Category Archives: retrograde
Hope Rocks! Ready when you are, Jupiter!
Hope Rocks!
Many (myself included) are rejoicing in the fact that Mercury the scribe has completed its retrograde period, along with Uranus the rebel—two planets that reign supreme over my countenance of late. All that’s left is the direct motion of Jupiter, coming on Christmas Day! Hooray! Writings in the Sky has a nice rundown of all the exciting planetary activity, as well.
I had commented earlier on Jupiter’s role in lifting spirits, evoking optimism, and providing a foundation of hope. Lord (or whoever you wish to insert in the name of cosmic magnificence) knows, I ride on the pinwheel of positivity whenever I can. And sometimes, I wonder whether I’m mistaking the hopeful influence of Jupiter for the escapist influence of Neptune. I can’t deny the tendency to lose myself in music or daydreams in order to cope with a difficult situation. But then, I realize that there is a distinct difference between the two:
Jupiter = Belief; Neptune = Surrender
When I set forth to achieve something, I believe in its completion. When I listen to music, I surrender to its purpose.
So during these periods of retrograde, it’s not that I lose my beliefs—rather, I need to examine the basis of my beliefs to make sure that they are strong enough and valid enough to support me during a period of testing. Saturn has a nasty way of testing beliefs, especially when they are foolish or outdated. And when I’m ready, I turn to Neptune to lose myself in the Jupiterian safety net I’ve created.
And of course, I can’t forget the gifts of belief and surrender: my “Hope” rock was a gift from a Jupiter-ruled Sagittarian, Zen Ben of the Neptunian Splintered Sunlight family.
“Everybody’s playin’ in the heart of gold band.”- Robert Hunter, Jerry Garcia, Scarlet Begonias
Jupiter Retrograde: Where is your hope?
My friend Ben posted this quote on facebook this morning:
The capacity for hope is the most significant fact of life. It provides human beings with a sense of destination and the energy to get started.
Image Source: http://abyss.uoregon.edu
It got me thinking about the current Jupiter retrograde—set to go stationery direct on Christmas Day—and reminded me how strongly faith, hope, and other Jupiterian qualities are the foundation of my life.
My natal Jupiter sits at the base of my chart, conjunct the IC in Leo. It provides me with a wealth of hope, courage, and spirituality. Since its been retrograde, however, I have noticed it’s not as easy to tap into my usual optimism.
How ’bout you? How’s your Jupiter holding up? Have you lost hope? DON’T. It’s just a passing phase… 🙂
Mercury Retrograde: Returns and Regrets!
As many of you may know, we are in the midst of a Mercury Retrograde traveling through Sagittarius. If you are like me and are ruled my Mercury—all day, every day—then you may be suffering from acute cleverness and agility withdrawal. You also may find that you are returning to or regretting something.
Regret: Just this morning, I made the horrible mistake of taking scissors to my bangs as I was rushing out of the house for work. The result? I chopped off 3 inches of hair in the front of my head from my already short hair which turned me into a female Friar Tuck! This Gemini Ascendant is NOT PLEASED.
Return: That hair travesty aside, I did edit my blog a bit—I added some of my songs and music articles—and have revisited the novel I began writing last winter. The Objectives of Urania Zed sprung out of the intense Uranus transits I’ve been experiencing: T Uranus opp N Mercury & Venus and conj P Midheaven; P Mercury conj N Uranus. I’m also the child of two highly Uranian parents.
Urania Zed, the heroine, is a senior in high school when the novel begins and she endures some pretty heavy events early on which drive her into a web of self-discovery, earthly and universal mysteries, and deathly adventures. My characters are all linked to astrology, tarot, and other spiritual references. I hope you’ll check it out and let me know what you think. Tell your friends too!
PA Political Astrology: Lancaster County Democratic Women’s Association Honors Janice Stork (D-Scorpio)
(Middle, at the podium) Janice Stork, a Scorpio, the first female Mayor of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, who served from 1990-1998.
