Venus and Mars Mate in the Sensuous Sign of Taurus

What did you do this weekend? As I was thinking about today’s conjunction of the planets Venus and Mars in Taurus, I suddenly ‘saw’ how I had spent my weekend honoring this re-uniting of Love and Desire. The last time Venus and Mars united was in August 2010 in the sign of Libra, another Venus-ruled sign which evokes partnership and the arts.

So how exactly did I honor this energy? I spent time last week creating beaded earrings shaped as faerie leafs. Then on Friday night I went to a party with a group of creative, playful people and got to wear wings and dress up without having to wait for Halloween. (This is Neptune square the Sun, adding a bit of fantasy and glamour to the mix!) People shared their talents: music, fire spinning, bellydancing. Next day I got to discuss world events in the symbolic language of astrology.

Then it was off to the Festival of the Muses, held in a beautiful garden, where another community gathered to ritualize the sharing of our unique arts. There was poetry, music, history, storytelling, comedy, tragedy, love, good food, drink and camaraderie. I told a favorite story about a Scottish Bard and then returned to honor the Muse Urania with the astrological story of our times. Sunday I told a love story on my storytelling internet radio show and then spent a good part of the day talking with people I love.

Since this is not a usual weekend for me, I have to credit this Venus/Mars conjunction for the blessings of everything I got to do. Venus’ energies help us connect with others, especially those we love. Her powers extend to our artistic natures and creativity, just as they hold sway over the natural beauty of her month of May. She is the goddess of gardens and flowers, as you may know. The inconjunct forming from Saturn in Libra helped us fine-tune our conversations and our creativity.

So where is Mars in all this? Well, I did end up with enough energy to go to all these gatherings! Mars was present in the fire-spinners and dancers, who manifested Mars’ physical energy. There was flirting going on, for Eros is another aspect of Mars, but for the most part, the Martian energy was channeled through art and music, conversation (Mercury is hanging around having had his turn with Venus last week) and community. It makes sense, since we are ending a Libra Venus/Mars cycle and beginning a new one with Mars once again joining Venus in another sign she rules, her sensual, earthy sign of Taurus.

So my weekend serves as a reminder of what Venus and Mars can create in and for us. Since this coming together of Love and Desire initiates a new cycle, please tune in within and really decide what it is you Love and what it is you Desire. Sometimes they’re the same, and sometimes they are not.

Our society tells us that it can create anything we desire, even a virtual world where we can viscerally escape into fantasy. It creates our desires for us. And yet, we never seem to be fully satisfied. With too much-ness comes boredom and a feeling of dissatisfaction with what just amused us. Just how many shoes or iphones do we really love? Or do we desire something else entirely, something only we can find for ourselves, within ourselves?

That is the riddle of this Venus/Mars conjunction. The Sabian symbol for 10* Taurus is: A red cross nurse with warm sympathy. A red cross nurse deals with emergencies, and this one has compassion, warmth and nurturing. This is Venus/Mars energy taken beyond a personal level, so that it becomes a love and caring of the physical body as well as of our collective body.

How can we deepen this image grounded in Venus and Mars energies? It seems to me that this cycle promises us that if we use our creative imagination, our love of beauty and nature, our desire to manifest who we are and the energy to do it together, we can step up our Love and Desire nature in this time of global crisis and extend ourselves in service to our world.

Love coupled with Desire. Pleasure with happiness. Sensuality coupled with Spirituality. Creativity in service to the whole. These two archetypal lovers want us to explore all possibilities to create the best possible future for us all.

Until next time,

Sweet Dreams!

A Libran Story: Catherine's Destiny

There is an Italian fairy tale that speaks to the Libra evaluation of Self-worth. It is called (appropriately!) Catherine’s Destiny. While I have personally worked with this tale, it is a story for anyone whose journey to greater consciousness has left them feeling outside the mainstream of culture. The times are demanding that we take a leap of faith and bring our gifts back into society.

As many of you know, amongst everything else I do, I work with stories. One of my favorite authors, Charles De Lint, said: "There are times when people need stories more than they need nourishment, because the stories feed something deeper than the needs of the body." Stories provide us with maps, so we don’t have start from scratch. We can use the knowledge, wisdom and information that are stored within them. Stories reconnect us to universal patterns which move our hearts and souls, and which offer us guidance about the way we can handle challenges and search for our life’s meaning. Stories are fun and they open up our imaginations, providing us with glimpses of magic and mystery that are missing from our busy, everyday lives. Companions, guides, and precious gifts, stories are rooted in the ground of our being.

The abundant richness of stories is that, like the Holy Grail, which fed each person the food they desired most, every individual takes away something different and needful for their situation. The characters and situations in stories confront us with the dilemmas of human existence, and by seeing how they handle their situation, we can discover new ways to look at our own. There are always multiple answers within each story, because differing situations call for different responses. Stories open us to creative responses that reflect our truest motivations and deepest Self. And when we find the stories and myths that reflect our individual life experience, we have an invaluable tool for re-writing our own life story. For myths and stories want to grow and change, just as human beings must evolve and change, or die.

Catherine and Her Destiny

Long ago there lived a rich merchant who, besides possessing more treasures than any king in the world, had in his great hall three chairs, one of silver, one of gold, and one of diamonds. But his greatest treasure of all was his only daughter, who was called Catherine.

