5/8/09

Astrocartography - Living on Saturn Line

Here is an interesting Astrocartography Question form Tweeting Grace

Curious what you'd say about living on one's Saturn line. Raising kids and Saturn is in the house of children. Okay to ask?


For those new to astrology, astrocartography is an astrological mapping technique. With this technique, we place your chart on a map. This lets us know how different areas will resonate with you.

In Grace's case, she indicates she is living on her Saturn line. Now the first thought most astrologers will have is, Ouch! Not a pleasant experience. But that may not be entirely true.

So let's discuss this.

Saturn is the planet of discipline, structure and time. You might think of it like the school principle.

So if you live on your Saturn line, you may have to toe the line with hard work, heavy responsibilities, limited happiness, confinement, loss and saddness. Now you see the Ouch, more clearly.

But that is not entirely the case. Because as you will see me repeat many times, it depends on the condition of Saturn in the individual's chart.

Grace, has not given me a lot to go on. The only other clue I am given is that Saturn is in her fifth house.

If you had the opportunity to listen to the show I did a week or so ago with Debra Clement on Anchored In Astrology, the fifth house is what we spoke about. You can check her archives to hear it, if you missed it.

The fifth house is the house of everything you love, from your hobbies, to your lover, to your children. It is the house of investments. Where you invest yourself, your talents, and can be your money as well. It is also the house of socializing.

When someone tells me they have Saturn in the fifth, again I might say Ouch, because this placement often brings sorrow or restraint regarding children. It can also do this with love. It is a statement that requires you to work hard in this area of your life. This may mean you must be the disciplinarian in the family, and so all the fun of the natural house of the Sun is not available to you.

But of course that is not the whole story.

If Grace has a nicely aspected Saturn, perhaps an exalted Saturn (in Libra) and there are other planets in this house to soften Saturn, these issues will not be so severe.

As one Vedic astrologer told me years ago about my Saturn mansion:

"You may have happiness only after some tears."

So perhaps Grace will write back and tell us more about her Saturn, its sign and aspects.

Till then, thanks Grace for the question.

Best always,
Michele

PS: To learn more about Astrocartography you can listen to a show I did with Chris Flisher on Turning of The Wheel

Mercury Retrograde Questions

Hi All

Just received this tweet:

What does MercuryRetrograde mean for a Scorpio? I need to figure this astrology stuff out! Plz post more blogs about astro stuff!

What seems like a simple question of course is not, because planetary activation in a personal chart depends on degrees.

But here is what we can say about it.

First Mercury went Retrograde on Wednesday the 6th at 10:01 pm PT, it Stationed in the sign of Gemini.

Gemini and Scorpio are 150 degrees apart creating what, in astrology we call an inconjunct. This is a stressful aspect.

So the basic answer to this question is: the individual may find themselves stressed over communication or contract from a neighbor, sibling or friend, that suddenly emerges out of the past. Something or someone they may have forgotten about or with whom they have lost contact.

Now this may also include issues of intimacy, or shared resources. That may translate into mortgage, insurance, taxes, reproduction, sex, or procreation issues, and sometimes may actually come through the veil, with issues from someone who has already left the planet.

Note I made the word basic bold, here is why.

The statements I have made above are truly basic. They have no direct relationship to the individual's specific chart which can place the planets in specific houses adding yet another set of pictures. And of course, we do not know the degrees of the individual's Sun, or other planets, so we do not have enough information to make a definitive statement.

Send me birth data, and I will continue the discussion. Then we can get down to the nitty gritty of the chart.

Thanks for the question,

Best always,

Michele

5/6/09

Practice Joy Now - EFT Can Help

What is Joy?

I received a note from a friend a day or so ago. I wanted to share some of it with you, because I think we all go through periods in life like this.

Then below you can see my response, I hope this will help you, or a friend who may be feeling a loss of direction, sadness, or simply feeling stuck.

Here's part of the note:

"So good to hear from you. My heart warmed upon seeing your sweet message at a time when I really needed it.

