IN 213 YEARS

IN 213 YEARS

Sun conjunct Galactic Center

12/18/2012 @ 27° 01' 52 Sagittarius
12/21/2225 29° 59' Sagittarius
12/21/2226 00° 00' Capricorn -- the location of the Galactic Center

It is cute and a reminder of our smallness in the scheme of things. In order to have a photograph of our Milky Way Galaxy though, you would need a vantage point from outside of the galaxy, and a good ways away in order to fit the whole thing in the viewfinder. So this picture is a gotcha from whoever started it. It is actually a photo of the Andromeda Galaxy.

The Milky Way Galaxy is organized into spiral arms of giant stars that illuminate interstellar gas and dust. Our Sun is in a finger called the Orion Spur. Some of the brightest stars and most famous celestial objects of this constellation (Betelgeuse, Rigel, the stars of Orion's Belt, the Orion Nebula) are neighbors of sorts to our sun, located within the Orion Arm. When we look at it, we're looking into our own local spiral arm. This is not a photograph, it is a portrait. To photograph our galaxy, you'd have to be outside of it, and that's a long, long way.
For more visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/gallery/galaxy-location.html
http://earthsky.org/space/does-our-sun-reside-in-a-spiral-arm-of-the-milky-way-galaxy

Hello fans of Astrology in Astrophysics. Doing some cleanup on one of my computers I came upon these calculations that I'd made for the 2012 whoop-de-do. Then as now I prefer to stick to the astrology that I know, and not suddenly jump on a Mayan track and pretend that I know something about Mayan astrology. Not necessarily part of the Mayan thing was the notion, that at the time of the Winter Solstice, also known as the Winter Equinox, that the solstice Sun, viewed from Earth, would be exactly on the Galactic Center in that alignment looking toward the Sun from the Earth (GC then, behind the Sun). Imagine the center of our galaxy (we call the Milky Way, aka Via Lactea) at the moment of the Equinox, that our Sun would transit or eclipse that precise center point.

I came upon this by accident and thought to use it here because it depicts the baloney of the so-called alignment of the 2012 Winter Solstice Sun with the Galactic Center. I was gratified to find the word BULLSHIT in the caption with it. Yes folks, it will be 210 years until the event. Then, the marker "C" will have the year 2225 beneath it.

In this photo (probably composit since it is such a huge chunk of space) we look toward the Galactic Center from Earth. It's a rather unpreposing part of the Galaxy. When we zoom in, and we have now, but I'll leave those photos for another time, we find a bright globe. That globe is made of light being sucked into the Black Hole there. I continue to be gratified and amazed at what space exploration has given us in such a short span of time. I know that this will spread out over the page, but I just can't bring myself to smallerize it.

I pointed out that would not occur until the year 2225 and 2226.  I may have said something along the lines of the carnival barker's "Close, but no cigar." Which I suppose was the prize for whacking the base lever with a big sledge hammer to send a weight up to ring the bell at the top, "Close, but no cigar." In fact, at the solstice in 2012, the Sun was just a teeny bit less than three entire degrees away from the center.

Here's another view with other galaxies, stars, and objects identified. The letters are abbreviations for astronomical catalogues-published lists of known stars, nebulae, supernova remnants, galaxies, and other objects in space.

The New General Catalogue (NGC) was originally published in 1888 by the Royal Astronomical Society and lists 7,840 objects.

The Index Catalogue (IC) lists an additional 5,286 galaxies, nebulae, and star clusters discovered between 1888 and 1907.

Names with the letter M are Messier objects, named after Charles Messier, a French astronomer. In the 1760s and 70s, he hunted comets and made a list of the 103 objects he found that looked like, but were not comets. All Messier objects can be seen with binoculars or small telescopes under clear, dark skies.
From:
http://www.mnh.si.edu/exhibits/evolving-universe/science/kidcat.htm

These are undeniably exciting times, before and after 2012, but there are real astrological events that fit our reality quite well. We'll have to wait until 2225 for whatever is implied by the solstice Sun exactly conjunct the Galactic Center.

