The Return of Barack Obama

In the last blog, “Physical to Digital”, we wrote about the significance of the upcoming Jupiter/ Saturn conjunction December 21st, 2020.  This conjunction at 0 degrees of Aquarius officially begins the next 200 years of the two trend-setting planets meeting in air signs, Aquarius, Libra, and Gemini.

The conjunction occurs every 20 years but stays for 200 years in the same element, fire, earth, air or water; each 200-year span of time in a particular element signifies different values, opportunities, and responsibilities.  One or more areas of our life will contract, and others will expand; a new social contract will arise.

As we switch from the earth element, in this case, to the air element, all the old values and systems we have become familiar with fade away.  Repositioning ourselves for this new political, social, cultural, religious, and economic cycle, as we make this elemental switch, is one of the reasons that our lives are being disrupted on so many different levels these days.  

The air sign Aquarius and the degree of 0 is where these two planets will meet; each planet having arrived there from two different orbits around the Sun (Jupiter takes 12 years to orbit and Saturn 29 ½ years). Not only should all Aquarians take note (and we all have Aquarius someplace in our charts) but those persons who have 0 Aquarius strongly in their charts will be called upon to play a special role in the  near future, which brings me to Barack Obama and a story in the Monday June 29th in New York Times.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/28/us/politics/obama-biden-trump.html

President Obama has the planet Jupiter at 0 degrees of Aquarius. Jupiter is the planet that governs how we expand, what our beliefs are, where we find our strength to move forward, our optimism, our success, our interest in laws and justice, our luck, our ethics, our expectations, our rewards, our understanding and wisdom.

Aquarius is symbolized by the water bearer-the only zodiacal sign that is depicted by a human being, which gives a good clue as to Aquarius’ significations.  Aquarius concerns the brotherhood of man, including sisterhood and third parties of course.  Everyone counts in Aquarius-even Black lives!!

In other words, Ex-President Obama expands personally by helping others better their lives.

Obama will turn 59 on August 4th, hardly “real retirement” time. Additionally, from Jan 13th, 2000 until Aug 8th, 2029 this Jupiter will be highlighted.  These 29 years are the most positive and progressive of his life, as Jupiter symbolizes his “way forward”. 1996 began his career in politics in the Illinois Senate where after 3 terms, he was elected to the US Senate in 2004.

Jupiter will again be at 0 degrees of Aquarius, and begin its yearly journey through the sign, on December 20th.  Obama cannot help but feel strongly about continuing to contribute to the welfare of his fellow citizens, as community minded as he is.  

He has another motivation, as the Times article points out, that President Trump’s continual personal attacks and attempted (and in some cases successful) sabotaging of his administration’s achievements, motivate him not to walk quietly into retirement, but to stay engaged.  President Obama endorsed Joe Biden in April and held his first joint fundraising event at last week’s Virtual Grassroots Fundraiser, where he helped Biden raise 17 million dollars. Obama told the 175,000 people who tuned in; “Whatever you’ve done so far is not enough. And I hold myself and Michelle and our kids to that same standard.”

He is a man of his word, in that his “Post-Presidency retirement” is anything but that.  Busy now after writing his 800 page memoir, he is anguishing over its publication date, which cannot be before the election in November due to the pandemic, and has a multi-million dollar contract with Netflix to produce scripted features and documentaries with Michelle through their production company “Higher Ground Productions”. These projects highlight his vision of the effects of grass-roots activism for political change, certainly a high focus topic these days. In many ways his Jupiter in Aquarius is only getting started.  The last time Jupiter was in Aquarius was January 2009 as he was taking the oath of office as President of the United States.

Now I am not proposing that Vice President Biden is going to pick Obama as his running mate, but I think we will hear more from him as the summer winds down and the electioneering heats up, such as it will in these strange days.  Not only is Obama having a Jupiter return, but he is having a second Saturn return as well.  

This is a period of maturity for a person, when one comes face to face with the larger context of one’s life. In Obama’s case his determination to keep his legacy alive, amid the obvious attempts to erase it, have been aroused.

Cautious he is and will be this year, and reluctant to move completely into the limelight, his birthday chart clearly shows that this year he will be more actively engaged in the political process than he has been since leaving office. His voice, which the Times article correctly writes is his most important asset, will be heard more and is in harmony with the voice of many of the American people, especially after  October 8th ,as his progressed Moon enters Leo and a public place in his chart.  America’s natal chart has its Moon, which signifies the people, in Aquarius and Obama’s natal chart and birthday chart connect strongly with our Moon in Aquarius, as evidenced by our election of him as President in 2008.

Aquarius and Cancer are the preeminent signs of the United States.  Our birthday is July 4th  (Lunar Eclipse Full Moon this year signifies something is coming to a head!). Our Sun and 3 other planets are in Cancer, but our Moon, that is the signature of the people is Aquarius.  We want “all men are (read “to be”) created equal” as Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence. Although the written words speak to a lofty ideal, the present reality misses that mark somewhat! 

But that is where Obama and everyone else who has Aquarius strong in your natal horoscope are predisposed to help make manifest.  The mission of this position of Jupiter is to remember “that the truth about contributing to other’s lives and caring about people in a community is not about control, but acceptance of, and reverence for, each person’s divinity. “ (Lynda Hill)

Physical to Digital

The other morning, I heard a broadcaster on the stock market channel, MSNBC, say the phrase “physical to digital”. This phrase struck a chord in me as it summarizes one of the major transitions we are living through.  The commentator was talking about a retail ‘bricks and mortar” company that has become an online store, in order to stay in business. Its physical location is now up in in the air, in a cloud somewhere, unseen. Of course, this trend predates the covid-19 epidemic, but the pandemic has greatly accelerated it.

Even for strictly “brick and mortar” businesses, an online presence seems to be essential now, not only for actual sales and visibility, but as a way for customers to find information about products, services and procedures for pre-orders and pickup.

An online presence demands technological expertise as reflected in the growth of the technology companies that work behind the scenes.  Behind the face of the website, there are layers of technology employed that allow one click to result in merchandise appearing on your doorstep. 

The discrepancy between the physical and digital is even seen in their respective “supply chains”.  In my small hometown, there is a disruption in the physical supply chains, where not only is toilet paper scarce but it is more difficult to get supplies from a hardware store, books from a bookstore or tulips for Mother’s Day. This is in stark contrast to the rapid and speedy “supply chain” in the internal invisible realms that is connecting millions of homebound people on sites like Zoom.

