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Saturn and Mars in Retrograde and the Grand Cross of April

It is all over the “Astrology world” that April – is going to be a terrible month. April does have a bad rap because of the ingress of the Sun into Aries, ruled by Mars, the warrior at the Vernal Equinox. Hitler was born in April, the Civil War started in April, there was Columbine, and the list goes on. Adding fuel to the fire is the Grand Cross that will be at its height during the week of April 20. 

A grand cross is when four planets are in opposition to each other. In this case, we will have retrograded Pluto in Capricorn opposing Jupiter in Cancer and Uranus in Aries opposing a retrograded Mars in Libra. These planets will be in cardinal signs. There are three kinds of signs, mutable, cardinal, and fixed. The mutable signs are easy going – go along and get along, the fixed signs have more stubborn in nature, and cardinals are the movers the shakers, the doers. Hence, the doom and gloom – the god of War, the god of expansion, the god of quick change and the god of slow change all pulling against each other and in cardinal signs – each grasping for their piece of the pie! Two of them in retrograde, meaning their energy is going inward – looking for an escape.

Saturn is not included in the cross but is sitting on the side and is in retrograde in Scorpio, a fixed and intense sign. Both Mars and Saturn have gone retrograde this week…just as Putin crossed into the Ukraine. Do you see why people are wary of the Cross?

I don’t buy into the total destruction scenarios. I mean there are people who are saying the EU will collapse, we will be in total war, and oh, here comes the bomb! Doom and gloom sells. This will be a difficult time but come on.


OK let’s do the bright side thing. You have Pluto and Jupiter together – that is a sign for spiritual growth. Yes, it is better when they are in conjunction and not in opposition but even in difficult times, we can have spiritual growth.  Uranus and Mars exhibit the most erratic energy and frankly the most frightening of this whole configuration. If there is violence, if there are wars it will be because of them. However, we can make the conscious decision to eliminate tensions – smooth over issues that could cause the spark – assess what is making us angry. We can overcome the grand cross.

Of course, there are elements who are prone to anger and attack. I personally think that these retrogrades will cause someone or some faction we are not expecting, to cause the biggest problem. Saturn and Mars retrograde are anger and aggression turned inward.

So yes, Putin can go crazy in the Ukraine – that is a very Mars-Saturn aspect. However, that retrograde could bring up someone feeling marginalized to go on the fritz. I would look out for some radical who is unhappy with the way his world is going – right wing terrorism.

Let’s keep in mind that there are positive aspects that we can use this time to feel what is irritating and correct it – take positive steps to stop anger from cropping up and to find what is blocking our spiritual growth.

The choice is always ours. 

Yes, We Need Winter!

OK I have been hearing it all winter – it is cold, it is snowy, it is……….. I know I have heard it before and I am sorry I do think some people bitch about winter because it is fashionable. Society programs us to moan when it is cold outside (mostly it is from annoying television weather people who chant, “When is spring coming?” Spring is perky and they are nothing but perky!) Seriously, we are a society constantly on the move, constantly distracted, always looking to do something – anything. Winter is not a time for that.
We all have our favorite season and mine is winter but I don’t walk around in a shroud when it is summer time! I hate the heat and intense Sun but I plant my garden and participate in season. I still know that summer brings many wonderful elements with it! We need to participate in all of the seasons of the year.
So now, we are in winter. Yes, a cold and snowy winter but there let us not look at the value it brings. On a very basic level, we need winter snow to water our lawns and gardens in summer. When we have cold winters, we have few disease carrying insects to torment us in the summer.  
On a spiritual level, winter is, of course, a time of hibernation. We should NOT be racing around before the Christmas holidays shopping like crazy people but using this dark time to embrace rest and inner study!  In winter, nature rests and that is what we should do as well. Rest, reflect, and build our reserves of energy for the rebirth of spring.
Nature is relentlessly cyclical – rest and restoration in the winter, sowing in spring, ripening and growth in summer and harvest in the fall. When we do not live in the alignment with that cycle, we disconnect with the energy of the universe.

You don’t have to love winter but take a minute please to honor its place in the cycle of life – the unending cycle of the universe. I went out this morning and remembered the words “When the valley is hushed and white with snow.” There is a reason it is “hushed” – Nature is using this time to rejuvenate and plan for the bursting of spring. We should be doing the same.

