Tag Archives: cardinal T-square

The Collective Reboot: Birthing a New Reality

Light on the Summit. Since ancient times, mountain peaks have been symbols of higher consciousness. I took this photo of Mount Rainier the day of the eclipse. © Pat Paquette

In my post on Sunday’s eclipse, I referred to a “collective reboot.” It’s happening, and we’re giving birth to a new reality.

Some of us are experiencing painful situations. When we experience a leap in consciousness, our old way of being becomes incompatible. The more we try to hang onto it, the more we suffer. Some of us are better at letting go than others. There are times when tenacity doesn’t pay, and it sure looks like this is one of them.

If you suffered a loss during this eclipse, there is no going back. When we lose something that has outlived its purpose, it still hurts. Grieve for the loss, and keep moving forward, even if you don’t know where the road is leading. It’s scary, and you may feel alone at first, but that feeling will dissipate once you realize what you gained. Stay aware, and look for evidence that your higher consciousness is manifesting, without interference by your “egoic” mind, as some call it.

I was reading Eckhart Tolle this morning and stumbled on his comment about the fall of the Berlin Wall:

[T]he ego is destined to dissolve, and all its ossified structures, whether they be religious or other institutions, corporations, or governments, will disintegrate from within, no matter how deeply entrenched they appear to be. The most rigid structures, the most impervious to change, will collapse first. This has already happened in the case of Soviet Communism. How deeply entrenched, how solid and monolithic it appeared, and yet within a few years, it disintegrated from within. No one foresaw this. All were taken by surprise. There are many more such surprises in store for us.

The Berlin Wall fell during the cardinal T-square of 1989, which in many ways was a precursor to the T-square of 2010 and 2011. I suspect that we’re going to experience many more losses between now and 2012, both individually and collectively. All of these events will be signs that the old, ego-centered order is falling away as we enter a New Age of Interconnectedness.

There was something symbolic about returning home from a difficult weekend to find my car surrounded by huge tree branches and yellow police tape. The car sustained only minor scratches, and whoever had put up the barrier left it low enough for me to back out of my parking space. It was a reminder how easily things can come and go — and when we least expect it.

As one door closes for me, a new one seems to be opening, thanks to those of you who responded to my request for donations. Many of you sent notes of encouragement along with your contribution. Some of you couldn’t donate but sent e-mail affirming your support. I was incredibly touched and now have renewed faith that RealAstrologers could become a viable business to serve those entering the new reality.

Pat

Weekly Forecast July 12: In the Wake of the Solar Eclipse

Detail of The Storm Spirits, by Evelyn De Morgan, 1900.

We begin this week in the wake of Sunday’s solar eclipse in Cancer, and that’s really the biggest news — that, and the steady march toward the peak of the cardinal T-square, just a couple of weeks away now.

Eclipses often signal rapid change, and these sometimes are evident within three days on either side of the eclipse date. But in the case of the New Moon eclipse, developments may take until the Full Moon to unfold or until the next New Moon. Sometimes the effects are delayed by two or three months, but I don’t think that will happen in this case, due to the building energy of the T-square.

Under astrological influences such as we’re experiencing in 2010 and 2011, world events may not happen at the moment planetary alignments are exact, but can be staggered throughout the year. Sometimes transits by the Moon or Mars to critical points can trigger an event. It can all get pretty complicated.

Otherwise, there’s not a lot happening this week (as if that’s not enough). Venus in Virgo trines Pluto in Capricorn on Tuesday, an aspect for physical love and the emotional intensity that can come from sexual desire, if you let go and allow it to take over. When sex is approached as a means of deeper connection and not just for instant physical gratification, it is a powerful agent of spiritual growth. This can be scary for some people, usually because it involves giving up mental control.

