Cristina Laird’s Astrology

Wow! What a Full Moon is has been or I should say, is being. Just as the Sun, Ceres and Mercury are at 1º from each other, around the 10º Scorpio, the Moon at almost 10º of Taurus comes from making an opposition to Mercury and a square to Mars.
You can easily deduce that communication has not been great for some people, especially those with planets in any of the fixed sign, Taurus, Scorpio, Leo and Aquarius or any of these signs in the Ascendant.
Mars in Leo making a square to the Full Moon is not the easiest of aspects, since everyone’s ego, seems to be inflated, and there are quite a few power struggles going on, especially about issues of ego boundaries or recognition. Jupiter is also part of the equation from Aquarius, so groups and communities are being tested and perhaps disrupted.
Although personal planets (Mercury,Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn) are easier to bring into our conscience and therefore, transcend and control than the outer planets (Uranus, Neptune and Pluto) which are impossible to control by any individual, most people can’t control these energies.
And this is the case with Mars in Leo. Egos will confront each other and we will argue even if we don’t want to.
Obviously the younger you are, the more difficult this is. And the truth is that couples or families, where there is an abundance of Leo, Taurus, Scorpio and Aquarius, are going to be in some kind of arguments.
So, what to do? One of the things that work with Mars is to do more physical exercise.
Another thing you can do is try to postpone the conversation that you know is going to lead to an argument. If you can.
The good thing about this Moon, is that Venus is making a very positive aspect to Neptune and if you are a creative person, this could compensate the aggravation of Mars, by being more active and inspired with the necessary energy to work more.
Suddenly we will feel with more courage to give people a piece of our mind. Especially, those we work with.
On the other hand, if you have been working hard at something, this could be pay off time.
Full Moons, never mind how weak or strong, tend to put an end to things, or resolve issues that have started at the time of the previous New Moon.
Among other things Neptune will station direct on November 4th, and Chiron have done so, on October 30th. A sense that things should begin to move on is in the air.
Since the Sun is in Scorpio, these are good times to analyze our feelings and begin to search within our psyche, the real motives of our actions. Never mind how threatening.
With the square of Saturn to Pluto, facing up to our dark side is not only indispensable but also enriching.
I had a dinner party on Saturday, with other Astrologers and Psychologists and we stayed talking until about 5 o’clock in the morning, highly unusual for me. (Not the talking, but the staying up that late)
Feel free to share your experiences of this Full Moon on this blog.