Get Sensitive Go Within – Pisces New Moon – March

Our next New Moon* will be at 10 degrees Pisces on March 1. Actually it will be a Pisces-palooza because the Sun, Moon, Neptune, Chiron and Juno will all be conjunct one another in Pisces!  This is a highly sensitive time – if you are someone prone to feeling life’s agitations at their fullest – this conjunction with the wound issue, Chiron, being present can make for a cranky few days.
However, the New Moon is a wonderful time for setting intentions – making new starts. It is at the beginning of the phase – a restart. This new Moon is a good time to set the intention to dig deep inside yourself and find a new way to express your dreams. In fact, pay attention to your dreams. With my Pisces Moon I have been having an amazing number of truly “telling dreams” this week. Ones that don’t leave you – that have a message.
What are your reveries? Have you paid attention to them – worked them or have they stayed in your dream state? Are you “living the dream” or too consumed with the mundane? This is the time to think deeply about them and then act.
Where will the New Moon take place in your chart? If you are familiar with the symbol of Pisces –
look for it in your chart…best if you have a planet in Pisces. If there are no planets then look to the outside “cusp” wheel – find the house that has Pisces on it. Then see the degree marker for that cusp – so if it is a two degrees – then count clockwise eight degrees and you will be at ten degrees Pisces. ON THE OTHER HAND, just email me at Joansastrology@gmail.com. If I have your chart on file, I can tell you immediately where this New Moon will influence you most. If not, you will need to give me your time, place, and date of birth.
In any case, use this time to do more than wish upon a Moon it is time to make your wishes manifest into reality.

*The New Moon is the first phase of the Moon – when it is closest to the Sun as seen from our perspective. It is the opposite of the Full Moon when the Sun and Moon are opposing one another. 

The Astrology Of Downton

The last episode of season four of “Downton Abbey” aired in the United States. (Darn those short British seasons.) Despite starting a bit slow for me it ending in full Downton splendor and it got me to thinking about the astrological makeup of the main characters. All great fictional characters have strong astrological characteristics. I mean, is there a more perfect Aries than Scarlett O’Hara?
So, who are those people of Downton? Let’s start with my favorite character and the matriarch, The Dowager. Shooting from the hip with all due and undue honesty yet able to be rather sneaky when needed, she is a good example of a Sagittarius rising with a Scorpio Sun.
Her son, “His Lordship,” being stubbornly stuck in the past and very much in love in opulence is a double Earth sign influence. I vote for Capricorn rising and a Taurus Sun.
Cora Grantham, his wife, the American who is very comfortable in English peerage has many planets, Sun and Mercury at least, in the 9th house – the house that deals with foreign travel. That Sun is in Aquarius, which gave her the impetus to move far from her roots. However, what attracted her to Lord Grantham was that shared Taurus because that is her rising sign.  Her gentle elegance and her true love for the land has to be from Taurus! Cora’s mother, is another Sagittarius rising – which is why she battles the Dowager. However, she is all Aries sun – she never backs down from, in fact searches out a good fight.
Mary has got to be heavily loaded with Leo. Her regal haughtiness, her ability to be self-centered all point to Leo rising. That fuels her love of money but her love for Downton itself and her insistence on formality and rules makes her a good candidate to be a Capricorn Sun.
Her hapless sister Edith is so Pisces. She just doesn’t “get it.”  Living is so complicated and she is so good at being victimized she can be nothing but Pisces rising. With her self-doubt and self-criticism, Edith is someone with a strong Virgo Sun.
What about some of the more colorful servants. Mrs. Patmore is all Cancer – motherly, warm and a great cook – Cancer rising with a Libra Sun that helps her balance between the upstairs and downstairs so easily.
Mr. Carson – is nothing but Virgo. Come on! He is disciplined, persnickety, and organized to his Virgo core. However, I think his budding romance with another Virgo Sun, Mrs. Hughes, will bring out his softer side no matter how deeply buried. Carson may have Virgo rising and a Virgo Sun but I think he has a Libra Moon that makes him a bit human – sometimes.
Tom is a confused Gemini rising with a Cancer Sun. He is very good at being vocal about his causes but when he lost his heart after his wife’s death, he sought comfort in her family.

