“My evenings are taken up very largely with astrology. I make horoscopic calculations in order to find a clue to the core of psychological truth. Some remarkable things have turned up which will certainly appear incredible to you.”
~Carl Jung in a letter to Sigmund Freud (June 12, 1911)
Astrological Counseling
I offer astrological counseling for psycho-spiritual exploration, understanding, and transformation. Astrology utilized in this way can be a missing key for deep inner work and can shed light on the path towards greater harmony with the natural rhythms and cycles of one’s life journey. My approach to astrology is to share the potentials and opportunities I see while exploring how the symbols and archetypes are manifesting uniquely for each individual. Astrology is a wonderful tool for self-knowledge and a help in times of challenge or transition. It can facilitate tremendous insight and peace, as well as provide timelines for certain archetypal or energetic influences reflected in our lives and inner states of being. Consultations available for birth chart exploration, current influences, relationship dynamics, and timing for important events.
The recent eclipses, the transit of Venus, and more...
Eclipses shift things dramatically, bring change, and remove stagnation — all to clear space for the new. Two weeks ago on 5/20 we had a Solar eclipse, which is like a super charged New Moon. The New Moon signifies a new cycle beginning, but because it was conjunct the South node, it was a time to release a negative pattern from the past… This morning on 6/4 we had a Lunar eclipse, which is like a super charged Full Moon. The Full Moon is the climax and culmination of the lunar cycle, bringing clarity and vision. But because it is conjunct the North node, it suggests moving towards one’s growth edge and imbibing something new, even if it is unfamiliar or uncomfortable… Read more...
Also today, Neptune is turning retrograde, adding some inspiration into the mix, or maybe confusion and delusion. Who can know with Neptune(?). All one can do is listen within to the voice of intuition, with trust but also discernment…
Then tomorrow on 6/5, there is a very rare astronomical event: the transit of Venus across the face of the Sun. This won’t occur again for about 105 years. During Venus retrograde, her conjunction with the Sun (which happens around every 19 months), is itself a significant moment. It is an invisible conception of a new beginning and new potentials in Venus realms (love and relationships, values and money) within each of us… So this rare transit is powerfully emphasizing the new inner birth of Venus, and the action of the eclipses both — catapulting one (even if only on a subtle internal level) in a life-changing direction…
“The science of Astrology is unique, and there is no science to be compared with it in one respect, that is, that all those persons who are the most ignorant of it appear to have some kind of intuition that tells them that it is utterly false or wicked, but those persons who have studied the subject always speak of it as a heavenly science or truth itself, and there is no other science that I know of that is like it in that particular.” ~Luke Broughton, The Elements of Astrology, 1898 Read more...
Some interesting info about Luke Broughton:
“Luke Broughton was an influential American astrologer although he was English by birth. He came from a family of well-known astrologers and his paternal grandfather was a disciple of Nicholas Culpeper. He was the first astrologer in America to use horoscopes of famous Americans to teach and illustrate astrology.
Broughton was born in Leeds, England in 1828. He began studying astrology in his teens. It is thought that Broughton came to America in 1854 when he was 26. He settled in Philadelphia where he studied natural medicine and graduated from Eclectic Medical College. He practiced homeopathic medicine for most of his career
In 1860, Broughton revived his brother Mark’s periodical, Broughton’s Monthly Planet Reader and Astrological Journal. He continued to publish this Journal until 1869. After anti-astrology laws were passed in Philadelphia, Broughton moved his medical office to New York City in 1863, which then became his home for the rest of his life. In 1866, he started to teach astrology emphasizing astrological medicine.
As astrology grew more controversial, Broughton defended astrology and also attempted to protect it from incompetent astrologers. In addition, he became a leading teacher of astrology in America and he appeared as a witness in court on the behalf of astrology.” ~from solstice point.com
Venus went retrograde on May 15th. Venus is connected with relationships, love, art, money, beauty, harmony, etc and the capacity to attract to oneself all that is desired and valued. It can be challenging to see the positive side of any retrograde period, but truly there are gifts inherent in the retrograde process. Venus retrograde is about reevaluating what is actually desired and valued in the present and integrating that new awareness. It’s a natural part of the cycle, though it can be uncomfortable and a struggle to let go of old cherished concepts. We are now in the part of the retrograde cycle associated with “endings.” Patience and allowing the unknown to be unknown may be required until Jun 5th when Venus lines up with the Sun, which will reinvigorate her and start a phase of “new beginnings” in Venus related areas of life. The Venus/Sun conjunction on Jun 5th is the time to inwardly set intentions for a new cycle and to create new Venusian energy patterns (in relationships, love, finances, etc). Then when Venus goes direct on June 27th, those intentions can take hold.
