October 2008

Greener Pastures Conversations with the Moon The full moon of October takes place on Tuesday, October 14 at 1:03pm Pacific Time, in the vedic lunar sign of Revati. This is a time of massive transition. (Is that stating the obvious?) Revati is associated with a shepherd deity, who leads his flocks from pasture to pasture, in search of nourishment. Revati is the last portion of the zodiac, and as such is a volatile place. It suggests in-between times - moving from the ending of one thing to the beginning of another, from one pasture to another, one paradigm to another, even one life to another. What nourishes you? Pay attention to the simple little things that engender well-being. Write this day into your calendar: Tuesday, October 28, 4:14pm Pacific Time - the New Moon in Swati. The Moon in this part of the sky will highlight broadcasting of all kinds. People the world over are paying attention. Swati is associated with the wind, and the wind is thought to broadcast ideas, reputations, rumors, threats, viruses, wildfires and rain. Be careful to choose your information sources wisely. Be selective about what and how much information you ingest. One widely employed meditation technique reminds us to "return to the breath" when the mind is taking you down a rabbit hole. See if you can remember to "return to the breath" again and again, for the full two weeks after the new moon.

Planning & Scheduling Living in Accord with the Seasons Mercury goes direct on Wed. Oct. 15. Any logjams of the past 3 weeks in information, machines, technology, scheduling, and contractual agreements should open up and flow more now. The Sun joins Mars in vedic Libra on Fri. 10/17, symbolizing the human ambition to bring things into balance. Mercury joins Sun and Mars in Libra on Sat. 11/1. Opinions are vehement. Contention. Venus moves through Scorpio from Oct. 14 to Nov. 8, exchanging signs with Mars in Libra. The contradictory human urges to wield power, and to be liked, are experienced by us all. November's Presidential Election promises to be a dramatic time, with Saturn opposing Uranus on Tues. Nov 4, (a clash between the old authority and the new); a distribution of planets between the Moon's nodes spanning the 8th through the 2nd houses of the U.S. chart, from Oct. 23 - Nov. 3, showing intensified events in the global financial markets deeply affecting the U.S.; and Venus conjoining Pluto in Sagittarius on Wed. Nov 12 (underhanded uses of power and popularity). On election day: Moon is conjunct Rahu in Capricorn. Government losing its mind? Mars aspects Moon/Rahu. Angered officials. Saturn aspects Mercury, Sun, Mars. Disagreements, delays, deadlocks.

The World Is Too Much with Us by William Wordsworth The world is too much with us; late and soon, Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers; Little we see in Nature that is ours; We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon! This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon; The winds that will be howling at all hours, And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers; For this, for everything, we are out of tune; It moves us not. Great God! I'd rather be A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn; So might I, standing on this pleasant lea, Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn; Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea; Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn.

April 2008

Planning & Scheduling Living in Accord with the Seasons The Sun has moved into vedic Aries, bringing movement, flirtation, light-heartedness and play. Mercury joins the Sun in Aries for the 2nd half of April, coming aboveground for some quick and progress-interested communications. Write these dates into your calendar: May 26 - June 18, Mercury is retrograde. Review, rewrite, edit, comb through for accuracy. Wait until after June 18 to initiate projects or sign contracts. Leave plenty of time to get home from Memorial Day weekend on Monday the 26th. Venus moves into vedic Aries on April 26, and stays there until May 21. Expect some exuberant and fun displays of affection, between friends, lovers, loved ones. Venus moves into vedic Taurus from May 21 - June 13, a time for sensual enjoyments. Mars finishes his unusually long (6.5 month long) soujourn through vedic Gemini, moving into Cancer for a short month and a half. You may feel a movement away from exploring all the options, and toward setting up your home and inner environments for stability - establishing a solid "basecamp." Mars and Saturn will join up in July in vedic Leo, signifying a period of pushing through to finish up a piece of work, leaving little time for cocooning. So get the cocoon set up now. Jupiter retrogrades through vedic Sag. as of May 9th, for roughly 4 months, getting us to review new understandings, implement new teachings, research new opportunities. Uranus and Saturn continue to travel in opposite signs in the sky, a dance they will do for the next 4 years or so. This represents our collective questioning of the rigidity in tradition and scrutinizing the naivete in innovation. Saturn turns direct, (after having been retrograde since Dec. 19), encouraging practical actions taken toward addressing any life limitations, obligations or losses. Neptune conjoins Rahu in Aquarius for the last week in April and the first week in May, creating an actual weather possibility around unusually strong thunder and lightning storms, and stormy seas. Maybe postpone the boat cruise?...

