Barack Obama’s nosey Gemini moon

Posted on October 27, 2013 by ohioastrology

Back in kindergarten, we played a game called telephone line. The teacher had the 30 of us sit in a circle. The first child whispered something into the ear of the person next to him/her. Then that child did the same until we got to the last person.

If you know the game, the first child says something like “I got a robot for Christmas” and the last child hears “I ate a corndog at the fair.”

What was the moral of that exercise?

I think it was to tell us not to believe gossip. The sub-context lesson was that our fellow men are unreliable deliverers of accurate information.

Think about this, my friends, as you read Facebook and Twitter.

Mercury

The astrological deliverer of information is Mercury. Mercury rules Gemini but your Mercury may be in any one of the 12 signs (but is either in your sun sign, the sign before or sign after due to Mercury being so close to the sun).

Mercury is the messenger, not the message.

So in our kindergarten telephone circle, each child is Mercury. The sign in which Mercury is placed describes how “I got a robot for Christmas” becomes “I ate a corndog at the fair.”

“I got a robot for Christmas” might have been Mercury in Sagittarius excitement. The next child, with Mercury in Virgo, probably received and delivered the message perfectly. The next child, however, with Mercury in Leo was taking a mental trip to sub-Saharan Africa to hunt lions and wasn’t paying attention. In order not to embarrass himself, he passed on a different, but colorful story based on remembering the word “Christmas” – “Santa eats corndogs at my house at Christmas.”

Understanding the message “I ate a corndog at the fair” is a Sagittarian affair, Sagittarius being the opposite of Gemini.

Sagittarius, then, has a mean task in understanding human communications and the meaning behind it. Is there truly meaning in “I ate a corndog at the fair?”

Gemini

Gemini and Virgo are both “ruled” by Mercury, but Gemini is the purest form.

Gemini is the messenger, not the message. Gemini is each of the 30 kids whispering in each other’s ears. Gemini is the Facebook and Twitter feed. Gemini is your telephone, iPhone and iPad. Gemini is the chalk-scrawled message on the sidewalk. Gemini is a post-it note on your cubicle wall. Gemini is a letter.

Those with lots of Gemini in the horoscope, then, are looking for messages.

Messages, of course, are important and are stimulation that can lead to action. Messages about danger keep us safe. Messages about what others are doing keeps us stimulated.

This Mercury-fueled need for stimulation is why the sign of Gemini makes such a good journalist. They are looking for information to whisper into your ear. A Gemini with no information to transmit is a very bored and sad Gemini.

Looking for information to transmit also brands one as nosey or a gossip.

Gossip, then, could be branded a sub-set of journalism, a type of personal-environment journalism. Work environments and family environments are two of the primary breeding grounds of personal-environment journalism.

Barack Obama’s Gemini moon

This morning while reading the BBC mobile site, the first story had a lovely picture of US President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a close hand shake, hug, peck-on-the-cheek, lovey-dovey moment.

Here’s a link to the Internet site story. The picture is different.

The accompanying story, however, was about US spying on Merkel.

As an aside, pictures are pure Pisces and I love, absolutely love, how the Piscean picture does its subconscious attacking while the words can be so Gemini matter-of-fact. The picture says, “I love you” and the subsequent news story says, “I don’t trust you and I’m spying on you.”

US spying on our political friends certainly didn’t begin with the Obama administration. But a man with a moon in Gemini certainly wouldn’t turn off the tap of information on a friend or foe.

Now I’ve mentioned Mercury, but what happens when the information-gathering sign of Gemini is the moon’s sign?

The moon is our reactive, compulsive nature. The moon is where you go for comfort and is the habit you can’t control.

Obama’s Gemini is compulsive, a need to find information to transmit. As such, Gemini moon is seen as constantly changing, one day this, one day that, escaping when life is too boring. Gemini moon doesn’t sit at home. Gemini moon is not routine.

The BBC article, then, is a perfect moon in Gemini story on a moon in Gemini – the picture says one thing, the story says another about a man they are accusing of saying one thing and doing another.

1913

While writing a blog on the financial changes that occurred in the US in 1913, I realized that what really changed was not financial, but in the realm of communication. (I’m always looking for financial decisions to be based on earth-sign energy – I need to give this up.)

In 1913 we were in the process of developing radio and telephone communication. Back to that kindergarten room – what changed in 1913 is that we gathered in the room. Prior to that, we lived on farms far away from each other and could not whisper in each other’s ears.

Radio and telephone made the circle possible so now the message could move.

The current digital communication revolution (ruled by air sign Aquarius) simply makes it all more immediate and broad. With Facebook and Twitter, I now get to hear each one of those children’s whispered messages.

Does that help or hurt our communications? Now we know Johnny got a robot for Christmas, Susie went to the fair and Bobby likes corndogs.

Some complain that hearing the minute-by-minute mundane activities of another’s life is overwhelming. Yet which of us has given up putting our ear out for the whisper?

Today’s ability to listen in on European rulers such as Merkel has given Gemini moon Obama his compulsive drug of choice – information and gossip.

If one of the media outlets decided to put a few Merkel mobile phone transcripts out there, would you be interested to hear what they contain?

Since the creation of radio and telephone, we’ve become both informed about what we need to know and also more nosey about our neighbors.

Many are asking Obama to stop being nosey. But how can we ask our President to stop the need for constant information about his surroundings when we all do the same each day?

