The acronym K.I.S.S. stands for “keep it simple, stupid”. I have never used it with people because of the name-calling implications of which I am over-sensitive. However, nowadays and all the way until the birthday of the U.S.A., K.I.S.S. will be my motto. Why? Because Mars is going back and forth in Virgo all during that time! In fact, because of a once every year-and-a-half retrograde cycle of Mars, the Mighty Red Planet has been traversing Virgo since early November of last year! That means almost seven months of highly energized Virgo themes for us Earthlings!
Starting on Monday, January 23rd, along with the Chinese New Year of the Dragon, Mars, the God of War, stalled to an apparent stand-still in the sky in Virgo the Virgin’s territory. In general, this suggests that from now until Tax Day, we should rebuild our strength, stamina and will-power through attention to details in the area of physical health, and optimize our personal efficiency by reorganizing and bringing tidiness to our internal and exterior environments. Diet, and the appropriate balance of work/play/rest should be attended to in order for our “personal organism” to function with clarity and vigor. Sensitivity to order vs. clutter, timeliness vs. rushing around, smooth rhythms vs. jagged activity and appropriate assertion vs. reactive attack will be key themes for the next two-and-a-half months.
The turnaround of Saturn in the last degree of Libra means that until Saturn enters Scorpio in early October, we have several months of work left to do rectifying relationships and hammering out contracts and agreements. Saturn sets up karmic conditions that will have short- and long-term consequences leading to positive or negative outcomes, depending upon how we “handle our business” as the seeds of our actions germinate and mature. The areas of life Saturn will “influence” depends upon an individual’s birth chart. The themes of fairness or injustice, balance or disequilibrium, harmony or polarization, equality or lop-sided power dynamics, aesthetic value or expediency, compassion or passing judgment, walls or bridges, friendship and love or disinterest and rejection are playing out in crucial ways for individuals, groups, countries and corporations.
Just after Imbolc/Candlemas, known in the strictly secular world as Groundhog’s Day, Neptune, God of Dreams and Oceans, re-enters Pisces for the duration of about fourteen years. There is so much to say about this that an entire column will be devoted (pun intended) to the transit of Neptune through Pisces. We caught a whiff of what may come when Neptune briefly dipped its toe into Pisces from early April to early August 2011, before wafting back into Aquarius. Some interesting things I notice already: proliferating house concerts, circle singing and kirtan-style gatherings; and similarly to the last time Neptune was in Pisces, solidarity of the dispossessed (99% vs 1%); and major concerns over fresh water availability finally coming through the mainstream media.
Lunations in February – The Full Moon on February 7th (North America time) highlights the meanderings of Mercury the Messenger through Sagittarius during its last retrograde cycle. At this Full Moon, whatever that last Mercury retrograde passage was about for you should come to fruition. Since Mercury was in the sign of philosophical Sagittarius for an extended period while retro-traveling, we were supported in our search for the Big Answers…Why am I here? What is my quest? What do I believe and why? Is my world-view/cosmology coherent and developed? Are my beliefs serving me at this point in my evolution? Whether we did our homework on the conscious or sub-conscious level, with this lunation in Aquarius we may notice if we are or are not in affinity with our fellows in terms of what we hold to be true, socially, spiritually and philosophically. Funky Aquarius dares you to be different, and to align, or realign yourself with folks you vibe with. Collective power rules!
The New Moon in Pisces on February 21st is a horse of different color! If the previous Full Moon could be characterized as left-brain oriented, this New Moon in Pisces puts the emphasis on what we think of as right-brain attributes. The spatially-smart, musically-minded, image-based, intuitive and empathic parts of us really get a big, big boost during this dark-of-the-Moon time.
New Moons are never the best for logic and reason anyway, at least for the five or six days surrounding the exact New Moon. After all, the reflective power symbolized by the Moon is hidden by the Sun’s light, so we are prone to seeing things too subjectively and throwing our shadow around sub-consciously during New Moon time of the month. The New Moon phase is great for allowing our instincts to direct our action, and for noticing where the power-drive in our bodies wants us to go. Gathering strength and energy, and getting extra rest while feeling out one’s next moves is my way of working with New Moon energy.
