Recommended: Llewellyn’s 2011 Daily Planetary Guide

The list of books I couldn’t live without is a short one. At the top is Llewellyn’s Daily Planetary Guide. Indeed, you might call it my secret weapon, and it can be yours, too.

Every year, usually in late summer, Llewellyn releases its Daily Planetary Guide for the following year. The 2011 edition is now available, and while it’s a bit early to order it if you’re just using it to track planetary aspects from day to day, it couldn’t hurt to get it now so that you’ll have it when the new year begins. You might even add it to your holiday wish list.

For me, it’s absolutely essential, as I rely on it to write my forecasts in advance. Do you think I go through the ephemerides and hand-calculate when each aspect will occur? Gracious, no! It’s all here in this book, which provides a daily rundown of all aspects between the Sun, Moon, eight planets, Ceres and Chiron. It also tells you when the planets change signs and when they go retrograde and direct – all extremely useful. Exact times are noted, for both the east and west coasts of the United States.

Before I write my forecasts, I go through the book and highlight the key aspects. That’s how I know what the week, month, or year is going to look like.

Sometimes I need the ephemeris, though, and that’s in the back of the book, in Universal Time, and it includes Juno, Pallas, and Vesta. There are additional features of the book that I don’t use at all, but they are quite helpful for the beginner. The first few pages contain a quick astrology lesson and explain things such as the void-of-course Moon.

I include all of the week’s most important aspects in my weekly forecasts, but if you have at least a beginner’s knowledge of astrology and would like to have a peek farther ahead, you’ll find this book invaluable. With some guidance and a little practice, you can learn how to use this calendar to create your own transit charts for the big events in 2011.

The Daily Planetary Guide doubles as my desk calendar and appointment book, and I carry it with me whenever I leave town. I truly would be lost without it.

I created a link in the left sidebar in case you’d like to order it from Amazon, which offers it at a great discount. I predict that you’ll get hooked on it, too!

Pat

Llewellyn’s 2011 Daily Planetary Guide
208 pages
ISBN: 978-0738711287
July 2010/Llewellyn Publications
US$12.99

Ask Real Astrologers: What Do Empty Houses Mean?

For this week’s question, I’m answering a comment left by Alina on my weekly forecast for September 13:

Could you please explain the effect of empty houses in a chart – for instance, house 2 and house 7.

Alina, this is a great question and one I get often, especially from those just beginning to study astrology.

Since you’re asking about the second house, which rules earned income, and the seventh house, which rules marriage and long-term partnerships, I assume that you’re concerned that an empty second or seventh house could mean that you’ll never have any money and won’t ever find a suitable mate. This is very definitely not the case – at least not because of those empty houses in your chart.

I’ve had several clients ask me about this, especially in terms of relationships. Typically, they’re having trouble getting into a relationship and wonder if they’re doomed to being single forever because there are no planets in their seventh house. The other one I get a lot is whether an empty fifth house means the client will never have children.

Think about this logically. If you have an empty fourth house, does that mean you’ll never have a place to live? If your first house is empty, does it mean you’ll have no personality? If you look at it the other way, does a full seventh house guarantee you’ll get married and live happily ever after? The answers are no, no, and no.

A natal chart must be viewed as a whole, with an analysis of house rulers and patterns in the chart. There might be indications in a chart of difficulty with close relationships, poor financial judgment, finding a career late in life, and so forth. But these things aren’t determined simply by looking at whether a house is empty.

Even with a pattern in the chart of, say, all the money houses empty, I might conclude that money wasn’t your focus in this lifetime. It doesn’t mean you won’t have any and in fact could be quite the contrary. You might have so much of it that it simply isn’t a burning issue. Again, the chart needs to be read as a whole. This is one reason why a reading with a professional astrology is vastly superior to computer-generated charts … and why a professional reading costs a lot more. It takes time for the astrologer to do an in-depth analysis.

I hope that answers your question and puts your mind at ease.

In closing, I’d like to request that anyone with a question for this column submit it via the Ask Real Astrologers form. It helps me keep track of all the questions I get and also ensures that I have all of the information I need from you in order to give you the best possible answer. I decided to take Alina’s question this week, because it is one that I get so often from clients that I thought it would be helpful for others. But please, if you would, use the form.

