Posted by: starcatsastrology | April 17, 2009

Venus Goes Direct!

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VENUS GOES DIRECT!
April 17, 2009, 12:24 pm PT/3:24 pm ET

The goddess of love and cosmic conduit of the Law of Attraction goes direct today. The Sabian Symbol for her turnaround is:

“A Majestic Rock Formation Resembling a Face is Idealized By a Boy Who Takes it as His Ideal of Greatness; As He Grows Up, He Begins to Look Like it. ”

This symbol is best interpreted by having a look at what my colleague Sabian Symbol expert Lynda Hill had to say in her most recent newsletter:

“This is a wonderful degree of self actualization and realisation. There is little doubt that Nathanial Hawthorne’s story of  “The Great Stone Face” was what inspired this Sabian Symbol. In this story, a boy, Ernest, grows up under a wonderful rock formation that resembles a face. The people in the valley where he lives are inspired by this wonderful figure who looks so grand, wise and kind.

“For generations, going back to Indian lore, the people believed that one day someone would come that looks just like that face – someone big, successful, someone to be admired and respected. Over the years, people come into the valley, people who’ve somehow “made it” in life and the villagers would faun over them. Ernest, as he grows up, can see through these people who come by with their big successes and egos.

“It appears he doesn’t so much judge them, more that he sees through their facades. The prophecy of someone manifesting themselves to be just like The Great Stone face appears to be just an empty promise until Ernest, now grown into an older man, is seen by a visiting poet to be the embodiment of those wonderful ideals. The man has grown into those ideals through holding them close to his heart and mind.”

I’m also reminded of the Oscar Wilde story, “The Picture of Dorian Gray.” You remember — the handsome man who is vain and cruel is forced to encounter his true self because a painting of him begins to take on the character of ugliness that reflects the true state of his soul.

Venus, among many other things, is aligned with the way in which we define our personal values. Our core system of beliefs is reflected in what we hold most dear and how we project that truth outward into our world. If we believe that success is predicated on the money and objects we possess, our social standing and our looks, we may be in for a rude awakening when confronting reality — the fact that all physical things are subject to the transitory light of human existence.

Fortune rises and falls (look at where the USA economy is now/meditate on the Tarot Card “The Wheel of Fortune”). Because of the natural aging process our looks fade. Over time “things” lose their luster or are outmoded by the arrival of new fashions, fads and trends. Today’s treasures become tomorrow’s trash.

The love goddess shifted to retrograde on March 6, 2009. She’s spent 40 days in retrograde and, like my friend and colleague astrologer Lynda Hill says, this 40 days [of Venus retrograde] is like the holy sage’s wandering in the wilderness to overcome his/her flirtation with temptation.

I’m not talking about the kind of temptations centered around bingeing on peanut butter cookies or splurging on a new pair of earrings. I’m referring to the kinds of temptation that could lead us to sell out our souls for worldly goods; to compromsing our principles just to make him/her “happy”; or into manipulating circumstances dishonestly so that we can get what we desire from people, places or things.

Christ wandered for 40 days and 40 nights in the wilderness and confronted his own shadow (Satan) and was victorious over the lower parts of his nature.

Noah battled floods (unconscious, unintegrated contents) for 40 days and 40 nights and saved earth’s species —  the manifestation of life’s diversity —  from the darker forces of human greed.

40 is also the number of days Noah’s spies explored the promised land before the settlers were psychologically prepared to enter that new level of consciousness.

40 years is the time it takes for a new generation to grow, mature and step into political and personal power.

So, what was the turning point for us during our time in the wilderness when Venus walked her 40 days of retrograde? What were our encounters with Soul about? What did we confront? What did we learn? Did we regain our perspective on possessions vs. Self-possession? Meaning, if we feel lacking in any way, have we reconciled our inner selves with the truth that the completion of soul isn’t “out there.” It’s an INSIDE JOB.

On a practical level did we take time to redo the budget, renegotiate credit, payment plans, and get our taxes done on time? Did we donate babbles and practicals to our favorite thift store? Donate to our local pet adoption center or walk for our favorite charity? Retrogrades are a time of introspection, but also a time for giving out, letting go, recycling, repurposing, reusing and rehashing!

As we step onto the threshold of re-turning to ourselves alongside Venus, have we given thought to new definitions of beauty, love, elegance, loyalty, magnificence, esthetics*, friendship, social graces, manners, money, magnetism and material manifestation? Have these concepts transformed for you in any new ways?

As we step into late spring, new energy patterns will create opportunities for us to manifest what’s right, beautiful and possible. Right, because who and what our “new” is reflects our soul development. Beautiful because the universal truth is that we are magnificent right where we stand. Possible, because all things are contained in the implicate and explicate order. The ultimate outpicturing of form and substance on the earth plane reflects eternal truth and time as existing simultaneously in the universe.

We all belong and we are needed.

Take some time today to reflect and share on what your experiences and evaluations have led you to conclude from dates of March 6 to April 17th. Then open intuitively and watch what more is revealed from now until May 21-22. That’s the time frame Venus needs to roll back over the same degrees she crossed during her retrograde phase.

By May 22, we’ll be out of what astro wonks call “the shadow period” — past 15-16 degrees of Aries. (The Goddess moves into Taurus, one of her two signs of rulership on May 5-6).

Venus’s retrograde degree (15-16 Aries) Sabian Symbol is:

“Nature Spirits Are Seen At Work In The Light Of Sunset”

The true inner spirit works in concert with natural instinct and inner spirit. The soul flows into a golden sunset where dreams and reflections take comfort so that the psyche can be born anew at sunrise.

Peace and Venus’s blessings to all!

