Next Day Delivery: Freedom

Posted on March 4, 2025 by ohioastrology

Upon returning home, my cat said he wanted to order something next-day delivery. Here we go again, I thought. Watching television creates unrealistic expectations for both humans and felines.

My cat probably thinks the scratching post advertised on the commercial is better than the two by the window. The food advertised, of course, always looks delicious when we’re hungry and waiting for humans to provide food. And the toys – the toys! – are absolutely as exciting as advertised but, unfortunately, for only a day or two.

“What now?” I asked cynically.

“I want to get some freedom,” he replied.

Freedom?

We had a long discussion about “freedom” as a right, not something you buy. Freedom is a concept, I explained, that allows you to do what you want within the limits of the law and other rational agreements. Freedom, I clarified, doesn’t mean you can do anything you want.

“But you do anything you want,” the cat accused.

“It’s my house,” I explained. “So, yes, I have the freedom to choose what we eat for dinner. But outside the house, it’s very different.”

“So you don’t have freedom either?” the cat asked. “Outside you’re like me, dependent on humans?”

“Yes.”

Pluto in Aquarius – Transformation of Liberty, Equality, Fraternity

The United States was “born” during the Age of Enlightenment (also called the Age of Reason) but was a few years short of being “born” with Pluto in Aquarius, the sign of humanity, group consciousness, technology and reason. The French Revolution and its slogan of “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity” occurred a bit later when Pluto had made its transit into Aquarius.

In 1776, Pluto was still at 27 degrees of traditional, rule-following, authoritarian Capricorn. We were close to Aquarius, but not quite there. Likewise, with freedom we’ve never “quite been there.”

In 2023 – 2024 the US had its Pluto return, turning 248 years old! While we like to celebrate ages that end in zero, like 250, for astrologers, the planetary cycles are more meaningful. We have gone an evolutionary round of what it means to be authority.

Yet early 2025 has brought more, not less, of negative Capricorn – misuse of authority, fear as control, using others, and lack of imaginative and empathetic thinking.

There’s a positive Capricorn which is where other countries respect our mature, dependable, and rule-following nature. This is the Capricorn that attracts people from all over the world – stability and structure. Knowing the paycheck will clear, knowing there is a choice of work, knowing the stores will have food on the shelves, that there is fresh water – some do not experience this in their parts of the world.

What will the next 248 years bring?

While this evolutionary cycle seems to be starting out like Europe in 1776, Pluto forces transformation. Possibly this swing back into Capricorn – into 1776 – is the tension needed to spring us forward past fear and control into new ways of sharing community, country, and planet – the Age of Aquarius.

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Uranus in Gemini: Keep Breathing

Posted on February 26, 2025 by ohioastrology

In Asia many years ago, I sought an acupuncturist for a minor physical problem. As was his standard, he provided a full medical assessment and recommended diet. Until recently, I remembered only one of the medical diagnoses and most of the diet recommendations. While I had some treatment from this acupuncturist, I left the country soon after meeting him.

This summer through a series of unrelated events I came upon a journal that documented that visit. A great shock awaited me – all those medical diagnoses came to pass in the subsequent three decades in ways I hadn’t recognized while they were occurring. Only in hindsight do I see it.

And, older now, I found my way to the diet – including avoiding milk – all through accidental trial and error.

While this is certainly a testament to the superiority of traditional Asian medicine, I see how I couldn’t respond to the information because I wasn’t sick. Aside from the minor problem that led me there, none of the information related to an existing physical symptom.

Let’s say I was able to stay longer and understood the accuracy of the information, I might be different now but were I to say to a Western doctor that an acupuncturist cured me before I was ill, the logical allopathic mind might have believed it was genetics or coincidence.

The lesson here is that I couldn’t be warned about something I couldn’t see, taste, hear, smell or feel. But it was occurring, was real.

And this helps me understand why today as humanity we ignore the warnings we receive.

A lifetime of warnings

All my life there have been dire warnings of future catastrophe from both religious and secular sources: the end of “the world”; great earthquakes; diminishing fresh water supplies; polluted air and food; global warming; Year 2000 (everyone has forgotten this non-event); World War [insert number]; alien takeover; global pandemics and, economic meltdown.

Possibly we ignore warnings because many of us get our first warnings through religion, which can be the direst. Consider the promises and threats of religion are never experienced IN LIFE. Like my medical diagnoses, I’ll ignore something I do not experience.

And, of course, there are false warnings, like Year 2000. While it was a ridiculous non-event it did describe something very, very important – we are run by our technology, not running it. It was a warning of a longer, deeper pattern.

Uranus in Gemini

Uranus, the planet of sudden change – shock depending on how we respond – is moving from Taurus to Gemini in July. Uranus ultimately provides clarity and if we pursue it, enlightenment. But shock can be the result if, say, we’ve ignored the fact our spouse seems to work late hours at the office and claims to fall asleep at the desk. It’s only shock to learn that’s not true if we ignored our intuition and feelings as it occurred.

In Taurus our shocks, clarity, and enlightenment occurred in the realm of body, assets, property, and values. Taurus rules the neck and thyroid area. Americans learned about supply chain amidst disappearing household items such as toilet paper. We learned how much is used in the office versus the home. We learned where it came from, why it’s not overproduced and stored, and profit margins associated with storage of large items. We also learned about new medical technology in the body.

In Gemini our shocks, clarity, and enlightenment will occur in the realm of communication, socialization, siblings, immediate environment, journalism, and education. Physically it’s body parts of a Gemini “twin” nature – hands, lungs, ears – which relate to communication.

