Looking Back at Mercury Retrograde

Whenever Mercury goes retrograde, which is about three times a year, astrologers across the globe write articles and blogs warning about miscommunications and other communication-oriented mishaps.

At www.astrology.com, Robert Tillett writes this about Mercury retrograde:

“Mercury retrograde gives rise to personal misunderstandings; flawed, disrupted, or delayed communications, negotiations and trade; glitches and breakdowns with phones, computers, cars, buses, and trains. And all of these problems usually arise because some crucial piece of information, or component, has gone astray or awry.”

Retrograde

When a planet goes retrograde, as many do, it means that from earth the planet appears to be moving backward. The planets are always moving forward but because they are far away from earth, the distance between earth and the planet makes earth appear to move ahead and the planet move backward.

In astronomy it’s called parallax.

Last Mercury Retrograde

Mercury was retrograde last from March 12, 2012 to April 2, 2012.

Think back to that time. Did you have lots of communication problems?

I didn’t. Those astrologers are mad.

But I’m having a lot of problems now.

Data Gone Mad

I work with data. I love the feeling of finishing a project and moving onto the next one.

What I dread are those times when everything seems to go wrong at once. Now is one of those times. It seems everything done in the last couple months has come back like a boomerang with a problem attached.

Is Mercury retrograde?

It’s not retrograde now but it was when the originating data was produced – four to six weeks ago.

The miscommunications of Mercury retrograde appear not to be simply the miscommunications themselves, but even the knowledge of the miscommunications.

Mercury retrograde is like a Dear John letter sent in the mail that gets stuck in the side of the mailbox. “John” goes off to war thinking his bride loves him only to find out from his family’s letters six months later than his love has gone off and married the butcher.

The letter is found stuck inside the mailbox a year later after John has returned home from duty.

Mercury was retrograde when the letter got stuck to the box. The communication was extant but John did not know it.

Mercury

Mercury is the messenger of the gods. Pantheon.org tells me that he also delivered the dead to the underworld.

Mercury retrograde is the messenger traveling backwards. The image that comes to mind is of trying to walk up a down escalator. I suppose swimming upstream is the same effect.

I also imagine the messenger, a constant traveler, getting distracted by the lovely scenery in all the places where he travels.

Maybe Mercury goes retrograde because we need to stop and take a rest from our messenger-ing.

Or maybe Mercury retrograde is like leap day in leap year. It’s a gap in time that always exists and is rectified in a day every four years. Mercury retrograde may rectify various speeds of communication by halting activity for a short period through mishaps.

Astrologers are not Mad

It’s my own humble opinion that astrologers are not mad. The warnings about Mercury retrograde are not heeded because average folk don’t see that the post-Mercury retrograde problems were actually caused by Mercury retrograde.

Astrologers, then, should hold on Mercury retrograde communications until AFTER Mercury has gone direct (appears to be moving forward again).

Astrologers can then say, “Ok folks, take a look at last month’s bank statement. You may find a problem.”

Astrology is associated with prognostication so we astrologers want to be ahead of the curve with a warning about the future.

But with Mercury retrograde, we may serve humanity more by warning about the past.

Posted in Planets and signs | Tagged , | 1 Comment

If Corporations Were People, What Sign Would They Be?

Mitt Romney, soon-to-be Republican Presidential nominee said last summer to a protestor at the Iowa State Fair that “Corporations are people, my friend.

In Columbus last weekend President Barack said, “Corporations aren’t people.

If corporations were people what sign would they be?

Capricorn

This is an easy one. Corporations are ruled by Saturn which rules Capricorn.

Why Saturn?

Saturn is about structure. Structure is critical to this three-dimensional reality. Not only do we need structures, such as houses, for protection, but we also need structures and rules so that we don’t run into each other at intersections.

Corporations are structures. To visualize the structure of a corporation and the people involved, boxes and lines are created (called an organizational chart) to outline the structure.

Authority loves structure the way that real estate brokers love houses. Structure breeds authority because without structure there is no need for authority. If there were no rules, there would be no cops.

Cops are ruled by Saturn (and sometimes violent Mars and brutal Pluto) because they maintain the structure, the rules.

Capricorn loves structure, organization and authority.

The person that buys you a closet organizer as a gift has strong Capricorn in the chart.

The description of Capricorn in the astrology books makes you want to be some other sign. It’s about duty, responsibility and order. It’s cautious and serious and practical and takes the path of most resistance.