Thanks so much. And thank you, Alina, for writing!

Pat

Got a quick question? Click here to contact Ask Real Astrologers. You must use this form to contact me, or I won’t get your question. I do read all of your questions, although I am sorry that I can’t answer them all. If you need immediate guidance or in-depth advice, please contact me for a private consultation. THANKS!

Light and Darkness in Balance

Sleeping Beauty, by Maxfield Parrish, 1912.

The Sun’s entry into Libra this evening marks the fall equinox, when light and darkness are in perfect balance.

In our high-tech society, we tend to take these cycles of nature for granted, but our ancestors were acutely aware of the disappearance and return of the light. Many of our best-loved myths, legends, and fairy tales grew out of this planetary phenomenon, although it may not be readily apparent.

One that comes immediately to mind is the Descent of Inanna, who ventures into the underworld to visit her sister, a goddess deprived of sunlight who is depressed, miserable, and in constant pain. If you or anyone you love suffers from Seasonal Affective Disorder, you might well imagine how this myth came about. In fact, ancient Sumerian texts mention light deprivation and its affect on the libido. Pretty astonishing, don’t you think?

Another tale that comes to mind is the Sleeping Beauty. There are many interpretations of the meaning of this tale. Some see sexual symbolism in the virgin who pricks her finger on a spindle and goes to sleep for 100 years. According to some traditions, the tale represents spirit “sleeping” inside of matter. That spirit, or love, is awakened by a kiss from the prince. In esoteric terms, spirit is light, matter is darkness, and the quest for reunifying them is eternal.

For cultures where seasonal changes aren’t so extreme, the cycle of light and darkness is more easily seen in the phases of the Moon. As it so happens, this year we have both the equinox and the Full Moon with just a few hours of one another.

As I mentioned in my weekly forecast, the Sun in Libra and Moon in Aries will retrace the degrees of the cardinal T-square, which peaked in August. This, too, will lead us to a better understanding of time and our place in the universe.

Just some food for thought as we head into a new season.

Happy Equinox!
Pat

Weekly Forecast September 20: Sun in Libra, Full Moon in Aries

This year’s cardinal T-square is mostly done, thank goddess, but I’ve been keeping my eye on this week as one exception.

Thanks to Thursday’s Full Moon, for a brief period, we’ll revisit the cardinal T-square, which peaked in early August. I wrote a complete interpretation in my Saturday post, reviewing how this Full Moon mirrors the T-square but also holds the potential to take us beyond the limitations we faced over the summer.

In addition to the Full Moon, the big news this week is the Sun’s entry into Libra, marking the official beginning of fall in the Northern Hemisphere. The Sun will cross the degrees of the T-square, but one of the biggest obstacles in that earlier configuration, Saturn, has moved far enough away to be less of a constraint. Sun in Libra suggests moderation, so I don’t think we’ll get a power surge but rather the easy movement forward that occurs when you let your foot off the brake.

The Sun’s Libra ingress occurs Wednesday at 11:09 p.m. on the East Coast of the United States. Of course, it will be Thursday already in the Eastern Hemisphere, where many of RealAstrologers’ faithful readers live.

Before entering Libra, the Sun in the final degrees of Virgo opposes Jupiter and Uranus, both of which are retrograde and back in Pisces for the rest of the year. Although they aren’t part of the cardinal T-square, they do form a tight T-square with the Sun and Moon on Thursday, and so their energies can’t be discounted. Also, I expect that the Sun will carry some of their loud, boisterous energy forward into the Full Moon, so we can expect to hear from these two. Wild storms – meteorological, political and emotional – are among the potential manifestations from Tuesday through Friday.

On Saturday, the Sun squares Pluto, newly direct in Capricorn and ready to flex his muscle. This is the most contentious aspect of the week and where I expect we’ll have to revisit old obstacles. There’s nothing to do during Pluto transits except to give up resistance. If you’re trying to hang onto something – a situation, a relationship, a belief – you may need to let it go. At the very least, you’ll need to change your approach. You probably already know where the problem area lies, as this really is just a repeat of issues you faced over the summer. This time, though, you may really need to give up and try something different.

Difficult Sun-Pluto transits also correspond to mechanical breakdowns. If you’ve been avoiding repairs, you may not be able to do so any longer.

