Hunters & Gatherers or Hunters & Hunters?

Posted on July 23, 2012 by ohioastrology

Yesterday while at a local farmer’s market pushing and shoving my way to fresh tomatoes, I was reminded of the aggression at Cleveland’s West Side Market. While local farmer’s market shopping evokes images of peaceful pastoral life, sunny skies and green grass, market shopping is an aggressive sport. I knew that from childhood.

Moreover, the most effective, efficient and guileful weapon of the market place is this: The Baby Stroller.

Pushers of strollers use it as an offensive weapon, ramming into your shins and pushing ahead of you to the last ear of fresh-picked corn, the last musk melon and the last loaf of homemade wheat bread.

Baby strollers are the most effective weapon known to man because when you turn around to confront your tormentor, you are faced with an innocent, lovable baby who has no responsibility for your loss of fresh basil and makes you ashamed of your aggression. You are instantly rendered helpless.

Shopping is aggressive. Yesterday at market I pondered, once again, of the idea of hunters and “gatherers” where (male) hunters are aggressive and (female) gatherers are just socializing while carrying baskets and picking berries.

Those that think gathering is not aggressive have not been to the local farmer’s market or Target on December 26 when all the holiday merchandise goes on sale.

Since we’re on the topic, I’ll add that anthropologists might do well to study behavior at Target from Black Friday to New Year’s Day rather studying women picking berries on some remote island in the Pacific. There’s more to learn in your own backyard.

Mars in the Horoscope

The horoscope is a wheel representing the position of the “planets” in the sky at the time you were born.

Our horoscopes are identical – we all have all twelve signs and all ten “planets” in our horoscopes.

What’s different between two charts is where the planet resides in the wheel and in which sign. Then the planets in place in signs have a relationship with each other that describes the personality (to me).

We all (men and women) have Mars, the God of War, in our horoscopes. We all have a point of assertiveness. We may assert in an Aries way, which means pure and aggressively, or we may assert in a Cancer way which means emotionally and through manipulation. Based on the sign in which your Mars resides, you will assert in a certain way.

Mars also may aspect other planets. If your Mars squares your sun, you often feel frustrated. However if you have Mars in the first house in a fire sign trine a sun fire sign, you may find yourself drawn to sports and become an accomplished athlete.

If your Mars is in the first house in a fire sign, you probably will also get the fresh tomatoes before I do at the farmer’s market.

Gathering is just another form of hunting

With that said, I think shopping (aka gathering) is hunting. I think the traditional image of hunting as male and gathering as female comes from another difference between men and women – I believe women are simply better at multi-tasking.

In other words, both men and women are hunters. Men, however, hunt one (1) thing at a time and women hunt many (>1) things at a time.

Women when shopping are hunting in multi-dimensions. They are not simply hunting for a shirt. They are hunting for the best option among a multitude of possibilities represented by 1) all the items in the store; 2) current and future needs; 3) prices in every other store; 4) value of coupons and reward programs; 5) current budget.

Another way to say it is that men hunt for meat.

Women hunt for berries, straw (for baskets), wood (for fires), leaves, beads, hats, shoes, shirts, pants, socks, underwear, couches, desks, pencils, paper, wallets, bracelets, food, storage units, wrapping paper, cups, carpet, irons, ironing boards, lamps, bookcases, flower pots, file cabinets, towels, bath mats, shower curtains, toilet paper, tissues, bed spreads, blankets, sheets, dressers, nightstands and laundry baskets . . . and other stuff.

I think this joke about men and women barbequing says it all.

* * * * * *

Definition of barbecuing … It’s the only type of cooking a “real man” will do.

When a man volunteers to do the ‘BBQ’ the following chain of events are put into motion:

  • The woman goes to the store.
  • The woman fixes the salad, vegetables, and dessert
  • The woman prepares the meat for cooking, places it on a tray along with the necessary cooking utensils, and takes it to the man, who is lounging beside the grill, beer in hand.
  • The man places the meat on the grill.
  • The woman goes inside to set the table and check the vegetables.
  • The woman comes out to tell the man that the meat is burning.
  • The man takes the meat off the grill and hands it to the woman.
  • The woman prepares the plates and brings them to the table.
  • After eating, the woman clears the table and does the dishes.
  • Everyone praises man and thanks him for his cooking efforts.
  • The man asks the woman how she enjoyed “her night off.”
  • And, upon seeing her annoyed reaction, concludes that there’s just no pleasing some women.
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Who is the Gambler of the Zodiac?

Posted on July 22, 2012 by ohioastrology

Until I read this Slate article on financial derivatives, I always assumed gambling was banned or controlled due to moral issues with gambling that arise from gambling’s addictive quality and ability to create financial ruin.

