New Year's New Moon

We start 2014 with a New Moon in Capricorn at 6:14 AM Eastern Time. That alone is a powerful kick off to a new year - because the New Moon is a great time for manifestation. This year, however, the sky will be full of even more cardinal energy. There are three kinds of signs, mutable (the easy going sometimes easily coerced signs), fixed (the stubborn ones) and cardinal (the movers and shakers.) Get used to a lot of cardinal energy coming from the sky because this year is going to be anything but dull.

On January 1st, during that Capricorn (cardinal) New Moon, Mars will still be in Libra (cardinal) and  opposite Uranus in Aries (cardinal) and Jupiter will be in Cancer (cardinal) opposing four other bodies in cardinal signs, the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Pluto and retrograded Venus.

Those placements also make for a very combustible square between Mars, Uranus, and Pluto. This is nothing to mess around with - and do not be surprised if you hear of more road rage or violent acts. If people are unaware of how these energies affect them can just feel angry, restless, and ready to strike out. The amount of anxious energy is almost spooky.

For those more aligned with the universe it is a great time to use that power to constructive change. So where do you want to improve? Go beyond the silly New Year's resolutions and make a pledge to use this energy to make meaningful change in your life. Movement especially in the area of money and our values (Venus) and speaking our truth (Mercury) would be especially beneficial.   Use the energies to your benefit – they are powerful.

Happy New Year – Happy New You.

"Light of Venus" - Interview with Adam Gainsburg

Speaking of Venus - Please during this time of Venus moving inward - check out of interview with Adam Gainsburg as he speaks about his revolutionary way of view this planet - not by sign and house but phase from the Sun. You will think of Astrology in a completely new way!


http://webtalkradio.net/internet-talk-radio/2013/12/23/astrological-cook-light-of-venus/

It could be a Griswald Christmas

I will keep this brief because no one has excess minutes this time of year  - which is so odd because this is the time of year when we should be nesting and go within. When it is darker and colder we are programmed to be inward and more reflective. Oh well, another way we are out of sync with nature!

Venus went into retrograde on the Solstice - bringing her creative and loving energies inward. At the same time, Mars moved into the cardinal (action) sign of Libra. With Venus being less than forceful and Mars in full tilt - let's just say keep crabby Uncle Sam away from the rest of the family. There is too much energy out there that is unbridled and angry.

I hope the world keeps a lid on the anger through the new year.

Happy Holidays all!

Major Gemini-Sagitarrian Activitiy TODAY!

The question of today is where is Gemini at 27 degrees in your chart?  Let me explain.

Every year at this time, the Sun passes over the Galactic Center - the rotational point of Milky Way. The Center is at 27 degrees Sagittarius - so 27 degrees into the constellation of Sagittarius is the center of the Milky Way.  (The Sun is at 25 degrees Sagittarius now and will be fully at 27 degrees on Thursday.)

Today we are going to experience a full Moon - (when the Sun and Moon are opposing one another in the sky. The Moon is "full" because it is far away from the Sun and its natural light flows uninhibited.  That full Moon is in Gemini at 27 degrees. 

Gemini and Sagittarius share an astrological axis. Gemini is the ruler of our thoughts, the way we communicate. Sagittarius is where we go out into the world and explore to hone our truth and expand our knowledge. Both deal with expressing ourselves. 

This is a perfect Moon placement to expand our perceptions, explore our beliefs, and examine how our mental tapes are running. From now until the Solstice on Saturday, we should be tuning into those energies to help clear out our mental cobwebs, finding, and expressing our truth! 

To help this new mental energy flow even better we finally have Uranus (rebellious, new energy) out of retrograde. It is at station direct - meaning it is sort of appearing to stand still in the sky but it is not heading backwards. Use Uranus - set that goal to be honest with your thoughts and honest with others.

So back to my first question - where is Gemini at 27 degrees in your chart. That is the area where this activation vibrates most for you. For me it is in 9th house - the house of Sagittarius, which happens to be my North Node. Wow, I have no excuse not to pursue and live my truth now. I had better get to work!

The Affordable Care Act

I have had several friends ask me about the horoscope of the Affordable Care Act. The past few months have been a little scary for those of us who believe that one should not go broke because of illness. There was the bad roll out and then the piling on of the radical Right and a clueless media that just loves a dramatic story even if the facts get in the way of their ratings.

I cast a chart for the time President Obama signed the bill into law because that is in essence its “birth.” 

There are many things about this chart I find interesting, even ironic but two of the big items that jump out at me are the 10^th and 6^th houses.

