Mercury Retrograde--Saturn Direct

Mercury in Aries is slowing into a retrograde this Saturday March 19th at 4:14 PM Pacific until April 12th at 12:45 AM Pacific. Mercury goes retrograde about 3 times a year for 3 weeks and is retrograde almost 20% of the time. This little wrinkle in the space-time continuum is a period when there are often delays and revisions, and it is a good idea to be more vigilant and diligent in your communications. Life goes on and does move forward. The analogy of the Indianapolis 500 proceding under the yellow caution flag may be helpful. This is a signal to ease into Spring, rather than sprint out of the blocks. Mercury will retrace the entire first half of Aries, turn direct on April 12th, reach the degree where it began the retrograde on May 1st and enter Taurus on May 12th. Saturn turns direct on Monday, March 21st and will transit through the last decanate of Cancer rapidly until it enters Leo on July 16th. Saturn is retrograde over 35% of the time. This stationary period at the beginning of Spring may be synchronous with some new committments and directions in your life.

For the Lust of the Game

I grew up watching Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle, Henry Aaron and Sandy Koufax. Ballplayers who played for the love of the game. Their drug of choice was adrenalin....ok, maybe a little tobacco and alcohol. It was really difficult for me to watch Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro, Curt Shilling, and Sammy Sosa with poop all over their faces -- lying like little kids to their mama about their involvement with or knowledge of steroid use. Disgusting! I imagine the game today is merely symptomatic of the times in which we live...........the indescriminate scramble for money driven by greed, consumed in the consuming, win at all costs mentality. It looked to me like Jose Conseco was the only one telling it like it was. Mark McGwire just went from a likely Hall of Famer to a Hall of Shame shoe-in in my eyes with his livid BS. Pure unadulterated garbage. McGwire was born on October 1st of 1963 at 7:30 in the morning in Pomona, a suburb of LA with the worst air pollution in the country. So maybe that's it, that's why his body suddenly exploded into a characature.....it was the chloroflorocarbons of all the gas-guzzler's latently kicking in! Seriously. McGwire's a Double Libra with a Pisces Moon, and Venus directly opposite Jupiter in Aries right on his cardinal horizon line. Today anyway, he put on a power-hitting exhibition of the lower nature of that combination of signs. Most of the congressmen and women engaged in idol-worship and softballed the superstars. One of them even remarked to Curt Shilling...."you sound just like a politician," and it seemed like the room just wreaked of it from all corners. Check out the before and after pictures below of Jason Giambi. I guess "milk does a body good," eh? Mercury slowing down getting ready for a long retrograde on Saturday. More on that before Saturday.

Jason Giambi == After Juice?

After the Juice = Jason Giambi

Before Juice == Jason Giambi

Before Juice

Aquarian

Multidimensial Musings on Scary Power Stuggles

Pebble of a planet Pluto is the most powerful force in astrology as it is the boundary between our solar system and everything else. It is the root chakra, rules the unconscious. This week began with the Sun (identity) squaring Pluto, and ends on Friday with Venus (values) moving out of its trine with Saturn and into a square with Pluto. Pluto is power and squares are struggles, so there may be some potent issues in personal relationships which need attention. These represent short term issues which we need to resolve by the Spring Equinox. The Pluto situation brings up some larger issues, namely the global economy and the power source of civilization -- oil. This Earthblood which drives machines, greed and politics is like the proverbial "ring" of Bilbo and Frodo fame. We see oil around $56 a barrel, and gasoline today setting record highs in the US. Reality check: Oil was $30 a barrel at the beginning of last year. Tell me, what do you think the effect is of $25 a barrel of oil inflation? (See: http://futures.tradingcharts.com/chart/CO/M) Every inch that machinery moves-- planes, trains, automobiles; everything that is made or wrapped in plastic -- is inextricably tied to oil. The government cleverly took oil out of its inflation figures some years ago, so interest rates are not reflecting this hyper-inflationary information. Yet. The United States trade deficit -- the broadest measure of international trade -- soared to an all-time high of $665.9 billion in 2004 -- showing in stark terms how rapidly this country is becoming indebted to the rest of the world. Remember Ross Perot in 1992, and his charts about the National Debt of $5 trillion? Well, its now $7.5 trillion and increasing by $1/2 trillion annually. And in this country, consumers are 85% in debt! Pluto also rules debt and will be turning retrograde on 3/26. I wonder what reversals will synchronize. I know that bubbles are always their biggest right before they burst. Now, consider the intense setup of the power struggle: the world's largest oil reserves are held by Islamic countries, while the world's largest oil consumers are mostly Christian nations, locked in a struggle for "the ring." Pretty wild food for your thoughts, eh?

Springtime Initiation

It's a week before Spring and we feel the stars stirring in our soul jockeying for position. The planets are forming some tricky geometries as the new cycle dawns. The Good News -- Jupiter and Neptune are locked in a tight trine as is Venus and Saturn -- fueling trust in our inner guidance and the power of love in the universe that all will be well. Now, the tricky part starts today with the Sun squaring Pluto, triggering feelings of insecurity -- like the bottom is dropping out. It only feels that way. Mercury turns retrograde on Saturday the 19th, Saturn direct on the 21st, and Pluto retrograde on the 26th. I'll be blogging more about how to navigate this challenging initiation into Spring. The equinox is a stellar time to check your personal stars, get a forecast (check out those email prices!).