This week I found myself time traveling. Astrologers can do that, you know. I animated my natal chart so that I could watch the movement of transiting planets over the chart as I clicked the “forward” button. I’ve played this little game before, but it’s been a while and I was wondering about the timing of the next Pluto-Uranus opposition, and whether it would hit any major points in my chart. Yes, indeed it will — if I am still alive.

Photo by graywacke/A Landing a Day

One of the first things I tell people during a tarot or astrology reading is that I don’t predict the future and I cannot tell them what to do.

I believe that astrology and tarot are excellent predictors of spiritual and emotional trends, and that free will comes in when we decide how to act based on those trends.

The interplay of fate and free will is such a tightly orchestrated little dance, I don’t like to give the divination tools too much power. I also believe it’s important not to ignore them altogether.

As someone who has a whole bunch of planets grouped together in fixed signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius), any time a slow-mover like Saturn or Pluto trudges through one of them I tend to experience a whole lot of change. Being able to see that there will come a time, in that far off place I call my fifties, when Pluto is on my Descendant and Sun at the same time as it opposes transiting Saturn on my ascendant helps me to contextualize what I’m going through now as a kind of preparation for that later phase.

I’ve also joked at times about quitting astrology until a given transit is over. Just ignoring it for a bit. The temptation to project all kinds of fear or anxiety over a set of symbols can be tempting. The gift of being able to prepare, however, is such a blessing. There is so much to be understood about that fear and anxiety, and such a delicate balance between staying aware of it and manifesting it.

The increased awareness that tools such as astrology can facilitate now brings to mind the question of fate versus free will. It allows us to understand and sometimes amplify our fears, especially those that manifest as recurrent patterns. My personal goal has been to be careful not to frame this as victimization, but rather in a way that underscores potentialities and tools for healing. I rest assured that my soul somehow had a say in the challenges I’d be facing in this life, and most of the time that’s helpful.

A few months ago, I kept coming across a thread on the interwebs that was spawned by a discussion between two astrologers. It appeared as if one was arguing that when ‘bad’ things keep happening to a person, it is an indication that they are less evolved. That’s a pretty rough paraphrase, but his comments sparked some pretty intense debate.

I found myself laughing at the audacity it takes to claim to understand someone else’s evolutionary path in hierarchical terms, even though I sometimes find myself referring to ‘consensus’ reality — the reality of those living in the normal 9-5 grind, watching prime time television, eating whatever the heck they want, never questioning the system, and happy (at least seemingly so) to play by the rules — in a way that evokes the same kind of divisions.

But the idea that those who struggle in their evolutionary journeys are somehow doing it wrong or less aware does not sit well with me. In fact, who am I to judge anyone’s path at all?

It seems that there is something inherently challenging and confrontational about the act of learning about one’s own astrological chart. Don’t we have to confront and trudge through our shadow material in order to learn to work with it? Isn’t that process at the root of astrological work, at least in some forms?

I’m reminded of a passage from Rudhyar’s Astrology and the Modern Psyche, which I have re-read now several times. In it, he discusses the ways in which in-depth examination of one’s own natal chart forces the potentialities of our individual paths to the surface, intensifying both the ‘good’ qualities as well as the ‘evil.’ He says:

“…as human beings are usually more struck by and respond more crucially to the ‘bad’ than to the ‘good,’ if a person strives after self-knowledge by studying his birth-chart with an intense belief in the validity of astrology, this study very often leads to an intensification of Karmic confrontations. This is as it should be; for this intensification of pain and tragedy through the focusing of Karma is an inevitable part of the process of purification and purgation (catharsis) of the ego. And this process is the first manifestation of the fact that the ‘education to personality’ is gaining momentum and becoming effective.”

This basic notion — that intense study of one’s chart increases the potentialities of the chart — also indicates that the ‘bad’ or ‘evil’ is particularly brought to the surface because we tend to be more comfortable with the good. Therefore the more harrowing, shadowy or perhaps just yucky stuff constellates in our psyches, finding room to express there and throughout our lives.

This passage in Rudhyar’s book is followed by a discussion of something Jung once wrote, which has to do with the fear that so many humans feel when trying to locate or listen to their inner voice. Jung gives credence to this fear by pointing out that the inner voice is something that can bring us in contact with the shadow. By guiding us towards our true calling or path, much in the way an astrological chart can, it also brings us in contact with our fears and our shadow.

Honoring that fear is part of the work. That’s why, whenever I meet someone who learns what I do and expresses interest in having a reading, I give them my contact information but I don’t push. I wait for them to reach out to me, indicating their readiness.

