Pop Astro

Astrology got a lot of press in the 60s, but in 1967 the familiar song, “The Age of Aquarius,” had it wrong. “When the Moon is in the seventh house and Jupiter aligns with Mars, then peace will guide the planets and love will steer the stars” is nothing but New Age gobbledygook! Any astrologer knows that Jupiter only heightens Mars’ war-like nature.

But we now have Echosmith’s song, “Bright,” which makes much more astrological sense. The singer is in love and says, “Did you and Jupiter conspire to get me?” Very appropriate since Jupiter may bring us luck and help expand our lives with a new relationship.

She goes on to say that, “I think you and the Moon and Neptune got it right, ‘cause now I’m shining bright.” This line captures the warm, happy feeling of being in love that the emotional, dreamy planets, the Moon and Neptune, can convey. The singer says, “I get lost in your eyes,” and “You make what doesn’t matter fade to gray,” both of which we may associate with Neptune’s ability to heighten our senses and transcend physical reality.

I guess we’ve progressed a little in the last 45 years! “Bright” is about observing the night sky (astronomy) but also the underlying suggestion that the planets are influencing our lives (astrology!). And the symbolism the lyricists chose is perfectly appropriate.

Neptune and Racial Identity

Civil rights activist Rachel Dolezal, who claimed to be African American, resigned her position as President of the Spokane chapter of the NAACP on Monday after her parents revealed her on nationwide TV as a white woman. Neptune is the planet of deception and misrepresentation, and we find plenty of it in Dolezal’s horoscope.

Rachel Dolezal was born in Lincoln County, Montana on November 12, 1977. The Moon conjunct Neptune in Sagittarius created confusion regarding her family background. With black adoptive siblings and an African American ex-husband and child, there was diversity among her family members (Moon in Sagittarius). But Neptune also blurred the lines of her own personal identification.

Mercury is in Sagittarius, the sign of inter-cultural exchange, and with three planets in this sign, it’s not surprising that she identified with those of different backgrounds. Sagittarius also rules education, journalism and activism, and Dolezal was also a university instructor with a weekly newspaper column, both positions she’s also lost.

Jupiter, the ruler of Sagittarius, is placed in Cancer in her horoscope, the sign of its exaltation, making it one of her strongest planets. She gained success by speaking out for racial equality and civil rights. But since Mercury is closely quincunx her Jupiter, she went too far, as both Sagittarius and Jupiter may do, in actually describing herself as African American.

Transiting Neptune in Pisces was stationary and squaring Dolezal’s Sagittarius Moon when her true racial identity was outed. While Neptune often deceives us, it can also bring to light earlier misconceptions. Mercury was stationary-direct at the same time, and the news media leapt on the story, correcting the record.

In her birth chart, Dolezal has Saturn squaring her Sun in Scorpio. Transiting Saturn recently conjoined her Mercury and was nearly exactly squaring her natal Saturn at the time she lost her jobs. Saturn is often the antidote to Neptune as it brings us down to earth. Hard Saturn transits can alter our position and status, especially when they’re not legitimately earned, and particularly for someone with a challenging natal Saturn. Rachel Dolezal, now 37, will have to reinvent herself once again.

The Washington Post included an image of Dolezal’s birth certificate on their website, here

The Retrograde Diaries — Episode 5

Is it Episode 5 already? Or only Episode 4? Actually, it’s probably Episode 100+, I just haven’t written them all down yet.

I continue to feel the stress and strain of Mercury retrograde. The current one may be more confusing with Mercury also squaring Neptune. Here are a few of my typically mixed-up Mercury retrograde experiences of the past few weeks.

I went to see the eye doctor. The receptionist was speaking on a headphone and I couldn’t tell if she was talking to me or the person on the phone. Our conversation was a typical Mercury retrograde communications challenge:

She: Can I have your referral?
Me: I don’t need a referral with this insurance.
She: Let me see your Medicaid card then.
Me: It’s not Medicaid. I have a regular Obamacare policy. You should have it in your system.
She: We need your referral.
Me: I don’t need a referral with this policy. Last time it went through with no problem. (Of course, the last time – no Mercury retrograde!)
She: Well, we have to have it to protect ourselves. Who is your primary care physician?
Me: I don’t have one right now.