One day as Catherine was sitting in her own room, the door flew open and in came a tall, beautiful woman holding a little wheel.
“Catherine, which would you rather have – a happy youth or a happy old age?”

Catherine was surprised but then thought that it would be better to bear her troubles now than when she was older, so she said, “Give me a happy old age.”

“So be it,” said the Lady, turning the wheel as she spoke. Then she vanished as suddenly as she had come.

This beautiful Lady was the Destiny of poor Catherine.

A few days later, the merchant heard news that he had lost everything at sea and was now no better than a beggar. He was so despondent that he took to his bed and soon died.

So poor Catherine was left all alone in the world without a penny or a creature to help her. But she was brave and full of spirit, and so she set out for the next town to become a servant. There she met a woman who hired her and all was well for a while.

But one day Catherine’s mistress took a long journey and told Catherine that she was locking up the house so no thieves could rob her. As Catherine sat at the window working, suddenly the door flew open and there stood her Destiny.

“Oh, so this is where you are, Catherine! Did you really think I was going to leave you in peace?” And with that, her Destiny tore up all the linens and broke all the plate and threw them on the floor. Catherine wrung her hands and wept and didn’t know what to do, for she knew that her mistress would blame her. And so she gathered her few belongings and fled.

And her Destiny restored everything to its rightful shape and place, and tidied up before she left. When the mistress returned home, she had no idea why Catherine had left her. She checked to see if she had been robbed, but everything was there. And so after a few days, she found another to take Catherine’s place.

Well, Catherine wandered on and on, not knowing what to do. But whenever she found a new mistress, her Destiny would come and destroy her peace and force her to leave again.

And so for seven years Catherine moved from place to place, always chased by her Destiny. But after seven years, her Destiny seemed to get tired of persecuting her, and a time of peace set in for Catherine. And she found a new position that she liked well.

Now, one of her daily chores for her new mistress was to walk up a mountain and lay on the ground some loaves of freshly baked bread, and to cry with a loud voice, “O Destiny, my mistress” three times. And then her lady’s Destiny would come and take away the offering.

After many years, Catherine found that she was happy, although sometimes she would weep, remembering her father and her old life. One day her mistress found her crying, and when Catherine told her story, her mistress had an idea.

“Catherine, you must ask my Destiny to entreat your Destiny to leave you in peace.”

And when Catherine did just that, her lady’s Destiny answered, “Oh, my poor girl, did you not know that your Destiny lies buried under seven coverlids, and can hear nothing? But if you will come tomorrow, I will bring her with me.” And the lady’s Destiny found her sister and asked her, “Hasn’t Catherine suffered enough? It is surely time for her good days to begin.”

The next morning Catherine hurried up the mountain, and her lady’s Destiny took her to her sister, who lay under the seven coverlids. And her Destiny held out a ball of silk to Catherine and said, “Keep this – it may be useful someday.” And then pulled the coverings over her head again!

But Catherine walked sadly down the mountain, and went straight to her mistress and showed her the ball of silk, which was the end of all her high hopes.

“What shall I do with it? It is not worth sixpence, and it is no good to me!” said Catherine.

But her mistress told her to take care of it, for who knew how useful it might be.

Now soon after this, preparations began for the marriage of the king. All the tailors in the kingdom were busy embroidering fine clothes for the king, but when it was almost finished, the tailor found that he had run out of thread. The color was very rare, and so the king made a proclamation that if anyone happened to possess any of this thread, they should bring it to court and he would give them a large sum.

Catherine’s mistress recognized that her ball of silk matched the king’s wedding suit exactly, and urged her to bring it to the king. So putting on her best clothes, she went to court and looked more beautiful than any woman there. When she presented the ball of silk to the king, it matched exactly, and the king ordered that she be given its weight in gold.

And so a pair of scales were brought out, and a handful of gold was placed on one scale and the silken ball on the other. But lo! No matter how much gold the king ordered placed on the scale, the silk was always heavier still. And the king took larger scales and heaped up all his treasures on one side, but the silk on the other side still outweighed them all. Finally, the only thing left to place on the scale was his golden crown, and at last the scale moved and the ball had found its balance.

When the king demanded to know where Catherine got her ball of silk, she told him her story and how she had once been as rich as he was.

Now there lived at court a wise old woman, and she said to Catherine, “You have suffered much, my poor girl, but now your luck has turned and I know by the weighing of the scales through the crown that you will die a queen.”

And the king heard the wise woman and cried out, “So she shall, for I shall marry her myself, for she is more beautiful than all the ladies of my court.” And the king sent back his intended bride to her own country and married Catherine, who lived happy and content for the rest of her life.


The story of Catherine’s destiny is a Libra story in that it is a story about a woman’s worth to the kingdom- to her society. I feel this story speaks to those women who choose to live life on their own terms, leaving behind the privilege of birth and education, stepping out of the corporate success model to forge a real identity that grows out of life experience and spiritual growth. At this moment in history, it is these women – and those few men who have chosen a similar path - who will bring the silken threads of their lives back into the cultural tapestry to enrich and enhance everyone’s lives.

The Valley of Elah

The Valley of Elah


"The Valley of Elah" gives me hope that our storytellers are regaining their voice in Hollywood. This is a much needed story about the truths of the Iraq war - the truth about how it affects our young servicepeople. We do not prepare our children for the horrors of war, and yet we send them to fight without any psychological mentoring and counseling. This war has literally driven some of our soldiers crazy.

