Mars in Capricorn – It’s Business Time

Posted on November 26, 2012 by ohioastrology

Hearing complaints of a ruined Thanksgiving due to an earlier and earlier Black “Friday,” which now is really Black Thanksgiving Evening, I have to note that the United States’ economy is based on shopping.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is calculated as “private consumption + gross investment + government spending + (exports − imports).” In the US economy, private consumption contributes 70% of GDP.

According to the National Retail Federation, for some retailers the holiday season is 20 percent to 40 percent of sales. In 2011, holiday sales were 19.5% of all retail sales.

So what would happen to our economy if we truly did put the “Christ” back in Christmas? If it wasn’t the season of giving presents, which retailers would fail?

This holiday season, with the sun in generous Sagittarius, Mars will be traveling through practical and business-oriented Capricorn. For Capricorn suns, that means more energy, more success and more drive. For Capricorn moons, that means more compulsion for these things which can lead to an increased need to control the environment.

For business, it’s a good placement. But later this week Mars will conjunct Pluto, also traveling through Capricorn so there may be some business news along the lines of a big company or endeavor no longer in one piece, shaken at its core and tumbling into many small parts.

Mars and Pluto in Capricorn are squaring Uranus in Aries indicating that there is still a dormant fault line lurking under the holiday cheer. Saturn is trine in Scorpio lending some stability during what could be a month of some instability.

It’s business time.

One of our largest businesses here in the US happens to have Mars in Capricorn . . .

Walmart

Walmart was founded in 1962 but incorporated on Halloween Day in 1969. Walmart, then, is a Scorpio with moon in Cancer, Saturn in Taurus and Mars in Capricorn. There’s a bunch of Libra in the chart – Uranus, Venus, Jupiter and Mercury – which would make you think Walmart would be a little more attractive.

Maybe Walmart is attractive to the penny-pinching Mars in Capricorn and hoarding moon in Cancer. To a person of these signs, with the added Saturn in Taurus, seeing a big storeroom full of stuff provides a sense of comfort and security.

According to the Wikipedia site, Walmart employs 2.2 million people. Target, by contrast, employs a mere 365,000.

It’s Walmart time.

I’ve noticed a general dislike of Walmart while at the same time noticing a great liking for MBAs. I know the many reasons why Walmart is disliked (labor relations, pricing tyranny, locating on disputed lands, running small businesses to the ground, etc.) but find it odd that a business that does so well doesn’t get some appreciation from a generation that loves business enough to study it.

But that’s just my lone observation here in Ohio’s capital. It’s possible around the US there is more respect (a Capricorn desire) for a company that started as a little Five and Dime and has grown to the largest retailer in the world (a Capricorn story of the self-made man).

Why don’t we love Walmart? Why don’t we love this incredible success story? Don’t those who go into business see themselves as going “big” at some time?

I’m not defending Walmart’s business practices here, I’m just trying to understand our love-hate relationship to the very foundations of our economy.

Walmart Season

Mars entered Capricorn November 18 and will be in Capricorn until December 27.

Mars in Capricorn will be good for Walmart’s growth, but bad for Walmart’s family as Mars opposes moon in Cancer.

Saturn transiting Scorpio is conjunct Walmart’s natal sun opposite Saturn in Taurus. That means there could be tax issues or merchandise issues. Will there be taxes from exporters or tariff on importers?

Mars creates the drive but the Saturn in Scorpio takes in the form of taxes or money due to others. Is there a huge loan maturing?

With Capricorn, Cancer, Scorpio and Taurus in the chart, there is definitely a good stewardship of money and resources, of the kind we call penny-pinching. The 2.2 million employees are probably aware of this.

When we buy a product, we want the best product at the lowest prices. Unfortunately, our employers want the same – the best person at the lowest price (or a market price that reflects the value of the employee in certain roles).

This holiday season should be good for Walmart and the news already suggests Walmart is at the top of the selling competition for Black Friday.

Let’s raise a toast to Mars in Capricorn – may this holiday season produce the highest holiday sales ever contributing to a healthy economy and employed workforce!

Posted in Nations / States / Institutions | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Happy Sagittarius, I Mean Thanksgiving

Posted on November 22, 2012 by ohioastrology

So many Americans love the sign Sagittarius and don’t know it. Instead you hear, “I love the holidays.” The “holidays” begin around the time the sun enters Sagittarius and culminate at Christmas when the sun enters Capricorn.

The sun entered Sagittarius today.

Sheldon Cooper on the Big Bang Theory explains to character Penny in an episode that Christmas is really the ancient festival of Saturnalia. In this you hear “Saturn” which is the ruler of Capricorn. That holiday occurs near the shortest day of the year, the winter solstice when the sun is overhead at the tropic of Capricorn.

So it’s all about astrology, right?