As much as I believe the survival of our species is dependent on people accessing and working with tools for consciousness such as astrology, I also know that at its most potent it can open windows to the soul that sometimes aren’t for the faint of heart. Although I suppose everything happens in the right time and place.

So while I’m grateful to be able to do some time traveling, I also hold the power of that spark of knowledge with lot of reverence because it isn’t a matter of fortune telling and parlor tricks for me — it’s a way of tuning into the soul and working with what is found there in a way that gets us in touch with that divine spark.

By Judith Gayle | Political Waves

Jimmy Carter may not have been the most productive president of the last century, but I doubt that few took their responsibility more seriously or had more faith in the cause of democracy. Like Obama, he inherited a nation torn by final instability and marked by growing distrust of government.

Running as an outsider and truth-teller, he remained both during his one-term presidency, which was likely his downfall. The American public preferred the manufactured optimism of Warner Bros. contract player, one-time union rep and former-Democrat, Ronald Reagan, who — despite all indicators — insisted it was “morning in America” (cue the extras and hit the Klieg lights!).

Jimmy is something of a futurist, a man of positive vision. Where would we be today, I wonder, if we had taken his advice, put on a sweater, turned down the thermostat and learned to conserve energy? His decision to put solar panels on the roof of the White House speaks volumes about his sense of stewardship of  the planet, as did Reagan’s decision to remove them.

Jimmy was green before it was fashionable, and Kermit had that right: it ain’t easy being green. There was something else Jimmy showcased, even when he took hits for it. James Earl Carter is a shining example of mid-20th century Christianity, at its best.

Carter’s announcement this week of melanoma metastasized to his brain is a death knell, not unexpected in a man of 90 years, but it still brings a lump to my throat and a stinging rush of tears. We need more like him in this world, not fewer.

Like the Pope, the Dalai Lama, and others who have practiced their faith to the point of certainty, Jimmy’s dedication to the advancement of humanity, delivered with characteristic and unshakable humility, defines him. He and Rosalynn have spent the majority of their lives in service to others.

When asked if he had regrets about his presidential performance, he had this to say:

“I wish I had sent one more helicopter to get the hostages, and we would have rescued them and I would’ve been re-elected. But that may have interfered with the foundation of the Carter Center. If I had to choose between four more years and the Carter Center, I think I would choose the Carter Center.”

The enormous good that Jimmy Carter has done for the world is, as the gentleman says, more important than his presidential legacy, and isn’t that what we’d expect of him? Truly, what he has accomplished globally would never have been allowed nationally, and that is one of those ah-ha! moments we need to acknowledge as we track this man’s career.

Presiding over one’s nation requires a competitive edge that precludes doing good across the board, and not much has changed since Jimmy was in office. As a CEO is obligated to profit, the American president is expected to play a zero-sum game like a champion going for the gold. The popularity of Donald Trump’s brutish brand of capitalism in place of statesmanship illustrates our continuing — and archaic — devotion to ‘exceptionalism.’

Fortunately, past presidents have the ability to move in broader circles, capture public attention for the greater good, and represent an international agenda. If they will. Some, like our Dubby, keep to themselves, but not Jimmy. He has decades of statesmanship to his credit.

Read about the Carter Center’s amazing work eradicating and controlling disease, and promoting civil rights at this link.

While you’re at it, juxtapose the Clinton Foundation’s admirable work in treating AIDS patients worldwide, while making no complaint against the outlandish cost of drug cocktails supplied by Big Pharma. Both foundations do good work, but only one is politically “connected,” as they say.

In a season when economics take center stage once again, with staggering levels of income inequality and government not trusted, Hillary may well come to envy the Carter Center’s track record and ethical standing.

I can’t say that the 39th President did everything right back in the days of Billy Beer, but I will pledge my oath that I always felt his heart was in the right place. I think the years since stand in testimony of that truth, and I hope he feels the love, in these last months of his life. Here’s a cartoon with the warm hug we wish him.

Jimmy is still an outsider, all these years later, hated on the right and avoided by many in his own party. Why? Open this link and admire the raw courage it takes for a former Commander-in-Chief to tell it like it is. A truth-teller in Washington, D.C. has few friends. But a peacemaker, a healer, a man willing to roll up his sleeves and win hearts and minds with sweat equity? He is beloved by millions.

In a press conference this week, Carter was calm and relaxed discussing his cancer, saying that he was “looking forward to a new adventure.” I can pretty much assure you he wasn’t talking about the four rounds of chemo ahead. In a nation terrified of death, Jimmy is, once again, modeling a faith and positivity that should instruct us all.