In the US, there is no longer consensus information – even something appearing factual like the number of people at an event is debated as though it were an opinion. Much of this can be attributed to Neptune in Pisces which has dissolved shared reality. Neptune will be moving too soon, into Aries, so folks will come out of the fog of information war.

When the fog lifts, Gemini will provide to us individually and communally some shocks of information – what is, what was, what might be.

Gemini lungs, breathing and communication

After our Uranus in Taurus experiments with the body, I do wonder if Uranus in Gemini will reveal how medical experimentation has impacted our lungs and breathing.

Buddhism informs that “breath is life.” That’s both physical and metaphysical. When we have trauma, we hold our breath which creates a blockage – psychologists know all about this and help try to remove the block.

In the book The End of Stress as We Know It, author Bruce McEwen describes how “stress protects under acute conditions, but when activated chronically it can cause damage and accelerate disease.” Stress activated chronically is “allostatic load.”

The book also describes how a medical researcher in the 1930s found that when people were stressed and ill, the symptoms were similar. Sickness itself is a “general adaptive syndrome.” Wellness practitioners call this “dis-ease.”

Some of the illnesses traveling this winter are respiratory as they usually are – RSV, Covid, flu, pneumonia – i.e., Gemini and breathing. Gemini, breathing and lungs also relate to the ability to communicate and express our needs. Much change has occurred in these first few weeks of the 47th president (a Gemini) that are creating shocks, allostatic load, and feelings of powerlessness – this will affect the lungs.

In addition to economic, social and familial disruption, we must protect our lungs and ability to both give and receive valid, meaningful information. Disinformation and the dissolving of trusted information is physically as well as mentally damaging.

Uranus in Gemini will take your breath away

“Taking our breath away,” seems like the very thing of a trauma response but refers to the shock of a positive, thrilling event. It’s often used to describe falling in love.

For most of my life during election time, someone will say, “It doesn’t matter who gets elected, it’s all the same.”

The “same” referred to here is a certain economic and social stability, even though not shared by all. Stores stay open, have products on shelves, the traffic lights work, the garbage is collected.

This round of Uranus in Gemini, it may not be all the same. This time may “take our breath” away both physically and spiritually through continual allostatic load.

It’s critical during this transit to keep breathing, keep communicating, keep expressing the information as we see it. It’s our experience. We chose it.

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Pluto in Capricorn Strikes Back

Posted on February 15, 2025 by ohioastrology

Toward the end of transiting Pluto in Sagittarius (1995-2008) astrologers began their predictions of Pluto in Capricorn (2008-2024). Pluto is ultimately transformation but can begin as destruction. Transformation, destruction – those are intense words. The most important thing to remember about Pluto is that when it “destroys” or “transforms” you have no choice. You accept it’s time to change or you will be changed. It’s evolution.

As an astrologer it’s always difficult to explain this complex transit as it’s like going through a black hole – you come out the other side a different person.

And how will that happen? All the many ways that humans can be transformed: physical property is destroyed; livelihood disappears; a spouse announces he/she’s is leaving; someone close dies; trust is shattered; a realization that a long, involved effort was in vain.

I had it; I lost it. Who am I now? What do I do next?

Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose . . . [lyric from Me and Bobby McGee]

On the other side of the black hole is freedom. In my country we believe we love, love, love freedom but the empty void of freedom is actually very scary physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

Where will I live? How will I earn money? Will anyone ever love me again?

When we’re free we worry about filling the void.

Pluto in Capricorn

Capricorn is the sign of authority, rules, boundaries, responsibility and discipline. Naturally ruled by Saturn it is Father Time. Father is the authority; Time is the boundary. And one day we will die which is scary and when faced with thoughts of death we react in fear.

Fear is the control.

Let’s go back to 2008 when Pluto entered Capricorn. Its first evolutionary path was the material world and ideas of authority and success. Collective memory is short these days – in 2008 there was a global financial collapse due to over-leveraging (aka gambling) with mortgages. Reading about it today, governments were worried of mass protests, restless populations, and uprisings.

Why did that not happen?

The government, the Father, came in to patch things up. Money is one of our world’s greatest illusions and as magicians do with bunnies and pretty ladies, the debt was made to disappear.

A decade later we had a great pandemic, an virulent, life-threatening illness crossing the globe. Governments across the world all performed the same action – lockdown.

If there is one word to describe Pluto in Capricorn it is lockdown. And it was global.

As people were banned from labor, the government, again, stepped in and sent money. The capitalist government that warns us regularly about socialism essentially created a short-term socialist state.

Lockdown Retreat

Ironically through “lockdown” some in developed countries working in corporations had a chance to do a forced retreat and examine their lives. And many concluded there was more than work, as Americans spend more hours at work than many in developed countries, and experience was equally important.

During lockdown many purged accumulated items in the home (we can thank Uranus in Taurus for this). Work, stuff – Capricorn’s realm – was being reassessed.

And time – folks had more time. Father Time stepped aside for a moment.

Pluto in Aquarius

Aquarius, where Pluto now resides, has some similarities to Capricorn. Both signs are structured and stubborn. While Capricorn seeks roles of authority, Aquarius is fundamentally more rebellious and is stubborn only because it seeks a perfect society, a perfect group consciousness.

Capricorn snobbery is based on traditionally established hierarchies and culture. Aquarius snobbery is based on the practical exclusion of individuals who do not meet group consciousness.

Capricorn is culture. Aquarius – and I’d add Cancer – are more “cult” like having challenges with members who think or feel outside of the group consciousness.

The United States was “born” during Pluto in Aquarius and the group consciousness which is ruled both by Cancer (sun) and Aquarius (moon) is about fitting in whether to ideas of nationalism and loyalty or freedom and independence.