The only mind-boggling holiday is New Year’s Eve which is more Sagittarian than Capricorn. The only thing Capricorn about it is that we get up the next day and make RESOLUTIONS to never do again what we did the night before.

So shall we move New Year’s Eve to mid December? The Sagittarians whose birthdays get ignored because of Christmas would enjoy it.

Anyway, back to Sagittarius, the mystical, eye-in-the-sky truth seeker, child of the sublime and the one who has the courage at the Christmas table to announce she is a pagan (along with Aries).

We love Sagittarius because it brings all the things we do during the holidays – celebrate a higher god through each other’s company, create food that is more special than the daily diet, spend a little extra to make others happy and give, give, give to charity.

Sagittarius can also bring the effects of these generous tidings in the form of bills to pay during Capricorn, headaches after too much eggnog (a whole pint to yourself, really?) and waking up to discover that you sat in the boss’ lap last night and sang “We’re off to see the Wizard.”

Since I gotta get a move on, I’ll leave all the descriptions of Sagittarius to Café Astrology. I love their descriptions of signs and planets in signs. I look at this site often.

But if you want to read about one of my favorite Sagittarians (besides my dad), you can do it here, in the purple haze of Thanksgiving.

Happy Sagittarius!

Posted in Planets and signs | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

I Don’t Believe in Astrology, but My Cat Does

Posted on November 17, 2012 by ohioastrology

Really, I believe astrology is all hogwash and we people of the earth have free will, something you see each and every day as humanity greets the rising sun with a new, fresh approach to another day of consciousness.

We’re not stuck in habits, patterns and routines. We can do whatever we want whenever we want.

My cat, however, does believe in astrology. During full moons she often celebrates by dashing across the house, chasing her tail and following unseen ghosts on the wall.

During the recent solar eclipse it was all “purr – purr – purr.” She wouldn’t stop talking about it. Now that the eclipse has passed she’s back to her silent and prolonged meditations on astrology while curled up in her sleeper.

These are the random astrological thoughts my cat bothered me with this week:

  • The fall of Twinkie – Twinkies rose in 1933 during the great Depression and are falling near 2013 during another financial depression. In 1933 Pluto was in Cancer and Neptune in Virgo – both food and diet oriented. In 2013 Pluto is in Capricorn and Neptune in Pisces – both planets have traveled 180 degrees – are we at the end of the Twinkie business cycle or the end of an eating cycle?
  • Hillary Clinton in Australia – Hillary Clinton was down under where you could see the solar eclipse that was astrologically between her Scorpio sun and Scorpio Venus. Saturn is hanging out on her Scorpio sun as well creating all kinds of fantastic ancient-ritual type energy. What happens in Australia stays in Australia, hopefully. Pisces moon Clinton is may be more of a spiritualist and dreamer than you might realize . . . What else happened down there?
  • John Kasich in Ohio – while Hillary was basking in Scorpionic energy, Ohio Governor Kasich is fielding Scorpionic energy from without as this Jupiter, Venus and Sun are in steady-Taurus, opposite Scorpio. Kasich is having to deal with this stuff called “heavy emotion.” Yuch, eew. He’s probably wondering why everyone thinks he’s a tightwad as he generously gives light bulbs to the local shelter. Why can’t everyone just go to work and be happy? Why do people get so intense about nothing?
  • George Clooney – Clooney also has sun in Taurus and moon in Capricorn, like Ohio Governor John Kasich. Clooney might be having more fun fielding Scorpio energy from without but also goes “eew” when people have intense feelings that are separate from the physical body. Haven’t seen him on the cover of People in awhile. What’s going on?
  • My cat noticed several stories of sexual misconduct (and one major abortion story) on her BBC Mobile App story feed this week and reflected on how this is going to be one long Saturn-in-Scorpio transit. As the Wicked Witch of the West (WWW – interesting) said to Dorothy as she complained of her long journey to Oz “Why you’ve only just begun.” Saturn in Scorpio has only just begun.
  • Mitt Romney whines – When you have all three water signs in your chart (in trine aspect) it’s called a “Whine Trine.” When you have lots of Pisces and Scorpio, as Romney does, there may also be a more-than-average tendency to see oneself as a victim. As my cat noticed, every day on the drive to work we all experience winning and losing, victories and humiliations. She thinks Romney should file emotional bankruptcy and let the process work itself out as bereavement begins. If he resists while Saturn is on his moon, he’ll just fall into a depression. My cat’s usual advice to Romney is to go have some frickin’ fun and forget about saving the world.
  • Fiscal cliff – While my cat doesn’t have a checking account, she does understand what it means when Pluto transits Capricorn – transformation of all structure. She fully believes there is a fiscal cliff and we ought to re-structure our government and financial sectors in the early degrees of Capricorn rather than letting Pluto raze our society for another ten years. Pluto is like an earthquake under us, collapsing all that we try to build. Sand castles, she told me, it’s like sand castles. When I asked for more detail on her plan, she had her usual response – I’m not president, I don’t have to figure this out.
Posted in Actors, Politicians - Not Ohio, Politicians - Ohio | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Happy Birthday David Petraeus

Posted on November 11, 2012 by ohioastrology

David Petraeus, former director of the CIA, turned 60 a few days ago. And what did the American people give him for this milestone birthday?

