Whole Astrology

photo by Patricia Herlevi A Musical Analogy to the Planets I had no idea what I would blog about this week, then an astrologer, Tai, on the Linked In group Soul Astrology referred to the nodes as a "higher octave".  The concept of describing the lower and higher octaves of each planet popped into my thoughts. Even though many people scoff at astrology and don't believe that the planets have any power over their lives, they don't realize that they either resonate with the planets at a lower or higher octave. When we resonate at a higher octave with the Sun we feel centered, selfish in a good way, and we feel bright, warm, charming, and attractive (in the sense that we manifest our desires in our lives).  When it comes to creative pursuits, we are at the top of our game and might even feel like we're on a winning streak. We might even feel like we're just floating through life, getting along with everyone and we feel an abundance of joy. When we resona

I jumped on the quantum physics train in 2001 when I first heard about it, or possibly sooner than that.  Who can remember exact dates during this sped-up era? However, the law of attraction folks pulled me kicking and screaming, practically, towards their way of thinking.  I believe in astrology and I couldn't get my head around how astrology and law of attraction go together.  Could you imagine if law of attraction and astrology were two people on a date? Sparks would fly. Some astrologers believe that the planetary alignment that occurred during our birth shapes our destiny.  Predictive astrologers give us little leg room where as, evolutionary or transformational astrologers claim that we always have a choice about how we experience the planetary energies in our natal charts and transits.  Quantum physics, from the little I can figure out claims that we live within multiple universes or dimensions.  We live all our lives simultaneously and that anytime we're faced with

photo by Patricia Herlevi Whether you are aware of it or not, everyone feels the effects of a yod in the universal chart.  This yod involves slow moving planets, with Jupiter moving at the speed of one astrological sign a year.  It currently travels through Gemini.  And our two favorite planets (heh, heh), Pluto in Capricorn and Saturn in Scorpio (already an intriguing combination), form a yod with Jupiter. I don't do mundane astrology (though I would like to), but you can witness the effects of this yod (which formed on December 13) in the news headlines.  Uranus (not part of the yod yet) went direct also on December 13 and the new moon in Sagittarius soon going into void-of-course and moving into Capricorn also took place on December 13, right after the momentous 12-12-12 energy and the dark moon in the Galactic Center.  And speaking of the Galactic Center, Mercury began its transit into GC on December 11 and Venus moves into the GC on December 16.  With so many planets mov

Photo by Patricia Herlevi What I like most about astrology is its orderly system.  You have three qualities: Cardinal, Fixed, and Mutable, four elements: Fire, Earth, Air and Water, twelve houses and ten planets, if you don't count the micro planet Chiron or all those asteroids.  And another fun quality I discovered recently revolves around how the elements play out in charts and the qualities that bestows on the person with the chart. For instance if someone has over half their planets in the fire element, they are a Fire Starter, someone with a great deal of enthusiasm, passion and drive.  They came to this planet to inspire others, to light fires (hopefully in a good way), and to bring warmth and joy. photo by Patricia Herlevi Someone with half their planets in the water element, Conduits, soak everything in and color the world with emotions or feelings.  They are your psychic sponge who stay in touch with the cosmos.  If you need intuitive help, go to these folks. 

Saturn has endured centuries of getting a bad rap from astrologers.  And when word of mouth gets out it can cause some serious damage to Saturn's reputation as the ringed planet.  Saturn is the disciplinary parent no kid wants.  Saturn says, "no, not yet, please wait," when we're rearing to go.  Saturn reminds me of the mother who gave good advice which we tossed only to find out later the misery we could have saved ourselves.   Saturn slows us down, trips us when we run in the wrong direction, and reminds us constantly of this annoying law of cause and effect.  Yes, if you stub your toe on your bed frame it hurts.  If you drive recklessly you'll most likely end up in an accident. If you eat poison you will suffer illness.  That Saturn. But here's the good news.  When we wish to slow down some processes in life such as an expanding waistline or credit card debt, Saturn helps us.  While Jupiter urges us to expand, and live a merry life, and Mars demands his

Photo by Patricia Herlevi I actually planned to write a post about Saturn, the ruler of my natal chart, but Neptune woke me up last night.  Then for around two or three hours, my head buzzed with information about Neptune types.  Who exactly are the Neptune people? Do they resemble aliens, call themselves Indigo and act like they're more special than everyone else? Some do if they get caught in illusions, delusions of glamour.  But in reality, Neptune types either have one of the following traits in their charts, or multiple traits involving Neptune, Pisces, or the Twelfth House. You are a Neptune type if you have your natal Sun, Moon or Ascension in Pisces, if you have Pisces on the cusps of an angular house (1st, 4th, 7th or 10th houses) that would include having a Pisces Ascension, you have Sun, Moon, or Neptune in an angular house in Pisces or the Sun, Neptune, or Moon in your Twelfth House.  Other things to consider is if you have a stellium or cluster of planets in Pisc

