now?

Well, we have gotten through the most tiresome of the retrogrades, and now we are encountering the ones which tie in with global trends.  It seems to me that it is mighty important these days not to manifest the collective archetypes that we are constantly bombarded with in the news and the entertainment press if we are to contribute to a rise in global consciousness.  Can we please cease all this mud wrestling, cage fighting and misery vendettas, there has been enough.  We have the support of the Cosmic cycles at this time to attune to harmony building, reconciliation and creative solutions.  This begins with the hard task of facing ourselves, seeing how we got where we are, and being willing to do what it will take to get somewhere else.  This time is not about gaining access to more on the material, though that may be part of it, if it is the goal, it is likely to fall short.  This is about acquiring vision and building a solid interior foundation.  Foundations, not battlements.  August 8th is Astrological Lughnasad, a time when we give thanks and begin the preparations for the harvest.

Here we go again, Mercury will be turning retrograde on the 7th of June, [2014] after a brief respite.  Mercury, as I have said, has to do with connections, this ranges from nervous system, networks, whatever you use to get to the store or work and back with [on or in] and contracts.  Notably, during the last 3 weeks of June, great ideas abound, but have a hard time getting off the ground.  Delays, delays.  The full Moon this month is in Sagittarius, a real swinging from the chandelier kind of moon, but with a retrograde Mercury ruling connections, that chandelier could fall.  Make sure it's hanging from a low ceiling.
Mars, who has something to say about how we all go about getting our needs met is moving sloooowwwly through a sign he is unhappy expressing himself through to begin with.  Hard to go and get what you want when misunderstanding and diplomacy is demanded.
That's all fine though, if you can work with it, float downstream and not fight for your position more than is reasonable.  Notice I said "reasonable"?  That's the key.  June is not beginning the summer with a bang, save that for July, it is a month of clean up, preparation, reconnecting and revisiting.  Whatever you want to do, put "re" in front of the verb, and you will be fine [probably].

Retrograde rage or irritation and impatience.

As we come up on the Full Moon this April, we also approach the coming together of many dynamics that have been brewing for some time.  Trouble is out there if you are looking for it, Mars is Retrograde, and if you think Mercury retrograde is a pain in the ass happening 3 times a year for 3 weeks, be glad that this time of boomerangs with razor blades only happens every couple of years.  It lasts for 6 weeks though, and will be with us until the third week of May.  It is a call to clean up how we go about getting our needs met and actions taken in defense of dearly held positions, this time, it acts out in the area of contractual relationships, agreements and really, whomever we have in our lives that we project our needs onto.
We are coming up on the big grand cross that astrologers are talking about, Mars is involved with some of the planets that have to do with collective and generational movements and awakenings.  Jupiter, the big magnifier of all things  has a hand in making any problem look enormous and bringing on too much at once.  This could be a profoundly emotional time for all of us, this "convergence" of energies will be impacting the chart of the US as well, so be prepared for some news of more corruption coming to light as well as some amazing technological breakthroughs.  For us mere individuals, the alchemical drawing out of our own impurities is happening at this time, at the level of mind.  Such a great opportunity to drop an old pile of useless  crap and move on

I'm choosing this time to come back to writing this blog, Mercury has gone direct, this morning, Mars is about to turn retrograde, so while communications are unsnarling, the ways in which we go about getting our needs met are up for reevaluation over the next couple of months.  One of the ways this may manifest for people is unexpected spurts of temper in relationships at times when diplomacy might be more appropriate.
We begin the month with a New Moon in Pisces, and if you live in New England, this will mean that the next month's cycle of attention will be focused on what we have, what we value, and more obliquely, the standard we identify with.  A new Moon in Pisces means this is going to come to us through a more intuitive than an active process.  Pay attention to dreams, and the messages they are bringing to consciousness about money and prosperity and your relationship to both.  They are not the same thing.
The coming full moon, in 2 weeks will be the chance to take all that has come up and retune it toward a more appropriate way of handling finances for our present lives.

Super moon

This up coming full Moon will appear to be huge because it will be closer to us. The Moon has so much to do with our habits and every day rhythms, our bodies and our feelings that all the things we take personally will heightened for us. The Moon is in Scorpio and Sun in Taurus, both signs a little sybaritic and inflexible, so people will have to tap into the help available from the ongoing grand trine {Mars, Jupiter and Pluto] to stay in a place of balance and truth. Truth begins at home, like many things, and this Full Moon of this year of numerous powerful planetary harmonics and dynamics is a fulcrum for our movement to a clearer knowledge of ourselves and our place in the world. Most simply, no human is at the center, but all are connected to it

New Year coming..

Not long now, the Moon is Void of Course for about another 1/2 hour, and then moves into the sign of Aquarius.  Good for shaking off whatever was lurking over the last week, but remember that anything you start in the next couple of days is going to experience a long road of work winding up fizzling out in confusion.  If I were you, I'd wait and give the dust time to settle.
 In about 3 days the energy will pick up and be supporting productivity until around the 3rd week of January when Mars turns retrograde.
Have I talked about retrogrades?  They aren't used as such in Vedic astrology because it's a different system of cycle measurement, but in Western, or Tropical, or what most Westerners think of as astrology, retrogrades are the time when the relative orbits of the Earth and some planet are at their closest proximity.  The effect can be a distilled dose of the energy represented by that body.
 Mars on the level of personal astrology has a lot to do with how we get our needs met.  When Mars is retrograde, [ happens every couple of years for about 6 weeks] we get the chance to review how we do that, and also what we are driven by.  It can be a very valuable time or a bloody uncomfortable one.

The turning of the Light

In 5 days the Northern hemisphere gets the gift of the longest night.  There is magic in the feeling of change.  Many are uncomfortable with change, but for millennia it has been celebrated, ritualized and honored.  One way that could be seen is another attempt on the part of humans to believe in control over events.
The night of the Solstice is an energetic portal, one of 8. It releases powerful energies into the global consciousness and supports forward movement for us all.
In the cycle of the astrological year, this door is #7, and can be seen as an opportunity to spend some time in your own interior to decide how you will flow with this surge of energy.  This involves being honest about what kind of life you want and what the price is for that.  Winter is for more than surviving the cold and pushing for more social engagement.  It is a time for cultivating clarity and a core sense of peace.