So here comes Saturn to the sign of Libra, after 29 years of absence in it. Last time this most important of planets entered the sign of the scales it was September 1980. So, if you were alive then, think, what was going on in your life right at that point, because this time around it will trigger situations initiated then, 29 years earlier. Obviously for those of us, older than 30 of 40 years of age it will resonate in a way that we’ll be able to relate to.
Saturn, ruler of Capricorn, makes a natural square (90º angle) to Libra, yet according to traditional Astrology, Saturn is exalted in this sign. One of the qualities they share is their need for justice and doing the right thing.
Saturn in Libra or the 7th house or in aspect to Venus, in a birth-chart will bring the subject of relationships to a very serious often painful and frustrating path. The lesson often is the understanding of projection within the relationship, helping the individual accept their own inadequacies instead of believing is the partners fault for not appreciate them. A sense of being not deserving of being loved is common with this planetary placements.
But Libra is above all a very sociable sign, and human relationships in general are their ground of work. Many politicians are Libra or have some planets in this sign.
Saturn, albeit harsh by transit, has a tendency to motivate us to sort things out. The harshness comes from the confrontation with reality and the work to be done in order to be happier or more in tune with whom we really are. The furthest away we have pulled from our centre, the more painful it will be to return to ourselves.
Circumstances in life (or Neptune transits) take us on journeys that make us run wild away from who we really are, and it’s only when Saturn comes around, that we “wake up” to reality and realise what must be done, to return home, or simply to build a new one.
Often, we literally build, sale or buy a new home under Saturn transits, as we are trying to build a new structure in our lives.
Sometimes is a new family, children, divorces, bankruptcy, death of someone around us that face us with then need to construct a “home” for ourselves. A new business, ending one, etc.
Since the language of Saturn is about taking responsibility for ourselves and our lives and Libra is about human relationships, it is easy to assume that there will be some work and limitations within the way we relate to each other, being a personal relationships, business partnerships, country to country.
Diplomacy will become a serious possibility, and we’ll be faced with the need to sort out relationships, situations in our lives, that have been damaged by our negligence, arrogance or even lack of self-steam.
Anything that started around 6, 13, 20, 28 years ago, will have to be reviewed. Very especially, relationships.
Cancer, Capricorn, Aries and Libra will be affected the most, that includes anyone with planets other than the Sun sign, in those signs.
If we look back at 1980-81-82 when Saturn was last in Libra, we had the Reagan (an Aquarian, also ruled by Saturn)-Thatcher (Libra) romance going on, and the US of A, struck a deal with Iran for some American hostages to be released.
Greece came into the European community. But also Reagan and Pope John Paul II were shot. The first cases of death by Aids were beginning to come into collective consciousness.
El Salvador and Honduras sign a peace treaty to put a border dispute (Saturn) before the International Court of Justice (Libra).
In December 1980, John Lennon himself a Libra, was shot in NYC.
The Falkland Islands or Islas Malvina’ war begun. Argentina, a Cancer country has Libra in the Ascendant.
But also the fabulous Ordinary People, film by Robert Redford got the Oscar for best film.
And…in April 1981, Israel completed its withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula in accordance with the Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty!!!
If only….
The only problem this time around is that Saturn enters Libra forming a square to Pluto, soon to be joined by Uranus in an astrological T-square which none of us alive have ever experienced. Only in 1931, when the Big Depression these three planets have met, yet, not in an identical fashion, but close enough.
You can read about in my article of “The Market Crisis and Astrology” of the 25th of September, 2008 in this blog.
Saturn will dip back into Virgo in March 2010 to make the last of the Saturn-Uranus oppositions in the Virgo-Pisces angle on the 27th of April, to then re-enter Libra on the 22nd of July, to form the T-Square to Uranus now in Aries, and Pluto in Capricorn, with the addition of Jupiter also in early Aries, and Mars in Libra reinforcing the energy of Saturn. Wow!
All I can say that in spite of feeling quite afraid, I also feel very optimistic about it, since for one thing, we have not experienced something like that before, but also, because it certainly represents the end of an era, and the beginning of a new one.
An expansion of Consciousness!. That can’t be bad.

On October 14th, Venus entered Libra, after 25 days in Virgo. It will remain in the sign of the Scales until November 8th. Why is this important and why am i writing this article for the second time (I deleted the previous one by mistake) is simply because this is the sign that Venus rules, as well as Taurus.

There are many arguments to whether Venus rules or doesn’t rule Libra. What is very true is that the Taurus side of Venus is easier to relate to and grasp, with all that love of beauty, creativity, the pleasures of the senses, eating well, drinking good wines, perfumes, silk and cashmere, beautiful objects and homes, singing, dancing, etc.

When it comes to Libra, an air sign, whose symbol are the Scales, an inanimate object, symbol of justice and social balance, for some, it’s difficult to see Venus in any of that.

If we look at the myth of Libra, Liz Greene, gives us the Myth of Paris of Troy, beautiful young son of Priam, the king of Troy. Because of his beauty and his experience with beautiful women, Zeus chose him to be the one to decide which of three of the most powerful and quarreling goddesses of the Olympus was the fairest of them all. The story goes that in a wedding celebration where the three goddesses were invited, Zeus called Paris, and gave him a golden apple that he was supposed to give to the chosen one. The three goddesses were, Hera, Zeus’ wife, very powerful, Athena, Zeus’ daughter, warrior and intellectual and Afrodite (Venus) goddess of love and beauty.

Since Paris was as intelligent as he was beautiful, he knew he was doomed, because whoever he chose of the three, he would have the other two against him. He begged and begged to Zeus to release of this fate, but the King of the Gods will not waver. Being a Libra, he of course chose Afrodite who had promised him the most beautiful woman in the world.

The problem was that the most beautiful woman in the world was Helen, also Zeus’ daughter and she was married, to King Melenao of Mikenai. So, as arranged by Afrodite, Paris and Helen met at a dinner party and fell madly in love with each other, so they decided to escape together to Troy. This, unchained a series of events that led to the Troyan war, which lasted 10 years and ended with Troy burning down to the ground and with Paris and three of his children dead. In some of the versions of the story, Helen was returned to her husband.

