Blog Astrology Genevieve Vierling

Mercury Retrograde Round Two: June 7th through July 1stby Genevieve Vierling

6/8/2014

Here we go again: round two of the three Mercury Retrogrades per year is upon us. On June 7th Mercury will station and begin to turn tail at 3+ Cancer. Then it will re-enter Gemini on June 17th, and finally turn stationary direct on July 1st at 24+ Gemini.

Watch where you might have planets between 24 degrees of Gemini and 3 degrees of Cancer. That’s the zone in your life impacted by this ‘turn of events’ possibly.

But does Mercury Retrograde have to be that bad? Of course not! There’s an excellent article right now in the current issue of The Mountain Astrologer by Mark Wolz entitled Retrograde Mercury, A Slow Dance with the Trickster which takes the point of view that perhaps we need to re-think this phenomena that occurs three times per year for three weeks at a time. Two of his highlighted comments are these: “During Mercury retrograde, our actual ability to communicate will not slip into reverse—it is our perceptions, assumptions, and projections that turn things around……….Given a choice, I would much rather sign a contract under Mercury retrograde than during a square between Mercury and Neptune.”

So let’s think again about how to make the most of this three week period ahead and embrace it with more positivity for starters.

It’s a great time for contemplation, meditation, and just ‘being’. After all, we’ve had more than a couple of months now of high velocity cardinal energy creating some burn-out perhaps. If you can, take a break and a good long breather. Breath in. Breath out. Just be.

It’s also a great time to review things and finish up projects you’ve been working on for awhile. I have some clients writing books, for example. This is an ideal time to work with an editor and refine your manuscript. If you do have a practical project you are working on, this is a great time to work out all the kinks so that you can proceed ahead with everything working smoothly once the retrograde phase is over.

Communications can be sorted out during this three-week period. If you’ve had misunderstandings and misjudgements, this will be a good time to reevaluate and find avenues of clearer perception and connections with another. Slowing down can be good.

Sorting out and throwing out is one activity I really enjoy and what better time to do it. Get rid of all that Gemini excess in your life. I’m mainly referring to paper items: old magazines, periodicals, files, old documents, even books that you no longer need or will read. Time to eliminate.

Weeding out is good! Weeding the garden—-great. But weeding out in general makes sense during a Mercury in Gemini period.

I like to think of Mercury Retrograde periods as Yellow Light times. Caution is called for, just as when you’re slowing down for a red light. I know…..sometimes we speed up to zip through before that light turns red. Bad idea during Mercury retrograde. It’s basically a time to slow down, and in this fast-paced age that isn’t always easy or supported by a modern world. Nevertheless, if we don’t slow down mistakes will take place, accidents will happen, and misunderstandings will occur.

Here we have an opportunity to live in rhythm with the planets and stars. Being in harmony with the spheres is a lovely way to feel in tune with oneself and life. So enjoy this Mercury Retrograde. See it as a good thing, because it certainly can be just that.

Genevieve A. Vierling C.A.P.
Astrologer
www.bluelightlady.com

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“It’s Not Over Til It’s Over!”: The Grand Cross Energies that Linger On by Genevieve Vierling

5/18/2014

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How are you all faring having lived through the April ‘Grand Cross’? Are some of you wondering what all the fuss was about? I bet many of you, however, experienced some very definite changes; changes which I would characterize as break-downs, break-ups, or breakthroughs—-or perhaps a combination of any of these.

As I write this in May, the configuration is still strong in the sky so it’s not over quite yet, though the peak of it on April 22nd at that critical 13+ degree of Cardinal is done. What we have now is a cross that will gradually break up (that phrase again!) until what remains is the long-term conflict between the two transpersonal planets, Pluto and Uranus, which will be exact for the final time in March of 2015.

Let’s now review a few of the themes which did emerge in April for many of us, and are still continuing to unfold now:

Break-downs: This would be a reference to the work of Pluto in the configuration. There seemed to be a lot of health crises in April. This was true of my own life and I saw it in the lives of friends and clients. My husband developed bronchitis-pneumonia starting around the 9th of the month. He is part of a generation born with Uranus in Aries square Pluto in Cancer and thus he is going through his ‘Uranus Return’. That Grand Cross slammed him big time! He is a strong soul, however, and has come through weakened but resolved to continue on with his life. Bless his heart!!

I know of one woman who broke her hip, another client who broke her leg, and another client whose wife is facing the health crisis of cancer, as well as many simply getting sick in late spring from the changing weather. You might say that these are normal occurrences anyway, but looking at the charts of each reveals a clear trigger of certain Cardinal energies going on.

Financial crises and break-downs were also fairly evident with many. Things just were not flowing in a normal, easy manner with lots of glitches, curve-balls, and challenges in business matters for those not collecting a regular pay-check. There were even people I knew that were out of work and feeling like they might be at the edge of their own financial cliff.

Keep in mind that Pluto works at these deeper levels of catabolic/anabolic cycles. Pluto does break things down in order to change the structure and build back up from there. This can apply to health, money matters, relationships, and even one’s spiritual life.

Relationship break-downs could thus lead to greater awareness for either a break-up or a break-thru! I saw some of that taking place in April as well. Did you? If there was enough love yet present, the relationship could weather the storm and continue on. If it was time to separate, hopefully it was still done with love. It’s true there were tornadoes of emotional turbulence spinning people around!

Break-ups: I didn’t witness as many examples of this, but there were some that I was aware of. If the tension was untenable, the break-up would take place. Remember, that Cardinal signs are all about relationship. Relationships must honor individuality but also participate in the Golden Rule. The other must also be honored. There is also the element of caring, protecting, and being responsible without becoming co-dependent or even domineering. These themes are enormous! Mutual aid and mutual respect are a good place to start with some of these broader themes. If you didn’t feel respect from another, perhaps it was time to break-up. If you felt you were doing all the giving with no receiving perhaps it was time to care more for your own dignity and integrity. Breaking up an imbalanced union or relationship may be the only solution if no compromise or agreement can be reached.

We certainly were seeing these types of large-scale relationships going on between nations and collective peoples. What about in your own life?

Breakthroughs: Now we hit the fun topic! I must say that I saw more of these than anything else which makes my heart happy. This would be Uranus at work. Some of the examples I was privy to were decidedly in the relationship arena. Newly formed relationships were taking place a lot in April. I can think of several right off the bat; People meeting someone and clicking. The energy was there to move things into place quickly. That Mars in Libra was strongly at work. Libra is a romantic sign and it still is a good time to meet that special someone. As I write this the Moon is in Libra opposite Venus in Aries, both joining the Grand Cross still in effect.

There were all sorts of other types of breakthroughs including new jobs, projects, assignments, promotions, relationship-renewals, etc. Why I even bought a car with new energy for myself. Of course, I tried to wait until after the big cross stuff was subsiding. This could be another article on how to purchase under the right energies, which I’d be happy to do if any of you are interested. The entire process fell into place so quickly and easily it surprised even a seasoned astrologer like me.

Health and medical breakthroughs were occurring. I’ll give you one example: a dear friend who has needed a liver transplant was waiting patiently in New Orleans for the past 3 months in the hopes that it would be his turn. During the Grand Cross alignment he obtained the life-saving surgery, and it was a success! He has a wife with young children still at home. We rejoice that someone was willing to donate their organ so that his life could continue, and that modern medicine and surgery is evolved enough now to do the seeming miraculous.

People were also changing residences, buying and selling their homes, etc. I have a good friend and colleague, Donna Fisher-Jackson, who is a strong Cardinal type going through a metamorphosis involving not just that type of shift, but an entire life-style shift. I think she’s written a bit about her journey on her blog, The Awakening Life. It’s all so fascinating really. Many people ARE doing it. Life style changes can take place now quickly. So if you’ve been considering it, do it!

There were also inner breakthroughs of consciousness going on. I really do feel in my heart that we now have an amazing opportunity to do the Soul work usually reserved for our after-life right now while we’re still in a body. The configurations in the sky now truly do conspire to bring us to higher and deeper levels of consciousness if we are willing to engage in that possibility. Group work facilities this. I am in several groups now that encourage that process: a spiritual meditation group, a dream group, an astrology group, and a composite of all three plus the visionary involvingYggdrasil.

The best breakthroughs right now DO involve relationships with others. Look at your own life and see where this can be implemented. It could be your important one-on-one relationships whether personal or professional. It could also be with friends and colleagues. Joining in with other groups may accelerate you however. Community is becoming more important than ever as an anti-dote to alienation and fragmentation. See where you fit into this bigger picture and take action.

I’ll end this article by reviewing with you the unwinding of the Grand Cross:

JUPITER IN CANCER will be the first to leave: By the end of this month, May, Jupiter will be at 20+ degrees and moving very, very fast. It will no longer be part of the ‘Cross’ after that except as it squares Mars only very briefly in mid-July. It’s going to zip through that final third of the sign until it enters Leo on July 16th. That will be a forth-coming article for sure.

Jupiter has both supported all elements that Cancer represents including emotional life, family matters, and security/safety issues, but also blown things up ‘bigger than life’ to really see and deal with.

MARS IN LIBRA, the fastest moving of the quartet, is about to turn Direct on May 20th. Then it, too, will start to move quickly forward. It will still be within the orb of a square to Pluto and an opposition to Uranus through the end of June and perhaps a wee bit of early July. By the second week of July it is moving rapidly away from that square to Pluto, and by the third week of July definitely ending its opposition with Uranus.

Whew!

That leaves us with the longer journey of Uranus square Plutowhich will continue to keep things interesting into the spring of 2015. I continue to hope for the breakthroughs of Uranus because the dark-side of Pluto is not a pretty picture. Still Pluto will continue in Capricorn long after Uranus leaves Aries. Pluto IS the force to be reckoned with. Continue to look with great scrutiny at your own life and ask yourself what needs to be changed at the deepest of levels. What do you need to release? What do you need to transform? That work continues…..

Genevieve A. Vierling C.A.P.
Astrologer
www.bluelightlady.com

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Who’s in Charge of Your Chart? by Genevieve Vierling

2/23/2014

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This is a rather interesting question to pose. You might say, “Well, I am”. Perhaps this is so as you get to know yourself by living your life. I am, however, posing a rather technical question relating to the strength and influence of the planets that constitute the energies of your birth map. I decided to write this blog article after facilitating a study group on it at the request of another colleague, and in response to one of my wonderful readers, Paul, who keeps questioning and growing by leaps and bounds.

You might want to pull out your chart as you read along, because this is going to be like a treasure hunt unearthing one of your great hidden powers. Down through the ages astrologers have studied and learned to weight the strength of a planet through various methods. The method I am writing about is based on rulers of the horoscope. Today we might say President, or CEO of your chart. Yet astrologers continue to use these archaic terms, and perhaps the best book on the subject is simply entitled Rulers of the Horoscope by Alan Oken.

Each planet seems to have a stronger affinity for certain signs and today’s accepted modern alignment is this:

Aries is ruled by Mars
Taurus is ruled by Venus
Gemini is ruled by Mercury
Cancer is ruled by the Moon
Leo is ruled by the Sun
Virgo is ruled by Mercury
Libra is ruled by Venus
Scorpio is ruled by Pluto
Sagittarius is ruled by Jupiter
Capricorn is ruled by Saturn
Aquarius is ruled by Uranus
Pisces is ruled by Neptune

Note that both Mercury and Venus ‘rule’ two signs. Also, to the ancients Scorpio was ruled by Mars, Aquarius was ruled by Saturn, and Pisces was ruled by Jupiter, so we might say that those three planets also have ‘dual rulership’. For the sake of simplicity, however, I will stick with the modern-day rulers as we proceed with our treasure hunt.