More questions seemed to follow, but I soon realized she was again talking to her mouthpiece phone and not to me. I sat back down. A little while later she called me again as she couldn’t find me in the system. Then she realized that my insurance had my middle initial but they did not. Why this should be such a problem, I don’t know.

The receptionist was updating her database, which is a good Mercury retrograde task, but she was also speaking too loud since she had the headphones on. She was very pro-active and continued to loudly call out to other patients, apparently having difficulty verifying their insurance as well. One had to confirm her address and birthday. Another her birth place.

There were no problems with my appointment and everything went smoothly. Until I made a follow-up appointment and the receptionist warned that next time I really MUST bring a referral!

David Letterman and Saturn

David Letterman said goodbye to late-night television after his final Late Show on May 20, 2015. Saturn’s aspects augur predictable change, and Saturn transiting Dave’s 7th house of partnerships, contracts and the public was exactly trine his natal Saturn in the 4th house of security, stability and endings. Transiting Saturn will exactly trine his natal Mars in Aries in his 12th in a few weeks, creating a grand trine. In keeping with Saturn, this was an organized change that was well-known in advance.

The transiting Uranus-Pluto square also has something to do with Letterman’s career transition. Pluto through his 9th house of broadcasting is sextiling his Venus (exact in a few weeks). Venus placed in the 11th how shows a transformation in his colleagues, associates and friends as Pluto activates it. Another flowing aspect, it indicates a smooth development. The 11th house also rules our hopes and wishes for the future, so his goals have changed.

Transiting Uranus will station near a conjunction with Dave’s Aries Sun in July, breaking him away from his dynamic career path and into something completely new. It will exactly conjoin his Sun and square his Midheaven in 2016. Since Uranus promises new vistas and unexpected developments, the talk-show host should have some notable events in his life and career – things will certainly not be dull!

Letterman was born on April 12, 1947 at 6:00 am in Indianapolis (rated “A” on Astrodatabank).

Get It?

I woke up and turned on the radio. The BBC was interviewing some foreign English speakers and I couldn’t understand a word. I changed the station and found a preachy Sunday sermon that put me back to sleep. I’m suddenly getting all kinds of calls from survey-takers and recorded marketers. I recently wrote some checks that bounced.

Of course, these kinds of things could happen any time. But why all of them at once? And why now? This month, Mercury squares Neptune, turns retrograde, then squares Neptune again. This is an astrological influence well beyond your typical Mercury retrograde mishaps and misunderstandings. And it’ll repeat itself all over again when Mercury turns direct in June and squares Neptune once again.

But now that we’re aware of it, we can try really hard to be sure we understand exactly what’s going on. Mercury is in Gemini, so logic should prevail. Neptune is in Pisces, so our intuition can be strong, too. It’s the point where they intersect that creates blind spots.

Repeat back what someone told you, just in case. Double check the e-mail recipients before clicking “send.” Print out the directions – don’t assume you’ll remember them. And write down your dreams – they’ll make more sense later on!

Billy Joel’s Saturn Children

Taurean singer Billy Joel and his partner Alexis Roderick recently announced that they are expecting a baby this summer. Joel’s only other child, Alexa Ray, is 29 years old. This is astrologically significant since it indicates the return of a Saturn cycle for Billy Joel and having children. (Most women, of course, couldn’t accomplish this feat without massive hormonal intervention.)

At the time of Joel’s announcement, Saturn was at 4 Sagittarius, transiting his 5th house of children. Alexa Ray was born on December 29, 1985, when Saturn was just under 5 Sagittarius. The new baby will be born at around the time of Saturn’s station at 28 Scorpio 17, squaring Joel’s natal Saturn at 29-1/2 Leo, and less than 6 degrees from the exact place that Saturn transited when Alexa Ray was born, still in his 5th house.

While not technically exact, this is an excellent, straightforward example of the repetitive nature of Saturn’s transit cycles. Though most people will not experience such a striking repetition of similar events!

Billy Joel was born on May 9, 1949 at 9:30 AM in the Bronx, rated AA (from his birth certificate) on Astrodatabank.