Posted in Politicians - Not Ohio | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Janet Yellen – Goddess of Money

Posted on October 26, 2013 by ohioastrology

Money is an interesting idea. It’s an idea, by the way, not a thing – at least not in the US right now.

The US money supply is created in the same way that “instant water” is created. Just add water. Money is created by adding money.

What’s enjoyable about the idea of money, to me, is that it demonstrates in a spiritual way how ideas support our shared existence. In Carlos Castenada terms, we’re sharing the same dream, in this case a dream of money. And that dream creates our highways and houses and moves corn from Iowa to just about every food product you eat (corn syrup).

Fascinating.

The entity that creates money in the US is called the Federal Reserve. The person who heads that entity is called the Chairman. We may be choosing a new title, by the way, as the person currently nominated to head the Federal Reserve is not a man.

So if you are the head of the Federal Reserve, you get to create money. That’s very powerful. If we were in Ancient Greece, we might call the head of the Federal Reserve the “God of Money.”

But we don’t believe in myths, right?

Janet Yellen

Call me an earth sign – an earth sign with second house sun (which rules assets, property and one’s own money) – because I still think of money in an old-fashioned, literal way.

It goes like this. If I have $100 and spend $105, I have no money. Yet this idea became VERY old-fashioned during the last decade. My second house sun, however, continues to whisper in my ear that one day we must pay the piper with things that we can see, hear, taste, touch and smell.

So when I look at the charts of those involved in finance, I’m always searching wistfully for that Taurus moon, the grand earth trine, that hovering Saturn, that rational Aquarius . . .

In bankers what I find is the competitive Aries and Mars.

I don’t find a strong Aries or Mars presence in Janet Yellen, the current nominee for head of the Federal Reserve. But she definitely is powerful.

Without time of birth, we know that Yellen has almost all air and fire in her horoscope. The moon is either in hyper-rational Aquarius or imaginative Pisces.

Yellen is a dramatic, regal and beauty-seeking mix of Leo and Libra. Yellen has four planets in Leo (Saturn, Mercury, Pluto and sun) and four planets in Libra (Mars, Venus, Neptune and Jupiter).

Uranus is in Gemini and moon either in Aquarius or Pisces.

There is no earth.

I would love to know Yellen’s time of birth for rising sign.

My second house sun is once again disappointed that the head of the money is not what you’d call frugal and has no earth-sign grounding. Leo and Libra combined are exquisitely elegant. My second-house sun wouldn’t mind being invited over for dinner however . . .

Yellen likes her personal self and all surroundings to be beautiful, balanced and inspiring. Your problems do not exist simply because problems are ugly. Pretend that your life and its problems were an indie flick or colorfully illustrated in a comic book.

That’s what Yellen does.

If you work for Yellen as an interior decorator, gardener or personal shopper (which I’m guessing she has), you have both the nightmare and dream job. It’s a nightmare because you never get it quite right. It’s a dream job because you get to spend time in lavish surroundings. Yellen will not send you to the thrift store and will not ask you to buy her new wallpaper at Walmart.

The combination of Saturn, Mercury, Pluto and sun all in Leo adds a controlling element to a sign that, sure, is strong and self-centered, but isn’t normally manipulative. Add a dose of Saturn and Pluto, however, and you’d better be sharing Yellen’s dramatic and exaggerated view of the situation or you’re out. “Follow or get out of the way” is the thought here. Yellen is leading.

Don’t track mud into Yellen’s world, literally or figuratively. Negative, ugly, depressing, toxic and limiting ideas are all out.

Now with a Pisces moon, this all gets worse. With an Aquarius moon, Yellen will have self-control and you may not know this is what’s going on.

The first clue you’ve brought an ugly or unseemly situation to light is that you will be left out of the next invite. In public, however, you will be treated with the same regal bearing that is bestowed on others.

Saturn conjunct Mercury in Leo brings the ideal public speaker – confident, exuberant, clear and optimistic yet authoritative.

Leo and Libra energy combined is also quite romantic. This is a combination that is in love with love. Is there some poetry in that old cabinet drawer?

I’m sure there are more than a few love letters tucked beneath lingerie purchased in Paris.

If I were an evil astrologer (and I swear I’m not), I would suggest to those dealing with Yellen to make all contacts appear as courtship with Yellen as the object of affection. Don’t hesitate to flatter her appearance or style. Rational, but somewhat purple, prose is in order.

The Goddess of Money

The Federal Reserve is more than a bank which must balance its books. As the creator of money that is the world’s reserve currency, the Chair of the Federal Reserve is a very powerful individual on this planet right now.

The personally powerful Yellen should be able to manage this powerful position. While she may have Mars conjunct Venus in Libra which can let down its guard in the face of charm, she does carry Pluto and Saturn near her sun. You don’t mess with Pluto and Saturn, especially together.

It may be an especially important time for the Federal Reserve as America experiences a material evolution.

In Greek mythology, Pluto is the God of Wealth. While researching whether there is a goddess of wealth, I stumbled across Eirene (Irene).

Eirene is the Goddess of Peace. She is seen in this statute holding Pluto in her arms (picture from journeyingtothegoddess.wordpress.com).

ireneplutosrec2

This mythological image is quite perfect. Yellen already holds Pluto in her arms astrologically and may soon hold the world’s Pluto in her arms.

Will she also bring peace?