The next step is to understand another rather obscure word called‘dispositor’. No, not suppository! This term comes from the word posit or position actually. The dispositor is said to dispose of the position of a planet in a certain sign. Let’s look at an example: a person has Moon in Cancer as well as Mercury in Cancer. The Moon disposes Mercury in this case because Mercury is in the sign that the Moon rules. Another example: Saturn in Capricorn will dispose the Moon in Capricorn. Another way of looking at this is simply that the Moon in Capricorn must ultimately give some type of allegiance to Saturn in its own sign, Capricorn. In this manner we get a sort of chain of command as we go around our birth chart determining which planet disposes of another.

The Final Dispositor in this chain of command has to be a planet in its own sign. This planet will have tremendous power in your birth map if you have one. It may or may not be connected with other rulerships however. This is why it can often be rather hidden from view. I’ll give you an example from my own files of a real life woman: She has a Leo Ascendant, which means that the Sun is said to be her ‘chart ruler’. (The chart ruler is always the ruler of the Ascendant, but not necessarily a Final Dispositor) She also has Pluto in Leo right on her Ascendant which shows a power to that planet as well because of its strong placement in her birth map. However, it is her Mercury in Virgo in her first house that actually disposes of every single planet in her chart making it the ‘Final Dispositor.’ This woman’s life is decidedly Mercurial with communication one of her fortes. She is also a high gifted weaver, so she also uses her hands in her work. She writes journal articles and books, she teaches, she travels all over the world as a teacher and known author in her field of expertise. As you can see Pluto in Leo might not show this particular quality, though it certainly shows other strengths. Her chart ruler, the Sun in Virgo, may give other clues into her character and life purpose, but not the communicating skills that Mercury lends.

I think of another good friend who has Venus in Libra as her Final Dispositor. This woman has a Capricorn Ascendant which means that Saturn is her chart ruler. Yes, she has had to work very hard in this life and has held positions of great responsibility, but her hidden CEO is definitely that Venus in Libra which is so incredibly relationship-oriented and artistic by nature even though its position is more background in one of her cadent houses, the 9th.

So will you have a Final Dispositor in your own chart? Only if you have a planet in its own sign, and then not necessarily so. You might have two planets in what is called mutual reception or even two planets in their own signs who vie for that command post.

Mutual Reception is when two planets are placed in each other’s signs. This is actually more common than you think. Some examples might be Venus in Pisces with Neptune in Libra, or Sun in Aquarius with Uranus in Leo. When this occurs you have to consider the two planets as a sort of pair. If these planets are in a nice easy aspect with each other, all the better! If they are in a challenging aspect with each other, they may create a conflict within you which needs to be eventually resolved. If they don’t relate at all by aspect they may need to be brought more fully into your consciousness by your intention to get them working as a team.

I will be showing examples of this later in this article by using famous people’s charts.

Multiple Mutual Reception is a term coined by Alan Oken in his book mentioned earlier. It occurs when three or more planets are linked by dispositing one after another in a sort of loop. You’ll see these loops sometimes involving up to six planets. Then things begin to get really complicated because there really aren’t one or even two energies in charge. This type of chain of command is not as clear and perhaps is intended to weave back and forth from one arena of life to another. I have several examples of this type of dispositorship to share with you later.

How to determine your own ‘chain of command’ is quite simple actually. Take a piece of paper out and create columns starting with your Sun. You’ll end up with 10 columns in all, one for each of the planets including Sun and Moon. This will make it very visually clear when you’re all done. When I do this I use arrows to designate the chain of command from one to another of the planets. We’ll look at two women with Sun in Leo as their Final Dispositor. Keep in mind that not all people with Sun in Leo have it as a final dispositor. We’ll look at another Leo woman who shifts away from this signature.

Jacqueline K. Onassis

Let’s first look at Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, a modern-day ‘Queen’:

Sun in Leo    Moon in Aries      Mercury in Leo     Venus in Gemini
To                          to                            to                           to
Mars in Virgo      Sun in Leo            Mercury in Leo     Mercury in Leo
To                                                        to                             to
Mercury in Leo                                   Sun in Leo             Sun in Leo
To
Sun in Leo

Mars in Virgo           Jupiter in Gemini       Saturn in Sagittarius
To                                to                                   to
Mercury in Leo        Mercury in Leo     Jupiter in Gemini
To                           Sun in Leo                    Mercury in Leo
Sun in Leo                                                        to Sun in Leo

Uranus in Aries to Neptune in Virgo to Pluto in Cancer to

Mars in Virgo to          Mercury in Leo to         Moon in Aries to

Mercury in Leo to       Sun in Leo                      Mars in Virgo to

Sun in Leo                                                             Mercury in Leo to

                                                                                 Sun in Leo (final dispositor!)

You can see in Jacqueline’s chart that her Sun in Leo is clearly her final dispositor. No other sun sign can have this. It underscores this type of Leo’s need to develop a strong sense of self and in her case to contribute universally to the greater whole through her role as a consort to the President of the United States, the highest held office in the land. In her later life she also contributed through her own creativity as a writer and editor. Notice the close tie between Mercury and the Sun, both in Leo. It is actually this Mercurial link that brings everything back to the Sun in her chart. Had Mercury been in Cancer or Virgo, this would not have been so.

Sandra Bullock

Now let’s look at Sandra Bullock’s chart and her chain of command: (I apologize that I can’t make the columns! Mercury is still Retrograde and I’m not getting Word Press to cooperate!)

Sun in Leo

Moon in Aquarius-to   Uranus in Virgo-to   Mercury in Leo-to   Sun in Leo

Mercury in Leo-to   Sun in Leo

Venus in Gemini-to   Mercury in Leo-to   Sun in Leo

Mars in Gemini-t0   Mercury in Leo-to   Sun in Leo

Jupiter in Taurus-to   Venus in Gemini-to   Mercury in Leo-to   Sun in Leo

Saturn in Pisces-to   Neptune in Scorpio-to   Pluto in Virgo-to   Mercury in Leo-to   Sun in Leo

Uranus in Virgo-to   Mercury in Leo-to   Sun in Leo

Neptune in Scorpio-to   Pluto in Virgo-to   Mercury in Leo-to   Sun in Leo

Pluto in Virgo-to   Mercury in Virgo-to   Sun in Leo (her Final Dispositor!)

Of a considerably younger generation, Sandra Bullock stills ends up with her Sun in Leo as her Final Dispositor primarily because she, too, has Mercury in Leo. Ms. Bullock has certainly been a ‘Queen of Hollywood’ and even won an Academy Award. She is definitely well loved and has given back countless times some of her great wealth to special organizations such as the Red Cross.

This method of chart analysis can also yield further wealth of information simply by studying where each chain of command goes from planet to planet and from house to house. Note that certain chains are longer than others. In Jacqueline’s chart, for example, we note that starting with Pluto we move to the Moon, then to Mars, and finally to the Mercury/Sun link. Pondering that chain leads us into perhaps the darker side of her life which was full of both sexual betrayal, death, and ensuing sorrows, yet ultimately led back to her indomitable will and queenly role as a Leo.

When studying your own chart through this method I’m sure you’ll glean all sorts of insights along the way as you follow the threads and unravel the mysteries of your own life.

I’d like to now look at a third example which is different from the two Leo women we’ve already looked at, though she is also a ‘Queen’ in her own right. Let’s look at Martha Stewart’s chart. To make it easier on myself, I’m now simply writing the chain of command horizontally rather than vertically:

Sun in Leo

Moon in Sagittarius-to Jupiter in Gemini-to Mercury in Cancer back to Moon in Sagittarius. This is a ‘loop’: Moon-Jupiter-Mercury.

Mercury in Cancer to Moon in Sagittarius to Jupiter in Gemini back to Mercury in Cancer.

Venus in Virgo to Mercury in Cancer to Moon in Sagittarius to Jupiter in Gemini back to Mercury.

Mars in Aries

Jupiter in Gemini to Mercury in Cancer to Moon in Sagittarius back to Jupiter.

Saturn in Taurus to Venus in Virgo to Mercury in Cancer to Moon in Sagittarius to Jupiter in Gemini back to Mercury

Uranus in Taurus to Venus in Virgo to Mercury in Cancer to Moon in Sagittarius to Jupiter in Gemini back to Mercury.

Neptune in Virgo to Mercury in Cancer to Moon in Sagittarius to Jupiter in Gemini back to Mercury

Pluto in Leo to Sun in Leo

Now isn’t this interesting? We have quite a bit of complexity to her ‘chain of command’. She isn’t one simple ‘Queen’ known for a ‘role’. That Mercury in Cancer brought forth her interest and skill in cooking, gardening, and all of the home arts which she then took into the publishing world via Moon in Sagittarius and her first books. She branched into a multiplicity of media outlets through her Jupiter in Gemini including magazines, television, inter-net, etc. and eventually made it to the top as the CEO of her domesticity empire as can be seen by her stellium of planets in her 9th house with Sun in Leo.

There are a couple other curiosities to her line up. Mars in Aries sits by itself. It disposits not a thing though it does trine her Sun in Leo and sextiles her Jupiter in Gemini giving her gusto and even personal acclaim in her enterprises. The other curiosity is Pluto in Leo disposited by the Sun in Leo. The only planet the Sun disposes of. Well, she did go through her plutonian death and rebirth didn’t she? Note that Pluto ‘rules’ her Scorpio Ascendant. Perhaps her own greed got the better of her for a bit, but she paid her dues and rose out of the ashes to continue on as ‘Queen’ did she not? She certainly wasn’t beheaded! My point in all of this is that neither Pluto nor Mars (both co-rulers of Scorpio) are actually the hidden powers in her chart. We better look to Mercury, Moon, and Jupiter to understand more fully her major contribution to the publishing-broadcasting world of today’s media. It explains a lot about why she just didn’t stay home and entertain with her fabulous cooking and gardening skills.

Mark Zuckerberg

Still on the subject of ‘Final Dispositors’ let’s look at one more anomaly in the likes of Mark Zuckerberg the now famous tycoon responsible for the rise and proliferation of social media via Facebook. Keeping with our system we’ll start with his Sun:

Sun in Taurus to Venus in Taurus. Now Venus in Taurus if she was the final dispositor of his chart would indicate his great magnetism, attractiveness, and love of the good life. Ah! Like Facebook? “Let’s see how you look! Show me what you LIKE. Do you LIKE what I LIKE?” Venus enjoys and likes people, places, and things.

But wait! Let’s keep going….

Moon in Scorpio to Pluto in Scorpio. Oooops!

Mercury in Aries to Mars in Scorpio to Pluto in Scorpio. Oooops again.

Venus in Taurus

Mars in Scorpio to Pluto in Scorpio

Jupiter in Capricorn to Saturn in Scorpio to Pluto in Scorpio

Saturn in Capricorn to Pluto in Scorpio

Uranus in Sagittarius to Jupiter in Capricorn to Saturn in Scorpio to Pluto in Scorpio

Neptune in Capricorn to Saturn in Scorpio to Pluto in Scorpio

Pluto in Scorpio.

There it is. His great and—at first—hidden power. This man took a fairly simple idea and transformed it, then grew it into a major social movement, and made his fortune on it. If you look at his chart and notice that he has a Virgo Ascendant with Mercury in Aries ruling his chart from the 8th, you realize that that strength alone wouldn’t explain his world changing power unless you noticed that Pluto is the final dispositor of everything else in his chart but the Sun and Venus.

Mutual Reception as the final partnership dispositors
I really need to research this one further because the charts of famous people I looked up for this article have more than one or a combination of a mutual reception and a planet in it’s own sign which is not the final end commander. However, I’ll use myself for now until I do find a more famous illustration. I have Mercury in Aquarius in Mutual Reception with Uranus in Gemini. To illustrate further, these two happen in be in a square aspect by degree. They do, in fact, dispose of every other planet in my birth chart. It’s been an interesting journey trying to coordinate what they both represent. I think I’m finally doing it thanks to the great inter-net web and this blog!