This story speaks of various archetypal aspects of Libra and of Venus in Libra, choice, judgement and the appreciation of beauty above all. But what most people don’t know about Afrodite, is that she was forced by Zeus to marry Hephaestus, a very ugly son of Hera, who had been kicked out of the Olympus by his mother, because she could not bear the sight of his ugliness. It is through this marriage that Afrodite learns some of her most important lessons. It is a case that resonates with the story of Beauty and the Beast, because Hephaestus, was incredibly talented goldsmith and craftsman and he produced beautiful pieces of work.

And here we come to another of the very important lessons of Libra, which is learning to discern where beauty really lies.

Learning to find people’s inner gold, real inner beauty, and obviously their own inner value, is perhaps one side of Venus in Libra. The search for fairness in relationships, with equal distribution of roles within the relationship is something that Librans aspire to. Finding balance and harmony in human relations is what Libra desires to learn and implement.

As Venus entered Libra it encountered Pluto, by square (90º), and it contacted Uranus and Saturn, on the previous days, triggering this famous T-Square, Uranus-Saturn in opposition with Pluto in square to them, which will be with us for a while, and  which will peak in June-July 2010, July 2011. The airs of change that this planetary formations exudes, will make an impression on Venus, so many relationships are know being challenged to change, re-adapt and move on. Many will be ending, due to one of the partners needing more space.

The transits of Venus are not particularly strong except that they make us feel like incorporating some of this values in our lives. Sometimes at a more superficial level,  we experience the urge of taking care of our appearance by going for a beauty treatment or simply in a shopping spree. Aries-Libra-Cancer and Capricorn should perhaps be careful, especially with their credit cards, since they will feel like spending more. Gemini and Aquarius as well. In any case, there is absolutely nothing wrong in taking care on one’s appearance, and having a little fun.Mars entered Leo, on October 17th, just as Jupiter was ending the retrograde motion to be moving forward again. Not a bad entry, for the red planet, symbol of our inner courage, desire to assert ourselves, our sexuality and our inner hero.

Mars like Aquiles, goes to war, because he is a warrior and a soldier, without analyzing much the reasons why. It feels the impulse and acts upon it, no questions asked.

The action in Leo would be the impulse of expressing ourselves no matter what. Giving shape to our creativity and inner calling. Being Leo, it will not go unnoticed. Leo needs the world to admire him and watch him and when it does anything, it does it big.

Mars will do its retrograde in Leo, meaning that the transit through this sign will be the longest of the year. It will station retrograde on December 21st at 19º Leo 41′ and it will go down to 0º in March when it will station direct on the 11th. It will remain in Leo until April 7th when it will move to Virgo.

The call is especially for all the fix signs: Leo-Aquarius-Taurus-Scorpio. This four signs will have to “deal” with the urge of expressing themselves in spite of everybody else. Mars energy is felt particularly at a physical level, so this signs will be”charged” with extra energy which they need to channel in positive ways. It is not a bad idea, to do more physical exercise, if you already do it, you will benefit from it, since you’ll have more energy than ever. One thing to keep in mind is that not everybody will be feeling like you, so you need to develop patience or you will be arguing with everybody. Taurus, Scorpio and Aquarius, need to understand that the obstacles and challenges they might encounter during this period is for them to measure their own desire to accomplish a particular task. How badly do I want this?

Sportsmen and dancers will have to be careful not to injure themselves by overdoing it.  The impulse will be to get things done NOW. So be patient, very patient.

At the end of January when the Sun is in Aquarius and links with Mars there could be a bit more pressure, especially for those born at the end of January, April, July and October.

It doesn’t have to be a negative experience, if you do a little introspection. It will help you find out, what is that you really want, out of whatever situation you are in. Mars says: Assert yourself!!!

What all the New Moons have in common is that they are all different.

This coming New Moon in Libra has the particularity that it forms right at the time of a lot of planetary changes.

For one thing on the 14th, 4 days before the New Moon, Mercury finally ends its retrograde cycle, by returning to the 6º Libra 13′, where it first stationed retrograde on Sept 7th, at the same time that Venus enters Libra, after spending 24 days in Virgo. On the 13th, Jupiter has stationed direct, moving forward from the 17º of Aquarius again and on the 16th Mars moves to Leo after 52 days in Cancer.

