Planet Waves :: Such a Timeless Flight

ASTROLOGY allows us a way into the underlying energy patterns of the world. We can simply be aware of the patterns, or study them; we can take more elaborate steps to utilize them, to plan, to look for opportunities and warnings, and to get some feedback from the seemingly inanimate world around us.

As Rick Tarnas explains in Cosmos and Psyche, the modern worldview, based on science, created the belief and thus perception of an unintelligent universe (he calls this the "disenchanted world"). The laws of early science exist as mechanical devices, not as an intelligent awareness. Astrology is based on those early laws, such as the ones that govern the physics of planetary movement, but if you watch the planets go by, the first thing you see is patterns. Soon after, those patterns start to speak with something that seems like wits. It's as if they're as aware of us as we are of them.

Astrology exists at the fine membrane between waking consciousness and the dreamtime. The dreamtime is a mind portal to other dimensions. It's a way of accessing information from another dimension of reality. There are a number of dimensional models in circulation that give several of the dimensions names. All utilize or in some way exchange energy; they are made of energy. Astrology seems to be rooted in the architecture of the etheric plane. It is beyond intellectual, mental or astral; it's certainly beyond physical in the limited sense we think of physical.

One of the reasons it's possible to use astrology to create so much intelligence, indeed, to have it come flooding onto the mental and causal planes, is that the energy source is deeper than those levels. If something emanates energy, it is alive; astrology qualifies. But it requires discipline to harness or harvest this energy, and heightened awareness to put it to work. Astrology based on too many unquestioned assumptions is dangerous, so those practicing the work (in my view, anyway) need to constantly be questioning their reasoning process.

We are now just past the Full Moon, and the Moon's light is still bright. Indeed, in Sagittarius we can feel that energy as an affirmative force rather than a molecular, hormonal or emotional one, but by the weekend the Moon will conjoin Pluto, reminding us a bit of the deeper levels we accessed during the full phase of the Moon.

After years of observation, my favorite days of the lunar cycle are those right after the exact lunations; they seem to be the easiest to work with, and carry us nicely on their momentum. It all depends on the specifics, of course; every one of these events differs, and working with astrology is a mix of experience (applying past observations) and creativity (staying right in the present and reporting what you see).

We have just come through a rather complex approach of the Full Moon earlier this past week and last weekend, with a grand cross in the mutable signs (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces) doing a bit of psychic surgery on everyone, amping up the confusion and consequently the mental processing. Mars made an aspect to Jupiter and Uranus; Venus made an aspect to Mars; much else was going on besides. This sent some people into a frenzy, finally colored by the Scorpio Moon, that we are now just beginning to get our bearings from.

The Sagittarius Moon takes us back through the grand cross, making aspects to the lunar nodes (a square), as well as a square to Chiron, an opposition to Venus and a nearly simultaneous conjunction to Pluto. This involves the Galactic Core, as Pluto is still in a tight conjunction to the core (currently retrograde, approaching the second exact conjunction, in fact) and Venus in Gemini is currently opposing the core. That sounds like some deep emotional processing, but the Sagg phase of the Moon suggests that we not immerse ourselves too far in the deeper layers. Rather, take the turning point, and let the Venus-Pluto aspect do the heavier work. What must be will be obvious, and the Galactic Core suggests there is a nice, thick layer of divine protection in all that we may be experiencing, no matter how emotionally poignant or seemingly separative.

All of this occurs over the next few days. The mutable cross sequence concludes May 13, however, when Mars squares Pluto. This coincides by about 12 hours with the Sun square Neptune -- a potentially dangerous combination, because Mars-Pluto is given to some focusing of power, and Sun-Neptune some blurring of intention. Focusing power is great, as long as you focus in intention, too -- so we get a bit of a cautionary omen here.

In the days that are approaching now, the Sun is working toward a square with Chiron. One way to think of Chiron is as a utility for working with the outer planets, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. It's like an international adapter that makes the often difficult to translate energy of those planets more accessible in the human realm. Therefore, I would propose that whatever develops around the time of the Sun-Chiron square on Sunday, May 6 will hold a clue as to how to prepare for the events that develop about one week later. They will, anyway, if we remember to keep what we learn in mind, particularly what we learn about ourselves.

One last note: we are now in the season of Beltane. This is an ancient holiday, based on the position of the Sun, which is about celebrating life and pleasure and manifesting abundance. The cosmic bridge is generally sexual. Though the Sun is in Taurus, the sign of Venus and thus the Goddess, the implication of Beltane is phallic in nature (this is the idea of the May Pole, among other Beltane traditions).