First, Pallas Athena, the warrior goddess who was also the patron of hospitals and healing (a woman for all occasions I say) is retrograded in the 6^th house –the house of health. Note to President Obama, do NOT sign a health care law under this planetary alignment! A retrograde means the energies of that planet are going backwards. So it was almost as if all of Pallas’ good intentions would be thwarted… or at least harder to reach fruition.

In the 10^th house, the house of government and the “social consciousness” we have quite a collection of planets.  I can’t take my eyes off the conjunction of Uranus and the Sun. Uranus is rebellious energy – quick starts and stops – just off the charts energy. On the other end of the 10^th, we have a Chiron and Neptune conjunction. Neptune is all about lofty spiritual ideals that have a heck of a hard time dealing with the realities of day-to-day living. Chiron is a deep wound issue and in the 10^th represents our fears about society accepting us. Both of these bodies are in Aquarius, ruled by that rebel Uranus. Nothing is easy about these placements.

What gives me hope of long-term success is Jupiter, in the sign of Pisces – of compassion and caring for all, shooting up like an arrow in the middle of these conjunctions. Jupiter is the planet of expansion, hope, and understanding – of finding our philosophical truth. America is the last “first-world” country to offer universal health care – the time for us expanding into the rest of civilized society is overdue and helped by Jupiter.

Jupiter will carry the day for the ACA in the long term but the value of this act remains hidden until long into the future.

P.S. If you are into irony take a look at retrograded Saturn (the symbol of the old way – the task master – the people who say you must do things like they always have been done) opposing the Sun/Uranus conjunction. To me it looks like the Right trying to lasso the rebellious, change energy of Sun/Uranus to prevent it from working into society. However, I guess that is what they have been trying to do for five years now!

Happy Birthday Pope Francis

I never thought I would be typing, speaking, or in any way conveying this sentiment but I love this new Pope! This man who is telling Christians to worry about the poor, do not worry if your fellow Man loves men not women and to basically get back to the “fundamentals” of the teachings of the Church is shaking the world. More importantly, he is scaring those who have co-opted Christianity to mean – hate the poor, or anyone who is in any way different from you but war is a great thing!

With his birthday coming up soon I just had to look at this mavericks chart.

The Pope was born Dec 17, 1936 at 9:00 PM in Buenos Aires, Argentina and even a quick glance at his chart shows how sincere he is about his message of brotherhood and compassion.

His North Node, his current life karmic identification is in Sagittarius – that is the sign of expansion - of reaching out to all to find and understand their beliefs.  Sagittarius is by nature encompassing. However, look at the planets surrounding his North Node. Jupiter, the ruler of Sagittarius is on the North Node, intensifying that energy. In addition, he has his Sun, his inner light if you will, with Jupiter – another intensifying placement.

If this weren’t enough Ceres, the planet were we get and give nurturing is next to Jupiter and on the other side of this stellium is Pallas Athena the warrior goodness, who indicates in Astrology, where we take up the cause for the underdog. All of these planets are in his sixth house – the house of day-to-day work.  This is his life’s work – to bring the Sagittarian expansionism – the desire to know and understand what makes everyone tick and to care and nurture everyone. His life’s goal was to find work in which he could nurture, care for and understand all people.

His Venus Moon conjunction in the seventh in Aquarius is interesting because it indicates either someone who is gay or someone who really doesn’t give a hoot who people sleep with. In any case, it shows a very open view toward sexuality.

This has not been an easy path – he has many enemies – Pluto retrograded in the first house, Uranus retrograded in the 10^th and Saturn in the eighth. I would caution him never to let his guard down or his security for that matter. There are people who do not like “change” even when it is a return to the true roots of the organization. 

Pluto, Forgotten Women of History and Great Holiday Recipes Too!

HI!

Check out two sites today for some fun listening and reading. First, I am excited to report that we have a new podcast up on Web Talk Radio which is dedicated to my favorite planet Pluto and features a interview with the always-interesting MCV Egan. She talks about her fascinating book, "Bridge of Deaths" and how she is resolving this 70 year old mystery utilizing past life regressions among other modalities!

Listen to MCV and find out why I love Pluto at
http://webtalkradio.net/internet-talk-radio/2013/12/09/astrological-cook-producing-change-with-pluto/


Remember you can get downloads on your RSS feed by going to
http://webtalkradio.net/internet-talk-radio/category/podcasts/fun-food-pets-and-travel/astrological-cook/feed/

If you love History then you jump over to MCV's blog "Is History the Agreed Upon Lie" and see my 7 part series on The Forgotten Women of History."  - Remember there are 7 entries - check out all 7 women.

http://ishistorytheagreeduponlie.blogspot.com/2013/12/forgotten-women-of-history-hetty-green.html

Happy Holidays - remember there is still time to order a copy of "Signs of the Tines: The Ultimate Astrological Cookbook" for a unique gift! www.signsofthetines.com


PS! The recipe I talk about this week is my Sausage and Sage Stuffing (or Dressing) but below is a great egg and breadcrumb recipe my Mom always made.