The thirty-day span when the Sun is in Pisces is always good for paying attention to dreams. This particular New Moon favors giving attention to dreams and visions in a really big way. The timing is particularly great this year, due to the Sun’s entry into the sign of the Fishes on February 18t h PST (Feb. 19th at 1:18 am EST), just a few days prior to the New Moon in Pisces. Not only that, but this alignment of the Sun and Moon merges with mystical Neptune! As mentioned above, Neptune will have just re-entered Pisces, so this New Moon provides a surge of energy amplifying the “Neptune effect” as it cruises into a 14-year transit of its home sign.
My suggestion is that you re-acquaint yourself with your dream journal. If you have never given much attention or credence to your dreams, make some extra time in your evening to “incubate” your dreams and a few minutes in the morning to record your dreams. There is so much great material out there relating to dreamwork that the only recommendation I would make is that you avoid the well-intentioned “dream dictionaries” and remain open to the mystery of the dreams rather than plug someone else’s interpretations into your dream-time productions.
Creative visualization, meditation and working with guided imagery are also favored in the weeks leading up to the spring equinox. It is said that the dream messages, intuitive flashes and vision visitations that come our way in late winter can offer us guidance and prescient awareness helping us “foresee” what we want to be doing when the new cycle of seasons begins.
The start of February each calendar year coincides with mid-winter. As Paul Simon sings, “These are the days of miracle and wonder…” The soul should be served now and the spirit acknowledged. Awaken your sense of innocence, awe, wonderment and beginner’s mind in preparation for the onrush of fiery Aries energy upcoming in late March. Do you notice any new buds forming on the trees? Bulbs sprouting, birds singing? Even in the depths of the icy grip of winter, fragile new life and the growing light in the day announce another cycle of exuberant growth and renewal. If you want to celebrate in an old-fashioned manner, look up “Imbolc” or “Bridget’s Day” and discover some ancient and well-practiced traditions in order to enjoy and participate with the spirit of the season.
Hey, Paul. I was reading a very interesting article in the current Mountain Astrologer by Chris Brenmen on Hellenistic Astrology, and what I found interesting was the idea of using the Whole Sign House devision in the birth chart (which the Vedic system still uses, as I understand). That is to say, if my Ascendant is in Sagittarius, then my whole first house is located in that sign, with no overlapping that so often happens in, say, the Tropical Koch system. Following this model, I found that my Venus and Moon fell, not in my fourth house, as I am used to seeing, but in my fifth house. And my Neptune, which I am used to seeing in my eleventh house (in the Tropical Koch system), falls in my twelth house. I realize that the Helenistic astrologers didn’t recognize the outer planets (Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto), but they did recognize the gods these planets represented. I know that the Helenistic idea of “good” houses and planets and “bad” houses and planets is a litle archaic. But I am, nevertheless, intrigued with this Whole Sign House system… it is cleaner, and simpler, and I get a different “take” on my birth chart when pondering it. I think that, as we evolve, both individually and collectively, it is going to become increasingly advantageous to look at things (life) both cross-culturally and trans-temporally, and looking at my birth chart in this new light has given me a sense of peace in ways I’m not sure I can articulate.
I’m wondering what your own thoughts are regarding this house system, and if you have experimented at all with it in terms of your own birth chart, or other charts?
Always a pleaseure, Paul!
Hi Neal,
I love getting your thoughtful input and responses to my columns. I also like the way you are bringing up material of interest to you so that we may ponder things that I have never “put to pen”.
Just as of last Monday (2/20/12) I also started reading Chris Brennan’s article. It was during a distracted lunch in a downtown Walnut Creek restaurant, so I did not get very far into it. One reason I want to read the article is to get more background on ancient and medieval astrology since Robert Hand will be presenting a special post-conference workshop introducing Medieval Natal Chart Analysis on the Sunday following the International Astrology Day event in San Francisco presented by the San Francisco Astrological Society and the S.F. Bay Area chapter of N.C.G.R. This year it will be Robert Hand presenting the keynote address, whereas last year you recall it was Steven Forrest. We are so very, very lucky to have these “stellar” authors and practitioners come to the Bay Area to present their wise ideas and inspire us to further possibilities in the field of astrology.
In answer to your question about my thoughts about using the whole house system, and by extension I suppose, my experience with ancient techniques, I must answer that I am really just at the bottom of a big learning curve related to these subjects. What I do glean in my tiny little bit of reading so far, is that these techniques are great at finding the fated elements of a persons destiny through study of the natal horoscope. I plan to read as much as I can from material that I can find on-line about medieval astrological techniques and theory in preparation for the Robert Hand workshop.