Capricorn likes to achieve and what is achievement if it is easy?

Corporations

Corporations do exhibit the ambitious side of Capricorn. Let’s take a health care corporation, for example. As a corporation, the goal is profit and achievement. They profit and achieve by providing health care service.

Like a Capricorn, the health care industry cares about your physical, structural upkeep but not very much about how you feel.

Your mom, ruled by Capricorn’s opposite sign Cancer, does truly care in her heart about your health. When you are sick, she makes you chicken soup and brings you crackers and ginger ale. She feeds you until you get better.

A corporation, on the other hand, wants you to spend less money and get back to Capricorn productivity.

The health care industry might be better called the Health Structure Industry.

Can corporate structure be rejected?

As corporations grow in size in the US, is an individual able to reject participating in corporate life and still survive?

Health care, for example, is tied to participating in a corporation.

So while corporations are made of people, I feel people are being forced to participate in corporations.

And to gain entry into many corporations you need credentials from yet another structure – higher education.

Pluto in Capricorn

As Pluto transits Capricorn for the next 20-some years, Capricorn structures will go through intense transformation. “Intense” is one way to describe the effects of Pluto.

Pluto is destructive. Uranus likes to make sudden changes, but often Uranian changes feel liberating, are the shedding of some awful situation.

Pluto, in contrast, pulls the rug from under us, the rug we love to stand on. Pluto is the force that makes the child give up the pacifier, blanket and teddy bear.

This is the energy that is affecting our societal structures.

While corporate structures can be constricting, they also provide comfort. A regular paycheck that will go on indefinitely is quite comforting. Would you buy a house, another structure, without the guarantee of a regular paycheck? The bank, another structure, would demand it anyway.

It will be interesting to see how our corporations and structures evolve during this Pluto transit of Capricorn.

Pluto in Capricorn choices will be tough, my friend.

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Is Ann Romney’s Fish Shirt a Subliminal Message to Vote for Romney?

My cat Lacy said she likes Ann Romney’s fish shirt. I asked why.

“It reminds me of dinner,” she answered.

“Well it reminds me of the sign Pisces,” I responded.

Lacy and I stared at each other in joint realization.

“Pisces is the fish,” Lacy began.

“And Mitt Romney is a Pisces,” I added.

“And the mouth opened toward Romney,” Lacy finished.

Lacy twisted her whiskers in thought. “I bet she could have bought a fish shirt for way less than $900.”

“I’m sure she could have,” I told my practical cat. “But she is wealthy so why bother searching for a cheap shirt with a big yellow fish across the breasts when you have found one you like.”

Lacy then asked if I thought Michelle Obama would do the same for her husband.

“Well, Barack Obama is a Leo (the lion) and animal prints are rather common.”

“Does Michelle Obama wear animal prints?”

I told Lacy that my Internet search yielded a few photos of Michelle Obama in animal prints.

“Do you think Ann Romney and Michelle Obama are sending us subliminal messages?”

“You never know, Lacy,” I told her. “There are many astrologers who claim they are hired by politicians. I don’t think Ronald Reagan was alone in his use of astrology. If we find Ann Romney’s shirt actually cost $999, then we’ll know for sure that she’s pitching for her husband and Herman Cain’s tax plan.”

“Which do you like better, fish shirts or animal prints?” Lacy asked me.

“I’m an animal print girl all the way,” I told her. “You should know that, being my cat.”

“Which do you like better Lacy?”

“I want to swallow the fish whole,” she said. “Animal prints evoke courage and daring. I’ll have to go with animal prints.”

Posted in 2012 Presidential Election | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Sacha Baron Cohen – His Own “Plus One”

When I see actor Sacha Baron Cohen at award shows as one of his crazy characters, I often wonder what he is hiding from.

Looking at his horoscope, I don’t think he’s hiding from anything. His alter-ego characters are probably imaginary friends he’s bringing with him to the ceremony. With four planets in Libra, including the sun, Cohen doesn’t like to travel solo.

Coming in character is Cohen bringing his own “plus one.”

Cohen has Pluto, Uranus, sun and Mercury in Libra with moon in Leo. When writing about moon in Leo, I looked for charts of famous people with moon in Leo. As moon in Leo can’t be ignored, I’m surprised I missed this one.

The comfort zone for moon in Leo is to perform. With Mars in Aquarius opposite moon in Leo, Cohen feels almost a compulsive drive to perform for the crowd, any crowd or anytime there is a crowd.