The title of this film is based on the Biblical story of David and Goliath. It is in the Valley of Elah that David volunteers to fight Goliath. The theme is that we send our children to fight, instead of going ourselves. King Saul gave David his own armour, but it was too big for him. And so he went 'naked' into the fight.

This is what we do with our children when we let our leaders create wars. It's time for the mothers and fathers of these soldiers to speak out,m and help us end this war.

Paul Haggis and Tommy Lee Jones spoke truth to power - just like David did by fighting a giant.

Fall Equinox: The Balance of Light and Dark

FALL EQUINOX:
THE BALANCE OF LIGHT AND DARKNESS

When the movement of the sun comes around to the Fall Equinox, we experience another day when Light and Dark are once again balanced. This is a similar balance to the one struck in the Spring, but different in feeling and in meaning. This balance of Light and Darkness comes after the fullness of summer and of the Light. It is a balance achieved after the completion of a full life or a creative act. Now is the time of Harvest, when we gather in the fruits of our lives. We contemplate the Light and Life that we have created, just at the moment when we know that soon, that Light and that Life must be given up for one more turn of the Wheel. Now the Darkness will grow and the Light recede, until once again, the Light is born anew in the Darkness of the Winter Solstice. The Fall Equinox is therefore a moment of stillness, of contemplation; a balance struck in the midst of continual movement and flow.
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He sat in the topmost branches of the great Tree, his hair blowing in the wind created by the whirling of the galaxies turning around his head. The Tree itself stretched through the center of a brightly glowing spiral of stars, with roots firmly grounded in the earth of many planets. He cocked his head to listen more surely to the music of the dancing giants, and his hands kept time on one of the many drums hanging from the branches. Slowly a smile lit his eyes until they gleamed with the fires of heaven, and he stood up and stretched his arms above his head as he began to sing. He sang his name, Ikani, to the power that moved the dancers, and the power was himself, for he was the Lord of Time, and it was the moment in the dance when he was called upon to mark the turning, to make the Balance.

With the grace of a dancer, he leapt and swung down the branches of that wondrous Tree. Now this Tree is know by many names on many worlds, for it is the Cosmic Tree, the Tree of Life whose branches hold the blazing stars and whose roots descend to the waters which give birth to the dreams of the soul. Yet to Ikani it was truly and simply the Mother, who sheltered life within Her many layers and who gave form to the dreams of all Her children. Now the oldest of Her children was being called to his task: to turn the Wheel of Life and give judgement on that movement.

As Ikani descended to the lower branches, he sang his song which was his name and the power of Time drew near. The pattern of his drumming grew slower as the great change approached, for the uprush of life which his drumming had called forth not so long ago had turned within and was approaching the point of Balance. He descended to the lower world, and as he drew near, he gathered in the Light and he gathered in the Darkness, for these are the tools of the power of Time.

Ikani sat in the lowest branches of that great and mysterious Tree, his leg swinging to the beat of his drum, his eyes searching the horizon. With his descent, his song had taken on a depth and a longing that belonged to the heart of this world, and his name became a beseeching whisper carried on the back of the winds. The power of his song and the power of his drumming became the power of his loving as a figure appeared. As He was Lord of Time, so She was the Lady of Life, and as he watched her dancing figure moving towards him, he thought of an image he had once whispered in the ear of one of his own children: "My mistress' eyes are nothing like the Sun." He had been thinking of her when the image was born in him, and he had sung that song to his child so that her children would remember her. She came to him now, dark as night, dark as earth, moving like the cat-creature that paced at her side.

She stopped at the foot of the Tree, swaying to the rhythm of his music, and then, lifting her arms to him, the Lady began her own song, a song of fullness and depths, of mystery and emptiness. She sang her name - Mara. With her song, Ikani leapt to the ground with a shout of gladness. And so singing and drumming and dancing, they came together again in love, the Lady Mara with her Lord, Ikani, and they held the Balance once again between them. In that moment, there was a silence that shook the Tree from its crown to its roots, and the Balance of Time was achieved once again.

After a time, the Lord and Lady looked out to find that some of their children had gathered around the Tree. They were gathered with the fruits of their labor upon them, for the Balance that had been struck between the Light and the Darkness was the moment of Harvest, the gathering in of the fruits of the year; the silence only a moment of balance as the Light receeded before the Dark in the intricacies of the rhythms Ikani played out on his drums.

Lady Mara looked upon her children with love and sorrow, for the ways of the world were secret and holy, and not all of her children had believed the senses which told them of the ways of the spirit. For her world was now in the dark times, the times when death and decay must be faced so that new life could be born. Of all her children gathered there, she could only hope that a few had gathered in a harvest worthy of the gifts which she and Ikani had bestowed upon them in the Springtime of the year. For although the Balance had been struck, the Dark was rising and the hope of the new year lay in the harvest gathered in now.

One by one, their children danced before their eyes to the rhythms of their names and the sounding of the drum. The first to come by was a small man, small-hearted and self-important, with empty eyes and babbling mouth. Around his neck hung the skulls of women and children, and the skulls cried out against him. His was a harvest of death and there were no seeds to be gotten from him. Ikani's hands flew over the drumhead and the dancer was forced to twirl and gyrate until the cries of the skulls were silenced as the figure exploded into dust.