The article describes the difference between hedging and speculation. Hedging reduces risk while speculation (gambling) increases risk. The government control of “gambling” is an effort to reduce risk.

It makes sense that the government would want to prevent catastrophic financial ruin for its country.

But isn’t that what’s occurring right now?

Gambling as Risk

One aspect of gambling is risk. For those not addicted to gambling, risk is controlled by having an entertainment budget one is willing to spend. Often we go over the budget during the excitement of gambling, but enough only to cut into future entertainment budget.

For those addicted, gambling risk can be risking the rent money and other money essential for physical survival.

Gambling as Excitement

If we are going to risk something, it’s because we see the gain on the other side as outweighing the risk. In the case of gambling, the gain is a big financial payout.

For the recreational gambler, the payout is enough to risk some vacation funds.

For the addicted gambler, I see the gain being the excitement generated by the idea of a big payout. If the payout were enough, the addicted gambler would stop when he/she was ahead. But the addicted gambler puts the big payout back into the risk. So it’s not the payout but the excitement, I believe, that keeps addicted gamblers motivated.

Addicted gamblers are often not rich as they put their winnings back into gambling. This up and down in excitement, luck and lifestyle is a little like manic depression. The extreme excitement caused by the thought of winning can lead to severe depression when the results aren’t positive or the landlord puts a notice on the door that the rent is due tomorrow or else.

Gambling as Inflated Optimism

The excitement generated by gambling leads us to hope for a big payout, a payout based on chance rather than the result of our work, efforts or ideas.

In this way, entrepreneurs are truly not gamblers. Thinking I’ll make money because I have a brilliant idea is way different than thinking I’ll make money because today is my “lucky day.”

Entrepreneurs take risks, but the risk is calculated and possibly hedged. Entrepreneurs believe in themselves, not chance. Entrepreneurs may want money, but they truly want the success that money represents.

Gamblers are optimistic toward the great unknown called “chance.”

Who is the gambler of the zodiac?

Which sign is most associated with risk taking, need for excitement, inflated optimism and luck?

I see that sign as Sagittarius.

I’ve also voted for Sagittarius as most clumsy, freedom-loving and luckiest. The common motivation in these different traits is an openness and quest for meaning (or quest for the sublime as the late Howard Sasportas called it).

The quest for the sublime leads Sagittarius to take risks from falling in love, to climbing a mountain to find a wise monk to obsession with the one-armed bandit.

Taking risks allows us to meet new people and situations we wouldn’t meet while watching TV. In that way, Sagittarius can be “lucky.”

Famous Sagittarian Gamblers

Reading the Enron story, I’m convinced Sagittarius Jeffrey Skilling (former CEO now in prison), was essentially a gambler. If you read carefully what Skilling devised, some of it seems more a form of gambling versus hedging or true growth. It’s clear now that now bankrupt and defunct Enron’s “growth” was all on paper.

I’m a little concerned that the person minding the Federal Reserve (Ben Bernanke) is also a Sagittarius, born just 18 days before Skilling.

While Pluto was in Sagittarius from 1996 to 2008, there were several financial “bubbles” including the dot.com and the housing bubbles.

Abuses in mortgage derivatives, to some, were part of the reason for the global financial crisis of 2007-2008. Pluto was leaving the gambling Sagittarius in 2007-2008 and entering the frugal schoolmarm Capricorn.

Sagittarius moon even more than Sagittarius sun creates a risk-taking personality, ala Charlie Sheen. Sagittarius moon simply has no internal control to say no. Fire signs in general (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius) need external control if they are to have any control at all, but Sagittarius might be the most extreme.

William Bennett, political pundit and high-stakes gambler, is not a Sagittarius but has four-five planets in Leo, depending on the moon (moon, Jupiter, Pluto, sun, Mercury).

Jupiter is the planet that rules Sagittarius and is associated with abundance. Jupiter is conjunct Bennett’s sun. With Pluto tucked in there as well, the gambling provided a sense of power. If Bennett’s moon is in Leo, there’s just no internal control mechanism in his personality.

Now that Pluto has entered Capricorn, it’s time to pay the gambling bills from Pluto in Sagittarius. I think we’ve learned our lessons about gambling. Have fun but don’t gamble the rent or the collateralized mortgage obligation.

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What Part of the Horoscope Represents Your “Baggage?”

Posted on July 21, 2012 by ohioastrology

I’m planning on moving for the third time in just over two years (Uranus is transiting my 4th house) and have an ever-increasing disdain for all material possessions. As I pack and move, I look at my things and realize that this is my baggage. This is the stuff I’m carrying around.