We can safely say that things will be moving on.

So it’s in this special time that the Moon is becoming New at almost 25º Libra, the sign of personal relationships, harmony and diplomacy. The experience of this sign is who we are in relationship to the Other. This Other may be a close associate, a romantic lover, husband or wife, client in therapeutic relationship, whoever we form a close relationship with. Friends, as such, belong to the 11th house and Aquarius, in Libra we experience ourselves in relationship.

Libra often finds him or herself in relationships with the other cardinal signs. Meaning: Cancer, Capricorn and Aries. These signs are often found in the family as well. So we experience the cardinal quality from the beginning. Cardinal signs are not victim signs. They are action signs. They can be blamed sometimes for acting without thinking or planning poorly, but never for not acting. This means that they take risks, perhaps more or more promptly that other signs.

Libra is no exception, and this New Moon is one of those moments when we have to make one of those “leap of faith”, but this time keeping the feet on the ground. This Moon makes a T-square to the Moon Nodes, actually in the Cancer-Capricorn angle. It also makes an aspect to Neptune, hence the -”the leap of faith”, but by being at 90º of the both Moon Nodes, it becomes the catalyst of them both.

Developing our self-authority and inner responsibility is one of the propositions of this Moon. Walking away from Cancer towards Capricorn. Leaving Mother, one way or another, leaving financial dependency, changing homes, becoming a parent, developing the structure of our own business, etc.

The aspect it makes to Neptune, will fuel the imagination and perhaps blur the outcome. But this is when we must draw from our well gained experience and wisdom. If you are young and perhaps a student, you’ll probably be confronting exams and decisions that you may find overwhelming. Yet, this is not a negative New Moon by any means.

Libran issues of relationship will manifest in different ways for most people, according to their personal situations, but the theme of understanding one’s position within the relationship applies to all.

Being born in a particular sign does no mean we  are or possess the qualities described by that sign. It’s more a process of learning to be, of becoming ( like  Stephanie Austin calls it). Being Libra describes the need to learn to be within a relationship. The subject of “projection” is evident in this experience. What are those qualities we fall in love with? Put in another way: What kind of individuals we fall in love with? Why do we keep falling for the same kind of people? Most of the times they express with ease certain qualities we already possess but have difficulty expressing. Like: financial stability, creativity, tenderness, compromise, sensuality, wildness, adventurous spirit, power, etc.

We should always ask ourselves when we feel attracted to someone: what has she or he have that I want, or that I think I don’t have and obviously need, in order to feel complete? It will not kill the romance, believe me, because the process of falling in love will always have some magical and mysterious ingredients. but it will help us get a better perspective of what we are getting into and if not “why”, at least “what for”.

Most astrologers know that whatever planets we have in the 7th house, those are the ones we tend to project onto others, or the Other.

Goes without saying that Cancer, Capricorn, Aries and Libra, are the signs more dramatically affected by this Moon, but most of us, have some of them in our birthchart, so it will be felt in a large scale. Besides the fact that the Saturn-Pluto-Uranus T- square that has already started in the sings of Virgo-Capricorn-Pisces respectively, which will move to Libra-Capricorn-Aries towards 2010 is already within aspect range, so like I said before, if  you haven’t felt the winds of change brushing your face, you are either dead or not on this planet.

We may agree or disagree with this decision but the reality is that from the astrological point of view it makes a lot of sense.

Jupiter (ruler of Obama’s 10th house) is about to station direct right on his Ascendant where as we know it was accompanied by Neptune and Chiron not long ago as he was elected as the president of the United States of America

But  there is much more of course. Pluto, also ruler of his 10th house is opposing Venus which explains much of the world’s fascination with Barack, but in his progressed chart Jupiter falls in the 10th house of which it’s the ruler, together with Saturn and with a trine from the progressed Sun. However, this aspect was exact prior to him being elected president, during his campaign, which explains that like with everything else, this is a process that has developed into what he’s experiencing today.

His progressed Venus now conjuncts exactly his progressed Uranus, ruler of his Ascendant, and this conjunction is opposed by his progressed Moon which has just moved into Pisces.  Apart from what this concoction might mean in his personal relationships, it also means that this Prize might just have triggered the effects of this progressed Moon into the philanthropic sign of Pisces where it will spend the next 2 and half years. I wonder how is he going to manage this new feelings with the situation he has in Afganistan  and Irak.