Next came the figure of a woman, with wide-opened mouth and a hole where her heart should lodge. She was grabbing at the air, and out of the nothingness appeared an array of THINGS - clothes, food, jewels - which she immediately stuffed down her throat. The more she ate, the more frantically she grabbed. Sorrowfully, Ikani played deeply and widely as the THINGS she desired overwhelmed her and she was eaten by their nothingness. No seeds there.

One after another, their children danced their harvests, and they were harvests of greed and destruction, unconsciousness and small-heartedness, and soon the tree was surrounded by corpses and bones dancing themselves to dust.

But just as sorrow had achieved its full measure, a woman appeared with a small child at her side. As they danced, Ikani and Mara heard the woman telling the girl child a story about a great Tree whose branches stretched to the very heavens and whose roots were nourished by the dreams of the world, and the child laughed for pure pleasure. And the hearts of the Lady and Lord lightened with laughter, for here at last was a bountiful harvest, with seeds for the future. As the woman and girl-child danced before their parents, the abundance of their harvest was made clear to them, and they accepted their blessings with grateful hearts.
Next came an older woman, weighed down with years, who bore the fruits of the earth in her hands, and it was good. With her were many others, bringing the healing herbs they had nurtured by their daylong toil, and all were accepted with great gladness as seeds for the future. Then a man appeared, broad of shoulder, with strong hands that were good at making and building. He carried the things which his heart had imagined and his hands had crafted - he brought with him beauty that he had made. And the Lord and Lady smiled with delight, for here was a true son, bearing the harvest of his soul. He laid the work of his hands at their feet, seeds of the future. With him were others, whose harvests were of the heart and the mind as well as of their hands, and their daylong labors were blessed. And these children danced on the bones and the dust of their brothers and sisters, and their seeds rested in the decay of the dead, to sleep their winter sleep.

And Ikani and Mara looked out over the harvest and saw that it was bountiful, and their hearts rejoiced, for in the silence of the Balance of Light and Darkness, the seeds of the future were singing their names.

I am taking a breath!

I feel as if I have been on a journey through the desert! I'm finally coming up for air - Los Angeles air to be exact! I am in LA for the last weekend of training for my coaching certification. Yeah!!!! Then it's home to Rhode Island for a few weeks to see my son Gregory, who just got a job in Dubai. So I won't be in the desert for at least a month. The oceans call me.

My mermaid is tired of her legs. She wants her tale back!

Aquarius Full Moon, Sunday July 28, 2007

Aquarius Full Moon, July 29, 2007

Full moons are always magically energized times when I imagine that almost anything can happen. And often does! This Aquarian Full Moon is especially conducive to love, parties, moonlit sails and just being outside in the warm starry night. The summer is half over and the ancient Celtic festival of Lammas is just a few days away. (Read about Lammas: http://wisdomofastrology.blogspot.com/ ) The thing is, Lammas tells us that while the party is important for the enjoyment of life, there is a sacrifice that needs to be made. The first fruits of the harvest are always given to the gods to ensure the life of the people.

Many cultures named each Full Moon. The English called this Full Moon the Hay Moon, the Native Americans the Buck Moon and other names have been the Thunder Moon as well as the Mead Moon (the honey wine the Celts especially loved). In India, the Hindus call it the Guru Moon, when they honor their great teachers.

When we moderns call it the Aquarius Full Moon, we are honoring the great ideals and beliefs that teach us how we can all get along as ONE and create a better future. Aquarius stands for our ideals, our originality, and our sense of freedom. It wants us to cultivate the essential qualities of equality, compassion, forgiveness, acceptance, patience, wisdom and courage that give rise to peace. I like to think of it as the Round Table Moon, since Aquarius calls us to gather together in groups as equals, while the Leo Sun calls us to acknowledge our own and each other’s royal nature. Our inner Leo King and Queen shine the light of our spirits out into the world, and we gather in like-minded groups to see how we can best serve our world. This Full Moon calls us to take action, not for ourselves, but for others - for the whole world.

The Sabian Symbols for this Full Moon suggest that we have the power of Spirit as well as the archetypes of the collective unconscious to guide us as we take a great leap forward in our evolution.

The Sabian Symbol for the Sun at 7 Leo: The constellations of stars shine brilliantly in the night sky. The power of basic spiritual values which refer to our common humanity and to all enduring archetypes.

The Sabian Symbol for the Moon at 7 Aquarius: A child is seen being born out of an egg. The emergence of new mutations according to the great rhythms of the cosmos.

The heavens are declaring the fact that a new life is being born within each of us. Let us honor this birth by nurturing the divine child with starlight and moonlight – and let the ego-Sun remember it is only one amongst many - its beauty is a necessary part of the Whole.

Right now, there is such an abundance of political and social issues facing us that I have to mention a few things. The Saturn-Neptune opposition that completed in June asked us to live out our highest ideals and our deepest dreams, and with Venus retrograde going back to revisit both planets in the next few months, that energy is still a big player in our lives. Look at your charts and see where 20 – 30 degrees of Leo and Aquarius are.

