Retrogrades and the Atrological "Perfect Storm"

I don't think I'm exactly breaking news when I say that everything sucks right now. But, according to a number of astrological reports I've seen, our no good, very bad year is about to get worse. And this past weekend -- with the juxtaposition of the solstice and the solar eclipse, followed by more planets going retrograde for a total of six -- is not the greatest kick-off for summer... or the rest of the year.

I'm not an astrologer, so I can't speak with any authority on what this all means. So I'm posting the best such report I've seen thus far. Steve Judd has described this set of astronomical events as an astrological "perfect storm." On the retrogrades alone, he posits that "there's not going to be a lot of clarity and forward thinking." As the week has unfolded in my own little corner of the world, I would have to agree.

Judd says the problems do not stop there. He is describing 2020 as a real "stinker of a year." And, amazingly, it seems like the worst is yet to come. Highlights include major seismic activity around mid-July. In August Mars will be squaring Jupiter, Saturn, and Pluto, which will likely bring significant conflict. October is also likely to bring global unrest. On the plus side, he doesn't foresee a global extinction event, but he does predict major economic fallout. He does not recommend playing the stock market or making home purchases over the next year and a half. The detailed report is below the fold.

The Great American Eclipse

Crossposted from Reflections Journal.

1979 Total Solar Eclipse TV News Report from Michael Kentrianakis on Vimeo.

The last total eclipse of the sun to be visible in the United States was in 1979. Above is a little nostalgia viewing on the eclipse that was. Walter Cronkite's reassuring voice is sorely missed. But it was a calmer time, a time when all we had to worry about was the Cold War and the looming threat of a nuclear holocaust. They seem like halcyon days to me now.

For Americans, this eclipse may be more relevant than any we've seen in nearly a hundred years, because this one will cross the entire continental United States. Astrologers are predicting massive change and upheaval. In particular, there are warning signs for the Trump presidency and for the man himself. In the interest of full disclosure, I am not an astrologer, so I cannot vouch for their accuracy.

According to astrologer Donna Woodwell, in the most comprehensive analysis I've seen, the eclipse means "massive changes for the U.S."

First, the location from which an eclipse is visible indicates the areas of the world ripe for changes in society, cultures or leadership.

. . .

Of course, the “Great American Eclipse” puts the U.S. in the crosshairs of change.

It’s the first total solar eclipse to be visible coast-to-coast across the U.S. in nearly 100 years; the last time was in June 1918. Another pivotal year in U.S. history, 1918 saw a dramatic increase in the size of the U.S. government and armed forces, as the nation sent the first major deployment of troops overseas in the nation’s history.

The Aug. 21 eclipse is also the first total solar eclipse to be visible in totality only from the U.S. since the nation was founded in 1776.

Triple Whammy

Today is the Vernal Equinox. It is also a supermoon. And a total solar eclipse. It's a triple whammy of celestial events, capping off a week of turbulent space weather and challenging transits. If you're feeling overwhelmed and enervated you're not alone. I'm hearing widespread reports of disrupted sleep cycles, intense dream activity, and erratic energy levels. I am not exempt from any of the above.

According to some skywatchers, this eclipse signals the apocalypse.

The connection between Friday’s eclipse and the end of the world comes partly from the “Blood Moon Prophecy”. That refers to the theory that a tetrad — four consecutive lunar eclipses, with six full moons between them — is a sign that the world is coming to an end.

Those that believe in the prophecy see it partly borne out by the Book of Joel, which says that “the sun will turn into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes”. That has been connected to the phenomenon of the blood moon — the phenomenon where the moon turns copper red as it passes under the Earth’s shadow.

March’s solar eclipse have been connected by some to the series of lunar ones that are seen as harbingers of the end times. This solar eclipse sits in the middle of the tetrad, and is seen as another signal that signs are appearing in the sky.

Into the Darkness

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Late tonight we will be treated to a total lunar eclipse. Slate has a detailed writeup on where and how to view it.