April 17, 2009 – Claudia Starcats

*esthetics – (art) the branch of philosophy dealing with beauty and taste (emphasizing the evaluative criteria that are applied to art); “traditional aesthetics assumed the existence of universal and timeless criteria of artistic value”


If you’d like to book an in-depth astro-consultation with me, click HERE for an overview of my services. Be sure to E-Mail me for one-on-one details. All my readings are kept 100% confidential and tailor-made to fit YOU.

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Posted by: starcatsastrology | April 13, 2009

Forecast – Monday’s Ode On Melancholy — This Too Shall Pass!

Forecast – Monday’s Ode On Melancholy — This Too Shall Pass!

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AstroNote: Next New Moon – April 24, 2009 at 6 Taurus!

Sabian Symbol “Cantilever Bridge Across A Deep Gorge”
A time to bridge gaps, mend breaches, connect opposing ideas into new synthesis, crossing the great water, bridge over troubled waters, link between unconscious and conscious thought patterns.

Today’s party on Sagittarius Moon in square to “get serious, get busy” Saturn is a hard dilemma to solve, but by this evening, I suspect Saturn will get the upper hand allowing you to settle down and get focused for the rest of the week.

The mood may grow more somber as the day moves on, but unless you find magic in meloncholy reading Keats’s famous ode, it might be better to sooth the gentle soul tonight by curling up with a good mystery novel or watching Hugh Laurie (Gemini, June 11, 1959) on the iconic tv series HOUSE. Laurie has the mental trickster Mercury in opposition to serious Saturn. This opposition is a key player in the well-known fact that Mr. Laurie has suffered and been treated for clinical depression several times in his life. His dramatic Leo Moon in conjunction with erratic, Uranus can make for an extravagant display of mood swings.

Both of the aforementioned aspects also inform his brilliance as an actor. The Mercury-Saturn helps him focus and lends discipline. The Moon-Uranus gives him range and the ability to suddenly shift moods bringing sudden twists and turns (depth) to his famous tv role as Dr. House.

My next door neighbor will be appearing in the season finale of HOUSE (nope, no plot spoilers from me!) and has met Mr. Laurie. He says he’s one of the nicest people. He’s polite, shy, warm and personable. You never know what loving treasures might be hiding inside lifelong melancholy!

If you’re bitten by a bit of the blue — snuggle up on the couch and sip hot chocolate. Remember: THIS TOO SHALL PASS!

Just in case you were curious, here’s the poem:

Ode on Melancholy

by John Keats

No, no, go not to Lethe, neither twist
Wolf’s-bane, tight-rooted, for its poisonous wine;
Nor suffer thy pale forehead to be kiss’d
By nightshade, ruby grape of Proserpine;
Make not your rosary of yew-berries,
Nor let the beetle, nor the death-moth be
Your mournful Psyche, nor the downy owl
A partner in your sorrow’s mysteries;
For shade to shade will come too drowsily,
And drown the wakeful anguish of the soul.
But when the melancholy fit shall fall
Sudden from heaven like a weeping cloud,
That fosters the droop-headed flowers all,
And hides the green hill in an April shroud;
Then glut thy sorrow on a morning rose,
Or on the rainbow of the salt sand-wave,
Or on the wealth of globed peonies;
Or if thy mistress some rich anger shows,
Emprison her soft hand, and let her rave,
And feed deep, deep upon her peerless eyes.

She dwells with Beauty – Beauty that must die;
And Joy, whose hand is ever at his lips
Bidding adieu; and aching Pleasure nigh,
Turning to poison while the bee-mouth sips:
Ay, in the very temple of Delight
Veil’d Melancholy has her sovran shrine,
Though seen of none save him whose strenuous tongue
Can burst Joy’s grape against his palate fine;
His soul shall taste the sadness of her might,
And be among her cloudy trophies hung.

If you’d like to book an in-depth astro-consultation with me, click HERE for an overview of my services. Be sure to E-Mail me for one-on-one details. All my readings are kept 100% confidential and tailor-made to fit YOU.

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Posted by: starcatsastrology | April 10, 2009

Easter Weekend Update & Extended Forecast

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I wanted to share with you the April 10th lunar forecast my colleague astrologer Rick Levine posted on Stariq today:

“4/10/09—The Moon enters transformational Scorpio at 5:23 am EDT, revealing magic that can unfold only in the shadows. But we are not worried now about fears that we sometimes face in the darkness because the bright Sun forms a supportive sextile with optimistic Jupiter. The light of awareness has the power to free us from the paralyzing grip of the unknown. Additionally, thoughtful Mercury’s connection to Jupiter inspires our words and uplifts our spirits.”

I’m quoting him entirely because he created the perfect synthesis of the Scorpio Moon’s impact on us over the next couple of days. Scorpio brings depth and the urge to penetrate mysteries, but the shadow side of the Scorpian is retentive, secretive and suspicious. But Jupiter will serve to uplift, especially because the Sun (consciousness) is in good aspect to the jovial one. Light, then, will balance darkness over the next 48 hours.

narcissus

Sunday’s ebullient, party hearty Sagittarius Moon makes brunch, egg hunts and honey-baked ham more flavorful. Savor the day, because as we head back to the routine on Monday morning, the Moon squares “downer” Saturn. If it’s true the world runs on Dunkin’, better buy two cups on the way to work.

April 13 – April 17:

HEADS UP – Next week’s planet messengers are misaligned and royally pissed by Wednesday when fiesty Mars meets erratic Uranus. Moon with Pluto brings suspicion as Sun combined with mind-clouding Neptune throws a veil over truth. Be careful NOT to react to what you “think” is happening until you know beyond reasonable doubt what’s really going on.