Posted in Nations / States / Institutions | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

It’s a fine time to sharpen knives

Posted on October 19, 2013 by ohioastrology

If you’ve been thinking about writing a blog and are looking for a topic, may I make a suggestion?

Astrology is the perfect topic.

Why?

Every day is a new pattern.

Can you say that about the rest of your life?

For the planets to return to the exact position in which they are placed today will take a very long time. I haven’t figured out exactly how long yet, but when I do I will put it here.

And even when today’s exact pattern of solar system planets recurs, our galaxy is still rotating so the backdrop continues to change. And the earth wobbles, too, so while planets may be in the same sign, they will be a different declination (kind of like latitude in the sky).

Yet within this ever-changing spatial reality, the cycles repeat, over and over, endlessly, like the patterns on Mitla in Mexico.

Mitla Temple - Mexico 1

How’s that for a description of life?

The moon is a speedy 28 days while Pluto is a slow 248 years or so. The moon, then, would rule quickly changing events like the weather and your personal, emotional reactions.

Pluto, then, would rule slow changing events like the movement of tectonic plates, the evolution of papyrus scrolls to printing presses to iPhones and budget talks in Washington, DC . . .

Take, for example, the current transit of Mars into Virgo. It seems like just yesterday that Mars was in Virgo, that transit occurring while the Republic presidential candidates were debating each other in mid-2012 prior to the 2012 US presidential election.

Mars takes a little over two years to revolve around the sun and spending a couple months in a sign on average. In 2012, however, Mars went retrograde and spent six months in the picky, detailed, debate ruling sign of Virgo.

And here we are again, Mars in Virgo, on a different canvas than the one we had in 2012, the ever-changing canvas of the universe.

Five fun things to do while Mars is in Virgo

Astrologers are often found reading books because, back in the day, that was the only way to learn astrology unless you were lucky enough to live in some far-out place that promoted the subject, which may have involved moving to another planet.

Those of us on this planet had to trek to the weird bookstore on the end of the odd street in the old house converted to bookstore.

Books are still fun, although I have far fewer than in those old days.

So last night I picked up “The Astrologers Handbook” by Sakoian & Acker to check in on an “official” description of Mars in Virgo. The beginning reads:

Mars in the sign of Virgo gives energy and skill wherever work is concerned. As with Mars in the other earth signs, many skilled craftsmen, such as precision machinists, have Mars in this sign.

Precision machinist – does this trade still exist or has it been replaced by computers?

The description goes on to say that many surgeons also have Mars placed here. We still have surgeons — that’s for sure. With the Pluto/Uranus in Virgo generation hitting mid-life, we have an abundance of health, wellness, medicine and surgeons, all ruled by Virgo.

It’s good to know that Mars in Virgo folk still can find work in healthcare if not precision machinery.

If you find yourself bored in the next month while Mars is in Virgo, here are a few things that might help you tap the mad rush of Virgo energy that is being bestowed upon you:

  1. Sharpen knives. I’d wait until mid-next week for this one, though, because Mars is opposing transiting Neptune in Pisces. Don’t want any cuts or scrapes here. Precision is most effective when Neptune is far, far away.
  2. Pick apart the details of a political speech. Picking apart and analyzing is a Virgo thing to do. To have even more fun, make categories like: half-truths, half-lies, full-fledged lies, hyperbole, outright nonsense and stuff Mark Twain would love.
  3. Make dollhouse furniture. Building is a Taurus thing to do but building in miniature is a Virgo dream. So many details, so little room. How delightful to see intricate details on a tiny object. It brings in a little energy of Virgo’s opposite sign Pisces because looking at your dollhouse, you view your life from above (and what do you notice?).
  4. Organize the spice cabinet. Really, organize anything, from the spice cabinet to the tool box. Mars is Virgo is a time when you look forward to sitting atop a pile of “stuff” and separating it into useful and meaningful smaller piles of “stuff.”
  5. Look for a new star. Looking for a new star takes long hours and lots of patience. But Virgo can do this. What’s even more fun is that you get to name it! Imagining naming your own star, a name that will appear for millennia in astronomy books, history books and Disney films.

May Mars in Virgo be with you. Now get back to work.

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John Boehner Come Home!

Posted on October 16, 2013 by ohioastrology

Reading that the government is open for business again, I thought I’d take a look at one of the key players in the deal – House Speaker John Boehner.

Boehner is an Ohio boy and, therefore, close to the heart of OHA. Ohioans are known to care deeply for each other, to protect each other when abroad whether in Indiana or Russia.

As a fellow Ohioan, I’d like to offer Boehner the following astrological advice (for free): Take October off. Come back to Ohio, pick apples, hunt for pumpkins, break autumn gourds with your Ohio clansmen.

Here’s why: Today (surprise), Mars changed signs and is now transiting Virgo.

Mars in Virgo is passing over Boehner’s natal Mars/Saturn conjunction in Virgo. The criticism Boehner is receiving will continue for the next month, like a constant wind that is not hurricane force but strong enough in gust to keep messing up his hair, the hair he’s carefully groomed for the photo op.

Mars in Virgo is getting a paper cut on the day you must catch up on the filing.

The last time Mars was in Virgo, Republican nominee Mitt Romney lost the presidency. Boehner may want to heed that period and not make Romney-like comments about people who don’t pay taxes and such.

