Tag: Cardinal Signs

April Lunar Eclipse – One of Many

There will be four almost total eclipses of the Moon in 2014- 2015 and all will be visible from almost every place in the Northern Hemisphere. That is an amazing occurrence. The first will be on April 15, 2014, another on Oct. 8, 2014, the third on April 4, 2015, and finally on Sept. 28 2015.

In Astrology and eclipse is a wonderfully energetic time – it is a time to use that energy in the sky to start something new. Think of the movement of the eclipse – the Moon disappears and then returns anew. A Lunar Eclipse can only happen when the Moon is “full.” The Moon passes behind the Earth thus allowing the Earth to block the Sun’s rays. All three bodies, Earth, Sun, and Moon are in close alignment. It is a time to question alignments – and balance in your life.

The April 15, 2014 eclipse will be a part of this much talked about grand cross happening in the sky. It will be a cardinal eclipse, in the cardinal signs of Libra and Aries. Cardinal signs are energetic –they want to take action. The Aries Libra axis is known as the me to we axis. The question to be asked during this alignment is, am I in balance – am I giving enough to myself and to others – am I giving too much in either of these areas? 
This is a general graph of the eclipse over the Washington, D.C. area. Notice the cross made to the opposing Pluto – Jupiter. This is a time of tension between old and new spiritual beliefs. However, it is more important to look to the house the eclipse falls in your natal chart… Does the eclipse fall on a planet in your natal chart? This is the best way to use the energy of the eclipse.

Some people fear eclipses but I have to tell you I am so tired of fear driven Astrology. Yes, the grand cross will bring issues (Malaysia 370 for one.) Yes, eclipses are a time of shift and change – but we need change or we become stuck. Take the benefits of all of that cardinal energy to make real changes in your life.

It could be a Griswald Christmas

I will keep this brief because no one has excess minutes this time of year  – which is so odd because this is the time of year when we should be nesting and go within. When it is darker and colder we are programmed to be inward and more reflective. Oh well, another way we are out of sync with nature!

Venus went into retrograde on the Solstice – bringing her creative and loving energies inward. At the same time, Mars moved into the cardinal (action) sign of Libra. With Venus being less than forceful and Mars in full tilt – let’s just say keep crabby Uncle Sam away from the rest of the family. There is too much energy out there that is unbridled and angry.

I hope the world keeps a lid on the anger through the new year.

Happy Holidays all!

Diana Nyad – a Lion in the Water

I HAD to do this chart today! Diana Nyad, who at 64 years old has successfully reached the Florida shore on her fifth attempt to swim from Cuba to Key West. I have been trying to find her birth time but that doesn’t seem to be public information however, we do know that she was born on August 22, 1949 in New York City and while her rising sign, which is contingent on knowing the time of birth, is unknown there is a lot to be gleaned from her chart. The thing that is cracking me up totally right now is that she was born with a South Node conjuncting the planet Neptune, God of the Sea! While there is absolutely no astrological correlation between past lives linked to Neptune and swimming ability it does make me smile. All you need to know about this gutsy woman can be found in the stellium of Sun, Pluto, and Juno all in the fixed fire sign of Leo with her Leo Moon hanging on close-by. Signs fall into three categories, the fixed signs that are the stubborn folks, the mutables who are the go along and get along people and the cardinal signs – the leaders. She has her Sun, her Juno (the goddess of loyalty), her Moon and Pluto all clustered together Leo – which as I said is not only fixed but fire! Nothing was going to stop that determination especially with Pluto the planet of transformation and change kept her glued to that goal with determination. What do I mean by fire? Well, again the signs fall into categories, the water signs are emotional, spiritual and deep, the earth signs are sturdy and stable, air are mercurial and intelligent and fire people are seeking prominence – they have to make an impact. Diana is all fixed fire! If that wasn’t enough fuel for her, check out her Saturn, Pallas conjunction. Saturn is the task master, the planet of “doing things right and following the rules.” When it is combined with Pallas Athena, the androgynous warrior goddess a person has a “pit-bull mentality.” Her North Node, where her soul is intending to go in this lifetime, is in Aries, the uber-determined, cardinal and yes, fire, signs. It is ruled by Mars which in her case is in Cancer – another cardinal sign. No matter her chosen career she would have exceled and exceeded. So congratulations Diana – you certainly used your planetary “gifts” to the maximum today!!

Have A Watery Solstice.

The Summer Solstice is by nature a watery event because the Sun is moving in the Cardinal, water sign of Cancer. This year we have an abundance of other planets and asteroids in water signs. Mercury and Venus will be in an exact conjunction in 22 degrees Cancer at the Solstice. This is a great time for writing love sonnets and poems if you are so inclined – or just putting pen to paper or ink to paper if you are more artistic. The wordsmith-ability of Mercury combined with the artistry of Venus makes this a perfect time to communicate with words or art.

Other bodies in Cancer will be Vesta and Ceres. The first is the goddess of devotion and the later is the goddess of nurturing and they are both in the sign of mother. Once you put the sonnet down you can work on finding the cause that you can devote yourself too. What feeds your soul? What feeds your desire?
Hey why not combine all of these water signs and sit down and make a list of things that you need to do or want to do – that will nurture your spirit.

Cardinal signs are the doers, the leaders, the ones who get things done.  The Sun energy and all of these other very powerful planets and asteroids should give you the energy to take on these projects. Where am I go – what do I want – what feeds me?

Neptune is, of course, still in Pisces, it’s natural ruler -and Saturn is in Scorpio  — water, water everywhere. Once you make that list – use these two to put some structure – some design behind your spiritual, devotional practices.

The Solstice is a time for new beginnings!  Enjoy

Happy Equinox – beginning of Cardinal time.

The Autumnal Equinox will soon be upon us – September 23, 9:04 AM is when fall arrives in the Washington, D.C. area. Yippee… I love fall and winter – sorry for those who are cold-boned but I can’t wait for fireplaces, sweaters and stews.

This is a time when the Sun reaches a “balance” and the day and night will be equally long. It is also the time when the Sun will be at zero degrees Libra, moving into the Constellation of Libra. All of the equinoxes and solstices happen when the Sun is moving into a Cardinal astrological sign.

Cardinal signs are the movers, the shakers the doers. If you are born with a well aspected cardinal sign on your ascendant you are apt to be someone who takes lead, takes charge of things. The Cardinal Signs are Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn.

When people take on spring cleaning in March (Aries) and fall cleaning in September (Libra) they are doing Cardinal activities. Cancer time is summer the time for planting and Capricorn happens around the winter Solstice activities when the houses are full of people and activity.

Fixed signs are those that exhibit stubborn resolve to forge ahead no matter what. Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius are all fixed. Taurus follows Aries so you need to cultivate and watch your garden to make sure it grows. Leo is in rule in summer when, for me anyway, you have to get the resolve to face another hot day. Scorpio is the time of Halloween and moves us into the other fixed tradition of Thanksgiving when much attention must be paid to working hard on the harvest and Aquarius is in the dead of winter when it takes a lot to get through the cold.

When the Sun goes into mutable signs, Gemini, Virgo Sagittarius, Pisces we are less concerned with tromping ahead and slugging it out. Gemini is late spring, early summer when we can relax and exchange in mental exchange of ideas, Virgo early harvest when we can see what foods we need to gather to care for our bodies. After Scorpios hard work, Sagittarius can lay back and shoot his arrows into the sky looking for the truth and then Pisces, ah other-worldly Pisces – March brings buds of spring and the time to think of rebirth and new worlds.

So enjoy this Cardinal time. Celebrate the Equinox and get to harvesting your thoughts for the winter to come!

Trapped in the Lion’s Den

You know that old adage, “the shoemaker’s child has no shoes?” Well sometimes the astrologer doesn’t use astrology!

Once a month three friends of mine meet for Saturday breakfast to discuss books of a spiritual or metaphysical nature. It is a great social and educational activity which we have been at for almost two years. The members of the little group are M, a beautiful Libra Sun – Leo rising healer who I would highly recommend to any of you interested in any form of energy work; C, a warm and wonderful Taurus Sun – Leo rising business and personal coach and D, a fascinating and fantastic double Gemini (Sun and rising) who is also an amazing coach. (Anyone looking to further their professional or personal goals needs to see these two. They do wondrous things!)

This month I brought another friend into the group. K is a very spiritual, deep and compassionate facilitator (and yes I would more than highly recommend her too.) She makes a great contribution to the group. However, as I sat around the breakfast table last Saturday I suddenly got a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. K is an Aquarius Sun but Leo rising. That makes three out of five people who are, in essence, Leos! Oh what was I thinking? To make my situation more dire, I was without D – my other rising air sign. D had some housing problems and couldn’t join us. It was just me, poor defenseless Scorpio Sun, Libra rising, against three lions!

Remember, your sun sign is inner force what makes you tick inside. For instance, my Scorpio Sun gives me a desire to get to the core of mysteries; it makes me basically secretive and private (no really.) It is a person’s rising sign, the sign on the Eastern horizon at birth, also called the ascendant that gives us the persona we project to the world. Sun is inner – ascendant is outer.

Leo is ruled by the Sun and vibrates to the 5th house, the house of creativity and the projection of creativity. Leo’s gravitate to the spotlight; they feel comfortable in the warmth and light of the Sun. In meetings past it was never uncommon for our two Leo rising ladies to spontaneously burst into song during breakfast. D and I, the two air sign rising people just sit back and thoroughly enjoy the show provided by our 5th house friends.

Because the rising sign is our persona, it often dictates how we physically look. You can always spot a Leo the Lion by their manes! I remember one meeting, C arrived with her hair looking as stunning as always but she ran into the bathroom, pulled out her dryer and curling iron and proceeded to work on it until it met with her satisfaction. Now I am thinking, geez, I don’t take a hair dryer to Europe no less down the street for breakfast. My entire line of hair “product” consists of a bottle of Vo5 shampoo which is on sale at CVS this week for $.77 a bottle. I got three bottles, thank you very much. My hair styling ritual consists of wash, towel dry; take three fingers plump the hair for 20 seconds or until boredom sets in, which usually wins, and walk out the door. Libra – air sign – hair flies in the air. Leo the Lion, mane must obey.

So I go around the table. Next to me is M, coifed to the core. Across the table C sits. Can I find one hair our of place? I would have a better chance finding a sane person in Congress. And there next to her sits our  newest lion, K, her stunning mane pulled back and perfectly framing her face. Note to self: maybe I should find my brush one of these days.

Someone mentions Aquarius and the alleged “Age Of” and that is all it takes for the lions to revert to the 70s and begin to sing “The Dawning of the Age of Aquarius.” Ok, this is good. I like lion serenades. Then someone says the dreaded words. “Let’s dance.” Dance! Dance! I am air and water (and with a heavy amount of water as I have a Pisces Moon.) Dance! I have not one Earth sign in my chart. I fall down while asleep in bed. However, they are off. M finds her CD of “Hair” and now there are three dancing lions and one Libra rising wishing for her Gemini rising friend to come to her aid.

Ok now here is the battle the Sun and ascendant often play out in our bodies. Scorpio Sun is saying you can’t join in they would know the extent of your klutziness – another secret revealed. Libra rising is saying you are a natural leader* and you can’t lead in dancing so you can’t do it. One of the most overlooked explanations for the bizarreness of human nature is the conflict between Sun and rising signs. If someone is rather contradictory, if their actions can’t be understood easily, check those two signs. If they are vastly divergent, particularly if the Moon is in a contrasting sign, that person is going to be difficult to pin down and often won’t understand what makes them tick.

What made me think it was a good idea to put three lions together? They are dancing around the living room! So I grab my blackberry and text my AWOL Gemini rising compatriot saying basically forget your house, come rescue me!

Seriously, it was a wonderful time and K is a great addition to our group. I just have to pay more attention to those rising signs so we Air signs don’t get burned in the fire!

*Libra is one of the cardinal Signs. There are fixed, mutable and cardinal signs. Fixed gives someone tenacity, mutable more amenable to change and melding and cardinal likes to lead. Mutables are Gemini, Virgo, Pisces and Sagittarius. Fixed are Taurus, Leo, Capricorn and Scorpio. Cardinals are Aries, Libra, Cancer and Aquarius