Be on guard starting Tuesday (4/14) because impatient Mars is likely to jump the gun a day early. Be AWARE. Don’t react regardless of who’s trying to push your buttons.

Stay frosty through Friday (4/17) as the goddess of love, Venus, goes back to direct motion! Yippee! By Friday evening, clear thinking capabilities return when Mercury in earthy Taurus trines exacting Saturn in Virgo. Saturn is retrograde currently, so a bit of sobering introspection is just what the doctor ordered.

The week of April 20th looks like one packed with rewards and reconciliation after paying our dues for any spills we took the previous week. Masculine Mars meets up with Lady Venus on Tuesday 4/21! The union of male/female energies is the love wave we’re going to surf all the way up to Friday 4/24’s New Moon in sexy, sensual Taurus. Splurge on champagne and chocolate cake. You deserve it!


If you’d like to book an in-depth astro-consultation with me, click HERE for an overview of my services. Be sure to E-Mail me for one-on-one details. All my readings are kept 100% confidential and tailor-made to fit YOU.

You can also talk to me NOW by calling me LIVE on KEEN.com! (If I’m not online presently, use the “make an appointment” feature, and we’ll speak soon!)

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Posted by: starcatsastrology | April 10, 2009

Heads Up! Archive Ready

[Happy Birthday to Starcats Buggie & Draggie, today would be your sweet 16’s.]


If you’d like to book an in-depth astro-consultation with me, click HERE for an overview of my services. Be sure to E-Mail me for one-on-one details. All my readings are kept 100% confidential and tailor-made to fit YOU.

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Posted by: starcatsastrology | April 2, 2009

That Cozy Cancer Moon

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scmoonJust a quick check in . . .

We’re under the soothing spell of a gentle Cancer Moon in effect until Friday (4/3) at 12:32 PM PDT/3:32 PM EDT. Take advantage of the harmonizing effects of this Moon’s home-centered flow to catch up on sleep, cook comfort foods like pasta and garlic bread — yummy! — and organize photos into your scrapbook.

Cancer is the sign of home, hearth, children, and civilization. By civilization, I really do mean the cradle of all we hold dear: home, country, traditions, family and our personal history. On the universal level, Cancer represents the cradle (baby!) of civilization and is the sign associated with the African continent, a place where archeologists (ruled by Saturn-Capricorn, the sign opposite Cancer) still find skulls and bones that point to the existence of our most remote ancestors.

We’re just past the first quarter Moon (a Cancer Moon square Aries Sun) leading up to the Full Moon in the relationship sign Libra (at 20 degrees) that occurs this year on Passover, April 9.

Lunar phases are timers for the development of important events in our lives. We usually know what our month is going to be about at the time of any New Moon, at the time of our own Lunar Return (the Moon returns to our birth chart Moon every month!), and anywhere from 2 weeks to 3 days before and after a Solar or Lunar Eclipse.

Squares indicate testing phases, so the Moon in square to the Sun indicates that what was on your plate at the time of the New Moon has begun to ripen as an issue and calls for your attention.

You may be engrossed in the issue or distracted by it, depending on what’s happening happening in your life. Emotional reactions, memories of similar past events, and a longing to retreat to a more comfortable life phase or special place might be caught up with whatever challenges you’re facing right now.

The positive build-in to the Full Moon of April 9th is that Venus (currently retrograde) is the ruler of that lunation. Seven days after that Venus-ruled full Moon, the love goddess goes from retrograde to direct motion! April 17th — a Friday, the day associated with Venus! — will be a great day to celebrate!

The New Moon of Aprl 24 is also a Venus ruled lunation in the money and opulent living sign of Taurus! If you have any trouble visualizing how cattle can symbolize money and opulent living, think of the Merrill Lynch iconic bull statue on Wall Street. [Issues of fraud and politics aren’t any reflection on cattle!] Also, for centuries, the number of livestock owned by a tribe or family was a measure of their wealth. We find that today in non-industrial societies across the planet.

So there we are! We have two good news events set for April 2009: Two lunations (Full and New Moons) both ruled by Venus. The first lunation of April 9 is ruled by Venus retrograde. Venus turns direct one week later. The New Moon of April 24 is ruled by Venus in direct motion.

Venus in direct motion means all things associated with the planet can now start working in our favor. Money, relationships, social connections and relationships between women and female family members balance and harmonize. Showers and parties are best planned after April 17th. Men, if you’re proposing this month, buy the ring and pop the question AFTER April 17th. That way she’s sure to love your ring selection and quickly say YES!

For women who hope to become pregnant, the New Moon of April 24th in the fertile sign of Taurus is a good date to try if your cycle matches up to that New Moon starting 10 or so days before the 24th. No promises there! I’m not a fertility doctor, but I do know the love goddess and her sister Moon!


If you’d like to book an in-depth astro-consultation with me, click HERE for an overview of my services. Be sure to E-Mail me for one-on-one details. All my readings are kept 100% confidential and tailor-made to fit YOU.

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Posted by: starcatsastrology | March 25, 2009

Natasha Richardson and Redgrave Family Data

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A reader asked me to post the data I used for my Natasha Richardson blog. That’s clearly something I should have done in the first place, but due to time constraints and exhaustion, I pretty much spaced it out. My apologies! For anyone who wants to gin up the data and have a look at the charts of all the players, you’ll find the data below.

FYI, you can find scads of data at Astrodatabank’s Wiki Project. If you don’t have astrology software, you can cast charts free of charge at Astro.com.

A reader commented that Natasha’s untimely death resonated with her in a similar way as did Princess Diana’s death. If you’d like to read my article on Diana, you can find it on my website here.

