We are two thirds done with this three year transit, we have about a year left. Have you been pacing yourself? I imagine this is what it’s like to run a marathon. Except that people run marathons because they want to, and we are in this thing whether we want it or not. A lot of people have written about this transit. My take on it is that we are letting go of what we are good at that’s not working for us and doing things that we think we suck at that are working for us. And when I say letting go, what I mean is, it’s being ripped from our cold dead hands, and when I say doing, I mean barely getting by. Very few people enjoy running marathons, even those that do, aren’t looking their best at two-thirds of the way through. For those of us, like myself, who don’t enjoy running round the block, this transit is kicking our asses. So maybe it’s time to call in a runner, you know, a guy that runs along side you keeping your pace, telling you that you can do this, and handing you water and food gel (whatever it is that keeps those people going). Yah, I think it’s time for one of those. Find those special people in your life that can support you, ask them for help, and support someone else whenever you can. We are two-thirds of the way through, we can do this, we are doing this. It’s time to rally.

This miserable combination is almost over. I have known about it over the past week, but it was so depressing I couldn’t even bring myself to write about it. The best way to sum it up would be aggressive self criticism for not meeting expectations at a deeply intense level. I had the feeling that I was clearly failing at this human experience and had no idea what to do about it. It was a sobering, humbling, bring us to our knees time and I am super glad that it’s on its way out the door. If you did anything self destructive to deal with it, like I did, then it’s time to shrug it off, pick up the pieces and move on. The take away is that while uncomfortable, the experience of seeing how we are failing our expectations, is an opportunity to re-evaluate those expectations, as well as the perspective on our current reality. It’s never as bad as Saturn says it is. It just isn’t. And what we think we should be doing with our lives is never as great as we think it will be either. Remember all those fervent dreams we had in junior high school, aren’t we so grateful half of them didn’t come true? So take a moment to call bullshit on all of it, and then ask yourself, what’s really important to me now that I can do today, and whatever that is, go do it.

So I haven’t written about astrology in over two years. I got in an argument with my husband at the time about the usefulness of studying the stars. Does it really help you or does it actually hurt you thinking that you know something about what’s going on in this thing called life. I was persuaded that it had the potential to cause more harm then good, I don’t remember why, maybe it’s just that he is tall and a Sag and so better at pontificating then I was. Regardless of why, I gave it up and now, two years later, he and I are separated. My grandmother, who learned astrology and taught it to my mother who taught me said that astrology saved her marriage. For her, astrology gave her insight into her husband, which allowed her to have compassion and not take things so personally when he was being an ass, which he often was. They were married for over 60 years, and died within months of each other both in their 90s. I suppose I could say stopping astrology has ended my marriage. Maybe it’s just a coincidence, but knowing someone’s chart and transits does make it hard to not love them, regardless of what they are doing with it.

More importantly, I think it also makes it easier to love ourselves, to have more compassion and not take things personally when we fail at meeting our expectations, which, if you are anything like me, is the one thing I exceed at on a daily basis. So I’ve re-convinced myself that astrology, at least in the way I do it, does more good than harm. Love and understanding is helps more than harms our experience of this thing called life, and so, for now, I will once again pick up my ephemeris and make shit up about what havoc the planets are making for us down here to deal with.

“How to Stay Sane in a Crazy World” (2014, Sophia Stuart) is a book filled with beautiful pictures. The ideas and advice given about how  to be inspired, happily productive, and how to best unwind, are aimed at the A-list female executive. Not so much at the stay at home single moms — we can’t really be planning our next vacation, or our next massage, and going to the movies once a week is more likely to happen if it’s once a year. But the message can land if you’re openminded and it’s a good one: Be kinder to yourself, whatever that means to you right now. The world is insane for everyone, whether you’re living in the penthouse or the basement, and we can all use a break.

I received this book for free from Hay House Publishing for review purposes.

Assertiveness for Earth Angels by Doreen Virtue is like an American Girl book for spiritual people. It tells you how to stand up for yourself in common everyday scenarios that you might run into. Doreen lists the ways people can effect you negatively and spells out why and how you should deal with them. Like having a cheat sheet for jerks. It’s helpful to have the answers and even if you can’t imagine yourself doing or saying the things Doreen suggests, at least you know it’s happening to enough other people that she wrote a book about it.