Stopping short of suggesting that people go out of their way to have sex (though there's hardly a Pagan alive who will not take the opportunity if they have it), let's say that this is a good time to take your wholesome opportunities and to dedicate your experience to the Goddess and her consort, whoever you perceive him or her to be -- the Green Man of spring, Pan, an old friend -- or for that matter, your lover.

By Judith Gayle

I WRITE this on the first day of May, a month assigned to celebration of the lush prospects of abundance and awakening fertility. Because of unexpected snow flurries in the Pea Patch, the earlier buds and beginning blooms of this season were killed off. Today, I have a single but lovely iris adding color to my yard. So much for lush -- piddling, is more like it. You won't find me dancing around any May poles today -- I will go speak kindly to the deva of my little flower, and I might sway and hum a little when I thank it for blessing me by showing up as a lonely sentinel to spring. Seems a little desperate, though -- almost seems as if I'm trying to pull May in by the tail as it lopes down the road without me, trying to make it happen so I can see it.

Maybe it's just me. I could use a dramatic spring display, could do with a little sensory uplift. In the last months, it seems that no matter what happens next, nothing changes. It feels like we're pushing a boulder uphill, slipping every third or fourth step and having to reposition ourselves. Feels like nothing's moving, not even the seasons. Maybe I'm feeling too worn out to dance. Or maybe I'm just reacting to the full Wesak moon, intense and a bit dark in Scorpio and squared in a Grand Cross by the Sun, Saturn and Neptune in fixed signs.

When I think of fixed signs, I think of Mr. Bush's Leo rising, and remember that those who fail to mature on their life's journey more often resemble their personality signal than their Sun sign characteristics. I heard a well-respected White House correspondent say last week that the only person holding up a change of course in Iraq is George Bush himself; everyone else is willing to look at options. We've got one wounded and petulant lion, blocking the way.

Continued at this link...

By Carol McCloud

Cib. Galactic Alchemy

May Highlights

Time-pulse/Trecana: Oc (Dog)
April 22, 2007 - May 4, 2007

Time-pulse/Trecana: Akbal (House)
May 5, 2007 - May 17, 2007

Time-pulse/Trecana: Cib (Vulture)
May 18, 2007 - May 30, 2007

Full Moon: 11+Ahau: May 2, 2007 – 11 Ahau (Pulse of Oc)

May is the month of the Goddess, fertility, creativity and blossoming. It is a time of planetary puberty, and a month associated with the goddess Maia, virgin mother of Hermes, the messenger. The symbology relates to Sophia (wisdom) and the World Tree.

In the cycles of the Maya, this May we are moving through the last days of the cycle of the Wolf. The day-sign Oc relates to the Dog or Wolf and presents to us experiences of relationship, community and interdependency. During this time period, as we pay attention to synchronous events, we will find ourselves connecting to the larger sphere of humanity, and those who are the "Companions of Destiny" on our journey. Deep soul connections are often solidified during this pulse.

The day-sign Oc is the Aztec Xolotl, the twin brother of the Feathered Serpent, Quetzalcoatl. Xolotl is the darker aspect of the dog and like the Egyptian Anubis, he represents the guide and guardian of our journey through the underworld. It is the Dog that will be leading us into the next 13-day period of Akbal, the pulse of the night and the dreamtime. During this time of discernment there will be a battle between two sides of the wolf within us all. It is a battle of dark and light, and the one that wins is the one that we feed.

The Scorpio New Moon falls at 11 degrees on the eleventh day of the pulse on the day-sign Ahau. It is a gateway that ignites a solar fire, burning in multidimensional time. This date also marks the ending and beginning of the Katun cycle of 7200 days (360 x 20 days, roughly 20 years) related to the Harmonic Convergence of August 1987. The "tun" cycle of twenty is sacred to the Maya, 20 x 20 x 20 shows our acceleration in time. This suggests that the period around now and August 16-17, 2007 will be a powerful remembering of the window that Maya consciousness opened during the summer of 1987.

These days are bringing us closer to those people and relationships that are deeply involved in our transformational process. These are the souls that have moved with us through many lifetimes and have been strong supporters and champions for our evolution. As we move out of the bubble of linear time, these comrades of soul offer us a teaching that helps us navigate this continuous cycle of unfolding, evolution and creation.