Let’s now look at more high profile people to illustrate the interesting phenomenon of mutual reception.

Elizabeth with Humanitarian Oscar

Elizabeth Taylor’s chart shows two mutual receptions: Neptune in Virgo in mutual reception with Mercury in Pisces. This chord is expressed eight times when following her chain of command. Notice in her chart how Mercury in Pisces combust her Sun in Pisces is opposite her Neptune in Virgo. Think about her remarkable career as a movie star whose influence colored a generation of Neptune in Virgo women. I can remember seeing carbon copies of Liz in every town and city growing up. How many women tried to duplicate her look? She became a sort of icon, did she not? That is certainly mirrored in the Neptune/Mercury factor of an image taking flight into all corners of the globe. Other aspects of this, of course, were her later compassionate causes in championing the fight against AIDS (Mars is also opposite her Neptune) and speaking out for gay rights.

She has one other mutual aspect which isn’t as strong yet potent in its own right; that is Moon in Scorpio in mutual reception with Pluto in Cancer. This repeats just twice as we follow her chain of command; once with the Moon and once with Pluto. All of her endless struggles with life and death are encapsulated in this reception. That she survived each harrowing journey into the underworld is supported by the fact that they were in trine with each other. She rose herself up from her own ashes multiple times, just as her emotional and intimate life constantly transformed from one relationship to another, or in the case of Richard Burton at least twice! Unraveling the mystery of Diamond Liz (this is undoubtedly a Pluto theme—Pluto rules all wealth that comes from under the ground) becomes a whole lot easier once you track her chains and study these two mutual receptions.

Mia with some of her children

Let’s look at another rather famous woman actress whose life is complex and even intriguing, Mia Farrow.

Mia’s chain of command ends with two mutual receptions equal in strength which means they both appear five times as we follow her threads: Uranus in Gemini in mutual reception with Mercury in Aquarius and Moon in Capricorn in mutual reception with Saturn in Cancer.

Her Sun is in Aquarius taking us immediately to the first mutual reception between Uranus and Mercury. Mia is a very bright woman who has traveled in most unusual company since childhood. One of her great childhood friends and mentors was Salvador Dali, a truly Uranian character! When traveling to India with the Beatles she experienced the ‘other side’ of the Maharaja when he tried to seduce her. She has always had unusual associations with men and her early autobiography, What Falls Away chronicles that journey up to her strange alliance with Woody Allen. I read that book and found it fascinating years ago. She has a Grand Trine in Air with Mercury near the top of her chart. She has covered a broad spectrum of roles and experiences in life both as an actress and a woman looking for answers. This would explain her interest in out-of-the-ordinary men whose intellects or lifestyles were unusual and perhaps fascinating to her initially.

Let’s next examine her mutual reception between her Moon in Capricorn and Saturn in Cancer. This one explains her mothering instincts to take care of a very large and eclectic brood (Moon in the 9th from other countries as well). She has a penchant for taking charge and organizing obviously. Since her Moon is opposite Saturn this has not always been an easy journey starting with her own childhood. You will also note that this reception is part of a greater Cardinal Grand Cross. How many shoes can this woman possibly wear and feel comfortable doing so? Looking at her Moon in Capricorn we suspect it is definitely not about comfort at all. It is about her need to either take charge, or her need to be both mother and father all rolled into one. This inner sense of responsibility moves her unconsciously through life and compels her to reach out to those who might suffer unduly without her intervention. (Moon square Neptune and Chiron) Yet containing security and safety for all must surely have its limits as we have seen in her life thus far with two of her large brood dead, one or more seriously estranged from her, and now one crying foul play when only a wee child. Can Mother Hubbard possibly watch and keep safe every child? It would seem not.

Multiple Receptions and endless loops–’the Committee’?
I’m not sure what exactly to call this category because it runs the gamut of possibilities as we begin to examine various lives. Let’s just look at two or three Pisceans, since we’ve now entered Pisces, to give you a sampling before striking out on your own to examine your own chart and the charts of others.

Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs is another fascinating study of a titan of a man who helped to revolutionize something we now take for granted via easy-to-use computer and inter-net devices. He has a very large loop involving five planets: Sun in Pisces to Neptune in Libra to Venus in Capricorn to Saturn in Scorpio to Pluto in Leo and back to the Sun. I can’t possibly analyze this long sequence in such a short article, but we can see the elegant designer in the Sun and Neptune link moving to the organizer and hard taskmaster in Venus and Saturn, and finally to the creative titan he became in the Pluto/Sun link. This five-way sequence shows up exactly five times obviously.

Then we see his Mars in Aries as a force of its own dynamically interacting with a Cardinal T-square or a mixed Grand Cross if you include his Chiron in Aquarius. But this Mars in Aries also disposes his Moon in Aries and ultimately both Jupiter in Cancer, Uranus in Cancer, as well as Mercury in Aquarius. So Mars in Aries is the final dispositor five times within his matrix. He was, after all, a true pioneer. He was original and assertive. He was a visionary with his Mars opposite Neptune, and he was deceived and betrayed as well by others in the industry. This Mars in the 8th also shows his life/death struggles and ultimate untimely death. Would that he had lived longer!

Mitt Romney

Another man with the loop-de-loop ‘committee’ is Mitt Romney. Of course he has now faded into relative obscurity, but for a time he was highly prominent and perhaps he will emerge once again into the public limelight as transiting Neptune goes over his Mercury/Sun in Pisces.

If we systematically start with his Sun and move on through to Pluto we find that every sequence leads to four planets in an endless loop: Neptune in Libra to Venus in Aquarius to Uranus in Gemini to Mercury in Pisces and back to Neptune. Let’s look more closely at these planets in his chart. Venus in Aquarius sits at the very top of his chart expressing his good looks and charm publicly. Venus in Aquarius is also quite egalitarian in style for he appeared to be a fairly progressive Governor before switching gears as the Republican candidate for President. Venus does trine Neptune showing ease and harmony but also the ability to be a shape-shifter as Neptune is wont to do when it is convenient. Venus and Mercury are like two fingers on a hand being less than thirty degrees apart and Mercury in Pisces can also be quite chameleon like, however there is that square from Mercury to Uranus in Gemini and the switching of gears may have certainly tripped him up during the last campaign. The only fixed planet in this mix is Venus and looking at her ease to Neptune and her opposition to Saturn/Pluto it would appear that his loyalties and affinities could change given the expedience that politicians are wont to do when playing the game of trying to win, or even make more money at the game. Finally, Uranus is also trine his Neptune so three out of the four are in inner harmony for this man. The weakness of a Grand Trine however is that it can get stuck in a groove for too long or go unconscious. Nonetheless, Mitt is a man who has worn many hats and lived many lives within the one. This shows up in more than one way in his Gemini rising chart with Pisces/Aquarius and Neptune/Uranus themes underscoring the duality of his nature.

Kurt Cobain by Simone Fiani

My final Pisces male example is musician Kurt Cobain. His three-planet loop appears eight times. If we start with his Sun in Pisces we hit it immediately: Neptune in Scorpio to Pluto in Virgo to Mercury in Pisces. This is the loop of a modern-day minstrel and piped piper who ultimately succumbed to a Neptunian/Plutonian realm. We might say that his ego (Sun) was not strong enough to handle Dionysius (Neptune) or Hades (Pluto). Nonetheless his mystique and music live on which is also a Neptune/Pluto theme through the messenger of a generation that he became via Mercury in Pisces.

One other strong chord gives added cadence and pathos to his astrological nature: The Moon in Cancer in its own sign. This motif is repeated through Jupiter in Cancer disposed by the Moon. Kurt had a great Grand Trine in Water with Jupiter strongly placed as part of it in his 11th house of groups. The Moon in Cancer symbolizes just how deeply he felt everything as reiterated in a chart almost drowning in pure raw emotions. Every planet was in a water sign with the exception of his generational Pluto/Uranus in Virgo rising under the banner of a Virgo Ascendant. There is much to examine here that time does not allow for. He was undoubtedly a spokesman and martyr all-in-one for the anguish and ecstasy of a generation caught in a time of great turbulence and change (1967).

Do I dare leave on that note? Well, we have just entered Pisces and it is within the nature of this sign not to skirt suffering.

On a brighter note, have fun with your treasure hunt! Take the time to discover something special about yourself with this exercise. Mine the gold in yourself. Also pay attention to the hidden CEOs, and rulers of people’s charts you are interested in. This is but a taste. Keep in mind that Mr. Oken wrote nearly 300 pages on the subject.

In summary: A Final Dispositor shows a decided commander/CEO in your chart; Mutual Reception shows more of a Partnership/LLP; and the loops of three or more chains show a hidden Committee at work. So, who exactly IS in charge of your chart?

Genevieve A. Vierling C.A.P.
Astrologer
www.bluelightlady.com

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Mercury Retrogrades in Pisces; then Back It Goes into Aquarius! by Genevieve Vierling

2/15/2014

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Three times a year we move through a time of Mercury Retrograde. Here we go again, this time with Mercury at 3+ Pisces turning around and moving back through Aquarius until it once again turns direct on February 28th at 18+ Aquarius.

Because Mercury has also almost touched Neptune at 4+ Pisceswe are experiencing an interesting mix of reverie and reflection amidst the action-packed and often turbulent Cardinal Cross energies at work. I know in my own life the past has lately been rising up to meet me in present time and asking for further resolution and integration in order that I may move forward. This Mercury Retrograde period will certainly give us an opportunity to synthesize past, present, and future over the next three weeks. Perhaps it can be more of a ‘quiet lull’ before the fast-speed ‘maelstrom’ of the Grand Cross in Cardinal signs whacks us again in April. That being said, some of us experience the high impacts of such energies whilst others glide on through. It all depends on your own energy fields.

Right now the Sun is rising ahead of Mercury, but by the time Mercury turns Direct, Mercury will be rising as ‘Luciferous’ ahead of the Sun. Blending this with the shifts between Aquarius and Pisces certainly keeps us on our toes to look backwards even as we look ahead. Are you dizzy now? Please do find your grounding cord and keep working it diligently or you will find yourself thoroughly disoriented.

The Sabian Symbol for Pisces 4 (where Mercury has just now turned from) is “Heavy car traffic on a narrow isthmus linking two seashore resorts.” How appropriate a symbol for what is beingactivated. An isthmus is a very narrow strip of land jutting out between the ocean and a lagoon of water. The isthmus may in thismodern world now have houses, roads, and people inhabiting it. Dane Rudhyar keynotes this symbol as meaning “The mobility and intensity of interchanges which make possible and characterize complex social processes”

Perhaps Mercury now symbolizes a process where our ability to reflect and dive into the unconscious (water/ocean/lagoon) may also have to maintain its navigational compass as we move to and fro and go about our busy lives. Is it possible to handle both simultaneously? Those of you who have both Water and Airelements strong in your charts may find that it certainly is possible. Those of you with more the elements of Earth and Fire may find this highly disconcerting. Earth wants stability and pragmatism while Fire wants some spark of inspiration and enthusiasm to keep it motivated.

I see good therapists as often having this combination of Air/objectivity and Water/feelings to help them navigate with their clients the process of gaining consciousness of their unconscious watery eddys and undertows. Let’s say that this time suggests just that process as we attempt to deal with the staggering amount of ‘traffic’ that modern life demands. Dane Rudhyar, when he interpreted these symbols knew nothing of the inter-net. Traffic today means much much more than it did then. We live in restless times and we are simply bombarded and overloaded with all sorts of EMFs (electro-magnetic frequencies). How are we handling them all energetically? We know we try to keep up with the myriad avenues of the inter-net, cell phones, ipads, and all the rest. What does all of this do to our unconscious? How do we process it all? I’m not even referring to how our physical vehicles handle it all!

