Musings

Aries: Ready, set, GO!…STOP!…GO! Yep, Horny Head, it is time for the bi-annual retrograde cycle of your patron planet, Mars. In the winter and spring of 2012, whenever you confront the need to retrace steps, reevaluate your goals or, worst of all for the warrior soul – retreat(!)…just consider it to be a cosmically-ordained remedial course in tactics and strategy. What does remediation serve anyway, what is the purpose? It is intended to help you “catch up”. And what are you supposed to catch up with? Why, your very own speedy, impulsive and head-strong self, that’s what! Cliches to live by while mighty Mars spends over half the year in the earthy sign of Virgo: “The devil is in the details”, “A stitch in time saves nine”, “little things count”, and best of all, “patience is a virtue”. When the Sun moves into the sign of Cancer you will get the cosmic green light to forge ahead on your path with all the vigor, courage, and newly-learned, practical know-how you need to succeed. You hit your stride in November, (finally!) while Mars marches though fiery Sagittarius. The maximum measure of your personal potency during 2012 peaks during the week from Thanksgiving to the end of November! With mighty Mars in the sign of discriminating Virgo for so much of the year, your task, Aries, involves taking the time and making the effort to master your CRAFT while patiently practicing and honing your skills until the time is ripe…and you will know when that moment is, because what you are waiting for will come to you!

Taurus: You have much in common with the Aries tribe, my dear peace-loving Bull. Both of your patron planets go through a retrograde cycle this year, meaning that they appear to travel backwards, retraceing their path against the background of stars. Giant Jupiter rolls along through your very own sign through mid-June, so sing along with Don McLean’s “Everybody Loves Me Baby” and expect the world to be irresistibly attracted to your sparkling personality. Jupiter joyfully joins value-oriented Venus in your mansion of money and resources, so the last half of 2012 features a focus on what your have, or want or need. Your talents may have never shone so brightly, as they surely shall during the upcoming months, particularly from early April though the first week of August. Employ these natural, goddess-given abilities and gifts and watch the goodies roll in. Your ability to be a money-magnet is directly related to your self-esteem and quotient for enjoyment. Since cash might not be the particular fire that bakes your bread, be assured that, as long as you are clear on your own values and know what you truly do want, you can increase your overall “havingness”, pleasure, and sense of well-being throughout 2012. VIGILANCE is your keyword for 2012, Taurus, because you are primed and ready to spring as the opportunities are presented, yet you maintain a passionate poise while watching over your impulses and urges, choosing only the best, the peak, the “A+” items and experiences, the ones that fulfill your heart and feed your soul.

Gemini: Whither dost thou attention go, sweet Gemini? There are many religious beliefs and plenty of New Age repackaging that seek to make the mind an enemy, with references to the “monkey mind”, or declarations that thinking leads irrevocably to disaster, disappointment, or at least, distraction. While there is reason that the realm of the mind and intellect is depicted by swords in the traditional tarot decks, I prefer to see mind not as the enemy, but rather a Divinely-given, inherent function that can be as appropriate a vehicle for transformation as our feelings, will and body. I like, for instance, to contemplate the poem attributed to Henry Van Dyke, the one that starts with “I hold it true that thoughts are things…”

If I have managed to stimulate your famous curiosity, Gem, then please search out the rest of the quote, and also look up the seven principles of Huna, from sources like Dr. Serge King, who share this ancient wisdom to help us be more aware, more focused and more free. Keyword for 2012: CONSECRATION

Cancer: For reasons only the Cosmic Consciousness can explain, the Crabby types among us have been both gifted and challenged with a unique perspective on the world over the past several years and this will continue throughout the rest of this decade. If you are a member of the skittering, shelled-and-sensitive Cancer clan, you know what I mean when I imply that you have had to look darkness in the face and somehow withstand the fears triggered inside while coming up with ingenious and practical means for surviving the messes the world presents to you. Of all the signs, Cancer, you might have the best understanding of not only what is happening and why, but what to do about it. With that in mind, I will do my best to shoot straight with you while offering suggestions about how to not only survive and support your family and friends, but to thrive and flourish during 2012. Here goes: Remember the adage associated with the Buddha, “Words have the power to both destroy and heal. When words are both true and kind, they can change our world.” Care for your home and family, but most importantly, Crabby, attend to your interior world in order to heal the past, so you can feel safe and secure in the here-and-now, and thereby achieve harmonious homeostasis, and peace-of-mind. Your ideas and actions are needed in our world, so allow your assertive side to overcome any shyness or inhibitions you harbor. You might be on a learning curve when it comes to using your power skillfully, but keeping your “light hidden under a bushel” simply will not serve you, nor the rest of us clamoring for your wild brilliance and inventive solutions to the issues which confront us from all directions. Your keywords are RESURRESTION and AWE. Watch or re-watch all three ‘Lord of the Rings’ films and notice which characters you most relate to at this time.