Infamy.

Prior to the story of Petraeus stepping down as head of the CIA due to revelations of an extramarital affair, if you’d asked me who the head of the CIA was, I would have said, “give me a second” while secretly checking my iPhone.

Now I know.

Confucius believed one could only become a sage after age 50 (“I knew the decrees of Heaven“) and at 60 had achieved some inner peace (“No sound irritates me“).

“Sage” is a word little used in my universe, unless we’re talking about a spice rubbed on chicken. In our Internet age, no one is a wise sage, we’re all librarians curating information.

Will this sudden break from the world launch Petraeus on the ascent to wisdom and inner peace?

Saturn in Scorpio

You may have noticed that Petraeus is a sun-sign Scorpio, which is the sign associated with sex. The scandal isn’t the sex, it’s the getting caught. Usually Scorpio is too smart and clever to be caught. Has this Scorpio set his own trap?

With Saturn beginning its transit of Scorpio, sex may be more in the news, even than it is today.

I hope we don’t have two and a half years of Saturn-in-Scorpio sex scandals. If this story is accurate and 50 percent of women and 60 percent of married men have affairs, it’s gonna be one long Saturn transit.

Since Scorpio also rules money shared with others, these public divorces may also contain public airing of money issues.

Fun.

Relationship Issues

If I look at Petraeus’ chart with the knowledge he had an affair but from the vantage point of trying to help someone who’s made a decision that’s changed his life, I would focus on mother issues.

Liz Greene is the master of seeing parental relationships in the chart. I’ll put on my Greene hat as Petraeus’ chart stands out to me as containing an inner female with a drinking or substance abuse problem. The inner female may come out as a female partner while Petraeus wears the emotions of a general.

Petraeus has moon in Cancer close to Uranus, although he may have moon in Leo. Uranus on the moon is an unpredictable mother. In Cancer, mother was sometimes very motherly and sometimes not-to-be-found, off searching for comfort maybe from substances and also from her own family.

Today your mother is mothering you and tomorrow you have to take over and help mom out of bed.

That creates a lot of anxiety and desire to rescue.

Saturn and Neptune are conjunct in Libra in Petraeus’ chart, square Uranus/moon. Mother may have also been depressed. Neptune in Libra seeks the ideal mate, a beauty with a poetic nature and strong sense of fairness. When mother (and other women) are in the right mood, there is no greater pleasure to be had than being in their company. It’s just the other “moods” that cause the problem . . .

If I were a fortune cookie, I might say to Petraeus, “Bad luck with women.”

Mars is in Sagittarius right now and is almost finished with its month-long transit. It happens to be transiting Petraeus’ Venus in Sagittarius. Mars on Venus in the fire sign of Sagittarius is risk-taking and adventuresome.

If Petraeus has the problems with women his chart suggests, this Mars transit may have said, “I’m breaking out to have some fun. I don’t care what it costs.”

This fun didn’t begin a month ago, I believe, from my brief glance at the story. But Mars might have decided it was time to face all the repercussions that arise from following your risk-taking behavior over the cliff.

I’m guessing the true breakup of his marriage occurred while Saturn was transiting the later degrees of Libra (last year) and Petraeus had his second Saturn return. Both he and his spouse were probably very depressed about the state of their marriage (happens to a lot of folks, really). Sometime last year was probably a true breaking point.

If Petraeus and his wife were holding up the idea of a perfect marriage, they wouldn’t be the first couple to do so. With the American focus on marriage, it’s difficult to tell the world that you are one more couple that isn’t making it.

Mars will soon move into Capricorn and will return to its natal position in Petraeus’ horoscope activating the Uranus/moon, Mars and Saturn/Neptune T-square. I’m guessing that Petraeus will go forcefully forward on his new path and may even have a few moments where he tells others what they can do with their news stories.

Saturn transiting Scorpio will oppose Petraeus’ Jupiter in Taurus. Regardless of what’s truly occurring in this man’s marriage, he will be paying the financial price. She’s keeping the house.

No Sound Irritates Me

Sometimes while watching Britney Spears or Lindsay Lohan in their public meltdowns, I thank god I didn’t have to have my own emotional upheavals in public. We all have our crazy moments and most of us don’t have to see those moments on the cover of People.