I encourage each of you in your own way to take the time over the next three weeks to BE REFLECTIVE to the best of your ability. What are the modes you use to quiet your mind? What avenues do you avail yourself of to relax and let go of the stress and strain of modern-day life?

Look at your own chart and see where Mercury is taking you for the next three weeks. That is the area of life which may need your attention on a deeper, more contemplative level. If it’s your 12th house, for example, the reflective withdrawal from the great hustle may be easier. If it’s your 10th house, perhaps more challenging.

By the time that Mercury arrives at that 18th degree of Aquarius, Sationary Direct, we see two very significant symbols emerging. Keep in mind that we always round up to the next degree when working with the Sabian Symbols. The 18th degree is this: “A man’s secret motives are being publicly unmasked.” According to Rudhyar the keynote is: “The difficulty for the modern individual to keep secret their private past or their deeper motives.”

Behind the Mask

Do we need to further UNMASK during this Retrograde period? We can certainly see the need on a collective level. There are too many dark secrets being veiled everywhere it would seem. Each of us may have our own need to unmask hidden aspects that we are yet unwilling to look at in our own lives.

The 19th degree of Aquarius is “A forest fire is being subdued by the use of water, chemicals and sheer muscular energy.” This speaks to our time as well! Here we finally get some FIRE into the mix. Dane Rudhyar’s keynote of this symbol is: “The skill and courage necessary to bring under control the destructive potential of carelessness of karmic ‘visitations’.”

Krishna swallowing the forest fire

I’m now going to quote an excerpt from his interpretation of this because it already feels like a revelation in my own life right now (remember, we have already experienced once that 19th degree activation when Mercury was moving direct through Aquarius back in January 23rd): “…Every individual—at least once in his lifetime, if not repeatedly—may perhaps have to face spectacular reactions to seemingly insignificant acts. These are to be considered means to test his/her strength, ingenuity or emotional stability. Everyfaculty at his/her disposal must be made use of—emotional, mental, physical. He/she needs faith in him/herself and in superior Powers.” Wow! Keep this quote in mind as you continue to process elements from your past that are now emerging in present time so that you can move forward with “a deep sense of INDOMITABILITY” into your own future.

Don’t you just wish that all of humanity would work with the planetary energies and even the fixed stars as a matter of course in their daily lives? Don’t you just wish that we were all in resonance with the celestial spheres? I personally am so exceedingly thankful for the guidance and clarification I get from using celestial guides in my own life. Blessed Be!

Genevieve A. Vierling C.A.P.
Astrologer
www.bluelightlady.com

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Planetary Changes, Challenges, and Patterns for 2014 by Genevieve Vierling

1/5/2014

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The year ahead through 2014 promises to be highly charged and action packed with a Cardinal Grand Cross defining the momentum of the first half of the year. Cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn) initiate change, each in their own way. Cardinal signs also describe the areas of relationship starting with oneself in Aries, ones family in Cancer, ones partner in Libra, and finally ones public relationships in Capricorn.

Many changes will take place for all of us with strong emphasis on Cardinal signs in 2014. Look to Cardinal sign planets in the degreesbetween 10 and 16 to be especially emphasized. These changes may be turbulent, powerful, and challenging, but potentially highlyrewarding. Hopefully you will use these energies to move forward in your own lives with resolve and determination to be the best you can be! Look to your own configurations and check out the many transits in this pattern to see how and where you will be the most impacted. Will this forceful energy pattern motivate you and charge you up? I sincerely hope it will.

Many of you reading this may have been born with Cardinal t-squares, or even Cardinal Grand Crosses in your natal chart. These configurations come and go through the years. Both my parents born in the early 20th century had Cardinal Grand Crosses, for example. What makes this particular year so important, however, isthe king-pin square between Pluto in Capricorn and Uranus in Aries. We know that in the mid-sixties these two powerful planets of transformation and change came together in Virgo. Now some 47 years later we have the First Quarter Phase taking place in Cardinal signs.

This pattern has been discussed over and over again in the past 3-5 years by astrologers world-wide. The critical ‘crisis of action’ is now here. The revolutionary spark of the ‘60s is now at the crossroads and commitments of action are now required based on the seed ignited in Virgo. I should probably write yet one more article on that theme because we live in a time where very little reflection is allowed. We do need to look back and review what seminal new beginnings marked that time:

Should we consider the anti-war movement and the protests against the Viet Nam War? Should we consider the civil rights movementcentering on African Americans and the assassinations of first Malcolm X in 1965 and then Martin Luther King in 1968? Should we consider also the spark of a potentially great world leader, Robert Kennedy, also snuffed out in 1968?

Many other themes were emerging in the ‘60s including labor issuesand the rights of the working class, ecology and the environment, women’s rights and the rise of feminism, greater sexual freedom with the ensuing problems of AIDS and recreational use of drugs, the beginnings of the Medicare program in 1966 (can you believe it was simple and only index cards were used?), fossil fuel beginning to peak and the deadly surge towards an over-load of carbon emissions and global climate change, and let’s not forget the shift from America’s industry base towards globalization of industry while the USA became the military/police force of the planet.

Well, the list just goes on and on doesn’t it? I do have to mention one more beginning, the digital age. I remember as a young woman meeting men in the computer industry who worked on those enormous hard drives and computers that housed entire floors of large buildings! Yes, I will return to this Pluto/Uranus revolution that is now forcing us into a year of momentous change, and the key question may just be who will maintain control??? I consider that a very, very important question to be asking. Who should be in control? Who is trustworthy? Who has the best interests of the whole at heart? Who cares enough for the planet and all her creatures to have the right to be in control?

In the midst of this heavy-duty Cardinal blast we will also have a Grand Trine in Water Signs revolving in and out of the crucifix. The one planet that is part of both configurations is Jupiter in Cancer. Please refer back to my article posted in July, 2013 for an in-depth look at this passage. Jupiter is exalted in Cancer so perhaps it lends a modicum of hope and good faith that enough caring and nurturing souls will do their part to right the wrongs and help to create a better world for future generations. This Water Grand Trine will be comprised of Jupiter in Cancer trine Saturn in Scorpio trine Chiron in Pisces. There is something so comforting about this configuration because it feels solid, serious, and oh so healing. Of course, the opposite could also be said, because trines aren’t necessarily ‘good’; they are simply easy. It may be easy to continue to pollute the Pacific ocean with radiation from Fukishima, for instance. Sorry, but this is sadly true. It could also be easy to hurt and wound further the disenfranchised and poverty-ridden the world over. That, too, is sadly true. Rather, let us use this potentially balanced and responsible network to conserve, heal, and bring abundance to every corner of the globe. Let us find ways to make whole again a fractured world. Let us build greater unity and integration where all feel included and nurtured.

For those of you who don’t have the benefit of journals like The Mountain Astrologer or a Celestial Guide, I’m going to now outline the big cross and give you key dates to be aware of. The key months will be January and April. I’m putting charts up so you can see the configurations.

This chart for April 22nd is a whopper! Everything is exact at 13 degrees.

New Year 2014

Be aware, also, that in January we have a great many planets in Capricorn emphasizing Pluto and the Pluto/Uranus square. By the Aries Equinox on March 20th, we have more Aries energy emphasizing Uranus. The Summer Solstice on June 21st still shows the same planets in Cardinal signs, but Jupiter has moved out of orb. By the Libra Equinox on September 22nd both Jupiter and Mars will have moved far away from orb within the Grand Cross.

The initiatory/catalytic forces are really upon us from January through April. Here is a breakdown of the component aspects. Keep in mind that there are six in all, with even more forming as Venus in Capricorn moves into orb.

Pluto square Uranus
1x 11.1.13
2x 4.21.14 (Pluto retrograde) 13 degrees+
3x 12.14.14 (Uranus retrograde) 12 degrees+

Key themes: Life crises all over the planet; great agitation, extremes, struggles to break free, mass catastrophes, out of the eruptions creations of the new.

Your chart: Where are you making effort to break free? Where do you feel the conflict of extremes? What can you create now? What can you renew?

Jupiter opposite Pluto
1x Aug. 2013
2x 1.31.14 (Jupiter retrograde) 12 degrees+
3x 4.20.14 (Pluto retrograde) 13 degrees+

Key themes: Super exploitations, polarity of have and have nots in extreme, great push to claim all resources, potentially great success as well as great failures and losses, legal dilemmas.

Your chart: Is your belief system in alignment with your primal urges? Where are the extremes manifesting in your life? Where can you reach success without risking extreme loss? What is stretching your consciousness now?

Mars square Pluto
1x 12.30.13
2x 4.23.14 (Mars retrograde/Pluto retrograde) 13 degrees+
3x 6.14.14 (Pluto retrograde) 12 degrees+

Key themes: Tremendous courage, even fighting to the death for survival; assertion of power, fanatical zeal, ruthlessness/brutality, buried rage, endurance.

Your chart: Where do you need to apply courage and perseverance? Do you have buried rage that needs to transform? Will you fight for your own principles? In what ways do you assert yourself?

Jupiter square Uranus
1x August 2013
2x 2.26.14 (Jupiter retrograde) 10 degrees+
3x 4.20.14 13 degrees+

Key Themes: Revolutionary ideas, urge to expand, philosophical/religious/political conflicts, new inventions, profits or loss through speculation, beliefs radically changed, sudden luck or loss.

Your chart: In what ways are your own beliefs changing? Where are you awakening in a more radical way? Are you trying to gamble to win something? Be careful! Use this energy for being enterprising in a proactive way.

Mars opposite Uranus
1x 12.25.13
2x 4.23.14 (Mars retrograde) 13 degrees+
3x 6.25.14 16 degrees+

Key Themes: Acts of rebellion, turmoil, and nerve-wracking confrontations, great desires for independence and freedom, potential accidents, the dangers of technologies.

Your chart: Where do you want more freedom, excitement, and independence? Who is revving you up or creating turmoil in your life? Be aware of your desires for freedom to avert accidental occurrences that free you with side effects!

Mars square Jupiter
1x 1.08.14 (Jupiter retrograde) 14 degrees+
2x 4.22.14 (Mars retrograde) 13 degrees+
3x 8.01.14 (Mars at 3+ degrees of Scorpio/Jupiter at 3+ degrees of Leo!)

Key Themes: Taking risks, ‘Holy Crusades’; fighting for ones beliefs or attacking others for theirs, free enterprise.

Your chart: Where can you move ahead in an enterprising way? How do you assert your own beliefs? Do you attack others for theirs? Where can you express your enthusiasm for life?

Mars in Libra until July 25th, 2014
I’ve discussed this passage in two other articles, so I won’t be redundant. Look in my archives if interested. Just note that Mars will be Retrograde from March 1st (27 degrees+ of Libra) through May 19th (9 degrees+ of Libra). That is quite a long stretch of becoming aware of how we use our energy. I like the phrase, “Courage with diplomacy” which one of my clients’s used in describing her own Mars in Libra.

Venus in Capricorn until March 6th.
Venus is now in her retrograde phase until January 31st. She will turn Direct at 13 degrees+ very close to Pluto at 12 degrees +. This will be another potent reminder to be conscious of everything that we traditionally value. So ask yourself, what do you truly, truly value? What are the time-honored values that you hold sacred?

Of course in the world there will be economic issues big-time. Already in the news we know that 1.3 million Americans have just lost their extended un-employment. This hurts us all. Quite frankly it is money that is and always has been the first and foremost taboo with those who have it. People of great means usually don’t go around talking about how much they have nor how they acquired it do they? It is truly more of a taboo subject than sex.