Freedom and independence as a cultural trait, a group consciousness – there’s an irony in this. Independence is individual so a group consciousness about individuality is a bit of an oxymoron.

And here were are.

Pluto in Capricorn Strikes Back

Astrologers are like economists trying to predict the future for both safety and enjoyment. And astrologers come in the usual flavors of doomsday prophets or la-la-land idealists.

Over time and with writing the greatest wisdom of astrology has revealed itself to me – balance and cycles. Balance (Libra) is the goal. When we are “doomsday” we push people away through fear. When we are la-la-land we often don’t have a definitive plan for improving a negative situation.

As America relaxed during the pandemic from a life of constant over-work, it appears some Pluto-in-Capricorn sorts didn’t like it. Yes, people can abuse any system. And, more importantly, some of us older folks are simply tired. Pre-pandemic my own feeling was that I was constantly chasing after my life. Regardless of what occurs in the corporate sphere, I will not return to that mode.

But the relaxation from corporate pressure has revealed some unpleasant facts: folks will chuck it away in a heartbeat and leaders lose control.

Pluto in Capricorn has not truly passed. In the US 2024 election the initial candidates were elderly men – we as a collective group are not ready to change guard. And now in 2025 the Capricorn backlash – ultimately about control – is upon us.

Take, for example, 78-year old Ohio Governor Mike DeWine. On February 4, 2025 he signed an Executive Order requiring return to office for state employees. Then on February 14, 2025 his choice for the newly-open Lieutenant Governor was 72-year old Ohio State University (OSU) football coach Jim Tressel.

DeWine, sun in Capricorn, moon in Gemini – is playing Father here in his characteristic both-sides-of-the-fence manner. Mandating return to office makes folks unhappy; making a popular sports figure his partner will create offsetting happiness.

Important note: If you haven’t lived in Columbus, Ohio this sports figure pick may not have meaning for you. Columbus is a sports town – even in the 1962 film The Manchurian Candidate Frank Sinatra’s character mentions it. Picking Tressel – aged and relatively inexperienced – is a shallow and superficial appeasement.

Father Time comes to us all

While it’s a bit unsettling that Pluto in Capricorn won’t see itself out, Father Time comes to us all and a ruling class in the last decades of physical existence means that soon they will change.

The question is – will we change? Or will Pluto force change upon us?

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Do you want to be here?

Posted on February 9, 2025 by ohioastrology

When first embracing the idea of reincarnation and explaining it to a friend, he replied, “That must be very comforting.”

Comforting? Not really, when I thought about it. And I wasn’t unhappy – it was an exciting period of growth. Until being questioned, I simply hadn’t thought of it in terms of comfort and doing so made me . . . uncomfortable.

Reincarnation is associated with “past” lives but if we lived before and now, why not again? Would I want to do this again?

Starting over as an infant in whatever time and place with unknown familial and environmental conditions is a uncomfortable thought to me. It’s a crap shoot. What if I end up in a country on earth that is in the middle of a war? What if I were born a slave?

Or maybe I’ll be born in a peaceful world living a happy beach life in a perfect climate. That would be nice. That would be nice in this live, right now.

Ask your friends and family and see the reaction to being born again. I’m surprised at the reactions I’ve heard from different people of all different faiths who are not unhappy – it’s an unpleasant thought. I can’t find any research on it to have a wider view.

In contrast the thought of dying and going to one place or being in one state forever – that can provide comfort. It’s like a nightcap at the end of day – a reward. Of course, punishment is also offered up in this scenario.

If we don’t want to be born again, do we want to be here now?

The Sun and Saturn

In the horoscope, the sun is the self and manifests as all planets do through the 12 signs of the zodiac. We are meant to express that sign and manifest the situations to help us with growth personal, material, mental and spiritual.

Also in the horoscope is Saturn which Indian astrologers refer to as Lord Karma. Saturn’s placement provides insight on what types of burdens or responsibilities or guilt we brought with us to this life. We all have Saturn in the horoscope, so it becomes a planet of boundaries, limitations or discipline as we work through those karmic issues.

While those not believing in reincarnation may not be interested in the concept of karma (cause and effect), it is interesting to see how much energy the personality devotes to Saturn – it’s like the parent we are eternally trying to please.

When surveying your family and friends on whether they’d want to do this – live on earth again – think about whether they are speaking from the sun (yes) or Saturn (no or yes, if).

Examine the Saturn in your horoscope for the reason you (might) feel you don’t want to be here and the sun for the reason you ARE here.

If we are born again, imagine the actions of today creating the Saturn of tomorrow. Imagine if tomorrow we are not sending “lethal aid” to others but are the recipients of it. Uncomfortable thoughts of reincarnation can be helpful in creating responsibility today, here and now.

Puppies

Thinking about what it means to be living on a planet with millions or even billons of people who maybe don’t want to be here – that’s an uncomfortable thought but may explain the state of the earth. If we are like travelers living in hotels – some of us at fancy hotels, some of us at dirty motels, some of us in between – how do we leave our hotel rooms?

Do we care about the hotel room? Do we get attached to it?

(Fancy hotels, yes for me, for your survey)

While thinking of this blog on my walk today I passed two puppies, one a labrador – my favorite kind of dog and puppy. Lab pups are very happy to be here, very happy to walk and smell and say hello and then do all of that some more.

Yet puppies, too, have a horoscope. Pet owners know animals have “personalities” of a sort but maybe not as nuanced as humans. If animals could talk or humans couldn’t, then maybe our personalities would be more similar.

If puppies have a Saturn in their horoscope, why are they always so happy to be here?

Maybe Saturn in a puppy’s horoscope is a human, or even a human who doesn’t want to be here.