If you have chosen a path that takes you into the limelight, your travails might be more pronounced but hopefully so will your learnings and joys.

The events set in motion this week for Petraeus will probably take most of the Saturn-in-Scorpio transit to fully resolve.

Saturn’s transit of Sagittarius, in about three years, will be conjunct Petraeus’ Mercury. There will probably be a book at that time (which may help with the finances).

Writing is cathartic for many. Maybe it will help Petraeus go to the place of “no sound irritates.”

Posted in Politicians - Not Ohio | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Mars in Sagittarius – Jimi Hendrix Time

Posted on November 10, 2012 by ohioastrology

Bothered by the crazy driving behavior last night, I consulted my astrologer friend and asked for insight. He replied simply, “Mars is in Sagittarius.”

Mars has been transiting Sagittarius since October 8 and will be there until approximately November 17.

It was an “aha” moment. Yes, Mars is in a fire sign. I have a Sagittarius rising. I have been drinking too much coffee this week, sometimes while driving. And I had the sudden urge to hear Jimi Hendrix, which I’ve been playing in the car since Thursday.

Hendrix, coffee and driving do not mix.

Was it me, then?

Yes, of course, but I still beg (pretty please with sugar on top?) others to stop driving and talking/texting. We’re just not present at the wheel when we do that and often can’t quite make that sharp turn while handling a large vehicle and talking on the phone.

The more important, higher, lesson here is that Jimi Hendrix’s energy is with us.

Jimi – you died too young. The fire burned within. I can feel it in your music:

“Music, sweet music
I wish I could caress, caress, caress”

[From: http://www.metrolyrics.com/manic-depression-lyrics-jimi-hendrix.html ]

Jimi Hendrix

Astrotheme’s chart has Sagittarius sun Hendrix with a Cancer moon. The moon is awful close to Leo, the rock star of the zodiac. But I could believe Cancer.

Several years ago while at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, I saw a video of a young Hendrix as a backing band guitarist for Night Train. I found it again here:

Leo moon would say, “Hey look at me.” Hendrix appears involved in his guitar, swinging back and forth as the choreography dictates but increasingly separated by his own movements, fully engaged in his playing. Seeing the video for the first time, I felt Hendrix wanted to jump out of that line and start dancing across the floor. He’s having fun. He’s in the moment.

Although Sagittarius is a fire sign, I consider it a more sensitive fire sign than Aries (the Ram) or Leo (the Lion). Sagittarius is a mutable fire sign, expressive but also impressionable.

Cancer is sweet and sensitive and I feel the Hendrix I saw in the video was divorced of self, pure feeling.

Now Sagittarius is still a fire sign, headstrong and very willing to tell you about its crazy, unusual experiences and suggesting your life might be enhanced by doing the same – if you could walk a tightrope between skyscrapers while wearing only henna tattoos, you might see life a little differently, you know.

I’ve kissed a goat during the full moon and you haven’t . . .

I’m a lover of Sagittarian stories but others might find it a bit arrogant, especially if you don’t want to hear about kissing others of your gender during ancient Druid festivals and would prefer to talk about something here and now, like the price of gas.

If the Astrotheme chart is correct, Hendrix’s sun was in the 12th house, the hidden house. Any energy of any sign in the 12th arises, if it ever does, like a chick breaking out of an eggshell.

Breaking out of the 12th house with Sagittarian energy means leaving your monastic or prison cell and walking straight onto the main drag of Las Vegas – bright lights, shows, slot machines, temptations – so much to experience!

Drugs, of course, can help us crack our shells, but with detrimental impact. Breaking the shell before we are fully formed brings us into a new universe unprepared physically, emotionally or mentally. It’s like a preemie baby who must be quarantined from the world until it can build strong enough defenses.

With his Jupiter conjunct moon in Cancer and Neptune in Libra in the 9th, Hendrix would have been emotionally dependent, contrary to the energy of his Sagittarius sun. Cancer is dependent while Sagittarius is independent. True independence for Sagittarius in this chart would have involved independence from the appetite for food, drink, sex, indulgence and ultimately drugs.

Since Sagittarius longs for experiences that bring heightened awareness – new tastes, foreign lands, alternate universes and different jam on the toast this morning, drugs are a great and powerful allure. I want “different,” please, and, oh, make it fast because I’m leaving for a flight soon to meet my foreign lover in Dubai.

“If you can just get your mind together
Then come on across to me
We’ll hold hands and then we’ll watch the sunrise
From the bottom of the sea

But first, are you experienced?
Have you ever been experienced?
Well, I have”

[Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsfreak.com/j/jimi+hendrix/are+you+experienced_20071527.html%5D

Saturn and Uranus were conjunct in Gemini in Hendrix’s chart, opposite the Sagittarian energy. The man who wrote the song “Manic Depression” may very well have been diagnosed with that illness.