Mars in Virgo will make sure any snarky comments get posted to YouTube and go viral with Virgo-like organization and efficiency. Mars in Virgo is looking closely for things to find fault with. Mars in Virgo has the camera ready to roll, is taking dictation, is measuring every word against every action.

It’s actually a good time not to talk, for Boehner. If Boehner wanted to have a little fun, he could merge into the transiting Neptune in Pisces aspect (which opposes his Mars and Saturn) and offer a little poetry on the situation. It would probably be more effective than a fact-fueled diatribe about what went wrong. With Neptune in Pisces opposing any Virgo energy, the Virgo in Boehner can’t understand why people don’t get the facts.

If Mars wasn’t enough, for the next year transiting Saturn in Scorpio will begin a conjunction of Boehner’s Mercury and sun. Saturn hits the breaks on the energy it finds. It contracts and restricts. The positive side is greater discipline, wisdom and maturity.

Boehner will be sadder but wiser in the coming year.

My first glance at Boehner’s aspects made me wonder if he’s looking for another job. Probing the Internet, I saw a few articles that suggested Boehner may not run for re-election in 2014. I’m suspecting that’s true, that Boehner may look for something more fulfilling.

In November 2014, Uranus will be transiting his north node in Aries, Pluto will be transiting his Venus and Jupiter will be smack on his natal Pluto. And by January 2015, Saturn will be finished smothering his Scorpio sun moving into early Sagittarius.

What that means to me is that Boehner will find a new, powerful position in different social setting. He will not be retiring to read the classics or put all those family and travel photos into scrapbooks. The conjunction to north node Aries suggests Boehner will be more independent. If I were to guess, I’d say he’s going to run a business or large corporate entity.

Boehner will be at the helm.

But until then, Mr. Speaker, when times get tough and everyone is spitting in your face, remember that the pastoral beauty of Ohio heals the wounds of a thousand political battles. Ohio, home to rare ancient earthworks with mysterious purpose, is more fascinating than Washington DC.

There’s no place like home.

Posted in Politicians - Ohio | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Astrological Counseling with Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell

Posted on October 14, 2013 by ohioastrology

The US government is currently closed for business while the two political parties (Republican and Democrat) struggle over an appropriations bill. President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner have come to no agreement and now the Senate Majority Leader (Harry Reid) and Senate Minority Leader (Mitch McConnell) are in the spotlight to resolve the conflict.

An article in The Fix states that Reid and McConnell don’t get along.

What is the purpose of astrology if not to help bridge the gap of dualistic thinking? Astrologers world wide seek to use the ancient discipline of astrology to help those of influence and control resolve their human relationship issues.

OHA is no exception.

Reid and McConnell are carrying the empty wallet of the US on their shoulders. This empty wallet is a heavy burden because once it is filled, the bill collectors will be knocking on the doors of our nation.

Reid and McConnell

Reid has sun in Sagittarius and moon in Leo. McConnell has sun in Pisces and moon in Aries or Taurus.

With three planets and possibly the moon in accumulating earth-sign Taurus, McConnell probably has enough saved from his 71 years of living to personally fund Social Security.

Do 71-year old senators collect Social Security?

Reid is quite the opposite of McConnell with Sagittarius and Leo in the horoscope. Mars in Pisces squares sun in Sagittarius which makes Reid quite generous, quite generous indeed. Whether he actually has money or not does not inhibit his generosity.

Maybe that’s why Reid continues to work?

Do 74-year old senators collect Social Security?

This counseling is going to be tough. But both men are plenty mature enough to work through a tough-love session of Getting Along.

Here goes.

Astrological Counseling

Counseling usually takes a long time as the counseled discovers insights for him/herself. But since the bills are due on Thursday, we’ll just offer some quick advice (for free – don’t want to make the fiscal worries more intense).

Pisces

These two really should never have gotten married, but since they did they are going to have to join on a few degrees of Pisces energy.

The common ground here is a true caring for others.

Next up, Neptune, which creates fuzzy, hazy but spiritual thinking. Transiting Neptune is conjunct McConnell’s sun and T-square Reid’s sun and conjunct Mars.

Both should delegate this responsibility to others who can think more clearly right now.

The current transit of Saturn in Scorpio opposes Reid’s Uranus in Taurus and McConnell’s Mars/Saturn/Uranus in Taurus. The fear of personal finance loss is almost palpable. McConnell has much more to lose.

Personal involvement can be important, since feeling one’s own financial free fall can help feel the pain of others’ financial woes. But fear of loss does not always create the best long-term decisions.

Saturn in Scorpio squares McConnell’s Venus and Mercury in Aquarius. This square (which is part of a T-square with Taurus) makes McConnell’s impersonal speech patterns more spirited but too rigid.

Reid’s equally cool and distant Venus in Capricorn is being transited by Pluto.

In summary, while both may care, each is unable to express those feelings and instead communicate in managerial, professorial and authoritative tones. You have no inkling that there is true feeling.

Counseling Debrief

This is a tough case and counselors never should say “get divorced,” but I must. These two should take a back seat those who are not currently experiencing a major Neptune transit. Both men are soon up for natal Neptune oppositions as well, adding to the confusion.

Neptune is both a savior and a victim; as victim, often a scapegoat. Scapegoats don’t become mascots for sports teams.

Scapegoats travel solo as the group ostracizes them. The longer the scapegoat lingers, the more time the group has to avoid the problem. Scapegoats, when possible, should leave the situation.