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Synchronicity Interrupted

Posted on February 1, 2025 by ohioastrology

In the days before digital, some had the experience of hearing a new word or being exposed to a new concept or new object and then seeing that word, concept, or object frequently soon after. The common question that arose was: did the exposure create the awareness of something that had been screened out or ignored or was it spiritual or psychological synchronicity where something new was being brought to our consciousness?

Here’s what AI tells me:

  • Synchronicity is a concept in psychology.
  • It’s a way of describing events that happen at the same time and appear to be related, but there’s no obvious reason why they happened together.
  • Jung believed that synchronicity was a healthy part of the mind, but it could become harmful in psychosis.
  • The word synchronicity comes from the Greek words syn, meaning “together”, and khronos, meaning “time”.

Today the devices we carry are portals that allow us to see out into the digital world but also allow the digital world see in. Those looking in do want to see all that we do and mirror something back to us in the hopes of a purchase, a vote, or a behavior change.

If today if one is exposed to a new word, concept, or object, chances are that digital will pick up the signal and magnify it back to us. In this way, if there is synchronicity, it will be drowned within the calculated and targeted information landslide that awaits our clicks.

Synchronicity is interrupted.

Neptune in Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces

Digital “happened” during Neptune’s 15-year transits of Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces. In Capricorn, tech became crystallized as an industry and made money and had stocks. It was a REAL thing.

In Aquarius, the leap was greater with idealization of all technology for its own sake, for the pleasure of creating it and using it. I’m innovative and intelligent if I use it.

In Pisces, Neptune is transiting the sign it rules. In Pisces, digital became a public utility and mass emotional trigger. It also became a mask worn by many players “out there” in the cloud. The “cloud” is a Neptune/Pisces concept. It’s there but it will change form at any moment.

Neptune Hall of Mirrors

Neptune is the planet of mystery, of dissolution, of spirituality, of otherworldliness. Neptune is our connection to all that is. Sounds so nice to some – but really who wants to be a speck of dust in a vast universe? The human ego isn’t designed to seek this type of experience, yet . . .

Neptune is magic, Neptune is music, Neptune is when we forget ourselves. These experiences are “heightened” and when experienced create longing which sometimes leads to substances that create the effect. Meditation can get us there but that takes a long time, a sustained standoff with the ego, waiting for it to get so bored that it finally steps aside.

Here’s what AI tells me:

  • A house of mirrors is a metaphor for what’s real and what’s not, or for how our perceptions can be distorted. It can also represent how we react to what we see in life.
  • A house of mirrors can represent how our perceptions can be distorted, such as when we see ourselves as a different shape or size in a mirror.
  • A house of mirrors can represent how we react to life, such as when we believe scary reflections to be real.

Digital life has taught us (if we want to learn) much about how perception can be manipulated. The negative effects can open our awareness to a wider understanding of how perception is manipulated with or without digital involvement. Digital didn’t create it; digital merely made the process easier to target both masses and individuals.

Take Facebook – it didn’t create worry about what others think of us – it merely gave a platform for enhancing that habit. It’s even called “Face” book indicating appearances and social reputation. It’s not hiding its nature.

How much are we altering our behavior due to Facebook? How often do we appease others? How often do we avoid/lie/dissimulate compared to pre-Facebook times?

There was a time (I lived it) where you could simply not answer the phone.

Those days are long gone.

Neptune in Aries

As Neptune leaves Pisces this year, it will move into Aries, a fire sign and first sign of the zodiac associated with spring, beginnings and self-assertion.

How will digital continue to evolve in the next 15 years?

If Capricorn made it reputable and Aquarius made it fashionable and Pisces made it inscrutable, then Aries may make it assertive. We’re already half-way there to handing our sovereignty over to digital.

If digital appears to do everything we want and meet our every need in the next 15 years, consider whether this is synchronicity or actually digital telling us what to do. Like our house pets, we think we train them but under detailed examination we may find they train us.

And if after reading this blog we see astrology feeds in the panels of our social media sites, it’s not synchronicity. Astrology, though, can help us with the reflections we see in the mirrors that surround us.

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Uranus in Gemini: Opposite Day

Posted on January 26, 2025 by ohioastrology

Half a century ago in an inner-city elementary school in northern Ohio, we had playground rituals for the days of the week: Tuesday was “Ten Thousand Kisses Day,” Wednesday was “Wedding Day,” and Friday was “Flip Up Day” which meant the boys flipping up the skirts and dresses of the girls. As a girl, the rituals appeared to be created by the boys but at the time I didn’t know statistics but was also busy protecting myself, as girls learn to do.

After all these years, can’t recall the ritual assignments for Monday and Thursday. Maybe we had “ten thousand kisses” on Thursday and Tuesday was something else. Maybe the weekly rituals started on “hump day” Wednesday.

Today such rituals in America would probably result in the common extreme and dualistic response of our culture: half the school would see the behavior of the boys as needing refinement, understanding the boys learned about sexuality before their time, that yes, boys, you may marry someday and kiss the girl but ten thousand times needs to be agreed upon and the lifting of the skirt will be taught to you in high school, don’t do it now or without permission later because it’s a bad thing to do.

The other half of the school would see in the behavior traditional family values and remind the world that “boys will be boys” which isn’t said out loud anymore but appears to still hold true. It’s a fact that kisses often lead to upturned skirts. And let’s not forget that a lot of pride – male and female – is based on sexual conquest. And for elementary school kids who still don’t (or didn’t) have much interest in the opposite sex to know this also relates to parental beliefs.

I can see the headlines now!