The emotional intensity is even greater on Wednesday, when the Moon conjoins Venus and trines Pluto. Sexually, things could get even more interesting, as the Moon conjoins Mars on Thursday, carrying forward the energy of Venus and Pluto to the planetary ruler of the libido. Events mid-week could be a prelude to the Venus-Mars conjunction on August 20, so keep your eyes and ears open.

The Moon enters Libra on Friday, and for a brief period we have a mini-version of the cardinal T-square. The Moon moves too quickly for lunar transits to have much impact (eclipses being a major exception), but in this case the Moon may act as a trigger for events related to the T-square. Stay alert, and note any unusual events on that day.

Also on Friday, Mars in Virgo squares Ceres in Sagittarius. Astrologers are still studying the movements of Ceres, and it will be some time before we collect enough data to make definitive statements about her role in individual and mundane astrology. It does appear, however, that she is a marker for environmental issues and also for events that are cyclical in nature. A conflicting square between Ceres and Mars in detail-oriented Virgo might, for example, indicate serious problems in BP’s attempt to contain the well gushing oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

As I explained in last week’s forecast, we’re in a period when change could come swiftly and out of the blue, so it will pay to stay focused and in the moment. I liken it to being in a boat on a fast-moving current. The river determines our general direction, but we can lean to one side or the other and alter our course slightly — perhaps enough to avoid the rocks. This is especially true for the collective. Where our thoughts go, our lives follow.

Before I sign off, I’d like to express my deepest thanks again to those who made donations. If you haven’t made a donation yet, please would you take a moment to do so? We’re all connected here, and what you do really does affect whether RealAstrologers continues as-is, morphs into something else, or rolls down the shutters and folds. I’ve created a special page to tell you more about how you can help. Please spread the word.

Wishing you all much love and courage,
Pat

Ask Real Astrologers: Is This a Bad Time for a Career Move?

This week’s question comes from Kinja in San Francisco, Calif.:

After having a bad experience in a new job that lasted from November 2009 to February 2010, I started thinking perhaps I should look into other career options. … Is this just a bad time to try new career moves for me? Should I just stick with what I have been doing in the last couple of years?

First of all, Kinja, thank you for resubmitting your question using the e-mail submission form. My Mercury in Capricorn needs to keep the files in order!

As you rightly noted in your e-mail, Neptune currently is opposite your natal Saturn. Because you have Saturn near the Midheaven, this also means that Neptune is on your IC. In effect, you’re getting a double dose of Neptune on your career, so it’s no wonder you’ve had such a difficult time of it lately.

Neptune is a dissolving agent. Just as the relentless pounding of waves wears away rocky cliffs, Neptune transits can break down structures in our lives. An old order is falling away so that something new can take its place. The problem is that the “something new” isn’t immediately apparent. In the meantime, you can feel aimless and disoriented.

Remember, too, that Neptune has been indirectly linked to the Saturn-Uranus opposition of the past two years via an inconjunct with Saturn and mutual reception with Uranus in Pisces. Saturn has been in your tenth house of career, which normally is a good time to achieve professional goals. However, with Uranus in opposition, every time you’ve tried to establish yourself, the rug has been pulled out from under you.

Even if you tried to move into a different career, you probably wouldn’t be much more successful than you’ve been recently, and Neptune transits tend to cloud our judgment and distort our sense of reality. Unfortunately, the outer planets move through the chart slowly, and so these transits last for several months.

In any case, I’m advising my clients not to initiate new ventures until the middle of September, when the cardinal T-square will start to dissipate. Events this summer may take on a life of their own, and if you’re flexible and open to change, you can jump on opportunities that might not be available to you if you’ve already committed to another course of action.

It sounds to me as though something really good is trying to break through in your life. The fog of Neptune may be a blessing in disguise, as it’s forcing you to let go of attachment to a particular outcome so that you can embrace a radically different way of being.

You obviously have a good grasp of astrology, but I always recommend a professional reading, if possible. There are lots of good astrologers in the San Francisco area, and I do readings by phone.