It strikes me that we cannot see all that goes on in our daily lives because so much has become digital.   Exaggerated by the lockdown, we no longer go to a store to see and feel and weigh something, instead we look at a picture on a magic screen and click to order it. Money has even become digital.  We do not see it or hold it. 

When did this trend begin?  In the early 80’s you might say with the introduction of the first personal computer (Commodore) in January 1982. Or perhaps it goes back farther to the beginning of the use of radar and wi-fi during WWII.  In any event we are heading full steam ahead into a digital age. 

Why are we moving from physical to digital now and at such an accelerated pace?  Astrologers would assign it to the December 2020 conjunction of the  two major cultural-trend planets, Jupiter and Saturn, as they begin a new 200- year journey in the air signs (Aquarius, Gemini and Libra}  As different ideas and belief systems take hold in the collective, a new beginning in our political, scientific, economic, social, and religious life will commence.

Jupiter and Saturn conjunctions have been seen by astrologers, priests and wise men dating back to the Babylonians 2000 BC, when natural phenomena, including unusual planetary activity were viewed as a message from the gods.

In 1802, as the Industrial Revolution was gaining momentum, there began a 200-year era of Jupiter and Saturn conjunctions in earth signs.   When planets conjoin in earth signs, we might  expect to see societal infrastructure, physical, as in roads, buildings, cities, water, electrical and plumbing infrastructures and political as in political parties and systems of policing and judicial and governmental systems: substantial wealth creation;  extensive use of natural resources and an emphasis on the production of material goods, as was true in this period.

When this conjunction occurs in air signs, as it will in December, we might expect rapid social progress, significant intellectual and technological development and unfamiliar concepts entering human consciousness.  The air element is about communications, social relationships that affect how we treat our fellow humans and ideas, in contrast to the accumulation of physical objects and use/misuse of our natural resources that were maximized during the earth cycle.

At this moment, we are developing our ability to communicate with each other without being physically present and how to purchase our necessities without leaving our homes.  Air is invisible, unseen forces in its realm are operating out of sight -as if by magic- to accomplish these tasks. Rather than exerting physical force, we find ourselves using great mental energy to figure out how to operate within the reality of our current, complex situation.

There is also evidence of this shift in the pandemic itself, as it spread through the air. We can trace the beginning of the present cycle to 1980 when the Jupiter Saturn conjunction in air sign Libra first appeared, before returning to earth signs in May 2000.  As mentioned above, the first personal computer appeared in 1982, along with the dawn of the internet and cyber space age and the AIDS epidemic, which was first declared a pandemic by the CDC on June 5th, 1981.

This painting of Hans Holbein the Elder depicts the High Middle Ages and the last time the Jupiter Saturn conjunctions occurred in the air signs, 1186-1405.  This looks to my eyes to be a precursor to our digital and cyber internet age as it depicts the monks secluded hundreds of miles apart in their separate monasteries, translating and embellishing those beautiful scriptural and ancient texts that had recently come into Europe with the Arabian conquest. It was the monks transcribing, codifying and spreading the ideas that were contained in those ancient Greek and Latin texts along invisible links and supply chains that lead directly into the Renaissance.

Perhaps our current forced retreats to our own private “monasteries”-alone, yet together-will produce a social and cultural movement as significant as the Renaissance.

On a far more difficult note: The Black Death, which killed between 75-200 million people (1351-1397) was part of that earlier age. Jupiter Saturn conjunctions in air signs bring the circulation of new ideas  and the enhancement of invisible connections, sadly they can also bring disastrous plagues.

A New Beginning to We Are All in This Together

As I write this April 27th, we are a week into the New Moon in Taurus; that is the Sun and Moon have married each other to initiate a new round of experiences for us. This unique time period will last a month, until the New Moon in Gemini the 22nd of May. Taurus represents the middle of the spring season; fertility and renewal are in the air; the baby buds are opening and the green grass is rising.

Taurus also symbolizes what we value, what we want and desire and what we want to hold on to. As this time of quarantine is upon us, it is an excellent time to go inside and reflect deeply on what we want for our future. What do we hold dear? What is our heart telling us? Does the work we did before corona align with the truth we hold inside? Are we doing it just for the money? (and most often that is the case). But has this time being separated from our “normal routine”, allowed us to spend time in delving into activities that we had put on hold because we had “No Time”? We do have valuable unprecedented time now for our creative and personal inner work.

The planet Uranus is with this new moon and his presence with this new beginning lends a note of change, surprise, intensity, an awakening, a sudden discovery of our own uniqueness, a possible rebellion, a freedom to experiment, a brilliance and excitement to our experience of this month. According to author Rick Tarnas, Uranus should really be called Prometheus, as he was the Titan who rebelled against the gods by stealing fire from them and giving fire, or the creative spirit, to humanity. If fire is now in the hands of humans—oh my, now humans can create too!!! What a rebellion against authority and and usurpation of power.

So in this month where we have this new moon coupled with Uranus-we can expect to waken to a new creative spark, or have an intellectual and/or spiritual awakening, or get a sense of freedom from past constraints and more to Tarnas’ point, Uranus/Prometheus is here to move humankind into a fundamentally different relationship to the cosmos. This is no less true on a personal level than it is true on a cosmic level. We see this happening all around us as each of us has to figure out how to do…..differently.

The thing is we have lost all our cues from the outside world. We barely know what day of the week it is or what is socially acceptable. We are figuring out how to get what we need daily. We are forced to rely on ourselves, our intuition and what our heart is speaking to us. It might be chaotic on the outside but once we have gotten over the fear, we will begin to operate from a new perspective. Our inner orientation has to be towards “a new normal”. Most opinions I read and by my own gut feelings I think we share the scary concept that things on every level will not go back to the way they were. Uranus is opening us up to the “new”.

We are entering a new dynasty beginning in December when Jupiter and Saturn begin their 200 year marriages in air signs. We can no longer look to material production and accumulation as a goal in and of itself. We are finished with that 200 year paradigm, begun at the Industrial Revolution. When the new conjunction/marriage occurs in Aquarius in December, we enter a different world, we are transitioning into this new dynasty now. We have lost everything we depended upon, up to this point, and are called upon to fashion a new role for ourselves, our country and the world. This will apply to some more than others, of course. But a New Moon in Taurus with Uranus is a good jumping off moment.

