of the picture and leave you more confused than when you started! Looking at your son’s chart I don’t see any horrible Saturn Aspects which is the #1 indicator for problems with the father. In fact his Saturn is extremely well aspected which suggests a very good relationship with authority figures and the ability to focus, be organized and work hard. You may think that Saturn in Cancer is the problem, and it’s true Saturn isn’t too comfortable in Cancer, but that isn’t as important when the Saturn is getting as much help as his does from the Aspects (which are more important than the signs).
As far as the relationship with Mom (you), his Moon conjuncts Pluto and both planets are part of a Grand Trine to Jupiter and the Asteroid Pallas Athena. The Moon Pluto conjunction can explain the psychic connection and the feeling of past life recognition. You also have strong Mercury Moon connections between you, which will add to your ability to communicate unconsciously. AND, if that wasn’t enough his Neptune is nearly on your Sun which will make him able to read your wants and also make him want to give you what you want! He is a deeply instinctual person. He will percieve you (Mom) as being very intense, but this will teach him not to be afraid of his own power and he is likely to achieve a position of power and authority easily in his life. The biggest challenge here with you is making sure he respects your authority. But he definitely needs to be allowed to pursue his own interests.
Actually, your son has a very blessed chart without a lot of huge challenges. The biggest problems I see are perhaps a tendency towards self-sabotage and the challenges between Mars conjunct Uranus squaring Mercury with Uranus squaring Venus. Unpredictablity, breaking rules and the desire to shock people. He’s a rebel at heart. But this also indicates a stormy relationship between his Mom and Dad ;-o — So my best suggestion is for you to be as stable as possible!! Intensity and rebellion are only problems when they aren’t given an appropriate outlet, so he needs to be allowed to express the intense side of his nature in whatever form he is drawn to - marital arts, drama, psychic development.
Otherwise, an Astrology Reading can give you much more detail as well as copies of all your Charts, your Sun charts and a recording for you and your child to refer to in the future.
In the ever changing orchestra of Planetary movements, today Jupiter goes Retrograde at 20′ Sagittarius. It will continue to ‘moonwalk’ backwards until August 7th when it resumes forward motion at 10′ Sagittarius.
For the next 4 months we will be reviewing the Jupiter related things that have happened for the last 4 months. The Sagittarius Degrees of 10-20 are getting a workout (this is also known as the 2nd Decan of Sagittarius) until the end of October. Just like when Mercury goes Retrograde these degrees get re-viewed, re-vamped, re-tooled, re-novated, and re-done.
WHAT JUPITER RULES: Edu-ma-cation, travel, foreign policy and all dealings with foreign cultures/governments, storytelling, publishing, teaching, luck, blessings, opportunity, expansion, prosperity, conspicuous consumption (especially of alcohol), rich foods, sugar imbalances and religious rightiousness. It also rules myth, paradigms, archetypes, teams, sports, and group allegiances. Jupiter is the bridge between personal consciousness and group connections/alliances. Philosophy, ideals and belief systems and marketing.
JUPITER IN SAGITTARIUS:This is the Most powerful place for Jupiter - he is at Home - King of his castle. Here he wears the bright purple royal robes of the King and his highness deals in impersonal theory, concept and general policy. He loves a good time, a good story and the Royal indulgences to which he is accustomed. He believes he is fair (this reality is debatable), he is concerned with belief and religion, the search for truth, as well as the moral concepts of ‘right vs. wrong’. This is generally a good place for Jupiter, but it’s expression is up to the individual and can be used or abused dependiing on personal choice (and spiritual development).
IN THE NEWS: How is this playing out in the current News? This years Eclipses in Virgo and Pisces are in stressful relationship with Jupiter, which has created problems in the areas of Health, daily routines, pets (Virgo) and spirituality, the food supply and/or escapism/drugs (Pisces). Since last fall I have been concerned with our US food supply, but so far it seems that our pets are the ones who are suffering from tainted foods. This is not good, and only getting worse. Drug busts have been covered in the news for the past weeks. Sagittarius Celebrities Britney Spears and Anna Nicole Smith have been all over the newswires and these stories aren’t any where near over. Both of them have famous drug problems, but don’t rule out poison (Eclipses in Pisces) with Anna Nicole, this story is NOT over yet! We will hear a LOT more about both of these women for the rest of 2007. How about conflicts among countries? How about the Iraq war nightmare, not to mention the Britain/Iran waterspace hostage issue. And I haven’t even mentioned the political laggerheads between congress, the House, the Senate and the President. Talk about a conflict of Philosophy. But the good news is that since it’s JUPITER we’re talking about, ultmately truth and justice will be served - it’s only a question of how long it will take.
Clearly this Jupiter stuff is a major theme of the year - and this is because of the Eclipses. Each and every one of us is feeling it on some personal, philosophical level. But it’s always the individual choice how to express that energy - but first we need to understand how it’s effecting us. Perhaps knowing in advance could have saved us a huge amount of our current hassle today, we’ll never know.
Easter Eggs have a lot to do with Astrology. This may seem odd, but it’s true. If you are a subscriber to my Blog then you already know that you can Balance an Egg on End during the Equinox. Just click the link to watch the video.
Easter, although a Christian holiday, was originally an Equinox celebration. It was co-opted by Christianity in order to compete with older multi god religions. The Egg balancing act is one that has it’s roots in those ancient indigenous religions. The Easter celebration was simply a way to take the phenomenon and remove the indigenious, multi god overtones. Of course the Easter Celebration was moved - so that it no longer fell on the Exact Equinox. That way the eggs wouldn’t balance anymore, and the indigenous religions lost their ability to perform crowd pleasing “magic”.
But don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that Astrology and Christianity or Easter are at odds with each other - they’re not. (Although some Christians are at odds with Astrology!) The Bible and Astrology are actually incredibly similar. There are even tons of Biblical Astrology References. Yes the Bible is filled with Astrology. There are even some who say that it is actually an Astrological metaphore - and that the entire thing is devoted to preserving Astrological truths. But the purpose of this post is not to prove or disprove this.
I am just pointing out that there is a very real physical phenomenon that makes it possible to balance an egg on it’s point during the Easter Season (on the Equinox, actually). This is because of the Equinox Effect in Astrology. Is it science, is it religion - or is it both? Kinda makes you wonder, doesn’t it?
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