On a cultural level, this Saturn-Neptune opposition is breaking up collective illusions and showing us the hypocrisy of our present government and our pop culture. Whether it’s Lindsay Lohan drunkenly assuring the police that she’s too important to be arrested, or the two NASA astronauts who apparently flew the space shuttle drunk out of their minds (maybe because they know they’re just a public decoy for secret NASA programs? And not the Heroes they used to be), people are living in delusions and illusions. Then there’s the hypocrisy of our leaders. We have outsourced the making of our currency (yes, our US dollars!) to South Korea and now we find that the Russians, the Chinese and the North Koreans, to name just a few culprits, are printing their own – or our own – money. Vladimir Putin’s bodyguards tried to pass off counterfeit $100’s to local shop owners in Kennebunkport while visiting our President! No wonder the stock market, as well as the housing market, is down and the dollar is tumbling again. We have been living in a bubble (Neptune), which is being popped by Mr. Reality himself, Saturn.

And then there’s all the hypocrisy of the dirty little secrets coming out of Washington – about internal spying, lying to Congress, presidential re-writing of our laws, perhaps the murder of a war hero, how history will vindicate Bush as it did Truman, etc. etc. We are awash in dirty laundry. Who will clean it up? But of course, that job has been outsourced as well.

What’s a girl to do, except to go out, party, perhaps hitch a ride on a sailboat and fall in love for the night!

Or, perhaps it is time to take ourselves seriously as the Kings and Queens we can be and let the world see who we really are. The Sun in Leo reminds us that we have a divine mission (sorry it isn’t all pretty ball gowns and parade dress!) to be true to ourselves and our purpose. The Moon in Aquarius whispers, You are not alone. There are many people who share your vision and who want to co-create it with you.

Like our hero, Harry Potter, sometimes you just have to drop out of school and do the work that’s been asked of you. I believe it’s time for us to stop rebelling (as in our adolescent resistance to ‘those in power’) and start to be true Conscientious Rebels. We need to form our groups and get our vision out there into the world. We need to tell different stories – about ourselves and about the world. And we need to entice the lost people who are longing for a new vision to open up and perhaps co-create with us. The Ladies and Knights of the Round Table might have met at Camelot to talk about what was happening in the Kingdom, but then they went out into the land to right the wrongs they found.
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Now for some astrological facts surrounding this Full Moon.

There are two T-squares in the Full Moon chart, which can be energizing and self-motivating if we use the energy consciously.

One of the T-squares occurs with the Moon’s nodes and Jupiter at the apex point. Think of a 90 degree triangle. The Moon’s Nodes help us realign our emotional bodies. While each of us have different nodes in our individual birthcharts, collectively we are now sharing an emotional body shift from an over-analytical, worried, critical, anxious, judgmental Virgo attitude that stays stuck in an unpleasant situation to a trusting, opened, compassionate, spiritual Piscean attitude that welcomes change. How can we put our trust in the invisible world and offer our services to the visible one? Jupiter in Sagittarius, which forms the T to the nodes, asks, “ What do you believe?” “Stretch and open your mind.” That ‘s where your answer lies.

The other T-square involves the Neptune/Saturn opposition with Mars in Taurus squaring them at the apex. How do we step into our own wholeness, creativity and power while participating in the group? We do it by using Mars – grappling with the talents we have that will bring us the success and wealth – of money and opportunities - we want. We need to focus and concentrate on our next steps.
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There are also two inconjuncts - aspects which make us stretch, re-balance the desired against the practical, and create an adjustment in our attitudes.

Mars inconjunct Pluto: Desire meets power in tranformative activity. Analyze and revise procedures and avoid obsessive activity. Where there is a powerful fear of the Unknown we tend to maintain the status quo. We want to be forearmed with the knowledge that we are on the right path, instead of just trusting that it is the path we need to walk to get to our ultimate goal. This energy needs an outlet.

For example, in my chart, Mars and Pluto effects my Moon, turning the aspect into a YOD – called the finger of God or the Sword in the stone. It creates an opportunity for transforming some of my old emotional patterns by surrendering to Spirit. Something of my past beliefs must pass away for a new emotional freedom to be available to me. It creates an opportunity – if I’m not afraid of the change - for me to let go of old feelings stuck in my body since childhood so I can express my feelings appropriately. My Cancer moon makes me psychically sensitive, and this aspect of Mars and Pluto with my moon can clean out the old emotional fears that might keep me from listening to my feelings and acting on them. How does this powerful aspect effect your chart?

The other inconjunct from Mercury to Neptune involves the creative imagination. This aspect urges us to listen to our intuition, use imagination and inspire others with our vision. The best form of communication is through suggestion, metaphor or the arts. Add a brilliant trine from Mercury to Uranus, and we could see some very interesting, imaginative and original ideas floating around this month.

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Venus turned retrograde today, Friday, July 27 until September 8th. The Sabian Symbol for Venus Retrograde is 3 Virgo: Two guardian angels. Invisible help and protection in times of crisis. It is a degree symbolizing inner strength.

Venus rules values and assets of all kinds. Specifically money. On a more personal level, Venus also rules relationships, partnerships, and matters of the heart. Old lovers return. Or new love interests enter your life who resurrect issues and patterns of the past that you still have not mastered. If your love life has been going well with a significant other, be aware. It could reverse and head south now. On the other hand, if a relationship has been experiencing difficulties as of late, it is now possible that any misunderstandings can be corrected, and the relationship can now get back on track.