The next deepening of our desire body will occur on May 13th as Venus, who is very brilliantly bright in the evening sky now will slowly sink back into the Sun and change her relationship to the Sun. Now as an evening star, she will over the course of 40 days retreat into the Sun (June 3rd) and rise in the morning sky around the middle of June. The special time period (around June 3rd) when our desire body (Venus) connects with our vital creative spirit, our self awareness and self manifestation (Sun) is a re-birth of sorts. We become more acutely aware of what are heart is telling us, where and how we can create more beauty and harmony in ourselves and in the world.

The sign Gemini is where this action is happening so new ideas, communication patterns and new educational pursuits might jump to the front burner in our minds. Venus stays in Gemini from April 4th to August 8th. We can anticipate a long passage of coming to terms with the deeper reaches of our psyches where new information resides and wants to be born. May and June of 2012 was the last time Venus was retrograde in Gemini. There will be some resonance with that time period should you care to reflect.

Marianne Williamson is offering a 3-miute daily class on a Course in Miracles to help us rewire our brains to help see the world and use our brains differently which is what we are going to need for the future.

http://hwcdn.libsyn.com/p/3/b/a/3ba04736f1ce8e70/A_Course_In_Miracles__Intro.mp3?c_id=10602097&cs_id=10602097&expiration=1588015516&hwt=0bdd409267d8c34d656a5dd0a63c72f6

We Are All in This Together

As we begin to reflect on what we are living through these days, I am struck by how much that now familiar phrase embodies the current planetary activity. There is another one as well, “Alone Together”; either way the sentiment is the same.

We have had to separate ourselves in order to re-feel our humanity. Saturn is the planet of separation and contraction. Aquarius the sign of the brotherhood of man, as in we are all in this together-regardless of any religious, social, economic, racial or political biases. Aquarius is the sign ruling circulation. We have stopped circulating.

Saturn will be in Aquarius until July 2nd, when he backtracks into Capricorn until December 18th. So this is just a “coming attraction”for the 2 1/2 year passage of Saturn through Aquarius ending March 2023.

The last time Saturn was in Aquarius was 30 years ago from February 1991-January 29th 1994. You might remember what you were doing then and what area of your life was being affected. These few months until July 2nd offers a preview of your future years.

Saturn entered Aquarius on March 23rd, when the cancellations and quarantines became national news and we all were grappling with what was/is happening; the sudden job losses with loss of income, coupled with employer sponsored health insurance policies being dropped, coupled with having to remain at home with, if lucky, work from home, with or without suddenly-home schooled children, coupled with fear of infecting elders and other immune system compromised friends and family, coupled with the slowness of Congress and the Treasury to actually get the funds out to the small business and the arduous process to sign up for unemployment benefits, coupled with the long lines for food assistance, coupled with the empty store shelves, coupled with farmers in the mid-west turning under mature produce and pouring gallons of milk a day to the ground because the demand has shrunk and the distribution lines have been disrupted, coupled with an uptick in domestic violence incidents, coupled with the inability to walk into an AA meeting, coupled with the heroism of the health care providers, coupled with the down-tick of other accidents and violent crimes needing a hospital visit, coupled with concrete evidence of the ineffectiveness of our current health care system in providing even the basic protective gear for our health care workers, coupled with the ability of the wealthy to retreat to their second homes and “easy” social distancing, leaving those essential workers in the cities providing the basic services that the more fortunate cannot do with out, but who have not been willing to date, to pass a law granting a national minimum income of $15.00 an hour, coupled with the uncertainty if and when and how it is all going to end.

As we all know things will never go back to the way they were. There is a “new normal”. But we do not know what that will look like-no one does. We are all forced to stay in the present moment and put aside all fear and trepidation of what is coming towards us from the future.

However there are a few signs that this pandemic has woken up a sleeping giant-so to speak. Firstly the Federal Reserve and US Treasury are NOT reacting completely the same way to this crisis as they did to the one in 2008. In 2008 they protected the banks and corporations and let the homeowners go bankrupt and lose their homes. (Although last month the Republicans in the Senate tried to react in the same old way-is this all the know? Do they not see this is a different time?) Wiser minds prevailed who did not want to make the same mistakes again, and passed laws that put the health and survival of individuals, families and small businesses first. Instead of the ‘business as usual” of the “trickle down” economics of the Regan era, we have the “trickle-up” era as Speaker Pelosi termed it.

On watching CNBC, the stock market channel, I was struck by how many of those presenters (Jim Cramer comes to mind-but there are others) who were openly encouraging CEO’s to sign a pledge that they would keep employees on at their own expense. I view this as the very beginning of having a government that is responsible to the will of the people and to the larger social trends.

If you attended or listened to my presentation on 2020 most recently at the Rogers Memorial Library, I mentioned this possibility. According to John Townley and his research as seen on his website, AstroCocktail, ://www.astrococktail.com/news.html, from January 12th 2020 to July 1st 2032, we are going to experience a span of time when- and this would apply to all world governments-those governments would be more in touch with current times and their demands. Townley describes the time before Jan 12th 2020, as a time where “the folks who are running things are out of tune with history and greater social cohesion and thus encouraging destructiveness, often in the name of keeping things safe, stable, or the way they used to be”. This sounds right to me; as does the fact that we are no longer in that time.

I am encouraged that we are in the beginning of a new time period by the words: “I think the Republican attempt to suppress votes in Wisconsin backfired profoundly”, spoken by Ben Wikler, the Chairman of the Wisconsin Democratic Party on the results from the April 7th election. Wisconsin voters stood on line in social distancing mode, risking their lives in this corona virus pandemic to keep democracy alive in the state.

This is an even more important achievement because the Republican majority in the Wisconsin Legislature sued to make sure the election was held. The case went all the way up to the US Supreme Court, whose conservative leanings, against the wishes of the Governor who feared for the safety of those standing on the long lines, mandated that the election go forward. (See The New Yorker Today’s piece “How Democrats Won Big in Wisconsin” by Isaac Chotiner, April 14th 2020)

I am also encouraged by the problems the oil/gas companies are having. When oil prices were $55 dollars a barrel in 2019, only a few of the top-tier fracking companies were profitable. Oil prices today are trying to get to $20 a barrel., with production shut down. They were unprofitable before the virus. The fracking process is just too expensive and completely unsustainable. Although the present US Administration cannot imagine a world where gas and oil were not the mainstays of the US economy, the writing is on the wall.