Our friend, Grant Jeffers, a talented astrologer who is well-versed in both Vedic and Western Tropical astrology, has demonstrated though the use of the Vedic system that whole-house charts can be very accurate for delineating character, karma and special talents, plus happy vocational paths. I have seen his work help people find their way, plus give the gift of being “seen” in an accurate, symbolic way. Therefore, I know that the whole-house system can be applied effectively, but the context that one uses it in probably needs an entire system around it, so I will wait a while and learn more about the ‘lost art’ of ancient and medieval astrology as a whole, and then make some attempts to integrate whole houses in that context, at least initially.
I commend you on the dedication you show towords your craft, Mr. Bogle. It would be very easy to “coast” through your practice on what you already know, (which is considerable), and yet you take time out of your already busy schedule to “sharpen the saw,” to use the terminology of Steven Covey, and the seventh habit of “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.” I first came to you in despair, my life having fallen apart. I had not really taken astrology seriously until I read the Autobiography of a Yogi, and in that book I learned of Sri Yukteswar, Yogananda’s guru, who was both a yogi and a Vedic Astrologer. This was in 1997. But when my life fell apart, (in 2004), I went to the bay area, and eventually found my way to your office. I realized I needed a “map” to help me through my life. That “map” turned out to be my birthchart. But I wasn’t content to have someone read it for me… I wanted to be able to read it for myself. And through your patient teaching in your classes, and your generosity of your prescious time, I slowely learned the language of the stars. When “things fall apart,” in life, I found out there is a term for this… a Greek word, “Katebasis.” I learned that term from Robert Bly, in his book “Iron John.” But astrologically, I’m sure that this could be more accurately seen as a Saturn or Pluto transit, and… it is so easy to take things personally when things “fall apart” in one’s life. But there are so very many factors that are beyond our control or even our knowing that contribute to this “falling apart.” Ultimately,though, it serves the cause of evolution. It forces us to “wander in the wilderness,” to find our own personal truth. I’m reminded of the words of Jesus: “Ye shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall set ye free.”
Anyway, allow me to take this moment to thank you for all you have done for me. And also for Mr. Grant Jeffers for his wisdom in showing me my birth chart throught the lense of Vedic Astrology. Namaste.
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Hello, Mr. Bogle. I thought I might say a few words about the concept of Katabasis. In Greek Mythology, the term, as I understand it, is the hero’s decent into the underworld, such as in the story of Orpheus. The “Underworld” would be Hades in mythological terms, and this would correspond to the planet Pluto, astrologically. But in terms of life, it could relate to any life chrisis. We in America are often not taught about Greek mythology in school. I was fortunate enough to have taken a mythology class in high school, but many are not so fortunate. In 19th century Europe, both a working knowledge of the Bible and Greek Mythology was considered part of any educated person’s fund of knowledge. And the reason I think that the term is so important is that it allows anyone that is in the middle of a life chrisis to start to see the event beyond personal terms, and start to see it symbolically, or archetypally. Actually, the philosopher Plato felt that the planets of our solar system were the physical embodiments of the gods, and just to connect the dots with our Greco-Roman and Judeo Christian traditions, I seem to recall that Jesus said “Don’t ye know ye are as gods?” I remember a minister explaining to the congregation that the Bible doesn’t say you can’t worship more than one god, it just says “thou shalt put no god before Me.” And when Moses went to the burning bush, at first the bush identified itself as “the God of Abraham,” but later it simply said its name was “I Am.” (That’s Aries motto, according to some astrologer books, and all of us have Aries somewhere in our charts). This I interprite as saying that we all have our own personal “burning bush,” and that we all are the sum total of our ancestoral lineage. I write all of this with Noel Tyl quoting Grant Lewi’s comment: “Don’t be afraid of astrology. It’s nothing to believe in, it’s something to know about.” (Mountain Astrologer, Dec. 2011/ Jan. 2012). I would say the same thing about Greek Mythology, and the Bible. When I grew up, I was taught to take the Bible literally, as historical fact. But now, eminent Biblical schollars like Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan are urging the public to interprit the Bible metaphorically (archetypally). I must confess that, as a gay man, I was insensed that Leviticus instructs that gay men are to be put to death. But as Marcus Borg so sensibly points out, that is what ancient Israel thought about homosexuality, not what “God” thought about it. And a wonderful minister from my past pointed out that “the Bible is not God: God is God.” I only write this becuase there may be some readers of your forcasts that might feel a little ambivalent about their Judeo Christian upbringing, and to study astrology is to turn one’s back on their religion of origin. But I firmly believe this is not the case. Sri Ykteswar was a Vedic Astrologer, a yogi, and was firmly rooted in the Vedic literature, and well versed in western scripture. Perhaps this is my Aquarius Sun talking, but I have always felt that knowledge is power. And part of my own Katabasis (decent into the underworld) involved, not only learning about astrology, (with the help of Mr. Bogle), but also re-visiting and re-educating myself about my religion of origin, (with the help of many helpful Christians at Lafayette Christian Church). I should say, finally, that it is my hope that we in the west can incorporate astrology into our existing spiritual traditions, whatever they are. I don’t think it has to be an either/or situation. Thanks to Mr. Bogle and to your readers for your kind attention. Namaste.