I think as Venus gets closer to Pluto the big questions to be asking are how is money acquired? Is it acquired through any type of exploitation? By exploitation I mean at the expense of others. Is it acquired through destructive means? That means destroying the water of the planet, the air quality of the planet, and earth/soil of the planet, the living creatures on the planet, and human lives on the planet in order to gain a resource that creates wealth? Another way to look at this would be whether money is gained through implements of destruction such as the military-industrial complex. Is it acquired through usury? This list could go on and on, but it does make one think carefully in terms of where one invests, even if that money was gainfully earned. Conscious investment is difficult. So is conscious banking. Where do we keep our hard-earned money? Do we put it in the big banks that perpetuate all those nasty things? These are hard questions for all of us to ask of ourselves. I am as guilty as the next quite frankly. Sometimes I feel that my very existence is at the expense of others simply by living in a well developed and privileged country! For me this means that I need to try harder to be conscious of how I gain and how I spend my own resources.

Venus in Capricorn may also be about relationships where authority and responsibility are themes. Are we responsible as we relate with others? Are we in relationships where responsibility is shared? We are seeing a lot of renewed interest in family values with the Cancer/Capricorn polarity strong. Within the family nexus is the theme of partnership. This obviously takes us to another aspect:

Venus square Mars
This aspect is strongly in effect by mid-January, and again through late February into early March.

Key Themes: Assertion versus compromise, fighting for what you love and value, or fighting over it with someone else, over-stimulation, over exaggerated passions, lack of self-control, disputes involving $, love, human-rights, etc.

Your chart: Where do you need to be aware of money/value/love issues right now? What are you feeling passionate about? Can you find the balance between assertion and compromise?

The Lunar Nodes shift to North Node in Libra/South Node in Aries by March
Whoa! This truly keeps us in Cardinal Mode for quite some time ahead and continues the dialogue between Venus and Mars. Are men truly from Mars and women from Venus? Or are we trying to balance the scales here? Women’s Rights is gaining momentum once again as a theme which started strongly with the feminist movement back in the ‘60s. There’s much to explore in all of these topics for another time.

Water Trines to sooth and unite
Thank goodness we have this Grand Trine between Saturn, Chiron, and Jupiter through out the first half of the year as an anti-dote to the high speed energy of the Cardinal Cross. For those of you with planets in water or earth, this is a nourishing combination. For those of you with more Yang energy this great trine helps to make you aware of your own nurturing and grounding needs. Water symbolizes feelings and the unconscious. We need to become aware of both through these fast-paced, turbulent times.

Saturn in Scorpio is with us until December 23rd of 2014. Please see my article on Saturn in my archives from February 2013. As Saturn nears the end of its 2.5 year run through a sign it feels heavier and heavier as a rule. So be aware of this in terms of where it is moving in your own chart. Saturn always requires work. If you’re not willing to work, you feel very limited and confined.

Jupiter in Cancer trine Saturn in Scorpio
Exact by May 24th.

Keep in mind that Saturn turns Retrograde on March 3rd, and Jupiter turns Direct on March 7th.

I love this trine between the two most socializing planets. Here are some Key Themes:
Calm, patient, and persevering; responsible with a sense of duty; resolute pursuance of goals, earnest endeavors; success in negotiations; favorable settlements of legal disputes; more philosophical.

Your chart: Look to the houses these two are moving through. Saturn is helping you to test for reality, get down to work, and strive to accomplish your goals while Jupiter is supporting you to grow as well as to reap some rewards. Since they are both in harmony right now see how you can harmonize these themes in the arenas being activated this first half of 2014.

Jupiter stays in Cancer until July 16th when it enters Leo
Jupiter in Leo will bring in some much needed fire by then. Get ready to wail, you Leos!

Saturn trine Chiron
This very grounding trine will be in orb strongly from May through September after all the brouhaha of the Grand Cross subsides.

Key Themes: Powers of healing and transformation, grounding into the body and Mother Earth, the healing of the Earth

Your Chart: Look to where you can become more grounded, centered, and help to bring healing and transformation to others and the planet.

Jupiter trine Chiron
This lovely trine will stay pretty much in orb through the end of May

Key Themes: Perceptions strong and accurate at new levels, higher vibration levels, resonation with multi-dimensional realities

Your chart: Where are you opening to new levels of perception and consciousness? Can you feel vibration shifts going on?

Another brief statement on Chiron in Pisces:
I’ve been writing about this passage in many past articles, but I want to emphasize that Chiron was in Pisces during the mid-‘60s where it is now again. Think about the fact that Uranus/Pluto conjoined in Virgo were opposed by Saturn/Chiron in Pisces in the mid-‘60s. The generations born with this signature are waking up to their immense healing abilities right now. Chiron in Pisces promises a great resonance with the un-seen dimensions which are basically non-technical and therefore less controlled by the ‘reality police’ on the planet right now who feel only technology can be the source of advancement as well as control. I encourage all of you to tune in to what is always around us and connects us all telepathically. We don’t need outside sources to know, feel, and experience our divinity and connection with all that is. We can have direct access now that we know that the gifts of Chiron available to each of us if we will just ‘tune in’. Look to your dream life, intuition, feelings and hunches, as well as meditative states for inner knowing and answers.

This has been another long piece, but you can print it out as a guideline for the year to come as a reference tool.

In summary: the big upheavals and impetus for action are going on now through end of April strongly. By mid-May things should calm down a bit. By July we get major shifts as Mars and Jupiter enter new signs and Mars speeds up in its two year cycle around the Sun.

May each of you work with these energies for the year to change and transform your life in fulfilling ways, and may each of you reach out to others and lighten their paths through love and responsible action.

Genevieve A. Vierling C.A.P.
Astrologer
www.bluelightlady.com

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Capricorn Solstice 2013—Find Yourself Some Magic! by Genevieve Vierling

12/21/2013

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Home sweet home !!

Here from my perch on the Western slopes of the Sierras we’ve had our first snow and the nights are ever lengthening and it’s been brrr cold for the past week or so due to an ‘Arctic blast’ that descended upon us from our northern neighbor Canada. I was loving the silence during the night of that first gentle snow fall, and the absolute darkness since my husband and I live far from town lights near the top of a mountain.

The Solstice in the Northern Latitudes brings such scenes into people’s lives while the Solstice in the Southern Latitudes may be the first beckoning of the descent into darkness. Interesting isn’t it, living on this ball in space? We are more and more in need of being aware of the polarity as our global village gets smaller due to the digital revolution and the inter-net. What was once talked about as the longest night of the year and the coming of the light at ‘Winter Solstice’ isn’t actually true for those living in places like Australia.

Even so we are entering the time of Capricorn, the sign most associated with ‘the State’ and all collective structures and institutions designed to contain the individual. This containmentcan be either protective or controlling. We are increasingly witnessing repression of the individual as an enormous problem where human rights and justice are concerned in this modern hierarchical world. I will explore these themes more in my next blog when, once again, the ever increasing Pluto/Uranus square becomes more and more intense through the first half of 2014.

For now, however, let’s find some magic in this special time of the year whether we enjoy the solitude that Capricorn can bring, or the time-honored traditions of gathering together as family with others to celebrate the light returning in the North.

This Solstice Chart shows a beautiful Neptune in Pisces sextile the Sun. That’s a magical, mystical message! It softens the effects of that high-voltage T-square with Uranus in Aries opposite Mars in Libra squaring the Sun. Let’s just focus on Sun/Neptune for a bit and find ways to relieve ourselves of stress and strife. How about a float in aspa pool? Or a walk in the woods? How about a magical ritual in a loving circle of people you trust? Then there’s dancing, music, poetry, and art to immerse oneself in. Just find something for the rest of this month that brings alive the magic still existing in this world and in your own life.

I know this chart looks like a dazzling web of intricacies and paradoxes, which it is. But that Neptune sextile the Sun is where I plan to focus to keep dreams of loveliness alive. Just look around you, wherever you are. Try to find the magic and beauty, because it IS still there.

With this theme in mind I’m going to present to you a wonderful new oracular tool that you can buy (or gift to another) for a pittance and use practically forever; that is, as long as we have cell phones, ipads, and APPs. A wonderful client of mine shared this with me, and I’m delighted to share it with you. It’s called Sourcerer (as in “Source” Energy). Please go to the link and see for yourself.

Here’s a bit of background as to how it was created: Back in the summer of 2010 Steven Knox and his friend, Steven Walker, met and began working on an idea, a nascent dream. As Steven puts it, “Whenever we got together, we inevitably got on these huge topics of conversation about consciousness, spirituality, metaphysics, you name it. We have always shared that deep connection for the love of delving into the realm of ideas and concepts that were more etheric in nature.

Steven then went on to explain to me that they first created a framework for the oracular messages they would be creating. Steven, being a gifted artist, helped to create the image of an astrolabe (an ancient compass-like device used by astronomers and navigators to track the positions of the stars) with its three wheels/dials which a user can spin as they consult the oracle for an answer to their query.

The main categories of the first wheel are Love, Personal Growth, Friends & Family, Work, Finances, Health, Fun & Creativity, and My Environment. The second wheel includes the sub-categories for each of the main ones, and the third wheel/dial encompasses the moods, tones, or aspects ‘of these ideas that are common for anyone who is living a Life in modern-day society (i.e. Change, Uncertainty, In the Flow, Clarity, etc.)’

Then the really hard, yet super rewarding, work began in which the two friends wrote all of the messages that comprise the ‘answers’ to the myriad queries posed by those of us who use this divination tool. Voila! Well, not quite so fast. It took them three long years to complete this process, but during that time a deepening connection with their own ‘Source’ unfolded. It was really during the editing and revising portion of their work that they began to experience… “an upliftment unlike anything else we’d experienced before. We were being re-filled with the energies of the writing we’d produced, and experiencing all kinds of mysterious synchronicities manifesting in our daily lives that were all showing how connected we were to our Life experience and to Source and our angel guides and our Higher Selves. We then knew that if we were being affected by the messages we had been writing, we also knew that our friends and loved ones would too.”

I can certainly vouch for that. My husband and I consulted the Sourcerer, during the time we were snowed in, and found it to be completely inspiring and helpful. I’ve been a devotee of the I Ching and other divining tools for multiple years. This is one that I’m sure I will use again and again, and I encourage you to take a look and treat yourself to this easy to use divination tool with timeless wisdom.

Have a blessed Solstice and find yourself some magic!

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Mars in Libra for 8 Months! Part II by Genevieve Vierling

12/8/2013

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Celtic Mars by B.A. Vierling

As you read this, Mars has already entered Libra for nearly 8 months. In this article we’ll look at Mars in its relationship with some of the other planetary energies, especially those moving through the Cardinal signs: Pluto in Capricorn, Uranus in Aries, and Jupiter in Cancer. Then we’ll move on to look at possibilities for you personally as Mars either supports or challenges your own energies. We’ll look at the Mars Retrograde period, and finally the transit of Mars in the USA chart.

For a review of Mars in Libra, both its positive and shadow qualities, and how it impacts your own house/arenas, please read Part I published a couple weeks back.

First an outline of Mars passage through Libra now through July, 2014:

December, 2013: Mars enters on December 7th and moves to 11 degrees Libra by December 31st.

January, 2014: Mars from 11 degrees to 23 degrees of Libra

February, 2014: Mars is now slowing down from 23 degrees to 27 degrees of Libra

March, 2014: Mars turns Retrograde on March 2nd at 27 Libra 32 and ends the month at 22 Libra.

April, 2014: Mars Retrograde from 21 degrees to 11 degrees Libra. This IS the most critical month!!

May, 2014: Mars begins Retrograde at 11 degrees, turns Direct on May 20th at 9 Libra 02

June, 2014: Mars Direct begins at 9 degrees and ends the month at 18 degrees Libra.

July, 2014: Mars now speeding up begins at 18 degrees and leaves the sign at 29 degrees Libra on July 25th, 2014.