When Cohen brings one of his alter-egos to the awards ceremonies, it’s probably due to insecurity about being alone in the crowd and his response is to perform.

Cohen’s horoscope is almost all fire and air, no earth and only one planet in water (Venus in Scorpio). In addition to the Libra, Leo and Aquarius energies, Cohen has Jupiter and Neptune in Sagittarius and Saturn in Gemini.

Identity

Libra energy represents “the other.” Its opposite sign, Aries, is about assertion of self.

With the sun as conscious self in the sign of the other, identity is formed by reflecting others. We all do this in some way (Libra is in all of our charts somewhere) but Libra sun does it as the primary personality trait.

Coming to events in character is more than acting technique. Cohen is reflecting what we want to see.

Libra loves beauty so because Cohen often reflects obnoxious or abhorrent characters, he must feel as though he’s living in a trash heap. Deep inside he probably wants the unpleasant people he projects to go away.

Libra reflects and then Leo dramatizes.

Libra and Leo are also in love with love itself so Cohen probably had a girlfriend in kindergarten (if it took that long) and then proposed to her.

By reflecting off of others and having an emotional need for audience, the greatest torture for Cohen is to spend time alone. Five minutes of alone time can drive this horoscope mad.

Lack of Earth

Lack of earth in a horoscope means there is little grounding to the personality. With very little water and complete lack of earth, Cohen may reflect identities, but he probably doesn’t fully understand the emotional impact that he is creating.

Cohen may wonder at times what it is that motivates other people to do what they do. In an effort to understand, he mimics.

Neptune/Jupiter/Saturn

Neptune and Jupiter are conjunct in Sagittarius. If Cohen’s personality wasn’t ungrounded enough, this aspect creates a dreamy wanderer, one who may also experiment with mind-enhancing drugs.

Opposite is Saturn in Gemini indicates insecurity in communication and with siblings. For all of Cohen’s amazing ability to create character, he may have trouble with small talk on the Tube.

Sometimes Saturn opposite Neptune creates depression or some melancholy. Libra is not a sign that enjoys a trip through sadness. Libra loves beauty and would only enjoy melancholy if some poetry emerged as a result.

Chances are Cohen chases the demons away by traveling (Sagittarius).

Saturn Transiting Libra

Saturn has been transiting Libra for the past two years passing Cohen’s Pluto, then Uranus, then sun and now Mercury.

This writer is counting the days, minutes and seconds when Libra will finally pass into Scorpio (beginning of October). Cohen is probably counting the minutes with me.

Saturn is contraction and in Libra is challenging the fairness and “rightness” of our relationships.

There is also a grand earth trine in the skies right now with Mars in Virgo, Jupiter in Taurus and Pluto in Capricorn. Since Cohen has no earth in his chart, he may wonder why everyone is worrying about work, career and retirement.

Others around him may need his commitment or support and Cohen may not fully understand how dependent others can be on him.

The Dictator

Cohen’s new movie is called “The Dictator.”

I don’t think Cohen’s horoscope has the elements of a dictator. So who is he reflecting?

With moon in Leo maybe Cohen is telling us that all dictators are really just men (and women theoretically) who need attention.

Posted in Actors | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

You Can’t Ignore Leo Moon

An OHA reader found his/her way onto the site through the search term “ignoring Leo moon.” Was the reader looking for ways to ignore Leo moon? Or had the reader ignored a Leo moon to suffer the consequences?

You can’t ignore a Leo moon. Your Google search is over.

Moon as Comfort Zone

The moon represents how we react and how we find comfort. Today we call this our “comfort zone.”

Leo is a fixed fire sign, strong and proud. Like its ruler the sun, it shines – always.

The sun doesn’t turn on and off. The sun has no thermostat to turn down the heat when it’s too hot.

This is important to remember.

Leo as a sign represents creative self-expression, romance and children. Leo is known as the actor of the zodiac for its love of attention.

So the moon in Leo reacts by seeking attention. The comfort zone is to create drama. Show offs are actually feeling insecure.

The creator of soap operas probably had moon in Leo. Dramatic lovings and hatings occur daily on soap operas as they do in the life of a Leo moon.

Identifying Leo Moon

Below are scenarios to help you identify Leo moon in your immediate surroundings.

Work – This is the co-worker who comes in late for the meeting because while he was driving to work he saw a purse snatcher grab the purse of a little old lady. Stopping his car in the middle of the road, he had to run three miles to apprehend the thief who happened to be the CEO of a local bank who had just lost his job.