Sunday could be emotionally charged, with the Moon in Taurus opposite Venus and Mars in Scorpio. It sounds great for certain indoor activities, but the resulting fireworks may be a little more intense than you bargained for. If you manage to access a deep place in your psyche where difficult emotions have been hidden or repressed, let them come up. The release may leave you feeling like a dishrag, but you’ll feel a lot better when Monday morning rolls around.

Wishing you all much love, courage, and the abundance of the season,
Pat

Image: The new crop of apples has arrived! © Barbara Helgason for Dreamstime.com.

Full Moon in Aries, September 23

Harvest Moon rising over the Cascades, Sept. 17, 2005. © David Haworth, http://www.stargazing.net

The Full Moon in Aries on September 23 revisits the cardinal T-square of 2010 and expresses its powerful potential to set sweeping changes in motion.

Normally, we look to the Full Moon as an outgrowth of whatever was begun at the New Moon, but I don’t see a lot of association here. This Full Moon, which traditionally is called the “Harvest Moon,” appears to be a sort of “early harvest” of the seeds planted during the cardinal T-square, or at least an indication of what the future harvest will look like.

Although the outer planets no longer are in a tight cardinal T-square, this Full Moon fills in the blanks, so to speak. So many people told me over the summer that they felt like they were on the verge of a breakthrough, but they kept bumping up against obstacles. This Full Moon on the dynamic first degree of Aries may be just what it takes to blast through those invisible walls.

The breakthroughs we sensed over the summer were real, but with the T-square blocking the energies symbolized by each of the other planets, we were stuck. Some of us, but not all, were able to find a way out via a personal planet or chart point opposite Pluto or during one of the soft transits (sextiles or trines) from the planets in the T-square. I alerted you to these windows in my weekly forecasts.

The Moon at 0°15′ Aries opposite the Sun at 0°15′ Libra repeats the degrees of the T-square at its peak in early August, both square Pluto. This Full Moon also is square the very powerful lunar eclipse in Capricorn on June 26, which was closely conjunct Pluto. The difference is that Pluto was retrograde back then, and he’s now in a powerful position of waking and returning direct.

The Full Moon on the Aries point reinforces the theme of new growth and emerging from darkness into light. However, since this is a Full Moon, and it’s the day after the equinox, this isn’t a time of birth, but of bringing what already has been born into full realization. It is a time of blooming into fullness, and that includes awakening consciousness on an individual and also broad, collective scale.

Jupiter and Uranus, which were in the first few degrees of Aries during the height of the T-square, are now retrograde and back in Pisces for the rest of the year. But they are still conjunct the Moon by just a few degrees and so are very active participants in this Full Moon. Even retrograde in Pisces, these two are big, loud, and rebellious, especially with Jupiter at his closest approach to the Earth in nearly 50 years. From Tea Party gains to powerful storms in the Atlantic, these two are making themselves felt (maybe all the hot air in Washington is keeping those storms offshore).

Saturn, meanwhile, has advanced to nearly 7 degrees Libra and makes a wide conjunction with the Sun. A lot can be accomplished, particularly in the sphere of relationships. With Saturn separating from the tight square to Pluto, we no longer have powerful forces working against each other, and this is another reason for my optimism that we can start achieving the progress we just couldn’t manage to pull off a couple of months ago.

At 26 degrees Sagittarius, Ceres is in a tight square with Jupiter and Uranus as she moves toward alignment with the Galactic Center and conjunction with Pluto. Ceres, symbol of the cycles in nature, was a major influence in the chart for the BP Horizon disaster. Fittingly, the news headlines talk of the well’s permanent death. But, as with the fateful meeting between Demeter and Hades (Greek counterparts to Ceres and Pluto), the implications will be with us for a very long time.

Ceres also makes a tight trine to Neptune and Chiron, reinforcing the theme of collective healing. Understanding that life experiences come in cycles is one way to feel whole and connected, even when we’re surrounded by darkness, chaos, and confusion.

Mercury, Venus, and Mars are in a wide, separating aspect, and they aren’t major influences in this chart. It’s important to note, though, that Venus is slowing down as she gets closer to retrograde on October 8. She’ll conjoin Mars right before that.