Although it doesn’t align with the sounds of Monday and Thursday, I do recall vaguely an “Opposite Day.” Maybe Opposite Day was spontaneous. As the planet Uranus will soon transit (move into) Gemini in 2025, it’s a good time to remember this elementary school rituals and how to respond.

Uranus

Traditionally Uranus rules Aquarius, the fixed air sign. Astrology like many disciplines has undergone a more modern interpretation so you won’t find astrologers commenting that if you have Mars in the first house you may be stabbed in the head with a sword.

Half a century ago, Uranus/Aquarius was known for being rebellious which could mean upside down, opposite or backwards behavior to the norm. For example, if most folks sleep at night, Uranus/Aquarius might sleep during the day (excluding night shift behavior). If folks eat bacon and eggs for breakfast, Uranus/Aquarius might eat it for dinner and have spaghetti for breakfast which a long while back might have been seen as odd behavior. Homosexuality was also lumped into Uranus/Aquarius behavior as being different, odd or against the norm.

The opposite behaviors can be deliberate rebelliousness looking for reaction or simply the unique way of looking at the world. Maybe our Uranus/Aquarius friend was eating spaghetti for breakfast in advance of a long jog and deemed it the logical breakfast.

Uranus in Gemini

Now take this unique and rebellious energy and insert Gemini, the mutable air sign known for its mental and verbal agility, dual nature (Gemini is represented by the twins), and constant shifting. Gemini won’t let you pin it down so even if you’ve figured out the Gemini “formula” don’t let Gemini know or there will be a reactive change to keep you guessing.

With these skills, Gemini gone bad is known as the con artist, another traditional interpretation that astrologers today don’t use much. Con artistry is more prevalent than ever but as a term has been replaced by more nuanced definitions: scams, phishing, kiting, disinformation, and branding.

With Uranus in Gemini, plan to think “opposite.” When, say, a government official proclaims that they are making the community safe, understand that they may truly be asking for more violence so that we can be more “safe.”

If, say, a government official says they are making a place “great” (a vague adjective), look to see if that same government official is truly disdainful of and destructive to his own people. Can one love a country but not its people?

When business and technology owners ask us to enroll in ever more digital tools and devices for our safety and convenience, are we safer or are we now fielding more threats to our safety? Is anyone less busy than they were 20 years ago?

Here’s a joke from the late 19th or early 20th century that I read long ago but am paraphrasing as I can’t find it today. It’s a Twain-like joke if not by Twain and also very Uranus-in-Geminis:

Two men are talking about Mrs. Abbott and her two sons. The one man says, “Yeah, she’s got two sons. One went bad and is a criminal. The other isn’t a senator.”

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Being Real is So Boring

Posted on January 4, 2025 by ohioastrology

When I asked my spoiled feline how he had earned so many Christmas gifts when he didn’t even come out from under the bed to acknowledge anyone, he gave me that “were you born yesterday?” look.

“It’s simple. I’m a legend.”

A legend?

“Obviously your devoted followers have never had to clean your litter box,” I replied.

“That’s the key, my ignorant human,” he said arrogantly. “You can’t let them see the real you, the boring one.”

The look in his eye told me I shouldn’t pursue this further, but impulse drove me forward.

“Well,” I stammered, “you’re a Gemini, so there are two ‘you’s’, but for many of us in the zodiac, there’s just one ‘you’ and we have to earn our way through life.”

My feline snorted in derision and then said:

“And how many Christmas gifts did you receive?”

I pushed him away from the soft, silky blanket. It was MY Christmas gift, not his.

Being Donald Trump

Speaking of Geminis, the former president and current president-elect Gemini Donald Trump was mentioned in a 1987 book of channeled messages. As I flipped through the book, I thought I saw “Trump” then figured it was an illusion as his name is so frequently used.

No, he’s mentioned, as was Ted Turner, a name and legend we don’t hear about anymore.

This is what always fascinates me – how in 1987 the focus was nuclear war and AIDS. Has either threat gone away?

No, but our newest fears are terrorism and COVID.

Are our fears simply negative “fads?”

If you study astronomy, you learn that our earth-existence is quite precarious. There’s a lot to fear and every now and again a fear of asteroid collision surfaces. But like the asteroids passage, the fear doesn’t last long.

While AIDS fears, nuclear war fears and Ted Turner have receded from the front burner of our consciousness, Trump remains.

The question asked by the querent was:

I’m a successful businessman. Why am I not as successful as Ted Turner and Donald Trump? . . . [laughter] If I program and they don’t, did they choose their life before birth?

The topic was creating our reality. The querent comes across as a simple egotist.

Yet here we are, 37 years later, and this very concern has become “consensual reality.” Not all of us wanted to be Ted Turner or Donald Trump, some even ignored the existence of these two men. Silly me for not taking Trump seriously.

Yet this is now the reality of the United States: consensual “success” of the kind that involves owning entire industries, media empires, retail chains, outer space, DNA and anything else that can be owned.

The desire to “be” like these men has created these men, has fueled them, cheered them at the sidelines. We created this reality. This is the image of success while our boring day-to-day efforts pale in comparison.

The legend of these men – the self-made made innovating, creating and earning by the sweat of his own brow – contrasts with the reality of class structure where those in the highest levels of economic atmosphere support each other, as has occurred for thousands of years.

Trump’s “success” appears to be simply to play the economic system, not contribute to it. He’s not a failed businessman because he’s not a businessman – he’s a tax man playing a game that started with inherited wealth and inherited knowledge of how to play the system and probably much more beyond my knowledge as a simple taxpayer.

Television and media simply promote the legend, the ideas. Television is a representation of our “consensus reality.” It’s not simply entertainment.

Pluto in Capricorn

And why did we create this reality?