As an aside, someone recently in the news has a teeter-totter chart of Sagittarius and Gemini, with sun moon and Uranus involved – Newt Gingrich. I think he may have a little manic depression with that wild surge of creativity and mental agility.

“Will I live tomorrow?
Well, I just can’t say
Will I live tomorrow?
Well, I just can’t say
But I know for sure
I don’t live today
No sun comin’ through my windows
Feel like I’m livin’ at the bottom of a grave
No-ho sun comin’ through my windows
Feel like I’m livin’ at the bottom of a grave
I wish you’d hurry up and rescue me
So I can be on my miserable way
(well), I don’t
Live today
Maybe tomorrow, I just can’t say, but, uh
I don’t
Live today
It’s such a shame to waste your time away like this”

[From http://www.lyricsfreak.com/j/jimi+hendrix/dont+live+today_20185371.html%5D

The Veil of Time

Is Jimi busting through the veils of time, adding his own energy to the Mars in Sagittarius transit? Is the essence of Jimi whispering into the ears of peeps consumed by daily concerns that the music can flow through you, forget about all that other dumb stuff?

Are you still with me on my journey through the purple haze? Maybe if we made it this far together we can crack out of our 12th house shells and survive.

“Is it tomorrow or just the end of time?”

[From: http://www.lyricsfreak.com/j/jimi+hendrix/purple+haze_20071539.html%5D

Posted in Musicians | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Five Career Options for Karl Rove

Posted on November 7, 2012 by ohioastrology

To be honest, I feel a little sorry for Republican Presidential Candidate, Mitt Romney. He had a hurricane blow in on his convention and a hurricane blow in as he was on an upswing. That’s not to say a hurricane-less race would have provided a win for Romney. But if you believe in omens, and cross-my-heart-hope-to-die-stick-a-needle-in-my-eye I don’t, you might say the Gods were against him.

Romney is a Pisces, a sign fairly associated with suffering and victimhood. Romney might be feeling kind of sad but there is another way to look at the situation. Now that this “running for president” thing is over and he’ll be at his retirement age of 66 next March (since Paul Ryan wasn’t able to change it to 70), he can just take it easy and let the mantle of responsibility fall from his shoulders like leaves falling off a tree during a windstorm.

Now Karl Rove, on the other hand, won’t be at retirement age for three more years and still needs work. An NPR news story I heard this evening discussed how Rove got some big checks from donors for Romney’s campaign. When you ask folks for $10 million and don’t deliver, they sometimes cease doing business with you.

The Textbook Ambitious Capricorn

Rove is a Capricorn sun, Cancer moon. Capricorn is all about what Rove is known for – ambition, success, drive, calculation and career life. His moon is all about the opposite – belonging, togetherness, personal emotions, nurturing and home life.

Where is this moon hiding? Or maybe that’s why Rove is standing next to politicians but not one himself – Cancer is too sensitive for the criticism.

Rove also has Venus and Mercury in Capricorn so he likes to socialize with people of high social status. Outside of work associates, Rove may not have a hang-at-the- bar buddy (although moon in Cancer may have some close family relations). Venus in Capricorn can appear snobbish.

Uranus is also in Cancer which suggests volatile emotions erupting alternately with Capricorn coolness. He may hear, “Remember when you got angry and smashed the plate,” and have no memory of it. Capricorn rarely admits to crazy impulsive emotions.

Rove has some interesting T-squares in the chart with Saturn and Neptune in Libra creating squares with Capricorn and Cancer. These are all cardinal signs which reflect Rove’s ability to motivate, initiate and get things done.

Jupiter is in spiritual Pisces, Pluto in Leo (the “Me Generation” placement) and Mars in Aquarius (the independent rebel).

Let’s see – we’ve got Pluto transiting Capricorn squaring Uranus transiting Aries which pretty much interferes with most of Rove’s chart. Then there’s Neptune transiting Pisces hovering over that soothing Jupiter in Pisces.

Rove may be looking for a new herd to join. A quick glance at Wikipedia suggests Rove has already found a new family herd, marrying this year. He may also be looking for new work and social associates.

What new career would suit Rove’s chart and transits well?