Lastly, I’d like to mention that this is the first of two full moons in Aries this year. After the New Moon in Libra on October 7, we will be back in the cycle of the New Moon in a sign followed by the Full Moon in the opposite sign. The next Full Moon in Aries falls on October 22, the day before the Sun enters Scorpio. It will have a very different feel to it than this one, so stay tuned for a complete report next month.

The Sabian Symbol** for the Moon at 0°15′ Aries is, A woman rises out of water, a seal rises and embraces her. The keyword is REALIZATION. As the first degree of Aries, this is a powerful symbol of the soul emerging from the primordial state of non-existence, or what we might call the “unmanifest.”

According to Marc Edmond Jones, who channeled the Sabian symbols in the early 1920s, this symbol is about “feminine receptivity calling up a more masculine or personal and self-seeking initiative.” Put to positive use, this energy allows us to see life as a field of unlimited experiences we can use to our advantage at any time. Closing yourself to this realization may result in failure to find your true purpose in life, because the ego-self stays stuck in its obsessions.

For the Sun at 0°15′ Libra, the Sabian Symbol is a butterfly made perfect by a dart through it, with the keyword ARTICULATION. Whereas the first degree of Aries is about the soul emerging out of the unmanifest, the first degree of Libra is about emerging consciousness. I couldn’t think of a more appropriate symbol for our time! This symbol is about seeing beyond the material world and living fully, completely, from the heart and soul.

Wishing you all much love and courage,
Pat

** From The Sabian Symbols in Astrology, by Dr. Marc Edmond Jones. The author, an astrologer, channeled this work in the early 1920s. There’s one symbol one for each degree of the zodiac, and we can use them to gain insight into charts.

Ask Real Astrologers: How Do Pluto Transits Affect Children?

This week’s question comes from “Concerned Mom” in Laguna Niguel, Calif.:

My 11-year-old son has a 5 [degree] Cappy Moon and has been so stressed for some time, very emotional and bad dreams sometimes. I think Pluto is hitting it and all the action this past summer. I don’t know that much about astrology but was wondering a couple things. How long would this tension exist for him – gosh, he’s just a kid, and Pluto moves so slow. And how can I make it easier for him? Watch for transits, or ???

P.S. I love your blog!

Yes, Mom, Pluto has been hitting your boy’s Moon hard, and that has got to be tough for such a young person. Pluto on the Moon is hard enough for adults – just ask Al Gore – so it has to be almost unbearable for a poor kid.

Actually, I’ve already done a post on this transit and usually I don’t repeat a topic. But your question gives me the opportunity to point out that children often feel astrological transits more acutely than adults do, since they tend to be far more sensitive. For children, the cardinal T-square could manifest exactly as you describe. It’s so fortunate that you understand enough about astrology to know that it could be impacting your son’s behavior. I can only imagine how many kids might have been put on Ritalin this summer for their behavioral “problems.”

Because Pluto has been at the apex of the T-square, that means your son also has a square from Saturn to his Moon and from Jupiter and Uranus to his Moon. Difficult transits from Saturn to the Moon can indicate periods of depression, while Uranus-Moon transits often manifest as nervous anxiety. Your son also has cardinal signs on all four chart angles, and his chart ruler is the Moon. He must feel like an electrical wire during a power surge.

Pluto went retrograde on April 6 exactly conjunct your son’s Moon, and then the T-square became more intense, until it reached peak power in early August. It has dissipated for the time being but will back next spring. In the meantime, Pluto has returned direct and will make one last pass over your son’s Moon in early January. You’re right – that’s an awful long time to be going through so much stress. The good news is that he’ll never have to deal with that again in his lifetime.

The Moon represents mother, and Rising Cancer needs the comforts of mother and home. I used to work with someone who had a Cancer daughter about your son’s age, and she had a bed full of stuffed animals that my colleague referred to as her “nest.” Every night at bedtime, she snuggled into her nest. Perhaps something like that would be comforting to your son. Extra attention from you and soothing reassurance would help, too. If he likes to draw or paint, that could help him express some of his feelings.

Keep in mind that the cardinal T-square is pushing us all to grow and evolve, and that applies to children as well as adults. Perhaps children are even more open to expanding their minds, as they are still forming what I call the “thought matrix.”

If the stress gets too much, though, I’d have to recommend professional help. Perhaps you could find a family counselor with some knowledge of astrology or, at least, a Jungian therapist who works with archetypes. Your little guy needs lots of extra support. Mom probably does, too.