Aloha!


© Copyright 2015 Tim Rubald

On Retrogrades ~ March 2014

On Retrogrades

(Boogah-Boogah)

March 2014

by Tim Rubald, C.A. NCGR-PAA, C.A.P. ISAR

Oh, no! Now MARS!

          A lot of astrologers, astrology writers, and speakers that I know of seem to love retrogrades because those provide a reason to pull out a box of clichés that help inject something different into their words about a particular planet. The idea is that a retrograde serves to take the wind out of the sails of the retrograde body, or to weaken, twist, or impede its message. We are in a period now when we can evaluate four planets’ retrogradation to see just how much the clichéd approach holds up.

          Mercury retrograde is famous for communications problems. My phone went on the fritz, and that’s interfered with my communications in very obvious ways. Demonstrably, some Mercury retrograde clichés are supported. But there’s a yang to that yin. In the same period, of my phone trouble, I’ve had some of the best and most inspired spurts of all sorts of communications that I’ve ever had; writing, consulting, speaking, and communicating with others in general. On the other hand, some of those “brilliant” bits have been completely misconstrued to the extent of me singing the classic, “Please Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood”* to more than one person during the retrograde.

* Writers: Sol Marcus, Ray Charles, Gloria Caldwell, and Bennie Benjamin by whom it is copyright.

          Much of what writers and speakers say about retrogrades holds up; but often for the wrong reasons. Fifty years of observation have taught me that a retrograde planet is not weakened, and it is certainly not going the “wrong” direction.

          An astrologers’ group of which I am a life member, the Organization for Professional Astrology (www.opaastrology.com), poses a question to the membership each month. This time, fittingly, the question was about retrogradation.

          The retrogrades referred to are (USA dates):

Mercury Rx         February    6                 03° 20’        Pisces

Mercury D           February    28               18° 10’        Aquarius

Mars Rx               March         1                 27° 32’        Libra

Mars D                May            19               09° 02’        Libra

Jupiter Rx            November 6/7, 2013    20° 31’        Cancer

Jupiter D              March         6                 10° 26’        Cancer

Saturn Rx            March         2                 23° 19’        Scorpio

Saturn D              July            20               16° 39’        Scorpio

“Since we have an incredibly packed retrograde period, with 4 stations [the body or point appears to stand still as it moves from direct to retrograde motion or vice versa] this week (Mercury and Jupiter go direct, Saturn and Mars go retro), and ... [we] are in the midst of a back to back retro season, (Venus retro in January, Mercury retro in February, and Mars going retro in March), well the question BEGS to be about Retrogrades!” --- Maurice Fernandez, OPA Community Outreach Director

Question: What in your view is the most important thing to consider or apply with retrograde cycles?

          There is a long, even traditional, misunderstanding of retrograde motion in the astrology kingdom. I say kingdom for metaphorical emphasis, not by accident. I’d say that some of what still holds with many astrologers, and even in recent books, may be correct, but for the wrong reasons, and some of what’s offered is just wrong. After more than fifty years of observing (observation is the best astrology teacher), I’ve learned to try and not fit astrology into the molds given historically. It’s a dance, without the historical track we’d have nothing, and since much offers a framework for understanding, I don’t for a moment suggest that we toss everything out and start over. I respect and am deeply grateful to my predecessors.

          You can get an idea of my approach by reading some of the articles I’ve put on my blog, http://astrology-startalk.blogspot.com/ There’s a search box under the name of the blog. For relevant articles, put “Mercury retrograde” in the box, and search. I’ve focused primarily on Mercury in my writing there, but retrograde misunderstanding applies to all of the planets’ retrogrades. While we generally assume that the Sun and Moon don’t retrograde; due to the Sun’s wobble about the barycenter (the center mass of the solar system), it does; not that often though (seven times in the last 3400 years).  There is much to say about retrogrades. When someone comes up with a challenge to long-held beliefs as I do, resistance is human. There’s a sort of fear factor, like “Oh, am I wrong? Is my teacher or the highly respected astrologer who wrote this book wrong?”