Natasha Richardson
May 11, 1953
5:00 pm BST -1:00
London, UK
Asc 13 Libra

Natasha Richardson’s Accident
March 16, 2009
3:00 pm EDT +4:00
Montreal, CAN
Asc 11 Leo

Time of Death,
March 18, 2009
7:26 pm
New York, NY

Vanessa Redgrave
Jan 30, 1937
6:00 pm UT +0:00
Blackheath, UK
Asc 24 Leo

Joely Richardson
Jan 8, 1965
12:00 PM (no time known) UT 0:00
London, UK

Liam Neeson
Jun 7, 1952
12:00 pm (no time known) BST -1:00
Ballymena, Ireland

Sir Michael Redgrave – Solar Data
Bristol, England
March 20, 1908
Sir Michael Redgrave

Roy Redgrave, Sir Michael’s father – Solar Data
April 26, 1873
122 Kennington Road, Kennington, a district of Lambeth in South London
Roy Redgrave

Starcats, March 25, 2009


If you’d like to book an in-depth astro-consultation with me, click HERE for an overview of my services. Be sure to E-Mail me for one-on-one details. All my readings are kept 100% confidential and tailor-made to fit YOU.

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Posted by: starcatsastrology | March 22, 2009

Mourning Natasha Richardson

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Mourning Natasha Richardson

The news is still circling the globe like a dark, lonely bird.

The news of Natasha Richardson’s untimely death is haunting. We can’t avoid thinking about the transitory nature of life and the fragility of the human body. We’re blood cells and water encased in a skin balloon that’s shored up by bone and ligament.

If we fall just the right way, we break our bony infrastructure. But we can also lose our lives. In one instant the sun shining on the hill dims and the soul boards Charon’s ferry that carries us from this shore to next where shapes and shades of discarnate ancestors beckon us home.

Family Background

Lunar Nodes

Natasha – N-22 CAN/S-22 CAP

Vanessa (mother) – N-23 SAG/S-23 GE

Joely (sister) – N-22 GE/S-22 SAG

Liam (husband) – N-23 AQ/S-23 LEO

Natasha was the eldest daughter of world famous actress and political activist Vanessa Redgrave* and the older sister to Joely Richardson. All are members of a multi-generational family dynasty of premier actors.

The dynasty begins with the birth of Roy Redgrave April April 26, 1873 (his Venus-Pluto conjunction overlaps Natasha’s Sun at 20 Taurus) with Jupiter in dramatic Leo, a placement his son Sir Michael Redgrave also shared.

I was struck by the cross-aspecting of natal Mars or Neptune in the sign Scorpio that repeats itself across the generations. With Natasha’s 8th house 8th house Sun (20 Taurus) and Mercury at 29 Taurus conjoined to the fixed star Alcyone (the star that is the bringer of great grief), that Plutonic or what we call irrevocable, fated events group around this family.

The ancestral connection to Natasha’s chart are reiterated via Sir Michael’s chart via his Venus-Mars conjunction in Taurus where mars is close enough to her Sun to be deemed a conjunction (11 and 18 Taurus, respectively). His Sun at 29 Pisces is opposite daughter Vanessa’s Virgo Moon. Both of the lights were aspected by the transiting Sun on March 18th (28-29 Pisces) at 7:20 PM when Natasha lost her life in New York City. Sir Michael’s Saturn (oonjunct his Sun) is at 0 Aries, hence his memory is invoked at this Aries Ingress as grand daughter Natasha joins him on the nether shores.

Another note: Sir Michael’s Pluto at 22 Gemini is in the same degree as Natasha’s Moon and Lunar Nodes (planets in the same degree as the nodes are highly sensitized and when kicked off by transits or by cross-chart aspect, bring events to bear that include everyone in a family whether living or dead).

Sir Michael’s Pluto conjoins Vanessa’s South Node (not in perfect degree but close enough for a conjunction), is spot on conjunct granddaughter Joely’s South Node (22 Gemini) and is trine Liam Neeson’s North Node at 23 Aquarius.

Liam Neeson was married to Natasha from 1994 until her death on March 18, 2009.

In a cursory way, we’ve had a look at the importance of lunar nodal contacts vis a vis planetary contacts as they affect generations and place an imprint on family dynamics. To study the Redgrave family indepth, you can collect their biographical data via the Wikipedia links I provided and view several of the charts at the Astro-Databank Wiki Project and Astrotheme.

Liam, July 13, 2000 and Fate

Another striking fated event is the near fatal motorcycle crash Liam Neeson had on July 13, 2000. Natasha was in Canada (!) filming when Liam was thrown from his bike because a deer suddenly dashed out of the woods right in front of him.

I saw footage of Natasha’s interview with Charlie Rose on PBS last night where she discussed the accident and how close a call it was. What saved Liam? He was wearing a helmet, something Natasha declined to rent at the ski slopes the day of her accident — in Canada — on March 16th. Natasha mentioned that there were two incidents where she nearly lost Liam. There’s something about Canada and Natasha that never did mix.

The transiting Sun was 21 Cancer, just a degree shy of Natasha’s North Node in the 10th — of course, this 10th house nodal contact brought her mother forward as the event became very public. The transiting Moon at 12 noon on the day of the accident was 19 Sagittarius, so we derive from the timing that Natasha was in line to experience a Lunar Return (powerful time for all of us each month), which set off her Lunar nodes and Saturn at 22 Aquarius. To continue delineating Liam’s nodal crisis by degrees, cross-aspects and how they link tightly with Joley’s and Vanessa’s charts is mind-boggling.