Hello, again, Mr. Bogle. As promised, I am giving you my chart information for any interested readers who would like to try and learn something about Hellenistic astrology. I was born at night, and my ascendant is the sign of Sagittarius. So, according to Hellenistic astrology, my whole first house, or “place” is represented by the sign of Sagittarius. Each subsequent house is represented by the subsequent sign of the zodiac. In my first house, I have my two Malefic planets,or “bad-doers,” Mars and Saturn, in my first house. My thrid house, corresponding to the sign of Aquarius, has Mercury and the Sun, which are considered to be neutral planets. My fifth house contains Venus and the Moon… Venus is considered to be a Benefic planet, or “good-doer,” and the Moon is considered to be neutral. My Jupiter is in my 9th house, and Jupiter is another Benefic, or “good-doer” planet.
In Hellenistic astrology, according to Chris Brenman, there is a daytime team of planets: Sun, Jupiter, and Saturn, and the nighttime team of planets are represented by the Moon, Venus, and Mars. I have all three nighttime planets where they are, I guess, most comfortable… in the night time part of my chart. But I also have Saturn and the Sun in the nighttime part as well. Only one planet, Jupiter – a day time planet, is left, and that is in my day time part of my chart. (The Hellenistic astrologers did not recognize any more planets, so I do not include any more).
Since Mars and Saturn are in my first house, these planets are more busy than the rest. The Moon and Venus being in my 5th house means that these planets would not approach their full potential or influence until later in my life. The ninth house is one of the “declining” houses, and this house is where my natal Jupite resides, and according to Hellenistic astrology, the influence of this planet in this particular house would come about late in lilfe, if at all. (I think that’s right).
I apologize for taking so long to do my homework. I hope that by including some of my thoughts on spirituality and the soul’s journey (see above entries), it will shed some light on my chart information and make it more meaningful. I thank you in advance for your patience and understanding. I welcome any insights you may have, and hope that it will be instructive and of interest to your students and readers. May the planets be with you!
Hello, again, Mr. Bogle. I have been living with the concepts of Hellenistic astrology over the last week, and I wanted to share some tips that helped me learn the concepts, for any of your readers that might be interested. I found it most helpful to have several sheets of paper and draw a chart with all 12 houses on each. Then I would simply shade in the types of houses that were the focus of that particular concept, or “lesson.” For example, there are “good” houses and “bad” houses in Hellenistic astrology…(the reason has to do with aspects, but to keep it simple, I glossed over the “why” and just wanted a visual aid in seeing how this looked). The “bad” houses are the 2nd, 6th, 8th, and 12th houses, so I shaded in these houses and put sad faces in them. (I like to keep it fun, as in “Hellenistic astrology the fun way!”) All the other houses I didn’t shade in, and I drew smiley faces in those houses. There are other sub-divisions of house types: the angular houses (1st, 4th, 7th, and 10th) and planets in these houses tend to “hit the ground running” in a person’s life, so to speak; the post-ascensional houses (2nd, 5th, 8th, and 11th) are the next set of houses, and planets in these houses approach their full potential later in life… they don’t assert their full potential right away. Lastly the declining houses (3rd, 6th, 9th, and 12th) represent the thrid set of houses, and planets in these houses are very sluggish, I guess, in reaching their potential…and I guess it would depend on how long the person lived if they would show any influence at all. (That is just a guess on my part). After I put together these different sheets, I filled in the planets in my birth chart on the correct sheet: My Sagittarius first house Mars and Satturn fit into Angular House sheet; My Aries 5th house Moon and Venus planets went on my Post-Ascensional sheet; and my Aquarius 3rd house Sun and Mercury, and my Leo 9th house Jupiter went on my Declining House sheet. I found this really helpful, becuase to see all this information on one sheet, while being “correct,” doesn’t really show that the planets are all acting in a person’s life at different rates of speed, and I found this system of dividing the information up into different sheets very helpful.