DOCTOR WHO

Just kidding, Nicolaus Copernicus (19 February 1473 – 24 May 1543) was a Renaissance mathematician and astronomer who formulated a heliocentric model of the universe which placed the Sun, rather than the Earth, at the center.

          The change I am proposing is subtle. What happens when perspective is shifted just a little? Why a body sometimes appears to retrograde has been known as long as a heliocentric solar system has been accepted. There are no retrogrades around the Sun at the center. It is the geocentric view that creates the phenomenon. Somehow a shading of “bad, backwards,” remains in astrologers’ retrograde delineations, even though most of them know that the Sun is the center (almost) and that the planets always move in one direction around it. A slight shift of viewpoint and I hope that we lose the problematic emphasis on retrogrades and increase our understanding. Then astrologers can impart a better refinement of life processes in work with clients (for those who do the interpersonal thing).

Nothing really goes backwards. Thanks, Nicky!

The basics: 

1) The planet is nearest Earth when retrograde (or the Earth is nearer the planet, Tweedledum/Tweedledee). 

2) There are 3-5 “hits” of a particular longitude (the Signs are measures of longitude) that retrograde motion allows. That means that a point in your chart may be aspected or “hit” by a retrograde planet three to five times due to retrogradation.

          Let's see what happens when we bring those two factors to greater attention, and give a little less attention to a planet’s “negative qualities” due to its apparent backward motion

2003 but you get the idea. The ECLIPTIC is a great circle the plane of which passes through the center of the Sun as well as through the center of the Earth.  The Ecliptic also corresponds closely to the plane of the orbits of the other major planets around the Sun. The Sun is always smack in the middle of the Ecliptic. The Sun is behind us as we look toward Mars from this starship observation deck. Another way to say that is the Sun is opposite Mars, or, the Earth is between the Sun and Mars, or, the Earth and Mars are on the same side of the Sun. All of those are equivalent. This example works for all of the planets outside of Earth's orbit. For how it works for the planets inside Earth's orbit, Mercury and Venus, see the illustration in this article http://astrology-startalk.blogspot.com/2014/02/how-to-cope-when-mercurys-retrograde.html

Question: Do you have anything to share about the coming Mars Retrograde cycle in Libra?

          As suggested, a retrograde planet may be (to me it is will be) in greater focus. While my mentor (one of several I’ve been blessed with), Zip Dobyns, would say, “There’s no such thing as a bad planet.” When you are talking about Mars, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, I think you may notice, at least, experience out of our comfort zones.

          From the “handed down realm” here’s this from Devore’s Encyclopedia: “This proximity of Mars to the Earth . . . considerably augments the strength of its reception ... signal strength ... Wilson ... attributes it to a wave of robberies, vicious murders and calamities.” I don’t throw these notions out, but look to appreciate them in the entire range of Martian expression, that of the traditional malefic, as well as from Zip’s notion of no bad planets. [I hope to write more about Mars Rx soon.]

 Question: Do you pay attention to planets beyond Mars’ (from Jupiter and on) retrograde cycle?

          All planetary motion interests me.

Question: The Nodes natural motion is retrograde; do you find any different significance to the Nodes going DIRECT?

          Our Moon nodes’ mean motion is retrograde; their “true” motion includes a kind of stuttering that includes stations and bits of direct motion. While I’ve opted for True placement in chart work, as far as transits go, I find the changes or “effects” if you will, of the True Lunar Nodes, unremarkable. I may be missing something, but I’ve found no reason to delve more deeply there. All of the planets have a nodal axis but I’m assuming the question is about the lunar nodes. Planetary and lunar nodes have much to contribute, but one can’t focus on everything.

* See Tables of Planetary Phenomena, Neil F. Michelsen, page 6.

Copyright © Tim Rubald 2014

Tim Rubald, C.A. NCGR-PAA, C.A.P. ISAR

http://astrology-startalk.blogspot.com/

facebook.com/Tim.Rubalds.Astrology

tweeting @startalker

Your Valentine ~ The Sun is the Heart

The Sun is the Heart

Tim Rubald

           

Here is a light look at how the Sun expresses vitality, warmth, and energy through each of the twelve Signs in terms of romance, love and desire.  The Sun is only one of several horoscope factors that contribute to how an individual will express these things.