Venus also rules purchases and changes in appearance. Venus retrograde is not a time to make large purchases or changes in your personal appearance. You may find you wish you could return the purchase, or undo the new look.

A girl has the right to change her mind, doesn’t she?

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Jupiter turns direct on August 6th. What lessons have you learned since April 5th, when Jupiter went retrograde? How have you expanded your inner vision? What new possibilities lie open for you? Jupiter is in harmony with both the Sun and the Moon this Full Moon, and it adds its optimism, its sense of expansiveness and audacity, and its luck to the creative energy of this Full Moon.

The Sabian Symbol for 10 Sagittarius is:
Goddess with long golden hair spirals gracefully into the air. Ecstatic self-expression. Power of the image to attract opportunities for manifestation.

A LAMMAS STORY

LAMMAS - August 1st

The feast of Lammas, or Lughnasad as it was celebrated in Ireland, occures on August 1st, during high summer. It is the festival of the first harvest, the sacrifice of the first born. It is the time when the fruits of our labor are ripening and yet still to be harvested. It is the festival of the king who is willing to sacrifice himself for the good of his people.

Lammas is a festival of the fire - both the creative and the destructive aspects of fire. It is a time to let the fires burn away all that is ready to die, to make room for the new life to come. If we can allow the old life, which has served us well, to fall away within the transforming fires, we will be ready to discover the new life which has been growing within us.

At Lughnasad, all the clans of Ireland gathered under a truce, and held games of skill and strength for the young boys ready to enter manhood. It was a time to show off the beauty of their daughters, the strength and skill of their sons, and the bounty of their cattle herds.

Lughnasad also celebrated the great Celtic sun-god, Lugh of the Long Arm, mighty king and bringer of civilization. Lugh was a member of the Tuatha De Danann, and his name means, "The Shining One." He was skilled in all crafts, and possessed a marvellous spear. He is the good king, willing to face malevolent otherworldly beings for the sake of his people. And so Lammas is truly the festival in which we commemorate the King within us all.

LAMMAS BLESSINGS

The radiant sun beat down on the golden fields of barley and wheat, spreading rippling, hazy heat above their spiked heads. The open-air oven of high summer was baking the grain to its ripeness, but there were still weeks to go before the harvesting began. And there had been no rain for over a month.

A young man, Leuw, stood on the hillside, watching the fields and the sky. The brilliant blue of the sky held sway from horizon to horizon, burnishing the golden plains to a painfully bright glare. Shielding his light-dazed eyes beneath a hand, Leuw looked to the river flowing past the edge of the field, but its water had shrunk to half the width of its rocky bed. His hiss of apprehension was swallowed in the heat.

Leuw walked down the hill into the field of grain. Standing within the golden sea, he quieted his mind to listen to the whisperings of the wheat field. Listening, he felt the fire in the air around him drawing water out of his body, and he heard the wheat sigh for that touch of moisture. He heard the earth, dry and hard, crack apart as he shifted his weight. It sparked a memory. Alan and Rob, the best of friends, had quarreled last week and were still not talking to each other. They were as hard and brittle as the earth crumbling beneath his feet. The dryness of the land was echoed in a dryness of the Spirit. Alan and Rob weren't the only ones at odds. How much longer could this go on?

It was later that night, when Leuw and his father had stopped talking and where silently watching the stars, that Leuw knew what he had to do. His father listened patiently to him in the darkness, then rose silently and walked into the house. He heard murmurings, and a quick catch of breath, and soon the sounds of his mother gathering food and supplies. With a glad but heavy heart, Leuw went to find his horse.

His family gathered in the starlight to bid him farewell. His father handed him the ancient shield and spear (which had hung in the hall since he was old enough to remember), concrete reminders of his love and protection. Kissing Leuw on the forehead, he stepped back to allow Leuw's younger brothers and sisters their chance to say goodbye to their beloved brother. As they crowded around him, Leuw's heart lifted, for their love and confidence in him shone out of their eyes like a reflection of the starry heavens above.

Then, with a last sweet kiss from the baby of the family, Leuw turned to his mother, who waited quietly by his horse. As he approached her, she bravely held out a small packet to him. "Journeycakes. For the morning." Then she held him close, and right before she pulled away from him, she whispered, "Remember. The waters can carry as well as overwhelm. Look to the blessing, rather than the fear." And her tears fell on his cheek in blessing as she turned away and let her first-born ride out to seek his fate.

Leuw rode through the star-splashed night into a dull gray dawn. As he travelled through the sweltering night air, the dampened sounds of waters had enticed him onwards, but he never found the source of those thick, wet sounds. When the sun finally rose up behind him, Leuw found himself riding through the high, dry plains to the west of his father's lands. Although he rode across many dry streambeds which crisscrossed the land, the water was gone. It had all disappeared from the summer-struck lands.

Leuw rode on through dry, bright days and warm, stifling nights. His dreams, full of the sound of running waters, dissolved in the golden-red glow of many sunrises. He rode now without water, as dry and sear as the lands around him, letting his horse take him where he would. One day, coming out of a sun-daze just as the burning red sun touched the horizon, he saw a tree growing large and green before his eyes. And with the sight, he fell unconscious to the ground.

