The Mountain Astrologer
Astrology Magazine for Students and Professionals
Astrodienst is proud to team up with The Mountain Astrologer to bring you a selection of articles from current and back issues on a monthly basis. High-quality astrology articles for all those interested in astrology. Well-known authors share their knowledge and experience.
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March 2024
After its discovery in 1846, astrologers debated the possible meanings of Neptune in horoscopes, and over time eventually settled onto a few basic qualities, which included such keywords as spiritual, nebulous, illusions, sensitivity etc. But there is one aspect of its influence that’s been too often overlooked by astrologers. What is that, exactly? In a word, obligation.
Some films entertain. Others change the world. Even people who look down on Star Wars as childish or ridden with clichés must still recognize that it struck a chord as few films ever had before. Now, almost half a century after the premiere of the first film in the series, retroactively titled A New Hope, its characters remain cultural archetypes, and the vocabulary it created has entered the collective dictionary.
February 2024
Looking back at recent history, many of us can recall the last conjunction of Saturn with Neptune in Capricorn: November 1989, marking the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet empire. The next Saturn–Neptune conjunction will occur at the 0° Aries point, the first degree of the zodiac, itself marking the birth of a new era. The conjunction will be near exact in July 2025, and will perfect at 0° Aries on February 20, 2026.
January 2024
In 1999, Time ranked Pokémon mascot Pikachu #2 on its annual Best People of the Year list. Yellow and mouse-like with red, supercharged cheeks, according to Pokémon lore, “When several [Pikachus] gather, their electricity could … cause lightning storms.” Pokémon indeed struck like lightning, taking the world by storm as the highest-grossing media franchise of all time.
December 2023
The marriage of creative media and communication technology was the great gift of the late 20th century. But what astrologically led to this integrative lifestyle, and how did it become ubiquitous with modern living? In this article, I shall explore how the Uranus–Neptune conjunction of the early 1990s occurred under very special circumstances, how it influenced the media we consume today, and how it was tested under extreme conditions in 2020.
October 2023
All transits invite us to grow further into ourselves, each planet in its own way. Jupiter, for example, motivates by giving us a green light forward; Mars motivates us with a boost of adrenalin. Less comfortably, Saturn motivates us by showing us what we could be, but are not yet. Saturn plays a long game: that of getting us to know ourselves better and better through the passage of time.
September 2023
In late 2020, the asteroid Vesta entered tropical Virgo for an extended stay, ingressing on October 23, 2020, going retrograde at 21º 24’ on January 20, 2021, stationing direct at 6º 47’ Virgo on April 21, and finally emerging from the Virgin’s clutches and entering the Scales on July 19, 2021.
Vesta called to me, and I began an extended dialogue with her through the creation of seven talismanic oils. Along the way, she taught me some potent new lessons about her work, and how to interpret her that I would like to share.
August 2023
Genethlialogy, or natal astrology, is predicated on the understanding that the placement and condition of the planets at the moment of a person’s birth explain and contribute to that person’s character and fate. These influences are
what gives rise to the notion that one’s soul — or psychē, if you prefer — is endowed with vices and virtues during its planetary descent; a concept rooted in the deepest strata of the Platonic tradition.
July 2023
In this article, I will briefly describe the generational impact of the natal sign position of Pluto, including its shorter transits. But first, we need to understand the limitations of Generational Astrology. No one has ever learned astrology just by reading a textbook. In order to get real information about generational trends, we have to depend on polls and surveys and the observations of academics who make it their business to follow these trends.
June 2023
One summer evening, I found myself as a guest speaker talking to a rather unlikely audience: the national sea bird rescue organisation. Many of them probably wondered why on earth the event organiser engaged an astrologer to give this month’s talk. I wondered the same, but I have found that explaining astrology to a completely lay audience is one of the most exciting lecture experiences I have.