The idea that Sun Signs (there are twelve, each approximately thirty days long in a year) may be useful for analysis and prediction comes out of an astrological understanding of the Sun.  In astrology and astronomy (the straight laced child of astrology) the Sun is the center of our solar system.  By means of a system of correspondences, astrology recognizes the Sun in the horoscope as representing a person’s center (in several senses of the word).  In terms of the body the Sun is representative of the heart, the life sustaining core of a person.

The division of the ecliptic into twelve Signs has the Sun expressing through each Sign as through a lens or filter.  The lens qualifies how the “heart energy” of the Sun expresses.  Other factors further color the expression of passion and romance.  The Sign’s influence on the Sun is only one of several important factors.

ARIES

The Aries heart is like the old Adidas “Just Do It” advertisement.  There is action and impatience.  Don’t make the Aries heart wait and don’t slow it down in order to fulfill some notion of what love is about.  Appreciate Aries for its fearless and courageous march.  Give it reason to march your way and it may just do it.

TAURUS

The Taurus heart is like the steady, heady pulse of springtime.  It is bursting with beauty, sensuality, and a lust for touch, taste and luxury.  Don’t rush the Taurus heart.  Its love of life epitomizes the word savor.  Sample with it what the Taurus heart relishes and you become part of what that heart desires.  Appreciate its appreciation of the sense world and become a part of its world.

GEMINI

The Gemini heart is curious.  It wants to explore, not so much with some specific goal in mind but just to find out.  It's a mental kind of heart that fancies variety and experiment.  It is sensitive to nuance and subtlety.  Appeal to its love of variety with unpredictable gestures:  cards, letters, clippings, magazines, books, e-mail, aps, and URLs for the Gemini heart to explore.

CANCER

The Cancer heart is a blend of sensitivity and power.  It has the nurturing and protective force of a mother bear.  Romance, sentimentality, and emotion touch this heart.  Mementos, things from the past to cherish and protect, invite the Cancer heart’s participation.  Praise (even flattery) feeds this heart.  Criticism damages it.  While the Gemini heart offers mental variety there’s never a dull emotional moment with the heart of Cancer.

LEO

The heart of the lion is loyal, generous, and idealistic.  It loves to offer its protection and loyalty in exchange for admiration.  It is the true peacock heart, extravagant, ostentatious, and lordly.  It is inspiring and lively essentially within its own world.  Make the Leo heart your world and it returns great faith in you. 

VIRGO

The shy, Virgo heart is dutiful, affectionate and faithful.  It appreciates (loves?) order and method.  The Virgo heart likes “the real thing,” what is practical, what is felt and touched, held and compared.  It is discriminating to the degree that its appreciation is honor in itself.  Rather than compromise the Virgo heart may become self-sufficient.  If you are in doubt as to what it requires, this passionate treasure of a heart gives directions.

LIBRA

 The Libra heart is a companion.  It lives for sympathy and understanding.  It is so idealistic that it is hard to satisfy this heart in love.  It is not a hard heart though; it is surprisingly mental, ever imagining the pleasantest of worlds.  Win this heart with beauty and avoid “reality therapy.”  Flattery is not wasted on the Libra heart.  It craves appreciation.  Avoid what are ugly and unpleasant and nurture this heart with any kind of beauty.

SCORPIO

Thanks to stereotyping clichés, the Scorpio heart supposedly responds only to sex.  Sex isn’t the whole picture though.  The Scorpio heart is a proud heart.  It can be as comfortable with what to many might be excess in physical love as it is with continence and self control.  The love of this heart can be deep and lasting.  It lives in a world of emotion, the depth of emotion from which all “active” emotions arise.  The Scorpio heart lives in extremes of emotion, not in any middle ground.  It is the real thing. Don’t play here unless you understand.