I am also encouraged by the New York Time current ongoing series of “The America We Need”. Today, (April 15th ) there is a piece on climate change entitled: “Think This Pandemic is Bad? We Have Another Crisis Coming”

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/15/opinion/climate-change-covid-economy.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage Written by Rhiana Gunn-Wright, who is the Director of Climate Policy at the Roosevelt Institute. She believes that addressing the climate crisis is a big-enough idea to revive the economy. We just need the political will to move the dinosaurs off the stage; just like they did in Wisconsin last week..

In Honor of Spring 2019

I have been away from writing this blog and greatly missed sharing my thoughts. It just seems these days that as soon as ideas get put down on paper they become obsolete. Why is that?

We are experiencing a definite increase with the speed and number of events piling up from the world news and in our own smaller world. Marriages, deaths, births, major illnesses, job losses, relationship turmoil, power outages, financial upheavals, forced location changes, neighbor boundary issues and catastrophic weather events are happening continuously. All is accompanied by a sense of overload.

Is the access to information just so great that we cannot help getting caught up in it? And then what can we do about it, if we are so far, only reading or hearing about these horrific events?

After feeling compassion and sending sympathy and what material resources are at our disposal to alleviate the suffering, what else can we do? Where does our responsibility lie in being of service to our fellow men? Especially when we are not directly engaged in an overwhelming clean up process?

This is what today the 20th and tomorrow the 21st is all about-the transition from Pisces to Aries. Pisces is the last sign of the zodiac and encompasses all the previous eleven. Emotional wisdom and a wide perspective characterize Pisces which sees the bigger picture. We feel for all of humanity and especially the suffering and helpless. We do service to others as best we can.

Then as the Sun apparently leaves Pisces and moves into Aries , the first sign of the zodiac, we begin a personal new journey of self discovery. We move from the collective aspect of the Pisces viewpoint to the more personal and self fulfilling perspective of Aries. Each sign of the zodiac holds a different characteristic and we are all composed of all twelve signs in varying degrees of strength.

Through Aries we wake up to a new identity, a new enthusiasm emerges to further our own individuation. We have a new mission or start a new adventure, which has a ripple effect reverberating into our immediate environment. In Aries we realize we can only help others by discovering and embodying who we are or want to be. We can no longer procrastinate. Aries is here for the next 30 days. Saddle up your horse and jump on. The culmination will be a year from now when the Sun passes over Pisces again. The wheel turns.

Why the Sudden Surge in Veteran Candidates?

This is the question Lisa Desjardins asked in a segment for a PBS NewsHour episode that I heard on Friday, June 1. (1) Military veterans are running for the United States Congress in record numbers this year. To investigate this trend, Desjardins focused on northern New Jersey’s 11th District where four veterans are running, two in each party and all first-time candidates. When speaking to Memorial Day celebration organizers in the 11th District, Desjardins heard several possible explanations for this phenomenon.

One veteran commented that vets intuitively understand how important it is to put the country ahead of one’s personal interest. He does not feel that all the current representatives in Washington think that way. Veterans also swear an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic. The sergeant to whom Desjardins spoke believes that veterans hold themselves under that oath to serve the Constitution, even after being discharged from the armed forces.

Another Memorial Day celebrant, in answering the interviewer’s question, felt that, as an inductee, he knew that this enlistment lasted for a certain duration and was not a lifelong commitment. This vet sees some current members in Congress becoming professional lifelong politicians. He mentioned the framers of the Constitution as examples of those who left George Washington’s army after their time in the military and returned to their previous occupations.

There is also evidence that voters’ trust (or lack of it) in government is a consideration as to why more vets are running for Congress this year. In a recent NewsHour/Marist/PBS poll, only 25% of adults had any confidence or trust in Congress, and 43% in the presidency, but 88% of adults have confidence in the military!

This upsurge in veterans seeking public office  is not an accident, as there have been groups, like New Politics, formed to help these first-time candidates make a go of it. Historically, before 1975, more than 70% of members of Congress had served in the military; now it is less than 18%, the lowest in history. (2)

One of the winners in the New Jersey 11th District race was Democrat Mikie Sherrill, a Naval Academy graduate, retired Navy pilot, and prosecutor whose grandfather was a Navy pilot in World War II. She is part of the influx of Democratic veterans running this year.

Can we also find an astrological reason why this trend is so noticeable this year?

The first thing that comes to this astrologer’s mind is the condition of the U.S. Mars, the planet  the planet that governs the military, and the 6th house, which signifies the armed forces in a country’s chart. According to the Sibly chart for the U.S., Taurus is on the cusp of the 6th house (using Whole Sign houses), and Venus, its ruler, is in Cancer in the 8th house closely conjunct an exalted Jupiter.

U.S. Sibly chart (Whole sign houses), July 4, 1776, 5:10 p.m. LMT, Philadelphia, PA (39N57 75W10)

Our nation’s servicemen and women can thus be described by Venus conjunct Jupiter in Cancer. Washington’s army was a collection (Jupiter) of state militiamen who left their homes (Venus in Cancer) to fight. Venus conjunct an exalted Jupiter also suggests the growth of the military; placed in the 8th house, this becomes the big business of the military, so obvious today.

I want to consider the Mars retrograde station in the U.S. Sibly’s progressed chart as another indication of the present state of affairs. This is germane as we are looking forward to a transiting Mars retrograde period on June 26. This will be the first Mars retrograde in Aquarius since 1971, when the planet was retrograde between July 11 and September 9, and President Richard M. Nixon was in his first term.

Excerpts from the Pentagon Papers — Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara’s previously unpublished history of the U.S. involvement in Vietnam — began to be published by The New York Times on June 13, 1971. McNamara’s account began in 1954 when President Harry S. Truman secretly sent aid to France to help fight their colonial war with Vietnam. The Vietnamese, having been under French rule for 100 years, wanted independence. (3) The Nixon administration placed an injunction on the Times to cease publishing, but the Washington Post came to the rescue and kept printing the material. The case was heard by the Supreme Court, who sided with both newspapers’ right to publish.