Best of luck to you Kinja, and thanks again 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!

Cardinal T-Squares Past and Present

As we head into peak season of the 2010 cardinal T-square, I continue to search back through time for similar configurations that might provide some clues of what to expect in the next couple of months.

I’ve made a lot of references to events in 1989, the most recent year we had anything approaching the cardinal configuration currently forming in the sky. As I noted in this week’s forecast, the 1989 alignment wasn’t as dramatic as this year’s, and still there were a lot of exceptional events that year, including the Exxon Valdez oil spill and the Loma Prieta earthquake.

So far this year, we’ve had a mega-quake and a mega-spill, and that’s consistent with the astrological markers.

One could argue that oil spills and earthquakes happen all the time, but those that occurred in 1989 were exceptional. The Loma Prieta quake flattened downtown Santa Cruz and caused extensive damage in the San Francisco area, and the Exxon Valdez spill remains one of worst in history.

Looking back a little farther, we find another period of intense cardinal energy in the early 1930s. I can’t take credit for digging up this one but have to thank Ray Merriman, whose weekly financial column includes a lot of mundane analysis. That’s why he’s first on my list of links in the left sidebar. I highly recommend including him in your weekly astrology reading.

When the stock market crashed in 1929, the cardinal build-up had just begun, with Pluto in Cancer and Uranus in Aries. Saturn entered Capricorn earlier in the year but was back in Sagittarius at the time of the crash. He re-entered Capricorn in December, and then Jupiter entered Cancer in June 1930. At that point, all of the outer planets except Neptune were in cardinal signs, although they weren’t in as tight a configuration as this year’s T-square.

The cardinal configuration continued to build in 1930 and 1931, with a new series of eclipses in cardinal Aries and Libra. The first in the series, a total eclipse of the Sun in late Libra on Oct. 21, 1930, was in a wide square to Jupiter and Pluto conjunct in Cancer, with Uranus in the mid-degrees of Aries and Saturn in early Capricorn.

It’s interesting to note that Ceres also was in the formation, just as she is today. The Full Moon on Jan. 4, 1931, was conjunct Jupiter and Pluto, with the Sun tightly conjunct Saturn and retrograde Mercury, all in a tight T-square with Uranus in Aries. Ceres in Libra transformed the configuration into a grand cross.

You probably know where I’m going with this. The Great Depression began with the stock market crash and lasted ten years. Although it began in the United States, it spread worldwide, causing untold misery for millions of people. At the same time, Adolph Hitler was gaining influence in Germany, Japan began exerting its military might, and the world stage was being set for World War II.

I have to repeat my usual caveat that I’m not trying to spread gloom and doom, only to provide information about how similar astrological configurations have expressed themselves in the past. Obviously, events don’t repeat in exactly the same way, and the T-square is configured differently in 2010 than it was in 1931.

Still, there are enough similarities that it wouldn’t hurt to err on the side of caution. Maybe I’ll feel silly preparing for a situation that never happens, but that’s nothing compared to how bad I’ll feel if I’m not prepared for a serious emergency.

Pat

Weekly Forecast July 5: Uranus Retrograde, Solar Eclipse in Cancer

Artist's conception of a geomagnetic storm. Image courtesy of SDO (NASA).

This week begins with Uranus turning retrograde and ends with a total eclipse of the Sun. We’ve got all the information we need, and now it’s time to spend a few days preparing before we venture into new territory.

Uranus, the innovator and awakener, entered pioneering Aries on May 27. Since then, we’ve been able to scout the unknown terrain to give us a better idea of what’s out there in our Brave New World.

Unfortunately, we’re not going to have a lot of time to analyze the data, and events may unfold too quickly this summer for us to follow a coherent strategy. Still, we have a better idea of where we want to go and who we want in our camp, and we do have a bit of time this week to put together a hasty roadmap.