So when do senators retire?

Posted in Politicians - Not Ohio | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Van Gogh is Whispering in Your Ear

Posted on October 7, 2013 by ohioastrology

Thinking about the upcoming square (in a couple days) between Venus in Sagittarius and Neptune in Pisces, the image that came to mind is of spending an evening with an old friend, getting a little bored, finding something to smoke or drink that takes away the ennui and spending the evening in activities you never planned and had never experienced.

That’s the Venus/Sagittarius/Neptune/Pisces portion of the image.

The aspect, the square, comes the next morning when you wake from your time in between worlds and turn over to find your friend has departed.

And you don’t mind.

You know that kind of experience doesn’t happen in the real world. You let it go, knowing that the only way it will ever occur again is if you let it go and keep the doors open in case it ever passes by again.

Post-image, I wondered who had this interesting aspect in his/her chart. Neptune, as you know my good friends, has a rather long cycle – 164 years or so. Finding a person with this aspect means ripping through the veil of time.

I happen to have a copy of “The Circle Book of Charts” lying around. If you know what that book is, you might also have Neptune in Pisces square Venus in your chart . . .

Perusing the book, I simply was looking for the appropriate time period for Neptune when it was last in Pisces. That time was the mid-1850s and, no surprise to the astrologers in the room, I happened upon many an artist or writer – including two of my favorites.

Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin

French painters Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin were born when Neptune was last in Pisces. Neither has Venus in Sagittarius, but Van Gogh had moon and Jupiter in Sagittarius while Gauguin had Venus in Gemini, which is opposite Sagittarius and also makes a square to Neptune.

Van Gogh is more well-known, I think, than Gauguin, famous not only as an artist but for having psychological problems that led him to cut off his own ear (or did he?).

Both Van Gogh and Gauguin tried to live a mid-19th century “normal” life. When Neptune is strong in the horoscope, the prevailing normal is a long hallway that stretches into infinity as you walk through it.

Van Gogh and Gauguin both found their way to Neptune through art but from different motivations.

According to the www.vggallery.com site, Van Gogh studied theology but was not able to earn a place in the religious structure. His true sympathy or empathy or compassion for others led him to give away his possessions to the peasants he painted. Van Gogh’s motivations appear genuine which corresponded to the fragile emotional state that accompanies the Pisces habit of absorbing the feelings of others.

Gauguin, in contrast, was married with five children pursuing a business life. When that life failed him, he ran away to Tahiti.

From http://www.paul-gauguin.net/biography.html:

In 1891, Gauguin, frustrated by lack of recognition at home and financially destitute, sailed to the tropics to escape European civilization and “everything that is artificial and conventional.”

Gauguin’s desire to escape the “artificial and conventional” rings of air-sign sensibility. The contrarian must know what his is opposed to and I find air is actually over-involved in the affairs, activities and affectations of their fellow men. You wear a yellow hat because your roommate swiped yours but to an air sign you’re making a Yellow-Hat Statement.

Air is the space between the energy of the thing and the idea of the thing.

Van Gogh’s Sagittarius/Pisces had thin boundaries, was psychological rice paper. Gauguin’s Gemini/Pisces was making a rational decision to flee into Neptune.

About the ear . . .

Legend has it that Van Gogh, in a fit of madness, cut off his own ear.

Art historians have never been able to leave the ear alone and recent research suggests that Gauguin might have actually cut off Van Gogh’s ear during a fight.

Van Gogh and Gauguin were friends in a volatile relationship. With every mutable sign in the zodiac in their combined charts, that’s to be expected.

Gauguin had a mutable T-square of Venus/sun in Gemini, moon in Virgo and Saturn/Neptune in Pisces.

Van Gogh had sun in cardinal Aries, but moon/Jupiter in mutable Sagittarius and Neptune/Mars/Venus in Pisces. Aries alone is a pistol. Add fiery, mutable Sagittarius into the mix and the temper is extreme. Luckily Van Gogh didn’t live in this time of traffic lights. He’d be the one behind you honking the minute the light turned green.

While Van Gogh is seen as the crazy one, Gauguin’s moon in Virgo can think itself into a ridiculous frenzy with Gemini adding additional details and Pisces contributing some irrational fears. Possibly some of Gauguin’s crazy was projected onto Van Gogh?

What fun it would be, though, to be a fly on the absinthe café wall during a meeting of these two artists, filled to excess with Neptune and Jupiter and Sagittarius and flights of imagination that could be more thrilling than any the 20th century bout of adventure tourism.

So you want to feel like van Gogh?

You’ll have your chance to feel a little “Van Gogh” this Thursday, October 10. Get your brushes and oil paints ready and leave the door open for a passing friend, carrying absinthe, who has an unusual idea for the evening.

Posted in Famous people | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Obama and Boehner: Political Marriage Counseling

Posted on October 4, 2013 by ohioastrology

Obama and Boehner’s political marriage is making the news. Looks like hot has turned cold. Original post date 7/28/2011.

ohioastrology's avatarOhio Astrology

Let’s say Barack Obama and John Boehner were a couple and came into the astrologer’s office for some marriage counseling. I imagine it would go like this:

John Boehner: We were so attracted to each other when we first met! It was like the 4th of July. Then it all changed and he became cold as ice (Scorpio sun square Leo sun).

Barack Obama: It’s not me that runs hot and cold. It’s you (Leo sun square Scorpio sun).