May 2023
Saturn has entered Pisces on March 7, 2023, where it will remain through February 13, 2026. Saturn has an important relationship to Pisces, bringing structure and order to the boundaryless oneness of Pisces. The interests of the whole need to be reorganized and guardrails established against extremes. Saturn’s power is being able to walk into a room and respectfully command attention, requiring that its issues be addressed. It will be very interesting to see how the organizing principles of Saturn play out in the Piscean arena of infinite possibility and compassion.
March 2023
It won’t come as a surprise to anyone who’s followed the astrological field in recent years that there’s something of a divide between those who adhere to more traditional methods and those practicing so-called “modern astrology” (also sometimes referred to as “psychological astrology”—but more on that in just a bit).
February 2023
Humanity currently stands at one of the most significant transformational turning points in its long history. With climate change and the accompanying extreme temperatures and weather conditions; economies rising and falling across the globe on a dime; divisive governmental stalemates and the rise of authoritarian rule in many countries; culture seemingly eroding, with the arts and artists as we knew and experienced them being eclipsed by “content” and influencers...
January 2023
The current constellation of Mars retrograde in Gemini is drawing to a close: Mars will be stationary direct on January 12, 2023. You can now read the complete article on how this constellation can be used with regard to how you can improve your way of communicating.December 2022
Not only are children the living embodiment of a moment in time, but they are also the extension from that moment into the future — both collectively for the evolution of the human race, and for individual families to carry on their legacy. Nature has it that we are immortalized through our children by passing along our genetic inheritance as well as our planetary patterns in infinitely myriad ways.
October/November 2022
August/September 2022
We first begin exploring birth charts with the Primal Triad, or Sun, Moon, and Ascendant. The Ascendant is named as such because it is on the eastern horizon where the Sun ascends into the sky at dawn. The Descendant, where the Sun descends under the horizon at dusk, is less commonly explored.
July 2022
In the beginning, astrology was alive. Our ancestors had a relationship to the natural world, and the contemplation of the heavens was a vital, primal communion that brought meaning to life. Today in the West, we have an impoverished relationship to the heavens, weakened by a too-strict adherence to the Newtonian—Cartesian scientific worldview. Experiential astrology seeks to remedy this by putting us back into direct contact with our horoscopes.
June 2022
The setting: India. The time: probably the Middle Ages. The occurrence: a rather obscure and not so obvious aspect doctrine whispered from the ethers, probably to some astrologer eccentric enough to lend an ear!
May 2022
There you are, a tiny bit of space debris, endlessly circling the Sun in a predetermined orbit that can be calculated time out of mind. So far, no one has even noted your existence, but one day, just as you are rising in Chicago, Illinois, a child is born there, who would grow to become one of America’s best-loved and most talented comedic geniuses, a multiple Oscar nominee and Best Supporting Actor winner.
April 2022
People have farmed in accordance with celestial rhythms for millennia. But in the last few decades, as large-scale conventional agriculture came to prominence, much of this wisdom — recorded in almanacs, calendars, mythology, and folklore — became disregarded or lost.
March 2022
Launched in 1921, Chanel No. 5 continues to hold its place within the five top-selling perfumes in the world. Gabrielle (Coco) Chanel, already a highly successful couturier, decided that she ought to have a perfume to complement her famous dress designs. She scored in fashion with simple, elegant lines. Now, she scored with a simple, rectangular perfume bottle.
February 2022
Whatever events and changes Uranus in Taurus might bring, many of them will have been set in motion some time ago. Uranus and Taurus are an interesting combination to attempt to fathom. Taurus — the sign that, out of the entire zodiac, is the most resistant to change — meets the planet that insists upon it. Uranus challenges the status quo and forces both the individual and society to change and, in particular, to break with the past.
January 2022
In my experience, a horoscope cast for the first time two people meet/connect is more important than a wedding chart, a midpoint chart (such as the Davison or composite), or any other horoscope cast for a pivotal moment in two people’s lives together.