Do you live in North America, South America, Australia, or eastern Asia? Then you get to see a lunar eclipse on the night of April 14/15! And while North America is the best place to watch—we’ll get to see the whole event—the real action doesn’t begin until 05:58 UTC on the 15^th, which is just before 02:00 EDT, so it’s a bit late. You might just want to stay up for it, though.

It will also be broadcast live by the Griffith Observatory.

But this is just the attention getter for a series of celestial alignments that astrologers are claiming is one for the books. This Easter will bring with it a collective crucifixion as a Grand Cross in the Cardinal signs.

Kissing the Sun

With today's partial solar eclipse, we will complete another of what Lauren Gorgo calls sandwich cycles; two solar eclipses on either side of a lunar eclipse. And I agree with Gorgo that the lunar eclipse was a doozy.

How are you faring?

We did come up for a quick breath of air after integrating that noxious lunar eclipse, but only for a hot second before the solstice energy waves started to pull us under again.

This lunar eclipse was a doozy for many…in some cases it successfully cracked open core blocks and forced us to take a solid look at our foundations before we begin to build upon them. If your foundation was slightly damaged, most likely you spent the last 7 days repairing it. If the damage was severe or irreparable, you may have been suddenly forced to begin again…to dig up the existing foundation and lay an entirely new one. If you are one who is experiencing the latter, no worries...this is not a race. Everything is always exactly as it should be.

For all of us, the lunar eclipse provided a massive opportunity to release some deeeeeeep feelings of lack/unworthiness…we were given the chance to coddle those remaining loveless parts which, unfortunately meant revisiting some dark places in our past so that we could illuminate and reclaim those aspects of ourselves that we unknowingly left behind.

No argument. It's been intense and I've been awash in memory, nostalgia, and icky, toxic goo.  It has definitely been a time to face hard truths about ourselves and undertake the difficult work of loving them back into wholeness. And, at the same time, there's been a feeling of tremendous movement, shifting, and expansion. I've had the feeling for weeks that thing are about to kick into high gear and that many of the changes will be unexpected and surprising. It would seem Karen Bishop concurs. I got this in my email last night.

The energies have really kicked in of late and are creating massive amounts of movement within. Symptoms? You may feel like crying for no apparent reason, have a racing heart, shortness of breath, difficulty sleeping, and feel short-tempered. You may feel like you are losing it, feel acutely overwhelmed, or even as though no one is remotely making any sense.

Hectic, hectic, hectic, and busy, busy, busy are results of this fast moving energy which pushes most of everything in its path along at a very steady and rapid pace. We absolutely cannot keep up with the rapid creations now, and hence, may continually feel overloaded. Add to this the pushing of the energies themselves, and head pressure, neck stiffness, and overall PRESSURE all around are common results.

People we encounter may cut us off abruptly with a need to move away (not a very high level response with connection and unity the desired reality! --- creating even more confusion and sad hearts!), or continue to ramble on about their personal situations with a near hysteria at the core, if even so subtly (can't blame them...this energy is intense!)

Guilty as charged! I know I have been both weepy and bitchy -- not an attractive combination.

So, here's some information on the "stealth eclipse" of today, which will complete, at least, that cycle of strangeness.

If you miss the partial eclipse of the sun on Friday (July 1), don't feel bad; everyone else on the planet will likely miss it, too. But a touch of skywatching trivia makes it a rare event.

Friday's solar eclipse will occur over an extremely remote part of the world — an uninhabited region in the southern Atlantic Ocean just off the coast of Antarctica. You could even call it a "stealth" eclipse since it will probably only be seen by a few penguins and leopard seals.

. . .

On June 1, a more impressive partial solar eclipse occurred over Earth's northern polar region, stunning skywatchers across Europe and Asia. Then, on June 15, a total lunar eclipse (the first of two in 2011) occurred, with the moon turning a blood-red hue for skywatchers across the Eastern Hemisphere.