Uranus turns retrograde on Monday. He’ll re-enter Pisces in mid-August and then return to Aries on March 11, 2011. With the Moon in Taurus on Tuesday and Wednesday, we’ll have just the space we need for some quiet contemplation and, hopefully, sudden inspiration.

Venus opposes Neptune on Thursday, an aspect often associated with fantasy and delusion in romance. It depends on where these two are in your chart. If you’re looking to create an illusion of glamour and enchantment, this is your ticket. Just make sure you’ve got a ride home when your coach turns back into a pumpkin at midnight.

Friday is a busy day, with communicative Mercury making a productive sextile to Saturn in the final degree of Virgo. Think about what you really want. Better yet, talk about it. Often we don’t want what we think we do, and that sends out mixed messages to the universe.

Later in the day, Mercury enters Leo. It’s hard to find humor in our circumstances when we’re under so much stress, but sometimes that’s exactly what it takes to break the spell. Mercury trines Uranus on Friday and Jupiter on Sunday, which should provide lots of inspiration and mental stimulation, even with Uranus in retrograde mode. On the downside, there’s a potential here for major electrical outages.

On Saturday, Venus enters nitpicky Virgo — not her favorite sign. If you feel an urge to be critical at every turn, channel that energy into helping those you love in simple, practical ways. Likewise, when someone does something nice for you, no matter how small, recognize the love in their actions and show your appreciation.

Also on Saturday, the Moon enters Cancer and begins moving into position for Sunday’s total eclipse of the Sun. The Sun, meanwhile, sextiles Mars in Virgo, the only aspect this New Moon will make with any of the planets. As I wrote in my eclipse post on Saturday, I’m hopeful that this easy aspect will bring positive results, but there is always the possibility that it will be the path of least resistance for the pent-up energy of the eclipse.

The cardinal T-square between Saturn, Pluto, Uranus, and Jupiter continues to get closer, but as of the eclipse, Saturn remains in the final degree of mutable Virgo, so technically it’s not a cardinal T-square. I’m not sure how much of a distinction this is, but I’ve theorized that Saturn in Virgo has been a stabilizing influence — an advantage we’ll lose once the lord of time re-enters cardinal Libra on July 21. That’s when the T-square will be at peak power.

That said, events don’t necessarily happen when planetary alignments are exact. There can be lags of days, weeks, or months, and sometimes events happen in advance of the planetary marker. That certainly was the case in 1989, the last time we had anything resembling this year’s cardinal build-up. With Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune all in Capricorn, cardinal energies dominated the skies for much of that year.

I went back and looked at several charts for events in 1989, including the Exxon Valdez spill, Hurricane Hugo, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Loma Prieta earthquake, the protests in Tiananmen Square, and the collapse of the Hydro-Québec power grid due to a geomagnetic storm. None of these events occurred when the planets were in exact alignment, although some of them were pretty close. In some cases, key planets were on the Ascendant at the moment of the event.

What this tells us is that the changes could come at any moment. We know we’re in the hot zone, and so nothing that happens in the next two months should surprise us, no matter how unprecedented, extraordinary, or totally outside of human experience to date. We asked to come along on this journey, but we can’t control what happens once we’re on the trail.

Much love and courage to all,
Pat

New Moon Solar Eclipse in Cancer, July 11

Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion, Greece, silhouetted against the annular eclipse on Jan. 14, 2010. Photo credit: Elias Chasiotis.

The New Moon on July 11 occurs with a total eclipse of the Sun, making it a powerful indicator of new beginnings.

At 19 degrees Cancer, the eclipse is too far from the early degrees of the cardinal signs to make contact with planets in the cardinal T-square. Nevertheless, it feeds into the T-square in a very significant way. The New Moon generally is a time for starting over, and this is all the more so when the Sun and Moon are in cardinal signs, which favor action. Further, eclipses in and of themselves tend to bring sweeping change.

Throw that all together in one pot, and we’re in for a collective reboot.