December 2021
When Uranus and Neptune, the first outer planets, were discovered, one way of understanding these new energies was the concept of a “higher octave.” According to the theory of higher octaves, the energy of an inner planet gets expressed at a more spiritual level. Uranus was considered the higher octave of Mercury and Neptune the higher octave of Venus. After Pluto was discovered, it became known as a higher octave of Mars.
November 2021
As a model and mirror of our lives, astrology has a special ability to accurately time not only the unfolding of unique personal changes in our lives, but also the milestones of life both familiar and forgotten. In this article, I will look at the meanings of the major “midlife crisis” transits and consider how best to navigate them.
October 2021
When it comes to interpreting astrological charts Dennis Elwell was a virtuoso — blending a rigorous approach to technique with a creative, even playful, engagement at a symbolic level. It would not, however, do justice to his astrological analyses to treat them only as rich samples of the science/art of astrology, for in Dennis’s hands the real significance of astrological work is that it yields hints and intimations of “the activity of an all-pervading cosmic mind” and of our relationship to it.
September 2021
For some, this autumn will mark the first return to face-to-face learning in more than 18 months. For all of us, the return to school now holds all of the usual questions: Will my children like their teachers? Will they have friends in their classes? Will they be OK? Plus the less usual questions: What are current infection rates? What does community transmission look like in my area? What are the school’s vaccine policies? This is Back to School 2021, so the need to be familiar with what can bring rest, relaxation, nourishment, and ease into our children’s lives (and our own!) is now felt more keenly than ever. And so, I look to the IC.
August 2021
What makes someone risk his personal security for a public goal? Some people seem fated to embody the big, difficult ideas with which their collective is struggling. Edward Snowden, for example, was leading a remarkably unremarkable life that exploded into something extraordinary. This happened after he leaked classified data from the National Security Agency (NSA) to the media in June 2013. It was a move with profound ramifications for himself, his society, and the age we live in.
July 2021
When Harriet Tubman was a teenager, she conjured her god to kill an evil man. The ordeal began when an overseer struck her with a metal weight, and she nearly died. For weeks afterward, Harriet lay listless in the big house without the attention of a doctor. When Edward Bodress of Maryland looked upon Harriet, he did not see an injured girl. He saw an idle laborer. Inefficiency. Dollars lost. In due time, strange men arrived. They named their price. She would be sold further south to a chain gang, guaranteeing a dismal fate for the enslaved.
June 2021
Recently, in going through my archives and files while reorganizing my office, I realized that quite a few ideas and observations that I had scribbled down quickly during my extremely busy years had not been included in my various books. Since I expect that this publication will be my last on the subject of astrology, I decided to extract the most valuable ideas, guidelines, and observations from those many pages of spontaneous notes and present them in a brief, systematic fashion in this chapter.
May 2021
Astrology deals with the patterns of our bodies and minds. Granted, knowing more about all these things is useful, especially for young people trying to get established, to find people they are compatible with and to find their place in the world. Astrology definitely has value and can be a wonderful tool for evolution.
April 2021
Life does feel more purposeful when we are in a period of personal expansion. In such a dynamicphase of development, we enjoy an exhilarating sense of fulfillment and happiness. The force of growth is incredibly exciting and uplifting. During anenergized cycle of forward momentum, we are moved off our secure plateau of comfort, and we understand that we can have more in life.
March 2021
"You're always drawn towards your weakest element," says astrologer Steve Cozzi. This mantra can be found throughout modern astrological lore. But what if it’s the other way around? What if lacking an element isn’t a weakness, but a strength? In this article, I explore another way to understand what having an elemental “void” in a chart might mean. The urgency to write about elemental voids comes from the current astrological weather, what could be called “The Fire Void of 2021.”
February 2021
Like individuals, nations experience "planetary returns," too, when celestial bodies return to the zodiacal position they once occupied. But the full return cycle of Pluto takes over 240 years to complete. While individual life-spans obviously aren't long enough to experience one of these, nations and empires certainly can. Using July 4, 1776 as its birthdate, the United States is on the verge of experiencing its first Pluto return. So, what does this mean for the United States?
