Juno the Loyalty Goddess in Retrograde

First I want to thank the people at "Dell Horoscope" for their wonderful review of "Signs of the Tines: The Ultimate Astrological Cookbook," which can be read on my website wwww.signsofthetines.com - under "press." I have written a lot about the "big" retrogrades we are under right now - Pluto, Neptune, etc. The big boys and girls. We do have a fairly prominent asteroid also in retrograde, that is, Juno, the goddess of loyalty - the consort. When she is strong in a birth chart - and hovers around the 7 - 8 houses the person will be looking for a committed relationship - sometimes to a fault. I have seen many strong Juno's cause a person to stick with a highly unfavorable mate because they are stuck on that need to be committed to someone no matter what! However, what does it mean when Juno, like now, is in retrograde? Well this is a time to find fault in relationships - to want to tear down and analyze what isn't making us tick. Someone born with Juno in retrograde will have to work harder to find that "one and only" and to make it work for all parties. Right now Juno is retrograded in the rebellious planet of Uranus. Depending on where Juno is in your natal chart - you can be doing a lot of questioning about the relationships that you are in. Remember it is Juno - don't make any rash decisions! I wonder if the little "tiff" in the Republican Party has something to do with Juno. There are the rebels our "Tea Party" - ah pals - who are questioning the loyalty of what is left of the normal GOP. I for one love watching what is going on and thank Juno for stirring up a wee bit of trouble. :)

DOG DAYS AND BLUE MOONS

As a kid I always remember hearing about the “Dog Days of Summer.” I didn't have a clue what it meant but it ws hot and humid and the dogs were panting and lying down more than usual so it must have something to do with it - so I decided dog days are hot summer days in August. Little did I know that, of course, had roots in ancient astrology. It is the time of year when the star Sirius (called Canis Major, or the Dog Star) can be seen in the eastern sky just before dawn. Dog Days! Of course!  Well we are now in the dog days and watery days they are. 

All the big slow guys,  Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune in water signs and will be for the foreseeable future. You know water loves to delve deeply into the emotional issues and with Neptune being in retrograde - you can expect those emotional issues to be backing up on you - particularly if you are not getting in touch with them. Use the time to assess emotional issues - don't keep pushing them under the rug. 

OK now August 21 is going to be a hum-dinger because Jupiter, Uranus and Pluto will be in a t-square  - that is a bunch of oppositions - Jupiter - Pluto and then a square to Uranus. Emotions will be ragged - oh and did I mention that Pluto is also retrograded. You will feel "picked on" and judged and can find yourself and others lashing out at each other for reasons that are not the real ones. "You made the door slam again could be a cover up for "Why don't you ever listen to me?" on the 23rd and 24th Venus and the Moon get hung up in this mess. Oh great the goddess of love and the one of emotions in a vast, difficult square with the watery big guys. Everyone remember to count to 10 please! 

It might not be a good time to tell you this but there will be a "Blue Moon" on the 20th - the second full Moon of the month it that unique and rebellious sign of AQUARIUS.  Yeah folks - hold on to your wigs - this is going to be a bumpy week. Better go outside and play with the dogs! 

The Tale of Two Leo Presidents

Two recent Presidents were born under the Sun Sign of Leo. But just to show you how little the Sun Sign means to a full chart analysis let's look at these two men, President Clinton and President Obama to see how that Leo energy manifests in their chart.

First, President Clinton whose birthday is later this week. His Leo Sun is in the eleventh house, the house of group and social interactions - well yes, he does excel at that, don't you think? However, look at his first house, the house of personality. It is opened by Libra - the sign that demands interaction with other people  - it is a people sign and Libra rising people can even exhibit co-dependent traits. Libra loves human interaction! Mars right on the ascendant! Holy Cow - the god of war - the raw energy of Mars also in the sign of "other" - and one degree away from his rising sign.  I have to make myself heard and seen not only in a crowd but to everyone. Love me please, love me! (Chiron also in the first,  the wounded warrior shows how much he really needs to be love and accepted by others.)

Neptune sits on Mars - well you know Neptune - the obfuscater - that helps that President well shall we say distort his version of things from time to time! Adding Venus to the mix - the goddess of love and romance - oh let's not rehash that. You get the picture.

All in all he has a stellium - more than 5 planets and asteroids in Libra in or bordering the first house. Even if his talent was in shoe sales and not politics he would be the town's best known, most affable and most avuncular show salesman. He can't help it. Is a a person who needs people.

President Obama, also a Leo Sun, has a vastly different first house. His rising sign is not people loving, people needing Libra, but aloof and cool Aquarius. Aquarius loves all Mankind but he isn't too interested in getting down and dirty with people every day - he feels your pain but doesn't want to learn too much about it. Where Libra is all about other - Aquarius is a very cerebral, very detached sign - they are smarter than the average bear - know what needs to be done and expect everyone to just do it without any fuss or muss. 

His Sun is in the 6th house the house of work and service. So he firmly believes if he keeps his head down and keeps working the noise will dissipate. Unfortunately, the noise of opposition  is too determined to just go away but since they are illogical to the Aquarius mind he just doesn't imagine that he has to address them as serious. 

President Obama's South Node is in the first house - and like Clinton, the Chiron, wound issue. (I wonder how many people who carry a deep wound in the first turn to politics for acceptance?) So he is carrying a lot of deep issues inside him that are just below the surface - which again translate to caution.

To Leo's - two Presidents - vastly different men!

Grand Cross - Drama or Just Awakening?

I am feeling annoyed...not terribly annoyed because I am in Maine taking in the breezes, the lobster and ocean air - but as annoyed as one can be in this situation.The reason for my consternation is the talk about the coming of the April 23 grand cross. As you might recall I went heard two speakers weave a tale of horror and destruction that will occur when this grand cross occurs; i.e., the EU will fail, our dollar will be gone, mass economic and political upheaval will occur and a new world order will arise from the gloom! 

A grand cross is when four planets are in opposition to each other. In this case we will have retrograded Pluto in Capricorn opposing Jupiter in Cancer and Uranus in Aries opposing Mars in Libra. These planets will be in cardinal signs. There are three kinds of signs, mutable, cardinal and fixed. The mutable signs are easy going - go along and get along, The fixed signs have more stubborn in nature and cardinals are the movers the shakers, the doers. Hence, the doom and gloom - the god of War, the god of expansion, the god of quick change and the god of slow change all pulling against each other and in cardinal signs - each grasping for their piece of the pie!

Any type of cross, square or opposition is a difficult time but not always horrible - without them we would not have change - not have awakenings. Someone with a birth chart overloaded with "positive" aspects can have a rather boring and unfulfilled life because they have no mountains to climb. I keep thinking what are these gloomy astrologers going to tell people born on April 23, 2014 - OH you will have a terrible life? Instead of seeing this time as a nightmare I am hoping that people will throw off the old ways and say we are tired of waiting around - we want to move forward! Cardinal signs want action. Perhaps people will be tired of stalemates and do-nothing politicians and those who want to bring our country back into the Stone Age. 

I am not saying there won't be some violence - there could be an aspect of "taking it to the street." Bad things could happen at that time but I am not comfortable with saying the only result will be total destruction of the social order. 

Change is not always easy but let's use it as a time to break bonds, break stalemates and demand the end to inertia. Energy release is energy release - it is up to us to make it constructive and not destructive. Let's not paint an ending before we have even started and let's encourage people to use a rough time to yield a positive outcome!