Five Career Options for Karl Rove

  1. Owner of a bar & grill. With moon and Uranus in Cancer, there is a love of food and beverage, sloppy and greasy food, what we today call “comfort food,” but which was, in my day, regular old food. Although Capricorn likes expensive things, Cancer likes food that evokes images of mom. Expensive comfort food is quite chic right now.
  2. Animal trainer. The ability to alternate between controlling and soothing is perfect for work with wild animals. This recommendation was not influenced by Rove’s work with politicians, I swear.
  3. Clothier. It may be time for Rove to promote his own brand rather than others’ brands by creating a line of professional wear with his name on it. We all remember Yves St. Laurent but ask someone on the street to name a political consultant. Can they do it?
  4. Divorce lawyer. Capricorn cool, Cancer emotional understanding and Libra focus on partnership are the perfect traits to assist the irreconcilably differentiated in their splits. I’d hire him.
  5. Politician. Why stand next to the man on the top of the ladder when you can be there yourself?
Posted in 2012 Presidential Election | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

2012 Election Tidbits

Posted on November 4, 2012 by ohioastrology

Ohio has a very special place in presidential elections. As I listen to the pundits I often hear that it’s difficult to win the presidency without Ohio. I’m sure one could, but there appear to be voting habits in the nation that make Ohio a “swing state.”

Tomorrow, in fact, the day before the vote, the president Barack Obama will be visiting just down the street. As a voter that tells me that the president is not confident that he has Ohio in the bag, to visit the very day before the election, hours before we vote.

If you’re not in Ohio, you might feel envy that we Buckeyes are basking in the financial warmth of millions upon millions of advertising dollars. What you don’t know is that some of us have stopped watching TV due to the onerous amount of ads, back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back, for and against each candidate.

It’s a good time to live in Utah or Illinois where you can watch the evening news and enjoy the usual car and pharmaceutical drug commercials.

I wonder if the drug companies have seen a hit to Ohio profits during October?

Mercury Retrograde

It’s quite interesting that on voting day, Tuesday November 6, that Mercury will go retrograde in Sagittarius. Mercury retrograde means delays, misunderstandings and general cross-signals with regard to communication.

When Mercury goes retrograde, as it does often, astrologers across the globe warn of miscommunication. Why astrologers are ignored, I believe, isn’t just due to the general lack of belief in astrology. I think astrologers are ignored because we often don’t know about Mercury retrograde problems until later.

It might take me a month to notice, for example, that I accidentally put the $500 final car payment amount toward my electric bill (as I’ve done on bill pay). Only in a month when I find that I have more interest on my car and have three months of pre-paid electricity do I see the error.

When does Mercury go direct? On November 26. Hopefully Election Day issues, if any, will be resolved at that time.

Sagittarius is a sign that relates to things foreign. Will there be foreign influence in our election?

Some blogs on Tuesday’s Mercury retrograde:

http://www.astrologycom.com/mercret.html

ttp://darkstarastrology.com/mercury-retrograde/

http://astrology.richardbrown.com/mercrx.shtml

Jupiter Retrograde

Jupiter is currently retrograde in the sign of Gemini, which rules communication. Gemini’s ruler is Mercury. So Jupiter in Gemini and Mercury in Sagittarius have a relationship called “mutual reception” in which each is in the other’s sign.

Mercury in Sagittarius and Jupiter in Gemini, both retrograde, suggests issues in communication due to excess or expansion. I’m wondering if we won’t have some sort of telecommunication issues due to overload of the system.

Overload makes me think of the “denial of service” attacking/hacking that is occurring more frequently. The main targets are banks. Two ways to shut down a system are to starve it or overload it.

Saturn starves; Jupiter overloads.

Sagittarius rules things foreign so maybe foreign elements overloading information systems?

Gemini and Sagittarius provide too much information rather than too little. Too much information can be as confusing as too little. With news coming from sources over the globe all saying different things, what is true?

Maybe the foreign press will report something differently than the local press? Gemini is like your local news and Sagittarius like your international news.

Some blogs on Jupiter in Gemini:

http://www.astrology.com/jupiter-retrograde-gemini-rethink-your-choices/2-d-d-490784

http://astrodynamics.net/astrologicalmusings/tag/jupiter-in-gemini-2012/

http://rubyslipper.ca/2012/10/reboot-jupiter-goes-retrograde-in-gemini/

Too close to call?

Watching the news, I’ve also seen more stories on election and voting law, processes that are normally remote and archaic but were dug out of the cedar chest during the 2000 “too close to call” election between George W. Bush and Al Gore.

If I were a conspiracy theorist, which cross-my-heart-hope-to-die-stick-a-needle-in-my-eye I’m not, I would even guess that something along these lines was being planned.

As the US electorate gets split in half through dualistic candidates, there seems to be ever increasing chances of elections being won by hundreds or thousands of votes. We learned during the 2000 election that sometimes our preciously placed vote gets thrown out (ouch! I never learned about that in high school).

The 2000 election results were up in the air from Election Day until December 12 when the Florida Supreme Court ended all recounts and George W. Bush was declared the winner.

On that Election Day in 2000, Mercury was retrograde and went direct about three days later. On December 12, Mercury was conjunct Pluto in Sagittarius.

Post election this year, the next conjunction of Mercury and Pluto will be on January 6 – 7, 2013 which is orthodox Christmas. Prior to that, the sun and Pluto will be conjunct on December 31, 2012.