January 2021
It is easy to be inspired by Lois Rodden and her 40-year commitment to data collection. She dedicated her career to setting professional standards by classifying data sources and demanding that astrologers take accountability for the data they presented in lectures, articles, and books. She motivated me and countless others to question and record sources, and to hunt down accurate data and share these with others.
December 2020
In this article, we will explore the use of a method known as minor progressions, in which one lunar month after birth is viewed as equivalent to one year of life. While secondary progressions consider the rotation of the Earth around the Sun as primary, this method considers the orbit of the Moon as another factor that defines a cycle that can be related symbolically to the cycles of human experience. Thus, if you are 30 years of age, look (in the ephemeris) for the Moon’s 30th return to its natal position after birth to find the positions of your minor progressed planets for your 30th birthday.
November 2020
For three years of my childhood, we lived far away from any cities or towns. At night it was dark. True dark. One such night, my family trudged through fresh snow across a hilltop clearing. At the peak my mother halted us, saying in hushed tones, “oh my gosh you guys, look at this.” We stood still there for a long moment, taking in the scene. There was no moon that night, just the brightness of the stars reflected on the glistening snow pack, casting soft glows upon our faces. The mountain ridges in the background, spiky with fir trees, stretched into the distance. “Aren’t we lucky?” my mother asked reverently.
October 2020
The dwarf planet Pluto in astrology is often met with tremendous trepidation. Pluto’s difficult reputation is well earned, given that this Roman god is the ruler of the Underworld, the realm of the dead. Yet, it’s also curious to consider that the word itself, pluto, means “riches,” “the wealthy one,” or “the wealth-giving”.
September 2020
Some of us shudder when we think of Saturn transits … or panic when Pluto inches towards a major area of our chart. Both planets have dark, fearsome reputations and this year we've seen how their conjunction in Capricorn in mid January coincided with the start of a prolonged period in many societies of personal and economic hardship (Saturn) amid an atmosphere of fear (Saturn), suspicion, and panic (Pluto). We've witnessed an enforced (Pluto) pause (Saturn) to everyday life — a lockdown (a great Saturn–Pluto word) with much of the world "temporarily closed for renovation."
August 2020
In this article, we will be taking an astrological look at those individuals who have gone against the grain of established science or culture in order to develop their own unique viewpoint and, in so doing, created a new way of seeing the world around them. I am speaking most specifically of those individuals throughout the history of science who were instrumental in bringing about what is now known as a "paradigm shift" by changing the rules of the game — the pre-existing "laws" of nature.
July 2020
Mars transiting through its own sign of Aries is extremely dynamic and will dominate the second half of 2020, especially during the retrograde phase from September 9 to November 13. Mars retrogrades approximately every two years, but it rarely does so in the sign of Aries. It happened last in 1988 and won't occur again until 2067. This year Mars will be much more powerful than it was in 1988, as it will form repeated squares to Jupiter, Saturn, and Pluto in Capricorn.
April 2020
More years ago than I care to remember, I heard a visiting astrologer make the offhand comment that Saturn's placement in the horoscope indicates where one's "key karmic challenge in this lifetime is." Having thought about that astrologer's comment quite a bit since first hearing it, I've come to believe there is indeed something unique about Saturn as representing an especially focused symbol of one's current life-challenges.
March 2019
In this article, I will present two timing techniques that were used by Hellenistic astrologers to determine when certain events would occur during the course of a native’s life. First, though, I would like to expand on some philosophical positions that were adopted by astrologers in the ancient world. Many of the philosophical positions that were first defined in ancient times are still very relevant to the practice of astrology today.
November 2018
For thousands of years, mystics and philosophers have proposed that our world is underlain by a matrix of fundamental principles, sometimes known as archetypes. Just as all musical compositions are based upon a limited scale of notes, and all images are variations on a spectrum of colors, so all phenomena and experiences can be broken down to a primary set of universal symbols, or cosmic principles.