It’s hard to make predictions when there are so many variables in this astrological equation. Nevertheless, I do want you to be aware of the potential of the upcoming T-square and of this eclipse period as markers for dramatic developments. In the past, influences such as these have coincided with major earth events, along with landmark geopolitical, social, and economic upheaval.

Now, it’s quite possible that we’ve already had our eclipse-related earthquake. On February 27, there was a magnitude 8.8 mega-quake in Chile. It is well known among astrologers that eclipses can have an influence several months in advance, and yet when analyzing astrological charts, we typically look at present or recently past alignments and forget to look into the future.

There are a couple of startling factors in the chart for the Chile quake that link it to the July 11 solar eclipse. The Ascendant in the earthquake chart is 19°17′ degrees Capricorn, with the lunar North Node in tight conjunction at 20 degrees Cap (the transiting nodes determine when eclipses occur). The July 11 eclipse takes place directly opposite that degree, at 19°24 Cancer. It’s also interesting to note that the earthquake chart ruler, Saturn, is tightly conjunct the Midheaven at 3° Libra. The early degrees of the cardinal signs are where the T-square will peak in late July and early August.

The eclipse will pass directly over the southern tip of Chile. Historically, there are correlations between the path of powerful eclipses and subsequent events. The difference here is that the earthquake happened several months before this eclipse. Why not? Time isn’t linear, and eclipses often open windows “out of time.”

I hope this means we can relax a little, although we do have some serious predictions by government scientists of an above-average hurricane season and a peak in solar storms between now and 2012. We also still have a gaping hole in the floor of the Gulf of Mexico spewing thousands of barrels of oil a day. OK, so maybe this isn’t doomsday, but it’s plenty dire enough. Are we so accustomed to seeing the world blown up in Hollywood films that anything less barely gets a yawn?

I’ll have more in my weekly forecast tomorrow about planetary aspects in the eclipse chart that will be active during the rest of the week as well. I’ll also report on similarities between this year’s cardinal T-square and the planetary alignment of 1989. For the rest of this post, I’d like to focus on the two direct aspects to the eclipse.

The closest aspect is a sextile from the Sun and Moon to Mars at 19 degrees Virgo. We usually view trines and sextiles as favorable and would conclude that positive outcomes are likely. The only trouble with this interpretation is that “positive” and “negative” are human constructs. What’s good for us may not be good for the rest of the planet. Moreover, trines and sextiles can represent the path of release for pent-up cosmic energies. Fortunately, Virgo is not a warlike placement for aggressive Mars, and we should be able to find more productive outlets for our frustration. Indeed, this could represent a concerted effort to come up with real, practical solutions to some of our more pressing problems.

The second close aspect is a conjunction with Juno, an asteroid I haven’t written much about.

In Roman times, Juno was venerated as the wife of Jupiter and, therefore, queen of the gods. She held a special place in the hearts of the Roman people, who believed the goddess warned them of an impending raid by the Gauls in 390 B.C. Thus she was called “Juno Moneta,” one who warns or protects. Because Juno was associated with money, her nickname ended up as our modern word for cash.

When I saw the conjunction of asteroid Juno with the Sun and Moon in this eclipse chart, I immediately wondered whether we were being warned of an impending event. Could it be financially related? Something to do with our money supply? A communications glitch that shuts down our ATM system, or something like that? Speculating is useless, of course, but emergency planning is smart. Living on an island in an earthquake zone, I’m always conscious of having some basic necessities stashed away. Instead of fretting about what might be, channel that energy into practical steps to increase your security.

The Sabian Symbol** for the Sun and Moon at 19°24′ Cancer is gondoliers in a serenade, with the keyword SENTIMENT. Happiness has little to do with money or things and everything to do with the fulfillment we get by contributing our unique gifts to the world and cooperating with each other for the betterment of the planet and everyone on it. When we do so, it’s like an elegant, complex symphony. When we don’t, the discord vibrates into every corner of our existence.