Here’s a great big hug to both of you. Thanks for writing. I hope this helps.

Pat

Pluto Direct: Past Lives Coming to the Surface

I’ve never been a big believer in past lives – at least not the idea that we have a soul that remains intact and progresses through human time from incarnation to incarnation.

However, I do believe that our energetic body – our spiritual essence, if you will – has had experiences outside of linear time, and that could explain the phenomenon of feeling as though we’ve lived in another time and place. Never is this feeling more powerful than when we meet someone in this lifetime that we seem to have known before.

Pluto’s return direct at the apex of the cardinal T-square seems to have brought some of these meetings to a crisis, as several clients over the past month have asked for a Soul Mates Karma Report to help them understand their troubled relationship and, for some, disturbing obsession with a love interest. Until this past weekend, when Pluto was at a dead standstill, I didn’t put two and two together.

In almost all of the charts I did, the T-square was making very tight connections to the Moon, Venus, chart angles, or the lunar nodes in the natal chart of the client or the love interest. In some cases, it hit both of their charts very hard, mostly through transits of Saturn or Pluto. Boom – the relationship reaches a tipping point.

For “some reason” (these things are never a coincidence), I recalled a commentary on Pluto I read several years ago in David Pond’s book, Astrology & Relationships. It’s worth thinking about, with Pluto newly direct. I highly recommend the book, by the way, and have added it to my Amazon carousel on the left.

Another source of obsession that should be considered is past lives. Pluto connects us to people whom we have known in many ways in many lives. Past-life ties are confusing if they open you to hunger that cannot be met by the person in this life. It is as if your subconscious memory of who this person was for you in a previous life awakens the hunger for what the relationship offered you in the past. It is doomed to fail because that past relationship is dead, and you will not be able to mold your current relationship to fill this hunger.

This certainly has been the case for several of my clients, who specifically used the word “confused” or “confusing” in their initial message to me.

As I wrote in my Saturday Extra! post on Pluto and obsessions in relationships, spending more time thinking about the obsession rather than trying to put it out of your mind can put you on the path to healing and regeneration. That’s not to say it will be easy or pain-free. Indeed, you likely will have to confront your shadow side, which has to happen before the total regeneration symbolized by Pluto can take place, and for most people, that process is exceptionally hard and may require professional help.

It’s also interesting to note that I’ve received several e-mails from young people who were born in the late 80s, when Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune all were in early Capricorn. Pluto is now transiting these degrees. The Pluto-Neptune conjunction can be a time of serious soul-searching, when you wonder whether your life is based on reality or illusion. Obviously, this can be a great awakening, and that awakening can open up the consciousness to the existence of experiences outside this lifetime. Meeting someone from another incarnation can be the trigger.

That said, it’s not just younger people who are having this experience. Many clients in their late 40s and early 50s are in similar circumstances.

This is definitely a trend to watch, so stay tuned…

Pat

Image: © Yuri Arcurs/Dreamstime.com

Weekly Forecast September 13: Pluto Direct, Mars Enters Scorpio

Mercury is direct, and we’re ready to roll!

I thought things would stay fairly quiet last week with both Mercury and Pluto sitting still. However, I underestimated the effects of Jupiter’s return to Pisces. Right on cue, there was an explosion in San Bruno, Calif., which apparently had been waiting for just such a trigger. I’ll discuss this more below. First, let’s have a look at this week’s aspects.

I emphatically don’t expect this week to be quiet, although Monday and Tuesday could be slow and frustrating. Often, the worst traffic jams, Internet delays, and communications snafus occur when Mercury is shifting phase. When the Messenger is stopped (that’s what it looks like from our perspective), everything he rules stops, too. You can plan ahead by leaving a few minutes early for your Monday morning commute and not expecting meetings to go as planned.

Pluto returns direct in early Capricorn on Tuesday, with Mars entering Scorpio later in the day. These two events could deliver a one-two punch. In modern astrology, Pluto rules Scorpio, and so the powerful thrust of Mars will add to Pluto’s return direct. Pluto, remember, has been at the apex of the cardinal T-square all summer, and he has been under plenty of pressure. When that kind of power is blocked and suddenly gets released, who knows what might happen? Powerful earth events would not be a big surprise.