April 2018
Grasse introduces an important factor in understanding any chart - the highest (or most elevated) planet in the horoscope. Because of its exalted position, any planetary body located here “lords over” all the other planets in the chart and can exert a powerful influence over someone’s entire life. And this becomes even more important if that body is near or conjunct the Midheaven, or MC (Medium Coeli) — the zenith point of the horoscope.
March 2018
Pluto’s recent demotion to the status of “dwarf planet” upset a lot of us. It shouldn’t. We astrologers have been calling the Sun and Moon “planets” for a long time. In other words, we have a long tradition of using the term planet more loosely than astronomers do. Experience has taught us that Pluto simply works — we know it's a planet, and we really don’t need anyone’s approval to use the term.
February 2018
When you’re 19, you’re technically a teenager since there’s still a “teen” in the number. It didn’t feel that way for me. Probably doesn’t feel that way for others. Perhaps the proximity to the teen years keeps you feeling your youth. But you’re also in the waiting room of a large part of your life’s journey at this age. You’re boarding.
January 2018
Our whole practice of astrology is based on this notion of the wheel, of the predictable and circular movement of the planets through the full 360 degrees of the zodiac — but what does this really mean? How does the paradigm of the wheel inform the way we live or, at the very least, the way we practice our astrology?
December 2017
For many centuries, individual horoscopes have been central to astrology. As a rule, particular points in time are analyzed, whether concerning human beings, states, organizations, or mundane constellations. Currently, however, only two horoscopes can be conveniently compared to each other. Groups of three or more individuals quickly become difficult to master when conventional tools are used, and such groups therefore elude a systematic analysis.
November 2017
Old myths reveal that most heroes experience a transformational encounter with a dragon at some point in their journey. While you may think that the dragon is your mother-in-law or your boss, in reality it is a metaphorical monster. The engagement with the dragon is an allegory for the times in the individuation process when we wrestle with unsavory sides of the self, parts that we deny or keep secret but that have an uncanny knack for showing up anyway.
October 2017
As a consulting astrologer, I am fascinated with patterns, as are many in our practice. Our constant and sometimes obsessive interest in exploring and understanding the rhythms of planetary cycles and the effects they have on life trains us to step back and view events from a big-picture perspective. We seek the planetary connections that link together past, present, and future — we look for the embedded patterns that are associated with certain behaviors and also with major life events.
September 2017
Ever since Saturn, Uranus, and Pluto came into orb of a t-square in the summer of 2010, astrologers have been awaiting a revolution. Now that Saturn has moved into mid Libra and the square between Uranus and Pluto has begun to perfect, rebellions are under way across the globe. Uranus represents upset, independence, chaos, liberation, and awakening, and Pluto symbolizes passion, intensity, power struggles, and life-and-death battles.
August 2017
I’ve been at this Mom Game for only ten years, so I’m certainly no expert. But one saving grace I’ve received from astrology is the insight that I don’t actually have to teach Lyndon everything. There will be things he needs to know that I’ll be extremely good at teaching him. There will be things I know that he won’t ever have to learn. And there will be things he needs to know that other people can teach him. Thank God — that takes a tiny bit of the pressure off!
July 2017
Many astrologers believe that the relocated horoscope acts like a secondary natal chart, responding to transits and progressions in the same way the birth chart does. The relocated chart shows how the sky looked at the moment of your birth — not from your birthplace, but from a different location on Earth. Here is a rather famous example of relocating a chart. President John F. Kennedy was born in Massachusetts with Saturn within one degree of his Midheaven.
June 2017
The 2016 election has left more than one person searching for answers, including astrologers, the majority of whom picked Hillary Clinton to be the occupant of the Oval Office in 2017. Hand-wringing has continued. What was missing from the algorithms? What asteroid or aspect did we fail to take into account? More importantly, what does this say about astrological prediction in general? What does it say about astrology?