Broadcasting Conversations with the Moon This month, the full moon takes place on Sunday, April 20th, at 3:27am PDT, in the vedic lunar sign of Swati. This lunar sign is connected to mass distribution, of ideas, understandings, and the seeds of intentions. The full moon in this constellation brings full flowering to messages or findings that are ripe for distribution, in many forms, such as novels, news broadcasts and podcasts and webcasts, music, classes and trainings, and announcements. Creative projects receive an extra dose of momentum since this moon's ruler Venus is currently so strong. So if you have something you've been waiting for the right moment to release, and it feels fully formed, now's a time when your world is listening. For a taste of the power of this Swati full moon, download the free podcast from iTunes, of Oprah conducting a 10-week class with Eckhart Tolle, on his new book, "A New Earth." Write this day into your calendar: Monday, May 5 - the New Moon in Bharani. The weekend leading up to this new moon is an absolutely excellent time for spring cleaning.

the interview by Ani DiFranco how can one talk on the role of politics in art when art is activism and anyway both are just a lifelong light shining through a swinging prism

May 2007

Broadcasting Pieces of Your Dream Watching the Vedic Moon The Full Moon of May 2007, happens on Wednesday, May 2nd at 3:10am Pacific Time, in the lunar sign of Swati. This full moon bears the energy of unimpeded broadcast - swift vibrational movement that carries your ideas, plans, announcements and intentions, far and wide. The Swati full moon time can be restless and moving, like the Wind. It can be a time of learning and study, since things are in motion, and ideas have circulation. It can be a time of positive forward momentum. Know your intentions during this full moon, because the broadcast signal of those intentions is particularly strong right now. Understand that all your thoughts are seeds, and be mindful about which seeds you'll broadcast.

Planning & Scheduling Living In Accord With The Seasons Mars moves into Pisces, mid-May, while Venus is in Gemini for most of the month. With both planets of desire in mutable signs, we may find ourselves wanting one thing one minute, and another thing the next, especially in relationship. Saturn went direct on April 19th, and is finishing up business in Cancer before he moves on to Leo in July. Lessons begun last autumn (2006) around garnering emotional security are being revisited one final time during May and June. Neptune continues his opposition to Saturn, culminating in June 2007, stretching our inner polarity between magical thinking and practical progress. We may find ourselves looking frantically for familiar escape hatches, while simultaneously working harder than ever on a dream. The challenge during this time, is to allow inspiration to carry us through the perceived heaviness of our obligations. Mars and Pluto are in opposition on May 13 and 14. Pay attention to your own willfulness, and notice how you assert yourself.

The Poet's Obligation by Pablo Neruda To whoever is not listening to the sea this Friday morning, to whoever is cooped up in house or office, factory or woman or street or mine or harsh prison cell: to him I come, and, without speaking or looking, I arrive and open the door of his prison, and a vibration starts up, vague and insistent, a great fragment of thunder sets in motion the rumble of the planet and the foam, the raucous rivers of the ocean flood, the star vibrates swiftly in its corona, and the sea is beating, dying and continuing. So, drawn on by my destiny, I ceaselessly must listen to and keep the sea's lamenting in my awareness, I must feel the crash of the hard water and gather it up in a perpetual cup so that, wherever those in prison may be, wherever they suffer the autumn's castigation, I may be there with an errant wave, I may move, passing through windows, and hearing me, eyes will glance upward saying, "How can I reach the sea?" And I shall broadcast, saying nothing, the starry echoes of the wave, a breaking up of foam and of quicksand, a rustling of salt withdrawing, the grey cry of sea-birds on the coast. So, through me, freedom and the sea will make their answer to the shuttered heart.