Mars is the traditional ruler of Scorpio, so he’ll be in his own sign after languishing in Libra. Mars doesn’t really like to play nice, and when he’s forced to do so, he tends to take out his frustration in passive-aggressive ways. Enough of that! Mars in Scorpio has tremendous power, and he’s not afraid to show it. Wherever you have early Scorpio in your chart is where you will feel this transit the most.

Mars and Venus are together in Scorpio now, and they’ll meet for the second time this year in early October, right before Venus goes retrograde. When they met in Libra on August 20, many people I know began demanding more give and take in their relationships. That balance may tip again as the desire nature takes over rational considerations. This could be good or bad, but I strongly caution against making compromises that shouldn’t be made. In all things you do, maintain your integrity.

As the week progresses, situations that have been blocked or seemingly insurmountable over the past few weeks may move forward with a sudden start that could leave your head spinning. If you’ve been holding off on signing contracts or starting a new venture, now is your time to make a bold move!

On Wednesday, the Moon in Capricorn conjoins Pluto and then traces the degrees of the cardinal T-square. Even though its influence has temporarily subsided, Pluto stationed with the Moon in conjunction could unleash powerful emotions, at the very least, as we lurch forward.

Mars and Pluto formally align in a sextile on Saturday, so this is another day when we may experience a strong energy surge. As long as we’ve been waiting for a breakthrough, the force of this one may be intense. Unfortunately, that’s how it goes sometimes, so we’ll just have to ride out the turbulence. As I type these words, I’m reminded of the runaway train scene in The Fugitive, the 1993 thriller starring Harrison Ford.

Also on Saturday, Jupiter and Uranus conjoin in Pisces, the second pass of a three-part alignment. The first pass occurred on June 8 at 0 degrees Aries, forming a volatile end of the T-square. Then both planets went retrograde. They’ll meet this weekend at 28 degrees Pisces. This is a heavily charged degree, as it was where Saturn and Uranus opposed one another on April 26. You’ll recall that springs were popping all over the place back then. Among other things, that was about the time that BP’s oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico.

With Jupiter and Uranus back in Pisces, any explosions that happen – literally or figuratively – will be bigger and noisier. Uranus also is back in mutual reception with Neptune in Aquarius, reinforcing themes of collective awakening and wild weather involving air and water.

Jennifer in Austin, Texas, left a comment yesterday asking me about Tropical Storm Hermine. It’s interesting to note that this weather system caused relatively few problems when it made landfall on Monday. It wasn’t until Wednesday that the flooding began to take a toll. Aside from Wednesday’s New Moon, Saturn crossed the degree of the June 26 lunar eclipse in Capricorn. And, of course, Jupiter was just hours from moving back into Pisces.

That said, it’s a tricky business associating earthly events with astrological alignments – especially these days, when the planets are in such a complicated configuration. It’s like saying that one gear causes the machine to move more than the others. And it makes predictions all the more difficult. At this point, we’re all making educated guesses. Some turn out to be amazingly right on, while others are just plain wrong.

Wishing you all much love and courage,
Pat

Saturday Extra! Pluto and Obsession in Relationships

[This article originally appeared on Sept. 11, 2010.]

With Pluto about to go direct, I thought this would be a good time to reflect on a very Plutonic topic, obsession.

Occasionally a client will admit to me that he or she is obsessed with a relationship, but it’s something few people want to admit. Obsessions can cause a great deal of suffering, embarrassment, and shame – another Plutonic feeling – and so we often try to shove it down, forget about it, or overcome it. At the very least, we attempt to hide it so that others won’t know.

I unabashedly advise my clients to focus more attention on the object of their obsession, not less. Some might think that’s mentally unsound, but let me explain my reasoning.

In my observation over the years, there’s always a reason for an obsession. It may not be obvious, and often it’s not what the obsession seems to be about. But usually there is a compelling reason. To my way of thinking, it’s mentally unhealthy to stay stuck in the obsession, but you won’t get unstuck by ignoring it. The very fact that it’s knocking you so hard over the head and heart means that you have an issue that needs to be resolved. The only way to resolve it is to confront it head on.

Astrology is an amazingly effective tool for doing just that, and I’ve helped many clients figure out what is going on to cause them such distress.