Oh and yes Mr. Bates, the self-admitted brooder who has a shady side despite being sexy as hell and often victimized by outside forces is Scorpio rising with Pisces Sun. Still waters do run deep and he is all water sign. His beloved Anna, Cancer rising, she needs water to appeal to Bates, and a self-deprecating Virgo Sun. 

Chris Christie

Since “Bridge-gate,” a couple of people have asked me to look at the birth chart of Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey. That sent me a on a search for his birth time which alas seems not to be made public. Without that little fact, it is hard to draw an accurate chart. However, we can get some information, such as his South Node. 
Christie was born with a South Node, his past life indicator, in Aquarius. Aquarians are very difficult to pinpoint – they love being the rebel, love-bucking authority. Most unusual about the Aquarian personality is that they truly do love humanity but individual people bug them. There is a bit of exclusivity that surrounds the Aquarian personality – a standoffishness. They want to help humanity just not be a part of it. (We see Aquarius rising President Obama demonstrate that too well.)
Christie’s South Node is conjunct a retrograded Saturn. Saturn turned backwards on the node is a screaming alert that he had issues with his father in the past –and possible in his current life – and real issues with authority. The pugnacious Christie exemplifies these qualities very well.
However, it was those qualities that made him buck the current Republican mantra of “do not interact, touch or in any way get near that President” to seek Federal aid for his State after Hurricane Sandy. His actions clearly stated his Aquarian desire to help his people despite the demands to do otherwise by Party leaders.
With his North Node – his current soul’s path – in Leo, Christie needs to learn in this lifetime to get into his heart. Aquarians are great at theory but feeling real emotion is their Achilles heel.  Did he know about “Bridge-gate?” I cannot imagine how an intelligent, engaged Governor could be in a fog about something like that for four days. Does that really pass the test of reality?  The saddest part of that for him astrologically is that by at-least appearing to be the pugnacious rebel, whether he was involved or not, he was not moving in a forward motion to Leo.


It would have been so easy to build on the great success he had with Sandy and become the efficient, caring, and feeling Governor. It also would have helped him politically to appeal to the middle left.

That South Node is tough, especially when we have a retrograded planet so close to it. To paraphrase the movie line, it keeps dragging us back down.

The Moons of February – Get Ready for Pisces Energy

YES! There was a full Moon on Valentine’s Day and it was in Leo. I didn’t post that information and heard from a few people about that. Sorry! So for your planning  – there will be a new Moon on February 28th and it will be in Pisces. For those who do new Moon manifestations – this is a very spiritual Moon.  Not only will the Moon be in Pisces, but it will be conjunct with Neptune, the planet the rules Pisces. There is no better time to let the imagination and your spiritual awareness soar.

Jupiter, which in the days before Neptune made its appearance to us, was given ruler ship of Pisces, will be making a harmonious aspect to both bodies. Jupiter’s energy is one of expansion and reaching beyond our borders. Moon dreams, Neptune spirituality and Jupiter growth — it all sounds like a wonderful combination!

Yes, Jupiter will still be in retrograde for another month. So you will have to do a little more work to tap into that energy. Half the fun is in getting there isn’t it?

Our Aquarian Presidents

In honor of President’s Day, I want to take a look at all, not just one, of our “February Presidents.” * All of these men, born while the Sun was in Aquarius, are Presidents we have remembered throughout the years. They all had that Aquarian ability to be rebellious, prescient, unique and in their own way, fascinating. 
George Washington left his stamp for his leadership and innate knowledge of how a President should act. Yes, he was the first and that alone would make him memorable but his Aquarian ability to “see into the future” and know he needed to make an indelible imprint on the office has set precedents that remain today.
Abraham Lincoln was close to being the last President of the entire United States. However, through his tenacity, genius, and vision he preserved the union and then used his Aquarian sense of compassion to call for us to come together with “malice toward none.”
Franklin Roosevelt was of course unique because he hid his paralysis from the world – but proved that a physical handicap is not a mental handicap. In a time when “cripples” were considered damaged, he guided the country through horrific economic and militaristic times.
While I am too liberal to fall for the myth of Ronald Reagan as killer of Communism in the Soviet Union, the fact that he broke the age and martial norms previously required of presidential candidates proved he had his Aquarian rebelliousness intact!
Each of these men also exhibited that maddening Aquarius duplicity. Washington, “the father of the country,” was childless. Lincoln, a man known for almost suicidal bouts of depression was still able to maintain his sanity in the midst of a nightmarish Civil War. Roosevelt, pulled people toward him with his charismatic voice yet had no emotional bond with his wife and children, and Reagan the darling of the hard religious right who was divorced and from the Hollywood they profess to hate.