Uranus the ruler of his Ascendant is also by transit opposing his Mars, also ruler of his 10th house and of his progressed Ascendant. With all this Uranian influence I wonder if the archetype of Prometheus is really taking over his life.

Whichever way you see the effect of this prize on his life, it is obvious that it will put even more pressure (if that is possible) in his political life.

This is what Michael Moore has to say about it:

The irony that you have been awarded this prize on the 2nd day of the ninth year of what is quickly becoming your War in Afghanistan is not lost on anyone. You are truly at a crossroads now. You can listen to the generals and expand the war (only to result in a far-too-predictable defeat) or you can declare Bush’s Wars over, and bring all the troops home. Now. That’s what a true man of peace would do.

There is nothing wrong with you doing what the last guy failed to do — ca

pture the man or men responsible for the mass murder of 3,000 people on 9/11. BUT YOU CANNOT DO THAT WITH TANKS AND TROOPS. You are pursuing a criminal, not an army. You do not use a stick of dynamite to get rid of a mouse.

The Taliban is another matter. That is a problem for the people of Afghanistan to resolve — just as we did in 1776, the French did in 1789, the Cubans did in 1959, the Nicaraguans did in 1979 and the people of East Berlin did in 1989. One thing is certain through all revolutions by people who wish to be free — they ultimately have to bring about that freedom themselves. Others can be supportive, but freedom can not be delivered from the front seat of someone else’s Humvee.

You have to end our involvement in Afghanistan now. If you don’t, you’ll have no choice but to return the prize to Oslo.

Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com

P.S. Your opposition has spent the morning attacking you for bringing such good will to this country. Why do they hate America so much? I get the feeling that if you found the cure for cancer this afternoon they’d be denouncing you for destroying free enterprise because cancer centers would have to close. There are those who say you’ve done nothing yet to deserve this award. As far as I’m concerned, the very fact that you’ve offered to walk into the minefield of hate and try to undo the irreparable damage the last president did is not only appreciated by me and millions of others, it is also an act of true bravery. That’s why you got the prize. The whole world is depending on the U.S. — and you — to literally save this planet. Let’s not let them down.This is just the kind of pressure that this Prize will put upon him, but as a true Aquarian, and 6th house man, his service for the people will come before his personal interest. Never mind he, as an educated Leo, can handle all this attention and perhaps cherish it in many levels.

Here comes this most energetic Full Moon in the sign of Aries.

Since the Sun is in Libra it has relevance in our personal relationships, not only romantic ones or long term ones, but also in business or therapeutic ones. Diplomatic ones, as in governments’ relationships, etc.

The dilemma of Aries versus Libra evokes the struggle of being ourselves even within a relationship. How to be one with the other and yet remain true to ourselves. The delicate balance between learning to live with the other without betraying our soul. Not an easy task.

This Moon which happens on the 3rd and 4th of October has still the scent of Pluto within it, since the Sun and the Moon have both just squared it. Many relationships are either coming to an end or simply transforming, since they don’t seem to be working as they did in the past. The need for a change is obvious and yet not easy to assume.  The need for one or either partner to follow their own personal and individual path without damaging the relationships is a challenge.

Obviously, Cancer, Capricorn, Libra and Aries are the ones who will feel it stronger, and very specially those born within the 1st and 3rd of January, April, July and October. With Mercury just gone forward and still in Virgo, opposing Uranus in Pisces we may easily feel victimized by the situation, since the need to serve the other may be overwhelming. But the Moon in Aries calls for action. In the conflict we may find ourselves saying things we don’t really mean, which we may later regret.

Is important to remember that we can only take care of our inner calling and not that of others. Never mind how much we love them.

This moon calls for a compromise between our needs and those of the other. Not easy but absolutely necessary.

You might need to wait until the Moon begins to wane, to see everything clearer.

Listen to the other without thinking about yourself. Is not a bad exercise. You may learn a thing or two about your partner which you didn’t realize before.

Venus, the planet of love, beauty and money has moved to the earth and feminine sign of Virgo, in spite of being ruled by an airy and masculine planet like Mercury.

This is an extremely feminine expression of Venus, perhaps not as sensual as it is in the other earthy sign which happens to rule, Taurus, but immensely feminine all the same.