It is interesting to note that McNamara ordered the study on June 17, 1967 and did not tell President Lyndon B. Johnson about it. Transiting Mars was at 17° Libra, conjunct the U.S. Saturn, the planet of accountability. Mars had just finished a retrograde period with its direct station at 15° Libra on May 26. The U.S. progressed Mars was at 11° Libra, within one degree of the progressed IC. So, a study commissioned in 1967, under a newly direct Mars (on the nation’s natal Saturn), was finally revealed to the public during a retrograde Mars period four years later. Might we expect some military secrets to be revealed this summer?

Progressed Mars went retrograde in the Sibly chart on July 19, 2006 at 18°42’ Libra. From this point forward — through March 27, 2086 — our aggressive and assertive tendencies, instead of projecting outward, are being turned inward to our own country — shooting ourselves, so to speak (literally, as it is unbearably sad to say). Our ability to win wars, especially those we initiate, is no longer guaranteed. Might this also indicate that we must look to using the military for a different purpose? Instead of sending the military overseas and fighting no-win situations, perhaps retired servicemen can stay at home and help govern the country.

When a planet goes retrograde, it is changing its orientation to the Sun, which signifies one’s purpose. When a country’s actions are no longer aligned with its purpose and mission, then a readjustment has to take place. In the article “America Attacks Itself,” Francis Donald Grabau wrote: “America is due for an 80-year period of self-examination regarding the nature of Mars, its power, force, and potential aggression.” (4)

Might the U.S. progressed Mars station also indicate how the military is being used in this country? The progressed Mars retrograde station in 2006 took place in Libra, a good sign for generals so that they can see both sides of the conflict  but also for negotiators and peacemakers. Seems to me quite appropriate to have military personnel in Congress deciding when and if the military can or should be used, rather than these decisions being made by professional politicians who have never been on a battleground.

The current Mars retrograde period can also explain the #MeToo movement coming to a head, as well as the continuing struggles for racial justice, more equitable sentencing guidelines, and prison reform. We are not very far from slavery when we shoot and incarcerate so many young black men, while their white counterparts often get lighter sentences. Our violent Mars shadow — our misuse of forceful action, our misuse of will, our misfiring military missions — all of our collective missteps are rising to the surface.

Footnotes:

(1) PBS

(2) All of these details are from the PBS episode cited above.

(3) See, for example, Ken Burns’s recent documentary, Vietnam.

(4) This is the subject of Steven Spielberg’s recent movie The Post.

(5) Progressed Mars Turns Retrograde in America’s Birth Chart

Truly a Man for All Seasons

Today is the 500th anniversary of the first declaration of an individual’s right to speak out his/her own conscience, in the Western World. Although no one can confirm these words categorically (that this is the first declaration of an expression of an individual's right to express his/her mind against the prevailing authority), but if we judge the aftermath of the event, however, we can verify that Martin Luther (Nov 10 1483-Feb 18 1546) might be responsible for initiating the freedom of self expression that we take for granted today. 

Luther, an Augustinian monk, nailed his petition of Ninety-Five Theses on the door at the Cathedral in Wittenberg, Germany, October 31, 1517. He was condemning the abuses he saw in the Catholic Church which, among other things, was selling indulgences, promising poor, trusting peasants forgiveness for their sins. The Church was using the monies collected to build St. Peter's Cathedral.  Luther's position, after extensive Biblical studies, was that there was no place in Scripture where it was said that the faithful had to perform any deed, or buy any piece of paper to gain forgiveness. God's grace and a person's faith was all that was needed. 

Luther was a scholar.  He began his career as a lawyer at the University of Erfurt at age 19 in 1501, as his father wished. Those years he studied hard but was increasingly dissatisfied and tormented. On July 2nd 1505, while riding back to the University Luther encountered a terrifying thunderstorm.  With lightening striking all around him and fearing for his life, he cried out in prayer, "If you save me Lord, I will become a monk".  Having been saved, upon returning to the University, he quit law school and on July 17th entered the Augustinian monastery in Erfurt.

Ordained in 1507, Luther received a BA in Biblical Studies in 1508, and another degree in 1509.  He taught theology and was awarded a Doctorate of Theology on October 19th in 1512. That same year he became Chair of the Theology department at the University of Wittenberg, where he remained for the rest of his career.

His lectures and sermons in those years 1510-1520 were all directed toward the idea that faith and God's grace alone can save one from hell and damnation. Of course this position was counter not only to the Catholic Church of Rome (where he visited and was horrified by the debauchery he saw in Rome) but the Holy Roman Emperor.

In order to defend his theses, Luther had to appear for 3 days before a papal legate in October 1518,  where he was questioned about his beliefs, with the hope that he would recant his words, but where he questioned the pope's right to issue indulgences.  The Pope issued a bull of excommunication in June 1520, which Luther tossed into a fire, December 10, 1520 and thus was formally excommunicated on Jan 3 1521. 

Then he had to appear before delegates from the Holy Roman Emperor at the Diet of Worms (local civil governing body) April 18th 1521, where he declared: 

“Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason (for I do not trust either in the pope or in councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. May God help me.

Martin Luther is one of those notable figures, like Alexander Hamilton, who has come back to life. Hamilton came back to life with Lin Manuel Miranda's phenomenal Broadway musical of the same name.  To a somewhat lesser extent Martin Luther has come back to life after over 500 years, with the PBS broadcast of Martin Luther "The Idea That Changed the World", first airing Tuesday September 12th.  On viewing this show I was immediately struck by the enormity of his contributions to human history then and certainly now.

The PBS special gave Luther credit for: the proliferation of schools and universities in Germany, making a point that this proliferation was far greater than in other Continental countries; stressing the importance of teaching children of both sexes; translating the Bible into German from Latin so everyone could read scripture (this was done during his enforced captivity as there was a bounty on his head); unifying the German language for the first time; awakening people to the concept that, according to scripture (which he made sure everyone could read by translating the Bible into German from Latin) your conscience was your guide in spiritual matters (this of course had unintended consequences as the peasants often interpreted scripture in ways that made Luther’s hair stand on edge);  that believers did not have to perform certain works (purchase indulgences, go on pilgrimages) to achieve salvation; only faith in Christ and the power of His forgiveness was important for salvation. (Of course, the church’s position was that it was only through the institution that salvation was achieved.)

Further, according to the producers, Luther was a "first media star," as he could take advantage of Gutenberg's invention of the printing press (1439) to promote his new idea. Two weeks after he posted his "Ninety-five Theses", railing against the church's selling of indulgences copies were all over Germany and within two months copies were all over Europe. There are 130 volumes of his works, books and pamphlets, and true to his unique understanding of the importance of the printing press, he carefully made sure each one was aesthetically pleasing in look and feel.