Do I really need to carry it with me for the rest of my life?

The bane of my moving is books. No matter how many books I get rid of, my books seem to grow cryogenically. The minute I stop moving my addiction has me buying more books (yes, I own a Kindle and buy books on it too).

When we say someone has “baggage,” it refers to emotional baggage, not the physical stuff we carry around. But our physical stuff, I believe, represents our emotional baggage just as our money represents our values and emotions.

The areas of the horoscope that represent our emotional states are the fourth, eighth and twelfth houses. As I went through my books, again, I re-discovered what each of these houses truly represents in terms of emotions and “baggage.”

Fourth House Books

When I moved the first time, I struggled over whether to keep a seven-pound art history book from college. That’s when I first realized that I was carrying a seven-pound book through my life and decided to do it no more (if you want it, you can find it at Half Price Books).

Why was I so attached to this book?

I realized it was nostalgia. The book represented a time in my life when I discovered myself through art and art history. It represented the beginning of my late high school (we used this book there too) and early college life. At that time, Uranus had just begun its transit of my first house. My passing interest in astrology was moving to deep interest and I found myself wondering how I’m made it from “there” to “here.”

The book survived a transit from my first to my fourth house.

The fourth house is at the bottom of the horoscope and represents our foundation. It’s funny that our foundation would rest on a water sign rather than an earth sign. That shows you that our true foundations are not the house we live in but the “home” we emotionally occupy.

That’s common knowledge, I think.

Uranus transiting my fourth house has made me, on the mundane level, re-assess my book collection. On the emotional level my entire life is being re-evaluated. The constant moving that is being triggered from external events over which I have no control (Uranus) has made me face up to my habits and where nostalgia has me carrying around a useless seven-pound book.

Don’t think I’ve rid myself of all nostalgic books. I’ve just come to realize that nostalgia can weigh seven ounces instead of seven pounds.

Eighth House Books

If the fourth house is our emotional foundation, the eighth house represents our intimate emotions and our emotional connection to others.

I would say that most of my books are fourth and twelfth house driven but I, like others, carry around a lot of eighth house stuff. Parting with eighth house items can be even more difficult than parting with fourth house items.

Why?

Eighth house items are gifts or items shared with others, others with whom we have an emotional attachment.

While I don’t want to carry my eighth house items all over the earth, those that gave them to me may question why a certain item is no longer on a shelf or wall of my new home.

It’s the thought that counts, we always say, but the item reminds our loved ones that we haven’t forgotten the thought.

Some baggage, then, we carry for the sake of others.

Twelfth House Books

The twelfth house is the “hidden” house of the horoscope, the place where we have secrets and hidden enemies. In the colloquial term “baggage,” I think we are talking about the twelfth house.

While the fourth and eighth houses can also represent “baggage,” the fourth relates to family and the eighth to marriage which are both socially-sanctioned states. We’re expected to carry baggage through family and marriage.

Have you noticed that people gain a lot of weight after marriage? While it’s clearly food driven, I believe it also represents the “baggage” we start to carry for others.

The twelfth house, in contrast, houses those weird habits we hide that are driven through unconscious emotional states. The only socially-sanctioned twelfth house activities, to me, are those relating to losing oneself through religion.

Otherwise, the twelfth house is taboo emotional states.

Twelfth house books, in my collection, relate to the topic you are reading now – astrology. The site does not have my name on it because I live in conservative Columbus, Ohio and find it best to keep the topic separate from my daily life (which I do not enjoy doing).

While I don’t like having this “hidden” house, we all have something to hide (even Sagittarius). Maybe, then, the twelfth house is an acknowledgement that we all have to adapt to our surroundings and that some part of us won’t fit so the twelfth house is a place to put this part of ourselves.

The twelfth house might be that extra drawer you have for stuff you don’t want your mom and dad to see when they visit.

Who travels without baggage?

Since “baggage” represents our emotional states, we’re never going to get rid of it entirely. Who would travel without baggage?

While we may not need ten pairs of shoes for our weekend trip, we do need shoes, right? We must carry something.

I sure hope this post doesn’t encourage you to travel without a change of underwear or dental floss . . .

As I’m interested in meditation, I think of how a silent retreat reduces our needs to what is essential. During the retreat you use your toothbrush and forks and towels. The only difference is there is no emphasis of those items or the emotional states that occur with speech turned on.

The silent retreat reduces the excess, unneeded baggage, it doesn’t eliminate the baggage.

Also while going through my baggage (aka “books”), I discovered a few gems that I will continue to take with me on this journey called life.

Sometimes our baggage is just packed too tight and we forget that we have a really nice pair of pants tucked into the corner of the suitcase. When we get rid of the silly vacation souvenirs, we can find the items that truly provide happiness and pleasure.