And now we have a third eclipse, and the second partial eclipse of the sun. This trio of eclipses is possible because of the mechanics of the moon's phases, according to SPACE.com's skywatching columnist Joe Rao. [Infographic: How Moon Phases Work]

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It's Only a Supermoon

From Joe Versus the Volcano

This past Saturday many people witnessed what's called a supermoon. The moon looks bigger because it's closer to the planet. Here's a technical explanation from NASA.

"The last full Moon so big and close to Earth occurred in March of 1993," says Geoff Chester of the US Naval Observatory in Washington DC. "I'd say it's worth a look."

Full Moons vary in size because of the oval shape of the Moon's orbit. It is an ellipse with one side (perigee) about 50,000 km closer to Earth than the other (apogee): diagram. Nearby perigee moons are about 14% bigger and 30% brighter than lesser moons that occur on the apogee side of the Moon's orbit.

"The full Moon of March 19th occurs less than one hour away from perigee--a near-perfect coincidence1 that happens only 18 years or so," adds Chester.

I didn't get outside to see the event, myself. I had a very full weekend. And therein lies a tale.

Esoterica

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The Crab Nebula has surprised astronomers by shooting off mysterious flares.

One of the most well-known celestial objects still has some tricks up its sleeve, according to a new discovery of surprising gamma-ray flares coming from the famous Crab Nebula.

The Crab, long-considered such a steady celestial light that it was used to calibrate other sources, has now had three flare-ups where it brightened significantly in the gamma-ray range for a few days, astronomers report.

"Our belief of a stable Crab got smashed completely — now we have to think again," said Marco Tavani, an astronomer at the INAF-IASF (Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica-Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica) in Rome.

And solar flares could threaten the 2012 Olympics. Of course they could threaten far more than that.

Weather experts told the Commons science and technology committee: 'Extreme space weather events typically occur at the solar maximum, which itself follows a roughly 11-year cycle.

'The next solar maximum is expected around 2012-13 — potentially coinciding with the London Olympic Games.'

It is only the most extreme solar storms that cause chaos, and Olympic organisers do not believe there is a 'significant risk' of major disruption.

NASA has found the first evidence of a rocky planet orbiting a sun outside of our solar system.

NASA's Kepler mission confirmed the discovery of its first rocky planet, named Kepler-10b. Measuring 1.4 times the size of Earth, it is the smallest planet ever discovered outside our solar system.

The discovery of this so-called exoplanet is based on more than eight months of data collected by the spacecraft from May 2009 to early January 2010.

"All of Kepler's best capabilities have converged to yield the first solid evidence of a rocky planet orbiting a star other than our sun," said Natalie Batalha, Kepler's deputy science team lead at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., and primary author of a paper on the discovery accepted by the Astrophysical Journal. "The Kepler team made a commitment in 2010 about finding the telltale signatures of small planets in the data, and it's beginning to pay off."

And an amateur astronomer has discovered four planets from the comfort of his own home.

Peter Jalowiczor, 45, has never owned a telescope but still managed to provide scientists with enough information to establish the existence of four gaseous orbs outside the solar system.

The gas worker from Rotherham, South Yorkshire, has been officially named by the University of California's Lick-Carnegie Planet Search Team as the co-discoverer of planets HD31253b, HD218566b, HD177830c and HD99492c.

. . .

An overwhelmed Mr Jalowiczor said: 'I've always been interested in astronomy and I have two science degrees but to be one of the officially recognised finders of these planets is just... I get lost for words.'

Using just two home computers, he spent night after night analysing thousands of space measurements released by astronomers at the Santa Cruz-based university in 2005.

There may be a galaxy right near our own, invisible because it's almost entirely made up of dark matter.

An entire galaxy may be lurking, unseen, just outside our own, scientists announced Thursday.

The invisibility of "Galaxy X"—as the purported body has been dubbed—may be due less to its apparent status as a dwarf galaxy than to its murky location and its overwhelming amount of dark matter, astronomer Sukanya Chakrabarti speculates.

Detectable only by the effects of its gravitational pull, dark matter is an invisible material that scientists think makes up more than 80 percent of the mass in the universe.