Leo:Visualize a youth, sitting by a pond or lake, noticing the teeming, yet fragile-seeming plants and creatures in Nature sustaining their own and each others’ existence, and feeling the lonely pangs of approaching adolescence, wondering “What am I good for?” The grades and awards, the fellowship of friends, the acknowledgment from the adult authorities, the skills and the talents the youth has developed mean something different at this moment. Something mysterious is happening inside, Lion, not really comfortable, but interesting and compelling nonetheless. If you are still following me, Mr. or Ms Golden Mane, let me tell you that the first third of 2012 will be similar to the last half of 2011, in some respects. People will try to put you into positions of authority, or at least increased responsibility, or power, or some kind of spotlight. Go for the gold. By late May, you might be tuning into different frequencies, and having your attention diverted by strange murmurings from your inner self. This may actually remind you of the recent past, namely the brief duration from spring to mid-summer of last year, when you were, perhaps only sub-consciously, reevaluating your “worth” to the world. Let us call it a questioning of assumptions, mixed with a desire to contribute more meaningfully to the community of beings of which you are a part. Whatever that means to you. So allow me to suggest some music which may, hopefully, resonate with the cosmic vibrations seeking to insinuate their rhythms into your big, Leo heart from the depths of your deep, eternal soul. Listen to “Invisible Sun” by the Police, and “You’ve Got A Friend” by James Taylor. Keyword for 2012: RESPONSIVENESS

Virgo:Aim high Virgo, there is everything to gain, as long as you use your vaunted powers of discrimination when it truly counts. To be more specific, you can enjoy progress and new heights, as well as better company and more fun in the area of life related to your career and “pubic life”. Good things come to those who both wait and prepare well. Use the first half of 2012 to get smarter and expand your know-how in areas that are of practical concern. If you can avoid the trap of scattering your energies into too many directions, or getting caught up in dramatic and vitality-draining dynamics with others, this year will offer up changes as long as you are choosy and maintain faith and a positive attitude. You might be holding onto a person, or something you think you deserve or are entitled to and finding yourself embattled, weakened and disappointed. If this is the case, let go, grieve, or cry, just allow whatever feelings need to flow and wash you clean. There is a tendency for Virgos to be extremely self-critical, and this tendency will be exacerbated until the Fourth of July. There is a catch, however, but a good one. If you take the surgeon’s approach to one particular deep-rooted issue you can metaphorically “lance a boil” in your personality make-up that acts like a blemish, keeping you from revealing your pure, radiant, authentic and natural self. We all have problematic traits, it just happens to be your turn to use the sharp insight of self-examination to heal a hurt rather than defend your wound by being prickly with others and then turning around to attack yourself. Your keyword for 2012: ACCURACY. Reading assignment: Don’t Bite The Hook by Pema Chodron.

Libra: Hey Libra, do you know the story about the baby elephant that is kept from running away from its handlers by the use of a thick rope tied to one leg of the young pachyderm, with the other end connected to a stake driven into the ground? When the elephant grows up, the same rope and same stake, now a veritable thread and twig to the gargantuan creature, still keep the animal from going its own way. How can this be? It is explained that the elephant remembers the way the rope restrained it when it was a baby, and still believes the rope has the same binding power. A question to consider during 2012 in order to achieve your liberation from an old, constraining memory…What do I allow to continue to limit me because I am in the habit of thinking it can? If the answer does not become apparent quickly, here are some clues which might help. 1) Check the ‘basement’, your memories, and your family ‘story’ and 2) cross-check to see if there is a connection to any sense of lack, or if “it” functions to block you from accessing your gifts and talents. Keyword for 2012: ABSOLVE. Reading material to accompany your journey through 2012 – Long Walk To Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela. Theme song for 2012 – “Live It” by Cherryholmes.

Scorpio: I have a fantasy about the state of your heart, Scorpio. There is a circle around your heart, not a boundary, nor an energy field, just an indicator of proximity. This heart has wings, like those on a swan, but they are folded around a place on the heart that is raw, maybe even bleeding, or healing very slowly. Re-wounding happens impersonally as much as in intimate contacts with family, friends and lovers. This means that you are feeling the wounds of others, certain people you know, and also possibly, the wounds of those unknown to you. This image, while discomforting at first probably, means something to me that relates to the astrological weather that characterizes certain themes for you in 2012. This is not so much about making peace with your past, but more about making peace with your present. However much “in-love” our “out-of-love” you may be, and whatever stage that loving looks like, the way to open to the potentials of whatever Life presents you is to stay sensitive to the source of pain and tenderness that resides in your heart center. Gracefully accepting your vulnerability magically enables some sort of increase, abundance and enhancement that the Universe indicates that you are due for, and in fact is ‘prescribing’ for you. It remains your decision whether to be open again, to Love, and the inevitable loss, heartbreak and sorrows that accompany Love’s joyous and uplifting rewards. Film for you: “Harold and Maude”. Book that better explores what I am trying to explain – The Illumination” by Kevin Brockmeier. Keyword for 2012: REVEAL