With this, I am not saying that Venus in Virgo is not sensual, but the sensuality of Virgo has an “untouchable” quality, as if those women with Sun or Ascendent or Venus or Moon in Virgo were saying: -”Look, but don’t touch”-

Even though it might not be how they feel, it’s what they seem to be saying. z

Think of Sofia Loren (Sun and Venus in Virgo), Uma Thurman (Asc in Virgo), Claudia Schiffer (Sun, Mercury and Pluto in Virgo), Raquel Welsh (Sun, Mercury, Mars and Neptune in Virgo)to mention but a few, for us older people, Greta Garbo and Deborah Kerr were two of the greatest Virgo exponents I’ve ever seen.

Michael Jackson (talking about untouchable!) and Freddy Mercury also were Virgo.

Obviously the term Virgo comes from Virgin, but it describes the virgins of the pre-christian times, when a virgin or being a virgin didn’t necessarily refer to the sexual aspect of it, that, came later with Mary, mother of Jesus, but in the sense that they did not belong to a man, meaning, they were unmarried women.

They were in fact the virgins that presided over the ceremonies for the night before marriage, or what we actually call : “ a hen party”, when they encouraged the bride-to-be to abandon herself to her sensuality and desires before tying the knot. These rituals were often wild and full of sensuality.

Sexuality is a different thing for Virgo too, they spend most of their lives, swinging from a lot of sex to abstinence, and they defend celibacy with great conviction.

Venus in Virgo are extremely thorough in whatever they do, and if they agree to take care of something, you can be sure that they will do it with great accuracy.

They make great managers as details do not escape them, but they definitely shine in everything that requires attention to form and perfection, like fashion design, dancing and choreographing and anything that requires great dedication and practice. Karl Lagerfeld is a good example of this.

Like Malcolm Gladwell (The outliers) says: “Talent is the desire to practice” and not having been born with a special gift or a great IQ. That’s a Virgo statement.

Health is another of Virgo’s interests. Diets, fitness, nutrition, and they spend a lot of money in gyms and herbalists.

The obsession with perfection of Virgo makes it possible for them to practice and practice and practice, whatever they do, so that they will get it right, but it can make them be excessively critical of others and of course of themselves (Think Michael Jackson).

To accept that they are imperfect is a life’s work for Virgo and i am not sure they ever achieve it. Whatever part of their bodies they dislike is going to have to be fixed before they can be happy. If they are the more spiritual type, they can turn it into their point of acceptance.

There is also another side to Virgo and it’s their compulsion to service. You can always get them to work in jobs where they are of service, like catering or community work.

Social workers have some kind of Virgo dimension. Communication, acting, radio, television are also ideal jobs for Virgo.

Venus will be in Virgo until October 14th. Wherever Virgo falls in your chart, Venus passage through it will encourage you to perfect it and tie all loose ends, so that you can live with more order and enjoying the feeling of security that comes from knowing what you are doing.

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Here comes this most expected New Moon of the year, believe it or not, and I say expected, because this Moon in Virgo which happens to be conjunct (in the same degree) with Saturn, which has just exactly opposed Uranus,on the 15th, right after Pluto has gone direct in Capricorn on the Sep 11th, and Mercury has just dipped back into Virgo, it really exudes the need for order and hard work and dedication to service.

This is really when we need to get serious, when the chaos around us, needs to be addressed, and we need to pick up the pieces. The times of blaming the boss, your partner, your age, your children, the government, politicians, USA and their foreign policies, are OVER.

It is up to us to find a way to say ENOUGH, but to do that we need a plan. In case you haven’t notice the Saturn-Uranus opposition in your life, think again. Somewhere in your life you are battling with imposing some kind of  order at the same time that you need to incorporate something new into whatever you are doing. If you don’t relate to this situation and the fact that new ideas and well considered plans need to come to the rescue, because our old organizations has failed us and we need to regulate more, some of this old entities like the banks, our financial system, our relationships, our children, our personal work, our bank account, etc, etc.

Many other things are happening, but at the time of this new moon, we are vibrating to the above. Something in our conscience is telling us, open up, look at other possibilities, you don’t need to destroy what you have built, but you need to renew it, because is not working anymore. If you are tired with the gym, change for dance classes. Dancing is another Virgo thing.