And antimatter is apparently turning up in thunderstorms.

Scientists using NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope have detected beams of antimatter produced above thunderstorms on Earth, a phenomenon never seen before.

Scientists think the antimatter particles were formed inside thunderstorms in a terrestrial gamma-ray flash (TGF) associated with lightning. It is estimated that about 500 TGFs occur daily worldwide, but most go undetected.

"These signals are the first direct evidence that thunderstorms make antimatter particle beams," said Michael Briggs, a member of Fermi's Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) team at the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH). He presented the findings Monday, during a news briefing at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Seattle.

Astronomers claim to have found the "missing link" between the big bang and the formation of the universe.

For years scientists have known nothing about the "dark ages" of space – a period between the Big Bang 13.7 billion years ago and the creation of the first stars.

But Cambridge University researchers have now captured light emitted from a massive black hole to peer into this unknown portion of the history of the universe.

They discovered remnants of the first stars and evidence of the aftermath of an exploding star, which was 25 times larger than the sun.

Meanwhile, Pope Benedict has proclaimed a link between the big bang and God.

God's mind was behind complex scientific theories such as the Big Bang, and Christians should reject the idea that the universe came into being by accident, Pope Benedict said on Thursday.

"The universe is not the result of chance, as some would want to make us believe," Benedict said on the day Christians mark the Epiphany, the day the Bible says the three kings reached the site where Jesus was born by following a star.

"Contemplating it (the universe) we are invited to read something profound into it: the wisdom of the creator, the inexhaustible creativity of God," he said in a sermon to some 10,000 people in St Peter's Basilica on the feast day.

Pope Benedict has also proclaimed that the late Pope John Paul II performed a miracle as the sex abuse enabling former pope wends his way towards beatification.

Pope Benedict XVI has formally approved a miracle attributed to his late predecessor, paving the way to John Paul II's beatification on 1 May.

. . .

The Vatican credits him with the miraculous cure of a nun said to have had Parkinson's Disease.

Church officials believe that the Polish pope, who himself suffered from the condition, interceded for the miraculous cure of Sister Marie Simon-Pierre, a Frenchwoman in her late forties.

Catholic clergy in Spain are up in arms about a naked limbs -- naked everything, really -- in a sacrilicious calendar.

A Catholic youth group has shocked its religious superiors in Mallorca by producing a calendar that features a nude version of the passion of Christ.

The wrath of the bishop of Mallorca has fallen on the Davallament youth group from the Spanish island's town of Sant Joan after they decided to make the stripped-down version of the Easter week story to raise funds.

The calendar features a semi-naked trio of young men raising the cross on which Jesus will be crucified and a Last Supper whose protagonists wear only crotch-hugging underwear. In other shots the protagonists are entirely naked, covering their genitalia with plumed roman helmets (above).

This other act of remarkable, spiritually guided artistry remains largely overlooked.

It's the sheer size of the structure that first strikes you. Almost 40 metres (131ft) tall, its spires and giant dome tower over the surrounding apartment blocks in this Madrid suburb.

That's not unusual for a Spanish church. But this one is being built by an elderly man, almost single-handedly, out of junk.

Justo Gallego - or Don Justo, as he's known - embarked on his epic endeavour almost half a century ago.

Now 85 years old, he still has a huge amount to do.

Archaeologists have turned up the first evidence of both Stone Age residents on the Isle of Crete and ancient sea travel.

Archaeologists on the island of Crete have discovered what may be evidence of one of the world's first sea voyages by human ancestors, the Greek Culture Ministry said Monday. A ministry statement said experts from Greece and the U.S. have found rough axes and other tools thought to be between 130,000 and 700,000 years old close to shelters on the island's south coast.

Crete has been separated from the mainland for about five million years, so whoever made the tools must have traveled there by sea (a distance of at least 40 miles). That would upset the current view that human ancestors migrated to Europe from Africa by land alone.

"The results of the survey not only provide evidence of sea voyages in the Mediterranean tens of thousands of years earlier than we were aware of so far, but also change our understanding of early hominids' cognitive abilities," the ministry statement said.

