Tag Archives: mundane astrology

Weekly Forecast June 16: Sun Enters Cancer, Summer Solstice

Uruk archaeological dig in Iraq. Civilization started with cities, and the Sumerian city of Uruk was among the first. The name “Iraq” is thought to be derived from “Uruk.” Photo credit: SAC Andy Holmes, Royal Air Force, 2008.

I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. A bit of both, I guess.

I’m getting slammed by this Mercury retrograde in the classic way, with Internet connectivity issues, cable TV interruptions, botched online orders, miscommunications, late ferries, etc. Knowing that most of these problems will subside in a couple of weeks, I’ve been more patient than usual, and I can laugh about it. Some of it, anyway.

As you might recall, I had a bad experience with an online home furnishings site that took my payment for an item that wasn’t in stock. With the Better Business Bureau involved, my case got bumped up the customer service food chain. Continue reading →

Weekly Forecast May 26: New Moon in Gemini, Venus Enters Taurus

Begonias. © Pat Paquette.

This past week has been weird, almost like a Mercury retrograde period, but with more irritation.

Since Friday, Mercury has been in the “shadow” period before his next retrograde begins on June 7. Sometimes we experience the manifestations of the retrograde during the run-up. Many of you have noted that in the past. I think that will be all the more true this time, with Mars just coming out of retrograde and moving back toward a T-square with Uranus and Pluto. Both Mercury and Mars are moving very slowly (what it looks like from here on Earth), with corresponding events such as delays in transportation, missed and confused communications, errors in telephone and online orders, and so forth. Continue reading →

Weekly Forecast May 19: Mars Direct, Sun Enters Gemini

Beneath the Surface. © Gretchen Friedrich, 2014.

I’ve been double-teamed by Saturn and Buddha.

You’ll recall from last week’s forecast that Saturn was conjunct Wednesday’s Full Moon in Scorpio, which also was the festival of Wesak, an Eastern tradition in honor of the birth, death, and enlightenment of the Buddha. Normally I don’t schedule any activities on Wesak so that I can meditate in solitude. This year, I accepted a last-minute invitation to go for coffee and run some errands with a friend. I explained to her about Wesak and said we’d need to stop whatever we were doing at precisely 12:16 for a moment of silence.
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Weekly Forecast May 5: Mercury Enters Gemini, Venus Opposite Mars

Apple blossoms. © Osk Ingad Alden, 2014.

Although we’re still facing the same ongoing challenges and will be for some time to come, the pressure of the past month and especially the past two weeks has subsided.

It’s not anything like a restoration of order or return to “normal,” whatever that is or was. Circumstances that may go back three or four years haven’t reached their logical outcome just yet. We still have more growing and stretching to do. However, we’ve just come through the worst of it and can stop to get our bearings.

To me, it feels like having just sailed Continue reading →

Weekly Forecast April 28: Solar Eclipse in Taurus, Venus Enters Aries

Hinode satellite image of the annular eclipse in January 2011. Credit: Hinode/XRT

This week’s solar eclipse in Taurus arrives as the cardinal grand cross is past its peak but still potent.

Solar eclipses can occur only at a New Moon. Tuesday’s New Moon (late Monday in Western time zones) is just short of 9 degrees Taurus, placing it at a favorable angle with Jupiter and Pluto, two of the planets in the grand cross. So, while the grand cross dominates the chart for this New Moon, there is a strong connection between the grand cross planets and the Sun/Moon conjunction. I interpret this as a relief valve for the extreme pressure associated with the grand cross formation.

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Weekly Forecast April 14: Full Moon Lunar Eclipse in Libra, Pluto Retrograde

Lunar Eclipse in 2000, image courtesy Fred Espinak.

Many years ago, I had a dream that I was hanging on to tree roots on the bank of a raging river. I was afraid to let go, but my shoulders were being pulled out of their sockets, and I was getting so exhausted that I couldn’t hang on any longer.

Once I let go, I was carried along by the current, which while dangerously fast, buoyed me up and allowed me to keep my head above water. I overcame my fear by trusting that I would land in the “right” place.

There are times when we need to fasten our seatbelts, hold on, and ride out the turbulence. Then there are times when being restrained is dangerous, and staying in one place subjects us to a terrible battering by Continue reading →

Weekly Forecast April 7: Mercury Enters Aries, Sun Opposite Mars

March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, 1963. In 2014, this march wouldn’t be allowed.

If last week was an indication of what’s to come later this month, we’re in for a wild ride indeed.

I wrote in my previous forecast that the Sun’s connections with Jupiter, Uranus, and Pluto mid-week might provide us with some hints about what to expect when those three planets form exact angles to one another starting on April 20, followed by close contact from retrograde Mars April 22-23.

Among last week’s major events were the mega-earthquake in Chile and the shooting at Fort Hood, Texas. A third event, which didn’t get much coverage, was an explosion at a gas plant on the border between Washington and Oregon. Continue reading →

Weekly Forecast March 24: Mercury Sextile Pluto, New Moon in Aries

The big news this week is the New Moon in Aries on March 30, the first New Moon of the spring and the astrological year.

Although the New Moon doesn’t take place for another week as of this post, the tension is evident already on Monday, when in just over four hours, the Moon in Capricorn aspects Jupiter, Uranus, and Pluto. These three planets have been in a volatile “T-square” configuration that is the astrological signature corresponding to the surge in global conflict, especially popular uprisings and overthrow of governments.

The New Moon falls less than 3 degrees from Uranus, the planet of rebellion and sudden change. Uranus in Aries is impatient and wants change now; thus the revolutions in which Continue reading →

Weekly Forecast March 17: Sun Enters Aries, Mercury Conjunct Neptune

Storm in Hjørungavåg, by Gerhard Munthe, an illustration for Olav Tryggvasons saga, 1899 edition.

This week marks the beginning of spring and the end of the astrological year. We’re also heading into the most volatile period of 2014 and arguably the most tumultuous since the summer of 2010.

You might ask how much crazier it could get. Violent revolutions for “freedom and democracy” that depose democratically elected leaders. The United States and Russia in a new Cold War. A plane gone mysteriously missing without a trace. And now a U.S. government-funded report suggesting that industrial Continue reading →

Weekly Forecast March 10: Sun Trine Saturn, Full Moon in Virgo

A couple of weeks ago, I began having disturbing dreams. I do a lot of dream work and so usually have some idea of the message and what triggered the dream. However, these dreams are unlike any I’ve ever had.

The images are unfamiliar, and most of the other people in the dreams don’t resemble anyone I know. Typically, I thought it was just me. Within a few days, a friend mentioned she had experienced something similar, and another friend said the same thing. While I was in the city last week, I overheard two more conversations. In every case, there was a sense of bewilderment and disquiet, and of course they all thought it was “just me.”
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