[tweetmeme]This afternoon, I had the pleasure of attending my first “Breaking the Glass Ceiling” luncheon hosted by the Lancaster County Democratic Women’s Association (LCDWA). The LCDWA, headed by Sue Stoltzfus (Scorpio), presented the first annual Catherine Baker Knoll (a fellow Virgo, yeah!) Award to Janice C. Stork (Scorpio), who served as Mayor of the City of Lancaster, PA from 1990-1998. (Just a quick note: Catherine Baker Knoll shares a September 3rd Virgo birthdate with Joe Hoeffel, who is getting my vote for the next Governor of PA!) Janice currently has a one-line Wikipedia entry, as of today, but Tracey Lynn Arriola, Secretary of the Lancaster County Democratic Committee (LCDC) and member of the LCDWA, is working to change that. The luncheon had a great turnout at The Press Room of over 50 people, which included many male and female local officials such as Bruce Beardsley, Chair of LCDC; Craig Lehman, Lancaster County Commissioner; Nelson Polite, Lancaster City Council; and State Rep. Mike Sturla (Aquarius), among others for the males, as well as Lois Herr (Capricorn), candidate for PA Congress (16th District); Pat Brogan, Lancaster Mayor’s Office; Susan Rutt, PA Federation of Democratic Women; and Pat Coller, Lancaster City Council, among others for the females.
I cast a chart for the CBK Luncheon and thought the Cancer Ascendant was quite a nice indicator for honoring females in politics, considering the Moon rules Cancer and is symbolic of women, political favor, nurturing and emotions, and the public. The Moon in Aquarius is separating from a recent conjunction with Neptune and Chiron in the 9th house of the higher mind, philosophy, and freedom. (See chart below.) Check out my tweetphotos of the event here and my Picasa Web Album here.
I almost didn’t make it to the lunch, however, because last night, my beloved 1991 Buick Riviera—that I just poured money into, repairing the fuel pump and rear windshield—finally blew its transmission. How fitting a time for my car to give out as transiting retrograde Saturn (ruler of delays and restrictions) passes over my natal Mercury (ruler of communication and transportation), while transiting Mars (ruler of action and aggression) goes stationary direct on the cusp of my 3rd house of communication and transportation. ¡Que Lastima! Thankfully, I got a ride from my brother and was able to meet up with my new found LCDC and LCDWA friends, Sue Stoltzfus, Martine Elianor, Janet Spleen, Kathy Rammer, and Renee Martin, and I met a few new ones as well. In case you missed it, you can read how I met these wonderful women at DemFest and the LCDC Convention.
Friendly Astrology: Renee, The Fab Capricorn
[tweetmeme]Back in 2004, my first year in graduate school at Arcadia University, I was sitting in a classroom waiting for the Intro to Humanities class to begin and something happened. That something was a woman who walked in, with a purple bandana, pigtails, and Grateful Dead t-shirt. I didn’t know it at the time but I was to become good friends with that young lady. The Humanities class progressed throughout the semester, taught by the great Finbarr O’Connor (who later introduced us to the “philosophical deep waters of Socrates”), and at one point, the purple-bandana woman revealed that she would love to make out with John Stuart Mill. The class eventually ended, the semester concluded, and I wondered what was next.
The following semester I took an Acting for Musical Theater class to fulfill an Arts requirement. Wouldn’t you know, Miss Purple Bandana walked into the theater for that class, too? And thus began the friendship of me and the Fabulous Renee (Capricorn). Although, we disagree on William Shakespeare—she strongly for; I strongly against—we both ended up in the same Poetry Workshop. You can listen to my poetry reading on my podcast page: http://signon2nine.podbean.com/—there you will also find links to Renee’s reading and the rest of the other amazing poets in my class. You can search for “Signon2nine” on iTunes to subscribe to my podcasts, as well.
Well, now the fabulous Renee has launched a new blog, What’s the Sign for Disillusion?. To answer her question simply, I would say: Neptune, Pisces, and inflated expectations (Jupiter). Let’s peek, briefly at her natal and progressed chart, shall we? (Born Jan 6, 1979, 5:45pm EST)
I have a fairly accurate time of birth, give or take 30mins or so, but off the bat I see retrograde Jupiter in her first house and close to the Ascendant in Cancer. Magnanimous, fabulous, and tragic goddess that she is, Jupiter also rules her sixth house of service and work. This, coupled with her Capricorn Sun conjunct Mars in the 6th house, is a very obvious sign for her obsession with work, volunteering, and community service. Renee is the reason I started volunteering at WXPN—when I met her, she was a professional student and volunteer, with 2 or 3 other jobs! I now have the pleasure of working with her in the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Social Policy & Practice (SP2), formerly the School of Social Work (SSW). Furthermore, Renee’s dedication to work and community service is emphasized more by her natal Saturn/North Node conjunction in her 3rd house of community, not to mention transiting North Node is conjunct her natal Sun/Mars conjunction in the 6th. She’s now reconsidering her application for the Peace Corps, which was put on hold because of a boy…
Ah, boys, the rise and fall of Renee in the tide of her natal Venus in the critical 29th degree of Scorpio, also in a wide conjunction with natal Uranus. Please note that Uranus is conjunct the Pluto/Scorpio-ruled 5th house of creation and love. And that’s not all. Transiting Uranus is currently in trine to her natal Venus, and transiting Pluto is sitting conjunct her progressed Venus and natal Moon, while trining her natal Moon in Taurus (ruled by Venus). So we’ve got the vainglorious, indulgent qualities of Venus under constant assault by crazy, erratic Uranus and obsessive, destructive Pluto—and the Moon while in stable, earthy Taurus has to deal with a conjunction with wounded Chiron and Pluto’s unrelenting scourging for truth. SHIT! Keep fighting, Goddess! And fight she will with her natal Mars/Pluto square, which is EXACT (19 degrees Capricorn and Libra, respectively). See chart below. Renee, if you want a further reading, let me know. In the meantime, Power to the Priestess!!!