The incredible, shrinking brain:

Man's brain has been gradually shrinking over the last 20,000 years, according to a new report.

This decrease in size follows two million years during which the human cranium steadily grew in size, and it's happened all over the world, to both sexes and every race.

'Over the past 20,000 years, the average volume of the human male brain has decreased from 1,500 cubic centimetres to 1,350 cubic centimetres, losing a chunk the size of a tennis ball,' Kathleen McAuliffe writes in Discover magazine.

A thirteenth astrological sign has been announced messing up everybody's charts. I've never been gladder that I'm not an astrologer.

The star doctors say Earth is currently in a different spot in relation to the Sun, and its equatorial alignment has changed from 3,000 years ago when the study of astrology began -- back when 12 zodiac signs were assigned to 12 different periods of the year.

Those signs you were born into are different now because the Earth's wobble on its axis has created a one-month bump in the alignment of the stars, according to Kunkle.

"Because of this change of tilt, the Earth is really over here in effect and Sun is in a different constellation than it was 3,000 years ago."

More esoteric news items can always be found in the Headlines feed in the right-hand column here.

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Total Eclipse

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Fresh from my inbox, a good article on the current eclipse cycle. This is from astrologer Stephanie Austin and since I can't find the article posted on her website, I'm just going to post the whole thing as it appears in the email. The first paragraph really captures it for me. I've been completely wiped.

I also highly recommend listening to this lecture by Mary Lomando. It's on her podcast page under the heading Mary's Eclipse Update July 2010. (Wow. I just got the strangest tone through my head. By strange I mean different in character than I'm used to. Kind of pleasant actually; a low hum in my right occipital. Interesting.) But anyhoo... Back to the eclipse.

On June 26, we experienced perhaps the most powerful lunar eclipse to date. Those huge evolutionary tailwinds continue as we approach yet another extremely transformative eclipse, this one a total solar eclipse. If you have been feeling disoriented, spacey, headachy, and/or generally “off” lately, it is likely due to the intense cosmic energies bathing our planet and psyches right now. The electromagnetic grids supporting consciousness are changing. Our biochemical circuitry is being re-wired. Old programming, limiting beliefs, deep seated fears are surfacing to be purged. Clear your schedule as much as possible for the next few days (and beyond), and this Sunday especially; a quiet, receptive state facilitates integrating the big cosmic downloads and quantum upgrades available at this pivotal time. Be in nature, prayer, meditation, gratitude, humility. See everything as a mirror; integrate your shadow with courage and compassion. Listen closely to your inner guidance as to what to do, and not do, each moment.

Solar eclipses are extra powerful New Moons — and a total eclipse even more so. This eclipse forms on July 11 at 12:40 PM PDT at 19ª24’ Cancer. It will be visible primarily over the South Pacific, but deeply felt around the world. Cancer is the sign of the Great Mother, expressed in myriad forms: Gaia, Demeter, the Virgin Mary, Isis, Kali, Pele, Yemaya, Spider Woman, Kuan Yin, Tara and many others. The word “matter“ comes from the Sanskrit root “mat”, meaning “mother.” Cancer represents the yin, receptive principle, the creation matrix, that which births, supports, and protects all forms of life. This eclipse calls us to remember that there is no real separation between spirit and matter, that all life is sacred, and that we must bring the feminine back into balance with the masculine. We must learn to give as well as receive, to give back to the Earth as well as take. We must recognize the power of being as well as doing, the power of higher consciousness, the power of collaboration rather than competition. The events we see in our lives and the world are calling us to make a dimensional shift, away from greed, arrogance, and fear, into recognizing the power of the heart, the power of truth, and the power of Love.