He awoke to a gentle touch and to cool, wet water on his parched lips. He painfully opened his eyes to a night filled with stars and dark shadows, and was helped to drink from a cup of the refreshing waters. Sinking back, he fell into a deep sleep. And he dreamed. He saw a beautiful lady standing beneath the tree, holding out a golden cup full of the life-giving waters he had just received. But as he reached for the cup, the lady sadly shook her head and spoke.

"The waters you seek are precious. They carry a great price. Are you willing to pay the price?"
"It is for this reason that I have journeyed through the fires of summer." And Leuw stood before the lady with his father's shield and spear. "I will pay any price to bring the waters back to the land."
The lady searched his face. "Any price? Even unto death?"
"Unto death and beyond, if the waters will come back to the land!"
"Then lay aside your spear and shield, and follow me."

Leuw stood still for a moment as the lady walked away. Without the shield and spear of his father, how would he protect himself from the adventure the lady was calling him to? But the lady herself turned, and looking in his eyes, said, "Will you go with the fear, or turn toward the blessing?" And remembering his mother's words, he cast the spear and shield to the ground, and followed the lady.

She led him around the huge trunk of the tree, and there he saw a large and deep pool. The lovely lady turned to him and smiled, and jumped into the pool and disappeared into its depths. Leuw looked down into the waters in alarm, but the lady was gone. He knew that he would drown if he tried to follow after her, but if he did not? His whole journey would be for nought if he stopped before his adventure began. As he leaped into the pool, he heard a voice brush through his mind. "Remember the blessing!"
Down, down, down he sank, through golden, azure and emerald waters. Down into the dark waters. His chest became a burning fire, as hot and brazen as the sun shining down on the fields of his home. As he sank, and the fire within him burned, he slowly lost all sense of who he was, where he came from and why he was there. All he knew was to remember the blessing.

But what was the blessing? The fire within his chest was an agony, but the coolness on his skin was a blessing! And then he opened his mouth against the fear, and the waters rushed in. What delight! And then the greater delight in finding that he could breathe in the waters!

And so he sank down to the bottom of the pool. Out of the darkness, he sank into a light-filled land of sands and water, all colored in blues and greens and golds. And there was the lady, waiting for him.

Taking him by the hand, the lady led him to a coral seat beneath a waving strand of kelp. Once he was seated, she stood back from him, letting him look at her closely for the first time. He saw a woman with the face of an angel, her hair a midnight cloud outspread around the pearly whiteness of her face. What he could see of her form beneath the floating veils of her dress made his heart beat faster. And then he let out a shocked breath! For where he looked to find the feet to match the pearl-like beauty of her face, he saw a fish's tail!

In his confusion, Leuw turned his head away; his heart beat loudly in his breast. The lady watched him silently. Slowly, as his heart quieted, Leuw turned back to confront the lady waiting patiently before him. And with the utmost courtesy, he said to her, "My lady, you have promised to show me the way to win back the waters that have departed from my lands. If you will tell me the price, I am ready to do your bidding."

Smiling sadly, the lady came and sat by his side. "To know the price, you must know my story. Once upon a time, there were many maidens such as I who were chosen as guardians of the springs and wells. We ministered to all who came, freely sharing the waters in our charge. The waters were abundant and their blessings were free to all who came for refreshment. But slowly, over the past years, the waters began to dry up and the maidens began to disappear. I am the last of the maidens of the wells, for all the others are gone. My well is guarded with my most powerful spells, but as you see, my form is beginning to change and soon I, too, will be lost to the world above. And then my waters will disappear forever from the land."

"Tell me how I might fight to save you, beautiful lady, for if this is the price of the waters I will gladly pay it! Only, I wish that you had let me bring my spear and shield, for the strength of my fathers are in them, and mighty is their power."

"To enter the well, you had to leave behind everything you held dear. If you had brought the weapons with you into the waters, their power would have made you fear the blessings of the waters, for their powers are of the sun and the fire. When you chose to leave behind the fire and accept the waters, you became one with them. Now, the weapons of the sun can be carried by the waters, instead of being overwhelmed by them."

And hearing the lady's words, Leuw remembered his mother's words, and knew that if he held true to his purpose, the waters would indeed soon return to the land.

And looking up, Leuw beheld two shadowy forms floating down into the depths. And when they had settled on the bottom of the well, there were his father's shield and spear, just as he had left them under the tree. Picking them up, he turned to the lady and said, "Now fire and water will act together. Where is the danger, that I might go and battle with it!"

Then the lady led him through deep caverns and along underground rivers until Leuw could hear the sounds of many waters running in a roaring cataract down into the center of the earth. And then the lady turned to him and told him what she knew of the theft of the waters.

"As the other maidens disappeared, I left my well and travelled far and wide to discover what had become of them. And finally I found out why the waters have disappeared. There is a mighty demon of fire who, sitting in the halls of the underworld, consumes the waters of the wells. He strives with the spirits of the waters, overpowering them with his heated breath. He has drawn the maidens of the wells to his cavern in the center of the earth, keeping them prisoner and forcing them to watch as the precious waters are drawn down to the depths. As I fled from his halls, he sensed my presence and put forth his powers to entrap me. But my powers were strong enough to help me escape, although not without the loss of my legs. He cannot find me yet, but the traces of his spell will slowly overwhelm me until I become the fish my tail proclaims me. And then he will have won, and I, too, will be his slave."