During our movement through the time-pulse of Akbal, we will be learning to carry our inner light through the darkness. This pulse of Akbal is about the night and the shamanic journey of the dreamer. These days will ask us to look deeply into ourselves and see where we can fully bring our unique passions and dreams into alignment with the whole. Akbal is the day-sign of the dreamtime, of inner space, of the home and hearth. It can also be seen as representative of the womb and of creation. Akbal is also associated with the Great Orion Nebula M42 that forms the fire in the belt or hearth of Orion. It is the hearth fire that burns brightly in the solar plexus of our galactic natures. This is a powerful galactic point that is at the 22nd degree of Gemini.

New Moon: 25+Taurus May 16, 2007 - 12 Ix (Pulse of Akbal)

This New Moon is at 25+ degrees Taurus. This is a period of form and creation. It is the 12th day of the time-pulse of Akbal. As noted earlier, Akbal is the symbol of the night, the dreamtime, the hearth and womb. The day-sign of Ix is the Jaguar Shaman and the number 12 expresses a day where there is a depth of understanding. It is the highest order of the completed form within the cycle and asks us to be in cooperation with one another. This day we are being pulsed to shape-shift, moving out of time as the Jaguar stalks our old thoughts and patterns, bringing renewal in the final days of the pulse of Akbal. Today we are the alchemist, dreaming new forms from the womb of creation.

On May 18, we begin a new pulse of Cib, glyph of the condor or vulture. This is a period of impeccability, inner warriorship, guidance and deliverance. This time period represents that of the way-shower. Cib is similar to the hermit card in the tarot, and one who sheds light and brings us through the darkness of the soul's journey. As we find our deeper connectivity to the divine, we can almost feel the touch of a guiding force, lying somewhere between the physical and non-physical realms, something that is as quiet and hidden as the flight of an owl in the darkness. If we have felt alone in the world, this period will help us understand that we are never alone. It may take some time to trust what is coming through. Made up of the particles of ancient stars, we are cosmic transmitters. Cib shows us that we will always have access to our origination point and conduit to the galactic realms.

By Eric Francis with Priya Kale

AS THE RECENT Full Moon in your opposite sign Scorpio suggests, dramatic events over the past year may have caused you to reevaluate your position and expectations in a key relationship or relationships. This has involved a series of encounters with some of your darkest fears and deepest desires, but also an experience of breaking a kind of deadlock in your life and setting yourself free.

The complexity of the situation was and may still be overwhelming, but to the extent you are now able to move more freely, you may want to ask yourself how that came to be. I would propose that in the course of the forthcoming four seasons, you'll discover that when your navigation system is tuned to your mind, life is more difficult; when you tune it primarily to your body, and note its responses in different circumstances and then assess that data, your choices will more accurately reflect your values.

Yet before you get there, the universe currently has some intriguing plans for your mind. Venus, your ruling planet and the planet of intelligence, is at this moment in Gemini, directly facing Pluto and the core of our Milky Way galaxy. This is the image of facing a mystery bigger than you can really grasp. It is about an encounter with someone, something, and likely a variety of circumstances that seem bigger than you, overwhelming, and which compel you to change at your very essence. The image is a little like coming face-to-face with God, the passion of your soul and the shadow of your fears all at the same time.

What you are seeing is a kind of reflection, though you may not recognize it as such. The less you do recognize what you see as a reflection, the more likely it is to be one. This is the whole point: you are being introduced to an entirely new experience of yourself. You may gaze into this cosmic mirror and see something unduly sinful or holy. You may gaze in and see something you always thought was there but were afraid to acknowledge.

This scenario could certainly manifest as a relationship, but one that could touch you so deeply that it triggers your flight impulse. Therefore, this is the time to take a long, gentle moment and pause. You don't have to react or respond, only to reflect. Notice what you are experiencing. Notice the words you are choosing to describe your experience to yourself, and ask if they are ultimately encouraging or discouraging of your happiness. When confronted with a profound influence, be your own friend, and encourage yourself to open up and experience it honestly.

In the past, you may have met such an influence with emotional responses that lead you into power struggles and obsessions that robbed you of your energy. Something is similar about this scenario, but something is at the same time extremely different. A potential exists that did not exist before. You have access to a kind of awareness that was not an active factor in your relationships. What exactly has changed? Well, you have changed, but so has the world. Even as it creeks ahead at its glacial pace, the world has changed around you; people are more aware; it is somehow easier to bring darkness to the light.

All of this being said, you are more likely to be feeling raw, primal instincts at the moment rather than calmly reflecting with your mind. And this would seem to be the thing you need to learn. It is still quite easy for you to get overwhelmed. It is easy for you to lose contact with your own awareness, particularly as the intensity level of your experience increases. T.S. Eliot said that humankind cannot stand very much reality. How much can you take? Are you one to "keep secrets from yourself"?