May 2017
Being human is the hardest thing I have ever done. I chuckle as I write this, but all mirth aside, it's true. For most of my life, I have tried to satisfy the demands of our Western culture by achieving success and personal power. Like many, I worshipped at the altar of achievement, money, possessions, and the fantasy of perfectly balanced mental health. But my soul knew better ...
April 2017
Just over 100 years ago, astrologer Reinhold Ebertin's mother Elsbeth sat under questioning in a police station in Breslau, on the border of modern Germany, after her colleague had sent Elsbeth's astrological pamphlets to official police headquarters. The year was 1915, and there were strict laws against fortune-telling. Through her sheer cleverness, a trait she exhibited throughout her 40 years of astrological publication, she talked her way out of any trouble.
March 2017
In August 2006, the International Astronomical Union made the official announcement that Ceres was upgraded from asteroid to dwarf planet, and Pluto was downgraded from planet to dwarf. Suddenly, these two disparate celestial bodies were thrust together in our collective consciousness. In mythology, Ceres and Pluto are opposing figures in the life of the maiden Persephone, so they already have a historic connection by way of their inherent symbolism in Greek and Roman story.
February 2017
Preceding Jupiter's shift into Libra on September 9, 2016, the media was alive with astrologers delineating the meaning of that particular planetary combination and its possible impact on both collective and personal life. Given my abiding interest in investigating such matters, I thought up a mini project likely to be of interest to me, to clients who would agree to have their lives researched.
January 2017
I still clearly recall an experience from when I was nine or ten years old that might be described as my first encounter with astrology. I was in our small vegetable garden, perhaps on the way to fetch parsley for dinner, and I had stopped for a moment to gaze up into a particularly beautiful and clear moonless sky. I focused my vision upon a single star, a needle point of light so fine it flickered in the warm wind like a candle about to be extinguished.
December 2016
In my more than seven years of reporting, it's become clear that we can find a lot of planetary action in the horoscope of someone who is suddenly hot in the press. That's not surprising. What is surprising is that it doesn't seem to matter whether that "someone" is dead or alive. The transits and solar arcs we'd expect to see in the horoscope of a living person making news are also present in the horoscope of someone who has transitioned. The horoscope lives forever!
November 2016
Speeches by leaders or influential personalities in history carry a double astrological message. An important speech will be reflected in the horoscope of the orator, as well as in the transits in the sky at the moment of the speech, which will show its key themes, impact, and place in history. Essentially, a speech is of its time and by those seen to shape the times.
October 2016
While talking with a fellow (very young) astrologer not long ago, I heard her refer in passing to the "bad Moon" in her chart. When I asked her why she called it that, she went on to cite the litany of horrors this celestial body had inflicted across her entire life. I suspect the "bad" part of that description stemmed from her exposure to the type of simplistic descriptions found in some of the older texts, or even in some quarters of the astrological community today.
September 2016
The dark side. The lurid pit of human depravity. Cruelty and bloodlust. Torture, violence, and murder. Sexual perversion. Dominance and submission. Sadism and masochism. Regions beyond the safe boundaries of the civilized. The territory of the forbidden and taboo. These are some of the realms of the zodiacal sign of Scorpio and its planetary ruler, Pluto.
August 2016
In 2015, the world witnessed one of the most massive shifts in population since World War II. More than 600,000 refugees from the Middle East and Africa — most of them fleeing war, political oppression, and social chaos in their homelands — entered Europe during that year. This amazing influx of desperate people has created a crisis situation for many European countries.
July 2016
The lunar nodes are invisible points in the sky
that form an axis in the horoscope of apparent significance. But what do
the nodes really mean in a chart? What is the nature of this beast named
after a tricky, cunning demon? Throughout the 20th century, many different
and often conflicting explanations have been offered. How do we determine
which interpretation is most accurate? There is a way.
June 2016
Barbara Higbie is a Grammy-nominated and Bammy award–winning composer, pianist, fiddler, singer–songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist and has played on more than 100 CDs. She was the first female instrumentalist and composer on Windham Hill Records and, in 2011, the first ever "Artist in Residence" at the prestigious West Coast jazz club, Yoshi's.