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Explaining Retroactive Retirement to Your Cat

Posted on July 16, 2012 by ohioastrology

I often wonder what my cat, Lacy, does in the long hours I’m away at work. Today I had a clue. The minute I walked in the door she purred:

“What’s retroactive retirement?”

Clearly she had been reading the newspaper.

In case you haven’t been keeping up with the news like my cat has, “retroactive retirement” is what the Republican Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney’s team is using to describe his exit from Bain Capital. He left, they say, in 1999 to run the Olympics committee and never came back thereby “retiring retroactively” in 1999.

President Barack Obama’s campaign is claiming Romney worked at Bain in 2002 and outsourced jobs.

How do you explain this to your cat?

Explaining Retroactive Retirement

I cut to the chase. “The campaigns are just trying to find some big ‘issue’ to use for the rest of the campaign. It seems kind of lame to me, but that’s how it goes.”

“You said that Mars in Libra would make them nice,” Lacy reminded me.

“Yes, I got that wrong,” I admitted. “I’ve probably given astrologers across the world a bad reputation,” I added. “But economists are wrong all the time and they still get respect.”

“So Mars in Libra has made them mean?” she asked, ever the astrology student.

“I forgot that Mars in Libra would create a T-square with Uranus in Aries and Pluto in Capricorn. I know they’re fighting, but it all seems kind of lame to me. I think James Carville and Karl Rove are on vacation. If this is the best they can come up with, it’s going to be one urine-filled campaign.”

“But the Washington Post reports that the Bain charge is sticking,” Lacy retorted.

“The Washington Post needs news like you need cat nip. It’s all they have. What else are they going to write about?”

Thinking about it I added, “Maybe the ‘demands for apology’ from Romney are the Mars in Libra manifestation. Pretending to be innocent and offended is very Libra. Libra is nothing if not mannered.”

“You don’t think Romney is truly offended?” Lacy asked.

“I bet he is,” I answered. “He’s got sun in Pisces and moon in Scorpio, both highly sensitive. The Obama campaign has followed up the Bain Capital charge with an entreaty for Romney to ‘stop whining.’ Someone in that campaign has read up about sensitive Pisces.”

“Maybe the charges aren’t so lame, then,” Lacy meowed. “Maybe they are setting up the strong Leo against the weak Pisces.”

“You’re too cynical for me,” Lacy. “I’d like to retroactively end this conversation. Tomorrow, no Washington Post for you. Be a cat and sleep through the election.”

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What Sign of the Zodiac is Coffee?

Posted on July 15, 2012 by ohioastrology

Today I rode my bike to meet a friend for breakfast. At the fancy restaurant, I had two cups of rather strong coffee. I’m normally a tea drinker.

My ride home was much faster.

As I passed some walkers a biker speeding in the opposite direction gave a nasty response and I almost swore at him.

That was the coffee trying to talk. I’ve learned to keep the coffee inside.

This is why I limit my coffee intake.

As I continued my ride I considered morning rush hour and had the image of masses of people, pumped on aggression-fueling coffee, controlling 4,000 pounds of steel each.

Is there really road rage or is it simply coffee rage?

What sign is coffee?

Coffee may not produce rage but it certainly can be said to provide energy, although of the nervous, edgy sort.

What sign is energy?

The planet that rules assertive, directed energy is Mars.

Mars is also the God of War, in case you haven’t been keeping up on your pantheon of gods.

Coffee, to me, is an injection of Mars into the horoscope.

Mars is ruled by Aries. So I’ll brand coffee an Aries.

Mars

If we didn’t have Mars in our charts, we might not get out of our comfy beds. Mars gets us to move forward, to press on, to compete, to succeed.

Mars, like all planets, is in a particular sign in your chart. And it aspects the other planets in a unique way based on your time of birth.

So if you have a nice Mars in Aries trine sun in Leo, you are open and assertive, sometimes forceful, but never shy about communicating your needs.

If your Mars is in Cancer and square your sun in Libra, then you will still try to get what you need (which in Cancer, is comfort) but will do it in a subtle, manipulative way.

For example, Mars in Aries will say, “I’m not going outside, it’s too cold.”

Mars in Cancer, on the other hand, might say, “I’d love to go outside, but I know that it will irritate your sinuses so I will stay inside with you. It’s really best you stay inside.”

Coffee seems to active the Mars in our charts.

Drive to work

Thinking about the drive to work as a drive through an enemy territory faced with coffee-fueled hostile combatants is one of those images I have to toss aside. It’s kind of like realizing that the earth is careening through space and could hit an object at any time.