The asteroid Juno is closely conjunct the Sun and Moon, highlighting the Juno/Hera archetype. Myths, along with languages, change as cultures and paradigms change. In Roman times, “juno” denoted the soul or animating spirit; its masculine counterpart was “genius". As patriarchy advanced, "genius" remained in common usage; "juno" fell out of use, as the feminine was deemed soulless. Juno's Greek counterpart, Hera, was the Great Goddess, independent and complete, without a consort, up to Hellenic times (8th century B.C.E.). Mythic attributes and origins morphed as the feminine was subordinated to the masculine; Hera was reduced from a Virgin Queen to a daughter of Saturn/Chronos; Saturn, originally a pre-Hellenic fertility aspect of the Great Mother, became Father Time and the ruler of the known universe. In modern times, Juno continues to symbolize the ongoing struggle for mutual respect, balance, and integration between the masculine and feminine. The fact that this eclipse occurs near the south node of the Moon emphasizes a collective need to release victimhood, and re-empower our relationship to the feminine--shifting our focus from conflict and destruction to that which is life supporting, all embracing, and creative. It also indicates that the goddess/earth wisdom we developed in past lives can be of great benefit and service now.

As the first water sign, Cancer represents the development of sensitivity and awareness of the ever-changing flow of feelings and needs. Along with the feminine, the element of water has been denigrated, both psychologically, and on a larger scale physically now, than ever before. Our feelings inform us as to what is healthy or harmful, what to go toward, and what to avoid. If we have been raised in families or cultures which suppress and deny the importance of emotions, we develop and carry a big backlog. As humanity’s evolutionary thrust moves from duality to unity, emotions and trauma which have been stored in the unconscious must surface for resolution and healing. Changes in the Earth and the Sun’s magnetic fields, along with cosmic impulses from our galactic core and beyond, make it more important than ever to continually monitor our feelings and intuition as a spiritual GPS. As we release what has been stored, we create from love rather than fear. A relatively simple but very powerful clearing technique, excerpted from the book by Leslie Temple Thurston entitled The Marriage of Spirit, is available at http://marriageofspirit.com/excerpts/chap11/index.html. Leslie will be offering a teleconference class on processing for these times on July 24-25; see the Resources below for details.

Water is the most dominant element on Earth; three fourths of our planet and our bodies are comprised of water. Like everything else, water is conscious; its ability to record impressions and respond to our thoughts has been documented by Dr. Emoto and other scientists. To learn about the amazing properties of water, watch the documentary entitled Water: the Great Mystery at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQfOyz4rofs. The BP oil disaster in the water of the Gulf of Mexico remains an open, gushing wound in the Earth’s crust, affecting not only the millions of plants, animals, and humans in that area, but all life on this planet. Watch the beautiful "Call to Heal the Waters" by First Nations elder Dave Courchene at www.unitywave.com and join the Third Wave to Restore the Gulf meditation on Saturday, July 17 at 4 PM PDT if you feel drawn to do so. For alternative sources of information about the extent and implications of this catastrophic event not being covered by the mass media, visit http://www.earthrainbownetwork.com/Archives2010/PerfectStorm20.htm.

The Harmonic Convergence of 1987 marked a world-wide shift in consciousness; July 17-18, 2010 offers a similar opportunity for a quantum leap. From Johan Calleman: “According to the ancient Maya, the creation of the universe is effected by nine waves. We are now approaching the end of the eighth wave and, on top of this, the activation of the ninth and highest level that will cap off the evolution of the universe. This ninth level of the universe is designed to generate unity consciousness. The manifestation of the unity consciousness brought by the ninth level will require an intention on the part of the human beings to co-create this. The Conscious Convergence, July 17-18, 2010, is for those that are willing to set the intention to create unity consciousness in the ninth wave of the Mayan calendar system.” For more on this crucial time and the impact of our choices, visit http://www.calleman.com/content/articles/ninth_wave.htm; watch a video of Dr. Calleman at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=475NGtUhl2E, and join with others at http://www.commonpassion.org/groups/conscious-convergence.