Mars in relationship with the other planets
The most important relationships are going to be with Pluto, Uranus, and Jupiter, all in Cardinal signs. These aspects are considered challenging and dynamic.

Mars in Libra is basically inconjunct both Neptune and Chiron during part of its passage. This is a waxing aspect requiring physical adjustments which will play out on the world stage possibly in terms of global and environmental changes, but perhaps also in terms of mass migrations of people displaced by wars, turbulence or increasing environmental catastrophes.

Mars in relationship to Saturn will be in its 12th house phase indicating release patterns of what can no longer be sustained or even endured (Saturn). This alone seems difficult for the collective unless there is a greater resolve to reflect and become more conscious through spiritual pursuits. The closer Mars moves toward Saturn the fewer egos there can be. Saturn in Scorpio in its lower manifestation may desire absolute control. Mars in this phase simply can not carry out that desire for renunciation and surrender are implied in this final phase before their next conjunction in August of 2014.

Mars square Pluto in Capricorn is also a waning square aspect implying the need to re-evaluate Pluto’s meaning and agenda. As I mentioned in Part I, Mars in Libra encourages the use of diplomacy and mediation rather than adversarial actions when power issues are on the table. The waning square aspect certainly encourages this even more. The key periods of time when the aspect is closest to exact will be end of December, 2013 into the New Year, the second half of April, 2014 when both planets are Retrograde, and finally mid-June of 2014 when Pluto continues to be Retrograde, but Mars is finally direct.

What are some of the possible meanings when Mars squares off with Pluto? The assertion of power with all of its possible obsessive/compulsive drives in tow could be one theme. The eruptions of buried rage, long suppressed both in individuals and in the collective could be another. The fight to survive may be a theme just as fighting to the death may accompany such a drive. Terrible acts of sadism accompanied by fanatical extremism is a grave danger especially when fueled by the collective unconscious, and most especially when there is a desire for revenge or domination adding toxicity to the fires.

Ouch! Can there be any positive actions or developments emerging from this Mars/Pluto duo? While we are combining passion with intensity perhaps courageous acts where the will is engaged consciously may help to transform what has become corrupted. Perhaps the development of decisive action based on right use of the will can access those deeper strata’s of immense and invisible strength to help right the wrongs now emerging everywhere. Where are those invincible Souls who wish to champion truth and justice for all? These will have to be brave warriors indeed! There are actually many already active and some of the ones I admire the most are visible in Eve Ensler’s organization 1 Billion Rising for Justice. Please try to read Zillah Eisenstein’s powerful article “Imagine a World with Justice”.

Mars opposite Uranus in Aries is considered a culmination phase; a full flowering of what began when Mars was in Aries conjoined to Uranus. This cycle began back in March of 2013, but of course Mars will also be triggering the longer cycles of Uranus square Pluto and their current relationships with Jupiter as well.

Just in terms of armed conflicts and attacks there was plenty going on in March in Central Africa, and the Middle East especially in Syria, Israel and Palestine, Iraq, Egypt, and Afghanistan, even Turkey. There were the increasing drone attacks in Pakistan, violence in parts of India, and conflicts in lower Malaysia. The drug wars in Mexico were also in the news. How will these conflicts evolve/resolve ahead?

The opposition will strongly occur at the end of December 2013, again towards the latter part of April, 2014 when Mars is Retrograde, and finally towards the last week of June, 2014.

What are some of the possible meanings when Mars opposes Uranus? Certainly unusual speed can characterize actions and reactions. Some of these actions may be uncontrollable while others are inspired and even guided by superb intuition. There may be rebellious acts of violence, and there may be sudden highly aggressive and violent eruptions by both individuals as well as groups. Certainly new technologies may be used to either violent or peaceful ends such as drones aimed to kill soft targets, or drones delivering medical supplies to difficult places. The fight for freedom will certainly run its course both in the streets and city squares and in the courtrooms. Mars and Uranus are a revolutionary duo; they are electrical by nature. Sparks will fly! Again, making love could be a whole lot more beautifully exciting than making war!

Mars square Jupiter will be in a waxing phase of high growth and even inflation. It kicks off exactly in the first half of January, 2014, repeats with Mars Retrograde in the third week of April, and never quite reaches exactness again as Jupiter gains speed ahead of Mars by June/July.

Some possible meanings of this dynamic configuration could be further fights for ideology everywhere erupting like the ‘Holy Crusades’, or attacking the beliefs of others. The urge to win at all costs may drive the stakes higher and higher as the players take greater and greater foolish risks. This could also become manifest in how people deal with money and economics. Bold and aggressive moves where the winner takes all could become rampant, especially when coupled with Uranus and Pluto in the mix.

More positive possibilities certainly do exist if there is no hubris involved. There could be successful fights for higher ideals should the struggles for justice and human rights be fought both locally and globally through legal means. The greater the honest conviction, the greater the commitment to fight the good fight. Promoting worthy causes may also gain momentum. Even new innovations and becoming entrepreneurial have a high chance of succeeding during times like these.

I ran nine charts month by month starting with December 8th when Mars is solidly in Libra for the first time. It’s not until January 1st, however, that we see the dynamic tension of Mars interfaced with the other Cardinal signs and the planets in them. This chart shows extreme tension manifesting in tight oppositions and squares with an enormous stellium in Capricorn to give even more clout to the challenges facing all of us on planet earth. My first thought is of Fukushima and the attempt to remove all those uranium rods. Will one small company succeed in such a monumental task? Why aren’t the nations of the world rallying to implore, convince, and even demand that Japanese pride capitulate for the greater good of all???? Shouldn’t this be a joint effort with the brightest and best scientists and engineers pooling their talents together to solve an enormous problem? This is one huge issue facing the planet and it is immanent! I encourage you to go to Stop Japan’s Fukushima Censorship and join with others to put pressure on those who can help to turn this in the right direction.

The second chart worth showing is for April 22nd, 2014 calculated for Washington DC where there is an EXACT CROSS aligning at 13 degrees of each sign. To truly go deeper into the meaning of this I highly encourage all of you to obtain access to the current The Mountain Astrologer December/January 2014 issue and read Tem Tarriktar’s most excellent article “Riding the Rapids through the Heart of the Uranus-Pluto Square” as well as Bill Herbst’s highly insightful article “Uranus-Pluto and the American Grand Cross”. It is pointless to be redundant in what these two have so expertly stated. We are living in momentous, unprecedented times. We absolutely can not afford to sleep at the wheel in 2014 for the combination of all four of these energies is volatile, explosive, disruptive, and potentially life-altering in the extreme.

Mars aspects to your Natal planets/energies
Those of you with some skill at interpreting your own natal chart and tracking transits should have no trouble spotting the hot spots as Mars moves back and forth through Libra and triggers your own energies. Pay attention especially to where the challenges are going to hit such as anything in Aries, Cancer, Libra, or Capricorn. Keep in mind that the ‘hard/challenging’ aspects are the most dynamic.

We have a nice Saturn in Scorpio trine Jupiter in Cancer going on to bring in some harmony and balance, but Mars in Libra will challenge that Jupiter. Those of your with Air planets or Fire planets may benefit without as much stress the Mars in Libra transit, though again you’ve got to factor in the opposition to Aries and even out-of-sign aspects.

For those of you less skilled or simply not interested in the labor of calculating all Mars transit positions coming and going in the next 8 months I will be doing this for all of my clients in their regular sessions. I will also be offering a special ‘Mars Report’ looking specifically at both Mars and the Cardinal Cross as it impacts your own life with an additional “Mars Transit Guide” accompanying it for your use with all Mars transits in the future. This offering is posted under my Services if you are interested.

In general, Mars tends to move rather quickly along spending usually two months in a sign, so the aspects worth noting are usually the conjunctions, squares, and oppositions to your own energies. This time around Mars will perhaps aspect a specific energy three times over the course of the eight months. That is an enormous trigger! In this case you may also want to factor in the softer aspects of sextiles and trines.

Mars Retrograde
Every two years Mars goes Retrograde in one particular sign. This time it will be in Libra. Two years hence it will be in Scorpio. I’ll probably write another shorter article at the beginning of the Mars Retrograde period because by then we’ll have a better idea of what it’s all about. As Mars retrogrades it is important to be more careful with how we use our energies. We truly have to get more thoughtful and more reserved, OR we pay the consequences!

Please note that Mars moves very fast forward to almost the end of the sign before finally turning Retrograde on March 2nd at the 27th degree of Libra. Then it moves backwards to the 9th degree before once again moving Direct on May 20th, 2014. So March, April, and May will be the definitive months in terms of Libran themes. Will right action, human rights, social justice, harmony and peace win the day? Will peaceful movements and diplomatic channels further move use towards unity in a good and positive way? Will we create a better world for future generations to come by harnessing our own good will and championing that which is the best of humanity rather than what is the worst of our natures? We are all called to some form of action in the months ahead. We can all be proactive rather than destructive or passive.

Mars as it transits through the United States map
I include the Exact Cross chart to show the arena where Mars will energize, trigger, and catalyze this nation’s chart. We can see that it is going to be spending most of its time in the 10th house. In Mundane astrology the 10th arena represents the President and his administration. It may also represent the actual government itself. This is also the arena of the nation’s reputation, credit and power. So there’s going to be a wallop of energy going on in this field especially as Mars activates Saturn in Libra in the nation’s chart andsquares the nation’s Sun in Cancer in the 8th house. Again, please read Bill Herbst’s very comprehensive article for a much fuller assessment of the underlying meanings and implications of what is beyond the scope of this one article.

In Mundane astrology the Sun is also representative of the President, his cabinet/administration and even the judges in high courts (Supreme Court possibly). Saturn, on the other hand, has come to represent land-owners and even farmers. Hmm. This country was first built by land-owners and small farmers, but is more or less now in the hands of big agri-business. Saturn also represents mines, coal and industries connected with metals and minerals. What about the ‘fracking’ industry?

What is going to happen as these areas get hit hard by both Pluto and Uranus and joined in 2014 by Jupiter and Mars? What is going to crack, implode, get triggered, get blown up ‘bigger than life’ and become intensified with the stress of revolutionary changes beyond anyone’s control? What indeed? The United States is entering a highly stressful time and this will partially continue through 2015. Mr. Herbst feels the orbs allow for basically all of 2013 through April of 2016.

With the nation’s Sun in either the 7th or 8th houses depending on house system foreign affairs, all relationships with other countries both friendly and hostile, including financial relationships are on the table. What is exactly the United State’s reputation now in the greater world? That will be triggered powerfully by Mars during the Cross line-up. The most exact trigger aspects of Mars to the USofA Sun/Saturn will be January 4th through 8th, April 19th through the 24th (Mars Retrograde), and finally June 16th through the 21st.

I agree with Mr. Herbst that the illusion of democracy in this country is no longer the reality. The plutocracy and its many secret layers have usurped most of the power of the people. This occurred more swiftly starting in the ‘70s and most especially, I feel, when the transit of Neptune crossed over the nation’s Moon in Aquarius (from the late ’90s through 2011) and lulled the general population to sleep via the media and recreational drugs.

These next 8 months Mars will be hammering home all the messages of Saturn in Libra for an entire nation. Is this truly a nation of equal rights for all where justice prevails irregardless of gender, race, or creed? Libra seeks to balance the scales. What will need to come more into balance? Before that can happen, what will become more and more obvious that is no longer in balance? We will be witnessing a great deal very, very soon. Perhaps some of us will be called to take action as well both here and abroad.

I wish this could be a more joyful article. I truly do. But sobering realities are upon us all and we best roll up our sleeves and tackle whatever the task is that Mars will present ahead for each of us in working towards a more peaceful, loving, and —-yes! —-joyful world.