I can imagine Obama’s struggle trying to convince these extreme conservatives that a Health Care plan is needed. That there are a lot of people that can’t afford private insurance and health and education should be a priority for everyone. I wonder why  this is  so difficult to understand for certain people.  Here in Europe you get to keep, if you want and can afford it, your private insurance, but there is a National Health System, paid by you, discounted from your salary automatically, which enables you to be covered by a National Health Insurance System.

I am talking about health because this is one of the dimensions of Virgo. This sign is interested in health in all its aspects. Service is another of the Virgo impulses. Virgo’s destiny is to be of service and find a technique that will help them do what they do as perfect as possible.

This New Moon speaks of a new way, a new order, a new technique that will help us develop what is in our soul buy in a practical way, so that we may begin to enjoy what we do and benefit from it, why not, in a financial and healthy way.

If you have been working very hard and your health have suffered because of it, then this is your opportunity to re-organize your schedule.

If you have been in a job for a long time and now need to do something else, you must find a way to re-direct your energies, your knowledge and your experience  so that whatever you choose to do now, is for the benefit of others as well as yourself. Everyone in the healing profession gets a push now, and because Virgo is the opposite sign to Pisces, whatever we decide to do, requires a certain degree of practicality. This angle (Virgo-Pisces)is constantly striving for perfection and the earthing of great ideals and visions of a perfect world. Think of Michael Jackson Sun in Virgo and Moon in Pisces.

This are the dimensions highlighted by this New Moon. We need to incorporate the new, technology, freedom, to an already existing order, without destroying it all. Simply improving it for the benefit of us all.

And we must do that before the T-square with Pluto comes to be exact in July 2010, when whatever we didn’t renovate or let go of, will anyway leave our lives and then it will feel like Fate instead of Free Will.

These are times of change and if we insist in resisting it, nothing good will come our way.

Conservatives of the world, you had your chance, now the changes have come.

Fortunately, in my experience, most contained and in particular  consciously decided changes are for the better. It simply means renovation and the opening of doors to discovery of new dimension of our being, that we didn’t even think before the change.

Those of us with Pisces, Gemini, Sagittarius and Virgo will feel it the strongest but all of humans are sharing this moment in time.

Be positive and take the decisions your heart is telling you to take.

Here we go again. Saturn and Uranus are going to be exactly opposed, on September 15th, this time at 24º 43′ of Virgo-Pisces respectively, next and last time on these signs will be on the 27th of April 2010, at 28º 46′ and then the last of these encounters will be in the Aries -Libra angle at 0º 25′, on July 2010, when they will be joined by Pluto in Capricorn in what we call a T-Square: a planet in right angle (Pluto) to 2 planets in opposition (Saturn-Uranus).

First time the opposition became exact, was on November 4th 2008, for the American elections, which gave us the first Afroamerican President. Not a small thing.

But this contact really started before and I’d really take it back to the moment that Saturn entered Virgo in September 2007, since it was then that the area of our charts that would be affected became evident, for most of us. As Saturn advanced through Virgo, (Uranus had been cruising through Pisces since 2003), on it’s way to meet Uranus, it begun a journey in an area of our chart, where we had to organize ourselves without the help of others at the same time  that we listen to Uranus’ voice which invites us to liberate ourselves and try something new.

How to experience the new, without throwing away a system that we have worked so hard to build? How to experience our individuality without ruining a relationship we have worked so hard to keep? How to work with the group and not lose our individuality in the process? These and many more are some of the predicaments of this opposition and it has not been easy and is not finished yet.

Obama, elected the day the opposition was exact for the first time, is living it intensely, trying to implement a Health Care system that encounters the resistance of the conservatives and a system that has made and continues to make fortunes, profiting from people’s health problems.

You may argue that these kind of situations always happen, but it is only now that they are so evident and powerful. Last time these 2 planets were conjunct in Capricorn in 1989, the Berlin Wall came down, and the USSR ceased to exist.

So, these are powerful influences and we must learn to deal with them. Each of us in a different area of our life and with our own personal  situation.

Why? this is never the correct question, but, What for? provokes more creative answers. We may never know why, but we may surely  easily understand what for.