One of the critical points that we need to pay close attention to when examining Natasha’s chart is that her Moon in sextile to Saturn form a YOD to her North Node in the 10th. With the South Node lying at the midpoint between her Moon-Saturn sextile, we have a boomerang effect contained within the YOD. When two planets — or in this case the Lunar Nodes — oppose each other within the YOD construct, you have a supercharged energy conduit that operates as potential crisis each time the system is set off.

Since Natasha’s 8th house Sun squares Saturn and quincunxes her Moon, the Plutonic shadow on her Sun (and the Alycone conjunction to her 8th house Mercury) have been stumbling blocks for her across her lifetime. She discussed openly with Charlie Rose via the replayed broadcasts of past interviews with him that regardless of her privileged life, she has been no stranger to hurts, pains, low-self esteem issues, overweight issues in her teens, and the death of her father, lauded film director Tony Richardson, from the Plutonic illness — AIDS. [Richardson was bi-sexual and his marriage to Vanessa Redgrave lasted a short 5 years. His Venus-Sun Gemini conjunction in opposition to Saturn in Sagittarius may point to his need to explore the duality of both sides of the sexual spectrum.

The Accident

According to numerous press reports, the skiing accident took place on March 16, 2009 at about 3:00 pm in Montreal, Canada. The Ascendant for the chart is 11 Leo with the South Node (8 Leo) hovering 3 degrees from the rising cusp on the 12th house side. The Sun ruler of the 12th house South Node is in the 8th house at 26 Pisces. Mars, Mercury and Uranus tenant the 8th house too.

Uranus at 22 Pisces tells us how sudden, and unexpected the results of the accident would be and how horrifyingly upsetting the news of it would impact Natasha’s family.

Uranus at 22 Cancer is in the degree of Natasha’s Nodes; in Square to mother Vanessa and sister Joley’s Nodes; and within a degree of resonating with husband Liam’s nodal axis.

Liam is currently experiencing a Juno (asteroid associated with marriage, and in this case is his wife) Return (23 Aquarius) and a painful pile up of planets on his North Node at 23 Aquarius. On the day of the accident, Chiron and Neptune both sat on his North Node signaling that a painful wound (Chiron) centered around his wife (Juno) would involve her slipping away (Neptune — the coma).

One of the saddest signatures is beautiful mother Vanessa’s 22 Capricorn Ceres (mother goddess) conjoined to Natasha’s South Node in the foundational 4th house of Natasha’s chart. If you remember above, I mentioned that Natasha’s YOD contained her Lunar Nodes that functioned as a crisis wielding boomerang. Uranus at 22 degrees of sacrificial Pisces sextiled Vanessa’s Ceres and squared her own fate-bringing Lunar Nodes.

The accident and crisis of Natasha’s loss was foreshadowed in Vanessa’s Ceres and Lunar Nodal hook-in to transiting Uranus. On March 10th, 6 days before Natasha hit the slopes in Montreal, there was a Full Moon at 21 Virgo. This lunation set up a grand mutable square in mother Vanessa’s chart involving a square aspect to her natal lunar nodes. The lunation, which squared Vanessa’s prenatal Solar Eclipse (22 Sagittarius) is another factor to take into account when gauging the power of transits to the nodes and eclipse points in the lives of those destined to carry our collective hopes, wishes and dreams on the public stage.

Footnotes:

Shout out to Shelley Ackerman and her column on Natasha:

“The Lunar Eclipse of February 9th hit her Mars in Leo; Transiting Mars in Pisces (on March 16) was opposite natal Uranus (an accident indicator), transiting Uranus (something “shocking” and out of the blue) was forming a 90 degree ‘square’ to her Moon.”

Read her entire column here: Karmic Relief

“. . . Redgrave was born in London. She is the daughter of actors Sir Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson. Laurence Olivier announced her birth to the audience for a performance of Hamlet at the Old Vic, when he told them that Laertes played by Sir Michael had a daughter.” Wikipedia. It seems that Vanessa’s very birth was an entrance upon the stage. To be announced by Olivier at the Old Vic isn’t a bad way to begin life.

Starcats – March 21, 2009


If you’d like to book an in-depth astro-consultation with me, click HERE for an overview of my services. Be sure to E-Mail me for one-on-one details. All my readings are kept 100% confidential and tailor-made to fit YOU.

You can also talk to me NOW by calling me LIVE on KEEN.com! (If I’m not online presently, use the “make an appointment” feature, and we’ll speak soon!)

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Posted by: starcatsastrology | March 21, 2009

The Sun Moves To Aries – Where Does America Stand?

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The Sun Moves To Aries – Where Does America Stand?

Sun in Aries, Venus in Aries

The horoscope for the Sun’s dance into spring has Aries rising and a graceful Venus retrograde (only a scant 14 minutes shy of the Ascendant!) waltzing into hidden realms. There’s something suspicious about the lesser fortune – Venus – slipping into the house of secrets just when the brazen Sun proclaims rebirth in the sign of its exaltation. The solar deity – the symbol of kings and presidents — is tightly cloistered behind the robes of Venus, Uranus and Mercury. What gives?

Mars, Aries ruler, is also positioned in the 12th house in sacrificial Pisces. In fact, by degree and house cusp, Mars just dropped in as if suddenly summonsed to a smoke filled room. A secret chamber meeting has already been underway between talking head Mercury, rabble-rousing Uranus and the proud Sun who is grateful to no longer be drinking from the poisoned well of the fixed Star Scheat (29 Pisces).