I suggest you be as clear with yourself as you strive to be with others. This is the remedy for any challenges you may face as a result of the increased awareness in your life: share that awareness. Don't hold, withhold, keep secret, or otherwise obscure the facts from yourself or from others. You are, in truth, being confronted with the truth. If you have faith that everyone, including you, can handle that, then as the seasons of this year unfold, I trust you'll discover increasing clarity and closeness with those you love and who you want to love you.

Yet consider this: the truth is deeper than you may think. And the truth needs to be tested. So, apply your ideas to an examination and review process, and don't take your first impressions as all there is to the story. First impressions of people and events mean a great deal, but they must always point us deeper, into ourselves and into the world. Living this way is bold. You may startle yourself and startle others. You will find out who the adults are and who the children are among the people you love. You will find all the places you are holding back from, but most beautifully, you will find yourself.

Hello friends around the world...

Photo by Dani Voirin

I'm now welcoming new astrology clients. There will probably be a short wait, but the list is open and moving. In the New York area, the Hudson Valley, Phoenix, Paris, Brussels, Barcelona or London, we can work in-person. From all other locales, we would work by phone. My astrology process is a dialog, not a reading. Or rather, it's a trialog, a three-way conversation between you, me and your chart -- in that order. In my philosophy, you reveal your astrology, not the other way around. Once you do this, your chart speaks more deeply, helps unlock the secrets held in time, and provides us with a map to the choices involved in creating your future. I love the adventure working this way, created based on my early work with Chiron, my journey with homeopathy and my love of Gestalt-based therapy. Together, we take a life-affirming view of existence, honor relationships as nourishment, and put freedom first.

Please contact Chelsea Bottinelli for more information, by email or by calling (206) 567-4455 during Eastern business hours. I look forward to speaking with you.

With gratitude,


Weekly Horoscope for Friday, May 04, 2007, #661 - By ERIC FRANCIS

Aries (March 20-April 19)
You may feel a need to transpose a whole diversity of feelings into something you deem more spiritual. We are in an era of history where we're supposedly being trained to push our feelings up to the higher energy centers; to "transcend" our most basic human emotions and our need for direct encounter with others. In the process, we basically wind up isolating ourselves, getting trapped in concepts and missing the direct reality that God or Spirit or Cosmic Wisdom is something that manifests for us first and foremost in our relationships. Something, or rather, someone, is likely to come to you in the next few days, and I suggest you think carefully before you deem yourself too holy and full of light for a hot, wet experience.

Taurus (April 19-May 20)
This year for Beltane, we get a little treat: Venus, the Belle of the Ball of this most celebrated of Pagan holidays, is exactly opposite the Galactic Center. In this aspect, the Goddess herself looks into the cosmic mirror and sees in her reflection the great spiral of creation. What do you see there, at the moment? Many other aspects made by Venus in the past three weeks suggest that you have been on an extraordinary journey, covering a great distance. Few things can change us like visits to new places or encounters with new ideas, though it's not always easy. Yet as you gaze on your celestial reflection, let it be a reminder of how small are the paths you have tread, how far you have to go, and how wide is the world.