Genevieve A. Vierling C.A.P.
Astrologer
www.bluelightlady.com

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Mars in Libra For Nearly 8 Months! Part I by Genevieve Vierling

11/30/2013

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That’s right. Mars will enter Libra on December 7th/8th and stay in that sign until July 27th; nearly eight months. How will you be impacted? What will be the best use of this energy for you? Let’s explore possible dynamics together. You’ll want to get your natal chart out and first look to see where the sign of Libra falls. That is the area of your life experience where Mars will act as catalyst, trigger, and energizer.

Here’s a quick guide to Mars through each house. Just use those three buzz words, catalyze, trigger, and energize to get an over-all feeling for how you’ll experience Mars wherever it moves.
1st House: YOU, your sense of identity, how you begin things
2nd House: Your values, your development of your resources and gifts, self-worth.
3rd House: Your attitude, mind-set, ways of relaying information, your peers/siblings, neighborhood, learning skills that later become automatic.
4th House: Your home, family, personal life, your deepest Soul self.
5th House: Your heart house of love, creativity, and children, not to mention enjoyment of life in general.
6th House: Your ‘daily grind’ house of work, health, habits, and routines
7th House: Others in your life, especially partners, the ‘Not Self’ house.
8th House: Merging with others, creating intimacy, going deeper into the mysteries, all the complexities of ‘money, power, and sexual’ issues.
9th House: Finally expanding out into the bigger spheres through travel, higher learning, and philosophy
10th House: Handling the world through your career and public life; your Highest Calling.
11th House: Moving in ever larger circles of groups, friendships, colleagues, as well as expanding forward into the future of your own hopes and dreams.
12th House: Now withdrawing from the outer world, renewing your connection with Spirit through contemplation, serving others, and gaining deeper understanding of the Whole.

Mars in Libra
Here are some guidelines to understanding how Mars may operate in Libra. Keep in mind that Mars naturally ‘rules’ the opposite sign of Aries, so the classic astrologers maintained that Mars was in ‘detriment’ in Libra. But I have good news for you. Paul Wright wrote an excellent article in The Mountain Astrologer’s June/July 2010 issue entitled ‘Astrology and Courage’.  He studied the Mars placement in 1,140 individuals registered as recipients of ‘The Victoria Cross’, Britain’s highest award for gallantry. He determined that ‘Mars does not appear to favor the signs in which it is traditionally considered strong. On the contrary Libra, the sign of Mars’ detriment, is the most heavily occupied……Mars in its detriment or fall, does not appear to equate to an individual who lacks courage.’
There you have it. Mars in Libra may be just what we need now to help us create a more peaceful, harmonious, and socially just world. Certainly you can use this energy towards those ends wherever it moves along in your chart for the next 8 months.

Libra favors diplomacy over adversarial tactics. Libra enjoys genuine socializing rather than isolationism. Libra is good at mediation where there are disputes. The strengths which Mars here can foster are fairness, ability to compromise, and cooperativeness. These are the types of actions we now need in a world mired in conflict.  Libra is an air sign and thus supports communication and peaceful co-existence amongst individuals and groups. This energy may help to improve racial issues, minority rights, women’s rights, labor rights, and individual rights. Libra desires to harmonize all polarities by evening the scales. The golden mean, balance, and justice are all the higher qualities of Libra. Mars here can champion those qualities. I think of the genuine Peace Movement as perhaps the highest political force that might be favored by Mars in Libra.

What vocations will be energized with Mars in Libra?  Here are just a few:
Marriage services and related industries such as match-making services, counseling services, event planning, etc.
Forming of partnerships such as LLCs
Politics—-oh yes!
Artistic work and artisans
Brokerage work and firms
The modeling industry
Hair and Beauty services
Modeling
Interior design
Social dancing! With real partners.
Perhaps you can think of other Libra-related vocations soon to be energized.

The darker shadow side of Mars in Libra
Oh, do we dare hope for nothing but pleasantries and lightness of being with Mars in Libra? Probably not. This world is right now full of too many corrupted messes and a real polarization between the forces of light and the forces of darkness. Mars in Libra can actually mean the opposite of diplomacy; it can mean war. Libra’s darker side is highly competitive. That old cliché of ‘the iron fist inside the velvet glove’ does fit rather tightly with the use of this sign in negative ways.

Watch for situations where strife, arguments, and ugly lawsuits are possible. Be aware of tactics which undermine true fairness, equality, and justice. Look to how you handle your own anger in situations which feel unfair. Remember, a blocked Mars may result in impotent rage which then goes underground or turns inward in highly destructive ways. It is important to constantly clarify ‘What do I want? What do I have to do to get it?’ Mars in Libra can be used effectively for powerful strategy if you are willing to face what is creating the anger and act according to the higher Libran principles.

The other major shadow of Libra is forever straddling the fence and simply not taking a stand on anything which often equates with shallow social etiquette masking disloyalty. Just because someone is playing nice to your face doesn’t mean they are truly on your side. Indecisiveness is also akin to the straddling the fence syndrome and it can drain incentive and stall real pro-active movements that need to take precedence when a crisis is at hand. Libra isn’t exactly known for taking risks, and sometimes right action must be willing to do so. We see this increasingly on the planet with the enormous catastrophes that are now occurring, and will continue to escalate with global warming. The political will is often lacking as the unwieldy bureaucracies within the social structures stall and delay the fast response necessary to save lives. This is where modern politics drives people to anger and great frustration over and over again as witnessed in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Sandy, and now Super typhoon Haiyan. Will Mars in Libra increase political stalemates or light a fire to get the job done? I think of COP 19 just ending in Warsaw and all the delegates who walked out due to the do-nothing, stalling tactics of the more developed nations in addressing climate change. Peru hosts the next summit. Will Mars in Libra take the right action by then?

There is much more to explore with Mars in Libra. In Part II I will cover the aspects Mars will be making, the Chart of the United States and how Mars in Libra will exacerbate the Pluto/Uranus square impacting the USA strongly in 2014, and the Mars Retrograde period within the 8 month passage. I will give you the dates to watch out for with this phase and how Mars will trigger and activate the Pluto/Uranus square in the months ahead.

Genevieve A. Vierling C.A.P.
Astrologer
www.bluelightlady.com

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Astrology and the Mystical/Healing Arts in Dublin, Ireland by Genevieve Vierling

11/3/2013

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Dublin Ireland

I recently had the joy and privilege of spending over two weeks in Dublin, Ireland with our daughter, Danielle, and her family which includes two of our precious granddaughters. Danielle, always the great promoter of my work, arranged for me to co-lead with her a Meditation Group on the New Moon in Libra, teach a class on Chiron, the ‘Sacred Wounded Healer/Teacher/Warrior’, and give a talk at The Buddha Bag on ‘Lucid Dreaming, Astral Travel, and Out of the Body experiences’ followed by a workshop on Dreaming at the Olive Tree Studio. In addition I gave private sessions to many fine Dubliners.

I would now like to share some of my impressions of the people of Dublin. I have done this in past blogs but this trip I noticed a decided awakening going on in many of the people I worked with. Many have decided to leave their jobs and even careers in government and corporate positions to become more independent in vocations involving healing work, even shamanic work. There is a revitalization of the mystical arts now flourishing in Dublin. Keep in mind that Dublin is comprised of people from all over Europe, America, and far-flung nations such as Iran and Australia. It is a very international city bursting with youthful and vibrant energy. In spite of the economic down-turn impacting the city there continues to be this swelling stream of conscious people who are hungry to learn and grow more deeply and fully in a spiritual sense.

I was also struck by how many more men are involved in these arenas now. My classes were equally attended by men and women. Perhaps this is because Danielle attracts both genders easily, but at the Buddha Bag I was struck that possibly 2/3rds of the nearly 60 people attending were men. Men are interested in lucid dreaming most certainly! Many of these men had experienced astral travel as well. How wonderful!

In terms of astrology, I met one special man named Nadasen Pillay who teaches Kundalini Yoga and has been studying and practicing astrology since he was a teenager, and many who were well versed in the terms and techniques of my craft. Another lovely man named Daniel is sort of like ‘Super Man’; an accountant by day and an astral traveler/healer by night. The women were impressive in their professional credentials including a medical doctor, and an educational administrator. I so thoroughly enjoyed each individual that I served and would love to know how each unfolds in their journey ahead for, like their counter-parts in America, many are at the cross-roads making major decisions that involve risk-taking and courage this coming year.

Danielle Vierling

Danielle is doing fine work on a multiple of levels in Dublin. For those of you unacquainted with her work please see her offerings at www.tarotreadingdublin.com. Her business card for Tarot Readings states ‘Heartfelt Truth and Intuitive Guidance’, but she wears many hats in her professional life. She starts a course inBeginners Astrology – Soul Truth Discovery on Tuesday Evenings beginning November 5th at the Restore Clinic at 67 Camden Street, Dublin 2. She also teaches courses in Tarot, Meditation, and Intuitive Development as well as her long-standing work in Synergy Dance.

She even teaches a wonderful children’s ballet class!

Here are some of the great centers Danielle is linked with or works out of:

Buddha Bag meeting room

The Buddha Bag at 8 Baggot Lane, Dublin 4 (086-157-9518) was founded by Paul Congdon, who is also the Publisher of a marvelous journal you can subscribe to on-line called Positive Life.

Paul Congdon

The Buddha Bag is a gathering hole for regular inquisitive seekers of all stripes. They host speakers from all over the world every Thursday evening. Paul is a great net-worker and makes you feel right at home either as a speaker or attendee at these events. It felt like talking in someone’s living room quite frankly! Perhaps that was because the people nearest the front can sit on comfortable bean bags! After these Thursday evening events many go on across the way to the very elegant Dylan Hotelto continue discussions and merriment into the wee hours.

The Buddha Bag also has yoga classes, healing circles, and a variety of wonderful events every single day of the year. Check them out on Facebook as well.

Olive Tree Yoga Studio

The Olive Tree Dublin at 15 Grantham St., Dublin 8, is another lovely venue where I was able to teach my classes and see clients privately. This is also where Danielle holds her regular Synergy Dance classes.

Estelle Birdy

Estelle Birdy (086-794-1624) is the Director as well as one of the Yoga instructors. Yoga, Pilates, Feldenkrais, and multiple Dance classes all go on here weekly. In addition there is a private treatment room for acupuncture, massage, Reiki, and Sound Therapy. And—yes!—there is actually a beautiful olive tree growing directly in front of this charming space.

Dublin Holistic Center

The Dublin Holistic Centre (is yet another venue which Danielle uses every week for her Polarity Therapy sessions (yes, she does that too!) and her New Moon Meditation evenings. This center is right in the heart of downtown Dublin and is a beautiful and serene oasis going up, up, up about four stories. Yes, it feels like a literal version of ‘stairway to the stars’ with each floor containing serene and beautifully decorated meeting and treatment rooms. Here all manner of classes and healing sessions go on including Pilates, Yoga, Mum & Baby Yoga, Meditation, Belly dancing, Qi Gong, Massage therapies, Natural Medicines, Bodywork, Beauty, Talking Therapies, Energy Healing, and Energy Psychology. Wow!

Stepping down to street level and even below is Accents Coffee and Tea Lounge located at 23 Stephen Street Lower, Dublin 2. Danielle gives mini-Tarot Readings here on Thursdays down in the very smartly stylish basement lounge where comfortable leather sofas abound. She always reserves the quiet corner where clients sip their tea and get soul truth readings simultaneously.

Before ending this tour of ‘Spiritual/Mystical Dublin’ I’m going to list a few delightful café’s that are inexpensive and serve up organic and delicious fares. They were all within walking distance of Danielle’s home.

The Cake Café’ located in a charming little courtyard, The Daintree Building, Pleasants Place, Dublin 8. Tiny but having plenty of tables and chairs in the courtyard for nicer weather, this place boasts wonderful baked goods along with tarts, stews, and delicious salads. I loved their Macha Green Tea Latte’.