We are all connected.

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.

Harrison Ford and Callista Flockhart, Married at Last

Blame it on the cardinal T-square.

On June 15, Harrison Ford married Callista Flockhart, his girlfriend of eight years. Why now? It’s the same question I asked earlier this month, when Al Gore, former vice president of the United States, announced that he and his wife, Tipper, were separating after 40 years of marriage.

I always start by looking at the synastry chart, a technique astrologers use to determine compatibility between two or more people. For both couples, the charts show clear indications of long-term commitment. Still, that doesn’t explain the timing.

In the case of the Gores, Pluto is on Al’s Moon, in the “hot spot” at the apex of the T-square. There are other aspects as well, but the heavy pressure on Al’s Moon, the seat of the emotions, suggests a deep-seated urge to move in another direction for spiritual and personal growth.

For Harrison and Callista, the timing can be explained by the T-square’s position in his chart. Indeed, it is quite dramatic, as all four of his chart angles are in the early degrees of the cardinal signs. As I’ve noted previously on my blog, the T-square is having a particularly powerful influence on people with personal planets or chart angles in the early cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn).

Harrison has 2 degrees Libra Rising, with Saturn approaching a third and final conjunction to his Ascendant. This is a significant milestone in life and a time when we often change our relationship status and take on more duties and responsibilities.

At the same time, Jupiter and Uranus are dead on his Descendant. Transiting Jupiter on the Descendant and in the seventh house traditionally is associated with marriage and long-term commitment. Uranus, meanwhile, has helped Harrison move out of his fear of entering a third union after two failed marriages.

Pluto is crossing his IC, or fourth-house cusp, representing dramatic changes in his home and family life. According to reports in the media, Harrison is a wonderful father to Callista’s adopted son, Liam. With their marriage, this relationship is official. Pluto in the fourth house also tends to help us grow out of early childhood programming.

The coming solar eclipse on July 11 will be within a degree of Harrison’s Sun at 20 degrees Cancer and not far from his natal Moon at 22 degrees Cancer. This nicely illustrates the point that eclipses are often felt months before or afterward, especially when they are in such a prominent position in the chart.

While I was at the supermarket the other day, I flipped through a copy of People magazine, in which friends of the couple were quoted as saying their relationship was based on an honest approach to life and to each other, and on equality. It took eight years for them to get to this point, which is a wonderful reminder that true love requires constant tending and nurturing.

Even soul mates have to work at it.

Pat

Interested in how the T-square is influencing your life and relationships? Explore a personal consultation with Pat.

Weekly Forecast June 28: Inter-Eclipse Period, Uranus Stations

Jumping in feet-first. Photo by Oswaldo Rivas for REUTERS.

We’re still in the wake of Saturday’s lunar eclipse, and eclipse-related events will unfold throughout this week and into next week.

That’s really the biggest news of this week, which otherwise is blessedly free of major planetary aspects. Of course, the cardinal T-square is still activated, and Uranus is stationing in preparation to go retrograde on July 5. But, astrologically at least, the wheels have been set in motion, and now we’re waiting to see what turns up.

On Monday, the Moon glides through the final degrees of Capricorn, sign of Saturday’s eclipse, and trines Saturn, Capricorn’s ruler. Earth signs tend to bring material results, so this could be a big day to watch for your gift. I’ll be waiting by my cosmic mailbox. And who better to deliver than Mercury himself, who later in the day conjoins the Sun at 7 degrees Cancer.

On Thursday, Mercury sextiles Mars in Virgo, an aspect associated with being busy and focusing on details that matter. It will be a high communications day, too, and some very productive discussions should be the result. If you need to make a pitch or present an argument, this is a good day for it.