I have hundred of examples from my clients and friends, all very accurate according to which area is affected in their personal birthchart, but what is important is perhaps to analyze what needs to be freed and what needs to be acknowledged and respected. Patience and the lesson that we can’t control everything, are some of the experiences of this opposition. There are times when we must simply wait, and there are other times when we must act. The awareness of this can enrich our soul, like nothing else. If the opposition happens in the 6th and 12th houses, sometimes illness is the reason why we can’t act, and although that may seem completely out of our control, still the lesson is there and we must not waste it.  If it happens in our 4th and 10th houses, perhaps you desire to venture on your own professionally but feel that can’t due to family responsibilities. If it’s on the 1st and 7th, you may be needing more freedom of action and time for yourself and find it difficult to do without jepardizing a long standing relationship, that you have worked very hard to keep.

These are some examples of the predicaments of this opposition in our daily life.

Finding the right balance into incorporating the new, without destroying what we have already achieved or the Status Quo,is another way of seeing this dilema.

Around the world, education is another clear example of this, as the old system of education are becoming obsolete or out of touch with the new minds and the need to re-evaluate what our students need, in order to be estimulated to continue with their studies. The change of subjects and adding of others more relevant to today’s needs are a challenge.

Subjects like health improvement and prevention of illnesses to counteract the excess of medicines being prescribed by doctors. A  change in the medical system to encourage people to take their health into their own hands, a bit more, rather than seeing their physician for anything and coming out of that encouter full of prescriptions. All of which cost a lot of money.

In short, this is a good opportunity provided by the Cosmos, to take more responsibility for our wellbeing and our lives.

Here we go again. Mercury goes into one of its 3 or 4 retrogrades cycles of the year.

This has been the second year of retrogrades in Air signs, since 2002.

Next December 27th, when Mercury stations retrograde at 21º Capricorn 43′, a new cycle of retrogrades in Earth signs begins, followed by a retrograde in Taurus in April and Virgo in August to end once more in Capricorn on December 2010.

This time the retrograde happens in the sign of Libra, as it was in October 2008, which hadn’t happened since October 2002. Yet, this time is particularly special since Mercury has initiated since August 26th, a triple square to Pluto, (1st on Aug 26th, 2nd on Sep 17th and 3rd on Oct 10th) aggravated by the contact with Mars (on Aug 26th). Mercury (already in its shadow zone) will station retrograde at 6º Libra 13′ on Sep  7th until the Sep 30th, but it will not  reach the original retrograde degree of Libra 6º until Oct 14th.

Every time it passes through the 0º of Libra it will square Pluto at 0º Capricorn 40′. Those born around the 20th-21st-22nd of March, June, September and December, will suffer this repetitive aspect over their Sun. Whatever issue started around August 26th will be triggered  again and  again and they will be forced to face up to the facts. Since we are talking about the sign of Libra, which has a lot to do with human relationships, especially those with our spouses, business partners and clients (particularly if you are a therapist of some sort), this is the area of maximum challenge, where we will have to learn to communicate in a just, honest, clear manner, recognising the secret agenda of each party involved, respecting it, but above all, we must be very conscious of our own.

The questions to consider are who are we communicating with? Are we talking to the other person or simply voicing our frustration and discontent? to what degree are we seeing and listening to the other person’s needs or are we simple projecting our own? when Pluto is involved the issue of our own inner power is pivotal. Have we given our power away, by thinking that there is nothing we can do to find a solution? Does it depend entirely on the other person? Why do we depend?, why can we just simply take the decision?

These and more are some of the questions this aspects pose on us. Mars Pluto, detonate the inner beast, if we have kept quiet about something, we won’t be able to do it for much longer.

It reminds me a bit about the HULK, that inner green beast which lurks inside our psyche, which when provoked erupts with fury and others and even ourselves get pretty scared.

The secret lies in being just and honest with ourselves and others. If you feel you have given to much and got little in return, voice it, or come to terms with your own way of working. Why do you do what you do? Why can’t you say what you want, when you want it? Why don’t you listen?

Mercury-Pluto invite us to a dialogue with the inner Hulk and the result should be the taking of responsibility for our predicaments and actions.

The challenge of this retrograde is to face up to the Hulk and to control it is the work of the Wise Man inside of us.

Perhaps is more about understanding and respecting it, than to control it.

Whether we like it or not, the beast lurks inside all of us. Don’t just fear it, deal with it!