Remember the controversy two weeks ago involving how the zodiac is allegedly wrong? While on the one hand it’s a complex technical issue describing how the Eastern and Western zodiacs align, the solution to the riddle that astronomers put out has a simple attribute — the zodiac we use here is based on the changing of the seasons. This is a dependable time-measuring tool, and it also tells the story of our lives.
February begins with a stunning New Moon in Aquarius on Feb. 2. This time of year is called Imbolc, or the Midwinter holiday of Celtic times. This is one of the most potent energy points of the year, a kind of acceleration point on the way into springtime. The word Imbolc means ‘in the belly’. It’s like the spiritual child within is, day by day, becoming stronger and closer to being an independent critter. Many of the horoscopes below have themes that feel like rebirth, contacting creative passion and nourishing the deeply concealed child within.
Last week’s ‘Your Sign Is Wrong’ hoax that spread like feathers at a pillow fight was a rare trip through the news for the craft of astrology. Every now and then our old profession gathers a little attention, usually due to a misunderstanding or a prediction someone has made. Once it happened because a president’s wife was discovered to have been using an astrologer. This time, once again, it was because an astronomer announced that the dates for the Sun signs were wrong. The whole show added up to an interesting social experiment.
In the wake of the shootings in Tucson nearly one week ago, the focus of the discussion is on the political causes and implications of the incident. There are many, though what’s also clear is that there are issues below the issue, such as the deep frustration, rage and mistrust that would lead to a nationwide spike in sales of Glock 9mm pistols this week — the same kind used by suspect Jared Lee Loughner.
The strange sequence of events I described in Friday’s edition was actually pointing to something bigger, which we learned about Saturday morning in Tucson. Thousands of birds falling out of the sky, fish floating to the surface of the water and many other odd developments, all surrounding an eclipse of the Sun — pointing to a political assassination — was reminiscent of something you might read in a Medieval astrology textbook. But it was happening right in our time.