Sagittarius: A lot of your work and effort seems to go unnoticed lately, doesn’t it Fiery Archer? You have made gains and certainly improved your lifestyle in some important, basic ways over the past year, yes? When it comes to recognition, just rewards and commensurate compensation, maybe it feels like you are giving a lot and getting a little. Well, as my favorite televised blind Shaolin monk used to say, “Be patient, Grasshopper.” What is that, Sagittarius, patience is not your game? An alternative then – carry on in a stupidly optimistic, ignorantly hopeful manner, and with a moronic attachment to your Great Expectations. You will be happier, and actually successful, in your natural mode anyway, since your attempts at being patient tend to foster grumpiness, if not worse, and thereby piss off the very people who are showing up to help you. Did I say showing up to help you? Yes I did! The caveat here is the timing – expect the allies and their supplies to arrive no sooner than July, and possibly not until August, when bountiful Venus moves into “new territory” in your house of partners and beloveds. Send “Whistle While You Work” to your cell phone as a ring-tone reminder that your best attributes are your jolly-good cheerfulness and your capacity to recognize the silver lining in the dark, gray clouds. Keyword for 2012: FAIR (play around with the multiple meanings). Guiding image: tarot card 0 The Fool. 

Capricorn: The keyword for Capricorn in 2012 is JUDGEMENT. Especially in this sense: the ability to judge and make a decision; and/or form an opinion authoritatively, wisely, and with good sense and discretion. Your capacity to wield your authority skillfully during half of 2012 will be based upon your sound judgments relating to matters where fairness and impartiality are critical themes. Mars meandering in your house of beliefs, religion and philosophy during the first six months of 2012 signifies a familiar theme, whereby your moral code and overall perspective is being challenged. Not much wiggle-room for the Sea-goat clan these days. Consequences come fast and hard for those playing fast and loose with the “rules”. Impeccable behavior is hard to maintain, and it seems that Capricorns are under severe scrutiny these days. Keep to your famous integrity, hold fast to the standards that brought you to the success you have achieved and, rather than tear you down, folks in your orbit will seek to put you on the proverbial pedestal. Film to see (or see again with this forecast in mind) “Captain America: The First Avenger”.

 Aquarius: Perhaps you dared to be different, Water Bearer, but what did you get? Or, maybe you conformed to the norms, but how did that feel to your soul? If you feel like you have been the poster-child for Mr. or Ms Misunderstood over the past decade or so, this year’s forcast should sound good. But first, if you want to go to your window and holler out to the world “f*** you”, please do that now. There, doesn’t that feel better? If your voice has gone unheard, your message ignored, and your mission seemingly aborted, the tide is shifting soon, very soon, Aquarius. First, let me explain what has been going on. Usually, your contrasting, complimentary counterpart, Leo, gets to do the representing, demonstrating what the rest of us might wish to aspire to, (if the Lion behaves with the radiant grace, generosity and nobility which is its calling). These past years have been a test of your character, Sky-child. Listen: it is not what you do or what you have that is important right now – it is who you are. Got that? Thus, your keyword for 2012 is ESTEEM.Who can tell when the Age of Aquarius is officially supposed to get here? Are we in it already? For all practical purposes and for your sake, let’s say is it is right now. The first step for you, as the obvious epitome of the New Age, is to take stock of your current standing with yourself. What are your deepest, truest values and most importantly, what do you stand for? For motivational purposes, and in case you need help remembering what the worst of the past has been like, listen to Simple Plan wailing on “How Could This Happen To Me?”. If you want to get your righteous mojo rocking, no matter what your faith or religion, tune in to either “Duppy Conqueror” by Bob Marley and the Wailers, or The Clash thrashing out “Rock The Casbah”. Your consciousness and your presence matter more than anything, and those matter a lot right now. Vibrate according to your essential nature and everything will be alright. By the way, make sure you make your birthday wishes on your birthday.

Pisces: If your life allowed you unlimited introspection, would you enjoy the opportunity to contemplate to your heart’s content the connection you have with your various parts, facets and selves? Life may not give you the time, nor will civilization stop like a wound-down clock (archaic reference, huh?) and afford you the option of settling into the introverted mode that would be so very soothing to your soul right now. It is up to you to make Time your friend, to get out of high gear and to create spaciousness in order to follow your whimsy down the rabbit hole and into the vast and endlessly interesting subtle realms of your inner awareness. Do you dream, Pisces? Have you been paying attention to them? I follow the advice of the late neo-Jungian psychologist, James Hillman, when he admonished his students to avoid bringing a dream into the arena of the rational mind for analysis and interpretation, and instead insisted that dreamwork is best served by meeting a dream on its own terms and in its own territory. That brings me to your reading assignment for 2012, the fore-mentioned Hillman’s own The Dream And The Underworld. You are spending the first portion of the upcoming year happily adjusting your attitude. [See Gemini's forecast for some useful tidbits on this process] When July arrives, summertime finds the Fishes making home improvements that match up with the increased well-being that has come from taking time out to engage in right-brain activities and calm the mind. Keyword for 2012: SACRED