New Moon in Pisces: Feeding Spirit


Happy New Moon in Pisces!

As it goes in astrology, New Moons are an auspicious occasion for setting intentions to manifest something wonderful. With today's New Moon occurring in the dreamy, watery energy of Pisces,  we can produce the best results by focusing our desires on creating a space for more creativity and spiritual centeredness in our everyday lives. As many of us have witnessed or experienced firsthand, there is much pain and suffering in the world. However, the truth of Pisces is that while things sometimes fall apart around us, many times beyond our control, we preserve and buoy ourselves through a trust and embodiment of all that is still good (faith + intuition +compassion+ unabashed creativity). In Pisces, we go with the flow instead of resisting or control freaking. Here, we take simplicity as our mantra and indulge in anything that nourishes the soul.

While we still have so many planets in water signs (plus Mercury Retrograde) many of us may be feeling sluggish or overwhelmed. Much of this may be a side effect of trying to do too much during a time (Pisces Season) when we should be unplugging, resting, and replenishing. This is a perfect time to seek out the healers, those gifted with the powers to calm and strengthen the mind, body, and spirit. Aries season will be upon us soon and with the fiery energy that the time of The Warrior will bring, we will need all the strength we have to keep up with our daily demands. Consider this New Moon a special gift from the Universe to (finally) take care of the tender parts of you and act on inspiration. Then watch what magic unfolds for you over the next six months.

If you would like a custom tailored and detailed report on what will be developing for you over the coming months, contact me to set up a reading. No reason to guess or (obsess) about what's happening when you can know right now (and be prepared!)

The End of the (Work) World: How The Universe is Conspiring to Give Us the Good Life



It’s the end of the world as we know it (and I feel fine)—REM



Earlier this year I left an unfulfilling (well paid) job to follow my heart. No safety net. No new position in the works. Up and out. Gone. Goodbye. 

Why in the world would I risk security (or a shallow example of it) for the pain and anxiety associated with jumping into the unknown? Because I had to. It was though my very life depended on whether or not I gathered the courage to take the leap and answer my true calling. In short, I needed to follow my heart. 

Now here I am months later, answering my calling by way of astrology, where I work helping others answer their own. Am I happy? Yes. Has this journey been easy? No. Yet every day, the Universe offers me comfort and validation that every choice that I have made that has led me up to this point has been the right one.

In talking to some of my clients I have found that I have not been alone in wanting more out of my professional life--then yesterday I serendipitously found this article "The Siren Call of Starting Over" in Psychology Today

What I deduced from this information being presented to me is that the outer planets (the planets associated with serious transformation) are aligned to redefine what work (among other things) means for us. Work is important because this is where we focus a lot of our time and energy. Work brings us material comfort. But what if we could actually do work that brings us both material AND emotional comfort? In the old days, we had to choose. Blessed was the person that could find that needle in the haystack job that offered both options. However, change is afoot. 

Yesterday, I sent out a few tweets highlighting my thoughts on this planetary activity. Though brief, I decided to post them below because I think they speak to the heart of this shifting energy:


  • Saturn & Pluto have traded homes; Saturn in Scorpio and Pluto in Capricorn. Neptune is in her home sign of Pisces; Uranus in trailblazing Aries.



  • Saturn in Scorpio asks for more depth in our everyday transactions; such as work. Hence, this trend of feeling dissatisfied with the daily grind.



  • Pluto in Capricorn asks us to reprogram old systems. The work world as we know it has shifted. The past is fading. The status quo is nil.



  • Neptune in Pisces aims to connect us back to Spirit; we are all connected and it shows. When we work to improve life for others, we improve our own lives.



  • Uranus in Aries asks us to think outside the box and follow our own lead. Where in our careers can we be the innovators & do we have the courage?



  • Couple the current planetary energy with the oncoming cosmic shift of 12.21.12 and yeah, we totally have some work to do--new work, fulfilling work. Fresh starts, anyone?


Before I sign off, I want to leave you with this beautiful quote that I found by way of a couple ladies that I look up to professionally--the AstroTwins. It's a quote from philosopher and teacher, Terence McKenna. He states: 

“Nature loves courage. You make the commitment and nature will respond to that commitment by removing impossible obstacles. Dream the impossible dream and the world will not grind you under, it will lift you up. This is the trick. This is what all these teachers and philosophers who really counted, who really touched the alchemical gold, this is what they understood. This is the shamanic dance in the waterfall. This is how magic is done. By hurling yourself into the abyss and discovering it's a feather bed.”




Word.

Venus-Neptune Aspects: Boundless Love?



“I believe in people like you.” –Drake, “Fall For Your Type”



I have Venus conjoined to Neptune in my birth chart. I have also shared strong Venus-Neptune connections (usually their Neptune on my Venus) with romantic partners.  When it comes to relationships, these chart aspects have usually operated for me in this way:  Meet a guy. Over idealize/romanticize guy within first week of meeting. Discover guy has fatal flaw like a wife, aversion to commitment, a sketchy past, etc. Embark on a dramatic, Hollywood-styled quest to save guy from himself with a love like no other while holding onto fragments of said guy’s soulmate “potential.” Suddenly exit relationship with guy feeling disillusioned and hung over.
  