Hillary Announces Run

Hillary Clinton announced her run for the 2016 presidential race on April 12, 2015 at around 3:02 pm*. This becomes the natal horoscope for her campaign, and we can analyze the development and possible outcome of the campaign with this chart. An event chart like this one is read like a horary.

The Ascendant is 0 Virgo – with the suggestion of it being “too soon.” Fair enough – it’s a kick-off announcement a year and a half before the election. The Ascendant rules Hillary herself – the party initiating the event. Virgo is ruled by Mercury in the 9th combust the Sun. Hillary’s ruler is elevated in the horoscope, but the Sun rules her 12th house – her liabilities. Her current message may be obscured by previous questions about her official e-mails and other voter concerns. However the campaign should be able to outpace these issues as Mercury moves away from the Sun by the end of April.

The Sun conjoins both Mercury and Uranus in Aries in the 9th house. Talk about a world-wide announcement! This one packs a punch with the Sun exalted in Aries. And the Uranus-style notice was made with e-mails, in an online video and on Twitter.

Venus in the 10th ruling the Taurus Midheaven highlights the prestige of the presidential office. Venus opposes Saturn, an indication of the challenges therein. But the Moon in Aquarius (co-ruling Hillary) will trine Venus and sextile Saturn from the cusp of the 6th house: Hillary is up for the challenge and will work hard and pursue an independent course to achieve her goals.

An astrologer would probably not have chosen the angular T-square of Venus in the 10th, Saturn in the 4th and Neptune in the 7th house. But Neptune in the 7th rules Hillary’s opponents (“open enemies” astrologically). And while they may blow smokescreens to confuse the issues, they are also not the most effective.

Saturn in the 4th is grounded, but as significator of the “end of the matter,” it may not be propitious. We must look to Hillary’s birth chart to see how the planets are influencing her personally.

The flaws in the announcement horoscope ultimately don’t matter that much. President Obama, for instance, had a void-of-course Moon for his February, 2007 election bid. The more important things to consider are the candidate’s birth chart, the astrological weather at the time of the campaign and election, and transits and progressions to the natal chart. Unfortunately we may not have a definitive birth chart for Hillary Clinton. That’s a topic for another post.

*The NewYorkTimes.com stated that Clinton’s 2-minute video announcement was released “just after 3 p.m.” on April 12, 2015. I used her campaign headquarters in Brooklyn Heights for the location.

A Brooklyn Tragedy

On March 21, 2015, Gayle and Gabriel Sassoon’s home in Brooklyn was destroyed by fire, killing seven of their eight children. Can we anticipate such an extreme event astrologically? And how would it look? Heavy transiting planets often activate the natal chart at momentous times like these.

This was an electrical fire that changed the fate of a large family literally overnight. Must be Uranus, right? But the overwhelming extent of the devastation also suggests Pluto. Of course, the long-term transit of Uranus square Pluto was exact less than two weeks before the fire, strengthening these energies and creating a major upheaval. We are all affected by the Uranus square Pluto trend, but those whose birth charts they contact most closely will feel their effects more strongly. And of course, most of us will not experience such an unusual tragedy, which will be seen in birth chart patterns as well.

Gabriel Sassoon was born on April 28, 1972 according to public records. His full Moon chart with the Sun in Taurus and Moon in Scorpio suggests a life of drama, at least from time to time, as well as complex issues surrounding his home life. The Moon in Scorpio, while in its fall, is nevertheless fruitful when considering children astrologically. With Jupiter trining and sextiling his Sun-Moon opposition, he was also lucky. One certainly can’t consider him lucky in losing most of a large family, but he did survive, being away at a religious retreat at the time of the fire. This combination of luck and tragedy is indicated by his Jupiter in Capricorn, the sign of its fall. There is loss, but something remains. Transiting Neptune also sextiled the Sun trine Jupiter birth chart pattern, providing solace in religion.

Sassoon’s Saturn closely opposes Neptune, showing a need to balance practical reality and ideals. The Sassoons were orthodox Jews, and this resonates with Saturn’s focus on tradition and Neptune’s on ideology. Transiting Saturn at its stationary point strengthened its effects. It closely conjoined Gabriel’s Neptune and opposed his Saturn at the time of the accident, presenting a major change and removing his established security. He was pushed into a new phase as we so often are with Saturn.  Perhaps this combination also shows the negligence in not installing smoke alarms on the family’s main floors.