The United States has Pluto in 27 degrees of Capricorn which is the sign of success and governs rules, laws, boundaries, and discipline (which to the undisciplined appear as limitations and restrictions).

Pluto destroys and transforms. The year 2022 saw the first Pluto “return” for the United States where Pluto returned to its original 27 degrees of Capricorn after 248 years. We have had one evolutionary cycle and here we are.

The first cycle of Pluto in Capricorn brought focus on success, wealth and status. The United States was the policeman of the world. People came for both political and economic freedom.

As a nation, we are choosing this lesson of “success.” We’ve elected someone that represents the legend of success if not the reality, which like all qualities is in the eye of the beholder.

This second Pluto cycle for the United States is occurring in a more conscious, educated world. Each country has its own evolutionary cycle and the United States as the Capricorn authority of the world is changing.

To evolve more positively, we must think in terms of Capricorn responsibility in addition to Capricorn “success.” The reality of success may be more boring than the idea of it.

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Neptune in Aries: Dissolving the Self

Posted on December 29, 2024 by ohioastrology

Nearly every thinking adult is aware of the spiritual crisis now confronting us, and its profound effect on behavioral patterns in America. The bloody disorders in ghettos and city streets are perhaps symptomatic of a larger problem than mere economics: the frustration which besets man when he feels impotent to chart his own destiny. Government has become so big, and the powers of destruction so engulfing, that we seem to be losing our sense of individuality, our Oneness with God. Now that giant computers can spew out the sum total of our working lives when fed our Social Security numbers, even our names seem stripped of significance, and we begin to feel like faceless cogs in an impersonally grinding wheel.

This was written in 1968 by Ruth Montgomery in a chapter entitled To Know Ourselves in the book Here and Hereafter.

This could have been written today although “giant computers” would be replaced some other term that represents the digital takeover of daily living.

Later in this chapter, Montgomery writes:

The need for self-identification is acute, for when a man fears that he is losing his personal identity with the society in which he must work and live, it is not surprising that he feels tempted to hurl bricks through plate-glass windows and join in violent uprisings. It is a way of attracting attention to the “self” that he seems to have lost.

She continues this paragraph on 1968 hippie identity-forming trends including growing one’s hair long and scorning working for a living. That has passed.

Is this so resonant today because we’ve having a repetitive pattern or because the 1960s began a type of social crack – for the US and other countries – that never re-sealed?

Dissolving personality

Neptune will move into Aries in March 2025. Neptune spiritualizes, idealizes and glamorizes so we’ll see some glamorization of all that is Aries: self-assertion, self-defense, and self-definition. In addition to the “halo” effect of Neptune, we can also have the dissolving effect – the fade out of self, of individuality, of what we believe makes us unique.

During these times of technological takeover, the very qualities we believe make us individually unique and worthy are being replaced by digital representations of our individuality fed by the information that we provide.

Who are we then? What is our role as individuals?

The Aries self never goes down without a fight which is why if unacknowledged it will . . . you know, fight.

Astrologers are now writing about the last transit of Neptune in Aries (1861-1876-ish) which occurred at the very start of the American Civil War. Yes, Aries fights. But there is always fighting, right?

There is always Aries and the other 11 signs of the zodiac. For war to occur, it takes more than Aries. It takes the energy and input of the entire zodiac: Taurus needs to fund it, Gemini to communicate it, Cancer to produce male children, Leo to lead it, Virgo to do the domestic work while others are fighting, Libra for diplomacy, Scorpio for covert operations, Sagittarius to oppose it and present the enemy’s perspective, Capricorn to organize it, Aquarius to plan a better society, and Pisces to sacrifice something for it – home, family, beliefs and even one’s life.

Spiritual no-self

In a spiritual sense – and Neptune is nothing if not spiritual – the loss of self is a freedom from the limits of what we call personality. Aries has been described as the “me” sign of the zodiac, being the first sign and centered on self.

The signs of the zodiac represent stages of life and an infant born into this world is helpless and dependent. At about the age of two (a Mars cycle – Mars rules Aries), children become individuals and fight back. The “terrible twos” are when a child knows it is “me” and not “you.”

And through the zodiac represents our human development from undifferentiated infant to individual, to partner, to member of society and to . . .  death. Death is Pisces, the last sign. It’s the inevitable end to the self.

Fear of death is fear of losing self which may be why there is fear of the “world ending” in the religious spheres. What world? When we die, there is no world. There is no “self.”

For Buddhists, losing the self without dying is freedom.

From Lion’s Roar

The Pali word anatta (in Sanskrit, anatman) is most often translated “no self” or “no soul.” Anatta is one of the Buddha’s most difficult teachings, but it also is a cornerstone of Buddhism. Understanding the concept of no self is critical to understanding everything else the Buddha taught.

We assume there is a permanent essence of “me” that inhabits our bodies throughout our lives. And we may believe that at death this essence continues to exist in some form, either in an afterlife or by transmigrating to a new body to live another life. But the Buddha taught that there is no such permanent essence.

Further, the belief in a permanent essence of self or soul is the primordial ignorance that leads to suffering. We spend life in pursuit of what will please this self, protect it, or even glorify it somehow. Maybe sometimes we get what we pursue, but it never lasts, and we are dissatisfied again. We lie, cheat, scam, assault, and do various other damaging things to other people ultimately because we are trying to protect or gratify the self.

Permanent is the key word here. The Buddha denied a permanent essence of self, but he also denied non-existence. So what are you? Realizing the true nature of the self is what’s called enlightenment, which is not something that can be conveyed in words. But here is a guide to some key Buddhist teachings on the nature of self.