Lennox Café’ Bistro at 31 Lennox St., Dublin 8 is more posh and you are served a very international cuisine in a stylish setting. Their soups are divine and the crab salad we had looked just like California cuisine.

Bibi's Cafe

Bibi’s Café’, 14 b Emorville Ave., Dublin 8, is right on the corner of a quiet residential neighborhood. They have taste treats for every palate from hardy to light and everything is beautifully presented including the carafe of water with cucumber and celery stalks wedged inside. They also have imported foods for sale.

Another thing I love about Dublin are all the tiny shops and delis that serve absolutely fresh AND organic foods. It is amazing how very many of them you find along one street. Organic is big now in Dublin and the surrounding towns. The larger super markets like Tesco feature ample sections of organic produce, and the variety of foods now available rival even a place like California.

St. Stephen Green

So if you are planning to visit Dublin, keep this list. I know your experience will be richer for it! And, as a final footnote; if you do want to visit Dublin Danielle and her husband, Francois, run anAirBnB at 15 Grantham St., Dublin 8. They live in an old three-story Georgian within walking distance of the downtown Center and Stephen’s Green Park. Francois makes the best French Crepes as a treat for their guests. You’ll love the ambiance and warmth of their very ‘Irish’ home!!

Genevieve A. Vierling C.A.P.
Astrologer
www.bluelightlady.com

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Autumn Equinox 2013: Mabon by Genevieve Vierling

9/14/2013

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In the yearly cycle of our Earth around the Sun we come to that special time of equal balance between light and dark now known as Mabon. This year the Sun enters 0 degrees of Libra on September 22nd here in the USA. Rightfully this should be a time of celebration and of thanksgiving for the bountiful harvest of all good fruits of the earth. Libra is a sign of sharing. Just as the Earth Mother in all her abundance shares generously with us, so may we share with each other and give back our thankfulness for the life we have been given.

This is a rich and multi-layered chart with much to commend it with all the yin signs in sextile with each other including that fertile Moon in Taurus. Preservation, conservation, and laying up the bounty of harvest for the winter months to come are implied in this map. For the sake of brevity, however, I’m only going to look at the Sun and its aspects.

The chart for this moment in time shows the on-going conflict of Pluto and Uranus putting added pressure on the sign of Libra which tries to bring a greater sense of equality, fairness, and balance to the mix of right by established might, as symbolized by Pluto in Capricorn, and the battle cry of individual freedom, as symbolized by Uranus in Aries. Adding further tension to the Cardinal dilemma is Jupiter in Cancer representing primary and basic needs for survival especially for the young, who need nurturing, and the old who are also vulnerable.

Looking at this Equinox chart as the outer ring to the Sibley Chart of the United States we see that the Sun in Cancer square Saturn in Libra is now becoming actively triggered by all of this Cardinal tension. Cardinal energy always wants action in some form. That is why with each turn of the yearly wheel from Equinox to Solstice the Cardinal energy has recently activated over and over again the tense Pluto/Uranus square which continues to bring to the forefront powerful energies of breakdown and change. In a collective chart, such as a nation, the Sun represents the executive head of State such as the President, while Saturn usually represents the administrative or governing body In this national chart there is a decided conflict between the two archetypal themes: Sun/Jupiter in Cancer square Saturn in Libra. As Jessica Murray states in her book Soul-Sick Nation, An Astrologer’s View of America,“America as a whole has real trouble understanding the interplay between expansion and contraction.”

With Pluto opposing the Sun increasingly, and Uranus edging ever closer to squaring the Sun, we see the pressure building and gathering intensity for something monumentally powerful to bring both a breakdown and even a revolutionary change to the executive branch of the United States government. Jupiter, of course, is emboldening the Sun and tending to blow everything up bigger than life. Beyond the Sun as representative of the acting head of state, it also represents a nation’s true purpose; thus we are alive and witnessing something at work here in a collective body that portends of the potential death and hopefully re-birth of a national purpose.

Saturn in Libra is impacted simultaneously with transit Pluto in square to it, and transit Uranus opposing it. What will be taking place within the organizational body of this nation in the year to come? What will be pressuring the very structure of the ‘Union’? Will it hold and last? These are burning questions in the hearts of many of us both within and without this nation.

The drama that is unfolding around the Syrian issue is remarkable. Every day as I write this article brings some new and startling development, the latest being President Putin’s op-ed in the NYTimes addressing all Americans. (Putin is a Libra Sun sign) I know this past week as the dark cloud of another potential conflagration and even war loomed over all of us I participated in a global prayer on September 7th with the vast and expanding community of The Shift Network Four spiritual leaders, James O’Dea, Zainab Al-Suwaij, Grandmother Flordemayo, and Sister Jenna, plus Stephan Dinan prayed for peace, reconciliation, and a unified resolution between world leaders and the crisis in Syria. They even had a global map on the site so you could see where everyone was who either called in or went on-line for the communal prayer. They opened the prayer line to the participants on the phone and those prayers were amazing and uplifting as well. This kind of collective participation gives me great hope, because I do believe in the power of prayer especially when amplified by many gathering together as one large force field of positive energy. Please, if you feel called to do so, join Mr. Dinan’s network.

So here’s another paradox amidst the wonder that we are living with today: the inter-net is this enormous web. Right? It enables you to read my blog and it enables me to connect with most anyone in the world who posts something on it. It also enables organizations such as the NSA to gather every scrap of sharing and information that we people post and open it up and read or listen in if they so choose without real over-sight. Yet, the power of thought forms and deeper spiritual connections are also being strengthened by this new technology so that a ‘brave new world’ is unfolding for good or ill. The outcome is still hanging in the balance.

Let’s now look more closely at this Equinox chart and the major Solar configurations impacting all of us:

Sun square Pluto: Powerful and deeply intense forces are at work now to plunge us into the underworld of both ourselves and the collective. Like Persephone being abducted into the land of Hades, this time of year automatically warns us in the Northern Hemispheres that it is time to prepare for the longer nights and colder days to come.

Persephone Queen of the Underworld
Artist: Kinuko Y. Craft

Persephone, however, represents a part of ourselves which may gain further treasures by descending into the shadow realm. There are treasures to be recovered in going deeper into the mysteries. Where in your life may this be occurring? Pluto demands that we release what we are attached to that may be holding us back from moving into something new. Plutonian times in ones life are never a waltz in the park, but they are often when we get in touch with core strengths and even core values. So if Pluto is working in your life, breath with it and continue to let go.

What area in your chart is Pluto breaking down in order for some type of renewal to occur later on? And where is the Sun in Libra shining? In the US chart Pluto is straddling the 2nd house of resources and values while the Sun is about to enter the 10th arena of position in the world where Saturn sits. “Big Daddy of the World” as Ms. Murray states may be in for some type of major challenge. Perhaps it already is!

Sun opposite Uranus:  This is wide at the Equinox but will reach exactness by October 3rd. Oppositions always imply relationships and awareness. If you can respect another for their individuality and their need for equality, and also ask that they respect yours, this can truly be a liberating period of time. If it feels that such a balance does not exist then blow-ups may occur to awaken and jolt awareness into the equation. Uranus now in Aries raises the ante where all individual rights are concerned. We are seeing this globally and near at hand. Activism is greatly on the rise even in the face of annihilation. The battle cry of freedom is rising. Uranus in Aries may also be the acting out of highly self-serving and lawless people. It can be dangerous and erratic energy. Awareness of craziness is important right now.

Look to where Uranus in Aries is moving through your chart and look again at the opposite side of your chart where Libra is. This is where you may be able to awaken to greater awareness now, even as you maintain flexibility to handle whatever shock waves of change are surging through your energy field.

Sun quintile (72 degrees) Jupiter:  This aspect will peak around October 12th and can indicate a time of creative wisdom in the effort to solve issues of equality and fairness, or a harboring of destructive urges where ego-serving scenarios are continuing to play out. The key quality to be alert to and avoid is arrogance.

Sun mid-way between Mars in Leo square Venus in Scorpio:  Oh my! This is quite an armful of highly charged energy. What comes to my mind is simply ‘make love, not war’. Both placements indicate passionate qualities and, with the Sun in Libra mid-way at 45 degree angles to both, there is much tension and pressure at work to stay in balance.  Not necessarily easy.

This Equinox shows no harmonious or easily flowing aspects between the Sun and the other planetary bodies. Thus the next three months are likely to be tense ones indeed.

Grand Trine in Water:  This on-going triad between several planets in each of the water signs continues with Jupiter in Cancer, North Node/Saturn/Venus in Scorpio, and Neptune/Chiron in Pisces still connected. Emotions will undoubtedly run high through September. By October this Grand Trine is dissipating as Jupiter moves beyond a trine orb with Neptune and Chiron. Still, that nice trine between Jupiter and Saturn shows a great potential for ‘balance’ between the principle of expansion (Jupiter) and contraction (Saturn). This is always a great aspect to have in a natal chart because the native will likely show these traits in their character and potentially be great in any business matter.

The continuing trine between Saturn in Scorpio and Neptune/Chiron in Pisces is also indicative of energies supporting lasting healing. Chiron represents a bridge as well. How many oppositions can you think of that might benefit from a bridge from one side to the other? That might be a great exercise to do. Write out all the seeming polarities in your life and world that you would like to see bridged so that greater unification may occur. Look to Chiron in Pisces to be the place where that principle of oneness is going to be the most powerful in your own chart/energy field.

Mercury turns Retrograde on October 21st:  Prepare now for this thrice-yearly turning inwards/backwards of mercurial activities. By the 21st Mercury will be at 18 degrees of Scorpio. It enters Scorpio on September 29th and enters the ‘zone’ of repetition by October 1st at 2 degrees of Scorpio. In other words, Mercury moves from 2 degrees to 18 degrees of Scorpio back and forth between October 2nd through November 27th. That is nearly two months worth. The actual retrograde period always lasts three weeks; this time being October 21st through November 10th.

So mark on your chart where those degrees hit and pay heed to the area you must work carefully with during those two months. If it’s in your second house it might be money matters. Will it be in your 6th house? Then it might be your work/health matters and looking more carefully at all of your daily routines. Perhaps it will fall in your 11th house; a good time to re-examine your goals for next year and to look carefully at all of your affiliations with friends and groups.

Here’s a run-down of key dates to take note of astrologically as these next three months unfold:

September 20th:  Pluto turns Stationary Direct at 9 degrees of Capricorn

October 1st:  Sun squares Pluto

October 3rd:  Sun opposite Uranus

October 8th:  Venus enters Sagittarius

October 12th:  Sun squares Jupiter

October 15th:  Mars enters Virgo

October 18th: Lunar Eclipse with Moon at 25 Aries 45 and Sun at 25 Libra 45

October 21st:  Mercury turns Stationary Retrograde at 18 degrees of Scorpio

November 3rd: Annular and Total Eclipse of the Sun at 11 Scorpio 16

November 10th:  Mercury turns Stationary Direct at 2 Scorpio 30

November 13th:  Neptune turns Stationary Direct at 2 Pisces 35

November 25th:  Chiron turns Stationary Direct at 9 Pisces 08

December 7th:  Mars enters Libra where it will stay until July 26, 2014. (More on this later!)

I’m going to conclude this article with some quotes that either seem appropriate for this time and/or were said by some noteworthy Librans:

“When will our consciences grow so tender that we will act to prevent human misery rather than to avenge it.”  Eleanor Roosevelt

“I’ve never lost perspective on who I am. Well, maybe briefly, but generally I’m pretty balanced.” Sting

“Imagine all the people living life in peace. You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. I hope someday you’ll join us, and the world will be as one.” John Lennon