Reinvention in 2011

As we leap into 2011, I can feel a buzz in the air. Dramatic news has already captured the public's attention, people are making new starts left and right, and I'm placing my bets on Jupiter and Uranus stirring the pot quite vigorously this year as they both move into Aries.

Many of us experience the new year as a time of renewal and fresh starts, and with 2 major planets soon moving into Aries, we'll have some extra energy at hand to push us in new directions of reinvention. It will be interesting to see what develops.

Yes, there is fear in the air. And anger. And violence. And there will likely be more of that to come. But I have my sights set on the possibilities, and I highly recommend that approach!

Steven's teachings guide us in that direction - not to "accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative" as the classic Harold Arlen song dictates. But to take in the whole picture, the good, the bad - everything. Digest it, accept it, and then with a good dose of Aries "damn the torpedoes, full steam ahead" attitude, set your sites on the changes that are in your power to make. And that's something to be excited about.

If you want to deeply explore the planetary shifts at play in the next few years, you won't want to miss Dreaming the Volcano - Steven's next Apprenticeship workshop at Blue Sky Ranch. Details here.

Thanks for your support and for sharing this newsletter with friends and on Facebook.

Warm wishes,

Tony Howard

2011 Dates to remember:

• Jupiter moves into Aries January 20
• Uranus moves into Aries March 12
• Neptune moves into Pisces March 4 through August 6

About That Pesky News Mishap...

Every two or three years it seems that some scientist will announce the "discovery" that astrologers have gotten their signs wrong and that all you Virgos have actually been Leos all along. The latest episode also involved the insertion of Ophiuchus into the mix - that some of you Sagittarians are actually Ophiucans. Now, this could be worth a little confusion - I'd love to see ten Sagittarians competing over who could best say "Ophiuchus" three times fast, all the while drinking tequila. The prize would go to the one who managed to do it without uttering a familiar expletive which begins with the letter "f."

Here's the truth of it: don't worry, all you Virgos can remain Virgos and there are no Ophiucans among us at all.

There are two things going on here. The first one has to do with this notion that we have gotten our signs wrong. Western astrology is based on the seasons, not the constellations -- Equinoxes and Solstices, not stars. What we call "Aries" starts with where the Sun is on the first day of Spring. That point drifts gradually along the track of the zodiacal constellations, passing through all of them every 26,000 year or so. It is true that not every "Aries" was born with the Sun in that constellation. No problem; the constellation has nothing to do with it. It did, once, many, many years ago. But then the astrologer-astronomers noticed this drift, called the Precession of the Equinoxes, and began to correct for it.

What about Ophiuchus? Well, the familiar constellations were basically folklore, without formal boundaries or definitions until fairly recently. In 1929 and 1930, the International Astronomical Union nailed it all down officially, drawing lines around the constellations, eliminating some - and adding some new territory to the old constellation Ophiuchus which now overlapped the ecliptic. Thus did Ophiucus, for the first time in history, become "the thirteenth sign." Suffice to say that these are same idiots who more recently delivered the brilliant notion that Pluto is no longer a planet.

So Virgos are Virgos and Ophiucans are unicorns, and that's all you need to know.

-Steven

Two Spots Left in Rare Intimate Workshop!

El Dorado, CA Video Project
February 4-6, 2011 A rare opportunity to learn Evolutionary Astrology from the ground up with only 12 other students!

Join Steven in beautiful El Dorado, CA (between Sacramento and Lake Tahoe) during the filming of his new Introduction to Evolutionary Astrology video. This workshop is limited to 12 students and includes lodging and meals. Two spots are still open (as of 1/15/2011)!

Learn more and register today.

NEW MP3 Release

The 4th House: More Than Family

NEW! We learn early in our astrological studies that the Fourth House is the "House of the Home." What we often don't learn are the lost resonances, so vivid to our ancestors, of "roots," "clan," and "sense of place." We are often left with a very "psychologized" take on this critical House - all that dreaded "family of origin" stuff - which leaves us with a misleading, navel-gazing orientation. Recorded in 2010 at the NCGR Geocosmic Alchemy Conference.

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