Venus will be retrograde from May 15th—Jun 27th, 2012. She entered her pre-retrograde shadow period on April 11th. This means that relationship, partnership, and love issues, as well as financial matters, that have arisen since April 11th, may be revisited, reevaluated, or modified throughout May and June. Venus retrograde gives us an opportunity to investigate inwardly what we truly value regarding these matters. Yet a balanced view of the whole picture may not be clear until after Venus goes direct again.
Pluto went retrograde on April 10th. Because Pluto moves so slowly, when it is stationing to change directions, it stays in the same degree of the zodiac for weeks to months at a time, creating a powerful force field of Plutonian energy in one spot. If activating one’s natal chart, Pluto stationing can feel as though a hole is being burned through the part of oneself that Pluto is touching. Pluto is the planet that most correlates with depth psychology and integrating the shadow, because Pluto aspects or transits are known to bring to light things that we would rather keep hidden, even from ourselves. Read more...
Pluto, aka Hades, rules the underworld. As in the Greek myth when he abducted Persephone down into the underworld, Pluto transits may feel as though one is being carried off unwillingly to an area of darkness and forced to face a difficulty, while feeling powerless to overcome it. The experience often involves a letting go process of some sort — letting go of control, letting go of what is comfortable and familiar, letting go of a superficial reality — for the purpose of admitting in a deeper inner truth and going beyond old limitations.
“Pluto’s transits are ordinarily concerned with the death and destruction of the old, this destruction being necessary in order to make room for the new… Pluto, by transit, therefore symbolizes the power to release the more enduring from the transitory, whether it be the soul from the body at death or the individual self from the old shell of personality and ego. Transiting Pluto brings to the surface hidden or subliminal conditions in order that this energy can be released from the old shell and transformed into a new source of consciously-usable power.” ~Stephen Arroyo
Is Mercury direct today or will there be a shadow period? Is Mars something to consider in terms of agreements, and if so, when is that out of shadow/ retro and direct?
Mercury is now direct, as of this morning. However, he is stationary, in the same degree or so for a couple of days before gaining momentum forward, possibly bringing some intensity to all Mercury related things (thinking, communication, commerce, travel, etc) as they become “un-stuck.” Mercury is still in his “shadow,” in that he will be traveling over the part of the zodiac that he traversed while moving “backwards.” But this time he is moving forwards, without needing to go back over this same ground again after this. So although Mercury will not reach new territory, so to speak, until about Apr 23rd, this post-retrograde shadow is not the same as the pre-retrograde shadow. This period may still include working through some issues that arose in the past, but final resolution is more likely now. Whatever is agreed upon from this point forward will most likely not need to be redone or revised, as is often the case with agreements made during the pre-retrograde shadow and the retrograde period.
Though Mars is still retrograde in Virgo through Apr 13th, Mars retrograde may not affect the agreements per se, as much as Mercury does. Rather, Mars affects the actions that need to happen in order to follow through on those agreements. This just suggests that the actions to fulfill the agreements may still take more time while full analysis is completed during the end of the retrograde cycle... In short, moving forward on agreements is supported, while patience for the fulfillment of them may still be needed.
A week of internal new beginnings and “seed moments”
We have a New Moon each month as the Moon conjoins the Sun. This moment marks the beginning of a new lunar cycle. When the Sun meets up in this way with any planet, it marks a new cycle, a sort of new birth, for that planet. So in addition to a New Moon we could have a “New Venus” or a “New Jupiter”. The conjunction with the Sun is said to be a “seed moment” for the planet. This week has been full of new beginnings and seed moments: Read more...
The Spring Equinox on 3/20 — when the Sun enters 0º Aries, it is the astrological New Year, an opportunity for overall revitalization.
The seed moment of Mercury on 3/21 — A New Mercury is an opportunity to grasp a new perspective and create new mental patterns and thought-ways.