“Influences: According to Ptolemy the bright stars are like Mars and Mercury. The constellation gives ambition, vanity, intuition, enthusiasm, caprice and bad judgment. [Robson*, p.56.] With Sun: Danger through water and engines, liable to accidents [my article on Natasha Richardson to come – CDD] or drowning. [Robson*, p.206.] “ Anne Wright’s Fixed Stars

Mars, the Aries Chart Ruler

Mars secreted in the 12th house of hidden matters, enemies and circumstances – all testifying to sobering levels of national self-sabotage — is the ruler of – wait for it! – the chart’s 8th house of banking, loans, bonuses, inheritances, pay outs, tax cuts, and insurance.

All of the aforementioned are in high focus as more scandal-laden disclosures involving egregious swindles (Bernie Madeoff), AIG and Merrill Lynch, et al. are revealed. The president, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner (August 18, 1961, Philadelphia, PA) Congress members such as Chris Dodd (D-CT, born May 27, 1944, in Willimantic, CT), are making headlines as the country spins itself off a financial, legal and ethical cliff. Check out The Huffington Post for the latest breaking news and find out more about who’s who.

Pluto and Raw Power Plays

Pluto of American “Plutocracy” (in the second house of money in the USA chart) is at 3 degrees of establishment oriented Capricorn. It is actually only 3 degrees 14 minutes shy of a conjunction with the Aries Ingress chart’s Midheaven (10th house cusp), however, it is conjunct from what we astro wonks deem as “coming from the 12th house side of the 10th.”

A bit of definition here — every house cusp on a chart has it’s own 12th house sign operative. For example, the 12th house of house 2 in the chart is house no. 1, and so on. The preceding house gives information about what circumstances bear influence on the workings of the house under examination.

Therefore, Pluto’s 12 house side conjunction to the 10th cusp – not yet exact – is still in shadow, but will bring more to light re what the executive branch (president – 10th house) is doing in regards to all the issues you’re reading in the today’s headlines.

The Timers

Pluto in the 9th house, or the 12th house of the 10th, is 3 degrees and 17 minutes shy of a conjunction with the Midheaven. Using horary and event astrology timing rules, we note that in about 3 weeks time and then again in 3 months time, more will be revealed regarding the nation’s financial meltdown and all desperate attempts to remedy it. This takes us to April 10, 2009, Good Friday, and June 20th – the Summer Solstice (Sun to 0 Cancer).

WWE Raw Pluto and Raw Wrestling Plutocrats

Robber Barons and Gordon Gekko of the “greed is good” school of predatory capitalism have had free reign in America since the beginning with a brief hiatus post WWII up to about 1973 where the middle class was born and allowed to flourish. Donald Trump’s father made his fortune post WWII building houses for returning soldiers who benefited from the G.I. bill. Donald joined with his father and later made his own mark as a real estate mogul.

Now that the USA is gearing up for it’s very first Pluto Return in 2022 (July 4, 1776, Pluto was at 27 degrees Capricorn), we’re facing the dark side of a Saturn ruled Pluto in Capricorn. Saturn, the karma keeper, will not be denied. The hubristic overreach of Pluto’s transit through ever-expanding Jupiter ruled Sagittarius brings serious consequences.

The corruption and irrationality reached it’s apex during that 14 year transit — the 12th house of Capricorn is Sagittarius – and every belief system inclusive of predatory capitalism, the ego inflation of right wing religiosity, political terrorism hiding under the mantle of religion (9-11), fascist and authoritarian abuse of government, torture, illegal war (Iraq) and outright theft of hard earned taxpayer dollars must now be accounted for.

What we’re facing now is a national hangover. The nation is like a drunk coming-to realizing that he’s lying in his own piss. The national myth, like private drunken dreams, is destroyed in the harsh light of the morning after sun. But the national myth, unlike drunkeness, is something the soul needs to bind a people together in common purpose. The biblical proverb “without dreams my people perish” came from a very wise man. The numinous backdrop of the American myth is a real body existing within the psyche. It is this sad, numinous psychic body that is aching.

Saturn in the Aries Chart

Saturn (ruler of Pluto and Moon in Capricorn) is beset by retrograde motion and falls “amiss” by virtue of it’s cadent position in the 6th house. Ivy Goldstein Jacobson called the 6th house the angle of distress.

The 6th house has been deemed an unhappy place because it is the one associated with slavery and all forms of grim servitude. In modern times the 6th house is associated with jobs, work, routine, health, mental health and service.

Saturn retrograde in the 6th confirms for us what we already know: 651,000 jobs were lost in February sending the unemployment roles skyrocketing. For the first time in American history, food drops such as those we make to foreign lands got underway in a small town in Ohio. The town, once home to DHL worldwide international delivery has been devastated because DHL is now bankrupt. DHL was the town’s only big employer.

An Axis of Evil Fortune – the 12th House, Opposite the 6th

The 12th house, the polar opposite house to the 6th, is where we locate unemployment benefits, welfare, food stamps, hospitals and clinics, charity, and homeless shelters. The 12th house is “The Poor House”, the convent, the Midnight Mission, The Salvation Army, Goodwill and the soup line. It is the house associated with Hoovervilles – tent cities set up by vast numbers of homeless people during the Great Depression. Today the 12th house tent city is one that sprung up in Sacramento, California. This one and numerous others are on the rise.

The 6th house with a negative, destructive retrograde Saturn therein, also relates to:

“Illness and disease, its condition and cause, whether the illness will be short or long, curable or not. All matters relating to the health industry and those who work in it: dentists, doctors, nurses.
Employees, tenants and servants . . . day-labourers, farmers. . . . . . domestic issues gernerally; this house has some relevance to domestic appliances that are purchased to ease day to day chores and laborious tasks.. . . Pets [victims of house foreclosures/pet shelters – CDD. . . . The 6th house also has a connection with farming [blighted crops, food shortages,empty food banks – CDD]. . . Generally this is regarded as a house of weakness and affliction. As a cadent house it represents alien or unhelpful conditions.” [See Deborah Houlding’s stellar Skyscript traditional astrology website.]