This same co-worker was late to yesterday’s meeting because while driving to work, a piece of the space shuttle landed on earth and happened to fall right in front of his car.

Home – This is the family member who arrives at the placid Thanksgiving dinner (maybe late again, Leo loves an entrance) with her new partner from a different ethnic background who no one has met (which makes them uncomfortable) and announces during the carving of the turkey that her psychologist said her problems in life were because mom never loved her. Mom runs off crying, dad tries to comfort the crowd and the siblings vow have a secret Thanksgiving next year.

Fishing – This is the man who’s caught the 1,000-foot fish (that no one has seen). If you caught a 1,001-foot fish, then his was 1,002-feet. Napoleon Dynamite is moon in Leo material.

Friendship – This is the friend who is caring and devoted until she realizes that you also have other friends and then has extreme jealous reaction. You are now not devoted enough and have betrayed your friend. Don’t let your Leo moon friend know that you have other friends and you’ll be fine.

Heart of Gold

Have you met a Leo moon? Do these stories make you laugh or pull your hair out?

If you like boredom, Leo moon is not for you. If you want people in your life who shake things up a bit and bring some fun to boring routine, a Leo moon is essential.

Leo rules the heart so no matter how self-centered a Leo moon can appear, it loves and want to be loved in return.

Way to Ignore a Leo Moon

If you find yourself in a situation with a Leo moon and want to ignore him, there is only one way. Move to another country.

If Leo moon is sharing space with you, it can’t be ignored.

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

Saturn Conjunctions – Hitting the Brakes

As I was merging onto the freeway yesterday, there was a police car on the side of the road in speed entrapment position. The car in front of me hit the brakes.

Neither the car in front of me nor I were anywhere near the speed limit and if we had been speeding the police would have already tracked us.

The car in front of me probably knew that as well but hitting the brakes when seeing a police car is a visceral, involuntary reaction in many. We just do it.

We see authority, we clamp up.

Saturn is the planet of limitation, boundaries, rules and authority.

Hitting the brakes when seeing a police car is a Saturnian response.

Now imagine when Saturn is sitting next another planet in your horoscope (a conjunction). It’s like that planet seeing a police car and hitting the brakes.

Personal, social and outer planets

I searched my horoscope database for famous people with Saturn conjunct a personal planet – sun, moon, Mercury, Venus or Mars.

The personal planets represent our most personal characteristics such as the things we want to be (sun), the things we do for comfort (moon), the way we talk (Mercury), the things that give us pleasure (Venus) and the way we assert ourselves (Mars).

After these planets come the social order planets of Jupiter and Saturn. These represent our role in society including family structures, organizational structures and religious structures.

After that are the outer planets of Uranus, Neptune and Pluto which represent generational energies and energies that are not always personal. If we choose to reject an activity that gives us personal pleasure or convenience (such as dumping waste into a river), we are acting on transpersonal energies.

I looked for personal planet Saturn conjunctions because entire generations may have conjunctions of Saturn with social or outer planets. That means the generation is dealing with those issues (such as tearing down the establishment or cleaning up the planet or rebuilding the economy).

Looking in my database, I didn’t see a lot of Saturn conjunct personal planet. Maybe that’s telling and people who walk out into the public light naturally are driving without the brakes, without an inner police car waiting on the berm in ambush.

John Boehner and Rick Perry

John Boehner, current Speaker of the US House of Representatives, has Saturn conjunct Mars in Virgo.

Rick Perry, current governor of Texas and former contender for the Republican Presidential nomination, has Saturn conjunct moon in Virgo.

What’s the difference between those two Saturn conjunctions in Virgo?

Mars is how we assert ourselves. The moon is how we react.

Saturn conjunct Mars in Virgo says, “Quit asserting yourself with detailed and discriminating words unless you use every word perfectly and have every detail correct.”

The image I get is of a child losing a spelling bee during the final round and vowing never to misspell another word for his entire life.

Saturn conjunct Mars is a nasty and caustic aspect. Wanting to assert and hold back at the same time causes internal combustion. In response, for example, to the feeling of not being perfect having lost the spelling bee, the Saturn/Mars Virgo conjunction then criticizes every spelling error found in others for the rest of its life.

Saturn conjunct moon in Virgo, in contrast, says, “Just analyze everything that happens and try to react perfectly. You’re not perfect now.”