BO: We have different values about money which is why we argue. I like to spend money on family (Venus in Cancer) and he likes to spend money on things that impress others to earn their respect (Venus in Capricorn).

JB: I believe you should buy the best that’s out there (Venus in Capricorn, moon and Neptune in Libra), that’s all. I’m not trying to impress anyone (moon in Libra…

View original post 336 more words

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The “Flo” of Time

Posted on October 2, 2013 by ohioastrology

As the saying goes, history repeats itself. This is especially true in television. As time passes, I notice TV characters returning with ancient problems dressed in modern clothes.

Take 2 Broke Girls. Are they not Laverne & Shirley without the brewery (now a diner)?

If I had the time, I would calculate how many television shows center on the authority figures including cops, criminals, lawyers and doctors. I’m guessing it’s a very large percent of what’s been created.

Why are we not bored with our repeating characters?

If we watch the same characters, the same roles, over and over, is this not our modern mythology?

When there was no television, the images were painted on walls and sculpted from stone and marble. Today’s mythology is digital.

Flo

As the world of television turns, a recent rise from the grave of forgotten TV characters is Flo.

The 21st century Flo (Stephanie Courtney) sells Progressive Auto Insurance (picture from Facebook, a purveyor of faces).

Flo progressive

The 20th century Flo (Polly Holliday) was a waitress on the show Alice known for her spunky attitude, love of men and angry retort “Kiss my grits” (picture from http://www.screeninsults.com).

Flo alice

What do the Flos have in common?

Both century’s Flos are spirited, red lipped with upwardly trending hair. Both wear a uniform, a name badge and are your energetic and lovable Working Girl. In this life they are Working Girl but in another time or place, say ancient Greece, they could have been Helen of Troy (or, more appropriately, Flo of Troy).

Astrologically, our Flos are defined by a pinch Mars/Aries, and a dash of Aquarius/Uranus. They are a little offbeat (Aquarius) and a little mouthy about it (Aries).

Progressive Flo has sun conjunct Venus in Aquarius. Venus on your sun is indicative of beauty (as viewed by others). Aquarian beauty is a rare combination of classic and unique. Aquarius is electric so Progressive Flo probably generates energy around her that attracts others who wonder what she’s about.

Waitress Flo has both Uranus and Venus in Taurus. Venus and Uranus in the same sign suggests uniqueness or differentness in regard to beauty and pleasure; in Taurus, it’s a physical, sensual uniqueness. This Flo is probably physically more adventuresome than Progressive Flo because Aquarius is not as comfortable with physical contact as is Taurus. Also, Waitress Flo has sun in warm and cuddly Cancer.

Progressive Flo has Mars in Aries (and could have moon in Aries) while Waitress Flo has moon in Aries. Aries is sassy, bossy and dominant. Aries is here, Aries is now. Both Flos take over the screen. Wasn’t there another waitress in the show Alice? What was her name? I’m reading on IMDB that the actress who played Alice (what was her name?) was upset by Flo taking all the attention in the show.

Progressive Flo has made a successful career out of three-minute commercials – quite impressive. How much market share is due to Flo?

Who’s more popular, Flo or Progressive?

What happens if Flo leaves and goes to another insurance company? Or a bank?

Or a TV show?

Kiss My Grits, Progressive

With Aries and Aquarius in the chart, there is a tendency to rebel. So I wonder if either Flo has Progressive car insurance. It wouldn’t surprise me if Progressive Flo deliberately got, say, State Farm Insurance just to prove independence.

Waitress Flo lasted four television years. Progressive Flo is going on five years (Wikipedia says her first commercial was in 2008).

Uranus is currently transiting Aries which is conjunct Progressive Flo’s Mars in Aries. Uranus is sudden and Aries is impulsive and a host of world uprisings attest to the emotions that can erupt during this transit. Uranus represents the seven-year itch of urban lore.

Progressive Flo may soon be telling her sponsor to kiss her grits.

Posted in Actors | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Mutable signs dissolving in a glass of Neptune

Posted on September 28, 2013 by ohioastrology

No surprise that while walking in the park this morning, I had some astrological thoughts. Astrology is like a novel with no ending, where the characters continue to develop and transform until they are lifted from the story like chess pieces removed from a game but where new pieces are added.

There’s no beginning and no end.

Quite creative, isn’t it?

Today’s thoughts began with Virgo and ended, for the moment, at the mutable signs in general. Virgo is the mutable earth sign.

What does that mean?

There are four elements (fire, earth, air and water) and three modes (cardinal, fixed and mutable). Four times three equals the 12 signs of the zodiac. Your sign has an element and mode.

The elements and modes interact in geometric relationships that are, truly, any angle you want to measure. Astrological talk involves some of the more common angles – trines, sextiles, squares and oppositions.

When you understand element and mode, the relationships are really quite easy to find. Signs of a similar mode are either in square or opposition. Earth and water are compatible and create trines, sextiles and oppositions. Fire and air are compatible and form trines, sextiles and oppositions.

The opposition comes from a sign of the same mode, but compatible element. That opposition is really a polarity – you have a lot in common with those who seem opposite.

Opposites attract, right?

The modes

The modes are cardinal, fixed and mutable. Cardinal signs begin things, fixed signs create permanency and mutable signs change things.