 

Ummm, New Mexico chile

SAGITTARIUS

The Sagittarius heart blossoms in nature, in the out of doors, in freedom.  Put it behind walls or in a cage and it will wither.  It is so friendly, and its actions are so human and attractive, that its flirtations might appear to be more than they are.  For this heart, flirtation is just an exercise of friendliness, of play.  This is the heart that aphorism seems written for, "If you love something, set it free.  If it comes back to you, it is yours."  The Sag heart feeds on the broadest possible range of experience, beyond any limits of thought or imagination.  Win this heart with playful kindness. 

CAPRICORN

The Capricorn heart is ambitious, has goals, and appreciates material advantage.  There is a sense of calculation with the Capricorn heart.  Once the “externals” are understood, the heart of the Sea Goat is as passionate and sexual as Scorpio; as sensual and physical as any Bull (Taurus) in a meadow at the bursting climax of Spring.  Care for this heart and it will take care of business, be dutiful, and take care of everything that needs managing.

AQUARIUS

The Aquarius heart is mental and humanitarian.  It is nothing if not fair.  It is not that it is uncomfortable with emotion; it is just that for Aquarius, emotion seems to happen in the mind where it becomes rational.  The Aquarius heart can seem scientific that way.  Its greatest gift is one of friendship.  Even though it can be oriented in a democratic way and have an intimate sense of the future, don’t expect wildness (craziness and unpredictability yes) as the Water Bearer’s heart may hold and apply rigid moral convictions.  It is the water of Spirit and focused ideal that is carried, not that of syrupy emotion.  Allow the Aquarius heart in by allowing it to be helpful; praise and compliment and it’s yours.

PISCES

For the sweetest of sloppy emotion take the Pisces heart.  It is more than simple charity, more than plain sympathy, more than hospitality, kindness and generosity.  Take this heart as far as you can imagine and it goes farther.  The Pisces heart is so intuitive, receptive, and mediumistic that you can break it before you do.  Walk gently with this heart please, however impractical, inefficient, swayed, and tempted by emotion it may be.  This heart swims in a sea of emotional excitement; dive in, only if you are a strong swimmer.

© 2000-2014 Tim Rubald

startalker@aol.com

Helping conscious people to understand their life cycles and to optimize their timing for success.

STARTALK Beltane 2019

The Sun at 15° 00’ Taurus marks the cross-quarter day.

There is a distinction between the calendar accident of May Day, May 1, and Beltane,  a seasonally dated holy day. It occurs this year at the Spring/Summer midpoint at 8:43 AM UT/GMT May 5, 9:43 AM BST, 4:43 AM EDT, 3:43 AM CDT, 2:43 MDT, 1:43 AM PDT, all May 5; and May 4 in Hawai’i at10:43 PM HST.

Back in the day, all the hearth fires would be extinguished on Beltane eve. A new fire would be lighted made of four sacred woods. The fire would be started with oak wood, by friction. The Druid would then hand torches lighted in the sacred fire that were carried back down the hill (the fire would be lighted at the highest place) to restart the village hearth fires. A happy party would carry on all night at the sacred fire. The Druid would make sure this happened when it was supposed to, at the true cross-quarter. He'd scoff at a calendar determined date. "What is this calendar that is so inaccurate that a day must be added every four years? What? Do you think that Beltane is Thanksgiving or something?"

This time in the year has been celebrated for thousands of years with holidays, holy days, and festivals. I can remember in my toddler-hood walking around the Maypole holding a ribbon and not having a clue about what was going on, but enjoying the color and chaos.  May Day in this country became associated with workers rights and labor unions until, in the Fifties armies, tanks, and rockets, with red stars, came this way on TV, and in Life and Look magazines to show the Soviet “hijacking” of May Day.  May Day festivities fell off in the U.S.A. lest we be affiliated with the godless communists.

Doc Rowe writes in his MayDay: The Coming of Spring:  “Today, Mayday for many is associated with Anti-capitalist demonstrations; however, Mayday originated as a pagan festive holy day celebrating the first spring planting. The Celts and Saxons celebrated May 1st as Beltane, which means the day of fire (Bel was the Celtic god of the sun). [No, May 1st is a result of the calendar change; the true Beltane date is astronomically based. The 1st has become the popular date; it is not true to the season cycle roots of tradition.]