The Western world is so against the idea of reincarnation because of the strong belief in personal freedom which relates to personal identity. How can the “me” I so carefully crafted become some other “me” that I wouldn’t recognize? It would be like some “other” person out there. I’m a good “me,” how could I be a “bad” me?

Dissolving Self

As Neptune can both glamorize and dissolve the self, we may see much self-assertion during this 15-year transit as some become exalted and others dissolve into oblivion, the statistics of natural disasters, illnesses and wars.

Neptune in Aries may glorify war which enhances some selves and destroys many other selves. War has been persistent on this planet so Neptune in Aries won’t create anything new; it will simply have a new image, a new theme, new branding.

This current and soon-to-pass transit of Neptune in Pisces seems to have dissolved shared reality. Who knows, maybe some of the folks we see in news and media feeds aren’t even here anymore.

With Neptune, you never really know.

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Neptune in Aries: Worshipping Warriorship

Posted on December 14, 2024 by ohioastrology

As astrologers, we often look to the future patterns which, like any thinking outside of the present, can cause reactions. When I have those reactions, I remember that life is a constant that will continue regardless of the ebbs and flows, highs and lows, of human behavior.

As humans with technology, we believe we are at the pinnacle of a constant, upward trending evolution. Yet studying history, “dark” and “light” ages can happen any time. Many ancient cultures had sophisticated astronomy (and astrology) so knew full well that the earth revolved around the sun and even that the earth had a wobble so that the north star changed every couple thousand years.

So why in the “dark” ages of Europe were men killed for saying the same?

Dark ages are simply ages of increased control. For this astrologer, I could argue that we are in another “dark” age even amidst information overload – more information in a day than our ancestors processed in a lifetime.

Information overload hasn’t created clarity, it’s created self-centered realities. This type of control is not overt, more like arsenic being dropped into the water supply in small, unnoticeable doses. But over time the effect is felt – loss of community. Divide and conquer, an ancient strategy.

Pluto recently entered “humanitarian” Aquarius so in the next 20 years we may see rekindling of different types of communities and humanistic concerns – meaning concerns outside of religious belief.

I remember that life continues, we’re here to learn, this is some sort of lesson. Astrology helps describe it.

Neptune in Aries

As Neptune leaves Pisces – the sign it rules and the last sign of the zodiac – it will enter fire sign, me-focused Aries. Pisces is the end of a cycle, Aries the beginning.

Neptune idealizes, idolizes and worships hence it’s associated with spirituality, otherworldliness and heightened, psychic states of awareness. Neptune in Aries will apply these feelings to “me.”

What gives pause with Aries is the shadow side which is fighting, war and competition. Idealizing fighting and war is a thought I must put aside to remember the positive effects of Aries which are self-assertion and standing up for oneself.

The recent vigilantism of a young man shooting a healthcare executive is a sampling of Neptune in Aries. Such an act would often cause concern by the masses; instead, we find that the act open the door to the anger (an Aries reaction) that exists toward the healthcare industry.

We learn as children it’s better to talk than to fight. But how to talk to a mammoth industry? In the US, everyone hates the healthcare system yet anyone trying to change it is branded a socialist and ignored.

A more violent US – which is already violent by nature – is an unpleasant thought. Over the 15 years of this Neptune in Aries transit, we will hopefully separate gangster from activist, violence from self-assertion. Ultimately, it’s preserving a sense of self in a time when technology is homogenizing human experience and forcing behaviors. The control is from a very small number of individuals who have access to the wealth and knowledge of an entire society.

Combined with the movement of Pluto in Aquarius (air sign) and upcoming Uranus into Gemini (air sign), we’ll see the shift from earth and water to fire and air signifying more societal reaction and evolution.

Air and fire are extroverted and fun. Heavy energies of illness, corruption and fear of material loss will be replaced by desire for interaction, new information and social levity. The “Roaring 2020s.”

This is another positive of Aries – it will challenge any and all authority. Earth and water signs in contrast are cautious and protective, can’t risk pissing off the boss or I’ll lose my house. In the moment, Aries will always do what’s right for self.

Worshipping Warriorship

In Chinese martial arts, there is “internal” and “external.” The external martial arts are embodied in Bruce Lee movies with lots of fighting and back flips and overcoming “the man.”

Lesser known in the West are the internal styles which promote physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional health. Internal development is a goal as valid as external development for self-defense and power.

Spiritual warriorship is a concept often held with male forms of internal development – we hear this term in the works of Carlos Castaneda and Dan Millman (“the peaceful warrior”). The war, if we study these works, is a war with “the self.”

Aries is the self. The true warriorship is not out there, but in the mirror. For “the system” to change, we have to change first.

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Seven Ways to Keep or Give Away Power

Posted on December 7, 2024 by ohioastrology

The ten astral bodies in astrology represent human energy. The planet is the noun, the energy, and the sign of the zodiac is the quality of that energy.

As humans, some situations may us feel good and energized, like a sporting event. Other situations may us feel depleted, like a funeral.

Today’s social media which ought to be optional but is increasingly becoming mandatory is a portal into our lives with many goals including creating reactions. Reactions are a release of energy (“nuclear reaction”). Social media to some means “fun like a party” but social only refers to the fact it’s about people. Social disease is an old term that might apply here as well.

During the shifting energies of Pluto in Capricorn (authority and structure) to Pluto in Aquarius (humanity and innovation), it’s the perfect time to understand how we can keep or give away our power.

The United States recently experienced its Pluto return in 27 degrees of Capricorn. We as a nation have set up a collective life lesson in how to manage power and authority, personal and collective. It’s fascinating to watch those with the least power elect those with the most power who have a history of criminal activity and exploitation. There appears nothing to gain but spiritual growth and awareness of the shadow side of American culture.