If the world was run by cardinal signs we’d have a lot of projects started, but not many finished, with a basement full of boxes containing craft ideas found in a hundred magazine subscriptions.

If the world was run by fixed signs we’d have meatloaf for dinner every Tuesday (which sounds good to me) and other regularities that we’d do because we do them, because they were established at an indefinite time in the past.

If the world was run by mutable signs we’d make plans, change them, turn around, think of something more interesting and then find it was time for bed (if mutable signs do go to bed).

On the other side:

With no cardinal signs in your life you find you never try anything new. You aren’t curious about that new Albanian restaurant on the corner, afraid to try it lest you dinner be ruined (it’s meatloaf night).

With no fixed signs in your life you find you can’t ever seem to lose that weight, save for that house or change yourself in a permanent way. Your lover wants to be friends. Your job wants to make you contract.

With no mutable signs in your life you find you never relax into the moment and chase after a fast-moving cloud just to see where it will take you. You never turn down the wrong street simply because there is a beautiful sunset at the end.

Mutable as dissolving

While I’ve always considered mutable signs to be about change, today it occurred to me that they are the dissolving mode of any element.

I was thinking about Virgo being less body oriented than the other two earth signs – Taurus and Capricorn. While Taurus and Capricorn are physical, sensual and lusty, Virgo seems allergic to being in the body itself, hyper-sensitive to its surroundings.

While the order of the signs is Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn, it might be better to see them as Capricorn (beginning), Taurus (middle) and Virgo (end).

This reminds me of the story of the Three Little Pigs. If you are not familiar with the story, the three little pigs each build a house. A big bad wolf comes to blow down each house – two houses get blown down and one withstands the wolf’s heady breath.

The first house is made of straw, the second stick and the permanent, un-blow-down-able house is made of bricks.

Virgo would be the straw, Capricorn the sticks and Taurus the bricks.

Straw is the least stable of material to build a house. Sticks are better but vulnerable and bricks are so solid that the world outside disappears.

Virgo would be the dissolving of the physical body, the hypersensitivity to the physical environment which the body, like the house in our Three Little Pig story, should protect.

The wolf is a dangerous bellow of air, air being ideas that threaten our edifice, our shields.

Water signs

The cardinal water sign is Cancer, the fixed is Scorpio and the mutable Pisces. The water signs deal with emotions and reactions.

The cardinal Cancer begins the spiritual union of individuals into what is commonly referred to as family. Family traditionally follows physical birthing and sometimes excludes people if the circumstances of their birthing are not deemed appropriate. Families often include those not of physical birth, a spiritual or emotional family.

The fixed sign Scorpio might be the creator of marriage and family trees. Making a spiritual union permanent is rather difficult as people often find many others attractive and sometimes like to physically interact with many people. In this 21st century AD, some still question whether monogamy is natural. Family trees make the relationships permanent and legal.

The mutable sign Pisces dissolves both family and sexual bonds and relates to humanity as a whole when they meet humanity on the local bus line. If we counted all the people that truly love us, we might be surprised the number is higher than we think and that those that are supposed to love us might not be the ones loving us the most. Pisces dissolves all structured ideas of union and is involved in unions of a type others do not even know exist.

Fire signs

The cardinal fire sign is Aries, the fixed is Leo and the mutable Sagittarius. The fire signs deal with spirit and intuition.

The cardinal Aries begins the assertion of the self – the “I,” the “me,” the identity. The US is a nation of Aries assertion which the current trends in marketing follow. I want this thing in blue right now. To fight with others is to assert self. Maybe that’s all we ever fight for?

The fixed Leo makes permanent the assertion of the self through creative efforts and children. Leo Andy Warhol’s work has lived long past the physical Andy Warhol. Those who worry that they will die without a statue being erected to their being are talking Leo. Leo also likes to be the hero, another way to embed the self’s image into another’s mind.

The mutable Sagittarius dissolves the self by contact with foreign selves, which shatter all we have learned from our culture. Sagittarius takes self-asserting to a cause and asserts on the behalf of others. Sagittarius melds into the assertion of others and often dons others’ clothes for experience, experience which challenges and changes ideas of self.

Air signs

The cardinal air sign is Libra, the fixed is Aquarius and the mutable Gemini. The air signs deal with social interaction and intellect.

The cardinal Libra begins the social interaction by mating. This is different than the Scorpio intimate merging. The self is solo and Libra (as the opposite of Aries) now finds someone to play with, discovers that sharing toys brings others into the sandbox. Imitation is the greatest form of flattery which Libra understands and probably coined. The give and take (justice) of relationship was developed by Libra.

The fixed Aquarius is interested in making permanent ideas of social interaction. This is the urban planner, the social philosopher or the leader of the community coop who knows that joining forces creates a better whole, but the joining must be defined. If the community has no guiding principle, written on paper, it will be unfair to some.

The mutable Gemini dissolves social interaction by flying where it will and following no known rules about how interaction should occur. Like the bee, Gemini flies from flower to flower feeding its intellect, its drive for information, for interaction. Gemini dissolves interaction by rejecting partner and societal ideas of interaction. Interaction is for its own sake, not so that you will take care of me when I’m old or because there is a blueprint somewhere describing how we should behave.

Neptune dissolving

Neptune is in year two or three of its 15-year transit of the mutable sign Pisces. Now that you’ve learned that elements of the same mode are in square, you know that if you are a Gemini, Virgo or Sagittarius, Neptune in Pisces will square your sun at some point in this cycle.