On July 11, 1991, there was a solar eclipse at 18°58’ Cancer and, more recently, on January 9, 2001 a lunar eclipse at 19°36’ Cancer–Capricorn, both close to the degree of this eclipse. While those eclipses and times were nowhere near as intense, they activated issues and areas which are once again front stage for each of us personally and collectively. What was happening in your life then? What is your heart and soul calling you to do now? Notice where you are choosing to spend your time and energy. What are you here for? To what do you dedicate your time, your energy, your life? Affirm your intentions daily, and especially on the day of the solar eclipse. When in doubt, breathe, pray, and remember: “Personal transformation can and does have global effects. "As we go, so goes the world, for the world is us. The revolution that will save the world is ultimately a personal one." (Marianne Williamson).

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Shadows and Light

Solar Eclipse

July 22, between 2:35 am Universal Time,
July 21 10:35pm Eastern, 7:35pm Pacific,
4:35pm Hawaii

We are beginning a sequence of intense astronomical events, that many are hailing as a gateway. Together with the new moon, today, there is a solar eclipse in the last degree of cancer. There is also a lunar eclipse coming up on August 6. Estaryia Venus describes the significance in an email newsletter.

Cancer is the ancient past, our soul origins. The last degree is the most ancient of all the degrees. This fusion of energy of the Sun and the Moon create a gateway of union that opens a portal for us to receive the divine light of our soul origins.

This means we recognize who we truly are. This will be more than a concept or an idea but a literal internal knowing on a cellular level.

The global shift in consciousness is upon us. As we truly awaken to who we are and our soul origins and can embody this consciousness on a cellular level there is a huge planetary wake up. It's as if humanity has been in a fog not knowing who we are and where we came from. This eclipse is the fog buster! Soon as the collective wakes up to their truth and really knows where they came from it's like a revolution on a global level. It's like getting to know your real family. It's a cleansing of the past and awakening to the truth at the same time.

Just hours after the eclipse in the last degree of cancer - accessing the portal of union and our soul - the Sun and Moon move into the sign of Leo. Leo is the sign that rules drama and playing our divine role. During the eclipse in Cancer we get the download of who we really are and then it's time to start playing the role that we are meant to be playing. I know many of you are feeling it - it's as if everything is accelerating and the breakthrough is about to happen. It's about to happen!

We are getting ready to live the role we are designed for - our divine service and role in this collective journey is about to be powerfully activated and actualized.

The sense of something major, but indefinable, "about to happen" is something I've been hearing a lot of lately, from many people.

There will be lots of group meditation, prayer, and ritual events occurring around the globe, so it's a good time to add your voice, your thoughts, and your focus to this shared experience. I know I will be doing a day of ritual here, with a friend.

For more information on the astronomical event, see here and here.

Eclipses Make Me Sleepy

Yesterday was a double whammy of new moon and solar eclipse energy. We will also be having a lunar eclipse in a couple of weeks, and a total of six eclipses this year. We're also currently enjoying the first of 4 Mercury Retrogrades. What fun. You may feeling "change" energy and feeling it intensely. In fact, it may feel like some great, unseen hand just played 52 pickup with your life. My advice: Take a deep breath and wait to see where all the cards land before you jump. It's all a little tumultuous right now.

Ramifications aside, it sure was beautiful. Check out the video for images from various locations. The best view seems to have been Indonesia, where they experienced a full eclipse and an actual ring around the sun.

How 'Bout That Stock Market, Huh?

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So... this week was pretty bad. I had a feeling it would be, and it was affirmed for me, last week, by Denise Siegel at Astrology and Psychic Predictions that it would really start to hit the fan at this time. Why? For starters, a Saturn return. (Yuck.)

The last time we had a Saturn return for the Dow was the late 1970s when we were in the midst of a very bad recession. Add this to the mix of the Pluto aspect and all the hanky panky wall street has gotten into and we’re in for some serious trouble. We will see the exact degree of Saturn’s return starting at the end of this month. So don’t get lulled into a sense of complacency just yet. If you have any anxiety about investing, the smallest inkling or hunch. TRUST YOURSELF!!!! And sell when your intuition tells you to do so. We have a little bit of time, the end of this week should still be OK. But we will start to see more craziness by the end of the third week of October. So BE WARNED.