You just can’t think about it.

Maybe there is no “road” rage but coffee and caffeinated drink rage.

You rarely hear about an accident being caused by someone drinking chamomile, now do you?

Speaking of chamomile, I’d better go make a cup or I’ll never get to sleep tonight. Two cups of coffee takes a long time to wear off.

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The Fight Against Abundance

Posted on July 15, 2012 by ohioastrology

We’ve heard the phrases “fight against poverty” and “fight against hunger.” Often our fight is to help those with not enough have enough or those with less have more.

While the US has both poverty and hunger, often Americans are fighting the opposite – abundance.

What percent of your friends and family are currently trying to lose weight or constantly watch their weight?

Rather than not enough food, many of us have too much food (which doesn’t necessarily mean, I hear, that we have adequate nutrition).

Our banks have gained weight as well.

In this article “U.S. Banks Too Big to Get Bigger?” there is a quote from Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher on the large size of US banks:

“Perhaps the financial equivalent of irreversible lap-band or gastric bypass surgery is the only way to treat the pathology of financial obesity, contain the relentless expansion of these banks, and downsize them to manageable proportions,” he said.

Fischer calls the mega banking system “financial obesity.”

Why isn’t abundance always a good thing?

Abundance versus Scarcity

Abundance, according to Dictionary.com is “an extremely plentiful or oversufficient quantity or supply.” The opposite of abundance is scarcity which is “insufficiency or shortness of supply.”

The planet in astrology associated with abundance is Jupiter. The planet associated with scarcity is Saturn.

We all want abundance and none of us wants scarcity, right?

At an AFA convention back in 1992, I saw astrologer Jan Snodgrass who explained to the class that Jupiter isn’t a simple benefic planet. What Jupiter does, she explained, is “expands what it finds.”

While all of us would love an expansion of money, few of us want an expansion of the waistline. Expansion like all energies is neutral it’s what it “finds” that can be the problem.

One common chart of the US has a Sagittarius rising. Sagittarius is ruled by Jupiter. If you meet a person with a Sagittarius rising, that person may be corpulent because Sagittarius is about abundance and exuberance and is clinically unable to say “no” to an additional goodie (a goodie being anything from a slice of cake to a bottle of wine to an extra quarter in the slot machine).

Scarcity, on the other hand, is generally seen as bad but a scarcity of termites and rodents in your basement is a good thing. Restriction and limitation, ruled by Saturn, are also neutral qualities.

A ballet dance needs to restrict certain foods to have a lean body for optimal performance. Saturn, then, provides discipline.

Saturn gone bad becomes a person who allows him/herself no pleasure and fears being “bad” for having an extra slice of pie. Saturn gone extreme is controlling and rather than restricting diet for optimal performance, in the case of the ballet dancer, the person may restrict food to be “perfect” and threaten the health of the physical body by shedding too much weight.

Jupiter (abundance) and Saturn (restriction) are energies needed at different times and at different places. Balance is the key.

As I get older I see balance as the key to all energies. To me, the US is a dualistic society that constantly splits the world in half and forces us to take sides. So we become Jupiter or Saturn (and a host of other dualities).

Pluto in Sagittarius and Capricorn

Pluto transited Sagittarius from the mid-1990s until 2008. Remember that time? The roaring 1990s of dot.coms, sign-on bonuses, escalating house values and ping pong at work?

Sagittarius is ruled by Jupiter. The transit of Jupiter brought financial and physical expansion. The Center for Disease Control writes:

“During the past 20 years, there has been a dramatic increase in obesity in the United States and rates remain high.”

Pluto entered Capricorn in 2008. Capricorn is ruled by Saturn. Remember anything that occurred about that time? Like maybe a housing crisis?

Our house values “lost weight.” I’m guessing that Americans will also be slimmer by the time Pluto enters Aquarius in 2023.

I’m guessing that by 2023 our banks will also be slimmer. They got huge during Pluto in Sagittarius and will probably slim down during Pluto in Capricorn.

After abundance and scarcity cycles

If Pluto is creating the abundance / scarcity extremes, we can look to its next stop to see where this leads.

After Capricorn comes Aquarius, the fixed air sign ruling ideals and humanitarian goals. I’m expecting a more deliberately egalitarian financial system when Pluto moves into Aquarius.

I’m wondering if we will have more sharing of property and financial systems.

Aquarius is a fixed sign, so there is a rigidity to belief. The downside of brotherhood is that if you don’t consider me a brother, I’m banished.

While Aquarius relates to individuality, it can also devolve into tribalism. We may see more shared assets in groups, but dueling groups.