I have been feeling challenged and unsettled lately. One of the things I'm currently trying to figure out is, which of my desires (e.g., dancing, acting, writing, painting) are "soul hungers" worthy of focus and devotion, rather than merely fleeting urges.

I want to feel like I have aim, focus, and a vision for my life; I am always so impressed (and admittedly envious) of people who seem happy and content because they are living their vision.

I'm also trying to figure out how to attain happiness. I know that it's a state of mind, but I have not attained such a level of enlightenment.

Also, I recently broke up with my boyfriend after two years together. I think this was the right decision, because we both had been unhappy together for some time. But thinking about future love, and what I need going forward simply adds to my current confusion, and I don't think I need the added complication of romantic love in my life at this time.

I sense that this is a great opportunity for growth for me, which is why I am trying not to give into my urges to either wallow in sadness or to try to cover my feelings with false happiness. I guess I am just trying to keep busy and also to allow enough time for introspection."

My reply:

I am sorry to hear of your unhappiness, or should I say confusion. I think you are just at a new plateau in your life. Time to revise your goals and get them into greater alignment with who you are now, what you have learned about yourself, and what you perceive as making you happy.


Happiness can be, a sought-after unknown developed by subconscious media ploys and fairy tales from childhood.

The real key is to live right in the moment. This is where happiness is.


It is not some future moment when we will be in love, when we will receive the Oscar, or get the home of our dreams, or finally receive the proposal we seek.

Happiness is here in this moment. Yes, some of the moments are exhilarating and can make us giddy with joy, but those are temporary moments, less than a single percent of our entire lives - though they leave lasting impressions that we can re-experience when we feel alone or need re-enforcement of our worth.

Practice joy now!

I find passion playing with my dogs, writing to you, singing with Cd's I love, and smelling the sizzling bacon. What we need more than anything is to release the dis-ease created by dreams of exhilarated happiness, and find the joy here and now.

Better not to try to separate which of the many passions you have, as though you can only choose one. Rather remember your life is a buffet of experience. You can do all these things, and as you do, you will find yourself filtering into one more naturally than forcing a choice.

Life is much too short to think, 'What if?'


It is much better to take action, then decide not to continue. This is what you did in your relationship, you gave it a shot, and discovered that compatibility was not deep enough to go the distance. You made a good choice. You learned from it. You changed. Now, you are ready to review and revise your call to the universe.

Keep going, but take the time to see what is joyful right at this moment.


If you feel down, tap out the feelings and realign yourself with the joy. This can be done by starting simply with gratitude for all you have. Make yourself a gratitude tapping list, and start tapping.


(My tapping reference is about EFT, a technique to release emotional issues, stress, phobias and more. I am an EFT-3 Practitioner. If you are new to EFT, visit this link to download the FREE manual: http://www.emofree.com/newcomer.htm )

Here are some things from my 'Gratitude Tapping List'

I am so grateful for my toes, my nose, my eyes, my lips, my ability to smell the blossoms, to taste the ice cream, to experience the wind, the rain, to sleep in a comfy bed with a warm blanket and breezy window, to hear the sounds of nature around me, to walk, and to have friends I can call, visit with, discuss things with. To have the coins to go out to eat, drive a car, share with the poor, travel to the ocean, watch a film, buy a book.

You have so much to be grateful for, as do I, that we must always remember to focus on these things when we feel lost or unhappy. Then put on your dancing shoes, go to a friendly dancing spot, and dance the blues away. You will come home feeling filled with life again.

Movement is life, whether it is the movement of your body in dance, or the movement of deeply breathing in the morning air. This activates passion, and passion is joy.

I hope this will help you find focus, and more important rediscover your joy.

Meaningful joy is not the toothpaste commercial falling in love, which advertisers embed deeply into our subconscious.


But rather meaningful joy, is capturing every moment in life in all its passions, even in the tears of loss. This makes us know we are alive, and in that there is true joy.


Blessing always,

Michele