Sound familiar? It should. This very scenario came to me recently while listening to Jaime Foxx’s “Fall For Your Type.” Now, literally speaking I’ve heard this tune a million times before yet I don’t know if it’s because Pluto (focus) has been hanging out with my Mercury (thought) but lately I’ve been listening to music with a new pair of ears. The track opens with the line “Can I save you from you?”  It then goes on to tell the woes of a man that’s made a habit of falling in love with the wrong kind of women, hoping that his latest love interest won’t let him down like the others in the past.  Venus-Neptune. Oh, Lordy.  While the song is catchy and sordid enough for the radio airwaves, I couldn’t help but to think that realistically, trying to save a person from themselves is one tall, exhausting order. First of all, what makes us think that this person needs saving? Secondly, as Bill Tierney points out in his book Alive and Well with Neptune— what makes us think that we are the only ones capable of the job?

But Neptune (and in many cases Venus) is not into thinking realistically. Reality bites. Oftentimes reality is associated with limitations, restrictions, and boundaries.  In the natal and synastry chart, Venus (love) and Neptune (compassion) connections function to eliminate the lines that separate us from what we hold dear.  What could be more exhilarating and noble than being able to love and care for others without borders? What could be better than a boundless, selfless love? Not a thing, right? People view us as…well… Jesus and we see ourselves as—oh, I don’t know—maybe, Jesus

But what happens when people begin to take advantage of our kindness? What happens when the person/people we think we’re saving either A) don’t want to be saved or B) take for granted that we’ll always be around to pick up the pieces? We may find ourselves beginning to put conditions on our love or worse, becoming martyrs in love and then boom—we look up to find that our spiritual and material resources have been depleted. The buzz is gone and we’re hung over.
 
Still, I don’t want to take up the entire space of this post solely warning of the pitfalls associated with Venus-Neptune aspects. I think there is already enough astrological material out there that covers such issues. After all, it’s my natal Venus-Neptune aspects that have helped to keep me from becoming bitter about the lows that I have faced in life. It’s Venus-Neptune that helps me to continuously see the beauty in the world, while dreaming up and creating a new one. When applied with structure, Venus and Neptune in and between charts can help us to manifest true happiness; just as with two people who have taken the time to do the homework on each other and have built their relationship on a solid (hopefully Saturnian) foundation. The Venus-Neptune connection between them can provide the energy base for a deep, soulful love unfettered by power struggles and self-righteousness (see also: piety). 

In fact, the more experiences that I have, the more I realize that Venus-Neptune aspects function best when provided with a focus, a perimeter—a boundary. As a Sagittarius sun and Aquarius moon—a make-up of two astral energies that LOATHE limitation in any form, I am learning that boundaries are good when they come from a place of love and compassion—they even fuel it. Boundaries give us clarity; they give us the freedom to courageously move forward because we already know where we stand. 



 

Neptune Retrograde in Pisces: Turn Your High Beams On


Neptune plays a major part in my birth chart. Natally, my sun, Venus, and Neptune are conjunct or rather, “attached” to each other. Well, essentially all planets are more or less attached to one another in a birth chart; whether by conjunction, opposition, square, trine, etc. as these attachments (or aspects, as they are formally called) show how the planets get along with each other. In my case, these three planets function sort of like hip-hop’s A Tribe Called Quest (you know, sans bitter feud).*  By astrological definition, this aspect in my chart makes me Neptunian and with Pisces (the zodiac sign associated with old Nep) being on my natal 8th House cusp, no matter where I am or what I’m doing, I attract lots and lots of Neptunians too (even if I don’t want to).**

Who or what exactly is a Neptunian? Folks like me where the planet is prominent in their chart, those born under the Sun, Moon, or Rising sign of Pisces, those with major planets in the 12th house, the intuitives and the creatives, the dreamers, the healers, the escapists and the illusionists, the victims and the saviors—and yes, there is a little Neptune in us all. However, how we choose to express this energy is what makes all the difference. Ruling the 12th House of Dreams, Spirituality, and Self-Undoing; Neptune is an idealist, a true romantic. Where ever she (the planet represents a feminine energy) touches us, either at the natal point or by transit, we become totally unconcerned with boundaries and harsh realism. Neptune softens our consciousness; she takes the edge off. As such, we either find ourselves in a state of bliss or in a hazy confusion. 

When Neptune moved long term into its home sign of Pisces in  February 2012 after a 14-year transit in Aquarius, many in the astrological community heralded this shift as a much needed softening of the human collective.  If Neptune in Aquarius made our wildest dreams come true with the development of the internet, social media, fancy gadgets that in effect kept us plugged-in, then Neptune in Pisces is here to help us unplug. Spirituality, compassion, and optimism become paramount, as does the potential for escapism, self-delusion, and gullibility.  With the retrograde, we are being asked to review the space that Neptune occupies in our lives (look to your birth chart to find out where). Are we dreaming big enough or too big? Is it compassion we feel or are we playing savior? Do we trust our intuition or ignore it?  Are we seeing the people and situations in our lives as they really are or how we want them to be? Overall, how do we get our head and heart to successfully coincide? From now until November 10, 2012 the answers to these questions will be crucial.

As you mull it all over, watch this Piscean themed vid:






*My partner, Jason Fleming-El aka Sagittarian Mind, is sure to be happy that I used a hip-hop reference to explain an  astrological term.  Like, he’s gonna marry me after this and whatnot.
** Kidding. Sort of.