Pluto in Capricorn may be a good time to start a small bank. And maybe you can do something crazy – like only lend money on actual deposits. You won’t be as huge as J.P. Morgan Chase, but you will be solvent.

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Mohamed Morsi – The Human Firecracker

Posted on July 14, 2012 by ohioastrology

Mohamed Morsi, the new President of Egypt, has sun conjunct Pluto in Leo, Mars in Leo and Jupiter conjunct moon in Aries.

What does Morsi have in abundance?

Fire and energy.

What does Morsi lack completely?

Self-control.

The good news to me is that no matter what role exists in this world, there is someone to fill it. Some of us shake in fear at the idea of ruling a country that is still highly explosive emotionally and politically. We (water and earth signs) are hiding under the bed during the uprisings.

The air signs join in and send newspaper stories and blogs.

The fire signs say, “How can I lead this?”

The Jupiter / moon conjunction is opposed by Neptune in Libra which says, “Do it for your partner.”

Neptune adds idealism to the Aries aggressive pursuit of the goal.

Delusion is high in this chart.

Delusion, again, can be a good thing when you want to do something extraordinary. I find confidence and delusion to be close cousins.

An ideal or goal drives us forward and if we don’t truly believe in it, we couldn’t take a step. That’s why earth is so slow to move. Earth puts its foot down only as long as it can see where it will step.

Fire, if you’ve watched it lately, doesn’t have boundaries and moves rapidly and unpredictably.

If you need a fire to watch there is one in Colorado and a train derailment in Columbus, Ohio. The train fire is out at this time, but you can check out the pictures.

Some astrologers look to the current Pluto (in Capricorn) and Uranus (in Aries) square as the extreme friction that is creating these fiery situations.

Speaking of this nasty square, Uranus (in Aries) will conjunct Morsi’s Jupiter/moon conjunction at the end of 2013. Morsi will be a very lit firecracker. Whatever will be occurring at that time, Morsi is not a man to go down without a fight.

In fact, Aries and Leo look for a fight, enjoy the energy of competition and combat. That’s good if you are attacked but somewhat of a problem if you are seeking peace.

As Saturn enters Scorpio at the beginning of October, it will begin squaring Morsi’s abundant Leo energy. It’s going to be a rough two years.

Morsi wants to keep a flame alive and Scorpio wants to play in the mud. Not good bedfellows.

But who said politics was easy?

If you rule after a revolt, you need to manage the capricious energy. If you have a bunch of Leo and Aries in your chart you probably don’t want that exciting energy to end which can be a problem in itself.

Ohio Astrology has a suggestion to Morsi on the financial sphere. There’s another man in the news who was born just a month before Morsi – former Barclays Chief Executive Robert Diamond.

Diamond is probably looking for work right now. His Leo sun will get along with Leo sun Morsi. Diamond may have moon in Taurus which would probably stability and perseverance.

There’s a Chinese quote I can’t find in the cyber sphere right now but goes something like this. “If you are fated to meet someone, you can find each other from 10,000 miles away. But if you aren’t fated to meet someone, you could be standing back to back and not see each other.”

A man like Morsi with too much fire in the chart should seek stable, earth-sign folks to implement the huge, ostentatious Leoine ideas.

We all need balance in some way. If we don’t achieve balance, the world often provides external controls. Hopefully Morsi will find his own controls.

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Diamonds are Not Forever

Posted on July 10, 2012 by ohioastrology

The former chief executive of Barclays, the bank accused of Libor rate fixing, is named Robert Diamond. The CEO of J.P. Morgan Chase is Jamie Dimon, which sounds a lot like Diamond.

How did I not notice this sooner?

Diamonds are not trump in this game of banks.

Astrologers around the world are discussing the exact square aspect of Uranus (in Aries) and Pluto (in Capricorn). The two planets will be in square signs for several years and will make exact aspects several times (the most recent on June 24). With sun in Cancer, a T-square is roaming the skies causing friction in cardinal areas of life.

Aries is personal self (and identity), Cancer is emotional self (and family) and Capricorn is social self (and career). The last cardinal sign is Libra which is the partnering self (relationships). The last couple years of breakups were part of the cardinal square fun (with Saturn in Libra).

Cardinal signs don’t come into your house and rearrange the furniture to be mean. They are helping fixed signs (slow to move) and mutable signs (too distracted) on a path of continuous improvement.

The continuous improvement people in your life will drive you nuts.

Remember that as Pluto in Capricorn destroys the banking and housing industry. It’s trying to make them better. Pluto is walking into Earth House and cleaning the file cabinets and tossing food from the fridge and balancing the checkbook and making sure that you listen to your father.