It should be an interesting New Year’s Eve.

Posted in 2012 Presidential Election | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Believing is Seeing

Posted on October 30, 2012 by ohioastrology

“Belief” has always been a strange word to me and more so during a general election as people take sides of a arbitrary split and seem to “believe” that one particular man can save us. We enact this same drama every four years.

Dictionary.com defines belief as “confidence in the truth or existence of something not immediately susceptible to rigorous proof.”

Belief is usually associated with religion because we seem to be unable to see each other’s gods or logically convince each other of spiritual or religious belief.

In our age of information, belief has gotten stronger because rather than too little information, there is too much and we are less likely to know the source of information. More and more information creates conflicting information and we need this thing called “belief” to chose some information over other information.

Pisces Believes

Pisces, the last sign of the zodiac, a mutable water sign, has the key phrase “I believe.” Because of this willingness to believe, Pisces is considered spiritual and/or mystical. Pisces is intuitive and empathetic. It’s also easily influenced and too sensitive to disagree or fight. Pisces style of survival is more about emotionally manipulating events than taking an active, open stance (see the fire signs for this).

Neptune, the ruler of Pisces, represents merged states from the fetus in the womb to speaking in tongues during a religious experience. It’s “we” not me, much like Libra. Libra is a “we” in terms of picking up the identity of others while Pisces is “we” in that it wants no identity at all.

Among the many things ruled by Neptune, it also rules the moving image, film.

What is the connection between image and belief?

Image relates to sight which appears to be the most powerful sense in that if we see something, we believe it. We know the models on the magazine are airbrushed, but we still want to look like those models, those images. The models themselves are not the image on the cover – they are the foundation of the image.

While most claim TV and movies are just mundane entertainment, I think many of those images transfer unconsciously to life, such as ideas of romance or the power of having a certain car. Advertisers have known this for a long time. Yet we feel in control of our subconscious and watch image after image thinking we control the gates from conscious to unconscious (also ruled by Neptune).

Neptune rules the ocean. If I put a chemical in the ocean, can anyone stand in the ocean and not touch the chemical? You can’t sequester Neptune.

Neptune in Pisces

Transiting Pluto in Capricorn is squaring transiting Uranus in Aries and getting all the attention – economic breakdown and revolutions.

All the while Neptune is starting its travels through the hazy waters of its natural home creating a silky glaze over our world weary eyes.

As Neptune enters Pisces, it may be time to think about why the two presidential candidates are spending almost $1 billion on television ads and why those that can’t compete in money can’t compete at all.

The true winner of the election is image. The images we create of our democracy are way different than the image it has become.

When the recent jobs report was issued showing the unemployment rate below a milestone 8%, it was questioned whether the report was cooked. It’s a good question but also raises the question of what is real and how do we know it, ever?

Belief in what we see seems addictive and also comforting. The idea that we don’t really know anything is scary. I saw a television ad on Ohio’s Issue 2 (wanting a “no” vote) that didn’t even bother to explain what Issue 2 is about. It’s quite insulting to see an ad that doesn’t even bother with an appeal to reason and also quite scary that a market researcher determined that an ad without any explanation is effective. Is the ad simply hypnosis (also ruled by Neptune) much like the Queen of Diamonds in the Manchurian Candidate?

Every planet has a purpose and Neptune’s absorption of images into our subconscious seems necessary to move us from a state of survival to one of higher purpose. Neptune connects us in our entirety to everything else in its entirety but then leaves us open to all else that floats in the collective wind.

Astrologer Barbara Hand Clow writes about the “fourth dimension” as a dimension of collective images (if I understand her correctly). I can understand this idea of fourth dimension – we can pretend to ignore the images around us, but like radio waves we are penetrated.

It will be interesting to see what we collectively “believe” in 15 years from now as Neptune finishes its transit of Pisces. Few of us would go to a glass of water sitting on a park bench and drink. But we do that every day when we open image portals like TV, film and Internet. The Internet used to be a place where we directed the images but notice how little control we now have over what is presented to us on the Web.

Will Neptune in Pisces teach us to choose our images like we choose our drinking water?

Posted in Planets and signs | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Ohio Astrology’s Presidential Prediction

Posted on October 28, 2012 by ohioastrology

Astrologers are much like analysts – we want to be right. We analyze data to understand a confusing world of inconsistency, feelings, double speak and people’s rationalizations of their actions under the mantle of philosophies and religions.

If you accept the world as non-rational, it’s an easier place to be. Trying to apply a rational standard to the world simply creates frustration.

On the flip side, I do believe the world runs by patterns if not logic and reason.

The last Get Smart movie starring Steve Carell creates the perfect image of the analyst. Carell is Maxwell Smart, an analyst who dreams of being a special agent. Smart has written bulky report after bulky report that his colleagues don’t read. When asked questions, Smart’s reply often goes something like, “It was in the report on page 726.”

