Sept. 10, 1999 – Virgo – Weekly

The New Moon in your birth sign on 9-9-99 has to be telling you something. But more than what this beautiful synchronicity is saying, I am more interested in what you are asking. The Nines represent the brink of change or completion. Yet astrology is far better at raising questions than it is at providing answers. The biggest question I see is, if you could change your relationship to your entire past, what would you create? This may involve a revisioning of history, a re-use of the lessons you learned in your family, or, most likely, tapping into cultural and genetic resources that are far deeper than any parent, grandparent or great-grandparent ever hinted might be yours.

The weekly audio is done and posted. This edition covers today’s Virgo New Moon, which is being attended by some asteroids whizzing by; Mercury stationing direct; and a look at the Sept. 11 chart.

For those interested in the Sept. 11 issue, here are some previous articles on the topic. One is called Sept. 11, 1984, a reference to George Orwell’s novel. This is perhaps the easiest approach to the topic.

Here is a look at the chart two years after the event.

And here is my first article — called Mercury Also Rises — published in September 2001.

We have also created a Sept. 11 resources area.

Our weekly audio is back after I took a one week break — thanks for that. Today’s podcast covers how the cardinal cross has dissolved into something new: many moves by Venus, Mars and Vesta in the relationship-oriented signs Libra and Scorpio. We go from the sense of large, sweeping changes in society to deeply personal influences, but which are no less meaningful as the ripple through our emotions, into our households, circles of friends and the wider community.

I look at the chart of Ken Mehlman, the former chair of the Republican National Committee, who presided over the 2006 elections — Ken came out of the closet as gay last week, despite his long track record of making life extremely difficult for lesbian and gay people. We have an example of how the personal is indeed political, and a great example of what not to be.

I also take up last night’s episode on the Rachel Maddow program where her mic goes out in the middle of a tirade on how the Cheney-Bush administration lied us in to the Iraq war. I look at the chart for the Rachel Maddow Show, which is approaching its second anniversary, and also the ways in which the current Mercury retrograde aspected the natal Saturn of the program’s chart, giving the feeling that Big Brother was watching. Clearly, he is, though I don’t think that her mic going out was anything more than a technical glitch. But it definitely spooked her — a truly human moment along the razor’s edge of telling the truth with love. That’s Rachel.

June 20, 2007 – Virgo – Monthly

You seem to be in the process of negotiating with your idealism. What is realistic, what is possible, and what from the “impossible” category is worth attempting? There are no right answers to these questions, nor can you know in advance which of your current investments, endeavors or relationships will bear the fruit you can almost taste. You simply must persist, but it’s not a persistence of logic; rather, you can guide yourself by the tides of your feelings, which at times will seem to be on the ebb and the flood simultaneously. The one thing you can do that will set you way ahead is to be completely honest with yourself about how you feel, and how you feel about the people who surround you. The chances are you will learn some things about friends and associates that you were not expecting to find out. Some of this may fall under the heading of what the world these days calls “too much information,” but I assure you there is no such thing.

Mercury is about to be retrograde, beginning Friday. This is one of those events we all agree has an effect. Some people love it; it gets their creative energy jumping. Other people lose their keys six times, get their cell phone cut off, have their Yahoo account hacked and bounce the mortgage payment. Occasionally it can lead to significant problems — and just as often, truly helpful solutions and shifts of awareness. I’ve often noticed Mercury retrograde as the moment where the truth reveals itself, or (in a Chiron-like way) we discover the flaw in a system just in time.

"Logios Hermes" (Hermes, Orator). Marble, Roman copy from the late 1st century CE-early 2nd century CE after a Greek original of the 5th century BC. Hermes is represented in astrology by the planet Mercury and the apparently real historical figure by the same name is considered, according to Project Hindsight, to be one of the founders of astrology.

In a special audio edition of Planet Waves, I’m taking a closer look at the Mercury retrograde experience and exploring both why it’s so potent and how we can use it to improve our lives. For the next few weeks, Mercury will be retrograde in Virgo, one of the signs with which it’s the most closely associated.

My take on this particular retrograde is that it’s reminding us about unfinished healing projects. What are those projects? What has changed since we forgot about them? Where would be a good place to resume where we left off, and what can we safely move on from? I’ll be looking for ways to help you consolidate your efforts, as well as to focus on specific issues and ideas that will assist like leverage points.

Another angle of this retrograde involves our typical state of mental overload. We wouldn’t get into that, you know, scattered, stretched-thin state of mind, if we didn’t have certain predispositions, and often these are oriented in the past — as mental patterns. Mercury trekking backwards through Virgo will help us clue into the nature of those patterns and give us some hints about what to do with them. Where any of us has Virgo placed in our charts is an aspect of life where we need to be less self-critical, more self-supportive and relax our perfectionism. I would count those as healing goals, and I’ll be reading the charts from that angle as well.