Back to Saturn – the Traditional Ruler of Aquarius

Saturn is the traditional ruler of Aquarius (Uranus is the modern ruler). From its position in Virgo in the 6th house to Jupiter in Aquarius in the 11th house, there is an uncomfortable aspect between the two called an inconjunct or quincunx. Tactiturn Saturn is 150 degrees from network savvy, outgoing Jupiter. We associate the 11th house with Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and the two branches of Congress.

On the one hand our computer social networking helps cheer us up, but on the other, Congress, under grave stress via the inconjunct from Saturn to lawmaker Jupiter, finds itself hamstrung and obstructed because of an irrational investment in worn out ideologies.

Saturn is the old guard, the establishment, old ideas, the status quo. It is an obstacle laden energy field when operating out of its shadow but is the keeper of the light of wisdom (Hermit card/Rider Tarot Deck) when a person or a collective mobilizes discipline, solemnity, a spirit of sacrifice and hard work.

Unfortunately, the more dark or ignorant manifestations of Saturn are more likely to manifest during its retrograde phases.

Saturn’s obstruction via the inconjunct to the highly placed 11th house Jupiter (also called the house of hopes and dreams and the good daimon/spirit) is a lesson in two strong energies working at cross purposes which is a phenomenon that has troubled and undermined the United States for decades now.

The 150 degree aspect is a difficult moment in the Jupiter-Saturn cycle taking us back to when the two planets conjoined in Venus ruled Taurus – think of the iconic Merrill Lynch bull on Wall Street – back in May 2000. The once every 20 years conjunction of the two “chronocraters” (timers and manifestors) took place just under 6 months before the debacle known as the Bush-Gore 2000 election.

Jupiter-Saturn conjunctions set the tone and the agenda for the next 20 years of American politics, economics, and social growth (or restriction). To learn more about this all important 20 years conjunction see Starcats’ May 2000 Alignments | Jupiter-Saturn Conjunction

At this stage of our long national nightmare, all that’s been done since the American economy crashed, is to hand money bailouts to banks, corporations and rich CEO’s while the core issues (6th house) remain unaddressed. The inconjunct aspect between Saturn and Jupiter show how disjointed the attempts are to correct the nation’s course. Inconjunct aspects reveal uncomfortable, painful requirements to stretch in ways that are unnatural to a person or to a body such as the collective consciousness of Congress.

Where the Aries Ingress Chart Leaves Us Today

Whatever is decided upon and enacted now, both nationally and personally in our own lives, will come up for it’s first test of efficiency at the Summer Solstice when the Sun enters Cancer.

The obvious connecting point will be the cardinal Sun’s square (from watery Cancer to firey Aries. The intuitive, brave, warrior Aries Sun and all it does over the next 3 months, will be called to give an accounting to national security oriented, home and country loving Cancer.

There’s a war (Aries) on terror but an equally upsetting war at home on how a nation in such dire circumstances can hope to prevail.

A “take charge” Aries Sun will have to show real results for effort spent to the Cancerian Solstice Sun. After all, it is this Moon ruled sign that protects society and civilization.

In 3 months time – when by horary and event chart timer rules we find Pluto exactly conjoined to the Midheaven of the Aries Ingress chart, we will face more complicated scenarios. A short time after the Solstice, we celebrate July 4th. What kind of birthday will American have in 2009?

Starcats, March 20, 2009

Footnote:

*An Ingress is when a planet moves into another sign. The word Ingress means entrance – a going into or the right to entrance. Egress means exit. It’s a leaving or the right to leave a place. There are 4 cardinal ingresses a year: Aries, the spring equinox, Cancer, the summer solstice, Libra, the autumnal equinox and Capricorn, the winter solstice. Each of the cardinal ingresses, along with the year’s eclipse cycles, are used by mundane (world) astrologers to judge the conditions of a calendar year for good or ill.

Starcats – March 20, 2009


If you’d like to book an in-depth astro-consultation with me, click HERE for an overview of my services. Be sure to E-Mail me for one-on-one details. All my readings are kept 100% confidential and tailor-made to fit YOU.

You can also talk to me NOW by calling me LIVE on KEEN.com! (If I’m not online presently, use the “make an appointment” feature, and we’ll speak soon!)

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Posted by: starcatsastrology | March 6, 2009

Venus Retrograde: “What’s In Your Wallet?”

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1Venus of “What’s in your wallet?” turned retrograde today at 12:17 pm ET/9:17 am PT.

The persona known as Fortuna and ruler of femmes, fashion, jewelry, lovers and cash, will now backtrack from 15+ Aries to 29 Pisces by April 17 then retrace her steps to 15-16 Aries up to May 22nd, when she leaves the degrees astrology wonks call “shadow.”

To understand how Venus operates when she’s retrograde in your life,  1) locate Venus in your own chart (sign and house; and 2) look to what house cusps contain Venus’s signs (Taurus/Libra) in your birth chart. This should give you a basic idea of what to expect over the next 6 weeks.

If stargazing isn’t your cup of cosmic tea, meditate on the Empress and Justice cards in the Tarot deck. These two cards give us two faces of Venus. Taurus (Empress) is associated with all things that pleasure the senses: aromatherapy candles, cosmetics, perfumes, jewelry, massage, love making, socializing, bridal, bachelorette and baby showers, engagement and wedding announcements, beauty shops, clothiers, and more!

fortunatinyLibra (Justice card) is concerned with how relationships work, the marriage contract, relationship commitment — longevity because Saturn of “things that last long” is exalted (works especially well) when in Libra —  and even if not placed there, has a special relationship with the sign. Partnerships of all kinds are associated with Libra and all contracts and agreements, whether oral or written, share a link with even-handed Libra.