April 2016
Flowers have captured our attention for
millennia, whether as tokens of love, cosmetic and perfumery agents,
offerings in burial rites, or the numerous other ways in which their
beauty has held meaning and purpose. Yet, their reverence throughout
history has not been limited to the sensual qualities of their colors,
shapes, or fragrances. It has also extended to their sacred healing
properties.
March 2016
The deluded, death-defying regime change and expanding technological madness of the Sagittarius Pluto/Aquarius Uranus–Neptune times are ending in tears. The fallout will lead to a reassessment of science and the economy it has sired and served. To avoid economic, planetary, and social disaster, we need another way of organising our affairs — nothing less than a new paradigm, based on a broader and deeper understanding of what constitutes scientific reality. Not for the first time, science will need to be reborn.
February 2016
In 1853, while Neptune was transiting Pisces, prominent art critic, painter, and prolific writer John Ruskin noted, "The imagination is never governed. It is always the ruling and Divine power." This bold statement leads the way as we embark on an exploration of the 37-year Saturn–Neptune cycle, which reaches its current closing (or waning) square when Saturn in Sagittarius squares Neptune in Pisces from November 26, 2015 through September 10, 2016.
January 2016
Venus and Uranus, symbols of love and freedom, are an odd planetary pair. People born with these two in conjunction have to find ways to accommodate very different and often conflicting needs, and many have astonishing stories to tell about their search for love and relationship. Often Uranus inhibits Venus — it drives one toward safe situations that aren't overly emotional.
December 2015
Uranus in Aries is now past its First Quarter square to Pluto in Capricorn. The perpendicular arc between these two significant outer bodies of the solar system was historic in having seven exact passes over nearly three years (June 2012 to March 2015). Such a rare event — a square with seven passes — had not occurred between these two orbiting bodies for more than 500 years.
November 2015
Eclipses occur when the Sun, Earth, and Moon align with the Moon's nodes. The alignment with the lunar nodes is the factor that makes a New or Full Moon become a solar or lunar eclipse, respectively. The lunar nodes are the points where the Moon's orbit crosses the ecliptic, the plane of the Earth's orbit around the Sun. As a result, when the Moon conjoins her North or South Node, it means that she is on the same plane as the Earth.
October 2015
Seeking to explore the philosophies of Plato, I absorbed the teleological worldview. As the concepts of teleology soaked in, everything clicked. Several lightbulbs went on. I have been greatly inspired by integrating the teleological worldview into my astrological practice. In this article, I attempt to share this concept with the modern working astrologer.
September 2015
In November 2002, astrologers from around the
world turned off their cell phones and embraced the high mountain air of
early winter at the Ghost Ranch in New Mexico for a life-transforming
experience, the Astrologer's Retreat. This was a groundbreaking encounter
for all of us. The power of our peer supervision model surprised even
those of us who have been doing this form of group work for many years.
August 2015
This study revisits and builds upon an earlier published work of mine regarding an astrological perspective on Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and the sensory processing disorder (SPD) often associated with autism. Amazing progress has been made during the past decade in these distinct but interrelated fields: Public and private support organizations have mobilized a diverse army of professionals to tackle this growing public health phenomenon.
July 2015
One of the comforts of higher learning is finding yourself described in a
text by a recognized expert and discovering that you're not alone but,
instead, are part of an identifiable group. You may have felt that same sense
of validation while perusing an astrology book or the pages of this magazine.
The first glimpse of where I belonged in the greater scheme of things came
during a college sociology course, when we studied the concept of the
marginal man.
June 2015
Rather than describing the influence of long-term changes, the SP Moon offers
a tangible way to understand events or experiences on a month-by-month basis.
Using a 1° orb on either side, the SP Moon makes aspects which last up to two
months. Fundamentally, the Moon represents the daily fluctuations of life at
the mundane level. Traditional sources describe the Moon as that which
"carries" the influence of other planetary bodies to Earth.