To the only U.S. president who did not wage war during his time in office, I send my thanks, my admiration, and my prayers that his coming adventure provides him reward for the love and compassion he extended to his fellow travelers here on Planet Terra. He’s one of the good ones. May all the kindness and mercy he set in motion gently lift him up and take him home.

(A word about last week: I’m again without a computer, tippy-tapping this on my tablet. Last Friday, I lost my piece at the last minute and I apologize to all you Saturday morning readers for the blank space where it should have been. I’ll do my best not to let that happen again!)

Astrology isn’t worth much unless it’s applicable in and to your life. Assuming you agree with that assertion, the question of how to make astrology applicable depends on what your life consists of. Change is very possibly the only constant in life, so that’s one thing. Also, carrying on with your life does seem to require self-awareness possessed both of and by a physical body.

Hence, your life in this material world might to be said to at least include change and possession as fundamental constituents. Possession in this, our material world, must likewise include a relationship with tangible things.

In astrology, tangible things correlate closely with the four elements: fire, earth, air and water. Among those four, earth could reasonably be considered the most tangible element.

Change is something that takes place over time, and time is anything but tangible. For astrologers, change might be said to correspond with the three qualities: cardinal, fixed and mutable. Of those three, mutability would logically be considered the most change-able quality because (as Eric noted in a recent podcast) it can best and most often evince something of the other two.

Each of astrology’s twelve signs is distinguished in part from the other eleven by a unique combination of element and quality. After the Sun enters Virgo shortly after 6:37am EDT (10:37:14 UTC) on Sunday, the solar emblem of consciousness will be expressing through the one and only sign that combines earth with mutability.

Each of the signs is also distinguished in part by a ruling planet. Mercury rules Virgo. Virgo is also where Mercury is exalted. Indeed Virgo is the only sign which doubles down in that way. Since one of the ways Mercury manifests in your life is as mind and the means by which mind makes itself known, solar Virgo is an appropriate time to be aware of, think about and discuss change, possession and your relationship with both.

At first, the combination of mutability with earth might appear to be a contradiction. The same might be said for the combination of change and possession, but that would be over-simplifying things. Granted, one does customarily construct a building’s foundation on the ground rather than in the air, on a fire, or in the water. But earth in the elemental sense entails more than just the ground under your feet.

Earth as a planet and in the elemental sense is a dynamic thing. Earth as a planet is the field upon which change plays out in your life. Earth in the elemental sense is also what change acts upon so as make the intangibility of time evident. Hence, possession on Earth is not really owning stuff, it’s owning your place in a dynamic. Indeed, ownership of tangible things (including your body) is ultimately among the most fundamental of over-simplifications.

Ultimately, all tangible things are shared. Your body is not a static thing; it is a dynamic thing. Energy, solids, air and water all pass through your body. With few exceptions, the material that makes most of your physical being turns over and is replaced many times in the course of your life. Ultimately, and without exception, every last atom is returned to the physical realm when your life is over.

You bring no tangible things, including your body, into this world with you – it is all acquired here. Neither do you leave this world with your body or any other tangible things. All you leave with is what you have done while acting as a custodian.

Hence, the greatest form of possession is to consciously own any changes you bring about by what you do with your body and other tangible things while you are here. Likewise, the most lasting and meaningful changes are made not on the material world and its things, but with them on yourself.

The essentials of change and possession are thus fundamental to the mutable earth that is Virgo, and all the things that Virgo can be construed to mean. This year, that essence will be symbolically encountered by the Sun in Virgo as never before in your life.

For this year, very shortly after the Sun enters Virgo it will conjoin with Jupiter to amplify the essence. Furthermore, as it applies to conjoin with Jupiter, the Virgo Sun will simultaneously oppose the centaur object Nessus, retrograde in Pisces. In the words of Cam Hassard, Nessus correlates with the “complex interplay of causes and effects.” And it is largely through your engagement with possession and change that cause and effect are manifested in the world.

That combination of aspects (Sun opposing Nessus while moving to conjoin Jupiter) upon the Sun’s ingress to Virgo is without precedent in your lifetime. Hence, the initiation of solar Virgo this year will apply to your life as at its most fundamental as never before in your experience. Of course, you have a place in all of this. Your place is to make it real.