PA Political Astrology: Pisces Jim Gerlach (R) drops out of 2010 Gubernatorial Race
While I was fluttering about on twitter, I came across a tweet by Politicspa about Jim Gerlach’s withdrawal from the PA Governor’s race. My immediate reaction was, “Well, that sounds very Mercury Retrograde-esque,” and then I decided to check the planets. I found a birth date of February 25, 1955 on Wikipedia, and plugged it into Astro.com. I’ve used a default birth time of 6am, though exact time is unknown- I will not be taking house positions or rulerships into account. (See chart graphic below.)
The first thing I noticed was good ‘ol Uranus- the King of Unexpected. Gerlach has a natal Venus/Uranus opposition, though Jupiter is also conjunct Uranus which adds an element of expansion or luck (good or bad) into the equation. This opposition is currently being hit by a conjunction of the transiting North and South Nodes. In addition, his progressed Venus is sitting in a conjunction with transiting Uranus. To me, this signals an unexpected change in a financial situation. God knows, finances are key to succeeding in politics. It could also indicate issues with a spouse but I don’t know anything about his personal life. We’ll see if the news sheds any light on this issue.
I also noticed that transiting Pluto is conjunct Gerlach’s natal North Node, which is also being squared by transiting Saturn. Pluto always brings a heavy load with it- even when it’s good. He could be going through a major change to his lifestyle or career path, though I’d need further details on house positions to see that. There is talk that he will instead, run for re-election in the 6th Congressional District. (See articles on Politico, Politicspa, and Capitol Ideas.) In any case, I do wish him the best in whatever he decides- he is a good looking guy, even for a Republican. 🙂 I’m no longer hostile towards him since he defeated Lois Murphy…twice. She has just been elected as the first Democratic Judge in Montgomery County. You can also follow him on twitter: @JimGerlach.
venus retrograde in action: the Abercrombie Chronicles: Part One
I FINALLY got the hat I’ve been searching for, which has eluded me for years. Yes, years. Here’s how it all started:
Back in 2003-ish, my brother Taylor’s friend Brandt came over to the crib wearing this waaay cool knit hat from Abercrombie. He accidentally left it at the house, so I wore it until he realized he’d left it and I begrudgingly had to give it back. From that day, I was determined to get one just like it.
Well, I did within a few months: I found and ordered it from ebay and got it for $24. I wore it for a good few months and then it disappeared! I have no idea what happened to it- it may have been thrown out when I moved out of my mom’s house.
Years later (2007 or 2008-ish), I went into an Abercrombie store looking to buy a new one but was told by a sales person that they no longer carried that hat in the stores. I was crushed. But, I knew that trusty ebay wouldn’t let me down. It took me a while and a couple of mistakes, which I will explain.
First, in early January of this year I found what I thought to be that hat and I bought it. I was so happy when it came but it looked a little off. No matter, I wore it like crazy and then, sadly, I lost that one too (I think I left it in Blockbuster- yes, I still go there for movies.) Not to be beaten, I found another one two weeks ago in February from another ebay seller and bought it again, different color. I just got it in the mail and was also very happy but it was then that I realized it wasn’t the real one that I had loved and lost so long ago.
Well, today my friends I have triumphed. I FINALLY found the proper Abercrombie & Fitch Knit Beanie hat… and not one but 2 from 2 different sellers on ebay! I’m so excited to be reunited. I will make sure to have a picture of me taken with both hats once I get them and post them on facebook. And thanks Brandt 🙂
Mercury x3: SignOn2Nine 