Jean Garofalo Porte’s Egg and Bread Stuffing

Serves 6 -8

Note:  Mom had a bin full of stale bread and when full she would toast the bread and then grate it into breadcrumbs on the hand-grater that I still have. I sort of do the same although I don’t eat the amount of bread that we did back then. However, I grind up the toasted bread in the food processor – sorry Mom, time moves on as does technology!

1-tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

2 medium stalks celery, diced

5 large eggs

4 cups breadcrumbs

½ cup Italian flat-leaf parsley, minced

1-teaspoon kosher salt

2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon fresh thyme, minced

½ cup – to 1-cup chicken stock.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a small sauté pan. Add the onion, celery, and sauté about 5 minutes until they are getting soft. (IF you are making turkey and want to dice up the giblets and add now – do so – they add great flavor.) Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Beat the eggs in a large mixing bowl then add the breadcrumbs, parsley, salt, pepper, and thyme. Combine well. Add the onion, celery mixture and enough chicken stock so it is moist but not falling apart.  You want this to be almost cake like – not crumbly like other stuffing.

NOTE: If you have drippings from a chicken or turkey or are smart enough to save them from past meals add about 1 tablespoon of drippings now.

Turn the mixture into a greased 2 quart baking pan and bake for 30 minutes or until the top is lightly browned.

Mom would stuff this into a veal shoulder and serve with a brown gravy but it will work for any stuffing need. 

Forgotten Women of History Harriett Ann Jacobs

I am so pleased to be given the opportunity to guest blog on "Is History the Agreed Upon Lie?" Check out the blog and MCV Egan's great book, "The Bridge of Deaths."  Today Harriett Ann Jacobs!

http://ishistorytheagreeduponlie.blogspot.com/2013/12/forgotten-women-of-history-by-joan.html

Harriett Ann Jacobs

Today we turn our astrological radar on another largely forgotten African American hero, Harriett Ann Jacobs. She was born into slavery in Edentown, North Carolina on Feb 11, 1813 to an owner who sexually abused her for years. When she turned fourteen, he built her a cabin away from the main house so that his wife would not learn of his abuse. In a desperate attempt at freedom, she took a white lover, Samuel Sawyer, who despite being a lawyer was unable to free her from the abusive Dr. James Norcom. Norcom created a convoluted “ownership” contract that kept Harriett and the two children she had with Sawyer his property.

In 1835, unable to stand the abuse any longer, she escaped and for seven years lived in a nine by seven foot, rodent infested crawl space in her grandmother’s shack where she was able to only catch glimpses of and hear her children occasionally. This is a horrible situation for any mother and made doubly so for Jacobs born with her Moon in Cancer, the sign of the mother nurturer.  (Sawyer eventually bought his own children from Norcom but never freed them.)

When she finally made her way to freedom and Philadelphia, she became involved in the Anti-Slavery Reading Room and other abolitionist programs. However, following the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act, Harriett shuttled between Boston and New York, often in hiding, until a friend officially bought her freedom for $300.

That demand for freedom despite all odds and at all costs is a quality of Ms. Jacobs’ South Node in Aquarius. (For a full explanation of the North and South Node, roles in an astrological chart see my previous entry on Ida Wells.) Coming from past lives as a freedom loving Aquarian the horrors of slavery were exceptional hard for her to bear. Freedom for Aquarians is as precious as air.

Upon learning that Harriet Beecher Stowe might use her story in a book Harriet’s Aquarius energy again demanded freedom. This time it was the freedom to write her own book. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl opened the eyes of many of Northern churchwoman to the ravages of slavery on a “woman’s chastity” and made the world aware of what few spoke about for generations – slave rape. During and after the Civil War she aided the adoption of children orphaned by slavery and worked with slave–refugee groups using her celebrity to raise money.

By writing her own book and telling her own story, Ms. Jacobs was using the talents of her South Node – her relentless quest for freedom – in service to her North Node – the sign opposite Aquarius, Leo. Leo demands attention. She had the inner strength to know that no one could tell her story as well as she, not even the revered Ms. Stowe

As a slave and then a run-away Ms. Jacobs never had a meal fit for a Leo, the King of the Zodiac. Had I the chance to cook for her from my book, ‘Signs of the Tines: The Ultimate Astrological Cookbook” I would chose a dish a designated for Leo, my Lobster Ravioli with Mushrooms and Sage Cream Sauce.” I only hope that somewhere in her later years she tasted something that luxurious. It would have suited her well.