Trying to be perfect is a recipe for insecurity and moon in Virgo fights with itself endlessly for not being perfect. That constant stream of criticisms creates nervousness which leads to . . . mistakes!

As an aside, I did feel bad for Perry up on that debate stage. Astrologers know he’s nervous but you just can’t admit that when running for President.

Virgo is the sign that rules health so putting the brakes on a Mars in Virgo or moon in Virgo leads to health problems, probably of the nervous sort. Those are the illnesses that result from “stress.”

Someone challenged me once to define “stress.” We use this word a lot but it is difficult to define.

I think of stress as a Virgo phenomenon. The term itself came out of the Pluto conjunct Uranus in Virgo generation (born in the late 1950s and early-to-mid 1960s).

Stress, I believe, comes from the mind. I think stress results from our thoughts rather than from the physical exertion that comes from doing the things that cause us “stress.”

Does doing the laundry cause stress or all the things we think about while doing laundry? While we do the laundry and think about mowing the lawn and balancing the checkbook and the 100 other tasks we want to accomplish on a rainy day is when we feel “stressed.”

Boehner and Perry probably feel a lot of “stress.”

Brakes are necessary

As you’re aware, brakes on cars are quite necessary. Likewise, Saturn in your chart is necessary.

The lesson of Saturn is to learn when and when not to brake. Braking on ice, for example, is a very bad idea as you can go into a spin.

Saturn conjunct a personal planet is a big lesson in how to use that planet and sign’s energy.

When to brake and when not to brake, that is the question.

Posted in Planets and signs, Politicians - Not Ohio, Politicians - Ohio | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Republican Veep Fight Club: Bobby Jindal

Last night as my cat Lacy and I were deciding what to watch on TV, she asked if we could watch the TV show with all the guys.

“The Big Bang Theory?” I asked.

“No,” she answered. “The one where they wear suits.”

“Mad Men, you mean?”

“No.” She looked at me like I was stupid. “The one where they stand up and yell at each other.”

“The Price is Right?”

“No,” Lacy said patiently. “The one where they argue about health care and immigration and stuff.”

“Oh,” I finally understood.

“That’s not a TV show, that’s a Republican debate. Those were for real. Those are over until after the conventions this summer. That’s why the Sunday talk shows discussed some men who got drunk and slept with prostitutes, like that’s news.”

Bobby Jindal

To keep my cat happy, I looked at another supposed Republican Veep candidate and read her his chart to put her to sleep.

I’m not suggesting Bobby Jindal, governor of Louisiana is boring. A Gemini sun and Gemini Mercury is never boring.

With moon in Capricorn, however, the fun always has a purpose, is to achieve an ambitious end.

Jindal has a nice, tight opposition of Saturn and Venus in Taurus with Jupiter in Scorpio. Jindal likes nice things and preferably those that others buy for him.

Mercury in Gemini is opposed to Neptune in Sagittarius is a lively and fun story teller. Just remember that some facts are inserted for the benefit of the story.

Jindal’s Mars is in Aquarius and Uranus in Libra so we’ve got a loose grand air trine here. Air is social and talkative and Jindal probably rarely misses a committee meeting or professional club networking event.

Pluto in Virgo squares the sun (in Gemini). Jindal is probably a walking dictionary. If you need a word in your crossword puzzle, text him for the answer.

Or if you need to know the capital of Angola or the average rainfall in Mali. He probably knows all that too.

Jindal is smart and shrewd. I bet he’s an awesome chess player, if he can stay in the chair long enough.

Deep down Jindal is a serious person who has probably considered important issues since childhood.

But he probably won’t show you that part of himself.

With Pluto transiting Capricorn right now, Jindal will receive feedback from others to open up a little more. Uranus transiting Aries is creating an opposition to natal Uranus in Libra so if Jindal doesn’t open up a little to partners, those partners may exit his life suddenly.

Ohio Astrology Assessment

Ohio Astrology gives Jindal 6 stars out of 10.

Back to love, I just don’t think Jindal will love Romney the way a Pisces sun and Scorpio moon should be loved.

The Jupiter/Saturn opposition lands right on Romney’s moon in Scorpio. Jupiter in Scorpio wants to convince Romney that it’s not after his wallet. But Saturn and Venus in Taurus are trying to accumulate goods and like a friend with wealth.

On the other hand, Jindal’s almost complete lack of water in the chart (except for that Jupiter in Scorpio) could provide and completely detached, emotionally uninvolved point of view for Romney.