On Saturday, the Moon enters Aries, amplifying the T-square. Within just a few hours, she conjoins Uranus and Jupiter and squares Pluto. This is another day to watch for new developments. Most of you should know by now what areas of your life are being most affected by the T-square, but the presence of Uranus is an almost sure guarantee that our expectations will be way off. Some of them may be comically so. Indeed, keeping a sense of humor may be our best response.

Sunday is Independence Day in the United States, marking the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. There was a cardinal T-square that year involving Jupiter in Cancer, Saturn in Libra, and Pluto in Capricorn. It was wider and didn’t include as many planets as this year’s lineup — yet another reason to conclude that we may witness dramatic events this summer.

The Moon’s square with the Sun on Sunday marks the halfway point between last week’s lunar eclipse and a total eclipse of the Sun on July 11. Eclipses always come in pairs like this (on rare occasions, there are three in a row), and I’ve observed that the two-week period between them can be quite turbulent.

Later on Sunday, Venus in Leo trines Ceres Sagittarius. I expect we’ll have a reminder of the importance of women in national politics, possibly related to the environment and cycles of nature. Watch the news headlines for a clue.

Bottom line for this week is that the changes may come fast and furious, and hopefully you’re ready to hit the ground running. If you’re among those who appear to be unaffected, then take this time for some much-needed R&R. Just like having money in the bank during hard economic times, it can’t hurt to stockpile some energy reserves.

Speaking of money, I’ve added a donations button to the sidebar. If you like RealAstrologers and want to help ensure that it continues, please consider making a contribution. Your support will make a world of difference.

Much love and courage to all,
Pat

Saturday Extra! Brain Chemistry, The ‘God Particle’ and the Space Between the Eclipses

In my consulting practice as well as my continuing study of astrology, my focus is on using astrology as a tool to predict how invisible energies flowing through the cosmos might manifest into material reality.

I’ve taken this approach for years, despite the lack of any evidence whatsoever that these invisible energies exist or that they somehow coalesce into tangible objects and events.

So imagine my surprise when I came across an article in the Guardian the other day quoting a leading particle physicist describing just such a process and encouraging his colleagues to start contemplating the “hidden world” behind our material universe.

It’s what I’ve been saying all along! I just didn’t have the scientific background to be able to describe it. Then, neither do most particle physicists. It is only recently that the idea has gained visibility, thanks to a new high-energy particle accelerator in Switzerland that may help prove the existence of the Higgs boson, a subatomic particle believed to be the bridge between unmanifest potential and manifest reality. For that reason, it has been dubbed the “God particle.”

This is exciting news for astrologers, because it might establish the groundwork for understanding how astrology works. Of course, we then have to make the leap into understanding what the movement of the planets has to do with energy manifesting into matter. That will require another level of discovery, but I believe it will happen, and maybe in my lifetime.

How invisible energies manifest into reality is especially important now, when we have an astrological configuration that is unprecedented in human history. In our lifetime, we’ve witnessed bits and pieces of the cardinal T-square, but never anything like what’s coming up this summer.

We’re also at a crossroads in the evolution of human consciousness. Indeed, the very idea that any physicist would look at hidden worlds rather than taking a narrow view of material reality is quite a leap. On the whole, scientists are solidly in the left-brain camp. I would bet that those proposing these radical new ideas either are particularly brilliant — blessed not just with a high IQ, but with a highly evolved intuitive side — or they’ve recently had a “spiritual” awakening.

And what exactly is a spiritual awakening? First, it’s not a one-time event, but an ongoing process. We continue to evolve, although there definitely are “spikes” along the way. Indeed, we might expect lots of spikes with Uranus in Aries amplified by Jupiter.

Second, there’s a brain chemistry factor. Within the human brain, a chemical reaction must take place to bridge the gap between the transmitting and receiving terminals of the neurons. The bridging mechanism is called the synapse, derived from the Greek “clasping together.” When something goes wrong in that process, the result can be depression, which is a sort of separation sickness — two poles in the neuron without a bridge to connect them.