“Celebrations began on the eve of Mayday with feasts marking the end of winter and the return of the sun. These celebrations continued in Britain until the 1700's when they were outlawed by the church.”

For the ancient Gaelic holiday, Beltane, the astronomical day is usually May 5. On the night of May 4, the sacred fire of four holy woods is put together to be lit with a friction fire started with oak. The bonfire is assembled at the highest point in the area, and all hearth fires are extinguished. All fires are snuffed out. The people assemble and the Druid (priest) lights the fire. From the sacred fire torches are lit and the new fire is carried back to the homes. In some areas fires might be lighted and livestock walked between the fires to purify them that they bear healthy young. Then, there’s a bit of carrying on, dancing, partying and ... well, see the end of the quotation from the grumpy puritan, Philip Stubbes, that follows.

To Philip Stubbes in his Anatomie of Abuses (1583), holidays such as Beltane licensed immoral behavior. His is a puritan’s nightmare of revelry and debauchery.

“Against May, Whitsunday or other time, all the young men and maids, old men and wives run gadding overnight to the woods, groves, hills and mountains, where they spend all the night in pleasant pastimes, and in the morning they return, bringing with them birch and branches of trees, to deck their assemblies withal, and no marvel, for there is a great Lord present amongst them, as superintendent and Lord over their pastimes and sports, namely Satan prince of hell. But the chiefest jewel they bring from thence is their Maypole, which they bring home with great veneration, as thus: They have twenty of forty yoke of Oxen, every Ox having a sweet nosegay of flowers placed on the tip of his horns, and these

Oxen draw home this Maypole (this stinking Idol rather) which is covered all over with flowers, and herbs bound ’round about with strings from the top to the bottom, and sometime painted with variable colours, with two or three hundred men, women, and children following it with great devotion. And thus being reared up, with handkerchiefs and flags hovering on the top, they straw the ground ’round about, bind green boughs about it, set up summer halls, bowers and arbors hard by it. And then fall they to dance about it like as the heathen people did at the dedication of the Idols, whereof this is a perfect pattern, or rather the thing itself. I have heard it credibly reported . . . that of forty, threescore, or a hundred maids going to the wood overnight, there have scarcely the third part of them returned home again undefiled.”

 

A more friendly appreciation of the ancient rite was offered by the great Rudyard Kipling. This from his poem, A Tree Song.

Oh, do not tell the Priest our plight,
  Or he would call it a sin;
But--we have been out in the woods all night,
  A-conjuring Summer in!
And we bring you news by word of mouth-
  Good news for cattle and corn--
Now is the Sun come up from the South,
  With Oak, and Ash, and Thorn!

Today the Sun is in the center or the Fixed Earth Sign, Taurus.  In his book, The Pulse of Life, Dane Rudhyar writes:  “‘Production’ is a key-word with Taurus.  Everything which Taurus touches should be productive if it is at all to be considered as significant.  But production depends upon the control of the basic energies of human or earthly nature.  . . . Taurus insists on making energy productive. . . . Productive energy—energy which is controlled and formed—is power.  Thus Taurus is a power-Sign of the Zodiac. It is one of the four great moments of the year-cycle when life operates definitely and creatively in terms of power and purpose. [Taurus is one of the] gates through which power and purpose are released and experienced.”

Enjoy our path to Summer, friends. Remember, Tim is available for personal appointments. Just drop an email to STARTALKER@aol.com. Mahalo.

WHEEL OF THE YEAR

Copyright © 2006-2013 Tim Rubald. All rights reserved.

The Sun is the Heart (Your Valentine)

The Sun is the Heart

Something for St. Valentine's Day 

by astrologer Tim Rubald

         

Here is a light look at how the Sun expresses vitality, warmth, and energy through each of the twelve Signs in terms of romance, love and desire.  The Sun is only one of several horoscope factors that contribute to how an individual will express these things.