More predictions in a moment, but first, may I say that Friday was one of the more energetically strange days I've experienced in a while. All week, I thought it would hit the fan on Friday. I had a feeling that Thursday the Dow would end up about even, or a little up, which it did. But, when I looked ahead to Friday, it looked like a tangled ball of thread; just charged emotion and chaos. The stock market actually didn't go as low as I thought it might, but the mood is every bit as bad I imagined. How to put this... I feel like it was a time of shattered illusions. The bubble of denial is finally bursting. Nothing could be more emblematic of this than Alan Greenspan's confession on Thursday, that he had made a mistake. For an Atlas Shrugged clutching, true believer, like Greenspan, that had to hurt. And, it represents a seismic shift in collective awareness. We saw the fall-out all day Friday, as talk about a global recession suddenly became very pragmatic, and the markets acted accordingly.

Time Monk George Ure picks up the disillusionment thread, in his Friday entry.

But yes, if you listen closely today, you should be able to hear the doors of Economic Hell creaking open today another notch; sorta like the first jarring open that happened in our scheduled October 6-8 timeframe with Iceland's face plant October 7-9th being the highlight there.

What seems to be driving things today are a combination of CDS concerns, falling earnings (duh), falling employment prospects (duh too) and the admission from a lot of company earnings reports that they don't see a turnaround in this mess until 2010. Sounds like everyone's coming down with Ure's Disease...the onset of sudden sobriety and and realization that there really may be nowhere to hide...

There is a lot more in Ure's write up, including a lot of technical jargon that goes way over my head. For anyone who is seriously playing the markets, I'd give it a look. Bear in mind that the Time Monks' bread and butter is financial consulting. Concerns about a potential "lockdown" that comes up in their "model space" could be particularly challenging. Could be a lockdown of the stock market; or even credit lockdown. Life without credit cards? Are you ready? My business certainly isn't.

But, back to the markets. Beyond the Saturn return, Denise sees some really serious astrological challenges that will go on for a while. And, she has some troubling insight into how it will impact the economy overall. I'm afraid we really are looking at the "summer of hell" the Time Monks refer to.

Looking at the Dow’s chart we’ll see the start of a downward spiral happening more behind the scenes (like it has been) then in our faces. But once Pluto crosses the ascendant in late January 09, we will really see the effects of what has been happening. Right now this Pluto aspect is going through the 12th house and although we’re seeing it, we’re not really seeing it yet. It’s not clear what all of this means and there is a lot of illusion and delusion about the stock market. But come late January we are going to be smacked in the face and it will directly start effecting us.

My intuition is that we will see a many more companies go under, a lot more job loss/unemployment, a significant hit for retail stores — many of them will go out of business, and so many other companies are going to fall. We will also start to see a sharp rise in homelessness.

There are a lot of factors at play here. In the US Constitution’s chart Pluto will be crossing the 7th house around March of 09, making our allies more vulnerable to economic turbulence than they have already felt. But around the same time Pluto makes the horrible aspect to the Dow it also inconjuncts Uranus in the second house of work, which makes me feel there will be a tie in to major job losses, and it will be sudden, out of the blue — so some industries that seem invulnerable right now will get hit. Pluto is also squaring the US Constitution’s part of fortune in Libra in the 4th house, again causing turbulence in the housing market. More people will loose their homes, and right now we are seeing a credit freeze in that area, this aspect will get worse in late November and into December.

This whole thing is a giant mess. The more I look at all the charts the crazier it looks. Also Uranus will make an exact conjunction to the natal US Constitution’s chart’s Mercury which rules the 4th house. I worry a bit about another terrorist attack during this time period (March of 09). We are really in for some strange times.

Dream Deferred

What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
Like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?

-- Langston Hughes

Addendum: I should add that I started having dizzy spells a couple of hours ago. It tends to happen when there are major shifts in the collective consciousness, which as I said, I've been feeling more generally. But, it can manifest in some of that lovely "terra activity." Hope not.