For subscribers, this is a 12-sign report — all the signs for one price. This will enable you to listen to your Sun, Moon and rising signs, as well as those of the people you care about. I’ll present it in an audio package with introductory materials that explain Mercury retrograde in general (offering insights into the more common themes of avoiding bad purchases and our continuing relationship to technology) and offer deeper ideas about this particular one. Then I’ll take the signs one-by-one in 15-minute presentations.

The report is scheduled to be ready Friday afternoon, the day Mercury stations. I’m offering it now for the pre-order price of $24.95. This includes all the introductory materials and all 12 signs. The price will go up to $29.95 after the report is released (or the signs will be sold individually). The report will include an overview of the Libra equinox chart — which includes a Full Moon on the Aries Point the day of the equinox.

Pre-orders will be sent access information and you’ll receive an email as soon as the report is posted. This promises to be a fun, useful project — and one that has a value that will outlast the current astrology as a dependable resource.

Once again, here is your pre-ordering page. Thank you for your business and happy retrograding!

PS: Here is last year’s Mercury retrograde report — a written edition that was a bestseller and got great reviews. There will be much more information for the 12 signs in this audio edition.

Feb. 11, 2000 – Scorpio – Weekly

I’ve been getting loads of mail about an article on the Planet Waves web page about something called “compersion” — that is, the love we feel when others feel love, or the love others feel when we love someone besides them. Our models of relationships parallel our market economy, where everything can be arranged with the swipe of a plastic card. We do indeed take people as property, we use them as such, and typically dispose of them when we’re finished, often feeling like we were the ones who were used. Compersion, that is, a concept of love that includes freedom as its main ingredient, is often seen as a radical idea. It may be, but surely, with the way your potential for love is expanding every day, it also would be a very practical one.

This week’s audio covers Mercury stationing retrograde in Virgo. We are now in the Mercury storm phase — with the little planet closest to the Sun moving at its slowest, about to turn around and give us the illusion of moving backwards for 22 days. This time near the station — a few days before and after can be challenging, confusing days, when it’s possible for a lot of things to go wrong that don’t need to go wrong. So do your best to keep your focus, harness the winds of change in a productive way.

I also cover the conjunction of Venus and Mars in Libra (that carries through to Scorpio, where Venus goes retrograde in October), and I look at the Sun opposing Neptune and Chiron this week before it ingresses Virgo over the weekend.

Assisting me with a programming project for the Mercury retrograde audio report, Tracy Delaney @Serennu created this mini-ephemeris that looks at Mercury aspects from late July through early October, while Mercury is in Virgo. Mercury’s aspects to many minor planets and points in Sagittarius helps explain why this retrograde is so psychologically hot, as in intense, as in a bit overwhelming — with breakthroughs.

Please send your friends to Planet Waves, and if you’re undecided about subscribing to our email service, don’t think too hard — it’s an awesome, entirely unique, excellent service that will teach you about astrology, yourself and current events. And these subscriptions make all this great stuff we do at Planet Waves possible.

Thanks and — comments/questions on the audio are welcome.

Sept. 4, 2009 – Gemini – Weekly

The creative process is not arts and crafts. Rather, it’s about everything from doubt to confronting your sense of emptiness to exploring the feelings and memories that we are basically all conditioned to ignore. In sum, you go deeper, and that depth often requires the use of a working medium that could be clay and it could be a camera and it could be your notebook. Let it become a sacred space, but not so sacred that you fear that what you create there will be known to others and influence their healing process. You’re not alone in going through what you’re experiencing. The feelings running through your body are part of a collective current shared by millions of other people, each in their unique way, and each equally meaningful.

In the mix, I offer a review of the Aug. 11, 1999 (yes, 1999) total solar eclipse and grand cross in Leo/fixed signs (of which today is the anniversary) — and I reference the Burning Man series of articles, which you can find at this link. In case you’re interested — this is a long read, but a fun one — it’s a glimpse into the world before the Sept. 11 false flag terrorist attacks, before the year 2000, before Bush and Cheney — a look at the direction things were going. Clue — there was some violence in the air.

In this audio I look at the Saturn-Pluto square coming a little later in the month — which happens at the same time (as in the same day) as the Sun opposite the Chiron/Neptune conjunction. The exact date of that is Aug. 21 and we are very much under its influence right now. Thankfully this is the last of Saturn making stressful aspects to outer planets for a while — we have had enough the past 10 years, as Saturn has opposed Pluto (three events), Neptune (three events) and Uranus (five events) in that order, and is now square Pluto for the third and last time. That’s a lot of Saturn aspects in a short time.

Later today, if all goes well, or mostly well, I plan to do the Leo birthday audio and will send out an announcement tomorrow. If there is any call for the Capricorn birthday report, which would be a bit retro but right on time for the Saturn-Pluto square, please say so and I will do that as well.

Also note, we’ve updated the footer to each blog post on the Planet Waves main blog and it now includes three monthly horoscopes for those who aren’t current subscribers or who haven’t read my horoscopes in the past. I write a different kind of horoscope than you may be accustomed to. You’re invited to see for yourself…