Leuw gazed at the roaring cataract, and gazed down into the endless chasm. Then turning to the lady, he demanded, "Tell me what I must do, for I have pledged my life both to you and to recovering the waters."

"The demon has but one weakness. His skin is harder than adamant, except for one soft spot on his chest. Your spear must find its way to that one spot, or else all is lost." And saying that, the lady kissed him, and her tears fell like a blessing on his cheek. And he heard a voice whisper, "The waters can carry as well as overwhelm. Look to the blessing.!" And turning, he jumped into the abyss.

He was enveloped in the roaring cascade, and swept down with the force of a whirlpool, yet held within the shapeless watery flow. He fell for an eternity. And then he fell no more, but became aware of floating on the water and drawing air into his waterlogged lungs. On his third breath, he was swept into a hugh shadow-filled cavern, and slammed into a boulder which divided the underground river into two streams which continued flowing past him. Exhausted, he pulled himself up onto the boulder and fell asleep.

As he pulled himself back up into consciousness, he remembered his dream of the lady. Thank the Sun that it had only been a dream, for he never imagined his task to be so hopeless! Before he opened his eyes, he tried to remember what had happened to him after he had come upon the lonely tree at sunset. But while he remembered the coolness of the water on his parched lips, he could not separate the image of the lady from the water. Sighing, he opened his eyes. . .
. . . Only to find that it was not dream, but reality. He lay on the boulder in the cavern, with his shield and spear laying by his side. He closed his eyes quickly to shut out the sight, but after a moment's denial, he KNEW that he was, indeed, in the demon's lair.

After he struggled with hopelessness, he sank down into the quiet depths of despair. There, at the center, he remembered himself, remembered his decision to reclaim the waters for his clan and for the land. And as he felt his mother's tears and his father's blessing, he knew that he could fulfill his task, even unto death.

Creeping to the top of the boulder, Leuw looked over the edge. By the light of hidden fires, he could see something of the large cavern and the swiftly flowing water running past the boulder. The flickering light was coming from his right, and the river curved off in that direction. He suddenly realized that the loud echoing in his head was the noise of the river falling into some further, unimaginable depth.

Slipping his father's shield upon his right arm, he took the ash spear into his left hand and felt its balance. A shiver of energy ran up his arm as he felt the spear find its own balance within his hand. Then, taking a deep breath, Leuw leapt off the boulder to the further bank of that dark river. He landed on hard rock, but quickly turned his fall into a roll which brought him swiftly to his feet. He searched the shadow-filled cave for a path through the boulders, and moved off in the direction of the light and noise.

The heat of that subterranean fire seared him well before he came within sight of its source. The river was turning to steam all around him, and he walked through a burning gray fog. Closing his eyes against the heat, he felt as if he once again stood on the hillside beneath the burnished sky. Then he heard the still-roaring voice of the river flowing at his left, and painfully opening his eyes, he stumbled toward the sound.

Unlooked for, he stepped into a space of cool, fresh air, as if the winds of Autumn blew through that deep, hidden cavern. As Leuw took deep, gulping breaths of the cooling winds, his mind cleared of the mists and his body stopped trembling. And he opened his eyes upon the end of his quest.

The demon sat enthroned within the fires rising from the depths, while the waters of the Earth fell roaring into its mouth. The demon itself was a shadow within the bright flames, flickering and growing with the shifting and dancing of the fire. The waters disappeared into the darkness of its heated breath.

Leuw stood within the cool breath of Earth's winds, seeing the demon devouring the precious waters, searching for the spot the Lady had spoken of. As the winds filled him with the clarity of the high mountains which were their true homes, his body moved of its own accord. The ash spear of his fathers sang out for the blood of the demon, and with a mighty shout, Leuw cast it into the heart of the fire.

In the moment before Leuw sent forth his spear, the demon felt his presence. Secure in its power, it never imagined its own doom. But it sensed an unravelling of its spell, and it began to open its hidden, third eye - the eye that brought annihilation to anything its glance touched. And as the spear sped toward its goal, the dreadful glance of the demon sought out Leuw. The spear penetrated into the darkness of that monsterous form just as the eye found its mark. But Leuw had thrown up his right arm as he cast the spear, and now the shield of his father deflected that dreadful glance back into the fires from which it came. And the fires stormed up and swept through the cavern, and the waters flowed there no more.

It wasn't until many days after Leuw left that the rains finally came to refresh the parched lands. Fine, gentle rains came in time to save the grains; sudden fierce thunderstorms came, reviving the Spirit amongst the people. And as friends and families gathered together for foot races, horse races and dancing to celebrate and bless the crops, their thoughts were on Leuw, who had disappeared in high summer, when the drought was at its worst, and who was never seen again.

Leuw's family mourned him all their lives, for they alone knew who had brought back the rains. Every year at high summer, they told the tale to each other of the first-born son who had sacrificed himself for the life of his people.

Many years later the oldest son of the baby who had kissed Leuw goodbye that fateful summer's night rode west until he came to a tree which sheltered a clear pool of water. It was sunset, and the sky was streaked with a golden light. And as the young man bent down to refresh himself, the last rays of the sun fell into the depths of those waters, and he saw a beautiful lady with a face like the full moon surrounded by flowing dark locks, and at her side sat a man with hair as golden as the sun and with a face that could have been his own.

COPYRIGHT: CATHY LYNN PAGANO