Gemini (May 20-June 21)
You have done more than enough in support of your own growth. There is little left that you can think or do, and the moment has arrived to take a deep breath and, for one precious moment, drift to the next place or the next state of mind. The process of change that you are in the midst of experiencing is indeed larger than you are, and in order for the forces of growth and transformation to work their full effects on your life, I suggest it would be helpful to meet them in a relaxed and open frame of mind. You are free to do less rather than more; to observe rather than to think; to affirm that your soul is the critter in charge of this journey, not as you so often feel, your mind.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)
It is true that the very best of who you are remains hidden from view, and from your own view -- but hardly devoid of tangible effects. Indeed, over the next few days as you begin to assemble the pieces of what you have accomplished and of the changes that have worked their miracles on you, you are likely to realize that the one thing you were seeking has presented itself to you. I say "thing," but really it is a quality of experience that allows you to be open to the world at the same time you are available to it; that enables you to have the experience of your needs being met sufficiently to know the feeling, and know it well enough to recognize it when you encounter it again.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23)
Desire for achievement is often looked at askance by those who fancy their ambitions as purer, but these days for you the desire to get ahead is having a beneficial effect on your spirit. If we throw away all the presumptions that various belief systems make about the world, we can embrace what we need to do from day to day as having actual significance to ourselves and our communities. What you are doing now works for you and it works for everyone around you. You seem to understand you have not only a serious responsibility but also a need to push yourself to grow and accept an idea about yourself that you have long flirted with but have not quite made love to. You are free to skip the small talk and to not fold your clothes when you undress.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22)
If you are one of those Virgos who thinks you think too much, I hope you're enjoying Mercury in Taurus. What you are trading is a lot of small ideas for one big one. I suggest you allow yourself the time and space to focus, and to set small matters out of your concern for a while. Also, you need leverage. You are trying to roll the stone with your bare hands. The thing you are trying to move will give more easily if you borrow an analytic concept that will reduce your stress and strain. Perhaps this will help: imagine that something much bigger is attracting, or pulling, the very thing you are trying to move. Try combining your intelligence with that larger factor, and employing a form of leverage known as cooperation. This is another way of saying that time is on your side.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23)
You are close to completing a cycle of experience, but there is one last idea you have about yourself that you must encounter. There are few things that get in the way of being a Self better than a self-concept. Indeed there are few things that get in the way of relationships more effectively than a self-concept, particularly if you are fortunate enough to associate with people who actually care about you. The first glance you get at this thing, you may be stunned you held such a high opinion of yourself; the second glance may reveal the contrary, some notion of how low. Ride this out. Let your stomach feel the sudden drops and the strange sense of ascension. You are reaching a point of clarity, and you have to go through everything else first.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22)
Ideas require development. Not all of them, that is for sure, but the ones we feel are the strongest. In your situation, I would say that strongest means the ones that allow you to feel free. You appear to have had some revelation or breakthrough lately that has given you a taste of your independence. For a brilliant moment, you were no longer a prisoner of the world, but rather one who had the ability to create it. Simultaneously, a door is likely to have opened in a relationship, where you actually felt that your needs were met. I suggest you do two things: one is to assemble the details of this experience like the pieces of a dream; second, stick with the feeling of the dream, the feeling of liberation, rebellion, inspiration or creative passion -- whatever it was for you -- and proceed with that feeling in your heart and mind.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22)
Somewhere between our silent worst fears and our unexpressed highest vision of ourselves lie our true needs. I mean this literally: there is a space between the very worst and the very best we are capable of, not a happy medium but rather a region or territory, where we can explore and spread into our true potential. On the way, we face a few specific challenges. One is what to do with the whole notion that we must sacrifice everything and everyone we truly care about. The other is what to do with all the anger we carry from past situations that did not work out; our disappointment at all the people who were not "the one": and in general, the feeling that our whole experience on this planet is pretty shaky at best. Well, it is, but so what?

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20)
Your sense of yourself is delightfully empty at the moment, but I sense that you're nervous about the potential you feel. This is a rare time when outer forces seem to not be influencing your idea of who you are, and when you finally have the choice to make up your own mind. Yet you are not factoring an influence that you cannot see and can barely feel. It's as if you are orienting your whole life around some invisible factor. You may sense that you are doing this intuitively, though I suggest that you make the process fully conscious, so that you can take advantage of both your own creativity and also of the additional options that will be revealed when you take each step with your eyes and ears open.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19)
How we relate to denial in others mainly depends on how we feel about them. If we feel we love them, then the answer is gently; if we feel they need to be woken up, and we love them, the answer is gently with focus. The problem with denial is that it typically has a cause, an underlying reason. You are at the moment rather alert, awake and aware. You are coming to life emotionally and physically as well. Bear in mind that there was a time not long ago when you were pretty clueless and people were trying to figure out what extreme measures would stun your highly intelligent brain to your senses. Obviously, your fog had nothing to do with lack of wits. It was about something else.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20)
I am reading a book called The Art of Dreaming by Carlos Castaneda, which has finally broken the spell on a long reader's block. The essence of the material, as I understand it, is that "dreaming" is a way of training our attention. It's not so much about sleeping dreams, though those are a kind of psychic gymnasium we can use almost any time. Dreaming is shifting one's entire awareness from passive to active; from foggy to clear. These days, all the metaphors of your astrology involve the 12th house, the house of dreams: for you, Aquarius, Chiron and Neptune are in Aquarius, your 12th house and Saturn (the ruler of Aquarius) is opposing Neptune. This is a long, slow and distinctly effective calling for you to open your mind, focus and live your dream not every day but every moment.

CREDITS: Managing Editor: Priya Kale. Webmaster: Anatoly Ryzhenko. Proofreader and Fact checker: Sara Churchville. Horoscope Editor: Jessica Keet.