Our Aquarian Presidents remain a part of the American fabric because of their ability to stand out – to be unique in some way.  Our current President, Barack Obama, has Aquarius rising. Can you get more unique and rebellious than breaking the color barrier? Oh those Aquarians – always shaking things up!

*I am taking a bit of liberty here because FDR was born on Jan. 30 but he was still an Aquarian.

Neptune is all Around Us

I chose the title carefully because, by nature, the energy of Neptune is so amorphous that it does float all around us like a lovely cloud. Little is solid about Neptunian energy.

Neptune moved into the constellation of Pisces a few years ago and will be there until 2025. Neptune rules Pisces so we have a double-dose of Neptune energy cascading down around us. Lately we have started to see the positive and shadow aspects of Neptunian energy in the news.

First, the bad – let’s get it out of the way. Amazingly talented actor Philip Seymour Hoffman died of a heroin overdose. Now I know a talented, sensitive artist being an addict is sadly not an uncommon story. However, almost immediately after learning of his death, we started to hear stories of heroin addiction being on the rise. Neptune is the planet of illusion and escapism and leads to the desire to remove ourselves from reality. An increase of hallucinatory drugs is a side effect felt during a strong Neptune period.

Attached to this is the increase in escapist games – more people will prefer to build computer worlds of illusion than deal with the cold hard nitty gritty details of life.  I expect that by the end of this decade we will see computer gaming reach levels we can’t even imagine now.

On the positive side, Neptune brings us in touch with our compassion. I laugh every time I hear that the laws banning gay marriage are falling even in states that are very conservative. A decade ago gay marriage was used as a ballot box wedge issue that rallied the right wing to come out and vote and now it is like oh ok another state removes a roadblock to people loving each other. Ho hum. That is Neptune at work! Neptune always calls us to be compassionate and caring toward all people. I love it.

We have are just beginning to really feel the impact of Neptune in Pisces. Let’s hope she helps us keep our compassion high as well as our feet on the ground!

   

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February – Retrograded Mercury – The Winter Season of the Planetary Cycle.

 OK I am telling you now and I don’t want to hear the complaints – remember, one, it isn’t my fault and two; there are benefits to a retrograde. Nothing in the universe is all good or all bad – there are gifts in every placement.

 Mercury is going retrograde on February 6 while it is still in Pisces and does not get out until February 28thwhen it is in Aquarius.  Yes, it is the entire freaking month but again I didn’t do it!

Before the freaking out ensues over missed messages, screwed up computers, phones that go wack-a-doodle, travel plans disintegrate, remember there is a benefit to that retrograded or backwards energy.  When Mercury is in retrograde, it is a time that we must slowdown in order to prevent disaster. What is wrong with that?

Mercury in retrograde is a time when we can rethink situations – old habits, old response mechanisms.  In this day of instant communication and immediate responses – what is wrong with a bit of introspection? Use the “backward time” of Mercury to reassess old through patterns and responses to learn where you can improve.

While this may seem counter-intuitive, think of this retrograde period as a great time to restart a stalled project. Is your closet half-organized and half-frightening disaster area? Fix it now.  Do you still have holiday cards from 2012 to complete?  Dive in.



In a society that looks only forward and insists on relentless pushing forward there is really nothing wrong with slowing down and going through some checklists. Think of a retrograde of the winter season of a planet. Winter is a time when we are supposed to hibernate, rest and prepare for the rebirth of spring. We don’t do that anymore. We live in the same speed all of the time – it isn’t healthy.

If you are having a “bad” retrograde period, take a breath and figure out where you are pushing too hard. That is the area you need to reassess – pull back and clean up before you charge ahead later.