The scene has been set. Let’s see all the ways we can keep and lose our power.

Personal planets

The personal planets are those that rule our individual personalities, likes, dislikes, habits and preferences.

Sun

The sun rules the self, the identity. I am … is the sun speaking.

Keeping solar power means knowing the self. As children we encounter a time when we realize our parents are human, make mistakes, have individual perspective. Parents don’t like this moment but it’s important as it’s the time when we understand our individuality.

Losing solar power means handing over one’s sovereignty to another or becoming the identity of another. Possession is a common occurrence but has nothing to do with the dead.

Moon

The moon rules the emotional self and reactions.

Keeping lunar power means nurturing the emotions, soothing and comforting the emotions during the daily ebbs and flows of daily life on earth. A hot bath, a sweet treat, a lazy afternoon – these can rejuvenate from daily life’s stains and bruises.

Losing lunar power means reacting to every input from one’s own mind or outside world. Reactions are a release of energy so monitoring what needs reaction (honking a horn if someone is going to cause an accident) and what doesn’t (flipping off a car that passes you) can prohibit extraneous loss of energy.

Keep in mind that most reactions are to our own thoughts.

Mercury

Mercury rules the mind, communication and our perceptions. Mercury is a trickster in mythology. One person sees a savior, another a criminal. Reality is not shared which means we live in our minds.

Keeping Mercury power involves thinking for ourselves, gathering information and assimilating information or looking to a trusted expert. Mercury is the journalist and while journalism is taking a hit these days, we must be our own journalists which takes time and effort.

Losing Mercury power involves shallow thinking, allowing others to mislead or misinform us. Loss of Mercury means loss of curiosity and willingness to explore. Losing Mercury is boring – don’t do it.

Venus

Venus rules pleasure, beauty and values. Venus is not reactive like the moon but actively seeks what provides both value and pleasure in life so often is associated with beauty and the arts. Pleasure is best experienced in harmonious environments.

Keeping Venus power means seeking beauty and harmony for individual and shared pleasure. It means not feeling guilty about pleasure or relaxing activities. It means smelling the roses, creating a beautiful work of art . . . because!

Losing Venus means indulging in pleasure to the avoidance of what’s “ugly” in life. “Ugly” can be someone’s face or visiting an ill family member in the hospital or shit-throwing politics. Pleasure then becomes escape.

Mars

The God of War is Mars. War is the extreme of the energy which is based on self-initiated action. If you got out of bed this morning, you have an active Mars. Mars wants to go from here to there, to be challenged, to be alive.

Keeping Mars power involves having courage and self-respect, this is not the victim mentality. Mars stands up for itself, asks for what it deserves.

Losing Mars power means being drawn to violence or aggression. When Mars doesn’t get what it wants, it’s impatient. Low self-esteem aids in Mars turning from activism to violence. Competing with everyone about everything is also a Mars disfunction and waste of energy.

Social planets

How the individual interacts with society – local and beyond – is described by Jupiter and Saturn.

Jupiter

Children in all parts of the world are asked to leave home before or around the age of five to spend the day in “school” where we meet strangers who may help us with our books or steal our pencils. For some, school is the best time of their lives; for others, a horrific time of bullying or loneliness.

Keeping Jupiter power means finding the social organizations – schools, churches, clubs, sangha etc. – where we feel a bond with others. Jupiter rules expansion so positive Jupiter finds spiritual and experiential growth in these shared experiences. Jupiter is a doer, not a watcher.

Losing Jupiter power means trying to “fit in” where we don’t. Often, we have no choice but in today’s digital age, this can be overcome more easily since the world is open to us. Jupiter also likes to proselytize and sometimes coerce people into beliefs that they do not hold (while maybe breaking a few rules itself).

Saturn

Authority, social structure, rules, laws and stop signs – these are samplings of Saturn boundaries and discipline. Without Saturn four-way stops could get messy and children would eat nothing but ice cream.

Loss of power through Saturn involves following all the “templates” of culture without examining one’s true inner needs and following rules that society deems acceptable but inner self knows is not right.

Keeping Saturn power means knowing one’s boundaries and having discipline to achieve personal goals. Saturn is responsible, shows up. The genius myth suggests some folks can be born knowing math or spiritual mysteries. Research suggests there is a lot of Saturn work involved.

The Outer Planets

The personal planets are what we call our personality. The social planets how we interact with our community. The outer planets of Uranus, Neptune and Pluto are distant so take lots more time to revolve around the sun and stay in a sign for years thereby representing time periods and generations.

Many novels are set during World War II because setting a novel in a challenging historical period pits the individual against the collective and explores all the ways we respond. Novels, then, are personal and social planets pitted against the outer planets.

We all live in changing times. Whether the times are “good” or “bad” is Mercury’s perception.

From November of this year (2024) until summer of next year (2025), all the outer planets will change signs. During the energy shifts, it’s easy to lose power as the rules of the game appear to change.

Uranus rules sudden changes, enlightenment, and increased awareness. One day things are like this, the next like that. Loss of energy occurs when we try to maintain our existing habits during perceived chaos. Gain of energy occurs when we realize we are getting insights into something once in the dark.

Neptune rules spiritual growth and connection to the intuitive self. Glamorization of people, ideas or objects can occur. Loss of energy occurs if we worship the new “gods” that emerge. Gain of energy occurs when we feed our spiritual self with loving energy that emerges. In other words, have the feeling, remove the idol.

Pluto rules transformation which unfortunately can feel like destruction depending on how tightly we are holding onto our chains. Loss of energy is huge with Pluto – you let go or it’s taken away. Gain of energy is equally intense because rather than “giving” you energy, Pluto gives you space in which to recreate your world.

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