Interestingly enough, the function of synapses in the nervous system was discovered in the 1800s. During those same years, Neptune was discovered, and toward the end of the century, the term “New Age” was coined to describe the upsurge in spirituality.

I have a vague sense that spiritual awakening involves brain chemistry and that impaired brain chemistry even may explain the polarization of humanity and the separation between the divine masculine and divine feminine. What if the source of this story from the beginning of time is literally in our mind? What if the separation is in our own brain chemistry, perhaps a necessary step in the evolution of the human mind and body?

I see parallels between this separation of logic and intuition, male and female, and the separation of unmanifest energy and physical matter. And, in both cases, they need some kind of a bridge across the gap between them in order to re-connect, be it a “God particle,” a chemical, or an electrical impulse.

Eclipses are windows on time. This morning’s lunar eclipse will be followed in by a solar eclipse in Cancer on July 11 (Cancer is the sign of birth and the urge to manifest into form). What will bridge this two-week gap? What will connect us? What thought forms will fill this empty space and perhaps give birth to a new reality?

These are all questions I’m asking myself. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Pat

Ask Real Astrologers: What Is My Best Choice of Career?

This week’s question comes from Christoper in Louisville, Kentucky:

Excluding social work (which would require a Master’s Degree – I don’t want to go back to school now), what career would give me the most social status and satisfaction, as indicated by my natal astrology and current transits? My first college degree is in Liberal Arts and my second is in Accounting.

I am getting a lot of career questions these days, and this is a great one, Christopher. Astrology is a useful tool to help determine a suitable career, both in terms of personal satisfaction and material rewards. You obviously know this, or you wouldn’t have asked.

Unfortunately, you didn’t provide a birth time, which is absolutely necessary for an accurate, in-depth career report. But that’s quite alright, because you unintentionally helped me make a point, which is that this type of analysis is a major undertaking with many factors to take into consideration. For example, we’d want to look at the house, sign, and aspects to your natal Saturn, the house and aspects of your Sun, and the sign and position of your tenth house ruler, to name a few.

If you don’t know your birth time, we still can make some observations, but the conclusions will be less reliable.

There is a lot of information out there about career choices by Sun sign. This does work some of the time. I know several Virgo accountants, a few Aries policemen, a couple of Taurus musicians, and a Sagittarius travel agent. But just as you can’t determine astrological compatibility by Sun sign alone, your best career choices are far more complex, too.

So, with all these caveats out of the way, there are a few things I can tell you, Christopher.

First, you have a tight sextile between your Sun and Saturn, indicating that you will find success through sustained effort and hard work. You are responsible and orderly, which might suggest some type of management position, depending on the house positions of your Sun and Saturn. I would also note that Venus in Pisces conjunct Chiron does suggest some type of social work or work in women’s health. This might not be financially lucrative, but it would give you a great deal of satisfaction. The timing for going back to school is something we could determine through house transits — which, again, requires a birth time.

The second thing that jumps out at me is that your natal Jupiter is at 1 degree Aries. This means that your Jupiter is being activated by the cardinal T-square and especially by Saturn in Libra. When we’re going through a Saturn-Jupiter opposition, which happens every 29 years or so, we may find that our opportunities for career advancement are limited. Patience is required, but that’s often what’s most lacking. It’s usually not a good time to start down a new path, but often it’s when life hands us a big course correction. You may find that by fall, a new pathway is lighted for you.

Thanks for writing, Christopher, and best of luck to you.

I’d like to encourage you all to keep sending your questions. I’m sorry I can’t answer them all, but I do read every one of them. If you’re in need of immediate guidance and in-depth advice, please consider contacting me for a private consultation. I do individual forecasts as well as relationship counseling. For career consulations, I offer a few different options, depending on your budget and how much information you want. For clients outside the United States who would like a live reading, I have Skype and Gmail video chat. If you would like more information or have questions, don’t hesitate to contact me.

Love and blessings to all,
Pat

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