The idea that Sun Signs (there are twelve, each approximately thirty days long in a year) may be useful for analysis and prediction comes out of an astrological understanding of the Sun.  In astrology and astronomy (the straight laced child of astrology) the Sun is the center of our solar system.  By means of a system of correspondences, astrology recognizes the Sun in the horoscope as representing a person’s center (in several senses of the word).  In terms of the body the Sun is representative of the heart, the life sustaining core of a person.

The division of the ecliptic into twelve Signs has the Sun expressing through each Sign as through a lens or filter.  The lens qualifies how the “heart energy” of the Sun expresses.  Other factors further color the expression of passion and romance.  The Sign’s influence on the Sun is only one of several important factors.

ARIES

The Aries heart is like the old Adidas “Just Do It” advertisement.  There is action and impatience.  Don’t make the Aries heart wait and don’t slow it down in order to fulfill some notion of what love is about.  Appreciate Aries for its fearless and courageous march.  Give it reason to march your way and it may just do it.

TAURUS

The Taurus heart is like the steady, heady pulse of springtime.  It is bursting with beauty, sensuality, and a lust for touch, taste and luxury.  Don’t rush the Taurus heart.  Its love of life epitomizes the word savor.  Sample with it what the Taurus heart relishes and you become part of what that heart desires.  Appreciate its appreciation of the sense world and become a part of its world.

GEMINI

The Gemini heart is curious.  It wants to explore, not so much with some specific goal in mind but just to find out.  It's a mental kind of heart that fancies variety and experiment.  It is sensitive to nuance and subtlety.  Appeal to its love of variety with unpredictable gestures:  cards, letters, clippings, magazines, books, e-mail, aps, and URLs for the Gemini heart to explore.

CANCER

The Cancer heart is a blend of sensitivity and power.  It has the nurturing and protective force of a mother bear.  Romance, sentimentality, and emotion touch this heart.  Mementos, things from the past to cherish and protect, invite the Cancer heart’s participation.  Praise (even flattery) feeds this heart.  Criticism damages it.  While the Gemini heart offers mental variety there’s never a dull emotional moment with the heart of Cancer.

LEO

The heart of the lion is loyal, generous, and idealistic.  It loves to offer its protection and loyalty in exchange for admiration.  It is the true peacock heart, extravagant, ostentatious, and lordly.  It is inspiring and lively essentially within its own world.  Make the Leo heart your world and it returns great faith in you. 

VIRGO

The shy, Virgo heart is dutiful, affectionate and faithful.  It appreciates (loves?) order and method.  The Virgo heart likes “the real thing,” what is practical, what is felt and touched, held and compared.  It is discriminating to the degree that its appreciation is honor in itself.  Rather than compromise the Virgo heart may become self-sufficient.  If you are in doubt as to what it requires, this passionate treasure of a heart gives directions.

LIBRA

 The Libra heart is a companion.  It lives for sympathy and understanding.  It is so idealistic that it is hard to satisfy this heart in love.  It is not a hard heart though; it is surprisingly mental, ever imagining the pleasantest of worlds.  Win this heart with beauty and avoid “reality therapy.”  Flattery is not wasted on the Libra heart.  It craves appreciation.  Avoid what are ugly and unpleasant and nurture this heart with any kind of beauty.

SCORPIO

Thanks to stereotyping clichés, the Scorpio heart supposedly responds only to sex.  Sex isn’t the whole picture though.  The Scorpio heart is a proud heart.  It can be as comfortable with what to many might be excess in physical love as it is with continence and self control.  The love of this heart can be deep and lasting.  It lives in a world of emotion, the depth of emotion from which all “active” emotions arise.  The Scorpio heart lives in extremes of emotion, not in any middle ground.  It is the real thing. Don’t play here unless you understand.

SAGITTARIUS

The Sagittarius heart blossoms in nature, in the out of doors, in freedom.  Put it behind walls or in a cage and it will wither.  It is so friendly, and its actions are so human and attractive, that its flirtations might appear to be more than they are.  For this heart, flirtation is just an exercise of friendliness, of play.  This is the heart that aphorism seems written for, "If you love something, set it free.  If it comes back to you, it is yours."  The Sag heart feeds on the broadest possible range of experience, beyond any limits of thought or imagination.  Win this heart with playful kindness. 