Just as a helpful tip, I leaarned from Dana Gerhardt that Demetra George has some great information that you can get on line from her web-page. I haven’t checked it out yet, but if anyone is looking for more information in preperation for the Robert Hand workshop this March, I am sure it would help to “connect the dots.”
One final thought: I think it is safe to say that most of our great religions of the world find their roots in the ancient world, and I think that is one reason we pay attention to any of them at all… there is an instinctual desire to feel “connected” to the ancient world. But since it is clear that we are, at this point in our evolution, a “global” community, then I think that this chnce to study Hellenistic astrology, and to honor our astrological tradition here in the west, is a wonderful opportunity. I’m personallyh very grateful to you, Mr. Bogle, for creating this “sacred space” so that we who love astrology can share ideas about this subject. Namaste! And “smiley faces” all around!
Hello, again! I have a lot of free time, so I wanted to contribute as much information to your cause as possible. The Sun is still in Pisces, and I am looking at a Pisces bookmark that I purchased from the Mystic Dream… and there are terms like… Imagination; Compassion; Sensitivity; Emotion; SACRIFICE; Intuition; Dreams; and Chngeability. I put Sacrifice in caps becuase it struck me on day recently that animal sacrifice has been a common theme in our western literary tradition. The book of Leviticus in the Hebrew Scriptures contains detailed instruction for animal sacrifice; In The Aeneid, Aeneas sacrifices an animal before he enters the Underworld. I’m sure there are examples in Homer also, I just don’t know Homer as well. I’m sure this was the influence of the age of Taurus and the age of Aries. In the film Avatar, Jake Suley learns how to kill an animal in the wild in a way that honors the animal: it isn’t just slaughtered, it is a sacred act. In the Gospels, I recall several stories about Jesus, food… and fish. There is the story of the loaves and the fishes, and feeding the multitude; and also the story where he directs the fishermen to cast their nets a certain way, to get a “good catch.” Christianity was founded during the beginning of the age of Pisces, and many things and ideas shifted at this time.
Why all this talk of food and sacrifice? Well, Pisces happens to coinside with the season of Lent, and in the Roman Catholic Tradition, the faithful are encouraged to give up (sacrifice) something for Lent. I decided to give up eating any beef, chicken, pork, turkey… and only eat fish. I’m trying out being a pescetarean. I was enspired to do this becuase my nephew decided to do it, and I thought I’d follow his example. He was reading Uptin Sinclair’s novel, The Jungle, which talks about the horrible conditions of the meat packing industry. I must say that I am apalled at the number of times I have eaten a hamburger, or chicken, and not really thought about the animal that gave its life so people like me could have a meal. As an act of pennance, I decided to only eat fish. Fish in the wild swim freely, and most are not raised only to be killed for food. There are also health benefits to this. Many people are changing their diet. Bill Clinton has made it very public that he is changing his diet as a direct result of his recent bypass surgery. I’m not suggesting that everyone radically change their diet all at once. I was very week and ill years ago, and had gone completely vegetarean. I had lost so much weight I was down to 129 pounds. (I’m 5’10″). My alternative health practitioner suggested I eat red meat. Once a week. I say this to indicate that food is a very personal thing, and to have a “one size fits al” take on what is “spiritually apropriate” is, perhaps, not the best idea in the world. But to eat our meals with a sense of mindfulness, compassion, and thankfulness for the animals that gave their lives seems to me to be a step in the right direction as we evolve with the rest of the animal kingdom here on this planet. Since there are so many people that earn their living in the food industry, it seems that we might come up with more humaine ways to treat the animals while they are living, since they are literally giving their lives so we can eat. And going vegetarian just one day a week can make a shift in consciousness… suply and demand. As we demand less, then less animals will have to be raised for the slaughter house. Also, there will be more grain to feed the hungry and less fortunate.
Thinking forward to the holiday season, I am looking forward to thinking “outside the box” when it comes to my holiday dining. Blessed Be; Amen.