After he was excommunicated by the Pope, Luther married and had many children. He loved being a family man and was devoted to the care of his wife (a former nun whom Luther helped to escape from the nunnery) and children. Not only was he on the Pope’s wrong side, but he was considered an outlaw by the Holy Roman Emperor, who issued a degree that there would be no consequences for anyone who took upon himself the task of sending him to his grave. Hence his forced captivity after his statement at the Diet of Worms, but which afforded him the time to do all his translation work.

After his excommunication Luther declared that celibacy was not crucial to becoming a priest, as it was not mandated in Scripture.  He felt celibacy was a "gift" but not for every monk or priest. This was in the era of primogeniture when second and third sons had to have a career as the whole of a family’s estate went to the eldest son. Clergy often lived with concubines and or wives even when the Vatican’s policy was to mandate celibacy. He denounced the notion that popes and monks and priests were “holier” than the rest of humanity (whom he thought quite sinful).

Luther had a much more enlightened view of the role of women, than did most men of his time, in evidence, deeding his farm to his wife, which was illegal at the time.  (After Luther died, the farm was razed by the Holy Roman Emperor in retaliation-never daring to do that in Luther’s lifetime for fear of a peasant revolt with whom Luther was immensely popular.)

Luther’s influence was enormous.  He oversaw 11 monasteries, which he visited regularly, heard hundreds of confessions from monks and laymen, and altered the liturgical service to include more music. Luther was also a prolific hymnodist, that is he wrote many hymns and psalms, including “A Mighty Fortress is our God”, probably his best-known hymn. He encouraged no less than J.S. Bach to compose.

He wrote a German Mass in 1526, which was widely used throughout Germany, so all the parishioners could understand the words. Under Luther’s influence, too, sermons took on a greater role in the service as a teaching tool. Luther wrote a catechism in 1529 -a manual for pastors and teachers as well as a smaller catechism for children which became a model for clear religious teaching. After finishing the translation of the Old Testament into German in 1534, we had  'The Luther Bible". 

There is another side to Martin Luther. In later years Luther wrote against the Jews.  He had a messianic attitude towards Jesus as Savior and had a very hard time withstanding the denunciations of Jesus by the Jews who could not reconcile what they saw in the historical Jesus with the scriptures descriptions of the kind of king to expect. Luther has often been be scourged for this position as Hitler used his writings in his propaganda in the 1930’s.  However, let us not forget, that Martin Luther King Jr. changed his name in honor of the ex-monk.

There is a new biography of Martin Luther by Eric Metaxas, published by Viking which has just popped up on the New York Times best-seller list, should you wish to read more about his life and struggles.  He is truly a man for all seasons, including our own.

Working Through the Unimaginable

"Coming down to earth", "tackling the truth" and "seeing a situation for what it is and not what we wanted it to be", are some of the phrases Bernadette Brady uses in her book, "The Eagle and The Lark" to characterize the meaning of the Solar Eclipse that occurred September 1st. These phrases perfectly describe the election week surprise. 

There are no more potent celestial markers for life changing moments than eclipses. The crossing of the Moon, Sun and Earth's paths in a Solar Eclipse has a powerful effect that resonates through time; not unlike throwing a stone across a body of water and watching it ripple. The repercussions of the meaning of an eclipse continue on. Tuesday the 29th with the New Moon (not an eclipse as only the Sun and Moon are connected) and for the rest of this month we have the opportunity to come to terms with the sudden awakening to a new reality, both in our personal and collective lives. This is true for everybody; even President-elect Trump.

There is always more than one celestial event that synchronizes with such an unpredictable turn of events here on the terrestrial plane; that is to say they occur at the same time. If the eclipse in September, has the veil over our eyes being lifted-it would suggest that we have been seeing through rose-colored glasses. 

The planets Neptune (deception) and Saturn (accountability) have been dancing together all year.  It has been hard to discern fact (Saturn) from fiction (Neptune). What is real?  A fog over our eyes, without knowing there is one, makes it difficult to know who or what to believe. With these two planets distancing themselves from each other, the blindfold is coming off; we have an opportunity to see with new eyes; to see more clearly. We are now aware, for instance, that "fake news" was floating around.

This new awareness will be true both in our collective lives and in our personal one. An astrological interpretation of events can be used as a guidepost to what could/should be happening in our lives. My guess is that there is something in your personal life that has gone through a shift in the past 3 months. The time is right to see through those new pair of glasses; to let go of any outdated picture of reality and see your life and our life together from a different perspective.

The gradual movement of the Moon in her orbit coming closer to earth leading up to the Super Moon, the Full Moon on the 14th of November, would be another contender for a contribution to the perfect storm of influences that converged in this upsetting and surprising Trump victory. Super Moons have an effect on us, as our bodies are 90% water, effect the tides and the Teutonic plates in the earth. Emotions, too, run high-not a time for a reasoned decision. We act on impulse-not consciously understood. Shifts happen. The last year that the Moon was this close to the earth was 1948-the year that Truman beat Dewey-another upsetting victory.

Maybe this is one reason so many people get it so wrong?  From astrologers, (one astrologer's method to predict presidential elections has worked since 1868, but failed this year) to mass media, to newspaper projections (only 3 papers in the country endorsed Trump including the KKK's), to Las Vegas book makers, to social media to pollsters and pundits (by some accounts to Trump himself); the whole world was shocked. It felt like suddenly being caught stark naked in the middle of Main Street, and not knowing what to do or where to go.

Studying the cycles of the planets, or using astrology, can make a contribution towards a new perspective. Astrologers are good at playing "connect the dots"; the planets are the dots. When a big event occurs, we look to see where the planets are as it is happening and if/where they are repeating a pattern from the past and in the future. 

Mars changed signs and went into 0 degrees of Aquarius in the middle of the night as Trump was gaining the upper hand. Zero degrees of Aquarius is extremely significant as it is the degree of the next Jupiter/Saturn conjunction December 21, 2020. This date marks the beginning of next major cultural, economic, social and  political epoch, as recorded by these Jupiter/Saturn conjunctions. It will be a watershed moment. We are at the end of a 20 year cycle that began May 28, 2000, the month that the tech bubble burst, and faith in any sustained material security collapsed.