The seed moment of the Moon on 3/22 — A New Moon marks an opportunity to discover and honor where one’s heart is in the now.
The seed moment of Uranus 3/24 — A New Uranus signifies an opportunity to embrace change, which will support underlying soul longings for freedom from bondage.
Yet these new beginnings are happening mostly on a deeply internal level for now, as Mercury is retrograde (Mar 7-Apr 4) and Mars is also retrograde (Jan 23-Apr 13). Although the excitement of change and newness is brewing, I am reminding myself that there may be little decision-making, external proof, or action that needs to take place just yet. These transitions are all still occupying the inner realm of intention and will unfold with more clarity and drive after Mercury and Mars go direct.
“My reasons for ‘believing’ in astrology are extremely simple. I have studied it, I have put together facts of people’s lives with known planetary influences, and I have observed, in thousands of cases, correspondences… The endurance of astrology is one of the surest indexes of the value man places on himself and his destiny. Its roots are planted five thousand years ago, in the lore of Isreal; and its branches include every race that has a history. The Egyptians, Babylonians, Chinese, Assyrians, Caldeans, Persians, Indians, all had their astrology… From esoteric and private uses, it evolved, till today we have it for what it is: a science dealing with inner, and ultimate, cause behind human conduct… It is rapidly wearing away the stigma attached to fortune-telling, and emerging in the psychology-minded twentieth century as an essential cog in the machinery of man’s understanding of himself.” ~Grant Lewi
(The following is not comprehensive — just some observations. And it is important to recognize that no one is a pure archetype. The Sun sign holds a central place in the personality but other important factors in the birth chart — especially the rising sign, the Moon sign, and strongly placed planets — combine to make us each unique and complex.)
Aries ♈: to be held back from acting on an impulse, to be suppressed, to be prevented from expressing contentious and/or passionate energies, to be slowed down.
Taurus ♉: to be rushed, lack of financial or emotional security, to be deprived of touch, to be deprived of beautiful sights, smells, sounds, tastes, and textures.
Gemini ♊: boredom, lack of information, being “out of the loop” or cut off from communication, pressure to commit to one thing, having to stay still.
Cancer ♋: no one to nurture and protect, no one to be nurtured and protected by, thwarted from cultivating one’s “baby,” not having a safe and comfortable home.
Leo ♌: no loving audience, not being seen, not being appreciated, not being adored, not enough attention, cold-heartedness.
Virgo ♍: lack of attention to detail, skipped steps, orderless chaos, not adhering to thorough technique and “proper” procedure, lack of refinement, lack of purity.
Libra ♎: having to go it alone with no one to bounce off of, having to make a quick decision without being able to weigh the pros and cons, that which is unjust or unfair, insensitivity, lack of empathy, inconsideration, ugliness.
Scorpio ♏: superficiality, inauthenticity, feeling powerless, revealing vulnerability, failing to do one’s deep inner work, lack of emotional intimacy, lack of meaningful bonding.
Sagittarius ♐: the everyday routine with nothing exotic mixed in, lack of freedom, lack of access to philosophical perspectives, lack of ethics, narrow-mindedness, a life with no adventure.
Capricorn ♑: that which is unrealistic, inefficient, wasteful, impractical, or theoretical only; losing status, losing authority, lack of mastery, lack of having a respectful place in the world.
Aquarius ♒: conformity, exclusive hierarchical systems, social inequity, being confronted with ignorance, self-centeredness, or drama queens/kings.
Pisces ♓: the mundane details of life, no way to escape ordinary reality, lack of inspiration, lack of vision, lack of art, lack of feeling connected with the divine.
In honor of the Moon conjunct Jupiter in Taurus tonight...
Debra Silverman acts out all the archetypes of the zodiac. Here is Taurus in honor of tonight’s Moon in this fixed earth sign. Also, the Moon is conjunct Jupiter in Taurus tonight (it’s an absolutely beautiful sky with the Moon, Jupiter, and Venus visible). With these dramatized signs of the zodiac, it’s important to remember that no one is a pure archetype. The Sun sign is a vital part of who we are, but we are complex and may also relate to our Moon sign, rising sign, or the archetypes associated with planets that are tightly conjunct our Sun, Moon, or Ascendant, for example.