To make it real you need to become a part of this historically significant solar ingress to Virgo. Cause and effect begin with you. In order for the astrology to apply to you, you must apply yourself. It means applying yourself and all you possess with conscious awareness and mindful intent. Not to change the world, but to change yourself into the best agent of cause and effect you can be. That’s how astrology works. That’s why it will be good to be alive when the Sun enters Virgo this year.

Offered In Service

Len is available for astrology readings. You can contact him at lenwallick [at] gmail [dot] com.

By Amanda Painter

Esteemed astrologer Robert Hand has described squares between the Sun and Saturn with this question: “How much self-gratification do you owe yourself, and what duties and responsibilities do you owe others?” You very well may be grappling with this question, especially if you’re in the Northern Hemisphere, and are only now getting around to some form of “summer vacation.”

HIggins Beach, Scarborough, Maine. Photo by Amanda Painter.

The late-Leo Sun is square Saturn in Scorpio now, and the aspect is exact tomorrow (Friday) at 7:40 pm EDT (23:40 UTC). Chances are you’ve been feeling its influence all this week.

With the signs involved, “self-gratification” in the form of play, creativity, pursuits that hearken back to childhood, and perhaps some desire to have a bruised ego stroked may form one side of the equation. On the other side you’re likely noticing questions of financial stability or limitation; the boundaries (real or perceived) of sexual energy and sharing; and the need to see what has truly changed in those areas in the last two years (and last few months).

For many people, the very mention of responsibility, authority and limits calls to mind baggage-laden images of restrictive parents, domineering or punitive employers, and a long list of “shoulds” guaranteed to dampen one’s mood. Or it might kick up a streak of rebelliousness if you have made a habit out of defining yourself in opposition to anyone who has ever tried to tell you what to do.

None of that is much fun. In fact, it is downright energy sapping. It can even influence people to self-sabotage their own goals. If you take refuge only in self-gratification without taking any responsibility whatsoever — whether for your own emotional reactions, your desires, or the effort you need to make to get from Point A to Point B as an adult — it’s hard to get very far in life.

Same with taking responsibility for the ways you may project negativity onto others who you perceive to hold power over you. Often when we feel powerless in the face of authority, we’re actually projecting our own negative perceptions of a situation onto the authority figure we’re dealing with, rather than seeing the power we truly have or the ways we’re holding ourselves back.

As children, often we do not have much power; as adults, we can carry that child-parent dynamic with us, when it has longed ceased to serve us. So how do you deal with that if you’re facing it now? How do you find the balance between self-gratification and your adult duties and responsibilities?

Step one is to check your assumptions about the things being required of you that you don’t feel like doing. Are they really that bad/boring/wasteful/time-consuming/difficult/pointless, etc? Is there truly nothing valuable you can gain from doing it? Does it contribute to a greater whole in ways you have not thought about yet?

Another step, again suggested by Robert Hand, is to see if you can convert your sense of impatience with any restrictions into self-discipline. That sounds great — but how the heck do you do that? Last I checked, nobody had invented a self-discipline magic wand. Imagine how different the world would be if someone had.

What is ‘self-discipline’, anyway? Is it really just forcing yourself to do what you don’t want to do? Or is it more like allowing yourself to find some spark of childlike wonder, play or learning in what needs to be done — curiosity mixed with satisfaction in accomplishment?

That sounds simplistic; perhaps in some situations it is. But in researching the astrology to write this, I was reminded of this little deck of inspirational cards that used to be at my former chiropractor’s office. I forget the name of the deck and of the man who created them, but one of the cards stands out to me. It said something like:

“Do only what brings you joy. If that is not possible, find joy in all that you do.”

Again, that sounds simplistic, but I think it holds a valuable key to Sun square Saturn and this question of taking responsibility, yet enjoying life. So often, how we feel about what must be done — and getting ourselves to do it — just comes down to perspective. A perspective of opening ourselves to curiosity, learning, accomplishment and generosity goes a long way to being able to find joy in one’s duties, as well as in the activities that we do for our own pleasure.

And yes, sometimes it takes more than a blog post to get us there. Therapy is a valuable tool in getting out from under the shadowy thumb of whoever used to wield power in our lives. A reality-check conversation with your most motivated friend could help you pick that lock, too.

One final note about the Sun in Leo square Saturn in Scorpio: moving right along with the Sun as it finishes in Leo and enters Virgo Sunday is the asteroid Eros. Eros is named for the god of love and erotic energy.

This is a good time to practice taking responsibility for your own orgasm, pleasure, libido and self-love. If that isn’t the perfect merging of self-gratification, responsibility, love and joy ever, I don’t know what is.