If Romney needs someone that can send the command to launch the missiles, Jindal has that type of self-control that can do it (if he has morally decided he would do it).

Moon in Capricorn respects authority and takes on the tough jobs in life that others might avoid, such as issuing the command to make a foreign enemy disappear in the night.

Jindal can definitely handle the job, that’s for sure.

Jindal might prove a loyal companion to Romney, but only through sense of duty and not necessarily out of personal admiration.

OHA wants Romney’s new political marriage to be borne of love and admiration, not resume-building so gives Jindal only 6 stars.

Posted in Politicians - Republican Veep Candidates | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Moon in Capricorn and Remains of the Day

In the novel “Remains of the Day” the main character is at its base the quintessential archetype of a British butler – dutiful, serving and emotionally detached.

The novel creates a butler that is more than emotionally detached – he’s emotionally absent. He’s emotionally absent from the masters he serves and he’s emotionally absent from himself.

The butler serves as both a character and a writing device. The character by being almost fully unconscious inadvertently reveals the machinations in the surrounding environment.

He’s both the unreliable narrator and a representation of both emotional control and emotional denial. Those around him continue with their emotional lives as the butler serves as a 35mm film capturing what goes on around him.

Moon in Capricorn

The butler in “Remains of the Day” represents in a caricatured way moon in Capricorn.

I say caricatured because at no time in the novel is the butler even remotely aware of his feelings. In contrast, the main character in “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime” is similarly unaware of self, but suffers anxiety and mental confusion because of it.

People with moon in Capricorn do have feelings. They just do not show those feelings. Are they unconscious of those feelings?

You’ll have to ask your moon in Capricorn loved one.

Resentment is an emotion associated with moon in Capricorn. Like Scorpio’s revenge, if there were no strong feelings, the reactionary states of revenge and resentment wouldn’t occur.

The Capricorn Resentment Cycle (trademark) seems to arise as Capricorn does not express clearly its needs but expects others to meet those needs thinking the needs are the standard, are what everyone needs.

If a Capricorn wants you to offer him/her another glass of sparkling water, he/she assumes that you know the rule about re-filling a glass the moment the drink-ee takes the last sip.

Unfortunately, there are at least ten other signs that didn’t get the rule book and the one sign that does have a rule book (Aquarius) doesn’t follow Capricorn rules (you get your own refill).

Capricorn, then, becomes resentful of needs unmet and others wonder why it is upset.

The moon is the comfort zone. The word “comfort” itself evokes images of whatever makes you comfortable. Because Capricorn is about control, “comfort” for moon in Capricorn is about order.

A moon in Cancer, for example, might want a big hug and cup of hot chocolate for comfort. If you want to make your moon in Capricorn comfortable, show up on time, push in your chair after dinner and help clean the dishes.

Keep the order. Order=comfort.

Capricorn sun Richard Nixon’s 1968 campaign slogan promised “law and order.” He was offering comfort.

Here’s an interesting description of moon in Capricorn.

Kazuo Ishiguro

The author of “Remains of the Day,” Kazuo Ishiguro, does not have moon in Capricorn. His moon is either in Pisces or Aries.

Saturn, ruler of Capricorn, however, is in Scorpio conjunct sun in Scorpio.

While Saturn on sun in Scorpio says, “Be nice, don’t get all revengeful every time someone does something you don’t like,” Scorpio is still a deep well of feeling and emotion.

If the moon is in Aries, this is someone very unlike the butler character, someone quite emotionally explosive. If the moon is in Pisces, this is someone who would place blame first on self before blaming others causing guilt and anxiety.

Scorpio/Aries gets revenge and Scorpio/Pisces just thinks about it (a lot).

Why is a Scorpio sun creating these moon-in-Capricorn characters? Many of Ishiguro’s characters have this emotional restraint and unconsciousness.

I’m suspecting Ishiguro’s poetic and dreamy Mercury conjunct Neptune in Libra is in the writing house (3rd), personality house (1st) or creative expression house (5th).

Libra is beautiful and poetic and has beauty in its life as a fish has water in its life.

Libra is not unconscious as much as reflective of its partner. The butler in “Remains of the Day” makes others needs his needs. He’s got a little Libra going on there.

The butler, in maintaining emotional restraint and preserving social hierarchy, believes his employer to be a good man yet inadvertently provides evidence to the contrary.

Libra, for me, wears the “rose colored glasses” in the zodiac which denies ugly realities so that life is beautiful.