Before I discuss this further, let me emphasize that I’m not talking about clinical obsessive-compulsive disorder, which requires professional intervention. Even in that case, though, confronting the tendency to obsess is critical in getting help.

With few exceptions, the clients who come to me with an obsession are fixated on a certain person, or someone is obsessed with them. Sometimes they are in a relationship already and are having difficulties because one partner is obsessed with the other. In these cases, looking at Pluto in the synastry chart is the first order of business.

There are several Pluto aspects that indicate this kind of attachment, but the ones I look for are the conflicting aspects (oppositions and squares) between one partner’s Pluto and the other’s Moon, Mars, Venus, or Sun. Other Pluto aspects can spell trouble, too, but those are the ones that consistently pop up. If one person has a difficult Pluto aspect in the natal chart to start with, the resulting obsession can be extremely intense.

If there are no difficult Pluto aspects, then I start looking for other indicators. Neptune aspects sometimes tell me that the client isn’t seeing the reality of the situation. For example, he or she may wish to be in a relationship with someone who isn’t interested or available. If this is the case, I ask what that person represents to the client. Unfortunately, this puts me in a tough position, because I have to deliver the bad news that the desired lover is in all probability not The One, and that’s not what they want to hear.

Occasionally, I see very close karmic connections between the client and the person he or she is obsessing about. In many ways, these cases are even more challenging than the aforementioned situation, because there are complications. After all, if two people destined to fall in love meet, date, and marry, they usually don’t need me! The only time I’m called in is when one person is either unaware of the connection or is aware but in a committed relationship already.

It does appear that we’re in an accelerated time period in which more and more people are finding a long-lost soul mate. Reconnecting with our intended other is part of the deep healing process that so many of us are experiencing.

If you are obsessing over someone and want to know why, please consider contacting me for a reading. Depending on your situation, you may want to order True Love, the Complete Compatibility Report, or you may want a telephone consultation. Before we talk, I’ll make an in-depth analysis of your chart and give you my interpretation of what’s going on. Together, we’ll figure it out!

Pat

Ask Real Astrologers: When Will This Pluto Transit End?

This week’s question comes from Elise in Kansas City, Missouri:

I’m a third degree Capricorn … Yes, thank you, for your sympathy. I’m actually enjoying the travels through the underworld, and I’m very thankful for my background in Western ceremonial magick, which helps me understand. Sometimes the ride gets to be a bit much, though. Since Pluto will go direct soon, I’m wondering when I can expect things to be not SO intense for me.

P.S. Thanks very much for all your time devoted to the blog!

Yes, Elise, you certainly have my sympathy – you and everyone else who has personal planets or chart points in the early degrees of the cardinal signs.

It’s not just Pluto on your Sun that’s been making life intense, although that would be plenty rough enough. With Pluto at the apex of the cardinal T-square, you’ve been getting the full force of the T-square at the very core of who you are. I imagine you are much changed from a year ago.

At the same time that you’ve had Pluto on your Sun, you’ve had a Saturn-Sun square, which made your Pluto transit all the more challenging. The good news is that Saturn has now moved on, but then he’ll briefly conjoin your natal Mars from mid-October to mid-November, and that isn’t going to be fun. At the very least, you’ll likely be very irritable and agitated.

In the meantime, Pluto turns direct next Tuesday at 2°47′ Capricorn. For all practical purposes, that is conjunct your Sun, and the transformational power of Pluto is all the more intense when he’s stationed. Using your alchemical knowledge, you can channel this energy into making deep and lasting changes in your life, but it will backfire big-time if you try to manipulate situations or people for your own selfish purposes. If you keep the common good in mind – which shouldn’t be too hard for a Rising Aquarius – then I wouldn’t be surprised if you manage to work miracles.

As to when this will be over, I’d give it until the end of November. After that, I would concentrate on testing and verifying that the changes you’ve made truly are setting you on the right course. Next spring, when Uranus re-enters Aries, he’ll be square your Sun. If you’re not heading in the right direction, you can bet that more unexpected events will happen in order to keep you on the straight and narrow.

It sounds to me like you’ve got a good understanding of what’s going on, and I think you’ll do just fine. Thanks for writing … and thanks for the kind words about my blog (I do work hard!).

Pat