This brings me to Venus’s current placement in Aries, the sign opposite Libra, one of her two rulership signs. When a planet is in a sign opposite the one it rules, this is what astro wonks call “detriment.” Venus in one of her two signs of detriment (she rules Taurus, so Scorpio is her other sign of detriment), means: She can’t work as well as she normally does. She’s hampered, challenged or handicapped in some way until she moves out of Aries and enters Taurus (June 6, 2009).

Does this mean everything is going to a misery? NO! But there are a few things we’re going to need to suck up and deal with in order to come out of Venus retrograde feeling okay.

1. Venus in Aries is an uncomfortable place for the Goddess because she’s moving through Mars’s sign of rulership. Venus in Aries has a tendency to want to start doing Mars’s job. I don’t mean that women should sit on pillows and be fluffy at the expense of dynamic achievement in the marketplace. What I DO mean is that Venus — in connection with romantic issues — needs to re-member that VENUS’S JOB IS TO ATTRACT. That’s her job. That’s what Venus does.

ringsVENUS IS THE LAW OF ATTRACTION and every woman who’s spent a day at the beauty parlor preparing for a big date knows exactly what I’m talking about. Every person who has burned candles to support their affirmations of abundance, “I want to attract more wealth”, knows exactly what I’m talking about.

Venus in Aries, because of impatience (an Aries trait!) attempts to wrestle people, places, things and circumstances into the form wanted without regard for consequences. The result: THE PROJECT BACKFIRES!

The lesson? If S/He isn’t cooperating (Libra) with what you want — are you being too aggressive? Demanding? Are you putting expectations and — yeah — selfish desire ahead of Venus’s natural graciousness and respect for another’s values? Time? Life situation? Inner process?

These are all important considerations for getting a handle on how to navigate Venus retrograde in Aries.

Anxiety, anger, frustration, and dramatic outbursts at not getting what we want when we want it are signs that we are out of balance (Venus as ruler of balancing Libra). Once we know that retrograde Venus in Aries, needs to practice patience, chant LET GO, LET THE UNIVERSE and stop trying to do Mars’s job, we can redirect all that burning energy from frustration to eventual fruition.

stars5SABIAN SYMBOL for Venus at 15-16 Aries:

Nature Spirits Are Seen At Work In The Light Of Sunset

The image of nature spirits at work matches up with the side of Venus she enacts when in the sign Taurus. From this sabian symbol we take clues of how to assuage our fears and tamp down our tempers. All things associated with the sensual are our remedies: spa days, massages, aromatherapy, candle rituals, incense, dressing better, using body lotions, redoing the bedroom, getting out the fancier sheets and using the better table linens, dabbing on a favorite perfume even if you’re just going for a walk, and:

going over that checkbook to find ways to balance the budget; cutback on needless expenditures (by using what we already have on hand for the rituals described above), deciding how to pay down credit card debt, budgeting cash-in-wallet by brown bagging lunch to the office, waiting until Venus goes direct before getting a new hair-do (trims are okay), no botox or plastic surgery, no new clothes expenditures unless you’re just replacing commonly used items such as wallets, the obligatory black shoes, another pair of gray slacks.

The above suggestions are some of the many I’ve collected and used myself and advised clients of for many, many years now.

The bottom line? Dont make Venus — or any other planet for that matter — do a job that is not in line with it’s nature. Venus is not Mars. By the same token, Mars (now in Aquarius) is not Venus either — so while thinking about what “he” may not be showing you right now — anything warm, soft and fuzzy maybe? That’s not Mars’s job — especially when transiting intellectually detached Aquarius!

When Mercury and Mars move into watery Pisces in the next few days, a lot is going to shift for guys. They’re suddenly going to get in touch with a lot of feelings that were much easier to set aside during the march through Aquarius. The element change of Mercury-Mars from air to water will help ameliorate firey Venus’s frustration. What happens when you mix water with fire? Steam! We’ll have everything from tempests in a teapot to long soaks in the hot tub!

REMEMBER:

TIMING IS EVERYTHING and our job is to make ourselves ready to receive outworkings and gifts at the appointed time. The HOW it’s going to happen isn’t our business. Our business is to STAND and BELIEVE. Nothing gets released through clenched fists. Once we really accept that The Universe is on our side and KNOWS when we’re ready to receive, all anxiety and doubt fall away.

Whether our current hopes are centered on love, or we’re facing money or job challenges, this difficult time in the USA’s economy need not limit our future success.

Remember: God (The Universe) Is Not Broke!


If you’d like to book an in-depth astro-consultation with me, click HERE for an overview of my services. Be sure to E-Mail me for one-on-one details. All my readings are kept 100% confidential and tailor-made to fit YOU.


You can also talk to me NOW by calling me LIVE on KEEN.com! (If I’m not online presently, use the “make an appointment” feature, and we’ll speak soon!)

I invite you to follow me on Twitter and Friend Me on Facebook!

Posted by: starcatsastrology | March 5, 2009

Catch me on Michelle Caporale’s INSIGHTS Radio Show 3/5/09!

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Catch me Tonight 3/5 on Michelle Caporale’s “Insights” radio show @ Ask1 Radio! Tune in @ 9 pm ET/6 pm PT. Tonight’s topics: Venus retrograde, March 10th’s New Moon and questions on whether Astrology can predict events like September 11th!

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Daylight Saving Time 3/8/09. Turn clocks forward one hour before bedtime.

Sign up for a FREE membership to ASK1RADIO — Listen to top astrologers and noted psychics take us through 2009 and beyond!

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