Ugly avoidance?

Is Ishiguro trying to create emotionally restrained characters or is he simply avoiding ugly and discordant emotions because they are not beautiful?

If moon is in Pisces, the Scorpio/Saturn-moon Pisces combination explains the underlying melancholy of much of Ishiguro’s work. Moon in Pisces can deal with ugliness and is the one who takes care of those delicate and unpleasant situations that others avoid.

The ugly is there in the novels, but not discussed.

Ishiguro also has Mars (in Aquarius) square that sun/Saturn conjunction in Scorpio.

What would that look like as a character?

This type of character would have charm and beauty and also have unusual charisma. Would the character use this power to manipulate others or inspire others to great heights?

That character would express feelings, some unusual feelings that led to quirky and weird situations.

It’s the stuff of novels.

Posted in Authors / Filmmakers | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

The sign most likely to back into a parking space is . . .

When asking people who back into parking spaces why they do it, the common answer I receive is that it’s easier to pull out.

Logically, I still see it as backing in and out at least once, no matter whether you back into a spot or pull in forward. However, those that back into parking spaces firmly believe in its efficiency.

In my Internet search of the “why” behind backing into a parking space, I found that Coyote Blog believes that most people who back into parking spaces have pickup trucks.

Hmm. What does that mean?

Research Methodology

To determine which sign is most likely to back into a parking space, I needed data. As you, reader, are well aware, OHA lacks funding for stringent research. So I did what the unfunded do. I looked at the tags on the cars in my work parking lot that backed into the spot.

The first problem I encountered is that I can’t tell if someone backed into spot or pulled in and moved into the open spot in front. I could, then, only look at tags for those parked at a curb or other parking spot barrier than conclusively proved that the car had backed in.

The second problem with this method is that tags on cars can represent the driver or the spouse/other driver, the month of the tag contains two zodiac signs and leased vehicles might have a date other than birth month of the drivers in the household.

This method was no good.

I moved to a psychological methodology to test a hypothesis (which I will explain in a moment). I decided to find a sample of drivers who back into parking spaces and those that don’t. I then asked the members of each group to self-rate their driving ability.

My hypothesis is that drivers who back into parking spaces consider themselves to be much better drivers than the norm.

In other words, backing into a parking space is about pride.

When OHA receives full funding, test design will be refined. Until then, I’m going to speculate that those that back into parking spaces are proud and want to demonstrate that pride a little bit.

Does pride lead to buying a big truck? That’s not about astrology so I’ll leave it alone.

The sign most likely to back into a parking space is . . .

When I think of “proud” signs, the signs that come up the most are:

1. Leo
2. Capricorn
3. Scorpio

Any sign can be proud and the pride associated with backing into a parking space would correspond with that pride. But when someone just generally walks around with the aura of “I’m important,” I look for the signs above.

OHA will vote for LEO as the sign most likely to back into a parking space.

What is your vote?

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2012 Key Astrological Dates from Astrology Revolution

[Astrology Revolution has blogged on key astrological dates in 2012. Original content found at http://www.markmetheny.blogspot.com/2012/04/2012-key-astrological-dates.html. OHA received permission to re-post in its entirely on OHA.]

2012 Key Astrological Dates from Astrology Revolution

What’s the point of procrasting if you can’t be late on things …that being said, here’s the forecast for the last 75% of 2012. I wanted to let things shake out a bit first but I’ve got a list here of the most pertinent dates and periods for the rest of this year and I‘m going to give you a little run down of each now. As additional things develop and as some of these dates get closer I will add additional info to some of these. These are not the only things happening this year but I think I have picked out what will be the most ….ummmm…. entertaining… periods of this year. Okay enough foreshadowing already, this isn’t Film class after all.

First I will touch on the first couple things that happened in the first quarter of the year that you may have felt but didn’t realize what was happening with all of the other stuff going on. We had Mars in its very long [8 month] transit of Virgo going retrograde on January 23rd . This has been the jump in the increase of irritation and frustration you have seen in the people around you the last few months. And on February 4th we saw Neptune go into the sign it rules, Pisces, and this was the start of the 14 year cycle which so far raised everyone’s intuition, psychic abilities, intuition and weepiness in the last 2 months. Neptune helps us get in touch with our spiritual side and be more natural and be more in touch with everything that shares this planet with us and these are good things.