(This is an archival article from 2012). Today I named the corner of Railroad Avenue and Magnolia Street in Bellingham, Washington, the Neptune corner.  This corner provides fodder for Pisceans and Neptune-types in the form of a record (CD) store, next to a tropical fish shop, next to another pet store and across the street from another record store--all things Neptune.  You will also find people with addictions and dealing with all kinds of social ills standing on the block next to the second music shop.  I mention, the downside of Neptune too.  You'll also find a smoke shop, a glass art store which is really a head shop (paraphernalia for marijuana users) and the drinking of alcohol on the street near this Neptune corner. At the bus station and police department across the street, music blasts out from a PA system meant to stop loitering, but the musical choices are only conscious for achieving this aim, 6 days out of the week, and not on the day rock music blares from the

Photo by Patricia Herlevi, Seattle, 2009 When I lived in Seattle, I knew an astrologer with the theory that we must master each of the planets to reach enlightenment and most people never get past Mars.  If  a person made it as far as mastering Saturn, they slowed down at Chiron or Uranus.  Needless to say, if we choose to learn the lessons of the planets we need to know what lessons each planet represents.  In addition, we also need to feel friendly towards the energies of those planets and stop all dualistic thinking in the guise of benefic and malific planets.  I fall prey to these beliefs too.  We have thousands of years of thinking in this regard behind us. Remember those medieval fortune tellers or even more closer to our time, the gypsy fortune tellers?  When the dark of the moon arrives, you will meet a tall stranger with ill intent because Saturn moves into your 8th house. Not many people jump up and down with joy when they find out that transiting Mars and transiting Ur

Even gods & planets need to rest Wikipedia As if the upcoming US Presidential election doesn't feel stressful enough, thanks to the hyperactive and hyper-phobic media, the communication planet, Mercury goes stationary retrograde on November 6, 2012.  And to further complicate the situation, Jupiter transiting in its opposite sign Sagittarius, although the orb is too wide to form an opposition between Mercury and Jupiter.  Okay, for those of you not familiar with a Mercury retrograde, let's back up a bit (pun intended). When the planet Mercury gets too far ahead of the transiting Sun (3 times a year), the planet appears to travel backwards, when in fact, it is the earth's rotation that causes this illusion.  Mercury isn't actually traveling backwards, even if I see a driver pulling out of a driveway onto a busy street, when I think of this astrological event.  If you speak to a fear-based astrologer, they will warn you about all the things that could go wrong

Dedicated to Dancer/Shaman/Healer Gabrielle Roth, who now dances with the planets I want to thank French astrologer Lune Soleil for inspiring this week's Whole Astrology post.  She had mentioned that Mercury and Neptune are influencing the presidential election in the US, and I envisioned these two planets dancing with each other.  Then I began to feel the energies of each planet and then the planets combined.  Oh, no, I thought, we are in big trouble. What does it look like when Mercury, the quick-silver planet of communication dances with foggy-oh-just-let-me-escape or rescue-me Neptune? Neptune tosses a ball of confusion Mercury's way and both planets wallow in the emotional drama posed by water signs (Pisces and Scorpio respectively). The trance that many American voters have fallen into which plays to the tune of, "I have to vote for the Dem or the Repub will get elected..." Or if the voter is not singing that tune, then he's singing, "all I want i

Photo by Patricia Herlevi A colleague and I noticed a space out going on with people of the Pluto in Scorpio generation (born between 1983-1995) which involved miscommunication and frustration on our parts.  So I thought about these situations and then I remembered that Saturn had just moved into Scorpio and these spaced out individuals are in between 17 and 29 years of age. Since the current transits fall on the extremely complex side and out of my realm of understanding, I have tapped into Saint Thomas of Aquinas, for whatever reason has appeared as my astrological guide.  The individuals between age 28 and 29 could begin a Saturn Return now as well, depending on the degree of Saturn in their natal charts, so much shifting and transformation happens within and outside of these individuals whether or not they think they are ready.  Since Saturn remains in Scorpio for 2 1/2 years, the individuals born in the later degrees of Pluto in Scorpio (1990s) won't feel the impact of S