These Grand Conjunctions of Jupiter and Saturn, having been in earth signs since 1802, the beginning of the Industrial Age, are now moving into air signs (Aquarius 0 degrees). We are moving from wealth creation, land settlements, territorial disputes and value being concentrated in material form, into the air signs. Here our value will be centered in technological development, social progress, intellectual development and new concepts coming into human consciousness (there was a taste of the air modality in 1980-1). The last time these every 200 year Grand Conjunctions occurred in air signs was 1186, then from 1226 to 1345 and in 1405. Looking back to see the list of human achievement across the globe then will give us clues as to what the next 200 years will be like.  

So Trump's presidency is not a beginning, it is the beginning of the end. The urgency to redistribute wealth (Aquarius) has reached such a crisis, that the voters in the mid-west, who have not benefited from the technological expansion the east and west coast citizens have, had the courage to vote for such an outwardly repugnant person to be President. We are in no less a shifting pattern than we were when we went into the Industrial Age, when we moved from being an agrarian nation to being a manufacturing one. There was much civic turmoil then too. 

The American people are represented by the Moon in the natal chart for the USA, which is in Aquarius; the sign of the reformer, the maverick, the outsider, the rebel (Obama is one). Trump who owed nothing to the establishment is such a person. The American people see him and they him; his unorthodox approach, unscripted rallies, his lack of political backing are appealing to all of us. (The Super Moon probably influenced enough of us to make a difference too).  In order for us to live according to our founding values, we have to become more of a just society. The concentration of wealth has to be re assigned, more tolerance has to be in evidence.

The mid-westerners voted for change- they saw clearly that if the system has to be fixed that it is best to find a leader who is not of the system. Trump with Uranus the planet of the maverick, reformer and rebel conjunct his Sun, neither Republican nor Democratic is the one to do it, contrary though it may seem to be. His election is necessary for us to wake up to our founding fathers ideals and the US's spiritual destiny, as the election result occurred with Mars moving into 0 degrees Aquarius, thus foreshadowing the next Jupiter/Saturn conjunction.  

There are no more leaders; each of us has to follow our own inner daemon. We are in the Aquarian Age-or the dawning of it anyway.  Aquarius is about equality, about being able to relate to all kinds of people, the brotherhood of man, social justice, tolerance, where everyone does his/her part and all contribute their uniqueness equally. Lincoln was an Aquarian he asked all the men who ran against him to join his cabinet.  He wanted to hear their point of view on matters. If we have a whole block of the US not joining the party-that will not work.  Those people "fed up" with the establishment let us know it this election cycle. They want a seat at the table.  And we have to make room for them.

Meanwhile working through the unimaginable with 59 million other people seems quite comforting.

If Not Trump, What?

We’ll probably need a new national story. Up until now, America’s story has been some version of the rags-to-riches story, the lone individual who rises from the bottom through pluck and work. But that story isn’t working for people anymore, especially for people who think the system is rigged. I don’t know what the new national story will be, but maybe it will be less individualistic and more redemptive. 

Maybe it will be a story about communities that heal those who suffer from addiction, broken homes, trauma, prison and loss, a story of those who triumph over the isolation, social instability and dislocation so common today.

David Brooks wrote these words on the op ed page of the New York Times April 29th, 2016. I only guess that no one has told David Brooks that the US is having an identity crisis. It happens to anyone with Pluto (the Transformer) passing opposite your Sun (your Identity). We are also having a crisis (Pluto) in faith and trust (Jupiter) as transiting Pluto is opposite a retrograde progressed Jupiter- which Trump has strangely tuned into. In many ways Trump signifies an opponent who is making us confront ourselves as to our identity, to force us to decide who we are as a nation. Is it only the 1% who get the goods? This identity crisis (Pluto always involves a crisis) has been true these last few years in the 5:10 PM July 4th 1776 set in Philadelphia. (By the way, has anyone told Trump that "Making America Great Again" will be impossible as long has the USA has 5 planets in apparent retrograde motion? It is time to withdraw, reflect, refine our vision, refocus, reevaluate our past actions as to what has been achieved and realign present and future actions to clearly defined intentions.  We have to ask ourselves who we are as a nation and what are we creating?

This is an identity crisis. Each moment in time is unique and unlike any other. Why does a successful restaurant or corporation fail, after closing, reorganizing and reopening a second time? It has a new and  different birth moment. In order to get a picture of what the USA is going through we can also use another interesting moment in time-that is Washington's First Inauguration on the steps of Federal Hall on Broadway and Wall, NYC, on April 30, 1789 precisely at noon. (David R. Roell, that prolific bookseller, writer and fascinating astrologer, who passed away suddenly in the summer of 2014, was a proponent of this chart to help explain some of America's idiosyncrasies). Can this birth moment help us explain some of this identity crisis we are going through; and help us to arrive at a new story, as Brooks suggests we need?

The rising sign for this chart is Leo the lion, the sign of kings, dignitaries, heroes and the courageous; the planet of the Reformer and the Maverick and the Awakener, Uranus is also in the first house, further defining how we engage with the world.. Considering we were born by revolting (Uranus) from the king (Leo) and mother country this seems apt. It also suggests an inherent individualistic or independent streak running through this country-the mentality that we can do it alone and do not need anybody.  Which is just what Brooks is saying we need to reorient away from.

(A good example of our inherent  sudden reforming ability is in the election of Obama as President. The planet Venus (values and what we are attracted to)) entered the sign of Aquarius (brotherhood and community) and came opposite that Maverick Uranus, eight years ago. Our ability to elect an outsider, a black man, showed the world, (not unlike Washington's ragged Continental Army defeating the British, the greatest fighting force in the world),  that the USA is quite capable of suddenly upsetting the status quo and "turning the world upside down". 

Another very strong and noticeable planet is situated across the horizon from rising sign Leo; Pluto in Aquarius in the 7th house of partners and open enemies. Pluto becomes the lens through which we see our enemies, it describes them. Pluto is the planet of revenge, power struggles, and what is hidden in the underworld. As Uranus symbolizes us as being revolutionaries,  Pluto indicates that we see our open enemies (enemies that we can see-our secret enemies are seen in another part of the chart) as dark, powerful and out to do us harm. We would also tend to project onto anyone who asserts them self against us, as all the unconscious and repressed evil in the world, and that we bear no responsibility for the situation. It is all THEM!!!