Gabriel Sassoon also has Uranus opposite Mercury in his birth chart. The transiting Uranus square Pluto pattern exactly squared Uranus. Here is the overwhelming sudden and unexpected event which changed everything forever.

We can see in this example how each of the heavier transiting planets added to the overall event. While no one but a psychic could have foreseen exactly how things would fall out, Uranus and Pluto did forecast a sudden, irrevocable change, and Saturn inevitably moved Sassoon into a new phase of his life. Neptune brought about a confusing event where he lacked the ability to rescue his family. Jupiter allowed him to survive. With a properly timed birth chart, we would know even more. And certainly looking at eclipses, declinations and other astrological tools would fill out this sad story and help us better understand how it happened.

Hardwiring Happiness

We are biologically evolved to react to danger and thus remember the bad times – those with the best fight-or-flight response survived. Yet neuropsychologist Rick Hanson, PhD, building on the work of many recent authors, claims that we can actively train our mental happiness pathways to compensate for this bias in order to lead happier lives.

The practice he recommends is very different from simple affirmations. The exercises to promote the happiness pathways in our brains reminded me of acting exercises that I had in school to conjure up a mood. Readers are encouraged to “take in the good,” becoming more aware of and responsive to positive situations all around us every day, with many examples of how to do so.

I found this premise very intriguing and also reminiscent of simply counting our blessings. The author goes on to suggest developing the technique to overcome habits, free yourself from old emotional wounds and learn new skills. I’m not sure that someone who’s not astrologically predisposed for focus and discipline can really get this technique to work on their own for more significant issues, and perhaps it makes more sense for shorter-term and general outlook.

This book is easy to read and may have been more effective at a shorter length. But it seems like a great idea and I’m already trying it with success!

Rudy Giuliani and Neptune

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani has returned to the center of media attention for his controversial remarks about President Obama. At a 2/18/15 dinner for a potential Republican presidential candidate, he stated that Obama “doesn’t love America.” News outlets leapt to cover his remarks. Giuliani almost immediately reported receiving death threats. Some commentators suggested that the Mayor’s statements were racially motivated. And a You-Tube video from a black adolescent in Georgia, defending Giuliani, went viral. All of these effects are due to Neptune’s influence.

Barbara Watters describes one of Neptune’s actions as diffusion – spreading over a wide area. It relates to the loss of the individual ego as it merges with the collective. Giuliani’s thoughts are in keeping with partisan political rhetoric; there’s nothing new in Republicans calling Democrats un-American and linking them with Socialists and Communists. Yet partisan politics, at its worst, is blind allegiance, the opposite of thoughtful commentary. Neptune sets off emotional reactions – a story “going viral” implies infection or a malicious attack. We’re intuitively drawn to fight both, further spreading the story.

Rudy Giuliani was born on May 28, 1944 in Brooklyn, NY (rated “A” on Astrodatabank).  He has Neptune rising in trine to his Sun in the 9th house. He’s no stranger to controversy, but was also hailed as “America’s Mayor” for his leadership following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Transiting Neptune at that time was closely trining his Sun, a flowing aspect, and Giuliani was perfectly in tune with its trend. The collective needed assurance and Giuliani provided it. There were more flags displayed at that time than on the 4th of July as individuals merged into the collective of America.

Giuliani is still the same person, but his message isn’t playing out in the same way. Neptune is now exactly squaring his Sun – and a square doesn’t have the ease and acceptance of the trine aspect; he’s now at least somewhat at odds with prevailing trends. However it can still generate much attention. Neptune will square Giuliani’s Sun again from late 2015 to early 2016 – so we can expect some more news from him at that time.

Many politicians have significant Neptune placements in their birth charts. These may indicate idealism and faith or misconduct and corruption – and perhaps a little of both. We can also use Neptune as a forecasting tool, indicating whether collective trends will be in favor of a particular candidate. President Obama has the Sun square Neptune in his natal horoscope. For the 2012 presidential election, transiting Neptune was in his first house, trining his Venus. His opponents Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan both has transiting Neptune squaring their Ascendants. One aspect can never be dispositive, but this example highlights an obvious one.