If you are a Pisces, Neptune will conjunct your sun. Neptune rules Pisces so it’s a double espresso of ethereal Pisces beans.

Because Neptune and Pisces carry the same energy, that dissolving feeling will affect the other mutable signs.

Gemini will be uncomfortable with the feeling nature of others as it prefers intellect. Virgo will also be uncomfortable with the feeling nature and will react to it physically through allergies and other weird illnesses. Sagittarius may find inspiration by Neptune which made lead it into experiences that are actually dishonest or delusional. Neptune will be an interesting scent from the kitchen that may lead mutable signs into some unusual situations.

Neptune will dissolve energy patterns that have exceeded their limits of a fixed and rigid nature.

Some like that dissolving feeling, some don’t. Dissolving is simply one way to change. There are others, like the rug being pulled out from under you or a house falling on your head.

Maybe it will be a relief, like the old Alka Seltzer commercial:

“Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a relief it is.”

Posted in Planets and signs | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Black Cat Astrology

Posted on September 24, 2013 by ohioastrology

It’s that time again — time to explain to the black cat in your life why its image is on thousands of posters, cups, plates, hats, bags and other Halloween bibelots.

When I explained Halloween to my tuxedo cat several years ago she was offended and asked why black cats were associated with evil. To make her feel better, I reminded her that witches accompany black cats (or is it the other way around?) and the witches are all female. I wasn’t faring any better than she was.

“Are you a witch?” she asked.

“Some say yes and some say no,” I responded.

Cat Astrology

Although the sign of Leo is the lion, I don’t see cats as Leo, although they do tend to rule the household. If you argue for Leo, I won’t pick a fight.

Yet, for me, the sign of the zodiac that most describes cats is Aquarius, which is opposite of Leo. A salient characteristic of Aquarius is aloofness which some see as a salient characteristic of cats as well.

Cats also seem to have the ability to convene with spirits and ghosts, entities in the ethereal sphere where the finely-tuned Aquarian nervous system appears to reside as the corporeal Aquarian in front of you tunes out.

Whiskers on cats are like antennas, conduits of radio impulses, very Uranian (Uranus rules Aquarius).

Cats can be very affectionate but most seem to have an on-off switch, much like Aquarius. Cats also don’t drool with expression, like another common house pet that is allowed to accompany its owner to the park (correction: cats do drool 9/17/2022). Aquarians are rarely caught drooling with expression.

If your cat does something embarrassing, it maintains a detached dignity, much like Aquarius.

Cats march to the beat of a different drummer, much like Aquarius.

Cats are bored by humdrum conversation, much like Aquarius. Baby talk is for dogs.

Bastet

The ancient Egyptians worshiped cats (as they should) and even have a god or two with feline characteristics. The most clearly cat-like (versus lion-like) god is Bastet. From my research this evening on the Internet and in books, I’m still a little confused about what energy this Bastet actually represents.

Bastet, sources agree, was daughter of the sun god. Like the authors of “Ancient Egypt,” many sources say she had both “gentle and fierce aspects.”

But what did she rule?

According to Encyclopedia Mythica, Bastet was one of the “Eyes of Ra” who would lay waste to enemies of Egypt. Anyone who lives with a feline is aware of their ability to stare enemies into submission. This is an appropriate duty for a cat god.

Other sources say Bastet ruled home and pregnancy. Per-Bast.org adds protection to the list.

Per “Ancient Egypt,” in the fifth century BC, Greek historian Herodotus happened upon the Bastet Festival at her cult center of Bubastis and described lots of singing and wine drinking (parties haven’t changed for millennia, have they?). Unfortunately, this doesn’t tell us much about Bastet’s role in the pantheon of gods.

This Bastet is very mysterious, just like your house cat, who is staring at you now and thinking . . .?

Scorpio

Somewhere in Europe in the Middle Ages (circa 600-1600) black cats (and cats in general) lost their revered status and became symbols of bad luck and witchcraft.

In the Middle Ages, it seems, the folks in Europe began associating negative or frightening experiences with the color black. In the West, the color of mourning is black (in China and India it is white). From a centuries-distant view, it’s almost like a collective depression which projected onto black stuff, including cats.

Today the black cat is associated with Halloween, a holiday that occurs at the very beginning of the sign of Scorpio.

Scorpio is the fixed water sign associated with intense feelings, power, intimacy, shared resources and death. No wonder the Day of the Dead (November 1) also occurs in Scorpio.

Today on NPR I heard an interview with Stephen King and he compared your first positive experience with horror (“you liked it”) with your first experience of sex. That comment describes very well Scorpio energy.

Because you like Stephen King doesn’t mean you’re evil. Horror, like other intense emotions, is cathartic. Horror stories help us purge negative energy.

Explaining it all to your cat

So how do you explain all this to your black cat?

“You were once revered but during a collective slump in spirit a heap of collective negativity was cast your way . . .”

While the adoption papers indicate my black cat was born in the sign of Scorpio, she seems much more like a Cancer to me – chatty, snuggly and sweet.

I decided to change my Halloween story for her.

“Black cats used to represent evil, but now represent the mysterious forces of the universe,” I explained to her this year.

I added that times have changed and we’re no longer in the Middle Ages.

“So people also don’t fear powerful women flying through the air?” she asked.

“Of course not.”

Posted in Holidays | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment