In May, Come Help Healwell While Enjoying Wonderful food at the Curious Grape!

During the month of May have lunch or dinner at the Curious Grape in Shirlington Village and help support Healwell.

Enjoy a terrific meal and when your bill comes just tell your server that you are there to support Healwell and they will donate 15 percent of your bill to help us continue our work! This isn’t automatic so don’t forget to tell them you are eating for Healwell.

Healwell provides massage therapy to adult and pediatric inpatients in area hospitals focusing on decreasing pain, managing symptoms and bringing greater comfort to people living with advanced disease and those at the end of life.

The Curious Grape is open for dinner daily from 5:00 pm to closing, for lunch from 11:30 am – 2:00 PM and for Sunday brunch at 10:30 am – 2:00 pm.

It is located in Shirlington Village at 2900 South Quincy Street, Arlington.

For more information on Healwell visit www.healwell.org.

Neptune and Chiron- What a Pair

Have you been having odd dreams that you cannot quite understand or are you waking up with a disconcerted feeling but you don’t remember dreaming? Are you thinking about things from the past — I don’t mean Christmas I mean long ago and far away before you were born? Is there a period in history that you can’t stop thinking about – way back in your mind – yes, right there where you normally never go? If so, blame it on the current conjunction of Neptune and Chiron in 26 degrees Aquarius.

Neptune, the planet of illusion, the one best suited for dealing with matters spiritual and karmic instead of physical is sitting right on top of the asteroid Chiron right now – and both are 26 degrees inside the constellation Aquarius. Chiron indicates where we hold a deep physic wound, so deep and painful that we don’t want to go near it but we must if we are ever to heal the wound.

These two giants now in the constellation Aquarius that is full of highly charged energy can cause quick insights into the wound patterns that we have long forgotten but are deep within our subconscious. We can suddenly remember days that we may have lived 1000 years ago or feel drawn to the history of that time. We can have odd dreams or wake up in the middle of the night frightened by something although we don’t have a clue what it is. We can suddenly have fears arise from situations that we never thought twice about before.

All of these reactions are possible in people whose birth charts have a great deal of interaction with one or both of these planets. If you have many aspects to either you will be feeling these effects. While this can be a bit nerve wracking, however, just remember it is helping clear old karmic patterns to make way for new life!

Another One of the “Girls” – Pallas Athene

Pallas Athene is one of the most interesting albeit confusing asteroid goddess. This is because of her basic duality. I am not talking duality like Pisces the Fish or Gemini the Twins. It isn’t that stark, however, she is the goddess of war and power as well as healing and wisdom. I guess, like most women, she figures she will have to clean up the mess others make so might as well get on with it. In her honor, the Greeks named their major city, Athens.

In classical Greece, this virgin goddess of wisdom was second only to Jupiter, king of the heavens, in importance. As the goddess of war, she was invincible in battle. In times of peace, however, her wisdom enforced the law and made sure justice prevailed. She was also patroness of the arts, architecture, cooking and weaving. Yes, insert your goddess multi-tasking joke here.

In the sky, Pallas Athene lies between the constellations Libra and Aquarius and opposes Leo – so when we use her in chart analysis, we see the flash of intelligence (Aquarius) and the driving originality of fiery Leo modified by Libra balance and fairness. For instance, someone with a well aspected Pallas in Taurus will have the ability to see beauty in new ways. Taurus is ruled by Venus – and is associated with the arts and beauty. A strong Pallas Taurus person is able to perceive art in a new way- with all senses – they might even “see” colors.* They could also be a fighter for the Earth – an ecological warrior. Taurus is the Bull, grounded in the Earth and earth resources (see my entry on Al Gore’s North Node in Taurus.) They will use the fire of Leo and the advanced mind of Aquarius to fight for Mother Earth.

Well aspected Pallas in Sagittarius people can become shamans or healers because the can actually see the big picture of someone’s health arc. Remember, Sag. is expansive in nature. Unfortunately, we also see Pallas Sag. people who have negative aspects and who can take that warrior energy and combine it with Sag’s belief in religious truth and become religious crusaders.

The main thing to remember is that Pallas packs a wallop of creative, fiery energy and high perceptive abilities. She was the original androgynous woman who competed quite well with men in the political and military arena.

*For more information on this see “The Spiritual Anatomy of Emotion: How Feelings Link the Brain, the Body, and the Sixth Sense ” by Michael Jawer.