May 2015
In my client work, I accidentally stumbled across a tool that I later called
a "Shadow Transit" and now use frequently. We astrologers can, at times, be a
little bit too generous with orbs, particularly in forecasting work, but I
started to wonder why clients were coming (or returning) to see me at age
31–32 with the same issues they had at their Saturn return (at 29). This
often came with the cry, "You told me it would all be over two years ago!"
April 2015
Reflecting the changing Piscean paradigm and the culture's hunger for the return of t
he Divine Feminine, Mary Magdalene is making a dramatic comeback. For the past 2,000
years, she's been cast in the role of whore, in contrast to the virgin, played by her
counterpart Mother Mary. But the truth is that there's no description of Mary Magdalene
as a prostitute in the scriptures. In fact, she wasn't assigned this role until 591 C.E.March 2015
Virgo often gets a very poor report in modern texts. The lines from the poem
above typify the references to Virgo being critical and hypochondriacal that
accompany other allusions to Virgo as pedantic, frigid, and shrill. Could it
be that these negative associations have attached themselves to a sign that
is one of such rare understanding and discerning mental vision
that the rest of us are unable to see the finer details of the Maiden's gifts?
February 2015
What do you say to a woman who asks you to look at her horoscope to see if a
pregnancy is in her future? Often stressed and anxious, she inquires
emotionally, "Will I have a baby? And if so, when?" Naturally, as
astrologers, we want to be able to answer these questions. We are motivated
to identify if and when a pregnancy may occur, as suggested by reliable
planetary cycles.
January 2015
In the world of astrology — and, of course, in the world at large — the
mystery of relationship is a constant and passionate pursuit. No matter how we
research it, the reasons that one person is deeply attracted to another may
still elude us. However, because astrologers are preoccupied with time and
timing, sooner or later we contemplate the question: "What would we call the
birthday of a relationship, and how would we find it?"
December 2014
As I write this, Uranus and Pluto are in their respective corners, catching
their breath between the fourth and fifth rounds in their duel of seven exact
squares. They are big stars on the world's stage, and we have been riveted by
their performance, even though we know there will be no ultimate winner - they
seem more intent on which one can change our collective lives the most.
November 2014
More than one hundred years after Einstein published his famous theory of
special relativity, it remains as the pinnacle of science, the Everest of
intellect. Even Einstein's self-professed biggest blunder, the "cosmological
constant" — thought to have been disproved by Edwin Hubble's discovery of an
expanding universe — has been re-examined in the context of "dark matter."
Yet, as undeniably as our world has been forever altered by E = mc2, it
remains an incomplete puzzle.
October 2014
This article tells us something important about the nature and symbolism of
stelliums, and how they operate in our world. They rarely exert their full
influence right away, tending instead to reveal their true power over years or
even decades. In that respect, I've come to think of them as
"industrial-strength New Moons." "What the New Moon promises, the Full Moon
delivers" - That's actually true of all conjunctions, since they represent the
starting point of larger
cycles.
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Current Planets
28-Apr-2025, 01:40
UT/GMT
| |||||
| Sun | 8 | 1'50" | 14n11 | ||
| Moon | 11 | 41'31" | 18n49 | ||
| Mercury | 11 | 40'54" | 2n00 | ||
| Venus | 28 | 36'45" | 0n55 | ||
| Mars | 4 | 15'47" | 21n11 | ||
| Jupiter | 20 | 47'13" | 22n53 | ||
| Saturn | 27 | 32'52" | 2s48 | ||
| Uranus | 26 | 9' 8" | 19n05 | ||
| Neptune | 1 | 0'15" | 0s46 | ||
| Pluto | 3 | 48'30" | 22s44 | ||
| TrueNode | 26 | 46'50"r | 1s17 | ||
| Chiron | 23 | 54' 7" | 9n58 | ||
| Explanations of the symbols | |||||
| Chart of the moment | |||||