Robert Diamond

Diamond is a sun in Leo and moon in Taurus or Gemini. Leo sun and Taurus moon is extremely forceful, proud and stubborn as they are both fixed signs. Mountaineer Joe Simpson has this combination and it helped him crawl down a mountain without food and water but with a broken leg.

Leo and Taurus are proud perseverance. Both are also loyal in the extreme, Leo to personal hero qualities and Taurus to duty.

Diamond’s underlings don’t need to worry that he will sell them upstream. Unless, of course, moon is in Gemini then they might want to find new jobs very, very soon.

Mars just left the sign of Virgo and is now in Libra. When in Virgo it was conjunct Diamond’s Saturn in Virgo. He was probably a suit full of nerves during that time but will feel more relaxed as Mars enters Libra and conjuncts his “make love not war” Neptune in Libra. I see some kicking back in his future. There’s probably a beer on his end table right now.

Pluto in Capricorn square Uranus in Aries does affect Diamond’s chart. Diamond has natal Mars and Uranus conjunct in Cancer. Right now family is highly supportive; in a few years, maybe not so much.

Mid-2014 is when the Pluto-Uranus square will really put the cardinal force into Diamond’s chart. Diamond already has a nice cardinal T-square with Mars/Uranus in Cancer, Neptune in Libra and Jupiter in Aries. Pluto transiting Capricorn will add the non-natal element and cause destructive tension.

If Diamond faces charges/penalties for his recent actives as head of Barclays, the results will probably occur around 2014. That’s when Diamond must pay the piper, if at all.

Any non-family members in his life playing a family role will also cause difficulties.

If Diamond has moon in Taurus, then he probably has a wad of cash stuffed away somewhere. Maybe that will be the focus of the inquiry?

Jupiter just transited Taurus so last year the bank account grew. With Jupiter in Gemini some of that money may go to charity (trine Neptune in Libra), voluntarily or through coersion.

Jamie Dimon

I’ve already blogged a couple times on J.P. Morgan Chase’s Dimon. Dimon is also in the news for some trading losses and other practices over at his bank.

We’re all experiencing a little heat with these crazy aspects, but we don’t all run banks. This is a good time to have compassion for people who experience the same problems we do but on a huge scale and with responsibility for others.

This is also a good time to clear the pipes of power and help those at the top understand that their decisions cost people roofs over their heads and food on the table and such.

With sun in Pisces, I have some hope for Dimon’s ability to truly feel what others feel. However, Pisces can also get lost in the fog and pick up all the elements of the environment.

The Banking of Tomorrow

As Pluto crawls through Capricorn, banking will change. The sign after Capricorn is Aquarius, the sign of brotherhood.

I’m not a visionary of banking or anything else but I’ll use astrological symbolism to guess where banking is headed.

If we move from Capricorn power to Aquarian equality, banks might be owned by people in a different way than through the stock market. Maybe an employee-owned bank? Or depositor-owned bank?

Uranus will be in Taurus-Cancer when Pluto crawls through Aquarius. Possibly folks will save money in some sort of family/group unit rather than through systems of people that they don’t know.

But that’s ten years down the road. Who knows, maybe someone will at least write a song “Banking in the Age of Aquarius.”

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Mars in Libra for Obama and Romney

Posted on July 9, 2012 by ohioastrology

Yesterday I did something I haven’t done for several months – I read a book. An avid reader since childhood, reading to me is like breathing. Not reading for several months is almost as bad as not bathing, or not eating.

This weekend I found myself at a place where I didn’t have to work especially hard.

Now where did that come from?

Mars entered Libra on July 4. Whew! Morrissey has a song “Everyday is like Sunday.” When Mars was in Virgo, it was “Everday is like Monday” — Monday meaning a work day.

Mars in Virgo was squaring the Venus in Gemini (which is still in Gemini). Work had some fun, but the accounting had to be done. I meant to blog a bit on Venus in Gemini, but I was just too darn busy and forgot. Writing about it now is like going to a party after everyone is already drunk.

Mars in Libra, by contrast, brings a little lazy to our lives. After Virgo, lazy is medicine. (Maybe if Virgo calmed down, it wouldn’t need so much medicine).

I bet the sun in Virgos need a little lazy even more than the rest of us as they had a double dose of Virgo with Mars conjunct the sun.

Mars in Libra

How does Mars in Libra manifest?

Mars is Libra is in its detriment. That means that Mars doesn’t really like being in Libra.

Why is that?

Mars, if you’ve seen the glyph lately, is a circle with an arrow pointing out. It’s the glyph for male and looks like the male parts that make babies.

In astrology, it’s the same expression – outward focused assertive energy. And why is that a problem in Libra?