We have 2 different sets of things happening in our universe right now. 1] We are seeing the destruction and overthrow of things that are no longer useful. 2] We are getting back in touch with who we are supposed to be. These may seem unrelated but things often have to be taken away to make room for new better things to come into our lives. So this is where we are as of Early April 2012 on Planet Earth. Things are speeding up as I‘m sure you’ve all noticed and we are in a time of progressed evolution as we shed all the old parts of ourselves and it almost feels like we are living in “real time” now when we can imagine things and see them come into fruition almost immediately.

These are the next steps in our evolution:

  • Apr. 10 Pluto retrograde at 9 Capricorn

Pluto rules our souls evolution and also it’s about death, rebirth and transformation. When a planet stations its effects are more powerful, on these days we often see life changing events on the news as people, governments, currencies and even sometimes the Earth itself transforms.

  • Apr. 13 Mars direct at 3 Virgo

Mars is the lower octave of Pluto and Mars is how we evolve through our physical body. Mars is about energy, anger, aggression and instinctual behavior.

When two powerful planets like this station in the same week it should make for some very interesting news headlines. These two stations will most likely play out one of two ways with most people. Either there will be a great release of pressure or there will be a great culmination of frustration for what’s been boiling since January 23rd when Mars went retrograde.

  • Jun.3 Neptune retrograde at 3 Pisces

Whenever Neptune makes a station it is sleepy time for everyone and we are all asked to get in touch with our intuition and our dream life. People will also feel more emotional and sympathetic than normal. Also during this week there is Jupiter wrapping up its year long stay in Taurus and the Sun, Mercury and Venus are all conjunct in Gemini, with Venus being retrograde as it does every 18 months or so. I would expect this to be the best feeling week of the year with the heavy Neptune and Venus influence and the social butterfly effect of Gemini.

  • Jun. 11 Jupiter enters Gemini

Jupiter enters Gemini for the beginning of its year long stay there. People will become information gatherers on a grand scale.

  • Jun. 24 Uranus square Pluto at 8 Aries Capricorn

When these two square up as they will be several times over the next few years there is Revolution in the Air as the power structures come under attack.

  • Jun. 25 Saturn direct at 22 Libra

Saturn turns direct and this usually makes everyone feel very work-oriented and disciplined …and probably guilty too. As Saturn moves forward again we can start putting forward those plans we’ve been working on internally since early February.

  • July 12. Uranus retro at 8 Aries

Uranus station…time to feel some freedom and Independence.

  • July 17-21

Cardinal Grand Cross with a Mutable t-square followed by a Mutable Grand Cross and a Cardinal t-square. I will be posting much, much more on these configurations as this is where the action is.

  • Sep. 17 Pluto direct at 6 Capricorn

Intensity here as always with a Pluto station. There will be the death, transformation, rebirth theme in the news stories today.

  • Sep. 19 Uranus square Pluto at 7 Aries Capricorn

Square dancing again [ouch, that was bad] look for more Revolutions and economies tumbling in the news today.

  • Oct. 5 Saturn enters Scorpio

Ahhh, the big clamp down. If you are looking for big things to happen on 12/21/12 you should be looking at this date instead. The powers that be are.

Nov.6th Election day – 4 years ago we had Uranus opposite Saturn and Uranus was the big winner. This year we have Saturn newly into Scorpio and we’re just a few days short of a Neptune station. It should be interesting.

  • Nov. 10 Neptune direct at zero Pisces

Sleepy time the sequal, everyone is ready to zone out after the Presidential Election is over. This is time to move forward with all those plans you’ve been dreaming up while Neptune was retrograde.

  • Nov. 29 Mars conjunct Pluto at 8 Capricorn

Anger and explosiveness rules here, be nice to your relatives at Thanksgiving, even though there may be more family power struggles and resentments than usual.

  • Dec. 12 Uranus direct at 4 Aries

Uranus station again…There are often large Earthquakes and other disasters on days when Uranus stations, don’t listen to the panic of 12/21 that will probably be flying around. This isn’t the precursor to the end of the world it’s just another Uranus station.

  • Dec. 21 Winter Solstice – The End of the Mayan Calendar

We will still exist on December 22nd.

  • Dec. 21 Yod at 9 degrees is Saturn in Scorpio ,Pluto in Capricorn and Jupiter in Gemini

How about that, not only are not going to die, there is actually a pretty nice configuration that day.

So that’s the cliff notes version of 2012 but I will be posting much more on and around some of these key dates I’ve mentioned.

Take care everyone.

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