I like the frame of thinking of yourself and others as previous angels and so of course being a human is hard. You have a body and limits and can’t do everything all at once right away. I like to use the concept to explain away being a perfectionist, because when I was an angel I was perfect and now that I am human, I  have to lower my standards a bit, well, actually quite drastically. When I think that way, I’m much less frustrated with life in general, and much happier which I think is a good thing, whether there really are such things as angels or not.

I received this book for free from Hay House Publishing for review purposes.

First, this blog is changing from current astrology insights to an installment novel about a vestal virgin who has an astrology business on the side. I promise that it will be badly written, have faulty research, and be lots of fun (to write anyway). 

Second, I am going to do Cheryl Richardson’s Life Makeovers coaching book to live a more authentic life and I need partners. If you want to join me, buy the book and let’s try to get started on the Early Roman New Year, which is March 1st. So far I’ve read the intro, rather cheesy and all about people who have too much material success and not enough self time which is so relatable, right? Whatever, we will make it awesome so let’s do this thing.

Venus is in Aries this Valentine’s Day, so you need to do something brave and a little bit selfish. Whatever you want, make it happen, don’t wait for someone to do it for you, not today.  So that’s going to be exciting, but what’s even more exciting is that Venus is also square Pluto, so whatever it is that you are going to do for yourself, it’s not going to work out exactly how you thought it should and you may be intensely pissed about it. This doesn’t let you off the hook for going for what you want, because you are going to be disappointed either way, and it’s way better to be disappointed because something you did misfired then something you didn’t but wish you did. Don’t worry too much about your heartache, Venus is a fast moving planet and by the beginning of next week you will be better then ever.

 

Neptune is back in it’s home sign, Pisces. Lots of astrologers have been writing brilliant things about this, the gist being that intuition is strong and intellectualism in history. My personal take on this combo is that it’s just too much water. It’s like trying to hang out with two best friends who have all these inside jokes and finish each others confusing sentences while you are left playing with your hair wondering how many times you can excuse yourself to go to the bathroom with out it seeming weird. All that water in one place can be overwhelming. The thing to do is to be like Nemo and just keep swimming. Don’t worry too much about trying to “know” or “plan” things, just keep putting one flipper in front of the other and eventually you will get picked up by a current. And when that happens, you can just float.

I know very little Chinese Astrology, except that the year started yesterday, so Happy New Year to you! I’ve read that this year is a good year to take risks, I like that, so let’s go with it. 2012, the year we all go for it, whatever that “it” may be.

Neptune and Chiron have been together for over a year now, so now that Venus is joining them it should only highlight how well you have mastered these combined energies. What are they? I’m so glad you asked. Neptune is all about escaping or if you like, transcending, giving you the ability to say, “this is such a great book” while you are stuck on the side of the road having run out of gas.  In true Neptune style, you will be rescued by some handsome guy/girl who happens by with an extra gas can with out you so much as lifting a finger, except to turn the page of your excellent book. In almost direct contrast, Chiron is about having a never ending festering painful wound that you, personally, have to manage on a daily basis, making you a master of googling remedies and trying them out, “why not, it can’t hurt” style. Both great tools for dealing with life’s problems. However, since these two have been together, you can neither properly escape nor can you productively get yourself into any self help program. Every time you plan an escape, it’s your turn to wash the dishes and every time you plan some program, the toilets flood or some such nonsense and you are stuck watching “How I Met Your Mother” reruns. Hence the art of the “Escape-Deal” where you learn to deal with whatever your “thing” is while at the same time running away from it. Or, apparently my preferred method, you can yo-yo between between the two, one moment being active the next totally passive, until your head spins. Whatever your choice it all feels rather uncomfortable, but Venus is here now, so try to enjoy it, take some pride in your ability to handle these guys in whatever creative way you have, for when all this is over and done, you will realize that you’ve experienced and accomplished far more than you are currently aware of.