This placement and Pluto's meaning would indicate that our partners or open enemies are emissaries of the underground; they force us to confront unconscious compulsions that are lurking beneath the surface. A good example here (as well as the Trump candidacy mentioned above) is of course the 9/11 attacks-we just made them the enemy without reflecting on what part we played in getting the pilots so crazed as to fly jets into 2 skyscrapers.)

So what of this new story and our ability to become less individualistic and more redemptive, as Brooks suggests? We need to look at the placement of planets Jupiter and the Moon is Cancer lurking behind the scenes in our 12th house of secret enemies.  Here is our secret undoing-the issues and people that can cause us the greatest anguish and suffering. These two planets are very caring and nourishing by nature, but their placement in this position in the Washington First Inaugural birth moment indicates that our caring and nurturing and mothering qualities (Cancer), we as a nation, have repressed or hidden from view.

This is further emphasized by the planet Mars which is very strong in its own sign, highly placed in a day chart and acts much too aggressively as a result. This Mars forms a square (friction, tension, stress) to those beautiful Cancer planets.  We angrily fight (Mars) this innate covert characteristic of our identity-to have empathy, compassion and sensitivity (Cancer) to the unseen suffering. . We want to keep our potential to be redemptive-to heal the sick, addicted and those suffering from trauma or broken homes or those in prison. We are fighting to keep these victimized or violated  people quietly ignored. (Slavery?)

But that will not be forever as planets Pluto, the Transformer and Uranus, the Awakener, are on the Moon (our feelings) in this chart and coming soon to Jupiter (help and aid and redemption). These are the same two planets that oppose one another in the birth moment as discussed above..So the USA will always be sensitive to the connections they make in the sky. and They have been making 7 connections to each other since 2010. 

We have seen evidence of these transformations recently as President Obama visited a federal prison, the the first sitting president to do so; and with the talk of attempts to change drug laws and deal differently with our huge incarcerated population.  Other evidence is both Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders campaigns to equalize the off balanced scale of have and have nots.  They talk of reallocating  the excessive amounts of money used on the military (after all we have not been physically attacked on the Continental USA in 200 years) to healing suffering human beings, tackle issues in the environment and educating and inspiring the young disadvantaged. 

A new story is slowly being written thanks to the current planetary activity which is striking notes to the planetary placements in our birth moment that help us see how much farther this "unfinished sympathy has to go. Chaos, where we are now, is a stage of the evolutionary process and comes before order and stability prevail. Faith in the innate ability of these Unites States to radically reform and correct itself is warranted, even when things "seem" so scary.

Standstill Week

Late last August (30th) in the New York Times magazine, there was a "First Words" piece with the title "Standstill". In it the author, Sam Anderson, explores the two ancient Greek concepts of time; Chronos which is" the vast, inhuman, infinite stretch of time" (in other words the years, months, hours, etc.); and Kairos which is defined as a decisive moment- where "magic" happens and some event becomes charged with meaning. Kairos is god's time as it transcends Chronos with its calendars. This Kairos time event suddenly changes the whole picture; and is often remembered complete with emotional component many years later.   

Anderson goes on and helps us understand that we live with both concepts of time, but we crave and are addicted to Kairos-those magic moments when something happens which is so potent and so charged that we sense and can make sense out of the ordinary and humdrum. Living in perplexing times such as we do, these peak moments when Kairos intervenes helps us to make sense of at least a moment-if  understanding the whole era seems to daunting.

Standstill is defined in Websters as "a state in which all activity and motion is stopped".  Anderson wrote about learning to discern the "moments" whether it be in a political campaign, in an acceptance speech, a blunder on TV or in social media, where someone is "having a moment".  But who gets to decide whether this moment or that one has the Kairos quality of everything being at stake?  When does a significant moment (Kairos) just dissipate into Chronos time that grinding, monotonous, unglamorous time? Interesting questions without answers.

As astrologers or planetary cycles scientists we understand time (Chronos) by watching the planets cycling around the Sun.  Some planet orbits around the Sun are inside the Earth's and some are outside. Mercury orbits inside the Earth's and Mars orbits outside ours.  This week and for the next few weeks and months these two planets are doing a dance as observed from Earth which gives rise to the title of this blog and the New York Times article.

Mars the reddish planet began its retrograde pattern on the 17th, when from earth's perspective he came to a standstill, staying in one degree of the zodiac for the entire month. Usually Mars takes 3 weeks to go 15 degrees; in this part of the cycle it will take him 8 1/2 months to travel those same 15 degrees, appearing to go back and forth over the same area 3 times. That in itself is really all you need to know.  You may make decisions and plans on how to navigate and manifest your vision, only to have to change your direction, not once or twice but perhaps 3 times.  So advice--GO SLOWLY. 

Mars will appear in the east at sundown on the 22nd of May, rising as the Sun sets.  This is the 1/2 way mark. He is as bright in the sky as he gets and is at his closest pass to the Earth. (Please do not think Mars will look anything like a Full Moon). Around this time Mars slips back into Scorpio and we must get a handle on the true motives and passions that are driving us.  It might be gut wrenching work; some dirt and old baggage wants to come out and be exposed to the light. Scorpio demands intensity. You may find yourself going backwards, or returning to some work you have done before, or to someone you been with before.  It does not necessarily mean that that situation will continue on into the future.  It is not all unlikely that at the end of this Mars retrograde cycle June 28th-but final closing August 22nd when new territory is reached- that you will completely change your direction, goals and visions for the future.

At the same time Mercury is also at a standstill this week starting his retrograde cycle on Thursday the 28th.  He will take a long time to go 10 degrees, going back and forth over the same area of Taurus and moving more slowly that usual.  Taurus has to do with what has value to us-what we are worth what anything is worth to us, capital costs, hidden costs, and secret matters around money and property,or artistic valuations. Expect these issues to come forth in your world and the world around you.

One more thing of great interest is that the Mercury station (standstill) at 23 Taurus this week is opposite the Mars station (standstill) on June 28th at 23 Scorpio.  That means that what is occurring this week (especially as regards finances) is and will be connecting again at the end of June. Whether you use your own resources or someone else's be sure you read the small print and have the whole picture.  Mercury can be a trickster especially in his retrograde phase, which lasts until May 22nd again.

Lastly, through this whole period of Mercury and Mars standstill and retrograde, when the planets themselves are behaving differently than the normal (both in direction and speed,) you might be more sensitive to experiencing those out of the normal personal Kairos moments, when the magic happens and the beauty of life is undeniable.