CAPRICORN

The Capricorn heart is ambitious, has goals, and appreciates material advantage.  There is a sense of calculation with the Capricorn heart.  Once the “externals” are understood, the heart of the Sea Goat is as passionate and sexual as Scorpio; as sensual and physical as any Bull (Taurus) in a meadow at the bursting climax of Spring.  Care for this heart and it will take care of business, be dutiful, and take care of everything that needs managing.

AQUARIUS

The Aquarius heart is mental, and humanitarian.  It is nothing if not fair.  It is not that it is uncomfortable with emotion; it is just that for Aquarius, emotion seems to happen in the mind where it becomes rational.  The Aquarius heart can seem scientific that way.  Its greatest gift is one of friendship.  Even though it can be oriented in a democratic way and have an intimate sense of the future, don’t expect wildness (craziness and unpredictability yes) as the Water Bearer’s heart may hold and apply rigid moral convictions.  It is the water of Spirit and focused ideal that is carried, not that of syrupy emotion.  Allow the Aquarius heart in by allowing it to be helpful; praise and compliment and it’s yours.

PISCES

For the sweetest of sloppy emotion take the Pisces heart.  It is more than simple charity, more than plain sympathy, more than hospitality, kindness and generosity.  Take this heart as far as you can imagine and it goes farther.  The Pisces heart is so intuitive, receptive, and mediumistic that you can break it before you do.  Walk gently with this heart please, however impractical, inefficient, swayed, and tempted by emotion it may be.  This heart swims in a sea of emotional excitement; dive in, only if you are a strong swimmer.

© 2000-2012 Tim Rubald

startalker@aol.com

Helping conscious people in transition or crisis to understand their life cycles and optimize their timing for success.

NEPTUNE STILL on November 9, 2011

NEPTUNE STILL on November 9, 2011
 

Neptune stations today (the still point where we look out to the solar system toward that planet and due mostly to our orbital motion about the Sun Neptune changes from backward to forward against the measuring dial of the Tropical Zodiac) which means, it resumes forward motion. For a few days though Neptune has pretty much not been moving and that will be the case for a few more days to come.

Neptune (discovered 9/23/1846 in Berlin) is a slow mover anyway, taking about 164.79 years to orbit the Sun, 14 years in a Sign, moving about two degrees a year, and due to how we view and track Neptune's motion through the Zodiac it appears to spend about 5 months of every 12 in backward, retrograde, motion. That slowness and infrequency is one of the factors that make a Neptune station (change of direction) special.

I saw a fellow on the beach the other day burning a drawing into a piece of flat driftwood. He used a hand magnifier to focus the sun's rays to burn in a design. When the alignment is right and steady the focal energy is powerful enough to burn the wood. Similarly, when a planet reaches a station point it is as though it is in a similar state of high focus. That's what we have now with Neptune.

Neptune is the planet of the Great Dream, of emotional absolutes like Truth, Love, Beauty, and of the higher realms of music and art. What first came to mind as I allowed the Neptunian flow today (after bravely resisting an impulse to meditate - which by the way is an excellent idea when Neptune is emphasized) was the Lovin' Spoonful song that I've been a fan of since it first hit the airwaves in 1966, "What a day for a daydream,"  begins the tune, Daydream.
 

I just wanted to point out Neptune's station today and suggest that on the one hand it's okay and appropriate to give time to your dream, and, on the other hand, that a bit more concentration is in order if you have a job in something that requires critical exactitude (like an air-traffic controller) or even in, as drug labels may say, driving or operating machinery. That applies any time Neptune is in emphasis.

While I'm not a big fan of degree symbols, I will point out that the most popular symbols, The Sabian Symbols give this for the degree of Neptune's station today:  28-29 deg Aquarius - A Butterfly Emerging From A Chrysalis.  Isn't that special?