WELCOME TRAVELERS ABOARD THE ASTRAL PLANE! We have officially entered Eclipse season! Saturday late (PST) or Sunday in the wee hours (EST) will feature the first, a New Moon Solar Eclipse in VIRGO. I will discuss this Eclipse in more detail below under the card I pulled, THE HERMIT, but additionally I would like to mention a few other astrological weather changes. Venus is now direct as of September 6th. She is, however, still traipsing back over the territory she covered when she was retrograde. For this reason you may find you are still dealing with some of the issues that surfaced during the retrograde particularly around money, love, or creativity (or fashion- fashion week!), but hopefully with a little more clarity about how to proceed in these matters.
Mercury goes Retrograde on the 17th of this month as Saturn once again enters Sagittarius. Mercury will journey back to the same degree of the North Node of Fate (0 degrees Libra) before going direct. With Saturn on one end and the Nodes of Fate on the other, we can expect this to be a particularly potent and profound Mercury Retrograde journey. Watch what surfaces in particular around relationships. There is an emphasis on spiritual evolution. Astrologer, Daniel Fiverson provided a simple, but apt definition of "Soul mates" in a recent article on the Venus/ Mars conjunctions: "Two souls who have a contract to grow together spiritually."
Pluto goes direct on September 24th. When Pluto is direct it is often easier to shed light on incidents where individuals and structures of power have abused their power. Hopefully, with the North Node of Fate in Libra, a sense of fairness will prevail and justice will be served.
Finally, and I apologize if I've left anything out, there will be a second Eclipse, this time a Lunar Eclipse in the sign of Libra on the 27th. I will discuss this Eclipse in more detail as the date approaches.
NEWS
I will be doing readings at Folklore Salon in Los Angeles from 4-7 on Sunday the 20th of September. Hope to see you there!
Gift Certificates for READINGS available! Click on the"Readings + Spells + Magic" tab or email me for more information.
THANKS TO ALL ALWAYS AND ALL WAYS FOR READING AND SPREADING TAROTSCOPES!!
solar eclipse, doing flips, stiff upper lips, taking sips, sailing ships, hair clips, shake your hips, the sign of the "virgin", win win, a toothy grin, made of tin, a quiet din, embracing sin, dorsal fin, marked with a pin, loretta lynn, the perfect hymn, filled to the brim, when all looks grim, in the ocean swim, out on a limb, the canyon rim, excess to trim, when the light is dim, on a whim, stars above, lots of love,
--MW
Without further ado! The general card from Amy von Harrington’s deck for all:
IX THE HERMIT
This past Sunday’s New York Times Magazine featured an article entitled, “Dazzled,” which offered a definition of “shiny objects” in the political arena as issues politicians direct the media and public’s attention towards in order to distract us from asking the really important questions. For example, how are the candidates planning on serving the populace? This is a very Virgoan question befitting the Virgo New Moon Solar Eclipse on Saturday night/ Sunday early (depending on your time zone). An eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the Sun and the Earth, completely or partially (in this case) blocking the Sun from the Earth’s view. Astrologers often liken this to someone flicking a light switch to get your attention or even a momentary power outage. When you are made to stand in the dark you suddenly have to ask yourself- “what was I doing?”, “where was I standing?” and “where was everything else in relation to me?” Eclipses bring us to consciousness. When the light that rendered an object shiny is out, we have to remember what we really care about, what the truly important questions are.
The card I’ve pulled for this Eclipse is the Hermit, which is, in fact, the card most closely associated with the sign of Virgo. The Hermit, like Virgo is a symbol of dedication and devotion, typically to one’s craft and/or path. The Eclipse forms a quincunx or inconjunct aspect to Uranus which means that the changes we encounter surrounding this Eclipse may come out of left field or they may appear to conflict with the things you are trying accomplish. However, you may find that what you’d been dedicating yourself to was perhaps the shiny object. Watch for something new to surface over the next 6 months, something which may feel like more of a calling or carry a deeper spiritual significance. You don’t have to become a nun or join the clergy, but consider how the things you devote your energies to echo or resonate with your core- do they pluck the string that connects you to earth below and the stars above?
I worked in food service for over six years. I knew that this work wasn’t my “calling,” but I needed the money and I didn’t know what else I wanted to do. After a while my sense of identity began to feel trapped under my job description. I remember at one point giving myself a pep talk. I had been ruffled because as we were closing up the coffee shop where we worked, a co-worker said, “You better let me sweep. We all know that isn’t your strong suit.” Her comment bothered me all the way home. Why should I care if I’m considered a “good sweeper” I wondered. I came to this conclusion: Whatever I do, I want to do well. I want to dedicate myself to the moment, even if it is just washing a dish or sweeping the floor. I didn’t know, at that point, “what I wanted to do with my life,” but I did know how I wanted to live my life and that was something I could dedicate myself to.
A sense of presence, devoting oneself to the present moment, is something you have to come back to all the time. I’m sure even Buddhist monks with a regular meditation practice, have to occasionally remind themselves to pay attention. At the Eclipse consider how you want to live your life. When you dedicate yourself to the moment, it often becomes clear what you want to change. The other day my mom sent my brother and I a quote from the writer Annie Dillard which seems to encompass these sentiments:
“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. What we do with this hour, and that one, is what we are doing. A schedule defends from chaos and whim. It is a net for catching days…A schedule is a mock-up of reason and order- willed, faked, and so brought into being; it is a peace and a haven set into the wreck of time; it is a lifeboat on which you find yourself, decades later, still living.”