Libra, if you recall, is the scales. Scales have two sides which go up and down as the other side receives weight. Forward directed energy into an object with two sides means the energy is no longer focused. The beam is now split into two.

Mars in Libra, and Libra itself, can be confused. Mars in Libra wants to assert and wants peace which are not always compatible. Mars in Libra goes back and forth on the scales constantly.

On the pleasant side, Mars in Libra is soothing. On a winter night, it is a plush couch (brand name) in front of a warm fire with a glass of wine (expensive) and slices of fancy cheese (imported, non-pasteurized) on the table.

How will this placement manifest for the presidential candidates?

Presidential Candidates

Mars will be in Libra for a regular one-month transit. Mars’ never-ending transit through Virgo occurred because Mars went retrograde.

I’d scold Mars for that long stay in Virgo, if I could, but with Mars in Libra, I don’t care anymore.

With Mars in Libra through late August, both presidential candidates will probably be a little nicer to each other than normal. It’s just a month, so don’t get too attached to the love.

Barack Obama

Mars in Libra will trine his moon in Gemini and sextile his sun in Leo. Added charisma is on tap for the already charismatic (to some) Leo.

Mars sextiles Obama’s Mercury in Leo as well so expect additional pretty talk from an already smooth speaker.

I keep imagining that Obama and his contender Mitt Romney will have some sort of truce, a public pronouncement that they will play nice.

Or it’s possible one of the candidates will experience a trying event and the other will be there showing support, hand on shoulder, tears in eyes.

At the end of the Mars in Libra transit, Mars will square Obama’s Saturn in Capricorn. Expect a little “I didn’t want to say this, but I must” revelation. It is driven by external forces of authority (his party maybe?).

Mitt Romney

Mars in Libra will conjunct Romney’s Neptune in Libra. Romney will experience some drive-by charisma. I keep telling you that underneath that good boy exterior is a poetry-writing hippie. Romney may do something “hippie” that will endear him to the crowd.

Mars in Libra will trine Romney’s Uranus in Gemini which provides some spark and will sextile Saturn and Pluto in Leo which lightens this intense conjunction a bit but also adds a bit of snobbery to an already arrogant energy pattern.

Mars in Libra creates what’s called a quincunx to Romney’s Piscean energy. It’s not a bad aspect per se, but not necessarily good.

What Pisces and Libra have in common is a desire to please and not be perceived as mean. Combined, Romney’s passive “I maybe might could possibly, I’ll think it over and tell you later” answers will get even more convoluted. Expect pleasant platitudes and nice nothings from Romney.

The Election Summer Vacation Continues

This election has gotten a little, how shall I say it, boring. July and August will continue to be pleasantly boring as the men make nice over whatever little things are blipping on the radar screens of their lives.

When Mars enters Scorpio at the end of August, Campaign Ugly will return and continue through the election as Saturn enters Scorpio at the beginning of October and then the sun enters Scorpio at the end of October.

Enjoy the summer vacation in Pleasantville before our return to Mudville.

Posted in 2012 Presidential Election | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Sun Happiness and Moon Happiness

Posted on July 8, 2012 by ohioastrology

After years of meditation I think I understand how to be happy – be happy for no reason.

If happiness is due to external circumstances, there will always be a threat to that happiness – the external stimulus will go away or change. As it’s the nature of the universe to change, there’s a very great (if not 100 percent) chance happiness will be threatened.

In Spanish, there are two verbs for “to be” – “ser” is the verb for a permanent state of being and “estar” is the verb for a transient state of being.

You are a female (ser) and today you feel ill (estar).

To move happiness from “estar” to “ser” is removing happiness from an external, transient state to a permanent state.

The transient state doesn’t go away – there’s still lots of “estar” to experience. But “ser” will be intact.

Sun Happiness and Moon Happiness

The sun is the conscious self. It’s like the “ser” permanent state “to be.” The moon is the reactive self. It’s like the “estar” or transient state “to be.”

Much happiness can stem from “estar” – you eat an ice cream cone on a hot day and feel happy. Your loved one notices you’re tired and does the laundry.

But if you buy an ice cream cone on a hot day and the ice cream falls off the cone into a sewer, your “estar” happiness is over. But your “ser” happiness does not need to follow the melted butter pecan ice cream into the sewer.

I don’t think sun happiness is delusional – moon experiences continue to exist. Pretending you aren’t upset that your ice cream now swims with toilet waste denies the moon experience. The moon is sad but the sun can still be happy that it’s alive and possibly happier still that is has another $2 for more ice cream (or $5 if Jeni’s Ice Cream).

Right now I think being happy is to have sun (ser) happiness while moon (estar) experiences flow through the system. Sun happiness is the pipe and moon happiness is the water that flows through it.

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