Smart, aptly named, has all the answers, if someone would just pay attention.

The Western world runs on ideas of reason and likewise I believe we carry this trait culturally and which is why our religions are also tinted with this need to be right.

As an American, I was surprised to find in other countries you can discuss religion peacefully without the need to be right or convert others to your views. Discussing religion without anyone getting or telling others they were wrong was a surreal surprise.

While astrology is associated with divination, I’m turning to the view that its true purpose is creative engagement with life in the way of artists. You can explore images and not always identify with those images.

What’s called divination, though, is part of the fun of astrology, the same way betting in a sports pool is fun. You have some background information, you have some personal preferences and you bet accordingly.

I’ve been staying far, far away from election predictions for two main reasons: 1) I don’t know how to make election predictions using astrology and 2) I fear making wrong predictions taints the practice of astrology. Once something is branded divination, it must be 100 percent accurate.

Yet, I keep having a feeling about the winner. I decided to let go of whether I’m right or wrong simply because it doesn’t matter. One blog on the blogosphere getting it right or wrong isn’t important in this vast, great universe.

For a while I’ve been feeling the winner of the US Presidential election will be Mitt Romney.

Why?

When I look at the weather forecast on my phone, I see pictures of rain for the next five days. Saturn in Scorpio, which we’ll experience for the next two years, feels a lot like that weather forecast.

The energy of Saturn in Scorpio, Pluto in Capricorn and Neptune in Pisces seems more aligned with the energy of Mitt Romney. Romney is a man of water sign sensibilities five of the ten planets in the horoscope in water signs (Scorpio and Pisces). He is the rain. He’s a man who believes in the efficiency of bankruptcy proceedings over bold, daring actions. This is more aligned with Capricorn and Scorpio energy than the current president’s fire and air chart.

Capricorn and Scorpio are both very serious, not dreamers. Both are prone to fear of the paranoid kind, thinking others are out to get them because they don’t understand that others have a more fluid idea of life.

Capricorn is about law and order (sound like the campaign speech of a past Capricorn president?) not about hope and glory.

Scorpio is focused and driven and enjoys a walk on the dark side.

Both Capricorn and Scorpio are prone to depression and taking a “glass half empty” approach to life.

Capricorn is shrewd while Scorpio is perceptive.

While I’m feeling Romney is going to win, I’m also feeling that he’s not going to like it much.

It’s on Page 729

Astrology is analytical and there are far superior astrologers out there analyzing past data, looking at angles and arcs and progressions and transits. I’m sure they have much better reasons for their picks. I’d trust them if you’re betting money.

I’m simply feeling Romney in the air, in the storms and in the economy.

Posted in 2012 Presidential Election | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

Renegade, Rebel, Revolutionary – What’s up with the Letter R?

Posted on October 25, 2012 by ohioastrology

Thinking today about someone I know, the R words came to mind – renegade, rebel and revolutionary.

Oh, how I love a revolutionary! Really, revolutionaries are few and far between and our use of the word has gone way, way down since the 1960s.

Once when I casually used the word “terrorist,” someone reminded me that one person’s terrorist is another’s freedom fighter. Revolutionary is also a word charged with good and bad connotations.

That’s kind of the problem with words – people use them with a different meaning that you mean and suddenly you like the word no longer.

Hey, we’re having a few revolutions around the world right now – mostly in the Middle East. In the US, my perception is that the media views these revolutions as good. Do the people in those regions see the events as revolution or something else?

The “Arab Spring” started about right before Uranus entered Aries, when it was hanging out with Jupiter in the last degrees of Pisces.

Uranus the great awakener is associated with revolutions because you are in one state and then “wham,” you find yourself in a completely different universe.

Aries, the first sign of the zodiac, is often the renegade because Aries lurches forward first and thinks second. It’s a renegade sign, to me, only in the sense that it has a compulsion to step forward and stand up for itself.

In a different sense, Aquarius is the great rebel because it thinks first then steps forward because the world has offered it no alternative that meshes with the ideas. Aquarius is not the fighter that Aries is – it simply can’t function within ideas that create internal discord.

Aquarius fights for ideas and Aries fights for self (or ideas of self?).

Uranus, you know, rules Aquarius.

Some reptilian mind part of our brains has associated this state of breaking from the current cultural norm into another state with the sound of “rrrrrrr.”

Uranus in Aries might bring more Rs to our lives in the next seven years for a Rip Roaring time. R might be called the official sponsor of Uranus in Aries.

Maybe Sesame Street, that great promoter of the first letter of words, might solve the true mystery of the letter R.

That is, if we don’t have an R president.

Posted in 2012 Presidential Election, Planets and signs | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment