Hello everyone. Steven is winding things down at UAC (the United Astrology Conference) as we speak and preparing for upcoming trips to North Carolina, Maine, and New York. Needless to say, his hands are full so I'm your MC for this month's newsletter. I've written a bit about the current Venus retrograde cycle, as well as some of the other interesting configurations in June.
If any of you made it to UAC and have good stories to share, feel free to drop me a line. I missed my own book release party there! Speaking of which, in some exciting news, I've just been published in an anthology by Flare entitled Astrology: The New Generation. In the book, which is meant to herald the "current astrological revival," I join 13 other astrologers who each contribute a chapter on diverse topics.
Venus turns retrograde on May 15. It makes a station on June 27 and after that will be in direct motion until the end of 2013. None of this is earth-shaking. Venus moves fast and unless you are in diapers and weigh about the same as a Thanksgiving turkey, you’ve been through this kind of Venus event before. Venus’s synodic cycle runs about 584 days and it spends about forty of them in retrograde condition. In other words, Venus is retrograde for a little over a month out of every year and a half or so. An interesting subject, but no big deal.
I’ve been consciously interacting with the current retrograde transit of Mars through Virgo with profound attention, not in small part because I have a large stellium of Virgo planets. Thanks to Steven’s insightful teachings on working intentionally with planetary transits, I now have an experiential understanding of this transit which has unveiled the deeper promise of working consciously with this empowering system of astrological thought.
Hello everyone. So how have you fared Mars Retrograde so far? If you have planets or angles in Virgo, Pisces, Sagittarius or Gemini, I'm guessing you have some stories to tell... Mars won't be back on track until the end of April, so we're still in the thick of things. Hang in there!
Meanwhile Mercury is about to retrograde in Aries (it will station at 6° Aries on March 12). This time it will revisit Pisces while retrograde, and move direct on April 4 at 23° Pisces. March looks like a great time for a break if you can fit one in!
Neptune moves solidly into Pisces on February 3rd after flirting briefly with the cusp last year. This is an epochal event which, if history is any indication, will utterly transform the mythic landscape of the world. I explore its deeper meaning in this free ten minute video.
In this edition of our newsletter, I want to explore a secondary effect of Neptune’s sign change. It is a practical one that spins off from the fact that Neptune’s entering Pisces means it is also exiting Aquarius. And there is a lot more to that statement than meets the eye.
What are the core principles and soul-intentions to which you must be true in order to maintain sanity, identity, and authenticity? What are the core drives to which you must be true in order to maintain vitality and life-force?
To what "trans"-rational needs and joys must you be true in order to maintain happiness and a feeling of well-being? What is the most effective way in which you can nurture, heal and restore yourself?
How do you compose your outward style in order to achieve a maximum sense of "centeredness?" How do you "get your act together?" What is the optimal stylistic interface between your deep psyche and the outer social and experiential worlds?